Episode6：CONTRACT

“So what the hell do you The Devil want with me? According to mythology, The Devils appears before The Humans and asks for a price in exchange for granting a wish. ...... I owe you a debt of gratitude for saving my life, but I don't remember paying a price for that debt, and I don't remember wishing for The Devils in the first place.”

“What are you talking about? You asked The Devils for help, didn't you? Perhaps it was an involuntary cry, but a wish is a wish. And now that it has been granted, you need to pay the price.”

The story that words have special spiritual powers has also been passed down since ancient times, apart from mythology. A few minutes earlier, Quon had indeed asked The Devil for help. However, it was not a genuine request for help from The Devil, but rather an unconscious cry for the purpose of grasping at a raw straw. But the wish was still received. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it did. Quon knew that the cost of having his wish delivered to The Devil, an inhuman being with an unfavorable impression, was often a high price to pay.

But," Alpina said as she slowly walked behind Quon and put her one hand on his shoulders to put her weight on him.

“Originally, the devil would not go out with a wish of that magnitude. This is also my whim. If I saved you of my own free will, there is no need for you to pay for it.”

“Okay then: ......”

“Yes, but what are you going to do now? The number of Sacred Beasts has risen, and finally a town has disappeared. Even the most unenlightened lowly creature would understand that something is happening in this land. It's a chance encounter. If you wish to continue on, then I will see to it that your wish is granted.”

The magical power, which was unimaginably emitted from her petite frame, attacked Quon's body and mind. Although Quon himself cannot sense the magical power released by The Devil, his whole body sends danger signals to his brain as a sense of intimidation, and he hesitates, almost fainting and barely holding on.

Quon was neither the savior of a country nor a righteous hero. He is just a piece of craftsman who makes weapons and armor, and although he belongs to the country by resident, he is a complete outsider. Since it was a national crisis, he was sure that the entire country would respond to it, so there was no need for him to step into the danger by himself.

At the same time, however, curiosity surfaced in Quon's mind. Meeting a girl who calls herself The Devil, and making a contract with her. In the face of a national crisis, his curiosity about what is about to happen is aroused. Quon does not know if it is his true feelings or if Alpina is manipulating his mind behind his back.

“What do you ask for in exchange?”

In response to Quon's question, Alpina pulls out from nowhere a jewel of a true sphere. It fits in her palm and looks like a glass artifact emitting a pale light.

“I will receive your time. This is called The Piece of Dragon’s Soul, and there are five more just like it scattered throughout The Earthly Realm. I will ask you to help me find them. That's the price. Now, Quon. Let's make a contract with me.”

At that moment, the light emitted by The Piece of Dragon’s Soul, which has by Alpina is amplified, and at the same time, Quon's chest also begins to shine. Reaching into his chest, Quon pulls out a necklace that he always wears close to his skin.

It was a necklace with a small jewel embedded in it, but it had six pedestals in total, compared to the number of jewels embedded in it.

Quon had been wearing it since he was a child, and it was a precious possession given to him by his parents before their bereavement. According to the legend, it was like a family heirloom that had been passed down from generation to generation and needed to be passed down from parents to children and from children to grandchildren for eternity.

“What, happened suddenly?”

“This is the only The Piece of Dragon’s Soul I have. And the rest are five in total. Likewise, your necklace has five empty pedestals.”

In other words," says Alpina, extending her arm. And with that, The Piece of Dragon’s Soul floats in the air, shrinking to just the right size to fit the base of the necklace in Quon's hand, where it belongs.

“Huh. That makes four left.”

“Huh. ...... I can't say no to this one. Well, that's okay. I am now anyway, and I'll just end up in that area with, Hexenbiests,...... or was it Sacred Beasts? Only to be struck down by them and die. Not sure I'll make it back in one piece. There's no guarantee that I'll make it back in one piece, and I can't guarantee that I'll be safe in the future if I keep going like this.”

We have a deal," Alpina laughed. Her eyes were like those of a pure young girl, yet she exuded an air of comfort.

The necklace is tucked back in, and a palm-sized magical circle appears on Quon's chest as he lightly adjusts his appearance.

“What is this?”

“I mean, if we're going to enter into a contract, we have to follow the proper procedures, right?”

Alpina's ocean-blue eyes change to golden magical eyes and she snaps her fingers. As if in resonance with the sound, a small amount of magical power flows from Alpina to Quon. It is poured through the magical circle, converted into the most suitable magical power for Quon, and fills his body.

The magical circle eventually disappears, and Quon relaxes his body. He looked around and moved his body several times, but felt no particular change. Quon interprets this to mean that it was only a ritual necessary for the contract.

But at the same time, Alpina thinks in her mind. It is hidden from Quon's knowledge, but it reveals his soul that lurks deep within him. She sighs in her heart while seeing through his soul with her magical eyes.

I knew I was right in this soul. But with ......, the rest either shattered or fizzled out. The former would be helpful.

“So what are we going to do now? We've made a deal, we share a mutual goal, but that doesn't mean we're just going to walk around in the dark, does it?”

“Yes, let's go to the nearest town first. Then we can make plans for the rest of the day.”

As she says this, Alpina snaps her fingers. The space beside her shatters with a crack, and it instantly spreads into a twilight colored vortex. A strange atmosphere overflows, as if it were an unworldly place, and even the surrounding plants lose their vitality and shrivel up emptily.

“What's that?”

“This is the gate connecting this The Earthly Realm and the Realm where we The Devils live, The Magical Realm.”

In the middle of the conversation, a huge horse appeared out of the vortex. However, the horse was far different from anything Quon had ever seen before. It is true that at first glance they looked identical, but there were two overwhelming differences. The first was that the majority of the horse's body was constructed of metal. The gears were interlocked at every joint, giving the horse the appearance of a mechanical doll. The second was the head. As she had stated a few minutes before, a twilight-colored horn rose from its head, which told us that the horse was indeed a Monster.

“This is Da Darg. You will be riding this for a while from now on. If I were on my own, I could fly, but I don't expect you to be able to do that.”

Quon is somewhat dissatisfied with her disappointing statement, but he silently listens to the rest of her conversation.

“Well, no disrespect to you, of course. The difference between races is not so easily reversed. But even The Human can, with effort, exercise some magic through a contract with us The Devil.”

“Really?”

“Ah. However, the necessary element for The Human Child to exercise magic is the loyalty of total trust in The Devil. It is not a tangible surrender but an intangible contract that makes the mortal sin of renouncing being The Human Child, that is, disobeying The God, the mother of all life in The Earthly Realm. In other words, if you truly recognize me as The Devil, sell your soul and pledge allegiance to me, then you can exercise a part of our power, magic.”

Alpina walks slowly around Quon with her arms folded and her coat flowing.

“This contract is not based on your madness, but largely on my free will. Therefore, you must not be ready to sell your soul to me, although you signed the contract. But I do not blame you for that. You can ride on Da Darg's back without any worries.”

With that said, Alpina floats. The contrast between her dainty appearance and arrogant attitude was both highly incongruous and at the same time highly formative.

Quon changed his mind, sheathed the weapon in his hand, and straddled Da Darg.

“Well, let's go.”

A young man astride a horse and a young girl floating in mid-air rode across the plains, where peace had been restored.