Eyes where red and gold mingled like sunset crumpled with tears.
He had liked the sight of flowers blooming prettily one day in the empty snowfield.
His father, Sheyer, had called it contamination, but Mephisto, who had not been born long ago, had simply been delighted even by flowers created from negative emotions.
Once, in a corner of the castle, he had met squirrel beastmen who had come to present acorns.
It had been hard to accept that those cute, innocent squirrels would someday have to disappear.
He had earnestly wished for this world to endure.
To Mephisto at the time, that had been the correct answer.
But Sheyer had not understood.
The reason he called him Father and forcibly bound him within the frame of family. The special affection he held for the world and for his family.
It was the moment a tear dropped from the baby bird’s eye.
Grrrrr!
Woof!
It was Karmilak.
The black beast with four legs had black horns on its head, and on either side were six eye-shaped jewels, giving it a bizarre appearance.
Grrrrrr!
Karmilak’s body shook as if it were laughing.
—To think I would get to eat a monarch like this.
Craaaack!
He opened his mouth wide.
“Pii……!”
Mephisto squeezed his eyes shut, imagining the pain of his flesh being torn apart.
But what made Mephisto open his eyes was the voice of someone he had never expected.
“Hello, son?”
Drop, drop, drop—tears that had welled in Mephisto’s eyes fell ceaselessly like raindrops.
Son?
Before he could even dwell on that title—
“Mephi!”
“……!”
Mephisto was being held in a small embrace from which the savory smell of bread wafted.
Gru hugged her baby bird so tightly it was hard to breathe.
“Piii!”
Mephisto rubbed his cheek against Gru while nestled in her arms.
After confirming that Mephisto was unharmed, Beilak shook his head, and Luxifer came down from atop Gru’s head and patted Mephisto.
Mephisto was intoxicated by the joy that Gru had come to get him—but only for a moment. In his field of vision, he saw the black beast.
Whine. Whimper.
Karmilak, that black beast, was lying flat before Sheyer in a posture of submission.
Mephisto sniffled.
“Pipi—pi!”
With his sorrow exploding, Mephisto pointed at Karmilak with his wing and tattled to Gru that “that thing tried to eat him” and that “it was unbelievably scary.”
“Did it?”
But the answer came from Sheyer’s side.
Flinch!
Mephisto’s shoulders trembled, and Gru stood up, placing the stiffened baby bird on top of her head.
Whine. Whiiine.
Even then, Karmilak was circling around in front of Sheyer with its tail lowered.
Gru puffed out her cheeks sulkily as she watched.
After cruelly carrying Mephisto off in its mouth, now that Sheyer had appeared, it was pretending to be weak. It was utterly sly.
“Uncle Shey, please scold the bad doggy a lot.”
“Hmph, hmph!” When Gru spoke with a snort, Sheyer made a thoughtful sound and said after a brief moment of consideration,
“Try doing whatever you want. Anything is fine.”
“Me?”
Yelp!
When Sheyer left it to Gru, Karmilak leapt in surprise.
Gru hesitated before opening her mouth.
“But……”
“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to—”
“I-it’s not that I don’t want to……!”
Gru held her fork in both hands and rolled her large eyes.
Why is he suddenly handing it over to me? Could this be……
‘A test?!’
He might be testing whether Gru could use her power properly or not.
Then what should she do? She had to do well!
Gru’s lips trembled with nerves. She hadn’t even been this nervous during her kindergarten interview……!
“Th-the bad doggy is…… um……”
Dragging out time, Gru crept toward Karmilak.
Would the skill work? What if it resisted? If she showed herself failing disgracefully……
The image of Sheyer snorting at her in her mind flashed past. He even sneered, “You think you can drive me out with power like that?”
‘Th-that can’t happen!’
First, to test whether Karmilak would obey commands, Gru held out her hand.
“Paw.”
Then Karmilak offered its front paw like a well-trained dog.
“Sit. Lie down. Roll over. Bang! Stand on two legs!”
Karmilak, faithfully listening to her commands, stood on two legs and stretched its front paws up toward the sky.
“Oh……!”
Gru clapped her hands.
“Then…… do the dog-leg dance!”
Karmilak began dancing, its legs trembling.
“Ooooh!”
“Piii!”
“Kkyu!”
Clap clap clap clap!
Gru, Mephisto, and Luxifer applauded as they watched Karmilak’s show.
Suddenly filled with confidence, Gru shouted energetically.
“Then good! Here I go! Open, Yorang!”
“Kkyut!”
Luxifer leapt up, and in that instant, a chill of an entirely different dimension swept over the snowfield.
[Will you take ‘Karmilak Noknir’ as your retainer?]
Karmilak looked at Sheyer as if hesitating, but soon accepted the position of retainer.
Stage one, success!
‘My heart is pounding.’
Gru wiped away the beads of sweat on her forehead.
Unlike with Beilak, a massive amount of mana rushed out of her.
Gru’s vision swam as she straightened her staggering body. Then she shook her head and clenched her fists tightly.
She could still do it.
Then now it was time to use “Knead-Knead” and create a new form.
“I’ll make you into a li’l chiwawa……”
Heh heh heh! With her mana drained, Gru spoke in a voice like she was drunk and let out a sinister laugh.
Just then, Beilak, who had been watching worriedly, tugged at the hem of Gru’s clothes.
“Hm?”
“Mew!”
Beilak pointed once at Karmilak, then once at Mephisto. Then he mimed putting something into his mouth in one bite and even chewed.
“Ah, you mean give it to Mephi? Like that takoyaki back then?”
When Gru understood perfectly, Beilak drew a big circle as if to say she was right.
“Pit?”
Mephisto looked puzzled, but Beilak waved his hand as if telling him to just eat it.
“Okay. Bad doggy……! Become the takoyaki Mephi likes……!”
Yelp!
[Activating the skill ‘Knead-Knead.’]
Karmilak’s lumpy form warped like clay, and soon it became a round takoyaki shape.
“I-it worked!”
But her joy lasted only a moment.
As if Karmilak were resisting, the takoyaki slowly began to grow in size.
“Aaah!”
While Gru panicked at the sight of the gradually enlarging takoyaki, Mephisto flew swiftly over and shoved the takoyaki into his mouth in one bite.
Then he swallowed it whole without even chewing.
“Phew—”
As the strength left Gru’s legs and she was about to sit down, Sheyer quickly approached and supported her, lifting her into his arms.
“You overdid it.”
“Huuung……”
The world spun before her eyes. Seeing stars meant she really had overdone it.
“It seems this is your limit for now.”
“N-no, can’t be……”
Gru sprawled over Sheyer’s shoulder like laundry and mumbled.
If it had been Jurim, she would have recovered to peak condition thanks to the skill “The Happiness of Being Together”……
In order to get Dad back, she would have to make Sheyer a body.
Forcing her sleepy eyes to blink, Gru spoke in a tiny voice.
“Dad……”
Sheyer patted the child’s back as she mumbled with a tangled tongue.
“Gru wants to see Dad……”
“Yes.”
Pat, pat.
At that gentle touch, Gru’s vision blurred.
Her heart was in a hurry, but drowsiness was pouring over her eyes.
What if Gru was too weak and couldn’t get Dad back?
Tears felt as though they would burst out all at once, but her body would not move as she wished.
Only her voice, as if it might snap at any moment, kept calling for Jurim.
“Dad……”
Pat, pat.
“Please give him back……”
Pat, pat.
“Yes……”
Listening to Sheyer’s final answer carried to her ear, Gru fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Mephisto was watching Gru, who was slipping into sleep, with a determined expression.
At last, the moment the child’s eyes closed.
As the baby bird digested Karmilak’s power, a halo of light wrapped around his body.
Sheyer, holding the sleeping Gru, turned to look at Mephisto.
Beilak narrowed his eyes as he looked at the halo of light.
It was something he had already expected.
If worst came to worst and they had to face Sheyer, Mephisto had to possess power. That was why he had told Mephisto to eat Karmilak’s power.
When the halo of light surrounding Mephisto subsided, snow-white feathers fluttered.
What appeared among the feathers was a child with curly white hair.
On a face as white as snow, golden eyes mingled with red like sunset blinked.
In the form of a human child created from the image of his old self, Mephisto opened his mouth with difficulty.
“……Lord Sheyer.”
At Mephisto’s call, Sheyer spoke with an expression that seemed rather shocked.