Minor Weaknesses:
Physically weak
Major Weaknesses:
Very greedy
Fatal Weaknesses:
Completely subservient
I dismounted from Maldus and spent a second or two reading his weaknesses before responding.
“According to the System, we need to sign a contract with you in order to get out of this place and back to Astraeus,” I said.
“As you wish, your majesty,” replied the demon Count.. “I have papers in my office that we can use, if you’ll follow me.”
“Sure. I have a few questions as well, but those can wait until we’re more comfortable.”
“I am happy to answer any questions you may have,” said Bael.
“My men and I will be taking my leave here, your majesty,” said Sarduul. “Unless you wish for us to stay.”
“No you can leave,” I said. “Thank you for your guidance.”
By that time, Casimir had dismounted as well. Sarduul took the two riderless horses and led them away with his Dullahan surrounding him. I watched until they were all gone and the gates had closed behind them before turning back to Bael.
“Let’s go then,” I said.
“Yes, your majesty.”
The castle was very similar to the castles I had seen back in Astraeus, with its grandiose entrance, complex floor plan and intricate chandeliers, but there were many other ways in which it was different that made the experience of walking through it unnerving. For one, it was huge. It was like a normal castle had been scaled up to twice its original size, making me feel like a dwarf in comparison. Casimir seemed to enjoy not needing to duck under door frames, but I personally wasn’t a fan.
Second, there was no artwork anywhere. No paintings or tapestries decorated the walls, no extravagant carpets or rugs adorned the floors, and there were no flower-filled vases or other pieces of pottery anywhere. The monotony of the reddish-gray stone walls was only broken by sconces holding glowing stones mounted on sticks to illuminate the area. It felt more like walking through a prison than a castle.
Lastly, and possibly the most unsettling of all were the servants. They were all succubi and incubi, and unlike back in Astraeus, the servants seemed to have no concept of etiquette or diligence. Even while bowing down as I passed, they managed to appear unprofessional, licking their lips and winking at Casimir and I when we drew near.
Bael’s office at least, was more normal; It was like any other noble’s office I had seen, with bookshelves on the wall, a large desk in the back, and couches in the center for guests. The couches were obviously made of fiend skin and most of the book covers were the same pale pink-white of imp skin, but if I ignored that, I could pretend that my situation was almost normal.
“Please, have a seat,” said Bael, as we entered. “I have a few pre-written contract papers on hand, but I doubt you will be wanting to sign one of my normal contracts. Give me a moment to grab a few blank sheets from my desk.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Bael waddled over to his desk while Casimir and I sat down in the fiend-skin couches. They were far too large for me, but Casimir exhaled with satisfaction when he sat, happy to finally be in a place designed for someone his size. The desk two was very large, which made Bael look comically small when he was near, and made him disappear entirely, except for his horns when he walked around the corner. He rustled around in one of the drawers for a short while, then waddled over to the couch with a dozen or so sheets of thick paper in his hands. He hopped onto the opposite couch, set the papers on the table, then folded his hands on his rotund stomach.
“I have gotten the papers, your majesty,” he said. “Do you have any questions about the contract before we start?”
“I do,” I said. “Like how does this work? This is not actually a Dungeon, and yet, the System treats it almost like one. Is there any other way to get back to Astraeus without going through this?”
“I do not know,” said the demon. “I did not make the rules. I was only made aware of them when I became a Count. This is how it works throughout the Demon Realm though. There are one-way portals into the realm, and those who enter can only exit by signing a contract with the ruler of the area.”
“Then how did the Baek Clan ever use this place for training?”
“Apologies, your majesty, but I am not familiar with this Baek clan you speak of. It is possible that they made a contract with the previous Count to do so. I have not seen them.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “It’s not important. The System just says we need to sign a contract. Are there any hidden conditions relating to the contract?”
“There are not necessarily hidden conditions, but the System is a bit picky about what it considers a contract,” explained Bael. “It must be fair for both parties, and leave both satisfied, and they need to be substantial.”
“How substantial?” I asked.
“Both parties must gain something that they desire. Meaning we cannot make a contract to exchange two random pebbles, unless we both happen to greatly desire each other’s pebbles.”
I narrowed my eyes. Something was suspicious. “I should have done this earlier, but from now on, I command you to tell me the truth and nothing but the truth.”
Bael grimaced, then got on his knees on the couch and bowed down so that his horns scraped the table.
“Please forgive me, your majesty, I have made a grave error,” he begged.
“What lie did you tell me?”
“The contract does not need to be substantial. A contract to exchange pebbles is perfectly valid.”
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“But they do need to be fair?”
“Yes, your majesty.”
“Hmm… Get up.”
“Yes, your majesty,” he said, righting himself.
I glared at the ugly, greedy little liar while trying to come up with a punishment. Ultimately, no harm had been done, but I obviously didn’t appreciate him trying to take advantage of me like that.
“How important are your horns to you?”
“Very,” he said. “Please don’t-”
“I’ll be taking one of them then,” I said.
“Please, your majesty!” he said. “They are connected to my life force!”
“How connected?”
“Losing one will halve my stats. Losing both would kill me.”
“Is recovery possible after such an event?”
“Only with great effort. But please! I would not survive! As soon as it became known that I lost a horn, I would be killed for my title!”
At that I reconsidered my punishment. Death for a lie was an extreme overreaction. There was no need to go quite that far. But then again, Bael was a demon, and a murderer. It was the norm for the Demon Realm, but I found it hard to pity him when he was such a despicable character.
“Can you not abdicate your position before you are killed?”
“I can, but-”
“Would you be able to escape safely if you did?”
“...Yes, but-”
“Then I’ll be taking a horn,” I said. “Would you like me to take it, or would you like to break it off yourself?”
He responded by reaching up, clamping both hands onto his left horn and jerking down. As he pulled, his arms filled with aura, and a moment later, there was a deafening crack, followed by a bloodcurdling scream as the horn came free. Once he stopped screaming, Bael, shakily held the horn out to me.
“Th-thank you for your mercy, your majesty,” he said, not looking thankful at all.
I grabbed the horn and deposited it in my inventory, where it was labeled as “Primordial Imp’s Horn.”
“Now, back to business,” I said. “Let’s get this contract done so we can get out of here. A pebble for a pebble sounds fair, yes?”
“Y-yes, your majesty,” said Bael. “F-forgive me, but I left my pen in my drawer. I must go retrieve it so we can write the contract.”
“I have a pen here,” I said, summoning one from my inventory. Bael’s face fell. “Tell me what you were actually planning to do when you went to grab your pen.”
Bael covered his mouth and began speaking, his words incomprehensibly muffled.
“Stop,” I said. “Restart, and speak clearly so that I can understand you.”
“I was going to grab a knife and threaten to kill myself if you didn’t sign a better contract with me,” he said, eyes downcast in disappointment.
“And why did you think that would work?” I asked. “What was stopping me from just letting you die and contracting with the next Count.”
“I was going to announce that I had information that you would desperately want. You would not have been able to kill me for fear of losing said information.”
“And what information do you have that you think is so important that I would let you get away with something like that?”
He hesitated, then, as quickly as he could, reached his hands up to his other horn.
“Stop!” I shouted. He froze. “Do not try to kill yourself. And do not do anything else that would result in you being unable to share the information I request from you. Now, tell me what this information is.”
“The gods can be replaced,” he spat. “The current Demon God of Pride is not the original. And you could be the next if you wished.”
“...Oh,” I said, unable to come up with another response. “How? How would I take that bastard’s place?”
“I don’t know,” said Bael. “It happens fairly often though. Every three or four hundred years, one of the Demon Gods gets replaced. Sometimes it’s by their duke, but most of the time, it’s not. I am reasonably certain that is because the king takes their place instead.”
Despite my command for him to tell the truth, I still found myself doubting his words. It all sounded too convenient to be true. It would be so easy to just win and stick it to Pride by taking their position. The only problem with that is that I would use up my chance to go home, but as a god, surely I would be able to go back anyway, right?
“That is very useful information,” I said. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure, your majesty,” said Bael sarcastically.
“Is there any other important information you’re currently withholding from me to use as a bargaining chip?”
“No.”
“Good,” I said. “Now, I’m just about ready to write up these contracts, but before we do, you will teach us the most advanced aura circulation technique you know. And quickly too. Don’t waste our time.”
“Yes, your majesty.”
Casimir’s experience, my talent and Bael’s surprisingly good teaching skills meant that it only took about six hours for us both to gain the skill. Casimir learned it faster than me, and was able to level it a few times while he waited, but he did have forty years of experience with aura on me, so it wasn’t all that impressive. The skill was called [Superior Demonic Aura Circulation], and was about a thousand times more complex than the basic technique that Ji-Soo had taught me. And even with the skill, I had to go slowly for fear of messing it up. It was a little frustrating seeing Casimir handle it so easily, but it was fine. I would get it eventually.
Once I got the skill, I got back onto the couch, grabbed the papers, and began writing the contracts. I didn’t see any pebbles nearby, nor did I have any with me, so I filled my fist with aura and punched the ground to create my own. I gave two to the now-meek Bael, one to Casimir, and kept one for myself, then wrote out two nearly identical contracts to exchange rocks.
“Sign them,” I said to Bael, holding the pen and papers toward him.
He obeyed without complaint, then slid the papers and pen back to Casimir and I so we could sign at the bottom.
“Don’t sign yet,” I said to Casimir.
“Why not?” he asked, frozen holding the pen above the paper.
“We need a plan for when we get out. The Baeks will be waiting for us. Or for you, more like, since they didn’t seem very confident in my ability to survive here.”
“I see,” he said. “I assume you have something in mind then?”
“Yes. You will play dead. I will come out, holding your body as proof that I killed you, then I’ll ‘store’ you, but actually just make you invisible so you can sneak away. I’d prefer to just make you invisible before we leave, but I doubt the spell will hold when we exit.”
“Will that work?” he asked.
“I’ve done it before,” I said, shrugging. “Twice. You’re a vampire now. You have no heartbeat and you don’t breath. You look just like a corpse if you don’t move. We may need to cut your throat though to make it look more believable.”
He looked hesitant. “Cut my throat?”
“You don’t need to breathe, so your throat isn’t actually that important,” I said. “It’ll take a couple [HP] off, but you’ll be mostly fine. Make sure you turn off [Rapid Regeneration] though. And use [Hemokinesis] to stop the blood if you can. You should have a decent amount of [MP], since you never use any, right?”
“I do,” he said, nodding. “Alright. Can I borrow a blade?”
“Sure,” I said, handing him my sword.
He held the blade up to his neck, hesitated for a second, then slashed to the side. A deep wound opened up, but only a drop of blood spilled out, running down his neck into his tattered shirt.
“Good,” I said, as I took my blade back. He only nodded, no longer being able to speak. “We should have a short timer after signing the contract before we get forced out of here, but since this isn’t a true Dungeon, it’s best not to risk it. Let’s sign at the same time just in case, so that we can get out at the exact same time.” I brought out another pen from my inventory and handed it to him. “I’ll give a countdown from 3 to start signing, and then I’ll count back up to 2 to finish the signing. End your signature right on the second 3.”
He nodded in understanding.
“And you,” I said, turning to Bael. “Good luck. Don’t die.”
“I will do my best, your majesty,” he said, his words, dripping with venom.
“Now, Casimir.” I picked up my pen with one hand and grabbed Casimir’s arm with my other. “Make sure to go completely limp as soon as you finish. 3. 2. 1. Start. 1. 2. 3.”
In the end, my caution was warranted, for the second the contracts were signed, I felt the familiar pull of a portal and my vision went dark as Casimir and I were dragged back to Astraeus. We had timed it just right, so even through the transportation, my hand stayed practically glued to his arm during transit. When my vision cleared, I was greeted by the much-missed sensation of mana all around, and a ring of Baek blades all pointed straight at my head.