Ever since coming to the Kirasawa household, Mia and I had spent most of our days training to increase our magical power. Thanks to that, there was quite a lot we could do now.
“Kyaaa!?”
“Keep quiet, or you’ll bite your tongue.”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Holding Mia in my arms, I leaped from rooftop to rooftop.
I felt like a ninja. Or maybe an assassin.
According to the information coming from my familiar, Manya Rafild is staying at a business hotel near the station. Although “laying low” might be a more accurate way of putting it.
Apparently, after being taken to the police station, she’d charmed every officer she could get her hands on—except Sasagawa-san, the twenty-eight-year-old single idol otaku—and escaped.
Originally, I’d planned to just leave Manya alone for the time being. I wanted to see whether the people known as exorcists would make a move against her for defying the power of the state.
That was what I’d intended to observe, but… well, never mind. Mia’s feelings were far, far more important to me than my personal curiosity. I have to make sure whether or not she actually knew this woman.
We arrived in front of the business hotel.
We walked straight through the lobby and headed for the elevator.
Since I am using a supernatural technique called “On-gyo”—which Suika had taught me—no one stopped me. It had the effect of rendering my form invisible. I could’ve just used an invisibility spell, but I’d gone to the trouble of learning this technique, so I might as well put it to use. Comparing the two, eh, I could worry about that later.
The elevator reached the eighth floor.
Manya should be in Room 803 on this floor.
“Um, Oniisan…”
Mia spoke up hesitantly.
“I think I can walk from here by myself…”
“Oh. Sorry.”
I stopped carrying her princess-style and set her down.
“That was so sudden, you know. You could’ve at least given me some time to prepare myself mentally.”
“Sorry. I just kind of did it without thinking.”
“You don’t feel sorry at all, do you?”
How did she know?
I guess after living together for three years, you really did start to understand each other without even having to say anything.
We stopped in front of Room 803.
“Should we ring the doorbell?”
“Nah. I’ll open it with magic.”
“Won’t that cause a commotion?”
“It’ll be fine. Manya’s unconscious anyway.”
When I’d hacked Ghost Eye earlier, I’d selected a few particularly nasty images and blasted them directly into her mind. According to the information coming from the familiar I’d planted on Manya, she’d lost consciousness after about ten seconds.
Still, I had to wonder…Why had she gone to the trouble of using a monster just to keep an eye on me?
Well, I could ask her now.
We entered the hotel room. Manya was sprawled unconscious on the bed. She’s still wearing the same wine-red dress as she had that afternoon.
“Uuugh… W-Wally… Wally…”
Apparently, the shock had been considerable. Even while unconscious, she’s tossing and moaning in a nightmare.
“Mia?”
I turned around.
Mia’s still standing in the doorway. Half-hidden behind the door, she peeked into the room with only half her face showing. She’s being way too cautious.
“It’s okay. Manya’s asleep.”
“O-Okay…”
Mia cautiously made her way over to me.
“Are you scared?”
“It’s not that I’m scared… Though, I guess maybe I am.”
Mia murmured uneasily.
“It’s been three years since I was reincarnated, but I still haven’t gotten used to having a human body. Compared to a demon, I’m so much weaker, and even small wounds take forever to heal. It feels like I could die from the tiniest thing. It’s just so different from my previous life… It scares me.”
“Yeah. I guess that makes sense.”
The basic specs were just too different. It was like switching from a Gundam to a Zaku. Actually, considering she was the Demon Lord’s daughter, maybe it’d be more accurate to say she’d gone from an Ideon to a Zaku. She really had been the vessel of an evil god, after all, so it wasn’t exactly a bad analogy.
In any case—
“I’ll protect you, Mia. So feel free to get all clingy and spoiled with me—you know, like, ‘Oniichan~ ♥’.”
“Ugh…”
She was visibly repulsed.
Ouch. That hurt. Maybe I should turn this whole area into a crater just to vent my frustration.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Sorry. …Then I’ll lean on you just a little.”
Mia grabbed the hem of my pajamas and gave it a little tug.
Then she looked over at Manya’s face.
“Yeah. There’s no mistaking it.”
She gave a small nod.
“She looks a bit older, but I’ve seen her before—back at the Demon Lord’s castle.”
“Okay. In that case, let’s wake her up and hear what she has to say.”
“Hey, Oniisan? Can I do the talking? If she finds out I’m Papa’s daughter, she might feel a little more at ease.”
That makes sense. I have a tendency to go a bit overboard in situations like this, so it might be best to leave it to Mia.
＊ ＊ ＊
I cast a healing spell on Manya, then stayed out of sight and watched her.
Naturally, I completely suppressed my presence.
“Ugh… Wally’s eating me alive… uh-Huh!?”
“I’m glad you’re awake.”
Perhaps because Manya was older than her despite being a mere concubine, Mia addressed her politely.
“Is anything hurting? Or does anything feel strange?”
“Ah? Oh, no. I’m fine.”
Manya answered hesitantly, then brushed back her wavy brown hair.
“You’re the girl who was with Yoshito-kun, aren’t you?”
“I’m Yoshito’s adoptive little sister, Kirasawa Mia—Mia Gransfield. It’s been a long time, Aunt Manya.”
“…Huh?”
“I know it may be hard to believe, but I was reincarnated in this world. I still have the ‘Mark,’ though.”
Mia raised her right hand. Etched into her palm was the emblem of a rose engulfed in flames.
I’d seen it before. The Mark bestowed only upon the Demon Lord and their successor. If she hadn’t been sacrificed to the evil god, she would have become the next Demon Lord.
The fact that the Mark had remained even after reincarnation was probably based on the same principle as me retaining the powers I’d acquired in that other world.
“How did you come to this world, Aunt Manya?”
“Well, to tell you the truth…”
“I’m not the next Demon Lord anymore. I’m just an ordinary human now, so you don’t have to speak so formally.”
“But—”
“It’s fine. Let’s just relax and talk to each other normally, okay?”
“Y-Yes. I understa— I mean, okay. Actually…”
According to Manya’s story—
About twenty years ago, an experiment involving magic was conducted in this world. The details were unclear, but apparently, the experiment created a tiny “connection” between this world and the other one. Manya was caught up in that connection and ended up being transported here.
“I have a daughter back there, so I desperately searched for a way to return.”
But she couldn’t find any way to cross between worlds. And just when she was at her wit’s end, she met my Old Man.
Manya had been vulnerable, he treated her kindly, and she fell for him hook, line, and sinker. She became another member of his harem, and that’s how things had continued ever since.
Ehm… Can I just point something out here?
She has a daughter!? And despite that, she went and got herself a local husband—or rather, a local lover—and even ended up in the mistress position!?
The succubus clan seriously has zero standards when it comes to chastity.
Ah, wait. They’re succubi. So maybe that actually *is* normal for them?
『Nah. Even for a succubus, doing this with a married man who has kids is a bit much…』
Mia’s inner bewilderment came through clearly via telepathy.
『Still, since she can’t go back to her own world, I suppose she has no choice. And I think Papa would understand, too…』
Seriously?
That Demon Lord really is a broad-minded guy… Come to think of it, he just laughed it off when his own aide betrayed him. I do think he’s a pretty great guy, but I’d really appreciate it if he stopped eyeing my backside.
Well, I’ve been reincarnated now, so I should be safe.
…Right?
Even as I felt a chill run down my backside, Manya continued speaking.
“I gave up on returning to that other world ages ago. As long as Naoki-sama loves me, that’s all I need.”
She was head-over-heels in love. That said, I couldn’t imagine the Old Man reciprocating those feelings at all.
“But lately, the number of nights I spend with him has dropped compared to the other four… That’s why I reached out to Yoshito-kun.”
“What were you planning to do with my brother?”
“It’s not like I was going to hurt him or anything. I thought if I got close to him and worked my way in from the outside—softened the ground, so to speak—I might be able to marry Naoki-sama.”
Yeah, that’s never going to work. The Old Man intends to raise me as an ordinary human. Wouldn’t Manya making careless contact actually count against her? Did she lose her mind out of desperation, or is someone tricking her?
Either way, Manya’s future looks bleak.
“What was the reason for keeping an eye on the room with Ghost Eye?”
Mia asked.
“I intended to speak to you in your dreams. But suddenly, the connection went haywire… Huh? I wonder what happened after that.”
It seemed she had a lapse in memory. The shock of seeing those gruesome images must have been too much for her.
Manya tilted her head in puzzlement.
Hmm. How should I handle her from here on out?
Just as I started to ponder this…
“Please, tell me something.”
Mia spoke to Manya in a voice more serious than usual.
“Manya-san, do you really love this Naoki-san?”
“Isn’t that obvious? We’ve been together for fifteen years, after all.”
“Isn’t it the other way around? You’ve invested fifteen years, so you can’t back out now—aren’t you just being stubborn?”
Whoa. Mia really went straight for the jugular there.
“Naoki Ishirogi—was that his name? That man has five lovers, including you, doesn’t he? Does he truly cherish each and every one of you?”
“That’s…”
There was no way she could say yes. It was precisely because she was worried about the way Naoki treated her now that Manya had gone off on her own like this in the first place.
“Even if you do the simple math, that means you only get one-fifth of his affection.”
“I don’t mind. You’re young, so you probably don’t understand, but there’s such a thing as loving someone by giving everything of yourself. Besides, isn’t it perfectly natural for an attractive man to have several women around him? The Demon Lord was the same way.”
Manya argued back.
But Mia calmly replied—
“—You’re lying, Aunt Manya.”
She cut her down without mercy.
“Did you already forget what you said a moment ago? ‘All I need is for Naoki-sama to love me.’ And yet now you’re talking about selfless love. Honestly, it just sounds like an argument you came up with because you needed something to say back. Besides, if all you wanted was to devote yourself to him, you wouldn’t need to pursue marriage in the first place, would you?”
“……!”
It must have hit a nerve.
Manya wore an expression that suggested she wanted to say something, yet she remained silent.
“For starters, polygamy only works when there are underlying economic or political reasons for it. Is this Naoki Ishirogi guy some kind of king? A mega-millionaire? If not, there’s no reason to settle for just one-fifth of a man’s affection. I know it’s none of my business, but I think you ought to look for someone better, Manya.”
Amazing.
I am witnessing someone boldly speak the unvarnished truth right before my eyes. As expected of the Demon Lord’s daughter—she certainly lived up to her upbringing as a sheltered heir-apparent.
Even though her sensibilities were slightly skewed from those of humans due to her past life as a demon, I found her straightforwardness admirable.
“…Shut up.”
Manya muttered the words under her breath.
“…What do you know… anyway?”
A menacing aura suddenly flared up.
And then…
“Don’t you dare preach to an adult like that, you little brat!”
Enraged, Manya lunged at Mia. She shifted from her human guise back to her true demonic form and swung down with her razor-sharp claws.
Well, I wouldn’t say Mia was entirely blameless. She had cornered Manya with a bit too much ruthlessness. Still, it was just the rambling of a “little brat”—someone who hadn’t even lived twenty years, counting her past life.
If Manya claimed to be an “adult,” she really ought to have had the composure to just brush it off.
Regardless. The biggest mistake this succubus made was failing to notice my presence entirely. Besides, an older brother always takes his little sister’s side—and I, in particular, had just promised to protect Mia.
I activated a few of the spells I had set up in advance.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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