The Demon King's Daughter and the Unfair Contract

The Demon King. A staple villain in fairy tales, the terrifying figure who wrings tears from countless children every night. Hundreds of years ago, he really did invade the human realm, but after a hero's party miraculously appeared and defeated him, there have been no further records of demon incursions. I'd always assumed the demons would stay quietly holed up in the Demon Realm. So why the hell was one at the academy?

Uuung. The demon who claimed to be the Demon King's daughter began gathering magic power into her fist. I'd naturally assumed she was a mage, but judging by the energy swirling around her knuckles, she was actually a martial artist.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"You definitely said you wanted to graduate from the academy quietly, right?"

"So?"

"If you kill me here, it'll be pretty hard for you to graduate peacefully either. I may not look it, but I'm the next head of a count's family with some real influence, you know?"

At the threat that graduation might not go smoothly, the magic power gathered in Carden's fist wavered slightly. She frowned, pondering for a moment. Having apparently reached a conclusion, the power began concentrating in her fist again.

"I'll just beat you up moderately and make you sign a soul contract."

"No, it looks like one hit from that would kill me."

"Don't worry. I'll adjust my strength properly."

My brain, faced with a life-threatening crisis, began spinning at full speed. I'd considered escaping the barrier to call for help, but no matter how I thought about it, Carden's fist caving in my face would definitely be faster than me getting out of the barrier.

I thought about it. Why had this woman who called herself the Demon King's daughter attacked me? If she simply wanted me dead, she could have used demonic power to assassinate me without any witnesses. So why hadn't she used her full strength until the end?

I considered what made me special. The next head of Count Edgar's family, successor to a grand mage, developer of cola.

'No way...'

"Was it... the cola you wanted?"

"..."

Carden fell silent, which told me I'd hit the mark.

"What do you want? The recipe?"

Carden twitched her eyebrows.

"First I'll beat you up, then make my demands."

Aish, this woman has a terrible habit of solving everything with violence.

Like a matador calming an angry bull, I made soothing hand gestures and spoke.

"A true ruler should know how to win the hearts of her subjects, right? Violence isn't a good way to earn genuine loyalty."

I preached at Carden while pretending to remain perfectly calm. In reality, I was so terrified I wanted to slam my head on the ground and beg for my life. But since it was clear that whether my face got smashed in or not, I'd end up signing that soul contract anyway, I couldn't afford to yield here if I wanted the best possible terms.

I straightened my back with sheer stubborn willpower. As I stood there, sweating bullets but maintaining my upright posture, the Demon King's daughter let out a small snort of laughter.

"You dare talk back to me so boldly?"

Damn it, looks like it's not working.Should I just slam my head down now?

"Well, I do like a man with some spine."

To me, who had been seriously considering dropping to the ground and licking her toes, this was an incredible stroke of luck. It seemed the Demon King's daughter rather liked my attitude.

"Hey, you."

"Y-yes ma'am!"

"Drop the polite speech. Become my slave. I won't ask for the recipe, so just open up a cola distribution network in the Demon Realm for me."

"I don't know how to get to the Demon Realm."

"I'll tell you once you sign the contract."

Colluding with the demons? If I got caught, it would be a straight trip to the execution grounds.

"Read this and sign it."

I wanted to run away, but if I provoked this bipolar woman whose moods changed on a dime, I might actually die right in the middle of the academy. With trembling hands, I examined the contract.

'That's it?'

It was a sloppy contract that screamed the writer had never done one before. Soul contracts had powerful binding force, so they interpreted the clauses extremely narrowly. This contract only established that I was her slave; it didn't specify how I had to act as one. In other words, as long as I acknowledged being Carden's slave, I was free to do whatever I wanted. Plus, she was even guaranteeing my safety. If anything, this contract was advantageous ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to me. It definitely wasn't unfavorable.

It looked like the Demon King's daughter was writing her first soul contract.

'Yeah, this is how you grow through getting screwed over.'

I desperately thought of depressing things to keep from bursting into laughter.

"Haha, you look absolutely miserable. Don't worry. Since I also want to graduate quietly, I won't make you do anything too difficult."

Carden laughed brightly as she watched me desperately pretending to be gloomy. The thought that I'd gained a reliable bodyguard who would now be responsible for my safety didn't feel bad at all.

After I finished signing, Carden looked at me with expectant eyes.

"Ahem. This is my first command. Go buy me a cold drink right now!"

"Master, I'm heading out. Bye."

"Huh? Didn't I just give you an order! Where are you going?!"

I coolly ignored her, waved my hand, and stepped out of the barrier.

"You... you... do you really want to die?"

"The contract said you'd guarantee my safety, didn't it?"

"...After we graduate, I will definitely kill you."

I waved the contract paper tauntingly.

"The slave contract is only until graduation, but the safety guarantee has no time limit, does it?"

"Ah..."

Carden made a face like she'd been completely had. I smiled like a victor.

"Please take good care of me, okay? Maaas-ter?"

Carden's face turned bright red. I finally understood why demons with such overwhelming power had never conquered the human realm. These guys were way ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too naive.

I'd been had.

Carden's mind went completely blank after falling for an unfair contract. She'd sworn never to trust humans after reading about how her great-great-grandfather, the previous Demon King, had believed in the hero's one-on-one challenge only to be annihilated by the despicable humans' surprise attack. Yet in the end, she'd been deceived.

Demons were born with absolute obedience to the Demon King's bloodline. Because of that, she had never once in her life been deceived by lies or tricks. In the Demon Realm, where honor was more important than life, contracts didn't even exist, so she'd never written one before. She'd learned quite a bit about lies and deception during her year at the academy while hiding her identity, but it was still nowhere near enough compared to humans who learned such things from the moment they were born.

"..."

Carden stood there in a daze for a long time as if possessed by a ghost, then staggered toward the lecture hall for her next class. Having always been praised as quite sharp back in the Demon Realm, the fact that she'd been tricked left a massive wound on her pride.

The lecture hall was still empty with time left before class started. Carden sat down weakly and opened her book. Today's class was one of her favorites: Introduction to Magic Power Manipulation.

She had talent as a martial artist but none for magic. Still, her dream of becoming a mage was firm, so she'd fought with her father to enroll in the academy under a false identity. The one field she was good at despite her lack of magic talent was magic power manipulation, which was also important for martial artists. People tend to like what they're good at. So to review, she opened the book on magic power manipulation that she usually enjoyed.

'Nothing's going in my head.'

The content that usually sank right into her brain felt completely blocked today, refusing to make sense.

"Ugh, damn it."

Carden slammed the book shut in irritation.

Creak.

At that moment, the sound of the door opening reached her. Carden, who had created the character of the kind student named Leni to safely complete her beloved magic studies in the magic department, jumped in surprise and quickly straightened her posture.

In the beginning, her acting had been awkward since it was her first time, causing all sorts ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of trouble. But after a year, the magic department students now saw her as an eccentric but kind-hearted beauty.

"Hello~"

Carden had learned from a book explaining human society before coming to the human world that greetings were the most important part of relationships. That's why, from the beginning of her first year, she had greeted every student who entered the lecture hall first.

At first, the magic department students had found her greetings burdensome, but now they were used to it and responded brightly. Her greetings had become known among them as "Leni's Greeting," and some students even said their day felt empty if it didn't start with one.

"..."

A student who didn't respond to her greeting.

'Must be a new first-year.'

Since nearly all the magic department students now responded brightly to her greetings, she naturally assumed the newcomer was a freshman. It was unusual for a freshman to attend a second-year major course like Introduction to Magic Power Manipulation, though.

"Oh, Master?"

"Ah..."

Unfortunately for Carden, the student who had opened the door was Hendel, wearing a mischievous smile. Feeling a headache coming on, Carden thought to herself:

My academy life is completely ruined.