Chapter 8
The Baronial Family’s Forbidden Archive
Terrified, Raguel tightly gripped the edge of the round table. Although the aurelite platform descended smoothly, the blind boy could find no sense of stability.
The sheer fear of the unexpected situation was overwhelming. Unable to see, he had no way of knowing what was happening.
Johan was equally nervous, though for a different reason.
The demon had been put on edge by the divine power surrounding him.
The great hall unfolding below them radiated an immense amount of holy energy. To a demon, it was lethal poison.
“...Damn it.”
His skin began to sting. The pain intensified the farther they descended. Soon, he could barely bring himself to look at the clusters of light.
Every individual radiance beneath his feet came from a sacred relic.
Anti-demon artifacts, original copies of holy scriptures, the highest-grade holy water—the archive contained virtually every sacred object that could make a demon recoil in horror.
Sitting on the table, Johan steadied his breathing.
At this rate, he might lose consciousness before he even set foot in the hall.
“A-Are you all right?”
Raguel must have heard him groan. Johan had tried to suppress it, but apparently he had not done a very good job.
“A human is worried about a demon?”
“I’m not worried. If something happens to you, I won’t be able to return either. Th-That’s all I meant...”
Johan forced out a laugh.
“The longer your explanation becomes, the more it sounds like an excuse.”
The boy bristled.
“Why else would I care what happens to you?”
“It was a joke. You’re rather sensitive.”
Raguel glared resentfully in Johan’s direction, though his eyes remained closed.
Teasing him was surprisingly entertaining.
“I’ll make sure you return, so don’t worry.”
The boy did not answer. Instead, he flinched as a tremendous boom struck his ears and a heavy vibration traveled through his ribs.
The round table had reached the ground.
An enormous chamber resembling the gallery of a great temple welcomed them.
“...W-Where in the world are we?”
Even though the boy had visited the library hundreds of times, he had never experienced anything like this. He had never imagined that another level existed beneath it.
Johan answered,
“The Forbidden Archive of the Abyss.”
“This must be the place you mentioned when we first met.”
“Yes.”
Johan had asked Raguel to bring him here.
“But how could a place like this...?”
“Your ancestors arranged it. You’ve heard of the Watchers of the Abyss, haven’t you?”
The boy nodded.
“I read our family history. It said that the heads of House Myatro had watched over the Abyss for generations.”
“That was only true until two hundred years ago. The present-day Myatro family has abandoned its duty. Just look at your father. What could he possibly keep watch over with that enormous body?”
It was neither inaccurate nor difficult to agree with, but the boy found it awkward to voice his agreement.
However much he disliked him, the baron was still his father.
“Well...”
“In any case, this place is the legacy of your family’s earliest heads. If you weren’t blind, your eyes would be bulging out of their sockets right now. What a shame.”
Every kind of book—magical tomes, sacred scriptures, and forbidden texts—lined the walls of the hall, while sacred relics covered the floor.
Busts of the former family heads stood in rows on both sides. Of course, only those who had not forgotten their duty were honored there. No new bust had been added in the past two hundred years.
The sacred armor draped over each statue radiated brilliant divine power. There was no need for candles; the interior was already brightly illuminated.
Unfortunately, that only made Johan suffer more.
“Let’s take what we need and get out of here.”
“What about your promise?”
“I’ll read the books to you in the library or your room.”
If Johan remained in the Forbidden Archive any longer, he felt as though he might genuinely melt.
“Follow me.”
With that, Johan pulled Raguel along for several steps.
It should be somewhere around here.
He stopped before a long display case. Rings and necklaces had been arranged across blue silk.
Every one of them was likely an ancient treasure.
Johan carefully examined the tag attached to each item.
Found it.
The Ring of the Holy Hero Kazan.
It was an artifact that protected its wearer from demonic energy.
It might have appeared useless to Johan, who was himself a demon, but it was actually the item he needed most.
A corrupted sacred relic gained powers opposite to its original properties.
An artifact that defended against demonic energy would become one that defended against divine power.
The moment Johan corrupted and equipped it, he would be able to come and go from the Forbidden Archive as though it were his own home.
Its other potential uses were limitless.
He could evade inquisitors, confront the Church’s holy knights, or penetrate the barriers of exorcist priests.
Regardless, Kazan’s Ring was the first item he needed to defile.
Johan reached for the relic.
The instant he did, the ring convulsed.
Crackle!
Divine power erupted from it and coursed through Johan’s body like an electrical current.
Horrific pain tore through his entire body.
Swallowing a groan, the demon retreated several steps.
“Just as I expected.”
He could not even touch a sacred relic.
“I’ll need your help.”
Johan pulled the boy’s arm toward the display case.
“Pick it up.”
Raguel lifted the ring and felt it with his fingers before murmuring,
“This is stealing.”
“From whom?”
“Well, from...”
Johan chuckled.
“From you. In fact, I suppose I’m robbing you.”
Every relic in the Forbidden Archive belonged to House Myatro, and Raguel was the family’s only son.
The boy looked incredulous.
“How can you be so shameless?”
“Demons are creatures that take what belongs to humans. I’m acting in accordance with my nature. Why shouldn’t I be proud?”
Raguel was dumbfounded by the demon’s brazen attitude.
He placed the ring back down.
“What if I refuse to help?”
“This entire process is meant to restore your sight. Stop arguing and do as you’re told.”
“No matter how many forced excuses you make—”
Johan interrupted him.
“If you don’t want to, then forget it. I’ll simply keep my promise and read books to you. You won’t escape your blindness, though.”
His agreement with the boy had been simple.
If Raguel became his legs, Johan would become his eyes.
Raguel had upheld his side of the bargain by bringing Johan into the Forbidden Archive. Once Johan repaid that favor, their relationship would end.
It was exactly that—a favor, not a contract. Their souls were not bound as collateral.
“B-But you said earlier that you would restore my sight.”
“Weren’t you the one who refused? Without that ring, there’s nothing I can do.”
The relic was both a stepping stone for Johan’s growth and a means of restoring the boy’s vision.
While trapped in the form of a juvenile demon, Johan could accomplish nothing.
“What does this ring have to do with—?”
“It’s an artifact that protects against demonic energy.”
“That has nothing to do with eyesight.”
“I can’t be bothered to explain every detail. As I said, you’re free to walk away if you don’t want this.”
With that, Johan turned away.
“If you’re done talking, let’s leave. If I stay here any longer, I’m going to lose my mind.”
The boy did not move. He remained standing there, staring down at the floor with his sightless eyes.
“...How can I trust the word of a demon?”
The corners of Johan’s mouth rose.
“A promise may sway like a reed, but a contract is sturdier than stone.”
The boy looked toward Johan with his blinded eyes.
“What did you just say...?”
“A contract. A transaction secured by one’s soul.”
Raguel at least understood the basic concept of a demonic contract.
Johan continued,
“This is your chance to obtain your sight in exchange for a single ring.”
That was a lie.
The ring would be the cornerstone that allowed Johan to devour the entire Forbidden Archive.
The boy could never have imagined it.
He merely stood face-to-face with temptation.
The demon said,
“Where could you possibly find a more profitable bargain? Am I not a truly merciful demon? Even Margiel would be moved to tears.”
The boy fidgeted with the hem of his trousers, repeatedly clenching and releasing the fabric. He remained hesitant and did not reach for the ring.
Johan chuckled.
“Bring it and follow me. We’ll form the contract in the library.”
If Johan released demonic energy here, one of the countless sacred relics might react to his malicious intent and tear him to pieces.
There could be no more miserable ending than that.
“Playing hard to get for too long becomes tiresome. Make up your mind and come along.”
With that, Johan tore a sheet of parchment from one wall.
It was a map of the Abyss.
He also took a small jewelry box, several journals concerning the valley, and a magical tome.
Some of those items would serve as leverage to control the witch.
Lastly, he plucked a single leaf from a sprout growing in the center of the hall.
It should easily heal the boy’s dislocated shoulder.
“Would you hurry over here and help me?”
It was difficult to carry everything with such a small body.
***
Several days had already passed.
It was difficult to believe.
Time had always crawled more slowly than a snail for the boy, but lately it passed like an arrow.
It had been that way ever since he met the demon.
Because he spent every waking moment with Johan, there was no time to feel lonely. He no longer felt trapped in the darkness either.
A life in which he looked forward to tomorrow had once seemed impossibly foreign.
Now, it had become his reality.
When will he come?
Recently, the demon had been reading him the life story of the Holy Hero Kazan.
Yesterday, they had stopped at the most exciting part. Raguel had not begged him to continue because he understood the demon’s circumstances.
Johan was a half-demon.
A crimson-blooded infant who transformed into a human at sunrise—Raguel had never heard of such a trait before. No half-demon recorded in history had suffered the same inconvenience as Johan.
He alternated between human and demon.
Johan surely endured many hardships of his own.
In any case, because of this peculiar trait, Raguel and the half-demon always left the library before sunrise and returned to the bedroom. It had become their established routine.
Raguel would lie on the bed, while the half-demon hid beneath it. When dawn arrived, someone would come and take Johan away.
Raguel would sleep soundly until the afternoon.
Today had been no different. He had awakened around three hours ago, so the demon should be arriving soon.
Sure enough, the door slowly opened with an aged creak.
As usual, he expected to hear an apology—something about being sorry and repaying the debt in hell.
Raguel always pretended to be asleep. He felt somewhat uncomfortable facing the unidentified man.
Even now, he lay there pretending to sleep soundly.
Time continued to tick past.
Even after a long while, the voice he expected never came.
Nor did he hear the door close.
This was different from usual. Someone had undoubtedly entered the room, yet that person did nothing.
Was it the maid bringing his meal?
That could not be. She had already come and gone long ago.
Then was it his father?
Probably not. Raguel had heard that the baron’s failing health had left him bedridden.
There was no one else who had reason to visit.
His chest began to feel strangely constricted.
Unable to bear the mounting anxiety, Raguel spoke first.
“Um...”
“So you were awake, Young Master.”
It was a pleasant, beautiful voice.
And it was familiar.
Raguel immediately pressed himself against the edge of the bed as though trying to escape.
“Young Master?”
He knew that girl.
She must have been one of the girls brought here to serve the baron. Hers was a face one would find difficult to forget after seeing it once.
Scrape.
The sound of friction interrupted his thoughts. She appeared to have pulled over a chair and sat down.
“There’s something I’m curious about, so I took the liberty of coming here. Please forgive me.”
Raguel did not answer.
“Do you know the mercenary who was hired recently?”
He did not.
He had never been interested in the first place.
“I noticed that you carry a scent similar to his.”
What scent?
Raguel could not understand what she meant.
“So I was wondering—have the two of you made the same wicked friend?”
Her breath drew close to his face. Her lowered voice continued.
“If so, please introduce me as well.”
Raguel recalled his conversation with the demon.
Before long, Ilea may come looking for you.
For me? Why?
Don’t ask why. Just remember one thing.
...All right.
If she appears, shout this. Repeat after me.
“...Begone, witch!”
Unlike Johan’s commanding rendition, Raguel’s voice came out timid and faint.
There was no response.
Only silence flowed between them.
The air grew cold.
Raguel hiccupped.
“How interesting.”