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CHAPTER 277 – AUN’S BIRTH

 

—Aun’s perspective—

「The subject is ‘your birth, and your parents.’ …You do wish to know, don’t you?」

—When I was a kid, I once asked Grandpa just the one time. Why don’t I have a mother or a father?

I never thought that having no parents made me unlucky. I was never unhappy with life with Grandpa. It was probably pure curiosity.

Still, I remembered how awkward Grandpa looked then, and how he answered with a single word: ‘Sorry’. That made me realize it was something I shouldn’t ask… and I remember feeling a little regret after that.

Somehow I interpreted it as, My parents are probably no longer in this world, and I accepted that.

Frankly, I don’t remember my parents’ faces. When I try to remember, a haze spreads over whatever image came to mind: the contours, the eyes, the mouth, the shape of the brows — none of it sticks.

Who my parents were and what I really am… even if I learn it after I’d died and become a monster, it feels like it’s already too late.

…But if I said I don’t want to know Zoa’s answer, that would be a lie.

When I tried to speak, the words wouldn’t come out clearly.

An irresistible urge. Inside my body… my heart felt stirred, thrown into upheaval.

「I could tell, from your expression and your feelings… I think I understand.」

Zoa said that and relaxed his face slightly.

It wasn’t the theatrical tone, the coldness, or the taunting mockery he’d used before. It was a gaze with a faint warmth.

「You resemble that person. ‘Essentially, kind.’」

「…‘That person’? Who—?」

Zoa stood quietly in front of me. I felt neither hostility nor malice.

Calmly. And yet he spoke with a gentle steadiness.

「As I thought… you must know.」

At that voice, I instinctively squinted.

The wish to know was so strong I could plainly feel it. Whether what he said would be good for me or bad… I felt like either would be fine.

「…Tell me.」

I tried to make my voice as calm as possible. I was surprised at how steady it came out.

Zoa continued plainly, but politely.

「Your father is Doumeki Shuten, the current leader of the Onimeshu clan. Your mother is Kagura, who is currently on the Demon Continent fighting Satanas. I have been their comrade and faithful subordinate since before you were born.」

I slowly let the words roll around in my head: Father Shuten, leader. Mother Kagura.

…Wait — the leader of the Onimeshu clan is my father?

From Zoa’s past actions and words, I could accept that it might be true. But something inside me was unsettled.

Zoa went on.

「When you were about two years old, your grandfather and Shuten-sama clashed over your future. After a battle so fierce it wiped an uninhabited island off the map, you were entrusted to your grandfather.」

They erased an island in a parental quarrel… I’d heard that part from Zen already, but to think I’d been the cause of it… I couldn’t hide my shock.

I tried desperately to sort it out in my head. My future — meaning, whether to raise me on the Demon Continent with them or hand me to Grandpa to be raised on the Sphin Continent. That’s the disagreement, right?

A jumble of emotions ran through me and I couldn’t quite organize them.

「Both Shuten-sama and Kagura-sama wanted to raise you by their side. But in the harsh environment of the Demon Continent, fighting Satanas while protecting an infant was nearly impossible. Besides, emotion and reason don’t always coexist cleanly… So after that parental quarrel, they had no choice but to entrust you to your grandfather.」

So… they ‘let me go to protect me’?

I tried to calm myself and breathe slowly.

If they were to guard a baby on the Demon Continent, they had no choice but to hand me to Grandpa. There must have been reasons they had to fight Satanas.

On a rational level I could accept that.

But no matter the reason, the fact remained that they’d given me away. And given Grandpa’s nature, if my parents had insisted on raising me themselves, he would have let them.

My desire to assert myself and self-denial clashed, leaving loneliness and the need for approval living together in my head.

Doubt, distrust, unease, defiance… but underneath them all, another feeling quietly resisted.

A faint warmth deep in my chest — the sense of having been protected.

That budding feeling gripped my thoughts and wouldn’t let go.

They — my parents and Grandpa — were concerned for me? I was loved?

Zoa didn’t look away. He answered plainly.

「Of course.」

「Then why did Grandpa… suddenly disappear when I turned fourteen?」

「By now you should have some idea. If you insist on asking, go ask the person himself. It would be disrespectful for me to speak on his behalf. Also… both Shuten-sama and Kagura-sama want to see you even now. When I reported to them, they seriously considered coming to the Sphin Continent. They even suggested taking you to the Demon Continent — but—」

「Ha, that’s a little late, isn’t it.」

「Is it? From this battle I have some understanding of you. A hunger for great power… to be so strong that no one could harm you, aiming to be the best. Am I wrong?」

「That’s right. We’ll become the strongest. That’s non-negotiable.」

「Then you cannot avoid the Demon Continent or Satanas. They won’t be as lenient as us. If they win, the Sphin Continent will be unsafe too. …But going to the Demon Continent right now would only bring a cruel fate.」

「You’ve lost your edge in speech all of a sudden. …So you’re saying I’m still weak, huh?」

「Don’t rush. You are strong enough. But it’s also true you don’t yet know how to use that power.」

「Ah — I get what you’re saying now, Zoa. You want me to meet with Grandpa before I go to the Demon Continent. You wanted me to decide to see him on my own, right?」

After talking with Zoa a while, one thing had become clear.

No one is going to take my will from me. Parents, Satanas — I don’t give a damn about any of that. And besides, I don’t like this guy! What he did in this dungeon might have been ‘necessary’ to make me stronger — and sure enough, I’d gained power stronger than ever before. …But even if it was an illusion, he put my precious friends through that crap! That crossed a line I can’t forgive.

「Oh? Then what will you do?」

「Course is set. I’ll get strong enough to blow you to hell and back! I’ll master this Enma Ruler’s power completely!」

「…Even if that was part of our plot?」

「I don’t give a damn about your plots. I’ll do what I want, go where I want. And if there are people I want to smash, I’ll get strong enough to smash them myself!」

「Fufufu… Hahahaha! Good!! Good!! That’s the Doumeki spirit! Then I shall look forward to that day. There is an Onimeshu hideout in a city of the Demon Continent called ‘Ocrys.’ If you want to blow me away, come there.」

「Ocrys, huh. I’ll remember it. Keep your neck scrubbed clean and wait.」

「Very well. …Oh, it seems your comrades have cleared the dungeon as well. Doumeki Aun, I look forward to your next chapter. …Farewell.」

Zoa’s voice receded, and with a sensation like light filtering away, my vision wavered.

When I came to, I was outside the dungeon. On the desolate ground I could see my friends: Nelfie, Drake, Shinku, Kinu — everyone was safe.

「Aun!」

Kinu’s voice calmed the flutter in my chest bit by bit.

I started to sort through what had happened in the dungeon — the conversation with Zoa, the talk about my parents, the reason I’d been entrusted to Grandpa — once more in my head.

On the level of reason I understood. My parents and Grandpa had been concerned for me. They’d given me up to protect me.

But stronger than that, another feeling welled up.

To carve my path with my own strength, unbound by anyone. And to face, with my own hands, whoever I have to smash.

「…Sorry, everyone. That took a bit.」

The words came out and a smile slipped out naturally.

My friends nodded silently, each with a look like they’d overcome something of their own.

My own anxieties and doubts haven’t entirely vanished. But that’s fine. I’ll just keep walking the path I’d chosen, little by little.

The wind brushed my cheek and when I looked up, I felt the place I was headed become a little clearer.

Someday — I’ll go meet my parents and punch them once. That’ll wipe the slate clean.

But first, I need the strength to do that.