Saga of Slime and Devil (Remake)

Vol 2 | Chapter 1 | Treaty of Tempestia

The noble's domain was in disarray. A mixture of his own greed, poor choices, and a bit of bad luck had led to him beginning to face a financial situation that threatened to bring his entire domain into economic collapse. If things kept going the way they were, he was bound to face opposition and potential retaliation. If not from his own subjects, the Kingdom itself would seek to depose and replace him.

The noble had gotten desperate, hoping that by stabilizing his own financial situation, he could restabilize his domain as well, though even that seemed to be coming short on results. While he was able to regain a significant amount of funds, he knew not how to use it to fix his domain's impending economic collapse. If he couldn't fix it soon, this regained money would be in his possession only briefly before he too would face financial collapse and likely deposement from the Kingdom.

There was one possible solution, however. It was one he had hoped to avoid but he was unfortunately left with no choice anymore. The recent months had revealed a new Demonic Summoning ritual, though one strange in its properties. Demon summoning was generally forbidden and knowledge on the rituals needed was rare and hard to come by. For him to so easily find this one was strange and frankly suspicious, but the noble was too desperate to care.

The main strangeness of the spell came from what it used, while not necessarily common knowledge, most knew that to summon demons one needed souls or bodies as tribute, at the very least one would have to offer their own in exchange if nothing else. However, this ritual required none of that, making it fairly appealing for what seemed to be supposedly favorable results. Demons were supposed to reside beyond their plane, so what use a demon had for money was beyond him, but he couldn't care less anymore.

The noble commences the ritual, with no other choice he gambles all the wealth he has left for this Demon, leaving only enough to last him through the next few months if he needs to. If this failed, the money would be enough to allow him to flee and live somewhat comfortably in another country. As he commenced the ritual, the towers of coins around the circle glowed and vanished, swirling around in a twister of magical glow.

After a few minutes the glow faded and standing in the center of the circle was what appeared to be a teenage girl, black hair on her head in a ponytail with a single crimson streak down the center of it. The girl looked almost entirely human but her eyes gave her away; her eyes were black where they should've been white, and their irises seemed to glow in contrast. The demon wore a black and red uniform, one he didn't recognize.

The girl made a polite bow, hand over her chest as she made a smile, it seemed partially genuine, though part of it had a sadistic devilishness to it, most fitting of a demon. The demon spoke with a voice that, despite matching her teenage body, still radiated the power and intimidation given off by a demon, "It is a pleasure to meet you, I take it from your look that you summoned me out of desperation, mind elaborating on what you wish for me to do? I do hope you know that I specialize in... certain fields, so I may not be able to help you directly."

The noble grew worried, fearful that this demon might only work to kill someone rather than provide any help. In the worst-case scenario, he could probably ask the demon to kill some more successful noble and take his riches, giving him more time and wealth to act upon. The noble stuttered "W-Well my domain h-has fallen on hard times... I-I was hoping you could provide me some aid in acquiring more money or fixing the s-situation."

The demon raised her head with a smile, nodding along, "That I can indeed fix, but I must tell you that my solutions aren't immediate. They take time, though I can at the very least guarantee you some resemblance of stability until my plans can truly see to your benefit. I have an arrangement for you... You work for me, obey my commands, and tell nobody about my existence. In return, I'll bring about economic prosperity to both you and your domain, in due time at least. Don't worry about the nature of my requests, in the end, I seek economic prosperity as well. Think of it as a pact of mutual cooperation."