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Chapter 149: Father and Mother

~Somewhere on the Magic Continent~

——Around the time when the Ibrudia Empire began to invade the Arto Kingdom, Zoa returned to the Onimeshu base.

「I just returned from the Sphin Continent.」

「Welcome back. Were you able to complete the task?」

「Yes, I have dealt with Grampals without any problems.」

「Well done. We can’t allow further research into “Demon Transformation”…」

The man talking to Zoa on the Magic Continent was unmistakably a human. In the land where the overwhelming majority are demons, humans are a fairly rare existence.

This man, with black hair and black eyes… is “Doumeki Shuten”.

He is the father of Aun and the son of [God of War] Doumeki Daigoku. After destroying one of the islands in the Bukyo Kingdom due to a quarrel with Daigoku, he founded the “Onimeshu” on the Magic Continent and has been in conflict with Satanas for nearly 30 years as the chief.

「Speaking of which, I have an interesting report for you, chief.」

「What is it? It’s rare to see you with a grin…」

「Your son won the Arto Kingdom’s Ranking Battle.」

「Heh… Is he doing fine?」

「Of course. He is still rough around the edges, but his fighting style was just like Daigoku-sama. However… I was surprised to see that his race had changed to a Kijin.」

「Huh!? How the hell did his race change into Kijin? It was wrong to leave Aun to that shitty old man, after all… Also, it would be better not to tell Kaguya–」

「Oh? Not tell me what?」

「Kaguya… How long have you been here?」

「I just got here. More importantly, what were you talking about?」

A bewitching woman suddenly appeared next to Shuten. Her name is Doumeki Kaguya, the wife of Shuten and the mother of Aun.

With her lustrous black hair extending to her waist and her well-groomed figure in a kimono, she looked almost like a doll. Her actual age is unknown, but considering that Aun’s age is over 28, it’s easy to guess. However, judging from her appearance and atmosphere, you won’t believe her actual age no matter how you look at her.

「It’s about young master Aun, ma’am.」

「Ara, Aun-kun!? He must have surely grown into a cool man! Can you tell me more?」

「I want to know more too. I entrusted Aun to my father when he was only two years old. Tell us everything you saw.」

「Even if you say that, I was just watching from a distance… Oh, come to think of it, I fought a bit with two women who were Aun’s companions, and they were full of promise. Moreover, they were both beautiful enough to captivate anyone.」

「Oh my! Aun-chan is also a smooth talker, is he now?」

「Or rather… Why did you go fight with the humans? Won’t they misunderstand it…」

「It’s okay. I took it easy to not inflict any damage. Besides, if they are strong enough to win the ranking battle, there’s a possibility that the Satanas guys will keep an eye on them. If they don’t get stronger, you two won’t be able to feel at ease, right?」

「That’s true, but…」

「It’s fine, isn’t it? The stronger a man is, the cooler he is!」

「You never change, Kaguya…」

「Or rather, what is it that you didn’t want me to know?」

As Zoa glanced over to Shuten, he reluctantly nodded. He must have realized that they couldn’t hide it anymore.

「I appraised Aun, and his race turned out to be [Heavenly Rakshasa]. Judging from his appearance, he must be a “Kijin”. I’ve never heard of a human becoming a Kijin, so I can’t say anything about it…」

「I suddenly have urgent business. I’m going to the Sphin Continent right away.」

「Wait a minute, Kaguya! If you leave in the current situation, things will get really dangerous!」

「Ara ara… it’s your role as the chief to do something about it, right? Besides, you promised that if anything happened I’ll be allowed to go to the Sphin Continent no matter the circumstances when you entrusted Aun-kun to your father, right?」

「Tsk… That’s why I didn’t want you to know… I mean, he’s doing good enough to win the ranking battle, right? It’s not like something happened already.」

「It would be too late after something happens!」

It would not be easy to stop Kaguya in this situation even for Shuten. She is usually a wife who follows her husband, but she seems to have a habit of running off once she decides something. When you think about it that way, the power dynamic of this couple slightly favors the wife.

「Alright, then let’s do this instead. Zoa can travel to the Sphin Continent without spending too much time. But I can’t send him to the Sphin Continent right away. Once the war situation here settles down, we’ll have him go to the Sphin Continent and meet with Aun. Depending on the outcome, you can decide to head there or not.」

Kaguya looked down, pondered for a moment, and then raised her head.

She had been suppressing her emotions until now. Her feelings of wanting to see her son no matter what overflowed, but she thought about the damage she would cause to her comrades if she were to leave the Magic Continent.

Due to Kaguya’s personality, Shuten thought that she wouldn’t accept this compromise, but she did.

That’s how dire the situation on the Magic Continent is.

「Please promise me one more thing. I will break through the deadlock as much as possible in three years. So, please give me permission to go to the Sphin Continent exactly three years from today.」

The words that came out of Kaguya’s mouth were surprisingly constructive.

「Understood. I promise. I also want to meet the grown up Aun. But he probably won’t remember us. Moreover, my father shouldn’t not have told Aun that he was born on the Magic Continent. That’s why I’m going to ask Zoa to make a proposal. The proposal will be————」

When Zoa meets Aun… just what kind of proposal will he make? And what kind of choice will Aun make? It will be one year from now when that happens.