§ 177. List of contracts (3)
The devil’s name is Glumgos.
He was a middle-ranking devil with no particular hierarchy, but thanks to accidentally occupying an advantageous position, he has recently been rising to prominence among the devils. Coincidentally, right after Del Cross’s guardian was stranded in the [Agreement], he made a contract with a human.
Considering that many of the demons he had contracted with before him were cut off to no end by the nutcracker, this could be said to be a truly lucky case.
His contractor was Wilhelm Schmidt.
At the time, he was a low-ranking manager of the Merchant Union, and for someone who had summoned a demon, he had simple dreams and poor aspirations.
Thanks to this, Glumgos easily granted his wish, and soon succeeded in completely taking over Schmidt’s body and soul.
After that, it was literally a succession of victories.
He rose to the highest position possible as a merchant union manager and accumulated a lot of wealth. I got a beautiful wife and recently had a beautiful child.
At this point, he couldn’t help but develop a strong attachment to life in the human world.
However, his current condition is like a wind lamp that may be extinguished at any time. There were many demons bent on harming him and taking away everything he had.
The Merchant Union, where relatively ambitious humans gathered, had an unusually large number of demon contractors, and among them, there were sometimes humans who had made contracts with demons of extremely high rank.
In order to maintain his upper hand among them, Glumgoth decided to create his own weapon.
It is to create a list listing the devil’s true name and its contractors. Perhaps that list would serve as a dagger to stab his enemies in desperate moments.
The problem was that it was an unwritten rule not to violate each other’s contract, a taboo that demons must never do.
If any of the demons found out about the existence of this list, Glumgos would be immediately summoned back to the Demon World, and it might be better for him to disappear.
It was the final weapon that he risked his all to perfect.
‘… Why did you happen to be away for a while?’
Glumgos felt as if he was having a nightmare.
Could it be that the Holy Empire’s prince suddenly burst into the office, snatched the ledger, which could be said to be all of his power, and aimed the terrifying holy relic straight ahead!
Although he rarely kept the list off his body, he happened to have some business to do near the church, so he had no choice but to leave it in the care of a lower-ranking official for a while.
But coincidentally, this boy came at the right time!
‘Should I just take it away by force? No, but… … .’
The prince in front of him looked like an ordinary human being without an ounce of divine power, but there was no way he would have dared to use his hands carelessly.
Because the meaning of the fact that he was holding a nutcracker in that hand was clear.
Behind that human being, there is a fearsome person.
‘Even if it gets taken away… … .’
Glumgos looked at the ceiling of his office and felt depressed for a moment.
One, this is what happened. There was no other way now. I have no choice but to appease this boy and get the list back.
“… I don’t want any more fuss than this. “Let’s have a conversation first.”
“conversation?”
Meanwhile, unfortunately for Glumgos, Seongjin felt the signs of a big hit the moment he got his hands on this booklet.
In an age where paper books have become commonplace, this is an old-fashioned book that is loosely bound together with parchment and the edges are not evenly organized.
In particular, no matter how you look at it, it was not an ordinary item as a peculiar black energy was flowing from the cover.
Shaking.
As I was stirring the book and observing the magic energy spreading through the air, Branch Manager Schmidt, or rather a devil in the shape of the branch leader, spoke in a trembling voice.
“Now, calm down and listen to me. Could you please, for your own sake, return that dangerous book to me? The demonic energy flowing out of that book is extremely harmful to humans. Prolonged exposure will weaken the body and eventually lead to death.”
“okay?”
Seongjin stopped gesticulating the demonic energy and asked the demon king.
‘Hey, is it true what he says?’
Then the Demon King spoke with a somewhat uneasy look.
[I’m not lying. Even if you think about it based on common sense, there is no way that demon energy would have a positive effect on a living human being, but… … .]
‘however?’
[If you think like that, it takes a while. In fact, although it is a small amount, there is demonic energy that continues to be released from my soul. In other words, you have been exposed to a certain amount of demonic energy all along.]
hmm. Seongjin turned his shoulder this way and that, but still could not feel any abnormality in his body.
‘Are you okay? After all, I’m already dead, so isn’t it okay?’
Because I am an evil spirit.
Then the Demon King answered in an uncertain voice.
[Well, guess what… … .]
In any case, the Magi didn’t seem to be much of a threat to him. After making that decision, Seongjin decided to take a closer look at the book.
“female… Do not open! A powerful curse of death is placed on the magic energy surrounding the book! If a human touches it… … !”
“huh?”
Seongjin, who opened the book to the very center page, raised his head and looked at Glumgos.
“What if a human touches it?”
“… “No, nothing.”
The devil, who was looking at the boy who looked perfectly normal, broke into a cold sweat and averted his gaze.
It’s bland.
Seongjin glared at the devil once and then slowly began to turn the pages. Then the branch leader demon glanced at him and spoke in a hushed voice.
“… Anyway, even if you take that list, you can’t use it for anything. “Can’t you just give it back?”
“Why is that so?”
“That’s because it’s not something that humans can read. “It’s written in the language of the demon world!”
As he said, the letters written in the book were unfamiliar to Seongjin.
Strange letters are arranged crookedly, as if they were intertwined wedges, and next to them are drawn complicated patterns of unknown meaning.
hmm. It’s the language of the demon world, right?
[This is crazy… … !]
I could hear the demon lord muttering in my head.
‘Can you read?’
[of course. It’s a demonic language. I can’t teach you the content just by reading it myself.]
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‘why?’
[Because the true names of the devils are written down one after another! The moment you read even one, you will summon the devil here! Is this guy sane to make something this dangerous?]
Jinmyeong?
[okay. This is a list of devil contractees and the names of the devils they have contracted with. If this is discovered, that guy will be as good as dead, right? It will be an achievement for the demon world.]
hmm. I think I know why that branch manager, the devil, is looking this way out of contemplation.
By the way, are there really that many demon contractors in Delcross?
Seongjin slurped through the pages, then made a decision and slammed the book shut.
“I’ll just take this with me.”
Then the branch leader demon jumped up from his place.
“What? “It’s useless to take it, so why?”
“It doesn’t matter if you can’t read. “It looks quite old-fashioned, so I think it would be perfect to give to my father as a souvenir from my trip.”
A list of devils for the Holy Emperor?
Glumgos felt his mind becoming distant for a moment.
“This is crazy! Why on earth… … !”
It’s a disaster.
As if reflecting his agitation, the black demonic energy surged up violently and quickly subsided again.
Now the devil was shaking pitifully.
“now. Calm down! “We can handle it now before it turns into a big problem!”
The branch manager devil said that in a trembling voice, but it seemed like he was the one who needed to calm down.
I was constantly wiggling my unstable hands, and my whole body had already been wet with sweat for a long time.
‘no way… … .’
At that moment, a thought passed through Seongjin’s mind.
“I’m asking just in case, can my father read this list?”
“Wow!”
The branch manager, who was pale, spewed out demonic energy from his mouth.
That’s correct.
[Wow, this is an annihilation scenario that cannot be left out or excluded. A list like this creates powerful causal effects just by its very existence. Wouldn’t this be sufficient conditions for your father to move?]
Then Seongjin smiled.
“Your father will love it! Whenever I’m bored, I read one line at a time, and whenever the devil is summoned, I cut off his head on the spot… … .”
“ah! “No!”
The devil, who had screamed as if he were screaming, now began to complain desperately to Seongjin.
“If the devil disappears, the humans who made a contract with him will also not escape death! Moreover, the people listed there all hold important positions in the Merchant Union! “What do you think the continent’s economy will be like if they disappear all at once?”
“Well, I guess your father will take care of it. “You just have to take it slowly without overdoing it, right?”
“The existence of this list will be revealed to the world! “Then I’m finished!”
“That’s none of my business.”
“But if I disappear, the list created with my power will also disappear along with it?”
“Hmm, that’s troublesome. ah! I’ll protect you, so would you like to go to the imperial capital with us? “Don’t worry too much about grace.”
Even the devil bastard survived just fine, so wouldn’t it be a simple task to ask that nobleman to create a barrier?
Then Glumgos became desperate, sat down on the floor and shed bloody tears. Hehehehe!
“Please take a look! Even after all this, I still have a wife like a rabbit and children like a fox!”
“… … .”
“I will never leave you alone in the demon world! “You will tear them to pieces and kill them instead of me!”
But unexpectedly, that half-hearted complaint moved Seongjin’s heart.
Seongjin, who looked down at the demon with blood pouring out of his eyes for a moment, waited for the demon to calm down a bit before opening his mouth.
“good. “I will give it back.”
“… Turn… “You’re giving it to me?”
Glumgos looked up at Seongjin with an expression of disbelief.
I was wondering if I should attack this boy first, even if I had to die at the hands of Seonghwang if I didn’t succeed.
But how can you change your mind so easily?
“But you can’t do it with bare mouth. Instead, there are some conditions.”
And Seongjin clearly conveyed what he thought to Glumgos.
* * *
The top floor of the logistics relay station.
Even after Seongjin hid in Wilhelm Schmidt’s office, the building’s hallways were extremely quiet.
Inside the office, demons ran rampant and demon energy fluctuated as if exploding before fading away, but at least there was no shock felt from the outside. This was thanks to the barrier that Glumgos had created in advance.
The bodyguards guarded the door without knowing anything, and the assassins wandering the hallways also passed by the office without noticing what had happened.
Only one person.
Only one person sitting quietly on the roof of the relay station building was watching the entire scene from beginning to end.
He was an exorcist with raven-black hair, and he was staring endlessly at the long Breeze River flowing to the north of the building.
In her eyes, which were pitch black like her hair, a strange silver-grey glow would occasionally flicker and then disappear.
“… your majesty.”
Suddenly she quietly opened her mouth.
“Is it okay if I leave it like that? “If I could just get my hands on that list, I could instantly get rid of many of the wrongdoings that are affecting the continent’s economy.”
Then Seonghwang, who was silent for a moment, answered.
[Sir Sharon. Do you know how many devil contractors there are within the Merchant Union?]
The exorcist shook his head. She only had a vague guess that there were many of them, but she had no way of recognizing her contractors right away.
Demon contractors are, after all, ordinary humans. Unless you summon a demon to reality or perform a direct miracle with the help of a demon, you do not emit demonic energy yourself.
Therefore, even though the entire continent is full of priests who believe in God, demons can easily sneak into the world through contractors and operate under the surface.
Only the devil’s brand engraved on his soul. Only the Holy Emperor who can see it with his own eyes will know the exact number.
And his answer was shocking.
[Almost all those in key positions in the Merchants’ Union should be considered contractors.]
The members and managers of the merchant union, which had been growing in power for several decades, were suffering from internal competition that was more heated than what was visible from the outside.
In order to fight against the devil contracts that are already in place, the structure is such that newcomers also have no choice but to make a contract with the devil.
“… if!”
[So, if you remove all those on the list, more people will become new devil contracts to fill the empty space.]
This time, even if we were able to eradicate some of the devils with the luck we obtained through the list, we would still be helpless against the newly appearing devil contractees.
Seonghwang will be tied to the [agreement] forever.
In that case, it would have been better for that simple mid-level demon to maintain this situation.
The wishes that people in the Merchants’ Union make to the devil are usually wealth and power.
In that case, at least as long as Wilhelm Schmidt firmly maintains his position as branch leader, the day when these people will get their wish is bound to be far away.
This means that the number of demons that can gain a fully human body and move freely is naturally suppressed.
[Trust Mores’ judgment. That child will definitely get the most out of that list.]
“Is that also thanks to your oracle abilities?”
When Sir Sharon tilted his head and asked, a faint sound came from inside his head. She seemed to have a soft laugh.
[It’s a slightly different story. Do you know? Mores was instinctively good at counting from a young age.]
but. Sir Sharon was convinced.
Prince Mores’s father was a prosperous man who managed a huge empire flawlessly, and his maternal grandfather was the Grand Duke of Asean, who was considered the most vicious person on the continent. Where would the blood inherited from his parents go?
The exorcist looked up at the sky with blank eyes, and momentarily raised the corner of his mouth with a grin as if something came to his mind.
“By the way, how fortunate is today’s meeting for that devil? Following Red, this insignificant devil will now become the fourth devil allowed to exist by His Majesty.”
fantasy,
