The strange text that suddenly appeared before Ash made his head spin.
He couldn't fully comprehend it. There were many suspicious points. However, from what was called the Demon King Growth System, a blessing from the Demon God, he realized that this system was vastly different from what he had imagined.
It turned out that the Demon God was a self-proclaimed title of a great demon who had died in the mythological era, one who had nearly reached the level of a god. He was apparently the strongest Demon King of that era.
The reason Ash was chosen was due to his exceptionally unique emotions. He possessed social traits and a range of emotions extremely rare among the demon race, even surpassing those of the previous Demon King.
The system seemed to rate his potential highly because of this… whether that was a misjudgment or not.
Since it wasn't a true god, the system's abilities were also very limited, offering no extraordinary power. The only thing it could do to help was collect a thousand human souls or the equivalent number of souls from intelligent beings, which could then be exchanged for miracles through the system.
More precisely, miracles of the goddess replicated by the Demon God. The system, which enabled the release of these miracles, was created by the Demon God, who replicated and unleashed this magic from his own body.
The extent of these miraculous abilities depended entirely on how many souls Ash paid. According to the system, if enough souls were used as fuel, these miracles were nearly indistinguishable from the original.
This meant that each time, he could use a minimum of a thousand souls—or an unlimited amount—to make a wish, and a single wish could consume all the collected souls.
Although the conditions sounded extremely strict, the advantage was that demons had very long lifespans. Even if Ash worked in a slaughterhouse, he would surely find opportunities to make a wish.
The system was also very simple. Its sole function was this… After an initial moment of excitement, he returned to struggling for survival.
After all, he was now just a three-year-old child! Where was he supposed to get a thousand souls to make a wish?
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Thirteen years after being reborn, at the edge of a forest lake.
A cold breeze swept across the water's surface, creating ripples and constantly sapping Ash's body heat.
Though his body was still small, he dragged a beast resembling a tiger but the size of a car with one hand while pulling Aura by her horns with the other, heading toward the cave where they lived. Without looking back, he said:
"You'd better stop studying mental-type magic and switch to something practical. After restricting that creature's movements, you ended up exhausted… It's completely useless."
"Don't boss me around, Ash. My magic is my choice. Even if we were born in the same cave, you have no right to interfere."
"You're so cold, even though you have an enthusiastic big brother like me." Ash lightened Aura and their prey with gravity magic, shrugging at her words.
"…If you call dragging me like luggage enthusiasm, tomorrow after I recover, you'll be the one lying on the ground."
Covered in dust and exhausted, Aura closed her eyes, letting herself be dragged by her horns through the muddy ground. Yet, she didn't hesitate to strike back with sharp words.
"By the way, can you even get up later? Do you have time to prepare dinner?"
"Why is it always me doing stuff like that?"
"Isn't this a very democratic and fair division? I drag you home, you cook."
"I put in way more effort during the fight!"
"Between siblings, don't be so calculative."
With his current strength, Ash cut off Aura's words with a single sentence, making the pink-haired girl click her tongue behind him.
Though reluctant, when they returned to the cave, Aura still lit the campfire, bathing the cave walls in an orange glow.
Ash sat cross-legged beside her, using the firelight to observe Aura's face from the side.
Though Aura was an individual with an abnormal personality and still a young girl, she was fairly pretty. Her delicate face and two pairs of demon-like horns were quite convenient to use. (For dragging, that is.)
More importantly, she was hardworking and capable. Though she often argued, she was decent in other aspects. Her only flaw might be…
"If only she could be more obedient and sweet, that would be nice."
"What are you muttering to yourself?" Aura, who was cooking, turned at the sound of his voice and grinned mischievously. "Don't tell me you're thinking weird things again?"
"I'm thinking about whether it's time to leave this forest."
"Move to a human city to eat humans?"
"No, no, I'm not interested in human flesh. Besides, look at me." Ash pointed to his head.
"I'm a weirdo without horns. If we hadn't grown up together, I'd think you were a dumb human pretending to be a demon. Your demonic aura is so weak, too. If you're not careful, you might be mistaken for a human and killed out there, right?"
Though Ash's words weren't pleasant, Aura tilted her head, closed one eye, and smiled happily.
"…Think about it, what would it feel like to eat someone just like you? How would you feel if you ate someone like me?"
"You're right. Someone like you should just be killed outright."
"Hey."
"I'm kidding. We've worked together for so long, after all. When my magic is perfected, I'll make you my slave, taking care of me, cooking, hunting… Oh, and I hate cold water for washing my feet at night. So, you'll warm my toes with your mouth and lick them clean, okay?"
Aura, who seemed to be imagining that moment, grinned at him with a mischievous smile, thrilled.
But Ash didn't care about her boastful words. He just lowered his head, one hand on his forehead, wondering why the child who grew up with him turned out to be such a strange individual.
His action caused another misunderstanding from Aura: "What? Ash, are you so happy you're too shy to look at me?"
"…Your appearance annoys me. I'm worried if I'm not careful, I'll end up killing you, and then no one will cook for me."
"???" Aura blinked in confusion, then pressed Ash's head and shook it playfully, laughing happily. "You're so shy, Ash! You must be thrilled, right?"
(Wow, now she really can't listen to others. Is this because of a tragic childhood that warped her soul, or is it just the natural disposition of demons? Or could it be my influence? Hmm, it definitely has nothing to do with me—it must be the first two reasons.)
While enduring the discomfort of having his head shaken, Ash genuinely couldn't understand how this girl could think he was shy.
He even seriously considered whether a hard knock to her head might fix this little girl's mind.