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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“Do you know who I am?”
The demon shook her head at my question.
Embers from fireworks, brighter than the stars, lingered in the sky, and the cheers were fading.
Even in the pitch-black darkness, the demon’s red eyes steadily gazed at me.
“I don’t know who you are, but I know what you are.”
“What?”
I couldn’t grasp the situation.
When I didn’t open the window, the demon opened it herself and slid into the attic.
The creaking floorboards and the scurrying of rat pups proved she wasn’t a figment of my imagination.
I simply stared at the demon and remained silent.
The demon, with a hand on the dirty floor, approached me like a cat.
With each step, as she dragged her knees, her breasts swayed like a pendulum, tempting me.
“You said you know what I am?”
When I asked again, she tilted her head and smiled, right in front of my nose.
Her red eyes and plump, moist lips stirred something within my fatigue-ridden body.
She swayed her tail, which extended from her hips, then nodded and sat down.
A strong floral scent wafted from her as she drew near.
It was similar to the perfume the mistress often wore, and also like the fresh scent I encountered while working in the garden.
The intense fragrance, enough to bury the stench of the attic, made me inhale with a dazed expression before coughing and coming to my senses.
“Have you ever wondered why you were abandoned on the streets, without knowing your mother or father? Or why you’re living this broken life? Why you have nothing?”
“…Are you here to mock me?”
Every word she spoke was cruel, cutting deep into my heart.
So I instinctively wrapped my arms around my knees, shrinking further into the corner.
It didn’t feel good to hear this, even from a demon.
“Mock you? No. That’s not what I want to talk about. What if a child living at the very bottom… was actually of demonic blood? What if they could wield demonic power?”
She bobbed her head, flapping her hands dramatically like a clown at a festival.
I had to release the hands tightly clasped around my knees. She was waiting for her words to seep into me like paint.
I let out a hollow laugh.
Me? A demon? The child of a demon? Now?
The world was buzzing about the hero killing the Demon King, and now I’m supposed to wield demonic power?
Seeing her cheerfully grinning face and flamboyant gestures, I couldn’t help but think she was mocking me.
There was no such thing as goodwill in this world.
As always, everything was someone else’s business, and there was no one who would do anything for me.
If humans were like that, what more could I expect from a demon?
“What are you talking about? Me, a demon? Then I should have been able to use demonic power a long time ago. If I had some kind of demonic power when that thug was beating me, I would have killed him. Even when I was sold into slavery, if I had that power, I could have run away somewhere far.”
Talking about the past was like throwing firewood into a volcano.
The more I talked, the more it boiled over, until finally, it turned bright red and erupted.
I was truly on the verge of exploding.
“While I… while I was suffering like this, you should have at least tried to find me! There should have been something! I’ve lived miserably for years! Fuck! What good is demonic power now! The world is in chaos because the hero killed the Demon King! Should I go out and add another corpse to the pile?”
The demon’s cheerful smile only fueled my anger.
It was a face that genuinely seemed to think I would be happy about this news.
Was this even true in the first place?
Was the demon playing a trick on me?
“I…!”
The demon’s shoulder gently collided with my lips.
Her hands tightly embraced my back.
She placed one hand on my head, stroking it as if petting an animal.
She leaned down and hugged me urgently, then lifted me up, holding me against her chest.
“I…!”
I tried to curse, but the words wouldn’t come out, as if stuck in my throat.
My chest felt tight, making it hard to breathe, and the emotions that were about to burst forth from deep within subsided.
“So…”
I hugged her back tightly, burying my face in her chest.
Her body was so warm and soft.
The demon’s voice was filled with bewilderment.
“I’m sorry.”
Such unfamiliar words flowed from the demon’s lips.
When I looked up, her eyes were wavering.
Seeing her expression, as if she genuinely hadn’t known, I couldn’t get angry.
The warmth. The gentle tone. The feeling of her hand stroking my back.
“I… I thought you would be happy to hear this news. Huh? I didn’t know you would be so angry. Everyone else was happy.”
I couldn’t get angry.
It wasn’t a human, but a demon, who embraced me for the first time.
Only an unknown demon, crawling up from the depths of the demon world, embraced me as a human and apologized for my anger.
Like the saying about demons deceiving humans, perhaps this apology was also a lie.
“Don’t be angry. Only good things will happen from now on. You don’t need to be angry.”
But it didn’t matter.
The humans I’d met so far only offered me genuine contempt and hatred.
What did it matter if the first love offered to me was a lie?
The truth wasn’t important.
What mattered was that someone reached out to me and held me.
Even if someone suffered because of the demonic power I received, that was ultimately someone else’s business.
Tears replaced my anger.
I couldn’t wipe away the tears pathetically streaming down my cheeks, and could only sit there blankly.
I hugged her back even tighter and sobbed.
I cried my heart out, to the point where I thought it would be okay if dawn broke just like this.
Coincidentally, my crying subsided along with the fireworks.
No more cheers could be heard from the quiet streets.
I no longer knew why I had been angry.
A personality twisted from the very bottom had a way of changing a person to the point where they didn’t even know why they were angry.
My chest felt hollow and clear, and despite my ragged breathing, my mind was calm.
“Are you done crying?”
The demon asked me, ‘Are you done crying?’
I nodded and swallowed.
Her chest was damp with my tears.
The sight, even more revealing and indecent, made me turn my head away.
“…Yes.”
“Good. Then can we talk now?”
She asked for my permission in a gentle voice.
I nodded, and she began to speak, smiling.
“First of all, it’s natural that you can’t use demonic power. Because when demons spread their offspring in the human world, they seal their demonic power. Otherwise, they’d be caught and killed by the priests. So, it’s not strange that you haven’t awakened your power.”
It still sounded surreal.
But now, I felt like I could nod.
When I nodded at her words, the demon said,
“You believe me now?”
“…Yes.”
“So, if I release your seal, you’ll be able to awaken and use your demonic power. How about it? Is your heart racing already?”
“Right now? You’ll release the seal right now?”
I hesitated for a moment, about to have the seal released immediately.
Because even this small, rural village had a temple.
What if the priests suddenly barged in as soon as I awakened as a demon?
I cautiously asked,
“Will the priests suddenly come barging in or something? Because my seal is released and they can sense the demonic power…”
“Oh my, there’s no way a priest perceptive enough to sense demonic energy would be in a backwater place like this. Besides, unless you personally curse someone or unleash your power to do something, there’s almost no way for them to know you’re a demon.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course.”
The demon nodded and said so.
Her words put me somewhat at ease.
Come to think of it, since this demon was walking around just fine, there had to be a way.
I said,
“Then, please release the seal.”
“Alright. I understand.”
The demon carefully traced my neck with her finger.
The act of swallowing, the thumping of my heart, must have been transmitted to her fingertips.
She gave a seductive smile, her eyes glowing red, and exhaled softly.
“Haa…!”
A sticky sound, like the moans of a man and woman making love, made my lower body feel hot.
No, my body actually was getting hot.
Along with something like black steam, heat spread from within my chest down to my lower body.
“Ugh…!”
I had to cover my mouth and endure the pain.
The burning sensation from within subsided as quickly as it had come.
Like firewood whose flames had been extinguished, only a lingering warmth remained, pricking at my chest.
“Gah…! Hah…!”
Everyone was asleep.
If I made too much noise, someone would definitely come up.
I replaced a scream with a light exhale.
The demon was still sitting in front of me in a seductive pose, and I asked while panting,
“Is it over?”
“Yes. You did well.”
I examined my body again.
Nothing seemed to have changed.
Whether I focused my mind or stretched my arms forward, nothing was different.
The demon was laughing, as if amused by my actions.
“This is a power you’ve never used before, having lived like an ordinary person until now. You’ll be able to do it if you learn a little.”
“Is that so?”
“Let’s finish it today, shall we? I’ll teach you everything from start to finish.”
The demon stood up.
I grabbed her fingertip and said,
“By the way, what kind of demon am I?”
“You?”
There were different kinds of demons.
There were demons boasting powerful muscles and terrifying size, and demons who wielded wicked magic.
What was I? What kind of talent did I possess?
The demon said,
“An Incubus.”
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