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What it Means to be a Mate – Part 02

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Translator: Kell

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The demon was in a great mood.

None of the women in Fort Niedra were beautiful at all. If there was one, they were already someone else’s wife, and it was against “human decency” to covet her.

Mina grew up to be pretty, but only a little prettier than the rest.

But that woman was different. Though she wasn’t as beautiful as the silver-haired witch, she was definitely the most beautiful of all the people gathered in the fort.

Her tanned skin. Her black eyes that quivered with fear and disgust. Her lips pursed to keep herself from screaming.

Every time it remembered the impact of that axe, swung with fear, it felt its very core tremble.

This must be what humans called love. The demon had finally grasped the true nature of the inexplicable emotion that was written about in so many books.

He let go of many others for one woman. How was that anything but love?

It would have her tonight.

Driving away the insects that covered its body, the demon took off its rags and removed its mask, exposing its black carapace.

It had two huge eyes, with an antenna extending out of its head. Its jaw was split in half in the middle. When it opened its mouth, a grotesque tongue slithered out from between its jagged teeth. Its neck looked like an armor with its layers of carapace. Its chest was even stronger and more robust.

On the contrary, the four arms extending from its shoulders and sides were thin, and its hands had claws instead of fingers. Because of this, the demon could not even turn a book properly without the help of insects.

It had a waist that was disproportionately thin compared to its chest, and the legs extending down below were reminiscent of a puppet’s legs with the joints exposed.

“Ugly,” the demon hissed, then took some clothes out from the wardrobe.

It was one of the outfits prepared by the first Director for the demon after it showed interest in the way humans lived. In a way they had a good relationship. The first Director treated the demon like an old friend. They never let it inside the archives, but they gave it any book it wanted. The demon was content with that.

The demon possessed eyes that could observe everything that happened in the world. It could not hear voices, but it always knew what someone did and where they were.

It knew, but it never understood why.

The Director helped it out. Whenever it had questions, they gave it the book that contained the answer.

The first Director wished to live longer, but the human body was fragile and weak. The third Director was killed by the fourth. Even the fourth died younger than the third.

While the contract was passed down through generations, for the demon, there was only one contractor—the first Director. In the past hundred years, it was only the First who answered its questions.

The demon sought to understand the Director’s mind. The Director loved humans. So the demon also tried to love humans, despite not knowing what love was.

The demon wore pants that hid its misshapen lower body, a vest with four holes for its four arms, and a loose jacket that reached its waist.

It was a terribly outdated outfit that had not been in fashion for a hundred years, but it made it look a little more human. It was human etiquette to wear special clothes on special occasions. According to the demon’s accumulated knowledge, the first night with a mate was definitely special.

It opened its mouth, splitting its jaw wide, and a long tongue slithered out from inside, squirming like a living creature. It was the demon’s smile.

The fort was empty by morning, and came afternoon, the demon ate a lot of fresh meat.

It was human etiquette to wait until nightfall, but it could not wait any longer.

Beyond the falling ashes, the red of dusk burned bright.

The demon ascended the stairs to Gemma’s room, riding the wave of insects it had summoned. Slowly it pushed open the tightly-closed door and came face to face with its bride.

The demon cocked its head at the intense spite coming from her.

“What… are you… doing…?”

“I told you you’re not coming near me.”

The demon drove the insects away and stood on its own feet. It took a step forward. Gemma gripped her axe even tighter.

“You… will be… in trouble… if I die…”

Gemma pressed the axe against her neck.

Realizing that she intended to commit suicide if it got too close, the demon paused for a moment. “You dying… is a violation… of our agreement… I will bring back… the people of the fort… and I will not… protect the knights…”

Gemma’s expression twisted into a pained grimace. The grip on her axe loosened, and the weapon fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

“Please… give me more time,” she said.

“No,” the demon refused.

A yelp escaped Gemma’s throat as it took another step forward.

“No… please…” She tried to run away.

“No.”

The demon picked Gemma up and threw her on the bed, as if it could not take it any longer. Its claws dug into Gemma’s skin, causing scratches, as it tore off her clothes. Blood trickled down her dark skin, flowing softly down her cleavage and dripped down her side, staining the sheets.

The demon extended its long tongue. The taste, scent, the sticky texture of the blood caused its deeply-buried lust to surge forth.

It wanted to bite into her tender flesh and slurp all her blood.

“Thousand-eyed Sentinel!”

The demon froze.

Someone called it by its name—its true name that no one was supposed to know.

Its claws on Gemma’s neck, the demon turned around slowly.

“Step away from her,” the fifth Director of Fort Niedra said. The demon’s servant was standing on the other side of the open door. “That is an order from the fifth Director.”

“Where did you… learn that name…?”

It burned all the books related to Sorcery. It even read the first Director’s journal from cover to cover, cut out the pages that contained information about itself, and ate them on the spot.

There should be nothing left in the fort to reveal its name.

“The first Director left everything in the warded archives.”

“Lies!” The demon tossed Gemma aside, and in the blink of an eye, it was standing right in front of Madia. “You’re my servant… You can’t disobey me… There’s no book… with my name on it…!”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Director. The library itself is a book. Everything was written on the bookshelves.”

The demon was stunned. It finally understood. Who said that a book had to be big enough to carry around? In the days before paper, walls and stone tablets were used as books.

The first Director anticipated that the demon he summoned would go out of control. He foresaw a future where it would take away the knowledge of Sorcery from its contractor and control them at will. So he prepared a book that could never be destroyed by someone without knowledge of Sorcery.

The demon was deceived. It could feel its heart trembling, feel the first Director’s breath in its ear. The breath of the wise and beautiful old woman.

“What are you laughing at?” Madia asked.

“Is that all?”

“Huh?”

“You know… my name… So what? It’s only my name… You’re a servant… not a witch… Nothing has changed…”

The first Director would have a next move prepared. Like a cunning witch, she would have a plan to outsmart the demon. It felt curious. It wanted to know what the first Director had left for it.

“What are you… looking at…?”

Madia did not answer. She was staring hard at something behind the demon.

The demon looked over its shoulder. Red silk fluttered on the window, where a limp Gemma was floating in the air. The demon leaned forward to take a closer look at the unbelievable scene. But it could not see anything.

“I-It can’t be…”

“Oh? It’s true. You actually can’t see me,” a voice said. “The witch’s talisman is pretty awesome.”

Someone was there, the demon decided. It could not see it, but someone was definitely carrying Gemma.

“I know… that voice…!” the demon gasped. “That silver-haired witch’s mate…!”

By knowing a demon’s name, you could render its ability ineffective to you.

The Thousand-Eyed Sentinel had the ability to see the world with its eyes. If a powerful witch found out its name and created a talisman, the demon would not be able to see them.

“Sorry about this, Director, but things went exactly as planned. The witch fooled you.”

“Planned?” Gemma said.

“I’ll explain later,” the voice replied.

“I feel sorry, but unfortunately, I follow the witch’s orders. She’s my employer, after all. So anyway, I’m taking back the Captain.”

“W-Wait…!”

A strand of silver hair was being tied around Gemma’s wrist, ands suddenly she vanished from sight.

Hearing footsteps jumping down the window and fading away, the demon confronted Madia. “Since when… did you… plan this?!”

“From the start,” Madia replied. “Lady Zero found your name when she entered the library. Once she learned your name, your ability to see the world would no longer work on her. All we had to do then was pretend like we knew nothing, free the people, and steal Gemma away quietly.” She giggled. “Considering your greedy nature, I knew you’d sneak in here. If I didn’t buy time, Lady Gemma would have become tonight’s dinner. I’m glad I managed to stop you.”

Madia flashed a bright smile. For a moment, the demon saw the first Director in her. It jerked back.

“It wasn’t just Lady Gemma who escaped. You didn’t pay attention because I stayed behind, didn’t you? You must have thought that Mina was in the library. Unfortunately for you, she left this morning together with everyone, wearing Lady Zero’s talisman.”

The moment the Niedra family line died out, the demon would not be able to stay in this world. Mina leaving the fort meant she was with the witch who knew its name.

“You will never find Mina,” Madia continued. “And as long as you don’t find Mina, she can’t take over the contract. Am I right? That’s why my father brought us together, so you could inform me about the details of the contract.”

Even if a contract was inherited automatically, it could not be enforced unless the other party knew its details. In other words, the demon had an obligation to tell Mina the details of the contract face to face. If it failed to fulfill it, the demon, not Mina, would be annihilated.

“Now that Mina is safe, I can die any time.”

The price for the violation of a contract was total annihilation. But now that she did not care about her own life, there was no need to continue being the demon’s servant.

The demon staggered. It had to find Mina and bring her back. Lock her up in a safe place so she would not die, give her a healthy mate, and feed her every day.

The demon jumped out the window. A large number of insects gathered from all directions, merged, wrapped around the demon’s body and lifted it into the air.

The people who took Mina were not hiding. They probably thought that if they all disappeared from the demon’s sight at the same time, it would suspect something.

The witch was incredibly smart. But why? Taking Gemma back was understandable, but why take Mina as well? If Madia asked her, why did she accept?

No.

Bringing Mina back was more important right now.

“Kill… I will kill you, witch… I will destroy… everything I see…!”

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