Maou na Ore to Fushihime no Yubiwa

Having the long, long test period end, the students at Seiran Academy welcomed the summer holidays.

High school soph.o.m.ores & summer holidays.

Has there ever been another more exciting combination?

My cla.s.smate Youhei said so. Something like this is the season when chances are the highest for boys and girls in their teens to have their first experience.

Now that he said it, I have to agree.

Currently, we are high school soph.o.m.ores.

Next year we’ll end up in the front lines preparing for the entrance exams.

Come to that… There’s no way we’ll have time for something like romance.

For this reason… Isn’t being a high school soph.o.m.ore a chance in several ways?

So that our hearts when preparing for the exams, like a last-minute proposal for rising taxes, get set free.

Life is short.

Us male high school students cannot but dearly treasure this one last chance given by the G.o.ds.

That’s why…

“How can it be…”

Though one week has pa.s.sed since the start of summer vacation, honestly, until now, I’ve only spent unproductive time alone at home.

… That’s natural.

My lodger Zonmi is weak against heat, so she absolutely can’t go out.

My best friend Youhei, having disturbed the firework show at the recent summer festival, has been put under house arrest by the school.

Having had both my two top choices of people to hang out with cut off, I can’t help but be dragged into the lifestyle of a NEET.

“… Well, what do I do today?”

Since no matter how much I worry there’s no way out, let’s totally change my mindset.

While sprawled over my bed, when I stretched my limbs with a ‘mmm’, an idea flashed through my mind.

Ring.

Before my eyes I have my second Contract Ring I got just the other day shining with a silvery color.

Some days ago, after Zonmi the ghoul, I sealed a contract with Kyouko the Nephilim.

Why don’t I try it?… Summon.

Come the time I have to use her as a battle partner, though I’ve seen it a couple of times, I’ve never experienced it myself. Monster tamers have the possibility to call forth their contracted partner any time they like.

Yosh, it’s decided. Let’s summon her.

I-it’s not like I’ll call Kyouko to have someone to talk with to kill the excess free time… Now that I think of it, do I have any other choice?

Better safe than sorry.

That said, since it can be that things don’t go smoothly when I have to use it, I must practice now that I have the time.

“Summon—Nephilim.”

Readying myself, I loudly shouted towards the ring.

Thereupon, the ring emitted a dazzling light that covered the inside of the room.

Ooh… It seems it worked somehow.

Soon, from inside the light emerged a familiar silhouette.

“…”

“…”

Suddenly.

An uncomfortable silence settled on the surroundings, as if time had stopped.

No wonder I became as stiff as if I had been put under a stone spell[1].

The summoned Kyouko, seemingly being completely immersed in her personal time, was in a state where she wore nothing but her undies.

… Could she have been reading on top of her bed?

On Kyouko’s hands were the opened pages of a fashion magazine.

Engrossed in reading the magazine, she was lying face down sucking on a popsicle… In a word, defenseless.

Humm. I didn’t know.

Kyouko follows such a loose lifestyle while at home…

I’ll never admit it to the person herself, but above her underwear a peek of her cute b.u.t.t crack was showing itself.

“… Ah, ah, ah.”

Crying without making a sound as if saying “it’s the end of the world”, Kyouko’s face paled.

Soon, her embarra.s.sment rushing to its peak, her face becoming bright red,

“Do-dododo… Don’t look at me, morooooooon!”

She gathered her strength and hit me.

At full force.

I think that was perhaps not at full force.

“Guoh!?”

Taking Kyouko’s fist head on, my body was sent through the wall with a dreadful sound.

As if I had turned into a human drill, *BROOOM*, I ended up digging through the concrete and sent flying outside the house—.

In the end, I intruded into the neighboring house’s yard.

Ueh… I’ve pierced it.

The repairing fee of the wall, it’ll be quite high.

It’s sad that my first worry was that instead of my own body.

“Grrr… Woof! Woof! Woof!”

The neighbor’s shiba inu[2] raged against the suspicious person (me), but despite the determination put into its barking, deep inside its eyes a tinge of fear could be seen.

“This condition… Is it normal?…”

Rolling up my t-shirt to see the state of my injuries, my skin had become reddish brown and was constantly swelling and shrinking.

The red-colored cells healed themselves in the blink of an eye, and the broken bones connected back.

A monster tamer able to change its body into that of a monster.

Noelle North Norm.

I superimposed my own body’s condition to that of the monster tamer I fought against a few days ago.

I’ve had an omen from a while back.

My body is little by little drifting away from that of a human.

So, I’m vaguely worried.

The realization that my body’s wounds have been automatically healing themselves with the cells of a monster, I got it since after the end of the battle against the Black Tamers the other day.

Do all the ones known as monster tamers hold this kind of monstrous power?

While grateful for this, that to the eye of a pa.s.serby seems like a miracle, I felt uneasy before the gradual changes in my body.

× × ×

“I-I’m truly sorry!…”

Returning to my room, I frantically apologized to the dumbfounded Kyouko.

Due to suddenly calling her forth, she’ll probably be troubled since she has nothing to put on.

Since, enveloped by the bed sheets and with teary eyes as if she was about to cry, Kyouko was quite pitiful, I took a sweatshirt from inside my drawers and put it before her.

Directing my sight to the hole I cleanly made on the wall, I waited like that for Kyouko to change.

“… No. That’s fine. Let’s both forget what has happened today.”

Though it was without ill will, I’ve witnessed Kyouko’s such… Unladylike appearance.

I thought about asking her to reimburse me the wall’s repairing fees, but… I gave up.

Having Kyouko grown up in a household that couldn’t be said thriving even as flattery is cruelty (being in her undies instead of turning the air conditioner on seems to have been for the sake of saving).

For that reason, it’s good we have damage insurance.

It may be an inconvenience for the insurance company, but from now on we’ll be under their care for a while.

“Kyouko… Have you finished?”

“… Yup. I’m good.”

Turning back, I saw my childhood friend dressed in a big sweater the size of regular nightclothes.

“Sorry for having to borrow it. Tomorrow without fail… I’ll wash and return it!”

“…Y-yeah.”

What’s with this… The sight of a woman in oversized clothes is bewitchingly tempting.

And being familiar with the clothes, the destructive power reinforced with the lewdness was doubled.

“Good grief… How shameless.”

While I was transfixed looking at Kyouko, Zonmi, who had rushed to see what was with the sound of the breaking wall, mumbled with her arms crossed before her.

“Let’s cut to the chase, Nephilim. What are you doing here?”

“? Why does it matter?”

“It’s decided… Each and every time, at every opportunity, you show your u-u-u-underwear to my master!”

“A-are you joking? I-it’s not that I like to sho…”

Kyouko started reb.u.t.ting with her face flushing, but Zonmi wasn’t satisfied yet.

“… No. It has not been once or twice, yours exceeds the level of coincidence.”

“Even so… Those coincidences keep…”

“… I see. You keep saying you have no wicked intentions? It’s crystal clear you want to s.n.a.t.c.h away my master. You’re filthy!”

“…!”

“H-hey.”

That was obviously excessive.

True, recently, I feel that I’ve seen Kyouko’s panties with a frequency that makes me want to rebuke “Has someone messed with the random number fix[3]?”… But still, that’s no reason to call her “filthy”.

“… W-what. Rather that would be you…”

Kyouko, who was silently hanging her head in shame, shot her a glare and countered.

"From a while now, it seems you’ve been trying to emphasize ‘my master, my master’, but isn"t it now that you aren’t Haru’s only partner?”

“…!”

Zonmi pursed her lips as if thinking about something.

“… You’ve been putting airs of being the only legal wife. Since up till now it seemed you could monopolize Haru… It’s obvious you’re panicking!”

“Whawhawha. I don’t intend that… What’s your basis to say that nonsense!?”

“If you have the time to falsely accuse people of weird things, wouldn’t it be better to convey things with sincerity?”

“… To whom, what do I have to convey?”

“Come on, it’s vexing you that I took Haru’s first summon. You’re just jealous.”

“… Fufufu. Those words, I’ll take them as a war declaration. Come out, Nephilim. In the first place, as a rookie tamer, Chiharu is in no need for two partners.

Who’s really the most suited partner for Chiharu? Well, usually…”

When Zonmi was in mid-sentence, the next instant.

“It’s terrible, it’s terrible, it’s terrible! Are you a pervert, pervert oniichan!?"[4]

*THUD*, the sound of the door being closed with force.

Manami, who had went to a summertime cram school, had arrived.

Wow. It’s a G.o.dsend.

Since, for good or for bad, this sister of mine has the power to give a whole turn to the mood inside a room.

If these two keep bickering like up till now, she may get hold of the matter of the hole opened in the wall.

Be that as it may.

Now, by all means, it’s better that I don’t let that comment slide …

“? But I’m not a pervert, am I?”

The moment I voiced the issue, the atmosphere in the room froze.

“…”

“…”

Hey. Why have you become speechless?

How do I put it, how come that, for some reason, Kyouko and Zonmi casted a glance at me when the response from Manami “No, aren’t you a pervert?” came. I don’t want to hear that coming from you.

“And… Never mind, isn’t it terrible, oniichan!?”

“What’s the matter? You’ve lost your grip.”

“Don’t mind it, read this!”

“Mm. What the heck…?”

From nowhere, Manami produced a single letter.

Eerrrm. The name of the sender was…

“… The heck. I can’t be… Could it be this is a prank of yours?”

Grumping because I didn’t believe her, my sister, puffing her cheeks,

“No way! Look well! Isn’t that mom’s genuine handwriting?”

“… Well, surely.”

If it’s Manami, it’s possible that she has tried once or twice to imitate the handwriting, but I felt that this is too intricate to be just a prank.

“Chiharu’s mother? Now that you mention it, I’ve yet to meet her face to face.”

“… When I think about the day coming that that happens, I get a headache.”

“It can’t be… From Kanae-san!? That woman was still alive…”

“… Could you stop randomly killing off other people’s mothers?”

Even so, there’s a bit of inevitability in her thinking like that.

Kusumi Kanae.

The subject that was risen just now, she’s my mother who flies around the world due to her work.

Her character… The heck, couldn’t it be summed up as a freewheeler?

If one were to say how much of a freewheeler she is, she’s at a level that would make the Mongol nomadic tribes run away barefoot[5].

To tell the truth, even when we were kids, we had no other way to prove the existence of our mother, except the monthly transfer of our living expenses.

“Then, then, what has she written, oniichan!?”

Manami asked with sparkling eyes.

Despite being more glad than anyone for receiving a letter from mom, and falling on me the right to open the envelope, it seems that, unexpectedly, even my sister has her cute side.

Dear Chiharu & Manami.

Are you all right?

Mom is worried.

Especially for Chiharu, to whom, despite shouldering with the household responsibilities, recently I haven’t done for him any mother-like gestures.

So mom has been thinking.

Please have a blast with all your might from time to time.

I’ve put inside a ticket to a luxury liner cruising tour.

Chiharu, please go with the children you’ve chosen as the most dear to you.

Kanae.

“Yaaaay! A trip with oniichan! It’s a honeymoon for only the two of uuuus!”

Manami entwined herself around my body with the strength of a sea anemone feeding on its prey.

“… No. Look better, Manami. With this A-cla.s.s ticket, it seems that with one, up to five people can join.”

I mentioned what I had realized, peacefully ignoring my sister’s eccentric behavior.

Then, the monster girl combo’s bodies reacted with a twitch.

“Me too, me too! If it’s as you say, I want to go too!”

“… Good grief. There’s no way around. Since, as well as to protect my master, it’s my duty as your partner.”

“Wait a minute, isn’t it weird!? Why has the mood become as if everyone is going!? Isn’t it properly written? HE•RE, isn’t this a ticket that mom has sent so Manami and her brother can be all lovey-dovey as siblings, without interferences?”

“Just where is something like that written!?”

“Ahem. Between the lines, of course!”

“…”

For some reason, Manami made her declaration with a bit of a triumphing face.

… The reason, no one but you gets it.

“But, thinking normally about it, since the ticket covers for five people’s share, doesn’t mom intend for us all to go together?”

“Isn’t it? With this, hasn’t mom done it out of concern so that Manami and oniichan can go three times?”

“Let’s say we could split it in three times, isn’t one person’s share on the last trip not covered?…”

“Chicchichi. On the contrary, if oniichan and Manami board the boat joined by the genitals…”

“…”

He-hey.

That may be a prison direct trip tour.

I *AHEM* cleared my throat and started anew,

“Then, as Zonmi, Kyouko, and Manami will come, what do we do about the remaining person?”

“Errrm. Since it’s these members, wouldn’t it be proper that the left over share went to that red dragon kid?”

Against my inquiry, Kyouko calmly reacted.

“It ended up coming to that…”

“? Do you have any objection?”

“… It’s nothing. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Though Iris is certainly a cherished comrade, I can’t picture her coming on a trip with all of us.

For starters, as I know neither where she lives nor what she usually does, would we be able to get along well?

Despite embracing that uneasiness, I didn’t find any good reason to oppose it.

In the end, we entrusted Manami to make an appointment with Iris to do a single rehearsal and, like that, we parted.

× × ×

Some days later.

The day we all had decided as suitable, us five, me, Zonmi, Kyouko, Iris, and Manami, turned up at Yokohama’s harbor.

… Surprisingly, I feel that up till now we had never gathered these members to go somewhere. At the summer festival, Kyouko didn’t come at first.

The feeling of the sea breeze brought by the wind was pleasant.

It would be the best if there was a young lady here clad in a swimsuit, but regrettably, there was no one apart from us, just some old guys with fishing rods who seemed to be looking afar.

“This is weird. Chiharu, is this the correct place?”

“Yeah. According to the map, there’s no doubt, but…”

“For now, let’s try waiting a bit more. If even then people don’t turn up, we better phone to ask.”

“So it seems.”

Accepting Kyouko’s suggestion, we seated on a nearby bench and watched the situation for a bit.

After a few minutes wait.

Like before, no other pa.s.sengers but us showed up, but instead, a single car parked at the harbor.

I don’t know much about cars, but I realized.

That car with a lacquered surface and tinted windows, unless I become a yakuza[6] or a performer, it’s a luxury item that there’s no way I can afford.

The sliding door opened.

What kind of person could be riding inside?

… Surely, it can be none other but a guy with a V-shaped scar that works in a freelance occupation that starts with ‘ya’[7].

However.

That prediction of mine seemed to be off by large.

The one who showed up from inside was a young… Lady dressed in a maid outfit.

“Chiharu…!? Be careful… That woman…”

“…? An acquaintance?”

As if she was an expert at cosplay[8], it seems she donned the maid uniform with the casualness of a professional.

Her age, around the early twenties?

She was a womanperson with gla.s.ses that suited her sharp glance and serious demeanor.

Those features were of a breathtaking beauty, but, for good or bad, around me (in the eyes of strangers) there were lots of pretty girls.

I wouldn’t get much of an impact if she were a regular beauty, but—

In her there’s a point that made difference.

That point impossible to miss was her b.o.o.bs.

… Oops! Darn!

In the heat of the moment, I let out the answer.

So.

Despite her looks, by themselves, were already eye-catching, additionally showily decking out her figure, there were those two big b.r.e.a.s.t.s like saying “It’s not enough!”.

Hoping Worrying that the b.u.t.tons on her blouse popped out, my eyes got unintentionally fixed on her glamorous body.

What’s with those b.r.e.a.s.t.s… Are they at the level where a hamster could shelter itself from the rain below them?

“”””…*STARE*——…””””

“… Ah!”

This is bad.

It seems the girls around me have gotten wind of my wicked thoughts.

I could come back to my senses thanks to the silent killing intent of the surrounding girls.

“… How shameless. Doing perverted things so early in the morning? How filthy. Has Chiharu’s thinking ability degenerated to the level of a mongrel?”

“E-Errrm. What’s the matter?”

“Heh. So Haru likes womenpeople with big b.r.e.a.s.t.s—. That’s the reason—, so that’s why his reactions towards my body were so lukewarm (monotone)”

“… Hun! Entranced by lumps of meat like those… Thou hast fallen low, monster tamer.”

“Kyouko… Even Iris!?”

…Me, am I thinking too much?

The monster girl trio, each one looking to their own b.r.e.a.s.t.s, they are showing somewhat bitter faces.

Now that I mention it, I hadn’t paid much attention until now, but these chicks… They are all very lacking on the bust department.

“Lewd glances are forbidden!!”

“Mogaah!?”

As soon as I heard my sister’s voice, everything blackened out.

Wha-what’s this?

This thing in front of me… What are these two soft feelings!?

“Oniichan… Why are you ogling other women’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s? Why?”

“… Yeah?”

“Be reasonable! From the cradle to the grave, oniichan can look only at Manami’s b.o.o.bs!”

“…”

I realized it was my sister who was feeding me this preaching.

Somewhat nostalgic.

Specifically, it tastes like early infancy… Could this warm feeling I can sense through the cloth…!?

It seems my head has been put inside Manami’s T-shirt.

“O-Oi. My breath… My breaaaath!? Mogaaaaaaah!?”

Since Manami was hugging me so tightly I couldn’t escape to the point of suffocation, caught between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, in the end I ended lacking in oxygen.

Oi oi.

If ‘cause of death = suffocation by getting caught between his blood-related little sister’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s’ makes it to the morning news… If it makes it.

I-in that case, wouldn’t it be the worst possible development!?

“Kusumi Chiharu-sama… Am I wrong?”

Getting out somehow from inside my sister’s T-shirt, turning my head to look at the maid uniform-wearing gla.s.ses young woman, I let out a husky voice.

“Y-Yes. I’m certainly Kusumi Chiharu, but… Have we met somewhere?”

Wait.

Though I’ve replied without thinking, calling out to us with this timing, could it be that this person… Could she be someone from the travel agency that’s hosting the cruising tour?

“Monster Tamer… Dost fall back a bit.”

“Chiharu, please step back a little.”

For some reason, Zonmi & Iris spoke at once with a sharp glance.

Me, Kyouko and Manami, unable to catch up with the current events, couldn’t do but become totally dumbfounded.

“So, what the heck does a demon want with us?”

“… Amazing. Even though I kept to a minimum my release of magic power to the exterior so that you couldn’t realize my true ident.i.ty in the least. As expected of the scion of the McKenzie bloodline… Do I have to say something like that?”

“What an honor. Having a demon expressly inquiring on my lineage…”

“Wait a minute. I don’t catch what you’re saying, what’s a demon? Is this lady in fact a monster?”

“… No, Chiharu.”

“Monsters and demons are different things[9]. Demon is the generic term to refer to those who rule over the monsters. Either power or influence… In general, they are being incomparably superior to monsters.”

“Even I… I’ve heard this talk from daddy…

Those known as demons are existences alike royalty[10] and n.o.bility[11] on the human world…

The person who bears the most influence from among the demons, called the ‘Maou’, rules over the entirety of the Netherworld…”

“… I see.”

In this world there are two kinds of Maou[12].

Namely,

The monster tamer king that rules from the shadows of the human world through the IMA—Maou.

Rising above the entirety of the monsters, the king that reigns over the Netherworld—Maou.

It seems that this last one Maou is chosen as the most distinguished from among the demons.

“… Hun! Be it a demon or a monster, it does not matter. From the start, any one who opposes me shall perish by fire… Nothing more.”

“… I’ve ended up being hated simply for being a demon… Be relieved. Since we don’t intend to oppose you… Rather, it’s the opposite.”

“If you want to earn our trust… Start with a valid reason… For what reason have you approached us?”

“Yes. Of course. Later I’ll tell you to your hearts’ content.

However…”

The young woman dressed in a maid suit made her eyes shine suspiciously.

“Since we are here, let’s head to the Other World.”

The instant after she let out those meaningful words.

*SPLAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!*

A sheet of spray swelled up from the surface of the sea.

What appeared in front of us, as if splitting the surface, was a giant fish 20 meters[13] long shining in gold.

“Uoh!?”

I don’t understand well what’s happening, but… We must flee…!

Even being a split-second decision, it was already too late.

When I realized it, *GULP*, we had been swallowed by the giant fish.

Is this… For real…

Despite us having been invited to a luxury liner cruising tour… Why have we been eaten by a giant fish?

Certainly, this fish… With its golden scales, it feels a bit more gorgeous than your regular fish…

Even so, it’s strange.

It’s true that it was a surprise attack but, couldn’t this attack from the enemy have been avoided?

It may be me thinking over things too much, it seemed like Zonmi and Iris took the attack without even trying to ward it off.

… But, my thinking ability’s working can’t keep any longer.

It may be that my mind has suffered a short-circuit due to the sudden flow of the events.

Swallowed by a mysterious giant fish, I lost consciousness.