Zach sat leaning against the wall with Machia in his lap. He glanced around, realizing he was truly in a dark, damp dungeon, although he couldn't feel it.
"Okay, Machia, can you tell me where we are now and what happened?" Zach asked.
"Um... we're in the basement beneath a slave merchant's house," Machia replied softly.
"Huh... a slave? Where exactly are we? This isn't Earth?" Zach asked.
"Earth?" Machia asked, confused.
"Okay... I guess we're not on Earth. So why are you in this basement? Why was I transported here?" Zach asked.
"I summoned you using a golem summoning magic circle... I was all alone in this basement and lonely. I learned golem summoning magic from the slave who was here with me before... she said I'm the last of the demon race in this world...so I'm alone in this world," Machia answered, looking down.
"Hmm... golem summoning magic, huh? Then this definitely isn't Earth... Before I came here, I saved a little kid, then I got hit by a truck, and when I opened my eyes, I was here," Zach explained.
"A truck? What's that?" Machia asked.
"Never mind. Why are you here, and what do you mean you're the last demon kin?" Zach asked.
Machia silent for a moment, then began to tell her story. She didn't know who her parents were. Previously, an old woman had taken care of her, but when the old woman died, she lived alone on the edge of the forest. One day, while she was picking medicinal herbs in the forest, she ran into some human adventurers and was captured. She was then sold to a slave merchant, and because she didn't understand what was happening, she went along with it without resisting.
But no one wanted to get close to her because she had horns and was clearly a demon, which made her sad and confused. Then there was a woman who seemed to be a mage and was also a slave. She taught Machia various things about the world and told her that Machia was the last demon kin in the world. She taught Machia magic and golem summoning because Machia seemed interested.
When the mage was bought by someone for an adventure because her power was needed, Machia was left alone in the basement and grew lonely. She then tried to summon a golem to be her friend, and after several attempts, she successfully summoned Zach.
"So that's the deal. You're the last demon in this world?" Zach asked.
Machia nodded, then curled up, hugging her knees in front of her. Zach, seeing Machia's genuinely lonely and sad state, immediately felt the same way himself. He remembered what happened to him back then.
***
One day, coming home from school, Zach, who was 8 years old, was a little surprised to see a fancy car in front of his house.
"Whose car is that? Is there a visitor?" Zach wondered.
He looked at the glossy red luxury sports car, which he had never seen in his life, with awe. After satisfying his curiosity, he went inside the gate and walked to the front door. Slowly, he opened the door.
"Aaaah... hmm," he heard sounds he had never heard before coming from the living room.
Confused and worried about disturbing his mother who was entertaining a guest, Zach slowly took off his shoes and crept toward the living room. The living room door was slightly open. Zach peeked through the gap. Zach's eyes widened when he saw his mother completely naked and lying on the sofa with both her legs up.
On top of her, a middle-aged man he didn't know was moving back and forth, making his mother groan and sigh, yet she looked happy. Zach covered his mouth with his two small hands and backed away, but "Blak," without realizing it, he nudged a short stool, which fell over because of his body.
The mother and the middle-aged man inside immediately turned toward the door. Both their faces looked strained. They immediately stopped what they were doing and hurriedly put on their clothes. The mother, now dressed, immediately ran to the door and found Zach standing there. Her face flushed for a moment and she looked annoyed at the interruption, but she quickly managed a smile, then squatted in front of Zach.
"Are you home already?" she asked softly.
"Y-yes, Mom," Zach answered.
Zach's eyes drifted to the middle-aged man who was standing behind his mother. The man smiled at Zach while buttoning his shirt.
"Who is he, Sarah?" the man asked.
"He's my only son, his name is Zach," Sarah replied.
"Oh... you have a kid? Why didn't you say anything?" the man asked, his face suddenly changing after hearing Sarah's words.
Sarah immediately stood up and turned around. She put her arm around the middle-aged man in front of her and kissed him. Then she uttered a sentence that broke Zach's heart for the rest of his life.
"He's the son of my dead husband. Don't worry, honey, if we get married, I won't be bringing him with me," Sarah said, completely ignoring Zach, who heard every word.
The middle-aged man's face immediately returned to a smile. He hugged Sarah tightly and kissed her affectionately, even with Zach behind them.
"M-Mom?" Zach asked, understanding to some extent what his mother had just said.
Sarah pulled away from the man's kiss and gently pushed his body back a bit. Then she turned to look at Zach and smiled.
"Zach, this gentleman is Jason Whitemore. He's Mom's future husband," Sarah said.
"Mom's... husband?" Zach asked.
"Yes. Dad left Mom eight years ago because of an accident. Mom is 37 years old, I can't stay alone forever, can I? Please try to understand," Sarah said.
Zach was stunned. Although his mother rarely spoke to him and was not close to him at all, seeing Zach as a bother in her life, Zach still wanted his mother to be happy. He nodded, even though he still didn't quite understand his mother's true intention. Sarah immediately looked delighted with a wide smile. Then she turned back to look at Jason and hugged him, whispering.
Jason smiled broadly. He took a box out of his pants pocket and opened it. Sarah covered her mouth with both hands, and tears streamed down her face when she saw the ring inside the box. Jason took the ring and knelt in front of Sarah, who immediately extended her hand.
"Will you marry me, Sarah?" Jason asked.
"Yes, of course," Sarah immediately replied.
After that, Sarah invited Jason upstairs and into her bedroom. Zach could only watch the two adults acting like teenagers in love go upstairs. He walked into the living room and sat quietly on the sofa. "Grumbly," his stomach was hungry. He looked at the dining table near the sofa; there wasn't a crumb of food on the table. Finally, he got up and walked to the fridge. He took a bottle of mineral water and opened it, then sat back down quietly on the sofa.
An hour later, Sarah came down wearing a beautiful dress that Zach had never seen before. She immediately came up to Zach and kissed his cheek.
"Mommy's leaving now, okay?" Sarah said with a wide smile.
"Y-yes, Mom," Zach replied.
Sarah opened her purse and took out a $100 bill, then placed it on the table.
"This is for snacks, buying food, and daily necessities, okay?" Sarah said.
"Yes, Mom," Zach replied.
"Bye-bye, Mommy's going now," Sarah said, kissing Zach one more time.
Then Sarah left the living room. Zach turned to see Jason already standing in front of the living room with a smug smile. Zach's eyes went to the wheeled suitcase Jason was holding. Then Sarah immediately took Jason's arm, and they walked out of the house. "Blak," the door closed. Zach stood still. In his heart, he already knew that this was the last day he would ever see his mother.
Tears started flowing, soaking his cheeks. His heart ached terribly. His hand picked up the bill on the table and stared at it with teary eyes.
"Does Mom hate me? Was I not a good enough son for Mom? Why was I abandoned?" Question after question popped up in Zach's mind as he cried.
Later, when the neighbors found out that Zach was left alone at home and his mother couldn't be reached, they called social services, and Zach ended up living with one of the social workers who agreed to adopt him.
***
Zach, whose head looked like a helmet, looked at Machia sitting in his lap. He could feel the sadness and loneliness that Machia, who was only 6 years old, was experiencing. He put his hand behind Machia's head and stroked her hair, which startled Machia. She turned to look at his face, which was staring at her.
"From now on, I will be with you and be your friend. Deal?" Zach asked.
"Y-yes, thank you, Zach," Machia replied with watery eyes and a trembling, yet smiling, lip.
"Okay. Now, how do we get out of here?" Zach muttered.
"That... that's impossible. I'm wearing a slave collar. If this collar is removed, my head will explode," Machia replied sadly, looking down.
Zach was shocked to hear that. He immediately bent down to hug Machia, who was sitting in his lap, but in his heart, he was determined to free Machia from slavery and take her out.