WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 7: Raguel Miyatro
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After leaving Johan in Raguel's room, Gaf headed for the battlements.
From atop the high rampart, he could see the lord's estate at a glance.
The fields stretching to the left had been dyed red beneath the sunset. To the right, clusters of houses bustled with hurried residents.
They were quickly finishing the rest of their work. The curfew would soon begin.
It was an old rule of the south.
During the demons' time, meaning the night, keep the streets empty.
People returned home one by one. Before long, silence settled over the estate as moonlight fell.
The territory was swallowed by darkness, but the church glowed softly. The symbol of the Church of the Great Saint absorbed the moonlight.
Gaf looked toward the church roof.
Tracing the five points of the pentagram, he made the sign of the Great Saint.
“Great Saint Marziel. Your foolish servant has committed a grave sin. Please do not forgive me.”
Making a deal with a demon had not been enough. He had even become involved in a wicked scheme. It was a sin that could never be absolved.
“Shouldn't you confess to me instead of the Great Saint?”
A sweet voice suddenly rang out. A familiar voice.
Gaf turned toward its source.
His eyes widened.
“After all, you've been keeping a second household behind your daughter's back.”
The girl smiling demurely was walking from the watchtower toward the battlements.
“Ilea...?”
The girl dipped her head slightly. Her platinum-blonde hair fluttered in the night breeze.
“It has been a long time, Father.”
Gaf's entire body stiffened.
“Y-you truly...”
His feet were rooted to the ground. He could only force himself to take each step.
“Really...”
His eyes trembled. He looked like a man who had encountered a mirage in the desert.
“...Are you truly my daughter?”
After struggling over to her, he dropped to one knee.
“Yes. I am Ilea, your daughter.”
Gaf carefully stroked his daughter's cheek. Ilea placed her hand atop the back of his large hand.
They shared each other's warmth.
Gaf's eyes reddened.
“It really is you, Ilea.”
“Don't cry. I'm here with you now.”
“I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I should never have taken my eyes off you, not even for a moment... I made a terrible mistake.”
Ilea patted Gaf's back.
“You came to save me in the end. No parent could do what you did, Father. So don't blame yourself. There, stop crying.”
Ilea's voice was utterly calm. A faint smile lingered on her face.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Did the Baron touch you? I heard of his strange tastes. If he laid a hand on you...”
Ilea shook her head.
“He hasn't touched a single hair on my body. If anything, he treats me very well.”
Her tone was far too composed.
Gaf could not help feeling uneasy.
A depraved monster lurked in the place where she had been kidnapped and taken, so how could a young girl remain so calm?
It was an incomprehensible reaction.
“I-Ilea. Are you pretending to be all right because you're thinking of your father? You don't have to. If you're suffering, we can leave right now.”
Ilea smiled faintly.
“And what happens after that?”
Even if they escaped, they would be hunted for the rest of their lives.
Gaf spoke in a trembling voice.
“We can hide our identities and live somewhere else. It doesn't matter if we go west, north, or even to the Empire. If you say the word, we can leave immediately...”
“I don't want that kind of life.”
“But!”
Ilea gently wrapped her arms around Gaf's head.
“Father, go find your own life. You have a new family now, so you should be happy with them. You deserve that.”
“I-Ilea. What are you talking about? They are...”
A strange expression crossed Ilea's face. She carefully pushed Gaf away.
Then she gazed straight into his eyes.
“They are?”
“They are...”
Gaf could not easily continue.
He could hardly tell her that the woman was a dream rapist and the baby was a half-demon.
Ilea smiled kindly and shook her head.
“Don't force yourself. It doesn't matter. Still...”
Something flickered in her eyes.
“I'd like to see my younger sibling's face at least once.”
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded below.
Someone was climbing the stairs. Ilea composed herself and helped Gaf to his feet.
“Anyway, from now on, we're strangers.”
Gaf's face darkened.
“You only need to be careful, Father. I've made sure the children who came with me won't speak.”
The girls from Taharan who had been kidnapped alongside Ilea knew Gaf's face.
“You understand, right?”
At that moment, a young voice rang out.
“Big Sister!”
Ilea turned.
A little girl was running toward her. She stopped short in front of Ilea.
“Rowen, you'll fall if you run like that.”
“But it's almost study time, and I couldn't find you, Big Sister.”
Ilea stroked the girl's hair.
“You came looking for me. Thank you.”
“If we're late, the old hag will punish us. Rowen doesn't want to get hurt.”
“Yes, let's go.”
Ilea interlaced her fingers with the child's. She glanced back at Gaf before walking away.
As his daughter receded into the distance, Gaf remained frozen in place, staring for a long while in the direction she had vanished.
She was definitely Ilea. She still smiled often and was still his considerate daughter...
Yet something about her felt unfamiliar.
As though she were someone else.
“Big Sister, who is that man?”
“Hmm... A hopeless person?”
“Even though he's an adult?”
“Yes.”
Ilea drew a faint smile.
“But he's a brave person.”
* * *
A delicate hand pressed against the rough stone wall. The torches fixed to the walls only cast long shadows. They did not guide the way.
A blind boy's firefly was elsewhere.
“Stairs must be rather frightening for you.”
It was the demon.
Johan poked his head out from Raguel's fur coat.
“I feel like I might fall...”
The boy muttered as he stretched one foot downward. His leg trembled slightly, as if he hesitated to take the step.
Unable to bear watching any longer, Johan said,
“Why not go down on your butt instead?”
“I want to walk with my legs.”
The imp gave a hollow laugh.
“What pointless stubbornness.”
“Then guide me properly. You said you'd be my eyes.”
Raguel was more assertive than Johan had expected. Had he been like this in the original story? Johan could not remember clearly. Raguel's role had been very small.
“You came here from your room just fine, didn't you? Now it's your turn. Don't be afraid. Take the step.”
The spiral stairs stretched so deeply that the end could not be seen.
“Come on.”
Raguel carefully stepped onto the first stair.
Relief crossed his face.
Johan snickered.
“See? You can do it if you try. Well done.”
The corners of Raguel's lips began to rise, then stopped abruptly.
“I’m not happy at all to be praised by a demon.”
“Your face says otherwise.”
Raguel was the sort of child who would be delighted by even a little attention or praise. Anyone who knew his background could guess why.
His mother had died giving birth to him. His father constantly abused him. The servants saw their ill-tempered master in Raguel and looked at him coldly. He had even been condemned as an unfilial child who devoured his birth mother and came into the world.
Raguel could not help being lonely.
“You saw wrong. It actually makes me feel bad.”
“You’re both always so prickly.”
“Both?”
Gaf grumbled whenever he met Johan too.
“You don't need to know. Just keep moving.”
The stairs led deep underground. At this pace, dawn might arrive before they reached their destination. That would be a disaster.
“No matter how much you rush me, I can't go any faster. This is my limit.”
Johan could not exactly scold a blind boy for crawling along like a grub. He could only feel frustrated. He wanted to possess the boy, but even that was impossible.
The method of possession had not been imprinted in his mind.
‘Why can I make contracts, but not do this?’
Like contracts with humans, possession was something every demon could use. Johan alone could not.
‘Is there some setting in Inmarok that I don't know about?’
As he mulled over the original story, he heard grumbling.
His thoughts interrupted, Johan replied curtly.
“Stop mumbling and say it clearly.”
“If I could see, we'd already be there. I thought you were going to give me eyes, but you tricked me.”
Johan clicked his tongue.
“You'll have them soon enough, so there's no need to complain.”
“Really?”
“The sooner we reach the library, the sooner that will happen.”
The moment Johan finished speaking, Raguel's footsteps quickened. He was trying quite hard.
‘He has a simple side to him.’
His pace gradually accelerated.
“That’s enough. Be careful.”
Raguel had stumbled a few times already, making Johan uneasy for no reason.
“Take it easy...”
Sure enough, Raguel's legs crossed.
Raguel let out a startled groan as his body pitched forward.
“You idiot!”
He fell facedown and began rolling down the stairs.
‘Can't let him get hurt.’
Johan leaped from the fur coat. He tried to support Raguel somehow, but he was helpless.
He was dragged down along with him.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The impacts struck both fragile bodies without mercy.
At some point, Johan's consciousness drifted far away.
* * *
“...Where are you?”
His head throbbed. His whole body burned as if he had been scorched.
“D-don't leave me alone.”
His vision spun.
“I can't see anything.”
Suppressing a groan, Johan endured the pain.
“Where are you, really...?”
Then he looked around.
A vast cylindrical chamber. The underground library of House Myatro spread out before him.
It was very dark, but that did not bother a demon. Their eyes shone all the brighter in darkness.
His sense of smell had become sensitive as well. A musty odor stung his nose. It was the moldy smell of the enormous bookshelves surrounding the chamber.
“Please.”
Only then did he hear sniffling.
Johan looked toward the sound.
The boy was curled up tightly, trembling.
“Tch.”
Johan rose and walked toward him.
He had only stood up on his own yesterday, yet he had already taken his first steps.
‘Should I thank Gaf?’
His feelings were complicated.
Johan stopped in front of Raguel.
He was even shorter than the crouching boy.
“Should I have taken your prick as payment for the deal instead?”
Raguel jerked his head up.
“Y-you!”
“A boy shouldn't be sniveling like that.”
The boy flinched, then slowly relaxed.
“I thought I'd been left alone again... You should have told me you were there.”
“Don't whine. You're not alone anymore. More importantly, are you hurt anywhere?”
The boy was clutching his right shoulder with his left hand.
“I can't put any strength into my shoulder.”
A dislocation? Considering he had rolled down from that height, he had gotten off cheaply.
“Your ancestors will heal you.”
The boy looked puzzled.
“...My ancestors?”
“More precisely, the legacy they left behind.”
Raguel could not understand what Johan meant at all.
Johan slowly surveyed the library.
“It’s a large but ordinary library. There’s no reason to bury it so deep underground. Have you ever wondered why it was arranged so inefficiently?”
Raguel had not. He had only been glad it was deep down here. He had never questioned its practicality.
He was simply grateful for this space itself. It freed him from abuse and condemnation. To him, it was a refuge.
Raguel shook his head.
The demon curled his lips.
“Because there’s much to hide.”
“Hide what...?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Johan helped Raguel to his feet.
“Follow me.”
Then he grasped the tip of the boy's index finger. He would guide him.
Because of their difference in height, Raguel followed with his waist awkwardly bent.
“Where are we going?”
“To where you always sat.”
They headed toward the round table in the center of the library.
It was a small table, but it had been fashioned from Gold Mirror Stone, the most expensive mineral in the world.
Stopping before the grayish-white round table, Johan said,
“This will sting.”
With a sharp claw, he made a shallow cut across the boy's palm.
“Ah!”
Blood seeped out.
“W-what are you doing all of a sudden...?”
“There’s a table in front of you. Place your palm in the middle, as though leaving a handprint.”
The boy was puzzled, but did not question him.
He did as he was told and placed his hand down.
“A little more to the left.”
“L-like this?”
“Lower.”
“Lower...”
Johan sighed and climbed onto the round table.
Taking the boy's hand himself, he placed it at the exact center of the table.
Drops of blood soaked in. At the same time, the Gold Mirror Stone began to blaze brightly.
The pure white radiance brought an invisible spell to the surface. Lines tangled like a spiderweb covered the round table.
The boy's blood spread over the engraved spell.
The Gold Mirror Stone turned red. At last, when it confirmed Myatro blood, the earth shook once.
The round table fell straight down.
Dust that had accumulated over countless years clouded the library.
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