Ch47. Masterful deceit or just complacency?

Surprisingly, the talks with Sirzechs went perfectly fine and the man didn't even try to drag Tom into some collaboration with the Devil Government, letting Sarael and House Sitri deal with the situation instead.

Or rather, as Sirzechs helplessly admitted, that was the price of having Serafall's help in this matter.

Tom wanted to give the poor bastard a pat on his shoulder. He could fully understand his suffering. Naturally, Sarael's daughter would not do anything for free. After all, there was a lot of work with this project but also a lot of benefits to be reaped afterward.

That's why three days after his meeting with Sirzechs, Tom found himself alongside Natasha in the same room where he cured Misla Bael, only this time his eyes were greeted by two beds with two red-haired middle-aged people sleeping in them.

Thankfully, the room was completely empty as per the agreement and there was no surveillance magic or device anywhere. Tom made sure to word that clause precisely. Sirzechs was supposed to ensure with all his power and capabilities that there would be none. If there was even one, the contract would have been breached the second Tom walked into the room simply because of how many specialists in warding Sirzechs had at his disposal. His capabilities fully encompassed calling one and ordering him to check for these kinds of stuff.

But of course, Sirzechs demanded a counter clause that stated that Tom couldn't bring harm to his grandparents unless it was necessary for their healing. That would usually put an instant stop to Tom's schemes because stealing demonic and life energy was indeed 'causing a harm', but Tom fully expected that and was prepared.

When he showed up to the appointment with Natasha in tow, Sirzechs actually showed an unamused frown as he realized his precautionary clause became a moot point since it only bound Tom and not the girl he dragged along.

Though, he didn't argue much. Tom only had to hint at needing her to cure them and Sirzechs relented despite not being happy about it. He could only accept it or call the deal off.

Well, that probably ruined any future trust between Tom and Sirzechs since Tom played him well. And even though it brought no visible detriment or consequences, Tom doubted Sirzechs would put his trust in him again without having all the details.

But unknown to Sirzechs, the real magic was happening elsewhere.

The contractual magic they both signed was made by Tom. And while Tom could not fake the cost and service since it was almost an innate ability of devils to know these in every contract that concerns them, Tom was a bit more underhanded.

Devils were known for doing contracts from time immemorial. Their entire history was full of that. No powerful devil reached his prowess without doing at least one contract. Even Satans still did contracts from time to time. It was akin to their racial 'advantage' and pride that they got stronger by making contracts. To this day, the devils on parties bragged about the number of contracts they fulfilled.

And that kind of pride in their ability when it came to seeing through contracts begot complacency.

Sirzechs only checked the price and service provided. Not the actual contractual magic itself. Granted, it could not do him much harm. Tom was too weak to put even a scratch on Sirzechs through it.

But...

As the creator of the contractual magic, Tom had a bit of leeway at his disposal.

For example, he could do something like... disguising someone else's magical signature as his own on a pre-written contract that was already 'signed' by 'him' when he showed it to Sirzechs.

In reality, it was not Tom who was bound by the contract between Sirzechs and 'him'. It was actually Natasha.

It was she who would receive the copy of Sirzechs's memories and it was also she who could not cause harm to the Gremory grandparents. And to fulfill the contract, she only had to be a part of their recovery.

And yes. Tom was damn proud of pulling this off!

Sirzechs could only see cost and service rendered, not who the other party was. Especially not when it came to contracts through magical signatures.

Alas, most of the contracts the devils did nowadays, especially the contracts with the mundane folk since there was no other way for them to enter a contract with a devil otherwise, were through magical signatures so nobody could fault Lucifer for not thinking about this little tidbit.

"So... are we doing the same thing as before?" Natasha awkwardly asked, pulling Tom out of his thoughts. "Do you want me to hold a contract or something?"

She had no idea how these things worked and that made her question her need to be here. Especially after Tom warned her, again and again, to not show her Power of Destruction in front of anybody... period.

She was very anxious about being paraded in front of the man who was said to be the incarnation of Destruction when she was supposed to be hiding her connection to the concept of destruction.

No doubt she came off as a bit unconfident but trying to appear level-headed to Sirzechs. Then again, she only afterward realized that her behavior was probably fully within Tom's plans.

It probably brought Sirzechs's suspicion and reluctance to allow her near his grandparents down quite a bit, considering she seemed so harmless.

"Nah, let me first inspect them with my Sacred Gear. Who knows? Maybe I will find some useful information." Tom's eyes gleamed as he watched the unconscious Gremory couple with a gleam in his eyes.

These two were Ultimate-rank beings! Both of Gremory Bloodline. They were one of the oldest devils still alive. The children of the original Gremory.

Another... incest couple.

Tom would have frowned on that if it didn't bring him so many benefits.

Frankly, devils indulged in incest a lot in the past, believing it would strengthen their bloodlines. So, many brothers married and fucked their sisters.

Of course, that notion was completely dispelled when their progeny actually weakened. Zeoticus Gremory was a blatant proof of that. The poor bastard was millennia old but unable to get into the Ultimate rank himself despite both of his parents being Ultimate ranks.

Natasha walked next to Tom and put her hand on his shoulder, the worry clear in her green eyes, "You know it puts strain on your body." She tried to talk him out of it.

Natasha did not like the effects Tom's Sacred Gear had on his body at all. He told her he had some plan to deal with it and make his body strong enough to bear it but that was still only a plan at this stage and...

"Natalia," Tom put his hand on hers and reassuringly squeezed as he looked her straight in the eyes, "we can't just walk in and out within a minute. We have to take at least an hour to cure them. And since we have loads of time, I might as well make use of this opportunity. Now that you have the Power of Destruction, we can't just go back. We must become stronger if we want to live in peace." He kissed her before turning back towards the two unconscious devils on the bed.

Natasha could only accept that and sat down on a nearby chair with frustration filling her. She watched Tom activating his Sacred Gear, and then a few tens of long and agonizingly anxious seconds were upon her as she waited for Tom to finish.

Fortunately, she sat close enough and when Tom finished, she instantly sprang forward, catching his falling body. He once again pushed himself to the limits and she could only watch in frustration.

Tom wasn't receptive to her troubled state of mind, though.

"Fascinating." He mumbled as he shakily stood up and sat on the edge of the bed with a huge grin. "This was so worth it!" He excitedly gushed, his strength slowly returning.

Natasha highly doubted that but with a sigh, she could only obey as Tom invitingly patted his lap.

Well, it wasn't as if she hated it...

When she sat down on his lap, Tom's hands instantly snaked around her torso and he affectionately pulled her a bit closer. Natasha started to get excited, her eyes glancing at the two unconscious devils in the room but her body was reacting to Tom's touch. Her breath quickened and...

"Let me give you a small lesson on devilish biology, Gremory bloodline, and how Sirzechs Gremory came to be." Tom whispered as he nuzzled against her hair, making Natasha's excitement instantly cool down as she realized that no, he didn't want to ravish her.

He wanted to talk about some unimportant, nerdy, magical stuff she could care less about.

Releasing a deeply aggravated sigh, Natasha buried her face into Tom's shoulder, "Sure... Sure, I am listening." She groaned out, making Tom chuckle at the misery in her voice.

He knew she was not interested in his magic research talks at all but he liked teasing her like this. Plus, this was relevant to her so, unlike other times, he couldn't just spare her the suffering.