Canticle: Code Caligula

Chapter 32: Goetia's Key

 "What do you mean we only get paid half?!" Lilith yelled at Zozo, who was cowering behind the counter.

"Seriously! We bust our asses for this contract and you're telling me we only get one-hundred thousand sols?!" Mura said, chiming in.

The little impish boy held out his small hands in an attempt to ward away their negative words.

"I really sorry, Mister Headband! I only tell you what your bosses told me!"

Zozo adjusted the brown cap on his head, pulling it up with a renewed grin. He tossed a plastic card through the air toward Mura, only for the Jikininki to catch it between his fingers with a frown.

Mura looked over the card. It was a business card, with an outline of Zozo's face in the center and his telephone number underneath. The letters and numbers present on the plastic were embossed in a silver foil that reflected light like a treasure.

"Listen though! You wanna talk things over with them? We have very good year-long membership where you can send messages to loved ones, co-workers and so on at very affordable prices—"

"Save the sales speech, kid. You got anything else for me besides my reward?" Mura said, cutting Zozo off with an exhausted sigh.

Zozo perked up, his fanged smile gleaming from the neon signs in his outpost.

"I do! Mister Headband has very important mission being prepared at the moment! When the details are finished, I call you on little girl's phone!"

Lilith glared at the demon behind the desk.

"Little girl?! I'm eighteen for your information! By the way, how do you even have my number?"

Zozo giggled mischievously, waggling a thin finger at the yokai.

"You guys are Jikininki! Since Zozo's company is partners with the top command of the Empire, your information is also my information!"

The thought of their personal info being in the hands of this imp made Mura's spirits drop, but he relented.

—He's the top communications business in the industry for a reason, I suppose.

Mura slipped the plastic card into his coat pocket, knowing he'd most likely be utilizing it again in the near future.

"Let's head off, Lilith; we can do some sightseeing until he's ready for us," Mura said.

She nodded, reaching up to hold his hand as they walked out of the sliding

door they came in through. Being enchanted by illusionary magic like the previous time, as they walked out of the door to Zozo's outpost, they rematerialized within another location altogether.

Kirin had told them earlier in the morning of numerous other portal entrances to Zozo's location; all located within the city of Ema. Demons and other supernatural creatures needed more entries other than the one illusionary wall located in a bolder on the outskirts of the city.

Giving Mura and Lilith a map of the city where these additional portals were located certainly helped make visits less of a chore. The entryway they had chosen was located in a bar. Little did they know the actual portal was hidden inside of a bathroom stall. The bathroom was continuously guarded by an old male yokai that would grant access if one said the password.

—I still can't believe the password to get in was 'Grant me the boon of blue toilet paper'...

Mura and Lilith both emerged from the bathroom stall, waving goodbye to the elderly yokai awaiting their return. With a flick of his ghostly fingers, he snapped and the lock to the bathroom itself unfastened.