Chapter 109

"Is that so, is that so? That’s really impressive."

Although she was saying it was impressive, Sheffy's monotone tone didn’t reflect any surprise at all.

Rather, she didn’t think there was anything today that could surprise her. Frankly speaking, this competition had already become a political game. They weren’t even offering doughnuts anymore—what was left that could possibly be surprising?!

While speaking, Sheffy lifted the water cup she always carried in her storage space, brought it to her lips, and took a small sip to quench her thirst.

But then, suddenly…

At the center of the arena, the host stood gripping a gold-foil information strip that had been delivered from the highest command platform. His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his voice trembled slightly.

"[Latest decision, permission granted for two honored guests to depart immediately for this location. They are... uh... the Demon King and Demon Queen of the Demon Clan.]"

"Pu!"

The water Sheffy had just sipped was violently sprayed out from her mouth, her face full of disbelief!

25. Investigation

That mouthful of cool tea water from Sheffy splattered all over the little Holy Sword who had been sitting beside her, grinning foolishly in her direction.

Syla shook her head like a drenched cat, her blue hair wet and clinging, blinking in a dazed and adorable manner.

Others might think she looked pitiful, but Syla herself knew—this was a heavenly blessing!

Never mind about heavenly blessings for now...

Sheffy widened her eyes, and no matter how she thought it through, she just couldn’t make sense of it—why were they suddenly coming?!

Xiarette could somewhat understand the reason behind Sheffy’s shock.

But Livra, seeing Miss Shaya react so strongly, couldn’t quite figure it out.

"Miss Shaya? Why do you... suddenly have a face like you just found a worm in your doughnut?"

"Your offensive types are all really strong today. Alright, Livra, no time to explain, listen—I bet that witch Sheffy snitched on me, saying I treated her badly while she was sealed, and now her mom and dad are coming for revenge! They’re gonna beat me up! Don’t say anything else—I have to hide first! You all chat! Xia, keep an eye on Syla—I’ll be right back!"

"Eh, then I...! Oh, never mind, got it. I’ll just wait here for a bit then. Shaya, hurry back, alright?"

"Got it, got it!"

Huh?!

Miss Shaya, looking flustered, suddenly dashed off in the direction of the backstage.

Livra, puzzled and worried, wanted to follow and see if she could help, but Xiarette grabbed her wrist.

"Your Highness, just let her go alone. There are some things Shaya needs to explain clearly to Princess Sheffy. Just like you had something you needed to talk to Princess Sheffy about alone the other day—it’s the same. They need a quiet place."

"But... but I just wanted to tell Miss Shaya that she ran in the wrong direction! Didn’t Princess Sheffy say earlier she’d appear in the west VIP room? Miss Shaya ran to the east!"

"......"

Your Highness really is such a kind person, actually trying to help others like that.

Xiarette definitely couldn’t tell Livra outright that Sheffy had actually gone to intercept the Demon King and Queen halfway.

Whichever direction she ran didn’t matter—she would just find a secluded spot and use 【Super Acceleration Leap】 to vanish into thin air.

And this time, Xiarette herself wasn’t suited to follow along.

After all, she was the Kingdom’s Hero... She absolutely couldn’t show up directly before the Demon King.

Sneaking over with a hidden identity wasn’t out of the question...

But even Xiarette felt nervous at the thought of meeting Sheffy’s parents...!

This only confused Livra even more. Why did Lord Xiarette suddenly start blushing as if lost in thought? Was she coming down with something?!

Syla clapped her little hands against the armrest and stood up, drawing Livra’s attention over.

At critical moments like this, of course it had to be her to save the scene—the Hero just wasn’t reliable.

This household... without her, it would probably fall apart!

"No need to look—Lady Shaya didn’t go to see the Demon Clan Princess. Didn’t you all see she left holding a bag of doughnuts?"

"Syla, you mean..."

"She went to find a place to finish eating her doughnuts first. Because the Demon Clan Princess likes doughnuts too. She’s worried that when the Demon Princess arrives, she’ll eat hers."

"No wonder...! No wonder Miss Shaya and Princess Sheffy get along so well!"

"Now you get it. That’s what food-guarding looks like."

"I get it... I think? But... also not really."

Convinced to stay, Livra stood there, gazing up at the sky.

She couldn’t see the dark wings sweeping above the thick clouds of dusk.

Even though little Syla had said that...

She still felt that Miss Shaya’s reaction earlier had been a little strange...

...................................

The match might have already entered its preliminaries, but Sheffy had no mood to watch.

She unfurled her eight wings and activated 【Super Acceleration】, soaring to an altitude unreachable by ordinary people.

By pushing her perception to the limit, she could grasp the entire situation down on the distant ground.

Locating her father and mother wasn’t difficult at all.

—After all, the two of them were standing together without any attempt to conceal their presence. That level of magical energy, even from the sky, could be felt distinctly.

It was like seeing "a towering mountain" suddenly rising from a flat plain—abrupt and conspicuous.

The spot with the strongest magical fluctuations was right in the forest on the outskirts, just before entering the Royal Capital of Aurus.

Wait a minute...

Weren’t they already almost at the capital?!

Sheffy braked abruptly in mid-air.

She transformed her eight wings into six, then employed her expert landing technique, descending like a meteor toward the location of the Demon King and Queen.

Among powerful beings, sensing one another was mutual.

The moment Sheffy came to a halt in the sky, that massive magical presence on the ground also stopped moving, as if patiently waiting for her arrival.

Her descent broke the sound barrier, yet just as she neared the treetops, her movement became as light as a feather.

From a distance, Sheffy spotted her long-unseen parents.

Flame-like short hair, blood-red eyes, and bright crimson armor encasing his body—this was the current Demon King, Dielzner Harl.

Beside him, a mature woman of peerless beauty, with silvery hair shining brightly, skin fairer than snow, and a dreamlike dark blue gown—this was the Demon Queen, Herilet Harl.

What surprised Sheffy was that the only ones walking shoulder to shoulder were the two of them.

They didn’t even bring the Demon King's Royal Guard?

Good thing they hadn’t reached the venue yet. She really wanted to ask what kind of chaos they were planning to stir up!

Ahem... there was one thing Sheffy absolutely couldn’t say out loud—like, well... when children see their parents, they always have this weird desire to show off their progress, right?

Sheffy was no exception.

For example, by showing off the landing technique she had trained so hard to perfect.

More and more graceful—last time she crash-landed in the forest was just a fluke. This time, it would be a perfect success!

Her black wings slowly spread outward.

Sheffy stretched out her body, trying to appear as light yet powerful as possible. Ideally, when she landed, the tips of her shoes would gently stir up a ring of dust, and she would end up standing tall and steady—fully displaying the poise of a mature princess!

However...

As she descended, and descended...

She realized she wasn’t descending anymore.

Why?

She turned her head to look.

—Because her wings had spread too wide and got caught on a tree branch.

Damn itttt!!

Sheffy fumed in frustration and chopped off the branch that snagged her wing with a karate chop. The towering tree it was attached to even swayed ominously.

Unsurprisingly, having lost her support and without time to react, Sheffy was bound to crash to the ground again.

"Owww!!"

A small cloud of dust did rise, just as she’d planned—but with all four limbs sprawled out, the pose was far from graceful.

Sheffy stubbornly refused to lift her head.

She just lay there, face down, playing dead.

Don’t look at me.

Just pretend I died from the fall, okay?!

But the inevitable couldn’t be avoided.

Dielzner, the Demon King, scratched the back of his head in bafflement. He thought maybe his daughter was performing some sort of act?

At the same time, he was relieved.

Seeing that his daughter was still so lively, he was sure she hadn’t suffered among the humans!

No one knows a daughter better than—

—the mother.

The graceful Herilet had been holding back her laughter the entire time.

At last, she couldn’t help but let out a clear, light laugh. She covered her stomach, her enchanting figure trembling with mirth.

"Pff... hahahahaha! Oh Sheffy, you child! Still as clumsy as ever! I thought you'd spring up right after falling—who would’ve guessed you’d just lie there pretending to be dead! Ha... Come on now, get up, child. Are you really worried your mother would laugh at you? You’re my daughter. I’d never do that."

"But you’re already laughing at me, aren’t you?! You haven’t even stopped yet!"

"Pfft..."

"You laughed again!!"

Sheffy pushed off the ground with her little arms and sprang up like a coiled spring.

Her silver hair flowed like a waterfall. She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks, pouting like an angry little hamster.

Six wings. Six wings. And another set of conjured six wings.

In this small patch of land, three six-winged figures stood facing one another.

Luckily, no outsiders were around—otherwise, this scene would’ve surely been hailed as a divine miracle.

It was only then that Dielzner came to a realization. He smacked his left palm with his right fist and finally caught on!

"Ah...! Sheffy! So just now, you weren’t doing some kind of performance? You really face-planted in the dirt? Hahahahaha! That’s my daughter, alright!"

"Why do you sound so proud of that?!"

Just look at him, laughing so heartily!

If someone didn’t know any better, they’d think his daughter just hauled up a giant fish from the lake!

Even though this was supposed to be a touching reunion after some time apart, all Sheffy could think of now was how badly she wanted to complain.

With her parents, even the desire for heartfelt conversation had to wait!

Even so...

Sheffy closed one eye, adjusted her composure, and decided to ask about the situation first.

"So what’s going on, exactly? Father, Mother—did you come here on your own...?"

Uh-oh.

Apparently, not quite.

Behind Herilet's graceful six wings, which shimmered with sapphire-blue magical light—suddenly, an adorable little head peeked out.

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