Previously
Ariella instinctively counters Bivar's magic by absorbing external energy, inadvertently causing Ludvic to collapse as his mana is drained. Richmond examines their contract and reveals it is a rare Protection Contract that links their life forces, meaning Ludvic will die if Ariella dies.
“What?”
Question marks practically appeared in Ariella’s and the Demon King’s eyes alike. Meanwhile, Richmond explained in a calm voice.
“Normally, even if a human contractor draws magical power from the Demon King, it remains within certain limits.”
After all, a human body simply could not bear the power of the Demon King.
“You cannot pour all the water from a vast, deep reservoir into a tiny well, can you? It is the same principle.”
“And yet?”
“Yet, in very rare cases, an exceptional human is born once every thousand years. A human with the capacity to endure the entire power of a Demon King’s caliber.”
Richmond looked toward Ariella and murmured,
“And it appears you… are one of those rare few.”
After Ariella and the others left the room, the Demon King, Ludvic, remained alone on the bed.
Though he had lost consciousness and been forced awake with cold water, he felt no dizziness or aftereffects.
Even stranger was that his magical power, which had been nearly forcibly drained from him, had returned with astonishing speed.
At a rate he had never experienced before.
‘Truly bizarre.’
Yet that was not the only strange thing. That woman herself… was entirely baffling.
Even though she had left the room, her presence still lingered vividly beside him.
A small frame. A round, neatly proportioned head.
Her eyes flashed with a sharp glint that left one wondering whether it was madness or fury. Her booming voice pierced straight through the ears.
And her temperament… bore a subtle, clever streak.
‘She’s a chihuahua… a red-furred chihuahua.’
He began to wonder why he had formed the contract in the first place.
He had every right to refuse the human’s offer. In fact, he had rejected it at the very start.
‘So why did I agree?’
Why had he kept listening to her?
He could have simply returned to the demon realm on the spot, indifferent to whether she convinced him or not, especially with the frustration of his disrupted vacation.
Yet, he had found himself listening. He had listened to Ariella explaining, clause by clause, why this contract would benefit him.
Her plan to summon a Demon King and flee with him was sheer madness, yet she had actually pulled it off with breathtaking audacity.
In the end, he had reached a single conclusion.
‘She might be useful.’
Ludvic made up his mind. He would hand over the territory’s management to this chihuahua.
“An audit, she said?”
He recalled Ariella’s eyes narrowing sharply into triangles when Bivar had erupted in protest back in the meeting room.
She had looked as if she were about to bare her fangs and pounce.
No matter how he considered it, the chihuahua’s… that was, Ariella’s plan did not seem bad.
It seemed that small head of hers packed a tremendous amount of knowledge and trickery.
‘It’s best to just do what she says.’
Though it felt like she was dragging him across the floor by his hair, he found himself unable to refuse.
And whenever he looked at Ariella, a memory of someone from the past flickered to mind…
Boom—!
“Your Majesty!”
Though he had sunk into deep reflection for the first time in a while, the peace did not last long. Olken had arrived to report an incident at the territory’s border.
It was the Orcs again.
“Insolent bastards.”
He grumbled under his breath as he rose to his feet.
Then, just before heading out with Olken, he remembered something.
“Ah, hold on a moment. I have something I need to do first.”
“Hm? Do you plan to pick up a new weapon besides your sword? Haha! A warhammer or an iron club, perhaps? The Orcs will wet themselves!”
Olken guffawed, tossing around gruesome talk, while Ludvic shook his head.
“Let’s stop by Richmond’s place first.”
“That bag of bones? Right now, when we’re about to go slaughter Orcs?”
“There is something… I need to take care of.”
Olken looked at the stammering Ludvic in complete bewilderment.
A few hours later, Ariella made her way to a certain spot inside the Demon King’s castle.
Her mind remained a chaotic blur. Too much information had poured in over the course of a single day.
‘The territory is an absolute mess. I can’t even flatter them by calling it fine. Ludvic is doing what he can in his own way, but still…’
Ariella held a letter sealed with the Demon King’s stamp.
An official writ granting her authority.
‘Well, Richmond wrote the entire thing, and all Ludvic did was sign at the bottom.’
As she was mulling this over…
‘Wow. Sure, it’s called the Demon King’s castle, but this is a bit much…’
…the sight looming ahead was an absolute disaster of a structure.
It was a decrepit wooden building, looking every bit as ramshackle as it had from afar. The only difference was its sheer, staggering size.
‘This is the only place in the entire castle that houses both a library and an official archive, right?’
According to the plans she had laid out before coming to the demon realm, she was supposed to be leisurely flipping through spellbooks right now, expanding her knowledge in comfort.
Reality, however, could not be further from that.
‘Groib said all the past ledgers are kept here.’
Ariella pushed open the door, which looked ready to collapse at any moment from sheer rot.
“Is anyone here?”
The scene inside came into view.
Behind the counter across from her, a small head peeked just over the surface. She had long blonde hair tied in twin braids, and wire-rimmed spectacles that swallowed half her face.
Her cheeks were remarkably chubby, perched above a tiny, frail frame draped in a hooded robe.
She sat at a desk absurdly large for her size, engrossed in reading something.
Her little fingers, round like freshly baked buns, were so adorable that she had to use both hands just to turn a single page.
At first glance, she looked like a child who had snuck into her parents’ study to play grown-up. But she was no ordinary child. Ariella spotted the wings on her back.
‘Ah, so she’s a fairy?’
Having figured out what she was, Ariella called out once more.
“Excuse me?”
Still, there was no reply.
‘Seriously, the servants in this place don’t even respect the Demon King himself.’
Even so, outright ignoring someone standing right in front of them was unbearable.
Irritation flared within Ariella, sharpening her tone.
“Can you hear me?”
At that moment, without even looking up from her book, the fairy cut her off coldly.
“There is no restroom here.”
Her voice was dry and blunt.
· · ·
Her childish appearance did not match her demeanor in the slightest… How rude!
Swallowing her rising temper, Ariella moved to state her business, but the fairy beat her to it, keeping her eyes fixed on the page as she nudged her glasses up with one hand.
“We wrote it in massive letters on a signboard taller than a troll by the entrance. There is no restroom here. Oh, do you struggle with reading?”
“No, I just—”
“The nearest latrine is outside, ten meters to the right. And for the record, if you’re planning on taking a book for ‘that purpose,’ forget it. I will report you to the head butler immediately.”
That purpose? What purpose was she talking about?
“Books are not meant to wipe one’s behind with. They are meant to be read page by page with utmost care. But the uncultured brutes of this castle simply refuse to comprehend that.”
Her voice dripped with indignation, as though she had reached her absolute limit after enduring this exact situation far too many times.
Ariella stood stunned by the girl’s sheer brazenness, but she decided to see just how far she would take it.
“If you aren’t looking for the latrine, then perhaps the dining hall? Go outside and take the door on the right. Looking for the head butler’s office? Up to the second floor, first door down the hall. And if you’re here to sell something, get out this instant…”
Finally, Ariella’s patience snapped entirely.
“Hold it! Stop rattling on about completely irrelevant nonsense!”
The foul-mouthed fairy with the curt tongue finally closed her mouth.
“Will you listen to why I came here first?”
Only then did the fairy lift her head, seemingly realizing the identity of her visitor at last.
“…A human?”
“My name is Ariella Capelli Onius. I am the Demon King’s contractor. I have come to review the financial ledgers of the Demon King’s castle from the past ten years.”
It was a rather abrupt introduction, and Ariella expected the other party to be flustered.
However…
“Did… did you say ‘review’?”
The fairy leaped to her feet. The biting coldness and sarcasm that had colored her tone a moment earlier vanished completely.
Instead, her eyes practically sparkled with overwhelming gratitude and excitement, and a rosy flush bloomed across her small face.
‘What’s with her?’
The fairy blurted out, her words tumbling over one another in a rush,
“Review? As in read? You mean you’re going to read books… no, official documents? In any case, you said you’re going to read words written on paper? You came here just to read?”
Pitter-patter—!
Forgetting she even had wings, she sprinted forward as fast as her short legs could carry her.
She barely came up to Ariella’s knees, yet the momentum of her charge was so fierce that Ariella instinctively took a step back.
In an instant, she arrived right before her. Ariella looked down at her and slowly nodded.
“Yes, I came here to read.”
At that moment, the fairy let out a cheer.
“Waaah!”
As if celebrating the reclamation of a lost homeland, she let out a triumphant cry overflowing with sheer emotion.
END