The Gate Reopens
Thanks to my diligent organizing, preparations for departure to Earth were completed in a single day, and I waited for the gate to open. The survivors who heard we were returning to where we came from expressed their regret but congratulated us with bright faces. After packing everything away, I sat in a corner of the now-empty eighth floor, discussing future matters with the Abaddon princess who controlled Horana’s body.
“You’ll do fine, right? Once we leave, Horana will be the actual leader.”
“Of course. The female slaves are obedient, and the males are the type who go weak at the knees for anything a woman says, so they’re easy to handle.”
“If we adjust the sex of the children we bear according to plan, the gender ratio should eventually balance out, right?”
“Hmm~ About that. I intend to keep the ratio deliberately unbalanced. Fewer females.”
“Huh? Why?”
“To maintain a system where females hold the upper hand like now, scarcity works better. The breeding speed will slow a little, but we can simply have them bear more.”
The child smiled while stroking Horana’s heavily swollen belly. Come to think of it, I still didn’t know why she had no name. It was inconvenient not having a proper form of address.
“By the way, why don’t you have a name? Doesn’t it bother you?”
“Actually, I gave myself a name. It’s Hoel Tamuru.”
“Hoel Tamuru? What does it mean?”
“In Horana’s language, it means ‘messenger of God.’”
“Aha~ The proxy of Lady Erutina?”
“The word ‘God’ in my name carries a dual meaning—both Lady Erutina and Mother.”
“Is that so? That feels a little heavy.”
Treating her on the same level as Lady Erutina, a true divine being who grants holy power to her followers, felt slightly burdensome.
“To the nun Horana it would mean the goddess, but it doesn’t really concern me. More importantly, may I increase the intensity of the brainwashing we’ll perform on the male children?”
“Excessive brainwashing could negatively affect the children’s developing sense of self. It’s dangerous.”
“Aww~ Of course I wouldn’t go as far as making it dangerous. I believe strong brainwashing of the new generation is necessary to firmly establish Abaddon’s rule.”
“Still, no. Abaddon must be a beneficial existence that coexists with humans and guides them in the right direction. Even the slave women bonded with Abaddon are allowed as much free will as possible.”
The symbiosis with slave-purpose Abaddon only imprints the fact that they are slaves; it barely touches each individual’s free will or sense of self. In a way, this leaves them freer than symbiosis with a strong-willed Abaddon princess like this child.
The child, who had worn a slightly sulky expression at my refusal, tilted her head and said, “Mother is strangely kind to insignificant slaves.”
“I’m Master’s slave too, you know?”
“But Mother doesn’t look like a slave at all, no matter who’s looking.”
“Well… it’s the appearance my master desires.”
“He wants a slave who doesn’t act like one? Your master is quite peculiar.”
“Elisa is a bit peculiar, yes.”
A certain part of my personality was definitely influenced by Elisa. Ah, thinking about it makes me miss her. Once we return to Earth, I should stop by Eden as well.
After finishing all the departure preparations, ten days passed before the time for the gate to open finally arrived. The day before, everyone had thrown a wild drinking party to celebrate, so I spent the wait infusing vital energy into my hungover family members.
“Uuu… my head hurts, meow.”
“Ugh~ my stomach hurts. Somehow my tail feels limp too.”
“Since our blood vessels are connected, maybe your tail got drunk as well?”
“Maybe~”
Ruya’s parasitic tentacle tail, which she was rubbing her pale belly while looking at, hung limply and swayed with every movement. Watching this scene while perfectly fine, my brother handed Ruya a bottle of water and said, “I told you not to drink so much.”
“Hohoho, they were just feeling sentimental.”
“Are you all right? You stayed up late joining the party.”
“Husband, I’m not such a weak woman. Besides, Mother is strong, remember? Hohoho.”
“Mm. Still, the birth is right around the corner, so let’s be more careful.”
“Yes, Husband.”
As Madam’s belly grew larger, my brother’s worries increased. He frequently checked on her and tried to do things for her. Many men earn resentment by being indifferent during their wives’ pregnancies, but my brother was the opposite—his excessive concern had reached the point where Madam found it bothersome.
While we were sitting around the camper chatting, the dimensional beacon’s light suddenly brightened and space began to distort.
“Ah! It’s opening!”
“It’ll be a wide space like we requested, right?”
“We asked them to prepare to move the camper, so they should have secured enough space at least.”
“We’re finally going back, meow.”
“I was ready to give up and live here for the rest of my life.”
Whoosh—Kwaaaah. The distortion, which had been growing stronger, suddenly expanded wide enough for the camper to pass through, revealing the scene on the other side.
“All right, shall we go? I’ll drive the camper, so you all go ahead and cross first.”
“Got it, meow.”
“Hup— Anyway, we have to go through quarantine inspection, so let’s hurry.”
“Madam, watch your step.”
“Thank you, Elisha.”
While my brother started the camper, we crossed the dimensional gate to Earth first. The moment my feet touched the ground on Earth after passing through the gate, instead of clean, refreshing air, a slightly stuffy atmosphere greeted us first. Even with the World Tree’s presence, it seemed it couldn’t become completely pure.
“Everyone, please come this way.”
“Understood, meow.”
People who appeared to be dimensional management staff stood beside various machines in what looked like a warehouse at first glance and waved us over. We placed our luggage on the inspection table and began undergoing quarantine inspection according to the staff’s instructions. After full-body scans, simple blood tests, and full-body disinfection, we sat facing an inspector in a separately prepared interview room for a short Q&A.
“Elisha Drivyk. Um… what happened to your horns?”
“Ah, I used to hide them, but now I’m going to show them openly.”
“For now, your registered race is human, but… since being a succubus is a state secret, walking around with horns visible might be a bit problematic.”
“Eh… will it cause issues?”
I thought the tail had passed without comment, so the horns wouldn’t be a problem either, but his reaction suggested otherwise.
“The tail is a symbiotic organism unrelated to succubi, so it was fine, but the horns are clearly part of a succubus.”
“Hmm.”
“Do you plan to keep showing your horns from now on no matter what?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm……”
After a long silence with a troubled expression, he operated his tablet and said, “If you have a profession like hunter and your appearance is this far from human, we need to consider changing your registered race. Horns and a tail……”
“Ah, in the place we were stranded, we passed them off as dragonkin.”
“Dragonkin? Oh… now that you mention it, they do look similar. Dragonkin are rare, but not as rare as succubi, so registering you as dragonkin should be fine.”
“Eh… is that allowed?”
“Normally it would be impossible, but since you’re a succubus, Miss Elisha, you’re under special management. There was also a special order from the President to resolve any inconveniences as much as possible.”
“Hee, that uncle……”
I recalled the face of the President, who looked like an ordinary neighborhood uncle and was also Han Jisu’s uncle. Perhaps because I was royalty of the Eden dimension as a succubus, but I suspected the fact that I was the woman of the dragon Guardian played an even bigger role.
“Haha, there aren’t many people who casually call the President ‘uncle.’ Let’s see… done. From now on, the race listed on your ID is dragonkin.”
“Already?”
“I have that level of authority. Ah, my introduction is late. I’m Park Tae-sik, the civil servant in charge of managing you, Miss Elisha.”
“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.”
“If you encounter any difficulties in the future, please contact me here.”
He took a business card from his pocket and held it out to me. When I accepted and examined it, only the name and phone number were written on it.
“But what do you mean by suddenly being my dedicated civil servant? There wasn’t one until now.”
“Well… we didn’t inform you, but it existed from the beginning. The Rare Species Protection and Management Bureau I belong to is a government agency directly under the President, but it’s a secret place not known to the public.”
“There’s even a separate government agency?”
“Yes. Originally, we manage indirectly without contacting the subjects, but due to Miss Elisha’s importance, we’re exceptionally managing you through direct contact.”
“I suppose the reason I became a dimensional lost person plays a big part?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
So that was it. But being called a special management subject because I’m a rare species felt chilling, like I’d become an endangered animal.
“It feels like I’ve become an endangered animal.”
“I can’t deny it. Broadly speaking, it’s similar. That’s why we manage indirectly without informing the individuals themselves. I apologize if it made you uncomfortable.”
“No, it’s fine.”
I smiled and told him it was okay as he bowed his head in apology. In truth, rather than feeling the chilling sensation of being managed by others, I was feeling a pleasant thrill, so it was actually fine.
Confirming that I showed no sign of displeasure, he smiled awkwardly and said, “Haha, you said you’re a nun of Lady Erutina, and you’re quite benevolent.”
“You even know I’m Lady Erutina’s nun?”
“As I mentioned, we know most things about Miss Elisha. Well, since succubi are a species with very little known about them, there’s still more information we don’t know.”
“Do you know about Guardian as well?”
“You mean the man you occasionally meet? Well… we did investigate, but he seemed like an ordinary man. He appears to have many women he meets, though……”
Seeing that this civil servant from the Rare Species Protection and Management Bureau knew Guardian only as an ordinary man, it seemed the fact that he was a dragon was known to only a very small number of people.
“More importantly, if it’s not too rude, may I ask one question?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“…What is your relationship with Mr. Han Jisu?”
“Ah.”
Asking about my relationship with Han Jisu, who came from a royal family and was an important figure, suggested he had some idea of our connection.
“We’re just close.”
“From his reaction, it doesn’t seem like you’re simply close.”
“Hmm……”
“Ah, it’s not that I’m criticizing or interrogating you. It’s because the relevant parties are curious.”
“By relevant parties, you mean?”
“Well, yes.”
Eee… as expected, with so many powerful people involved, information acquisition was fast.
“I heard you already have a deep relationship……”
“If you call it deep, maybe it is…?”
“Hmm, they don’t particularly oppose your relationship, but they asked me to pass on this message. If it’s just a casual relationship, they want you to end it now before it’s too late.”
“Ah, yes.”
Kkng, he was a young master who received more protection than I thought. Well, given Han Jisu’s personality and character, I could understand the desire to protect him. No matter how I looked at it, he was the type who would suffer greatly if he got involved with a bad woman and couldn’t easily break it off. That said, since people around him were directly conveying their intentions to this extent, I might need to seriously consider my relationship with Han Jisu……
“We’re not pressuring you to break up. It simply means we hope you’ll think seriously about your relationship with him.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Thank you for understanding. You may go back now.”
After parting with him with smiling faces and leaving the interview room, I stepped outside the warehouse to find my family, who had come out first and were waiting, greeting me near the camper.
“Welcome back. The inspection took a while, I see?”
“Yes, it took some time. Everyone’s healthy, right?”
“Everyone’s healthy, meow.”
“What about Brother?”
“He’s in the middle of quarantine inspection. Nuru is being inspected too.”
“Will Nuru pass the inspection, meow?”
“We can only hope it passes safely.”
Nuru, huh… But even if Nuru passes quarantine and we raise them, where would we keep them?
“By the way, where do you raise Nuru? Is there a suitable place?”
“There’s an empty lot next to our house, right? We’re going to build a house for Nuru in one corner there.”
“Unlike chickens, they don’t crow loudly and are docile, so there shouldn’t be any problem raising them, meow.”
“What about the smell?”
“Wouldn’t frequent cleaning take care of it?”
“As the maid expert, I’ll take charge and direct everything, meow.”
Wanting it this much, she must really like Nuru. That said, while we were away from Earth, the weather had become considerably chilly. Since we’d been in a hot place the whole time, I pulled my thin clothes tighter and said, “Before becoming a dimensional lost person, it was summer and sweltering, but now it’s cool.”
“It’ll be November soon, so it’s the season to get chilly.”
“Winter’s coming soon, meow.”
“Then should we build a greenhouse for Nuru’s house? We can grow plants inside while we’re at it.”
“Good idea, meow. What do you think, Madam?”
Receiving our gazes, Madam rubbed her lower back and said with a smiling face, “I think that would be fine too.”
“Ekaterina, does your back hurt? Go inside and rest.”
“A pregnant woman shouldn’t stand for long, meow. Go inside, meow.”
“Huu~ Then I’ll go rest inside. My back is starting to ache.”
Rubbing her lower back again, Madam wrapped her arms around her belly and entered the camper.