32nd Round What Is This Dark Energy?

“Dad’s on Earth?”

“I still don’t know if this is my father-in-law’s work.”

I searched my memories without affirming or denying my cowardly wife’s judgment.

This wasn’t the first time I had been here since I was kidnapped and taken to Fantasy.

There was a time when I stayed for a day here, like a teaser to my return.

… No, it didn’t even last a day.

“You mean you could be the culprit behind this Dark Energy, hubby?”

“Yes.”

For my retirement, I used Dark Energy on this planet’s ruling class.

I didn’t prepare for my retirement myself, but I ordered the corrupted earthlings to do it for me at the time.

Everything went perfectly up to that point.

“Ah! Didn’t you die and reincarnate as a cute baby without even being able to use your retirement funds?”

“Yes.”

This was really awkward.

My clone at the time then became an actual demon. However, since he didn’t receive any orders from me for over 20 Earth years, then my last command should still be in effect even at this moment.

If that were the case, then the rejuvenation pill could have originated from the last order I gave to my loyal subordinate.

“Nonsense. I’m the Second Demon! There’s no way I can’t recognize Dark Energy!”

“Each pill only has a minuscule amount of it.”

I didn’t even notice it until I saw it up close despite already being its master.

That was precisely why I still couldn’t be certain that this was ‘my’ doing.

“It’s somehow different.”

“… I understand now. This is extremely similar to the time Demon Archduke C reformed his Dark Energy to become independent of Demon Lord Pedonar. This one is much more complete, however.”

“That doesn’t make sense either. The demon on Earth is more or less 20 years old. It’s highly unlikely for him to be able to control a technique that sophisticated. On the other hand, my dad’s more than capable of handling its complexity.”

“My father-in-law…”

It was possible that he was hiding here.

“What are you guys discussing in the middle of this emergency? Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t your brother’s safety more important than the source of these pills right now?”

My mother’s voice sounded frustrated and irritated.

She was right.

I had to restore my family’s peace first.

“Mother.”

“What is it?”

“I really love you. Dad, too.”

“What’s gotten into you… Huh?”

I was the Demon Lord who inherited the family business from the First Demon.

The moment I learned that the cause of our current predicament was Dark Energy, providing a solution to it became extremely simple.

Srrrr…

I suppressed my mother’s unconscious desire to follow the demon who imbued it with her.

I hoped I could completely eliminate its side effects, but there was no such thing as a non-addictive drug, was there?

If my guess was correct…

“Son.”

“Yes.”

“Shoulder rub.”

“Sure.”

“How can you come back after twenty-five years and not even buy us a present? I want to hit your unrecognizable face with a tennis racket so bad, but I’ll hold myself back since my cute grandson is right in front of us.”

“A wise decision, mother.”

“Heh, it’s nice to have a big son. You used to be small and frail, but you certainly have gotten stronger. Keep going. The muscles in my shoulders are starting to loosen…”

“I’ll do this more often.”

“This is strange. I feel as if my head’s gotten a little clearer. Is it just me?”

“It’s just you.”

We spent a long time in silence.

Ssosia, not wanting to interrupt our moment as mother and child, helped my father wash the dishes instead.

“Mollan.”

“Mollan~ Mollan~”

She committed atrocities against Master Mollan, who was born with the noblest lineage in the universe.

Cowardly demon!

“… Son.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“Don’t ask if you know.”

“Okay.”

“I shouldn’t have made such a big deal about my second child running away from home. If he’s truly my son, he will thrive no matter where he is. Isn’t that right, eldest son?”

“Yes, mother!”

This was the mom I knew.

She no longer held her tennis racket as before, but her mood and tone hadn’t changed.

Oh, right. She said she was sad since I didn’t prepare a gift.

I should never let her know that I actually didn’t.

Her words had to be carefully analyzed and resolved like hidden easter eggs in RPG games.

In doing so, she would always love me.

“You’re good at shoulder massages even though your heart is numb, son.”

“… Haha! There’s no way your first-class filial son didn’t prepare a gift, mother. Your mood was just so serious that I was embarrassed to take it out…”

“So I’m at fault?”

“Not at all. I just wanted to wait before showing it to you.”

“Hmm.”

“I’ll take it out now.”

With Master Mollan’s teachings, my mind activated my divine power, significantly slowing time down.

Why?

I needed more time to think!

A grandchild was the greatest gift I could give her, but I couldn’t claim my son as my gift since it wasn’t me but my cowardly wife who struggled to give birth to Sidael.

What gift would she like?

“Is that really important enough to freeze the entire solar system’s time, husband?” Ssosia asked. As an apostle, she was unaffected by my power.

“Of course. Even if she said she didn’t need a gift, I would’ve still prepared one right away.”

“That’s only because your mother’s mood is so bad…”

“I know. I just wanted to give you a hard time.”

“That’s mean!”

“Hmm…”

It was a bit suspicious.

Those addicted to Dark Energy would instinctively follow orders more faithfully.

Considering my mother tried to blindly protect my younger sibling…

“Are you suspecting your brother?”

“Yeah.”

After being freed from her addiction, she said, ‘I shouldn’t have made such a big deal about my second child running away from home. If he’s truly my son, he will thrive no matter where he is.’

Now, for personal reasons, I decided to look for him.

“Does that mean he put her unconscious under his control?”

“That’s what Fantasy demons would typically do.”

“When I met him, he was just an ordinary person…”

“Your kind is known for being adept in hiding their true identity.”

“Hey, husband. Have you forgotten that I’m the Second Demon? No demon can hide their race from me.”

“You probably got too complacent.”

“Hmm…”

Ssosia’s expression, unable to deny my words, evidenced her anger.

“What would be a good gift…”

I could give a Romantium alloy tennis racket, but I decided not to.

I’d rather not get hit by such a weapon.

My troubles deepened.

“How about a dragon?”

“A giant flying lizard?”

“You’re used to life in Fantasy, so you’re not that aware of this, but Earthlings imagine that world to be in the Middle Ages but with dragons.”

“Hmm. So?”

“If you give your mother a decent dragon as a gift, you’ll be able to save face. Just take me as an example. Thanks to the spaceray you gave me, I can now relax while traveling!”

“S-e-e-e-ex!”

“That’s true…”

Mother couldn’t care less about flying cars in parking lots.

But what about dragons?

They weren’t for sale, and they could not be found on this planet.

“What do you think?”

“… I like it! I’ll go with that idea.”

There were more dragons that didn’t belong to Fantasy than one might think.

However, since their life and free will were also important, I couldn’t just coerce them into becoming pets.

Hence, I chose a guy that could be ignored.

*****

“Are you really going to be okay?” I asked, not because I was anxious about leaving my ever so slowly growing son, Sidael, to my mother. Rather, what I was most anxious about was…

“Sleloli?”

“That name is a bit… Anyway, I’m worried because I think I gave my mother a very bad dragon as a gift.”

“It’s okay. Sleloli is a little soft, but I will educate her and raise her well.”

“If you say so…”

My mother was busy looking at my present.

Thanks to it, I was able to leave, promising to be back before dinner.

250 years.

She initially acted strangely, but my mother, free from magic addiction, was now just as I remembered her.

Except she stopped swinging tennis rackets on the fly now!

Hence, my desire to be childish surged.

I still did my best to get out of the house, though.

“I’ll try to find him soon.”

I’d surely hunt down and crush the spine of that damned infidel who interfered with my parents’ psyche!

“How?”

“We should start with the pharmaceutical company that manufactured the rejuvenation pill. It’s not that far from here.”

“Does distance matter to us when we can cross galaxies?”

“… You’re only sharp when it’s not needed, wife.”

“Give me a pure compliment, handsome husband! Be more like those people who keep glancing at us.”

“No thanks.”

I ignored the earthlings that praised Ssosia, whose appearance was only slightly better than average in Fantasy.

Inner beauty was far more important anyway since external beauty was bound to follow good-looking spines.

“Mr. Kang Han Soo!”

In front of the pharmaceutical company, a woman greeted and waved her hand at me, seemingly familiar with my identity.

“Who are you?”

“Your first words after our reconciliation are just too harsh! Have you forgotten me already?! I’m the woman who could have become your wife!”

“There are several women who make that kind of mistake every year.”

“… I don’t remember you being this arrogant in the past.”

“I’ll ask you again. Who are you?”

Ssosia answered my question instead.

“Nice to meet you, Victoria. We didn’t even say we were coming, but you still managed to find us.”

“I heard from mother that Kang Han Soo was coming soon…”

As I listened to the story of the two women, I realized it.

“Ah, Factoria! You should’ve said so right away.”

“Don’t pretend to remember me when you just called me by my company’s name! She even mentioned my name already!”

“I don’t know Victoria, but I remember someone telling me she’s a factory girl that’s going to be my brother’s wife.”

“Ah…”

“So, who are you?”

“… I’m Factoria. hohoho…”

Ssosia was looking at me, possibly for being too mean, but if she was truly a potential wife of my younger brother, who didn’t even like her, she should be prepared to be treated like this.

“I have business with your pharmaceutical company.”

“I run many manufacturing plants, but the reason you specifically came here is probably because of the rejuvenation pills, right?”

“Yes.”

If it were an ordinary drug, I wouldn’t have cared so much.

But it contained magic.

That was the problem.

Where did she get a wizard for it?

In Fantasy, if one mixed materials A and B through process C, magic was created.

However, this method was possible because the materials were infused with magic from the beginning.

They were simply extracted, not made.

All magic in that world, after all, came from the Demon Lord. There was no exception to that rule.

But after scattering it on Earth in the past 20 or so years, I never supplied it again.

If so, then where did this pharmaceutical company get so much magic from?

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know Dark Energy was part of this medicine’s ingredients. If I had known, I would have stopped taking it myself.”

After hearing the gist of the situation from Ssosia, Factoria took a rejuvenation pill from her pocket to prove she was drinking it herself.

She said she also took care of her tight skin and strong spine from time to time…

“Where’s your supplier?”

Looking at this pharmaceutical company’s factory facilities, I couldn’t help but laugh.

They only mixed vitamins with the diluted Dark Energy, but it went through a noisy process that reminded me of modern alchemy.

Well, they did have to make the drug’s production method look believable for visiting investors.

“Wait.”

Factoria called the officials and confirmed the source of its core material.

However, they provided quite a sloppy answer.

Overhearing their conversation earlier, I asked, “Are you uncertain?”

“That’s… Yes. This is my company, yet I didn’t even know this was going on in it…”

Her complexion grew pale.

I didn’t know much about her business, but her career would be over if the public were to learn that the rejuvenation pill they released to the market was infused with Dark Energy.

One might think that magic wouldn’t mean much here on Earth. However, the prejudice that it was an extremely harmful existence was deeply ingrained in humanity by the Fantasy graduates who defeated the Demon Lord.

Now that they had already sold the drug…

Even if the public demanded to have her company completely dismantled, she would have no way to defend herself.

“Keep up the good work, Factoria.”

“Huh? Will it be okay? Being dominated by Dark Energy is…”

“Hey. Who do you think I am?”

“A Legendary Hero… Oh.”

“That’s right. I’m also the Demon Lord.”

There was no Dark Energy in this world that did not obey me.

The time had come to play Hide and Seek, except there were about a hundred million seekers.