The Demon King's Cowardly Vessel

"Erm… Mr. Warlock?" Juin called out. He shuddered when Warlock gave him the cold eye, but he still had to ask, albeit in a low voice, "Why are you scolding me? Who are you to me?"

"I saved your life 3 years ago! That gives me the right!" Warlock pointed out. "And I"m your--," Warlock stopped himself and quickly changed his word, "teacher!"

Juin raised a brow, but he did not say anything about that. Warlock was right. If he did save Juin"s life 3 years ago, he sort of had a right to scold him for almost throwing his life away by summoning a demon king.

"But what"s so bad about being with Lucifer?" Juin asked suddenly, wondering why Warlock had such a huge reaction to Lucifer.

"He"s the last person… thing… demon… you should merge with," Warlock replied exasperatedly. He then stood up and went to the cabinet at right the corner of the room. After pouring himself a gla.s.s of gin and tonic, he went back to his seat.

"Why?" Juin asked, curious as to his reason.

"Because--" Warlock was about to answer him, but he stopped himself. He then leaned in his chair as he tapped a finger against the old wooden table. After a moment of silence, he muttered, "Nevermind… What"s done is done."

Ka"za"s Soul Contract was an extremely powerful contract that even someone of his status and power could not easily remove. "Perhaps it"s destiny…" Warlock thought to himself as he rubbed his temple. He then glanced at Juin and thought, "But destiny is what we are trying to change here…"

"Mr. Warlock?"

Warlock sighed and shook his head. "I"m surprised that you still look the same. Did you even grow since 3 years ago?"

Juin shrugged. "His Majesty… I mean, Lucifer… He thought that there"s something wrong with my soul… that somehow affected the growth of my physical body."

Warlock thought for a while before nodding. "That"s possible…"

"Mr. Warlock, three years ago…" Juin hesitated for a moment before asking, "What happened to me?"

"Didn"t your guardian tell you?"

Juin shook his head. "But I didn"t ask either…"

"That"s to be expected. After all, I told her that unless you asked, there"s no reason for you to remember…" Warlock admitted. "But now, since you have stepped into the supernatural world, it would be safer for you if you know about it."

"Huh?"

"Juin, you have a very unique soul…" Warlock said as he continued to tap on the table with a finger. "Your soul strengthens your body, making it extremely… delicious… to spirits. And three years ago, you were being haunted by various spirits; some of which wanted to consume your soul, and some of which wanted to take over your body."

"Spirits?" Juin s.h.i.+vered slightly upon hearing that he almost lost his life three years ago.

"Ghosts… And you attracted a huge number of them as well..." Warlock thought about the cloud of ghosts that he saw above Juin back then. It was no wonder Juin was so afraid of lifting his head back then.

Juin tried his best, but he could not remember it.

"Don"t bother, I"ve locked those memories of yours."

"What?"

"Don"t look at me like that," Warlock said dismissively before taking a sip of his drink. "You begged me to do it…"

"I did?" Juin gasped. "Why?"

…

3 years ago,

When Warlock finally saw 13-year-old Juin at the church, the boy"s face had more color on it than an hour ago.

"Mr. Priest, you would help me, right?" Juin asked timidly then as he looked up at Warlock, the only person who believed in his words. He hadn"t felt so light since his best friend was gone.

"I will..." Warlock smiled as he patted Juin"s head lovingly. "As long as you ask, I"ll help you…"

"They are scary…" Juin muttered as his eyes darted around, still afraid that he would see those things that had been pestering him. His voice was so soft that it was barely audible, but Warlock heard him all the same. He looked at Warlock pleadingly as he added in the same soft voice, "Can you… Can you remove them? Forever…"

"I can remove your memories of them if you want," Warlock said. "Is that what you want?"

Juin nodded. Those ghosts had been pestering him for weeks. At first, it was only one or two, but soon, he was being pestered by hundreds of them. And they all looked so horrifying that he kept dreaming about them.

"Then I"ll remove them…" Warlock rea.s.sured him.

...

Back at present,

Warlock explained the situation to Juin. "I only locked your memory regarding those spirits so that you would stop having nightmares. But if you continue going in this path, you will slowly regain your memory again. And a lot of bad things would come after you."

"Why? And why did they suddenly appear?" Juin asked. "I don"t remember them from when I was younger."

"I"m not sure," Warlock admitted with a frown. He took another sip of his drink and crossed his legs as he thought about something. "My speculation is that someone had been protecting you up until that point of time. But that person was gone..."

Juin"s eyes widened upon hearing that. He wanted to ask more, but Warlock suddenly said, "As for who that person was, I think you already have an idea. I can"t tell you anything more as I don"t know anything before then. If you want to know more, you would have to dig into it yourself."

Juin hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly. He had no choice. There was something else that was bothering him. "Oh, Mr. Warlock… What do you mean when my soul is delicious to spirits?"

Warlock glanced at him. He then looked at the door, behind which Lucifer was still trapped. "Before that… What"s your plan with Lucifer?"

"I… don"t have any plans. Everything is happening a little too fast, and I never expected this to happen at all."

"Lucifer"s temper is like his mother"s… I don"t think he would let you live your life quietly now…" Warlock thought to himself worriedly.

"Sir?"

Warlock cleared his throat and downed the rest of the gin and tonic. When he placed his gla.s.s on the table, he said slowly, "Your soul is unique… As to why, I hope that you would never figure it out."

"Why?"

"It"s better if you don"t…" Warlock said with a frown. "But one day, when you have reached the time when you have to know, when you are strong enough to deal with it, I"ll tell you everything. As of now… Just know that, the deeper you step into the supernatural world, the more danger you would be. You have to make your choice. To live quietly among humans, or to live with supernatural beings."

Juin felt that they were going nowhere with this, so he changed his question. "Would the spirits come after me again?"

"As of now… No," Warlock said. He lifted a hand and pointed his index finger at Juin"s chest. "The protection I"ve placed on you is still there. As long as it remains, you would be fine."

…