Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 1024: Worried Mother

”He ran away...” Aria muttered.

”Mom for the rescue~” Nyx was having a great time.

Vespera sat at her desk with an open folder in front of her. Her eyes went straight to his face, examining him closely enough that he found himself sitting up for her.

”Are you hurt?”

”I’m fine. Everything’s healed.”

”Your hand?”

He held it up and spread his fingers. ”See? Good as new.”

Her gaze lingered on his palm before returning to his face.

”And the others?”

”We’re all here.”

Kaiden propped the phone against a tea box, angling its camera toward the family. Alice detached from his head in a gathering of golden light and perched on the sofa’s arm beside Alexandra, leaning forward to see their mother.

”I’m fine too,” she announced. ”Big Brother had me with him the whole time.”

”I saw.”

”Lady Vespera.” Yunohana placed Kaiden’s cup before him, then inclined her head toward the phone. ”Your family is at our headquarters. They have been helping us understand what happened.”

Kaiden picked up his cup and summarized the findings for his mother, from Mizuno’s human registration to the blood collection equipment. Vespera listened without interrupting, then closed the folder in front of her.

”Did you feel anything change in yourself afterward?”

Kaiden lowered the cup before drinking. ”No. Both Alice and Alexandra kept monitoring me on the way here.”

”I couldn’t find any foreign mana in him,” his sister added. ”I’ve been watching for it.”

Their mother regarded them both for a moment.

”If either of you notices anything, I would like to hear about it immediately.”

”Of course.”

Yunohana refilled Alexandra’s cup while Vespera looked over the faces gathered around the table. Her gaze came back to Kaiden, and the concern in it made his chest warm.

”You could come home,” she said. ”Your presence is not required for them to examine those rooms.”

Kaiden smiled at her. ”Mom, you worry too much.”

”...”

”To think that the Shadow Monarch would make such a face. You’ve changed a lot, Mom.”

”I have always been worried. That’s why I kept an entire surveillance team on you after you left for college.”

”...”

”Hahahaha!!” Calypso couldn’t hold it any longer. ”You’re the best, Shadow Mommy.”

”You should’ve heard the receptionist chicks when we arrived,” Luna put in. ”Everyone was talking about your son.”

”One of the staff covered her neck when he walked past~” Nyx added, smiling into her cup.

”...” Kaiden glanced at the traitors before facing his mother again. ”I was perfectly nice to her.”

Vespera’s gaze softened at that. ”I know.”

”But I also watched someone kill the vampire before you could stop them,” Vespera continued.

His smile softened. That was the part bothering him too. Mizuno had been helpless, surrounded by his family, and whoever reached into the yard had taken her away from all of them.

”Yeah. We need to find out how they did that.”

”I would be happier if you were closer while they did.”

There it was, said plainly enough to make him want to reach through the screen and hug her.

His mother wanted him home where she could look after him. Kaiden loved her for it, and being fussed over by the woman everyone else called the Shadow Monarch made him ridiculously happy.

”I know, Mom. And I love that you care so much.” He leaned toward the phone. ”But a bloodsucker isn’t going to make me run home.”

Across the table, Yunohana held her teapot above an empty cup without pouring.

”I’ve taken a liking to the people here. They’ve been wonderful to us, and we can do a lot of good for them. I’d like to stay until their gates are cleared, at least.”

Yunohana’s eyes widened for a single moment, then she lowered the pot onto its stand.

She had been preparing herself to thank him for everything he had already done. After the badly scouted first dungeon and now the horror at the depot, she could hardly ask a worried mother to leave her children an ocean away for Japan’s sake, nor could she fault this young family for leaving after so many weird things had happened.

Now he was offering to stay until the work was finished.

Relief filled her so strongly that she had to let it settle before trusting her voice. The garrisons holding those gates could come home. Towns could reopen. More families could search for the people trapped beyond the cordons.

He liked her people. Yunohana found herself smiling at that, deeply moved by the simple fondness in his voice. They had welcomed him with everything they could give, and it had reached him.

”You have made me very happy, Lord Grey,” she said softly. ”Thank you. I hope we can continue making your family happy here as well.”

”You’re doing pretty well so far.”

Aria leaned against his shoulder, patting his belly lovingly. ”The food certainly helps. My Kai is a big fan of your cuisine...”

”Very much,” Nyx agreed over her cup. ”I’m having a blast, too.”

Yunohana’s smile warmed as she finally poured the waiting tea. ”Then I shall make certain the kitchens hear of their contribution.”

On the phone, Vespera watched her son accept another cup from the woman whose country he had just promised to help.

”Have you discussed this with the others?”

Kaiden looked around the room. ”We were planning to keep going. Does anyone want to head home?”

”Because of a mosquito?” Luna scoffed. ”Hell no. There are a lot more bloodsuckers back home. They just suck my desire to live instead of my blood.”

The gang did not stop harboring their thoughts towards the US government and their inspections just because of a few days’ passing.

”I’m happy to stay, Darling,” Calypso said.

The others agreed, and Alexandra set her damp towel aside at last.

”I’d like to keep helping too.”

Vespera listened to her, then faced Yunohana through the screen.

”I would appreciate being included in any findings concerning the spell.”

”Of course, Lady Vespera. With your permission, I would also like our investigators to compare their findings with Eclipse’s. Something familiar to your people may be entirely new to ours.”

”I’ll arrange it.”

Kaiden relaxed against the sofa. His mother was already finding a way to help from home, even with her wish to have him there written all over her face.

”We’ll be careful. And I’ll keep you informed.”

”...Okay.”

The warmth in her answer made him smile wider. He could stay on the call for a while longer; the investigators had his account, his tea was hot, and his mother was right there.