I'm Neither the Mastermind nor the Villain

Chapter 6

Huh? You want me to make a contract with a demon?

In the original story, there were indeed demon contractors.

In fact, one of them was even a heroine!

Demon contractors weren't all that rare worldwide.

Of course, officially, they were rarer than mages, alchemists, magic engineers, or martial artists,

and rarer than summoners, shamans, or holy priests.

In fact, among supernatural abilities, they were the rarest.

But that was because demon contractors usually refrained from revealing their contracts publicly, not because there weren't many of them.

Actually, in pure numbers, they outnumbered holy priests or shamans.

It was inevitable.

Although people's perception of demons had improved compared to the past, the image of demons as cunning, cruel beings who exploited human desires to increase their own power hadn't really changed.

In fact, lower-ranked demons often behaved that way.

And many terrorists or criminals were demon contractors.

And the demons those criminals contracted with were often low-ranked demons.

Since those two collaborated, the image of demons and demon contractors showed no sign of improving.

Still, recently, thanks to the government's efforts to improve the image of supernatural ability users, demon contractors had gained a slightly better reputation.

Actually, right after I possessed this world, when I confirmed that my mana was dark mana, I had thought about this kind of path.

Like becoming a dark mage or something.

To use dark magic, dark mana was essential.

To begin with, it was rare for humans to naturally possess dark mana.

Usually, those with dark mana had their mana tainted by the influence of demons they had contracted with.

Therefore, most dark mages made contracts with demons.

Because demons transformed their mana so it could be used for dark magic.

The stronger the demon, the more powerful and abundant the dark mana it supplied, which directly translated into the dark mage's combat power.

That's why dark mages sought to contract with even stronger demons.

But demons weren't exactly generous trees that gave endlessly just because you wanted them to.

Besides, each demon had different preferences-some favored pure, innocent, virtuous beings, while others preferred those so filthy they wouldn't even be used as a rag.

No matter how much a dark mage wanted to contract with a specific demon and performed summoning rituals tailored to that demon's tastes, if the summoner themselves wasn't appealing, the demon might simply refuse to respond.

But I possessed dark mana without having contracted with a demon, which meant I had considerable merit in this field.

It was proof that I was inherently compatible with demons to the extent of naturally possessing dark mana.

And no being in the world hates what it's compatible with.

Of course, I never expected to meet a named demon even before entering the academy.

The villain I was targeting sacrificed himself.

Moreover, that villain had already been devoured by a demon.

And that demon was trying to summon its true body using the villain as a host.

But because of me, Marbas was summoned instead.

Marbas, one of Solomon's 72 demons.

That's all I know; I don't know any deeper details.

But even with just that, I could tell that this lion-like demon before me was quite extraordinary.

Still, making a contract with a demon felt a bit-

That's what an ordinary civilian like me before possession thought.

And even after becoming Baek Sejin, I agreed.

[What are you worried about, child.]

"If I refuse to make a contract, what will happen to me?"

At my answer, Marbas looked at me with amusement.

[What choice would I have? Even if you refuse to contract with me, it would be a shame to kill someone I finally found appealing.

However... yes. Though this form of mine is not my true body, it has been ages since I descended into this world, so I should at least enjoy a bit of entertainment.

What if I rush outside right now and turn every living being I see into flies? Creatures I usually kill indifferently without a thought-

turning into vermin would be quite amusing for them, and watching it would be entertaining for me as well.]

Marbas said some truly terrifying things.

Turning every person in sight into flies-just how powerful was he to do that?

[Are you worried about the disadvantages of contracting? Or are you simply afraid of making a contract with a demon?]

"To be honest, yes, that's exactly it."

At my answer, Marbas let out a laugh.

[You say amusing things. You have nothing to worry about. Absolutely nothing....]

Honestly, making a contract with Marbas would probably be beneficial.

Whatever powers he had, being one of Solomon's 72 demons, he must possess considerable strength.

Contracting was the right choice.

Even if it felt like I was being gaslit, I had no other option.

If I refused, I'd probably die on the spot.

"In that case... I will contract with you."

The moment I said that, my body relaxed, and my eyelids grew heavy.

My vision gradually darkened until all I could see was darkness.

Soon, my consciousness sank deeper and deeper into the abyss.

Before I knew it, I was walking through endless darkness.

I was definitely walking and aware of it, but since I felt no sensation, I became anxious that maybe I wasn't walking at all but just lying face down on the ground.

My time wandering in the darkness seemed to stretch endlessly, continuing until I saw a certain light.

Somewhere, a light was shining. I could see the light, but I didn't know where it came from.

Anyway, the light grew larger and eventually completely enveloped my body.

And then I opened my eyes.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I tried to grasp the situation.

Everything looked tall, as if I had become a tiny bug crawling on the floor, and my body was very close to the ground.

That's right.

I had been lying quietly on the floor.

I felt a weight on my belly.

When I lifted my head to check, I saw Mio sitting on my stomach with a sulky expression.

"Meow."

"Ah, it was Mio."

Perhaps because she had finished digesting the dark mana she ate earlier, Mio had grown a bit larger.

Carefully, I lifted Mio and set her on the floor, then stood up and looked around.

At some point, the overwhelming pressure that had filled the room disappeared, along with Marbas.

"Did he vanish?"

[Are you calling me?]

With those words, a lion plushie appeared beside me.

"A lion plushie?... Are you Marbas?"

[Now that we've contracted, there's no need for me to maintain a majestic form.]

"What was... that thing I just saw?"

When I asked and described what I had witnessed, the lion plushie nodded slightly.

[It's nothing special. It's just a vision that previous contractors also saw.]

"I see...."

[Congratulations on contracting with me, contractor. You won't regret it.]

Well... whatever.

A contract was a contract.

If anything, I'd get stronger faster, so it was more of a gain.

And besides, in modern times, demons were just considered another type of transcendent being, so there was nothing to worry about.

By the way, earlier Marbas said livestock had been used as sacrifices.

Suddenly curious, I headed down to the fourth basement floor. Since it seemed connected to the altar, I thought there might be something there.

The fourth basement floor was structured like a livestock pen.

Even at a glance, I could tell that many animals had been living here until just before the summoning ritual, given the clear traces they left.

So now, cleaning up this place is my job too, huh...

As I looked around the fourth basement floor, I noticed dolls placed between the pens, as if they had been cleaning.

Probably, that villain had set the dolls to perform automatic cleaning.

Which means, if I could control dolls too, couldn't I use them for automatic hunting-no, automatic cleaning?

Quickly returning to the third basement floor, I rummaged through the books on the desk and managed to find several about familiars.

Since it's mid-February now... before the academy entrance ceremony in March, I have to return home again.

When I opened the books I had obtained, lines of incomprehensible words filled the pages.

.....Certainly, that villain's knowledge about familiars seemed quite advanced.

Still, fortunately, by using the code on the last page, I could watch a video explanation, which helped me understand much faster.

However, there were background concepts not covered even in the video, so ordinary people would have wasted all their time searching the internet for answers.

This is where the advantage of contracting with demons became apparent.

[Ah, that thing? That seems to be magic assuming the familiar resists control. Ah, that thing? That's one of the catalysts used when casting spells......]

In short, it explained things I didn't know in an easy-to-understand way, so my comprehension improved greatly.

Of course, no matter how quickly I learned, it still took me several days.