dahut

[discomfort]

Comments

[discomfort]

Yes... but it will be quite awkward at the reunion, with Viktor-sama and all.

[artificialsweetener]

Eh? [HM?] Will it...

[discomfort]

[ sadly nods his head

): ...... ]

[artificialsweetener]

People are entangled in such fascinating ways...! And there's your child to think about, too!

[discomfort]

I worry for them... I do not think this is the right environment to raise a child.

[artificialsweetener]

No, being surrounded by violence and murder doesn't do a child much good. [...] Have you raised a child before...

[discomfort]

[ oh. ]

Yes, actually. Well... I would not say I was the main caretaker, at least.

[artificialsweetener]

[HELP he hadn't actually expected this answer and there's a flicker of curiosity in his expression.]

How'd you end up in a situation like that?

[discomfort]

Um... a family tradition, I guess?

They just sort of keep dumping their kids onto me.

[artificialsweetener]

[HUH.]

Um? [HELP.] Just... They just leave their children in your care? Over the generations?

[LIKE ABANDONING A BABY AT A HOSPITAL??? BUT IT'S AN INN RUN BY A DEMON????]

[discomfort]

Well, the child could leave and go back home at any time, but. You know!

[ HE DOESN'T KNOW ]

[artificialsweetener]

[HE DOESN'T KNOW!!!!]

So it's just like babysitting that could end whenever the child wanted it to? Why?

[discomfort]

Hmmm.

To help them grow up.

[artificialsweetener]

[comes back delirious after talk of fish and fistulas]

Oh? In what sort of ways?

[discomfort]

Oh, ah... it is a family of... I suppose one way to describe them is exorcists? Monster hunters?

[artificialsweetener]

Ah! Right... If there are demons, there are probably all sorts of other things too, aren't there? In your world, that is.

[What a wild place to be. Damn. Imagine magic existing.]

[discomfort]

Basically... Their parents send their children off to me for training, and then eventually they are ready and we reach the end of our relationship. It's a tradition that's been going on for several generations now.

[ sometimes you send your demon slaying family to a demon ]

[artificialsweetener]

This sounds like a very complex way of handling things, somehow?

[WHY. This demon family's wild, good for them.]

How many of them have you watched after?

[discomfort]

... I lost count...

But the last one I dealt with is a spitfire! He is a young adult now, and he hates me!

[artificialsweetener]

Oh, no! That's so sad! Why does he hate you?

[A CONTENTIOUS FAMILY RELATIONSHIP...]

[discomfort]

Oh, well. Family of monster slayers and all.

[artificialsweetener]

You still raise them, though, don't you?

[AND THEY KEEP COMING BACK??? What kind of whackass symbiotic relationship.]

[discomfort]

Of course I do. It's not like they're ever going to actually kill me.

[ he is not even remotely worried this is going to backfire on him ]

[artificialsweetener]

[FUCKING HELP OWNER IS REALLY OUT HERE well. He is apparently some sort of amorphous eldritch creature, so.]

Hm... I guess it's just a bit of a difficult concept to grasp.

[You can be raised by someone and not be willing to soup an entire island for them?? Wild.]

[discomfort]

[ DAHUT NOT YOUR FRENCH ISLAND SOUP ]

Is it? Because of the ties?