Prologue: The Demon Lord Desires a Cozy Family

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Prologue: The Demon Lord Desires a Cozy Family

Rising over the wasteland, the sun’s first light revealed an eerie scene. A group of a hundred-odd demons, their faces covered in scratches and bruises, prostrated themselves on the cold ground.

“We’re terribly sorry!”

“We’ll never act in such a foolish manner again!”

“Please forgive us, Lord Anima!”

Even the air itself trembled as the bruised demons begged for their lives. Forced to listen to their woeful pleas after getting caught up in a fistfight first thing in the morning, he let out an annoyed sigh.

“Forgiveness?” The wrathful voice sent shivers down their spines. “You want forgiveness?”

Some of them tried to steal glances at the source of that voice, but the moment they did, all the color drained from their faces. Their eyes were filled with terror, their instincts screamed at them to run for their lives, but the chains of their overwhelming fear were not easily broken.

The source of their paralyzing fright was standing above them, wearing black robes and a hood that concealed his face.

“Let me ask you this: how would you react if someone did the same to you? Would you forgive them?” He—Anima—glared at the horde with his crimson eyes and asked a simple but powerful question.

The demons huddled together even tighter under the immense pressure, exchanging glances in an attempt to pass the blame to one another, until at last, a silver-tongued yet feeble man answered.

“F-Forgive them? No. If anyone dared to attack our group, which includes the head of the Jullal Knights, the bishop of the Church of Mostor, the Elite Ten of the Oracles, and the chief of Clan Baroon, they would face certain death!” He boasted about the elite force they’d amassed for their operation.

Unfortunately for him, Anima had no idea who those people were.

Not only was he out of the loop, as he’d retired ages ago, but none of those supposedly intimidating enemies even posed a threat. In fact, he hadn’t even had to resort to using magic; his trusty fists were enough to dispatch their forces, and as such, he found no reason to care about their names. But their combat prowess aside, the frail man’s answer was correct. Such a sin as theirs could only be atoned for with death.

Their sin was attempting to assassinate Anima in his sleep. They had surrounded his house under the cover of the night and used a powerful spell to carve a deep, gaping hole around it. The house itself hadn’t been damaged, as its walls had been enhanced with defensive spells, but the tranquil scenery he’d loved so very much had been ruined. They may not have landed a single blow on Anima himself, but that hadn’t changed anything.

“You came here to murder me,” Anima stated. “I suppose that means you were ready to lose your lives in doing so?”

“No, not at all!”

“I’m begging you, show mercy!”

“Please don’t kill me!”

And he thought they were desperate during their battle.

He probably didn’t have to worry about them coming after his life again, but unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones who wanted him dead. He was the ultimate evil and wielded the powers of legends, after all; that there were countless wannabe heroes after his head was par for the course.

Some would challenge him alone; others would gather entire armies. Some would attack in broad daylight; others would wait until the dead of the night. Regardless of their methods, however, all who dared oppose him had their hopes crushed. None of them even possessed enough power to clip his nails, let alone kill him.

Even so, the fools too proud to believe the rumors of his power were innumerable. This was simply another day he had to teach a group of those fools the harsh truth of the world.

“I could’ve sent you to your graves at any point during our battle,” Anima stated matter-of-factly, “yet I held back as much as I possibly could. Why do you think that is?”

“B-Because you enjoy torturing your victims slowly and thoroughly?”

Anima furrowed his brow.

“Not even close. Listen, you have families, don’t you? That’s the reason I held back; if you fell here, your families would grieve.”

They all seemed to be from a bunch of different organizations. Even if some of them didn’t have families, they must have had friends waiting for them back home. As someone who was all too familiar with the excruciating pain of loneliness, Anima couldn’t bring himself to kill them. If he were to do so, he would be dooming others to his fate. Then again, he would quickly change his mind when faced with peskier foes.

“Now leave. Go back home before I change my mind.”

Their wills shattered, they scattered like a bunch of baby spiders. Anima watched them grow smaller and smaller with a lonesome gaze.

“Why…?”

Why did cowardly savages who snuck up on others and assaulted them with violent magic have friends and family while he was all alone? Anima asked this question of himself countless times, and he always reached the same conclusion: Because uttering his very name struck fear in people’s hearts.

“It’s all that bastard’s fault!” Anima groaned to himself.

“That bastard” was his woman-crazed father. He boasted a harem of numerous concubines, and they gave him countless offspring. His family was so large that he’d expected to have at least one person he could call a friend, but his naturally menacing looks pushed everyone away—his own mother wouldn’t even share her name with him.

That loneliness chipped away at him until he’d reached his breaking point. In pursuit of human contact, he left to find a wife and settle down with a happy, cozy little family. Being damned to solitude in his early years had left his people skills non-existent, however. He didn’t have the courage to talk to a woman, let alone woo her.

Desperate for help, he gave in to his shame and asked for advice from his father, who told him one thing: “women flock to the strong”. The young, impressionable Anima admired the wisdom gifted to him by his old man. He was a strong, battle-hardened man with a flock of women attending to his every whim, after all.

If being strong means I can build a happy family, then becoming the strongest in the world means I can build the happiest family in the world! Driven by that thought, Anima set down the path of death and destruction.

He challenged the most elite warriors throughout the land. When humans could no longer stand up to him, he began battling demons, and at the end of his hundred-year journey, he was the most powerful being in the world.

Over the course of his innumerable battles, Anima sustained injury after injury until he no longer felt pain. His body became as hard as a rock; his muscles were ripped and damaged every day, only to heal and get stronger. He became so powerful that he could forgo magic, using only his bare fists to claim victory over his enemies.

With his power having long surpassed that of a normal human, he became known only as the Demon Lord. Bestowed with the title given only to the strongest of all non-humans, surely building the world’s happiest family was within his reach. Anima was elated that he could finally realize his dream.

The rest of the world, on the other hand, was less so. Any woman he came across was either paralyzed with fear or ran away screaming. No matter what corner of the world he traveled to, no matter what country he traversed, women—no, mankind itself dreaded his very existence. To them, “Demon Lord” was not the title given to the one who ruled over the demons, but to the leader of the savage beasts who terrorized them. The grim tales and haunting rumors of Anima’s battles spread far and wide; his name became synonymous with death and destruction.

Cast out by mankind, Anima was not only categorized as a demihuman, but also branded the demons’ leader. He was treated with fear and disdain by humans, which made building a happy family a near-impossible feat. After all, what sort of woman would choose to wed a monster?

Yet he didn’t give up. Even if he couldn’t start a family, he believed he could surely make at least one friend. None were willing to befriend the lord of the demons, however. There were some who reached their hands out to him, but as someone despised by the entire world, Anima learned to read the true intentions of strangers with a single glance. They may have approached him with a friendly smile and honeyed words, but it was all a farce to kill him.

The world saw him as an enemy. His father’s advice damned him to eternal loneliness.

“I don’t want to be the womanizer my father was; I just want a family. If just one person loved me, that would be enough to make me happy.”

Demons lived for about three hundred years, meaning Anima was cursed to over a hundred fifty more years in solitude. Being branded the Demon Lord was a fate worse than death, but it also came with one more major repercussion: having a loved one by his side would mean they supported the destruction of mankind as well.

His partner would be punished in much the same way he was. They would be assaulted every day, being treated like a monster wherever they went. The chances of anyone willfully taking the risk of falling in love with him were practically zero.

Anima’s last glimmer of hope at ever finding love was being eroded by the dark thoughts clouding his mind, when suddenly, a crimson circle appeared at his feet.

“Hm? What’s this?”

The light it emitted enveloped his body from all directions and rapidly grew brighter, dyeing his vision red. He felt as though his stomach was doing somersaults.

When the strange phenomenon finally subsided, Demon Lord Anima met the love of his life.

Chapter One: The Demon Lord Saves a Damsel in Distress

“All righty, this should do it for today!”

As the sun began to set above the forest, Luina Scarlett stretched her tired back. After a hard day’s work in the fields, a large drop of sweat rolled down her innocent, charming face, and her beautiful, spotless skin was covered in mud. It wasn’t how one would expect a fair maiden to look at the end of the day, but her lively smile showed that she didn’t care to meet such expectations.

“Mommy! All done?”

A young girl, her hands covered in mud from copying Luina for a while, was squatting down next to her. She also had mud streaked across her forehead, which had probably come from wiping her sweat with one of her dirty hands.

“Yep! Thanks to your help, Marie, we’re already finished!” The gentle smile Luina wore as she spoke caused Marie’s face to light up with excitement.

“Mommy! Pet my head!”

“There, there. You’re such an angel; how could I not pet your head?”

“Lemme help s’more, Mommy!” Marie clung to Luina’s leg after having her soft hair stroked. “I want more pets!”

“All right, you can help me wash my hands!”

“I’ll make ’em sparkly!” she said, taking Luina’s hand as they walked to the well.

◆◆◆

“Heave-ho, Mommy!”

“Watch me!”

Answering Marie’s radiant smile, Luina pulled on the coarse rope. It scraped against her hands, but the heavy bucket slowly ascended from the depths of the well. Once it had made it to the top, she lifted it with shaky hands and gently placed it on the ground, making sure not to spill any of the water inside. Marie then stuck her hands into it and splish-splashed around as she washed the dirt off.

“I’m all sparkly!” she exclaimed, proudly presenting her clean hands.

“Oh, look at you! Well done!”

“I did good! Mommy, can you get sparkly too?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe if you cheer me on.”

“Good luck, Mommy! You can do it!”

“Thank you! I’ll do my best!”

After washing her hands in the remaining shallow water, Luina showed them to Marie, who carefully examined them. A radiant smile broke out on her face and she clapped her tiny hands together.

“Mommy, you’re sparkly! You deserve pets!” She rubbed her tiny hand on Luina’s head, but quickly removed it and put it over her stomach when she heard a small growl. “Did you hear my tummy say ‘Grrrrr’, Mommy?! It went ‘Grrrrr’!”

“It sure did!”

“When’s dinny?”

“Once we get home, okay?”

“Yaaay!”

She raised her arms high into the air, causing her baggy sleeves to slide down, exposing her tiny, surprisingly slender arms for a three-year-old. She wasn’t starved by any means—if anything, she had an incredible appetite. She never left food on her plate. The issue was that her diet consisted solely of vegetables.

The last of her baby teeth had come in about three months prior, which had opened up a cornucopia of options when it came to daily meals. She was able to chew meat and fish, but they simply couldn’t afford such things.

If only I were half as strong as my father was, Luina thought. Then, I could give my children anything they’d ever need.

The Scarlett family, renowned throughout the kingdom of Raiten, was financed by the government in exchange for aid in battle. Luina’s father, specifically, was heralded as a hero. He was incredibly talented—the strongest of their bloodline—and had saved countless people on the battlefield, yet remained a down-to-earth, kind person who treated everyone as equals and loved his family above all else.

Having been brought up by such an incredible father, Luina’s dream was to one day become the same strong, kind person he was. Unfortunately, however, instead of inheriting her father’s almost completely pure Scarlett blood, she took after her mother, a woman with no magical talent. As a result, Luina’s affinity for magic was almost non-existent.

Then, two years ago, disaster struck. Luina’s father left for the battlefield, where he was cut down by a demon. The person who took over as the head of the family broke off their agreement with the government, sending them into poverty in the blink of an eye.

It was all too common that children lost their parents to demons. That was exactly the reason Luina’s father had built an orphanage: to give the orphans a place to belong and a family to rely on. Most of the family’s funds went into maintaining and running the orphanage, and the rest of their money was needed to treat Luina’s mother, who’d fallen deathly ill after her husband’s passing. As their funds began to dwindle, the family was forced to sell most of their possessions, until the fateful day about a year ago when her mother passed away.

In its heyday, the orphanage was filled with many energetic children, but as time passed and its funding had to be cut, most were adopted into different families. The only ones that remained at her home were Luina, Marie, and one other child. Their little family of three was nowhere near as lively as before, but raising two children with no source of income was a challenge in and of itself. The townsfolk gifted food and other various necessities every so often out of the kindness of their hearts, but those occasional gifts would only relieve so much of the pressure.

Luina’s house was situated at the edge of the town and had very limited means of transportation; the reason they’d chosen it was its large yard they could let the kids play in. She sometimes thought about letting go of the house filled with the memories of her family and moving into a flat with a better location. Doing so would be a reasonable way to make their lives a little easier, but moving into the city and losing her yard meant she would no longer be able to grow her own vegetables. With her self-sufficiency gone, food expenses would skyrocket, which could result in her children having to go hungry for a time. She was truly caught between a rock and a hard place.

Stop, she thought. I can’t let myself be caught up in this futility.

Children were perceptive of adult’s feelings; Luina always had to act cheerful not to make Marie worried.

“I wanna play after dinny!” Marie said brightly.

Despite having worked all day, she was as hyper as ever. Her bright eyes dispelled Luina’s dark worries.

“Okay, then let’s race back home! Are you ready?”

“Ready! I’m super fast! Look!”

Marie boasted of her skills and set her eyes on their house, which was right nearby. She was ready to rush off when a crack! rang out from the fence behind them.

“N-No way…” Luina squeaked after turning toward the source of the unsettling sound.

The color drained from her face. She decided to act cheerful around Marie, but the small, earthen-colored creature standing before her filled her with dread. “Wh-Why is there a demon here?”

Demons were hard-wired to hunt down humans. If left alone, they would sniff out human habitats and raid them. In order to prevent such raids, Hunters risked their lives patrolling the outskirts of any and all human towns.

It wasn’t rare for people to be killed by demons outside of town, but inside was completely safe. Luina’s home may have been on the edge of town, but it was no exception to that rule. Her father, like any other sane person, would never have built an orphanage anywhere that had even the slightest chance of being attacked by demons. For all intents and purposes, such an event couldn’t happen, and yet there was a small, earth-colored demon—a goblin—standing right in front of her.

Though about the same size as Marie, goblins were not to be underestimated. They were strong enough to easily smash through a wooden fence. Luina was in good shape, but one could rip her apart in mere seconds. Naturally, the young Marie stood no chance either. They had only one option.

“Run!” Luina screamed at the top of her lungs.

“M-Mommy?”

“Run back home! Now!”

Marie hadn’t yet learned the horrors of the goblins; she was too young to know. From Luina’s panicked voice, however, she understood that their situation was dire, so she set off toward the house, bawling.

That alone didn’t save them from the danger, though, because demons were hard-wired to hunt down humans. After killing Luina, the goblin would make its way to the house and murder Marie as well. Therefore, Luina’s duty was not to buy time. She had to kill the goblin, or it would be the end of their family.

“I’m sorry, Mom and Dad! Please forgive me for using our treasured artifact!”

She reached into her bosom and took out a pendant—a deep red crystal. It was, however, no simple ornament. It was a magic stone.

When demons perished, they left behind magic stones. By charging them with mana, one could replicate the fallen demon’s powers. The more mana one poured into a stone, the more powerful its effects would be.

Luckily for Luina, who was so weak that focusing all her magic into the highest quality stone wouldn’t allow her to defeat even a single goblin, the Scarlett family had been accumulating mana into their artifact for generations.

Using it would destroy all those years of hard work, but she had no other option. She clutched the stone and shouted a cry of hope.

“I’m begging you! Save Marie!”

In that moment, the pendant began emitting a blinding red light as if responding to Luina’s prayer. The countless rays of explosive light converged to form a single beam, which then created a circle on the ground, which gave off a light akin to that of the setting sun.

When the light faded, a man wearing a robe as black as the darkest night was standing before her.

◆◆◆

When the light faded, Anima found himself in an unfamiliar place. The morning sun above him was suddenly setting, and he hadn’t lost consciousness at any point, so he must have been teleported.

There were other signs to support his theory as well: the desolate wasteland had been replaced by lush plains with a thick forest nearby, and staring meekly at him was a woman who looked to be as gentle as a lamb.

Her spotless skin was covered by a simple muddy dress, and her smooth blue hair, tied together with a ribbon, danced down her back. With the exception of her impressive chest, she seemed delicate and slender, especially with her beautiful face having lost its color and her azure eyes shaking with nervousness. Anima couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

Am I dreaming…? he thought.

Anima often daydreamed about what his ideal family would look like. The number of children and type of home changed every once in a while, but one thing was constant: the wife he imagined always had a calm, compassionate air to her. The girl in front of him was obviously nervous, but even through the tears, a gentle warmth radiated from her eyes. He was smitten.

Staring at her any longer would only scare her even more, though, so Anima shifted gears and began weighing his options. He could either leave immediately, or he could take off his hood and reveal his identity.

By leaving, he could avoid scaring her, but that’d also mean giving up on the woman of his dreams. He’d no doubt spend the rest of his life regretting his choice. He wanted to talk to her—or rather, to build a family with her, and the only way he could do that was by revealing his identity.

Doing so had the potential to cause her to run away if terror, but for Anima to hide his identity while being with her would be deceptive. That was out of the question, as the first step to building a happy family was honesty. More importantly, however, he wanted to be accepted. If she didn’t love him for who he really was, building the family of his dreams was impossible.

“I mean no harm.”

With that pitiful preface, Anima timidly pulled off his hood. He had snow-white hair, mean-looking crimson eyes, a surprisingly cherubic face, and two horns growing from the side of his head. The girl scanned his face, but the scream he’d expected was nowhere to be heard. Perhaps she was so afraid of him that she couldn’t make a sound.

“U-Umm! Behind you! It’s behind you!” she screamed in panic as that thought crossed his mind.

“Behind me?”

Anima turned around, where he spotted a tiny, hideous bipedal creature. Its eyes seething with bloodlust, it looked directly at him and began smacking his waist with its slender arms.

His heart sank. He couldn’t believe that the love of his life would date such an ugly thing, but that was the only reason it would want to fight him, right? To save the one it truly loved from the clutches of evil.

Something similar had happened to him in the past. That man had fled in terror, but the repulsive little brute he currently faced showed no signs of running. For it to attack him with such dauntless courage showed that such a woman meant the world to it, and though his love for her didn’t waver, he had no right to trample over others’ happiness.

“Calm down. I’m not here to tear you two apart.”

“What do you mean?!”

“Hm? Aren’t you dating this little mongrel?”

“No! Not even close! I’m not dating anyone!”

She denied his claim and provided a piece of information so crucial that everything else ceased to exist for Anima. The woman of his dreams wasn’t dating anyone. While he dealt with the butterflies in his stomach, the girl timidly opened her mouth.

“Umm, are you okay? Doesn’t your waist hurt? That thing has been hitting you ever since you appeared.”

“Are you… worried about me?”

“Of course I am!”

Anima was completely charmed by the girl’s kind heart. He’d finally found someone who cared for his well-being.

“May I ask for your name?”

“I’m Luina…”

“Luina, listen to me,” Anima said, etching her name into his very soul. “You may have heard rumors of me being a cold-blooded, heartless monster, but I do have feelings. I haven’t shed blood in decades, so I don’t know if it’s cold or not, but I shed tears from time to time. Believe me when I say I’m not the detestable fiend people make me out to be. There certainly was a time when I rampaged through the lands, and fought countless battles, but I’m not a violent foo—Arghhh, you’re annoying!”

Anima grabbed the goblin by its head and threw it at the ground, causing the creature to bounce high into the air with a dry shriek.

Wha—? It’s so weak.

Anima was dumbfounded. He had meant to be gentle with the creature; he hadn’t wanted to kill it since it may have had a family. Regardless, though, he couldn’t afford to get caught up in that. Painful as it may have been, he had to focus on his conversation with Luina. Lamenting his mistakes could wait until he’d established a common understanding with her, so he cleared his throat and looked at her once again.

“Either way, I’m not some bloodthirsty monster, so please don’t be scared of me.”

There was no answer, only confusion. It must’ve been hard for her to believe that Anima wasn’t a cold-blooded murderer.

“I know what you want to say,” he continued, “but please believe me. I’m not the man the rumors make me out to be.”

Luina was in a daze. After Anima waved his hand in front of her face, she finally looked at him, then quickly bowed her head.

“Th-Thank you very much!”

She expressed her gratitude as tears welled up in her eyes.

“…What did you just say?” The tables had turned. Anima was in utter shock after hearing those words. As someone who was never thanked for anything in his life, he couldn’t process what was happening. “Wh-What was that? Did you say, ‘thank you’?”

“Yes! I’m incredibly grateful!”

“Why are you grateful to me?”

“Because you saved me!”

“Saved you?” He finally grasped the situation. “Wait, that thing attacked you?”

“That’s a demon!”

“That? A demon?”

Anima had fought countless battles with men and demons alike, but he had never encountered anything so feeble before. Either the demons of the land he was currently in were incredibly weak compared to the ones inhabiting his home, or the one he’d just sent flying was simply an extraordinarily weak specimen. Not like it really mattered, as, to him, no creature amounted to more than a pesky fly.

No matter the reason, it was hard to imagine that Luina was lying, which meant that there was no reason to mourn the death of that creature. Demons were governed by a simple rule: kill or be killed. While Anima was busy assessing his situation, Luina began to cry.

“We only just met, but you saved my life. I’m so happy I was able to summon such a kind person.”

“Me? Kind?”

Her warm, gentle words baffled him. The man who had always been treated as a monster felt care, gratitude, and warmth for the first time in his life. Such a blissful series of events could not have possibly been real. Maybe he was dreaming after all.

“Will you do something for me, Luina?”

“You’re my savior. As long as it’s within my power, I’ll do anything you ask.”

“Great. I want you to hit me.”

“Huh? Wh-Why?”

“Don’t ask, just hit me!”

“I-I can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“How could I hit someone who hasn’t done anything to deserve it?”

“You’re so thoughtful.”

Overwhelmed by her kindness, Anima slapped his own cheek. A loud smack! echoed across the fields, but due to his resistance to pain, he didn’t feel anything. He wanted to be hit by something more powerful, but using magic could have injured Luina as well.

“A-Are you okay?”

While he was busy coming up with a solution, Luina reached out toward his face. Anima had lost his sense of pain a long time ago, but his sense of touch was intact. When attacked, all he felt was that something had touched him.

So warm…

His cheeks could have never felt such warmth in a dream. Everything was real—Luina was real. Anima broke down in tears of joy when made that discovery.

“A-Are you crying because it hurt so much?”

“I don’t feel pain. I’m just… happy.”

“‘Happy’?”

“Yes. I’m happy to have been summoned by a woman as kind as you, Luina.” As he said that, he caught on to something. “Actually, what exactly is ‘summoned’?”

“I owe you an apology,” Luina said, averting her gaze. “The magic stone I used has the power to bring a being from another world to this one, but it can’t send them back.”

“‘Another world’? Is this world different from where I lived until now?”

“Yes. I’m terribly sorry for—”

“Thank you for summoning me.”

Anima interrupted Luina’s apology with words of gratitude.

“Huh? Wh-What?”

“Thank you. You saved me.”

He had no attachments to a world where he was hunted and detested by everyone, but in a new world, he was a nobody. The terrifying rumors and his countless enemies were no more. He could build a new life from the ground up. Furthermore, a gentle girl was standing right in front of him. He had been nothing if not rescued.

“A-Aren’t you mad at me? You’ll never be able to return to your world. You’ll never be able to see your precious friends again!”

“There’s only one person who’s precious to me, and that’s you.”

“M-Me? Umm, we only met a couple minutes ago, didn’t we?”

“We may not have a long history, but you hold a special place in my heart. I will remember the moment we met for the rest of my life.”

“Okay, uh, may I ask what ‘you hold a special place in my heart’ means?”

“It means I’m in love with you.”

“You’re in love with me?! Really?!”

“Yes. You mean the world to me.”

“The whole world?!”

She was redder than an apple, but Anima’s expression remained unchanged.

“Luina, I want to spend my life with you.”

“Y-Your life… Does that mean you want to marry me?”

“I’ll be happy as long as I have you by my side,” he said, nodding enthusiastically. “If possible, I’d like to marry you.”

“B-But we only just met! I don’t even know your name!”

“I’m Anima. Please marry me, Luina.”

Anima had no experience in dealing with people—he didn’t know what a proper proposal was like. His only option was to dive straight in.

Luina’s confusion was probably due to his awkwardness, but he couldn’t give up. He desired Luina’s love more than anything else. That was why he’d decided not to beat around the bush; he’d simply tell her how he felt.

“Anima, why would you like to marry me?”

“I want to start a family.”

“Do you long for a family?” she asked, seeming to have finally understood him.

“I do,” he said with a nod. “I’ve always dreamed of having a family. A family to rely on in times of trouble, to share my joy. Honestly, I thought I would’ve been fine marrying anyone as long as I could have such a family before, but I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone but you. The warmth of your eyes ensnared my soul the moment I saw them, and the gentle care you showed in your concern for me stole my heart. I love you, Luina.”

Anima poured his heart out to her in order to confirm his feelings for himself. There had to have been other girls in her world who wouldn’t be afraid of him; there had to have been other kind, gentle women. Even so, the moment he spotted Luina, he knew she was the girl of his dreams. There wasn’t anyone more beautiful in her world or his own, and of the countless beings she could’ve summoned, it was he who was standing there. If not for that, they never would have met—what was that if not proof they were destined for each other?

He couldn’t imagine life with anyone else, and in order to build a family with her, he was ready to sacrifice everything. Finally, he’d found the words he wanted to tell her, when a young girl came rushing out of the nearby house.

“Mommy!” Tears streaming down her face, she pulled a broom as she approached him. “I-I’ll, hic… get… hic… the scary man!”

Anima panicked as the sobbing girl glared at him. He was used to seeing grown men shriek in terror as they realized their own futility, but seeing a child cry always tugged at his heartstrings.

Without any tricks up his sleeve to cheer children up, calming down a crying child was a herculean task for him. Chilling rumors about him may not have been circulating in his new world, but that didn’t make his naturally mean look go away, to say nothing of the horns on either side of his head.

It was natural for demons to have horns, but neither Luina or the child had one, which alluded to the fact that Anima was considered atypical in their world. Forget consoling the child, he would have been happy to simply not traumatize her.

“Calm down, Marie.” Luina gently pet the girl’s head just as Anima was about to reach his wits’ end. “Anima isn’t scary at all. He shooed the monster away.”

Luina’s kind words surprised the little girl.

“…Really?”

“Yes, really. Anima protected both of us.”

“You beat it?”

The small child named Marie sniffled and looked up at Anima, whose heart was racing due to being stared at by a child for the first time in his life. Flustered, he settled for a simple nod.

“Don’t worry. I defeated the demon.”

Marie’s face bloomed into a radiant smile. She dropped the broom and clung to Anima’s waist.

“Thank you, Mishter!”

The bottoms of Anima’s eyes rapidly warmed up as he looked at Marie’s pure, bright smile. In his old world, parents would often tell their children, “If you do something bad, Anima will come and eat you!”, causing them to fear him, but Marie rushed up to him with a smile and even hugged him. All in all, it was no wonder that Anima was moved to tears.

The innocent little girl, however, didn’t know about his circumstances. In her mind, tears meant that something bad had happened.

“Mishter, you hurt? Ooh! I’ll make the hurt go bye-bye!”

Saying that, she raised her arms high into the air and stretched herself as much as she could.

“Your head!” she cried. “Your head!”

“What about my head?”

“Too high!”

Seeing tears begin to well up in Marie’s eyes, Anima once again fell into panic.

“What should I do?”

“Maybe you could squat down?” Luina suggested.

“Like this?”

The moment he crouched, Marie began petting his head. He had horns growing from the sides of his skull, yet the little girl didn’t even flinch.

“Pain, pain, go away! All better?”

He didn’t understand how that could possibly heal any injuries, but he knew that she was earnestly trying to help him. The gentle feeling of Marie’s hand rubbing against his head enveloped his body, mind, and soul with a loving warmth.

“Thank you. It’s much better now.”

“You hear that, Mommy?” Marie cooed, smiling ecstatically at Luina. “He thanked me!”

“I did! Well done!”

“Mm-hmm! And, and, my tummy’s all rumbly!”

“Oh, then let’s have dinner when we go back inside. Would you like to join us, Anima?”

“A-Are you sure?”

“Of course! I’ll cook extra tonight.”

“Do you mean it?” Anima was shaking. He looked at Luina with his cloudy, crimson eyes. “You’re really going to treat me to a warm, home-cooked dinner?”

“Why are you crying?”

“I have never been happier in my entire life.”

Anima’s usual diet consisted of demons. Once in a while, he would visit human towns in search of some booze, but the moment he set foot into one, either the bars closed and everyone hurried inside or the villagers outright deserted their homes. If he kicked down doors because he knew the owners were only pretending to be out, they would give him all the food, alcohol, and money they had while begging for their lives, only to tell everyone the next day about how the Demon Lord himself had robbed them.

Having to spend his days munching on demons all by himself was a thing of the past, though; Luina had asked him to eat with her while wearing a gentle smile. She was definitely the one for him.

“Marry me, Luina.”

He proposed once again, to which Luina furrowed her brow.

“B-But, I’m always busy with—”

“With what?”

“Well…”

Anima watched her steal a glance at Marie.

“I have to take care of the children. Even if we did get married, I wouldn’t have time to act like a proper wife. Not to mention that we’re poor, and since I’m running an orphanage, it’s always so hectic with the children running around. You wouldn’t have the money to do anything, or even the time to relax.”

“What is an orphanage?”

“It’s a place to raise children who don’t have living relatives.”

“That’s great news!” he shouted, realizing that meant the two weren’t mother and daughter by blood. “Now I want to marry you even more!”

Luina stared at him like he’d just grown two extra heads.

“Which part of what I said was ‘great news’?”

“Having troubles means that I can help you. Isn’t helping the person you’re in love with the greatest thing ever? Plus, I would never allow a child feel lonely, because… I’m all too familiar with the agonizing pain of loneliness. Lifting some of the weight off your shoulders, allowing you to focus on the children, and making sure everyone is always happy would be a dream come true for me. Luina, I’m serious. If I can’t marry you, I at least want to work here.”

Even if they couldn’t get married right then and there, Anima could still become friends with Luina and help raise the children. Simply spending time in a bustling household would release him from his damning loneliness, and that alone would be enough to make him happy.

“I see…” she said as the look on her face became more relaxed. “You’re a strange one, Anima.”

“In a bad sense? If so, just tell me and I’ll change immediately!”

Luina shook her head.

“You don’t have to change. I want you to stay the kind, strong person you are. You know, I’ve always wished for a man like that to be by my side. Marie seems to have taken a liking to you as well.”

“R-Really?”

“If you don’t believe me, let’s ask her. Do you like Anima, Marie?”

“I love him! He beat up the monster!”

No child had ever said such a thing to him before. While Anima was struggling to contain his happiness, Luina turned towards Marie.

“Marie, do you want a daddy?”

“Uh-huh! ’Cause I want him to carry me like the other daddies!”

Marie’s longing for a hug from her father was all too familiar to Anima. He was always jealous of other children who were carried by their parents or were allowed to sleep in their arms. Forget being carried, his own father wouldn’t even take him anywhere. If Marie was fine with him being the one to do it, Anima was ready to hug and carry her anywhere in the world.

“Marie, do you want Anima to be your daddy?”

“Yeah! I want Mishter as Daddy!”

Marie hugged his leg with a beaming smile, and Luina turned to face him again while he lost himself in that pure, innocent expression.

“Are you sure about this, Anima? Do you honestly want to marry me?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything. I will always love you, no matter what may come.”

Blood started to rush to Luina’s cheeks.

“You won’t be able to lead a comfortable life with me…”

“Nothing matters as long as I can stay by your side, Luina. All I’ve ever wished for is a happy family. I’ll do anything to fulfill that wish and build a warm home full of smiles and love.”

Anima’s straightforward confession made Luina blush even more. She cast her eyes downward and pondered for a second before lifting them again.

“Okay. Let’s have a wonderful future together.”

She agreed, fulfilling Anima’s one and only dream. It moved him to tears—he was so happy he couldn’t even form words.

“Mommy!” Marie said, rubbing her stomach. “My tummy’s hungy!”

Luina smiled gently at her.

“Let’s have dinner, then. I’ll head to the kitchen through the back door and get ready, so please show Anima to the table. Can you do that for me, Marie?”

“I caaan! C’mon, Daddy!”

After wiping the tears from his face, Anima caught up to Marie, who was trotting a bit ahead, and they made their way into the house.

◆◆◆

Luina placed a hand on her chest as she watched Anima make his way toward the house with Marie, her heart pounding against it.

Just how hard have I fallen for him?

She hadn’t expected to be struck by Cupid’s arrow when she’d summoned Anima. The moment she’d laid eyes on him, she saw a man crushed by loneliness. The pain nested deep within his eyes spoke volumes; he was a man who had been deeply scarred through constant rejection based on unjust rumors.

Then, he’d looked at her with trembling eyes, deathly afraid of being rejected once again. Seeing his terrified look, Luina had wanted to do something for him—he’d saved them from certain death, after all. Even if he hadn’t, though, Luina still couldn’t have left him alone. She’d wanted to heal his wounds and have him move in with them, but while she’d been trying to find the perfect chance to make her offer, Anima had asked her to marry him.

His proposal had sent her heart into turmoil. She’d wanted to become friends with him first and take things one step at a time, but had changed her mind after hearing his story.

It wasn’t the first time she’d been proposed to out of the blue, but everyone who had done so had looked at the children as pests, obstacles in the way of the life they’d imagined with Luina. Anima, however, was different. He not only loved her, but he also genuinely cared for the children. One look into his eyes confirmed that it wasn’t just a farce to woo her.

I can’t believe fate brought me together with such an incredible person.

For as long as she could remember, Luina had looked up to people with the strength and heart of her father, and Anima was just that sort of person. It wasn’t difficult to see why she would fall in love with him, especially after how hard he’d tried to convince her. He had the power to protect them from danger, and he loved others’ children as his own. When she realized that building a happy family with a man like him was well within the realm of possibility, she decided that she would marry him.

Luina’s ideal family was the same as Anima’s: a warm home full of smiles and love. But in order to build that, she first had to make him smile. That was her duty as his wife.

I hope he likes my cooking.

Excited to be praised for the dinner she was about to put on the table, Luina left for the kitchen.

◆◆◆

Anima followed Marie through the house, the wooden floor creaking under his feet as they made their way to the dining room. At its center was an old wooden table surrounded by four chairs, one of which had been worn by the sands of time and was visibly wobbly. It would definitely snap if he sat down on it.

“…Where should I sit?” Anima asked timidly.

He’d been fine while Luina was with them, but being alone with Marie caused a turbulent storm of anxiety to rage deep within him. What if she suddenly broke down crying? He’d tried to use his softest voice, but there was no guarantee that his naturally menacing look wouldn’t scare her.

“I wanna sit next to you!”

His anxiety vanished the moment he saw Marie’s innocent smile.

“I… I want to sit next to you as well, Marie.” After squeezing those words out, he sat down in the chair next to the one she’d climbed into. “How big is your family?”

There were only four chairs around the table, meaning there couldn’t have been more than two people Anima still hadn’t met.

“Me, Mommy, and Myukey!”

“Is Myukey your sister?”

“Mm-hmm! And then you, Daddy!”

Anima once again found himself on the verge of tears as Marie pointed right at him. She welcomed him, the big, scary monster of his world, into her family. That was the very moment he swore to become the best father he could and to raise Marie with the love and care she deserved.

I don’t know what makes a good father, but thanks to my dad, I’m very well aware what makes one the worst.

His father’s life revolved around flirting with women. He didn’t commit to a single one, instead showering every woman in sight with affection. They also enjoyed his company and unrelenting love, but due to that lifestyle, no one paid any heed to Anima.

In order to avoid having such a sweet little girl experience the same loneliness he had, he couldn’t hog all of Luina’s attention for himself. Anima would love everyone in his family equally; the exact opposite of his father’s parenting should make him a good parent, after all.

“Sorry for the wait!”

While he was coming up with ways to become an ideal father, Luina entered the dining room with a large pot. Inside was a rich, white soup full of finely chopped vegetables. It was the kind of meal Anima had longed for while he’d been munching on fried demon meat alone. Taking a deep breath, its sweet, appetizing aroma entered his nostrils.

“It’s a hearty stew with a mix of veggies! Please, enjoy it.”

After filling her bowl to the brim, Luina sat down, leaving the last wobbly chair for Myuke. Anima couldn’t let a child sit on a chair like that, so he decided he’d switch seats with her once she arrived.

“Where’s Myukey?”

“Oh, you heard about Myuke?”

“Marie told me earlier. Is she asleep?”

Luina looked back at him with a hint of worry in her eyes.

“She’s…”

“Myukey isn’t home!”

“Is she on a trip?”

That would explain Luina’s look of concern. She must have been lonely without Myuke around.

Anima wanted to meet her as soon as possible. He wanted her to accept him as well, and experience the hustle and bustle of life as a family of four.

“I’ll introduce you once she’s back around next week.”

“I’m really excited to meet her. By the way, can I start eating?”

“Of course, dig in! I hope you like it.”

“I’ll love everything you cook for me.”

Anima excitedly picked up his spoon and was ready to dig in at a moment’s notice.

“Ahhh! You gotta say thanks first!”

He hurriedly put the spoon back down after being scolded by Marie.

“How do I do that? Can you teach me?”

“Watch! Like this! Thank you for the meal!” she said as she clapped her hands together, her lively voice filling the room. She then stared at Anima and asked, “Did you see it, Daddy?”

“Thank you for the meal. How was that?”

Marie broke into a radiant smile upon seeing Anima awkwardly clap his hands together.

“Wooow! Daddy’s so smart! Mommy, did you see? Did you see what Daddy did? He’s so smart!”

“I saw it. Well done, Anima!”

“Me too! I did well too!”

“Yes you did, Marie. Well done!”

“Ehehe!” With a delightful smile, she scooped up a spoonful of stew, and brought it to her tiny mouth. “Yummy!”

She put her hands on her cheeks, joy plastered all over her face, and Luina smiled gently.

“I’m happy you like it! Eat up!”

“I will! Daddy, can you munch?”

“What does that mean?”

“She’s asking if you can use the spoon.”

“I see. I can use a spoon, but how did you know what she was asking?”

“Because I’m her mommy.”

“That makes sense. Then as her daddy, I’ll have to learn her language quickly.”

“Daddy, can you munch? Lemme do the cabbage!”

“‘The cabbage’?” He tried to figure it out, but to no avail. “What is that?”

“She wants to feed you. Open your mouth when she says ‘Here comes the carriage’.”

“Oh, okay. In that case, could you do it, Marie?”

“Uh-huh!” Marie scooped up some stew. “Here comes the cabbage!”

She moved the spoon toward Anima’s mouth. He opened wide and took a bite.

“Mph—!”

The warm stew’s sweet aroma spread through his entire mouth. It was thick and rich, and the minced vegetables left a wonderful aftertaste. The flavors were simple and gentle, yet it left a stronger impression on him than any meal he’d had before. All he could do was stare into space in an attempt to internalize what he’d just experienced.

“…Do you like it?” Luina asked nervously.

“I love your cooking,” he replied, nodding like a bobblehead after being snapped back to reality.

The warm, fuzzy feeling Anima felt well up in him as he watched a dazzling, tender smile blossom on his wife’s face almost made him tear up.

“I’m so glad,” Luina said. “I made a lot, so don’t hold back! Eat as much as you’d like!”

“Me too!” Marie chirped. “I’ll eat lots!”

“Good! Eat as much as you’d like, Marie!”

Anima put his spoon down and watched as Luina started eating her dinner.

“…Am I using my spoon strangely?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“Then why are you staring at me?”

“Because watching you makes me happy. Thinking that a woman with eyes this gentle is now my wife fills me with so much happiness that it makes me want to cry.”

“I-I see…” Her cheeks suddenly turned bright red. “Can I watch you as well, then?”

“Watch my face?”

“Yes. Thinking that a man with eyes this gentle is now my husband fills me with so much happiness that it makes me want to cry.”

“My eyes seem gentle to you?” Anima had been cast out by his siblings due to his mean look, so why was it that Luina thought they looked gentle? “Don’t you think they’re scary, like I’m constantly scowling at you?”

“Your eyes do slant, but it doesn’t look like you’re scowling at all. Actually, I find it cute how wet they are now.”

“R-Really… I’m happy, but that’s rather embarrassing…”

“Hehe. That’s payback.”

Luina’s teasing giggle made Anima’s blood rush to his cheeks. He was completely overwhelmed by the intense feelings of happiness and awkwardness. He wanted to do more to make this cozy little family happier.

“What are your plans for after dinner?”

“I’ll do the dishes, then draw a bath, bathe Marie, and put her to bed. After that, I’m thinking of doing the laundry.”

“Can I help with anything?”

“Would you help Marie take a bath? I’ll do the dishes in the meantime.”

“What does that entail?”

“Watch over her while she’s in the tub. She loves to play around in the water, so if we’re not careful, she could get lightheaded and end up drowning.”

Marie’s safety was in Anima’s hands. The pressure was immense, but it showed just how much trust Luina had in him. He was ready to fulfill his duties, no matter the adversities he’d have to face.

“Got it. I’ll help her take a bath.”

“Thank you! I’ll get it ready for her once we finish dinner.”

“How do you prepare the bath? If it’s difficult, I can help you.”

“The tub is full today, so I just have to warm it up. It’s been getting warmer out, but I still don’t want Marie to catch a cold.”

Collecting water and then warming it up. The process of preparing a bath seemed to be the same as in his own world. Getting used to his new life wouldn’t be too difficult with such similarities between the two worlds.

“Do you fill the tub yourself?” Anima asked.

“Yes, from the well in the garden.”

“I see. Then I’ll take that job over starting tomorrow. Let me handle all the physical labor around the house.”

“I’m really glad I summoned someone as kind as you. I was worried about what would happen if I summoned someone scary—I could make them listen to my orders, but who knows how much power I’d need to exert control over them.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Luina grabbed the pendant hanging from her neck and looked straight into Anima’s eyes.

“I summoned you using this magic stone. Magic stones are—”

She explained that, in her world, demons left behind crystals when they died. Those crystals were called magic stones, and by focusing one’s mana into the stone, they could replicate the passed demon’s power.

“For example…” She held her right hand out toward Anima. On her ring finger, she wore a ring embedded with a tiny crystal. “This is a stone left behind by a fire lizard. I don’t have much mana, and this is a cheap, low-quality stone, but I can at least use it to create a tiny flame.”

Strength notwithstanding, she seemed to be able to produce fire without any issues. Anima considered helping out with that as well, but it was probably for the better to leave it to her.

Demons from Anima’s world had four elemental classes they could utilize: fire, earth, water, and wind. Some excelled in one area, while others were proficient in all four. Anima himself, for example, could use earth and fire magic. He was able to build a sturdy house by fortifying the earth with his magic, and could burn an entire forest to ash in the blink of an eye.

He’d been honing his powers—both physical and magical—for over a hundred years; a simple mistake in controlling the strength of his flames could set the house, or in the worst-case scenario, the whole country, ablaze. It was better for everyone’s safety to let Luina take care of heating the water.

“This might come as a surprise, but I should mention it while we’re on the topic… I grow a tail when I use my fire lizard stone.”

“A tail?”

“Mm-hmm. Replicating a demon’s powers can cause you to temporarily inherit some of their physical traits.”

Anxiety began building inside him. What if Luina thought his horns were temporary results of using a magic stone? What if she got scared after learning they were his own, permanent horns? He had to clear up any misunderstanding right away.

“Luina… Are you afraid of men with horns?”

She understood Anima’s inner struggle, and gently touched the pendant on her necklace.

“Those two horns on your head don’t matter to me at all. I fell in love with you because you’re strong, yet gentle and kind. I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”

Her warm words tugged at his heartstrings; he couldn’t even respond. Luina accepted him as he was. He still couldn’t believe that he’d been blessed to have such an angel as his wife. If someone had come up to him yesterday and told him that he was going to meet such a girl, he’d have dismissed it as some sort of cruel joke.

“I’m so grateful to have met you, Luina.”

“I am too. I never imagined that someone like you could be summoned with the Harbinger stone.”

“Is ‘Harbinger’ the creature that left behind that magic stone?”

“Exactly. The Harbinger apparently held the power to summon familiars, which would be bound to its will. The reason we can talk to each other despite being from separate worlds is that there needs to be communication and mutual understanding for orders to be carried out.”

“That Harbinger seems like a neat creature to me.”

“Not at all. It’s common knowledge here that the Harbinger used countless familiars to wreak havoc on this world. I heard it even summoned a dragon, of all things! Its reign of terror came to an end after its familiars were defeated, but a lot of people lost their lives in the battles.”

Anima was surprised at how evil the Harbinger sounded.

“Does that mean you haven’t seen the Harbinger’s rampage yourself?”

“No. Their tyranny happened over three hundred years ago. There was also an ongoing war during that time, but the warring states formed an alliance in order to stop the Harbinger.”

“Oh, I see. So it was one of your ancestors who killed that demon.”

Luina was in possession of a magic stone, so it was safe to assume that it had been passed down by her family. Confirming that suspicion, she nodded.

“My family had been channeling their power into this stone for decades in hopes that it would put a stop to the Harbinger were it to rise again. Personally, I never wanted to use it, but I had no other choice.”

Luina was attacked by a demon, which forced her hand in order to save Marie, yet she seemed to feel guilty about using the stone.

Anima couldn’t let her feel anxious, as it’d go against his picture of the ideal family: one full of smiles.

“Don’t worry, you used that crystal the way you were supposed to. If the Harbinger rises again, I’ll make sure to destroy it; you don’t even have to use your power to order me. Like I said, I’ll do anything for you, including bathing Marie and putting her to sleep.”

“Daddy, go night-night with me!”

Marie raised her head and spoke while happily munching away at her dinner.

“As long as you and Luina are okay with that,” Anima replied.

“I wanna be with you and Mommy!”

“Of course I’ll sleep with you,” Luina said. “Seeing your sleeping face will no doubt make my heart skip a beat, but a wife should always sleep next to her husband. Besides, we only have one bed.”

“Really? In such an impressive house with so many rooms?”

“We have a lot of rooms, but we sold most everything that would sell. If we hadn’t, we wouldn’t have been able to afford anything.” That put the wobbly chair into perspective; no one would buy that. “Ah, but there’s always food on the table thanks to the wonderful field outside!”

Luina’s cheerful voice lifted the heavy atmosphere from the room, and Marie doubled down on it.

“I helped Mommy lots today!”

“Did you now? You’re a very good little girl. How old are you?”

“Umm… I’m three!”

“Three years old? You’re practically a newborn. And Luina, if I had to guess, you’re probably around… a hundred, correct?”

“A HUNDRED?! E-Excuse you! Do I look like a wrinkly old lady to you?”

“Not at all, you’re very youthful. Eighty, perhaps?”

“That’s no different! This might come as a shock, but I’m only twenty.”

“Twenty?! That means there’s over a hundred years between us.”

“There’s that big an age difference?! How old did you say you were, Anima?”

“A hundred and thirty.”

“You’re deceptively old. I figured you were older than me, but you could be my great-grandpa.”

“In my world, a hundred and thirty is the prime of your life, so don’t worry. I’ll help you with everything from carrying water to bathing Marie!”

“That would be wonderful. Then would you help me in the field the day after tomorrow?”

“Hm? What are we doing tomorrow then?”

“I’ll finish the housework in the morning and show you around Garaat in the afternoon.”

“You gonna go to town?” Marie asked, interrupting their conversation. “Me too! I love town!”

“Sure! We can all go together!”

“Yaaay! Daddy, carry! Carry me around!”

“You got it! Leave the carrying to me!”

The next day, Anima would head into town with his daughter in his arms and his wife at his side. Simply thinking about it made him giddy with happiness. While imagining their day together, he took a big bite of the world’s most amazing stew made by the world’s most amazing wife.

◆◆◆

Around the time when Anima proposed to Luina…

A certain man in his mid-thirties walked restlessly around in his mansion in Garaat. His unkempt brown hair reached down to his shoulders. A thick layer of dirt covered his round face, carved with wobbly lines by the beads of sweat that were stopped by the stubble covering his nervously chattering jaw. The man’s name was Krain.

“Wh-What the hell happened?!” He bashed his staff, decorated with an azure crystal, against the wall and scratched his head in rage. “No way! There’s no way my goblin was defeated with a single strike! This is nonsense!”

Krain was a magic stone collector. From among his countless magic stones, he’d used one of the rarest and most valuable—the Goblin King stone, which summoned a powerful clod goblin as his puppet—to attack Luina. It was not an act of whim; he had spent weeks planning the attack, but he had been negligent in his preparations. He’d caught a glance of Luina’s pendant before, but though he wasn’t able to assess its power from just that, he decided to take the chance.

His plan should have been perfect. He’d picked a day when Myuke, the only one in the family with a Hunter license, was out, and made sure to wait until the end of the day when Luina was already exhausted from work, decreasing her chance of running to practically zero.

Under the veil of the night, he’d snuck into the heart of the forest, summoned the clod goblin, and ordered it to remain on standby until the perfect moment. When everything was in place, the goblin had broken through the fence and attacked Luina.

However, that was when the unthinkable had happened. A crimson-eyed, white-haired man had appeared out of nowhere. Krain had simply wanted Luina and her kids to experience the horror of demons, even if it had resulted in a few broken bones and while he hadn’t wanted to see her killed, that was not true of the mysterious white-haired man. The seeds of terror would surely take root within Luina’s soul were someone to die in front of her, so Krain had ordered his minion to kill the man.

Clod goblins were much stronger than common, run-of-the-mill goblins. They were able to break boulders with their bare hands; the frail bodies of humans crumbled under its attacks.

Yet somehow, the white-haired man hadn’t so much as flinched. Not only had there been no signs of damage after the goblin’s relentless attacks, it was as if he hadn’t even felt the mighty demon’s strikes. To add insult to injury, he’d killed it as easily as he’d swat a fly. The cow-like horns sticking out from the sides of his head led Krain to believe that it must have been the effects of a minotaur magic stone, capable of enhancing one’s physical abilities, but that didn’t fully explain the unbelievable power he displayed.

“I wasn’t prepared to deal with something like that…”

Krain was in total panic. He had experience with the method he’d used; a number of people had fallen before his goblins. He’d even used them to murder several prestigious Hunters, making it especially painful to have failed to intimidate a simple village girl and her children.

“I-I may not have hurt her, but she was deathly afraid!”

Clod goblins were deaf, but they had eyesight. Krain may not have been able to hear Luina’s scream, but by looking through the goblin’s eyes, he’d definitely seen all the blood drain from her face. His job had been to plant the seeds of terror into her soul, and the idea that her life could suddenly come to an end at the hands of a demon should have been more than enough to torment her.

She didn’t have the means to hire a Hunter, nor the strength to undo the shackles of fear. Marrying a powerful man who would protect her for the rest of her life would be the only way to release herself from the overwhelming dread. If that man also happened to be filthy rich, he could free her from her life in the village as well. The allure of safety and luxury for herself and her children should have made Luina more than willing to accept a proposal from such a man, so despite the slight hiccup, Krain had managed to complete his task.

Failing his duties would have resulted in severe punishment, but fulfilling them would be justly rewarded. With the money he was to receive, he would be able to live in the lap of luxury. He would be able to have any woman he wanted, enjoy the finest alcohol, and savor the most exquisite food.

“I can’t wait to tell Lord Malshan about my grand success!”

Excited for his reward, Krain left to report to his employer, Lord Malshan.