Rather Than The Son, I’ll Take The Father

Translator and Editor: Effe and Lili

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Chapter 68

「“…I think I just skipped past a very dangerous word.”」

“Maybe you heard me wrong because of the sound of the wind? More than that, I need you to light up the inside of the cave.”

Maybe it was because she said it so casually that Paimon acquiesced.

「”Oh, right.”」

A small flame made by Paimon floated in the air.

I walked towards the cave.

“Don’t go any further. A spell has been activated around here.”

Hmm. To me, it just looks like an ordinary dark cave.

Instead of jewelry, it seems to be infested with only animal bones and worms.

I questioned him as I squatted down on the floor and looked for a stone.

“Paimon, where would you have gone if you had escaped from the bell tower safely?”

「”Why are you asking such a thing all of a sudden? Well, of course, I would’ve come here. To completely break the seal, I need his help.”」

「”He?”」

「”Yeah, ‘him’. But I don’t think he’s here right now. He must have gone somewhere else.”」

I found a stone and threw it into the cave.

Pong!

The stone exploded when it reached a certain point inside the cave.

Even though we were at a safe enough distance, Paimon covered me with his wings.

「”You idiot! I told you it was dangerous! No matter how low your intelligence is, how can you not even understand the basics!”」

…What kind of nonsense is that?

I furrowed my eyebrows.

「”I must’ve been crazy for mistaking you for him for a moment. Ah, really.”」

Paimon muttered and took off his wings.

I was going to explain that my intelligence level isn’t low, but by intuition I realized that the probability that Paimon would believe me was close to zero, so I just asked some questions first instead.

“Who is he?”

「”He’s both a spirit and a beast….No one knows his true identity.”」

That was a really unhelpful answer.

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I picked up one more stone.

「”Just throw it.”」

“…I’ll have to ask Aedis to pierce a hole in it later. Let’s go back.”

Paimon was bewildered because I didn’t want to throw it.

「”Go, go back?”」

“We’re going back, aren’t we? To Cyclamen Castle. If you don’t want to go back because of the bell tower, you can stay here. I’d appreciate it if you could just let me know that you’re still alive once in a while.”

Anyway, as long as he signed a contract with magical powers from Aedis, Paimon could not harm people at will.

Paimon will be very upset if he finds out about this later.

「”I will come too. Not now…but in a few days.”」

Paimon’s eyelids fluttered.

「”That…uh…you know it’s been a while since I’ve had my freedom? So I want to take a look…so.”」

Because it was an excuse, I interrupted his rambling.

“Okay. Have fun.”

Paimon laughed his head off.

「”As expected, my contractor is magnanimous! I think I can understand why the Demon King likes you!”」

Demon King? Why the hell is he talking about some Demon King?

「”Ah, I’ll take you out of the forest though. If humans are bothering you while the Demon King is not around, tell me right away! I’ll cut their eyeballs out and put them on skewers!”」

“Is the Demon King you’re talking about Aedis?”

「”Uh, yes that’s the Demon King.”」

I frowned.

“Why ‘Demon King’?”

「”Because he looks scary.”」

How can my husband look scary to something that has the shape of a dragon and can exceed 10 meters?

“If you look closely, there are many cute corners.”

When I pointed that out with my eyes narrowed, Paimon smiled mischievously.

「”You must hear a lot about you being a freak, right?”

Excuse me?

「”All right, all right. What do I expect from a brainsick child? Just live as you are.”」

“My intelligence is above average…”

Paimon ignored my words and lit a fire.

The flames began to surround me in a circle.

Miraculously, the fire was warm enough to relieve tension, but did not burn the surroundings.

The flames trapped me in a circle and made me float in the air.

“Did you mean to blow me away?”

The fire continued to build momentum.

At first, it was at ankle height, then it came up to waist-length, and in an instant, it became high enough to obscure the view.

In just a few seconds, I was completely trapped inside a sphere made of fire.

The wind blew by very quickly.

Paimon’s destination is outside the forest.

But it was obvious what people would think if I suddenly jumped out of a sphere of fire.

“Ho-hold on! Paimon! There are a lot of people at the entrance. It’s too flashy-”

「”What? Wanna go more colorfully?”」

Could it be that Paimon’s ears are equipped with a function that filters out anything he doesn’t want to hear?

Time was running out for me to be engulfed in regret.

“No! I’ll just walk, so drop me off!”

「”My first contractor knows how to show off. Good! I’m going with maximum firepower!”」

This bastard.

“Let’s put me down first before I seal you back up at full speed, shall we?”

Fortunately, this threat worked.

「”I’m sorry. I was wrong.”」

Paimon immediately apologized.

At the same time, the flames were extinguished and little by little the scenery outside became visible again.

But why do I see mesmerized people instead of the view of the wooded forest?

“Grand, Grand Duchess?”

Rita’s eyes fluttered violently. Others couldn’t believe it either.

I think it’s…f***ed?

“Then I’m on my way! Summon me if you need me….You don’t have enough magic power. Then the spirit language…You couldn’t, ah. Just a little whistle will do then. Hehe.”

Paimon, who suddenly became polite after my resealing threat, said goodbye to me, but none of his words registered to my ears.

* * *

At the same time, a large creature was crossing the dead land.

In a place polluted with the poison emitted by the beasts, a white tiger showed off its presence with a dramatic contrast.

It took on the form of a tiger, but as it was by no means an ordinary beast, it had hideous golden eyes and a large size that overwhelmed its surroundings.

Some magical beasts held their breath while hoping that it would pass by quickly and that their master’s anger would not reach them.

However, some beasts looked down on the Master, saying that it was funny.

As they exchanged glances, they attacked the Master of the Land’s familiar, Zaha, in groups.

However, half of the beasts failed to attack due to the overpowering spirit of the Master surrounding Zaha, and the other half were bitten as soon as they showed hostility.

Zaha continued to run, staining the charred ground with blood.

Finally, Zaha arrived at the heart of Tolka, a quarry abandoned by humans.

The quarry still had a terraced structure.

And there was a large crater in the center.

It was a trace made by a human swordsman.

It must be found.

A blue ring appeared before Zaha’s eyes.

* * *

“God damn it.”

Rumors that the Grand Duchess had subjugated the spirit that had threatened the safety of the forest spread quickly.

Since spirits had left the world a long time ago, everyone was interested.

Some people were amazed at the existence of the spirit itself, and there were other people who focused more on the fact that it had a contract with me.

According to the records found by searching the Grand Duchy’s library, it was difficult for even wizards with abundant magical powers to make a contract with the spirits.

On the contrary, in most cases, they wouldn’t even be compatible.

However, ordinary people being more likely to contract with spirits than wizards was absolutely not the case either.

The spirits were very picky about who to contract with.

This is because it cannot be released unless one of them dies.

Perhaps that’s why people’s interest in the spirits was changing into interest in me.

But I was a person with no special abilities.

It’s possible for me to temporarily improve my physical abilities, but originally I didn’t have that ability, it’s something I got from contracting a beast.

Even after signing a contract with Paimon, nothing has particularly changed.

I feel like I’m connected to something, but that’s it.

If I had to list the differences, would one be that I sleep a lot more because my body gets drowsy a lot easier than usual?

Aedis explained that this was because Paimon’s energy, which entered my body during the contract, was spreading throughout my body.

This was a period of exploration and adaptation. I’m glad it’ll calm down in a few days.

Until then, I thought I was going to fool around as much as I could.

I’ve only met a few people.

In particular, Procyon, who said he was dying of injustice because he couldn’t spread the saga of Her Highness the Grand Duchess, and Tolyman Elliot, who was as fond of dragons as cats, insisted that they were envoys.

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