episode_0025

Twitch, twitch.

“Jegiral, darn it…!”

In an alley where only one person could barely pass through, amidst a pile of garbage, Doban was crouched halfway, sharpening his teeth.

Scratch, snap?

The rats rummaging through the garbage looked at Doban and approached, shaking their heads.

“Get lost!”

Snap!

The rats, realizing that Doban wasn’t a new food, quickly ran away. However, not even the insects fled. Despite feeling the unpleasant bugs crawling behind him, Doban couldn’t respond in any meaningful way.

“How did I end up like this…!”

Doban clenched his fists, trembling. Intense anger surged to the point where his face turned bright red.

He wanted to unleash magic immediately and turn the surroundings into chaos. However, apart from sitting helplessly amidst the garbage heap, there was nothing he could do.

“Darn Four Sovereigns!”

The reason Doban, who had a splendid laboratory, was sitting among the garbage was all because of the Four Sovereigns’ Jisoo.

After sneaking into Mia’s mansion on his own, Doban was caught and then, at Jisoo’s request for mediation, everything Doban owned was taken away under various pretexts.

Doban lost his laboratory, experiments, resources, and became penniless, wandering the streets. Up until then, it wasn’t such a big problem.

Because he was a capable dark sorcerer, he could gradually earn money to replenish what he had lost. The real problem was that Jisoo wasn’t satisfied with just that.

Jisoo demanded Doban’s magic, body, and soul.

“That damn bastard! Such an unreasonable demand…! Damn it! Dammit!”

He cursed inwardly, then looked around nervously, glancing over his shoulder. He feared that his thoughts might spread around him and Jisoo, the Four Sovereigns, might appear.

Ssshh.

“Damn it!”

Doban spat curses as he brushed off the touch of the passing gnat on his ankle. His eyes flashed as he recalled why he had ended up like this.

“This is all because of that damn woman.”

Doban never thought he had done anything wrong. He only ranted inwardly, thinking about how to exact revenge.

“I can’t just run away like this.”

If he left the demon lord’s land like this, Jisoo would no longer follow him. It was the only way out, but Doban’s raging anger made it hard for him to move easily.

“The slave I saw at that woman’s house.”

Doban imagined the figure of Lian, who would be reborn in his hands, and let out a twisted laugh.

“I’m going to steal that slave.”

There was no longer a way to tease her, but he still had the power to snatch one of her belongings.

As a fugitive who had to leave the demon lord’s land anyway, Doban drew up a vile plan in his mind without hesitation.

“Surely… there were slaves worth using at that woman’s house.”

Doban rummaged through the trash heap and drew a magic circle in the air with a half-broken staff he found.

Sweating profusely, he painstakingly drew the magic circle, which glowed black and activated.

“Hmm.”

“Good!”

Doban felt that his magic was connected to Mia’s mansion, far away. Thanks to the traces left by the magic he had used when sneaking into Mia’s house, things were easily resolved.

“Hmm.”

As if Doban’s familiar had sneaked into Mia’s mansion, a part of the interior of the mansion came into view.

“Is this… the slaves’ quarters?”

Narrow space with two-story beds attached to both walls. Originally a place used by servants, it was now a space used by children.

“Lucky me.”

Doban glanced eagerly at the prey that had just entered the dormitory. Reflected beyond the magic circle was Pia, who had come into the dormitory and was opening the dresser under the bed.

Shiver, shiver, shiver.

My legs were shaking so violently that it felt like they could pierce through the ground. Pressing my knees with both hands in an attempt to hold it back, but it was no use.

“I’m doomed! It’s over! What should I do?”

Until recently, there seemed to be a fairly plausible plan, but now nothing came to mind.

“Could she be dead?!”

If that’s the case, the world would fall into the hands of the devil and perish. Tears poured out of my eyes as if someone had turned on a faucet.

“Sob, sob.”

Thud.

Resting my forehead on the kitchen table, I grabbed my hair, desperately trying to come up with a solution, but only one thing came to mind—pussy.

Then.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah…”

In a gruff voice, Pia appeared in the kitchen.

“Why? Is there something you’re looking for?”

“Not really…”

Pia gazed at me, furrowing her brow slightly, then turned away without saying anything.

“Did she need something? Oh, right, I should start preparing dinner soon.”

Mia, who had completely fallen into despair a few days ago, still hadn’t regained her composure. She muttered “I’m not wrong,” while rummaging through old professional books.

There was a need to prepare a simple meal for Mia, who was refusing to eat properly.

“Fortunately, we have enough groceries… Should I make an easy sandwich today?”

After dressing the absent-minded Mia and giving her a wallet and a note listing what to buy, she went out to shop.

Is it okay for a person to break down like this? Rather, is it such a shocking event? I wondered, but since I had more free time than before, I didn’t make an effort to bring Mia back to her senses.

“As for Iris… There’s no immediate solution. Let’s deal with what’s in front of us first.”

She smiled brightly as tears flowed down her cheeks. In the world of comedy, residents usually recover quickly.

“Let’s see, the bread must be here.”

She began to take out ingredients suitable for dinner and prepare the meal.

“Hyung-ah.”

“Oppa.”

As she started bustling in the kitchen, some children peeked in.

“I’ll help! Yo!”

“Me too! Yo!”

“You will?”

After showing them how to cook a few simple dishes, the children helped with the meal preparation. They looked excited as I nodded and smiled.

There were not just three but four children who came in.

“Joon-nim!”

Jess rushed over, wagging his tail wildly, and leaned against my legs. When I petted his head, his cute behavior made his ears perk up.

“Wow…”

“The tail…”

Since Jess usually hid his tail and ears, the children found them fascinating. They couldn’t resist reaching out towards his wagging tail.

“No, you shouldn’t touch Jess without permission.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Can we touch Jess’s tail?”

In response to the child’s question, Jess’s tail instantly curled up and disappeared. Jess looked at the children and shook his head.

“It hurts if you touch it without permission.”

“Oops! It hurts!”

“We didn’t know!”

The children apologized for trying to touch him recklessly. Jess nodded confidently and said it was okay.

Watching the adorable children, I unwrapped a loaf of bread from its paper packaging.

“Well, isn’t there something we need to do before everyone helps?”

“Wash hands!”

The children climbed the small steps made for them and washed their hands at the sink.

Thanks to the long step stool placed on one side of the kitchen table, the children could comfortably help with cooking.

“I did well by making those.”

I used to ask for help only with things I could do even without stairs. It was just asking to throw away the trash or help move dishes.

Even when the kids were young, that was enough help. But seeing Jess hopping in front of the sink with a desperate look is why I installed the stairs.

“This is what it feels like to raise a daughter.”

She smiled contentedly as she sliced the bread and placed it in front of the kids. The kids diligently made sandwiches with hands like bracken ferns.

Perhaps because there were many people, meal preparation was completed in no time. After putting a moderately sweet sandwich on a plate according to Mia’s taste, I handed the tray to Jess and the kids.

“Tell the others to eat at the restaurant and let them know they have to eat. Got it?”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

If they were ordinary kids, they might have run off with a wow! But the kids who had experienced all sorts of cruel experiences didn’t easily get excited and slowly moved the tray.

Leaving those kids behind, I turned to Mia. Perhaps because it was a familiar path, we arrived in no time.

Knock, click.

Without waiting for an answer, I opened the door.