Carried by my mother, I basked in the warmth of her.

Yes, in this afternoon sun, being carried by the one who loves you is truly peaceful—wait, no!

Remember, the last time the author pulled a “this is too peaceful” move?

I nearly f**king died!

…But, Quming, you have a protection rune.

A rune.

Yes, a nice one, judging by the inscriptions on it.

I won’t be harmed, will I?

And, my mother is holding me.

Not my real mother, but I can’t remember the last time I was in the loving embrace of someone else.

Well, unless you count that loving embrace of that one demon, who, one could say, was as sadistic and gay as demons could get.

I’m not saying that gay people are bad, but….

I still shudder when I imagine his muscular build forming a heart and his voice going, “Chuu <3”

Anyways, my mother—ah, I never did mention her name.

Akiko.

In traditional Amaten culture, and, for that matter, every other major culture in the Tiansei continent, the wife doesn’t change their last name when married. So, despite my name being Su Quming, my mother has a different surname.

Oh, and the family name is in front, but that’s pretty normal, no?

Meii Akiko.

In Meii Akiko’s arms, I found comfort.

As a harem member, she’s powerful.

I won’t be harmed with her.

Though, I must be vigilant.

I have to stay alert.

Yes, I have to pay attention.

Step.

A warped piece of wood came into view.

Step.

All the nails are securely fastened.

Step.

Ah, storage room one came into view.

Step.

A butler is taking something out of that storage room.

Step.

It’s a pile of cloth.

Step.

The type of cloth becomes clear.

Step.

A cloth woven from the wool of a small-horn sheep.

Step.

There’s still nothing, so why am I doing this?

I won’t be hurt. Yes, I’ll be fine.

After all, it may still be close to noon, but I’m tired.

I’m tired.

It may not have been a long day, but it was certainly eventful.

Shouldn’t it be okay to sleep?

Yes, just close my eyes and let mother take care of it all.

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Just before closing my eyes, I thought I saw a shadow, but it was probably my tired brain deluding me.

*

“I sincerely apologize for my subordinate’s actions.”

I woke up, hearing a woman say those words.

I gave a small yawn and opened my eyes.

Hmmm?

Ah, it’s harem member no. 3, the Saintess of the Li Church.

She’s the mother of my little sister that always beats me up.

Speaking of my little sister, she’s there, looking as fierce as a two-and-a-half-year-old can get.

Next to her was a shy boy who looked to be the same age.

That’s her twin brother.

Who cares about the years of scientists researching about the formation of twins for years; they obviously were one person at one time, but split, each half taking one aspect of their personality.

The sister got all the manliness, and the brother got all the femininity.

It probably makes absolutely no sense to you, but I don’t really get it either.

If my sister got my brother’s personality, she’d be the perfect waifu material! I could train her and everything!

But nooooo, she has the “beat people up” personality instead of the nice “onii-chan, I-I’ll give my everything to you!” personality.

There’s something seriously wrong with this world for something like this to happen.

That boy, as always, was hugging his mother’s leg.

As for his mother, she, after apologizing to my mother, profusely bowed.

“It’s fine, it’s fine! It couldn’t be helped; you’re not the killer, after all!”

Li Aiko, no. 3’s name, showed a relieved smile.

“Yes, I was appalled at the actions of my people. This will not happen again.”

“Good, good! Oh, did you find why that damned man did what he did?”

“I thought you would ask that.”

She gestured to a man behind her.

The man she gestured to was holding a large white sack, and there seemed to be something squirming inside of it.

A person.

Dumping the contents of the cloth sack onto the ground, the person inside was revealed.

It was the “esteemed guest” from the Li church.

His previous clothing was stripped off him, and all that was on his body was a gag and a temporary cloth made from divine power.

The man who dumped the other man onto the ground removed the gag, and as soon as he did—

“Your Holiness! That boy is reincarnated! Such filth cannot survive on this world!”

—What?

From my slightly tired state, my brain instantly went into full-power.

…How is this…possible?

Yes, it’s true that I did do some suspicious things just now, but I was trying my hardest to be normal.

I restrained my perverted instincts, I suffered through not immediately looking through the residence’s library to look for a solution, and I only displayed above-average intelligence for someone my age.

So, we have two possibilities.

One, the priest is spouting bull feces to get out of his predicament.

Two, this priest truly does know I am reincarnated.

Either way, I did do suspicious things, and this is terrible.

“I only ordered my subordinate to kill him because such filth was hiding inside Your Holiness’ family!”

Her Holiness, Li Aiko, said to my mother, “Or so this man says. Do you wish to know the details of why this man would think in such a way?”

“Of course.”

“Explain.”

Aiko ordered the kneeling man to give an explanation.

“Yes, your Holiness. The boy has been suspicious from the start. A common giveaway is high intelligence and high perverseness. This boy has displayed both in extreme levels.”

My mother cut in, “That’s not true! Quming is perfectly normal!”

Aiko nodded.

Though, I didn’t know if she was nodding to my mother or to the man.

After her short nod, she directed her subordinate to continue.

“Also, he was the only factor that allowed Xiru to be able to kill the man I sent.”

—What? How did this guy know? The only other live witness is in a state of unconsciousness. A camera-like thing doesn’t exist in this world… At least not in the Demon Realm.

“Is it not that Xiru killed that damned man herself? It’s impossible for my son, only three, to do such a thing.”

“Xiru could not have killed the man I sent. I researched into her background and current strength, and there would be no way that she could kill a man at the level of the one I sent.”

Harem member no. 4 added, “That seems true.”

“Aiko! “

“I do not have incompetent subordinates. They may be misguided, but never incompetent.”

“Well, he’s obviously wrong! Xiru is stronger than you think, you know?”

“Against a rank-5 priest?”

My mother had nothing to say against that.

A bit over a second later, she seemed to have recovered and replied, “Xiru has the blood of the dragons, you know?”

“Dragon lineage? The only way for that to be enough for a rank-4 auramaster to kill a rank-5, would be if she also had phoenix lineage. Dragon blood alone cannot breach the gaps between ranks.”

“Aiko! Why are you arguing!”

“It seems strange for a rank-4 to defeat a rank-5.”

This is bad. It is a bit strange for a four to defeat a five on fairly equal grounds.

The nobility divide. Rank four, common soldiers and adventurers. Rank five, nobles and commanders. It’s quite a big divide.

Although priests are generally weaker than auramasters and XIru has the dragon bloodline, a rank-5 would always win. It might be a long fight, sure, but the rank-5 would still win in the end.

I must say something.

—Wait, if I say something, won’t I be even more suspicious?

“Hmph. My son isn’t reincarnated.”

“…I will go with your judgement.”

“As for this man, kill him.”

“Yes.”

My mother covered my eyes.

“Do it.”

“Li Chen, it is your time to meet the One.”

The man, Li Chen, understood her meaning and said, “Yes.”

With my soul sense, I “saw” the Saintess hand a ceremonial knife, a midnight-steel-plated gold dagger with rubies adorning its hilt, to Li Chen.

Holding the pure-black dagger, he closed his eyes.

He brought the point of the dagger right to his heart and slightly hesitated.

I don’t know what thought ended his hesitation, but he steeled his will and put pressure into it.

A rank-5, even a priest, using even a fraction of his power against a defenseless body would produce a horrific scene.

Now, what would the scene be like when he uses the full extent of his power?

I can’t tell you because this fiction doesn’t have the gore tag.

Sorry!

Well, anyways, it was quite horrific.

Just when I was about to stop using my soul sense, I realized something.

The dagger was gone.