Chapter 6

The Blind Man and the Demon

Published on Sep 13, 2026

Chapter 6. The Blind Man and the Demon

“Have you met Ilea?”

The faint glow of a candle projected the shadow of an imp onto the wall of the room.

With limbs disproportionately long compared to its torso, a tiny head, and horn no bigger than half a little finger, it vaguely resembled a fairy when seen only as a shadow.

In reality, it was nothing like one.

Gaf took his eyes off the shadow and looked at Yohan himself.

A bizarre creature wrapped in red tattoos. An unmistakable lesser demon was reclining against the bed.

“I only had an audience with the Baron. Ilea was nowhere to be seen.”

“She’s probably fine, so don’t worry too much.”

Earlier that day, Gaf had visited the lord’s castle. His intention had been to familiarize himself with the castle’s internal layout, and he had more or less succeeded.

His second objective, however, had failed.

He had been unable to check on Ilea’s condition.

His expression grew troubled.

“The Baron had the look of a typical vicious bastard. The rumors say the same. What kind of man is he?”

This demon surely knew.

Yohan spoke in an indifferent tone.

“A pedophile and a sadist. He’s exactly what he looks like.”

Gaf bit down on his lip.

“And you’re telling me not to worry?”

Yohan chuckled.

“Ilea is something beyond that. I suppose you don’t know your daughter very well.”

To say that she was even worse than that damned perverted nobleman would be an insult beyond compare.

Gaf frowned.

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

“Though, I suppose that description is somewhat inaccurate.”

Ilea was too innocent to be called wicked, yet too cunning to be called pure. Even Yohan couldn’t determine exactly what she was.

There was only one thing he knew for certain.

“Whatever she is, Ilea is already standing above the Baron’s head. You can probably understand that much.”

“Me? On what grounds?”

Yohan stared at him quietly. After thinking for a moment, he spoke.

“During all the years you spent with your daughter, did you never once witness any of her peculiar behavior?”

Gaf frowned as though he had no idea what Yohan was talking about.

“Peculiar behavior? Speak plainly.”

“Think carefully. You should be able to remember at least one thing.”

Yohan was genuinely curious. Had Gaf really failed to notice Ilea’s unusual nature? The original novel offered no answer to that question.

In Human-Demon Chronicles, the characters’ thoughts and psychology were never explored in much depth.

“Come on. Think back.”

The demon before him was strangely persistent.

“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Yohan clicked his tongue.

“Either you’re unbelievably oblivious, you’ve been blinded by your love for your daughter, or else…”

Ilea had perfectly concealed her true nature.

“Either way, you’re a boring and frustrating man. When you reunite with your daughter, you’ll be lucky if you don’t end up getting hurt.”

Gaf had no intention of taking the bait.

“Enough nonsense. Let’s get to the point. I intend to stay at the lord’s castle starting tomorrow.”

Yohan glanced around the room.

“Starting tomorrow? Then where are we now?”

“This is an inn room.”

Yohan, in his human form during the day, possessed the same level of awareness as he did at night. But as a newborn baby, he still couldn’t resist sleep.

The moment he entered the lord’s castle, sleep had overtaken him. When he opened his eyes, he was here.

“So you managed to secure a room in the castle. Why didn’t you move in today?”

“You turn into a demon every night. If you happened to be seen, your identity would be exposed.”

A lesser demon residing inside the lord’s castle. It was dangerously risky for everyone involved—for both humans and demons.

Yohan chuckled.

“You’re using your head for once.”

Ignoring the sarcasm, Gaf continued.

“You and your mother should hide out here at the inn. I’ll come by at least once a day. I need to stay by Ilea’s side.”

“Like a shadow knight secretly protecting his daughter?”

“That’s the plan for now.”

Yohan shrugged.

“Fine. Do whatever you want.”

Gaf asked with a suspicious expression.

“That’s it?”

You’d think he would have brought some ridiculous plan like this and gotten an earful—What kind of pathetic excuse for a plan is that?—but Yohan had surprisingly agreed without much resistance.

“That’s it.”

Yohan didn’t really care either way. The Baron wouldn’t be able to lay a hand on Ilea anyway, which meant there would be no reason for Gaf to intervene.

Shadow Knight Gaf simply needed to stay put like a sack of grain someone had left behind.

“However, there’s one thing I want to make clear. Don’t say anything unnecessary to the Baron. Don’t ask for Ilea in exchange for your employment fee, and don’t reveal that you’re her father. All of it would be pointless.”

The Baron would become increasingly obsessed with Ilea as time passed. There was no way that twisted lover would give her up in exchange for something as trivial as a mercenary’s payment.

“Understood?”

Yohan needed an answer. As long as Gaf refrained from doing anything reckless, Yohan’s plan would proceed smoothly.

“…I understand.”

His tone was reluctant.

Yohan frowned.

“You were actually considering it?”

“I thought about it, but I discarded the idea immediately.”

Even Gaf had realized that confronting the Baron directly wasn’t exactly a good option.

“Fortunately. I almost had to knock some sense into your head.”

Gaf let out a hollow laugh.

“And how exactly would you do that when you can’t even walk on your own?”

Yohan wore a playful smile.

“Are you sure about that?”

Gaf looked Yohan up and down.

The demon was still small and frail. He seemed to have grown a little taller, but at most, he was about as tall as an adult man’s shin.

Gaf scoffed.

“You’re talking nonsense.”

“You’re too quick to judge.”

Yohan looked at Gaf with a sly expression before adding,

“Anyway, fine. You do your part. But there’s one more thing to add to your daily routine.”

Suspicion flickered in Gaf’s eyes.

“What?”

“Starting tomorrow, take me to the castle just before sunset. And when the sun rises, bring me back here.”

In other words, he intended to roam around the castle in his demonic form. That was how Gaf interpreted it.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“To be precise, I mean the Baron’s son’s room. You can just leave me underneath his bed.”

The Baron’s only son, Raguel Miatro. Gaf had heard about him.

He was a cripple with one eye and a lame leg, wasn’t he? If so, the demon’s intentions were obvious.

“I’m warning you in advance. I won’t take part in your scheme.”

“Really? Fine. It won’t be much of a problem even without your help.”

How could an imp that could barely walk possibly enter the castle? It was impossible.

“You’re resorting to threats. You must be getting desperate.”

Yohan’s lips curled into a long, wicked smile.

“Threats? See for yourself before you say that.”

With that, Yohan rolled over onto his stomach. He planted both hands firmly against the bedsheet and pushed down with his arms.

It looked almost like a push-up.

“I’ve been feeding on your emotions so much that I’m changing day by day.”

His upper body began to rise. Something small attached to his shoulder blades also fluttered, but it was far too small to lift his body.

He was standing solely through the strength of his arms.

Gaf’s expression gradually filled with bewilderment.

“W-What…”

Eventually, when Yohan stood on both legs, Gaf could no longer hide his shock.

“You!”

“See? This is the result of you treating me like an emotional garbage can.”

Demons were monsters that lived by feeding on human emotions. The hostility and anxiety directed at Yohan had accelerated his growth.

“In a few days, I should be able to walk properly.”

For now, merely standing was the limit of his abilities. Even then, his legs trembled violently. If his mother hadn’t been there to support him, Yohan would have fallen immediately.

The standing demon wore a sinister smile.

“I’m a little worried about going there on my own. The villagers or soldiers might spot me.”

Gaf would meet his death under the terms of their contract.

He bit his lip.

Was that wicked scheme really going to be carried out? He had to stop it somehow. He had made a contract with a demon for his daughter’s sake, but he couldn’t sacrifice someone else.

If he took away the boy’s freedom…

Just as his thoughts reached that point, the demon spoke.

“Don’t act rashly. The condition of our contract is to ‘protect’ my person. From this moment on, if you use physical force against this body, I’ll consider it a breach of contract.”

Then he added,

“You know what ‘protection’ means, don’t you?”

“…Imprisonment for the sake of protection.”

“Interesting interpretation.”

The demon chuckled.

“Go ahead, then. I’m curious whether such wordplay will work. But the demonic energy gripping your heart will know your true intentions like a ghost.”

Yohan sat back against the headboard.

“You only get one chance. If you fail, you’ll have to say goodbye to your daughter. I’ll deliver your regards in your place.”

The demon leisurely offered himself up.

“Go on. Do as you please.”

***

Raguel Miatro was trapped in pitch-black darkness.

Even when he raised his eyelids, the suffocating darkness did not disappear.

His clouded pupils could no longer absorb light.

He would never be able to see again.

A boy born with one blind eye. Several weeks ago, he had lost the only remaining eye as well.

It was the result of abuse at the hands of his father, the Baron.

He had been terribly unlucky. He had ducked to avoid a flying candlestick, only to become completely blind.

Even his only hobby, reading, was now something he could no longer do.

Raguel sniffled.

No one comforted him. There was no one by the boy’s side.

Only a cold-hearted maid occasionally visited to bring him his meals.

At least, that was what should have happened.

A moment ago, someone had entered his room.

He couldn’t see them, but he could hear them.

Rustle. Rustle.

The man who had been wandering around near the boy left behind a single sentence before departing.

“…I’m sorry. Someday, I’ll pay the price in Hell.”

Even when Raguel asked who he was, no answer came.

The door closed.

The lonely, desolate hours began to pass once more.

Hope was supposed to be the pillar that sustained life, yet in this dark prison, not even a handful of it could be found.

The boy murmured,

“…Great Saint Marziel. Please, send down even the faintest glimmer of dawn.”

His hollow voice was swallowed by the silence and disappeared.

Normally, that would have been the end of it.

“Don’t pray.”

But today was different.

The boy abruptly sat upright.

“W-Who are you?!”

He had risen so violently that the bandages wrapped around his eyes slowly came loose.

“Shh.”

Something cold touched the edge of his lips.

“It’s late at night. Everyone is asleep.”

The strange sensation traveled up over his philtrum and across his cheek.

“And yet, you’re awake.”

Then it began gently caressing the area around his injured eyes.

“Trapped in darkness, what are you searching for so desperately?”

The low voice continued.

“With prayers that will never be answered.”

“I-I asked who you are.”

“I’m the demon who came because I didn’t want to listen to your prayers.”

The boy swallowed hard.

“…A-a demon.”

“That’s right. A monster that feeds on darkness. Your despair has guided me here.”

The boy cried out in a trembling voice.

“G-Go away! In the name of the Great Saint…”

A gentle voice cut him off.

“Child, do not place your faith in illusions. Marziel is not close enough to hear your prayers.”

At the same time, murky smoke seeped into the boy’s airways.

“Yet the glimmer of dawn you have been desperately searching for is right before you.”

Two red points of light flickered in the blind man’s field of vision.

“Take my hand. I will devour your darkness.”

The boy shook his head frantically. Within the pitch-black darkness, no matter how hard he tried to turn away, the red eyes followed him, staring straight at him.

“What do you want from me?!”

“Be my legs.”

Then he added,

“I’ll be your eyes. Together, we’ll descend into the Restricted Library and read all the books you love so much.”

The Restricted Library of the Miatro Baronial House. It contained the holy relics and grimoires recovered from the Gorge of Death by the watchers of the Abyss.