Chapter 23 Let’s Welcome a New Member to the Evil Dragon’s Family!
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Mizuki, the Water Princess who’d become Sakuya’s shikigami, had taken up housekeeping duties around our underground temple with the kind of fervor that could light up the whole place. She always kept her face hidden behind that white veil, dressed in a simple apron over her clothes, tackling every chore with a sense of divine mission burning in her eyes. It stemmed from the time Yaten had saved her life and granted her enough power to ascend to godhood, combined with the exorcism that had bound her soul in total submission—the synergy had turned her into a fanatic willing to lay down her very existence for the Evil Dragon’s bloodline.
”Master, is there any work for me to do?” she asked, her voice brimming with enthusiasm.
”Not really,” I replied. “And remember, to help foster the girls’ independence, you can’t go ahead and finish all the housework before they get a chance.”
”Yes! I’ve etched that command deep into my soul!”
Her loyalty was through the roof, which was great, but her tendency to forget things in the heat of the moment was a real drawback. This had been an issue since the whole Heaven and Earth Reversal mess started—Mizuki was the type to charge ahead without a second thought. If I left her in charge of chores, she’d blitz through everything on her own. Even after I’d explained that the kids needed to learn by doing at least the basics for their education, she’d throw herself into her role as housekeeper with such wholehearted devotion that, unbelievably, she’d just forget. She’d space it out completely, like it had vanished from her mind.
She was earnest, fiercely loyal, and dove into tasks with undivided focus, making her the model shikigami in so many ways. But forgetting her master’s core orders? That was a glaring flaw. Commands that should have been seared into her soul sometimes slipped right out of her head because she got too absorbed in the work. It was hard to believe, but Mizuki pulled off this rare feat of forgetting things on a soul-deep level without batting an eye, earning her the title of ultimate dojikko maid.
As an unwritten rule for shikigami, obeying the master’s commands absolutely was non-negotiable—if word got out that she couldn’t even manage that, she’d probably end up as a lab rat for some shady experiments. After all, forgetting orders despite absolute soul-binding from an exorcism was something that just shouldn’t happen in shikigami lore. How on earth could a shikigami like Mizuki forget her master Sakuya’s directives?
”Um, is something wrong?” she asked, tilting her head.
”You’re still not taking off that veil, huh? Yaten gave you resistance to miasma, remember.”
”It would be utterly unthinkable to expose my face before such exalted beings! To me, Yaten-sama and her divine offspring are gods themselves—it’s far too presumptuous!”
”But you take it off in front of me all the time, don’t you…?”
Of course, Mizuki’s life-or-death devotion was reserved solely for the Evil Dragon’s lineage. She showed me loyalty too, but that was because I was Yaten’s mate and Sakuya’s father. It wasn’t the god-like reverence; when it was just the two of us in a room, she got pretty casual—frank, even. At my words, she seemed to remember, and she peeled off the veil, revealing the beautiful face with those striking crimson eyes.
”Phew, honestly, covering up with this veil makes it hard to breathe. So, in front of you, Master, I do take it off for a breather, but that doesn’t mean my loyalty to Yaten-sama and the children wavers at all…!”
”Yeah, I get that—you don’t have to emphasize it.”
She punched the end of her sentence with force, like a declaration of unyielding will. It was probably a holdover from the Heaven and Earth mindset, where gods like her stood above humans. Sprawled out on the tatami mats, her posture was beyond casual—it bordered on disrespectful. But this was a delicate species thing; I was human, and Mizuki was a god, so accepting it was only fair to preserve her dignity.
Right then, Yaten and the girls were deep in some crucial training at the Sealing Seat. I didn’t know the details, but I’d been strictly told not to intrude, so I was killing time in the Underground Temple. Mizuki was in the same boat—housework had settled down, so to enjoy the downtime, I fired up the computer and started browsing news sites to catch up on the world.
”Whoa, another Hyakki Yagyō outbreak—total devastation in the urban areas,” she gasped.
”Those freshly spawned chimimōryō are mindless and savage. Still, for this many to pop up at once… the world’s really falling apart.”
T/N: Hyakki Yagyō = “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.” Chimimōryō = horde of malicious spirits/monsters.
On the screen, a horde of chimimōryō fitting the bill for a true Hyakki Yagyō rampaged through the city. Most were low-level yokai, but their sheer numbers made them a nightmare. Even weaklings in the hundreds were a force of brutal violence— to ordinary folks without any fighting skills, it was like a pack of wild beasts charging in without mercy. It looked like it’d happened during a festival; rows of stalls lined the streets stretching into the distance, a place that should’ve been buzzing with people now littered with mangled corpses torn apart by the demons.
”A localized surge of yokai in a densely populated city, at the worst possible time and place… talk about bad luck.”
”If it were deep in the mountains, they’d just cannibalize each other and fizzle out. But hitting an urban hotspot meant plenty of ‘food’—they attacked indiscriminately. This is pretty gruesome. As a god enshrined by humans, I’d love to step in and handle something like this…”
Her crimson eyes flicked toward me, seeking contact like she was hinting at something. This was tied to the Heaven and Earth Reversal, so fixing the root cause could solve it all. In other words, Mizuki’s original goal—freeing the gods exploited by humans. She wanted Yaten’s help as the Evil Dragon, and she was indirectly asking through me, her mate, to push for resolving this mess.
Like the saying goes, to shoot the general, first shoot his horse—she was convinced I was the key to getting Yaten on board.
”We’re planning to handle it for the kids’ sake. But like I said before, settling the score with the Shiryuin Clan’s old grudges comes first.”
”But your approach is way too roundabout! Couldn’t Yaten-sama just go around freeing the imprisoned gods and smash all the humans in her way—no, of course she could! She’s the strongest, after all!”
”That’s how it looks from a god’s perspective, Mizuki, but we’re thinking from the human side. Solving it with brute force would just make Yaten humanity’s true enemy.”
If Yaten unleashed her power as the Evil Dragon, things could wrap up quick. Forcibly liberating gods exploited and trapped by humans everywhere sounded righteous at first glance, but the backlash would be massive. Victims in the hundreds of thousands, maybe millions—the infrastructure built on that exploitation would collapse like yanking electricity from society, leading to catastrophe.
Then Yaten would be branded as the world-destroying Evil Dragon, locked into all-out war with humanity. That’d rack up even more casualties on both sides, human and yokai alike—turning a “save the world” mission into an apocalyptic farce. Yaten wasn’t the Evil Dragon anymore; she was a mother. If she stained her hands with blood again…
I didn’t want her reverting to that heel role, not after she’d been reborn as the kids’ mom. A heart that had learned to nurture life couldn’t just go back to taking it without breaking something inside. She wouldn’t be able to hold our children with pure joy anymore. As her mate, I had to prevent any family tragedy—no way I’d let my wife and kids get bloodied. If it came to that, I’d take on the burden myself, without hesitation.
Our eyes locked, her crimson gaze meeting my unwavering one, and she backed down quickly.
”Granting the wishes of humans is part of a god’s duty too. Alright, if you’re that resolved, Master, I’ll leave the resolution to you—no, wait, I’m the one begging here.”
She straightened up, shifting into a proper seiza, then bowed low in full prostration. For Mizuki, who prized her godly dignity above all, lowering her head to a human like me showed how desperately she wanted this—casting aside pride for the greater goal. She burned to free her fellow gods from human exploitation, to restore the natural balance between heaven, earth, gods, and humans, all to save the world. Her straightforward, almost reckless purity shone through in her soul’s nobility.
”Please, as Yaten-sama’s mate and our master, use your influence to save this world from crisis.”
Her pleading gaze looked up at me, eyes damp and crimson, her appeal desperate, with that forked red tongue peeking from her lips.
”I’ve intended to from the start. Saving the world might be overstating it, but I don’t want any lingering threats in the kids’ future. Once we settle things with the Shiryuin Clan’s traditions, we’ll tackle the Heaven and Earth issue right away.”
”What must I offer in return?”
Seeing her worry about payment at this point made me chuckle despite myself.
Her expression turned puzzled, like she couldn’t fathom why I’d laugh, her crimson eyes flickering with unease. It was as if this moment was her one shot, a desperate gamble, and she wore the face of someone praying for the outcome she craved. I spoke firmly to reassure her.
”We’re family now, aren’t we? What could I possibly ask from you, Mizuki?”
”But… family? For me, that’s far too presumptuous—”
”Helping and supporting each other—that’s what you’ve shown through your actions in this Underground Temple. So yes, definitely family. No payment needed. We’ll handle the Heaven and Earth problem as a family.”
”Family… me, as part of your… family.”
When she whispered the word, her crimson eyes on me held a special spark. Her dazed look softened into a blooming smile as understanding hit, and she abandoned the bow, springing to her feet with energy.
”That’s right! I’m part of your family, Master! So let’s support each other!”
”Yeah, supporting each other will lead to solving the Heaven and Earth issue in the end.”
She grabbed my outstretched hand, squeezing it with almost too much strength. Like an excited dog’s tail wagging wildly, she pumped my arm up and down, staring at me intently—
”Master! I’m far from perfect, but please take care of me from here on!”
—her face lit up with a meltingly joyful grin, as if officially becoming family was the happiest thing in the world, and she greeted me anew with that beaming enthusiasm.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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