SYOV 05

Chapter 5

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After listening to the Bleached Demon’s lecture for quite a while…

Ah…

What should I eat for lunch?

Just as I started using the skill I often relied on during my office days—pretending to listen while my mind wandered—

“You little brats!”

Bang!

The Bleached Demon suddenly shouted and slammed his fist onto a table, veins bulging on his hand.

There hadn’t even been a table there before.

The moment his fist came down…

A table simply appeared.

“You!”

“Y-Yes…?”

The Demon suddenly grabbed one person’s wrist.

The innocent owner of that wrist was Uncle Modi.

The Bleached Demon made a backless chair appear out of nowhere and sat Uncle Modi down.

Then he casually sat on top of the desk.

“D-Dear Demon…?”

“Shh. Stay quiet.”

“…Huh?”

“Look straight at me.”

“Y-Yes…?”

The Bleached Demon held Uncle Modi’s face with both hands.

Then he tilted his head and slowly leaned closer.

Huh?

Huh…?

Question marks appeared on everyone’s faces.

N-No way…!

Just as my expectations started running wild…

Everything suddenly went dark.

Livi had covered my eyes with her hands.

I quickly pulled her fingers apart so I could see again.

At the same time, Livi shouted,

“The Demon is going to kiss Uncle!”

The adults hurriedly stepped backward.

Uncle Modi, who was still trapped, crossed both arms over his chest.

“My dear wife… I’m sorry…!”

He sobbed dramatically.

“No, you idiots!”

The Bleached Demon shouted.

Something suddenly appeared in his hand.

It was silver…

Made of metal.

Everyone, including me, gasped.

For a moment…

It looked like he was about to handcuff Uncle Modi and commit some forbidden act that could never be undone.

But instead—

“Now then. Take a deep breath.”

“S-Something touched my chest…!”

“Shut up. Crying wastes energy.”

The Bleached Demon placed a stethoscope against Uncle Modi’s chest and back.

Then he started writing something on a medical examination sheet lying on the desk.

“Next!”

“……”

“……”

And just like that…

The health checkup began.

There was now a cute cat-shaped bandage inside my elbow.

The Bleached Demon had put it there after drawing my blood.

“You’re such a tiny thing, and you didn’t even cry. Good job.”

He even gave me a piece of candy.

It had been so long since I’d tasted something sweet that my whole body trembled.

It tasted like sweet strawberry milk.

It’s delicious… but what exactly is happening?

I summoned the long-haired Demon…

But a different Demon appeared.

He scolded us for worshipping demons…

Then gave us health checkups.

All Demons are kind, aren’t they?

Everything had happened so suddenly that I was confused.

Still…

It wasn’t a bad thing.

So I decided to accept it.

“Hebenia.”

Ian, who had already finished giving blood, walked over.

He also had a candy in his mouth.

Just like me, he was pressing the inside of his elbow.

“Hebenia.”

“Are Demons… always this kind?”

“I guess so.”

“So this is how people become heretics.”

“If the Bleached Demon hears that, he’ll start lecturing you again.”

“I’m not the only one who thinks so.”

That was true.

Ian was actually one of the calmer ones.

Livi had gone much further.

“I should convert!”

“We should build a temple to worship the Demon right away!”

She had excitedly declared…

Only to be caught by the Bleached Demon and thoroughly scolded.

“But I understand how she feels.”

“Yeah.”

“So do I.”

The Bleached Demon carefully examined every one of us.

The exile family—

Especially the older adults—

Finally opened up about the health problems they had been enduring for so long.

“My knees ache every time it rains…”

“The scratches healed, but they still itch sometimes…”

“I get dizzy whenever I stand up…”

Seeing how none of them had a healthy body…

Made my heart ache.

After the last examination…

“You little idiots…!”

The Bleached Demon glared at us again.

“How is it possible that not a single one of you has a healthy body?!”

“Does that even make sense?”

“No matter how hard life in the exile settlement was…!”

Then…

He suddenly covered his eyes with one hand.

He lowered his head.

His shoulders trembled slightly.

“Such tiny, precious little things…”

“Why did you have to live without enough to eat…?”

“……”

“……”

As if we had planned it beforehand…

Everyone slowly turned to look at Uncle Modi.

I happily became the messenger of love.

“The Bleached Demon says you’re tiny and adorable, Uncle.”

“My dear wife…”

“Even if I become the Demon’s concubine… my heart belongs only to you…”

Uncle Modi squeezed his eyes shut in resignation.

“That’s not what I meant!”

The Bleached Demon shouted back with tears filling his eyes.

“And I’m a pure bachelor!”

That only made Uncle Modi seem even more likely to become his official partner.

By the time the health checkups were over…

The sun was already setting.

The orange light spreading across the blue sky was beautiful.

The adults went to prepare dinner.

Meanwhile, the Bleached Demon said he wanted to talk to me, so we took a walk through the residential district.

Even though his legs were incredibly long…

He matched my walking speed.

He’s really kind.

No…

He’s a really kind Demon.

The Bleached Demon spoke first.

“I heard everything from the Lord.”

I immediately realized that the Lord meant the long-haired Demon I had summoned first.

“I was thinking about him when I summoned a Demon.”

“So why did you appear instead, Bleached Demon?”

“Did you just call me Bleached Demon?”

“You’ve got some nerve.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t know your name.”

“Just keep calling me that.”

I nodded.

Then the Bleached Demon continued.

“The Lord is in a situation where it’s difficult for him to come out right now.”

Is he very busy?

“He’s running around taking care of his pregnant wife.”

…He really is busy.

“How much is the payment for the health checkup?”

“Will my blood be enough?”

“Are you taking the blood you drew earlier?”

“I only did that because I wanted to.”

“So don’t worry about it.”

“And your blood was properly disposed of as medical waste after we finished examining it.”

“You could’ve used it.”

“Actually… that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

The Bleached Demon stopped walking.

Then he turned around and crouched in front of me.

Looking at him up close…

He looked like a beautiful god of war.

His golden eyes, like worn-out suns, glowed under the sunset.

People said Demons could charm humans.

Maybe that was why he was so handsome.

“Little Ant.”

This Demon calls me Little Ant too.

“The power contained in your blood…”

“Is much greater and much more valuable than we expected.”

“U-Um… what?”

“So the payment wasn’t balanced.”

“You paid far too much.”

“……”

“You don’t understand what I mean, do you?”

“No…”

“I suppose not.”

“You still don’t know much.”

The Bleached Demon picked up a nearby branch and started drawing on the ground.

“Summoning a Demon is like hiring a private investigator.”

“You know what that is, right?”

“Isn’t that… the place that accepts assassination jobs…?”

“……”

“What kind of things did you grow up watching?”

I had grown up watching domestic violence…

And disturbing videos from modern society.

But once again…

I wisely kept my mouth shut.

Two circles had been drawn on the ground.

“When someone summons a Demon…”

“They have to pay two kinds of costs.”

An arrow stretched from the left circle to the right one.

“The first is transportation.”

“Transportation?”

“A Demon crosses dimensions to reach the summoner’s world.”

“So naturally, there’s a cost.”

“The saliva you spit out during the summoning is that payment.”

“But… is it really okay to spit?”

“Of course not.”

He said that if it were an ordinary human…

Their salivary glands would have burst long ago.

I unconsciously touched my tongue to the inside of my mouth.

Another arrow was drawn toward the second circle.

“The second payment…”

“The service fee.”

The Bleached Demon poked those words over and over with the stick.

“This is the important one.”

“When a Demon grants a wish…”

“The summoner pays an equal price.”

“We Demons then turn that payment into resources.”

“And use it to maintain the world.”

Oh…

Just like the fantasy movies I used to watch.

I suddenly became curious about the Demons’ world.

Judging from their clothes…

And the furniture they used…

Their civilization was probably similar to—or even more advanced than—the world I came from.

“But…”

I carefully asked,

“I only had a nosebleed.”

The first time I made a wish to the long-haired Demon…

I had simply wiped my bloody nose onto the summoning circle.

Thinking back to the complicated look on his face…

I still couldn’t believe I had paid such an enormous price.

The Bleached Demon explained,

“To put it simply…”

“You handed us a gold bar…”

“And asked us to deliver a letter.”

“Wow…!”

“My nosebleed was worth that much?”

“See?”

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“Yes!”

“It’s not amazing at all, you idiot!”

“Eek!”

I let out an unfair scream…

Like a baby penguin getting smacked by an adult penguin.

“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused us?”

“How would I know?!”

“This was my first time summoning a Demon!”

“The power inside your blood…”

“Is worth more than what every Demon could earn by working nonstop for an entire year.”

“Huh?!”

“That’s actually incredible!”

“Thanks to you, everyone’s been working overnight!”

According to the Bleached Demon…

The long-haired Demon had gone all out yesterday for the first time in hundreds of years.

Even then…

They hadn’t used even one-tenth of the power contained in my blood.

Now all the Demons were working overtime just to store it safely.

“So…”

“I have a proposal for you.”

“A proposal?”

“We’ll assign you a Demon butler.”

“He’ll stay with you permanently and grant your wishes.”

“That’s a little…”

I hesitated.

“I’m shy around strangers…”

“You’ve been chatting with me this whole time.”

“And we only just met.”

The Bleached Demon laughed.

Then he lightly flicked my forehead.

After that…

He carefully explained the basics of summoning Demons.

“When making a wish…”

“Be as detailed and specific as possible.”

“If your wish is vague…”

“The Demon’s imagination will fill in the blanks.”

“Oh…”

Listening to his explanation felt just like reading a fantasy novel.

It was fascinating.

As I listened…

I suddenly remembered something.

“Could you teach me about my power?”

“The long-haired Demon called it Open and Close…”

“But I still don’t really understand it.”

“If it’s just a question…”

“I’ll give you a simple answer.”

“If it’s a wish…”

“I’ll fulfill it perfectly.”

“Then it’s a wish!”

I asked to learn everything about my power.

How it worked.

Its limits.

Its future potential.

And how I could use it.

The Bleached Demon handed me a book.

Everything About the Clavis Family in One Book

I froze when I saw the cover.

It looked strangely familiar.

The cover looked exactly like a children’s educational comic.

It even had a girl with huge sparkling eyes taking up half her face.

“It looks like a children’s learning comic.”

“For someone who knows nothing…”

“This is perfect.”

He had a point.

I quickly flipped through the pages.

Ah.

Here it is.

I found the chapter I wanted most.

The main character of the comic…

Was a little girl with brown hair and green eyes.

Just like me.

Her name was Havi.

Wow.

That’s really similar to my original name.