“Daon, are you alri— You look fine.”
Rushing over in a hurry, Han Jaeyeong stopped short when they saw James Chen collapsed on the floor. They had already undone their transformation. Honestly, it was a relief. Seeing Han Jaeyeong transformed into my appearance wasn’t exactly pleasant.
“And this one clearly doesn’t look fine at all. What on earth did you do? How did you even run into him?”
If a lie showed on my face, that would be troublesome. I answered shamelessly, “How would I know? He just happened to drop over here on his own. And I didn’t really do anything. He was already half-dead, so it was easy to subdue him.”
At that, James Chen shot me a sharp look. He clearly had a lot he wanted to say.
But only for a moment.
The instant our eyes met, he lowered his head again. White foam from the pain still clung to the corners of his mouth. At least he seemed to have some sense. If he had started flapping his lips carelessly, I had every intention of stirring up the gu inside his body immediately.
“I’m glad you’re alright, Daon, but…” Han Jaeyeong turned their gaze toward Leila. Their eyes were sharp with suspicion, as though they could wring moisture even from dry sand. “I suspect Lopez’s intent.”
“…I’m sorry. It’s my fault,” Leila admitted it readily, her face pale. “But it really wasn’t intentional. I haven’t been in the best condition lately, so I think my unique skill didn’t work properly—”
“Are you calling that an excuse?”
“Wait, Hunter Han Jaeyeong,” I stopped Han Jaeyeong before they could press Leila further. “In the end, nothing happened. It’s fortunate we didn’t lose him.”
“Excuse me?” Han Jaeyeong stared at me as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “You’re not being blackmailed or something, are you? Why are you taking Lopez’s side like this? You could at least show me that kind of consideration.”
“She really isn’t well. And she was injured.”
“With Lopez’s years of experience, that kind of excuse—”
While Han Jaeyeong and I were bickering pointlessly, Yu Hanul quietly approached James and tightened the bindings on his hands and feet once more before speaking. “More importantly, let’s get out of here first. The police should be waiting outside.”
Lee Pyeonghwa had been standing by outside, and once the agreed time passed, she was to contact the police.
When we reached the police outside the dungeon, Lopez and I would appear together, and James Chen would be arrested alongside us.
“Even if Hunter Lopez clears herself of the embezzlement charges, she’ll still have to explain why this situation occurred.” Yu Hanul fixed a stern gaze on James Chen and then on Leila Lopez. His eyes paused briefly on me before shifting away. “If what was said differs from the facts… or if there were other intentions, the investigation will reveal it.”
So even though he had followed my plan without objection when I explained it, he hadn’t truly believed it. That was only natural for Yu Hanul. Since I, the supposed victim, had framed it that way, he cooperated—but that didn’t mean he trusted Leila. Even in his previous life, he had always believed the process was just as important as the result.
“As if they’d conduct a proper investigation anyway… Whatever. My mouth will just get tired talking.” Han Jaeyeong, who from the very beginning hadn’t believed either me or Lopez, shrugged. Judging by their exasperated tone, it seemed this kind of exchange between them happened often.
Throughout the others’ conversation, Leila had remained silent. Our eyes met.
She gave a small nod.
“I’ll give you the coordinates of the destination point.”
Leila had followed my instructions faithfully. The moment she succeeded in scanning the inventory, she calculated the arrival point of the teleportation magic item James Chen possessed and relayed it to me. It was something only she could do, since she had created the item herself.
Even teleportation magic items aren’t omnipotent; they have a maximum travel distance.
“Keep a close watch on Han Jaeyeong and Yu Hanul.”
At the same time, I succeeded in hiding that fact from Han Jaeyeong and Yu Hanul and buying some time. Thanks to that, I was able to secure James Chen without incident.
I turned to Leila. “Leila Lopez, congratulations. If we make James confess with this, you’ll be cleared of the charges.”
At my words, Leila’s eyes widened for a split second, then trembled faintly. It was hard to tell what emotion had flashed across her face. She lowered her head soon after, making it even harder to read.
“…Right. Thank you.”
“No need.”
On the surface, it looked like a heartwarming scene.
For the first time in a while, I smiled.
It was quite a satisfactory deal.
When I proposed the deal to Leila Lopez—
“A deal? What do you mean—”
“I’ll clear your name.”
“What?” Leila stared at me as if she couldn’t comprehend what she had just heard. “You’ll clear my name… you? Why would you do that?”
“I told you. It’s a deal.”
Her confusion was only natural, but there was something I wanted from her.
“I need your power.”
“…I don’t understand.” Leila asked, her eyes trembling, “You need my power? What are you talking about… You’re already… such a powerful mage. And you’re saying you need me?”
Even as she said it, her pride seemed wounded, but it was an undeniable fact.
“Power doesn’t necessarily mean magic.”
As an archmage, that was a blow to my pride, but in human society there are things far more important than magic.
“Information I can control. Authority. Capital. That’s the kind of power I need.”
I had recently come to a painfully clear realization. No matter how exceptional an archmage I was, no matter that I had been the Demon Lord in my previous life…
Damn the military.
As someone born a citizen of South Korea and awakened as a Hunter, mandatory service was unavoidable. It was an unbearably annoying shackle.
In that sense, Leila Lopez was the perfect person to move in my stead—or to move for me.
For one, I had confirmed she had no connection to Orbis.
And she had talent.
Her unique skill, Inventory Scan, was extremely useful, and her item-crafting ability was something I coveted. If she cleared her name, reclaiming a position within the Hunter Association would pose no difficulty, and once that happened, my own sphere of action would naturally expand as well. Her weak network and lack of political savvy were somewhat concerning… But that could be compensated for with another chess piece. So it wasn’t a problem.
“So… if I return, you’re planning to use me as your hands and feet.”
Leila didn’t accept the deal so easily.
“Hands and feet? What are you talking about? I’m just suggesting we help each other.”
Of course, that was closer to the truth. I intended to make full use of the foundation she already possessed.
“But even so, do you really have the luxury of hesitating?” I calmly placed a hand on Leila’s shoulder.
She instinctively tried to recoil, but bound as she was, she had no chance.
“If you refuse this deal, you’re finished anyway.”
"...Ugh!"
“I’m personally throwing you a lifeline.”
When I tightened my grip slightly, the shoulder in my hand began to tremble.
“Don’t you want to clear your name?”
"I..."
“You said you’ve been developing items for everyone’s sake.” I spoke in a tone deliberately tinged with regret. “But if you fall like this… everything you’ve accomplished so far will become someone else’s credit… was it James Chen?”
At that, Leila swallowed hard.
And finally, in the eyes that had been filled with despair and pain, anger and longing finally ignited.
I knew it.
Leila Lopez was a woman who took great pride in the career she had built up. Enough that she had struggled desperately to regain her position, even going so far as to kidnap me.
“…I…” Leila’s lips moved a few times before she managed to ask, “…Can I ask just one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why do you need power?”
It was a question so solemn it bordered on grave.
“Does that matter?”
“It does. Honestly, someone like you could cooperate with anyone, not necessarily me.”
“That’s true.”
“Yet you’re deliberately using my weakness to strike a deal. Just how big of a favor are you planning to ask…?”
Leila trailed off. She seemed afraid of what I might demand, unable to agree so easily.
What should I tell her? The honest answer…was that I intended to kill my blood relative from my previous life and protect my blood relative in this one.
“Who knows.”
There was no need to expose my weakness to Leila. Then what answer should I give?
As I pondered, my eyes fell on a message that had appeared.
“…To save the world?”
The system requests that “Jeong Daon” provide support for the “SAVE THE WORLD” quest.
It was a system message that kept popping up in the corner of my vision whenever it felt like it, no matter how often I ignored it.
“What?” Leila shot back incredulously. “Save the world? That’s such a baseless, absurd thing to say…”
“Right. It does sound absurd.”
I thought so too. But if you looked at it closely, it wasn’t wrong. It was obvious that killing Orbis would ultimately amount to saving this world, even if that wasn’t my intention.
Leila studied my expression; her eyes flickered with an unreadable light before closing as if deep in thought.
“…Alright.”
After a long moment of consideration, Leila finally spoke.
“Let’s make the deal.”
For the first time in a while, I smiled brightly. “You’ve made the right choice. We’ll be excellent business partners.”
“Then you’re going to untie me now?” Leila glanced at the handcuffs binding her and asked, “The deal is settled, right?”
“Oh, not yet.”
As if a contract with a demon could ever be that simple.
“We may have agreed to a deal, but the foundation of any deal is trust. And you’re someone who kidnapped me and tried to hand me over as a test subject.”
“Huh?”
“For all I know, once I untie you, you might change your mind. Or even if I ask for your help, you might refuse.”
“…If you’re going to say that, why did you propose the deal to me in the first place?”
“I’m just saying we need a safety device between us.”
When my fingers touched the tip of Leila’s chin, she frowned in discomfort.
“Are you saying we should draft a contract? I don’t have a binding item on me right now, but if you want, we can write one after we get out of here.”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary. I already have one. An item that can bind you.”
“Really? Then let’s use that. Untie my hands first.”
“No. The safety device I prepared works even without hands.”
“What kind of device—ghk!”
I stepped closer and firmly seized her chin and throat. Held in my grip, Leila couldn’t speak and could only stare at me in silence. There was still a faint trace of distrust in her eyes.
Well, I had shot her in the leg, after all.
The quest "Doing Good Deeds Will Bring Blessings¿" is in progress.
Even the system displayed a message as if it doubted me.
“Don’t worry too much. I’m not going to kill you. As I said, I’m just installing a safety measure.”
I don’t trust promises made by humans, especially humans who are willing to sacrifice others for their own goals.
When I pried her mouth open with my fingers, she inhaled sharply in surprise.
“Be careful not to bite your tongue.”
Then I used that opening to pour the gu into her mouth. Leila jerked in shock, twisting her body, but the insects infused with my blood slid swiftly down her throat. Tiny, millet-sized bugs crossed her skin and burrowed into her body in an instant.
“Wh-what are you doing?!”
Once I confirmed the insects had fully entered her body, I released her chin. Leila immediately began thrashing.
“I-it’s itchy. It’s so itchy! What is this? What did you make me swallow?!”
With her hands and feet still bound, unable to scratch herself, she writhed violently.
“We agreed—agreed to a deal! Then why—?!”
The system reminds “Jeong Daon” of the quest “Doing Good Deeds Will Bring Blessings¿”.
User “Jeong Daon” cannot engage in behavior that violates social standards.
There was no need to have my stats reduced over something pointless. I immediately grabbed Leila’s hand and let my magic flow into her.
She had been suffering from the all-consuming itch just moments ago, but suddenly she froze. The pain must have vanished as if it were a lie.
Leila stared at me in shock. “What… is this?!”
"Welcome, Leila." I spoke gently and drew her into an embrace, undoing the bindings behind her back.
Her body trembled violently with fear.
I planned to tell her later what she had swallowed and that only by receiving my magic regularly would the pain disappear.
You think that’s too much resentment for what she did?
Well, I am a demon.
“I look forward to working with you.”
And contracts with demons are never fair.