Chapter 7
Raguel Myatro
After leaving Johan in Raguel’s room, Gaf headed to the ramparts.
From atop the high battlements, the lord’s estate could be seen at a glance.
The fields stretching out to the left were dyed red beneath the twilight. To the right, the tightly clustered houses bustled with residents in a hurry.
They were rushing to finish their remaining work. A curfew would soon be imposed.
It was an ancient custom of the South.
During the demons’ hour—in other words, at night—the streets must remain empty.
One by one, the people returned to their homes. Before long, silence descended upon the estate as moonlight settled over it.
Although the territory was submerged in darkness, the church glowed faintly because the symbol of the Church of the Great Saint absorbed the moonlight.
Gaf gazed at the church roof.
Tracing the points of a pentagram, he made the holy sign.
“Great Saint Margiel, your foolish servant has committed a sin against you. Please do not forgive me.”
It was bad enough that he had made a pact with a demon, but he had now participated in its wicked scheme.
It was surely an unforgivable sin.
“You should be confessing to me, not the Great Saint.”
A beautiful voice suddenly reached him.
It was familiar.
Gaf turned toward its source, and his pupils widened dramatically.
“Don’t you agree? You started a second family without telling your daughter.”
The girl wearing a gentle smile was walking toward him from the fortress tower.
“Ilea...?”
The girl slightly bowed her head. Her platinum-blond hair fluttered in the night wind.
“It has been a long time, Father.”
Gaf’s entire body went rigid.
“A-Are you truly...?”
His feet seemed rooted to the ground. He had to force himself to take one step after another.
“Are you truly...”
His eyes trembled as though he were a man who had encountered a mirage in the desert.
“...my daughter?”
After struggling toward her, he dropped heavily to one knee.
“Yes, I am. I’m your daughter, Ilea.”
Gaf cautiously caressed his daughter’s cheek. Ilea placed her hand over the back of his enormous one.
They shared the warmth of each other’s bodies.
Gaf’s eyes reddened.
“It really is you, Ilea.”
“Please don’t cry. I’m with you now.”
“I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I should never have taken my eyes off you, not even for a moment... I made a terrible mistake.”
Ilea patted Gaf’s back.
“But you came to rescue me in the end. No other parent would go as far as you have. So stop blaming yourself and dry your tears.”
Ilea’s voice was remarkably serene. A gentle smile even lingered on her face.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Has the baron touched you? I heard about his twisted proclivities. If he laid even a finger on you—”
Ilea shook her head.
“He hasn’t touched so much as a single hair on my body. In fact, he treats me extremely well.”
His daughter’s voice was far too composed.
Gaf could not help but feel that something was amiss.
A perverted monster lurked in the place to which she had been abducted. How could such a young girl remain so calm?
Her reaction was incomprehensible.
“I-Ilea, are you only pretending to be fine because you’re worried about your father? You don’t have to. If you’re suffering, we can leave immediately.”
Ilea smiled faintly.
“And what happens afterward?”
Even if they escaped successfully, they would be pursued for the rest of their lives.
Gaf spoke in a trembling voice.
“We can conceal our identities. We can go west, north, or even to the Empire. Just say the word, and we’ll leave immediately—”
“I don’t want to live that way.”
“But!”
Ilea gently embraced Gaf’s head.
“Father, you should reclaim your own life. You have a new family now, so live happily with them. You’ve more than earned the right to do so.”
“I-Ilea, what are you talking about? They’re...”
A strange look passed over Ilea’s face. She carefully pushed Gaf away.
Then she gazed intently into his eyes.
“They’re what?”
“They’re...”
Gaf could not easily continue.
It was difficult to tell her the truth—that the woman was a victim of a demon’s nocturnal assault and the baby was a half-demon.
Ilea smiled warmly and shook her head.
“Don’t force yourself. It doesn’t matter. However...”
An unusual gleam entered her eyes.
“I would like to see my younger sibling at least once.”
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from below.
Someone appeared to be climbing the stairs. Ilea calmly composed herself and helped Gaf to his feet.
“In any case, from now on, we’re strangers.”
Gaf’s expression darkened.
“You’re the only one who needs to be careful. I’ve already ensured that the girls who came here with me won’t say anything.”
The girls from Taharan who had been abducted alongside Ilea knew Gaf’s face.
“You understand, don’t you?”
At that moment, a young voice rang out sharply.
“Sister!”
Ilea turned her head.
A small girl was running toward them. She came to an abrupt stop in front of Ilea.
“Rowan, you’ll fall if you run like that.”
“But evening lessons are about to start, and you weren’t there.”
Ilea stroked the girl’s hair.
“You came to find me. How thoughtful of you.”
“If we’re late, the old hag will punish us. Rowan doesn’t want it to hurt.”
“All right. Let’s hurry.”
Ilea intertwined her fingers with the child’s. After glancing back at Gaf, she began walking away.
Gaf remained rooted to the spot, staring for a long time in the direction where his daughter had disappeared.
She was undoubtedly Ilea. She was still his considerate daughter, always smiling...
And yet she felt strangely unfamiliar.
Almost like a different person.
“Sister, who was that man?”
“Hmm... A hopeless man?”
“Even though he’s an adult?”
“Yes.”
A faint smile curved Ilea’s lips.
“But he’s a brave man.”
***
A frail hand rested against the rough stone wall. The torches mounted along the walls merely cast long shadows, offering him no guidance.
The blind boy had a firefly of his own.
“Stairs seem to frighten you.”
It was the demon.
Johan poked his head out from inside Raguel’s fur-lined clothes.
“I feel like I’m going to fall...”
The boy extended one foot toward the step below. His leg trembled slightly as he hesitated to put it down.
Unable to watch any longer, Johan said,
“Why don’t you simply slide down on your backside?”
“I want to walk on my own legs.”
The imp let out an incredulous laugh.
“What a pointless thing to be stubborn about.”
“Just guide me properly. You said you would become my eyes.”
Raguel was more assertive than Johan had expected.
Was he like this in the original novel too?
Johan could not remember clearly. Raguel had appeared only briefly in it.
“You made it here from your room without much trouble, didn’t you? The rest is up to you. Don’t be afraid. Take the step.”
The spiral staircase descended so deeply that its end could not be seen.
“Go on.”
Raguel cautiously stepped onto the first stair.
Relief spread across his face.
Johan chuckled.
“See? You can do it when you try. Well done.”
The corners of Raguel’s lips almost rose, only to stop abruptly.
“Being praised by a demon doesn’t make me happy at all.”
“Your expression said otherwise.”
Raguel was a child who would be delighted by even the smallest amount of attention or praise. Anyone who knew his circumstances could have guessed as much.
His mother had died giving birth to him. His father constantly abused him. The servants coldly projected their resentment toward their eccentric master onto Raguel. Some even condemned him as an unfilial monster who had devoured his own mother at birth.
Raguel could not help but be lonely.
“You saw it wrong. It actually made me feel worse.”
“You’re both equally prickly.”
“Both?”
Gaf also grumbled whenever Johan spoke to him.
“You don’t need to know. Just keep moving.”
The staircase descended deep underground. At this pace, the sun might rise before they reached their destination.
That would be disastrous.
“There’s no point in rushing me. This is as fast as I can go.”
Johan could hardly berate a blind boy for moving like a snail, so he could only endure his frustration. He wanted to possess the boy’s body, but even that was impossible.
The method of possession had not been imprinted in his mind.
Why can I form contracts but not possess anyone?
Like demonic contracts, possession was an ability that every demon could use.
Yet Johan alone could not.
Was there some detail in The Chronicle of Demons that I didn’t know about?
As he contemplated the original novel, he heard Raguel muttering.
His thoughts interrupted, Johan spoke bluntly.
“Stop mumbling and speak clearly.”
“I said I would’ve arrived already if I could see. You made me think you were going to give me eyes, but you deceived me.”
Johan clicked his tongue.
“You’ll have them soon, so stop complaining.”
“Really?”
“How soon you obtain them will depend on how quickly you reach the archive.”
The moment he finished speaking, Raguel began walking faster. He was trying remarkably hard.
He has a simple side to him.
His pace gradually increased.
“That’s fast enough. Be careful.”
Raguel had already stumbled several times, making Johan needlessly anxious.
“Take it easy—”
Sure enough, Raguel’s legs crossed.
The startled boy let out a groan as his body pitched forward.
“You idiot!”
He fell flat on his face and began tumbling down the stairs.
I can’t let him get hurt.
Johan leaped out of the boy’s fur-lined clothes. He tried desperately to support him, but he was powerless to do anything.
He was swept along and fell down the stairs with him.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Every impact struck their two fragile bodies directly.
At some point, Johan’s consciousness began to fade.
“...Where are you?”
His head throbbed painfully. His entire body burned as though it had been scorched.
“D-Don’t leave me alone.”
His vision spun.
“I can’t see anything.”
Johan swallowed a groan and suppressed the pain.
“Where are you...?”
Then he looked around.
A vast cylindrical chamber stretched out before him.
It was the Myatro barony’s underground archive.
The place was extremely dark, but that did not hinder a demon. A demon’s eyes shone brightest within the darkness.
His keen sense of smell also reacted immediately. A stale, musty odor stung his nose—the smell of mold rising from the enormous bookshelves surrounding the chamber.
“Please...”
Only then did Johan hear the boy sniffling.
He turned toward the sound.
The boy was curled tightly into himself, trembling violently.
Johan rose and walked toward him.
He had only managed to stand for the first time yesterday, yet he had already taken his first steps.
Should I thank Gaf for this?
His feelings were complicated.
Johan stopped in front of Raguel.
Even curled up, the boy was taller than him.
“Perhaps I should’ve taken your manhood as payment for our bargain.”
Raguel abruptly raised his head.
“Y-You!”
“A boy shouldn’t snivel so much.”
The boy initially flinched in surprise, then slowly began to relax.
“I thought you’d left me alone again... If you were here, you should’ve said something.”
“Stop whining. You’re not alone anymore. More importantly, are you hurt anywhere?”
The boy was clutching his right shoulder with his left hand.
“I can’t put any strength into my shoulder.”
Was it dislocated? Considering how far he had fallen, they had gotten off lightly.
“The legacy of your ancestors will heal it.”
The boy looked puzzled.
“...My ancestors?”
“To be precise, the legacy they left behind.”
The boy could not understand what Johan meant.
Looking around the archive, Johan said,
“This place is spacious, but otherwise it’s an ordinary library. There’s no reason to bury it so deep underground. Have you ever wondered why it was built in such an impractical location?”
Raguel had not.
He had actually liked how deep it was and had never questioned its practicality.
He was merely grateful that the place existed. It freed him from abuse and condemnation.
For the boy, it was a refuge.
Raguel shook his head.
The demon raised the corners of his mouth.
“Because your family had many things to hide.”
“What do you mean, hide...?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Johan helped Raguel to his feet.
“Follow me.”
Then he grasped the tip of the boy’s index finger and began guiding him.
Because of their difference in height, Raguel had to bend awkwardly at the waist as he followed.
“Where are we going?”
“To the place where you always sat.”
They headed toward the round table at the center of the archive.
Although the table was small, it had been fashioned from aurelite, the most expensive mineral in the world.
Stopping before the grayish-white table, Johan said,
“This will sting.”
With one sharp claw, he made a shallow cut across the boy’s palm.
“Ah!”
A thin trail of blood seeped out.
“W-Why did you suddenly...?”
“There’s a table in front of you. Place your palm in its center, as if you were making a handprint.”
The boy was confused, but he did not question the instruction.
He placed his hand on the table as directed.
“A little farther to the left.”
“L-Like this?”
“Now lower.”
“Lower...”
Johan sighed and climbed onto the table.
Taking hold of the boy’s hand himself, he placed it directly at the table’s center.
Drops of blood seeped into its surface.
At that moment, the aurelite began to glow brilliantly.
The pure-white radiance brought previously invisible runes to the surface. Lines intertwined like a spiderweb spread across the table.
The boy’s blood flowed through the engraved runes.
The aurelite turned crimson.
When it finally confirmed that he carried the Myatro bloodline, the ground shook violently.
The round table descended into the floor.
Dust accumulated over countless years billowed outward, clouding the archive.