A Friend’s Decision

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

That morning, what woke me was an extremely high-pitched scream—or perhaps a cheer.

When I opened my eyes, Lenis came running out of the cabin toward me.

“W-Wait, what is this?! What happened for things to turn out like this?!”

Lenis looked seriously alarming.

And by alarming, I meant not only her volume, but the expression on her face from being far too excited.

It was not the sort of face a girl her age should ever be making.

I looked around, but nothing in particular seemed to have changed.

All I’d done was sleep leaning against Bella, with Pisca perched on my head.

Sleeping on the bare ground outdoors might admittedly have been unusual, but since I was a devil, my body didn’t get sore, and Bella was warm, so it was actually surprisingly comfortable.

“Why are you looking so confused?! I’m asking why there’s a Cerberus and a Pixie here!”

Former Cerberus and former Pixie, technically.

Hmm, judging by the fact that she was coming closer, she didn’t seem afraid… Apparently this girl liked magical beasts and fairies in addition to sorcery.

“Lenis, stop making such a fuss. You’re troubling Lept-kun.”

The one who came over and admonished the noisy Lenis was Annie.

Unlike Lenis, Annie didn’t make a scene when she saw us.

Come to think of it, Annie had already known Bella from before.

“Mm, morning, Annie. Did you sleep well? Morning to you too, Lenis. You were certainly energetic first thing in the morning.”

I greeted the two of them.

Lenis looked somewhat dissatisfied and muttered,

“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re making it sound like I’m the weird one.”

But seriously, that face had been something else.

Annie lightly pinched Lenis’s cheek and said,

“Good morning, Lept-kun. Come on, Lenis.”

“But Grandma… Fine. Good morning, Lept-san.”

The two of them greeted me together.

Yeah. Today was definitely going to be a good day.

I cleared the debris out of the half-rotten well and purified the water using Sterilization Magic.

Bella and Pisca were still asleep, apparently not yet finished with their devil transformations, but they would wake eventually.

Resting a finger against my chin, I pondered for a while over what to do about breakfast.

If I wanted to make anything elaborate, the ingredients weren’t the problem; unfortunately, we simply lacked cooking utensils.

I sliced a suitably sized rock with Wind Magic, sterilized the flat surface, then blasted it with fire to heat it.

Then I took sliced bread and bacon out of storage, laid them on top, timed them, and flipped them over.

At the same time, I carved wooden cups and plates from leftover lumber from when I’d built the cabin, once again using an application of Wind Magic.

Tea was probably impossible… Even doing my absolute best, hot water was about the limit.

When I finished and turned around, Lenis was staring blankly while Annie wore a wry smile and said,

“Lept-kun, you really haven’t changed at all.”

Yeah, well, I understood what she meant, but breakfast was important.

Also, Magic really was convenient.

After eating, while drinking hot water, I asked the two of them what decision they’d reached.

Whether they wanted to run, hide, or fight.

But Annie’s answer was slightly different from what I’d expected.

“I’ll fight. But not by killing people. We’ll have to stay hidden while doing it, but I intend to contact sorcerers who oppose the current Sorcerers’ Association.”

Annie said that first, she would rescue and shelter sorcerers who had openly voiced opposition to the war—in other words, those currently being purged.

Among the sorcerers opposed to the current Sorcerers’ Association, there had apparently already been casualties, but there were also those still fleeing their pursuers, as well as others who had so much skill, fame, or political influence that no one had yet dared move against them.

She planned to gather together the sorcerers who were currently scattered, hiding or defending themselves individually, combine their strength for mutual protection, and increase their influence.

Then she intended to persuade the sorcerers who opposed the Association but had kept quiet out of fear for their own safety.

For convenience, I decided to refer to sorcerers opposed to the current Sorcerers’ Association as the moderates; though few in number, many of them had belonged to the old Sorcerers’ Association, and apparently they included quite a few highly capable individuals.

Annie believed that if they pooled their strength, they might become a deterrent against the current Sorcerers’ Association—or perhaps give it a reason to reconsider its ideology.

It seemed like an extremely sensible approach, but it was also dangerous, idealistic to the point of naivety, and very difficult to pull off.

“I could never have managed it alone, but with you here, Lept-kun, we can travel while staying one step ahead of the enemy. We actually have a chance. I may not look it, but I know a lot of people.”

Well, naturally.

I had no idea how many years Annie had spent delivering supplies to other sorcerers, but there were surely plenty of them who owed her something.

…Well, it would certainly be dangerous, but if that was what Annie wanted, then so be it.

If anything happened, I—or rather, we devils—could simply protect the women who had made a contract with me.

The only problem was that I still didn’t have the coordinates of this world’s major cities, but that could easily be solved by having Annie take me there once with Gate Sorcery.

If we used Annie’s sorcery to travel somewhere from a place other than this base, allowed me to acquire the coordinates, and then returned here using my Gate Magic, our pursuers would lose track of us.

It might also make for a useful diversion.

Either way, we needed to go out and buy cooking utensils and other necessities for daily life.

“The other thing I’d like to ask is for you to prepare several bases for the sorcerers we gather to operate from and… when you have time, I’d like you to teach Lenis sorcery. Please pass on to my granddaughter the knowledge Garmon-san taught you.”

…Good grief, there certainly was a lot to do.

I furrowed my brow and thought about it for a moment.

Of course, I had no objection to helping Annie or passing Garmon-san’s knowledge on to a younger sorcerer.

In fact, since I had planned to begin with sorcery training in order to teach Bella and Pisca how to manipulate spiritual particles and magical essence, I could even say it was convenient.

But even taking that into account,

“…I don’t mind. But that isn’t just a little underpriced—the payment is nowhere near enough. Sorry, but I’m a devil with subordinates to support now.”

The offering for manifesting in this world alone would leave me operating at a massive loss.

If it were only me, I wouldn’t have cared if it was for Annie’s sake, but it would be a problem if there was no reward for me to share with Bella and Pisca.

“By subordinates, you mean Bella-chan and that Pixie-like girl, right? Bella-chan looks the same as she did before, but she’s become a devil too. So that means you’re a special being capable of doing that, doesn’t it, Lept-kun?”

Yes, ordinary devils couldn’t do such a thing.

But apparently Annie remembered that I had once intended to suggest devil transformation to Garmon-san when he was approaching the end of his lifespan.

I possessed a Personal Demon Realm—or rather, now that subordinates had been born within it, I was the owner of a Demon Realm and an existence capable of creating subordinates.

There was an enormous difference in power, but even so, that meant I was the same kind of being as Devil King Grazen.

When I nodded, Annie said brightly,

“Then once everything is over—or if I die along the way—I’ll offer not only my soul, but everything that I am. In other words, when that time comes, make me your subordinate, Lept-kun. That should be enough, shouldn’t it?”

That was what she said.

Lenis’s expression twisted first in shock,

“Grandma, what are you saying?!”

and then in anguish.

Of course it did. There probably weren’t many people who could be happy about a member of their family becoming a devil.

And since Annie was most likely Lenis’s only family, that made it all the more understandable.

As for whether it was enough, it certainly was, but…

“What I actually wanted was something filled with magical power that I could distribute to Bella and Pisca… Well, fine. That is certainly sufficient payment. …But you’ll have to convince your family yourself.”

Annie’s proposal had been so unexpected that I let out a sigh as I told them that.

I might have been a devil who had entered into a contract, but even I couldn’t meddle in family matters.

Still… I see.

If Annie eventually became one of us, then that would probably be a lot of fun.

Yeah, I thought so.