After walking a bit further, they arrived at a rather large looking manor house. It was not what she was expecting. Not only was it large and beautiful, it looked more like a home than a dormitory for school. Then again, she had never gone away to school, so what would she actually know about the subject. Stepping through the gates and in the front door, Mammon stopped in a grand foyer with two sets of curved stairs going up to another floor. The room was large, with classic blue wall paper, and lots of portraits on the wall, further accented by a pair of dragon statues. It was impressive.

“This is the House of Lamentation. It’s one of the dorms here at RAD. Well, it’s not JUST one of the dorms. It’s the dorm reserved for student council members. Lucifer, Asmo, and the others take every chance they can to insult me. Callin’ me scum, sayin’ that I’m a money-grubber and stuff… but I’m an officer on the student council, same as them. The elite of the elite, the top of the RAD social pyramid. In other words, I’m a big shot. A REAL big shot. Like, even regular big shots are impressed by what a big shot I am. So don’t you go thinking that I’m just some ordinary demon. I’m nothing like those other peons walking the halls here. By the way, Diavolo is even MORE of a big shot. He’s so important that he’s got his own castle. That’s why he doesn’t live here with us. Anyway, the long and short of it is that us seven brothers all live here together. Now it’s time I show you to your room…”

In all that, Melody couldn’t get a word in edgewise. It was interesting how rapidly he fluctuated between moods. Did he really believe he was that great, or was it a comforting lie he told himself? His brothers didn’t seem to think much of him, but brothers could be like that. She didn’t know how other demons reacted to him. Either way, it seemed important to him to seem as great as he claimed to be. Without any evidence one way or another, she was more than happy to take him at his word. But, she didn’t have a chance to respond to any of this.

“Hey, don’t just stand there with your jaw open. Hurry up, or I’m gonna leave ya behind. If there’s something you wanna ask me, you’d best do it now.”

“No, no, I’m coming. I don’t want to hold you up anymore than I already have,” Melody said quickly. As much as she had questions, she didn’t want to ask them now.

“Hmph…fine then. Now, I’m gonna give you a piece of advice, so listen up. If you wanna survive even a day here in the Devildom, you’d better listen REAL close to what I’m about to say. If it ever looks like a demon is about to attack you… run away. Either that, or die.” It was a very bald-faced statement, with nothing to soften the blow. But, before Melody could protest, another voice spoke up behind her.

“How about this? I vote for YOU to die, Mammon.”

Melody whirled around so quickly she almost felt dizzy. Behind her was another man, this one with vibrant purple hair with bangs that hung so low she could barely see his glittering orange eyes. He looked smaller than Mammon, but not by much, and his expression was definitely angry. Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing if the ‘die’ was literal or not. She was hoping not.

“D’ah…! Levi…” Mammon was looking both startled and dismayed to see the other man. “…Uh, l-listen up, human! This here is Leviathan, the Avatar of Envy. He’s the third oldest of us brothers. Since his name’s sorta hard to say, you can just call him Levi! Okay then, let’s move on.” Mammon spoke rapidly, the sound of someone in a great hurry. Melody didn’t bother interrupting him to mention she wouldn’t have any trouble at all saying the man’s full name. She’d spoken it enough times already, though it had always referred to a video game character, and not a guy wearing a school uniform.

“Mammon, give me back my money. Then go crawl in a hole and die.” Levi, as he was called, seemed pretty hooked on saying ‘die’.

“Come on, I told you I’d get it to you! I just need a little more time. …And you still want me to die even after I give it back? That’s real harsh, Levi!”

Privately, Melody agreed with that. No sense in wishing someone dead after they complied. But, some people just spoke that way. Melody couldn’t tell if Levi was truly malignant, or just really angry. She listened quietly, hands tucked behind her back, as the two of them bickered back and forth, with Levi getting angrier and angrier, while Mammon’s defenses got worse and worse. Quite a few insults were slung towards Mammon; Levi seemed to have a full stock of them to use. Eventually it was revealed that Levi wanted to buy a Blu-ray set of what sounded like an anime title. That at least confirmed that there was some level of similarity in technology between the realms, beyond just the DDD. Despite claims of not having any money, Levi continued to press the case. Finally, Mammon turned to Melody and addressed her directly.

“Listen, human. You remember my advice from before about what to do when demons attack? Well, you’re about to witness that for real. So… time for you to die, because if it’s either you or me, it ain’t gonna be me!”

“Hold on. I thought your advice was to either run away or—”

Before Levi or Melody could do, or say, anything else, Mammon was gone. The speed in which he ran away had Melody staring in disbelief.

“…Wh…dammit, Mammon! That ass…he ran off…!” Levi shook his head, but then he turned to Melody, who was still standing there, feeling a bit dazed. “Do you realize what just happened? Mammon used you as a distraction to get away from me …Or maybe I should say he used you as a sacrifice.”

Melody trembled, the word striking a chord of horror in her that ran deeper than the mention of demons did. What was Levi going to do to her? Was he somehow holding her responsible for the fact that Mammon had got away? Was that angry energy and desire to see Mammon die going to be turned on her? For the moment, it seemed he was content to use words only.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“I’ll admit that Mammon is one of the scummiest scumbags you’ll ever meet…a total lowlife. But still, that was pretty dumb of you letting him use you like that.”

Melody did not point out, at this juncture, that Levi was the demon here, not her, and he should have been more capable of stopping his brother than she was. Instead, she simply hung her head, not wanting to give an impression of defiance. He was still one of the older brothers, and she responded to him very much like she’d respond to one of her own siblings. But, Levi was still talking.

“This is EXACTLY why humans are—” Then Levi suddenly laughed, a smile breaking over his face. He looked far less intimidating that way. “…Wait a second. Humans…yes, that’s it… Suddenly, I’ve got an idea. Listen, are you free right now? Of course you are. You’ve gotta be, right? You know what? Never mind. Either way, you’re coming with me.”

Melody didn’t have time to protest. As it was, she clutched her DDD tightly in her one hand as Levi pulled her along by the other arm. She heard the sound of her device beeping to alert her to a notification, but she didn’t have a chance to check it. Whoever it was would have to wait. Not that she knew a lot of people, so it was probably Mammon, Lucifer, or Diavolo, by her best guess.

Levi dragged her all the way up the stairs and a little down the hall. Stopping in front of one of the doors, he frantically looked both ways, similar to how one checks traffic before crossing a street. Satisfied at what he saw, he opened the door and pushed Melody inside, hastily following after her. Again he glanced both ways into the hall before shutting the door with an ominous click. Melody looked around herself in stunned awe. The room was not what she was expecting. It looked like a miniature, professional aquarium, the whole place decorated in shades of blue, with a huge fish tank taking up the far wall…and a bathtub in the middle of the floor. She opened her mouth to speak, but Levi cut her off.

“…What’s that now? You want to know why I looked around to see if anyone was watching before I closed the door? Why do you THINK I did it? Isn’t it obvious? Imagine what would happen if someone saw me inviting you into my room! A human who doesn’t even look like an otaku, but a normie! You know what people would say, right?!”

No, Melody didn’t know what the people would say, or even which people he was talking about. Wearing his RAD uniform, Melody couldn’t guess what Levi usually wore, nor did she know what an otaku would look like on sight. She was vaguely aware of the definition of one, but she didn’t know much about them in general. Personally, she didn’t fit into any particular social group or type. She was just…her.

“Do you look like an Otaku?” Melody asked, her eyes widening as she realized she had spoken her thought out loud. It didn’t go over well.

“Hey! Are you trying to judge me? You think you’re better than me, is that it? Don’t you dare make fun of otakus! Listen up, because it’s time for a truth bomb. The fact is that no matter how much of a normie you think you are, everyone out there is an otaku in some way! Every single person! …Well, I mean, I guess I’m not technically a person, but that’s beside the point!”

Otaku or not, Melody was realizing that Levi was an incredibly emphatic person. Mammon had sort of a lazy drawl to him, while Levi was very emotive. But she felt a little bad; she hadn’t been trying to judge him, he was just confusing her a lot. She didn’t know what to make of him, honestly. And, she never claimed to be better than anything. A moment later she remembered that Mammon had called him the Avatar of Envy. That might explain a few things.

“I…um…sorry,” Melody mumbled, looking away from the explosion that was Levi’s emotional state. She was surprised that Levi didn’t say anything about her apology. Perhaps he wasn’t ready to forgive her, or perhaps he was waiting for her to say it with more clarity. However, when she looked back she saw that he was looking away also. Well, that was awkward. “Levi?” she asked, tentatively.

“…All right, enough of that. I don’t think there’s any harm in just coming out and saying what you already know is true: Mammon is a complete and utter scumbag. It’s very important that you understand this. So I’ll say it one more time. Mammon is a hopeless, worthless, scumbag.” For a few words, Levi seemed calm, but then he became excitable again as he proclaimed the depths of Mammon’s scummy nature. “I lent that scumbag money, and now I want him to pay me back. But being the scumbag that he is, he won’t do it. I wish I could force him to, but despite what a rotten waste of space he is, Mammon’s still the second oldest. As the third oldest, no matter how hard I try, I don’t stand a chance against him.”

From there Levi launched into a harrowing tale about a figurine that Mammon had won that Levi coveted. Told from his perspective, he sounded like the tragic hero trying to rescue a loved one from the clutches of an evil kidnapper, but Melody didn’t feel he was being insincere. Just, his devotion seemed rather misplaced. Emotional slant aside, what she could gather was Levi wanted this figurine, and his brother wouldn’t hand it over. While Melody could sympathize with both sides of the story, it felt like there must be something deeper between them than just a simple object. Some vital point she was missing. Either way, Levi seemed pretty traumatized in the failed attempt to secure the figurine, after walking in on his brother sleeping in the nude and counterattacking. She could definitely empathize with that, and was glad she’d never walked in on any of her own brothers in such a state.

Still, it was an indication of his mental state that he confused the disregard his brother had for the object with a right to own that object. The two were not actually related, but it seemed to make perfect sense to Levi, if the story he told was any indication. But Melody knew very much what it was like to want something one of her older siblings had. However, she never would have been brave enough, foolish enough, or entitled enough, to try to take it from them. Honestly, she didn’t know what to think of the situation, except to come to the conclusion that both brothers handled the situation poorly. And now she was being pulled into the middle of it, despite having just arrived.

“But if, say, a human made a pact with Mammon, and bound him to their service… then he’d have to do whatever that human told him to.” The idea set off alarm bells in Melody’s head. “Which means that if you make a pact with Mammon and then ordered him to give me back my money… he wouldn’t have any choice but to do it.”

Melody was stunned. The whole notion was problematic. Firstly, she had heard that souls were often exchanged to demons. How could she keep her soul shined up for the exchange if she gave it away? Would that kill her? If it did, what good would anything do her in trade? Perhaps it came to the demon after she died? Or after a certain amount of time? Sure, she could just ask Levi, but the words wouldn’t come out. But, even if her soul had nothing to do with it, having that much power over someone was a frightening thought. And to use such a power to simply secure money didn’t help.

“What exactly does one of these pacts entail?” she asked, ever so carefully.

“The demon lends his strength to a human to make their wish come true in exchange for their soul.” Melody clutched her chest; it was as she feared and expected.