The First Contract (3)
The soldiers who had chased the Saintess out and turned hostile against us.
"They've fled. A perfect retreat, it seems."
They ran.
Spooked by my utterly ridiculous, half-baked bluff.
"Quite the cowards, aren't they. Calling themselves knights, yet bolting without even putting up a proper fight."
"······"
The Saintess still said nothing.
Ever since the one called Ain had held his men back, she had been staring blankly, and even now showed no sign of coming back to herself.
"Hmm. You look rather unwell. Are you all right?"
"······You."
"Yes. Please speak."
"Just what... just what are you?"
What am I, she asks. Not that I have much of an identity worth naming.
At best, a country boy who died and woke up as a demon?
Crazy. That is a terrifyingly shocking identity.
But I couldn't tell her that straight. She wouldn't believe me, and the speech correction would force-rewrite it anyway.
"I am a demon. Your friend, and an excellent business partner."
"That's not what I was asking... Never mind. If you don't want to say, forget it."
What? Why give up so easily.
"In the end, I lived. I thought it was over for me."
"You've been through a great deal. Please rest easy now."
Anyway, the result was a complete success.
I had escaped the barrier, and the Saintess had shaken off her pursuers. A perfect win-win transaction.
I'm rather proud. An ideal situation for a demon, eh?
Wait—why am I feeling proud?
And why is the polite speech even leaking into my inner monologue?
I'm just wearing a demon's skin; my personality isn't like that.
...But does it even matter? I'm not hurting anyone.
Hmm. Thinking about it, it shouldn't be a problem. What's good is good, right? It's not a bad thing.
"Haley von Lisht, was it?"
I spoke to the Saintess—no, to Haley.
For reference, I had heard the name from one of the soldiers who'd been yelling earlier.
"It feels strange being addressed by a demon, but yes, that's right."
"I shall call you Lady Haley. We'll be depending on each other from now on, so overly rigid titles won't do."
"As you like."
I had suspected it midway through, but this world is somehow alien.
The existence of a Saintess, the non-Korean-style names, and even the plate-armored knights. Putting it all together...
This isn't Earth, is it.
I'd just wanted to take a little trip, and now this disaster.
In a way, you could call this a kind of world tour too. An otherworld is still a world, after all.
"I look forward to working with you, Lady Haley."
And every journey needs a guide.
To survive, I needed an expert who knew the local terrain inside and out.
"...I look forward to working with you too, Mr. Demon."
Fortunately, the Saintess—Haley—also needed my protection.
We were rather like the relationship between a sea anemone and a tropical fish, or a crocodile and a plover. A symbiotic bond where each needed the other.
"Heh heh. Please, do call me Demian."
"Yes, Demian."
I think we can become good partners.
A man whose true intentions I cannot read.
His motives, his purpose—nothing of him can be grasped.
Just what does he want?
Why does he follow at my side without taking any payment at all.
It doesn't seem to be my soul he's after. He said as much himself—that he had no interest in it.
Demons deceive humans.
They coax with sweet words, then strip away the soul and make a meal of it.
If this one had simply been like that, I would have felt easier. At least the purpose would have been clear.
"Haley, the day is growing late."
The demon reported the situation from beside me in a familiar tone.
"We ought to prepare a campsite soon."
His invisible horns and wings.
The moment I asked whether he could hide them, he changed his appearance without the slightest hesitation.
He truly looks human now, but...
That only makes my skin crawl more.
Because I cannot tell what lies behind that kindness. Because that cheerfully smiling face feels as if it might stab me in the back at any moment.
"All right. The distance is still too great to reach in a single day."
Suspicion aside, the sun had long since vanished. The hour when wild beasts would begin to stir. We needed to finish camp preparations before the night deepened further.
"I'll prepare a fire. You can take care of a place to sleep—"
Snap!
"I've finished the sleeping quarters. Please lie down at once."
"..."
Again. That pattern again.
The moment I so much as ask for something, that demon finishes it in an instant with magic and then invites me to make use of it.
Thump.
"...It's soft. Much softer than what I used in the Holy Kingdom."
"Heh heh. Demian's special service."
A warm campfire and a plush bed. The utterly alien sight, impossible to reconcile with the middle of a forest, left me with a sense of dislocation.
"We won't be able to rest long. We need to reach Barloken as soon as we can."
Our destination: Barloken.
A sacred ground for mages where magic had taken root—and at the same time, a sanctuary for criminals.
"Is there a particular reason you chose that place? If the location is poor, neither of us is likely to be welcomed."
"Don't worry. It's fine there."
In an ordinary territory, I would never have dreamed of setting foot. But Barloken was different.
"The Battle Denial Magic is active there."
No one can fight inside it.
Not the champion of the arena, not even the Empire's monstrous crown prince—everyone is equal.
"A prohibition on combat. But in that case..."
"Yes. It's been a den of criminals for a long time."
Equality is not an unalloyed good. In practice, villains who had committed unforgivable crimes would slip into Barloken and go into hiding.
"That sounds considerably dangerous. Will you be all right?"
"There's no choice. It's not as if we have anywhere else to go."
Crack. Pop.
The sound of firewood crumbling into the flames.
"Haah..."
And as I traded small talk with the demon, drowsiness rolled over me.
"Are you sleepy? I shall keep watch the entire night, so please get some rest."
The demon urged me to sleep.
He must have been tired himself. Do demons not sleep at all?
"Yes... then I'll leave it to you."
"Understood. May you have pleasant dreams."
There is far too much I do not know.
The free kindness with no price attached. The purpose for which he follows me. None of it makes sense.
A demon would never enter a deal where he takes a loss.
Ah, forget it.
I'm too sleepy for my head to work. He won't kill me while I sleep. If he meant to lay a hand on me, he could have done it long ago and still had time left over.
I'll sleep for a bit and think later...
I just hope nothing happens.
Soft breathing—soft breathing—
"Hmm. It seems you've fallen asleep."
Whew. Finally I can get a little rest myself.
Walking all day has been absolute murder.
"Truly remarkable. How can someone so young be this hardy."
I gently stroked Haley's hair as she slept soundly.
For all that her youthful features suggested she might barely be past thirteen, every movement of hers carried a quiet maturity.
"Not once has she let out a word of complaint."
Even when she walked ahead of me, she never showed the slightest sign of fatigue.
How does composure like that settle into a body so young. I would rather not think about it too hard.
"Cute, admirable, and so composed. How could I possibly not look after her."
There is simply no way I can leave her unprotected.
"Well then. Shall we prepare."
Because of the sort of people who would target Haley.
"It's about time I caught the little rats who have been tailing us."
"Good instincts. Though you're already too late."
Thwang.
The sound of several bowstrings being drawn came from all around us. Meaning the enemy was not one or two.
"I'll keep this brief. Leave the girl and get lost."
A middle-aged man with dark skin stepped out of the undergrowth.
His ears hung long. Another non-human species like me, perhaps.
"Hmm. I find people who skip greetings rather disagreeable, you know."
"Do you not grasp the situation?"
Whoosh!
The sound of air being split, and a single arrow flying toward me.
"I don't know. It looks like a rather dull little prank to me."
But it never reached me. I had already twisted its path with magic.
"...A mage, then? What business does a mage have in a backwater like this?"
"Nothing you need to know."
"You'll talk soon enough. When that girl you cherish so much is dying in front of you."
The man yanked something from his sleeve.
"Magic must be met with magic."
Its true form was a staff. The kind used to channel spells.
"Your affinity is wind. You won't be able to play tricks against this attack!"
Light wavered at the tip of the staff. A moment later, countless black thorns erupted from the ground.
They look rather like rose thorns.
Even at a glance, getting stabbed by those would be catastrophic.
"It won't do you any good. They won't reach me anyway."
"Afraid, are you? Don't worry. The pain will last only a moment."
No—he isn't even listening.
Of course, he is a person, and I am a demon, so that tracks.
Rumble—!!
"I've wasted too much time. Die already."
With the attacker's declaration, the throng of thorns surged toward me. At this rate I would be turned into a hedgehog without room to move.
Creak...
"What—what is this...!!"
"As I said. They won't reach me."
But the thorns stopped dead right in front of my nose. As if they possessed a will of their own and were deliberately avoiding a target they must not touch.
"I-Impossible! No human has ever succeeded with a composite affinity!"
"I don't know what a composite affinity is, but of course they haven't."
A faint sensation brushed against my scalp and the back of my shoulders. Black shadows draped the deep night even darker.
"I am a demon, after all."
It is only natural that ordinary standards cannot measure me.
"...Hah."
The man let out a hollow laugh. He must have realized he was facing an opponent he could not defeat.
"I shall grant you an opportunity. Disappear from my sight."
Things had come to this, but I had no particular interest in killing them. My purpose was to protect Haley. Meaningless slaughter is not to my taste.
"Decide quickly, before I change my mind."
"Ha... hahaha..."
No—I said I would let you go, so why are you just standing there laughing?
That's irritating. Maybe I should scare him with an attack spell—
Shing!
"I am Veluba, descendant of the greatest evil and captain of the Dark Elf intelligence unit."
Wait—why are you drawing a blade?
"I offer my apology for the grave sin of baring my fangs at my lord."
"No, it's fine—"
"Please grant me your forgiveness."
Slash.
A wretched sound, and his throat split open.
Thud. Thump. Thud-thud.
One after another, the sounds of bodies collapsing nearby followed.
"Hmm. Well now."
My head cannot quite keep up with the situation, but one thing is clear.
"The finest apology of all, it seems."
Veluba, your apology was the worst possible kind.
How am I supposed to explain this to Haley...