"Yeah, no."
The voice was flatly dismissive, cutting through Bongshik’s words with an uncharacteristically firm tone. It was as unemotional as ever, but there was a subtle hint of irritation that wasn’t usually there.
“a? Are you back today?”
“…Yeah.”
“Oh, I’m here too, hehe.”
Behind a, a girl with pink hair waved awkwardly, her hand fluttering in the air. She didn’t even need to crane her head to be seen. a’s height was, regrettably, certified as “shorter” than Ray by the dwarf Svanbjorn. If Priscilla were just a bit taller, a might as well be her chest stand.
“Priscilla, it’s been a while. I heard you’re paired up with a. Did you go on this mission together?”
“Yes, yes!”
Priscilla’s pink hair swung wildly as she nodded vigorously. She seed annoyed by the long strands of hair brushing against her, and a waved a hand to clear them out of the way.
"Looks like she's trying to swat a bug away."
a, failing to shake off Priscilla glued behind her, eventually realized it’d be faster just to walk inside herself, so she plodded in with a determined stride.
“That thing you ntioned earlier.”
Hop.
a lightly hopped onto the stool next to and continued.
“It’s pointless. If anyone was in the third sector back then, they’d already know.”
Oh no…could it be?
“Bongshik, the place you ntioned—is that where Viola was lured?”
“Well, um…”
The way his gaze wavered and words trailed off made the answer obvious.
I sighed, rubbing my forehead.
“Oh, Bongshik…”
“Yes, yes…”
Bongshik trembled, beads of sweat forming and dripping from his chin.
An expression of extre tension.
‘Actually, maybe he isn’t overreacting.’
A brand, in so cases, could even reverse the roles of master and subordinate, which made it a tool of overwhelming control. With a thought, it could cut off all of one’s mana. For a mage, it was like wearing a collar with a self-destruct button.
The fact that a had asked to be branded herself was, if anything, unusual. A regular mage would be as terrified as Bongshik was now.
Especially since Bongshik and I had a relationship close to that of a defeated slave and a victorious master in a war. To Bongshik, my displeasure was a threat to his life.
“Just go back for now. I was planning to assign you a different task anyway.”
There was work to be done—a sign that I wasn’t planning to dispose of him yet. Bongshik sighed in obvious relief and replied,
“Understood.”
Priscilla turned to open the door for Bongshik. Catching my glance, he nodded toward her as well and disappeared, after which Priscilla comnted,
“Seeing him show so backbone is refreshing.”
Backbone? Was it?
I glanced at a, hoping for her opinion, but she only shrugged as if to say, “How would I know?”
“So, Priscilla, what brings you here? Is there any word from the Blostma faction?”
Or was it perhaps a personal ssage from Theresia?
Apparently not. Priscilla stamred a bit before replying cautiously,
“It’s just… I thought I’d say hi since Roman is back…”
Roman?
If it were about gratitude, the Blostma faction had already paid their debt. They’d delivered the chromatic fiend’s leather, fully tanned and enchanted. It must have cost them quite a bit in effort and resources.
Though so might say it was too cheap for a life-saving debt, Theresia’s side had a hand in it too.
Priscilla might think that wasn’t enough on a personal level…but I had a feeling that wasn’t all.
[Perhaps it’s self-consciousness, Contractor?]
[Hmm. Agreed.]
[Oh, Contractor! I think that woman is smitten with you!]
[No, Contractor, listen to .]
[I’m siding with Seir on this one.]
[What?! Contractor! Trust ! My demonic gaze has pierced the truth through a thousand years of darkness!]
Honestly, I leaned more toward Procel’s perspective, but…if Seir said so, perhaps it was true.
My trust in Seir was such that if she called a deer a horse, I’d wonder if it was so rare subspecies of horse I didn’t know about.
Alright, let’s go with Seir’s judgnt for now.
“I have so pressing business at the mont. If I find a reason to visit Blostma’s faction, I’ll send word in advance.”
“Oh…okay.”
Priscilla looked down in disappointnt. Her pink hair seed to add a certain liveliness to the gesture.
“Well then, I’ll be on my way.”
Priscilla’s shoulders drooped slightly. Was I too harsh? Priscilla had a connection with and was even on the sa team as a.
If a or Hecate sent my teammates, Leif and Ray, away as she had, I’d feel uneasy too. I glanced at a to gauge her reaction.
“Hmph.”
But a’s reaction differed from mine. Her expression remained unchanged, yet she seed sohow satisfied.
Well, as long as she wasn’t upset…was she just that detached?
‘Maybe it’s because her team is more businesslike, unlike ours?’
The way she interacted with her forr teammate, the potion shop owner, had always felt sowhat stiff; perhaps it wasn’t only because she’d lost mories in exchange.
In any case, it wasn’t my place to ddle, so I pushed thoughts of Priscilla aside and brought up the matter with a.
“a, I need your help with sothing.”
“Help?”
You? Asking ?
a’s eyes glead with surprise as she looked at .
“As you might have heard, I was in the second sector recently. And I felt it keenly—I’ve got a long way to go. I need to get stronger.”
“Right.”
a nodded with a force that, oddly, felt like a blow to my pride.
But that was for the best. Her view of was clearly objective.
That ant she’d be diligent in fulfilling my request.
“Teach demonic magic.”
---
Though it was late, neither of us felt the need to put it off until tomorrow.
Ever since a’s ordeal with nightmares and lost mories had ended, she had strictly adhered to her full nine-hour sleep schedule. Yet, at my request, that ironclad pattern took a backseat.
We descended to the underground training room below Hecate’s locked workshop. a started with the basics.
“As I ntioned during training, there are two ways a demonologist can expand their magic.”
“Demon contracts and the extension of powers?”
a nodded, confirming my answer, and then took up a pen, writing sothing on the training room’s whiteboard.
[1 Demon] - Spatial Magic
[2 Demon] - Weakening Magic
[3 Demon] -
At that point, she turned to look at , still holding the pen.
“Oh, Illusion Magic.”
While I didn’t know the true nas of my contracted demons, a at least knew the numbers and types of magic associated with them. a was a skilled demonologist. Hecate had said she was practically guaranteed expert status if she wanted it. Her unique intuition even let her perceive the number and ranks of other demonologists’ contracted demons.
And since I was connected to her through the brand, a could sense even so of the powers I borrowed. I didn’t bother hiding it. I trusted a on par with my teammates, even if she wasn’t like my guardian demons, like Seir.
a filled in the last blank with “Illusion Magic.”
“The first option is out of the question.”
Even without saying so, a knew how hard it was for to form new contracts with demons. Of course, if it were possible, I wouldn’t need her help.
a didn’t know the secret behind my thod of contracting these high-ranking demons, or why I could interact with demons far beyond her contracted ones.
So what I sought from a was the latter.
“The key to developing demonology is understanding.”
“Understanding…”
It sounded like sothing that could apply to any magic, but I knew her comnt had a hidden nuance. Specifically, understanding “demons” themselves.
Demonology was all about understanding demons. This was why Hecate, who inherited a family with deep knowledge of demons and had a boundless curiosity for them, was the city’s top demonologist.
“Let give you an example.”
Next to the list of my demons, a wrote the na of one of her own.
Eclipto.
Eclipto was the demon she’d contracted with powers associated with consumption.
“When I first made a contract with Eclipto, I used his power to erode my opponent’s mana. That was all I knew about Eclipto’s power at the ti.”
Much like how I had used Leraje’s power to cause exhaustion by disrupting mana.
Did that an she didn’t know what Eclipto’s powers were at first?
That seed strange, so I asked.
“Don’t they usually lure you in by showing their powers?”
“Two cases where that happens. One, a demon who’s desperate to make a contract. Or two, a demon with high enough rank that it can afford to reveal its powers.”
Typically, a demon’s power was an indicator of its rank. Revealing its power was like showing off to a summoner, saying, “This is my level.”
“Even if a high-ranked demon has multiple powers, it
usually won’t show all its cards.”
“To keep the contract cost high?”
“Exactly.”
It was essentially an unfair trade.
If a summoner wanted a certain power, the demon could agree, but if it hid its full power, the summoner wouldn’t know the exact strength. Still, the summoner would pay whatever price the demon asked for that power. It was a devilish arrangent indeed.
Demons—supposedly fair and truthful—turned out to be quite the scoundrels.
So, if my guardian demons had openly revealed all their powers at the outset…
‘They didn’t ask for any price, showed all their powers, and even introduced other demons… they really gave everything.’
Once again, I am in awe.
Seir, Demon of World Restoration…
[Indeed! Worship more!]
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