295

Chapter 295 — Something I Can Accept (11)

[…That’s all?]

“What were you expecting? Did you want me to get angry at that child, scream at him, and spit out every ounce of resentment I have?”

I smiled faintly.

“But you know, I hate a major corporation that breaks the law even more than I hate an illegal street stall.”

Nine years.

Nine years in which I couldn’t sleep or even doze off once.

Nine years in which I would have to withstand the burning pain the demon could inflict at any time while everyone around me treated me as an enemy.

Nine years without the pain sensitivity adjustment, forcing me to endure everything raw.

Could I really do it?

Could I endure?

A human being could become dazed after just one sleepless night, yet this wasn’t ten days or one month.

It was nine years.

Nine whole years.

Could I actually endure that?

“And I hate child abusers like you even more.”

But I couldn’t abandon that round little head.

I couldn’t coldly ignore those cheeks gleaming miserably because he was crying without making a sound.

Fuck.

Life was complete garbage and the world was a fucking cesspit, but even so, I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.

[Ah, Gretchen, you truly are…….]

So I made my decision.

You endured eight months.

Then I could manage at least that much too.

It would be embarrassing if a child could overcome something that I, as an adult, couldn’t endure.

So surely I could do at least that much.

[You truly excel at deceiving yourself.]

Surely I could.

[If ever a throne were raised for the original sin of falsehood, your name would surely be carved upon its first seat.]

My true feelings hid behind the child’s falling tears.

Somewhere deep inside my heart, an adult was being crushed so badly that he couldn’t even breathe.

An adult who couldn’t cry because there was already a crying child in front of him.

That adult remained there, choking soundlessly beneath the weight.

[But you who deceive even yourself—how long can you offer yourself as a burnt sacrifice? How long can a soul worn thin by sacrifice retain its original shape?]

I’m miserable.

I’m heartbroken.

I’m devastated.

I’m angry.

I’m hurting too.

I’m suffering too.

I need someone to comfort me.

Someone to tell me that I’ll be okay too.

[That contradiction in which the good deeds you stubbornly cling to in order to preserve the last handful of your humanity instead destroy you—will you—]

I miss my family too.

BOOM!

The world shook.

The vibration shattered both the pitch-black darkness and the pure white world.

Broken walls vomited out surging waves of blood.

[…You insignificant insect!]

What the hell was this now?

I blankly lifted my head and watched droplets of blood pouring down like a waterfall.

Strangely enough, I didn’t feel anything particularly special about it.

Looks like something went wrong.

That was about it.

The emotionless assessment drifted dryly through my mind.

「An impact from outside…….」

[An ignorant beast dares attack me without knowing its place?]

The other two, however, reacted differently.

The black-and-white world suddenly turned translucent, revealing what was happening outside.

The field of view was slightly wider than normal human vision, almost like a game played from an over-the-shoulder camera.

BOOM!

At the same time, sound blasted against my ears as though someone had turned a set of speakers all the way up.

The Zweihander, which had been wrapped around my body in a cocoon to protect it, and Ratel were fighting the enemy that had attacked.

White pieces wrapped only around my major joints more like protective guards than tights, moving my body on their own.

My legs leaped high to evade a gigantic tusk while both arms hacked apart the approaching clumps of insects.

[Foolish beast. I will tear you apart exactly as I tore apart your master.]

But the movements were restricted to the absolute minimum and weren’t enough to overwhelm the enemy.

The fact that blood continued pouring into this space made that obvious.

My body, prioritizing evasion over offense, moved unnaturally like the corpse of a dead man.

「…You think I’ll let you out?」

[…You little brat who can’t even understand the situation!]

At the same time, the demon, who had been trying to do something, was caught by chains.

The cracked and broken chains looked as though they might shatter at any moment, yet surprisingly, the demon couldn’t throw them off.

Crrrk.

Crrrk.

Every time the demon tightened her grip, fragments of the chains crumbled away, but they continued buying time.

[Everyone will die at this rate. You understand that much, don’t you?]

「…….」

[Do you think it’ll end if this body alone dies? Listen to me, child. That plague isn’t going to devour only this body and then leave. Never! That greedy bastard would never do that!]

Perhaps she disliked being restrained.

Or perhaps she was afraid the body would be consumed by death before she could act.

Either way, the demon continued wagging her tongue while struggling to break the chains.

[Child.]

In an instant, her voice lowered into a gentle murmur dripping with sweetness.

[The homeland you abandoned even your benefactor to protect lies just beyond here.]

「…I…」

[Then protect it. You should protect it, little brat. You need to choose before you lose everything because you were too busy clinging to the one thing you already threw away.]

「…I!」

[Or do you want to watch me burn your homeland to the ground?]

「……!」

The fangs hidden beneath that sweetness were drenched in vicious poison.

The boy’s face twisted.

The dried tracks of tears on his cheeks gleamed whenever light fell across them.

[Let go, child. Release me now, and I swear upon my name that I will spare your homeland.]

Shrrrk.

The chains binding the demon loosened slightly.

[Yes. Good boy.]

The demon smiled.

Clatter.

「…I don’t care anymore. Whether it’s ruined, shattered, or burned to ashes.」

Then the chains pulled taut once more.

「You’re right. I chose Münmund’s safety over your well-being. Because I missed the memories I left there too much. Because I couldn’t bear to lose the remnants that still remained. Because I wanted those people, at least, to live happily.」

The boy looked back at me.

「But… but I’m okay now.」

The child was no longer crying.

「I won’t be greedy anymore. I understand now that I don’t deserve to be.」

Ash.

Ash-gray.

His faded gray hair swayed in a wind that had blown from somewhere.

「Right. After trampling thousands of lives, after dragging an innocent person like you into this, trying to protect anything precious to me in the first place was wrong.」

The blood rose as though it meant to swallow us.

It was the sin that had accumulated layer upon layer.

It was the tears we had shed.

It was the karma we would have to bear, covering our knees and sweeping around our waists.

「I’m sorry. I know this isn’t a sin that can be resolved by saying those words once, but I’m still sorry.」

Ah.

If I may pray for this.

「And thank you. For letting yourself be dragged along by my selfishness. For telling me that I did well enduring it.」

A soul capable of overcoming wickedness.

「Now go. Back to the place where you were always supposed to be.」

A strong being who will not crumble before evil.

「…I’m truly sorry for summoning you whenever I wanted and now trying to end everything whenever I want. But if we miss this moment, there will never be another chance.」

A person capable of triumphing over demons.

「…I should have sent you back long ago.」

…Can you hear my voice?

[You damned brat—!]

「Ah.」

If you can hear me.

If you can hear this voice…….

「It hurts…….」

Please.

Please help me…….

[If you don’t let me out right now—!]

Black flames pierced through the boy’s heart.

The tears that gushed out joined the rising tide of karma, disappearing into it without leaving the slightest trace.

As if the boy’s sorrow meant nothing before sins this immense, it dissolved completely without a trace.

[Damn it, at this rate……!]

Even then, the boy didn’t fall.

Even as the flames burned his body and reduced him to ash, his knees didn’t buckle.

It hurts.

The unheard scream was swallowed in his throat and died away.

Blood.

Blood flowed.

[You damned little brat, all the way to the end……!!]

So much blood flowed.

Blood carrying sin in order to imprison the flames became a river, then a lake, and finally an ocean.

The boy who had once bled in order to survive sank into a sea of blood.

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“Say I endure the nine years.”

But I was taller than the boy.

So the blood didn’t swallow me.

I caught hold of the child who had sunk into the lake all the way to his chin.

“Let’s say I go home afterward. What happens to you?”

I don’t like seeing a child submerged in sticky blood.

So come out.

I slid one hand beneath the boy’s hips and lifted him.

Cough.

The child, stained red, looked at me with tears clinging to his lashes.

「Why are you asking that…….」

“Answer me. Either you or that bastard.”

[…We agreed that the child would become free, and I would fall.]

“Can I take that to mean you’ll leave this body and more or less die?”

[Yes. I won’t die, but I won’t have enough power left to do anything either.]

A drop of red liquid hanging from his gray eyelashes fell.

[Why ask? Have you suddenly decided you want to stay?]

The demon, clearly consumed by anxiety, sneered as though trying to bluff.

“Nooo. I was thinking about it, and that promise was an exchange between the truth and Münmund’s safety, right? So I figured maybe that means we need to take care of that monster too.”

Was comparing her to a hedgehog bristling with spines being far too generous?

I dismissed the image almost immediately.

After thinking about it a little more, I realized the comparison was deeply unfair to hedgehogs.

Yes.

Very unfair.

「…No.」

“Do you really think the value of the truth I’ve heard so far is equal to the value of the threat that’s already been eliminated?”

「No, please……!」

“What do you think, demon?”

「Please, please……!! You can’t suffer anymore!!」

[…You’re asking me?]

“Is there another demon here?”

「Neither I nor this land have the right to survive by making you pay with your suffering!!」

[If this body dies, you can go home. You would still help us despite that?]

“If you don’t like it, say no.”

「You—you don’t have to hurt anymore……!!」

[…No. I’d welcome it if you really did.]

「Stop. Please… stop…….」

Above the image of the shattered hedgehog, I thought.

Would I regret this choice?

“Then make another contract.”

I didn’t know.

I couldn’t see the future.

But I did know one thing with certainty.

If I went home like this, I would regret it.

That much I knew.

“You won’t try to steal my body while I sleep. You won’t intentionally cause burning pain just to torment me. You won’t release Demonic Energy whenever you feel like it. Basically, swear you’ll never pull any tricks intended to steal my body. Oh, and cancel that promise about conveying the truth or whatever. Make it so that no matter what he tells me from now on, he won’t receive any more penalties.”

So I decided to gamble once more.

Just once.

Only one more time.

With the firm intention that if the demon refused these terms, I would simply leave.

「Stop. You already went through this in Bemurchen……! You stayed behind for those people, and you suffered so much afterward……!! So, so…….」

“…What are you talking about? I stayed behind for those people?”

[Ah. You wouldn’t remember. We erased it.]

“You two really have done a disgusting number of unforgivable things to me…….”

…Oh.

I genuinely hadn’t known that.

I spent a brief moment weighing the newly discovered fact before opening my mouth again.

“I can hear about that later. Anyway, are you making the contract or not?”

[Those terms disadvantage me far too much—]

“Then die if you don’t like them.”

At the same time, I rose slightly onto my toes to keep my nose above the blood.

I had no intention of getting completely conned like the child had.

If I was doing this, I was getting everything I could out of it.

[Then return your memories to the state they were in before you spoke to us…….]

“Hey. Do I look easy to you? Or do you not want to live?”

[Then at least swear that you won’t intentionally die…….]

“I told you, if you don’t want to live, don’t.”

[Damn you! You’re telling me to surrender everything just so I can survive?!]

“Obviously. Yes. What else?”

The demon’s gaze met mine.

“You’re the one who said the victim was stupid for getting tricked.”

The crimson eyes glowing vividly even within the blood screamed meaningless rage.

It was pointless.

Her humiliation was nothing more than the karma she had accumulated herself.

“So are you doing it or not?”

[…You’ll regret this.]

“Yeah, people who say that are never actually scary.”

[You think I’m joking.]

“Isn’t it natural to ignore some moron who was grinning because she thought she’d already won without even predicting that Gluttony would come after her?”

[…We’ll proceed with the contract.]

See?

Bastards who love saying the victim is stupid never blame themselves when they’re the ones who get screwed.

I swallowed the words trying to escape my mouth.

If that bastard got pissed off enough to stubbornly refuse the contract, it would make things difficult for me too.

Clatterrr.

Fortunately, she produced a contract.

Paper that didn’t soften even while submerged in blood appeared, and clauses streamed across its surface.

“Is this enough?”

The provisions were dense, and with time running out for me too, I couldn’t inspect every one of them meticulously.

But from a quick reading, it seemed most of the tricks she might attempt had been blocked.

Then that was enough.

Probably.

「Why… why would you go this far…….」

“…If I leave now, everything I suffered until this point becomes meaningless.”

「Please, please…….」

No.

Honestly, even if the contract wasn’t perfect, that would still be okay.

If I could get explicit guarantees that I would be allowed to sleep, that the reduced pain would remain in effect, and that she wouldn’t deliberately inflict burning pain, it should be survivable.

Humans could endure three years even after their legs and their dreams were shattered.

With conditions this good, surely I could somehow survive nine.

「You’re allowed to be happy now…….」

“I won’t deny that. It isn’t as though I haven’t committed sins of my own, but I don’t think I deserve to suffer this fucking much. If I look at it that way, I think I’m entitled to at least some happiness too.”

With that thought, I buried my face against the shoulder of the child sobbing in my arms.

Since I was already holding him up, the height lined up perfectly.

「Then why? Why…….」

“Because, damn it, I’m the only person who can help you right now.”

Then I held the contract out toward the demon.

“Hey. Add one more clause. In addition to the actions already written in the contract, anything I judge to be an attempt to steal my body can be added to the prohibited actions at any time.”

[…I would rather die than accept that!]

“Sure. Then die.”

[……!!!]

The demon ground her teeth at the chicken game in which one side had absolutely nothing to lose—aside from not being able to go home immediately.

Splash!

The blood was shoved outward, creating a dry space for us.

That part was nice.

Would have been nicer if she’d done it earlier.

[…Don’t you think a clause allowing you to make that judgment leaves far too much room for abuse?]

“Not as much as you.”

[…Change it so the judgment is made by ancient magic. Then I’ll agree.]

“Don’t want to.”

[How am I supposed to accept it when I don’t know whether you’ll decide that even the simple fact that I’m parasitizing this body counts as a trick?!]

“…Oh. A scammer really is different. You found the loophole instantly.”

Was making a deal with this bastard really the right choice?

I thought about it for a moment, then looked down at the boy in my arms and let out a deep sigh.

What else could I do?

I couldn’t abandon the kid.

“I don’t know whether this ancient magic of yours is actually impartial.”

[I swear upon my name that it is.]

“…That still isn’t exactly reassuring.”

[Are you planning to make the contract or not?!]

I was.

She was just so incredibly untrustworthy.

I glanced at the boy.

“Is it reliable?”

At my question, the boy painfully nodded.

「…Don’t do it. Please don’t.」

Even while giving me the truth, his choking breaths continued trying to stop me until the end.

“That isn’t happening. The way you asked for help was completely fucked, but in the end, there’s still a child here who asked an adult to rescue him. Maybe it would be different if there were someone else who could help, but right now I’m the only one.”

If ancient magic had enough credibility to serve as a neutral judge, it should be fine.

I raised my free hand.

I need a pen.

The moment I thought that, one appeared.

“It isn’t even a lifetime. Nine years… I’ll just think of it as doing volunteer work overseas or something.”

So I just had to write my name here?

I extended the pen toward the bottom of the contract.

「You’ll regret it.」

The child snatched it away.

「You’ll definitely regret helping someone like me.」

“Maybe.”

「You really will regret it…….」

Tears fell heavily from the child’s eyes as he properly gripped the pen he had stolen from me.

“Why are you holding that?”

Despite hiccupping for breath, the child somehow managed to answer.

「…You mustn’t give a demon your name.」

“What? Then how am I supposed to sign the contract……?”

Scratch, scratch.

Letters appeared on the contract before the ink even had time to dry.

Fortunately, he wasn’t writing in the signature box.

「…I’ve already given my name to the demon, so you can use mine.」

Mephistopheles shall harbor no ambition to seize Gretchen’s body.

Acts constituting such ambition include… [omitted] ….

The name the demons used for me appeared in the place where my own name normally would have been written.

“You’re not going to exploit some loophole because that isn’t my real name, are you?”

「…That isn’t possible. Our perception recognizes Gretchen as you.」

The boy looked up at me again through reddened eyes.

「The moment I put my name in the signature box, you’ll have to endure another nine years in this land.」

Plip.

Another pearl-like tear fell.

「Are you really, truly okay with that?」

That made my choice worthwhile.

“Yeah.”

Sobbing openly, the boy wrote his name on the contract.

Faust.

The name of one who contracted with the devil, yet was saved by Gretchen.

I rather liked it.