Volume 8 prologue (2/2)

“Oto-san doesn’t have anything to do with this! It’s to conserve energy!”

Apparently, her younger form consumed a bit less energy. So, to expedite her evolution no matter how little, she was staying in that form.

“You sure?”

“For crying out loud, Marcho, what do you take me for?”

To be completely honest, I did feel more at ease with Kuina’s younger form.

For one, hugging her in her younger form just feels better. Secondly, I don’t get off balance as much whenever she jumps at me for a hug. Her adult form’s fantastic, but I just think this form is better… crap, I got sidetracked.

“Well, anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today?”

“I have something I’d like to ask: can you still make medals with your [Demon Lord Powers]?”

Upon hearing my question, Marcho smiled.

As I thought.

“Yup, still can. Naturally, I’ll give you all I have since you became my master. However, for those I’ve obtained before that, I’ll ask this just in case: will you accept them?”

“No. Much like the DP you’ve saved up before you became my monster, I will not accept those medals.”

“I thought you’d say that. And like I’ve said before, I like that determination-to-the-point-of-stubbornness of yours. It’s kinda childish, but I like it.”

Again, she’s treating me like a child again. I have to prove to her I’m adult one of these days.

“Then, why didn’t you tell me you can make medals last time I was here, when I was collecting DP?”

If she had told me then, I didn’t have to come back here and do extra effort.

“The answer to that is, well, if I had told you then, you wouldn’t have come back here again. The next time I would have seen you was going to be next month, when I have another medal. That’s kinda lonely, so I deliberately stayed silent. I thought that if I did, you’ll meet with me one additional time to ask me about it. Call it the wiles of a woman’s heart.”

She explained so and then roguishly smiled.

As I thought, I am no match against her.

“Then, I promise that from now on, I will find, no, I will make the time to meet you whenever I can. Besides that, you’re always welcome to visit me whenever you want. I’ll always be happy to see you.”

When I said so, Marcho snickered in response and then proceeded to hug me.

Because she was taller than me though, my head became buried between her chest.

“Ooh! Such an adorable thing to say! You were actually a mother-con all along weren’t you?”

“Stop. It hurts.”

I was at her mercy.

If I have fully recovered, I might have been able to separate us peacefully. However, at the moment, I was left no option other than to let her do as she liked until she was satisfied.

“You’re so cute, Procell. Oh, before I forget, here, the [Beast] medals I have. Come pick up another one next month, alright?”

“Thank you. Now I can make a new monster.”

“Also, just an fyi, I can make [Beast] medals, sure, but the medals I’ve been able to make because I’ve broken their Demon Lord’s crystals, well, I can’t make them anymore. It seems like the [Demon Lord Powers] I have is limited to that of the [Beast] Demon Lord. I can’t buy imitation medals anymore either.”

“I’ll make note of it. Then, see you next time.”

I gave my heartfelt thanks to Marcho and then left her dungeon.

With all the necessary medals at hand, I could finally create the new monster. If all went according to plan, I would have a monster that could act in the other dimension and also use [Transfer].

◇

After I parted with Marcho, I returned immediately to Avalon.

At the moment, I was in the laboratory of my estate, trying to focus my mind.

In just a few moments more, I was going to make the new monster.

This time, I had no intention of using [Person].

I had used it for all my previous [Syntheses] involving the [Creation] medal because it allowed me to make a monster that I could converse with  and that was close to my own form.

I didn’t need those qualities for this monster though. All I needed it to be was to be an extremely useful addition to my war potential.

When they heard I was going to make a new member of our family, Rorono, Aura, and Ruhe came along. Kuina haven’t left my side since our trip to Marcho’s dungeon.

“Kuina’s so excited for our new sister!”

“Mhm. I have to ascertain what kind of weapon will suit them.”

“Yeah, and I’ll feed them lots of delicious apples”

“Patron, remember your promise, you hear? You said the child you’re going to make next was one who can fight alongside me in the other dimension!”

Though they said different things, each of them felt just as excited.

“I know, I know. But anyway, once it’s born, you all shower it with a warm welcome, okay?”

I said so as I grasped tightly the three medals—[Creation], [Beast], and [Time]— in my palm.

“[Synthesis]”

As soon as I said that word, the medals became particles of light and intertwined with one another.

Countless possibilities then came and went in my mind.

For a while, I kept searching the possibility that I wanted, the one I wanted the new monster to become. When I found it, I smiled and grasped that possibility.