Chapter 9: A Deal is a Deal
Chapter 9: A Deal is a Deal
"Is the silence outside also your doing?"
I have no idea what's happening beyond these walls.
It could be just the sound that's been blocked, or perhaps the space itself has been severed.
I didn't dwell on it further.
Three of the Empire's strongest forces are out there. There's no way they've been erased without a single sound.
I had to believe that.
The demon simply watched as I moved.
Like a cat toying with a mouse, her eyes brimmed with curiosity—and the confidence that she could crush me effortlessly.
Her crimson gaze settled on me.
She glanced at the sword pointed at her and smirked.
Then, she flicked a single finger.
Thunk.
The tip of my blade slammed into the ground.
No one had pushed it down, yet my entire arm was dragged along with it. My wrist throbbed, and the barely healed wounds on my back felt like they were tearing open again.
I gritted my teeth and tried to lift the sword.
But I couldn't even twitch.
After effortlessly pinning my only means of resistance to the floor, the demon shifted her gaze again.
To the child behind me.
What does she want with the kid?
Forgetting my own predicament, I reflexively moved.
I couldn't completely shield the child, but I could at least block her line of sight.
This time, I managed to move.
The pressure holding my sword down had vanished.
Why?
If she wanted to kill me and take the child, she could've done so already.
The demon woman's lips parted slowly.
"No."
Her answer was disappointingly short.
"I wasn't the one who moved the monsters today."
Ah, so she's answering my initial question.
"And why should I believe that?"
"You don't have to."
No excuses, no persuasion.
She didn't care whether I believed her or not.
I raised my sword toward her again. My fingers trembled from the pain, and my back burned.
But I didn't let go.
Now that I'd confirmed the overwhelming gap in power, the calculations became simpler.
I can't win.
I can't escape.
Then all I can do is buy time.
"State your business. You didn't come here just to play with me."
I decided to humor her.
Even as I spoke, the demon's gaze remained fixed on the space behind me.
"I've come to take my child."
Instantly, my grip on the sword tightened.
The child I'd risked my life to save.
I still remember the faint trembling I felt through the fabric of my clothes.
And now this demon calls her her child.
Is it true?
I twisted my body further to shield the kid.
Only then did the demon's eyes return to me.
"Why are you hiding her?"
"Because I don't trust you."
"......"
"I'm not stupid enough to blindly believe that a demon's child has been living among humans. Unless, of course, you've targeted her for some secret she holds."
The demon woman's lips twitched upward before settling back into neutrality.
"You keep shielding her with your body. Are you trying to protect her?"
"Who knows? Maybe I'm just stalling for time."
This time, I wasn't mistaken.
Her lips curved into an arc.
"You do realize I could blow your head off with a flick of my finger, don't you?"
I didn't answer.
"How amusing. You're trembling, yet you still resist."
Her voice sounded almost dreamlike.
"In the demon world, the weak don't survive long in a pack. But humans—they go out of their way to protect those weaker than themselves."
"That's humanity's strength."
The demon's crimson eyes bore into me. The sharpness in her gaze had softened slightly.
"Yes. I've met a human who said the same thing before."
A low, unhurried voice.
"It didn't end well for him."
"......"
"Humans are too fragile. Even those mixed with demon blood were no different."
This time, her red eyes drifted toward the child.
"That's why. I left my child among humans, hoping they would protect her from being devoured."
And the result?
Well, you can see how that turned out.
"Are you saying I just risked my life to save a demon's child?"
My voice dropped low.
"No."
She didn't hesitate.
"If it bothers you that you saved an enemy's child—then think of it as gaining a bargaining chip for your people's fate."
Even as she spoke of saving her own kin, this high-ranking demon framed it as a deal. Not gratitude.
Demons will be demons, I suppose.
"I get that the child is my bargaining chip."
If this is a deal, then I need to secure my payment too.
"What do I get in return?"
"Information."
"Can I hear it before deciding?"
"If you insist, I could always resort to force."
I recalled the moment I'd been frozen in place, utterly powerless. Barely able to even swallow.
"But then it wouldn't be a deal."
This woman could kill me. That much is certain.
She could take the child. That's also clear.
From the moment she appeared silently in this tent, my life has been in her hands.
Yet she called this a deal.
So, for now, I have no choice but to trust her.
"I'll make the deal on one condition. Are the people outside unharmed?"
The demon tilted her chin slightly toward the tent's entrance.
"For now, they simply don't perceive this space."
There's no proof I can trust her words.
When the scales are tipped this far, even a so-called deal is just a one-sided affair.
I didn't lower my sword.
"What happens to the child? You said she could've been devoured?"
The demon's eyes narrowed slightly.
As if she never expected such a question.
"Are you worried about her, human? Don't be. She just needs to become the mate of a stronger demon who can protect her."
The sheer absurdity of her words made me grimace involuntarily.
Not the human concept of a mate, surely.
More like attaching herself to a stronger being for survival.
Seeing my reaction, the demon laughed.
"You're a strange human."
"I've heard that before."
I forced a smile, even as cold sweat trickled down my back.
"But you're a strange demon too."
"Having a child with a human already makes me abnormal."
I was momentarily speechless.
She casually divulged what any human would hide—private matters spoken without hesitation.
The human who spoke like a hero—I've seen one before.
This demon isn't ignorant of humans.
Not exactly friendly, but at least respectful enough to treat me as a bargaining partner.
Then, a faint sound came from the corner of the tent.
The rustle of fabric.
A tiny presence stirring.
The child I'd saved earlier had opened her eyes.
The sleep magic hadn't fully worn off—her gaze was still hazy. She staggered slightly as she pushed herself up.
A faint red glimmer surfaced in her pupils. Something I hadn't noticed during the day.
With just that slight lift of her eyelids, the demon woman's claim was proven.
The demon reached out.
At some point, the child had been clutching the hem of my coat. Now, her fingers slowly loosened.
I looked at her.
"If you don't want to go, you don't have to."
My voice was tight, devoid of warmth.
A pointless gesture, perhaps, but I still wanted to give her a choice.
The child just blinked. I couldn't even tell if she understood me.
After a moment, she looked at me—then turned to the demon woman.
And stumbled forward.
I didn't stop her.
Could I have?
Even if I clung to her, invoking the Crown Prince's authority and human morality—would she live longer?
I don't know.
The demon didn't embrace the child.
She merely placed a hand on her small shoulder. Beneath it, the child trembled faintly.
A painfully dry reunion.
"Now, give me what you promised."
I couldn't wish them happiness.
As a party to this deal, I had my own dues to collect.
"We weren't the ones who collapsed the mountain today."
"Bullshit."
"There are humans who mimic the scent of demons."
She spoke indifferently, as if it didn't matter whether I believed her or not.
"That scent drove the monsters here."
So this was why Ulrich kept saying something was off.
Humans.
That single word sent a flurry of names flashing through my mind.
[Surviving is your reward.]
Was this what Mung-i meant?
I nearly died because of human malice, and the System's reward was letting me live?
Malice.
Human malice.
Hah. Look at the state of this damn country.
We should be banding together against the Demon King, and instead, some lunatic's out here pulling this shit for scraps?
I ought to hand the royal minister's accusations of colluding with demons right back to the real culprit. Yeah, that's exactly what I'll do.
"They're humans who know our blood. They hide among your kind."
What wonderful information. Truly brought tears to my eyes.
Humans hiding among humans.
Is there anything more groundbreaking than that?
I wanted to laugh so hard it made me cry.
A human who knows demon blood, mimics their scent, and drove monsters toward refugees.
While the Demon King's army marches on us, someone's sharpening a knife behind our backs.
Yeah. Truly groundbreaking information.
"Good deal. Let's hope the next one ends with words too."
I stopped her as she turned to leave.
I needed to draw a line.
The demon's lips moved faintly—too cold to be a smile, too thin to be a sneer.
"There won't be a next time."
"Then at least tell me your name."
Impatience made the words slip out.
"Knowing a name means getting dragged into troublesome affairs."
With her free hand—the one not holding the child—she opened a portal. A swirling darkness, like living shadow.
"Those who walk in Sezra's shadow call me Erha."
The answer came from the edges of her black cloak.
Then the shadows swallowed her.
I didn't get to say goodbye to the child. Our circumstances—this wretched world—left no room for sentiment.
Sezra.
Archduke Sezra of Illusory Dreams.
A name recorded as one who manipulates obsession, illusion, and desire.
One of the Demon King's highest-ranking archdukes was tangled in the shadows of this incident.
I'd have to uncover the details later, but for now, this wasn't a bad deal.
Above Mung-i's head—silent until now—System messages began appearing one after another.
[Unofficial deal with the demon Erha has been recorded.]
[Keyword acquired: Humans who mimic the scent of demons]
[Linked keyword: Archduke Sezra of Illusory Dreams]
[Insufficient related manuscript data.]
"Why isn't there any mention of the Destruction Rate going down?"
[Information is just information. Not a solution.]
Mung-i, the little bastard, added just one more line.
"You're joking, right? I risked my life making a deal with a demon, and this is it?"
Wow. Unbelievable.
"That demon was more generous than you, I swear."
Poking at it yielded no reaction.
Then, the sounds outside the tent rushed in all at once.
Soldiers' footsteps.
Refugees coughing.
The scrape of wagon wheels through mud.
Medics barking short orders.
The world had started moving again.
Right. Time to face reality.
Only then did I numbly sheathe the sword I'd been holding.
Click.
The sound of the blade settling was oddly light.
I wish finding the human colluding with demons would be this straightforward.
The goal is clear.
Find the bastard hiding among humans, dreaming his disgusting dreams.
And see if he can still smile when they're shattered.
[Acquired keyword has been updated to a tracking target.]
[Tracking target: Humans who mimic the scent of demons]
[Target's identity cannot be confirmed at this stage.]