My name is Yuuto Morioka. I'm just a normal person, a normal 15 year-old boy.

Right now, I'm having a dream. Normally people aren't aware when they're dreaming, but honestly I have no idea how else I'd explain what was happening right now.

I was my younger self from a few years ago, and I was in a space that was completely white, as if it was emptiness itself. And I wasn't alone.

There was a girl with me, right by my side. She seemed to be slightly older than my younger self. She had long black hair and, honestly, you could already tell how much of a beauty she would become in a few years.

Suddenly, someone else appeared. She was an adult woman with silver hair and golden eyes. But the reason she stood out wasn't just because she was the only adult in a world with only two children.

For whatever reason, both me and the girl were naked, the woman was wearing a simple dress. Normally, I'd be pretty embarrassed, but maybe because I'm my younger self there's no reaction.

[Kssshhhh.]

"Ksssshhh."

"Ksssshhh."

The woman started talking, but she only sounded like static, then the girl talked then I talked. Even though I'm not able to understand the sounds, for some reason, it didn't seem strange to me.

By the way, although I was my younger self right now, it wasn't me trying to talk or anything. It's more like I'm remembering a memory in first person.

"Kssshhhh."

[Ksssshhh.]

"Ksssshhh."

After some more talking, the three of us seemed satisfied and nodded to each other. My vision then started getting blurry.

Next thing I noticed, I was back to my current self, but still in the same white empty space. The woman was still there, the same as before. The girl also grew up with me, and she was just as much of a beauty as I expected her to become.

In fact, it was to the point I was a little worried about my lack of reaction down there. Sure, as a child I could accept it, but now? This isn't an anime, there's no censoring, I can see everything, so please react me!

... I'll take consolation in the fact that this is a dream, otherwise I'd have to go to the doctor to check a few things.

[There is no need to worry. This isn't a physical space, so the young master's 'body' here doesn't work exactly the same as the young master's actual body.]

"W-woah! Wait, this isn't a dream?"

The woman suddenly replied to me, so I was obviously surprised. If this isn't a dream, then what is it?

"Hmm, Yuuto's probably been living as a normal human since that day, right? So it would be hard to explain in magical terms. It's faster to just think of it as a dream for now, Yuuto."

So is this a dream or not? Aaah, whatever, I'll just say it is for now.

The girl knew my name. I had no memory of who she was, but for some reason I didn't find it strange that she knew me.

I was lost in her beautiful blue eyes, and her lips… I felt like I could kiss her for hours… but why? She's beautiful, that's for sure, I'd even go as far as to say that she has the perfect body as far as I'm concerned, but what I was feeling wasn't just lust.

[The promised day has come. I am only here to ask if either the young master or the young mistress want to go back on our previous arrangement.]

"I'm fine."

"Me too… huh?"

For some reason, I answered instantly. I shouldn't even know what she meant, but, for some reason, I felt like I did.

Both the woman and the girl looked at me with surprise. Guess they didn't expect me to chime in.

"Yuuto, you…"

[It does not seem like the young master remembers, but the memories are still there. The seal has not been broken as it should.]

"Why is that, kssh?"

Only the woman's name was static now, so at least I could actually follow the conversation.

But my head… it's starting to hurt.

[I overestimated the young master's growth, he developed like a human despite his magic circuits. His memories will come back once his mana and powers increase, but for now it is best to keep the seal in place.]

"That's unexpected. Will this be a problem?"

[No, even if he can't remember now, the memories still exist and will come out eventually. Even now they can probably be accessed subconsciously. But the young mistress will likely need to reintroduce herself, as well as teach the young master from the beginning.]

"That's… fine, we will meet again like the first time. I think we should end this connection before we start to hurt Yuuto."

The woman nodded. She really was going to end this. But I felt there was something I had to say before we ended.

"W-wait, there's something I want to ask."

[What is it, young master?]

"That, could you call me Yuuto as well, kssh? This young master thing feels a little wrong to me."

Huh? How did I say the woman's name even though I don't know it… or do I? Honestly, at this point, I don't even know anymore… but it doesn't seem like I said anything strange.

[Very well, I shall call you Yuuto from now on. It is time we finish this connection.]

"Mmh. I'll see you again, Yuuto. And I swear I will protect you this time."

"A-aah."

My head was hurting so much I couldn't even get proper words out. I definitely wasn't using that as an excuse to hide my embarrassment over her promise to protect me.

Before long, the girl and the woman were gone, and the strange dream was slowly becoming a normal dream.

The longer my actual dream went on, the less I remembered about what had just happened. It wasn't long before it was basically all gone.

[It is time to wake up.]

I heard a… strange yet familiar voice asking me to wake up. It was a female voice, but it wasn't my mom's, and my alarm shouldn't be set to anything like that.

As much as I'd like to sleep in a little, now that I'm awake. I might as well get up at once.

"Huh? What's this?"

There was something laying on top of me, a card. It had "THE LOVERS" written on it, and there was also a drawing. A naked man and woman embracing each other while an angel gave them a blessing.

What a strange card. I'd heard of tarot cards before, but never really looked into it since I was never interested.

Who put this card here? It had to be either mom or dad. Guess I'll go ask them.

I went downstairs and saw dad was drinking his coffee while reading the news on his tablet while mom was finishing preparing breakfast. No better opportunity to ask them I guess.

"Good morning, mom, dad."

"Good morning, Yuu-kun."

"Good morning, Yuuto."

"Do any of you know how this card ended up in my room last night? I found it on top of me this morning."

Since mom was still busy cooking, dad was the one who took a look at the card I was showing.

He looked at it for a few seconds, then picked up his glasses to take a better look. Then he fixed his glasses, then he took off his glasses... Is this some kind of joke? How many times are you going to repeat that?

After what must have been a full two minutes of this… dad started becoming pale and sweating. I got worried.

"Dad, are you alright?"

"Y-y-y-y-yeah, I'm fine. J-j-j-just… c-c-c-come look at this, mom!"

"What is it dear? Why are you so-"

Mom also froze up and became pale as soon as she saw the card.

I got even more worried. The first thing that came to mind was the naked couple drawn on the card, but that wasn't graphic enough for them to show that reaction.

Yeah, thinking about it now, it was already pretty embarrassing to show something like this to your parents, but my parents were the type to watch a very explicit ecchi anime with me with no problems, so this couldn't be it.

"T-t-t-t-there's no mistake, is there?"

"N-no, I don't think so, dear."

"A-a-a-a-alright. Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Yuuto, c-c-c-c-calm down and listen."

"I think I'm calm enough though."

Mom and dad would keep insisting I take a breather and calm down before we could talk. I really had to take a seat and breathe in and out before they'd let us continue the conversation.

If nothing else, at least it seemed like dad calmed down in the meantime.

"You see, Yuuto, there's something we never told you. This world it's… well, it's a lot bigger than you think. There is a whole different world with different people living in it. We call them devils and the Devil World."

"I see…"

Did they stay up all night watching some anime or something and they couldn't even tell reality from fiction anymore?

That's what I would have thought normally, but, for some reason, I felt I could believe them.

"It's not a lie, Yuu-kun. See here."

Mom had left the fire on when she came over, and now the food was almost burned. There was nothing that could be done to avoid it.

That's how it should have been, but instead mom just held out her hand towards the stove and somehow the dial was turned. Not only that, the pan floated from the heated spot to one that hadn't been heated.

"Dad can also do a few things."

Not long after he said that, dad produced flames a few centimeters above his palm. There was no trick or anything like that, it was like… magic.

"Magic is also a thing that exists. Mom and dad's rings were gifts that have anti-aging effects as well as these powers."

"Right, we got them as a wedding gift from our boss. You see Yuuto, we both work for the devil race, that's why we know these things most normal people don't."

"Eeh, that's amazing! But what is this card still?"

"That's something known as the Devil King Arcana. It's something used to decide who will be the next Devil King."

"Since Yuu-kun found it, this means you can become a Devil King Candidate. That's amazing, Yuu-kun! Mom didn't even know humans could participate, I'm so excited for you!"

Mom hugged me. I think the last time she did that was when I was in elementary school or something.

Dad also seemed happy. But then it seemed like he remembered something.

"I guess we should take care of the school transfer right away huh. Good thing it was just at the right time."

"Eh? Why am I transferring?"

"There's this school for the nobility of the devils, Ginsei Academy, also known as Devil King Academy. All Devil King Candidates must enroll there. That's to ensure that whoever becomes the next Devil King will have proper education."

"Let's think about that later, let's celebrate for now. Eat well, Yuu-kun."

"Y-yeah. This is kind of exciting."

I might have called out my parents for being otaku just now, but… how could I not get excited? There's a whole new world inside this one. A world with magic and devils.

It's like a childhood dream come true. It's like going out on an adventure, it's exciting!

Next time I went to school, I said goodbye to everyone. It was sudden, but like dad said, the timing was good for a transfer. The school year had literally just started not too long ago.

It took about a week to take care of all the procedures, and I could barely sleep any day of that week. Just thinking of all the possibilities, I felt like a child again.

I had no idea what was waiting for me at the time.