[76.2] Koale Acquires a Hobby

Bale sat in the Matriarch's office whimpering as I stood beside him with my arms crossed.

I rolled my eyes, "Stop crying. I didn't beat you that badly."

"M-My butt hurts."

"...That's your own fault."

The Matriarch laughed as she started setting up her office, "Bale. We all warned you not to keep sneaking into Lovi's room."

His panther ears lowered, "B-But I wanted to see Lovi."

I glared at him, "And why couldn't you come during the day? Hm?"

His face lit up, "You'd let me visit during the day?"

My face twitched, "..."

Koale looked at me curiously, "Is it wrong for him to go at night?"

I nodded fervently, "Yes! You can only do that if you are married!"

He blinked back innocently, "Oh! What's married?"

"When two people declare they are exclusively together and will never be with another."

He blinked, "What does exclusively mean?"

"Uhhh-"

I tried to think of something to say that wouldn't be inappropriate.

The matriarch tried to help, "It's the human equivalent to having a mate."

"What's a mate?"

Lovi let out an exhausted sigh, "It's no use explaining these kinds of things to him."

Bale looked at me timidly, "So… If I wanted to get married to Lovi, would you approve?"

I glared at him, "You dare to ask me that right now?"

The matriarch chimed in, "Bale, you need to get a beautiful ring to show your determination."

He stood up and pounded his chest proudly, "Then I will start looking for only the best for my future wife!!!"

I rolled my eyes as he ran out of the room.

Lovi pursed her lips, "I really don't need a ring though."

I raised my eyebrow at her, "Does that mean you don't intend to marry him?"

She blushed and averted her gaze, "A-Aren't we here to have a checkup on the twins?"

The Matriarch clapped her hands together, "Right! Let me evaluate them."

As the Matriarch started her examination, Zephyr wailed pitifully while clinging to me.

I forced a smile while I held him, "Zephyr… He's a bit wary of strangers."

She laughed, "It's not a problem. It's probably a good thing to be wary."

After finishing, she gave him a cookie which he happily ate, completely forgetting the trauma from before.

I placed Astra down next who acted like a complete angel. Once finished, she looked at me awaiting her praise.

I rubbed the top of her head, "Astra is such a good girl."

She smiled triumphantly and smirked at Zephyr as if mocking him.

He glared at her and reached out to rip her cookie away. As the two fought for the cookie, I calmly separated them.

I spoke, "So is there any problem with their development? Shouldn't Zephyr be talking already? And shouldn't Astra be walking? And is there anything we can do about her narcolepsy?"

"The two babies seem really healthy, so I wouldn't worry about this unless it persists another two years. As for her sleeping disorder, I think this has something to do with her broken horn. The same could be said about Zephyr's talking inability. It may be a special case of the Fox demons relying on their horns for their demonic ability…. Although these are only guesses and only time can make such answers certain."

I let out a sigh, "I see…."

I feel like I'm going to rip my hair out from stress.

Koale pointed at himself in excitement, "Can I be examined too???"

She smiled at him and patted the bench, "Sure. Climb on."

I took the twins and he jumped up to replace them. Suddenly he started removing his shirt. I quickly panicked, "K-Koale! No need to take off your clothes!!! It's not that kind of examination!!!"

"Oh! Okay~"

The Matriarch forced on a smile, "Shall we start?"

After she finished his examination, he had on a bright smile, "Am I good too?"

"Yes, you're very healthy… Judging by what I see, you inherited more demon heritage than human. I don't think you'll age like a human, but rather a demon."

Lovi heard this and deflated, her expression showing her self-hatred and jealousy.

The Matriarch whispered to me, "Great Fairy. I would watch out for him if you ever bring him out of your home. I don't think he understands how evil this world can be."

I let out a sigh, "I know what you mean."

After all…

I never met Koale in the future.

Something had to have happened.

He tilted his head with a bright smile, "Can you show me the tattoo now?"

She laughed and nodded. After getting a few items from her storage room, she returned to show him.

"Our people use a sharpened bone from our ancestors to stab into the skin. The ink is then deposited into the wound and the skin heals to make the tattoo permanent."

I looked at it curiously, "That works on demons?"

She shook her head, "No, our bodies don't heal like humans so for it to stay, you need to use special ink."

She pulled out an ancient-looking bottle, "Only this ink works for demons."

I raised my eyebrow, "What's it made out of?"

"Great Fairy. Do you know what can harm a demon?"

"Holy magic?"

"That's right."

"So then this is made out of-"

She smiled innocently, "The blood of Holy Priestesses."

My mouth dropped.

She laughed at this, "Now you know how precious this ink is."

"How did you get it to begin with?"

She shrugged, "We've passed it down in our family for many generations. The family tale is that my original ancestors were once friends with a Holy Magic user. They worked together to make this ink. Thanks to that, we have several bottles that we still own today."

Koale stared at the ink curiously, "Can I use some?"

She laughed and shook her head, "Once you can show me your skill, then I will allow you to borrow a little. But first, you need practice. This ink will disappear in a demon's skin, so practice with this if you can find a demon that'll allow you to practice on them."

He took the ink and tools with twinkling eyes, "I'm going to stab everyone."

My eyebrow twitched, "I don't think stabbing is the correct word."

He looked at me innocently, "But Lovi says it all the time."

Lovi cried out, "Stop tattling on me!!!"

I laughed, "Okay, okay. Let's go before Zephyr needs a diaper change."