The Tragic Past

“Um, how far along are things with my daughter…?”
“Uh, well…”

Yu Seha scratched his cheek.
He looked at the spirit of the large man in front of him, sniffling.
It felt strangely odd.

‘…He really is like Meowi.’

Different sex,
Different build,
Different appearance,
Completely different age group too…

Still, Meowi’s features showed through in places. Just as the saying that daughters take after their fathers wasn’t without reason, a bombshell statement reached his ears that made him doubt everything.

“Ah, you two haven’t slept together yet, right?”
“…Yes?”
“M-muaaa!!!”

Yu Seha recoiled. Even Meowi hissed, face flushed, as if asking what on earth that meant. For a moment the scene dissolved into chaos.

While Yu Seha stood there dumbfounded at why such words had been spoken, the two transcendents watching clarified their intentions, proving they weren’t careless about appearances.

‘…Huh? A formal meeting between families?’

‘…I see.’

Yu Seha nodded, thinking that could be the case.
Meanwhile, Ma Hana scolded Ma Tae-han with a “Muaa!” and gently patted him with an adorable fist. Of course, as a spirit no physical blow landed, but in her panic she had no awareness of that.

“Mua, mua, muuuaaah!”
“B-but Meowi… you’re supposed to be just that kind of relationship…”
“Muuah, mwuang, mua, mshamaaak!”
“Ah, I know. B-but as a father, I have to ask one more thing.”

Ma Tae-han looked at Yu Seha. At the tearful gaze of this prospective father-in-law (?), Yu Seha swallowed hard. He didn’t know exactly what to say, but he steeled himself to answer honestly.

“So, Yu Seha. This might be awkward to ask, but…”
“Yes, yes…”
“I-is there already… anything?”
“Yes?”
“I, I mean, am I already… a grandfather or something? Do you have grandchildren…? I mean, if the line’s already crossed there’s nothing to be done, but if a child is born at least let me name them—”

At that moment,

Whap-!

With a loud smack across his back, Ma Tae-han, who had been babbling, fell silent.

Another spirit appeared in the blink of an eye. To be precise, it hadn’t been visible while wandering in spectral form but then manifested a body.

The newly appearing spirit was a catlike beauty with long, wavy black hair. She seemed about Ma Hana’s age or slightly older.

She smacked Ma Tae-han’s back so hard that even Yu Seha felt a chill.

“You say things in front of the kid you shouldn’t!”
“Ouch, that hurts, honey!”

‘…Honey?!’

Not only Yu Seha, but even Ma Hana looked surprised at that term. Regardless, the woman continued to berate Ma Tae-han.

“Really, this touching reunion after decades… how could you ruin it like this! You know how long I’ve waited!”
“B-but… I have to ask as a father! She’s only twenty, twenty! Too young!”
“At twenty, she’s old enough to have had those experiences!”
“No, I can’t accept that!”

A clucking, smack-smack couple’s quarrel broke out.

Ma Hana stared blankly, then stepped forward toward the woman. They locked eyes and both trembled slightly.

“M-mua…”

A cluster of familiar facial features—similar in many ways, slightly fierce upturned eyes—only taller, with an excellent figure and a mature aura.

There was no doubt. Ma Hana’s instincts and the blood running through her body were crying out.

“Um, um… are you my mother?”
“……”

The woman hesitated at the question, paused, then wore the same tearful expression Ma Hana had just shown.

She slowly brushed Ma Hana’s forehead. As a spirit her touch didn’t actually make contact, but Ma Hana nonetheless felt a definite warmth.

“…Our daughter — I didn’t know as a baby, but seeing her grown up, she really is Tae-han’s and my daughter.”
“M-mua? Huh?”

Ma Hana cried freely, then turned. She faced the white-haired spirit who had always been beside her. An identical appearance. Ma Hana was bewildered to find she had two mothers.

“T-this is… what on earth…”
“It’s okay, they’re both me.”
“M-muaa?!”

About thirty minutes later, Ma Hana sat with her father Ma Tae-han and mother Han Ara and they spent time in basic conversation. After exchanging names to some extent, Ma Hana timidly asked,

“U-um, mom… dad… what on earth is going on?”

At their only daughter’s question, beloved beyond measure, the couple exchanged a look: the time had come. But before they began, there was something they needed to confirm.

Han Ara looked at her daughter and asked in a low voice. Startled at being addressed by a mother she still felt unfamiliar with, Ma Hana trembled.

“Hana.”
“Yes, yes?”

Han Ara discreetly stepped back and looked at Yu Seha, who had kindly given them space to talk as a family.

“…Is that wonderful son-in-law you brought with you someone we can trust?”
“H-honey! Son-in-law? I’m not—”
“-Be quiet! He’s the man Hana chose. If you’re a father, I ask you to trust him!”
“Ugh, ugh…!”

Ma Hana blinked, then nodded with a face full of trust.
Han Ara smiled faintly.

“Then will you bring him here?”

For now… they would tell the broad outline of what had happened.

“We’ll explain it to you two.”

The spirits of father Ma Tae-han and mother Han Ara — both effectively their original selves — explained things step by step. They began with Han Ara’s past, outlining the background and circumstances one needed to know.

“If you don’t know this, you can’t even begin…”

Han Ara explained as she brushed her daughter’s untouchable hair. She was one of the 72 Demon Kings, the leader of the Maryang race of the demon realm.

A transcendent chosen as ‘the Above’ from the start. Second in rank among the Demon Kings: the Demon Beast Emperor Baal. She was his only biological daughter.

“M-muuaaah?!”

Ma Hana was aghast. Such a huge truth hit her right at the start; any faint doubt of “No way, really? Me?” vanished.

‘I am…’

The Demon King Kazantia’s words had been right. The claim that she shared kin with him was true. Demon King blood flowed in Ma Hana, making her a potential future Demon King.

Inevitably a wave of gloom washed over her, and at the words that followed she couldn’t help asking for clarification. Han Ara repeated the explanation with an apologetic expression.

“Eh, what? What did you say!?”
“Baal is literally Hana’s maternal grandfather and maternal grandmother.”
“…Wha, what?”
“Originally, he was a transcendent without fixed sex. He could be male or female by will. That’s why he became pregnant alone and gave birth to me.”
“…M-muaaa?!”

Two consecutive shocks hit like straight punches. Ma Hana’s mouth fell open. Yu Seha, listening, also looked surprised, but the transcendent nearby commented matter-of-factly.

And indeed, Baal’s intentions proved suspect.

“Baal didn’t raise me as a daughter from the start; he raised me to free himself from the shackles of being ‘the Above.’”
“S-shackles? The being ‘Above’?”
“That’s probably too hard for Hana to grasp. Put simply, a Demon King can wield powerful laws, but with that comes many constraints.”

Han Ara admitted she didn’t fully know what Baal intended.

“Of course, I have suspicions, but those will come out naturally in the story later, so wait a bit.”

What was certain was that she had been a pawn—raised like a dog on a leash for future use.

“I hated that purpose; I continuously rebelled and resisted.”

If things had gone as Baal intended, he likely would have executed her. But before that happened, Tang Seo-ran succeeded in connecting and summoning all the Demon Kings to the surface world, which led to a war between dragons and the Demon Kings.

In the fighting, Baal was defeated, losing identity and power, and was sealed away as a mere remnant—a de facto annihilation. Thanks to that, Han Ara gained her freedom.

“The link to him was severed, and I ran away from the hellish demon realm.”

Yet life after that was far from easy. Baal’s protection had allowed her to survive; when he disappeared, many sought to take his place and many demons targeted Han Ara.

Amid the spreading danger, Han Ara resolved to go to the surface world. She judged there was no other way to survive. It was impossible for ordinary demons, but as the Demon King’s biological daughter she possessed power at least one rank below full authority.

“To make a long story short… I succeeded in escaping.”
“Muaa…”

“The problem was I had to use too much power.”

Exhausted by injuries and a massive consumption of Magi, Han Ara collapsed. The moment she emerged into the surface world she fainted in the form that consumed the least energy: a humanoid appearance. Her innate sex was female, and as the Demon King’s daughter she had a beautiful appearance.

“That’s exactly this form now. Your father gets lost every night at my looks. That Hana is a stunning beauty is thanks to my genes.”
“M-muaang…”
“H-honey! What are you saying to Meowi!”
“Our Hana is old enough to know everything now. I was actually worried — as a mother I worried I hadn’t taught her how to attract a good man and that she might never marry… but she snagged such a handsome son-in-law. She’s my daughter indeed. I’m really looking forward to grandchildren.”
“Honey!”
“M-mua! Muaaah! Muaang muaang!”

Ma Hana’s face flushed crimson at her mother’s blunt, coarse words, so different from the image she’d imagined.

Yu Seha pretended not to hear and the story continued.

“Escaping was good, but of all places, it was an A-rank dungeon. The dungeon likely filled a rift between the demon realm and the surface, and she happened to land in one of them.”

Monsters, smelling blood, swarmed toward her. Just as she was about to become their meal,

“…she met a connection more precious than anything.”

• Leader! There are unusually many monsters here?
• Oh, senior, there’s a person over there!

Two women stepped forward, cutting down the monsters. They were newcomers to the path of adventure and promising prospects: Im Hye-ja and Cha Yeo-joo. Walking ahead of them as a solid vanguard and their leader,

“M-mua, could it be that…”
“Yes, Ma Tae-han… Hana’s father and that bashful, clueless man blushing beside you now.”

That was the first meeting between my friends and your father.