Chapter 102: The father

Ectharen Logarth, the lion beastman, sat quietly on the side of the street, taking a well deserved break from the battle as the Alsen soldiers hurriedly carried away their injured comrades. His whole body and clothes were soaked in the blood of his enemies, transforming his handsome face to a more menacing look that scared even some of his men who walked by.

「You alive, Ectharen?」Teran walked up to him from behind.

「Yes. Against all of the odds.」Ectharen nodded.「I see that you're unharmed too? How was your battle with Hou Yi?」

「Our fight still yielded no winner, like always」Teran grinned before sitting next to the beastman.「He retreated and left me with a bunch of monsters to take care of.」

「Too bad, huh? And who are these people?」 Ectharen turned and studied the red haired man who accompanied Teran.

「That's Uri, an old acquaintance from my mercenary group.」 Teran introduced his former vice captain.「Those two over there are Ryuu and Yue. Just like Erik's group, these people are associates of the Hyakki Yagyo.」

「I see. They really came to our aid during the battle, huh. So what happened? Who constructed the barrier that forced Hou Yi into a retreat? Is that one of your doings, Uri?」The beastman asked.

「Of course not. You should thank our Yue dono for that.」Uri answered, pointing at the former elven princess.「Though, ultimately, it'd be Kibadios dono, our current 13th Captain of Hyakki Yagyo, who came up with the plan to break the siege utilizing Yue dono's talent.」

「Kibadios? What a unique name your captain has,」Ectharen turned to Teran.「Isn't Kibadios the same name as Kailos' lost son?」

「That's what I remember. Though it's been a while since the last time he mentioned the names of his son and wife, since it's still too painful for him.」Teran answered.

「Your group is really something, you even have a dragonkin as a member.」Ectharen commended as he looked at Ryuu.

「Don't associate me with the Hyakki Yagyo. I'm simply here because of Kibadios sama.」Ryuu finally spoke up.

「I'm sorry if I have offended you. This Kibadios person must be really incredible to be able to obtain your loyalty, Ryuu dono.」Ectharen nodded

「Of c..」

「Of course!!!」Before Ryuu could agree, another had already loudly declared.「After all, my Kibadios single handedly took on all five Chimeras and emerged unharmed!」

「My…」

「... Kibadios?」Both Ryuu and Yue were surprised as they noticed a large stature orge walked steadily toward them, with Kibadios by his side.

「Master!」Ryuu instinctively wagged his tail.

「Kibadios sama.」Yue greeted the hybrid.

「Good job, both of you!」Kibadios caressed the dragonoid's face which was brimming with happiness before patting Yue head.

「My Kibadios?」Teran asked his friend.

「Yes. This fine young man here is Kibadios, my one and only son. He looks just like his mother.」Answered Kailos with a grin, which was unusual since the ogre could rarely discard his grim expression.

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Kibadios leaned onto the crenellation on the fortified wall, looking outward to the expansive grassland as the first light of the new greeted him. His gaze fixated to the horizon as if he was longing for the sight of his harem members, who should be all arriving to the settlement today with the rest of the refugees. It was uncharacteristic for him to miss his group only one day after leaving them behind, but if the weird erotic dream he had about them just a few hours ago in his sleep was any indication, it just meant that his subconscious was really eager to see them in person again. Knowing that the gaze of the Astrals were now locked onto his every movement and sooner or later, they would be able to locate him despite his efforts to eliminate their spies, he was also worried about the chance that the others would be attacked by the Astrals' forces. That was the reason he left behind two of his summons, who would follow to protect the group and if the worst was to happen, they were to quickly alert him of any dangers that may fall onto Rowan and the others so he could come to their aid. Given that no such distressing signal had gotten to him, he was confident that the group should have been fine, though seeing them arriving safely to the settlement would certainly be a much better assurance. Before Kibadios left the group to travel ahead to Alsen, part of him was debating whether it was such a good idea to leave many others behind, away from his protection, but the hybrid had quickly realized that sooner or later, to carry out his battle against the Astrals, he could never always be by their sides and that he would have to be separated from his beloved harem at one point or another in the future. No matter how much he cared for them, it was important for the group to know how to protect themselves and for him to learn to be apart from them.

「Morning boss!」The familiar voice of Uri greeted him from behind.「How was your night?」

「Yue and Ryuu were both with me so yeah, it was energetic as usual.」Kibadios answered.

「That's not what I meant. Don't rub onto my face the fact that you can still have sex while I can't even get my junior up. I hate being celibate.」Uri complained poutingly.

「Then you shouldn't have asked me about my night.」shrugged Kibadios.

「I was asking about the conversation you have with that ogre… what's his name… Kailos?」Uri clarified.

「Ah, yes.」Kibadios nodded.「He's my father in this reincarnation. Why are you interested in our conversation?」

「Did you… you know, tell him that you're a reincarnator?」Uri asked.

「Yes. I feel like it's something he has the right to know about… You know, the fact that his only son has memories of his past life.」Kibadios answered. Though, just like you, I did not tell him how this is my third reincarnation already. The hybrid thought to himself.

「You really did?...」Uri was surprised.「I bet it wasn't a pleasant conversation. When I came clean to my incubus mother about the memories of my past life, she was totally disgusted. She accused me of possessing the body of her son and destroyed "his" consciousness… Maybe she's right. Maybe I did possess this body and devour the original soul that inhabited this body when he was first born… I don't even know how this reincarnation business works. One day, I was struck by a car while crossing the street and the next thing I knew, I was held in the trembling embrace of a beautiful woman.」Uri opened up to Kibadios in an uncharacteristically vulnerable manner that Kibadios had never seen him show before. Although the half incubus was grinning, Kibadios could sense the sadness hidden behind his words.

「... Wasn't something similar happen to the protagonist of "The beginning after the end"?」Kibadios asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question since he did not expect Uri to know.

「Who knows. I'm not a weeb like you, boss!」Uri smiled.

「In my case, it was much better than what I had anticipated.」Kibadios fondly recalled the conversation he had last evening.

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「What do you mean? That you're a reincarnator?」Kailos looked confusingly at the hybrid, who was trying to avert the ogre's gaze.

「Yes.」Kibadios nodded.「I'm sorry but I'm really a reincarnator. I don't know if you have knowledge about "reincarnators" like me but it just means that I have perfect memories of my past life. Since I already possessed a matured cognitive function and remembered everything clearly the moment I was born, I easily recognized you as my father immediately after we met. I'd understand if you're disgusted and mad at me… after learning this…」

「Why…」Kailos muttered, before audibly asked.「Why would it matter to me that you're a reincarnator?」

「Huh?」Kibadios blinked. He was expecting the worst, but Kailos' reaction was certainly not what the hybrid had imagined.「Because… Your long lost son turns out to possess a whole other life, memories, feelings, and mind of a complete stranger?」

「It doesn't matter to me, Kibadios!」Kailos leaned in and hugged the stunned hybrid. 「In this life, in this world, you're now my son. Your flesh and blood is the culmination of my love and Isis'. I thought I had lost you forever five years ago during that raid on our village but now, you miraculously appeared in front of me. It's like all my prayers have been answered. How could I be mad at you for being a reincarnator? I know what a reincarnator is, Kibadios, and being one isn't your fault. It should be me who thank you for being one, since having the mature cognitive functions must have been the reason you were able to survive as a baby after that night.」

「I…」

「If anything, you should be the one who is mad at me since I failed to protect you and Isis that night… Maybe, you even feel like I'm not worth it to be your father in this lifetime…」Kailos pulled Kibadios out to look straight at his face as he continued.「But please, give me a second chance to prove to you that I deserve to be your father, since you're the one I have now, Kibadios…」

The hybrid stood silently for a brief moment, unsure of how to respond since despite living through all of his lives, this was the first time he got to speak to a "father figure." During his time living on Earth, since his dad had died just a few months after he was born, the only parent he had ever known his whole life was his weak mother, who had struggled with a chronic illness for her whole life. His first reincarnation was not any better since he was placed in an orphanage soon after his birth, growing up without neither father nor mother. His second reincarnation was a brief existence as a lab species so the concept of father was also alien to him. Only now, when Kailos held him tightly in his embrace, did Kibadios get to experience the love of a father, something that he never knew he would appreciate like this.

「Please, father…」Kibadios gave the ogre a gentle smile.「It is me who's lucky enough to have someone like you as a father…」

「Th… Thank you, Kibadios…」Kailos nodded.「I promise this time I will protect you from any harm, like a good father would… Though, seeing how you're already a powerful [Incubus Overlord], I just hope I can keep up with you. Your mother, Isis, would be proud to know how much you have grown.」

「Father, that reminds me, what do you know about what happened to mother that night?」Kibadios asked.

「When I ran after her, it was too late to save your mother. There at the bank of the river, all I could find was her splattered blood and weapons… I tried to travel along the river to find both you and your mother, but I could not find either of you. Given her injury and the blood loss, I believed she had perished and her body was carried off by the river to the sea.」Kailos gave Kibadios a sorrowful look.

「... There's a chance mother is alive.」Kibadios revealed to Kailos

「What???」The ogre jolted.

「Did you remember hearing those Chimera calling me "Brother"? Before I left, i asked them why they're calling me their brother and one of them told me that was because we all were born from the same mother.」Kibadios explained.

「... You mean…」Kailos' expression suddenly turned pale, hints of confusion took over before anger finally exploded from his face.「...What… Just what did they do to Isis!!!???」

「Father, please calm down.」Kibadios tried to allay the ogre's wrath.「Under the current situation, despite the Yin army retreat, they're still able to pose a threat to this city and they can return for another assault any day now. We have to put all of our effort to securing the safety of the city first before we can figure out what to do regarding mother.」

「But…」Kailos gave Kibadios a look full of anguish.「if what you said is true and Isis is out there… She's suffering as we speak.」

「... I know.」Kibadios clenched his fist.「But with the safety of this city still hanging by a thread, there's nothing much we can do. Still, I promise you, retribution will come for them.」Kibadios coldly looked to the direction where Hou Yi and his army had retreated earlier in the day.

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「I'm sorry to hear about your mother, Boss.」said Uri.「You still remember how was she like?」

「Of course.」Kibadios nodded.「Beautiful, lovingly, elegant yet fierce at times. Those five months when I was raised by her and my father as an infant were rather nice memories that I can't forget. There are a lot of things happened in my past liv… life so it was nice to just live a peaceful life like that for once.」

「Haha, wanting to live a peaceful life yet now, you're part of a mercenary group. Things aren't really going your way huh, boss?」Uri teased.

「No.」Kibadios let out a devious grin.「Things have gone rather smoothly for me… for now.」

The two incubus hybrids continued to chat for a while, until the Sun had now fully risen up in the endless blue sky. Around 9 was when Kibadios finally noticed a small group of people appeared on the horizon. Since a quarter of the refugees were either elderly and young children, it took the group another half an hour for them to reach the settlement's wall and unsurprisingly, all of Kibadios' harem members were leading the group since they were all eager to reunite with him. From the distance, Kibadios could recognize Kuron holding Tina's hand as the two walked next to Ren. The young girl was now all excited and happy. Her mood and expression completely contrasted with how Kibadios had found her just less than two days ago. Walking by Ryan was the beastman named Falkor. It seemed like he was carrying some young beastman boy on his shoulder, whom Kibadios later learned was an orphan who Falkor had befriended some time the day before. Since the beastman had always liked working and playing with kids despite being unable to conceive one with his missing wife, it did not take long for the young orphan to warm up to his caretaker.

「How was the trip, Ryan?」Kibadios jumped down from the high wall and landed right in front of the former hero as they got to the settlement's wall.

「Everyone was fine, Master!」Ryan reported.「Rowan and Maia had treated most of the injured refugees by yesterday's afternoon so we were able to pick up the pace and arrive here a bit earlier than planned. What about you, Master? Since I don't see any Yinese soldiers around, I'm assuming we were able to life the siege?」He looked at part of the shattered wall.「Though, not without a fight, I bet.」

「Yeah, everything went according to plan here too. The Empire had retreated, though who knows when they would be ready for another assault.」Kibadios suddenly realized something as he observed the group of refugees.「Did the group get bigger?」

「Ah, that!」Reuk, who finally made her way to Kibadios, joined in the conversation.「That was because we picked up another group of refugee coming from some villages from the South.」

「Is that so?」

「Kibadios sama…」Haden called out to his lord, then discreetly pointed at Yuusei, who were pulling apart from limbs to limbs by a group of unruly children who he were tasked to look after by Maia.「Maybe you should check up with Yuusei dono when you have time? He met with someone from the other refugee group and he's been down ever since then.」

「Who did he meet?」

「We… don't know. He just said it's someone who helped him before.」Haden answered.

「I see. I'll talk to him.」Kibadios agreed.

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「Hmm, I knew it. It wasn't just my imagination.」Uri, still up on the wall, looked down at Yuusei below. 「Now that I've seen Teran again in person after years, that Yuusei is really looking like him, huh?」

Ectharen Logarth (Source: NovelAI)

Note: Ignore his human ear lol