Chapter 45 - A Welcome Reunion (1)

After parting with the knight Yuri, Yohan returned straight to the slash-and-burn farmers' hamlet. He still had something to finish before leaving. He headed for the Village Chief's hut.

"Is anyone home?"

The moment he heard Yohan's voice, the Village Chief rushed out barefoot and bowed low.

"Oh, sir. I don't know how I can ever repay your kindness."

Without Yohan, the Village Chief's grandson would have been dragged off by the Church. They would have interrogated him harshly and eventually discovered that a Demon had possessed him. Somewhere in that chain of events, the boy would certainly have died. Yohan had prevented that tragedy. To the Village Chief, he was nothing short of a savior.

Yohan said, "You cared for me first when I lay unconscious, sir. We helped each other. You needn't feel that all the gratitude is owed to me."

Many dangers lurked in the hills at night. Without the Village Chief's care, Yohan might truly have died out there, far from home. He was sincerely grateful to the old man.

"All I did was shelter a distinguished gentleman in my humble—"

"And that saved my life. Thank you again, sir."

Yohan dipped his head, startling the Village Chief into an even deeper bow.

"Please, don't address a lowly man like me with such respect. I'm afraid someone might hear you, sir."

No matter how much older a commoner was, a noble did not address them deferentially. Such was the law of both the kingdom and the Empire. So long as Yohan lived in this world, he could not ignore its laws either.

"Very well," Yohan said. "If you accept my offer, I'll stop using honorifics."

"Anything you wish, sir."

"Become my subjects. I'll give you land to farm."

These slash-and-burn farmers owned no farmland, wandering from place to place to make a living. Amid their hardships, they had only one wish: to settle on fertile land. That was well within Yohan's power to grant.

The Village Chief's face brightened, only to darken again a moment later.

"W-we aren't freefolk. We don't have that choice."

"Which house do you belong to?"

"W-well..."

"Please, speak freely."

After a long hesitation, the Village Chief finally spoke.

"We are Baron Bartoloi's serfs."

The baronial House of Bartoloi? The name sounded familiar, but Yohan could not immediately recall its role in the original novel. Given that he couldn't remember, Bartoloi was unlikely to have been a major player. It had probably received a passing mention once or twice.

'Where was it again?'

After thinking for quite some time, Yohan found the answer.

'Right. The beginning of the Haunted Citadel arc.'

In the early-to-middle portion of the original novel, several houses in the kingdom were manipulated by a Demon. House Bartoloi was that arc's first victim. As his thoughts reached that point, a question occurred to him.

'But this isn't House Bartoloi's territory.'

The Haunted Citadel arc took place in the kingdom's far west. This area was closer to the south than the west, nowhere near a place where Bartoloi's subjects would practice slash-and-burn farming.

Yohan nodded as though something had dawned on him.

"You fled the domain, I take it."

The old man's shoulders hunched in on themselves.

"... Yes."

It was a serious crime. Serfs were closer to private property than people, and could not leave their master's care at will.

"Was it because of the taxes?"

"That too, but my son died under a beating from our lord. We wanted to live like human beings."

The Village Chief was confessing his crime without resistance. Ordinarily, he would never have done such a thing, but strangely, his mental barriers crumbled in Yohan's presence. It was probably because of the Great Saint's eyes.

"You did the right thing. It seems the Great Saint guided you all onto the right path."

It was an unexpected response. The Village Chief had expected Yohan to lash out at him.

"P-pardon? Did you just say we did the right—"

"Yes. I can't explain in detail, but you were right to flee."

The Village Chief stared at him, dumbfounded. Yohan continued.

"In any case, that makes things simpler. Come to the lord's castle in Miyatro. I'll give you land to farm. There will be taxes, but I promise a reasonable amount."

It was an offer to be deeply grateful for. He was willing to take in slash-and-burn farmers, and runaway serfs at that. Yet a few questions kept the Village Chief from accepting outright.

"I-I'm truly grateful, sir, but I don't understand why you'd show us such kindness."

"My domain needs workers, and you need land to farm, Village Chief. It's simply a transaction that supplies what each of us lacks, not a one-sided act of charity."

The Village Chief found this difficult to understand. Having spent his entire life as a noble's property, the very notion of making a deal with his master was foreign to him.

"We aren't even freefolk. How could we dare—"

"All my subjects are freefolk. They can leave whenever they wish."

The Village Chief's eyes widened.

"How can that be!"

"It's true, and the choice is yours as well. Think it over carefully, and come whenever you wish. I'll drop the formalities then."

Yohan glanced toward the hut.

"But enough of that. How is your grandson?"

Still seemingly overwhelmed, the Village Chief answered in a slightly trembling voice.

"H-he just woke up."

"May I see him before I leave?"

"Of course."

The boy would have seen Yohan's true identity. Though he had been possessed by the imp, he might still remember something. However pressed for time Yohan was, he could not leave without dealing with that.

"I'll just check on the boy, then be on my way."

"I hardly know what to do with myself, with you showing us such concern. O Great Saint, please grant this gentleman your light."

There seemed to be a slight misunderstanding, but Yohan saw no need to correct it. He headed straight into the hut.

* * *

"Are you certain this is the place?"

A red ball of fur poked its head out of the pocket of Ilea's pure-white fur coat.

"Yes! The great End bestowed his trial upon me in that very hut! One day, this place shall be known as the birthplace of evil deeds and become a sanctuary for all Demons!"

His voice echoed through the hamlet. Fortunately, it was the small hours and everyone was asleep, leaving no one to hear him. Ilea seized the imp and lifted him out.

"He doesn't seem to be here. I can't sense Yohan's presence at all."

She brought her face close to the imp's. Her beauty was breathtaking, but the imp felt nothing except terror. The unfathomable power she had displayed was all that remained etched in his mind.

"I-I'm not lying! He was definitely here!"

"I don't see him. I'm quite sure I asked if you knew where he was now, and you gave me the wrong answer. You can hardly complain if your death isn't a gentle one."

She repeatedly pulled his arms out to either side, then let them slacken. Agonized groans burst from the ball of fur.

"Give me a chance! I'll find him! Stop pulling! Please!"

Ilea sighed and stopped torturing him.

"This is your last chance. If you fail again... I'll say no more."

"D-don't worry! I have a keen nose! I can read tracks, too! Put me on the ground!"

The imp dropped flat against the ground and began sniffing.

"Small footprints, a human boy's scent, that strange revulsion I felt before..."

By revulsion, he meant the feeling that had welled up when he met the Great Saint's eyes. Listening to his muttering, Ilea tilted her head.

"Wait. Who exactly are you looking for?"

"What kind of question is that! I'm following the great one's trail, of course!"

"You're saying he left small footprints and smelled like a boy?"

"He was disguised as a human! Why do you keep interrupting when you don't know anything! So there are things even a witch doesn't know!"

Ilea could not make sense of it. Yohan had revealed that he was a half-demon? He would never do such a thing.

"Did you meet him during the day?"

"No! It was always at night! Now stop talking to me! You're ruining my concentra—Urgh!"

A heavy pressure bore down on his entire body. Ilea was pressing her foot firmly onto him.

"I'll give you five minutes. Find Yohan. Now."

Her voice was chillingly cold. The air around them grew frigid as well. She was anxious in a way quite unlike her.

'Something has happened to Yohan.'

If the imp was telling the truth, Yohan was in a human body even at night. By all reason, that was impossible, yet it did not sound like a lie. Ilea could hardly help feeling a sense of urgency.

Sensing her mood, the imp shut his mouth tight and began desperately sniffing the ground. To survive, to pass the Apostle's trial, he gave it everything he had.

* * *

Fortunately, the Village Chief's grandson remembered nothing. He had lost all memory of his possession and was suffering only from a headache. As soon as Yohan confirmed his condition, he left the hamlet.

He wanted to get out of the holy sealing array as quickly as possible. A worry he had buried was beginning to creep back to the surface.

All the circumstances indicated that Yohan's Demon self had not died. In other words, he could turn into a Demon at any moment. Sunrise was close, so it would not matter for now, but if he remained inside the array until tomorrow, there was a strong chance he would find himself in trouble. Somehow, he had to escape the array today.

'First, I'll find Ilea as soon as I get back.'

Too much had happened over the past few days, raising countless questions. Many were difficult problems he could not solve alone. The witch would be able to help. He did not want to rely on her, but for now he had no other option.

'I need to see her as soon as possible.'

For all his urgency, this body was far too slow. He soon grew tired and hungry. At this rate, it felt as though he could walk for weeks and still not reach his domain.

A sudden sense of danger swept over him. This was different from before. Flying was out of the question, he could not hope for Gaf's help, and he had even lost the horse he had ridden here.

Could he make it back to his domain? No, even that was a secondary concern. Viewed another way, his very survival was uncertain. In a world filled with countless dangers, he could not safely travel hundreds of kilometers in the body of a human child.

For the first time, a visceral fear of this world struck Yohan.

'I've had it easy until now.'

Everything had always gone according to plan, his path smoothly paved and free of setbacks. Someone had always been at his side, and there had always been a fallback. Not now.

He was alone. He would have to brave every threat with nothing but his own body and reach his domain. It was all but impossible.

He stopped abruptly. A chill wind blew. Animal cries sounded now and then, and darkness hung over his surroundings.

He had to turn back. Whether he went back to find Shaperia or at least traveled with the farmers, he had to arrange some other means of returning home. Making the journey alone was suicide.

Just as he was about to turn around, a rustle came from the bushes ahead.

Every hair on his body stood on end. He swallowed hard, intense tension coursing through him. The moment he clenched his fists, something popped out of the bushes. His rigid expression instantly relaxed.

"O great End! This wicked creature has overcome your trial!"

The red-furred imp stood looking at Yohan with one index finger raised, positively brimming with triumph. A familiar figure stepped out behind him.

"... Yohan?"

It was Ilea. Relief spread across Yohan's face. She, by contrast, stood rigid, her gaze fixed on the space above his head.

"What in the world is that?"

Mana tangled like a spiderweb and distorted space seized the witch's every sense. It was something unknown, something only she could see and feel.