Chapter 4. Traveling with a Hybrid

Their destination was the lord's castle.

They had to ride all the way from Taharan Village to the direct domain of Miatro.

If they rode day and night without stopping, it was a distance they could cover in a single day, but that was hardly realistic.

Even horses needed rest. If he overworked it, he would be punished. That was the teaching of Great Saint Marziel.

Even Gaf, who was not particularly devout, lived by his own set of principles.

He tied the horse to a tree.

The enormous warhorse let out ragged breaths, looking as though it might collapse at any moment.

Gaf was just as exhausted. He intended to spend the night in the mountains.

He dragged over a rock and placed it in front of the campfire.

The area was a mountain foothill surrounded by towering trees, so there was little danger of anyone discovering the identity of his traveling companion.

Gaf stared across the campfire.

"Looks like you're coming to your senses."

The silhouette of a demon appeared between the flickering flames.

"I've been awake the whole time."

However, communication was impossible. A human newborn's tongue was incapable of producing proper words.

"You were nodding off just fine earlier."

He really had been overwhelmed by an insane amount of sleepiness earlier. Babies slept all day long, and apparently there was a good reason for it.

"For the time being, there's nothing we can do."

He would probably have to live as a human during the day and a demon at night. The demon side seemed far more inconvenient, but the real problem right now was the daytime.

A human body that had yet to develop was utterly helpless. Someone's care was essential.

Gaf let out a hollow laugh.

"I didn't expect to take on the role of your nanny, too."

"Think of it as part of the contract."

".......How long?"

"You mean the contract?"

Gaf nodded.

"It never ends."

It was a lifelong contract. A shadow passed over Gaf's face.

"You should've checked it more carefully."

At the time, he had been so obsessed with finding out where his daughter was that he hadn't had the time to examine every clause in detail.

"........Damn it. That's just like a fucking demon. But I don't regret it."

Even if he went back to the past, he would make the contract anyway.

Yohan didn't answer. After remaining deep in thought for quite some time, he finally spoke.

"Well, I'll let you go when the time is right."

Gaf gave a derisive chuckle.

"When the time is right? That's about as vague as it gets."

"I keep my word. But it wouldn't mean anything if you died before then."

According to the original story, Gaf would die soon.

He would meet his end while trying to save his daughter.

He would later be resurrected through Ilea's necromancy, but it would be difficult to call that a proper life. He would be nothing more than a dead man unable to let go of his lingering attachments.

It was an event that would happen right before his eyes, and Yohan intended to twist the future.

Gaf spoke calmly.

"I won't die until I save Ilea."

"And after that?"

Gaf couldn't answer easily.

There it is. He hasn't even considered what comes after.

Yohan sighed.

"Do you have a plan?"

Gaf stared intently at Yohan. Their gazes intertwined across the empty space between them.

"Speak, Gaf."

After hesitating for a moment, he opened his mouth.

"I'll sneak in and get her out."

"Be specific."

"Under cover of night......."

Yohan waved his hand dismissively.

"Enough. That's unbelievably crude."

A man who had even been the captain of a mercenary corps had not an ounce of meticulousness in him. Had his obsession with finding his daughter clouded his judgment? Whatever the reason, his plan was rejected.

Yohan spoke.

"I have a different idea."

Doubt flickered across Gaf's face.

"Do I really have to listen to your opinion? Seems like you're sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

Yohan shook his head as though Gaf were pathetic.

"You idiot. As I told you before, we're bound by fate. If you get yourself killed doing something stupid, who's going to protect me?"

That was the superficial reason for helping Gaf, but Yohan had another objective in mind.

Great Witch Ilea.

He intended to recruit that monster.

He couldn't guarantee whether he would succeed. She was an extremely difficult person to deal with. There was something twisted about the woman.

If he failed to recruit her, it would be more advantageous for Yohan's survival to eliminate her early on.

Either nurture her into bloom or uproot her entirely. He would have to choose one of the two.

Of course, he couldn't explain that to Gaf.

".........That fucking fate-bound partnership. Every time I hear it, I feel like throwing up."

"What can you do? It's the truth."

Gaf bit down on his lip.

"Whatever you say, I'm not relying on a demon anymore. Now that I know where she is, I'll rescue her on my own."

"So you're trading your pathetic pride for your daughter's life. I feel sorry for Ilea to have a father like you."

Gaf slowly rose to his feet.

"Pride? What the hell would a bastard like you know?"

"Then is it your faith? But Gaf, you're not that devout of a believer. You even made a deal with a demon. Don't pretend to be pious now."

Gaf's face twisted viciously.

"Even your breath disgusts me. And yet you're telling me to work with you. I simply can't do it. That's the reason."

"Such a cliché excuse. It's enough to make me yawn."

"Think whatever you want. I've already wasted enough time on this. I'm going to get some sleep."

With that, Gaf turned around and walked away.

Yohan muttered quietly.

"If it's neither pride nor faith......I see. Revenge or resentment?"

Gaf's footsteps abruptly stopped.

He turned his head and looked at Yohan.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me. Revenge."

Gaf's eyebrows twitched.

"You're seeing me as the demon that took everything from you."

As soon as Yohan finished speaking, Gaf's expression hardened.

"Did I hit a nerve? My apologies."

He was a man who had lost everything to demons.

He had lost the subordinates who had fought alongside him, and even his beloved wife had been murdered.

His life had been consumed by hatred for demons. If Ilea had not existed, Gaf would have taken his own life long ago.

"How, how could you possibly......."

"The important thing isn't why. Don't you understand yet? My information network far exceeds your imagination, and you can make full use of it."

Yohan added with an exasperated expression,

"And yet you're letting yourself get caught up in trivial emotions. Tsk. Are you planning to lose your daughter, too?"

At the same time, Gaf's face contorted. He drew his sword.

"You cunning demon bastard! How dare you try to manipulate me!"

The resentment he had been suppressing crashed over Yohan like a wave. An intensely negative emotion.

To a demon, it was both a drug and a stepping stone toward growth.

A surge of exhilaration welled up inside Yohan. If he surrendered himself to that pleasure even for a moment, he felt as though he would lose his sense of self.

Yohan bit down on his tongue and spoke.

"......Don't cross the line. Have you forgotten the contract? The moment you swing that sword, the demonic energy will crush your heart."

According to the contract, Gaf was obligated to protect Yohan. He could not attack the very being he was bound to protect with his life.

"Put the sword down. We need a productive conversation more than we need this pointless bullshit."

Gaf trembled violently. He wanted to cut down the hybrid before his eyes right then and there, but his arm simply would not move.

He couldn't stop thinking about his daughter, left all alone.

"I guarantee you, without my help, you won't even get the chance to meet Ilea."

Gaf spoke in a voice as though he were swallowing his own anger.

"......What the hell are you really after?"

The demon kept insisting that they should coexist for their mutual benefit, but Gaf found it impossible to simply trust him.

The tiny infant before him was an utterly unknown existence.

He had mastered speech immediately after birth and knew things he should never have known. Gaf had never once heard of a demon like this.

Could survival really be a problem for this bizarre hybrid?

Somehow, he didn't think so.

There had to be something else he was after.

"What I'm really after?"

"Why are you trying to deceive me!"

Yohan didn't fully understand the hidden meaning behind the question.

Still, he asked himself:

What am I trying to gain by using Gaf?

In the village, he had chosen Gaf simply as a spur-of-the-moment means of survival.

Was this merely an extension of that?

If his only goal was survival, perhaps there was another way.

Yohan shook his head inwardly.

No. The novel drives toward a terrible ending for both demons and humans.

He couldn't simply hide away.

If he failed to get involved in the story's progression, he would suffer a horrific death.

He needed influence.

He needed power.

Yohan's red eyes glinted ominously.

"I'll have a domain of my own."

"What?"

"The Miatro Baron House. That's my short-term goal. Is that answer enough?"

"What the......."

The corners of Yohan's mouth curled upward.

"Our interests keep aligning. If your contractor becomes a lord, Ilea's safety will be guaranteed as well."

A lord?

Gaf's expression filled with bewilderment.

"You, you bastard......."

To Gaf, it sounded like Yohan intended to turn the surrounding lands into a demon farm and reduce the residents to livestock.

He would be contributing to a horrific tragedy.

Gaf felt as though he had become entangled in something terribly wrong.

***

Baron Grian Miatro had been unable to sleep properly lately.

The problem was his dreams.

Whenever he closed his eyes, a pair of blood-red eyes stared at him.

He would regularly wake up in a fright in the middle of the night.

The priest claimed it was because he was overworked, but in truth, the baron barely worked at all.

There was absolutely no reason for him to suffer from nightmares.

He slammed his hand down on the bed irritably.

"That wretched bitch! Does she not care that her master can't sleep at night?!"

The bed shook.

The girl lying beside him was startled awake.

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Shut up! Go fetch me some water!"

The baron slapped the girl hard across the cheek.

A dull smack followed.

The frail girl couldn't possibly withstand the force that came from his massive frame.

She tumbled from the bed.

Whether she had fainted or not, her small body did not move at all.

"Useless bitch!"

The baron spat phlegm directly onto the girl.

"There's nothing about you that I like!"

Most of the girls selected this time were like that.

They fell far short of the baron's expectations.

Except for one.

Ilea.

That child was a flower hiding in the mud.

He had yet to even savor her fragrance because his strength was waning by the day, but the moment he recovered his stamina, he would pluck every petal from that flower.

Even for the great undertaking he had planned, he needed the rest that sleep provided.

The baron lay back down and closed his eyes.

Just as he was drifting into a light sleep, he kicked off the blankets with a scream.

A demon was staring down at him from atop his stomach.

Its red eyes glowed menacingly.

The creature curled its lips into a sinister smile.

At the same time, a pitch-black hand clamped around the baron's throat.

"G-Go away!"

The moment the baron jerked upright in a panic, the entire scene changed.

The room was silent.

The demon was nowhere to be seen.

He clutched his head.

"......Damn it. What do you take me for, the watcher of the Abyss?"

The baron desperately wanted to be freed from the horrific nightmares.

***

Darkness descended upon the mountain foothills.

The campfire, now reduced to nothing but ashes, scattered in the biting wind, while moonlight failed to penetrate the dense forest.

The only source of light was the occasional flicker of a red glow.

Yohan's eyes.

While everyone else slept, the demon remained awake.

Smoke darker than the night rose from his hand.

The black haze began taking shape, eventually forming something no bigger than a fingernail.

Once complete, it looked like a tiny fairy.

This is a little difficult.

He was experimenting with the powers he possessed.

The ability he was currently manipulating was the Nightmare Demon.

A strange entity that induced nightmares.

It was a power granted only to certain demons.

As a special ability, it was extremely difficult to control.

Like his contract with the demon, the method of using it had been etched into his mind, but the Nightmare Demon demanded far more mastery.

Only after practicing for several hours had he finally managed to construct one.

The black fairy flying around him was the result of his efforts.

He gave the Nightmare Demon a command.

Circle around Baron Grian Miatro.

To give someone a nightmare, he needed information about the target.

But that wasn't a problem for Yohan.

Having read the novel thoroughly, he knew even the secrets of the Miatro family inside and out.

The fairy that had received its orders took flight.

It pierced through the dense forest before disappearing from sight.

It must have been heading toward the baron.

Yohan closed his eyes again.

Red letters appeared in rows before his darkened vision.

Most of them were written in a bizarre language, making them impossible for him to understand.

Only two words could be deciphered.

Contract with a Demon.

Nightmare Demon.

All his other powers were locked.

There's no information.

He didn't know what demon he had transmigrated into, what his lineage was, or what kind of abilities he possessed.

Nothing was clear.

Yohan looked at the sleeping mother beside him.

What kind of demon did this woman sleep with?

There was no point in asking her.

She wasn't in her right mind.

She could barely speak, so there was no way she could provide a normal answer.

Yohan let out a deep sigh.

For now, I'll survive. I'll figure out the rest afterward.

Survival was the priority.

He needed a concrete plan for success.

Because if he made even a single mistake, this world would swallow Yohan whole.

Complicated thoughts filled his mind.

As time passed, those thoughts gradually began to fall into place.

The darkness of the previous night was retreating, taking his thoughts with it.

The sun was rising.

Yohan picked up a small pebble.

"The sun's up. Wake up."

He threw the stone at the sleeping Gaf.

Gaf opened his eyes while clutching his forehead and looked at Yohan with an incredulous expression.

"..........Damn demon bastard. This is driving me fucking crazy."

Where the demon had been, a pale little baby was now sleeping peacefully.