"What the FUCK, CAELUM! How the fuck did Isabella Rose fall into a coma in the first fucking week!"
"Well—"
"What 'well', you fucker! I said you don't have to be fully their bodyguard but you should have at least protected her! How the fuck I will explain this to the diplomats!"
"I mean, it wasn't my fault."
"Then whose fault? Mine? You are lucky that Isabella didn't bring any personal guards, so news about her won't reach her homeland for a few days. Solve this case one way or another. Unless you want this problem to go to the emperor's ears."
"She is a devil contractor."
"...what the fuck?" The minister let out a dumb sound behind the call. I was a bit curious about his current expression but there was no visual option in our magical communication. At least, I chose to not include the visual option, after all, I normally didn't want to see the minister's wrinkled face and bald head.
"I said, she is a devil contractor. I had suspicions that she was like this even on the first day but they were just suspicions. I confirmed my suspicions while she was in a coma. So, please calm down, smooth light of the empire."
"...Fuck." cursing once more, the minister ended the call without listening more.
"Sigh..."
I released a sigh as I tossed the crystal pocket watch that I had used for to communicate with the minister.
Reporting to the minister was always a troublesome job that I didn't like, so I usually chose to not report my suspicions. Well, this time not reporting came back to bite my ass.
However, I wasn't so worried. Maybe a little.
They wouldn't fire me from the job or outright execute me. I wish they would do it though... I mean, to fire me from the job. Having not a single vacation in six years, which was my whole career, was not something I wanted to continue for the rest of my life.
In short, it was just wishful thinking. So, I decided to live in my delusions later and think about the current problem.
"15 years of lifespan and a blue devil..." I murmured to myself. "Did the devil take control of her body via bending the words or was it just his magic?"
"Was '15 years worth of life span' meant that he could use Isabella Rose's body for 15 years?"
Devils were natural masters of bending the meanings of the words, even with carefully explained contracts, they could find holes they could exploit.
"At least, I learned that she is— I mean her body is still alive. There is a high chance that her soul is also alive."
Things weren't looking so bad other than getting scolded by the minister.
"Killing a blue devil isn't impossible, I just need to find it first but that is the hard part. The devil is stealth type."
Devils were always hard to find, it was especially so for the stealth-type devils.
However, I had something in mind.
"Maybe Lars Lightbringer or Estrid know something. Although I can directly interrogate Lars with the excuse of him being the opponent of Isabella before she fell into a coma. But I don't have an excuse to fish information from Estrid."
Lars and Estrid had a strange collection of information, and I felt like most of them might come true. So, if someone were to have the information about the whereabouts of the devil, they would be the ones.
"Let's first interrogate Lars Lightbringer. If I don't get any useful info from him, I can think later about how to interrogate Estrid."
******
"..."
"..."
[Fuck! Why did this paranoid NPC call me suddenly?]
"..."
"..."
[Why is he just looking at my eyes instead of saying the reason for his call? Is he a pervert? I know I am handsome and all but I don't swing that way. Sorry but no sorry.]
"..."
"..."
[It is awkward. When is he going to speak? I need things to do. Although I couldn't land a hit on Isabella Rose, I can still take the hidden piece.]
'Nice. He started to give information. I love people who think a lot, unlike Estrid.' I thought while covering my smile with my gloved hand.
[To get the hidden piece, I just need to get some blood from Isabella Rose and terminate the contract with using the devil's True Name. It is pretty easy in reality, normally in the game you need to skim through Isabella's notes and put the clues together to find the devil's True Name, or else the option to use his True Name wouldn't appear. But I already know his True Name!]
'...How the fuck?' I cursed internally because of the surprise Lars had given to me.
True Names were special, everyone had it but most people wouldn't realize what their true names were.
If you knew someone's true name, it was like their bare heart served in front of you. You just need to stab it to kill them.
Well, some people and creatures wouldn't even die when their hearts pierced, but most people would die. It was the same as True Names.
So, knowing a devil's True Name was equal to having his life in your hands. So, threatening him to terminate the contract was as easy as beheading goblins.
'Nice. I can both kill the devil and terminate the contract.' I was thrilled with this good news.
[Oh, shit!]
'What happened again, bastard! Say the True Name of the devil before thinking something else!'
[Now that I think about it, the devil's True Name was long, so I didn't bother to memorize... I don't have any choice other than to sneak into Isabella's room and read her notes now...]
'...'
My disappointment was immeasurable and the light of my eyes died a little.
After that, I just parted my lips and monotonously asked a few questions to Lars before sending him away.
That bastard unknowingly played with me again...
******
When the night came and the crimson mood was in the sky, I was silently watching Lars.
Thinking that skimming through notes of Isabella Rose would be too much work, I decided to wait for Lars to find the True Name of the devil and take it from him.
Why work so hard when you can obtain the same result more easily?
"There is a pervert here!"
However, I forgot that to see Isabella Rose's notes, Lars first needed to pass through the girls' dormitory stealthily.
"A boy!"
"Nooo! A wild lustful pig!"
"Cut his stick!"
'...damn, women are scary indeed.'
That was the day I learned again how women could be scary if they wanted to.
'It is alright, Lars. I was going to castrate you but it seems these girls will do it for me. You must be happy that it will be done in a girl's hand instead of me.'