Chapter 2. The Demon’s Sword and Shield

“Shut that mouth right now!”

The village chief, who was always composed, suddenly shouted.

“What are you all doing?! Hurry!”

He struggled to rise from his old body, even waving his cane about. He looked somehow desperate and anxious.

Confusion spread across the farmers’ faces.

“Chief?”

“W-Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

It was unusual to see the village chief so flustered.

“Are you all being bewitched by that thing?! Can’t you understand?!”

Despite his bellowing, the people merely hesitated, making no move.

“You fools have all gone mad! Do I have to contact the Church before you come to your senses?!”

If the Great Holy Church learned of the village’s situation, they would undoubtedly dispatch an Exorcist Society. There would probably be Inquisitors among them as well. The village could never remain intact under their investigation.

The villagers knew that reality all too well.

“But...”

Wasn’t it simply too tempting to turn down?

If someone claimed they could tell them the whereabouts of their missing children, what parent could possibly resist? If they had merely been offered wealth and glory, they would have cut ties long ago.

One of the farmers lowered his head. Another swallowed a groan as he pictured his daughter’s face.

Gaf was no different. The hand gripping Yohan was trembling.

The demon gazed at the village chief with an untroubled expression.

“You’re saying something you don’t mean. The chief will never report me. So, farmers, pay me the price and hear the answers you desire.”

The chief’s face twisted. The wrinkles already etched deeply into his skin seemed to grow even deeper. He suddenly lunged forward.

“If you lot won’t do it, then I’ll do it myself...!”

He pulled a dagger from inside his clothes and thrust it toward Yohan. Just before it could reach him, a burly man wrapped his arms around the chief from behind.

“C-Chief! Please, calm down for now!”

The old man struggled in the man’s grasp.

“You insolent bastard! Let go of me! I have to cut out that three-inch tongue!”

“You intend to kill him?!”

“If necessary!”

Yohan snickered.

“Chief, didn’t you say it yourself? You’d be in trouble if I died.”

The chief’s face flushed red as he shouted.

“Gaf! How long are you going to let that filthy tongue run free?! The Great Saint Marziel is watching! Aren’t you afraid?!”

Yohan shrugged.

“Marziel, torn to pieces, can hardly be watching anything.”

Insulting the Great Saint.

It was the ultimate blasphemy.

Everyone pretended to wash their ears.

Yohan paid them no mind and looked at Gaf.

“The chief clearly has no intention of speaking with me.”

Then the corners of his mouth rose.

“What about you, Gaf? Will you tear my mouth apart as the chief commands? Or will you make a deal with me and find your daughter?”

He exchanged glances with the other farmers as well.

“The longer you delay making your decision, the longer your children will suffer. Remember that.”

Immediately afterward, excruciating pain swept over Yohan.

Gaf had grabbed him fiercely by the scruff of his neck. If he had been an ordinary newborn, his spine would have snapped.

Yohan was different.

He merely furrowed his brow and showed little sign of severe pain.

A demon’s physique was far sturdier than a human’s.

Of course, pain itself was another matter.

Yohan glared at Gaf. His dark-red eyes flashed ominously.

“...What are you doing?”

“How could I trust a damned demon?”

Contrary to his harsh words and actions, Gaf’s voice had softened somewhat.

He was conflicted.

Yohan smiled inwardly.

He had to drive the wedge in deeper.

“The collateral for the deal is each other’s life. What could be more transparent than that?”

Still held by the burly man, the chief shouted.

“Gaf! Don’t be deceived! Those are the demon’s whispers!”

Yohan didn’t even spare him a glance.

He simply stared into Gaf’s eyes.

“You call me a demon, but you’re actually mistaken. You know that, don’t you? Red blood flows through my veins too.”

Strictly speaking, he was a half-demon.

A damned half-breed.

A mongrel that could never belong to either side.

Yohan softened his expression slightly.

“I’m saying that I possess human emotions as well.”

Gaf let out a derisive laugh.

“Human emotions? Bullshit. I’ve seen countless people who harbor demonic energy. Every last one of them was driven by malice. Even those who became cultists later in life were like that. What about you, who was born with black blood flowing through your veins?”

He paused and looked at Yohan’s horn.

“You claim human blood is mixed in as well? Look at yourself. You’re far closer to a demon than a human. That red blood of yours has already rotted away. You’re nothing but a filthy hybrid.”

Yohan looked down at his own body.

Red tattoos were carved across his black skin.

The smoke wrapped around his body like rags was demonic energy.

It was darker than pitch-black darkness itself.

Anyone would mistake him for a demon.

Why had he transmigrated into a body like this?

Yohan felt sad, but he let out a faint laugh.

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

Then he added nonchalantly,

“So, Gaf, are you really unable to make a deal with a filthy hybrid?”

Gaf ground his teeth.

He didn’t want to succumb to the poisonous whispers, but it was difficult to steady his resolve.

Was Ilea, who had disappeared, really still alive?

He desperately wanted an answer.

His daughter was the only thing of value he had left.

And to Gaf, the demon had said that Ilea was still breathing.

There was no way he could remain unmoved.

Gaf muttered,

“...If I torture you.”

Perhaps he could force the truth out of him.

But would the bastard survive?

That was uncertain.

No matter how much stronger a demon’s body was than a human’s, this hybrid was still little more than a newborn.

It wouldn’t be strange if he died from the torture.

Yohan looked straight into Gaf’s eyes.

“You won’t get anything out of me.”

Gaf, who had been deep in thought, swallowed a sigh.

“...Fine.”

The wavering pupils gradually hardened with resolve.

“But if there is even the slightest lie in what you say...”

Suddenly, Gaf’s expression twisted like that of an evil spirit.

He spat the words out as though coughing up blood.

“I’ll tear you apart and kill you.”

For his daughter’s sake, he had sold his convictions to a demon.

Anger, despair, murderous intent, shame, self-loathing, and countless other negative emotions slammed into Yohan.

A human subjected to such hostility would naturally feel deeply uncomfortable.

Yohan was different.

A faint excitement began to take hold of him.

It was a kind of pleasure.

A sense of accomplishment born from instinct.

Gaf’s suffering brought Yohan an indescribable thrill.

...No way.

Because he was a demon.

They were monsters that fed on human suffering.

As proof, the smoke surrounding Yohan began to writhe more violently.

The demonic energy had grown more sinister.

The demonic energy mingled with the moonlight filtering through the bars of the storeroom, scattering an eerie glow.

His red eyes gleamed far more viciously as well.

The farmers backed away in panic.

Their fear was being transformed into yet another source of nourishment.

Yohan’s expression changed from moment to moment.

He chuckled, then twisted his face, then looked ecstatic, then frustrated...

Dozens of emotions flashed across his face in the span of a single instant.

To a human, it was a horribly grotesque sight.

Yohan bit down hard on his own tongue.

If he didn’t hurt himself somehow, he felt as though he would lose his reason.

Fortunately, the pain pulled Yohan out of the swamp of malice.

He regained his senses and looked around.

Fear lingered in everyone’s eyes.

No one could bring themselves to speak.

Amid the uncomfortable silence, Yohan fell into thought for a moment.

I shouldn’t cause harm to others.

That had been Yohan’s creed.

Even if he couldn’t be the embodiment of absolute goodness found in moral textbooks, he wanted to live with at least a basic sense of decency.

And yet, he had become a demon.

A monster that parasitized tears.

Disgust rose in his throat.

“...Fuck.”

His low voice sank into the silence.

There was no response.

Only tense breaths could be heard intermittently.

How much time had passed?

Gaf’s voice finally broke the silence.

“Demon, I’ve given you my answer.”

There was no point agonizing over it any longer.

It would be unfair to die after doing nothing but lament his circumstances.

For now, he had to survive.

Yohan cut off his thoughts and opened his mouth.

“...A wise choice.”

The chief went into a frenzy.

“Gaf! You bastard! Are you planning to destroy the village?!”

A village that made a deal with a demon would be marked for extermination by the Great Holy Church.

Gaf calmly replied,

“I’ll make the contract alone, then leave this village with the demon.”

He meant to shoulder the entire burden himself.

The other farmers who had lost their children cleared their throats awkwardly.

They avoided Gaf’s gaze.

“D-Do you really think such nonsense will work?”

“It will. I’m an outsider, after all.”

Having said that, Gaf looked at Yohan.

“What do I have to do?”

A contract with a demon.

It was a transaction in which a price was exchanged with one’s soul as collateral.

Every demon in the novels could use contracts and transmigration.

For them, it was like breathing was to humans.

It was an instinct of sorts.

The method of using contracts was engraved in Yohan’s mind as well.

The demon crooked his index finger.

“Come closer.”

Gaf frowned and leaned his face toward him.

Yohan spoke.

“I’ll tell you the whereabouts of your daughter. In return, you will protect me. The collateral is your soul. Do you agree?”

Once he agreed, Gaf would have to protect Yohan with his life.

If Yohan died, Gaf’s soul would fall into hell.

Gaf closed his eyes.

He took a deep breath before opening them again.

Determination filled his gaze.

“I agree.”

Yohan stretched his lips into a long smile.

At the same time, the demonic energy surrounding the demon began to churn.

The smoke pulsed like a beating heart before spewing out strands of black haze.

Malice filled the entire storeroom.

Everyone froze stiff.

The chief shouted,

“Stop! No!”

Yohan stretched his short arm toward Gaf.

“Accept it.”

The demonic energy swirling in the air rushed toward Gaf all at once.

The mercenary looked extremely flustered, but he didn’t resist.

Instead, he simply absorbed the demonic energy through his respiratory system.

“It won’t harm your body.”

However, if he failed to uphold the agreement, the demonic energy would crush the contractor’s heart.

Gaf grimaced.

He had swallowed all of the violently writhing demonic energy, so it was only natural that he felt uncomfortable.

“...Is it over?”

The malice dispersed, leaving behind only a faint aftertaste.

Yohan nodded.

“I’ll keep my promise first.”

With that, Yohan slowly swept his gaze over the people.

There were many parents here who were in the same situation as Gaf.

All of them waited for Yohan to speak.

Yohan’s gaze stopped at one place.

The village chief.

The old man had finally fallen silent.

However, his breathing was extremely irregular.

He looked anxious.

Yohan slowly opened his mouth.

“Chief.”

He wore an exceedingly relaxed smile—the smile of a victor.

“Where did you send the missing children?”

The old man’s face turned deathly pale.

The farmers muttered in confusion.

“W-What does that mean...?”

“Chief?”

Yohan continued.

“This is your chance to confess in your own words.”

At the same time, the chief violently shoved the burly man away.

“Y-You vile demon bastard!”

He charged forward with the dagger in his hand.

Unfortunately for him, the old man’s full strength couldn’t reach Yohan.

A massive hand blocked him.

It was Gaf.

With one hand supporting Yohan, he seized the old man’s face with the other.

Gaf’s eyes wavered with distrust toward the village chief.

“.........What exactly are you talking about when you say ‘confess’?”

Yohan was satisfied.

He had gained a reliable ally.

A demon contractor who had betrayed the Great Saint.

Gaf, Captain of the Kandeya Mercenary Corps, would now be the demon’s sword and shield.