Strawberry Devil in a Fantasy World

While I was wandering around in the city centre looking for the embassy hall, I secretly planted some of my clones in the ground. Having backup bodies would never hurt me. These were dormant bodies that wouldn't grow but rather only to gather traces of mana to sustain themselves and transfer to me. In the case any demons tried to eat my mana through a clone, I could easily cut them off.

With the city centre obviously exposed to the sky, I couldn't tell how this city was able to remain untouched by the reptilians.

Is it camouflage with magic? It can't be because there used to be international trade...

My curiosity got the better of me just as I reached the doorstep of the embassy hall. I ascended into the sky, above the peaks of the mountains.

Surprisingly, past the mountain peaks visible from within the city was another circular mountain range but much taller that reached even beyond the clouds. The peaks were covered in snow and ice whereas the vertical slopes shone like obsidian.

To see beyond, I had to fly even higher. As a fey being, at least in my case, I didn't normally feel cold. However, my clothe was becoming stiff from the chilling air.

I didn't know what altitude those magitech ships could fly up to but as I flew even higher, a sight stunned me. A wall of clouds extended from one horizon to the next was just outside the encirclement. That itself was breathtaking.

When I turned around to see what was behind me, in the direction of northeast, I could faintly make out the images of floating islands.

I could not help but exclaim, "No. Way. This... This is what I call a fantasy world!"

How much mana does it take to create that wall? And, the islands, to make them float? That's beyond me. Seriously, that is amazing! I can't wait till I get a chance to visit that place!

Those floating islands were hundreds of kilometers away based on my visual estimate. I would probably have to stop in between at smaller settlements to reach there. Anyhow, I decided that was going to be my next destination after this  trip. I just had to ask Kanoko for permission to go on a longer business trip.

"I'm done sightseeing. It's time to get back to work." I sighed before freefalling back into the city before making a soft landing.

Work was work.

I entered the embassy hall and greeted the nearest clerk with my official seal.

"One moment please." The clerk lead me into a private room before she quickly went to fetch her superior.

Moments later, a felinefolk entered the room. We exchanged greetings and I provided information regarding the events that occurred in Vera. He wrote down some brief notes and I answered a few questions.

To be honest, I didn't really understand the current situation within Vera hence there really wasn't much I could tell this official. I was advised of the actions this city might take but that was about it. All in all, the meeting was short and to the point. I wouldn't be able to sit through long boring meetings anyway.

After that, I placed some more clones in the city on the mountain sides. This was so that I could teleport here any time I wanted to in the future.

"My work is all done! Time to buy some snacks... Ehehehe..."

It was important to reward myself after hard work. Thus, in the afternoon, I enjoyed eating lots of snacks. If there were anything interesting, I bought it. My wallet was keeping pace as long as I didn't overspend on the expensive goods.

Before sunset, I made sure to wash myself in a local bathhouse, to remove any scent that would get me in trouble with Smoothie. She would only be upset and jealous if she smelled food on me even if I provide an adequate excuse.

Sniff, sniff.

All good. Time to go home!

I didn't need to report to those military engineers because they were acting separately. All the work in the tunnel was cut out for them so there was nothing to worry about. Although there were two other tunnels that still needed some work done, this time my assignment had nothing to do with them.

I teleported back to Vera and returned to my residence. In the living room, only the board game pieces remained.

Smoothie should have left last night. And, depending on how fast they were travelling, they should arrive at their destination within twenty days or so. The only thing I was concerned about was that our original home was near the border of human territories. There were also dangerous monsters but since Haelley's people were professionals in both combat and likely hunting, that shouldn't be a problem. Either way, I planned on joining them later on in case troubles arise.

Now that I'll have plenty of quiet time, I suppose I should meditate and find a way to nullify that contract.

So far, that demon hadn't made a move. If I was him, I would have already made my move and killed the anomaly. Nobody would level up suddenly and stop at one level before a double evolution. Thinking back, it was a stupid idea to level up like that. Sure it was fun and exhilarating, but that was one of the most dangerous things I had ever done. I would never repeat it.

I slapped my cheeks with both hands, "Alright, this is no time to get distracted! Let's see how far we can go with this."

To ensure no one could distract me, I entered my subspace from my room. As far as I was concerned, this was the safest place. Although nothing was stopping those with godlike authority from entering it, I doubted many had such authority. In addition, if they wished to enter without my permission, they would either have to sneak in or know my subspace coordinates. Based on my understanding, magic dealing with space and time coordinates was extremely complicated, not to mention the amount of mana required.

The construction progress within my subspace was quite slow, or rather, this place was just too large for someone of my caliber.

"Hmm... I should shrink it... Wait, I should be meditating!"

I quickly built a bubble around myself, adjusted the passage of time within the passage, and entered a meditative state. The floating feeling with no gravity was just perfect for this.

Think... Think... Think back... What's exactly on that contract?

The deal with the daily strawberries was definitely on there. We definitely cleared the management issue, claim and distribution rights. I held all the rights to everything I produced. As long as he receives five strawberries, all is fine. There was no issue with the shape and properties with the strawberries. This meant that slightly poisonous and seedless strawberries are acceptable.

I hold all the cards, don't I? I clearly read everything, even the fine prints, not that there were any...

Let's re-examine it from a different perspective. I must have missed something.

Soon enough, the contract was clearly visible in my mind's eye. All the words were there along with my signature.

Wait, originally it wasn't supposed to be a soul contract, right? The signature, how come it has my mana in it? Is that how contracts are supposed to work? Curses, I don't have any knowledge on that. I should have asked Smoothie to look it up for me before she left.

Regardless whether it was a soul contract or not, De Planck would come after me if I broke it.

If I was him, how would I break the contract? How... Eh, can he just not have anyone pick the strawberries? Would that count? The wording was that he was "allotted five strawberries per day." I guess not.

His side of the bargain was the headhunting service. He had to provide me with candidates whenever I called upon him for that service. Unfortunately, there was no penalty for him if he broke the contract. Even if there was a penalty for him, I couldn't enforce it. It would be interesting if I could reap his soul in return. The issue was I didn't even know where he lived and I couldn't fight him head on without losing my life should he choose to answer my summon. Moreover, nothing was stopping him from ignoring my summon.

From what I understood, demon's names were magical words themselves. That was why we couldn't normally say them out loud. There was no problem if the speaker meant completely something else.

Could it be that because I have the |devious| trait, I'll automatically evolve into a demon? No, serious, way? I guess that's plausible and he's just banking on it. That's why he hasn't made a move?

As much as I would love to remove that trait, I didn't know how.

There really was too much to sort out by myself.