WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 15: Growth
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The moment he awakened the power known as Soul Erasure, Johan came to one conclusion.
‘This body I possessed never appeared in the original work.’
No being in the novel Inmarok could unilaterally destroy another person's soul. Even evil gods and apostles with overwhelming power could not directly interfere with spirits.
Johan was different. The power he had awakened defied the original work.
An Irregular. The half-demon Johan was likely an alien existence within this world.
He looked at the woman who had recently given birth, sitting on the inn room's bed.
“Who did you sleep with, exactly?”
As always, no answer came. The emaciated woman merely stared at Johan with vacant eyes.
He swallowed a groan.
‘If I knew my bloodline, I might at least find a clue.’
For now, he could not lift even a single layer of the veil surrounding his identity.
As he sank into thought, a loud noise rang out.
The door burst open.
“Ilea has disappeared...”
It was Gaf. He trailed off, staring at Johan with a horrified expression.
“You look like you've seen a ghost.”
In truth, an evil spirit stood right before Gaf.
The bean-sized imp was nowhere to be seen. In its place stood a subadult demon.
To grow this much in only a few days. Gaf could not close his gaping mouth.
“Get ahold of yourself and shut the door first. Do you want to advertise our identities?”
If one of the lodgers saw the scene inside, everyone would be in trouble.
Coming to his senses, Gaf immediately shut the door. He had not fully recovered from the shock, and his eyes trembled slightly.
Johan clicked his tongue.
“You're late.”
Normally, Gaf brought Johan to Raguel before sunset. It was safer to travel with Johan while he was human.
He could not stroll through the castle with Johan after sunset, when Johan had turned into a demon.
Today was different.
The sun had already set, and Johan was in his demon form.
As if he had only just remembered, Gaf shouted.
“I was looking for Ilea! She's nowhere to be found!”
It had already been three days since she left for Narak.
“Do you know where she is? Where my daughter went?”
“She went traveling. She said she'd return in three weeks.”
Gaf frowned at Johan's unconcerned attitude.
“What does that mean? Traveling?”
“Ask Ilea yourself for the details. It feels wrong to reveal someone else's secret myself.”
To tell Gaf where Ilea had gone and why, Johan would have to reveal that she was a witch.
He did not particularly want to do that. He could already picture the emotional exhaustion that conversation would bring.
Gaf's situation was different.
“I need to hear it now. Tell me what you know.”
“No. Every time I have a long conversation with you, I get tired.”
Gaf stepped closer with a threatening expression.
“You damned demon!”
Johan let out a dry laugh.
“You said you didn't need a demon's help, yet you keep trying to depend on me. Instead of making one-sided demands, ask for a deal. If you're willing to sell your soul, I might tell you.”
Gaf's whole body trembled. He clenched and unclenched his fists before sharply turning toward the door.
“I won't fall for your schemes again. I'll find out with my own strength.”
“Do as you please. But first, there's something we need to finish. Let's terminate the Contract of Protection.”
Gaf only turned his head to look at Johan.
“...What are you plotting?”
He was suddenly offering to free his soul, after wielding the contract like a weapon.
“I have a new protector now. You're free. Congratulations.”
Gaf felt a strange sense of danger from Johan's easy smile.
“You don't mean...”
“I made the same contract with Ilea. Your daughter.”
At once, Gaf's face twisted like that of an evil spirit.
The demon before him had finally set its claws on his daughter. His sanity vanished in an instant.
“Terminating a contract requires both parties' consent. Will you agree?”
The instant Johan finished speaking, Gaf lunged.
The huge man rushed forward like an arrow and threw a punch.
Smack!
A violent impact rang out.
“You're less impressive than I expected.”
Gaf's fist was trapped in Johan's black hand.
He could not hide his shock.
“Y-You...!”
“The title Lion of Kandea is wasted on you. Is it because your dantian has been closed off?”
Gaf, captain of the Kandea Mercenary Company, had lost his dantian to a demon long ago. He could no longer wield the Aura he had trained his entire life to command.
The combat prowess that had once forced even high-ranking knights to their knees was gone.
Johan released Gaf's fist.
“Don't do anything foolish. As I said, your daughter is my protector. If something happens to me, Ilea won't survive either.”
Gaf's face reddened as though it might burst. Murderous intent overflowed from his bloodshot eyes.
Yet he could not move. His loss of reason had been brief. Now, he understood the reality of the situation.
From this moment on, his daughter was his leash.
Johan swallowed his pain.
‘My wrist almost broke.’
Even with a demon's durability, Gaf's monstrous strength was difficult to withstand. Such strength without Aura. He was no different from a beast.
If he had been struck back when he was an imp, his head would have burst open.
Dynamic vision, reaction speed, explosiveness, strength, durability, and more. Even now, with every physical ability improved, Johan was not certain he could defeat Gaf in a fight.
Suppressing the pain, Johan spoke as casually as he could.
“I trust even someone as stupid as you understands the situation. To add one more thing, you don't have the right to refuse to terminate the contract. In return for protecting me, Ilea demanded that your contract be terminated.”
In other words, if Gaf refused to terminate the contract, Johan would die. Gaf and Ilea, who had failed to protect Johan, would die as well.
Gaf had only one choice.
He had to give up his duty of protection.
Johan smiled.
“Congratulations once again. You regained your freedom through your daughter's sacrifice.”
* * *
Three weeks felt like an eternity to Gaf. He could not remember getting a proper night's sleep because he was so worried about his daughter.
Ilea and Betra, traveling alone together. This world was not kind to women wandering about on their own.
The hills were filled with bandits, and lesser evil spirits swarmed in the shadows. Leaving one's territory without an escort was no different from suicide.
It was common sense to everyone who lived in this world, so no one believed that the mother and daughter had gone traveling.
They had fled from the baron. Or perhaps Betra had kidnapped Ilea and sold her in another territory.
A letter saying they would wander for a short while before returning meant nothing to Baron Gryan.
The baron flew into a rage and sent out a pursuit party.
It achieved nothing. Trained soldiers had failed to catch two women.
It was absurd. Unless they had flown into the sky or sunk into the earth, they should have been caught.
Even now, three weeks later, there was no news at all. Everyone, including Gaf, was baffled.
‘Where in the world did they go?’
He bit his lip and grasped the inn room's doorknob.
The woman and baby should be asleep inside. It had been a very long time since he had stopped by, so he was somewhat worried.
The woman might have died alone. If she died, Gaf would also be in trouble. Other than her, there was no one to care for Johan in his baby form.
Come to think of it, he had not brought Johan to Raguel for the past three weeks either.
The moment he entered, that pale baby would surely glare at him with those bright eyes.
‘That damned demon.’
He sighed and turned the doorknob.
The room came into view. Gaf could only freeze like a statue.
He had seen neatly arranged silver hair.
“Y-You...”
“It's been a while, Father.”
“How are you here?”
Ilea was sitting in a chair.
“I wanted to see my stepmother.”
She looked at the woman sleeping soundly on the bed.
“She is very attractive. She must be Father's type.”
Gaf was so flustered that he could not even open his mouth.
“I'm sorry. Did I come too suddenly? If this makes you uncomfortable, I'll visit another time. Please tell me whenever it's convenient. I'm ready to welcome a new family member.”
Ilea stood and headed toward the door.
As father and daughter passed each other, Gaf tightly grabbed Ilea's wrist.
“Wait!”
“It hurts, Father.”
“I-I'm sorry. But please don't go. There's so much I want to ask you.”
“Ask as much as you want. I'll answer everything.”
“Where in the world have you been? Are you hurt anywhere? How did you find this place...”
“Slowly, one question at a time. Let me begin with how I found this place.”
Ilea added with a gentle smile.
“I followed the scent.”
“A scent?”
“A wicked, sinister trace.”
A strange light passed through her eyes.
“The scent of a demon.”
Gaf swallowed dryly.
“...W-What are you talking about?”
“Witches are sensitive to malice. That trace led me here.”
“I don't understand any of this.”
“I'm confessing that I'm a witch.”
The calm declaration struck Gaf's mind like a blow.
“Since I told you my secret, please tell me yours, Father. You're a demon contractor, right?”
Just as Gaf had suspected, Ilea and Johan had been in contact.
“Ah, not anymore. You must have terminated the contract.”
The longer the conversation continued, the more dizzy Gaf became. Strange words flowed far too calmly from his daughter's mouth. As though discussing what she had eaten that morning or whether she had slept well, Ilea showed no emotion while speaking about demons.
“A witch for a daughter and a first-class apostate for a father. We're quite the mess of a family.”
The Church of the Great Saint classified those who made contracts with demons as first-class apostates.
“Is Mother normal? If she is, that would be a relief, but I have my doubts. Birds of a feather flock together, after all.”
As if she had suddenly remembered something, Ilea clapped her hands.
“Ah, I have a younger sibling too.”
She pointed toward the woman's arms. Johan was asleep there.
“What about that child?”
Gaf was too dizzy to speak. He needed to say something, but his mouth would not move.
“I wonder if he's ordinary... I'm very curious.”
Ilea gazed intently at Johan. She could sense nothing. He was no different from an ordinary baby.
“Please answer me. What kind of people are my new family members?”
If even her younger sibling and stepmother held secrets, there would be no normal person in this family.
They would be the Great Saint Church's highest-priority targets for extermination. A family whose very existence was sinful.
“Come on. Why aren't you saying anything?”
He felt as though he was being interrogated. Overwhelmed by shock and pressure, Gaf wanted to run away.
He pinched his thigh hard. It was not a nightmare.
“W-What is this...”
“It's sad, but it's reality. It's time to accept it. Let's be honest with each other, at least. We're family.”
Gaf shook his head with a pale face.
“I-It's all the demon's scheme. Don't get involved any further. Your father will handle it. Ilea, my daughter, you need to forget everything and live normally. Everything that happened until today, please...”
Ilea's expression settled into calmness.
“No. Father can't solve anything with his strength. You didn't even know that I had been kidnapped. You received help from the demon from the very first step. It won't be easy to change now.”
Gaf looked at his daughter as though he were about to cry.
Ilea gently embraced him.
“You can't cross the waves alone. You have to join forces even with crewmen you don't like. We're already on the same ship.”
Then she smiled playfully.
“That way, when the waters become calm, won't we get a chance to push the crewman we hate into the sea?”
“Ilea, I...”
“Though someone might be a little hurt to hear that.”
Gaf's gaze shifted slightly toward the baby.
Ilea curved her lips strangely.
“He looks just like an angel when he sleeps. Have you named him?”
“Ah, not yet.”
“That's awful.”
Ilea pretended to ponder before speaking.
“How about Johan? Doesn't it suit a pale baby quite well?”
Gaf did not know Johan's name. An awkward expression appeared on his face.
“It is a pleasant name.”
“Let's ask the baby too.”
“What...”
At that moment, the baby on the bed floated into the air.
It was magic. A power forbidden by the law of the kingdom. Gaf's expression completely froze under the continuing shocks.
The floating baby settled into Ilea's arms.
“Now, let's hear his answer.”
She took out a small glass vial. She dropped a single drop of transparent liquid into the baby's mouth.
Immediately, several strands of hair sprouted from the bald head. The short arms and legs grew slightly longer. His entire body showed faint signs of growth.
He had drunk World Tree Sap, an elixir of the ancient races.
Ilea smiled.
“Johan, do you like it?”
The baby, whose lips had been wriggling, slowly opened his mouth.
“Bring more.”
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