I Saved a Demon, and Now He’s After Me - Chapter 1
In the darkness where not a sliver of light came through, a woman leaning against the alley wall clicked her lighter. As the flint struck and a small flame sparked, the woman’s figure hidden in the darkness was revealed.
Long white hair flowing down to her waist, skin as white as her hair. Her eyes staring blankly into space were as pitch-black as the clothing she wore.
In this colorless realm of black and white, the only thing with any color was her bright red lips that looked as if they had been painted with blood. Between her closed lips was a long blade of grass.
“Excuse me, Miss Hunter. Are you really sure you’ll be alright on your own?”
The man standing restlessly beside her asked with a worried expression.
“From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem like a troublesome demon. I’ll take care of it and be back within ten minutes.”
The woman spat out the sansho leaf she had been chewing and lit the dry part. She waved the grass up and down and then side to side in front of her face, the gray smoke forming a cross before disappearing.
“That takes care of the preparations.”
She casually shook her arm to extinguish the flame on the leaf, then flicked it off into the distance.
“Well then, I’ll be off.”
After stepping out of the alley, the woman entered a church no longer in use. Perhaps they took all the furnishings when they moved, because at the very front of the empty chapel was a carving of the god they worshipped.
An androgynous figure with an ambiguous smile curling at its lips. Below the statue were the words: “Stronger than the sword is faith, and stronger than faith is love for God.”
“B******t.”
The woman acknowledged the existence of God but did not believe in it. The two seemed similar, but were undeniably different.
Crosses and weapons consecrated by priests could harm demons, so the existence of a god was certain. But the god never appeared, even in the most desperate moments when humans were dying, having passed all judgment on demons to mankind. The day she lost her parents, the woman had cast away her love for God
At that moment, a rustling sound came from behind the pulpit. Holding her breath, the woman began walking toward it, step by step. On the final step, she drew a gun from her waist.
Bang!
A loud gunshot rang through the church.
Bang, taang, taang… As the echo rolled through, the crows sitting around the church all took flight at once.
Moments later, the woman emerged from the church with the corpse of a dead demon in tow.
“My goodness…You really finished it in less than ten minutes.”
The man’s mouth hung open as he watched the woman stride toward him. The demon she had brought down was a vicious one that had devoured five villagers already.
The cost of hiring a Hunter being what it was, they had tried to resolve it among the village men if possible, but seeing how the demon entered and left the sacred place without concern, even if it was an abandoned church, they changed their minds.
This wasn’t something they could handle on their own. Money wasn’t more important than human lives, was it? And so they had called this Hunter….
‘Should I say she was well worth the fee, or that I chose the right person?’
While the man stood frozen in surprise, the woman tossed the goblin-shaped demon corpse at his feet.
“Eek!”
The startled man hastily stepped back. The woman abruptly extended her hand toward him.
“The commission fee.”
“Y–yes?”
“I did the job. You need to pay me.”
“Ah…!”
The man frantically dug into his pocket and pulled out a thick envelope. Just as he was about to hand it to her, he noticed her hand and flinched.
“Y-your hand… what happened to it?”
“It’s an old injury. A glorious wound from fighting demons. Don’t worry about it.”
The woman’s hand was covered in dark blotches that its original color could no longer be seen. When the man hesitated to place the envelope in her hand, the woman swiftly snatched it away.
“Don’t worry. It’s not contagious.”
She checked inside the envelope and her eyes widened before she broke into a wide smile. He had put in a few more bills than promised, and she seemed extremely satisfied.
“Oh my, really… you didn’t have to go this far… But if anything happens again, call me. I’ll come running!”
Was it just his imagination, or did her tone seem a whole lot friendlier now?
The woman bowed once toward the man, then once toward the villagers who had gathered behind him as if watching a spectacle, and then turned around and disappeared.
“Wow, that’s really amazing. That pretty young lady took down that hideous demon so quickly…”
As the man clicked his tongue, staring at the now-dead demon, one of the villagers asked,
“We should remember it in case we need her again. What did that Hunter say her name was?”
“Uh… what was it again? Oh, right. Eden! She said Eden!”
That woman with white hair who wore only black clothes as if every day were a funeral, her name was Eden, the renowned Demon Hunter of the Brighton Empire.
