Mastema finished reading the book in no time.
It was almost simultaneous with Noel finishing his second cup of tea.
“Hmm, not bad at all.”
“That was quick… you were much slower at first.”
Arnella was a bit surprised at Mastema’s reading speed. It was at a level that could be called speed-reading. At first, she had been taking her time, reading each page carefully while understanding the text.
“Once I understand the words, it’s just a matter of flipping through. I can skip over any unimportant content.”
With that, Mastema ordered a cake and, once it arrived, took a big bite.
“Mmm, the sweetness hits the spot. If I brought this to Hell, I could rule the place.”
Saying so, she even ordered seconds. While Noel and Arnella both limited themselves to one piece out of concern for their weight, Mastema wasn’t worried. Excess energy was converted into magic power, so her physique never changed. Noel and Arnella couldn’t help but envy her.
“There was a pretty interesting book.”
Mastema pulled out a book. It was a light-hearted exploration of research on demons.
It detailed things like the names of Demon Kings and the nature of demons.
“It’s mostly nonsense, but occasionally they get something right. Pretty amusing.”
Mastema opened a certain page.
It was the page on the Demon King Demogorgon.
According to the text, he was the demon that demons feared the most.
“That’s my Demon King. I didn’t expect to see his name here.”
Mastema was under the command of Demon King Demogorgon. His faction was quite small, consisting of just a few members, including Mastema, who did as they pleased.
Even in Hell, where territorial disputes were fierce, this wasn’t a problem because Demon King Demogorgon was that terrifying. It was a well-known fact in Hell that the seven Demon Kings, referred to as the Seven Deadly Sins, never dared to challenge Demogorgon. Mastema puffed out her modest chest with pride.
As one of his subordinates, she boasted that even an average demon would run away in a panic at the sight of her.
“That’s amazing. You’re pretty important, Mastema.”
When Noel patted her head and said that, Mastema snorted and made a proud face.
“Well, I’m spending time here in the human world now, but my Demon King is patient. As long as I return within a few hundred years, it’ll be fine.”
“A few hundred years… demons sure are patient.”
“You lot just have ridiculously short lives. I can’t believe most of you don’t even live to 50.”
“Haha, I wonder if Mastema will be the one to see us off when we pass away?”
When Arnella said that, Mastema started thinking seriously.
“Do you want to extend your lifespan?”
“What? Can you actually do that?”
“It would involve a contract with me… by the way, Ahavain is my vessel for existing in this world, so our contract is a forced one. He doesn’t realize it, though.”
“A contract? Wait, really? Shouldn’t you tell Lord Ahavain about that?”
“Hmph. It’s a punishment. Even though it wasn’t his fault, I was forcibly summoned from Hell, lost the power to return, and though my strength has returned, the link to Hell hasn’t.”
Mastema downed the rest of her tea.
“I’m a good demon, so I’m letting him off with just this. So, what will you do?”
“Hmm, I’ll think about it.”
Arnella laughed and brushed it off, but Noel seemed to be pondering it seriously.
They left the cafe, books in hand.
The sun had begun to set a little. It was probably time to head back.
They knew the way. As they walked toward the inn, they passed by a rather shabby shop. The store was arranged neatly enough, but the only thing for sale was a single staff.
“Hey, girls.”
Just as they were about to walk past, idly observing the strange shop, someone suddenly called out to them.
“Yes? We’re on our way home,” Noel politely responded, intending to turn down the conversation.
An old woman, presumably the shopkeeper, came out.
“Would you like to buy this staff? I’m thinking of closing the shop, but I can’t seem to get rid of this one last item.”
She showed them the staff.
It was wrapped in thorns, with a skull decoration on the tip. Frankly, it looked rather creepy.
To be honest, none of them wanted it. The staff Ahavain had prepared was far superior in appearance.
However, Mastema grabbed the staff.
“How much?”
“Hehe, 50 gold coins will do.”
“Here, take this and be on your way.”
“My, my, the girl knows her stuff. Then, the contract is sealed.”
The moment the old woman took the gold, the shop vanished.
It had become nothing more than an empty alley.
“What… what just happened?” Arnella looked around in shock at the sudden turn of events.
“Hey, Mastema. What was that? And 50 gold coins for something like that? You’re going to get in so much trouble.”
“Don’t worry. He probably knows about this too. And forget what you just saw. That was a witch.”
“A witch?”
“She couldn’t go to heaven because of this staff, so she’s been wandering the mortal world. She likely took the money to bribe a demon in Hell.”
Mastema added that witches can’t enter heaven.
Noel and Arnella didn’t quite understand, but they agreed that if Ahavain got angry, they’d blame Mastema.
Though they both thought Ahavain was a relatively kind master, they also knew that it would be terrifying to make him angry.
When they returned home, Mastema got a knock on the head from Ahavain.
Noel and Arnella both thought to themselves, “Of course.”
Interestingly, it wasn’t because of the money she spent, but because of the thorned staff she brought home.
The staff was a cursed artifact, carved from the corpse of the Thorn King monster. Anyone other than Mastema who held it would be cursed and drained of their life force.
It was said that eventually, the Thorn King would be resurrected.
Mastema wasn’t affected because her rank was higher than the Thorn King’s. In fact, she could even summon the Thorn King temporarily with her magic.
“Don’t bring in troublesome things!”
“But, but this is actually a pretty good staff!”
“You already have a staff!”
“Then I’ll use two!”
“It’s not a sword…”
In the end, it was decided that Mastema would be the sole user of the staff. Ahavain sighed deeply, but after enjoying his favorite chicken at dinner, his mood improved slightly, and the two slaves breathed a sigh of relief.
