Bölüm

[GENERATION FAILED - RAW TEXT]

Flio rushed over to set the situation straight. “Um...” he said as he affixed Calsi’im’s arm back to his shoulder. “I think I might have an idea...”

◇Later, in the Dark Citadel Throne Room◇

The Shadow King sat on the Dark One’s throne. To either side, the demon fox sisters waited at attention. Before him stood the Dark Regent Calsi’im, accompanied by Tia.

“If it isn’t the Dark Regent Calsi’im!” said the Shadow King, no longer concealing his personality. He leaned back on the throne, spreading his legs in a show of arrogance and leisure as he looked down at the skeleton before him. “What business have you with the Shadow King?”

Tia took a step forward, her expression cold as ice. “How dare you speak that way to the Dark Regent?!” she demanded. “Unforgivable!” She attempted to step closer to the Shadow King, but Kintsuno and Gintsuno moved in front of her, blocking her way.

Tia clicked her tongue and returned to Calsi’im’s side, but her cold expression did not leave her face. “I can’t stand seeing such filth sullying the Dark Citadel...”

“I know, Tia,” said Calsi’im. “But you can leave the rest to me.” He gave Tia a reassuring pat on the shoulder before turning to face the Shadow King. “Well then, Mister Shadow King! You seem to be in a good mood!”

“Oh?” the Shadow King said. “Don’t tell me you came all this way for a social call. I am quite busy, you know. If you’re just here to exchange pleasantries, I’m afraid our business is over. Go on, hurry along home.” He waved his hand to shoo Calsi’im away.

But Calsi’im only laughed, his jawbone rattling. “Now, now! There’s no need for that! My business will be over in just a moment.”

“Business?” The Shadow King cackled, triggering a titter of laughter from the demon foxes, hiding their mouths behind their open hands. “But I have no business with you! Now, begone!”

“No business with me?” said Calsi’im. “Is that any attitude to take with the cosigner of your very important contract?” He beckoned to a man who had been waiting behind him, who stepped forward to his side. Whoever the man was, he was wearing a white mask decorated with a spade symbol.

“This man you’ve brought with you...” the Shadow King observed. “He seems to be human, but why is he masked?”

“My friend here is a teeny tiny bit shy, that’s all!” said Calsi’im. “You already searched him for weapons, didn’t you? I don’t see any reason he shouldn’t be allowed to wear a mask!”

The Shadow King sneered. “Youareaware, aren’t you, that the throne room is under the effect of an antimagic field? There will be no summoning friends or attacking me with magic.”

The man—Flio—took another step forward. At first, he had planned to wear his blue wolf mask and accompany Calsi’im as the Wolf of Justice, but it occurred to him that the Shadow King might not be willing to grant an audience if Calsi’im had the Wolf of Justice among his party. So instead, he grabbed one of the generic masks the Fli-o’-Rys General Store sold for use in masquerades and the like.

“Mister Shadow King,” Flio said. “It is my understanding that you are party to a Blood Oath Contract, along with my associate Mister Calsi’im?”

“Yes, quite,” the Shadow King answered. “Everything is in order. He looked over the contents and applied his blood seal. Although, in this skeleton’s case, he had to use a bone chip instead.”

“Yes, so I’ve been told. And then, under the terms of the contract, you evicted Mister Calsi’im and the rest of the Dark Army from the Dark Citadel?”

“‘Evicted’ is an ugly word.” The Shadow King pointed to the back of the contract, drawing everyone’s attention to the line of minuscule text. “Look! It’s written right here in the contract he signed: ‘With the signature of this contract, the Dark Citadel will become property of the Shadow Conglomerate.’ Although I suppose the letters are a bit too small to read without some sort of magnification!”

The demon fox sisters snickered at the Shadow King’s trick, but Flio ignored them. He touched his finger to his mask. “Yes, I am aware of that as well,” he said. “However, there’s something I wonder ifyouknow about the mechanisms of a Blood Oath Contract.”

“The mechanisms?” The Shadow King furrowed his brow.

“Yes, the mechanisms. Mister Calsi’im told me about the Blood Oath Contract, so I decided to do a little research of my own. It’s a magic item that binds its signers to an absolute contract, enforced by a goddess of the Celestial Plane.”

“Oh?” the Shadow King said, his tone somewhat more respectful. “So youdoknow a thing or two about it...” He frowned, puzzled, staring at Flio’s mask.The only reference to the Blood Oath Contract in the whole of the Magical Kingdom is in a grimoire in the royal archives, accessible only to a select few of the royal family! Whoisthis man...?

“Are you aware, Mister Shadow King, that there are exceptions to this rule?” Flio asked.

“Exceptions?”

“Yes. Even if both parties come to a mutual agreement and mark the contract with their blood seal, if the contract itself contains some kind of trick meant to prevent one party from understanding what they are signing, the Contract Executor has the authority to declare it void.”

“Hmph. You know about that too, do you...?” He grumbled. “Well then, my mysterious masked friend. Are you going to summon the Contract Executor for us? You’d need to cast the spell Judgment, andthatis Celestial Magic! Or do you mean to tell me that there is someone in this world of ours capable of wielding the magic of the gods?” The Shadow King grinned, confident in his victory.

“Well,” said Flio, “I can cast it right away, if it isn’t any trouble.”

“What? O-Of all the preposterous...” The Shadow King grumbled and clicked his tongue. But then he noticed something. Calsi’im, Tia, his own underlings lurking in the edges of the throne room, and the demon fox sisters themselves to his left and right were all staring at something above his head.

“I-Is there something above me?!” He looked up.

There was a woman floating in midair, dressed in a tattered cloak. Her body was that of a young maiden, but her head was nothing but a skull. She held a scythe in her arms, nearly ten times as large as her body. “Be not afraid,” she said, speaking in their minds. “I am the Contract Executor. The spell Judgment has been cast. I am here to see it done.”

The Shadow King broke out in a cold sweat. “I-It can’t be!” he said in a shrill falsetto. “Someone cast Celestial Magic?! But nobody even did an incantation! N-Nobody can cast Celestial Magic without an incantation!”

Flio stared at him from behind his mask. He had been the one to cast the spell. Not long ago, when he had been treating Tanya’s wounds, Flio had accidentally taught himself Celestial Magic. It had been a simple matter of searching his spells for any pertaining to the Blood Oath Contract.

I cast it without an incantation because I thought it would be less conspicuous...he thought.But I guess most people need an incantation to cast Celestial Magic! I’ll be more careful next time not to stand out.

In fact, among all the humans, demihumans, demons, and everyone else living in the world of Klyrode, there were only two individuals capable of using Celestial Magic. Flio was one of them.

The Contract Executor floating above the Shadow King’s head swung her scythe, and the two copies of the contract between Calsi’im and the Shadow King floated up into the air before her.

“H-H-Hold on a moment!” said the Shadow King, putting on his best smile and his most humble affect. “I-I realize that that bit is alittle bitdifficult to read, but I made certain he understood it! I assureyou Icertainlywasnottrying todeceiveMister Calsi’im...”

Kintsuno and Gintsuno ran up close to him.

“Y-Yeah!” yipped Kintsuno. “It wasn’t on purpose!”

“He understood the terms!” Gintsuno yipped. “The contract is valid!”

The two smiled as kindly as they could, but their voices were unmistakably shrill.

The Contract Executor looked over the contracts. Then she cast her gaze towards the Shadow King and the demon fox sisters and raised her scythe over her head. She uttered a single word. “Guilty.”And down came the scythe. The contracts, which had been floating in the air, were torn to pieces. The scraps rained down on the Shadow King’s head.

“I-It can’t be...” said the Shadow King.

“The Blood Oath Contract...” Kintsuno continued.

“...It’s gone!” finished Gintsuno.

The three stared, dumbfounded.

“Well, how about that!” said Calsi’im. “It looks like that contract of yours is no more! I suppose you’d best be showing yourselves out of the Dark Citadel!”

The Shadow King sighed and turned to face Calsi’im. “You don’t have the strength to cast me out!” he said. “There are only three of you, and I have two thousand elite mercenaries and the demon fox sisters on my side! We’ll take you prisoner by force!”

But as he spoke, the Shadow King noticed something else. His underlings, who had been keeping a perimeter around the throne room, were all lying unconscious on the floor. Not a single one was on their feet. He did a double-take and saw that a great white wolf had somehow made its way into the throne room.

“H-How did this wolf get here?!” he demanded, grinding his teeth together as he shot to his feet and rushed for the back of the throne room. “You can’t use teleportation magic in the Dark Citadel’s throne room! What did youdo?!”

Just then, a crow’s caw rang out. “Caw—!”

“Ngh?!” The Shadow King turned to see a dire crow land next to Calsi’im and Tia. “Did that crow carry the wolf in here?! That’s one way to get around the antimagic field, I suppose. And she’s using physical attacks to get around the restriction on offensive magic! Damn them!” he angrily muttered, hiding himself. “Kintsuno! Gintsuno!” he barked at his underlings. “What are you doing?! It’s just one wolf! Gang up on it!”

But the demon fox sisters didn’t seem eager to follow his orders.

[GENERATION FAILED - RAW TEXT]

“G-Gintsuno...” Kintsuno whispered to her sister. “You don’t suppose that wolf is a lupine demon, by any chance...?”

“I-I had been wondering the same thing, K-Kintsuno...” said Gintsuno.

“I wonder... Is that the same lupine that’s been running around playing guardian deity for the Magical Kingdom’s supply shipments? This might be a bit more than we can handle...”

“If she’sthatlupine, does that mean that that man is...?” Gintsuno trailed off, her body shaking with fear.

A look of shock came over the Shadow King’s face. He pointed a trembling finger at the masked Flio. “Y-You!” he said. “Are you...the Wolf of Justice?!”

During the war, the Wolf of Justice and his companions had fought off attack after attack on the Magical Kingdom’s supply lines. There wasn’t a demon alive who hadn’t heard of him. That should have made him a figure of hatred among demonkind, but demons were a people who respected power. Many of them saw him more as an object of envy for his strength. It was common knowledge that the Wolf of Justice always fought with a great white wolf by his side, as the Shadow King and the demon fox sisters were certainly well aware.

Flio, however, cocked his head in innocent puzzlement.Huh...?he thought.I wore a different mask this time so they wouldn’t recognize me! How did they figure it out?

“I-In that case,” yipped Kintsuno, “we should get out of here!” She transformed from her beguiling feminine figure into a golden demon fox.

“Run awaaaay!” Gintsuno agreed, turning into a silver fox not unlike her sister. She picked up the Shadow King, who was still hiding in the back of the throne room, by the scruff of his neck.

“Byeeee!” The foxes yipped, escaping through a secret passage behind the throne.

But Rys—the lupine nuzzling affectionately up to Flio—made no move to chase them. In fact, Calsi’im, Tia, and the dire crow all simply stood there as the foxes fled.

“Oh!” Flio, who had gotten distracted wondering what had given away his disguise, suddenly remembered where he was and turned to address Calsi’im. “I suppose that’s all you need from us, then?”

“Yes, thank you, Mister Flio!” said Calsi’im. “You were a tremendous help! Thanks to you, we were able to take back the Dark Citadel with no harm done!” Calsi’im gave another one of his rattling laughs. “Theycan take care of things from here!” He looked on at the secret passage through which the Shadow King and the fox sisters had vanished.

◇Later, in a Forest Behind the Dark Citadel◇

At first glance, this corner of the forest looked completely unremarkable—just another overgrown thicket. But then, out jumped Kintsuno and Gintsuno, still in their demon fox forms.

“I-It looks like we got away...” said Kintsuno. Gintsuno couldn’t reply, as she was carrying the Shadow King in her mouth, but she nodded in fervent agreement.

“The lupine must have worn herself out defeating the mercenaries in the throne room!” said the Shadow King, grinning in relief at their near escape. “Ah ha ha! I thought they were a useless lot, but I suppose they came in handy in the end!”

Suddenly, Kintsuno came to an abrupt stop. “Yip?!”

Gintsuno skidded to a halt beside her.

“Watch out!” blustered the Shadow King. “Wh-What wasthatabout?! You nearly choked me!” Indeed, the force of the large fox stopping abruptly had gotten his neck caught rather badly in the collar of his shirt.

Just then, a number of figures had jumped out of the underbrush. “Ah!” said the Shadow King. “The mercenaries I ordered to lie in wait in case of an emergency, is it? I’m glad to see you remembered your— Huh?!” The words died in his mouth. These weren’t his reinforcements, in fact. They were the members of the Dark Army he had driven out of the Dark Citadel, along with Calsi’im.

“Lord Calsi’im was right,” one of them said.

“So they tried to escape this way after all!”

The Shadow King and the demon fox sisters were outnumbered five or six to one.

“N-Ngh!” the Shadow King exclaimed. “What happened to my mercenaries?! I-I’m sure I ordered them to wait here...”

“Oh, them?” said a man, stepping out in front of the Shadow King. “They’re long gone, I’m afraid.”

When they saw who it was, the Shadow King and the demon fox sisters’ eyes went wide with shock. The Shadow King put a friendly smile on his face as he addressed the newcomer by name. “W-Well! What a surprise to meet you here, Mister Zanzibar...!”

Yes! The one who stood before them was none other than the former rebel leader Zanzibar! Behind him, apparently keeping an eye on the prisoner, was Belianna.

“W-We have been most worried about you!” the Shadow King went on. “We heard a rumor that you were taken captive by the Dark Army after we parted ways in the desert!”

“Y-Yeah!” said Kintsuno, putting on a friendly smile of her own. “We tried all kinds of tricks, looking for ways to break you out...”

Gintsuno still had the Shadow King in her mouth and couldn’t speak, so she just nodded in agreement.

“You don’t say,” said Zanzibar, shooting a withering glance at his interlocutors. “You were looking for ways to break me out, were you? So you mean to say youweren’tbusy stealing my hidden treasure.”

“O-Of course!” The Shadow King said, furrowing his brow with stress. “Th-That’s what the mercenaries were here for...” The Shadow King and the demon fox sisters had once demanded a hefty sum to shelter Zanzibar’s army. Worse, they were the ones who plundered Zanzibar’s villas of their treasures. Zanzibar was the last person any of them wanted to see.

“They must have had a difficult time of it,” said Zanzibar, cracking his knuckles as he strode forward. An aura of malicium welled up behind him, shaking with fury. “They were in aterriblehurry to get away once they saw me. Although, thanks to Miss Belianna, we were able to catch them. I’ll give them back, of course. After all, they’ve already confessed to everything.”

Belianna stepped up beside Zanzibar, hefting her scythe on her shoulder. “You three are a damned great deal of trouble,” she said, her own malicium aura manifesting. “Me and the old man here have been looking damned near everywhere for you! I had to miss my sister’s damned summer camp! I’m looking forward to venting some of my damned frustration...”

“N-N-Now hold on just a moment, Mister Zanzibar!” said the Shadow King. “And you, young lady! You have it all wrong! I haven’t stolen a single coin from you! This is slander!” He gesticulated furiously from his dangling position.

“I see...” said Zanzibar. “And are you prepared to sign on it?”

“S-Sign?”

“Yes,” Zanzibar confirmed. “Perhaps you will sign this contract for me, if you will be so kind?”

The Shadow King balked. “Th-This is a Blood Oath Contract! H-How did you...?!”

The contract consisted of a single sentence. “The Shadow King will use neither falsehood nor trickery in his dealings with Mister Zanzibar.”

“I received it from a benefactor of mine,” Zanzibar said. “Regardless, if what you are saying is true, then you should have no reason to hesitate. May I have your blood seal, O Shadow King? An honest man like yourself should have nothing to worry about.” He smirked wickedly. “Unless you’re afraid of the Contract Executor coming for your head.”

He punctuated his last statement by pulling his thumb across his own neck demonstratively.

“Icould take his damned head,” said Belianna, spinning her scythe in a lethal-looking arc. “There’s no damned need for this.”

Unsurprisingly, the Shadow King’s face blanched white. The three had been on the verge of escape, only to find themselves surrounded on all sides. They were trapped, like flies in a web.

◇Later, in the Dark Citadel Throne Room◇

Calsi’im sat on his cloth in front of the throne. “Little Belianna tells me that they’ve safely seen our malefactors to the underground prison! It seems they fainted of their own volition! It might be some time before we can question them... I do wish we could have captured them without anyone getting hurt...” Calsi’im scratched the top of his skull.

“True enough,” Flio said, smirking. “We do need to question them about the Shadow Conglomerate. How about it? Do you want me to heal them with magic?”

“Oh, no, no, no, no!” insisted Calsi’im. “We mustn’t do that! Mister Zanzibar told me to leave them as they are! I suppose he’s still angry at them for stealing all of his treasure!”

“Ahhh,” Flio said. “I see.” His face relaxed to his usual easygoing smile, but with the spades mask on, nobody around him could see what expressions he was making.

Rys, who had turned into her human form and put on a change of clothes, stepped up beside her husband. “Incidentally, my lord husband, why did you ask Zanzibar and the others from the Dark Army to arrest those three? If you had asked me, I could have easily done it on my own...”

“That’s true,” Flio said. “But I figured Mister Zanzibar and the rest of the Dark Army could afford to do some of the work. Right, Mister Calsi’im?”

“Quite right!” Calsi’im agreed. “Mister Zanzibar has committed some rather serious crimes! Treason, for instance! And most of the others I sent were his fellow rebels who rejoined the Dark Army, you see. They’ll have to answer for those crimes when the Dark One Yuigarde returns! But if they were the ones to arrest the people who tried to take the Dark Citadel from us...”

“I see!” said Rys, clapping her fist against her palm in realization. “Even a useless idiot brute like Yuigarde won’t be inclined to punish them if they’re doing such good work!”

Rys’s words brought another smirk to Flio’s face. “A useless idiot brute, you say?” It sounded like Rys knew Yuigarde well from her time in the Dark Army.

“Well spoken, Rys,” said Tia, nodding in agreement. “I myself could not have described Yuigarde more accurately.”

[GENERATION FAILED - RAW TEXT]

“N-Now, Tia...” said Calsi’im. “How many times have I told you? You mustn’t forget to call himLordYuigarde, or at least Dark One! M-Moreover, you mustn’t use words like ‘idiot’ to...to...” Calsi’im trailed off. Even he couldn’t deny the accuracy of Rys’s words.

Flio smiled happily. “Well, we got the Dark Citadel back!” he said. “That just leaves one more problem for us to solve.”

Calsi’im and Tia’s expressions suddenly turned dark. “That’s right...” said Calsi’im. “We got the Shadow King and his minions, but that doesn’t do anything for our financial situation...”

“And Zanzibar’s hidden treasure was lost...” said Tia. “How are we going to pay our army’s salaries or the Dark Citadel’s utility bills...?”

The two folded their arms in thought.

“Actually...” said Flio. “I might have an idea...”

“What was that, Mister Flio?! Y-You do?!”

“Wh-What kind of idea?!”

Calsi’im and Tia came running up. Flio began to explain...

◇Days Later—The Fli-o’-Rys General Store◇

“Let’s see...” Greanyl looked over the contents of the wagon, paperwork in her hand, making sure the inventory was in order. “That seems to be everything. We’re heading out! Take care while we’re gone!”

She jumped up on the wagon platform while everyone else busied themselves with their own tasks.

“Seems like a large load this time,” said the demon horse pulling the wagon as the two left the store behind them.

“Yes,” answered Greanyl. “Today’s delivery is for the new shop, after all.” Then she noticed who the horse was. “Wait... Lord Dalc Horst? How strange. I could have sworn it was Locrah today...”

“O-Oh, well, you know Locrah. He doesn’t really like working all that much. So I guess I’m pulling your wagon again! Nice working with you!” For some reason, Dalc Horst seemed nervous about something.

“Hm...” Greanyl replied. “Well, it’s no trouble on my end. I always know I have nothing to worry about with you pulling the wagon. Do you think you can double-time it?”

“Of course! Leave it to me! By the way, Greanyl... After this delivery, do you want to get a bite to eat?”

“I have more intelligence gathering to do,” said Greanyl. “Don’t worry about me. You can go out to eat on your own if you like.”

“B-But...” Dalc Horst protested, “Th-That’s not what I want...” He sighed as he sped up. “Oh, well. Today’s another miss...”

“Hm?” Greanyl looked puzzled as the pair sped along.

◇Dark Citadel—Front Gate◇

A great crowd of demons stood in front of the Dark Citadel. This group, however, was lined up facing the opposite direction of the Citadel itself. They were queued up, making their way towards a building that had once been a barracks, and had now been remodeled as a shop.

There was a sign outside. It read, “Fli-o’-Rys General Store: Dark Citadel Branch.”

The inside was packed with demons, looking over all the weapons, magic items, and sundry goods on display and taking what they liked to the register for purchase.

“This sword is something else!” said one of the demon customers. “It looks like a normal sword, but it’s got atonof enchantments!”

“These magic gems are incredible too...” marveled another. “It’s almost twice as powerful as the gems you can buy in the market town! And the price is good...”

There was a market not far from the Dark Citadel where demons went to do commerce. But the goods on sale at the Fli-o’-Rys General Store were much higher quality than what you could purchase there, and far more reasonably priced. It was no surprise that the store had been tremendously busy since the day it opened.

“Whoa!” Rayne the pandaman exclaimed as he ran up to the display case carrying a wooden crate. “I just restocked these things, and they’re already almost gone! I guess I’d better restock them quick...” Indeed, the shelf had just about been picked clean.

“Th-This display case is empty too,” said the spider demon Iuki, fighting back a cold sweat and unsteady on his feet. “We’re even running out in the back room...”

Just then, the shadow demon Greanyl bolted into the store. “Greanyl of the Fli-o’-Rys Main Branch, reporting in! We have your supplies!”

“G-Greanyl!” Rayne cried in relief.

“Oh, good, you’re here!” said Iuki. “We had just started to run out of inventory. I was at my wit’s end...”

“I see,” said Greanyl. “Then I’ll help. We’ll have this store restocked in no time.”

Greanyl hurried back towards the wagon she had ridden here from Houghtow City to retrieve its inventory. Rayne and Iuki were close on her heels.

Three figures stood a ways away, watching the scene play out inside the store—the Dark Regent Calsi’im, his minion Tia, and Flio, the manager of the Fli-o’-Rys General Store.

“My, I didn’t knowwhatto think when you said your plan was to open a Fli-o’-Rys branch store in the Dark Citadel!” exclaimed Calsi’im. “But it seems to be going off without a hitch!”

Tia clasped her hands together in front of her chest, pure joy on her face. “You’ve been most generous,” she said, her eyes shining. “Giving us a full third of the proceeds from sales just for rent on an empty building... Employing demons who live in the Dark Citadel... Even paying us a finder’s fee for introducing them to you! You truly are our savior...”

Flio smiled his usual easygoing smile as he watched the bustle inside the store. It showed no signs of abating. “I’d been thinking of opening a second store for a while,” he said, “but there’s so much I would have to figure out. I would’ve had a lot of trouble without you to recommend the location and introduce me to people you know who might make good merchants. I should be thankingyou.”

“Well, I’m very happy to hear that!” said Calsi’im, a slight look of anxiety crossing his face. “But...is this really what you want, Mister Flio?”

“What do you mean?” Flio asked.

“Well, you know! True, the Dark Army and the Magical Kingdom of Klyrode are at peace, but so far, that’s only while I’m serving as Dark Regent! There’s no telling if the Dark One Lord Yuigarde will wish to keep the treaty when he returns...”

Flio nodded and smiled. “In that case, I’ll just have to ask the Dark One personally when the time comes. I’m sure I can bring him around, with your help.”

“Hmmm...” Calsi’im thought. “It’s strange! With you saying so, somehow it doesn’t seem so impossible!” He laughed merrily, his jawbone rattling in his skull.

Tia and Flio simply smiled.