‘Why is this demon here?’
Raban’s mind was filled with question marks. Of course, given how long-standing the contract between himself and Inian was, if she truly set her mind to it and invested her authority, finding a black mage wouldn’t be difficult.
The problem was that she had to truly *set her mind to it* to use that authority. Wasn’t she already leaking mana just to maintain her descent in this world? Would she really make such a wasteful expenditure for nothing but the desire to smash his face in?
Shouldn’t she be in no condition to fly far after getting hit by that creepy beam from Mother Fairy?
The Inian Raban knew wasn’t such an irrational character. There had to be a proper reason….
“First, stick your jaw out!”
“Uwaack!”
A swift kick flew in. Despite having shrunk to a height where she could barely reach Raban’s solar plexus, her movements were incomparably fierce.
Raban coldly assessed Inian’s combat prowess. The raptor talons that should have been attached to her feet were gone, and there was no sign of the poison or Evil Eye she unleashed when truly intent on killing…?
‘Hmm?’
Something was strange. Inian’s combat was savage, if not meticulous. Normally, when attempting a kick, she would basically activate her Evil Eye to slow the target’s movements and increase the chance of inflicting a fatal wound.
She hadn’t taken a single such measure?
A very, very ominous hypothesis surfaced in Raban’s mind.
“Hey!”
A sudden shout. Inian’s movements stopped. She wore an expression that said, *Let’s hear what nonsense he’s spouting*.
“Are you a mana eunuch too?”
“This filth dares spew nonsense at a lady!”
‘I see.’
Raban was convinced.
Inian had no mana either.
***
The staff dormitory assigned to Raban was spacious enough for one person to live in, but it was a cramped place for two to carry out a chase.
At least, since both were trying to fight using only physical abilities without resorting to mana, they were able to avoid completely wrecking the room. Raban caught his breath.
“You crazy demon bitch… If we get noise complaints and kicked out of the dorms, are you gonna take responsibility?”
“Hoo, hoo… I came here knowing everything already. At least in this building, you are the only human residing here.”
“I’m going insane, seriously. Is it fine just because there are no people? There are tons of spirits monitoring this place, you know?”
Inian clicked her tongue with her arms crossed.
If it were her original form, one would feel the intimidation and eeriness befitting a Grand Duke of the Demon Realm, but right now, a brat whose stamina was nearly depleted trying to forcefully strike a pose was nothing but pitiful.
“Those strange squishy things called guardian fairies are not in the real world at the moment. A command unit called Papirun took them all away and disappeared.”
“…You know that last sentence was grammatically incorrect, right?”
“Damn it. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do when these mannerisms keep forcing themselves upon me.”
After a few minutes of scuffling, Raban confirmed that his hypothesis was true.
Inian had no mana either.
“No way. Why would someone who holds the rank of Grand Duke of the Demon Realm be in such a state? If you had any brains rolling around in that head of yours, wouldn’t you return before running out of mana?”
“Watch your tongue, filthy black mage. I should like to put a hole in your head.”
Letting out a sigh, Inian began her explanation. Raban had pieced together the context of Inian’s stranding, but the sequence of events was different.
It wasn’t that she failed to return despite her mana being depleted; she had been unable to return, causing her mana to evaporate.
It was an incomprehensible story for Raban. To begin with, the only thing attacking her had been a single crocodile demon beast, and hadn’t the magical girl and one of the Four Heavenly Kings who subdued it been cooperative with her?
There shouldn’t have been any reason to hold her back from going home.
“After killing it, the door was closed.”
“Ah.”
Immediately after felling the crocodile demon beast. The moment she spread her wings to return to her original dimensional plane, Inian realized the situation had gone terribly wrong.
The otherworldly dimensional rift she had crossed through had already vanished.
“Damn it. It was easy to come in from the outside, but trying to leave from the inside, the dimensional wall was so tough I couldn’t tear through it.”
“…An antlion pit?”
Raban muttered, dumbfounded. Could Mother Fairy have a hobby of turning outside intruders into magical girls and watching them?
“I roughly understand the situation.”
A being on the level of a Grand Duke of the Demon Realm could tear through dimensions with her own power and return, even if the rift closed.
That is, if it were a dimension of ordinary strength. But this terrifying dimension thoroughly blocked escapees, as if to say entering was at will, but leaving was not.
Having exhausted her mana attempting escape, Inian had clearly changed plans and come to leech mana from her contractor.
Raban shouted in a bold voice.
“But what can you do!”
Originally, a demon’s summoner naturally had to supply mana to the demon.
But Raban was a black mage famous for his (selective) thrifty spirit.
“Until we settle our match, your mana supply must be covered by yourself! Mwahahaha!”
Raban laughed, throwing all dignity and wariness to the wind. Opportunities to mock a Grand Duke of the Demon Realm were truly rare.
Now that Inian had said the annoying mascots had disappeared for some reason, Raban could truly laugh without a care.
“Perhaps I speak in excess?”
But Inian also wore a triumphant smile.
A chill ran down his spine. Raban couldn’t even think of pointing out the grammatical errors from her strange way of speaking as before.
A demon’s smile was the most ominous of omens.
“If I forfeit the match, what can you do?”
The exact same sentence as his mockery from moments ago came back at him. Fear filled Raban’s eyes.
“W-wait a moment, Inian. We are intellectuals….”
“Dares a black mage hope to be treated as a human?”
“…We are sapient beings. We can resolve this through dialogue.”
The condition Raban had presented when pulling Inian into Hikarius was that she had to cover her own mana until the match concluded.
In other words, once the match ended, Raban would have to supply her with mana.
Of course, should Raban emerge victorious, Inian had to strive for a refund of the mana consumed in dimensional travel.
But since the contract between demon and black mage preceded this one….
“Please! An opportunity to possess the soul of a black mage of my caliber is rare!”
Raban would end up paying for Inian’s upkeep, and any mana she mined would be reclaimed by him.
“Think again, Inian! You can exploit my soul and inflict pain upon me for eons! Are you saying you’d throw such a chance away into thin air!”
The worse case was if Inian promised to “pay with demon stones stored in my stronghold.”
If Raban didn’t diligently gather mana to open a dimensional gate, he couldn’t receive them but would still waste the maintenance costs.
“Don’t forfeit! Fight me!”
Inian’s smile deepened further.
“How dare you speak so rudely? You stand before a Grand Duke. Should you not observe proper etiquette?”
“Your Highness. Please have mercy! Someone of your stature is more than capable of securing mana!”
Despite the black mage’s desperate flailing, Inian maintained her enchanting smile and didn’t open her mouth.
She didn’t say anything like “take responsibility,” even though she had personally descended to split that damned bastard’s body into exactly seventeen pieces, only for things to turn out this way.
In negotiations with that damned bastard, she had to be careful with every single word.
Raban was a wily creature. His skill at latching onto others’ weaknesses was first-rate.
*Having adapted to this world with my current body, my mana consumption has decreased significantly, but….*
If she entered into a full-fledged battle, the story would change. Either way, she needed at least one black mage to use as an emergency mana battery.
“Bring the tribute.”
“I don’t have any money… I poured all the severance pay I was supposed to receive from you into dimensional travel.”
Hmph. How detestable. Inian refreshingly ignored Raban’s grumbling and his pitiful expression. She’d rather attend an angel’s sermon than listen to a black mage’s pleas.
Inian was currently experiencing something truly rare for a demon, and based on that, a very clear demand existed.
“I mean for you to bring food.”
She was hungry.
***
Raban bought triangle kimbap.
Inian grumbled, “Hmph, to bring such an insincere mass-produced item, you must wish to win our wager,” but when she saw that even Raban himself was trying to make do with triangle kimbap for his meal, she sighed and nodded.
Unable to stand watching her struggle with the plastic wrapper, Raban opened it for her and asked as he chewed:
“Is there any point in you eating? Shouldn’t you sneak into a ranch, tear out a lamb’s heart, and offer it as a sacrifice on a full moon night or something?”
Inian looked at Raban as if seeing something disgusting, then opened her mouth.
“This body is close to human; if it is fuel to move the body, it can be resolved through digestion.”
“Huh? Really? She can process a demon’s body, which is close to a mana-based lifeform, to that extent? Mother Fairy is even more amazing than I thought?”
“Amazing or whatever. If you hadn’t called me, I would have been sleeping in a warm bedroom with a full stomach.”
Raban shut his mouth.
“So if you hadn’t been so greedy trying to take my soul, none of this would have happened!”
…which earned him a beating.