Chapter 3 - The Damned Half-Breed

“Mmph, mmmph, mmph!”

Wheezing sounds escaped the Village Chief's mouth.

“Will you confess?”

As soon as Yohan asked, Gaf released the old man's face.

“Y-you bastard, Gaf! What the hell do you think you're doing!”

With his mouth freed, the old man remained as belligerent as ever.

“Answer me!”

“He's driving a wedge between us! Gaf, don't let a Demon play you!”

Yohan clicked his tongue.

“Lashing out because his conscience is pricking him.”

Then he looked at Gaf.

“Isn't he uglier than a Demon?”

Gaf frowned.

“I'll hear it from you directly. Speak.”

“That would be best. The Village Chief intends to play innocent.”

The Village Chief screamed as though seized by a fit.

“Cover your ears! Those whispers are poison!”

The amusement vanished from Yohan's face. His voice came out low.

“Ilea is in the lord's castle.”

At those words, the Village Chief slowly stiffened. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

“This concerns all of you. Listen carefully.”

Every eye turned to the newborn Demon.

“The missing maidens were presented to the lord as tribute. Under the Village Chief's supervision.”

It was a calmly delivered revelation.

The flustered Village Chief could not speak. That newborn had uncovered his shameful secret. How in the world? It was incomprehensible.

“V-Village Chief, is that true?”

“Please say something!”

“Village Chief!”

No answer came.

Gaf strode forward.

“... Explain yourself.”

His imposing bulk towered over the old man. Standing roughly two heads taller, he was profoundly intimidating.

“T-trickery.”

The old man's voice trembled.

“D-Demon trickery.”

Yohan shrugged.

“Search the Village Chief's house. You'll find something.”

Then he added,

“You could also interrogate the men who usually keep him company.”

Finding evidence would be easy. The Village Chief was not particularly meticulous. In the original novel, he was eventually exposed as well.

Yohan had merely brought that moment forward.

“I'll ask you one last time! Did you take my daughter!”

Gaf's roar rang out, like that of a wild beast.

“I, I...”

Overwhelmed, the Village Chief could say no more.

“Why can't you speak! Answer me!”

The Village Chief bit down hard on his lip. Then he shouted,

“I had no choice!”

Gaf reached for his waist.

“I took you in when you were a filthy beggar! Gale! Tonya! Jod! Get in here—”

Before the Village Chief could finish, a translucent arc traced a semicircle. A chilling slicing sound followed. The old man's head slid limply off.

His headless body slowly crumpled.

Gaf had cut it off with his sword.

The assembled peasants were horrified. Amid their screams, hurried footsteps sounded, then faded.

They would be the men guarding the main entrance. Gale, Tonya, and Jod, was it? Whatever their names, they must be the Village Chief's lackeys.

Yohan pointed at the main entrance.

“Gaf, go after them and kill them.”

They were a threat. If they escaped to the next village and spread rumors about a Demon, Yohan would be in serious trouble.

He would have to nip that in the bud.

Yes, surely that was rational thinking...

Yohan felt an unease he could not quite understand.

He felt no aversion to murder whatsoever. Even the beheading just now had seemed unremarkable.

It must be a consequence of possessing a half-demon.

Gaf looked down at him.

“Damn it, just because they know what you are?”

It was an utterly inhumane course of action. Even Yohan was startled by his own words, yet his brain continued to think logically.

“If the Church discovers me, I'll die. So will you. Our fates are bound together, Gaf.”

Gaf turned his head, his gaze settling on the trembling peasants.

“Then do you intend to kill them too?”

Several cried out desperately.

“G-Gaf, spare me. My elderly mother would be left all alone.”

“Please. My boy was always so fond of you!”

“Don't forget who built your house!”

Yohan spoke without expression.

“Does anyone else in the village know what I am, besides those gathered here?”

Gaf shook his head.

“This is everyone. The others know nothing.”

A little over ten people were gathered in the granary. They were likely either people who decided important village affairs or residents who had happened to witness the half-breed's birth.

Killing them all was the right choice. Coldly considered, it was. They were highly likely to grow into a threat later.

But Yohan did not want to.

He was human at his core. He could not let malice consume him and lose “Kim Yohan.” He kept reminding himself of who he was.

At the very least, he would not harm innocent people.

Yohan took in the villagers at a glance.

“Taharan is a village that has produced a half-breed. If the Church finds out, you will lose your homes and livelihoods. Some of you will be burned at the stake through guilt by association.”

The area where a Demon was born was invariably wiped out in the name of purification. Needless to say, a half-breed's relatives went to the execution stake.

“Do you want to suffer such a tragedy?”

The very thought was horrifying. Several stifled groans.

Yohan nodded.

“I should think not. You wouldn't be foolish enough to dig your own graves.”

He paused to gauge their reactions. Every face was clouded with worry.

“Don't look so grim. All you need to do is cut today out of your lives. It's very simple.”

The Demon began to whisper.

“Now, once we leave, set fire to the granary. It will be the Village Chief's funeral, so leave his body where it is. There, the evidence is gone, isn't it? Even the memories that remain will scatter with the smoke.”

A fire in the night would swallow today whole.

“When the sun rises, begin your day as usual. Plow your fields and sow your seeds, and then, suddenly...”

The Demon smiled gently.

“You will find your daughters in your arms.”

The peasants were quite taken aback.

“O-our daughters?”

“You mean you'll bring them back!”

Binding them with contracts would have been safer, but that was impossible. He had exhausted all his demonic energy on his bargain with Gaf.

“I-I heard it too.”

“How will you get our daughters...”

Ignoring their lingering pleas, Yohan looked at Gaf.

“Then let's go deal with the rest.”

Suspicion flickered in Gaf's eyes.

Why was a mere Demon pretending to be merciful? That was probably what he meant.

Yohan frowned slightly.

“Do you have time to stand there staring? The fugitives must be far away by now.”

Gaf sheathed his sword as he replied.

“None of the three can ride.”

In this era, very few people knew how to ride a horse.

“You would be different. The Kandeya Mercenary Company was a cavalry unit, after all.”

Just how much did this newborn Demon bastard know? Gaf could not begin to understand.

“... Are you reading the past?”

“I read it before. Not now.”

“That's not a pleasant thought.”

“Don't complain. It's how you'll find your daughter.”

Gaf's brow furrowed.

“Ilea still isn't here before me.”

Yohan gave a short chuckle.

“Yet you're trying to chat. What makes you so relaxed?”

Gaf glared at Yohan, then let out a brief sigh.

Whatever else happened, his daughter came first.

Just as they were about to leave the granary, Yohan spoke.

“I almost forgot.”

He pointed to one side of the straw pile.

“Bring that woman too.”

A dazed woman was crouched in a corner.

Gaf scoffed.

“So Demons care about their mothers too?”

Her skirts were stained black. Anyone could see she was the half-breed's birth mother.

“Think what you like. Just hurry.”

“That wasn't in the contract.”

Yohan frowned.

“Don't argue. This directly concerns my survival.”

In a broad sense, it did. The information he could obtain from that woman would lay the groundwork for preparing for the future. If events followed the novel, Yohan would die without fail.

He had to change their course somehow.

First, he would have to identify the Demon who had lain with her. Through him, he would be able to learn this body's bloodline.

“... A convenient excuse.”

Gaf muttered in resignation. Then he went over and hoisted the woman over his shoulder. Drained of all vitality, she showed no reaction.

“Let's go now.”

Gaf moved without answering. With the Demon in one arm and the mother slung over his shoulder, supported by his other hand, he left the granary.

* * *

The dim light was brightening. Dawn rose beyond the hills, scattering warm sunlight.

It was time to begin the day's work.

Farmers would sow their fields, and blacksmiths would hammer sheets of iron. Hunters would check the traps they had set the night before.

Yohan was different. He was gripped by exhaustion so extreme that work of any kind would have been impossible. It had begun when he saw the sun.

Now he could barely even open his mouth.

CLOP, CLOP.

The uncomfortable ride was making him dizzy as well.

'Thoughtless bastard. You should have tied this tighter.'

The cloth sling hanging from Gaf's neck swayed wildly. It was woefully inadequate protection for a fragile baby.

Yohan looked up at Gaf.

“...”

He wanted to shout, Stop and tie this again! But the words would not come out.

They only rolled around in his mouth like a baby's babbling.

Why was this happening? Just as he sensed something was wrong, the look in Gaf's eyes changed.

“Tried to be clever, did you? You rats.”

He kicked the horse's flank.

The massive warhorse began galloping through the reed bed.

“Stop hiding and come out!”

He was searching for the three fugitives—the Village Chief's lackeys. Anticipating pursuit, they had hidden in the reeds, but they could not evade the mercenary's tracking skills.

They had left traces where they brushed through the reeds.

Gaf bellowed.

“Fight and die like men!”

At that moment, the reeds straight ahead began to fall.

“Pathetic bastards. Running to the very end.”

They ran together toward a single point, then fanned out.

If they split up, at least one might survive. That was probably the extent of their plan.

Gaf turned his horse to the right.

He intended to deal with that one first.

“Hyah!”

He charged straight ahead and caught up in an instant.

“Gale! You fucking worm!”

The first fugitive looked back. His eyes met Gaf's on horseback. His already imposing bulk looked far larger now.

“G-Gaf! W-wait...”

SHICK.

His head flew into the air. Droplets of blood spattered Gaf's face.

Without stopping, Gaf went after his next target.

The one who had run down the center. He quickly caught up and cut him down in the same way.

When he reached the last man, who had run to the left, Gaf dismounted.

He strode over and asked,

“Tonya, why did you do it?”

The third fugitive had already given up trying to escape.

He raised his sword and said,

“I needed money. I won't make excuses.”

“Yes, that's like you.”

Tonya let out a battle cry. He charged Gaf and brought his sword straight down.

There was spirit in the blow, but it failed to cut flesh.

His blade merely bounced off Gaf's sword and flew helplessly aside.

“Farewell.”

Gaf thrust his sword forward. The massive blade pierced Tonya's throat.

Blood gushed out.

Tonya shuddered in convulsions. Gaf pushed his body away with a foot and pulled out the sword.

His corpse slumped to the ground.

Gaf flicked the blood from his blade, then looked down at Yohan.

“There. I've silenced them all.”

No real answer came.

“Satisfied now?”

The Demon remained silent.

Frowning, Gaf examined Yohan closely.

But something was strange. The reddish tattoos were nowhere to be seen. The white horn was gone too. So was the demonic energy that had surrounded him.

In place of the evil hybrid, a fair-skinned baby was babbling.

Gaf doubted his own eyes.

“What the... Hah.”

A disbelieving laugh escaped him. Could this be because he was a half-demon? It was absurd.

As he continued to stare, an old memory surfaced.

It was when he had found Ilea abandoned and taken her in.

She had been so plump and pretty.

Gaf immediately shook off the memory.

Seeing his daughter in a mere half-demon. He would not make that mistake again.

Reproaching himself, he passed the sling to the mother.

“... At least nurse him.”

Then he mounted and rode on at a slow pace.

With a damned half-demon for company.