Welcome to the Demon’s Cabin - Chapter 6

That was when it happened. From beyond the door, small footsteps reached his ears.

The man’s eyes wavered wildly. His heart began pounding loudly with tension.

Tap. Tap.

Light, unhesitating footsteps, almost like those of a person, drew closer.

His breath caught. Cold sweat ran down his spine.

Should he just close his eyes and pretend to be asleep?

No. If he was discovered anyway, it would mean death. He needed to confirm who or what it was.

Part of him desperately wished he could pretend he could not see.

As chaotic, disordered thoughts spiraled out of control.

The door suddenly flew open.

He had not had time to prepare himself. Yet cruelly, his gaze turned by instinct toward the source of the sound.

“Ah, you are awake!”

A woman in a simple sky-blue dress entered and greeted him. Between her long, curly wheat-colored hair, ornate earrings gleamed red. As if denying reality, he closed his eyes and opened them again, but her face remained the same.

“You didn’t wake up for days, so I was worried.”

A smile lingered in the large crimson eyes set within her gently curved gaze.

Faced with this unbelievable reality, he truly wanted to die. Never in his life had he so sincerely wished for his own end.

“I’m really glad you woke up.”

Her gentle voice, beautiful like the melody of a song and utterly unsuited to the situation, only intensified his fear.

He could no longer deny it.

He had truly come face to face with a demon.

“Does your body feel all right?”

She spoke to him naturally and familiarly. She was even using polite speech.

……Just like a human.

He clenched his teeth hard. This was no time to be stunned. He could not simply lie here and wait for a demon to kill him.

A powerful instinct screamed at him that he had to do something, anything, right now.

‘She kept me alive, so maybe there’s a chance she’ll let me live. If I manage to keep her in a good mood somehow.’

Earlier, he had briefly lost his head and gone on about dying, but as always, he desperately wanted to live. If it meant being spared, there was nothing he would not do.

‘……I have a bad feeling that acting on common sense is the wrong move here.’

The safest option would have been to beg for his life, but it felt wrong. Years of surviving on other people’s moods had honed his instincts to a razor edge, and they were screaming at him not to do that.

And for good reason. Just a brief look was enough to tell that this demon was not right in the head.

Living leisurely shut away in a monster’s territory was strange enough. But saying things like she was glad he woke up, asking if his body felt all right.

What kind of demon in the world talked like that?

To hell with it.

His life was already ruined anyway. He would trust his instincts.

“Yes. Th-thank you very much. I really thought I was going to die…….”

Summoning every ounce of strength to keep himself from shaking, the man barely managed to deliver a perfectly ordinary, inoffensive expression of gratitude.

Even as he quietly regretted his reckless choice, he carefully watched the woman’s reaction. He feared his neck might snap at any moment.

The red eyes that had been staring at him as if daring him to go on widened slightly, then blinked several times.

Silence settled over the small room. A fleeting moment stretched into what felt like an eternity.

Then, as if to show that she truly was a demon, her frighteningly beautiful eyes curved softly.

“What for? I didn’t really do anything.”

‘Thank you, thank you. O Mater!’

Thankfully, the killing intent in her gaze had noticeably receded. Seeing her smile gently, it seemed he had chosen the perfect answer.

A demon that acted like a person. If he survived and lived to tell the tale, it would be a discovery that would redefine the study of demons.

In any case, it was a relief. He had even prepared a ridiculous story about how his mother worshipped demons and how he himself had secretly served them.

Somehow, he had the chilling sense that if he had actually said any of that, he would have reunited with his mother’s soul in Hell.

All those years of surviving by reading the room had not been for nothing.

“…….”

Yet just as he was starting to feel relieved at having stepped back from the brink of death, the unnervingly long silence showed no sign of breaking.

Those chilling red eyes remained fixed on him, utterly unmoving.

‘What am I supposed to do now?’

It felt as though the demon might continue this silent staring contest forever. He had the strong sense that he needed to say something.

Answering a single question had been hard enough. Having to calmly speak to a demon was cruel beyond reason.

‘Stay calm. Don’t think of the demon in front of you as a demon. Think of her as an ordinary person. As the benefactor who saved your life. If you want to live.’

“……May I ask your name?”

Ah, damn it.

The moment the words left his mouth, he sensed his own doom.

Sure enough, the large crimson eyes took on a strange glint the instant she heard his question.

The atmosphere turned icy in an instant. Cold sweat ran down his body as the air itself seemed to chill.

A demon’s name was the most vital and dangerous thing of all, and he had gone and asked for it. Was he truly an idiot?

She would have seen his uniform and known he was a Holy Knight. Did it not sound like he was saying, ‘You wicked demon, reveal your name at once so I can send you back to Hell’? Damn it.