Ch9. A deal for the devil

Another two months passed and Tom was meeting Lord Sitri again. This time, in his office instead of the laboratory.

"Greetings, Thomas. I am looking forward to yet another profitable deal." Sarael spoke, pleasantly smiling, but his eyes betrayed his glee. The man was taking this as a game. It wasn't even about money for him. Tom surmised he just enjoyed screwing with him.

Alas, it didn't matter. The man could have his fun. Sarael delivered what Tom needed and that was what mattered.

"Hello, Sarael," Tom dryly greeted back and invited Sarael to sit down.

All this etiquette was honestly aggravating for Tom but it was just another form of mind game. He found it useless and tiring but had no other choice than to play it.

"So? What can I do to help you with this nice day?" Sarael asked, his eyes expectant. He liked careful customers who didn't go for massive benefits at the cost of giving vague promises that could mean anything. He loved to make them pay exorbitant prices to sidestep those vague promises even more!

That's why he made deals with the Heads of Magician Households. They could not allow their houses to owe a favor. So they paid. And they paid a lot. Seeing them grit their teeth but still agree to the deal... It made Sarael feel heavenly.

He might or might not indulge a bit in greed...

Nevertheless, this boy, Thomas Prest, knew this rule. He knew nothing in the world was for free but depending on what you offer, some things can be procured for various prices. He had potential and a good head on his shoulders. Sarael would lie if he said he was not intrigued.

Still... the boy was an average magician. It was really a pity but House Sitri did not need a pact with someone like that.

'Well, at the very least, scamming him would be a nice way to pass the time.' Sarael inwardly sighed in disappointment. Two months passed and Tom's magical reserves improved only very slightly. That told him enough about his potential and while he would keep his mind open, the value of Tom dropped in his mind.

Tom smiled, surprising Sarael. It was such a smug yet genuine smile that it made the devil feel a bit apprehensive, yet, he also couldn't help but be curious about what elicited such a reaction from his customer.

"This time, my dear friend," Okay, now it was getting really weird, in Sarael's opinion, "it is about what can I do for you, rather than the opposite."

'Ah.' The corners of Sarael's lips twitched upward at that. 'Business proposition rather than contract? Interesting. Let's see if it is any good.' He mused.

He had no reason to shoot Tom down straight away. This happened weirdly often. Humans thought themselves smart and tried to offer deals to the devils rather than taking deals from them. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not... most often it was just a funny but pathetic attempt.

Well, let's just say Sarael received various offers ranging from a woman trying to prostitute herself for benefits, which was pathetic and he was happily married to a very lovable but strict woman, to really good deals that helped his House. It was all like a coin flip when this happened but the least he could do was to hear Tom out.

And who knows? Maybe he would even get some amusement or profit out of it.

"Oh? Enlighten me, then." He said and put one leg over the other, leaning a bit forward, interested in what would come out of Tom's mouth.

Tom smirked at him and stayed quiet, silently sliding a file towards his side of the table, gesturing at it.

Sarael sighed at how boring this kind of persuasion was as he took the file into his hands, and opened it while offhandedly lamenting, "I miss the times when regular humans couldn't read. Everything was easier then. We simply talked about stuff, you know?"

"I can imagine." Tom dryly said and rolled his eyes.

Since Sarael decided to dispense with the etiquette and went for a more relaxed atmosphere, the least Tom could do was to oblige and show more genuine reactions.

Sarael noncommittally hummed, not deeming Tom's jibe with a proper reaction, and started reading the file.

He didn't get far. The second he reached the third line that stated, 'Potions capable of healing devils', he froze in utter shock, the ramification of such a thing passing through his head as his eyes snapped towards Tom in disbelief and inquisitiveness.

Potions created by human magicians did not work on devils. It had something to do with their demonic power that prevented the magical effect of potions from affecting them. That's why the Phoenix Tears were so invaluable to the devil race.

Yes, they were one of the best healing remedies in the world but on top of that, they were one of the very few things that could heal devils.

Tom didn't say anything though, he just wordlessly shrugged and gestured for Sarael to continue reading.

Sarael frowned. The human was far too confident. He had no idea if this would work but the tests would reveal that. The thing that bothered Sarael most is how this would change things and how many problems it would bring.

He could imagine Phenexes not wanting things like this to see the light of the day, their race's wellbeing be damned. And yet, he was a doctor first and foremost. He... wanted remedies like this for his race. He wanted them a lot, to be honest.

Returning back to reading, this time paying proper attention and utmost focus to every word, Sarael went through Tom's proposal, slowly gaining an understanding of what the human mage wanted from him.

Sarael subtly glanced at Tom, 'I might have underestimated him too much, huh?'

"I understand what you want from me." Sarael seriously spoke, closing the file and resting his palm on it, "But... Do you have any idea how many problems this would cause for me on the political scene?"

Tom gave him an amused sigh and shook his head, "What did I expect?" He muttered, loud enough for Sarael to hear.

"Look," Tom continued, "I am proposing a deal that will make your House richer, give you more influence, help your family hospital, help your race overall, maybe even give you merchandise you can offer to other races with a similar problem... and you still want to play this game?" He blandly finished, giving Sarael an unamused and irritated look.

Sarael wryly smiled, "Right... Sorry. You can't fault me for trying, though." He unrepentantly shrugged, "So this is why you wanted that book about safeguarding alchemical circles, huh?"

'And now he is fishing for information.' Tom inwardly sighed.

Tom indeed bought a book on safeguarding alchemical circles from Sarael during their last meeting. The bastard raised its price to a whopping one million before he finally dropped the requirement of Tom owing a favor to House Sitri.

Tom could swear Sarael was just messing with him and it felt quite humiliating at the end of their meeting. That's why his reply was a bit too cheeky and smug, "Yes, the circle has several safeguards, all of which will destroy it if you tamper with it. I am sorry, Sarael. I really am. I can offer you a way to create these potions but I will not give you the step-by-step process."

Instead of being angry, Sarael found it amusing. He thought he scammed Tom with that book but here they were. It wasn't often his deals would come to bite him back and he could respect that.

And then there was the deal Tom offered...

What Tom had in mind was very similar to what he had with the other Magician Families when it concerned food production. He would sell Sarael a massive alchemical circle capable of turning a certain mixture of herbs and liquids into weak healing potions capable of affecting devils.

The potions would not be able to cure major wounds and they would be useless against lethal ones but that's not what devils needed. They had Phoenix Tears for these cases. What devils lacked was a quick and efficient way to heal minor wounds. There was literally no market for such a thing in the Underworld and with this, House Sitri could dominate this avenue.

What Tom wanted from them were only a few simple things.

First, secrecy.

They would keep his identity secret. This was no big deal. At least not yet. Every contract could have a secrecy clause, devils just did not advertise it all that much because it was an additional bother and burden for them.

Of course, once the potions spread, people would inevitably start to get curious about where the Sitri House got their potions from. And since there would be a secrecy clause, they would be unable to reveal his identity.

From there on, this curiosity would be their problem. It wasn't such a hurdle for them anyway. They were one of the Pillars so Tom didn't feel bad at all about doing this.

Second, money source.

Once again, Tom asked for a share of the profits of every sold potion. A regular thing, really. This product would have no competition in the market in Underworld so Tom couldn't miss out on that juicy pie.

But he didn't forget to relinquish most profits to the Sitri House. They would be gathering the ingredients, producing the potions, and selling them. Having a small five percent share of profits from every sale was enough for Tom who would be doing literally nothing.

And third, goodwill.

This was a game-changer in the Underworld. Not a big one. But it would help common folk, maybe even help with the training of the devils, and Tom was putting the advantage of regulating it into the hands of the Sitri House.

Of course, Sarael was fully aware Tom would have some... requests later down the line. It was only natural.

"I can respect your caution." Sarael nodded.

A more vicious devil would probably try to intimidate Tom and get his research but Sarael had a sneaking suspicion Tom summoned him on purpose. What were the odds a magician wanting to sell healing potions would summon the head of the biggest hospital in the Underworld by pure coincidence?

Tom nodded, "The Phoenix Tears won't clash with this. Nobody uses them for minor wounds anyway. Not even Phenexes. This product targets a different range of customers. If you explain it along those lines, Phenexes will have no ground to stand on in your political games. But you obviously already realized that."

"And you certainly did your homework as well." Sarael chuckled. He looked at Tom, narrowing his eyes as if he was pondering about something and when he finally spoke, he said something that made Tom quite aggravated.

"Say, any thoughts about joining my little girl's peerage?"