Chapter 5
In my fifteen years of life, how many times had I ever felt happy?
The answer is, never.
I was born by tearing open the womb of a woman whose face I never knew, the one called Mother.
Receiving pointing Fingers from the family as a cursed Child, I lived every day hearing hateful words from the man I called Father.
I wanted to be praised, and I wanted to be loved.
So I tried, and I tried again.
But all that returned were the same cold glares and the same words of Curse. A repetitive, predictable repertoire.
Even up to the day the family fell to ruin because he committed the Black Magic Taboo of Resurrection of the Dead to bring his dead wife back to life.
The man called Father despised and hated his young offspring who barely reached his waist.
"...Yuri. If only it weren't for you."
He would whisper softly in my ear that she would have lived.
The more I heard it, the more ridiculous his sophistry became.
If you thought about it for even a second, the one who killed Mother was.
'Father.'
He must have known perfectly well that it was him.
"Wasn't it your own lust that created the Curse named Yuri? Huh? What, what did I possibly do wrong! Why must you torment me so? Is being born truly a sin? Where in the world is there such an unfair sin.... Huh?"
"...I do not want to hear it. Get out. If you loiter around my lab again, I will personally send you to your Mother's side. This is your final warning."
-Grind.
My teeth ground together, and my fists clenched.
I wanted to gouge out those cold eyes that looked down on me so trivially with my own two hands.
I wanted to rip open that filthy mouth that spewed such venom.
But that was just a vague fantasy.
All my weak self could do in reality was maintain proper etiquette, swallow my Wrath, and spit out a few pleasantries.
"Whether the one who gets to meet Mother first is me, or.... you, remains to be seen. Well then, I will take my leave. Please have a good night."
"Right. Now get the hell out of my lab. You ominous, filthy thing."
He ignored reality, engaged in Evasion of his responsibilities, and vented his anger by using a child as his emotional punching bag.
A complete failure as an Adult.
And then.
He eventually reached the point of having his life stripped away.
This foolish man finally attempted the Taboo of Resurrection of the Dead, ending up as dew on the execution grounds, and went off to meet the Mother he so desperately longed for.
Would they be sharing a hug after a touching reunion?
'No, there's no way.'
Death is merely the end of life, holding no further meaning.
You just forget everything in endless Darkness and nothingness, numbly rotting away moment by moment inside a coffin.
Of course, that man wouldn't even get to enter a coffin.
He was probably torn to shreds and thrown as dog food.
Would the inside of a dog's stomach be cozier than a reality without his wife?
I offered my deepest condolences for the Patriarch's trivial and comical death as I diligently ransacked his office.
For freedom.
And.
For Survival.
'Found it.'
"This is it. The Book of Contracts."
The esteemed Alcast family heirloom that supposedly aids smoothly in a Contract with a Demon.
The inheritance I seized for myself by smashing open the locked drawer with a Decorative Sword. Compensation for years of mental trauma.
I grabbed it and ran.
The Robe with cognitive impairment functions and the family treasures I frantically shoved into my inner pockets were my timid revenge.
My head was filled with nothing but the thought of escaping this Hell-like place. I dry-heaved every time I ran.
"Huff... huff...."
Escaping the family was much simpler than I thought. So much so that all my previous worries and concerns felt laughable.
Because there was far more interest in the valuables left in the mansion than in the abandoned child of the executed former Master.
Truly despicable and greedy creatures.
But it's goodbye to them starting today.
-Rumble!
Relying on the intermittent flashes of lightning that embroidered the Darkness, I trudged along the secluded path without a single Magic Lamp.
There was no Tracking. As if it were a waste to expend energy on something worthless. Fearing I would be executed by association, I had pushed my legs to their limits, which now just felt ridiculous.
"Wow. How miserable."
Leaning against a deserted Alley, I laughed frantically, and then I cried.
I smiled, glad that the source of my pain was gone, and shed tears out of regret for my futile efforts and the time crumpled up and thrown away like trash.
Clutching my heavy chest, where tears and rainwater mixed, I made a vow.
"...I'm going to become happy, if only out of sheer spite."
A happiness enough to compensate for all the meaningless time I had thrown away. I swore I would seize it.
"Let's go. To the Dungeon City."
My resolve was late.
But there was no hesitation in my actions.
It was a delusion I had tirelessly built up while living like a dead mouse amidst contempt and persecution.
All I had to do was turn it into reality.
Spending the family's wealth I had stuffed into my Robe like water, I headed for the Dungeon City of Bastion by any means necessary.
A demonic realm where the worst Betrayer who dared to drag a God down to the surface had fallen.
Humanity's final defense line, personally descended upon, ruled, and managed by a Worker of God to stop the overflowing malice.
And.
'The land of opportunity that comes equally to all people.'
Firmly believing that I could start a new life there.
"200,000 talents."
"...For what?"
"For every kind of room that exists in this district."
"...."
"So, which room in which Building are you going to take?"
"The cleanest one, please."
"You sound like some noble young master. Don't expect cleanliness in a Slum. Clean things easily become targets for rats."
"...I will keep that in mind. Thank you for the advice."
"You're smart, I really like that. So, let's never see each other again after today."
After somehow arriving safely in the Dungeon City.
I poured out almost all my wealth and barely managed to secure a single room smaller than my family's outhouse.
After the pot-bellied Manager, whose breath reeked of alcohol, left, I collapsed onto the floor covered in white dust and looked around.
The view through the single window was just a cluster of red bricks. Worn-out, frayed wallpaper and a dusty, enclosed space without a single piece of furniture.
"Is this my home now?"
It was messy, dirty, and small.
Just like me.
The taste of freedom was bitter and smelled like mold.
"Now. What do I do."
To make money in the Dungeon City, you obviously have to go into a Dungeon.
The problem was that I had no money to buy Equipment, no strength to fight, no abilities, and not even any specific information about the Dungeons.
There was no story after arriving at the Dungeon City in my delusions.
Because I never thought I would actually be able to make it this far in the first place.
But, there is still hope.
A hope named the Book of Contracts that I won with my own strength for the first time in my life.
"I guess I have no choice but to do it."
The only opportunity left for someone as poor and powerless as me.
'A Demon Contract.'
Something formed by being entwined by fate with the Shadow of a Goddess existing in a higher dimension.
With the Book of Contracts, even a half-wit like me could attempt a Demon Contract.
But honestly, I didn't have any expectations.
It was closer to a last desperate struggle.
Because a Demon Contract was something even that so-called Father, a Demon Researcher, couldn't achieve.
If a Madman who lived his entire life looking only at his wife and Demons failed like it was a daily routine, could the child of a failure who never learned anything properly succeed?
"A Contract. It sparks quite a bit of interest."
"?!!!"
I didn't know why.
But maybe I could do it.
As the Summon ritual ended. A Demon with a Crow Head proudly walked out from the abyss, cleaving the other side of the World.
'Ah.'
Every time he took a step, a thick smell of blood that made my Head throb spread through the room, and my body gave up in despair, accepting death.
The moment I witnessed that noble yet terrifying sight.
'Beautiful....'
My heart was stolen.
It was frustrating, but I felt like I understood why that guy called Father was so obsessed with the existence of Demons.
He was a miracle descended upon the earth, the manifestation of a living myth.
Aside from the Goddess or her Worker, the purest and most dangerous being in this World. And, an unknown Darkness with very little known information.
The unknown... It was scary, but it had a strange power that drew out the admiration and excitement hidden deep within my heart.
"...."
"...."
I should have at least said hello, but even when I opened my mouth, no sound came out. I felt like a Rabbit in front of a beast of prey.
'Move! I said move! You idiot! At least scream to make a Contract!'
An opportunity of a lifetime that wouldn't come again even if I died and was reborn.
However, my utterly incompetent body succumbed to fear and just stood frozen, nailed in place.
'Please.... I can't miss such a golden opportunity. Ah. Am I failing again? Just like I always have....'
Trembling in anxiety while imagining a life filled with regret after failing the Contract.
-Thud.
"...!"
The Demon knelt on one Knee.
As if telling me not to be afraid. An incredibly gentle gesture.
I couldn't believe it. Why in the world.
'To a piece of trash like me. That noble Knee....'
Gulp.
Something burst out from inside me.
I didn't know exactly what it was, but it was really warm and wet.
The most unfamiliar consideration I had ever faced in my life.
A respect I had never even received from the family's Knights.
I received that from a Demon I had seen for the first time in my life.
'Ah. Ah....'
That was truly.
A strange experience I wouldn't forget until the day I died.
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