Chapter 63

“But come on, making things explode is just so cool!”

She said it with such pure, cloudless eyes.

“I’ve admired that magic for a long time. Every time I fought a Demon who could use it, I’d think about how blowing things up—just ka-boom!—would be such a great way to relieve stress.”

“I-Is that so…? Well, I suppose if you’re talking about looking cool, then maybe…”

Why was I feeling this way?

Rather than the joy of seeing my child take an interest in her parent’s magic, I felt a faint, lingering sense of dread.

Is this kid… actually just interested in the act of blowing things up…?

She isn’t going to grow up to be the type of person who solves every single problem with an explosion, is she? That would be an incredibly dangerous individual…

“First of all, I can teach you Explosion Magic,” I said. “It might take some time to get used to the incantations in Ancient Demonic, but if you follow the steps, you can do it. Since it’s a chant, you don’t need to be fluent enough to hold a conversation. As long as your pronunciation is clean, you can just memorize them by rote.”

“Yeah, yeah! I’ll do it! I’ll memorize every word!”

Good grief. My daughter was motivated, yet I couldn’t bring myself to be happy about it…

“However, those who use Explosion Magic might be feared in human society, you know? It carries the strong image of being a magic used by the Demon Race…”

If possible, I wanted to discourage her from learning it.

“There’s also the question of whether it’s ‘Hero-like’… If you’re a Hero, using attack magic related to the four elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—would feel more orthodox, or rather…”

“No, I actually think that’s kind of old-fashioned. I wanted something flashier.”

Just as I thought—she was choosing based purely on the vibe!

“A female Hero who solves everything by blowing it up… don’t you think that’s pretty good? It feels like a Hero for a new era!”

“That’s just your personal opinion… This is a fairly dangerous magic, so it’s hard for me to teach you when you’re saying you want to do it so gleefully…”

Should this magic be restricted by a licensing system? She looks like she’d blow up an adventurer’s guild just because they ticked her off.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “Sure, there were plenty of adventurer’s guilds I wanted to destroy during my journey, but I won’t go blowing them up over a personal grudge.”

“Right… so the idea has, at the very least, crossed your mind…”

“I won’t do it, I won’t. I mean, they’d trace it back to me instantly. I don’t want to become a wanted woman.”

I understood the logic, but I really wanted her to say something like, “A Hero would never use magic to hurt people.”

What should I do? If I refused to teach her here, it would be the same as saying, “I don’t want to teach you because I don’t know what kind of mess you’ll cause.”

In other words, it would mean I didn’t trust her as a human being.

That was something one should never say to their daughter. It was practically a total rejection of her character.

It might be the trigger that caused her to go astray.

Then, she might learn Explosion Magic from some random mage elsewhere and become a serial bomber.

Wait… wasn’t she heading toward a life of crime via Explosion Magic either way?

Perhaps sensing my hesitation, Angelica stood directly in front of me.

Hmph. Is she going to complain…?

“Demon King, I am someone who might become the next Demon King!”

Placing a hand on her chest, Angelica made her declaration.

“For someone like me, what would it say if I never mastered the magic used by the Demon King? Even if it’s strange for a Hero to use it, if you think of it as a Demon King using it, it’s perfectly natural, right?”

“Yeah… you’re right about that.”

I had been thoroughly out-argued.

If I considered her not as a Hero, but as the Crown Prince of the Demon King, it wasn’t strange at all.

Actually, I had the feeling her brain worked a lot faster whenever it came to things she liked.

At this point, I had no reason left to refuse.

Besides, the fact that she was conscious of becoming the Demon King in the future didn’t feel bad.

I thought she had only accepted the position of Crown Prince as a matter of formality, but it seemed she actually had the resolve to take on the role.

A Demon King who was human—and a woman at that—would surely be the first in history.

Angelica might just be the one to carve out a brand-new era.

“Alright. I’ll teach you.”

“Thanks, Demon King! I’ll work hard!”

Angelica clenched both her fists, showing off her fighting spirit.

“But, to master the magic, you first have to learn the Ancient Demonic used for the incantations. It’s going to be tedious work. Don’t go quitting halfway through, alright?”

“I can endure anything for the sake of Explosion Magic!”

Just how interested in explosions was she…?

No, wait. Isn’t it a parent’s job to teach their child the proper way to use magic?

I just needed to carefully teach Angelica, one step at a time, what precautions she should take when using Explosion Magic. What good would it do to run away before even trying to teach her?

If that were allowed, then no one in this world would ever be able to take up a profession that carried even a hint of danger. I was just interpreting parental responsibility in whatever way suited me to keep my distance from a troublesome situation.

Right now, my aptitude as a parent was being put to the test.

“Angelica, I understand your feelings well. Regard me as your master and follow my lead!”

“Yeah! I’ll do it! Even if I have to become the Demon King’s apprentice, I’ll learn Explosion Magic! I’m gonna let it rip!”

She had enough momentum to look like she’d trade half the world just for the sake of making things go boom…

“Well, it’s late, so let’s head inside.”

Standing outside all this time had made me feel a bit of a chill.

“I’m ready to start practicing right now!”

She was a mass of pure motivation. Was she from a warrior race or something?

“Listen, you have to learn the pronunciations for Ancient Demonic either way, so there’s no need to do it outside. Also, if you push yourself too hard, you’ll burn out. We’re going to take this one steady step at a time.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right. Okay, I’ll take a bath and head to bed for today.”

Today was a day where a new weight of responsibility settled onto my shoulders.

It would be fine. Even Lateia has never used her sword dancing for assassinations. If I educated her properly, she wouldn’t become the type of person who blew things up indiscriminately…

I felt a deep sense of respect for every parent in this world currently raising children, and every parent who had already done so. Everyone was doing something incredible.

Maybe I should go buy some books on human ethics…

I was starting to feel like moral education was going to be very important.