Ch.141Season 2 – The Princess Captured in the Demon King’s Castle

The biggest problem in the underground village was, of course, the food shortage.

“Since we’re 1,000 meters underground, the ground is too hot to grow crops…”

“Plus, animals like cows and pigs have all been eaten by monsters outside the kingdom, so livestock farming is impossible too.”

“We once thought about raising monsters like animals. But…”

Throughout nearly 6,000 years of human civilization, why had humans only domesticated animals and not monsters?

The people of the underground village had learned that reason the hard way.

“They couldn’t be controlled properly?”

“It’s not so much about control…”

“It was like trying to hold water in your hands.”

“Hold water in your hands? That’s impossible.”

“Exactly. It was impossible. As soon as we managed to bring one underground, it went berserk. Completely impossible to raise.”

The hunting team members all sighed together as they recalled that dangerous time, though thankfully no lives were lost.

Seeing them, I decided to help as quickly as possible.

“Then we’ll become your hunting team and hunt edible monsters for you.”

“If you could do that, we’d be grateful.”

“But if I remember correctly, Shinwoo couldn’t do partial kaijufication at this time, right?”

“Partial… kaijufication?”

“Ah, right! Father, there’s something I wanted to tell you about that.”

Partial kaijufication.

It sounded like being able to transform only parts of the body into a monster.

“That term sounds strangely familiar…”

Right, now that I think about it, he seemed to do it in my future memories.

To avoid wasting energy unnecessarily, when facing opponents he could easily kill, he would transform just an arm or leg into a monster form and mercilessly slaughter humans that way.

Does that mean I, having inherited some of his memories, can do it too?

This partial kaijufication?

“Jaewon, perhaps…”

“You want to know about partial kaijufication, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“First, please look at this.”

In the middle of my conversation with the hunting team, Jaewon looked at me and drew the sword from his back.

Then.

“Haah!”

The holy sword that had been emitting white light was instantly covered in dark demonic energy and transformed into a monster form like Jaewon’s arm.

“This is what partial kaijufication means.”

“…! You really can do it.”

“I’m more surprised that you couldn’t do this, Father.”

“Really?”

“Yes, because I could do partial kaijufication from the moment I was born.”

Jaewon told me about his own growth story, different from mine.

My son, unlike me, couldn’t perform perfect kaijufication from birth.

He lived in the first human rebellion base, which was much larger and grander than this place, only able to partially transform his arms or legs. Then one day, after witnessing the death of someone precious during a night attack, he became able to fully transform for the first time.

“By the way, except for me, your other children are limited to partial kaijufication.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. Leon who fought against you, and the other three as well—they weren’t conserving energy by taking that form. That form itself was their innate limit.”

Come to think of it, when I fought Leon in the past, he didn’t seem to be conserving energy.

Far from saving energy, if complete kaijufication had been possible, he would have transformed that way immediately.

But then, why was only Jaewon able to achieve complete kaijufication?

“Maybe it’s because you and his mother were so close?”

“You think so…?”

Hearing Lia’s words as she suddenly appeared beside me, I nodded, thinking she might be right.

After all, we were a family that had been together for over 10 years.

It would have been stranger if we didn’t have good compatibility.

Meanwhile, Lady Kurumi made a somewhat displeased expression while listening to our conversation.

“Was I… not enough?”

“Lady Kurumi?”

“Ugh… I’ll try harder to improve my compatibility with Shinwoo!”

“Ah, yes. Let’s do that?”

Seeing the fighting spirit in her eyes, I clenched my fist in support, though I wasn’t quite sure what she meant.

Anyway.

“With this level of partial kaijufication, there’s no worry about the current Han Shinwoo detecting us.”

“Because it uses less energy, right?”

“Yes. Father’s kaijufication is especially flashy. But operating like this, it might even be possible to secretly ‘assassinate’ him.”

“…!”

Assassination!

Come to think of it, that option was available.

In a direct confrontation, I can’t defeat my future self.

That was already proven when the moon in our world was destroyed.

But what about assassination?

As history tells us, even the mightiest general’s life ends pathetically if their throat is cut while they sleep.

In other words, if I can get close to him by any means necessary, I could use partial kaijufication when he lets his guard down…!

“I could definitely kill him…!”

“Certainly…”

“Since you both have the same energy as Han Shinwoo, he might mistake your energy for his own and let his guard down.”

In that split second when he mistakes it for his own energy.

And in that moment, I’ll cut out his heart, using the movements I glimpsed in his memories.

With that thought, and since there were plenty of practice targets overflowing on the surface.

“Jaewon, could you teach me that partial kaijufication?”

“Of course, Father.”

To learn while also hunting monsters, I immediately followed Jaewon up to the surface.

***

In fairy tales, princesses always follow the same cliché of being kidnapped by the Demon King and imprisoned in a gloomy demon realm.

When I heard those stories as a child, I didn’t understand at first.

The demon realm would be a world without ‘humans,’ right?

In such a place, demons would provide delicious food, pick out pretty clothes, and raise the princess with everything she needed—so why would the princess try to escape?

As a Beast Hunter who despised humans, I couldn’t understand the content of those books.

But thinking back now, Sophia couldn’t help but understand.

“Because there are precious people… that’s why she wanted to get out somehow…”

How many days had it been since she was locked in this room?

The white dress she was forcibly changed into after being captured and brought to the future world.

…It was so much to my taste that I wanted to take it back to the past.

The food brought into the room, the various entertainment devices prepared whenever I said I was bored—all were filled with things I liked to an eerie degree.

Well, the person who prepared these things was none other than Shinwoo.

Thinking of Shinwoo, who was this sincere toward me, made me happy, but the fact that he wasn’t the Shinwoo from my world stirred up emotions I couldn’t allow.

“Let me out…”

……

“I said let me out!!”

Bang bang bang!

For a week now, I’d been desperately pounding on the firmly locked exit door, wanting to leave.

I was prepared to hit it until my bones broke.

But just as I was about to hurt my fist from hitting it too hard,

“Your Highness. Please stop.”

A child appeared behind me, trying to stop me.

“…Harumi?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You just got back from the academy, I see.”

“Haha, yes… I suppose so.”

One of the dozens of children that future Han Shinwoo had assigned to respectfully attend to Sophia.

The 29th child of the empire with happy pink hair and, contrary to her appearance, a very puzzling personality.

Kitsune Harumi.

“Your Majesty. If you keep stressing yourself out like this every day, your beautiful skin will be ruined. So instead of doing that, try to be happy. Hap-py.”

“…I’d like to be, but I can’t when I’ve been brought here against my will.”

“Well, I guess that’s true!”

Harumi, who had been making a V-sign with her fingers to cheer up Sophia, ended up lying down on the bed after being convinced by the very person she was trying to persuade.

Being the daughter of Kitsune Kurumi, Sophia had been especially wary of Harumi when they first met.

But perhaps she felt more affection for Harumi’s genuine high school-like behavior compared to the other children who maintained unnecessary formality around her.

At some point, Sophia stopped minding when Harumi entered her room without permission and lazed around.

“…Are you going to stay in this room today too?”

“Yes. After all, this is a place even my tutors can’t enter freely.”

“Sigh, you might get scolded by your dad… I mean, by Shinwoo.”

“No, my brothers or sisters might notice, but His Majesty doesn’t even know I’m here, so it’ll be fine.”

Sprawled on Sophia’s bed, Harumi took out a comic book from her bag and began reading.

Seeing such a carefree attitude, Sophia’s fist naturally lost its strength.

“…If I start hitting the door again, you’ll stop me, right?”

“That’s His Majesty’s order. I’m sorry, First Empress, but I must follow my father’s commands.”

“…But why?”

“Pardon?”

“Your father… doesn’t even know you exist. So why do you follow someone like that?”

Suddenly curious, Sophia asked Harumi.

Like the other children who had invaded the past, why were they so eager to please the current Shinwoo who couldn’t even properly recognize them?

However, as if wondering what kind of question that was, Harumi closed her comic book and tilted her head.

“Because you never know.”

“What?”

With a strange flame of hope and obsession burning in her eyes, she answered.

“If I behave well, I might get his attention.”

“Atten…tion?”

“Yes. You don’t understand because you’ve always received His Majesty’s love. His children, including me, always hunger for father’s love. Even if he scolds or hits us, just once…”

Yes, just once…

“Wanting to be acknowledged by father. That’s the wish of all his children, including me.”