The Coming-of-Age Ceremony
I first remembered my past life not long after I turned of age in my second life.
One ordinary day, the memories suddenly came back to me.
“Whoa, crazy…”
『Isekai Reincarnation Service』
I never thought that stupid website was actually real.
My life on Earth had already ended in a messy dot, but I’d been too busy just surviving back then, so I didn’t feel much regret.
Anyway. My second life began in the Demon Realm.
‘This is a total waste.’
The Demon Realm was a savage world where various demon races fought for survival under the law of the jungle. Civilization hadn’t advanced much—nowhere near modern Earth—and weakness was a crime.
I was born an Imp, the weakest race, and the most pitiful one at that.
That’s why I got beat up a lot by my peers even when I was little.
Thinking back, my childhood on Earth had been similar. I’d been the orphan nobody wanted, constantly bullied.
“Why does reincarnation get me nowhere?”
Thud. Thud. Thud!
The sound of knocking on the door cut short my complaints.
“Dorn! You in there? I’m coming in!”
The visitor from early morning burst through the door without waiting for an answer.
“You’re already awake?”
A beautiful girl with short red hair and confident cat-like eyes walked in, her yellow irises sparkling.
She was my childhood friend, Casher.
“Good morning, Casher.”
“Yeah, good morning.”
A pair of twitching cat ears poked up from Casher’s head, right above the lazy smile she wore.
Her race was a Locycat. Besides the cat ears and tail, there was almost no difference from a regular human in appearance.
Most demons weren’t much different from humans in looks either.
“Sleep well last night?”
“Pretty good.”
“Dorn, you’re amazing. Thinking about the coming-of-age ceremony made me too nervous to sleep at all.”
The coming-of-age ceremony was the ritual where demons past a certain age offered their blood at the altar of the Demon God and became adults.
The Demon God was a real, living being in the Demon Realm. The coming-of-age ceremony was considered a very important event every year.
“Everything ready?”
“Yeah.”
This year I and Casher were both participating.
We’d gotten up early on purpose, washed ourselves clean, and chosen the most casual outfit we had.
“Then let’s head to the temple right away?”
Casher grabbed my hand and said.
My heart raced again. She was my childhood friend, but she was so beautiful that even light skinship made my chest flutter. Big problem.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
A while ago I’d said reincarnation got me nowhere, but now it didn’t seem that way at all.
I hadn’t had a girl like her when I was little in my past life.
***
My hometown was the small city of Broccolin.
The coming-of-age ceremony was held every year at the temple in the center of Broccolin, so Casher and I walked there together.
I sighed while looking at the bustling temple.
“It’s packed.”
“People come from the villages around the city, so there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Casher said that with a slightly tired look.
Normally she thought the temple was unnecessarily huge, but it became extremely crowded only on this day.
‘There’s no market street of its own.’
Demons participating in the coming-of-age ceremony waited in lines, and Casher and I joined the back of one.
While a line stretched behind us, a familiar face appeared.
“Who is this?! It’s little Dorn, the loser!”
The voice was thick and phlegmy. The huge green-skinned guy who looked a head taller than me was Jugo.
He was the street bully among my peers who always caused trouble.
He’d been the one to lead the bullying of me, a smaller and weaker kid than the others, since we were little.
In Korea I would’ve been sent to a juvenile detention center long ago, but this place was a world where strong people did whatever they wanted.
Jugo was perfect for roughhousing with his big fists.
“Mind sharing a spot with me?”
He cut in front of me naturally, like he was breathing.
“Hmph—”
“hehe. Still acting tough, huh?”
Jugo deliberately shoved me aside while cutting in line, his lips curling up in a grin, revealing the tusks sticking out.
‘Can’t blame him for being crude just because he’s an orc.’
His face was actually kind of ugly, too.
Thanks to him I learned that when ugliness goes past a certain point, it can become striking.
Bored, I was thinking about how much it would cost to get his face surgically changed, when he started talking again without getting tired.
“Hey, Dorn. Even a little kid like you gets invited to the coming-of-age ceremony?”
“The coming-of-age ceremony is based on age, not height.”
“….”
What kind of obvious question was that? I answered in a perfectly innocent voice, and Jugo’s face twisted like he’d bitten into something sour.
I had to be careful. One more word and his jaw would drop.
I kept my mouth shut this time, based on my own experience.
“You! Jugo! Don’t cut in line and stand at the back.”
Casher sharply called out the immature orc behavior that no one else had pointed out.
At the same time, eyes from the crowd turned toward them.
Everyone was worried that the pretty cat girl would suffer at the hands of that rough-looking orc, but nothing bad happened.
“Casher? You’re here too!”
Even though Jugo, an older beastkin, was always rough with others, he turned into the sweetest guy in the world when it came to his age-group’s famous beauty.
He smiled brightly and started flirting with Casher.
“The coming-of-age ceremony’s over, then we’re all getting together for a party. Come with us.”
“Why do you keep talking nonsense when I told you to stand at the back?”
“Hehe, don’t be so cheeky. I’ll properly escort you. Let’s have some fun today.”
Casher’s expression turned sour at Jugo’s crude words, but then she laughed.
“Wake up, Jugo. I only like hot guys.”
Her fluffy tail wrapped around my forearm.
“Eh?”
I turned to Casher.
The soft fur on her tail felt nice, but I wondered what was going through her mind to say something so easy to misinterpret at this moment.
Sure enough.
“Hey, Casher…”
Jugo’s face twisted into a demon’s as he was blatantly compared.
“You’re way over the line, even for you.”
Jaw—
“?”
I was curious too.
This kid Jugo…
He’d admitted that Casher had gone too far, then grabbed my collar anyway?
Before I could ask why, his tree-trunk arm vein bulged and my body was lifted into the air.
“Hic—”
“Dorn!”
“Comparing me to some weak, weak-willed guy like you? You’re crazy? Let go right now!”
“Hehe, then say it nicely again.”
Casher yelled for him to stop, but Jugo just grinned evilly and shook my collar.
“Gek, gek!”
I flailed like a paper doll in mid-air.
This crazy orc…
From how he always acted emotionally, I was sure he had an F rating.
“Ghh…”
My vision started to blur at the edges.
“Hey, you there!”
The voice from up ahead ended the commotion.
A soldier on guard duty at the temple had pushed through the crowd.
“What the hell is going on right now?”
“Uh, that’s…”
Jugo, who had been the great one until a second ago, turned into a well-behaved demon the moment he met the soldier’s sharp eyes.
“Nothing at all. Just a little joke between friends…”
The hand that was choking my collar suddenly loosened.
“Huff… huff…”
“Dorn, are you okay?!”
Only when I was freed did I gasp for breath, and Casher stroked my shoulder, her eyes wet.
The soldier’s gaze was locked on Jugo.
“Just a joke?”
“Yes, of course! It’s nothing serious—don’t worry…”
Just as Jugo was trying to cover it up with a good-guy smile.
“…?”
I saw the soldier’s eyebrows twitch.
Crack!
“Kyaaa!”
The guy who had been acting all manly until a moment ago dropped to his knees, clutching his leg and screaming.
The soldier kicked his shin, looking extremely displeased.
“Hey, blood clump. Is this where you joke around?”
“Y-yes…?”
“Before causing a ruckus in front of a sacred temple and then ordering the guard to ignore you, you really think you can do anything?”
“That’s not what I—”
“Then what?”
Smack!
“Ugh…”
After receiving a light slap, Jugo finally got the message and lowered his head completely.
“It’s already busy enough. You really piss me off.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Shut up and get lost at the back.”
The soldier pointed at the end of the line with his spear and warned that anyone who showed their face again would be ignored.
Jugo ran away as fast as he could, unable to argue.
The sight of the guy who always acted like nothing scared him was actually pretty funny.
‘Even the Broccolin street bully is nothing in front of a guard.’
The strong get crushed by the stronger.
It was the usual scene in the Demon Realm.
***
“Sorry, Dorn. I said something unnecessary…”
After Jugo vanished at the end of the invisible line, Casher suddenly apologized.
“It’s fine.”
I shook my head.
She hadn’t done anything wrong. The bad guy was obviously that fat idiot.
He had the gall to hit on the top beauty in the city without even knowing his place.
He deserved to be thrown into the dungeon and made into ash.
“Don’t worry about it. He’s been like this for days.”
I told Casher, and she nodded.
“Dorn, you’ve been acting more grown-up lately.”
I smiled bitterly at her words.
She was mistaken.
The memories had come back at around my past-life age, so my mental age wasn’t that different.
I’d just become more numb after remembering the bullying from my past life.
***
The long line had gradually shortened.
Casher and I had finally entered the temple’s main hall.
The interior was far too grand for a religious facility—marble structures, red rugs on the floor, and flashy decorations on the walls, as if to show the Demon God’s status.
“There’s a cup on the altar. After offering a bow and standing up, drop a drop of blood into that cup.”
A priest waiting explained the procedure of the ritual.
It was way simpler than blood donation.
Since it was too easy, there was no need to ask for clarification.
“Next. Step forward.”
My turn came quickly.
An old demon who looked like a high priest was waiting beside the altar.
He stared at me, and I stared back.
After a long silence, irritation began to show on the old man’s face.
“Couldn’t you see what others were doing? Hold out your hand.”
“Ah!”
“Tsk. Not very observant.”
I should have spoken up earlier…
‘What a crusty old geezer.’
What was so hard about saying one word.
I sulked and held out just my middle finger.
The old priest, clueless about Earth-style body language, focused on his job.
Shack.
“…!”
A sharp pain passed, and blood welled up from the cut place.
I turned my hand over so the blood wouldn’t spill and climbed the red-rug stairs to the altar.
As instructed, I bowed in front of the fancy cup on the altar, then stood up and let a drop of blood fall into it.
Hiss!
“Hic—”
I was startled and took a step back.
A huge blue flame erupted violently from the cup.
The hall was in an uproar at the sudden miracle.
I was rolling my eyes in confusion when—
“Congratulations.”
The old priest, who had just approached, said.
The grumpy face from a moment ago now wore a gentle smile.
Since I didn’t understand the situation, I stared blankly until he spoke in a happy voice.
“I congratulate you on awakening your mana.”
