Another arc complete! The manga moves extremely fast, and the scanlation group is catching up to what I"m putting out very quickly, but I still don"t think I"ll be able to do more than one chapter a week. Oh well, I"ll keep going at my own pace. Enjoy!
Chapter 20 - Hero, Helping the Demon Lord "C"mon, you should stop, grandpa," Angelica called out. Then, she performed a magnificent, heroic leap, landed in front of me, and—thrust out her right hand, stopping Bynedee in his tracks.
"Angelica, move out of the way…"
The man felt a lot more subdued compared to earlier, after seeing what his granddaughter did. Everyone was naturally weak to their own grandchildren.
"Grandpa, I know he makes your blood boil, but even the demon lord doesn"t really know how to deal with you when you"re acting up like this."
Those were some rather disturbing words I just heard.
"When you say "makes your blood boil," are you talking about the berserkers, people with cursed blood forcing them to do naught but battle?"
The berserkers produced many heroes throughout history. It wouldn"t have been odd if there were a couple more special cases out there.
Angelica shook her head. "Mm, no, not that. Grandpa, you know, a long time ago, he wanted to be an adventurer. Even now, he still hasn"t given up on that dream."
It was an even dumber explanation than I expected!
Bynedee fell to his knees like a puppet that just had its strings cut.
"I wanted to go on an adventure… But, I never could… Because…"
What was the reason? Did he have some kind of disease or condition or something?
"My parents wouldn"t let me! They stopped me from leaving, telling me to cut the c.r.a.p!"
And you just rolled over because of that?! At that point, you should have proven your spirit by running away from home and doing it anyway!!! I really wanted to yell that at him, but, imperfect as he may be, he was still my father-in-law.
"Well, that"s kinda how it is, demon lord. I bet you think he"s a huge pain in the a.s.s, but, try to let it slide."
Angelica looked at me. It felt like she was almost treating me like a parent… just a little bit.
"Ahhh, you really helped me out there……… I don"t know why you think I"d be irritated. That was a good workout, I didn"t mind at all."
"Can"t you just honestly admit that he was a pain? Even though you"re a demon lord, you get really fixated on weird, stupid things."
And now she just looked exasperated. If she thought demon lords threw their weight around with no regard for others, she was clearly mistaken. It was more like, because of our high positions, we knew the value of laying a good foundation for future relationships.
"Grandpa was a trusted kingdom official, but for a time he was bitter about not becoming an adventurer. Then I, his grandchild, became the hero. That rekindled those feelings."
"I see… It"s not that I don"t understand Father"s feelings, but… It would be best to simply be happy that your grandchild was able to fulfill your dream. Although, as easy as that sounds, I do know that people"s hearts can be complex."
"See, you"re always worrying about dumb stuff, you demon lord."
"Be that as it may—Angelica, I thank you, from the bottom of my heart." I placed my hand on my chest to show my grat.i.tude. "Being helped by a hero is a rather precious experience."
Angelica let out a big, exaggerated sigh. "Yeah, whatever. I"ve also been saved by the demon lord, something that should never happen to a hero."
Despite her words, she didn"t look altogether that annoyed. As I thought, thanking her was the right call.
Clap clap clap clap—someone was applauding us; it was Laetia.
"Father, Mother, do you see now? Our family is getting along very nicely. There"s nothing for you to be worried about."
"I suppose so. Just go on and live as you please, Laetia. I"ll do something about your father."
With Sastina"s resignation, I finally completed my mission successfully. I"ve been acknowledged by my new wife"s, Laetia"s, parents! I wouldn"t be exaggerating to say that I"ve overcome the most fearsome enemy that I"d ever faced!
On our way back, I found myself in an incredibly good mood. I was so giddy that I just started humming out of nowhere.
By the way, we didn"t use teleportation to get back home because Laetia said she wanted to enjoy the charm of actually traveling, so we were returning by carriage. It"s true; reaching your destination in an instant made it feel like you weren"t even traveling at all. Also, using it to commute to work all the time was like I was just asking to get fat, so I should really watch how much I used it.
"Angelica, if there is anything you desire, you just tell me. Your father will buy it for you."
"It"s still way too early to call yourself my father. You"ve been acting a bit too c.o.c.ky lately, don"t forget that you"re still a demon lord," Angelica responded icily.
So being overfamiliar was a no-no, huh. It was still hard for me to gauge our distance, but maybe she would be equally creeped out if her real father were trying to be overly familiar with her… I guess I just had to slowly, carefully become closer to her.
"Demon lord, you"re being really creepy right now, grinning like that. You need to put on a more demon lordy face, like something evil and menacing."
"Wouldn"t you hate it if your father walked around intimidating everyone?"
"At least it"d be better than that stupid grin you got right now."
Well that was blunt. Not that I expected her to suddenly start calling me "Dad" or anything.
However, I was the demon lord. One who attained all his desires. Hear me, Angelica; one day, you shall call me "Dad"! Not only that, I"m even planning for you to use "Papa"! I will not be satisfied with such meager progress in our relationship as this!
"Galtau, you seem quite fired up about something~"
"Hmhm, can you guess why, Laetia?"
"Hmm, maaaybe, you"re thinking about having a child?"
Now that was an embarra.s.sing miss.
"Wow… You"re the worst… That"s really despicable……"
Angelica looked like she had just laid eyes on the filthiest thing she"d ever seen.
"Wait, no, you"re wrong! That wasn"t it at all!!!"
Fl.u.s.tered, I denied the idea with everything I had. I guess even a demon lord could end up in situations where the only option was to beg for forgiveness.
— — Chapter 21