The Unfilial Heir Who Tries to Kill Me Tempts Me - Chapter 26

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 26

Not that it’s my place to say, but the Black Mages of this world were a truly inventive lot.
Their hunger for magical power knew no bounds.
In the end, they went so far as to strike a bargain with the demons—borrowing the Divine Authority of the demon realm in exchange for offering up a sacrifice from the Territory once every ten years.
The last time the Black Mages made their offering was two years before the land changed hands, which meant today marked exactly ten years to the day.
“Heh, so there’s still someone who remembers me.”
The demon laughed with arrogant delight.
“Well, well.”
I knew this one quite well.
A young demon who hadn’t yet come of age, but possessed a Divine Authority potent enough to count among the mightiest in the Demon Realm itself.
I couldn’t begin to fathom how hard the Black Mages must have labored to summon this one. Young, powerful demons were rare commodities.
Somehow managing to show up exactly when needed—crude in speech, perhaps, but truly endearing and useful.
“Why are you grinning like that? It’s unsettling.”
“Was I? I’m just happy to see you.”
“Happy, my— wait, hold on. You’re a Black Mage too?”
“Well… not entirely. Half, more or less.”
“What nonsense. Anyway, this works out. Undo this for me. I have no idea what this blasted Control Binding is made of—I can’t break free of it.”
The demon thrust an arm toward me through the bars.
“Ungrateful wretches. They promised to make offerings and should have kept their word, but not only did they destroy the Altar, they had the audacity to come after me—me, who came to collect—and they brought a Holy Knight with them? How in damnation did Black Mages manage to hire a Holy Knight?”
Oh, this is awkward.
The little demon still hasn’t figured out that the ownership has changed hands.
Feeling an unexpected pang of sympathy for the young creature, I placed a hand over my heart and spoke with genuine regret.
“You’re badly out of the loop. You’ve been abandoned, I’m afraid.”
“…What?”
“The Territory’s lord changed over the past ten years. The Black Mages you’re looking for don’t exist here anymore.”
The demon’s face twisted. It clearly couldn’t fathom what I was saying.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m only half a Black Mage, as I said. A Hybrid.”
I kindly explained how Grand Duke Lucifenia had seized this Territory from the Black Mages eight years ago, methodically dismantled every trace of their dark magic including the Altar, and how the Territory was now something entirely new.
The demon’s mouth fell open wider and wider as my explanation continued.
The creature sat there slack-jawed, as though struck across the back of the head with an iron pot lid, and asked:
“So what you’re saying is, the Black Mages who worshipped me have scattered to the winds and hidden themselves somewhere I can’t find them?”
“Yes.”
“And there are no more offerings for me?”
“No.”
“Then… what am I supposed to do?”
“Like I said—you’ve been abandoned.”
I offered this second explanation with equal courtesy.
The demon’s hand fell limp.
It had been staring blankly with crimson eyes, but suddenly began to thrash about wildly.
“No! You damn parasites! Eight years—eight years draining my Divine Authority after they got kicked out? I won’t forgive this, I swear it—undo this now! Release me!”
“I can’t release you.”
“I’ll find those bastards and make them suffer—I’ll tear them apart—just release me, do it now!”
The demon thrashed and twisted its limbs until exhaustion finally overwhelmed it, and it fell to gasping for breath.
That’s what happens when you struggle while wearing a Control Binding—it absorbs everything you put out. There’s a reason I wore mine and submitted to restraint.
Foolish child.
“…Listen. I’m not joking about this. I need offerings, or else I can’t survive. My Divine Authority’s been drained for ten years, and just now I expended a tremendous amount of power—if this continues, I’ll be forcibly summoned back to the Demon Realm!”
“Oh, now that’s news the new lord would certainly appreciate.”
“Hey!!!”
Ouch—my ears.
Perhaps youth accounts for it, but the demon had lungs like a steam whistle.
At least it still had strength to spare.
“And who was it that brought an entire horde of beasts like griffins here to terrorize the Territory’s people?”
“That was—I was only trying to demonstrate my greatness—!”
Ah, it’s starting to sniffle.
Now that’s rather endearing.
I crouched down and met the demon’s eyes across the bars.
“Is the thought of being summoned back really so frightening?”
“That’s what you call words? Do you have any idea how much trouble I went through to crawl out to the Human Realm? The Demon Realm is hopelessly boring!”
The demon trembled visibly at the mere thought of being trapped in the Demon Realm for decades.
Well, fair enough. For a hot-blooded young demon who hadn’t even undergone a Coming of Age Ceremony, the constraints of the Demon Realm were nothing short of a living nightmare.
The fact that this creature had so readily surrendered to the Black Mages and handed over its Divine Authority spoke volumes—it truly believed captivity in the Demon Realm was worse than anything else.
What was I supposed to do with this?
“So undo this! If I track down those bastards myself and turn them into offerings, then at least I’ll feel better!”
“No.”
I refused flatly.
“You goddamned—!”
The demon spat out a volley of curses at no one in particular, then huffed with exhaustion.
“What are you trying to say, staring at me with those filthy eyes?”
“Filthy? I’m taking pity on you.”
“Pity, my ass. Spit it out and get lost.”
Sharp instincts, this one.
I smirked.
“There’s actually one way you could stay in the Human Realm and use your Divine Authority freely without any offerings.”
“…Don’t tell me.”
The demon’s face twisted in disgust.
“No! I hate being bound to one person! Absolutely not!”
There were two ways for a demon to escape the Demon Realm and wield its Divine Authority freely.
One was to periodically consume the souls of multiple people to fuel that power; the other was to enter into a contract with a single human.
Most demons—nine out of ten—preferred the former method.
If you cultivated steady business relationships with long-term clients like the Black Mages, you could simply drain souls whenever your power waned and roam about freely.
The latter method required no soul consumption, but in exchange, the demon would be entirely bound to its contractor until that person’s death.
In other words.
If I made a contract with this creature, I’d have a legal subordinate.
An auxiliary mage? Extra manpower?
I didn’t need it.
One demon was already a game-changer.
Their Divine Authority was absurdly overpowered.
Yesterday alone, it deployed dozens of griffins and didn’t even break a sweat. That kind of energy was anything but ordinary. I needed a weapon like that.
The Black Mages certainly had an eye for talent.
“No! Absolutely not! And frankly, something about you rubs me the wrong way. If I contract with you, I have this gut feeling you’ll ruin my entire existence!”
Remarkably perceptive.
A demon’s instinct?
“Really? You won’t contract with me?”
“No!”
“Pity. Can’t be helped then.”
I stood up.
“I’ll be going.”
“…Wait, where are you going?”
“Hmm? You said you wouldn’t contract with me. As a mere employee, I have no authority to release a demon who isn’t my contractual partner. Fair warning: our Territory Lord absolutely despises both Black Mages and demons, so she’ll be here soon to execute you.”
“Ex-execute?”
“Don’t worry too much, though. You’re a demon—losing your head won’t kill you. Instead, you’ll just be forcibly summoned back to the Demon Realm and confined there for a century or so to recover. What a shame….”
How pitiful.
I let my eyebrows droop in exaggerated regret.
The demon’s face went white as a sheet.
“Wait, you’re—you’re going to execute me?”
“Hang in there. You can do it.”
I clenched my fist encouragingly and turned to leave.
“Hey, hey, wait. You’re really leaving like this? Stop!”
“Sorry, I’m busy.”
“Hey!”
Thud-thud.
“Don’t go! Hey!”
Thud-thud.
“…Damn it, let’s contract. Let’s do it! This will work, won’t it?”
“Oh, what a brilliant idea!”
The demon’s expression turned sour.

***

“Your Highness, let me introduce you. This is my assistant, Iden.”
“What in the world is this situation?”
Kairios stared at me as I returned from the Underground Dungeon with the prisoner, his expression one of exasperation.
“As I mentioned, Iden isn’t a Black Mage but a demon—a young one, around two hundred years old. We just signed a contract moments ago, and she’ll be working as my magical assistant here in the Territory.”
“First a demon beast, now a demon?”
It did sound rather peculiar when he put it that way.
Though unintentional, I seemed to be steadily earning the epithet of ‘witch’ through my actions.
“There are indeed records of past mages contracting with demons to dramatically amplify their Magical Power. The practice simply disappeared at some point.”
The clever demons figured out that binding themselves to a single human was a terrible deal.
I gave Basel a quick thumbs-up and pressed my advantage while I had it.
“Honestly, managing this vast Territory alone is overwhelming. Just look at the pile of documents stacked on my desk.”
I wasn’t asking for pity—I was still haunted by the senseless sacrifice of Ilawne, her memory wavering before my eyes.
“So you want me to allow a demon who attacked my Territory to remain here?”
“Though Iden did cause trouble under the mistaken belief that this place was still under Black Mage influence, she’s been reflecting deeply on her actions. Isn’t that right, Iden?”
Say something, would you.
I gave Iden a sharp poke in the ribs.
Iden, standing beside me with one hip cocked, let out a grumble.
“Mrgh-urgh. Mrrgh-ugh.”
“Come on, speak properly.”
“Mrgh… Ugh, damn it. I’m sorry. What? It was a mistake. Satisfied? Huh?!”
Quite the spirited apology—impressive, really.
Kairios looked back and forth between the shrieking Iden and me, a faint smile on my face, but said nothing. His expression was contemplative.
But I knew what it meant. When refusal didn’t come immediately, acceptance was on its way.
“Despite appearances, she’s quite endearing and earnest.”
I reached over and patted Iden’s head for emphasis. She flinched and pulled away from me, trembling.
“Don’t pat my head!”
“You’re too cute not to.”
“Insane human!”
Kairios’s eyes suddenly narrowed.
“I don’t like this. Send her away.”
“Pardon?”
Why so suddenly?!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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