CH 31

“Huh… Are you for real, Kurokiri?”

“I’m serious. I mean, I would never suggest this as a joke.”

A week after Chirito assumed his race as a kin, Kurokiri makes an outlandish comment to me at dawn as I am preparing to put on my shoes for school at the front door of my house.

“Then what was all that effort to obscure my true identity… Anyway, please tell me what you want me to tell them one more time.”

“There’s no helping it. Well, for now:

・The Demon King can transform human beings into his own kin under certain conditions.

・You are a non-human being called Kirijin, and you are a kin of the Demon King.

・There are currently several Kirijin.

・Although a kin cannot defy the commands of their master, the master of the Kirijin (in other words, me) is fundamentally unwilling to issue commands against their will.

Please convey this to them. You may change the degree to which you disseminate the information and how you present it as you desire with the exception of the very first information. However, the structure of the dungeon and the demon inhabiting it and my abilities cannot be told to them.”

How wide the range of dissemination will be up to me and whom I discuss it with? Are you likely implying that I should consult with my father to settle the matter?

Then, from the second point onwards, the information should be limited to those who are prominent within the country.

But you certainly are quick‐sighted, aren’t you? It would be an exceptional advantage for humans if the structure of the dungeon, the demons, and your abilities were to be relayed to them, yet you have forbidden me to deliver such information as if it were a natural right.

Well, since you have requested me to do it, all I can do is comply.

“Houki.”

“Is something wrong, Miss? You’ve been murmuring something to yourself since a few minutes ago.”

“I will be absent from school today. And please promptly inform my father ‘that I have something to confide in him’.”

“Eh! Eh? Miss!?”

After removing my shoes, I return to my room for a change of clothes before lifting the restrictions ≪Fog Cloak≫.

“M-miss. At least, a place has been created for you to converse with the Master. Wait, you are putting on ≪Fog Cloak≫!?”

“Thank you, Houki. Well, I have no alternative but to activate it since it’s related to what we’re going to discuss.”

I leave the room and head for my father’s room.

“Father. It’s Ryo. Excuse me.”

“Ah, en… ter!?”

Oh, you are startled as I suspected. But that’s only natural. He carries the face of a man who rightfully deserves to have a daughter, and right now, I am clad in the fog despised by this city because of that dungeon.

“Is that… your skill?”

“Yeah. The name of the skill is ≪Fog Cloak≫. It is a skill obtained by those who have joined the ‘Kirijin’, the kin of the Demon King, the ‘King of the Devouring Black Fog’.”

As I am explaining, my father displays an expression of bewilderment and astonishment.

“≪Fog Cloak≫… no, more importantly, being a kin of the Demon King! What do you mean! Ryo! Explain yourself immediately…”

“Of course, I will. That’s why I’m here in this form.”

And thus the explanation followed.

What really transpired on that day? How did I end up becoming a Kirijin? What kind of existence is a Kirijin? Is Ichiko really alive? There is more than one Kirijin. As far as I know, what kind of thoughts does Kurokiri hold. Piece by piece, I conveyed this information to him. And each time he would learn a revelation that was previously unknown to him, the bitterness on my father’s countenance would deepen.

However, there are things I neglected to share with him. About Houki and Chirito. And that there is a room in the basement of our house that leads to the dungeon. About how Kurokiri vanquished the Demon King of the “Demon’s Fortress”, the “Demon King of Dominating Herculean Strength”.

And then, after the explanation has concluded, my father opens his mouth.

“Hah. Although I don’t want to believe it, it seems circumstantial and logical to trust you…”

“Father, I apologize for not being able to pass this on to you until now. But please be assured that I have prepared myself thoroughly.”

“No, there is no need to be prepared… Your master is Kurokiri, you say? You did a remarkable job of sharing the information, even though you were ordered to do so. Since that is the case, I will try to work things out with my superiors. Of course, it will be in the direction of aiding you.”

After saying this, my father calls somewhere with a telephone nearby and initiates a discussion.

Then he put down the phone.

“Phew. I’m sorry, Ryo. I have already briefed them on everything apart from your identity, but could you tell them the same story again to the higher-ups?”

“My bad, but that’s not happening.”

“!?”

All of a sudden, a child’s voice can be heard coming from somewhere. When I glance around, there is a child in the corner of the room composed of a thin haze… a fog.

“You are…!”

“Good morning, father-in-law. I am Kurokiri. But since my main body can’t step out of the dungeon very often, this is how you and I will be communicating via the demon under my control.”

“Who is your father-in-law! I will not yield my daughter to you!”

“So you’re making fun of me now!”[i]

“Practically, though, your daughter has already been given to meー”

“Kurokiri, please don’t agitate my father either!”

“Hahahaha.”

Ah, what are both Kurokiri and my father doing… My head is beginning to ache…

“Well, let’s save all those details for later. However, I hope you will agree that there is no possibility of sending Ryo to such a meeting place. At worst, after extracting all the information they can, they might simply tear her apart from behind the scenes.”

“That won’t happen… is what I would like to say but the hardliners may be willing to pull that much off.”

“In certain cases, the probability that other Demon Kings’ kin are intermingled among the Diet members can’t be ruled out. I mean, it has probably taken place in some countries, you know.”

“I wouldn’t even want to ponder that…”

What Kurokiri is pointing out is certainly a plausible scenario… Moreover, if that were to be true, the whole world would be in chaos all over again…

“Well, for that reason, if the higher-ups insist on an explanation before them, I’ll be the one to go. That’s why I’m borrowing the mouth of this guy who can only commit a little mischief on its own in the dungeon. Oh, and if I can also bring a boy named Yaharai Chirito along with me, I would like to take him along on a surreptitious tour of the assembly.”

“Chirito-kun? Ah, that reminds me, he is the bearer of the ≪Personal Analyze≫. That would definitely prove handy.”

Thereafter, the procedures are settled one after another in front of me.

“Ah… Even so, I’ll be a hero if this goes well, but if it fails, I’ll have no choice but to flee at night with my whole family.”

“We’ll think about it when the time comes.”

I can only say this if that happens.

“Haha, Ryo. Thank you.”

“Or rather, you can join me as my kin when the circumstances are such. You are more than welcome.”

You want my father to be your kin? Well, I can understand your feelings since he is a brilliant man.

“If possible, I’d appreciate it if I could be spared from that. Well then, let’s be on our way.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s going to happen that way either. Let’s head out.”

And with that, my father and Kurokiri set off for the assembly.

T/N:

[i] This one is sort of hard to translate. It’s a sentence that can be interpreted several ways, something like a pun. The first meaning can be said that you’re poking fun at me/you’re ridiculing me. And it can also mean a comedy man. And also, it can mean Kurokiri is saying he already committed sexual intercourse with Ryo