Chapter 472: Ancarin

How am I supposed to know why Regine ran off crying like that?!

Don’t tell me she was scared off by me? But she clearly…she clearly recognized who I am so why won’t she at least give me a hug… sob… I’m sure a poor Devil… even my own Demoness doesn’t like me… As a Devil, can I be any more useless, I should just kill myself…

Actually… dying isn’t all that simple either… Let’s skip that instead.

“Master? Is master back?”

Not long after Regine left, Ancarin came running over in a hurry. Ever since giving birth to a child, Ancarin’s body seemed to have become more and more like a lady’s. Her waist was just as narrow as before, but her breasts had even more physics installed into them as she ran towards me… I don’t remember them being so big!

“Ancarin, it’s good to see you again.” Because of that previous trauma with Regine, I didn’t try to welcome her with a hug this time. Instead, I stood there stoically and waved at her, after which I was hugged/tackled by an excited Ancarin.

“Master… it’s really you… I’m not dreaming, after all…” Ancarin buried her head in my chest as she sobbed. Unlike Regine, Ancarin immediately let forth all the fears and insecurities she had kept buried in her chest upon seeing me. “We were so worried when master was forced to leave all of a sudden under such perilous circumstances. Everyone in the Demoness Abode has been praying to you ever since… that’s the only way Regine and I can feel master’s presence… but now that master is back…”

And here I was worried that Ancarin would just run off like Regine… pfft. Still, she’s really emotional today… and those mountains… they’ve been growing… sigh… three years really is a long time… even she has grown up and has a child now… speaking of which…

“So I’ve heard you gave birth to a daughter, Ancarin?”

“Mhm, a very cute one too. She takes after me.” The moment the topic drifted to her child, her eyes immediately radiated the aura of a loving mother. Seeing that, I couldn’t help but think to myself, whoever marries her is a fortunate one. However…

“Thankfully, she came out as a girl.” Ancarin added on, words as strange as the expression she had on while saying them.

Hold on, was I just hallucinating? I could have sworn I saw something really dangerous just now. There’s no way my Ancarin would ever show such an expression. I must be hallucinating!

“Sister Ancarin, it’s good to see you after so long.” Seeing as my little reunion with Ancarin was finally over, Jezsere politely stepped forth to chat with Ancarin. Yet as they continued to chat, her eyes started to shine with a strange sense of anticipation. “How is little Nari? Is she still choking while drinking milk? And what about little Hayley? Jezsere just loves her little wagging tail!”

Little Nari was Ancarin’s daughter while Hayley was clearly Moranthal’s daughter, given her wolf-like features.

“The kids are still taking their afternoon nap.” Having said that, Ancarin smiled sweetly, reverting right back to that loving mother I saw in her just now. “Master, how about we talk more at home?”

“Oh, that’s good too.”

With my approval, Ancarin began the task of leading us to her home, though her arms were wrapped around my own like a squid’s, as if she was afraid of being separated from me for even a second. Seeing her so reliant on me, I couldn’t help but get a little happy myself. Even though there was that little misunderstanding with Regine, at least Ancarin’s feelings towards me hadn’t changed.

Upon stepping into the village, the first thing we noticed was that there were only women here, of all types and personalities. There was the mature, steady kind. There was the lively, mischievous type. And there was the type that was still learning to speak. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if even the mosquitoes in this village were female.

A while later, we arrived back at Ancarin’s home, at which point she turned to address one of the women passing by. “Send word to the kitchen, have them prepare the best food, and quickly. Also, I want everyone assembled in the great hall within an hour. Tell them I have something important to announce.”

Ancarin’s home, as it turned out, was the first building constructed in the village, one that was modelled after a church. This was the true Demoness Abode, the starting point of this village of only women.

“Please hold on a moment, master, the food will be ready shortly.” She led me up to the second floor of this church-like building and into a small room where we had a seat.

Up till now, her warm welcome truly made me feel blessed. Yet that only made it that much sadder when I recalled how Regine acted…

After mulling over it for a while, I finally decided to ask about this. “Err… so does Regine hate me, or something?”

To which Ancarin gave me a quizzical look and asked, “Why would Regine hate master?”

“Because… she ran away the moment she recognised me…” To be honest, I still couldn’t believe that Regine would ever hate me, but the fact of the matter was that she did. So what caused this drastic change of heart?

“Hahahaha. Master, I think you are mistaken. Regine has probably gone off to take a shower.” She laughed heartily before suddenly becoming solemn. “Because of what happened last time, Regine has always been a little self-conscious…”

“Regine…” That’s right… she would never hate me… she was always just a little self-conscious…

Now that Ancarin had brought up this matter, I suddenly recalled what it was like in the past when the three of us travelled together. Every night, she would always take a bath before sleeping. And if she didn’t, she would never sleep near me.

That’s right…

“It was Regine who informed me of your return. That’s how I found out.” Ancarin smiled at me with crescent eyes. “I would have never expected master to become so beautiful in just three years… I am nothing when compared to the master’s beauty.”

Hearing her praise my beauty, I was actually rather pleased, except… I swear, I’ve had enough now… what’s all this talk about beauty? I’m clearly a dashingly handsome lad, not some lady. Let’s get that straight here.

“Master, Mo Ning has been settled in as well.” In the midst of our conversation, Zurnalin stepped in through the door. As she promised me before, Mo Ning had maintained her horse form all the while as we were in the Western Human Realms. She was one of the trump cards I had in the search for Nicole, and as long as she kept her disguise up, no one would be the wiser of her identity. After all, the disguise of a Nightmare Steed that could freely navigate the dream realm was not one to be taken lightly.

“Good, you guys can have a seat first, the food should be sent up soon.”

Knowing that I hadn’t seen Ancarin in years, Zurnalin and the two siblings kindly kept silent as Ancarin and I continued chatting about how Demoness Abode was built up.

At the very beginning, setting up Demoness Abode was Ferti’nier’s plan. Even though this village was built to worship me, I had never once received a single drop of Faith Power. That was because they were sucked dry by that dastardly Ferti’nier.

But that’s besides the point; before I had turned into a Fallen Angel, I did not even have the ability to absorb said power. Now, however, things were different. Unfortunately, it still didn’t change the fact that Ferti’nier was sucking this reservoir dry…

Hmph. There’s no helping all the Faith Power I lost to Fertinier, but now that I’m back, she’s getting them for free any longer.

“Little brother, you’re being too distant. It’s just a little Faith Power. Once your big sis has gathered enough Faith Power, she can reform her body and leave. At that point, your big sis might have even recovered her power as a Demigod. Whoever our little brother wants beaten up, his big sis would be more than happy to oblige.”

The moment I contemplated reclaiming my Faith Power from the Demoness Abode, Ferti’nier unshockingly came out to object. Yet while I might have not liked the idea, I couldn’t deny the logic behind her words. Our current shared body situation was undoubtedly awkward for me. And even though I had control of the body, the fact of the matter was that I had a soul of the opposite gender inside me. Furthermore, if she were to ever recover her Demigod powers, I would be a lot safer during the Apocalypse.

“That’s right. Don’t forget that our little brother’s pee pee is still on vacation because his big sis is here.” Being one with my thoughts, Ferti’nier immediately latched onto my weak point. “Once your big sis has enough power to reform her body and leave, our little brother’s pee pee will naturally come home as well. After all, our little brother’s soul is a male’s, and one’s physical appearance is directly linked to one’s soul.”

Makes sense… I have nothing to say to that at all… but why does it still feel like something is off?

Bah… that’s not important now. What’s important is that the reason I’m still not a man is because she is subconsciously fighting over my body with me.

However, as time ticked by, I began to realise what was off about this whole scenario. As a Demigod and someone sent to protect me, there was really no need for her to fight over my body, was there? So all that nonsense about me being genderless was because she willed it?