Chapter 126 - A Wizard's Natural Enemy (2)

I watched the beautiful red-haired woman seated before me, taking in her voluptuous figure and gentle, benevolent smile.

A thin yet luxurious-looking white dress outlined her figure, while gold ornaments adorned her long, bare feet.

On the surface, she looked like a beautiful Saintess with a sacred, gentle air.

She was the true form of the Student Council President I'd exorcised in the world of the Anomaly Dating Sim.

And the demon who, for some reason, had helped me against Raziel during the brawl at the mall in the past.

The Duchess of Hell, Gremory.

I understood she'd appeared like this because she was interested in me, but honestly, I had no idea what she actually wanted.

If she'd considered me, the owner of <The Lesser Key of Solomon>, a threat, she would've simply let Raziel kill me back then.

Maybe she was in a situation where she needed the magical power I possessed.

...Or maybe, since she was a demon, she'd simply taken an interest in me and wanted to toy with me.

For now, those were the only possibilities that came to mind.

And as I racked my brain while trying to keep my expression calm, Gremory's eyes crinkled in amusement.

"You seem pretty startled. Should I have sent a formal invitation?"

"Not really. I just got excited because you're dressed like an SSR Saintess character from a gacha game."

"Hahaha~ I'm glad you like it."

After giggling in amusement, Gremory elegantly extended her right leg toward me.

"Remember when you said you'd lick me like a cute little dog if I saved you?"

...I remembered.

'If you want, I can lick you like a dog. Will you spare me?'

I'd said that to provoke Raziel while he had me pinned down and was looking down at me in the mall.

Then Gremory had barged in and, in the end, saved me.

Gremory rested her chin on one arm and idly wiggled her bare foot, pale and delicate as it moved.

The fine gold threads of the ornament wrapped around her foot slid smoothly with the motion, gleaming sensually.

I shrugged and answered without batting an eye.

"Sorry, offer expired. You should've grabbed me and demanded it back then."

"Really? What a shame~."

Gremory likewise gave a light shrug and answered in a playful voice.

...Then she lowered her leg, planted her bare foot on the floor, and rose from her seat.

The sound wasn't especially loud, yet I heard the soft press of Gremory's foot against the floor with perfect clarity.

I immediately summoned the Chains of Light from the grimoire <The Lesser Key of Solomon>.

Raziel and Gremory.

By my standards, both were so overwhelmingly powerful that there was no point trying to decide which one was stronger.

But unlike Raziel, against whom I had no countermeasure, Gremory was a demon. With <The Lesser Key of Solomon> in my hands, I had the right matchup to suppress her.

Rattle-!

The Chains of Light shot out, locking shackles around Gremory's neck and limbs.

Clink....

Gremory raised one hand and looked at the shackle around her wrist for a moment.

".........."

Then she smiled softly.

Before the Chains of Light could even begin pulling her, Gremory started walking of her own accord.

Clink....

As the distance between us shrank, the chains went slack.

My gaze locked.

".........!"

With glowing shackles around her neck and limbs, Gremory calmly walked toward me.

...It wasn't that something had gone wrong.

The power of Solomon's grimoire had properly restrained Gremory.

Yet even with her power restricted, Gremory calmly approached me under her own power.

The distance between us shrank.

'Does she have some trick I don't know about?'

Keeping my guard up, I unconsciously took a step back.

"⸺."

"⸺?"

At that, Gremory lifted her heels and pattered two quick little steps forward on tiptoe.

Then, apparently finding her own behavior funny, she covered her mouth and laughed innocently.

"Hoo, hoo-hahaha~."

".........."

I frowned and glared at Gremory.

"...What are you plotting?"

"Who knows? I was about to ask you the same thing."

Gremory stopped laughing and asked in a gentle voice.

"Why does the one holding the chains fear the one bound by them?"

Gremory's beautiful crimson eyes shimmered seductively.

"-What?"

"If I posed any danger to you, you wouldn't have allowed me to stand here like this."

...I was afraid of Gremory?

No. That wasn't it.

My gaze wavered at Gremory's words.

'Yo-han!'

...For some reason, Ellie came to mind.

"You don't know how to react. You're used to malice and contempt, and when someone tries to kill you, you can simply pay them back in kind, but...."

Gremory's voice echoed.

"Because you've never received kindness that asked for nothing in return."

With the Chains of Light hanging loose from her, Gremory's hand came toward my cheek as though to caress it.

"A wizard who mocks demons is afraid of another person's pure kindness. ...It's like a fairy tale."

".........!!"

I snapped back to my senses and hastily slapped Gremory's hand away.

Smack-.

A chill ran through me.

...When had she gotten close enough to be within arm's reach?

I kept my expression composed as I looked at Gremory standing right in front of me.

"...If you're looking for some orphan bastard who grew up starved for his parents' attention, why not go to an orphanage?"

I spoke in a low voice.

"There are plenty of brats younger and cuter than me."

".........."

"Thanks for the kindness, but you've got the wrong guy."

I gave the red-eyed demon, who quietly listened to every word I said, an icy stare.

"The world's overflowing with people worse off than me. And I'm not someone to pity in the first place."

"Doesn't matter."

Gremory's lips parted, and her voice came out gentle yet firm.

"Other people don't matter. You're the one I'm interested in."

With a serious expression, she reached out again with the hand I'd slapped away and gently brought it to mine.

Our fingertips met cautiously.

The moment I tried to knock her hand away, my vision lurched. My body staggered.

".........!"

A wave of sleepiness crashed over me at the sound of Gremory's voice.

Her soft fingers slipped between mine until our hands were interlocked.

"It's okay, I'll never let go."

'Shit....'

Yo-han's body gave out and collapsed against Gremory.

".........."

As the strength drained from the hand gripping the grimoire, <The Lesser Key of Solomon> slipped limply from his grasp.

Thud- clang!

When the grimoire hit the floor, the Chains of Light binding Gremory shattered and scattered.

Flap! Flap-flap-!

<The Lesser Key of Solomon> frantically flapped its pages, calling out to Yo-han, but he didn't wake.

Gremory didn't so much as glance at Solomon's grimoire and simply wrapped both arms around Yo-han, holding him close.

...And at that moment, Yo-han's coat bulged as the grimoires <De Vermis Mysteriis> and <Baopuzi> burst out.

Vmmm-!

Like a Romfan Villainess charging in with a kitchen knife after someone stole her prince, <De Vermis Mysteriis> raised its metal-bound corners and flew straight at Gremory.

'You fucking bitch! I shall kill you!'

Baopu-!

Sensing its master's danger, <Baopuzi> joined in from the side and flew at her too.

Both were knocked helplessly away by the Barrier Gremory had put up.

Vmmm- Baopu!?

Clang- thud-.

They dropped pathetically to the floor.

The Invisible Vampire Grizzly, who had been standing by for Yo-han's orders, started to growl, but....

"Grrraa...!"

Seeing Yo-han's back shielding Gremory's body, it faltered.

"Gyaa...."

Since it couldn't sense any murderous intent for the moment, Grizzly dispersed and returned inside <De Vermis Mysteriis>.

The space fell quiet.

Gremory hugged Yo-han tightly, his face buried in the crook between her shoulder and neck, and gently stroked his hair.

It wasn't something I went around telling people, but....

Personally, I wasn't fond of subculture stories about familial love.

Well, more precisely, if one was entertaining, I could enjoy it well enough.

'Parents can find all the strength in the world for their children!'

Whenever a parent character spouted that kind of saintly, virtuous sentiment as though it were ordinary common sense, it made me want to puke. Disgusting.

Of course, parents who genuinely cherished and loved their children definitely existed. There were probably quite a few.

I just didn't see that as something ordinary.

It was more fantastical than a fireball.

That was why, personally, I wished it weren't treated as ordinary common sense that parents loved their children, or that children naturally deserved to be loved.

Then the other kids from my orphanage who'd been abandoned by their parents could walk around with their heads held a little higher.

And kids whose parents loved them could feel that much more special themselves.

Of course, that didn't mean I wanted the treatment of children to go back to the days of the British Industrial Revolution. I had no desire to mine coal.

Just a kid's fantasy.

Right. So why had this old fantasy come back to me?

I'd briefly thought things like this back in elementary school, then dropped them because they were pointless.

Huh? Elementary school? Something was wrong.

Because I'd never even set foot in an elementary school-.

My eyelids fluttered softly, and a tiny hand rubbed my eyes.

A black-haired child with soft, chubby cheeks woke up, mumbling sleepily.

"Mmm... buh-buh...."

-I was five years old.

And.

"Is Yo-han awake?"

A gentle voice rang out. A beautiful red-haired woman in a pink apron came over from the kitchen.

"Did you sleep well?"

It was Gremory, my mother.

I gave a small nod.

"Mm...."

"Then what should we play? The weather's nice. Want to go out with Mommy?"

My still-drowsy brain began turning at full speed.

'Go out? An outing? Where? The orphanage! How dare she!?'

I tottered out from under the blanket and over to the toy box.

"Don't wanna go out. ...Wanna play at home."

But as I tried to take out the blocks, I accidentally tipped the box over.

Clatter....

The toys spilled everywhere, and panic flickered in my eyes.

"...I'll clean it up after I play."

"Hehe~ Mommy can clean it up."

I crouched down and fiddled with a block.

"I'll clean it up."

She was pregnant and her belly was already big, so I didn't want to make things any harder for her.

I didn't want her to think I was a troublesome kid.

".........?"

Something was strange.

I looked at Gremory's belly. It wasn't swollen.

...Then why had I thought she was pregnant?

"What's wrong?"

Gremory smiled and tilted her head.

I turned my head away and fiddled with a block.

".........."

Whatever. Anyway.

'An outing? What a sloppy Move.'

I played with the blocks while sneaking glances at Gremory.

'I'm not giving her an easy opening to ditch me. Game on!'

And....

Gremory sat demurely beside Yo-han and watched him play with the blocks.