Ch.203Brother NPC Prepares (5)

Shortly after the death of Saint Ira, Luxuria, the Deadly Sin of Lust, refused to accept her death.

According to the Ancestral Guardian, she felt love—the same fate as Jack—for Saint Ira, whom she had known for less than a day.

Because of this, she began to rampage. She forcibly pressed her lips against the nearby ancestor, “Guardian Jack,” literally draining all his energy until he couldn’t move a finger. After fully restoring herself, she activated her power to resurrect the saint… but I should mention that in the game, the power of Lust had no ability to resurrect humans.

Could it be that the Deadly Sins from thousands of years ago had such abilities? When I asked Miho, she shook her head and answered.

“I was told that the power of the Deadly Sin of Lust wasn’t limited to mental domination that merely amplifies sexual desire.”

And when Miho finished explaining all the information about the power of Lust to me, I couldn’t help but rub my face.

…Holy shit. Isn’t this the strongest power in a way? It sounds like she can modify human bodies without equivalent exchange—or rather, by adding something extra? You who stole bodies after creating children’s mothers should seriously reflect on yourself.

Anyway, she succeeded in “rebirthing” Saint Ira with that power. And as a result…

“The Ancestral Guardian said that because she completely resurrected a ‘dead person,’ the ‘cycle’ was broken, and ‘God’ intervened.”

“…Don’t tell me God killed Luxuria?”

“Yes, though not through direct divine possession. God controlled the minds of other saint apprentices near Saint Ira, and after the saint was resurrected, they attacked the two who were weakened. During that process, Luxuria was killed.”

Her power realm collapsed, and the attacking saint apprentices severely wounded the ancestor. The weakened Luxuria suffered fatal injuries. It’s said that because the Ancestral Guardian was in mortal danger, she used her own life force to defeat the two saint apprentices. And then…

“The final enemy was, ahem, hmm…”

“Hm? The final enemy?”

Miho suddenly cleared her throat with a slightly reddened face, and I tilted my head looking at her. She covered her mouth and spoke a little quietly.

“A white tiger. Probably… a female tiger that might be my ancestor appeared when Jack’s ancestor was in danger and killed it by mauling it.”

“…Oh.”

Since this was the story of that day, the white tiger must have been injured too. It seems she instinctively sensed the ancestor’s crisis and rushed in as a relief pitcher. To think a white tiger killed a saint, well… Wait, hold on. Huh?

“An-ancestor? That white tiger?”

“…Yes.”

Miho wrapped her tail around my arm, blushing and nodding slightly, and I felt my head going blank again. Uh, um… huh?

“…So, you and I are…”

-Nod.

Holy fucking shit? What kind of nonsense is this?!

It’s shocking enough that my ancestor the Guardian’s wife was literally a beast, a white tiger. What? Miho’s ancestor is that white tiger?! Wait, according to whom? Did they do a DNA test or something?!

“Well… as soon as we met, she sniffed my bu—… she sniffed me intensely…”

“And?”

“…She tried to embrace me as her child. I-I also sniffed her a little…”

“Don’t tell me, you too…”

“Um, well… she felt more like a mother than my own mother…?”

Holy fucking shit!! Really?! Wait, then Chikuyo and Miho are my…!!!

“…Descendants of the same ancestor?!”

-Nod.

Miho nodded as if it was really difficult for her, and I truly felt my mind go blank.

Wait a minute. This is strange. How far did those guys spread their seed?! Then, are these sisters and I, um, um, um, incest…?

“I-I don’t think it’s incest… right?”

“…No. If the father is the same even with different mothers…”

“B-but!! That was! A very long time ago?! From what I found out, it was almost 8,000 years ago…!!”

Miho hugged my arm that her tail was wrapped around and shook her head, emphasizing that it wasn’t incest.

Haha. Good heavens. Probably, Miho didn’t want to tell me this when she found out. The reason she told me anyway was likely because it was necessary groundwork to explain everything she discovered there.

Even now, she’s drooping her ears and saying “I-it’s not incest…” with teary golden eyes.

…Hah. Did she think I would push them away if I knew this?

“You’re right. It’s not really incest.”

“Huh, really?”

I’m sorry, but I have no intention of calling it incest just because we share an ancestor from 8,000 years ago. I was just shocked by the fact that I share blood and ancestry with a “beast person,” but I have no intention of distancing myself from Miho or Chikuyo because of it.

If we call this incest, then most people with the same surname in the 21st century of my previous life would be considered incestuous. Honestly, if you’re separated by about 10 generations, you’re practically strangers.

If it’s 8,000 years ago, how many hundreds or thousands of generations separate us? Do people even count that?

I gently grabbed Miho’s drooping ears to straighten them and softly stroked her head.

“‘Your ancestor’ was amazing. I think the reason white tiger beast people are said to be the strongest might be because stories of that white tiger have been passed down until now.”

“Oh? Oh! Yes! I-I thought so too!!”

When I emphasized the word “your” and spoke as if confirming it wasn’t incest, Miho immediately understood and began to nod vigorously, regaining her spirits.

Right. Since I’ve already decided to live with them, why would a bloodline from thousands of years ago matter? It’s just a difference in mindset.

Relieved that I wasn’t concerned, Miho unwrapped her tail from my arm and wagged it gently as she continued with the next part of the story.

Anyway, Luxuria died there that day. It’s said that she took three measures just before dying.

One was transferring her demonic energy. Saint Ira, who had died and come back to life, had become an ordinary woman with no holy power left at all. So Luxuria gathered all the tiny bit of power she had left and gave her demonic energy to her, and Saint Ira became a saint who used demonic energy… Huh? A saint using demonic energy?

Second, she extracted her “core” and had the beast Miho eat it. The core, completely drained of demonic energy, looked like a powerless stone. But what Miho learned upon hearing this was that the demon’s core she ate still contained the power of Lust, which seems to have manifested in her through recessive inheritance.

At that time, the beast white tiger was receiving excessive favor not only from her husband the Guardian but also from other “people of the opposite sex.” Huh, so what? Is Miho’s ability inherited from the power of Lust? This is really confusing.

And the third…

“…Do you know how the next Deadly Sin is chosen when a Deadly Sin demon dies?”

“No, I don’t.”

“She said as she was dying: ‘I have no intention of passing on the next Deadly Sin of Lust to anyone. I couldn’t fulfill even a speck of my desire. So, I won’t give my remaining body and desire to anyone; I’ll fulfill it myself. Fortunately, I know there will be a ‘next’…'”

“Wait, you don’t mean…”

“…Yes. Actually, after the trial ended and I returned, I immediately asked Lady Naiad, the chief. I asked if all seven Deadly Sins currently exist.”

Of course they exist. That much is certain. Even if this world seems to be running very differently from [Eight], one thing is certain—all the “Deadly Sins” definitely exist.

After all, it was the followers of the Deadly Sin of Lust who screwed over Avaritia in the human trafficking case in Aigram.

“…Lady Naiad told me they all exist, as if I was asking something strange, and said that the current Deadly Sins have all existed since 4,000 years ago.”

“4,000 years? Wait, what about before that?”

“…The chief said that the other Deadly Sins frequently died or were replaced for various reasons in the old days, but only Lust had a ‘4,000-year gap’ period.”

She said she didn’t know the reason why. Miho finished speaking and began to look at me seriously, as if that statement itself was the answer.

[She asked me to take good care of her.]

…The message Miho delivered. Take good care of her. And Luxuria’s talk of a “next.” Shit. Is this for real…

“…Jack, what are you going to do?”

What am I going to do, she asks.

The Deadly Sin of Lust is “my death” and “the destruction of Phonia.” But I’ve completely accepted that this world is different from the game Eight, and I’m convinced it’s entirely different. I also accept that time is flowing completely differently from the game history I know. But could it be that Lust…

‘This is fucked up.’

Maybe she somehow came back to life and tracked down the “next”—me—and reincarnated? Am I supposed to believe that? It would be right to believe the reality I’m seeing now rather than my game knowledge. But is that really possible?

‘…It’s fucked up because it is possible.’

Normally, I wouldn’t have believed such a story, wouldn’t even have tried to believe it, but right in front of my eyes is “the evidence that is me.”

Since I am a [reincarnator], if a Deadly Sin demon somehow forced herself to reincarnate, it would be stranger not to believe it.

At the very least, it’s harder to believe that I, who was just working part-time jobs in my previous life, defied the laws of nature and became a singularity that reincarnated on my own.

It sounds much more plausible that a demon resurrected herself through some kind of power.

“Haah. Son of a—no, I should have gone myself instead of sending the elf knights.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

I ran my hand through my hair, patted Miho’s head a bit firmly, and then got up from my seat and called for Chikuyo.

Noticing our conversation was over, she hopped back to my side, and I immediately stroked her crimson hair a bit firmly as well.

“W-what’s this all of a sudden? It feels nice though…”

“Miho, Chikuyo. It looks like meeting our kids will be delayed a bit longer.”

“Huh?”

“Tomorrow, after we finish our business at the Spirit Water, we need to stop by [Phonia]. I don’t know how long it will take, but it seems we’ll have to wait there for a while.”

At my words, Miho and Chikuyo tilted their heads with a “suddenly?” kind of feeling, but this is definitely the last chance.

‘…If Lust really has reincarnated, and if there’s a possibility she might show goodwill toward us, unlike in the game.’

I must go and wait. When she descends upon this Eight continent, she will immediately begin the invasion of Phonia. And when that happens, I won’t be able to “accept her as a person” anymore.

‘Ancestor. You told me not to worry about getting your woman killed. But if you tell me everything and ask me to take care of her, how can I not worry?’

It seems my ancestor was really a bit of a jerk.