Chapter 69

The pajama party seemed to have ended without a hitch, and Angelica returned to her life as an adventurer—diving into dungeons and practicing her swordsmanship.

Given her profession, I couldn’t help but worry a little when she headed off to high-difficulty dungeons. However, she was a Hero, a professional among adventurers; worrying too much would almost be an insult to her skills.

Besides, they were friends close enough to throw a pajama party together; surely they wouldn’t attempt a reckless expedition that would put their lives at risk.

Some humans tend to disregard their own safety, but even those types won’t act so recklessly when they have precious friends around them.

Because of that, I was completely at ease.

“Hey, Demon King. Could you… listen to something I have to say later?”

Angelica asked me that during our nightly sword training.

“I knew something happened the moment we started. Your movements are scattered. Entering a dungeon with that kind of focus is a recipe for injury.”

In swordsmanship, a single moment of distraction can decide the outcome. If your mind is elsewhere, it’s immediately obvious unless there is a massive gap in ability. I had known even before we started today’s session.

“Continuing to practice in this state is pointless. I’ll hear you out, so let’s head inside.”

“Then I’ll talk in your room… I don’t really want Mama to overhear…”

She was asking to come into my room—something unthinkable until now.

This must be a considerably deep issue. I had better listen closely.

“Actually, there was a fight within the party.”

“Ah, I figured it was something like that.”

She glared at me when I answered honestly.

“How could you possibly know that, Demon King?!”

“Well, I’ve had a long life…”

For the record, I was sitting in my chair while Angelica sat on the edge of my bed facing me. Since this wasn’t a reception room, there weren’t multiple chairs.

“The three of you girls have been sticking together quite closely. When people are that tight-knit, even small things can lead to friction.”

I didn’t think it was likely to be about a man.

However, there was always the possibility that one of them had fallen for a guy from a different party, causing the dynamic between the three of them to go haywire.

That said, I wasn’t worried about the idea of Angelica finding someone she liked yet.

After all, we live together, and on top of sword training, we’re now doing magic drills. If she had a love interest, it would undoubtedly show in her attitude. She isn’t the type who can stay composed through something like that.

“No, I’m still on good terms with Selene and Naharin. We even promised to do another pajama party soon.”

Wait.

That wasn’t what I expected.

“If that’s the case, I don’t see what could have gone wrong with the relationships.”

“But that pajama party was the start of the fight…”

I wasn’t going to understand this without more details. Did they get into a fight over the patterns on their pajamas?

“When the three of us were talking about the pajama party, Zenkei said he wanted to join… so we told him he couldn’t because even though he has a ‘Trap’ character, he’s still a guy… and then…”

Wow, talk about a stray spark catching fire!

I could understand why they banned Zenkei from participating.

The kid had confessed to Angelica before. In other words, even if he dressed like a girl, he was still a man who liked women.

Well then, there was no way he could be allowed into a “No Boys Allowed” pajama party.

“And that made Zenkei angry. He said that lately, the three of us have been hanging out together too much. He asked if we’d forgotten that we’re a party of five. Naharin shot back, pointing out that he’d tried to have a four-person party while excluding Jaunis before, though.”

“Naharin handled that quite calmly…”

She was right; bringing up the “party of five” argument at that point was missing the mark.

“Then Jaunis showed up and said he’d also been feeling like the party was splitting into ‘three girls and two boys’ lately… Zenkei took offense to that and told Jaunis not to group the two of them together like they were in the same boat…”

An unexpected 3-vs-1-vs-1 confrontation!

“After that, I ended up complaining about how crude the boys are, and things just spiraled out of control… Now me, Selene, and Naharin are on one side, with Zenkei and Jaunis split off on their own…”

To think it would have this kind of adverse effect…

I looked up at the heavens—though, since I was indoors, it was more like looking at the ceiling.

Angelica had received an education and become smarter, which allowed her to bond with the girls more than ever before. I thought that was a wonderful thing.

However, as a result, the balance within the party had collapsed.

Up until now, Angelica’s behavior had been fairly rough—un-ladylike, one might say. Yet, because she was still fundamentally a girl, she never clashed with Selene or Naharin. She had likely maintained a perfect balance by understanding the boys’ perspectives as well.

But because Angelica had become more intellectual, a “Girls’ Group” of three had formed. This group now held the majority within the party.

Because of that, the mediating function Angelica once provided within the party had vanished.

And finally, the breakdown…

Whoa… I had underestimated Angelica. I thought she was just a muscle-brained Hero.

But that was exactly why she was important.

Because she was a muscle-brained Hero who happened to be a girl, she had been able to hold that party together.

I had believed that educating my daughter was an absolute good and never doubted it. Of course, I still don’t think it’s a bad thing, but even education can cause damage to human relationships. I hadn’t considered that possibility.

“Hey, Demon King… what should I do…?”

It was a soft, abstract question, but that only made it clearer how much Angelica was hurting.

She was truly suffering over how to handle this.

I instinctively clenched my fist. Being the Demon King, if there had been a rock in my palm, I would have crushed it to dust.

My true worth as a parent is being put to the test!