A Demon's Journey

Shun Gordon was merely 20 years old. Yet he possessed an extraordinary prestige and status that he gained by relying on his intelligence.

He had a rough childhood as he remembered being beaten by his mother, who was a prostitute. He remembered how she would go crazy every time she looked at his face, calling him a monster and all other sorts of names.

Being beaten by her was far too normal.

But in the end, he couldn't even find it in himself to blame her. He had seen how people would berate her. Every time she would return home, she would have a foul mood with a new bruise.

She mentioned to him that she didn't even know who his father was. He was just a mistake.

Sometimes he even wondered why she gave birth to him. Was it his mistake to be born?

But he soon deduced the reason. She was using him to gain the necessary funds to raise a child from the Kingdom.

The policies made by the King were being exploited while he was starved and could only eat half a piece of bread every day.

When he was 4 years old, he found out how his mother was treated in the brothel, Shun felt that he had to learn to do something.

He had to do something to earn some income or else their life would sooner or later end.

By sneaking into the public library, Shun soon began to read. He learned the language and soon began to read the books available in the public library. He would remember every line he read by heart.

This was the only thing he could do. Read.

Acquiring knowledge was merely the first step though.

He then began to think of ways to use this knowledge to earn money.

Firstly, he observed the town he lived in. It was named Cestia. He observed the people, the guards, and finally the kids.

Soon, he made his move and began to tell stories to the kids in the park. These were kids around his age but they were impressed by the knowledge acquired by this kid near their age.

Shun easily befriended them. The parents of these kids met with Shun as well and they heard of him through their kids.

They soon found out about Shun's tough life. Some women were sympathetic towards the kid who had befriended their child.

They offered him a few coins in charity. But Shun refused those coins and spoke, "Please allow me to earn them by my merit."

One of the parents was quite amused by his words and even asked him, "How are you going to do that?"

Shun glanced at that woman and paused for some time. He then finally spoke, "Your husband is a blacksmith, isn't that right, madam?"

The people were astonished when they heard him.

The woman was shell-shocked at his words. But she still quickly regained her calm and replied, "…What makes you think so?"

Shun in return gave a confused look. As if he was wondering just why she would ask such a question, "Isn't it obvious?" He asked, looking at the other people around him.

The people blankly stared at him, having a feeling that this kid was most likely looking down on them.

Before someone could scold him, the woman added, "I still want to know why you would think so."

"Your hair isn't styled properly and you haven't used any cosmetics so it's clear to assume that you came straight from home. In fact, if I am right, after leaving Michael here, you went straight to sleep and woke up just recently. Those dark spots around your eyes give away that you didn't sleep enough yet."

"The soot on your clothes and the smell of coal is fresh. It's as if you came from a place where someone burned coal in the building. Clearly, someone wouldn't attempt that during the daytime. And even if someone did, it would be hard for you to sleep soundly. This meant that you are used to the smell of coal. It's possible that your husband's smithy is just next to your house and the smoke enters the house as well, leaving its scent on you."

"The smudge on your clothes didn't bother you much that meant you regularly came into contact with it so you didn't care much about washing it before leaving the house."

Shun then looked at the faces of admiration all around him and was confused once again. He noticed that the woman had opened her mouth in shock and asked her, "Should I continue?"

He didn't even ask whether he was right. It was as if he was completely sure of his deduction.

For him, it was as if this was just a common fact that he couldn't get wrong.

"N-No. You were right… About everything."

The other individuals and the kids looked at Shun in amazement. He was actually right?!

There was another person who spoke out, "Guess mine. What do I do?" This was one of the members of the crowd who had gathered after Shun began his deduction.

Shun looked at him carefully and then replied, "You are a teacher."

"W-What's your reasoning?" The man asked, quite amazed by those calm words.

"You passed by this park while is somewhat away from the residential part of the city. You don't appear to be here to pick up a child. You are carrying a briefcase which suggests and you wear well-sewn clothes that meant you are someone who earns well. Someone of your standing would have to detour to come here around this hour. This meant you would have taken a detour to get here. Or you have a job that would require you to pass by this park during this time. The only job I can think of is a teacher."

"Extraordinary." The man couldn't help but give this praise to Shun.

"I am Euan Watts, a botanist in this school. Take this card. With this, you can come to the school and meet me at any time." The man appeared quite kind-hearted as he gave his card.

Shun placed the card in his pocket while thanking the man.

Soon, the other people also began to ask Shun to guess their profession. And without making any mistake, Shun guessed their professions.

Once he saw that the sun was just about to set, Shun bowed and requested some donations from the parents.

The people who had been amazed by Shun's deductions didn't feel it was bad to donate a coin or two for this child.

And thus, Shun earned nearly 15 Silver Coins all by himself in a single day!

This was enough for him and his mother to stop worrying about food for a whole month. He was delighted and returned home with those 15 Silver Coins.

As he returned back home, he saw his mother laid in the corner of the room. There was a cheap ale placed next to her body.

When she saw Shun, she seemed to have grown angry and threw the bottle at him in her rage.

"Stay out of my sight!" She yelled at Shun.

Shun dodged the bottle by ducking slightly. He was used to his mother yelling at him and ignored it.

"Mother, I earned 15 Silver Coins. We won't need to worry about food for a month now." He tried to speak in the most cheerful voice he could muster.

His mother blankly stared at Shun. It was as if she had heard something cursed from his mouth.

"You earned money for us? We don't have to worry about food now?" As she spoke those words in a calm voice and slowly stood up, Shun stepped back fearfully.

He could anticipate what would happen next.

The woman suddenly charged at Shun and threw him on the ground. She began to slap his face, punch him, and lastly, even grabbed his throat and tried to suffocate him.

"Are you looking down on me too?! You think I can't earn for us?! Don't you get that half piece of bread for nothing?! Do you want more?!" The woman seemed to have gone absolutely crazy.

Even though she suffocated Shun for a good minute, he still managed to survive.

As he laid on the ground, blood flowing out of his body, he looked at his mother with eyes full of pity and sorrow.

Perhaps this wasn't even half of what she regularly experienced.

Also, he would heal quickly so he had gotten used to these beatings and injuries.

~~

In a week, Shun managed to amass 70 silver coins by entertaining the people with his observation and good deduction skills. He also began to learn more about gardening because he loved to take care of plants.

The gardener was more than kind enough to respond to whatever questions Shun asked.

He was fond of the boy and found that he had good talent in this field. His son and Shun were also good friends.

However, within this week, Shun's life at home had become increasingly difficult. His mother was somehow getting more violent.

She had even begun to use a knife and hurt Shun.

This continued for some time until a few individuals noticed his injuries while he entertained the people.

The gardener was the first one to react as he asked Shun how he received those injuries.

Shun tried to fool the gardener by telling him that it was just a scratch.

However, the gardener had years of experience under his belt. At the very least, he could catch when a young child was trying to lie.

On the surface, he showed that he accepted Shun's explanation.

Soon, it was time for Shun to return. While Shun was returning to his home, the gardener followed him quietly.

Even though Shun regularly came and showed interest in learning about plants, the man hadn't even visited his house.

He was quite embarrassed as he realized this and planned to make up for it today.

He did hear from Shun how his mother was usually quite frustrated but he hadn't thought much of those words.

When he did reach Shun's house, he felt his eyes widen.

He saw how a woman was holding Shun down and slashing using a kitchen knife.

Immediately enough, the gardener stepped in and spoke, "Who are you?! What are you doing to Shun?!"

The woman was startled as she saw the man enter their small shack.

The gardener moved closer to Shun and held him gently. He noticed that the little kid was already unconscious.

The old man glared at the woman with rage and asked, "Who are you?!"

"M-Me? This is my house! You should be the one who tells me what you are doing in my house?!" As if flared up by the man, Shun's mother yelled at him.

"Are you here to save that thing as well?! I will kill him today!"

The woman seemed to have gone completely crazy as she charged towards Shun, planning to thrust the knife in him.

The gardener saw her coming at Shun and held her arms tightly. As a man, he possessed greater strength than the woman.

He managed to force her to drop the knife and then kicked her.

"To think you were actually torturing your own child. Pathetic." The gardener looked at that woman with contempt.

He grabbed her wrist and said, "Come. I will take you to the place you truly belong!"

When Shun was 4 and a half years old, his mother was thrown in the detention center. After knowing how she tortured her own child, the court gave life imprisonment as her punishment.