An hour later, the boat stopped on what seemed to be a small island located in the center of a lake-like body of the river of flames.

On the island was a small, two-story house that seemed out of place when compared to the rest of the fiery river of hell. Even so, in William’s eyes, it was the first normal thing he saw after entering the Underworld.

“Come with me,” the Ferryman said as it disembarked from its boat. It didn’t even bother looking at William because the Half-Elf had nowhere to go except to follow it inside the house.

A moment later, the Half-Elf found himself seated on a comfortable couch, and holding a cup of tea. In front of him was a small plate of cookies. 

Although he wasn’t expecting this situation, he wouldn’t complain about it, and simply sipped his tea, and ate some cookies to pass the time. He didn’t know why the Ferryman brought him to this place, but since he had nowhere to go, might as well make himself comfortable. 

A few minutes later, the three-meter-tall Ferryman returned holding another plate of biscuit in its hands. After placing it on top of the table, it took off its hood, and William who was about to eat another cookie looked at the Ferryman in shock, dropping the cookie in his hand.

The three-meter tall robed figure shrank until an adorable little girl, who was only a little more than three feet tall, stood before him. 

“Hah… wearing the Ferryman uniform is so exhausting,” a child-like voice said. “Hey, you’re a living person right? How did you get in here?”

William wasn’t able to answer right away because he still couldn’t believe his eyes. The three-meter tall Ferryman, who had looked so intimidating a moment ago, had turned into a doll-like beauty, who seemed to be only around three and a half feet tall. 

But, that was only a part of what had surprised William. He had seen the girl before, and it was none other than the Half-ling he saw in his dreams.

Her near-perfect beauty was surreal, that even Princess Sidonie paled a bit when compared to her. She had this kind of innocence that Chiffon had, and yet, William believed that the girl in front of him had seen more horrors than he had seen in both of his lifetimes.

“What’s wrong?” the girl blinked in confusion. “Is there something wrong with my face?”

“No,” William replied after he had recovered from the shock. “I just didn’t expect that the Ferryman would be someone as cute as you.”

“You are the second person that has told me that.” The girl giggled as she looked at William with great curiosity. The Half-Elf was the second living mortal that she had seen in the Underworld, and she was quite curious about how William managed to enter their Domain.

“I’m guessing that the first one who told you that is your parents,” William said.

“Yes. My Father.”

“He must be a good father.”

“Yes! My father is the best, second only to my Grandma.”

“Is that so?” WIlliam smiled as he looked at the bubbly, and doll-like beauty in front of him. “You must really like your Grandma if your father is only second best.”

The girl once again giggled and gave William the “isn’t that obvious” gaze.

“My name is Erinys,” the girl stated. “What is your name?”

“William,” William replied. “You can call me Will.”

“Okay, Will. You’re still alive, right?”

“Yeah.”

Erinys looked at William from head to toe before shifting her gaze back to his handsome face.

“So, Will, how did you manage to get here?” Erinys inquired. “When I saw you earlier, I thought I was just seeing things, but after taking a closer look, I could tell that you don’t belong to the Underworld. Did you end up here by accident? If yes, can you tell me how you got here? I want to go to the World of the Living as well!”

“You want to go to the World of the Living?” William asked back. Actually, he didn’t know how to answer this question because the path he took using the power of the World Tree was a one-way trip.

Maxwell had repeatedly told him that in order to return to Hestia, he must find his own way back using his own means. 

“Yes! So, tell me how you ended up here! I want to go there too!” Erinys held William’s right hand, with both of her hands, as she gazed up at him with eyes filled with excitement. “Don’t worry. I promise I won’t tell anyone, so take me back to the surface!”

Her look that was filled with longing and anticipation made William feel a bit awkward because he didn’t know how to answer her question. In the end, the Half-Elf decided to tell the little girl the truth about why he had come to the Underworld, making the latter’s eyes sparkle as if she was meeting the prince charming from a fairy tale.

“I’ve met these girls before, and I know where they are,” Erinys said while still holding onto William’s hand. “But, I can’t take you there because you are still alive, and my father might get angry at me. He just recently allowed me to be a Ferryman so I can earn some Hell Credits for the things I was ordering online on Ama-Soon, which is a subsidiary of the God-Shop. I don’t want to get grounded, so I can’t take you there personally.”

William sighed internally after Erinys confirmed that his wives were indeed in the Underworld. However, the problem was that the area where they were in was restricted, and couldn’t be accessed by normal means.

After asking more questions, Erinys told William that the ladies he were looking for weren’t in the same place, and were scattered across the different layers of the Underworld.

According to the doll-like beauty, the Underworld had Twelve Layers, which they referred to as Circles.

The First Circle was called Limbo. This was the place where the spirits of the dead gathered before they would be sent to the Cycle of Reincarnation.

Depending on the severity of the sin they bore, they would need to spend a few years earning Hell Credits in order to pay off the crimes they had committed when they were still alive.

Those whose sins far surpassed the norm were immediately tossed into the Fiery River, where they would spend several years before they were picked up and sent to Hell.

There, the Gods that managed Hell would deal with them.

“The Underworld, Heaven, and Hell are closely linked together,” Erinys said in a sage-like manner. “The Underworld is more like a hub, where the dead are sent to either Hell or Heaven, depending on their past karma. However, since the lower layers are closer to hell, you could say that they are a part of Hell as well.

“The River of Hell runs down to the Sixth Circle, and from there, it makes its trip to Hell, where the members of the Ars Goetia ruled. I have never been to Hell before, but one of these days, I’d like to visit there as well. But first, I want to go to the World of the Living.”

Erinys sighed, and her adorable face looked so sad that even William was moved by how genuine she longed to go to the Surface World.

“Although I can’t promise you anything, you are free to come with me back to the World of the Living once I rescue my wives from this place,” William said, making the doll-like beauty look back at him with renewed hope.

“It’s a deal!” Erinys jumped up and down while still holding William’s hand. “Very well, although I can’t personally take you to where they are, I will tell you the shortcut for how to get there!”

“Really?”

“Un! But first, we must leave Limbo first. To do that, you need to earn Hell Credits, and I have the perfect job for you!”

William looked at the smiling girl in front of him, and felt as if he was making a deal with the devil. Even so, if he would really be able to go to where his wives were, then he would be willing to take the chance, and put his trust in the little girl, whom he had seen in his dreams. 

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