“Contracts.”
“Right...”
A human suddenly exploded.
We gathered the remains as best we could.
When the contractors and our soldiers had calmed down somewhat,
“I do not know if you understand this, but the contract is viciously unfair.”
“Well, I knew that much.”
“...? I do not know how you knew, but... anyway.”
I
decided to hear a detailed explanation from Wonjun.
“Everyone knew it was unfair, but we signed anyway. There was no other way.”
“...Hmm.”
I honestly doubted there was truly no other way.
I let that pass.
“There are several conditions attached to the contract. One of them is this.”
Wonjun trailed off,
then lowered his head deeply and spoke.
“If we try to terminate the contract of our own accord, a restriction is imposed on us. That is the clause.”
“A restriction.”
What kind of restriction it was
I could infer well enough from the flesh that had covered my body minutes ago.
“Life.”
I already suspected it was an unfair contract.
This was beyond imagination.
“Borjin never mentioned that.”
The Green Manes went to the demons’ side, then later quit.
I wondered how that was possible.
The answer was simple.
“That Steppe God fellow... must have helped them somehow.”
On our side with this matter,
there was no help available.
“Tch.”
As I was at a loss for words,
other contractors shouted from behind.
“No one told us that!”
“We did hear there would be a restriction if we tried to break the contract...”
“That the restriction would be death.”
They had known the restriction existed.
They had not known it meant death.
“You all could at least guess that a restriction a demon imposes would not be trivial.”
“...”
“Just look at the [Contract] skill. It only says you must pay a price. It does not specify the price. But you all have experienced it. There is only one thing the demon demands or collects.”
Body and soul.
In other words, everything the contractor is.
“I only realized after quite some time that the restriction likely meant death. I did not say it aloud.”
“Why not...!”
“Because I thought it was meaningless to say. It would only throw cold water on people who had already steeled themselves.”
He covered his face with both hands
and spoke in a hollow voice.
“I never imagined not saying it would cause Jonghwan to die.”
“...”
“At the start, everyone here was resolved. I never even considered that anyone would say they wanted to quit the contract... it is all my fault.”
That it was all on Wonjun.
The other contractors seemed to think the same.
“How... could you.”
The man who had been their leader until moments ago.
Many eyes glared at him with hostility.
“We trusted you and came this far.”
“To hide something so important...!”
“...I am sorry.”
“Sorry does not cut it...!”
The first to contract with a demon had been Wonjun.
The rest had signed on at his suggestion.
All the blame was concentrating on one man.
Of course...
Regardless.
“So what do you intend to do now?”
The soldiers
did not seem very interested in the contractors’ squabbling.
Because of my cooking’s effect,
they did not care much for those outside the Legion.
Aside from Minjae, who knew my cooking’s effect,
they were not the type to immerse themselves in other people to begin with.
Besides,
“Even if they die now or whatever...”
“They are the ones who tried to attack and kill us. Honestly, is this even something we should bother about.”
Those people were also our enemies.
If they regretted it now and died trying to break the contract,
it would not be bad for our side.
“Some soldiers might even find it satisfying.”
The things they did.
Those deeds turning back on them and driving them to death.
You could call it moral retribution.
However.
Hmm.
“This still does not sit quite right with me.”
“...Sir?”
I was not ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ about to tally up that they had supposedly acted for humanity.
“I am asking if you are not angry.”
“...What are we supposed to be angry about, exactly?”
“That thing you call a demon.”
Whatever the motive,
what they did was clearly evil.
I had no intention of covering that up.
But.
“It toyed with humans.”
“...!”
This was what angered me.
“It hid the contents of the contract by craft. It made even escape impossible. It put humans who had goodwill under its hand.”
Until the fall arrived,
humans had ruled this world as its owners.
Us.
“Something from outside came and played with us as it pleased.”
For me,
this point
“is extremely... infuriating.”
I glanced up into the empty air.
[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]
[Demon-kind — Demon]
Its gaze still had not left this place.
It was glaring at me.
It would also know
I was observing it.
However.
“You look relaxed.”
The initial murderous edge was gone.
Now it looked unhurried,
watching as if to enjoy the situation.
Even if it could not interfere directly on the ground,
those humans were already bound to the demon through the [Contract].
It looked at ease, as if thinking there was no way to resolve this.
“Shameless.”
I already disliked it.
If it was going to sit there like that with leisure,
there was no letting it slide.
“We should hit it once, should we not.”
“...Sir?”
****
It is not that I find these people adorable.
They babbled their circumstances at length.
I can only credit one point. They were willing to sacrifice themselves for humanity in crisis.
In the end, they are still our enemies.
However.
“If I leave it like this, I do not think my annoyance will go away.”
Sorry to say.
To ease my annoyance,
“Alright. You folks who raised your hands.”
you are
going to let me use you a bit.
“Everyone, focus.”
“...?”
The contractors had been blaming each other.
When I stood before them and said that,
I felt all eyes turn to me.
“I know you all have a lot to say. Be quiet.”
“...”
“Hrm...”
The demon could only look down on this place.
Direct interference was impossible.
All the minions it had summoned were exterminated.
They could not even muster resistance against us, much less a [Contract], because of the intense [Will to Live].
We were clearly the superiors.
They were clearly the subordinates.
“I will ask a few things.”
“Ask... what?”
“What are you suddenly saying...”
“I think you have all realized that you were scammed.”
I looked at them
and spoke with a slightly arrogant air.
“First, explain the evil acts you have committed so far.”
“...”
“What, you are holding your tongues? Should I take that to mean you want to die?”
“A-alright!”
Contractors whose heads were stuffed full of Will to Live by my cooking.
When I pointed gun barrels at their heads,
they answered rather quickly.
“W-we did commit some evil acts by His command.”
“Mainly things that would help Him when He descends later...”
“What do you mean, things that would help.”
“...The Guide has a trait called knowledge of evil acts. Using the knowledge from that trait, we drew magic circles here and there that store malevolent energy and such...”
“Tch.”
They planned for the demon to absorb the energy stored in those places
when it descended someday.
“B-but please believe us. We almost never harmed anyone directly.”
“I do not know. Hard to believe just from your words.”
Even if they claimed it was to save at least a few humans,
they were willing to use any means to do it.
I figured they might already have submerged a fair number of humans.
“...There was a reason.”
“Hm?”
“It would be a lie to say we did not cause harm...”
The man who had served as the Guide,
Wonjun, spoke.
“It has not been very long since I first contracted with the demon. Our numbers are still too small.”
“What does that have to do with anything.”
“...What the demon commanded me was simple. First, gather lots of comrades. The reason is obvious. The more comrades there are to be offered up, the more ways the demon can interfere in this world through contracts.”
The more contractors lay down their lives at once,
the stronger the wish they could plead to the demon.
“Even if we encountered other humans, we planned operations to recruit them to our side as much as possible. My group, which started with barely twenty people, became this many for that reason.”
Those wishes would in the end be pleaded to accomplish what the demon wanted.
From its perspective, it had to increase contractor numbers as much as possible.
“...Hmm.”
“However, as I said, I do not think we caused no harm.”
With a face full of guilt, he continued.
“I told them there is no way to survive in this world. I led them to despair.”
“...”
“Then I breathed a sense of duty into those despairing humans. At least a minimal portion of humanity must be saved.”
In that manner,
the other humans they met became like them.
“We made them His slaves. That is also evil of the worst sort.”
He lifted his head,
looked at my face, and spoke.
“But believe me. You were the first we tried to attack even at the cost of sacrificing our precious comrades on a large scale.”
“Right. That bothered me too. Why did you even attack us in the first place.”
“You broadcast that radio.”
“...Huh?”
Radio?
He must mean the broadcast we sent on Minjae’s advice.
“Why bring that up now.”
The reason sounded random to me.
For them, it was very important.
“As I said, He wanted numbers. But... the name ‘demon’ sounds ominous to humans.”
Ordinary people
would never choose that contract.
“If they have even a little leisure or any hope, they do not choose a contract with a demon. Only at the very end, when there is not a single other option left, do they choose a contract with a demon.”
To contract with a demon,
you must have no leisure and no hope.
So.
“We had to stop your radio no matter what.”
“...I see.”
Because of our radio,
humanity learned how to hunt monsters.
Even now in real time, people would be growing stronger.
“If humanity grows stronger, they also have less need to depend on others, and there is no reason to contract with a demon.”
“Close, but there is one more.”
“Hm?”
“Your very existence must have become other humans’ hope.”
“Hope?”
“Hope that a surviving military force will come rescue them someday.”
...
Hope.
“Humans with hope do not lean on demons. The number of humans who could serve Him would drop drastically. Therefore.”
“You had to remove us as quickly as possible.”
“That is right.”
I see.
I understood enough why they attacked us.
“Hope or whatever is too grand for me to say.”
In the end,
it was a judgment that we would hinder the demon.
“...I roughly understand.”
Given a bit more time,
if their power grew,
they likely would have caused great harm to other humans.
Just like with us,
there would be another human force somewhere that could harm the demon.
“Then I will ask you one last thing.”
“What.”
“I get that you contracted with the demon. Then.”
Fortunately,
so far at least, they had not dealt great harm.
“If there were a way to be free of that contract.”
“...?”
There was one proposal
I thought I could offer.
“Would you take it.”
“...!”
At that,
a stir spread among the contractors.
“W-what.”
“You mean there is such a way...”
“Wait!”
The murmuring contractors
were silenced by Wonjun.
“You all. Have you already forgotten what just happened to Jonghwan.”
“...Ah.”
“Watch your words. If you say the wrong thing here, it will be trouble.”
One man had already tried to come over to our side and died.
These contractors too.
If they opened their mouths wrong, the same would happen to them.
Even so,
“I do not understand your question.”
“Hm?”
The man who had been their leader,
Wonjun, spoke to me without flinching.
“I already told you. The demon has become the owner of our souls.”
His face was half resigned.
He was probably thinking that if he died now, so be it.
“I told you it is absolutely impossible to leave that control by our own will.”
“Hmm. I did hear that.”
I had heard.
I had heard, but.
“Is that last part not just your personal opinion.”
“What...?”
I replied with a look of disbelief.
Absolutely impossible to leave its control.
“Is it not a bit much to give up without even trying.”
A military organization
does not always move rationally.
Plenty of absurd orders come from above.
At such times,
there is the soldier who at least shows he will attempt the impossible.
And there is the soldier who refuses the order because it is impossible.
“Enough.”
Between the two,
the military usually wants the former.
“If there is a way to be free, just tell me whether you will choose it.”
“...You have already seen it, have you not. The moment we speak it aloud, we...”
“I did not tell you what the method is, did I. Frankly, the method could be to grovel to the demon and beg him to let you go.”
“...Nonsense.”
I was the one saying it,
but it was nonsense.
In truth,
all the contractors kept watching one another and could not open their mouths recklessly.
Like that,
a silence followed.
“This is normal.”
I had a plan built on a slim chance,
but it looked like I would not need it.
That was when—
“...I see. Understood.”
The man who had been silent, mulling something,
Wonjun, finally spoke.
“Guide... no. You. Understood what...?”
“If we answer that question... the only one who dies is probably the one who answers.”
Huff.
Huff...
Cold sweat trickled down his face.
Ragged breaths leaked from his mouth.
“If that is the case...”
Breaking the [Contract]
would apply to the single person who speaks an answer to my question.
The rest would not be directly breaking the contract.
They could, somehow, preserve their lives.
In other words,
“I started this. It is right that I end it.”
Like how Borjin, who had arranged the demon contract, tried to pay for his sins
by carrying out the Great Chieftain’s order.
“Are you resolved.”
“...Yes.”
“Then repeat after me.”
The one who first contracted with the demon,
Wonjun,
resolved to pay the price for what he had done.
“Say, ‘If it is something possible without violating the contract, I want to be free.’”
“...If it is something possible without violating the contract, I want to be free.”
Until moments ago,
he had been the target of all hatred for being the one who started the contracting.
When he said that,
“Y-you...!”
“Guide!?”
The contractors stared at him in shock.
An act of choosing one’s own death to represent everyone.
All eyes fixed on Wonjun, wondering if his head would burst right away.
“...Huff!”
Even Wonjun,
having said it, sensed his death and squeezed his eyes shut.
“...?”
“I-is he not dying?”
There was no explosion.
No price was taken for violating the contract.
“...So this works.”
What their contract said was simply this.
If they tried to break the contract, a restriction would trigger.
Therefore,
“I added a condition that we would not break the contract.”
I honestly had not expected it to work.
It was a clause I tossed in on a whim.
It must have just barely avoided violating the contract.
Heh.
The problem was this.
If they now tried to actively escape the contract,
the restriction would apply without mercy.
“Good. I like it a little.”
The dish [Will to Live] was still affecting them.
Even though it was obvious he would lose his life in that situation,
he used willpower
to overcome the effect of my cooking and speak.
“That is enough. I will handle the rest.”
“...What are you going to do.”
Wonjun, sweating cold as he awaited death,
and the contractors including him,
all looked at me full of questions.
“You said it yourself. That thing will never set us free...”
“About that. Want to hear something interesting.”
“What.”
I am a cook, but
I was not cooking professionally before the service.
Instead,
I had two juniors who were trained chefs.
I heard all sorts of stories from them.
“My direct junior... a guy named Junhyuk.”
“Direct junior? Why bring that up.”
“Something I heard from him. Restaurant work is insanely hard.”
At my rather random remark,
the contractors, of course,
“Sergeant Shin...?”
“What are you even saying.”
even the soldiers looked at me in puzzlement.
“So the job posting for kitchen staff is always zero. In other words, always hiring. That is how hard it is to find people.”
“Why are you rambling nonsense.”
“But that is not the real problem. The real problem is when you finally, with great difficulty, manage to hire someone.”
Because the work is so grueling and harsh,
even if you somehow hire staff,
“there are so many who work one day and disappear the next without a word.”
“...?”
“Even if you try to send at least the first day’s wages, they grit their teeth and ghost you and ignore all contact. Honestly, not that it is someone else’s story. Junhyuk did the same at first.”
Grin.
“Want to know the moral of the story.”
Their occupation is demon contractor.
The reason they cannot be free is also that occupation.
In that case,
“You do not need the boss’s permission to quit a job.”
If I make them not contractors anymore,
that should do it, should it not.
