WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 90: Yu Jia
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“D-delicious!”
Sasaki Yoichi eagerly ate the sandwich Jia had made.
“H-have as much as you like. I'll make some more.”
“Thanks, Jia.”
“You're welcome.”
Yu Jia was startled by how naturally Japanese came out of her mouth, but she was slowly reaching the point where she had to admit it.
‘I don't feel like studying.’
More precisely, her dream had begun to waver, and her passion had faded.
In its place, a new desire was stirring. She wanted to hold a bow again.
Today was Sunday.
Tomorrow, she had to go to school.
‘Mom will be back this evening.’
She must have been having a wonderful time traveling with Ed. She hadn't even called.
If Jia was going to get a chance, it had to be now.
She had been quietly watching for an opening and was just about to speak to Kim Junyong when light flashed in the yard.
Pop, pop.
“Adviser!”
Lee Mina arrived for work in a flash of light.
Another flash followed, and Cheon Yubeom appeared too.
“Hmm?”
“Oh!”
“Let's head inside.”
“Yes.”
The two entered the first floor and found the Adviser's niece and nephew, along with a man they had never met.
“Hmm?”
“Huh?”
Cheon Yubeom, Lee Mina, and Sasaki all paused at the sight of one another.
“Oh, have you guys never met?”
“This is our first time meeting face-to-face.”
“You're that Japanese hunter.”
Sasaki was a public figure too.
As Bureau hunters, the two knew about him, but only through reports.
After all, Sasaki was the top hunter at the Supernatural Abilities Bureau.
Of course, private companies dominated Japan's hunter industry, so his rank was somewhat lower when compared with all Japanese hunters.
He fell a little short of being Japan's leading hunter, but Sasaki Yoichi was the Japanese government's best hunter.
“What's a Japanese hunter doing here...?”
“Oh, he's here for a training camp.”
“Pardon?”
Sasaki Yoichi suddenly stood and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
“I look forward to learning from you both!”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
It was hard to be rude to someone who greeted you with a smile.
Faced with his respectful greeting, Cheon Yubeom and Lee Mina returned it before they knew it.
“Oh, I'll go make some more sandwiches.”
“I'll help her!”
The siblings hurried into the kitchen, leaving an awkward silence behind.
Kim Junyong settled in to watch the subtle battle of nerves between the three.
‘Oh, this is going to be good.’
All his retainers shared a thread of consciousness through him, their dark mage. They instinctively knew who was stronger or weaker without ever having to fight, so this sort of contest couldn't happen among them.
“Adviser, there's something I need to tell you first.”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
Cheon Yubeom explained his decision.
“I've resigned from the Bureau. From now on, I'll serve you personally.”
“Hmm?”
How was that different from before?
Kim Junyong tilted his head, then chuckled.
“Are you asking me to pay you a salary?”
“I don't care about a salary. If I need money, I'll find a way to get it myself.”
“How?”
“I can squeeze it out of the Bureau.”
“Oh!”
That last remark made Cheon Yubeom's intentions perfectly clear to Kim Junyong. He was clearing up his uncertain position and making his loyalty plain.
If their shaky alliance fell apart, he intended to be clear about who was a friend and who was an enemy.
“I've been promoted to Headquarters Director of the Special Adviser Support Headquarters.”
“Wow, so you're the team leader now?”
“That's right. Hehe.”
Neither of their duties had changed.
They would simply stay by Kim Junyong's side and assist him.
As a Bureau agent, Lee Mina's top priority was still helping Kim Junyong safely adjust to modern society.
Cheon Yubeom was now the Guardian’s Knight, serving the guardian of the Scales. Absolute obedience to the guardian's orders was his goal in itself.
“I-I look forward to all your guidance!”
“...”
But now a strange Japanese fellow had attached himself to them.
His reason for coming was obvious.
“Our ranks suddenly went up, so you've come to find out why.”
“N-no! I came here to follow Brother and learn by his side!”
Sasaki Yoichi spoke earnestly.
“I don't intend to report a single thing I see or hear here to my country.”
“...Anyone can say that.”
“Come now, I don't tell lies!”
Sasaki was frustrated.
How could he make them understand his sincerity?
“I said he could stay.”
“B-Brother!”
At Kim Junyong's words, Cheon Yubeom and Lee Mina relaxed.
Well, if the owner of the house had given permission, it wasn't their place as subordinates to object.
“My goal is SR-rank! I won't leave my training until I reach it!”
Kim Junyong chuckled at Sasaki's bold declaration.
“Just think of it as getting another subordinate.”
“Yes, understood.”
Three people with different affiliations had all become Kim Junyong's subordinates.
“Handle your own training.”
“Yes, sir!”
Sasaki had come all this way of his own accord to learn something.
Kim Junyong had no obligation to train him quickly, nor any reason to.
This sort of thing was something you had to work out yourself.
Just then, Yu Jia returned with more sandwiches. She set them on the table and spoke cautiously.
“Uncle.”
“Yeah?”
“...Could you take a look at me, just once?”
“What was that?”
Her voice was so quiet that Kim Junyong had to ask again.
Her face bright red, Yu Jia gathered her courage and repeated herself.
“Could you please check whether I have any talent as a hunter?”
“Oh?”
Kim Junyong's gaze naturally shifted to Yu Jihun.
The boy was red all the way down to his neck, perhaps from embarrassment.
“You siblings sure are interested in being hunters.”
“Huh? You too, Jihun?”
“What?”
“Oh, you haven't told her?”
“...No, not yet.”
The exchange between her uncle and her younger brother made Yu Jia intensely curious.
“What? What is it, Yu Jihun?”
“I've already been to the Demon Realm once.”
“What? Are you crazy? What are you going to do if Mom finds out?”
“Wh-what about you?”
“H-huh?”
Yu Jia was flustered too.
Naturally, it was an adult's job to settle an argument between children.
Their uncle, Kim Junyong, smiled.
“Hey, let's hurry over before your mom catches us.”
“Whaaat?”
“Everyone, turn on your phones.”
As Kim Junyong took out his hunter phone, everyone else pulled out their phones too.
“Remi, aren't you coming?”
“Do I need to?”
“Well, stay here if you want.”
Remi shrugged.
Even if she didn't enter with them as a hunter, he could summon her at any time as a summoned devil. There was no need to take her along right away.
Kim Junyong
Cheon Yubeom
Lee Mina
Sasaki Yoichi
Yu Jia
Yu Jihun
The six formed a party and entered the Demon Realm.
Pop, pop.
Once they had all disappeared, only Kim Remi remained in the restaurant.
Holding her sword as usual, she spoke quietly.
“Come out.”
Pop, pop.
Luciel appeared from the void pouch, where he had been waiting quietly.
The Demon King's head butler knelt respectfully before Kim Remi.
“Legion Commander of the Demon King. Forgive me for failing to recognize you.”
“...”
Kim Remi looked at Luciel without expression.
“What are you planning?”
“...”
Luciel didn't readily answer the loaded question.
Remi asked more directly.
“Why did you submit to Master?”
“...”
The Demon King, Modeus.
Somehow, the souls of the lords who had been slaughtered alongside him had ended up trapped in Kim Junyong's void pouch.
The Demon King's cook, Ed, and his head butler, Luciel, had also died then, and their souls had been collected with the others.
Ed had become Kim Junyong's retainer long ago.
But every demon realm lord summoned after him had refused Kim Junyong's offer to become a retainer.
“Is it a difficult question?”
“No.”
“If you had refused, you could have started over in the Demon Realm.”
“Isn't it only natural to follow the strong?”
Despite Luciel's polite answer, Remi wasn't satisfied.
That wasn't enough of an explanation.
“Head Butler. No.”
Remi drew her sword.
“Luciel, son of Modeus.”
Shing.
“Why did you so willingly become Master's retainer?”
Remi's blade touched Luciel's neck.
The restraints?
They didn't apply to a spy who approached with hidden intentions.
Whether she cut off his head depended on his answer.
“If it means I can destroy my enemy, Modeus, I'll gladly become Master's dog.”
“...”
Remi couldn't cut Luciel's throat.
He called his own father his enemy.
‘He means it.’
Really, the miserable family lives of demons...
Modeus's death hadn't destroyed him. It had merely sent him back to the Demon Realm. His complete destruction had yet to happen.
Shing.
Remi sheathed her sword.
Luciel's goal neither threatened Master's safety nor carried any evil intent. As Master's bodyguard, she had no further reason to be wary of him.
Luciel looked at Remi and asked,
“And what about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“...Why does the Demon King Modeus's First Legion Commander follow Master?”
“...”
Remi chuckled.
“Since when does a sword choose its owner?”
“...!”
Remi stood, dusted off her backside, and went outside.
She must have left the dungeon entirely. Once her presence vanished, Luciel let out the breath he'd been holding.
“Whew.”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Wasn't she even more secretive than he was?
“How could personal revenge be all I want?”
He truly wished for Modeus's destruction, but that wasn't his only desire. He had ambitions of his own...
This man had what it took to become the master of a “realm.” There was no reason not to follow him.
If Luciel returned to the Demon Realm, he'd only have to live as that damned Modeus's servant again. Kim Junyong was a master worth staking his life on.
“I suppose I can relax around her a little.”
At least he no longer had to worry so much about losing his head to Remi Nox, his former comrade in the Demon King’s Army under Modeus.
* * *
Demon Realm (Metaverse 32)
Pop! Six people appeared.
“Why did you come along?”
“Huh? I-I wasn't thinking.”
When everyone else had taken out their phones, Yu Jihun had done the same without thinking and ended up following them into the Demon Realm.
He looked around, visibly tense.
“Come on, Jihun. I'm not going to make you fight. Just think of it as a picnic.”
“G-got it, Uncle.”
“You don't have any talent for it, so just forget about being a hunter.”
“Oh. Okay...”
Yu Jihun looked dejected, but Kim Junyong patted his shoulder.
“How sad do you think your mom would be if you got yourself killed for nothing?”
“Ah, r-right.”
Hearing his uncle speak so casually about death brought Yu Jihun sharply to his senses.
This wasn't about leveling up a character in some game.
It really was a matter of life and death.
‘And my sister wants to do this?’
He had come to understand just how dangerous and noble the profession he'd admired truly was.
It didn't suit his sister at all...
She'd spent all her time studying right up to her final year of high school. What had suddenly gotten into her to make her want to become a hunter?
“Jia.”
“Yes, Uncle!”
“You know the condition for formal awakening, right?”
“Hunting monsters.”
“Good.”
Kim Junyong took out a dagger just like the one he had given Jihun. Yu Jia accepted it, swung it through the air a few times, and nodded.
“I'm ready.”
“Oh?”
Was his niece better than his nephew?
At the very least, she was far ahead of him when it came to resolve and mental preparation.
“I'll bring one over and tie it up. Just try killing it.”
“Yes!”
Yu Jia had even been prepared to fight, but thanks to her uncle's consideration, all she had to do was finish it off.
“Kieeeee!”
Lee Mina quickly caught on and brought a monster over. Black tentacles responded to Kim Junyong's mana, winding around its body and holding it completely still.
“Thank you.”
Yu Jia even gave a polite bow before approaching the monster and thrusting the blade forward without hesitation.
Bracing the butt of the dagger with her other hand, she put her weight behind the thrust.
Sploosh!
Blood sprayed over her like a fountain, but Yu Jia silently kept pushing.
At last, the struggling monster stopped breathing.
Pop, pop.
The energy of the monster's death turned into experience points and flowed straight into Yu Jia. Her eyes filled with delight at the rush.
‘Huh. Now this is interesting.’
Kim Junyong watched with keen interest.
His niece, Yu Jia, the older of the siblings.
Unlike her younger brother, she had talent.
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