A Different First
I turned Luna's words over in my mind again and again. *A different kind of first.*
What was that supposed to mean?
The concept of a "first" could apply to plenty of things, but judging by the jealousy and tears she'd shown mere moments ago, I had a pretty good idea which one she meant.
Still, I decided to confirm.
"Luna... when you say a different first... what exactly do you mean...?"
I asked her, acting as if I genuinely had no clue.
Still with her eyes puffy and swollen, she stared at me and whispered.
"...That."
"What?"
"...THAT!"
She'd been muttering into her own lap, so I hadn't caught a word of it.
"Sorry. Could you say it one more time?"
Honestly, I had a guess—but some shameless, explicit part of me wanted to hear her say it out loud. Making Luna say embarrassing things, I thought, might just be the most thrilling luxury I enjoyed in the Demon Realm.
Face burning red, Luna buried her head.
"Sirius..."
"Yeah?"
"You've gotten way too bold."
In that instant, my balance abandoned me and I crumpled to my knees on the floor.
No matter how many times it happened, I never got used to this feeling. My body acting against my own will—it was a profound kind of deprivation.
Luna looked down at me, kneeling politely before her, with that imperious expression of hers once more.
"Sirius. I'm not forgiving you."
...I really should have teased her in moderation.
"Because of your magic... I... honestly, I can't think straight...? Ha... but now that I think about it again... I'm actually really pissed off..."
So my feigned ignorance had been exposed. I wracked my brain desperately for an excuse. If I said it was because she was too cute, would she let it slide?
The words that came out of her mouth were about something else entirely.
"Tell me right now everything you did with the Hero. Every single thing you remember. Start talking."
Tell her everything I did with Seria?
I'd first met that girl when I was around five. The incident had happened the summer I was seventeen. Twelve years. A very, very long time.
"Uh... even if you ask... there's way too much to cover out loud..."
With no idea what to say, I offered my honest impression instead. I put on a troubled expression—but one look at her face, and mine became twice as troubled.
"Ah~ so much happened that you can't even put it into words~ Hmmm~ I see~ I see~"
Ah... this isn't right... ah...
I couldn't understand why my mouth kept betraying me today of all days. I was on the verge of tears.
Word of my awakening had reached my master, and she had come to see me. I supposed even she had worried, at least a little, when her disciple collapsed and then rose again. From her perspective, my body was a fragile toy that could shatter at the slightest touch.
Stepping into my room, my master found Luna—who had never left it—and stroked her chin.
"...It seems you two have become rather close."
She had surely seen straight through the magic we'd exchanged. But my master was a strict non-interventionist. On the very first day she took us on as students, she had said this:
"Whatever you do with the skills you learn from me is no concern of mine. However—you will stop the Hero. Remember only this: on that single point, you are obligated to cooperate."
And on that shared goal, Luna and I always agreed—though our reasons differed. That didn't mean I believed my master had no affection for us. For an extraordinarily long time, she had simply reigned as the overwhelming sovereign of magic, taking on no disciples at all—Luna was her first, and I was her second, that was all. She rarely showed it, but I believed she regarded us as something rather precious.
"So... how are you feeling, Sirius?"
The moment she arrived, she'd gone straight to asking about my health, and I had briefly forgotten I was supposed to be the patient.
"Ah... I feel fine. Nothing hurts, nothing's off."
If anything, thanks to the maryeok, I felt like I was overflowing with strength. I could say with confidence that I could cast even basic spells at three times their usual power without strain.
"That's a relief. You've reached the point where you can survive receiving the Demon King's blood."
"Is that so?"
"It's Luna's blood, so it's only a half-blooded dose—but an ordinary human would already be dead."
...Did Luna know that when she stuck her fingers into my mouth?
Pleased with her disciple's achievement, my master hummed a little tune. Then, as if something had suddenly occurred to her, she clapped her hands.
"Sirius."
"Yes, Master."
"Do you happen to know what the Demon King's unique magic is?"
The Demon King's unique magic... Training had kept me too busy to ever wonder, but now that it came up, I was genuinely curious.
"What is it?"
Wait a second—that's supposed to be classified information, Master. By any measure, this is leaking demon secrets. Are you sure you can handle the consequences? That's the Demon King we're talking about.
But curiosity won out, and I nodded along.
"Saying the Demon King is the strongest among demons is, in one sense, true—and in another sense, wrong."
Luna said nothing, quietly watching our master.
"In pure combat ability alone, I am superior to the Demon King. I can state that with certainty."
Then shouldn't *you* be sitting on the throne?
"The Demon King's unique magic is... dominion over the lives of every demon who uses maryeok."
Hmm. That was, admittedly, an invincible ability—but only against demons.
With a unique magic like that, whether you were brilliant at combat or magic meant nothing at all. I finally understood why my master was the second, and never the first.
"I see. A truly tyrannical magic—befitting the Demon King."
I nodded along, praising the absurdly overpowered ability.
My master answered me with a look of mild surprise.
"I merely wished to warn you, my disciple, that as of now—you are included in that number."
...I'm included? Me?
And I kept forgetting, but this power now naturally settled into my body—maryeok. Which meant that a single finger snap from the Demon King would turn my body to dust?
A chill ran down my spine.
Nah... I've never even met the Demon King, and there's no way someone like him would spare a thought for a lowly insect like me—
My eyes landed on Luna.
Oh. Yes. He absolutely would. Haha.
My master chatted with us for about half an hour before taking her leave. Honestly, I couldn't remember a single word of what we'd talked about.
Me... finger snap... one... dead...
That sentence would not leave my head.
I'd been moved, just recently, by achievements earned through sweat and relentless effort—and now I felt this utterly helpless. I'd scrambled to grow strong enough that no one could ever look down on me, and it all seemed meaningless. Was this the weight every demon carried, living under that sovereign power?
For a brief, absurd moment, I actually felt sorry for demons.
Once again, only Luna and I remained in my room.
"Sirius."
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
She asked with clear worry in her voice, watching my face go pale. Even after all the awful things I'd said before my master arrived, Luna was still looking out for me. I couldn't tell whether she'd always seen me that way, or whether it was an aftereffect of my unique magic. Gratitude. I was so grateful to Luna.
"Luna."
I lowered my voice and called her name.
"Mmh... yeah...?"
She seemed a little tense at the unfamiliar tone.
"What you said earlier—what did you mean?"
"What do you mean?"
"About wanting a different first."
A short silence settled over us. I heard her swallow hard, the sound audible in her stunned stillness. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, opened them—and with eyes gone utterly transparent, she asked me:
"Sirius. How... how do you feel about me?"
I asked the question... so why are you the one handing me an exam question of maximum difficulty?
How did I feel about Luna? Before the whole unique magic incident, it wouldn't have been a hard question. Capable, reasonably close—my partner. That's where it would have ended.
But after the incident, my honest answer was: I didn't really know anymore. Luna showering me with affection as hard as she could—I thought she was cute, adorable. And then I remembered how she'd torpedoed my Seria rescue operation without so much as consulting me, and my blood pressure spiked.
Not many people would applaud the day they stopped being human. And every time she tried to seduce me, I nearly went slack-jawed, but the inhibitor in my heart—the one shaped like Seria—kept me from crossing the line.
Still, one thing was certain.
"...I like you."
There wasn't a speck of a lie in that. More than I loved anyone in the world—I didn't quite know what such words meant, but I liked her, wholly and exactly as she was. And I figured that was answer enough. I'd assumed it wasn't a bad answer from her perspective either—so why did her expression remain so grave?
After letting the moment hang, Luna tossed out one more question.
"More than her?"
...Why does my mouth feel bone-dry all day today, of all days?
More than... Seria? Luna...?
I could feel the scales inside me swaying back and forth. On paper, this was a match Seria won in a landslide—but Luna's recent conduct had been more than enough to scramble my heart.
Lying to her face was, without question, a bad move. And the longer I hesitated, the more wildly her expression shifted—wounded one moment, flushed red the next, then lost in some private fantasy I couldn't begin to guess. None of those faces looked happy.
Having settled my thoughts, I walked toward her.
She hadn't expected me to approach—Luna looked up at me with frightened eyes. She must have been terrified I would choose Seria.
But... that wasn't what I intended. Because—
"Sirius... let's just forget this ever happen—mmph...!"
...You're the one who said you wanted to be my first.