Parent and Child
“DANGEEEEEER!?!?!?”
I bent my back as far as it would go to dodge the attack. As I stared up at the ceiling, an arm with demonically long claws flashed past my field of vision.
Hey, hey, hey! Don’t screw with me like that!?
If I hadn’t learned the limbo dance from my old man on Trinidad Island in the West Indies, I’d be dead!
“Takeee thiiiis!!!”
“Guh!?”
I sprang back up like a coil and slammed my head into him. Don’t underestimate the power of two Body Enhancement Rings!!
The two rings, used without restraint, lost their light, and in exchange, I escaped the crisis with astonishing physical ability.
Alright, at this point it’s all or nothing. The Floating Magic Hands are unfortunately under repair. I don’t have any spare rings either, so once I use up the ones I’m wearing now, I’ll have no way to fight.
In other words, if I don’t finish this here, I lose. If I die, Salvia will eventually hit her limit too, and it’s a bad ending where everyone dies.
“Whew… well then, shall we do this…”
I rolled my arms and faced Hanneen. His body isn’t some grotesque, over-enhanced monstrosity like the buffed-up Baldo. Rather, it’s a muscular, human-like body with horns and wings. The differences from a human aren’t that extreme.
But a demon race is a being whose hair, blood, everything in their body, is made of mana. Their base physical abilities are on a completely different level from humans. They’re an entirely different species. And yet, aside from that, they look just like humans. It’s strange.
And here I am, clenching my fists to face someone like that. I really am an idiot.
As for weapons… honestly, I gave up on them.
I had no talent. Swinging a sword was no good, thrusting with a spear was no good, swinging an axe was no good. The only thing I was passable at was a bow, but I didn’t have the focus or talent to aim and shoot accurately in real combat.
My fights are always brawls. Me and the enemy. A brawl.
Beat them stupid until they shut up. That’s all I know.
So… all I can do is punch.
“Hnnngh!!!!”
“Guhhh………!!”
I land a blow and take a blow. Agonizing pain shot through my abdomen, but I endure and stay on my feet.
Engaging in barehanded combat against a demon race is beyond reckless. But this is always how I fight.
I mean, doesn’t this house have any soldiers!? It’s a noble’s residence, there should be at least one… No, Salvia’s probably stopping them. Against this thing, they’d be turned into mincemeat.
So what, you’re telling me to face this monster with no support whatsoever? Don’t be ridiculous…
Sure, I used to admire heroes. Reincarnated into another world, a long-lived race, a cool elf face, it sounded like a winning hand. But this world isn’t that kind.
Kill monsters and blood sprays everywhere, and the sensation of killing for the first time leaves a stain on your hands that never fades.
There’s no shortage of fights between humans either, and when I killed those bandits who attacked me long ago… I don’t even want to remember it.
That’s why I stopped those stupid death matches and started running that orphanage and doing business instead, so why am I dealing with this now?
“… Haah, I hate this… Body Enhancement.”
I stack even more body enhancement on top of what I was using earlier. Among magic, Body Enhancement Rings are used frequently, so including spares, I have four equipped.
Once you hit triple strength, muscle pain hits you at a genuinely lethal level, but if I die here, it’s all over anyway, so I grit my teeth.
“Oh…? I never thought a human capable of trading blows evenly with me existed—wh—!?”
A heavy grihk echoed as my fist buried into Hanneen’s cheek.
“I’m honestly glad you’re a martial-type demon and not a curse specialist. That’s three times better than dealing with sneaky tricks.”
“Kuhahaha! What a pleasing thing to say. Unfortunately, I was irritated from forcing myself into schemes that don’t suit me. I was in the mood to speak with my fists!!”
I’ve heard that demon races place great value on strength, and the man before me seems to be exactly that type. Even after taking a punch to the face, he didn’t bother hiding his surging excitement.
I wiped the blood from my hand and took my stance. It’s not splatter from him, it’s my own blood, from my fist torn open by the strain of triple enhancement. The liquid kept dripping nonstop, and I shook my hand to fling off as much as I could.
“… I hate drawn-out slugfests.”
“I feel the same way, Saint-dono.”
We traded fists and understood.
The enemy before me… is just like me.
“Hah!!!”
I stepped in first.
A godspeed strike, thrown with the intent of seizing the initiative, gouged into the flesh of Hanneen’s chest.
“Gyaaaaaah!!!”
“—!!”
But without flinching at all, he grabbed my arm with his left hand and crushed it.
“You’re wide open!!”
“Gyaaa—!?”
But I, too, didn't falter from the pain and smashed Hanneen’s groin with my right knee.
A life-and-death struggle where neither side takes a single step back.
Bones were crushed, blood flowed, flesh was torn—and still, neither loosened their grip. They did nothing but ground the other down.
And then, the match—
“Take this!!”
“Guhh… kah—”
—ended with Ale’s victory.
“Hah… hah… haaah…”
“…………”
Hanneen was slammed against the wall, silent. There was no will to resist left. It seems he’s accepted defeat.
“Alright then… see ya.”
As I raised my fist to deliver the finishing blow, an unexpected person threw herself in front of Hanneen to shield him. It was the maid, Jeanne.
“… What are you trying to do?”
“This person is… my father! So please—”
Father!? This demon had a kid!? That’s a shock.
Still, this is bad, isn’t it?
In this situation, killing Hanneen just became incredibly difficult. If I crush him while being shielded by such an innocent girl, the rumors alone would be awful…
Besides, Hanneen has probably killed hundreds of people. The victims of the curse incidents in Noirden were surely all caused by him, and it’s not hard to imagine what he did in the past to form a contract with the Noirden family. Everyone here understands that.
And yet, to shield this man in that situation—
“… Tch, you’re in the way!!”
“Kyah!!”
The one who blew her away was none other than Hanneen himself.
“This is the worst. To have the climax of a fight interrupted…”
“… Isn’t she supposed to be your daughter?”
“Hah? That thing? That’s a failed product born when I impregnated a Saintess as an experiment. A piece of trash that inherited neither holy power nor demon power. She’s not worthy of calling herself my daughter.”
“—!”
He glared coldly at Jeanne, who lay trembling on the ground, his eyes showing not the slightest expectation. Jeanne shuddered under his gaze.
… Ugh, this leaves a bad taste.
I’m not one to complain about other people’s family situations, but abuse is never pleasant. Even I, who’m not even a real father, raises kids with care. There are things you can do to children, and things you absolutely shouldn’t.
Yeah. Let’s kill him. Definitely. I’m getting pissed off now.
“… My interest has been spoiled. We’ll settle this another day.”
“No. I’m not letting you get away.”
“If you can catch me, by all means.”
“—!”
I tried to chase after Hanneen as he pulled away in an instant, but maybe I’ve hit the limit of Body Enhancement, strength drained from my body all at once.
Now of all times!? Crap, if he escapes here, this is going to be a huge problem…!
“Hah!!”
“Ngh! You—Jack!?”
The one who leapt out in front of Hanneen at that moment was Jack Noirden.
Wielding a short sword, he pressed the attack on Hanneen.
“Tch…!!”
But Hanneen didn’t stop. Even with those injuries, he held the advantage, easily deflecting Jack’s blade.
“Damn it… stop!!”
“… Hah… to stand before me with this level of skill is disappointing, young master. If you’d just played dead, you could’ve lived longer—‘Have you forgotten about me, Hanneen?’—what?!”
An arrow flying at an inhuman speed pierced Hanneen’s chest as he tried to flee. The arrow even broke through Salvia’s barrier and punched a hole through the mansion.
“Tch… this body can’t take much more…”
The one who fired the arrow was none other than Moriarty Noirden.
An iron arrow, packed to the limit with mana, pierced straight through Hanneen’s heart with ease.
“You bastard…!? To think I’d be done in by a mere old man with no martial skill…! How dare you… how da—”
As Hanneen turned around in a rage, Jack severed his neck.
A momentary opening born of anger, and with that, Hanneen’s life ended abruptly.
“… Otou… sama…”
And with that, the curse of Noirden came to an end, leaving behind a wound that would likely never heal, etched into the heart of a single girl.
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