Chapter 2
The Demon’s Sword and Shield
“Silence that creature at once!”
The village chief, who was usually calm, suddenly shouted.
“What are you all doing? Hurry!”
He rose on his aged legs and even brandished his cane. He appeared strangely desperate and anxious.
Confusion spread across the peasants’ faces.
“Village Chief?”
“W-Why are you suddenly acting like this?”
It was rare to see the village chief lose his composure so completely.
“You’re all being deceived by that creature! Can’t you see?!”
Despite his furious rebuke, the villagers merely hesitated and made no move.
“You fools must have all lost your minds! Will you only come to your senses after I notify the Church?”
If the Church of the Great Saint learned what was happening in the village, it would undoubtedly dispatch a demon-subjugation unit. Inquisitors would surely be among them.
The village would never survive their investigation unscathed.
The residents knew that reality all too well.
“But...”
Wasn’t the temptation far too alluring to reject?
The demon was offering to reveal where their missing children were. What parent could easily turn their back on that? Had it merely offered them wealth and luxury, they would have already rejected it.
One peasant lowered his head. Another groaned as he recalled his daughter’s face.
Gaf was no different. The hand gripping Johan began to tremble.
The demon looked at the village chief with a relaxed expression.
“You don’t mean that. The village chief could never report this. So, peasants, pay me my price and receive the answers you desire.”
The village chief’s face twisted. The wrinkles already covering his skin deepened even further as he lunged forward.
“If none of you can do it, then I’ll do it myself...!”
He pulled a dagger from inside his clothes and thrust it at Johan.
Just before the blade reached him, a burly man wrapped his arms around the village chief from behind.
“V-Village Chief! Please calm down first!”
The old man struggled in the man’s grasp.
“You insolent fool! Let go of me! I must cut out that wicked tongue!”
“Are you trying to kill it?”
“If necessary!”
Johan chuckled.
“Village Chief, didn’t you say so yourself? Killing me would cause trouble.”
The village chief shouted, his face flushed crimson.
“Gaf! How long do you intend to leave that filthy tongue untouched? Great Saint Margiel is watching us! Are you not afraid?!”
Johan shrugged.
“I’m sure the dismembered Margiel is doing a fine job of that.”
He had insulted the Great Saint.
It was blasphemy of the highest order. Everyone made a show of cleaning out their ears.
Johan paid them no heed and looked at Gaf.
“It seems the village chief has no intention of speaking with me.”
The corners of his mouth rose.
“What about you, Gaf? Will you tear out my tongue as the village chief commands? Or will you bargain with me and find your daughter?”
He exchanged glances with the peasants as well.
“The longer you delay your decision, the longer your children will suffer. Remember that.”
Immediately afterward, excruciating pain engulfed Johan.
Gaf had tightened his grip around the back of his neck. An ordinary infant’s spine would have snapped.
Johan was different. He merely furrowed his brow without crying out in agony.
A demon’s body was far sturdier than a human’s.
Of course, that did not mean he felt no pain.
Johan glared at Gaf. His dark crimson eyes gleamed ominously.
“...What are you doing?”
“How am I supposed to trust a damned demon?”
Despite his violent words and actions, Gaf’s voice had softened somewhat.
He was conflicted.
Johan smiled inwardly.
It was time to drive the point home.
“Our lives will serve as collateral for the bargain. What agreement could possibly be more transparent than that?”
Still restrained by the burly villager, the village chief shouted,
“Gaf! Do not be tempted! Those are a demon’s whispers!”
Johan did not even glance at him. He merely stared directly into Gaf’s eyes and spoke.
“You call me a demon, but that isn’t entirely true. You know that, don’t you? Red blood also flows through my veins.”
Strictly speaking, he was a half-demon.
A damned half-breed.
A mongrel that could never belong to either race.
Johan softened his expression slightly.
“That means I possess human emotions too.”
Gaf scoffed.
“Human emotions? Bullshit. I’ve seen countless creatures filled with demonic energy. Every last one of them was driven by malice. Even those who became cultists later in life were like that. What does that make someone like you, who was born with black blood?”
He paused and stared at Johan’s horn.
“Half of you is human? Look at yourself. You are far closer to a demon than a human. Whatever red blood you possess has already rotted away. You are nothing more than a filthy half-breed.”
Johan looked down at his own body.
Red markings were engraved across his black skin. The smoke wrapped around his body like tattered cloth was demonic energy.
It was darker than pitch-black darkness itself.
Anyone who saw him would call him a demon.
Why had he possessed this body of all things?
Johan felt bitter, but he let out a faint laugh.
“Well, you’re not entirely wrong.”
He continued in a nonchalant tone.
“So, Gaf, can you truly not bring yourself to bargain with a filthy half-breed?”
Gaf ground his teeth.
He did not want to succumb to those poisonous whispers, but he could not steady his resolve.
Was the missing Ilea truly still alive?
He desperately wanted an answer, no matter what 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 muttered,
“...What if I tortured you?”
Perhaps he could force the truth out of him.
But would the creature survive the torture?
There was no way to know. A demon’s body might be stronger than a human’s, but this half-breed was still merely a newborn.
It would not be strange if he suddenly died.
Johan looked Gaf directly in the eyes.
“You would gain nothing from me.”
After deliberating deeply, Gaf let out a heavy sigh.
“...Fine.”
His wavering eyes gradually became resolute.
“But if there is even the slightest lie in anything you’ve said...”
Gaf’s face abruptly twisted like that of a vengeful spirit. He growled as though coughing up blood.
“I will tear you limb from limb.”
For the sake of his daughter, he had sold his convictions to a demon.
Rage, despair, murderous intent, shame, self-reproach—countless negative emotions battered Johan.
Any human subjected to such hostility would naturally feel deeply uncomfortable.
But Johan was different.
A faint excitement began to wash over him.
It was a form of pleasure—a sense of fulfillment born from instinct.
Gaf’s anguish was bringing Johan ecstasy.
‘...No way.’
It was because he was a demon.
Demons were monsters that fed upon human suffering.
As if to prove it, the smoke surrounding Johan began to billow more violently. The demonic energy had grown even more sinister. Blending with the moonlight filtering through the granary’s barred windows, it scattered an eerie glow.
His crimson eyes also gleamed with far greater malevolence.
The peasants backed away in alarm.
Their fear transformed into yet more nourishment.
Johan’s expression changed from one moment to the next. He giggled, grimaced, became ecstatic, and then sank into despair...
Dozens of crazed emotions flashed across his face in a single instant.
To humans, it was a horrifyingly unnatural sight.
Johan bit down hard on his tongue. He felt as though he would lose his sanity unless he hurt himself.
Fortunately, the pain dragged him out of the mire of malice.
After regaining his senses, he looked around. Fear filled everyone’s eyes. No one could bring themselves to speak.
Amid the uncomfortable silence, Johan sank briefly into thought.
Never cause harm to others.
Even if he could not embody the absolute goodness described in morality textbooks, he should at least live with basic decency.
That had always been Johan’s creed.
And yet, of all things, he had become a demon.
He had become a monster that fed upon tears.
Nausea rose within him.
“...Fuck.”
His quiet voice sank into the silence.
No one responded. Only the occasional sound of tense breathing could be heard.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Gaf’s voice broke the stillness.
“Demon, I have given you my answer.”
There was no point agonizing over something for which he had no answer.
Johan refused to die while merely lamenting his fate.
For now, he had to survive.
He cut off his thoughts and spoke.
“...A wise decision.”
The village chief erupted.
“Gaf, you bastard! Do you intend to bring ruin upon this entire village?!”
Any village that bargained with a demon became a target for annihilation by the Church of the Great Saint.
Gaf replied calmly.
“I will enter the pact alone and leave this village with the demon.”
He meant to shoulder the entire burden himself.
The other peasants who had lost children cleared their throats awkwardly. They avoided Gaf’s gaze.
“D-Do you truly believe such a flimsy excuse will work?”
“It will. I’m an outsider.”
With that, Gaf looked at Johan.
“What do I have to do?”
A pact with a demon.
It was a transaction in which each party exchanged something while placing a soul as collateral.
Every demon in the novel was capable of forming pacts and possessing others. To them, it was as natural as breathing was to humans.
It was likely a form of instinct.
The method of forming a pact was already engraved in Johan’s mind.
The demon crooked his index finger.
“Come closer.”
Gaf furrowed his brow and leaned his face closer.
Johan spoke.
“I will tell you where your daughter is. In return, you will protect me. Your soul will serve as collateral. Do you agree?”
If Gaf accepted, he would be required to protect Johan with his life.
If Johan died, Gaf’s soul would fall into hell.
Gaf closed his eyes.
After taking a deep breath, he raised his eyelids once more. Determination filled his eyes.
“I agree.”
Johan’s lips stretched into a wide smile.
At the same moment, the demonic energy surrounding him began to surge.
The smoke pulsed like a beating heart before spewing out strand after strand of black haze.
Malice filled the granary.
Everyone froze stiff.
The village chief shouted,
“Stop! You mustn’t!”
Johan extended his short arm toward Gaf.
“Accept it.”
All the demonic energy drifting through the air rushed toward Gaf at once.
The mercenary looked deeply startled, but he did not resist.
He simply inhaled the demonic energy through his nose and mouth.
“It will not harm your body.”
However, should Gaf fail to fulfill his promise, that demonic energy would crush his heart.
Gaf grimaced. He had swallowed every last trace of the rampaging energy, so it was hardly surprising that he felt uncomfortable.
“...Is it over?”
The malice had dispersed, leaving behind only a faint aftertaste.
Johan nodded.
“I’ll fulfill my end of the bargain first.”
With that, Johan slowly swept his gaze across the villagers.
Many of the people gathered there were parents in circumstances similar to Gaf’s.
Every one of them waited for Johan to speak.
Johan’s gaze stopped at one particular place.
He was staring at the village chief.
The old man had fallen silent, but his breathing was extremely irregular.
He appeared anxious.
Johan slowly opened his mouth.
“Village Chief.”
Utterly composed, he smiled like a victor.
“Who did you hand the missing children over to?”
The old man’s face turned deathly pale.
The peasants muttered in confusion.
“Wh-What does that mean...?”
“Village Chief?”
Johan continued.
“This is your chance to confess in your own words.”
At that moment, the village chief violently shook off the burly man restraining him.
“Y-You wicked demon bastard!”
Clutching his dagger, he lunged at Johan.
Unfortunately for him, the old man’s desperate charge never reached its target.
A massive hand stopped him.
It belonged to Gaf.
He held Johan securely in one arm while gripping the old man’s face with his other hand.
Distrust flickered in Gaf’s eyes as he stared at the village chief.
“...What exactly is he telling you to confess?”
Johan was thoroughly satisfied.
He had gained a dependable ally.
A demon contractor who had betrayed the Great Saint.
Gaf, captain of the Kandeya Mercenary Company, would now serve as the demon’s sword and shield.