WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 45: Welcome Reunion (1)
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After parting ways with Yuri, Johan returned straight to the fire-clearing settlement. Before leaving, there was something he needed to settle.
He headed for the village chief’s hut.
“Are you there?”
The moment he heard Johan’s voice, the village chief ran out barefoot and bowed low.
“Oh, Sir. I don't know how I could ever repay this kindness.”
If not for Johan, the chief’s grandson would have been taken away by the Great Saint Church. He would have undergone brutal questioning, and eventually, they would have discovered that he had once been possessed by a demon.
The boy would certainly have died somewhere along the way.
Johan was the one who had prevented that tragedy.
To the village chief, Johan was nothing less than a benefactor.
Johan said,
“You were the first to care for me when I had collapsed. We simply helped one another. You don't need to be grateful to me alone.”
There were countless dangers in the mountains at night. Without the village chief’s care, Johan might truly have died alone out there.
He sincerely felt grateful to the old man.
“All I did was offer a distinguished guest a place in this miserable village...”
“That saved my life. Elder, thank you once again.”
When Johan slightly lowered his head, the village chief flinched and bowed deeply.
“Please don't use honorifics for a lowly man like me. I fear someone may hear, Sir.”
No matter how great the age difference, nobles did not speak respectfully to commoners.
It was the law of both the Kingdom and the Empire.
As long as Johan lived in this world, he could not ignore those laws either.
Johan said,
“Very well. If you accept my proposal, I'll stop using honorifics.”
“Please, tell me anything.”
“Become my subjects. I will give you land to farm.”
They were itinerant slash-and-burn farmers who wandered from place to place without farmland of their own.
In their difficult lives, the itinerant slash-and-burn farmers had only one wish.
To settle on fertile land and make a living.
Johan could easily grant them that.
Color returned to the village chief’s face, only to vanish again moments later.
“W-we aren't free citizens, so we have no right to make such a choice.”
“Which house do you belong to?”
“W-well...”
“Please, speak freely.”
The village chief hesitated for a long while before finally speaking.
“We are serfs of Baron Bartoloi.”
House Bartoloi? The name felt familiar, but Johan could not immediately recall that house’s role in the original work.
Since he could not remember it, Bartoloi was probably not a notable house. It had likely only appeared once or twice in passing.
‘Where was it?’
After thinking for quite some time, Johan found the answer.
‘Right. The opening of the Haunted Citadel arc.’
In the early to middle part of the original work, several houses of the Kingdom were toyed with by a single demon.
House Bartoloi was the first victim of that episode.
Once he remembered that, a question came to mind.
‘But this isn't House Bartoloi’s territory.’
The Haunted Citadel arc took place in the far west of the Kingdom.
This place was closer to the south than the west, so it was not somewhere Bartoloi’s people would have come to clear land for farming.
Johan nodded as though he had realized something.
“It seems you fled the territory.”
The old man’s shoulders shrank.
“...That is correct.”
It was a serious crime. Serfs were closer to property than people, so they could not leave their master’s possession as they pleased.
“Was it because of taxes?”
“That was part of it, but my son was beaten to death by the lord. I wanted to live like a human being.”
The village chief was confessing his crime without resistance. He would never normally have done such a thing, but for some reason, the psychological barrier crumbled whenever he stood before Johan.
It must have been because of the Great Saint’s Eye.
“You did well. It seems the Great Saint guided you onto the right path.”
It was an unexpected response.
The village chief had expected Johan to reprimand him.
“Y-you said we did well...?”
“That is right. I can't explain in detail, but you did well to run away.”
The village chief stared at Johan in a daze.
Johan added,
“In any case, this makes things easier. Come to Myatro’s lord’s castle. I will give you land to farm. You will have to pay taxes, but I promise they will be reasonable.”
It was an immensely generous offer. He was willing to take in itinerant slash-and-burn farmers, and escaped serfs at that. Yet a few questions remained before the old man could accept it so readily.
“Th-thank you very much, but I don't understand why you would show us such generosity, Sir.”
“My territory lacks workers, and you need land to farm. This is merely a transaction that fills what both sides lack, not one-sided charity.”
It was difficult for the village chief to understand. Having lived his entire life as a noble’s property, even the concept of making a deal with his master was unfamiliar.
“How could people like us, who aren't even free citizens, dare...”
“All my subjects are free citizens. They may leave whenever they wish.”
The village chief’s eyes widened.
“How could that be!”
“It is the truth, so the choice is yours as well. Think it over carefully and come whenever you wish. I'll drop the formalities then.”
Johan turned his gaze toward the hut.
“That is enough about that. How is your grandson?”
Still shaken by their conversation, the village chief answered in a slightly trembling voice.
“H-he just woke up.”
“Before I leave, may I see him?”
“Of course.”
The boy must have seen Johan’s true identity. He had been possessed by an Imp, but there was a chance some memory remained.
No matter how busy he was, Johan could not leave without dealing with him.
“I'll check on the child and then be on my way.”
“I don't know what to do with myself when you care so much for us. Oh, Great Saint, please bestow Your light upon this noble Sir.”
There seemed to be a minor misunderstanding, but Johan did not bother correcting it.
He headed straight for the hut.
* * *
“Are you sure this is the place?”
A red ball of fur poked its head out from the pocket of Ilea’s pure white fur coat.
“That is right! The great End clearly bestowed Their trial upon me in that hut! One day, this place will be called the Origin of Evil Deeds and become the Sanctuary of Ten Thousand Demons!”
Its voice echoed through the settlement. Fortunately, it was dawn, and everyone was asleep.
Ilea grabbed the Imp tightly and lifted it up.
“He doesn't seem to be here. I can't feel Johan’s presence at all.”
Her face drew close to the Imp. She was overwhelmingly beautiful, but the Imp felt nothing but fear.
All it could remember was the unfathomable strength Ilea had shown.
“I-it isn't a lie! They were certainly here!”
“But I don't see them. I believe I asked whether you knew Their current location, but you gave me the wrong answer. You won't have any right to complain even if you don't die peacefully.”
She repeatedly pulled the Imp’s arms apart and let go.
A pained groan burst from the ball of fur.
“Give me a chance! I'll find them! Stop pulling! Please!”
Ilea sighed and stopped tormenting it.
“This is the last chance. If you fail again... I won't need to say more.”
“D-don't worry! I have a good nose! I can see footprints too! Put me down!”
The Imp sprawled on the ground and began sniffing.
“Small footprints, the scent of a human boy, that unknown unpleasant feeling from before...”
The unpleasant feeling it spoke of was the emotion that had welled up when it came face-to-face with the Great Saint’s Eye.
Ilea tilted her head as she listened to the Imp mutter to itself.
“Wait. Who are you looking for right now?”
“What kind of question is that! Of course I am following in the Great One’s footsteps!”
“The Great One has small footprints and smells like a boy?”
“They were disguised as a human! Why do you keep interrupting when you don't know anything! Then again, even a Witch has things she doesn't know!”
Ilea could not understand it at all. Johan had revealed that he was a Half-Demon? He would never do that.
“Did you meet them during the day?”
“No! It was always at night! Stop making me talk! Because of you, I can't concentrate... Guh!”
A crushing pressure weighed down its entire body.
Ilea was stepping firmly on the Imp.
“I'll give you five minutes. Find Johan immediately.”
Her voice was bitterly cold.
The air around them turned chilly as well.
Contrary to her usual self, Ilea was growing impatient.
‘Something happened to Johan.’
If what the Imp said was true, Johan had retained a human body even at night.
It was impossible by common sense, but it did not sound like a lie.
Ilea could not help but feel anxious.
Noticing her mood, the Imp shut its mouth tightly.
It desperately sniffed at the ground.
To survive, and to pass the Apostle’s trial.
It gave everything it had.
* * *
Fortunately, the village chief’s grandson remembered nothing.
He had lost all memories from the time he was possessed and suffered only from a headache.
As soon as Johan confirmed his condition, he left the settlement.
He wanted to leave the Holy Power Sealing Formation as soon as possible.
A worry he had buried away was slowly rising to the surface.
Given the circumstances, Johan’s ‘demon’ self was still alive.
In other words, he could turn into a demon again at any time.
The sun would rise soon, so it did not matter right now. But if Johan remained inside the sealing formation until tomorrow, there was a high chance he would find himself in a difficult situation.
He had to escape the sealing formation today, somehow.
‘First, I need to find Ilea as soon as I return.’
Too much had happened over the past few days, and countless questions had arisen along the way.
There were many difficult problems he could not solve alone.
A Witch might be able to help.
He did not want to rely on her, but for now, he had no other choice.
‘I need to meet her as soon as possible.’
Unlike his urgent thoughts, this body was far too slow.
He grew tired quickly and began to feel hungry.
At this rate, he did not think he could return to his territory even after walking for weeks.
A sense of crisis suddenly overwhelmed him.
This was different from before. Flying was impossible, he could not hope for Gaf’s help, and he had even lost the horse he had ridden here.
Could he return to his territory? No, even that was a secondary concern.
In a way, even his chances of survival were uncertain.
In a world full of countless dangers, a young human body could not safely travel several hundred kilometers.
For the first time, an instinctive fear of this world struck Johan.
‘Things had been easy until now.’
He had always walked only roads paved according to plan, without setbacks.
There had always been someone beside him, and there had always been a fallback.
Not now.
He was alone. He had to break through every threat with nothing but his own body and reach his territory.
It was practically impossible.
He came to an abrupt stop.
A bleak wind blew. Beast cries rang out now and then. Darkness had settled over the surroundings.
He needed to go back.
He could find Shaperia, or at the very least travel with the itinerant slash-and-burn farmers. Whatever it took, he needed another way to return.
Going back to the territory alone would be suicide.
Just as he was about to turn around, a rustling sound came from the bushes ahead.
Every hair on his body stood on end. He swallowed hard. Extreme tension coursed through his whole body.
The moment he clenched both fists, something sprang out of the bushes.
Johan’s stiff expression instantly relaxed.
“O great End! This vile creature has overcome the trial!”
A red ball of fur, an Imp, stood before Johan with its index finger raised. It looked extremely proud.
Soon afterward, a familiar figure stepped out from behind it.
“...Johan?”
It was Ilea.
Relief spread across Johan’s face.
In contrast, Ilea’s expression had hardened.
Her gaze fixed on the space above Johan’s head.
“What in the world is that?”
Mana tangled like a spiderweb and distorted space gripped all five of the Witch’s senses.
It was something unknown that only she could see and sense.
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