Chapter 2 - The Demon's Sword and Shield

“Shut that mouth at once!”

The ever-composed Village Chief suddenly shouted.

“What are you waiting for? Hurry!”

He hauled his aged body upright and even brandished his cane. He seemed strangely frantic and anxious.

Bewilderment spread across the peasants' faces.

“Village Chief?”

“Wh-why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

It was rare to see him so unsettled.

“He's bewitching you! Can't you see?!”

Despite his rebuke, they merely hesitated. No one moved.

“Have you all lost your minds? Must I send word to the Church before you come to your senses?!”

If the Church of the Great Saint learned what was happening in the village, it would surely dispatch its Demon-Suppression Order. Inquisitors would likely be among them. The village could not emerge unscathed from their investigation.

The villagers knew that reality all too well.

“But...”

Wasn't this temptation far too compelling to refuse? What parent could resist an offer to reveal their missing child's whereabouts? Had he offered mere wealth and glory instead, they would have rejected him long ago.

One peasant hung his head. Another stifled a groan at the thought of his daughter's face.

Gaf was no different. The hand gripping Yohan was trembling.

The Demon regarded the Village Chief with an untroubled expression.

“You don't mean a word of that. The Village Chief will never report you. So, peasants, pay my price and hear the answer you seek.”

The Village Chief's face contorted, deepening the creases in his already wrinkled skin. He lunged forward.

“If you won't do it, then I'll do it myself...!”

He drew a dagger from inside his clothes and thrust it at Yohan. Just before it struck, a burly man caught him in a bear hug from behind.

“V-Village Chief! Please, calm down!”

The old man struggled in his arms.

“You insolent wretch! Let me go! I must cut out that lying tongue!”

“Are you trying to kill him?!”

“If I must!”

Yohan gave a faint chuckle.

“Village Chief, didn't you say it yourself? Killing me would cause trouble.”

The Village Chief shouted, his face flushed red.

“Gaf! How much longer will you let that vile tongue wag? The Great Saint Marziel is watching! Are you not afraid?!”

Yohan shrugged.

“I'm sure Marziel can manage that, torn to shreds as he is.”

To insult the Great Saint—there was no greater blasphemy. Everyone made a show of washing out their ears.

Unconcerned, Yohan looked at Gaf.

“The Village Chief seems to have no intention of talking to me.”

Then the corners of his mouth rose.

“What about you, Gaf? Will you tear my mouth open as the Village Chief commands? Or will you bargain with me and find your daughter?”

He met the peasants' eyes as well.

“The longer you take to decide, the longer your children suffer. Remember that.”

A moment later, excruciating pain struck Yohan.

Gaf had tightened his grip on the scruff of his neck. An ordinary newborn's spine would have snapped. Yohan was different. He merely furrowed his brow rather than crying out in agony.

A Demon's constitution was far sturdier than a human's.

The pain, of course, was another matter.

Yohan glared at Gaf, his dark red eyes flashing ominously.

“... What do you think you're doing?”

“How can I trust a damned Demon?”

Despite his harsh words and actions, Gaf's voice had softened somewhat. He seemed torn.

Yohan smiled inwardly. He had to clinch it.

“We each stake our lives on this bargain. What could be more straightforward?”

Still restrained by the burly man, the Village Chief shouted.

“Gaf! Don't be deceived! These are a Demon's whispers!”

Yohan did not even glance his way. He simply looked Gaf in the eyes and spoke.

“You call me a Demon, but you're wrong. You know that, don't you? Red blood flows in my veins, too.”

Strictly speaking, he was a half-demon. A damned half-breed. A mongrel who would belong nowhere.

Yohan softened his expression slightly.

“I mean that I have human emotions, too.”

Gaf gave a derisive laugh.

“Human emotions? Bullshit. I've seen plenty of creatures harboring demonic energy. Every last one of them was driven by malice. Even cultists who acquired it later in life were like that. What does that make you, born with black blood?”

He paused to look at Yohan's horn.

“You say half your blood is human? Look at yourself. You're far closer to a Demon than a human. Any red blood you had has already rotted away. You're nothing but a filthy hybrid.”

Yohan looked down at his body.

Red tattoos were etched across his black skin. The smoke draped around him like rags was demonic energy, darker than pitch-black.

Anyone would take him for a Demon.

Why had he ended up possessing this body, of all bodies? Yohan felt miserable, but he gave a faint chuckle.

“Well, you're not wrong.”

He added with feigned nonchalance,

“So, Gaf, you can't bring yourself to bargain with a filthy hybrid?”

Gaf ground his teeth. He did not want to yield to those poisonous whispers, but he could hardly steady his resolve. Could his missing Ilea really be alive? He wanted an answer, whatever it took. His daughter was the only thing of value he had left.

And the Demon had told him that Ilea was still breathing.

How could he not waver?

Gaf murmured,

“... If I tortured you.”

He might be able to extract the truth.

But would the creature survive? There was no telling. However much stronger a Demon's body might be than a human's, this hybrid was still only a newborn.

It would be no surprise if he simply died.

Yohan looked Gaf straight in the eyes.

“You won't get anything out of me.”

After much deliberation, Gaf swallowed a sigh.

“... Very well.”

His wavering eyes were beginning to settle into a steady focus.

“But if there is even a shred of falsehood in what you've said...”

Suddenly, Gaf's face twisted into a fiendish grimace. He spat the words as though coughing up blood.

“I'll tear you limb from limb.”

He had sold his convictions to a Demon for his daughter.

Rage, despair, murderous intent, shame, self-loathing—all manner of negative emotions battered Yohan.

Any human subjected to such hostility would naturally feel unsettled.

Yohan was different.

A faint excitement began to envelop him. It was a kind of pleasure. An instinctive sense of accomplishment. Gaf's suffering was bringing Yohan ecstasy.

'... It can't be.'

It was because he was a Demon. They were monsters that fed on human suffering.

As proof, the smoke surrounding Yohan billowed more violently. His demonic energy had grown more malevolent. Mingling with the moonlight filtering through the granary's barred window, it scattered an eerie glow.

His red eyes, too, gleamed far more viciously.

The peasants backed away in alarm.

Their fear was becoming yet another source of nourishment.

Yohan's expression changed from moment to moment. He giggled, grimaced, filled with joy, sank into despair... Dozens of crazed gleams flashed across his face in an instant.

To human eyes, it was hideously grotesque.

Yohan bit down hard on his tongue. Unless he hurt himself, he felt he would lose his mind.

Fortunately, the pain hauled him out of the mire of malice.

Regaining his senses, he looked around. Fear filled everyone's eyes. No one could speak.

In the uncomfortable silence, Yohan briefly sank into thought.

Just don't harm others. Even if you can't be the paragon of goodness in an ethics textbook, at least live with basic decency. That had been Yohan's creed, yet of all things, he had become a Demon.

A monster that lived off others' tears.

Nausea rose in his throat.

“... Fuck.”

His low voice sank into the silence. No one responded. Only the occasional sound of strained breathing followed.

How much time had passed? Gaf's voice broke the stillness.

“Demon, I've given you my answer.”

No amount of brooding would produce an answer. He refused to die doing nothing but lamenting his fate. For now, he had to survive.

Yohan put his thoughts aside and spoke.

“... A wise choice.”

The Village Chief flew into a fit.

“Gaf! You wretch! Do you mean to destroy the village?!”

A village that bargained with a Demon was marked for extermination by the Church of the Great Saint.

Gaf replied calmly.

“I'll enter the contract alone, then leave this village with the Demon.”

He meant to shoulder the entire burden himself. The other peasants who had lost children cleared their throats, avoiding his gaze.

“D-do you think that flimsy excuse will work?!”

“It will. I'm an outsider.”

With that, Gaf looked at Yohan.

“What do I need to do?”

A contract with a Demon. A bargain in which payment was exchanged with a soul as collateral. Every Demon in the novel could form contracts and possess others. It was like breathing for a human—a kind of instinct.

The knowledge of how to form a contract was engraved in Yohan's mind as well.

The Demon beckoned with his index finger.

“Come closer.”

Frowning, Gaf leaned his face toward him.

Yohan spoke.

“I will tell you where your daughter is. You will protect me. Our souls will serve as collateral. Do you agree?”

If he agreed, Gaf would have to protect Yohan with his life. If Yohan died, Gaf's soul would fall into hell.

Gaf closed his eyes. After steadying himself with a deep breath, he opened them again. Resolve filled his gaze.

“I agree.”

Yohan's mouth stretched into a broad smile.

At the same time, the demonic energy surrounding him began to writhe. The smoke pulsed like a heart, then spewed out strands of black haze.

Malice filled the granary.

Everyone froze.

The Village Chief shouted.

“Stop! No!”

Yohan reached his short arm toward Gaf.

“Accept it.”

The demonic energy billowing in the air rushed toward Gaf all at once. The mercenary looked deeply startled, but offered no real resistance.

He simply breathed the demonic energy in.

“It won't harm your body.”

However, if he failed to keep his promise, the demonic energy would crush the contractor's heart.

Gaf grimaced. Having swallowed all that convulsing demonic energy, it was hardly surprising that he felt uncomfortable.

“... Is it over?”

The malice had dispersed, leaving only a faint trace.

Yohan nodded.

“I'll keep my promise first.”

With that, he swept his gaze over the crowd.

Many of the parents present were in the same position as Gaf. All of them waited for Yohan to speak.

His gaze came to rest in one place.

He was looking at the Village Chief.

The old man had grown quiet. His breathing, however, was extremely uneven. He seemed anxious.

Yohan spoke slowly.

“Village Chief.”

Utterly at ease, he smiled in triumph.

“Where did you hand over the missing children?”

The old man's face turned deathly pale.

The peasants murmured in bewilderment.

“Wh-what does that...”

“Village Chief?”

Yohan continued.

“This is your chance to confess.”

At that moment, the Village Chief wrenched himself free of the burly man's hold.

“Y-you sinister little Demon bastard!”

He charged, dagger in hand.

Unfortunately for him, his all-out assault never reached Yohan.

A large hand stopped him.

It was Gaf. Cradling Yohan in one hand, he had clamped the other over the old man's face.

His eyes flickered with distrust toward the Village Chief.

“... What exactly is this confession he's talking about?”

Yohan was pleased. He had gained a dependable ally.

A Demon contractor who had betrayed the Great Saint. Gaf, captain of the Kandeya Mercenary Company, would now be the Demon's sword and shield.