Chapter 3
Damned Half-Breed
“M-Mmph! Mmmph!”
The village chief could only make muffled sounds as though air were trapped in his lungs.
“Will you confess?”
The moment Johan asked, Gaf released the old man’s face.
“Y-You bastard, Gaf! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
Even after being freed, the old man remained defiant.
“Answer me!”
“He’s trying to turn us against each other! Gaf, don’t let the demon deceive you!”
Johan clicked his tongue.
“Your guilty conscience is making you angry.”
Then he looked at Gaf.
“Doesn’t he look more hideous than a demon?”
Gaf scowled.
“I’ll hear it directly from you. Speak.”
“That may be for the best. The village chief clearly intends to feign ignorance.”
The village chief shrieked hysterically.
“Cover your ears! Those whispers are poisonous!”
Johan’s smile vanished. A low voice emerged from his mouth.
“Ilea is at the lord’s castle.”
At that moment, the village chief gradually stiffened. Cold sweat formed across his forehead.
“This applies to all of you. Listen carefully.”
Every gaze turned toward the newborn demon.
“The missing maidens were presented to the lord as tribute—under the village chief’s supervision.”
It was a calm revelation.
The flustered village chief could not speak. A mere newborn had uncovered the secret he wished to hide.
But how?
It was incomprehensible.
“V-Village Chief, is that true?”
“Please say something!”
“Village Chief!”
No answer came.
Gaf strode forward.
“...Explain yourself.”
The enormous man towered over the old man. With nearly two heads’ difference in height, his presence was overwhelmingly intimidating.
“A-A trick...”
The old man’s voice trembled.
“I-It’s a demon’s trick.”
Johan shrugged.
“Search the village chief’s house. You’re bound to find something.”
He added,
“You could also interrogate the men who regularly associate with him.”
Finding evidence would be easy. The village chief was not particularly meticulous.
Even in the original story, his crimes were eventually exposed.
Johan had merely brought that moment forward.
“I’ll ask you one last time! Were you the one who took my daughter away?!”
Gaf’s roar thundered through the granary like the growl of a wild beast.
“I-I...”
Overwhelmed, the village chief could say no more.
“Why can’t you answer me? Speak!”
The village chief bit his lip hard and shouted,
“There was no other choice!”
Gaf reached toward his waist.
“I took in a damned penniless beggar, and this is how you repay me! Gale! Tonya! Jod! Get in here—”
Before the village chief could finish, a translucent arc swept through the air.
A chilling sound of severed flesh followed.
The old man’s head slid helplessly from his shoulders.
His headless body slowly collapsed.
Gaf had cut him down with his sword.
The gathered peasants stared in horror. Amid their screams, the sound of hurried footsteps appeared and quickly faded into the distance.
They must have belonged to the men guarding the main entrance.
Gale, Tonya, and Jod, if Johan remembered correctly.
Whatever their names were, they had to be the village chief’s lackeys.
Johan pointed toward the entrance.
“Gaf, chase them down and kill them.”
Those men posed a threat.
If they fled to a neighboring village and spread rumors about the demon, Johan would be in serious trouble.
He needed to eliminate the danger before it could grow.
Yes, that was surely the rational conclusion...
Yet Johan felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
He felt no aversion to murder whatsoever. Even the decapitation he had just witnessed had hardly disturbed him.
It must have been a side effect of possessing a half-demon’s body.
Gaf looked down at Johan.
“Damn it. You want me to kill them merely because they know what you are?”
It was a decision utterly devoid of humanity.
Even Johan was startled by his own words, yet his mind continued to process the matter logically.
“If the Order discovers me, I’ll die. The same is true for you. Our fates are bound together now, Gaf.”
Gaf turned his head. His gaze settled upon the trembling peasants.
“Then do you intend to kill them as well?”
Several of them desperately cried out.
“G-Gaf, please spare me! My elderly mother will be left all alone.”
“I beg you! Didn’t my son always look up to you?”
“Don’t forget who helped build your house!”
Johan asked expressionlessly,
“Other than the people gathered here, are there any villagers who know what I am?”
Gaf shook his head.
“These are all of them. The others know nothing.”
There were roughly ten people gathered inside the granary.
They were likely villagers entrusted with deciding important matters or residents who had happened to witness the half-breed’s birth.
The safest course of action would be to kill them all.
From a coldly rational perspective, that was correct. There was a high chance that they would become a source of danger later.
But Johan did not want to do that.
‘At my core, I am human.’
He could not allow malice to consume him and erase Kim Johan.
He continued reminding himself of his identity.
At the very least, he would not harm innocent people.
Johan took in all the villagers at a glance.
“Taharan is a village that produced a half-breed. If the Order discovers what happened here, you will lose the place you call home. Some of you will probably be burned at the stake under the law of collective punishment.”
Whenever a demon was born, the surrounding area was usually exterminated under the pretext of purification.
Needless to say, the half-breed’s relatives would be placed on the execution rack.
“Do you want to experience such a tragedy?”
The thought alone was horrifying. Several villagers groaned uneasily.
Johan nodded.
“I doubt you do. You cannot be foolish enough to dig your own graves.”
He paused and observed their reactions.
Anxiety clouded every face.
“Don’t look so troubled. All you need to do is cut today out of your lives. It’s remarkably simple.”
The demon began to whisper.
“Once we leave, set fire to the granary. Consider it the village chief’s funeral, so leave his corpse where it lies. The evidence will disappear, and even the memories that remain will be carried away with the smoke.”
A fire in the night would swallow everything that had happened today.
“When the sun rises, begin your daily routines as usual. Plow the fields and sow your seeds. Then, all of a sudden...”
The demon smiled gently.
“You will find your daughters nestled safely in your arms.”
The peasants looked stunned.
“D-Daughters?”
“Are you saying you’ll bring them back?”
Binding them with contracts would have been safer, but that was impossible.
Johan had exhausted all his demonic energy forming the pact with Gaf.
“I-I heard him too.”
“But how will you rescue our daughters...?”
Ignoring those still clinging to unanswered questions, Johan looked at Gaf.
“Now, let’s go deal with the rest.”
Doubt flickered in Gaf’s eyes.
A demon pretending to be merciful?
That was probably what he was thinking.
Johan frowned slightly.
“Do you have time to stand there gawking? The fugitives must be quite far away by now.”
Gaf sheathed his sword.
“None of the three knows how to ride a horse.”
In this age, very few people possessed horsemanship skills.
“But you do. The Kandeya Mercenary Company was a cavalry unit, after all.”
Just how much did this newborn demon know?
Gaf could not begin to understand.
“...Can you read the past?”
“I could. Not anymore.”
“That’s unsettling.”
“Don’t complain. It’s thanks to that ability that you’ll find your daughter.”
Gaf narrowed his eyes.
“Ilea still isn’t standing before me.”
Johan chuckled.
“And yet you’re wasting time chatting. What makes you so relaxed?”
Gaf glared at Johan before releasing a brief sigh.
Whatever else happened, his daughter remained his highest priority.
Just as he was about to leave the granary, Johan spoke.
“I almost forgot.”
He pointed toward one of the straw piles.
“Take that woman with us.”
A dazed woman was crouched in a corner.
Gaf snorted.
“Do demons possess filial devotion too?”
The hem of her skirt was stained black. Anyone could tell that she was the half-breed’s biological mother.
“Think whatever you like. Just hurry.”
“That wasn’t part of our pact.”
Johan scowled.
“Stop arguing. This directly concerns my survival.”
In a broader sense, that was true.
The information he could obtain from the woman would serve as a foundation for preparing for the future. If events proceeded as they had in the novel, Johan would inevitably die.
He had to alter the course of the story somehow.
First, he needed to identify the demon who had visited the woman in her dreams and impregnated her.
Through him, Johan might be able to determine the lineage of this body.
“...What a convenient excuse.”
Gaf muttered in resignation. He walked over and hoisted the mother onto his back.
The lifeless woman showed no reaction.
“Let’s go.”
Without answering, Gaf began walking.
Holding the demon in one arm and carrying the mother with the other, he left the granary.
***
Dawn was breaking.
The rising sun beyond the hills scattered warm rays of light across the land.
It was time for everyone to begin their daily work.
Farmers would sow seeds in their fields, and blacksmiths would hammer sheets of iron. Hunters would check the traps they had set the previous night.
Johan was different.
He was overwhelmed by such profound exhaustion that performing any task was impossible.
It had begun the moment he saw the sun.
Now, he could hardly even open his mouth.
Clop, clop.
The uncomfortable ride made him dizzy as well.
‘What an inconsiderate bastard. He should have tied this more securely.’
The cloth sling hanging around Gaf’s neck swung wildly.
It was far too flimsy to protect a fragile infant.
Johan looked up at Gaf.
“....”
‘Stop and tie it again!’
He wanted to shout, but no words emerged.
The sounds merely lingered inside his mouth like an infant’s babbling.
Why was this happening?
The instant Johan sensed that something was wrong, Gaf’s eyes changed.
“You thought you could outsmart me, you filthy rats.”
He kicked the horse’s flank.
The massive warhorse began charging through the reed field.
“Stop hiding and come out!”
He was searching for the three men who had escaped—the village chief’s lackeys.
They had anticipated being pursued and concealed themselves among the reeds, but they could not evade a mercenary’s tracking skills.
They had left trails through the crushed stalks.
Gaf shouted,
“Come out and die fighting like men!”
At that moment, the reeds directly ahead began to collapse.
“Pathetic bastards. You intend to run until the very end.”
The three had initially fled together before scattering in a fan-shaped formation.
They probably believed that if they split up, at least one of them might survive.
Gaf turned his horse to the right.
He intended to deal with that one first.
“Hyah!”
He charged forward and caught up in an instant.
“Gale! You worthless bastard!”
The first fugitive looked back.
His eyes met Gaf’s as the mercenary bore down upon him on horseback. Gaf’s already enormous figure appeared even more gigantic.
“G-Gaf! W-Wait...!”
Slash!
The man’s head soared into the air.
Droplets of blood splattered across Gaf’s face.
Without stopping, Gaf pursued his next target.
He quickly caught the man fleeing through the center and cut him down in the same fashion.
Finally, Gaf encountered the fugitive who had run to the left and dismounted from his horse.
He approached with heavy steps and asked,
“Tonya, why did you do it?”
The third fugitive had already given up on escaping.
He raised his sword and answered,
“I needed the money. I won’t make excuses.”
“Yes. That sounds like you.”
Tonya let out a battle cry. He charged at Gaf and brought his sword down vertically.
His spirit was admirable, but his blade failed to cut flesh.
It was effortlessly knocked aside by Gaf’s sword.
“Farewell.”
Gaf thrust his sword straight ahead.
The enormous blade pierced Tonya’s throat.
Blood burst from the wound.
Tonya’s body convulsed.
Gaf planted a foot against him and pulled the sword free.
The corpse collapsed limply onto the ground.
After shaking the blood from his blade, Gaf looked down at Johan.
“There. I’ve silenced every last one of them.”
No answer came.
“Is that good enough?”
The demon remained silent.
Frowning, Gaf examined Johan more closely.
Something was strange.
The reddish markings had disappeared without a trace. The white horn was nowhere to be seen, and the demonic energy that had surrounded him was gone.
The wicked half-breed had vanished.
In his place was a fair-skinned infant babbling incoherently.
Gaf doubted his own eyes.
“What in the... Hah.”
A disbelieving laugh escaped him.
Was this because the child was a half-demon?
It was absurd.
As he continued staring, an old memory came to mind.
It was from the day he had found the abandoned Ilea.
She had been so plump and adorable.
Gaf immediately shook off the memory.
How could he associate a mere half-demon with his daughter?
It was an unforgivable mistake.
Reproaching himself, Gaf handed the cloth sling to the mother.
“...At least nurse him.”
Then he mounted his horse and proceeded at a slow pace.
Thus began his journey with the damned half-demon.