Dragon Dynasty, Sakura Prefecture, Fuyuki City—Beimu's home.
"Onii-chan has been in his room a long time. We almost ate all his cooking."
Illya stared at the few dishes left, swallowing hard.
An angel and a devil argued in her ear.
Devil: Eat it. Food is to be enjoyed.
Angel: No. Onii-chan hasn't eaten yet.
Devil: If he cooked it, he can cook more. Eat.
Angel: If you do that, he'll be sad. Leave him some.
Reason barely won.
Illya went to call him.
"I'm coming. I saw some stuff in my room I didn't know how to use."
Beimu came out sweating.
"Something you can't use, Onii-chan? Illya knows everything!"
She offered a gold-thread handkerchief embroidered with white feathers.
"No need. I handled it."
Illya pulled him to the table.
He'd assumed the 404 Compendium characters could be summoned whenever he wanted.
He hadn't expected them to manifest directly.
If he hadn't noticed early, who knew what conflict King Arthur and Artoria might spark.
These character cards, when not fully under his control, had 30% autonomous consciousness and 70% "persona consciousness."
So when King Arthur met Artoria, Beimu quickly intervened.
But running a separate "thread" like that was a hassle.
Right now, he could only barely two-box.
More personas would join in the future. He'd need to train multi-boxing.
And find safe hiding places for these personas.
If he was discovered, it would be a huge problem.
"Illya, are you full? If you want more, keep eating. I'll cook some more."
Seeing her longing eyes, Beimu felt nostalgic.
Same as ever. Not a bit changed.
Aside from the kitchen.
When he stepped in earlier, he nearly choked on dust.
Six years without anyone entering.
Clearly these two didn't cook.
When Beimu was young, Irisviel always took them out to eat.
Only when he grew older and couldn't stand it did he start cooking himself.
But he also saw new-era gadgets.
Automatic mana-cleaning dolls… like that cute blonde big-sister robot.
Just the time he took to buy groceries, it cleaned everything spotless.
"Mm! I want more!"
Illya's eyes lit up. She knew Onii-chan spoiled her most.
"Coming right up."
Beimu went into the kitchen and returned with fresh dishes.
He looked around—and realized something.
"Wait. Where's Mom?"
"Onii-chan doesn't know? Mom runs tons of companies. Someone called earlier and she rushed out."
"Companies…?"
That was the first he'd heard of Mom being that powerful.
He only remembered her crying poor when he was little.
So he'd dreamed of earning money, studying hard.
He had tried hard… and before college, he was gone.
He'd been worried for them.
Looks like he worried too much.
Mom… you fooled me hard.
"Onii-chan! The uploader updated The King's Inheritance Episode 2!"
Illya saw the pink 404 icon shaking on her phone—she'd set it for the show.
She eagerly opened the video and dragged Beimu over.
"Watch with me, Onii-chan. It feels better together."
Illya puffed her cheeks at his attempt to leave.
"Alright, alright. I'll watch with you."
Beimu sat down reluctantly while Illya snuggled close.
He already knew the rest of his story. Watching it felt embarrassing.
This video was fine—if early lives were exposed, he'd truly be cooked.
The moment it opened, a tidal wave of comments crossed the top.
[Instant nuke start!]
[High energy ahead!]
[Holy crap, is this actually watchable?!]
[This should be marked 18+.]
[Uh… letting kids see this early isn't necessarily bad. This stuff happens in life too.]
"What do they mean? Is there something not safe for kids?"
Illya's fair cheeks turned bright red.
"Probably not…"
Beimu went a little pale.
That damned system… it didn't put something that bad in there, right?
Public execution?
The video began, and Illya was shocked—Beimu almost closed it.
The first scene was Artoria and Morgan acting… very improperly.
Being intimate was one thing, but why so long?
This dog food was dumped right in their faces.
So sudden.
"Not bad, little sister. Your big sister can't even compare. Looks like I need more practice."
Morgan traced a circle over Artoria's chest.
"I'm saying stop squeezing, or it'll be gone."
Artoria didn't care about the teasing.
"If it disappears, even better. Then I won't be distracted by external temptations."
"So, Sis, stop playing around. This is something you want too. Hurry up."
Morgan laughed at Artoria's impatience.
"Look at you rushing. Fine. Come with me."
Morgan led Artoria into an underground lab.
Potions and ancient tomes lined the place.
"Gawain and Agravain haven't caused trouble lately, right? If they upset you, tell me. I'll discipline them for you."
"They've been great. Especially Agravain. With him, I worry less. So with those two successful cases… why are you hesitating now?"
"Because I want the strongest heir. I want our child—yours and mine—to be absolutely perfect."
Morgan's expression was manic.
"Come. Give me your blood. The most perfect child will be born this very moment."