I Made a Contract with a Devil, but the Price is Strange

A red flash bloomed in the dark alley. The thugs frowned and raised their hands to cover their eyes at the sight.

“F-fuck. What is that…!”

The pupils of the thin man, whose eyes had been unfocused from drugs, grew so large they seemed about to burst. It was a shocking scene enough to drive away the drug’s effects.

“W-where did the flame come from?”

Even the burly man who had boldly blocked the path stepped back hesitantly. He instinctively realized it. That this was dangerous.

The flame blooming in the empty air. It was just a small flame, but it complicated their minds. The brains they usually only used to think about how to take advantage of women were now working busily.

“H-he really did contract with a devil! You bastard! Didn’t I say he seemed off? I told you not to mess with him!”

“Is this the time to say such things!? You idiot?”

The thugs cursed and pointed fingers at each other for a moment. Then they began to look at each other cautiously. They didn’t seem intent on attacking, whatever their plan was.

Since even this could be a deception, I took out a cigarette while remaining vigilant. How many times had I done this? Since Egun said she liked it, I guess it didn’t matter.

“Phew.”

After inhaling the smoke deeply and exhaling it, my tired mind became clearer.

This was why I used this. I might eventually be prowling back alleys just to buy cigarettes for myself.

“Fire Wall.”

As the thugs gradually increased their distance, I muttered while exhaling smoke.

Fwoosh-

A wall of fire rose as magic power drained from me. Though it wasn’t particularly tall or wide, it was sufficient to block the entire alley.

This was what I had gained from offering payment to Egun.

“Aack!”

There was nothing better for preventing thugs from escaping. When he slightly touched the flame, he collapsed to the ground in shock.

“Hng, hot… hot… f-fuck!”

The thug hurriedly put his hand inside his chest. What he took out was a small container. When he opened the lid and tilted it toward his burned area, an orange liquid poured out.

Patter patter-

I quickly turned at the sound of footsteps from behind. I could see the thin man fleeing in the distance. It was impossible to chase him. It was already too late to send a flame after him.

But I had no intention of letting him go. No rumors should spread until I had enough power.

I stared intensely at the back of the man who was getting farther away. When I took a long drag of the cigarette, I felt all my senses become alert.

“Burn.”

More magic power drained than when I used the fire wall. Fire ignited on the fleeing thug’s leg, and he immediately collapsed.

“Aaaaargh—!”

Screams that sounded small due to the distance. After watching him roll on the ground trying to extinguish the fire, I turned back.

‘He can’t put it out anyway.’

Unlike real fire, magic flames don’t extinguish easily. This was because they burned using magic power as fuel.

Because of this, magic flames had the disadvantage of not spreading like other flames. Acts like arson were impossible without powerful firepower.

“P-please spare me! W-we mistook you! T-to begin with, we… we had no such intention at all!”

As I silently looked down at the thug, he prostrated himself and continuously rubbed his hands together. It felt like looking at a fly.

“You had no such intention at all?”

“Yes! Yes yes, that’s right! At most, we were just going to take a passage fee and let you go!”

“A passage fee?”

“Yes! To begin with, how serious a crime is murder in the Labyrinth City! There’s no way we would have the capacity to do such a thing!”

I smirked as I looked at the man in front of me.

This bastard was subtly pleading with me not to kill him. To be precise, it was more like a threat.

“Since you tried to collect a passage fee from me, I should collect one from you too, right?”

“What?”

“What?”

Fwoosh!

I moved the fire wall I had placed behind. The flame undulated once. It looked like a snake flicking its tongue.

“Eek! I-I’ll give it to you! As much as you want! T-that’s…!”

The thug rummaged through his body. All sorts of items came out, including weapons.

“Throw only the pouch with money this way.”

He threw the pouch as I commanded. It felt quite heavy when I picked it up. Opening the pouch, I saw silver coins inside.

‘Not bad.’

With this much, I could probably get one more better item when outfitting myself.

“T-then… can I go now?”

“You can go now. Didn’t you say just now? That you had no such intention at all. Right?”

“Yes, yes! That’s right!”

He answered and stood up unsteadily. Judging by his grimacing face, the burned area seemed to be stinging.

“But you know what? I had such an intention.”

“What?”

Instead of answering, I sent the flame I had summoned earlier. The flame, approaching at high speed, began to burn his body.

Sizzle—

“Kyaaaaargh-!”

A terrible scream echoed through the alley. He tried to escape the flame, but unfortunately, the direction he chose was where the fire wall was.

Fwoosh-

His entire body began to burn instantly. The smell of cigarette smoke and burning flesh mixed together. It was an unpleasant smell.

The thug’s crying didn’t last long. His vocal cords had burned so he could no longer scream. Or perhaps he had died from shock.

After burning everything so that nothing remained, I turned around. The thin man was crawling on the ground after falling. There was still one more to deal with.

“50 silver!”

The boy said with a broad smile. I sighed deeply as I looked at his face.

“Why is it so expensive?”

“Because it’s made from the shell of an armor mantis from the third layer of the labyrinth! It’s hard enough that it won’t be penetrated by most things! You won’t regret it!”

He explained in a vigorous voice. His friendliness was nice, but it was extremely burdensome. Perhaps this was the intention of the owner of this place.

“Would you like to purchase it?”

“…Fine.”

I took out 50 silver coins and handed them over. My pouch instantly became lighter. Months of saved wages and magic stone money vanished in an instant.

‘If I think of it as the price of my life, it’s cheap.’

“Then I’ll check it directly! Please wait a moment!”

Although I had already checked everything before giving it to him, the boy began to count the coins one by one again. Seeing that, I really wanted to punch him once.

The money I had left was about 20 silver. And that was only because I had extorted it from the thug. Without that, I wouldn’t have had even 5 silver left.

“Is there a weapon I can use for under 15 silver?”

“For 15 silver, I’ll recommend something. Follow me.”

Though the question was directed at the boy, a short old man beside him came out and beckoned.

A dwarf. They were a race that always appeared in fantasy, and this game was no exception.

“This one.”

Following him to the weapon rack, he pointed at a mace.

A longer length compared to a typical blunt weapon. It felt like looking at a long stick, but iron spikes were embedded throughout, making it look quite brutal.

“Is this a mace too?”

“It’s called a staff mace. What you commonly think of as a mace is a ball mace. It places the center of gravity at the end.”

“Is there a special reason you’re recommending this?”

“Because it doesn’t sell. It’s for inventory clearance.”

Is he crazy? It was already absurd that this was his reason for recommendation, but it was even more astonishing that he said it so boldly.

“…Why doesn’t it sell?”

“It has advantages like being easy to handle and nimble because the center of gravity is distributed, but its striking power is much weaker compared to a regular mace.”

“So it’s neither here nor there.”

“That’s right. Dwarven curiosity. And I made it because my hands were idle. Thanks to that, a good item was created, but no one wants to buy it.”

“So you’re going to sell it on this occasion?”

“Correct.”

It was an incredibly brazen answer. It was a story not worth listening to further, but somehow, I was a bit drawn to it.

‘It seems usable…’

How should I put it? Even though everyone said it was trash, I had a feeling it wouldn’t be if I used it.

What was the problem with this weapon anyway? Wasn’t it that it lacked striking power? Instead, it had advantages like being easy to handle and having a longer reach.

The disadvantage of the staff mace wasn’t even a disadvantage for me. I didn’t need striking power anyway. It was all about burning everything with fire.

Thinking about it that way, only advantages remained, right? For 15 silver, I could only get a decent weapon anyway, so it was a good deal.

“If you buy this, I’ll repair your armor for free. Isn’t that a good deal?”

“Is there a need to go that far? Just listening to you, it seems like it would be a loss to sell this for 15 silver.”

“All the weapons I make are like my children. What parent would be happy if their child neither works nor leaves the house?”

I felt a bit guilty at those words. Before entering the game, I spent all day just playing at home. Perhaps that’s why I was being punished.

“Fine. I’ll buy it.”

“Good thought.”

As I was about to take out the silver coins again, the dwarf stopped me.

“Give it to that fellow.”

He pointed at the boy who was still diligently counting coins. I thoughtlessly took out silver coins and held them out.

“Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight. Thirty-nine… ah…”

The boy who had been counting the coins stopped moving. Trembling hands. He looked up at me, then closed his eyes tightly and sighed.

“Why are you giving me this?”

“To buy that. Your master said to give it to you.”

“Master!”

When the boy burst out in anger, the dwarf chuckled and stroked his beard.

“Didn’t I tell you to study numbers? How do you expect to become a blacksmith if you can’t even count properly?”

“This is because you’re interfering, Master!”

“Stop talking. Count again. Do you plan to keep the customer standing all day?”

“Tsk…”

The boy bowed his head and counted again. Seeing him concentrate again, I wondered how long I would have to wait.

“Take the weapon and armor and go ahead.”

“…Is that okay? It seems like he hasn’t finished counting yet.”

“He would have given the correct amount. Well, if you gave the wrong amount, we can just forget about the armor repair, so it doesn’t matter.”

“I see. I won’t decline.”

I immediately put on the armor in the store and picked up the long mace. As expected, it had quite a weight to it.

“Well, I’ll be going then.”

“Take care.”

After seeing the dwarf wave his hand, I left the store. Even though I hadn’t even entered the labyrinth yet, I already felt tired.

‘Let’s go.’

I had made all the preparations I could. Now all that remained was to challenge a new floor.