Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha

[ArchmageXin]

Shouldn't it be ji-san? I did a spoiler/summary for this series' volume 1, and I am pretty sure there isn't anyone name Jin at the start.

Other than that, I am pretty surprised this series found legs. Xfire must be pleased.

[deathmailrock]

Shouldn't it be ji-san? I did a spoiler/summary for this series' volume 1, and I am pretty sure there isn't anyone name Jin at the start.

Other than that, I am pretty surprised this series found legs. Xfire must be pleased.

Jin was supposed to be the fathers name, from what was read, ji-san usually refers to grandfathers, not dads

[PROzess]

Shouldn't it be ji-san? I did a spoiler/summary for this series' volume 1, and I am pretty sure there isn't anyone name Jin at the start.

Other than that, I am pretty surprised this series found legs. Xfire must be pleased.

Don't know if you are a chinese translator or simply can't read hiragana (my condolences then), but



The name clearly is Jin.

[deathmailrock]

or he could have just missed the 'ん' when he was reading it (humans do miss things sometimes)

[PROzess]

Though I would check upon it again if I'm unsure about it, before making such claims (specially if the first page following here now has the name in western letters, as I assume that he has read it for the summary).
Whatever.

More importantly:

Mio and Maria couldn’t hear it. Right now, the two of them were preparing dinner in the kitchen.
“An Italian customer wants a picture of Arabia. So I’m making a quick visit to Dubai.”
Jin’s job was a freelancer photographer. A professional that lived on taking pictures.
For that, he sometimes had to go overseas to take pictures, but
“H- Hold your horses!”
Basara hastily chased after Jin, who was slowly going up the chairs after giving him a light clap on the shoulder.
“What do you suddenly mean with Dubai!”
Following after Jin into his room, Basara asked. However, Jin said shortly.
“It’s a well trusted customer, so I have no choice.”
Preparing for his tomorrow’s job, Jin started to put the lens on his camera.
Jin was a renowned photographer with customers all over the world. The name [JIN] was rather famous in part of the business and his pictures itself were evaluated to have an artistic nature, like paintings. He had a lot of fans and his annual income was one or two digits higher than an average photographer in the business.
“I know that clients are important, but… can’t you turn it down?”
Presently it was an important and delicate period as they just had started to live together with Mio and Maria.
If the only adult left the house now, the mental support would be gone.

“We already have enough savings to make a decent living…”
“Trust is the most important thing in freelancing. When I turn him down once, he won’t come requesting me anymore.”
“But… you’re the head of our family. It’s your job to protect the family.”
“That’s precisely why I’m going. Listen, while I’m gone, it’s your job as the eldest son to protect the family.”
“That’s…”
Told convincing like that, Basara had to words to argue back. Jin lightly rested his on hand on Basara’s shoulder.
He smiled.
“Don’t worry. You can do it--- After all, you’re the son I’m so proud of.”
[BLANK LINE]
[BLANK LINE]
---And then the night of the next day.
“Okay, take care of the house.”
With these short words, Jin left in a taxi.
“Geez…”
Basara dropped his gaze onto the object in his hands--- A single picture that Jin handed him. It was the commemorative picture of the four of them in front of the house, taken yesterday. Like expected, Basara’s expression was stiff on it.

“…Mh?”
However, Basara suddenly felt something amiss with the picture.
In the picture, Mio and Maria were certainly showing a smile. Yet,
…Just my imagination?
Probably due to the effect of the light, Mio’s face looked somewhat sad. She indeed might feel worried with the adult Jin out of the house.
“---Okay.”
Basara left his room determined. While going down the stairs, he thought about ordering Sushi or Eel today. Jin had given him the credit card and eating delicious food was the best way to cheer up at such times. So Basara opened the door of the living room
“Hey girls, about tonight’s dinner---”
He could only say that much. As he then noticed the heavy atmosphere in the room.
“……..” “……..”
Mio, sitting on the sofa, and Maria, sitting on a chair at the dining table, stayed quiet on Basara calling. But there was a reaction. They gave him a freezing cold glare.
---That was why Basara sighed wearily.

Aww, here it was. At last. He thought it was definitely strange to suddenly get two cute little sisters, even if there was a slight problem with their personality. It had finally come. The backlash of all the good luck so far.
Understandable. Not only did the only adult left, but the young girls and boy were going to live under the same roof all by themselves now. Of course they would get cautious upon being suddenly thrown into such a situation. Still,
“………………..” “………………..”
wasn’t this silence a bit too long? It was just like with a complete outage of TV or radio.
“Uhm, how about we order something… Like Sushi or Eel.”
Even the high-grade one is acceptable, was what he suggested with a subtle polite tone. Upon that,
“…You know, Basara, I have a favour to ask.”
Mio finally opened her tight-lipped mouth.
“Yeah, sure, what’s it? If there’s something you want, just say it.”
Basara immediately closed in to Mio. She wanted a favour. That trivial matter alone made him quite happy. And then--- Toujou Basara heard Mio’s “favour”. It was said with a marrow and bone piercing cold voice.
[BLANK LINE]
“---Get out of this house.”
[BLANK LINE]

Basara froze up for a moment and searched for words to say.
“Ehm…”
Yeah. Kind of shocking. He was a bit surprised. After all she asked him to leave the house without any pretext. There was a limit to talking past each other.
“…Sorry, but can you say that again?”
For now, Basara wished that he misheard her--- though there was little hope.
“------”
Upon that, Maria raised her hand lightly in his direction. The hand was raised for a proposal--- No, not really. The palm of the small hand was held up towards Basara.
“Eh---?”
Maria’s hand glowed--- At that moment.
Basara was suddenly hit by a kind of gust and blown against the wall.
“Guah---!?”
An impact on his back. Losing his breath for a moment, he inadvertently coughed violently. There,
“---Basara-san, did you not hear what Mio-sama said?”
Who knows when she got there, but Maria was standing right before him.

She showed a ruthless expression, which made her appear like a different person from until now.
“Just now… what was that. Who are you…?”
On Basara’s sudden--- no, inevitable question,
“Hee… You are staying rather calm.”
Maria said a bit surprised. The decisive words that would change Toujou Basara’s life.
“Humans, who see magic for the first time, usually fall into a panic.”
“Magic…?”
Maria affirmed the frowning Basara with a “Yes”.
“Did you believe it to be a product of fiction or fantasy? Magic actually exists--- No, not just magic. Races except humans do as well.”
At the same time she said that, something spread on Maria’s back with a blue radiance. Something that humans absolutely didn’t possess---Black wings. Her ears also changed into a pointed shape unlike before. Not human. Even if they didn’t believe in their existence, everyone knew their name.
“So you were a devil?”
“Exactly.”
The moment he mumbled it, there came an instant reply without pause.

An affirmation. At once he didn’t want to believe it, but it seemed to be true.
“And we will have you leave, Basara-san. Mio-sama will take this house.”
Maria said with her chest puffed up, whereas Mio stayed silent ever since her “Get out”.
…Mio-sama, huh…
Maria had changed her way of calling Mio, so Basara understood their relationship. Therefore he asked.
“…What’s going on, Mio? Is this your doing?”
“Watch your tongue, Basara-san. You, a mere human, are being too disrespectful to the future Devil Lord.”
Maria replied to Basara’s question from the side.
“Devil Lord…. she?”
“There is a race called Devils. It is only natural to have someone rule over them. Just like our archenemies, the God Tribe, has a high-ranking God as a ruler. By the way, your so called Heroes do exists as well. Well, though they are basically leaving in isolated villages to hide their existence, so normal humans do not know about them.”
“…………”
Basara replied with silence to the calmly told story. Even when he was suddenly told all that, he still couldn’t believe the situation he was in.

[NEXT PICTURE GOES HERE]

As always there is an issue with the gender translation. I do think that Devil Lord sounds more gender neutral than the actual King. I also do not want to coin the term onto Mio, making it Devil Queen, since I want a constant term for previous and coming titular, which certainly includes a male at some point.
Any better suggestion are always welcomed though.

36/52

[Darklor]

But isnt lord already very male? I mean its not without reason that it is "Lords and Ladies"...

[PROzess]

But isnt lord already very male? I mean its not without reason that it is "Lords and Ladies"...

Then make a better suggestion
Imo, Lord in the meaning of Monarch/Sovereign sound MORE neutral than king. I didn't say it's ONLY neutral. Sure a male-side is implied. But as long as no one suggests a better term....

Well, some more pages. Gonna finish the chapter after some sleep.

“…What does the Devil Lord want with my house? I’m sure a Lord got a huge mansion in the Demon Realm.”
“There are all kind of circumstances to it. I have no obligation to tell you about it. Anyway. Mio-sama and I will take this house--- To make it our base in the human world.”
It was all a scheme to get an base of operation in the human world. Then,
“Then the remarriage between our parents---”
“Now that is something non-existent. We met Jin-san by coincidence on the street. He looked generous and is a good person, really…So I altered his memories with my succubus magic.”
Succubus. A seductive devil that takes the form of a female and appears in dreams. If that was what Maria truly was, she would have no trouble to make a dream appear as reality.
“So you tricked my dad with magic by creating false memories of meeting your mother, which doesn’t even exist, and even remarrying her…”
“Yes. And you are the next one, Basara-san.”
Saying so, Maria held up her hand towards Basara.
“Basara-san leaves the house until Jin-san comes back, because he couldn’t adapt to living with two girls after Jin-san left--- That kind of memory should do.”
In regards to that, Basara still stayed silent and watched at Maria, then at Mio.

Upon that, Mio quietly stood up from the sofa and finally returned Basara’s gaze.
“Sorry, but--- We’ll take this house.”
She declared coldly. With the same look in the eyes as at the incident with the delinquents the other day.
“Obediently receive Maria’s magic and get out of the house already. Otherwise I’ll scream and give you a memory about how you used violence against us and that you have to turn yourself in. Then I’ll call the police. You don’t really want to go into the brig for violence against your sisters, do you?”
“…….I see.”
Basara looked downward on Mio’s words and just said short and isolated.
Upon that, Maria’s hand facing him glowed.
“What will it be, Mio-sama? It might be summer, but I do feel a bit sorry for letting him sleep outside. Returning to the countryside, where he was born, and living with his relatives…. how does that sound?”
“…Yeah, that’s good.”
Mio said.
“Bye, bye, Brother…It was not for long, but it was kind of fun.”
With these words as a signal, the light in Maria’s hand was released towards Basara.

What Maria had set free was a succubus magic that manipulated memories by showing a dream.
Because of that Basara’s memories got altered and he left his own house--- or so it was supposed to be. However.
“….Oh?”
The memory manipulation magic certainly affected Basara--- yet, he didn’t move.
…How strange.
While tilting her head, she was about to release another memory manipulation magic towards Basara.
“Eh…?”
Maria suddenly blinked her eyes. Basara, who was supposed to be in front of her, had disappeared.
On the small possibility, Maria turned around right away--- to her blind spot.
Upon that, in the middle of the living room--- there stood Basara.
For a moment he had gotten behind her. Maria gulped on that fact.
“A- Are you resisting? …Then it will be painful.”
She sent Basara a fierce glare. She didn’t want to hurt him, but now there was no other choice. Maria chanted the wind magic that had blown away Basara earlier and released it. The produced wind went straight for Basara--- At that moment. KEEEK, with a shrill roar, the wind magic was erased.

“Wha….?”
For a moment, she thought that she saw a white line coming from the side--- And in the next moment, her magic was erased. Maria looked in surprise. Basara in front of her eyes was suddenly holding a huge sword in his hands. That his arm was covered in armour up to the elbow was mostly due to a contract with the sword.
The power of a contracted weapon feed back even onto the user’s body.
“…What are you surprised for?”
Basara slowly raised his head. He glared at her with a sharp glance, almost like a different person.
“You said it yourself. That Devils like you and the God Tribe, your enemies, exists.”
A breath.
“And also---that a tribe of Heroes exists.”
“No way… How?”
Next to him, Mio raised a voice dumbfounded.
“I mean, the Heroes are in hiding… Why are you here, living like a normal human…”
“Now I don’t have any obligation to tell you that.”
Maria gave Basara, who coldly disregarded, a surprised glance.
…How could this be…

No wonder the memory manipulation magic didn’t work. Succubus could only manipulate memories by dreams on someone with weaker magical power--- Namely, normal humans, who were defenceless against magical power. It didn’t work on anti-devil experts like Heroes.
But--- Maria was more confused about a different surprise than this fact.
Impossible, she thought. Namely, Basara’s action just now.
Sure enough Maria didn’t use an offence wind magic. She wanted to give him a bit of pain by sending him flying, so she just hit him with aviation magic. It wasn’t harmful, nor powerful. So it wasn’t all that strange that a Hero repelled or cut it off.
---Still, Basara had erased Maria’s magic by swinging his sword. No, not just that. Once magic was activated, it generated kind of magical remains, no matter the protection against it. Despite that, there was not a single trace left of the magic that Basara had cut off. It was completely erased. As if it had never existed to begin with.
“I no longer… had any ties to Heroes or Devils.”
Basara slowly took a step forward.
“But unfortunately for you, I have no plans to go down silent.”
Saying so, Basara moved flicking.

A Godspeed that closed the distance between them in an instant as if it had never been there.
“------!”
Not good. Maria stood before Mio right away to cover her. At the same time.
Basara’s sword swung down on Maria and Mio.
[BLANK LINE]
[BLANK LINE]
“------”
Toujou Basara looked at the two girls, who were tightly shutting their eyes, that he tried to slash.
The sword in his hand--- stopped a paper-length away from them.
“….Ah.”
Maria and Mio, realizing that they were safe, sunk down on the floor.
Their legs had given in. That was why Basara undid the incarnation of his magic sword--- Brynhildr.
“Why…”
On Mio’s dumbfounded question, Basara turned his back to them wordless.
He felt a fierce rage towards them. Something that could never be forgiven. Yet,
“…Get out.”

Basara muttered isolated.
“I don’t care if you’re Devils or the Devil Lord. But, our household hasn’t the time to sustain folks that deceive me and more importantly my dad. I’ll let you off for now. I’ll sent your luggage after you later, so---hurry up and get out.”
[BLANK LINE]
[BLANK LINE]
Then, after a few minutes---the living room of the Toujou Household was enveloped in silence.
After regaining their strength in their legs, Mio and Maria had left the house. And Basara, turning his magic sword Brynhildr back into it’s stand-by form, a pendant-chain, sat on the sofa.
“……”
Grinding his teeth, he held down his right hand, which wouldn’t stop shaking.
…It’s okay.
Basara desperately persuaded himself. He hadn’t fought in a long time. His flair for it hadn’t returned yet. That was why it was a complete coincidence that he activated that skill.
---Five years ago, when he was at the village of the Hero Tribe, Toujou Basara caused a grave problem.
[A certain incident] made his own power go out of control.

[denormative]

But isnt lord already very male? I mean its not without reason that it is "Lords and Ladies"...

Then make a better suggestion
Imo, Lord in the meaning of Monarch/Sovereign sound MORE neutral than king. I didn't say it's ONLY neutral. Sure a male-side is implied. But as long as no one suggests a better term....

There's at least one "female Lord" granted by hereditary peerages sitting in the UK's House of Lords (Countess of... Mar?; checks wikipedia; yeah, apparently the only one), so it's probably as un-gendered a word you'll find for that in English.

I'm still a member of the "just give up and use Maou" party though.

[PROzess]

I'm still a member of the "just give up and use Maou" party though.

Only over my dead body.

[Enigma]

Could always take a page out of Disgaea's book and use "Overlord". Another common translation is simply "Demon Lord", though that's just a variation of devil lord and the difference would be down to preference. I personally don't really mind any of the three, but I don't support "Maou."

But yes, while "lord" is typically masculine, it can apply to women as well. Isn't 魔王 supposed to be masculine regardless? Granted I've never actually seen 魔女王 used and generally see 王 used for women pretty much as often as men in the fictional nonsense I care to read.

[Nurin]

Could always take a page out of Disgaea's book and use "Overlord". Another common translation is simply "Demon Lord", though that's just a variation of devil lord and the difference would be down to preference. I personally don't really mind any of the three, but I don't support "Maou."

But yes, while "lord" is typically masculine, it can apply to women as well. Isn't 魔王 supposed to be masculine regardless? Granted I've never actually seen 魔女王 used and generally see 王 used for women pretty much as often as men in the fictional nonsense I care to read.

魔王 <-- Maou is a word without a defined gender.

魔女王 <-- Majoou... This don't make sense anymore here.

[denormative]

魔王 <-- Maou is a word without a defined gender.

魔女王 <-- Majoou... This don't make sense anymore here.

魔女皇 Majokou?

[Nurin]

魔王 <-- Maou is a word without a defined gender.

魔女王 <-- Majoou... This don't make sense anymore here.

魔女皇 Majokou?

Dunno, but my point is, 魔王 isn't provided with a defined gender, there's nothing saying that a female can't be 魔王 D:

[Rohan123]

We can try 'ruler' maybe, although I understand that it might sound weird.

[PROzess]

Ruler sounds retarded.
I'm just going with Lord now. Apparently Mio is the first ever female candidate for a Devil Lord anyway, an irregular. So it's not all that wrong to coin the term more male-sided. But yeah, the japanese doesn't really make a distinction between male or female in Maou-.-

====

@Mysty: Please look back through the previous text and change all instances of "villages", the plural, into the singular "village". You would expect there are more villages for all of them, but it turns out there is just one-.-

====


Anyway, here's the rest of the chapter (I didn't bother to differentiate between pages anymore...):

Originally it caused so much damage that it wouldn’t allow him to live like he was now.
Still, as a result of all kinds of circumstances, it turned into him leaving the village together with Jin. In other words, he was chased out. And coming to Tokyo, father and son started to live in the unfamiliar city lifestyle.
“…..Damn.”
Basara muttered loathsome. But, it wasn’t direct at Mio or Maria.
Of course, Toujou Basara had no intention to forgive them. It was an inevitable fact that they tried to deceive Jin and him. But there was another one, who he couldn’t stand.
---It was the guy, who was once called the strongest of all Heroes.
It was a Hero with an even greater power than himself, his father---Jin.
There was no way that this man didn’t catch up on Mio and Maria’s scheme. Maria had said that she manipulated his memories with magic, but Jin should have fended that off without doubt.
That was why Basara took the phone and dailed Jin’s cell phone number.
“---Hello. What’s up?”
After a few seconds of ringing, an all too familiar voice spilled out of the phone and Basara replied with a low voice.
“Dad…Do you have a minute?”
“Sure. The taxi driver is kind of tight-lipped anyway, so I’m bored.”
Mixed in Jin’s casual tone, he could faintly hear the sound of a low wind blowing. Most likely, the taxi Jin was in was currently driving on the highway. The driver would get to hear their conversation, but Jin would surely come up with some kind of excuses. Therefore,
“---What’s the idea?”
Basara asked. Even as he tried to stay calm, anger resonated in his voice. Upon that,
“That was quick… You already noticed it? I expected you to take a bit longer.”
Jin said freely without any sign of shame.
“I knew it. You were aware that they were devils---Since when?”
Tightly clenching the phone, Basara asked impassive.
“Right from the beginning. I knew them before they found me in the city.”
“…Found? What do you mean…?”
On Jin’s words, Basara frowned. Maria had said “We met Jin by chance in the city”.
“Well, I’m sure those two thought it was just a coincidence.”
Jin said in a nonchalant tone, then continued with “But”.
“A while ago, I got some news that the [village] was secretly on the move. It’s been close to five years that we left the village. It didn’t seem like they were going to bother with us after all this time, so I just kept an eye on things for a while….but then the situation took a sudden change not long ago. It was relatively close by, so I decided to check out who it was, just in case.”
A breath.
“After all---The elders gave them the surveillance rank S-.”
“Surveillance rank S-? Those two?”
Basara’s Tribe gave devils a ranking according to the threat they posed. And the Rank S- was one of the highest. Only S and S+ were higher.
….For real?
The devils usually lived in a different world from the human world--- called the Demon Realm. Of course some of them came over to the human world and caused some trouble at times, but it had been only low-ranked devils. Basically they didn’t leave their own world.
Because presently, there was a truce between the devils and the Heroes.
---The fight between Heroes and Devils in this world had gone on for so long that neither side did how long exactly. But that was a thing from before Basara’s birth--- His father’s generation had put an end to it. The new Devil Lord had put a hold on the fight with the Heroes and God Tribe and withdrawn all devils from the human world.
So the devils that came to the human worlds were all rogue devils with low surveillance ranks, like E or D, or termination targets.
“These two are S-…”
Basara mumbled in disbelief. And then he looked at the palm of his right hand.
Even if they were just -, he had never believed to meet two S ranks in his life.
“To be more precise, Mio got the surveillance rank S-. Maria is only under watch as someone by her side.”
“Mio…”
There Basara suddenly remembered Maria’s words. The earlier battle in the living room. Even if they let their guard down as they didn’t know that he was a Hero, as far as he could tell, Mio didn’t pose that much of a danger. Therefore he had taken Maria’s words as a made-up threat, but
“So she… really is the future Devil Lord?”
Saying so, Basara still denied that possibility. That couldn’t be. After all,
“I mean, the Devil Lord has always been a man…. Even presently.”
Wilbert--- the name of the current Devil Lord that had withdrawn the devils from the human world and was known for his moderate policy. Originally the devils’ enemy was the God Tribe, “archenemy” as Maria had called it. So the devils only thought of humans as insects and merely tried to overthrow the human world for the sake of launching an attack on Heaven. From all these devils, Wilbert was the first moderate one that abstained from revenge against the Gods and was laying the path for a peaceful living in the Demon Realm. Above all, it should have been forbidden for them to hurt humans recklessly.
That precisely was the reason that the human world was so peaceful in the last six years.
However. Jin’s voice through the phone overturned Basara’s thoughts.
“The Devil Lord Wilbert died--- Roughly one year ago, it seems.”
“Eh---?”
Basara couldn’t comprehend the reported shocking truth at first.
“I, never heard of…”
“Because we cut all ties with the [village]. I only learned about it quite recently.”
Besides, Jin added.
“If I had told you carelessly--- You would just have had that nightmare again.”
“That’s…”
Basara paused inadvertently. After all, he just had that nightmare the other day.
“But… that means, Mio is the next Devil Lord?”
“No. Apparently some other high-class Devil currently reigns in Wilbert’s stead over the Demon Realm. And he seems to be quite the hardliner… He’s after Mio, as she’s Wilbert’s only daughter and the successor of his power.”
The Devil Lord Wilbert was known for his moderate politics, but his power stood out in the history of previous Devil Lords. That precisely was the reason as to why he could convince the combative devils to stop the fights and withdraw from the human world. If Mio had inherited that power of the strongest Devil Lord,
Then she was indispensable for someone that wanted to rule as the new Devil Lord. But,
“Wait a sec…”
There was still something he didn’t understand. It was,
“I get the gist of things…. But, why did you take in these two then?”
That was--- beyond him by all means. By doing so, not just the Devils, but even the village would turn against him. It also contradicted the fact that he hid the previous Devil Lord’s death to Basara just out of consideration.
“I told you that I check on things, right?”
Then, with the same casual tone like before, Jin’s words were filled with seriousness.
“The moderate Wilbert had a lot of enemies amongst the Devils. For these guys the daughter of their hated Devil Lord would make a perfect hostage. Wilbert himself surely understood that the best. I heard that as soon as his daughter was born, he sent her to the human world and let her be raised as a human in absolutely secrecy by subordinators that played the parents….”
Even if it meant being apart from her--- he did it for the happiness of his beloved daughter.
That surely must have been a heart-breaking decision.
“But ironically, after Wilbert’s death--- His enormous power was transferred to Naruse Mio, who he had sent away to keep her away from the dispute. She was a normal girl in middle school at that time… I’m sure you know what happened afterwards.”
The new Devil Lord couldn’t ignore Mio’s existence. Nor the subordinates that played her parents. And right now, the parents that raised her were gone. It wasn’t hard to guess what tragedy had befallen Mio.
“How… How can that be.”
Basara said by squeezing out his voice.
“Our tribe and Devils can use supernatural powers because we know of the laws beyond the human world. Half a year ago, she was just an average girl, not knowing of it. Right now she mostly knows how to use her power, but she only inherited the Devil Lord’s power itself and it’s still not fully awakened. That’s why the village set her as a surveillance target instead of a termination one.”
Moreover, Jin added.
“The moderate faction lost a lot of power after Wilbert’s death. That fact that Maria is her only guard is prove enough of that. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that these two alone can oppose the current Devil Lord’s faction. If left alone, they will lose their lives sooner or later.”
“So, you pretended to be manipulated…”
He finally understood Jin’s intention.
Basara sighed and shouted his words into the phone in the next moment.
“You damn imbecile--- Tell me this earlier!”
Then Basara could have helped.
“Sorry. I had decided from the beginning that you three would stand on equal grounds.”
Jin said with a laugh.
“I hid the fact that they were devils and we had been Heroes. If one side were to know the truth about the other, they would think they had been deceived and all trust would be gone. But if both hid something, then it’s a shared pain, right? Both sides had been deceived, giving you guys room for compromising---with me, aware of everything, as the bad guy.”
“…That means that job offer also was a lie?”
If it was just to protect Mio and Maria, staying with them would be best. That Jin left the house despite that meant that he had a reason for doing so.
“Well, guess so. Sorry, but I have to check upon a few things---so I’m off to the Demon Realm for a bit.”
That meant getting behind the ememy’s line. Of course, Jin had once been heralded as the strongest Hero. And amidst the great battles, he apparently had went numerous times into the Demon Realm, but
“Is that… safe?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I can’t tell you any details, but I just want to get in touch with someone. If all goes well, Mio might not be chased anymore.”
Aha. So he would do something about the source. Then,
“Okay… Leave things here to me. I’ll do something about it.”
“I’m counting on you, my son. So? How are the girls? Well, from the look of it, I guess---”
Jin was still saying something, but Basara put down the phone, ending the call.
And then, he was already running in the next moment--- towards the front door.

====Chapter 01 Done====

\o/