THFN | Chapter 12

Long, long ago, the greatest demon, Lilith, was born from the Ashen Sea. Alone in that desolate place, Lilith created the demon king. She also made hundreds of legions. The demons left the Demon Realm, the Ashen Sea, and headed for a new world. That world is this one.

However, humans had a god stronger than the demons, and Regina, the god of humans, responded to the humans’ desire to drive out the demons by sending magical creatures to the surface.

Divine Relic

A holy artifact created through a terrible miracle. Its immense power is impressive, but what’s truly terrifying is that the demons’ attacks can’t even scratch its surface. On the other hand, the divine relic nullified the demons’ remarkable regenerative abilities. That’s not all. It operates eternally without sleep, food, or rest, and it pursues demons to their death as soon as they set foot on the surface.

These incomprehensible things were born by the gods with the goal of hunting down and killing demons. So, the demons had no choice but to hide underground.

Underground, the pursuit network doesn’t reach, but as soon as they come outside, those things can detect demons. Ravid also came out, ready to face death because of that.

Though he hadn’t encountered them yet… the thought made the child’s face sullen.

“I don’t know when I might die. If I die, I won’t get any figs…”

But I have to follow the rules? And they’re human rules. I’m a demon. If they find out I’m a demon, they’ll sell me out. Ravid’s disjointed grumbling escaped his mouth. Feeling unfamiliar with himself yet unable to control his emotions, Ravid mumbled.

“…This is unfair.”

The information he had begged from the sea witch to come to the surface swirled in his head, growing larger and larger.

Humans claim ownership of land and consider the harvest from it their own. But where’s the ownership in land? Trees are nurtured by time.

The human king does whatever he wants with what he owns, and it’s natural to follow his orders. But why do they do that among their own kind? They should convince each other. I should be convinced too. But Ravid understood nothing, nothing at all. It was all new to him.

I’m so miserable, yet they’re so rich and carefree. I don’t get it. I don’t know this. I don’t even want to know.

“I can’t accept this.”

Unable to hold back his anger, Ravid’s small hand drew a circle. Simultaneously, the teleportation magic he had secretly learned, which was taught to anyone coming to the surface, activated.

With a hum, a massive magic circle glowed, and the force wave was so strong that the entire warehouse shook to transport the enormous cargo. The mana that filled Ravid’s body also drained away.

Thud, roll.

All the piled-up figs disappeared, leaving only about three behind.

As his energy drained, Ravid, feeling a void as if he had vomited everything he ate, rolled on the floor, unable to hide his dazed expression as he stared at the warehouse where the box had been.

Now, his family could eat well for at least three days. It was that much. They could stuff their mouths until they burst and enjoy a nap like Ravid did.

But what about the humans?

…What will the humans eat now? What will the human workers receive?

They might get as angry as when Ravid’s friend secretly ate all his mud cookies and complain to the human king.

Thinking that far, Ravid’s face turned pale. It felt like he had realized something irreversible too late. But there was no way to undo it now. The teleportation magic was one-way to avoid tracking.

While he fretted, his four legs paced around where the figs had been. When he saw the three remaining figs, the sea witch’s words echoed in his ears like a hallucination.

“Ravid. You said your dream was for everyone to live well together, right? The most important thing for that is the process you go through to achieve it.”

“Always be careful not to destroy what you’ve built yourself. That will crumble your happiness from the very bottom.”

It was then. Boom, thunder struck.

Before he could even think of what it was, Ravid ran. Only the fear, ingrained in his instincts, remained, leaving him pale.

⏾⋆ ⏾⋆ ⏾⋆

Clara lightly dove onto the bed. The scenery came into view with the wind blowing through the large window behind the double bed.

Trees and crops were abundantly grown on the wide plains. Wheat, tomatoes, radishes, pumpkins, apples. Even figs, nuts, and ginger.

It’s autumn. Harvest season.

Looking at the yellow wheat fields, Clara prepared a letter of protest according to the format. Having already written one and sent it directly, his hand moved swiftly, leaving behind neat handwriting.

But at least three sheets per person. Even worse, he had to copy each sheet exactly, just changing the name section for the next one.

Before long, Clara’s hand ached, and he irritably rotated his arm, sighed, and stuck the fountain pen into the ink bottle, turning his gaze outside.

Trying to sue each of the hundreds of contract workers made him suddenly feel a bit foolish. It wouldn’t end with just writing documents; there would be lawsuits and appeals.

“At least going to the second court would be necessary to get a verdict unaffected by the village’s influence.”

Thinking about the increasing workload made him feel more and more skeptical. …Can he even find people who probably wrote fake names?

“Should I exclude a few?”

Clara tried to summon a sense of pity solely to reduce his workload, closing his eyes.

The loud-voiced farmers’ children or the junior baron who boasted about taking them in as concubines flitted through his mind.

“…Sigh.”

This is bad. He couldn’t feel anything but a firm no.

He calmed down after looking at the pile of papers like a mountain. And once again, he tried to imagine the employees who might have been threatened by the nasty noble.

But he couldn’t quite picture it.

Clara knew, just as he had been, that they were born into poverty and had a tough life. So when silver or gold candlesticks disappeared, or pigs vanished weekly, or they protested and brought baskets of painstakingly grown and harvested crops to paint the mansion walls, he let it slide as a minor mischief.

Maybe because he had gone through all those long, tedious processes of patience and rewriting, he felt no sympathy.

So he wasn’t too resentful that they left without saying anything.

The harvest season is the most important time to reap the fruits of labor, so this was undoubtedly a betrayal… But, honestly, where is there such a thing in business? The one who gets tricked is the fool in the harsh reality of a results-driven capitalist market.

Since Clara had stepped into such a world, he didn’t intend to deny that he missed the opportunity to prepare for an inevitable unfair event.

“Honestly, I can’t say there aren’t any clues.”

He never attended social gatherings for personal reasons. He refused any friendly gestures that seemed like bribes and immediately addressed complaints without considering fairness.

Reflecting on the various shortcomings, Clara let out a deep sigh from the depths of his being.

…Let’s admit it. It was a structure that couldn’t help but create resentment.

He made many mistakes he shouldn’t have. In a small society focused on primary production, the person in the highest position always stayed indoors, avoided conversations, and seized every chance to lecture.

Scenes of secret moonlit gatherings, where nonexistent resentment and solidarity were born, painted a rather elegant picture in his mind.

Blinking, he slumped over the desk. The coldness of the wooden surface seemed to bring him back to his senses a bit.

“Maybe I should’ve tried talking…”

If he had to somehow shift the blame to a less exhausting side, the start of all this might have been the lack of interest in each other.

If not that, maybe the problem was the short-term contracts that had to be renewed annually and the policy of rejecting those who wanted to reside.

The biggest issue was that, despite having no intention of conceding on land sales, Clara had no choice but to hire nearby residents who wanted the land.

Maybe he should’ve matched the market price a bit when he first started construction. But the construction cost using mages had already far exceeded the usual price, and transferring ownership just to gain some favor from nearby residents had become too costly.