Vol 10 Prologue (1/2)

Prologue

“—Hey s.h.i.+n.o.bu, what would you do if I were to disappear?”

Reluctantly spilled words. Amber eyes flickering with worry. Slightly bitten, well-formed lips. While I looked at her expression, my anxiety grew.

“What do you mean… by disappear?”

The voice coming from my voice was unexpectedly stiff.

Machina Liebelei Orangelo. The girl in front of me was one of our freeloaders, Luna’s little stepsister and a hybrid devil, but she was just like family to me.

Therefore her words that hinted a farewell agitated me considerably.

On the way home from school. Machina was rooted on by all cla.s.smates with smiles to run for the student council election. While she arrived on our home road together with me, she seemed to ponder about her partic.i.p.ation in the election. But amidst that, Machina mentioned that her father Bram replied with a letter on a rare occasion. Now she had her expression clouded and I continued my words in confusion.

“You won’t go anywhere, will you?”

“…It’s not like it’ll be right away. But, my father said I should come back to the demon realm soon in his letter… So I’m hesitant about the election.”

Temporarily stopping her words, Machina smiled sadly.

“Running for the election, even though I might go away, is ridiculous, right?”

“…You plan to go back to the demon realm?”

“I don’t know yet. It’s seems my father is coming over here soon, so I plan to decide then.”

Machina’s words weren’t the ones I was hoping for. I wanted her to say that she had no plans to go back. But,

“…I don’t know your reasons, but if you want to stay with everyone, you’re always welcome in our house. If you don’t want to go back, just tell me. I’ll help you then.”

When I called out to her softly, Machina slightly dampened her eyes and hung her head a bit like that.