The Contract Beyond Demons
Appraisal. Even for the same job, the first skill obtained can vary wildly. Even among archers, one might have talent for Rapid Fire while another excels at Precision Shooting.
"But Demon Contractors are different. To borrow a demon's power through a contract, one must first know how to summon the subject."
That is why the very first skill a Demon Contractor acquires is always Demon Summon.
"...Is it the same for Demon Contractors who formed their contract before advancing their tier?"
At the Contractor's question, Wilhelm nodded, his eye behind the monocle filled with certainty.
"There are no exceptions. Even if one summons a demon and forms a contract, the demon will eventually return to the demon realm, will it not?"
Demons manifest in the middle realm by borrowing the contractor's mana to weave a physical body. Therefore, if the contractor's mana runs dry or the manifested body suffers severe damage, they are forcibly returned to the demon realm.
"The skill Demon Summon exists precisely to recall a demon that has been expelled from this world. It dramatically shortens what would otherwise be a long and complicated summoning ritual."
It is an essential skill for any Demon Contractor. No one can perform a full summoning ceremony every time their demon is sent back.
"...Wait. Weaving a body from mana... Don't tell me—ah!"
The Contractor, who had been quietly mulling over Wilhelm's explanation, suddenly brightened. She glanced at me with sparkling eyes before continuing in an excited tone.
"Appraiser...! I think I finally understand why I received the job Contractor instead of Demon Contractor like everyone else!"
Is that really it? I have no idea. My clever Contractor seems to have figured something out in that brief moment.
"Oho, it appears the adventurer has reached a deduction?"
"Gulp."
"...."
Wilhelm clasped his hands together, ready to listen, while Annette waited with bated breath for the Contractor to speak. Even the middle-aged appraiser who had been browsing books quietly closed his tome and leaned in, curiosity piqued.
"Ahem...!"
The Contractor lightly traced the rim of her teacup as if organizing her thoughts, then cleared her throat and spoke.
"Appraiser, do you know how demon summoning works?"
"Hmm... Demon summoning, you say?"
Wilhelm looked puzzled for a moment at the sudden question, then nodded.
"Given my profession, I have information on most jobs. Demon Contractor is no exception."
While the methods of demon summoning vary, they all end the same way.
"You pierce a tiny hole in the reverse side of the world to create a passage between the middle realm and the demon realm, then pour mana and emotion through it while waiting for a demon willing to form a contract. That is the most basic form of demon summoning, is it not?"
'Huh? So that's how it works?'
The Contractor nodded along, confirming that this was indeed the "standard" procedure. But...
'Ours was a little different, wasn't it?'
"You are correct, Appraiser. That is how demon summoning is typically performed."
The contracted demon crosses through the rift in the reverse side, uses the mana harvested from the contractor to weave a body in the middle realm, and places a portion of itself inside. That is the most common and ordinary form of summoning—and of contracting.
However—
"Raven and I did not form our contract that way."
"What?"
"What do you mean?"
The Contractor was right. We had never negotiated through a tiny keyhole, nor had she woven a human body from her mana.
'Ours was far more romantic than that.'
A dimly lit elevator. A room thick with the smell of mold. A plague doctor cosplayer and a chuunibyou black mage cosplayer, the only thing they had in common being how suspiciously well the costumes suited them. We had needed each other.
That night, when the sound of rain striking the imperfect object called a window echoed softly, we had instinctively felt each other's desperate longing the moment our eyes met. Through clumsy, pathetic communication, we had awkwardly aligned our intentions, clasped hands, and exchanged awkward smiles as we formed our contract.
No—our bond.
'Ah.'
I finally understood why the Contractor had received the job Contractor instead of Demon Contractor.
'Come to think of it...'
I'm not a demon, am I?
***
The reason the Contractor's job became Contractor instead of Demon Contractor was so obvious it would have been strange not to notice. The one who formed the contract with her was not a demon, but a human!
Even if the status screen stubbornly lists me as "human," even if I carry a revolver in my chest, even if my body sometimes feels oddly gelatinous and springy—I am an ordinary(?) human.
'Why am I only realizing this now?'
After roleplaying as a demon all day, I must have started genuinely believing I was one. Everyone around me keeps calling me a demon, and the fear—and even the sweetness—from intelligent beings is addictive. It's an environment where over-immersion is almost impossible to avoid.
Definitely not because my intelligence is lower than that of a C. elegans.
While I was caught in an identity tug-of-war between human and demon, the appraisers reacted to the Contractor's story like Archimedes in his bath.
"Good heavens! So it wasn't just a fragment of its spiritual body that crossed the rift—it tore the boundary apart and came through entirely?"
"Does that mean—!?"
"...That is the demon's true body?"
"Impossible!"
"How can that be?"
The middle-aged appraiser's quiet murmur set the appraisal office ablaze with excitement.
"Ahem, that is correct."
The Contractor shrugged as if proud of her familiar, and all eyes turned to me. It was the gaze of reptile breeders who had just discovered an ultra-rare lizard. They panted like knowledge-starved hyenas, scrutinizing every inch of my body.
In that moment—
—Zzt.
A sensation like a tiny insect scraping against my eardrum.
'Hmm? Again?'
I had felt something similar the first time I entered the appraisal office.
'Now that I think about it, it happened yesterday at the Adventurer's Guild too, didn't it?'
...No way.
'Is that bug from back then still here!?'
A shiver ran down my spine—or it would have, if my body had been normal. The shock was that intense. I tapped the headset part of my mask for no reason and mentally screamed for Kkachi, the eternal natural enemy of insects, when Wilhelm's voice, now somewhat calmer, reached me.
"Haah... I see. Now I understand. The bond between the adventurer and that demon is not a typical demon contract, but rather..."
"It's closer to an ordinary, real-world contract!? That must be why the Goddess granted the job Contractor instead of Demon Contractor!"
Annette blurted out the clear answer after listening to Wilhelm. He closed his parted lips, moistened his dry mouth with tea, and slowly nodded.
"Ahem. Something like that."
"Haa... My chest feels so much lighter now."
"I might finally be able to sleep in peace."
The appraisers savored the aroma of their tea with the lingering satisfaction of mathematicians who had solved a millennium-old problem. The Contractor, caught up in the moment, closed her eyes and nodded to herself, apparently impressed by her own deduction.
'I wonder what would happen if I told them I'm actually human right now.'
They'd probably just dismiss it as another crazy demon spouting nonsense. Once again, the misunderstandings and misconceptions about me were deepening splendidly.
***
"Adventurer, the crow waited a long time, nyang."
"You're late, traitor."
"Is your ankle feeling better, Traitor-nim?"
"Everyone's still going on about the traitor thing, nyang! I already said I was sorry, nyang!"
"Executioner! Is the first appraisal finished? Can we take the adventurer now?"
"...Executioner?"
"Yes. We just finished. You may take him."
"Thank you all for your hard work! Now then, let's head to the rank-up examination hall! The adventurer can test out that new skill to his heart's content!"
"Ooh...! Sounds fun."
"By the way, Senior, your complexion looks awfully good for someone who just came back from work."
"M-m-m-m, I have no idea what you're talking about! Regina Gura absolutely did not slack off in the break room!"
"As I thought... So that's what happened."
"A-anyway, let's move quickly!"
—Bang!
The heavy wooden door slammed shut, and the lively voices faded down the stairs. The appraisal office returned to its usual quiet.
"...Phew. They're finally gone."
Wilhelm let out a sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair, sensing that his presence had departed.
"Here."
Annette offered a pristine handkerchief to Wilhelm, who had set down his pince-nez and was repeatedly wiping away cold sweat. Even her casual gesture carried a faint tremor.
"Are you all right?"
"Of course I'm not..."
Skills grow alongside adventurers. An appraiser's skill, Appraisal, is no exception. The higher the tier, the more the skill reveals. Beyond the Goddess's blessing of the status screen, it exposes value, emotions, threat level, and everything else the target is hiding.
"Annette, what did you see?"
"...I saw nothing."
That was precisely why it was terrifying.
The skill Appraisal only activates on targets up to two tiers above the user's current tier. Annette's tier was 6-Tier—one rank above even Sion. Which meant—
"At least 9-Tier or higher..."
"No."
"...What?"
After wiping his sweat with the handkerchief Annette had given him, Wilhelm—no, the only 9-Tier adventurer in the Dungeon City, the Executioner Wilhelm—pointed a wrinkled finger at the sky with a trembling voice.
"Even higher...!"
"...!"
"!!!"