Contracts Shouldn't Be Made Recklessly

I felt cold sweat trickling down the back of my neck as I frantically racked my brain. 'What exactly did I do to those Squishies?'

Suddenly the events from the fifth-floor boss stage flashed through my mind. I had sliced through every last one of the dozens of tentacles, leaving only the main body as a hostage.

Then, the moment an opening appeared, I delivered the killing blow and tossed the corpse onto the ground.

The protest 'You crazy bastard! We were fighting for our lives—what else was I supposed to do?' crawled up my throat, but voicing any resentment now would only hurt me.

"S-Squishy is sorry..."

"Eh, forget it. It's all in the past anyway."

The Kraken Lord, who had been walking toward me, turned and headed for a nearby boulder. She hopped lightly and perched on it.

"So, what are you going to wish for? Don't worry. Personal feelings aside, I'll grant your wishes with everything I have."

Lower god or not, Luciel was still an existence bound by the Tower's system. She wouldn't sabotage a wish over something as trivial as personal grudge. That much was reassuring, but...

I had no intention of squandering this golden opportunity.

"First, could you tell me about the life you've lived, Lady Luciel?"

Her eyes widened. "Hmm? That's really your first wish? No take-backs later, okay?"

"You've risen from mortal to god. Hearing the life story of someone like you is incredibly valuable!"

"R-really?"

The corners of Luciel's mouth twitched upward. With a strangely flushed face, she planted her hands on her hips.

"All right! First of all, my name is Luciel Minatrina Seleptia! I'll specially permit you to call me Luciel!"

"Yes, Lady Luciel."

"Hehe. What's your name?"

"I'm Haram."

"Haram! I was born in a terribly dark and cold place! I later learned that other children had something called parents, but I was completely alone."

"..."

I was slightly flustered by the sudden orphan declaration, but Luciel, not noticing my reaction, continued with sparkling eyes.

"I lived like that all alone until one day some stranger appeared and taught me all sorts of things."

"What stranger?"

"I don't know. He just showed up out of nowhere, told me I was using my power wrong, and taught me everything."

Luciel's story differed from what I had expected. It was commonly understood that powerful creatures became lower gods naturally after long years of accumulating divinity.

The information had been cross-verified across multiple expeditions from natives of various dimensions. I hadn't heard it directly, but the Empress had personally ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠vouched for it, so it was trustworthy.

"After that, I became able to split off my tentacles and create friends. Sometimes grotesque ones that looked like heads appeared, but the Squishies were incredibly cute!"

I flinched when the Squishies were mentioned, but Luciel was lost in her own world.

"Later I even made human friends and could glimpse the surface world. I created my own name after listening to human speech! Isn't it cool?"

"Extremely cool!"

I played along while pondering the entity she had described. 'An existence capable of creating a lower god... The Tower? But if it was the Tower, there'd be no reason to issue a quest to hunt her.'

There was too little information to draw any conclusions.

"While I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠living happily with my friends, that stranger appeared again one day and asked me for a favor!"

"What favor?"

"He told me to create lots of friends on the surface! So I did exactly as he asked..."

Luciel rose from the boulder and approached me. She took my hand and pressed it against her own forehead.

"And then you killed me dead!"

"Ah..."

"Well, I'm not holding ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it against you. That's the end of my story. Is there anything else you want to know?"

I had obtained unexpected information from her tale, yet the most crucial detail still eluded me.

"Lady Luciel, what will you do once I've used all my wishes?"

"Hmm? Is that question also a wish?"

"What?! Ah..."

"Just kidding! I'll tell you that much at least!"

Luciel gave my shoulder a light smack and crossed her arms.

"First, I must recover my true body. After that... I'll look for ways to grow stronger! I'll make new friends, too..."

"How exactly do you become stronger?"

"Hmm? I just used my power often and it worked..."

My mouth twitched at her answer.

"Lady Luciel, I happen to know an excellent method for you to become stronger..."

Information gathering was complete. It was time to begin the real sales pitch.

"The seventh Void Lake patrol has located the elf scouts?"

'Correct, Your Majesty. They are thirty kilometers from the seventh Void Lake.'

With the appearance of Void Lake administrators, I could now communicate efficiently with legions stationed far away.

The original command structure of our legion worked like this: Poppy or I would issue orders to the legion.

"Poppy Thirty-Seven, gather a thousand friends and scout eastward."

"Woof! (Yes!)"

Poppy Thirty-Seven would then travel to other friends and relay the command.

"Woof! (Her Majesty ordered an eastward scout!)"

"Woof! (Then I'll let the others know too!)"

"Woof! (I'm heading out to scout!)"

The legion members who received the order would pass it on again, repeating the process until the entire legion mobilized.

The problem was that only Poppy and I could issue or receive reports. Once we left after creating a Void Lake, no further commands could be given, nor could we learn of any crises.

Until now, we had been unable to respond to problems at distant lakes. The administrators solved that flaw.

'Your Majesty, an ogre habitat has been discovered forty kilometers northeast ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the twelfth Void Lake.'

"Tell them to stay away from that area."

'Your Majesty, resources around the third Void Lake have been exhausted.'

"Move the remaining Void Insects to the fourth lake and close the third one."

'As you command.'

Though communication still required the lakes as relays, we could now manage the legion remotely and collect scouting reports from every direction.

"Thirteen confirmed elf villages... We're going to be extremely busy."

"Woof!"

"It's nice not having to walk myself! You're such a good girl, Poppy! And your name is so pretty!"

Luciel and I rode on Poppy's back toward the nearest elf village. In the past we had deployed thousands of legion members to attack such settlements, but with a lower god on our team, the corrupted elves were no longer a threat.

"Are you really going to use your second wish on elf hunting? Wishes are far more valuable than you think!"

"It's fine. More importantly, you're confident, right?"

"There's no way I would lose to mere elves!"

Luciel had initially refused my offer to join the legion. I had tried persuading her by showing off the strengthened void hounds, but creatures of that level were apparently insufficient to sway a lower god.

"Even though only my soul remains, my power has not disappeared!"

"The village should come into view soon."

After traveling through the forest for some time, a low wooden palisade appeared in the distance. Elves stood atop it, bows in hand, scanning the surroundings. The moment Luciel saw them she stood up.

Her childlike body dissolved into black liquid that floated upward, coalescing into a perfect circle. A red eye and mouth then formed at the center of the sphere. Luciel's eyes, now in spectral form, burned crimson.

"Uh... uh, uhh..."

"Uuuu... uuuuh..."

The elves on the palisade went slack-eyed, drool spilling from their mouths.

"What's going on... huh?"

Even the elves who emerged from their homes sensing danger could not escape Luciel's gaze.

"Kugh... where did such a monster come from..."

Only the elderly elf who appeared to be the elder managed to resist the mental assault, yet even he could do nothing but cling to his sanity.

"Mental attacks really are overpowered, aren't they? Completely asymmetrical warfare."

The corrupted elf elder, who handled mana well, protected his mind with it, but the rest of the elves fell without resistance. Even while his mind trembled, the elder pulled out a crystal orb.

"Luciel! Shall we finish them now? Using the crystal orb will only cause trouble later!"

No matter how strong a lower god was, she could not withstand a swarm of high elves pouring out of an S-rank gate. Of course, the high elves currently fighting high-rankers were unlikely to come all the way here, but if elves from nearby villages escaped it would be a loss.

I conveyed that thought to Luciel, but the black mass only gave an awkward laugh.

"No way... Poppy?"

"Woof!"

I ordered Poppy to kill the corrupted elf elder clutching the crystal orb. The corrupted elves did not have particularly tough bodies, so cleaning them up was not difficult.

"Lady Luciel, don't tell me you can't deliver a killing blow?"

"..."

"You threw so many mental attacks at me before..."

Come to think of it, if Luciel's mental attacks could have killed enemies, I would have died back on the second floor.

Luciel, having returned to human form, fidgeted with her fingers.

"My friends used to handle that sort of thing for me..."

"I-It's fine! That can happen! We'll take care of it from now on!"

"If I had my true body... my soft, squishy tentacles..."

Tears welled up in Luciel's eyes.

"Lady Luciel, why don't you join our legion? You'll regain your body faster and learn offensive magic as well!"

"Really?"

"Of course!"

I had been worried the system might not allow it, but...

"That's ridiculously expensive."

Lower gods were generally classified as stronger than S-rank monsters, so needing S-rank corpses was understandable, but...

SS-rank Monster Heart 0/1

"Where am I supposed to find that?"

The highest rank of gate that had appeared on Earth was S-rank. No SS-rank monsters had ever been reported.

"Hmm? What is it?"

Luciel, who had been touching her own body, turned her head at my mutter.

"Nothing. More importantly, how does your body feel? Has anything changed?"

"Eh?"

Luciel tilted her head, sensing something different in the air.

"Remember this feeling clearly. I'm going to make you stronger now."

"O-okay..."

"Whoa!! Haram, I feel much stronger!"

"How much stronger?"

"Hmm... it's about the same as ten years of training!"

Ten years was not a long time for Luciel, who had lived for eons, yet shortening a decade with a single click must have been a tremendous shock.

"Do it again! Again!"

"Luci? Getting stronger isn't free. You understand that, right?"

"Eh...? Y-yes, of course?"

"I'm taking a huge loss to strengthen you, so I can't do it indefinitely."

"I-I understand... but why..."

I placed a hand on Luci's shoulder.

"I am the master of this legion. Since I'm your superior, you should speak to me with respect, shouldn't you, Luci?"

"Uhh? My name is Luciel..."

"Luci?"

Luci's eyes widened into perfect circles.

"Let's get along well from now on, okay?"

Contracts shouldn't be made recklessly.