I squeezed Dominic's hand reassuringly. "Whether you're human or not, you're my family. What do you think? Do you still want to be human?"
Dominic bit his lip, his brow furrowed in thought. "Yeah… I have a lot of things I want to do if I become human."
"What do you want to do the most?" I asked.
A moment of silence passed. Dominic wiped his face, his eyes bloodshot with emotion. "The thing I want to do most is… to grow old with you, our friends, and the little ones." He shrugged, a slight tremor in his voice. "If only that were possible, Mel."
I simply stared at him, not offering any quick comfort. I met his dark eyes, which held a depth like the deep blue sea. Dominic seemed to notice the quietness between us, scratching his eyebrow as he muttered, "Mel, you're acting like you have a way for me to become human right now."
I had been waiting for him to say those words. A slight smile played on my lips as I nodded. "I do. It's just an idea for now, but if it works out, you might become human sooner rather than later."
Dominic fell silent for a long time, looking at me intently before speaking again. "But if that happens… our contract will be over."
In that moment, I understood his fear completely. He was afraid of being separated from me. I felt the same way, but I made an effort to sound cheerful, patting him on the shoulder. "Why? You'll just be a free friend then."
"A free friend," he repeated, rolling the words over in his mouth. He seemed to like the sound of it, and color returned to his face.
This was the perfect time to ask him my next question. "Before we go any further, I have a question for you. If you become human, will the demons be freed?"
"Yes, and I'll go to the demon world and seal it off so they can't return to the human world," Dominic replied, his tone serious and sincere.
I squeezed his shoulder and grinned. "That's no good." Dominic's puzzled expression met mine as I shrugged. "We can't let them go. Let's not call them slaves… let's hire them as official part-time workers instead." After all, our demons have a lot of power; we should use it wisely, right?
"Oh, Mel." Dominic's eyes twinkled, as if he'd caught some of my wicked thinking. "I know a magic contract that works even on demons," he said, the corners of his mouth turning up in a sinister smile.
At the same time, our eyes turned to the sword where the demons resided. A wicked smile began to spread across our faces.
"Am I… the boss?" the Winter Moon Demon's face swelled with hope.
I looked at him and smiled inwardly. It's all going according to plan.
We were standing in front of the second branch of the Supia Academy stationery store, which was about to open. Dominic and I had lit candles as if performing a ritual and pulled out a small contract. Then, using the powerful magic sword, we had summoned four demons at once.
And since I summoned them and said I'd make them the "bosses," they've been in a frenzy ever since. The demons, especially the Winter Moon Demon, had been running around the store for the past ten minutes.
The Winter Moon Demon stopped and pointed at the newly created 'The Devil Cries Taste! Dalgona Coffee.' "Dalgona coffee…"
Another demon quickly grabbed a cup and drank it down. "My body feels so strong!" he shouted, slamming the cup down with a triumphant cheer.
Heck… no, it's the demon version of heck, I thought, deciding to quietly watch how far they would take this.
Just then, another demon muttered in a muffled voice, "Since I'm the boss… let's put cotton candy in the drink, too."
"Isn't that a little too much?" I asked.
My words brought the frenzied atmosphere to a slow halt. Now was the time to have them sign the contract.
I looked at the Winter Moon Demon's hopeful face and said in a solemn voice, "Yes, you're the boss. You can stay here for a very long time… until I die."
"You mean we can stay here forever?!"
"We'll give you Dalgona and slushies, too."
"Oh my god! All three?!"
"This is amazing! Where's the contract? I'll sign it right now so this angelic human can't withdraw from the contract!" the demons cheered.
"Satan will love you for this!" The Winter Moon Demon even kissed me on the cheek.
This is too easy, isn't it? I'd just enslaved them, even though one had almost stabbed me in the side before. I smiled with satisfaction and stroked the Winter Moon Demon's hair. "Yes, you're going to be the boss." I deliberately left out the word "slave."
"Oh, my heart is racing!" The Winter Moon Demon took a deep breath, so deeply that I could almost see his throat. That's information I really didn't want to know!
Ignoring my thoughts, I held out the contract to him. "Stamp it."
The Winter Moon Demon, oblivious to my inner turmoil, nodded, raised his thumb, and slammed it on the contract. "I, the Winter Moon Devil, swear to faithfully perform my duties as president!"
Good. All these iron-clad slave contracts are done. "I really like you, Winter Moon Demon." Looking at the demon who had just been reborn as a true slave, I muttered in a low voice, "But before you become presidents, there are some things you need to deal with first."
The Winter Moon Demon's eyes sharpened. He looked ready to kill anything that stood in his way, a chill filling the warm stationery store.
"First, the other demons also need to sign the contract."
"R-Right!" The other demons stamped their thumbs on the contract one after another.
They didn't even read the contract properly, I thought, scratching my chin and smiling deviously. It's a contract full of poison!
However, the demons, who had no idea what they had just agreed to, were already dreaming of their futures as the bosses of stationery stores 2, 3, 4, and 5.
"So who's the bad guy?"
"Hmm…"
"Who dares to block our path to becoming 'bosses'!" the demon shrieked, a black aura more powerful than a knight's aura seeping from his small body. "That's why! Who's in our way!"
Before I could say anything, all four demons huddled together. They clenched their fists so tightly that their rice-grain-sized fingernails turned white. They raised their lips in a wicked, demonic smile and whispered grimly, "If there's an obstacle in our way, we'll swallow them whole, to the bone!"
"Let's have a bloody carnival!" The small stationery store was filled with an aura of monstrous menace.
Eventually, the demons began to jump and spin around with me in the middle. Wow, they really love being a boss that much? It's almost like they want to kill someone for it…
At that same moment, the palace where the Pope resided was steeped in quiet darkness. He was enjoying the gentle breeze blowing in from the courtyard of the annex. His clean, pure white priest's uniform, starched and pressed, did not rustle in the wind. The Pope's voice was calm. "The devil is rampaging in the world."
The Pope was also a demon dealer, proficient in all kinds of magic and sorcery. Because of this, he was able to get a general picture of the situation in Meldenik.
At his words, the middle-aged priest standing beside him flinched. "Forgive me. Due to a lack of evidence, we were unable to fully catch the accused. The whereabouts of the exorcists planted in the Marquis of Kinnoa are also a mystery. I think I should take action immediately."
The Pope slowly closed his eyes and then opened them again. "No, this person is not an easy one to catch."
The priest began to sweat profusely. "Please, I beg you, Your Majesty. Please give me another chance…!"
"No, that's not it. He told me to come in person if I had something to say." A faint smile appeared on the corner of the Pope's mouth. "Then I'll have to go find him myself." He stared down at a small cube in his hand, a deeper smile spreading across his face. "He seems to want me to go to him myself… I'll have to see you in the near future."
The Pope was known for his relaxed personality, but he was quick to act when it came to achieving his goals, especially when the key to changing his future was right in front of him. He turned and strode down the courtyard. The moon was bright, but no shadow was cast at the Pope's feet.