Making Money Is Really Hard (1)
What? Make a contract with a demon?
It wasn't as if demon contractors didn't exist in the original work. There had even been a heroine who was one!
Demon contractors weren't all that rare worldwide, either. Official statistics did list them as rarer than mages, alchemists, magical engineers, or martial artists—rarer still than summoners, shamans, or holy practitioners. In fact, among all ability users, they ranked as the rarest of all.
But that was only because most demon contractors preferred to keep their pacts secret from the public. It didn't mean there were few of them. Objectively speaking, their numbers actually surpassed those of holy practitioners or shamans.
It couldn't be helped. Even if society's view of demons had improved compared to the old days, the image of them as cunning, cruel beings who exploited human desire to grow their own power had never quite faded. Lower-ranked demons still behaved that way often enough. And quite a few terrorists and criminals happened to be demon contractors. The demons they contracted with were usually low-grade ones. When those two elements combined, the reputation of demons and their contractors never stood a chance of improving.
Lately, though, as part of the government's campaign to polish the image of ability users, demon contractors had started looking a little better.
Right after I transmigrated into this world and confirmed that my mana was black mana, I had considered that path myself—black magic and the like. Black mana was essential for wielding black magic. People who naturally possessed black mana were rare. Most of those who did had contracted with a demon, their mana taking on black properties under the demon's influence. That was why the majority of black mages made pacts with demons: the demon converted their mana so they could use black magic. The stronger the demon, the more black mana it could supply—and the more powerful the black mage became. Naturally, black mages always sought stronger demons.
But demons weren't some endlessly generous tree that handed out power just because you asked. Each had its own preferences. Some favored pure, untainted souls; others preferred beings so filthy you wouldn't wipe a floor with them. Even if a black mage performed the perfect summoning ritual tailored to a particular demon's tastes, the demon might simply refuse to appear if it disliked the summoner.
I, however, already possessed black mana without ever having contracted a demon. That gave me a considerable advantage in this field. It was proof that I was already close enough to demons for my very being to hold black mana. And nothing in existence disliked something it was already familiar with.
Still, I never expected to meet a named demon before even entering the academy.
The villain I'd been targeting had apparently performed a self-immolation ritual. By the time I arrived, the villain had already been consumed by a demon—one that had been trying to use the villain as a host to summon its true body. Because of me, Marbas had been summoned instead.
Marbas—one of Solomon's seventy-two demons. That was all I knew; the deeper details escaped me. But even that much was enough to tell me the lion-shaped demon standing before me was no ordinary being.
Still… contracting with a demon felt a little off, didn't it? That was what the ordinary citizen I'd been before transmigrating had thought. And Baek Sejin after transmigration agreed.
"What is there to worry about, child?"
"If I refuse the contract… what happens then?"
Marbas looked at me with clear amusement.
"What choice would there be? Even if you refuse a contract with this body, having finally found one who pleases me so, would it not be a waste to simply kill you? But… yes. Though this form that has descended into your world is not my true body, it has been a long time since I last set foot here. I ought to enjoy a little diversion. What if this body were to rush outside this very moment and turn every living soul in sight into so many flies? Would it not be quite amusing to watch those who once swatted them away with annoyance become the very vermin themselves? This body would find the spectacle most entertaining as well."
Marbas had just said something thoroughly terrifying. Turning every person in sight into flies… just how powerful did you have to be to make that possible?
"Is it the disadvantages of the contract that concern you? Or do you simply fear making a pact with a demon?"
"To be honest… yes."
Marbas let out a laugh.
"Amusing words. You have nothing to worry about. Nothing at all…"
Truthfully, contracting with Marbas would be beneficial. I didn't know what powers this demon held, but one of Solomon's seventy-two demons was bound to be formidable. Contracting was the right call. Even if I felt like I was being gaslit, there was no other option. Refuse, and I'd die right here.
"In that case… I will form the contract."
The moment the words left my mouth, strength drained from my body and my eyelids grew heavy. My vision closed in until all I saw was darkness. My consciousness sank deeper and deeper into that endless black.
Before I knew it, I was walking through infinite darkness. I could tell I was walking—I was aware of the fact—yet I felt nothing at all. The uneasy thought crept in that I might not be walking at all, that I was simply lying face-down on the ground. Time stretched endlessly as I moved through the dark, and it continued that way until I saw a light.
Somewhere, something was glowing. The light was clearly there, yet I couldn't tell where it came from. It grew larger and larger until it completely enveloped my body.
And then I opened my eyes.
The instant I woke, I tried to grasp the situation. Everything around me towered high, as if I had become a tiny insect crawling on the floor, and I myself was extremely close to the ground. That was right. I had been lying quietly on the floor.
A weight pressed down on my stomach. I lifted my head and found Miho sitting on my belly with a blank expression.
"Kyeng."
"Ah, it was you, Miho."
She seemed to have finished digesting the black mana she'd eaten earlier; she had already grown a little larger. I carefully lifted her off and set her on the floor, then stood and looked around.
The oppressive presence that had filled the room was gone, and so was Marbas.
"Has it… disappeared?"
"Are you calling for this body?"
With those words, a lion plushie appeared beside me.
"A lion plushie…? Are you Marbas?"
"Having already formed a contract, is there any need to maintain an imposing appearance?"
"What I saw just now… what was that?"
I described the scene I had witnessed. The lion plushie tilted its head.
"It is nothing special. Merely a landscape every previous contractor has seen."
"I see…"
"Congratulations on contracting with this body, Contractor. You will not regret it."
Well… fine. A contract was a contract. If anything, it would let me grow stronger faster, so it was a net gain. Even if it was a demon, in the modern era they were simply one type of transcendent being, and their image had improved. There was nothing more to worry about.
That said, Marbas had mentioned earlier that livestock had been consumed as sacrifices. The sudden question made me head down to the fourth basement level. The altar had seemed connected to B4, so I figured something must be there.
The fourth basement level was structured like a livestock pen. The traces of animals were so clear that anyone could tell a large number of livestock had lived here right up until today's summoning ritual. Now I had to clean this place up too…?
As I looked around B4, I noticed dolls tucked between the stalls, apparently in the middle of cleaning. The villain must have set them to automatic cleaning duty. Which meant that if I learned how to control dolls, I could set them to auto-hunt—no, auto-clean—as well, right?
I hurried back up to the third basement level and rifled through the books on the desk until I found several volumes on familiars. It was mid-February now… I needed to return home before the academy entrance ceremony in March.
When I opened the books, lines of incomprehensible jargon stretched on and on. That villain really had been quite advanced when it came to familiars. Fortunately, a code on the last page linked to video explanations, which sped up my understanding. Even so, the videos left out background knowledge that ordinary people would have spent ages searching for online.
This was where the advantage of contracting a demon showed itself.
"Ah, that? It appears to be a spell prepared for when a familiar resists control. And that one? It is one of the catalysts used when casting magic…"
Marbas simply explained everything I didn't know in easy terms, so I understood far more quickly. Of course, even learning at that speed still took several days.