I Made a Contract with a Devil, but the Price is Strange

“Yes. That’s right.”

Inis bit her lip tightly. She sighed deeply, her face becoming troubled.

“My former party members from the past. They were also included in the list of adventurers to be rescued.”

“You said it was hard to even read the faces and names of other adventurers, yet you managed to see that?”

“As I was scanning through, they particularly caught my eye. How could I possibly forget those people….”

She sighed deeply and leaned back against the chair. When she picked up the teacup and drank, Inis’s face brightened a little.

“So what do you want to do?”

“Pardon?”

“The adventurers who exploited you and made you a slave. What do you want to do with them? Isn’t that why you brought this up for discussion?”

“No. I didn’t mean it that way. I just answered because Master asked why I was in a bad mood.”

“Really?”

I stared at Inis’s face. She couldn’t meet my eyes and lowered her gaze slightly.

“Look up.”

At my command, Inis raised her head again. She still couldn’t meet my eyes.

“Was that really not your intention? Did you just speak because of my order? Are you certain there was no other intention?”

“……I don’t think so.”

Inis confessed only after my questioning. As expected, there was an impure intention mixed in. If she had really intended to hide it, she would have been evasive.

“Do you want revenge on those people?”

“Yes. I want revenge. I want to pay back the people who took away my life, exactly as they did to me. No, I want to return it even more severely….”

She expressed her honest feelings. Her face was tinged with guilt. At the same time, she couldn’t meet my gaze, perhaps feeling sorry toward me.

“Inis.”

“Yes….”

“Next time, don’t express yourself in such a roundabout way; be honest. What you’re thinking. How you feel now. What emotions you experienced. What you want to do. Just say it. Understand?”

“I’m truly sorry….”

“If you’re genuinely repentant, that’s fine. But if this happens again, that will really be the end. Understand?”

At my words, Inis raised her head again. Her eyes widened as if they might burst. She nodded with a hardened face.

“Yes. I’ll make sure this never happens again. I won’t betray Master’s trust again. I swear on my life.”

“Good. If you’re that determined, it’s enough.”

I smiled gently and drank the tea. Indeed, it still tasted bad even on a second sip.

“So why did you suddenly express yourself in such a roundabout way? You’ve mentioned wanting revenge before, haven’t you?”

It wasn’t that long ago. We had talked about it while cutting her hair. Had her thoughts changed since then?

“Well, when the opportunity for revenge actually came, I found myself hesitating. Is this really okay? Do I have the right to do this? I kept questioning myself.”

“So you hesitated. Because you knew that if you told me, I would definitely take action for revenge. At the same time, if you left it to me, at least your heart would be at ease.”

“……That’s right. I think I was trying to take advantage of Master’s kindness. For a slave to try to use her master… I really have nothing to say… I’m truly a bad woman….”

“Well. I’m not particularly bothered. I expected this situation already. I wasn’t certain, but I had an inkling.”

“You expected it?”

Inis’s eyes widened slightly.

“Yes. You’re a kind person. So even though you might think about revenge, I thought you would hesitate when the situation actually arose.”

“Me… a kind person? But I tried to use Master? And I’ve never heard such words in my life.”

“You must have faced countless oppressions and hardships because of your black hair. The fact that your personality is still this good means your nature itself is inherently kind.”

Just look at me right now.

After suffering for just one year, I’ve already thrown away all the character education and morals I learned in Korea. But Inis, who has received such treatment her entire life, is still so upright.

“I’ve never heard such words before….”

“Where in this world would anyone call a Teufel kind? In fact, I’ve never seen anyone with black hair as gentle as you.”

Although Inis was the first Teufel I had seen directly, I had heard many stories.

In whichever city I went to, there were always rumors of Teufels committing crimes. And the outcome was always execution.

“So, don’t worry too much. If revenge is difficult for you, I’ll do it on your behalf. Even if you do it, all the crimes you commit are also my crimes.”

“Your crimes, Master?”

“Yes. Well, I am your master, after all. The master must take responsibility for the slave’s actions. Right?”

At my words, she tightly closed her mouth. She looked somewhat choked up. Her eyes became moist, and then Inis answered in a muffled voice.

“Revenge. I’ll do it myself. I’ll take all the guilt upon myself completely. Because that’s right.”

Resolute pupils. It seems she has finally made up her mind. That appearance was both commendable and reassuring.

If Inis had tried to depend on me, I would have reconsidered her employment. In this world, being kind was definitely not an advantage, and I didn’t need a passive slave.

“If you’ve finished drinking, let’s go to the labyrinth now. We have to earn as much as we’ve spent.”

Hiding these facts, I got up from my seat. Inis also stood up. Then, the employee who had been far away approached.

“Did you have a good time?”

“Yes. It’s my first time drinking this tea, but the taste is quite good.”

In fact, it tasted terribly bad. But it’s proper manners to say this. Even if the taste was bad, it had a slight effect.

“I’m glad you were satisfied. Please visit us again!”

We left the tea house, receiving the employee’s greeting. When we had moved some distance from the shop, Inis gently asked.

“…Master. Will you come here again?”

“I wonder….”

It seems like I won’t come again.

“Kerrrk―!”

A dark cave. Through the blazing flashes, I could see a goblin running.

“Fire Arrow.”

The image I pictured in my mind was implemented right before my eyes. An arrow made of flame flew toward the enemy.

Whoosh―

As it hit its body, fire began to spread throughout. The goblin rolled on the ground, screaming.

“I’ll handle the rest!”

I shot another arrow to deal with one more. With three remaining, Inis moved forward with sword and shield.

“Kerrrk!”

The goblin jumped up. A swift movement matching its small build. Inis’s response was extremely simple.

Bang!

She struck it directly with the shield in her left hand. It was like hitting a fly with a fly swatter.

Slash―!

The head of a goblin following behind flew off at her longsword. The spurting blood splashed onto a nearby goblin. Its eyes widened as if they might burst, and it immediately turned in the opposite direction.

“Fire Arrow.”

I summoned an arrow and shot it toward it. The goblin kept glancing back cautiously, and it fell flat on the ground to avoid the attack.

“Keralak!”

An excited laughter was heard. It seemed very happy to have escaped a life-threatening situation. Of course, that was the goblin’s misunderstanding.

Whoosh―

As I flicked my finger, the arrow that had passed the goblin changed direction and lodged in its body.

Whoosh-

“Keraaaagh!”

In the end, the goblin disappeared into ashes.

“The number of goblins has definitely decreased.”

“Right?”

There were fewer goblins appearing in the goblin cave than when we entered last time. The number in each group was similar, but the groups themselves had decreased.

It could be because adventurers active in the greenskin territory hunted in the goblin cave.

But according to Inis’s explanation, this was also due to the disaster. Layers adjacent to the layer where the disaster occurred are bound to be affected.

“I’ve collected everything!”

Inis brought all the magic stones from the goblins. I wiped off the ones stained with blood and put them in my pocket.

“Let’s go.”

I also made a torch to hold and began moving again. Because we kept encountering adventurers, I couldn’t use Egun’s ability.

“Still, it’s convenient that we don’t have to face many goblins. Originally, we would have had to fight several times before moving on.”

“Is that so? Our income has decreased, so isn’t that bad?”

“It’s not particularly a loss since we can exert more effort in the greenskin territory. And even among the same goblins, the magic stones from deeper layers are more expensive.”

“Really?”

Inis asked with round eyes.

“Yes. The magic power contained in the magic stones is different. Though the difference might not be that great.”

“Wow. I didn’t know that. It’s not even in the guide, how did Master know that?”

“…Should I say I felt it?”

“As expected! Master! You’re truly worthy of being chosen by Egun!”

“You flatter me.”

It was a bit embarrassing. In truth, I didn’t discover it myself but learned it while playing a game. You know those trivial tips that appear during loading screens? It was content written there.

Out of embarrassment, I walked even faster. Before long, we were able to reach the stairs leading to the greenskin layer.

Unlike usual, the appearance of the stairs was very messy. It indicated that an anomaly had occurred in that layer.

Another staircase visible beside it. It was a staircase that could bypass the greenskin territory. A kind of consideration. Of course, this was interpreted strictly from a human perspective. The labyrinth would have different intentions.

“Let’s rest a bit before going. Once we enter, we don’t know when we’ll be able to rest.”

“Yes. I think that would be good.”

After finding a spot near the stairs, we ate jerky and drank water. When our physical and magical strength had recovered to some extent, we got up.

“Shall we go now?”

“Yes!”

Inis took the lead. She looked more excited than ever as she descended the stairs.