Chapter 6
The Blind Boy and the Demon
“Did you meet Ilea?”
The faint candlelight cast the imp’s shadow across the wall.
With limbs disproportionately long compared to his torso, a tiny head, and horns no larger than half a little finger, his silhouette vaguely resembled a fairy.
The reality was entirely different.
Gaf looked away from the shadow and regarded Johan’s true form.
The grotesque creature was covered in red markings. An unmistakable lesser demon reclined against the bed.
Gaf shook his head.
“I only met the baron. I didn’t see Ilea anywhere.”
“She’ll be fine, so don’t worry too much.”
Earlier that day, Gaf had visited the lord’s castle. His objective had been to familiarize himself with its interior, and he had succeeded reasonably well.
His second objective, however, had ended in failure.
He had been unable to check on Ilea’s condition.
With a troubled expression, he said,
“The baron struck me as a typical scoundrel. The rumors say the same. What sort of man is he?”
This demon would undoubtedly know.
Johan replied indifferently,
“A pedophile and a sadist. He’s exactly what he appears to be.”
Gaf bit his lip.
“And you’re telling me not to worry?”
Johan snickered.
“Ilea is even worse. You don’t seem to know your own daughter very well.”
To call her worse than that disgusting, perverted nobleman was an unparalleled insult.
Gaf scowled.
“What sort of outrageous nonsense is that?”
“Admittedly, that was poorly phrased.”
Ilea was too innocent to be called wicked, yet too devious to be called pure. Even Johan could not clearly define her true nature.
One thing, however, was certain.
“Whatever she may be, Ilea already has the baron dancing in the palm of her hand. Even you should be able to understand that much.”
“Me? What could possibly make you think that?”
Johan stared silently at him. After pondering for a moment, he spoke.
“During all the years you spent with your daughter, did you never once witness her behaving strangely?”
Gaf frowned as though Johan were speaking nonsense.
“Behaving strangely? Explain yourself.”
“Think carefully. It would be strange if you couldn’t remember at least one instance.”
Johan was genuinely curious. Had Gaf truly never noticed anything unusual about Ilea?
The original novel had not provided an answer. The Chronicle of Demons had never explored its characters’ inner thoughts or psychology in much depth.
“Come on. Search your memory.”
The demon before him seemed oddly enthusiastic.
“I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Johan clicked his tongue.
“Either you’re hopelessly oblivious, blinded by your love for your daughter, or...”
Ilea had concealed her true nature perfectly.
“Whatever the answer, you’re a dull and frustrating man. You’ll be fortunate if you aren’t hurt when you reunite with your daughter.”
Gaf refused to rise to the provocation.
“Enough nonsense. Let’s get to the point. Starting tomorrow, I intend to stay at the lord’s castle.”
Johan slowly looked around.
“Starting tomorrow? Then where are we now?”
“A room at an inn.”
Johan possessed the same awareness during the day as he did at night, but as a newborn baby, he could not resist sleep.
The moment they entered the lord’s castle, drowsiness had overwhelmed him. When he opened his eyes again, he was here.
“It seems you managed to secure a room in the castle. Why didn’t you move in today?”
“You turn into a demon at night. Your identity might be exposed.”
A lesser demon residing inside the lord’s castle would be exceedingly dangerous—for humans and demons alike.
Johan chuckled.
“You actually used your head for once.”
Ignoring the mockery, Gaf continued.
“You will remain hidden at this inn with your mother. I’ll visit at least once a day. I need to stay close to Ilea.”
“You intend to protect your daughter secretly, like some knight in the shadows?”
“That is the plan for now.”
Johan shrugged.
“Fine. Do as you please.”
Gaf regarded him suspiciously.
“That’s all?”
He had expected a torrent of abuse—You idiot, you call that a plan? What a pathetic scheme—yet Johan had accepted it surprisingly quickly.
“That’s all.”
Johan did not care either way. The baron would be unable to lay a hand on Ilea, which meant Gaf would have no reason to intervene.
Gaf, the knight in the shadows, merely needed to stand around like a useless sack of barley.
“But I’ll warn you about one thing. Don’t say anything unnecessary to the baron. Don’t demand Ilea as payment for your services, and don’t reveal that you’re her father. All of it would be pointless.”
The baron would become increasingly obsessed with Ilea as the days passed. That twisted lover would never relinquish her merely to pay a mercenary’s wages.
“Do you understand?”
Johan needed an answer. As long as Gaf refrained from acting impulsively, his plan would proceed smoothly.
“...I know.”
His tone suggested reluctant acceptance.
Johan frowned.
“Were you actually considering it?”
“I thought about it, but dismissed the idea immediately.”
Even Gaf believed that such a direct approach would not be a wise choice.
“What a relief. I nearly had to crack your skull open.”
Gaf let out a derisive laugh.
“How would you do that when you can’t even walk on your own?”
A playful smile spread across Johan’s face.
“Are you certain about that?”
Gaf looked Johan up and down.
The demon remained small and frail. He seemed to have grown slightly taller, but even so, he was only about as tall as an adult man’s shin.
Gaf snorted.
“What a ridiculous claim.”
“You’re far too quick to judge.”
Johan gazed at Gaf with a sly expression before continuing.
“Regardless, fine. Do your work. However, there is one thing you must add to your daily routine.”
Suspicion flashed through Gaf’s eyes.
“What is it?”
“Starting tomorrow, bring me to the castle shortly before sunset. Then bring me back here when the sun rises.”
In other words, he intended to roam around the castle in his demonic form—or so it sounded to Gaf.
“What sort of nonsense is that?”
“To be precise, take me to the baron’s son’s room. You can leave me beneath his bed.”
The baron’s only son, Raguel Myatro. Gaf had heard about him.
He was blind in one eye and walked with a limp, if Gaf remembered correctly. In that case, the demon’s intentions were obvious.
“I’ll tell you now: I won’t participate in your scheme.”
“Is that so? Fine. It won’t be a serious problem even without your help.”
How could an imp who had not even learned to walk visit the castle on his own? It was impossible.
“The fact that you’re bluffing tells me you must be desperate.”
Johan stretched the corners of his mouth into a wide grin.
“Bluffing? Watch with your own eyes before saying that.”
Johan turned over onto his stomach. Planting both hands against the bedsheet, he put strength into his arms as though performing a push-up.
“I’ve devoured so many of your emotions that I’m changing by the day.”
His upper body began to rise. The tiny things attached to his shoulder blades also fluttered, but they were far too small to lift his body.
He was raising himself solely with the strength of his arms.
Alarm spread across Gaf’s face.
“W-What...?”
When Johan finally stood on both feet, Gaf could not conceal his shock.
“You!”
“Now look. This is what happens when you treat me like a dumping ground for your emotions.”
Demons were monsters that fed upon human emotions. The hostility and anxiety directed toward Johan had accelerated his growth.
“In a few days, I should be able to walk.”
For now, standing was the limit. Even then, his legs trembled so violently that he would have toppled over within moments had the mother not steadied him.
The standing demon gave him a sinister smile.
“I could go there on my own, but that would be somewhat risky. A villager or soldier might discover me.”
And under the terms of their contract, Gaf would die as well.
Gaf bit his lip. Was this wicked scheme truly going to be carried out? He had to stop it somehow. He may have contracted with a demon for his daughter’s sake, but he could not sacrifice another person.
If I deprive him of his freedom...
Just as that thought crossed his mind, the demon spoke.
“Don’t do anything rash. The contract requires you to ‘protect’ me. From this moment onward, if you attempt to physically restrain me, I will consider it a breach of contract.”
Then he added,
“You do understand what ‘protect’ means, don’t you?”
“...I would be confining you for your own protection.”
“What an amusing interpretation.”
The demon chuckled.
“Go ahead and try. I’m curious whether such wordplay will work. Just remember that the demonic energy gripping your heart will see straight through your true intentions.”
Johan sat back against the headboard.
“You have only one chance. If you fail, you’ll have to say farewell to your daughter. I’ll pass along your regards in your place.”
The demon leisurely offered up his body.
“Go on, then. Do as you please.”
***
Raguel Myatro was trapped in pitch-black darkness. Even when he lifted his eyelids, the suffocating darkness did not disappear.
His clouded pupils could no longer absorb light.
He would never see again.
The boy had been born blind in one eye. Several weeks earlier, he had lost the sight in his remaining eye as well.
It was the result of abuse at the hands of his father, the baron.
He had simply been unlucky. When he ducked to avoid a candlestick hurled at him, it had left him completely blind.
He would never again be able to enjoy reading, his only pastime.
Raguel sniffled. No one comforted him. There was no one at the boy’s side.
Only a coldhearted maid who brought him his meals visited from time to time.
That should have been the case.
Yet someone had entered his room a short while ago.
Raguel could not see him, but he could hear him.
Rustle. Rustle.
The man lingered near the boy before leaving him with a single remark.
“...I’m sorry. Someday, I’ll pay for this in hell.”
Even when Raguel asked who he was, no answer came.
Then the door closed.
The lonely, desolate hours began to pass once more.
Hope was the pillar that sustained life, yet not even a handful of it could be found inside this lightless prison.
The boy murmured,
“...Great Saint Margiel, please grant me even the faintest glimmer of dawn.”
His hollow voice sank into the silence and disappeared.
Ordinarily, that would have been all.
“Do not pray.”
But tonight was different.
The boy abruptly sat upright.
“W-Who are you?”
He rose so violently that the bandages wrapped around his eyes slipped loose.
Something cold touched the edge of his lips.
“It is late at night. Everyone else is asleep.”
The foreign sensation crept over the space above his lip and along his cheek.
“And yet you alone remain awake.”
Then it began gently caressing the area around his injured eyes.
“What are you searching for while trapped in the darkness?”
The low voice continued.
“Through prayers that will never be answered.”
“I-I asked who you are.”
“I am the demon who came because I could no longer bear to hear your prayers.”
The boy swallowed dryly.
“...A-A demon?”
“Yes, a monster that feeds upon darkness. Your despair guided me here.”
The boy cried out in a trembling voice,
“B-Be gone! In the name of the Great Saint—”
The gentle voice cut him off.
“Child, do not cling to an illusion. Margiel is not close enough to hear your prayers.”
At that moment, murky smoke seeped into the boy’s lungs.
“And yet the glimmer of dawn you have searched for so desperately is right before you.”
Two red points of light flickered within the blind boy’s vision.
“Take my hand. I shall devour your darkness.”
The boy shook his head frantically. No matter how he turned away within the pitch-black darkness, the red eyes followed and stared at him.
“What do you want from me?”
“Become my legs.”
Then the demon added,
“And I shall become your eyes. Together, we will descend into the Forbidden Archive, and you can read all those books you loved to your heart’s content.”
The Myatro barony’s Forbidden Archive contained sacred relics and magical tomes recovered from the Valley of Death by the Watchers of the Abyss.
Johan needed them.
Demons were beings that evolved by corrupting sacred relics.
Sacrilege.
His mouth was already watering.
The demon gently took the boy’s frail hand.
“Come, child. Take my hand. You will gain a reason to keep living.”
His voice was sweet.