He began to tell me a story: "When I was a kid, my father was a magnet for problems.
Wherever he went, trouble followed.
Everyone thought it was just his life—but it was a curse.
A curse inflicted by a human-demon named moirai's veil
Once cursed, you couldn't escape unless a powerful demon break the cursed for you …"
I managed to marry someone at least, and she gave birth to me.
We lived a happy life. My father thought his curse would go away if he tried, but no one understood it and everyone judged him.
Even though I loved him, I still wanted a better father.
So when I was a kid, I always compared him to others.
When I got into an academy and registered as a hunter student, my mom died from an unknown curse—no cause—and she just suddenly died.
Only my dad and I knew that she died because of my father's curse.
Afterwards, my father began to lose hope and eventually changed.
He began to get drunk and always spent time on TV. Even after a year, he became a completely useless man.
I got bullied and discriminated against because of him.
Everyone began to say, "No matter what you do, a failed product is a failed product.
"After years, my father met someone at a drinking bar, and he was so captivated by her beauty because she looked just like my mom.
He wanted to meet her and eventually did. They married, and that's when I met Noa.
She is my stepsister.
I always felt bad for her.
My stepmom planned to make her a hoe and use her to get some money, but I began to show her a future she wanted.
I always made her look cute and showed her how to smile.
I taught her everything, and since she transferred to our school, she became top-notch and famous.
But my stepmom didn't like what was going on.
My stepmom brings money, and my father is just like that.
We both were alone and broke, so I worked part-time and brought some money every day.
I always gave her money so she wouldn't feel like she was falling behind.
I was the most hated and bullied character, and she was the polar opposite—but no one knew we were stepbrother and sister.
One day, everyone asked her what kind of boys she liked, and she was actually describing the core me.
They told her if she had a crush on someone, and she said she did—it was me.
After a while, they all said I'm a failure, and the boys began to hate me even more.
Then she confessed to me in front of everyone and said, "For myself, it's okay if you turn me down.
I'm used to embarrassment and humiliation."
I said, "I love you too,"
We became a couple outside the home, but stepbrother and sister in the house.
She spent every hour at school with me so the bullies wouldn't get time to bully me.
I never expected this from her, but it backfired on us when her mom found out what we had been doing.
At home, her mom wanted to destroy her pretty face with fire.
I defended her and slapped my stepmom, and my father beat me up. Everything was chaos.
Then I said, "You guys never needed us in the first place.
I'm leaving," and took her with me. With heavy anger, regret, and pain, we both ran to the forest as far as we could.
We ran—we ran faster—and eventually, just like how you fall, we fell here.
Kazuki is a slime, but a parasitic one that can't live alone and needs a vessel.
So he took me as one.
As much as I despised demons and becoming one, I wanted power—to rule myself.
Power is the only thing I want. So they took me as one, and now I'm Kazuki, the Slime King.
From that point on, I gave her a very rare slime called Inventor Slime, and that's how she became like me and is here now.
So we live alone here.
You get what I'm saying.
Then I replied to Kazuki and said, "What happened to your family?"
He said, "You're really sharp.
I became a demon king, so I was able to lift the curse of my father and gave her mom medicine to forget her past.
So they began to, and she became with no memory, lived a happy life.
They moved on to another place.
Father bought land after selling his house, and he is a farmer.
My stepmom is the one who buys and sells, so I can never show my face again.
I mean, we got to be together."
And now we are like this. Worst-case scenario, they have a child.
So yeah, even though my stepmom won't remember her, it still feels like I did something.
I said, "It's okay. Not like they were properly married after all.
They actually began the real marriage and
life after you guys already became couples—"
It was kinda heart breaking as well as lovely story.
Zephyr walked into the same city he once despised—unrecognizable now, wearing a hoodie and harem pants, keeping a low profile.
He made his way to the underground district, where a group of thugs noticed him.
"Hey, big guy, come over here," one of them said.
Zephyr walked slowly, confidently, like he owned the place.
He sat down like a king in a worn-out chair and calmly asked,
"What the hell do you want?"
They laughed. "You're really proud of yourself, huh?"
One thug stepped closer, as if ready to beat him down.
But before anything could happen, Zephyr raised a hand.
"May I get a drink?" he asked the bartender.
She replied quickly, "One drink coming right up."
"And get some for these gentlemen as well," he added.
The thugs exchanged glances, surprised.
"He already knows how to act. Pretty damn good of you, kid," one muttered.
But just as one of them reached out to touch Zephyr, he activated a barrier, punched the guy square in the face with lightning speed, and sat back down like nothing happened.
The room fell into silence. The drinks arrived.
He took his glass and said,
"So… you guys really don't know who I am, huh? I own this place. For real."
They froze. Then he continued:
"Now, where's that brat—Kai?"
Everyone stared at him in shock. One finally said, "Thanks for the drink… so, uh, how are you, sir?"
Zephyr narrowed his eyes. "Cut the bullshit."
Another asked, "You said you know the boss, right?"
"Yep," Zephyr said. "And I want him here, right now. Call him, do something.
I'm bored waiting."
They hesitated. Then one of them offered,
"Why don't we take you to him?"
They called Kai, told him,
"A strong guy's here saying he knows you."
Kai replied:
"Bring him in."
They led Zephyr through the city to a hidden underground door. Inside, Kai was sitting calmly.
"It's been a while, Zephyr," he said.
"A weakling's a weakling no matter
what happens," Kai added.
Zephyr smirked. "Really? That's about to be too good to believe."
He rotated his barriers, changing their colors, fusing them with magic like he was preparing a dish.