Chapter 1
The First Time Being a Baby
Neriuwen wondered how things had ended up like this.
She had come down to the human realm for two main reasons.
One was a report that the movements of the demons in the human world were acting strangely.
The other was that the last trace of her missing father had been discovered in the human realm.
So she had to come down at least once—and since a summoner who had been calling her persistently was active anyway, she accepted the summoning.
Because to descend into the human realm, one needed a contractor.
“…But still.”
Setting aside the fact that the summoner who had called her all year long turned out to be a fairy… that fairy had left behind a baby and then died.
‘What am I supposed to do with this newborn?’
She managed to hold the baby thanks to vague memories of carrying her younger siblings when they were small, but she had never actually raised an infant.
Childcare had been the parents’ responsibility, and her own mother and father were unusually affectionate and strict, so Neriuwen—the eldest—had rarely been entrusted with her siblings.
“Are you seriously sleeping in this situation?”
The small, warm child slept soundly in the arms of a demon.
Did this tiny thing even realize its mother had just died?
“Tch. Better not to know.”
Neriuwen clicked her tongue softly and looked down at the fairy who had summoned her.
“I had so many things to ask you—how you knew my summoning coordinates, whether you knew anything about my father…”
Normally, demon summoning began with low-tier demons. If lucky, mid-tier ones. Above that, through introductions, even high-tier demons could be summoned—provided the summoner had enough magical power.
Or they could trade away their remaining lifespan.
But summoning high-ranking demons—especially top-tier ones—was far more complicated.
Among demons, top-tier beings had unique summoning coordinates. The summoner had to know those exact coordinates to call them.
These were granted at birth, and even parents often did not know them.
And yet this fairy had precisely called her.
‘At first, I thought it was my father.’
Her father had been constantly wandering everywhere, so she had once told him her summoning coordinates just in case.
‘After that, he kept calling me over trivial things, so I ignored this one too…’
That was why one shouldn’t cry wolf.
Neriuwen sighed lightly and carefully removed the ring from the fairy’s left hand, fourth finger.
“I’ll consider your life the price of the contract, so I’ll take only this. In return, don’t blame me for how I raise your child.”
She muttered with a faintly regretful expression.
Fairies lived just as long as demons—perhaps even longer than demons who constantly killed each other in battle.
She wondered what kind of desperation had driven this fairy to continuously summon her while burning away that long lifespan.
She couldn’t even imagine how desperate someone must be to borrow a demon’s hand to save their child.
This situation suddenly reminded her of something.
Neriuwen exhaled slowly and looked down at the child sleeping in her arms.
After a brief frown, she spoke as if resigned.
“I don’t really know fairy funeral customs, but…”
Long ago, her mother had once said something.
—
“Do you see that wandering spirit?”
“I don’t.”
“Among those who die suddenly, there are souls who cannot accept their death and wander lost like that.”
“I still don’t see it.”
“If you soothe such a shocked soul properly, it will usually find its way on its own…”
“I said I don’t see it. Are you even listening?”
—
To pray for the dead.
At the time, she thought it was just pointless talk from someone trying to teach a child who couldn’t even see spirits.
But she later learned something.
That offering peace to the dead becomes a breathing space for the living.
She remembered the day she realized that too late—and bitterly regretted it.
Neriuwen quietly placed her hand on the fairy’s head.
“May you rest in the arms of your god, Woodro. May all pain and misfortune of this life be forgotten, and in the next, may you be reborn as part of nature.”
At that moment, as if the contract had been fulfilled, the dark barrier surrounding them lifted, and the fairy’s body slowly sank into the ground.
‘This is…’
When fairies die, they return to the land where they were born and become fertilizer for it.
Their belongings remain in the world of the living, but their bodies return to nature—what people describe as being embraced by their god, Woodro.
This fairy was likely from the north.
A pure white snowy mountain stretched before her eyes.
Neriuwen immediately wrapped the child in a blanket and cast a warming spell.
“Be happy… and be protected. Your mother made a very difficult contract request. Quite wisely.”
She looked at the peacefully sleeping child’s small, pale face and began walking with heavy steps.
Most contracts with demons were born from human desire and worked as equivalent exchange.
Usually people wished for wealth, power, or talent—clear, concrete things.
But sometimes there were cases like this.
Those who placed abstract conditions to bind a demon for a long time.
In extreme cases, they would bind demons across generations, asking that a family line never die out.
‘Well. Only an idiot would accept that kind of contract.’
Neriuwen had once thought, Who would be stupid enough to fall for that?
And yet she had walked straight into that very trap herself.
‘Still, I can’t just abandon this child.’
So, unintentionally, the dead fairy had made an extremely wise decision.
Among countless demons, she had bound one who was both responsible and weak toward children—Neriuwen—to her daughter.
Whether by luck or fate, the result was that the fairy had ensured her child’s perfect protection.
—
***
—
“Gah!”
“Ugh!”
That sounded like pigs being slaughtered.
“Sa-save me…!”
“Mercy…!”
And those were desperate human voices.
‘Am I… on a battlefield?’
There were crashing sounds and all kinds of unpleasant noises everywhere.
‘Should I just pretend to be dead?’
But my body kept shaking, so I had no choice but to open my eyes.
‘…I should’ve stayed pretending.’
The moment I opened my eyes, I saw someone being strangled in the hand of the woman holding me, foaming at the mouth.
Terrible timing.
Why is my luck always like this?
The woman holding me threw the unconscious man to the ground and moved on to others.
“Ghk… I-It’s a misunderstanding!”
Another one rolled on the ground before even finishing his sentence.
“Misunderstanding? The last trace of my father was found here. Explain why this is a misunderstanding.”
“W-why are you asking us…!”
“Enough. No excuses.”
She told them to explain, then immediately refused excuses—what kind of conversation style was that?
The woman smashed all the men to the ground.
‘Where is she getting that strength?’
She didn’t look particularly strong.
Yet she was effortlessly beating multiple men while still holding me, using only one arm and her legs.
So I quietly watched.
‘By the way… is this even the next life?’
My body still didn’t move properly, which made me uneasy.
I stayed quiet so I wouldn’t get beaten like them if I spoke carelessly.
After a while, the woman stopped moving.
She looked at her free hand, clicked her tongue, then tapped her wrist.
More precisely, the bracelet on it.
Suddenly, a hologram-like screen appeared in front of her.
‘So this world is sci-fi?’
On the other side, I couldn’t see the face clearly—only lips, chin, and a uniformed figure.
“Yeah. What.”
[U-um, big sister.]
Even though she was called “big sister,” her voice was unexpectedly pleasant.
And the man on the screen… his voice was just as clear and pure, among the most beautiful voices I had ever heard.
“…What? Why are you contacting me, youngest?”
[Well… the older brothers and sisters are all busy, and Sister Lucia isn’t in the Demon Castle right now.]
“….”
I felt the arm holding me tighten slightly.
“So I send you to clean up the demon realm, and this one goes to the human world?”
[Uh, I’m handling it well… haha…]
“If I see you in the human world, I’ll shave your head clean.”
Someone on the screen laughed awkwardly.
“State your business.”
[We still haven’t found Father’s whereabouts, and demon summoning in the human world is heavily concentrated in the slums. We think we should investigate, so I narrowed down a few locations.]
“Hm. I can’t check immediately since I’ve got a kid…”
Only then did the woman realize I had been listening.
Her eyes met mine directly.
