Unlimited Ambition

"...Speaking of which, it's one thing for the original family, but shouldn't a cat's relatives also be cats?" the brat asked strangely.

"Cough... This is easy to solve." As I said this, I took out a pair of black cat ears and put them on Sera.

"Come on, Serah-chan, say 'meow' to me."

"……Meow."

So cute ×5

After that, in order to keep a close eye on Sera, I got her a school registration, so it wasn't just Nana and me going to and from school every day. Nana seemed a little unhappy about this, but she still had a smile on her face. Only when no one was around would she complain to the brat.

Ariel, on the other hand, is a typical lazy bum. She spends all her time at home playing video games, or spouting supernatural theories to fool the little brat. And the little brat, who's supposed to be a pretty impressive scientist, is still completely fooled by her.

The worst off was Haruna. During the day, she was busy taking care of her teacher, and at night she had to work hard to earn credits by playing Megalo. After these past few days of this, her little face looked even thinner and thinner. It broke my heart to see her like that. So I treated her a little better, which made that brat, who was also a loli, very envious and jealous.

And so, the peaceful life continued. Every day was the routine of going to school and coming home, attending classes and leaving school. My longing for Yu only grew stronger. Meanwhile, I learned something from Ariel—back then, Yu didn't say to me, "Please go die." She said, "Please leave me." Five words. As for why that led to my death, she didn't know.

Indeed, Ariel naturally didn't know. But I did know—what that woman said at that time. I quickly realized. It was her doing. Death, Berica. Of all the people I know, only she possesses such power. To be able to interfere with my senses and kill me with ease. And after all that, she pretends to be a good person, saying, "Save me"—I spit on her!

Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!

I absolutely must kill you.

Chapter Seventeen: Yuko's Unlucky Day

What are your plans?

It was a late autumn afternoon, the sun shining warmly on me. I lay on the tatami mat, yawning. It was Saturday, so I didn't have to go to work. Everyone in the house was lazy and didn't want to move, except for Nana, who was going to buy groceries.

At that moment, Ariel, who was playing video games, asked me this without turning his head.

"What plans?" I asked, somewhat puzzled.

"So, what do you want to do in the future?"

"The most important thing right now is to restore our own strength," I replied. "Also, Haruna has been working for me lately, you don't have any objections, do you?"

"What are you doing? Blood sacrifice?" Ariel didn't seem to dislike the word much, and continued playing his video game indifferently.

“That’s right, an equal exchange is fair and transparent,” I said.

"Tsk, even if you kill ten million people, it's impossible for your strength to recover even a tenth of its original value," Ariel said.

"No need." I chuckled. "Once I've accumulated enough strength, I'll go back to Hell. After all, that's the best place to train."

"I see." Her hand trembled slightly, and then the spaceship she was piloting was blasted into cosmic dust by an oncoming beam of light. "So, what happens next?"

"After that... we will continue to search for a way to reverse time and space. And we will continue to fight for supremacy in Hell. At the very least, we must restore our own power to a level above what it was before we can do it. By the way, did you know that Yu has collected all of your other soul fragments?"

"What did you say?!" My heart skipped a beat, then jumped up, and I said.

"Just as you heard. Your soul fragments have been collected by Yu."

"...So that's how it is." I slowly sat down again, then lay down.

"You calmed down so quickly. No wonder you're a demon prince who only appears once every billion years, someone who almost became the Demon King." Ariel said this, whether he was mocking me or praising me, I couldn't tell.

"...Looks like I should have a serious talk with Yu," I muttered to myself.

"It must be very difficult. Although she feels indebted to you, she is even more afraid of the consequences after this power returns to you."

"What would the consequences be? Rivers of blood? Mountains of corpses? The collapse of the heavens and the earth? The destruction of the world?" I rolled my eyes. "I'm tired of all this stuff. Come to think of it, my initial goal was simply to find a way to reverse time."

"Why are you so fixated on this?" she asked.

"It's none of your business."

“What’s related to you is related to me,” Ariel said, then climbed on top of me: “Because you are my man.”

I rolled my eyes: "I thought I was the only one who would do something like this."

“You taught me,” Ariel said.

"I don't remember," I scoffed, then turned my head away.

“Look at me,” Ariel said, brushing his hand across my cheek.

"Can't you stop being so boring?" I complained, half-jokingly.

"You seemed so happy back then, so I couldn't resist wanting to try it out," Ariel said before giving me a forceful kiss.

Is this guy still angry about what happened between me and Haruna?

What a petty woman. (You're not much more generous yourself.)

"Nano, what's for lunch today..." Just then, the little brat who was hugging his pillow, rubbing his eyes, and lazing in bed until noon appeared.

"..."

"Ahhhhhh!!!!"

Upon seeing this, the brat ran away screaming in terror.

"What an innocent child... a year younger than me back then, hehehehe..." At this point, Ariel couldn't continue. After chuckling, he got up and released me.

"Tsk, I already said no. What if it corrupts the children?" I said, while straightening my collar and discreetly wiping off the lip balm that had gotten on it.

After dinner, I called the school's dean of students. After a lot of flattery and saying things like, "Actually, you would be more suitable to be the school's principal," he readily agreed to my request for a day off.

"I'm going to a neighboring city tomorrow, and I probably won't be able to get back by Monday." That's what I announced to the others afterward.

"Are we going out to have fun?" This is Haruna.

"Isn't work important?" This was Nai.

"The professor wants a gift!" That brat.

"Would you like me to prepare a bento for you?" This was Sera.

"—Absolutely not!" That was my immediate response. Upon hearing the news, my taste buds went into shock and went on strike. My mouth felt unbearably sour and astringent—a lingering, agonizing sensation reminiscent of that killer dish.

Eating a meal cooked by Serafim would shorten one's lifespan by at least three years. This was already a consensus among this hastily assembled family.

"Are you going to see Yu? How do you know she's there?" Ariel asked in a low voice.

“Intuition,” I replied.

At that moment, Yuko, who was rushing to finish her homework at home, suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. Immediately afterwards, she felt a strong aversion to studying. Then she remembered that she had made plans to go to the next city with her long-haired, black-haired friend the next day. And then she felt like giving up on doing her homework.

Thinking back to what my wish was back then… hmm, I think it was to become a round-necked lizard. What a tragedy, because humans can't evolve into lizards… Speaking of which, final exams are next week. I don't think I've even started studying… Wait, I ripped my notebook open with my pen…

Yuko, her mind a complete mess, went downstairs to get some water, only to find the thermos empty. She opened the refrigerator to drink milk, but discovered it was expired halfway through. She forced herself to finish it, and then started having stomach problems in the middle of the night. In the morning, she woke up to find her mother had already left without leaving her breakfast. She tried to heat up some bread, but the machine broke down halfway through. She stepped on chewing gum on the street. She wanted to rest, but the chair she sat on was still wet with paint. She finally caught the train, only to realize she had taken the wrong one. After changing trains and finding a seat, she discovered the people on either side of her were asleep and leaning against her shoulders. Then the train made an emergency stop halfway through its journey…

Yuko's heart screamed: What did I do wrong?! Why are you treating me like this?! God! If there really is a God, please save me!!!

At this moment, Yuko, who hadn't eaten breakfast yet, started to feel hungry, and her stomach began to rumble.

"Would you like some bread?" came a voice from beside her.

"Um, no need." Yuko turned her head a little embarrassed... and found the person next to her feeding a pet dog.

...That happens occasionally. At that moment, Yuko vaguely heard a laugh, seemingly mocking her.

Yuko thought to herself, then turned around and saw an old lady standing in front of her.

"Ah, um... please," the kind-hearted Yuko said, preparing to stand up and offer her seat.

"No need," the old lady said in a stiff voice. "Don't underestimate me. Although I'm old, my physical strength is definitely no worse than yours, young girl."

Yuko was sweating profusely: "Um, no, I'm just about to get off the bus, I'm about to get off!" She vaguely sensed that the laughter had gotten a little louder.

Just then, the train's announcement saved Yuko's life: "Passengers getting off at the next stop, please prepare."

Yuko breathed a sigh of relief, walked to the front door, and thought, "It's finally over. How embarrassing."

Then, the train stopped. Yuko, seeing the locked doors in front of her, hearing the doors open behind her, and hearing the increasingly loud laughter, blushed deeply. She quickly turned and ran out.

Yuko lowered her head, closed her eyes, and walked out, feeling both ashamed and angry. She then bumped into someone.

"Ah, sorry—" Yuko immediately apologized—then looked up and realized that she had bumped into a plastic doll.

"Pfft... Hahahahaha..." I finally couldn't help but burst out laughing. What is Yuko doing? Is this some kind of slapstick comedy? Why is there such a big patch of paint on her pants? It's hilarious! Ahahahaha...

That's right, it was me who made that series of soft noises just now. Speaking of which, I was actually a little happy to have taken the same train as Yuko—and even happier after seeing all that happened. Of course, to avoid lowering Yuko's affection for me, I subtly used an "ignore" spell. So Yuko couldn't find me.

Yuko's tragedy continued. Walking down the street, she felt like she was about to die. Yuko pulled out the map the long-haired girl had given her and began to study it: "Hmm, we agreed to meet at the Dagong fast food restaurant. But this map looks so terrible..."

“…That’s clearly a treble clef.” I almost fainted, then looked at Yuko with unusual sympathy: “Just how tragic are you going to be?”

“I’d better ask someone,” Yuko said. She then stopped in front of a plastic statue: “Excuse me, how do I get to the Dagong Fast Food Restaurant—” Yuko immediately realized her mistake, her face turning as red as an apple. She was on the verge of a breakdown.

Around this time, the male protagonist should make his appearance. Thinking this, I dispelled the ignore spell and went outside.

"Eh? Yuko, what a coincidence to see you here," I said with a smile.

“Wright, Wright-sensei—” Yuko rushed into my arms with tears streaming down her face, as if she had found a family member: “Waaaaah, teacher, do you know how unlucky I’ve been today?”

know.

"Okay, don't cry, don't cry. What happened? Tell me slowly." I said this while gently patting Yuko's back. A strange smile appeared on my lips.

Chapter Eighteen: Reconciliation?

And so, Yuko and I arrived at the Dagong Fast Food Restaurant, which we had arranged to meet beforehand—of course, we had asked around for directions first.

Dalian University of Technology Fast Food Restaurant is no different from any other fast food restaurant; it's one of the subsidiaries of the Dalian University of Technology Consortium. It's also the kind of chain that sells junk food and rips people off.

After ordering two glasses of orange juice (according to unsubstantiated scientific evidence, drinking cola can kill sperm), Yuko recounted her unfortunate ordeal that began the previous night. Seeing her pitiful, tearful face, I couldn't bear to laugh at her anymore. So I comforted her for a few moments, then asked, "By the way, do you have a distant relative named Kamijou Touma?"

"Huh? I don't know anyone with that name. Is there a problem?" Yuko asked.

"No, I was just asking casually. That guy was one of my former students. He was practically blessed by the god of bad luck."

"I see." Yuko nodded. She didn't ask any further questions, then asked, "What brings you here, teacher?"

“I have a friend who lives here, and I’m here to see her.”

"Really? Boyfriend or girlfriend? What kind of person is he?" Yuko asked with great interest.

"Are you trying to pry into the teacher's secrets?" I said with a laugh, but I didn't answer her question; I just laughed it off.

"Huh?" Yuko was clearly a little dissatisfied, but she didn't ask any further questions.

"So, Yuko, what brings you here?" I asked.