As he spoke, my father got up and walked into the room, which was his and his mother's room, and in a few moments he appeared in front of me with a pot of begonia flowers that were not very large.

"This is it," he said, "this is your mother's begonia, which blooms in all seasons, and she left her remaining power to the begonia flower before she died, and this power is also connected to you, and the flower will fall when you are in danger." ”

The red flowers look no different from ordinary plants.

"Begonia," I muttered, "I also saw the begonia flower on the family photo in my room. ”

There was some surprise on his father's face, "Can you see that?"

“... Didn't you know I could see youkai?"

"Not everyone who can see a yokai can see the image in the photo, what the hell are you," he suddenly became serious, "where have you been in City A?"

"I don't understand," I didn't want to answer his question directly, "I've heard before that human demonic power is also strong and weak, and inheritance, and the stronger the demonic power, the more youkai you can see, and after my mother died, I started to see youkai, but why can I see things that I couldn't see in photos before?"

"Because before... Or that until your mother died, your demonic power was sealed. "Later, I opened up a little, but it was still not all." ”

"Seals, why seals?"

"The power associated with youkai is dangerous, and neither your mother nor I want you to inherit it. He looked at me, as if hesitating at something.

"Tell me everything you know. "I feel a little dizzy in my head, and the amount of alcohol is really not good," about my mother, and you. ”

"You answer me first. Father didn't intend to back down in the slightest, "What happened to you during your time away from home?"

If it were my father, I would have been able to say that, right? Even if he was a demon slayer, he would have been on my side, right?

"Are there any concerns?" he asked after seeing that I was not speaking, "Your boss didn't say it explicitly, but I guess you must have already embarked on the path of slaying demons." ”

My father's words left my mind blank, the demon exterminator? He thought I was the demon exterminator? He didn't know anything about the ghostwriter?

"Don't be too surprised, as your mother and I don't want you to be like us, we both know that there are many things out of our control, so I prepared you to become a demon slayer early on. My father's tone seemed to comfort me, "I'm sorry, I haven't been able to face your mother's departure since she died, and I think of your mother every time I see you, so I snubbed you again and again." ”

"You... You say Mother..."I was a little incoherent.

"I met her because of the demon slayer," he didn't seem to notice the fluctuations in my heart, but turned on the mode of remembering my mother, "Your mother comes from a very prestigious demon slayer family, and my family has hardly been able to see the children of the youkai many years ago, but I inherited the ability that the family has lost for many years, and I am ashamed to say that my first acquaintance with your mother was actually rescued by her from the mouth of a youkai." ”

“... Aren't you a demon slayer? How can you be eaten by a monster? ”

"I was still a fledgling demon slayer at that time, and my experience was almost zero, and if I wanted to gain a foothold in the world of demon slayers, I had to have a few reasonable results of demon slayering, but I didn't even have the experience to get my hands on it, so I took the risk to seal a youkai who was messing around at that time. He was a little embarrassed and smiled self-deprecatingly, "Who knew that monster was too powerful, I was not an opponent at all, and I was quickly defeated." ”

"Mother... Is it an experienced demon slayer?"

"Well, I was born in a big family, and the education and experience I received since I was a child are not comparable to those of an unknown junior like me," said my father, "I originally gave up, but your mother saved me." I still remember that the red begonia flowers flew all over the sky, and the strong flower branches rose from the ground, and before I could react, the monster that defeated me had been firmly controlled by the begonia flowers. ”

I imagined the image for a moment, glancing at the featureless pot of begonias next to me, "It can't be it, right?"

Begonia seemed to sense my thoughts, and shook the petals dissatisfied.

"Don't underestimate it," said my father, "and it wasn't what it was before your mother died. ”

"I really can't associate begonia flowers with demon slayers. I said.

"It is a begonia flower demon, raised by your mother since childhood, and can transform into a huge begonia flower tree when the demon is removed, and is famous for its strong control. "And your mother's sealing ability was one of the best among the demon killers at that time, so for a long time, your mother's begonias were very feared by the monsters." ”

“... Can youkai be raised? You don't have to sign a contract?"

"Only your mother's family can do that. The father said, "Her family has the ability to talk to plants, and each child in the family has a plant that he has raised with demonic power since he was a child, and each plant has its own characteristics, and the elders of the family will cultivate the child's ability according to the characteristics of the plant." ”

"Mother's Begonia Flower is control, so Mother specializes in seals?"

"Well, that's right. ”

"If that's the case," I thought back to my father's words, "shouldn't I have had a plant when I was born?"

My father bowed his head slightly when he heard my words.

"Because, your mother's condition for marrying me is to sever ties with her family. ”

“... Why?"

"In order to protect their own family's ability, the demon slayer family has strict rules on the marriage of family members," the father said, "Generally speaking, the big family will look for a marriage partner in their own family, and even the smaller family will look for a similar or higher level demon slayer family to marry in order to obtain more powerful power." ”

"And you don't have a family," I said, "and your mother will definitely be opposed to marrying you, unless she renounces her family." ”

"Well, that's pretty much it. The father was a little low, "Now that I think about it, I really shouldn't have pursued her, and if she had always had the protection of her own family, she would not have left this world so early." ”

"Didn't I mean," I couldn't bear to ask when I saw my father's appearance, "Is my mother's departure just a car accident?"

My father was stunned.

"Well," I sighed, feeling that the answer would continue to evolve towards an unexpected one, "Forget it, let's not talk about it." ”

"Are you a demon slayer now?" the father asked again.

"Is it important?" I replied.

"Well, it's important. He said, "Because I promised your mother that there are things that I will only tell you after you become a demon slayer, otherwise it will always be a secret from me and her." ”

I looked at the wine on the table, poured myself a glass, and after thinking about it, I poured a glass for my father, "I'm not a demon slayer. ”

My father seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Drink bar. I said, "It feels like we've never talked so much." ”

"It's not a demon slayer... That's good, that's good. He picked up his glass, his eyes couldn't stop being happy, "It's okay to be able to see youkai, just live as an ordinary human, except for demons or something, the farther away the better." He smiled as he spoke, and took a sip of the wine from his glass, "I'm really happy to hear you say that." ”

"Like you said, a lot of things are not up to us. "I finished my glass too.

My father's hand that wanted to pour the wine again stopped in the air, and the happiness just now was swept away, I don't know if it was because we talked too much today, or because we all drank wine, I saw real concern in my father's eyes.

Suddenly, I couldn't bear to say what was going on, he didn't know that I was a ghostwriter, and he should be happier.

"Little Gram. He put down the bottle, "You haven't told me exactly where you went when you were in City A." ”

"There are so many places, so many that I can't imagine it myself. I said, "Dad, I have my own secrets. ”

"Is that secret related to the demon slayer?"

"A little. ”

"You said you weren't a demon slayer. The father said, "But you also said that you have something to do with the demon slayer, and you also brought a monster, what the hell are you..." He seemed to suddenly remember something, his brows quickly twisted together, his eyes looked at the table, and when he looked up at me again, his eyes were slightly red, "Xiao Ke, your boss has mentioned it, and your handwriting is very beautiful." ”

"Hmm. ”

"Do you usually do anything with him other than your normal job at the grocery store?" he asked tentatively.

I looked him in the eye, he certainly didn't want to hear my answer, but if I didn't say it now, I didn't know what chance I could tell him.

"Write letters for people. I squeezed out a smile, "I'm a ghostwriter." ”

(End of chapter)