Mammon left his new workplace earlier than expected, and he still had some time to kill before it was time for dinner with the boy. He decided to use that time to stroll around the marketplaces, getting a feel of the commerce and trade of the town. He did tell Wren that he would do so, after all. As the demon walked, his mind inevitably went back to the conversations he had with the small-time crooks.

The meeting, much to the surprise of the demon, went much better than he initially thought. The remaining heads were more than willing to cooperate with all the reforms that the demon had implemented, even if some of his instructions went counter to everything that the gangsters thought. After all, it didn’t make sense why Mammon would want to prioritize educating their members, especially the younger ones.

The demon didn’t bother explaining his reasoning either. These petty criminals, even the ones in charge, could hardly read or write, and the rest of their education was equally abysmal. The demon couldn’t do much when his underlings were little more than brutish morons, and he wouldn’t be satisfied with just resorting to pointless violence and extortion to make his fortune. That was too slow, too limiting, and, most importantly, too demeaning for the CEO of Hell, and thus, he needed an educational reform first. There was a reason why all of the truly powerful and successful individuals were smart while their followers were idiots.

Unfortunately, achieving that small goal meant trying to find a single book, and outside of the records that the Bookkeeper kept, that was a futile effort. No one at Mav's old gang read for leisure or to better themselves, hence, there was no proper well, anything, at all. However, Mammon did find out that he could find some basic literature, mainly aimed at children, through his new minions.

There were various shops in the wealthier districts aimed at families that wanted to get their children a head start, but the good stuff, the books on advanced magic, history, and cultural records were kept entirely off limits to anyone who wasn’t a certified mage or of noble baring. The existence of certified mages interested Mammon, and with some digging, he found that pretty much everyone in this world had access to basic magic, usually associated with one of the four main elements of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, while a smaller few were attuned to Light, Darkness, or Spirit.

The elemental magic made intuitive sense to Mammon, which left the question of what Spirit magic was. To the demon's surprise, no one else really knew that answer either, it seemed the citizens of this world just lumped anything magical that didn't fit into the other six categories all into Spirit, although the one thing that Spirit magic had in common was that it usually dealt with manipulating people and living organisms. Aside from that, Mammon would need to find a proper mage to answer any more advanced questions, for it came as no surprise that no one under him could use that esoteric form of magic.

Even fewer still had talents that crossed multiple elements, which was what the new underlings thought Mammon had, but that was about all of the information that the demon could get out of these criminals. They didn’t know much else other than the fact that people with multiple elements were stronger and had unique abilities given how rare seeing one was.

He’d have to talk with someone more scholarly if he wanted to know more about the new world he found himself in, and one of the places he would definitely visit was the local Mage’s guild, but that could wait a short while. He didn’t even have proper identifications, and something told the demon that the guild wouldn’t look kindly on that. He’d have to establish himself in this town first before he branched out into the bigger world; Mammon had the benefit of secrecy at the moment, but he knew that his presence in this world couldn’t be hidden forever.

For now, however, he could slowly build up his strength in relative safety, and the first on the demon’s long list of tasks was to fix the education problem. However, there was a slight issue with how difficult it was to find any qualified teachers in this world, especially ones willing to work for an unknown newcomer. But that’s just how the world works; the privileged and powerful get all the resources while the common masses suffer in poverty, and begrudgingly, Mammon had to accept the fact that he was currently one of the unwashed masses. He’d have to change that and quickly.

Ah, there was just so much to do these days, almost overwhelmingly so! But then again, wasn’t this exactly what Mammon wanted when he chose to follow the strange summons? Yes, he had to start over from basically the bottom, but he was enjoying every part of it. The demon wasn’t naive to believe that there wouldn’t be setbacks in the future once he was properly introduced to the world stage, but he welcomed those challenges. It was better to suffer defeats than sit on his throne doing nothing.

And so, Mammon decided to use his time to get one of the smaller tasks checked off his long list of tasks. He ducked in a secluded corner and changed his clothes into something more dignified. Gone was the dark grimy, gore-speckled cloak, and in its place was a well-fitting fur coat and immaculately tailored wool pants. Mammon decided to wear a silk undershirt to accent his perceived wealth, and once he was satisfied that he would fit right into the noble quarters, he headed to the wealthier establishments under the guise of buying some reading material for his child.

The receptionists who saw the demon were all more than willing to help out, especially once he made it abundantly clear that money would not be an issue. Anything to give his supposed child a heads up on life, and the demon played the part of the doting rich mother perfectly. Before the hour was up and the sun was just starting to set, Mammon had acquired practically every book available. It wasn’t much, no more than 30 odd volumes, but it was a good haul given his limited options.

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The demon was the first to arrive back at his home; it was still late afternoon so he didn’t expect the boy to be back for another hour or so. He took that time to place his new collection of books on a shelf before grabbing one of them to read for himself. The information presented between the pages were all rudimentary, as they were aimed at children, but it allowed Mammon a rough idea of the world at large.

The books told of the gods and how they created the world, about how mages came to be, and about the biggest historical figures in each era, but the validity of each claim was dubious at best. They read more like fairy tales than actual historical accounts, and the demon would have to corroborate these findings with others, preferably a scholar or mage, down the road.

The only other important piece of information that the demon obtained was the name of the town he was in. He’d been summoned to the tiny northern town of Gale Haven which was a part of an equally tiny barony. The demon didn’t need the texts to tell him just how insignificant this place was in the grand scheme of things. Once Mammon was content that he had gathered all the information that he could from the text, he neatly put the books away and readied the table for his promised dinner with Wren.

And that was how life went for the demon in those first few weeks of his new life. He’d spend mornings teaching Wren the skills he’d need to succeed in the future, while he secured and stabilized the growing criminal empire - well, it’s not quite an empire yet - in the afternoons and evenings.

For all intents and purposes, all of Mammon’s goals were slowly but surely being reached, but there was an obvious problem that the CEO of Hell realized. While his criminal enterprise was still growing, there would be an inevitable cap on the amount of money and influence that he could get from there. He was fast reaching what he could gain from such a small town like this one. He’d have to do something to expand his empire, and soon.

But before that, he had one last task that he needed to accomplish, and that was the main reason he was summoned in the first place. The boy Wren had asked for revenge, and Mammon supposed that his education had progressed enough, and this was the ultimate test to see just how much he’d changed since his first meeting with the demon.

It didn’t take long to find the cause of the people responsible for reporting the boy’s friends to the guards with Mammon’s new resources available, nor was it too difficult to capture the two men. Some light background research told the demon that they were some nobody bullies that liked to gently skirt around the laws to abuse those that were weaker than themselves. They were the type of people that no one would miss even if they just so happened to disappear one day. Honestly, they were so insignificant that Mammon would have probably never even notice their existence had it not been for his obligations to the boy.

So on one fateful evening, when the boy had gotten back from his daily observations, Mammon summoned the child to the basement where the two men were gagged and bound to the support beams. The only other object in the room was a small table with a single dagger. It was time to see how Wren decided to use that weapon, and Mammon hoped that his incessant brainwashing was enough to change the boy’s naive nature.

However, the fate of those two was already sealed the second the demon had his eyes on them. Even if Wren couldn’t do the deed, Mammon would take care of the problem himself, but he hoped that wouldn’t be the case.

Wren tensed up the second he saw the two bound individuals. “I know them… those are the guys who put my friends in prison!”

The two tried to speak, but only muffled cries could be heard.

“Indeed they are,” the demon replied, “That was why you summoned me in the first place, isn’t it?”

The boy paused for a second and blushed. “Right… I almost forgot, but… does that mean that you’ll leave now? Since you finished your task?”

Mammon laughed, he was starting to like the boy. “No, of course not. I’m done with my part of the bargain, but you still have yours to fulfill, remember? Your job after is to allow me to enjoy my vacation in the mortal world, and you can only do that with a better status, so don’t worry, I’ll still stick around and help you out.”

Another blush. “Right, um, I’ll do my best, Mona.”

“Now enough chitchat, you still have to decide what to do with these two.”

The boy’s gaze returned to the bound individuals and he frowned. It was clear that he wasn’t used to taking charge of a situation. “Um, we can’t just let them go, so maybe we should jail them for a while?”

Mammon shook his head. “And where would be put them? In our home? That wouldn’t work, this is not a jail, and it’ll only be a matter of time before they either escape or something notices.”

“But…”

Mammon gave the boy a disappointing look. “You’re not a child anymore, Wren. You’ll have to make tough choices from now on, and I know that some of those choices will be painful, but they are necessary for you to grow.”

The boy started at the ground. “I know, and I know what I should do here, but it’s just…”

The boy looked at the dagger on the table and then at the terrified men. It was clear that there was an internal struggle happening within the boy’s psyche, and he just needed a small nudge in the right - or perhaps wrong - direction from the demon.

“The fact that you’re hesitating is a good sign though, Wren,” Mammon lied, “It means that you understand what you need to do, at least a little. However, think about the stories I’ve told you; what had happened in every situation where the hero chose to forgive their foes?”

“The bad guys would come back and make a bigger mess…”

Mammon nodded. “Good. See, if you let them go now, then they’ll undoubtedly come back for revenge. Maybe by then, you’d be too powerful for them to harm you directly, but they can always hurt your friends again. You’d be doing everyone a disservice if you choose not to act.”

“I know…”

“And didn’t you promise me that you’d do your best to change?” Mammon pressed, “Or were you lying then?”

The boy lifted his head up and stared at the weapon. “No, I- I mean it when I said I wanted to do better.”

“Then prove it, Wren, prove that you’re not just a naive boy anymore. Prove that you have what it takes to make the tough choices in life and be like the heroes of legend. Prove that you deserve to be by my side.”

The boy steadied his nerves and grabbed the dagger. The whimpering of the two bound men grew in volume, but Mammon could tell that the boy had made up his mind. Mammon watched as Wren stepped closer and closer to his targets. Mammon watched it all happen, and once the boy was done, the demon was by his side as Wren cried in his arms for the entire night, all the while whispering sweet words of praise in the boy’s ears.

The demon felt a huge boon of power that night, all emanating from the beautiful Mortal Sin that the once naive boy committed, and the demon smiled.