"Okay Roko." Olivia sighed, "We finally got you to take a break."
"Who's this 'we'?" Roko scoffed, "You were the only one complaining."
"Yeah because it's part of my contract to 'protect you'!" Olivia scowled.
"That includes health management now?"
"Depending on the interpretation, yes."
"So you're just interpreting it that way."
"Well you did promise to get us a grimoire." Olivia frowned, "And all you've been doing is reading since you got here!"
"Yeah. I learned a lot." Roko replied simply.
"I was hoping for a little more action out of this contract." Olivia growled.
"Fine, we'll go confront someone." Roko rolled his eyes, "Anything to get you away from your husband am I right?"
"He's not my husband." Olivia scowled.
"Hey."
Roko's rather rude greet drew the irritated attention of one of Olivia's fellow demons, currently disguised as a normal looking man.
"Can I help you?" The demon asked, trying to sound professional to keep up his disguise but evidently displeased with this human's presence.
"You're Basil Jasil right?"
"Yes..." Basil growled.
"Or should I just call you, Dietrich?"
"Please do." Dietrich moaned.
"Alright, Dietrich." Roko chucked, "First things first, why the hell are you called Basil Jasil?"
"What, isn't that what a perfectly human name?" Olivia frowned, popped into existence beside Roko.
"Basil is but Jasil?" Roko frowned, "In fact, why do ALL of your fake human names rhyme?"
"What do you mean? They don't ALL rhyme." Olivia said.
"Are you sure about that Lydia Rydia?"
"God I hate that name."
"And what of your husband, Brian Syain?"
"Roko, if you call him my husband one more time, I'm gonna castrate you."
"Pfft. I know you think that I think you're good at magic but I know you know that you're not THAT good at magic. Yet."
"You know that I know that I think that you-" One could see Olivia's brain short circuiting as she tried to unravel that sentence before she ultimately gave up, "GODDAMMIT, THIS IS WHY WE HATE COMMUNICATING WITH HUMANS!"
"Is that why all your names sucks?" Roko rolled his eyes.
"NO! It's because all you human names sound stupid!"
"Maybe but we're not 'Lydia Rydia' bad."
"I dunno sounds the same as Roko...wait what even is your last name?" Dietrich frowned.
"Never you mind, Basil Jasil." Roko crossed his arms.
"Aw come on." Dietrich scowled.
"More important, and my second point, I know you have a contract with a human."
"Really? That's what this is about?" Dietrich rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I got one. What about it?"
"Hand it over." Roko held out his hand expectantly.
"You serious?" Dietrich sneered, "Just because you have a good contract doesn't mean you get to butt in on my contracts."
"Actually, I already have Josiah Kosiah's permission to modify existing contracts."
"Heh. At least you called the boss by his stupid human name too." Dietrich chuckled.
"Eh. Josiah Kosiah is somewhat cool sounding at least."
"Of course he'd put more effort in his own name." Dietrich scowled, "Well just because the boss gave you permission doesn't mean you get to butt on my contracts either. They're incredibly personal things you know!"
"How personal could it be when the human you contracted with doesn't know about it?"
"How'd you know?" Dietrich growled.
"I have spells that give me info on my targets." Roko shrugged, "I can see what demonic contracts exists between you and humans so long as I have used my spells on both."
"Isn't that invasive?"
"You say that like your demon contracts aren't parasitic in nature."
"Well what about your contract with Olivia?!"
"She's learning more from me than I am from her."
"I hate how that's technically true." Olivia grumbled.
"For what it's worth, I already know what kinda contracts you all have been making." Roko crossed his arms again, "All exploitative. All parasitic. Not even personally crafted either. You all just use the same basic draft."
"And what's wrong with that?" Dietrich scowled, "We can't all make personal contracts on a whim like Olivia."
"You make it sound so easy..." Olivia rolled her eyes.
"The point is that I need you all to be as strong as possible." Roko shook his head, "And if I can do that by tweaking the contract a little, I'll do it."
"What's it matter to you?" Dietrich's eyes narrowed, "We're not your personal army or anything."
"You will need to be stronger if you're going to survive what's coming in this village." Roko pressed, "Just give me your lame ass contract already."
"Excuse you, is that how you ask for a favor?!"
"Please." Roko scowled, "Your contract isn't worth the paper it's printed on. That's the entire point of an exploitative provisional contract to begin with."
"That's not the point! It's a privacy issue!"
"Your privacy doesn't matter when you're committing crimes!"
"It's only a crime to you humans!"
"Which is why I'm prosecuting you!"
"Screw you I don't got to take this from you!"
"I can and will beat it out of you!"
"Oh you think you can beat me just because you got Olivia?!"
"How about you call in your contracted human too then?!"
"Screw you I can beat you on my own!"
"Bet." Roko snapped his fingers and Olivia conjured a black box that covered over the room Dietrich was in before fading out into a white void.
"Y-You can make pocket dimensions now?" Dietrich gulped.
"Olivia can, yes." Roko smirked.
"T-That's a pretty big upgrade." Dietrich smiled nervously, "Good job Olivia."
"Hate to say it but this is mainly thanks to Roko." Olivia growled, "How the hell do you even have information on dark magic?"
"I know a very wise spider."
"The fuck does that mean?"
"You have access to my memories don't you?"
"Ugh, homework."
"Still..." Dietrich grinned, "It's nice to finally let loose for once."
Dietrich's human body bulged and expanded well beyond the human frame it was hiding behind. His skin grew dark black as he became so large that even one muscular arm was bigger than Roko's entire body. Cloven hoofs clattered to the ground as Dietrich straightened his smug demon face now adorned with spiral horns.
"Now...let me rip you apart!"
Dietrich reached out to grab Roko but his arm was held stuck in place as Roko just glared up at him.
"Hoho! Telekinesis strong enough to hold me back?" Dietrich sneered, "Not bad at all young human! Or should I say, Olivia!"
"Yeah, that's me." Olivia sighed, "Just fulfilling my contract terms. No offense, Dietrich."
"None taken!" Dietrich laughed, "But you're not as strong as me just yet!"
Dietrich swung his other arm at Roko who simply reached out to grab it, stopping it with only one arm.
"Hm." Dietrich squinted, "Is that...reinforcement magic? Or armament?"
"It's both." Roko replied, letting Olivia reveal the aura and complex magical armor covering his arm, "Anything else you want me to match?"
"Peh." Dietrich scowled, his confidence fading fast, "Then try this!"
Dietrich jumped back, freeing himself from the grip that both Roko and Olivia had on him and retreating high into the air, "This is my strongest attack!"
"Better impress me." Roko warned, bored already.
"Heh. Take this! Blaze Corruption!"
And all at once the ground that Roko was on began burning with him in the middle of it. And between the tongues of flame was a mist of familiar black.
"Blaze Corruption huh?" Roko raised an eyebrow, "So he's burning corruption? What a nice guy."
"Act brave while you can!" Dietrich crowed, "The flames will converge on you eventually! And the curse spell I laced among the flames will make the pain more and more unbearable for you! Hahaha! Ahahaha-"
Olivia snapped her fingers and the flames and mist all dissipated in seconds, cutting Dietrich's laugh with abject shock and horror.
"Olivia." Roko smirked, "You sly dog. Was that a counterspell?"
"Yeah, what the hell even is this technique?" Olivia frowned, "Some old elf used this? It's literally just making the same exact spell but in reverse so that it cancels out the spell? That's so ineffective and not to mention that the mana released from the spells dismantling very quickly makes the environment very dangerous for magical creatures like us."
"Better not use it that much then." Roko chuckled.
"U-Uh...buh...wha..." Dietrich tried to say something but was still having trouble understanding what happened.
"Oh hey, Dietrich!" Roko called, "You done trying? Wanna hand over the contract before I get serious?"
"Uh...uh...uh…."
"You want me to attack for once then?"
"I...what?"
"Go on then, Olivia."
"What should I use?" Olivia asked.
"Take your pick. You're poking around my memories again aren't you?"
"Yeah, I've been looking for this spider you talked about."
"Aranea was way earlier than Zinnia, what the hell are you doing in there?" Roko frowned.
"I can't help it when I'm looking for something specific but then some weird shit pops up and I have to see what this is about." Olivia growled.
"Am I really that interesting?"
"...No..." Olivia said, unable to look him in the eyes.
"Just attack him already, you silly demon."
"Don't you-...ah whatever." Olivia sighed, "Get meteored."
"What?"
And out of no where, a flaming meteor appeared from out of the sky and smashed into the ground with an enormous explosion. And explosion that definitely would've caught Roko in the middle of it if Olivia had not zoom out from the explosion, moving them without Roko even having to physically move.
"I don't remember seeing that spell..." Roko frowned.
"Hm? Oh yeah, it was part of some hazy memory that you don't quite remember but you did come up with it I think." Olivia nodded.
"...When was this?"
"Uhh...back when you wore that cursed crown apparently? Like I said, the side effects are making it hazy but I can try and clear some of it up if you want."
"...Can you do me a favor?"
"Yeah sure, you need me to clean it up?"
"Never touch those memories ever again."
"Oh, sorry." Olivia raised her hands, surprised, "I didn't know it was such a sensitive time for you."
"It's not sensitive on a personal level." Roko scowled, "It's just dangerous."
"Dangerous how?"
"For the entire world."
"..."
"I told you to stop looking didn't I?"
"Sorry, sorry!" Olivia sighed, closing the pocket dimension and dropping a scorched Dietrich onto the ground, "Uhh...we were supposed to take his contract right? He uhhh...he might take a while."
"That's fine. We can come back for it later."
"Really? Then what are we gonna do now?"
"Try and get the next contract."
"Really?! There's more?!"
"There's like...20 more."
"That's..." Olivia rubbed her face, "That's way too much, man."
"Blame your coworkers for being stupid and reckless." Roko scowled.
"When did you even find out all of these?"
"I told you, if I scan the demon and the contracted, I can find out if they're related. That's why I went out there to Driftwood to begin with, to make sure I got all of them."
"That was why?! I thought we were there for the food!"
"I mean, I was hungry."
"Wait, are we gonna have to fight them ALL?!"
"If we have to."
"Roko, if I can be honest for a moment, I'm dead tired."
"Fine, we can retire for today." Roko rolled his eyes, "Go back to your husband. I'll head back to your pocket dimension to finish researching."
"Roko, please, you're my only hope. Please stop referring to him as my husband." Olivia pleaded as she opened a portal to said pocket dimension.
"Then talk to him about it." Roko replied sternly, "Make your boundaries clear."
"You make it sound so easy..." Olivia growled.
"Oh! Hey Lydia!" Momo waved as Lydia returned to the inn, "Haven't seen you in a while!"
"Oh. Hello." Lydia waved awkwardly, "Good to see you all. Except...where's Corissa?"
"She's cooking." Helena nodded, "About time for dinner tonight after all. Hope you don't mind her using the kitchen. She's probably helping out with other orders too."
"T-That's fine." Lydia nodded, "I'm sure the patrons appreciate good food for once."
"I'll say." Momo grinned.
"Say..." Helena's eyes squinted, "When did you ever try Corissa's cooking? I thought this was the first time she was cooking here."
"Oh. Uhh..." Lydia's eyes darted about nervously as she tried to come up with an answer, "I just figured she'd be better at cooking. Our own cooks aren't exactly the best."
"Aw, I thought your food was alright." Momo replied, "Not Corissa level but people rarely are."
"Why don't you just marry her then?" Lydia muttered.
"If I could I would." Momo answered, startling Lydia who thought she couldn't hear it.
"Hey! Lydia! Can I get some fried chicken and crisps?!"
"Hey! Lydia! Can I get some crisp chicken and fries?!"
"Hey! Can I get some of that new stuff?! What was it called, Nasi Lemak?"
"Oh!" Lydia yelped as she scrambled around her apron for a notepad, "O-O-Okay, can you repeat those-"
"Sorry boys." Brian boomed as he wrapped Lydia up in a protective arm and pulled her close, "Lydia's been overworked recently so I'm taking her off the floor for a while."
"Aw man."
"Come on!"
"No arguing. Come here."
Momo and Helena watched as Brian moved Lydia away to a backroom.
"Good husband." Helena nodded.
"Very good husband." Momo agreed, "Lydia's a lucky one."
"Yeah. Can you imagine if she was married to Roko instead?"
"God I don't think any of us could handle marrying Roko."
"Except Corissa."
"Except Corissa." Momo agreed.
"Thank god she has Brian instead."
"Thanks." Lydia sighed as Brian sat her down with a cup of water.
"No problem." Brian said, sitting down across from his fake wife, "Just...can we talk for a moment?"
"What's the problem?"
"..."
Making one last look around to make sure no one was around, Brian let a bit of his demon horns and fangs appear as he said,
"Why did you make that contract?"
"..." In response, Lydia let her skin darken and let her wings and tail back out as she sat back on her chair and sipped the water, "Whatever do you mean?"
"You know what I mean." Brian growled, "That...human. That...Roko guy."
"...He's useful."
"Is that it?"
"Why else would I make a contract with him?"
"I dunno, he...seems like a...uh...ummm..."
"Were you gonna say nice guy?" Lydia smirked.
"No." Brian smirked back, "Dunno how to really describe him but nice was not on the list."
"You're not the one contracted to him." Lydia sneered.
"Ain't that the truth!" Brian laughed heartily, "So...everything good between us?"
"What do you mean? Nothing's changed between us."
"Right." Brian nodded, his whole body seeming to relax after shrugging off a heavy burden, "Right. Okay. Cool. Nice. Uh, you take the night off alright? I'll handle the humans."
"Kay."
Brian left the room with a new spring in his step and as soon as the door to the backroom closed, Olivia slouched over on her chair as she hung her head down.
"Wow." Roko's voice came over in her head clear as day, "You're a terrible person."
"Shut the fuck up Roko." Olivia sighed, "I don't need it today."
"Damn, sorry. I forgot I'm just the useful human. I'll let your husband take it from here then."
"Roko, I told you not to refer to him as my husband!"
"And I told you to talk to him about it! Because from what I just heard, you don't actually sound all that opposed to being married to him even if it's for a cover!"
"I...I just..." Olivia moaned, "IT'S HARD OKAY?! He's a nice guy and I don't wanna break his heart and-"
"Look, I'm just a regular old Not-nice guy here but-"
"I swear to god Roko..." Olivia groaned.
"-but I just think you need to get better at communication and set proper boundaries. Otherwise, you're just stringing this nice demon along, letting him think you like him when you don't. Unless...you DO actually like him?"
"I...I dunno..." Olivia sighed, "He's nice but like...I'm just not attracted to him like that."
"Then you need to either give him a chance or make it clear that your relationship is strictly professional. Because I can tell you he's not gonna stop unless you be clear with him on where he stands."
"I know...I know but..."
"Olivia. I know you think you're being nice but you're actually being cruel. The more you string him along, the harder the eventual break-up will hit him when it happens. And that's not even going into how it's going to hit you."
"..."
"Now I'm not going to leave until you promise me that you'll set things right with him by tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow night?!"
"YES! Now promise me!"
"I..."
"...Lydia 'Olivia' Rydia!"
"Okay fine, I promise!" Olivia shouted, "Don't you call me by my stupid full illegal fake name!"
"Okay good." Roko nodded, "And if you can't get it done by tomorrow night, I will literally write it into our contract to make you do so."
"You wouldn't dare..." Olivia growled.
"Try me. Not-nice guy, out."
And then Olivia was left alone in the storeroom again.