If It's for My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord: Volume 1

1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-1-7183-1400-9
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 261 Seiten

Reihe: If It's for My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord

Dale is a cool, composed, and highly skilled adventurer who's made quite a name for himself despite his youth. One day on a job deep in the forest, he comes across a little devil girl who's almost wasted away. Unable to just leave her there to die, Dale takes her home and becomes her adoptive father.
Devil or not, Latina is beyond adorable, and the adventurer soon finds himself head over heels with being a parent. But why was she out in the forest to begin with, and why does she carry the mark of a criminal?

Autoren/Hrsg.

Chirolu

Weitere Mitwirkende

Truffle

Warner, Matthew

Leseproben

Even though he had been the one who had called out, Dale was once more left speechless.

It wasn’t just because the child had approached a complete stranger without a hint of caution.

It was also because she was so terribly thin.

What he could see of her limbs peeking out from under the old rag that must have once been a one-piece dress were nothing but skin and bones. He could tell at a glance that she was suffering from malnutrition. It wouldn’t even take a sword to end her life—if he wrapped his hands around her too-thin neck, it would be easy to snap it before she could even try to resist.

While devils kept away from outsiders, they were also a race known to have strong bonds amongst themselves. That was precisely why they regarded exile as such a harsh punishment. Furthermore, while long-lived, devils had a very low birth rate; they were said to cherish children like treasure.

Dale hadn’t even considered the possibility that such a young child would be forced to face such harsh exile, even if they actually being treated as a criminal.

“Come on, eat. Ah, no matter what I say, you won’t understand...”

Dale grinned wide and thrust the skewer towards her. Magic spells didn’t use words like “eat up.” But even though Dale had handed the girl the skewer, she simply looked down at it, then back at him.

“******?”

“It’s fine, so just eat.”

The girl looked at Dale, as if trying to size him up. For the time being, he responded with a nod, and she slowly brought the fish to her mouth.

Bit by bit, she nibbled away at it with small bites. As he had nothing else to do, Dale simply sat there and watched, and all the while, he thought about how she looked just like a small animal.

While he waited for her to finish eating the fish, Dale once more searched for words to use.

“Ah... ‘Person, protect, you, exist?’”

It’s not like it was certain just yet that the child didn’t have a guardian. Carefully watching Dale and listening to his awkward wording, she replied even more slowly than she had before.

“***, ************, ****. *** *********, ********”

“Hmm... Together, not, here? ...Beasts, reject...?”

Dale was only able to pick up broken fragments of meaning, but the expression on the girl’s face was decidedly grim. After thinking a bit, she grabbed Dale’s hand in her tiny grasp and pulled him along.

Following as the girl continued through the forest step by tiny step, Dale continued to ponder the matter.

Suddenly, the child stopped. Looking doubtful, she looked up at Dale.

“What? Up ahead?”

She pointed forward and shook her head.

“***********”

“‘Beasts,’ again? ...And ‘not,’ is it?”

While thinking about what that meant, Dale stepped in the direction the child was pointing.

“...!” And then, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Even someone like Dale, who made his living by the sword, couldn’t keep looking at the thing that was once a person lying before him.

It was impossible to tell when he had died, and the cause of death wasn’t clear, either. The wounds were simply too severe. There were so many magical beasts and animals in this forest that it was too hard to even tell if he had been attacked or if his body was torn apart after he died.

Was it alright to feel relieved about that? He thought back to the girl’s words from earlier. Connecting them together, it was most likely her father’s final order.

“Ah, damn it. Now that I’ve seen this, I can’t just leave her alone...” Dale vigorously scratched his head with both hands.

He’d pieced together the father’s dying wishes.

Even if the devil girl had indeed followed her father’s orders and not stayed by his side, she had still managed to survive in that very forest until Dale found her.

“Oh you who belong to the earth, by my name, I order you shift according to my wishes. <>” Dale recited as he touched his hand to the ground next to the body. The earth suddenly caved in, leaving behind a single hole.

Perhaps because she had heard his spell, the girl had drawn close to Dale’s side and was looking at him timidly. Dale looked straight at her and spoke.

“Let’s at least give him a burial. ...Do you get it? Um... ‘Inter, earth, death, person.’”

After reflecting on his words, the girl suddenly gave a single nod. Dale worried for a moment about whether or not it was alright to let a kid see a body in such a horrible state, but this one seemed to have long since accepted the reality of the situation. As if she were saying her final farewells, the child stared straight at her “father,” not looking away for a second.

Perhaps she had come to check on him now and again.

The girl simply watched as Dale placed the body in the hole, then once more used magic to fill it.

“*****”

“You’re saying thanks? Don’t worry about it.”

Dale once again cast his spell, this time above the grave that he had just finished creating. Summoned by his earth magic, a pure-white megalith appeared there. It was hastily made and he was unable to carve a name into it, but it was at least a proper grave now.

“Hmm... well, I guess this is fate, huh?”

Standing behind the girl, who was still staring intently at the grave, Dale let out a sigh.

“My name, ‘Dale.’ ‘You, name?’”

She turned around with a somewhat surprised look on her face.

“Latina” was the single word of response that she gave.

“Latina, is it? Latina, ‘Me, together, you, go?’”

She looked truly shocked as she nodded her head in agreement.

Looking once more at Latina, Dale saw she was only wearing clothes that looked like rags, broken-down shoes, and a silver bracelet, which looked to be made for an adult and was far too big for her. It really was impressive that the girl had been able to survive like this. She was definitely lucky that it happened to be such a mild season.

When he buried Latina’s father, Dale had looked for anything that could have helped tell him about where they had come from, but he wasn’t able to find anything of note. He thought that at the very least, he’d like to give this child some sort of memento of her real father.

“Hmm, if I let Latina walk, then the sun will end up setting...” Dale said to himself while looking down at her, realizing that her stride wasn’t even equal to half of his own. And considering the state she was in, it was hard to imagine that the girl would have much strength left in her tiny body.

“Guess I have no choice...”

Dale reached down and scooped Latina up into his arms, shocking the devil child once more. Her eyes already looked big, but now they were even more pronounced.

Latina calmly settled into Dale’s arms, not struggling at all.

“You’re so light!” She was so thin and lightweight that Dale blurted that out without even thinking. “Are you really going to be okay...?” Despite the ugly thoughts he had when they first met, he was still able to voice such concern. Dale wasn’t a “bad” person to begin with, and ever since he’d decided to take care of the girl, he had become mentally attached enough to worry about her.

“You don’t even have any belongings. We should hurry on back...”

Dale hurriedly recited some earth magic to confirm which direction he was heading, then quickly rushed back towards town.

†

The town that Dale was currently based out of was called “Kreuz.”

As the name implied, it was a town that formed a slightly misshapen cross, and it served as an important point for traffic heading from the port towards the capital. Furthermore, as it was near the habitats of many magical beasts, it was also a place where those known as adventurers, who survived by their skill alone, tended to gather. In terms of commerce, it was the second-greatest city in the country of Laband. That was the town of Kreuz.

Its hospitality towards travelers was also considered a highlight of the town; it was because Kreuz welcomed visiting merchants that it was able to grow. And by utilizing the money it earned from those travelers as rewards for adventurers, the town was able to defend against the threat of magical beasts.

Kreuz was truly a town for travelers.

The town was also surrounded by thick walls with gates that faced the four cardinal directions and gatekeepers stationed at each one. People were allowed to enter the town by paying a toll.

Dale had arrived at the south gate, which was...