CHAPTER 149…………………………………………..
“Hey, descendant of Samuel. You didn’t… make a contract with that demon kid earlier, did you? Huh? You knew what kind of guy that kid was when you made the contract…!”
The words Samuel’s Sword had said before flashed through my mind.
‘I went through all kinds of chaos just to hear the rest, and in the end, it all failed…!’
Thinking back to the time I sneaked into the bathroom and almost got caught still made my heart race. I could have easily ended up with my name in the papers in huge letters.
“Do you know about Lev?”
“Hah, of course I know! Do you have any idea how shocked I was when I saw you making a contract with that demon kid!”
A low rumble shook Samuel’s Sword. Seeing it like that made me instinctively curious.
‘What on earth happened with Lev?’
I tilted my head, and Samuel’s Sword shouted in exasperation.
“You’re being deceived!”
‘Me?’
“Yes! All demon kids are sneaky. Why do you think they approach a naive black mage like you?”
‘Well…’
I thought of the mark Lev had lying dormant under my collarbone.
‘…He wants my soul, right.’
That much I understood. Every now and then, I’d feel Lev’s appetite for my soul, like he was licking his lips.
“But even a demon can’t take it without my consent. Lev even said it himself, that he’s always frustrated because he can’t take it.”
“Of course! Without such safeguards, all humans and black mages would already have been captured and wiped out by demons!”
‘So it’s true Lev approached me for my soul, but as long as I don’t agree, nothing happens, right?’
“You frustrating human!”
The shout from Samuel’s Sword made my head throb. I grimaced slightly and grabbed my head before letting go.
“Why are you shouting?”
“Descendant of Samuel, do you really think demons play fair? Foolish. Wake up!”
“Ugh…”
“You think it’s enough if you don’t consent? Of course it isn’t! That demon kid will corner you into a situation where you have to agree!”
‘Not necessarily…’
“Think again. Haven’t you ever called a demon’s name in desperation? Seen it as the easiest way to solve everything?”
I had no argument for that. Samuel’s Sword had hit the nail right on the head. Honestly… I had grown complacent because just calling Lev’s name could get me out of any danger. Lev was practically my Deus Ex Machina.
“All beginnings are rooted in dependency.”
Samuel’s Sword made a valid point.
‘…But Lev’s been with me since I was eleven. That’s twelve years already. If he really wanted my soul, wouldn’t he have made a move long ago?’
“To a demon who lives for eons, decades are just a blink. Descendant of Samuel, you are infinitely ignorant of the danger a demon poses.”
Tsk, tsk—Samuel’s Sword clicked its tongue. If I had grown up among black mages, I would’ve heard all sorts of warnings, it grumbled.
“I was shocked when I saw you carrying that demon kid around in a cat’s body! Keeping a demon close only makes one susceptible! The basic rule is to keep your distance and avoid speaking with it as much as possible…!”
“I didn’t know.”
So no one really did this. I hadn’t seen a roaming demon like Lev even when I went to the black mage village.
Even if I had no one to tell me otherwise, Lev wasn’t my first contractor…
Had he deliberately pretended not to know? Was he trying to manipulate me to steal my soul, just as Samuel’s Sword said?
My mind filled with confusion. Even the foolish image of Lev I knew might have been a ploy to make me careless.
“Then why did you keep a demon so close? Even humans would find demons unsettling.”
‘Well…’
I recalled my childhood.
Everyone watched me with expectant eyes, wondering which ability I would awaken, or if I might be the chosen one this time.
Even when I first held a sword, a bow, or a beaker, it was the same.
Everything I did ended up disappointing them. Seeing their bright, hopeful eyes turn hollow made me feel guilty and small.
‘…Lev was the only one who expected nothing from me.’
Even while grumbling that such a great being as himself had no ambitions, Lev silently wrapped his tail around me to comfort me when I was about to cry.
…
Samuel’s Sword was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.
“Descendant of Samuel. It’s time to answer the question you asked before: How could a black mage like you be born among humans? The truth is…”
‘Ah, I have a rough idea. It’s because one of my ancestors had black mage blood.’
“?!”
Samuel’s Sword trembled.
“Y-You knew that?”
‘It’s a long story, but yes, I figured it out.’
“Hmph, hmm.”
Samuel’s Sword coughed awkwardly. But can a sword even cough?
“I didn’t expect you to know that… Hah, but even you wouldn’t know this! About Veronica Walker!”
Veronica Walker?
‘Oh, I know her. After the war ended, when Samuel received the dukedom from the Belond Empire, she became the first Duchess Walker.’
It was a somewhat sweet romance story, still talked about today.
After the war, devastation remained, and people wandered everywhere.
Veronica, a fallen noblewoman, was rescued by Samuel during her flight, forming a bond. Their relationship naturally grew, and she eventually became the first Duchess Walker.
“Yes. Veronica Walker. That woman is the source of the ‘black mage blood’ in your family.”
‘…What?’
So, from the very start, the Walker ducal line already carried black mage blood? Not just a diluted ancestor— the first duchess herself was a black mage?
Seeing my shocked expression, Samuel’s Sword boomed triumphantly.
“Isn’t that incredible? The prophet who defeated black mages married one of them!”
‘…I know black mages hid among humans after the war.’
That explained the purges. Some lucky survivors were hiding somewhere on the continent.
But this was insane.
Samuel couldn’t have not known Veronica was a black mage.
‘You must have told him.’
“Yes.”
Samuel’s Sword sniffed long and hard.
“You have no idea how many lectures I gave him. I warned him dozens of times that Veronica was deceiving him.”
…
“But God gave humans something precious besides divine power: love.”
Oh… that’s a bit cliché.
“A human blinded by love can’t be stopped. Not even God’s knights, devoted to killing black mages their whole lives, could resist.”
Samuel’s Sword groaned, recalling its old master.
“He even couldn’t bear my nagging, so he sold me to the royal family!”
“Ah, so that wasn’t a token of loyalty.”
“Yes! Loyalty my foot! I am a noble being, meant to serve the descendants of Samuel forever!”
Thanks to that, I ended up alone with no one to listen to me. The holy sword ground its teeth.
“Anyway! Here’s what I’m trying to say.”
Samuel’s Sword exhaled, trying to calm itself.
“The demon contracted with Veronica Walker is… the same demon contracted with you.”
‘……Huh?’
“Lev. Yes, I don’t know its true name, but that nickname I remember clearly. Veronica whispered it herself!”
Samuel’s Sword shouted repeatedly, but it didn’t register with me at all.
“You are Samuel’s child. But how… Ah. I see. That’s how it happened.”
When I first met Lev, the cryptic things he whispered now made sense.
“This too is as Sibyl’s prophecy foretold. A cruel twist of fate…”
Lev had known everything from the start. Yet he never showed it to me.
All those countless nights I agonized over why I was born the only black mage in this family— Lev stayed by my side without ever explaining.
‘…But why?’
I frowned. I couldn’t understand.
My mind was in chaos.
Then—
thump
“…Emily?”
I turned sharply.
Tristan was standing there, holding disinfectant and bandages.
Specifically, he was looking at me, pointing at me with the tip of his sword I had grabbed without permission.
“What are you doing right now?”
