[Romani Oyama]
Francesca Prelati...
I had absolutely no idea who this girl was.
At least the name sounded foreign to my ears, carrying with it a distinctly French quality, right?
But without a shadow of a doubt, she was no ordinary girl. She clearly possessed some knowledge of the supernatural side of the world and knew perfectly well that I was a reincarnated devil. There was no surprise in her gaze, only an amused curiosity.
Staring at the peculiar white-haired girl standing before me, I raised my hand and scratched my cheek, processing the somewhat strange situation unfolding in front of me.
"Pleased to meet you. My name is Romani Oyama. I'm a devil belonging to the Gremory Peerage."
My voice came out a little more monotone than I intended.
"Oh my! What a lukewarm reaction!"
With a smile on her lips, she raised both hands theatrically, pointing her index fingers in my direction, as if she were about to accuse me of some heinous crime.
"I was expecting at least a little more... enthusiasm!"
Noticing that I was simply staring at her in silence, Francesca puffed her cheeks in an adorable gesture. Then, as if it were of no further importance, she simply let herself fall gracefully onto the bed with elegant movements, crossing her legs with the posture of a dignified aristocrat.
"So, how do you intend to entertain me?"
The question came accompanied by a smile as she rested one hand on her thigh, lightly swinging the upper leg back and forth.
"Entertain you?" I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Silly! I summoned you precisely because I was bored." Francesca began absently twirling a strand of silky white hair around her finger.
Summoning a devil for a contract just because she was bored? Didn't that seem absurd? But, setting that aside, there was a small detail that had been bothering me from the start...
"This isn't your room, is it?" At my direct question, she abruptly stopped twirling her hair around her finger. At the same moment, a smile slowly formed on her rosy lips.
"What makes you think that, Romani Boy?" Her voice carried unmistakable notes of amusement.
"Because this looks like the room of a man in his thirties. The anime posters on the wall are from series decades ago." Even though I'm not the biggest anime enthusiast, I could still recognize a few classics from the nineties and maybe the eighties. "And, given the rather erotic posters and action figures scattered absolutely everywhere, this definitely belongs to an adult man with very specific tastes."
My gaze fell upon an action figure of Bulma in a black bunny outfit. I couldn't help but nod in recognition of the room's owner as a true man of culture, a connoisseur of the arts.
For now, let's name this battle brother, this unknown soldier, Otaku-kun.
"Oh my! Oh my!" Francesca raised her hand, touching her own cheek with her fingers. "And what if, by any chance, I had been a man in my past life?"
Past life...
Those words, spoken in a playful tone, resonated strangely in my mind, drawing certain fragments of memory to the surface.
Strange as it may seem, my very first memory of a past life was of having smashed my own finger in a mousetrap out of sheer morbid curiosity. The dry snap of the mechanism slamming shut against my skin still echoed in the far corners of my mind. A rather nostalgic memory, in its own peculiar way.
Come to think of it, I think I was a little strange even as a child.
But setting that autobiographical tangent aside, I simply nodded my head, responding to the supposed Frenchwoman.
"Fair enough! That makes sense..."
"Wait a second..." Francesca waved her hand back and forth, eyes widening in comic disbelief. "That definitely makes no sense at all! How can you just accept an absurd explanation like that?"
"Fair enough! That makes no sense." I nodded again, maintaining the same disinterested expression.
Francesca stared at me for several long seconds in silence before throwing herself dramatically backward on the bed, laughing openly.
"Buahaha! You're far more entertaining than I expected!"
She let out a clear laugh while swinging her legs cheerfully from side to side, providing me with a rather detailed view of her white lace underwear.
Strange...
And it wasn't even noon yet, but I'd already gotten that kind of privileged view of women's undergarments twice.
Delicately wiping the tears running down her face, she rose from the bed with elegance, reassuming her posture.
"So, Romani Boy, why are you simply accepting everything I say as though it were true?"
Francesca leaned forward, resting her elbow on her thigh and delicately propping her chin in the palm of her hand, her eyes never leaving mine.
"I just prefer not to get stuck on a subject going around in fruitless circles." I couldn't help letting out a disinterested yawn. "It's obvious this isn't your room, unless you have some very peculiar hobbies. But regardless of whatever question I ask, you're clearly not the type of person who tells the whole truth, at least not right away. If this keeps up, I might actually die of boredom."
Shortly after, a silence swallowed the room as our gazes remained locked on each other, until Francesca herself, surprisingly, was the one to break it.
"Oh my~! You're quite the dramatic one." Placing her hand gracefully over her lips, she let out a melodious laugh and pointed in my direction with her free finger. "Regardless, we're a little alike in that aspect. So let's get straight to the main point."
Francesca hopped gracefully off the bed, her strange boots touching the floor lightly, before tapping the umbrella against the ground.
"Whether or not I'm the owner of this room, you still owe me a legitimate contract."
"So what exactly is it you want me to do?" An ironic smile curved my lips. "I don't think I can balance a ball on my nose." With a lazy smile, I raised my hand and massaged the back of my neck.
"Logically, do devil things."
She twirled the umbrella elegantly in her hand, maintaining the wide smile on her rosy lips.
Vague as ever... but I think I have a general idea of what she wants. And this would also be a good opportunity to finally test one of my abilities.
With that thought formed in my mind, I raised my right hand in her direction, extending my fingers.
For the first time since I had reincarnated into this world, I felt my demonic power being actively drained. The amount seemed small, but it was being steadily drained.
Instantly, it responded to my will, and a black hole tore open beside her.
The deep darkness emanating from the portal seemed to suck in the very light around it. Francesca blinked repeatedly, startled, her composure wavering for a brief instant in pure ecstasy.
Before she could say anything, a black tentacle emerged slowly from the hole, snaking through the air with sinuous movements before whipping across the room and knocking several items off a nearby shelf.
Sorry, Otaku-kun.
"Oh my! Oh my! These are genuine horrors! I certainly did not see that coming!"
Horrors?
Her words echoed strangely in my mind, slightly disconnected.
Not entirely understanding what she meant, my eyes drifted from her face to the black tentacle still contorting in the air like a serpent.
There was something hypnotic about that appendage. Its surface seemed to actively absorb the very essence of the room's light.
⟨Abyssal Bonds⟩...
An ability that, at first glance, looked like it had come straight out of one of those strange works where girls get molested by tentacles. But for some inexplicable reason, this appendage gave me a genuinely strange feeling.
"Hey! Hey! How many of those can you manifest at the same time?" Francesca swung the umbrella casually, poking the black tentacle with its metal tip.
The very instant the cold tip lightly grazed the surface of the appendage, as if in reaction, the tentacle swung violently, striking the object with a force that made the air whistle.
The impact sent the umbrella flying into the opposite wall, embedding it deep into the plaster like a spear. Which, bizarrely, made Francesca clap her hands in genuine delight, her eyes seeming to spin in ecstasy.
"I have no idea of the exact limit... maybe two or three for now." A slow smile curved my lips as I manipulated the tentacle, trying to guide it toward me with a hand gesture.
The appendage instantly, as if it were a natural extension of my own body, stretched toward me.
Blinking, I watched as it snaked through the air toward me, until it began to coil softly around my outstretched arm in spirals.
I hope I don't end up like some Japanese animation girl being attacked by tentacles. As that disturbing thought crossed my mind, the physical sensation running through my arm was unusual.
Despite appearing to be made of pure darkness, with no apparent substance, the appendage had a surprisingly velvety texture, incredibly smooth and completely devoid of any thermal warmth.
It was like a manifestation from the deepest abyssal depths of the ocean.
"Incredible! Absolutely fascinating!" Placing her delicate hands on her knees, she leaned forward, tilting her head to the side adorably as she stared at me with shining eyes. "Young people these days are really on a whole other level."
"Young people!?" Blinking, I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture, causing the dark appendage to disappear in fragments of darkness. "Are you by any chance an old lady trapped inside the body of a young girl?"
"Oh! My God! Believe it or not, saying that to my face genuinely wounds my delicate feelings deeply." She shook her head from side to side, pressing her index finger to her cheek. "But you know, the organs of this body are only three years old."
Hmm...
Wait a second, you didn't deny being an old lady, did you?
"Just who exactly are you..."
Before I could finish the question, she tapped the tip of her umbrella on my head, appearing suddenly right in front of me.
Girl, when did you even get that umbrella back!?
"A pity! What a great pity!" Her eyes sparkled with malicious amusement. "Our first meeting ended so quickly. But if you ever want to open up Francesca and examine her new organs, I'm at your disposal for dissection!"
Without giving me time to process what she was saying, she spun around and pressed her finger against my stomach.
"Our second meeting will be even better, far more interesting. Maybe I can even bring a special present. But for now, allow me to at least loosen something in you."
"What exactly are you talking about..."
A sharp pain pierced through my entire body, originating from the point where the tip of her finger pressed deeper and deeper against my belly.
"It's a little ironic..." Her smile widened to insane proportions. "A sacred weapon created by the hands of my master, becoming a Sacred Gear sealed inside the body of a reincarnated devil. Isn't that fate itself... a grand destiny!?"
Smiling in a way that could only be described as madness, she brought her lips delicately close to my ear, warm breath brushing against my skin.
"Through many reincarnations, you are my most entertaining possession. I sincerely hope you make things infinitely more interesting, that you make this world a far more amusing place."
Finishing her words, she brought her face even closer to mine and pressed her lips against my cheek.
While a stabbing pain continued to run through every fiber of my body, the sensation of her soft, warm lips against my cheek was, paradoxically, very much welcome.
"See you later, devil-kun. I've loosened your Sacred Gear as much as possible. A small push should be enough to awaken it."
With cold sweat running down my face, I raised my eyes, only to realize the room was empty, without any sign of the white-haired girl.
On the wooden floor before me lay only a thick wad of cash with a small paper note attached to it. On the note, drawn with childish strokes, was a cute chibi of Francesca herself, the little figure patting its hand on its head in a cheerful farewell gesture.
Honestly... waking up in bed next to an unknown redhead in the morning had been the most normal thing that had happened to me today.
With a dry smile, I let my body fall backward, landing on the floor, and lay there staring up at the ceiling as I tried to process everything.
A Sacred Gear...
So I really do have a Sacred Gear. A sacred instrument, created by the biblical God.
Letting out a long sigh, I raised my hand and grazed my fingers over my belly.
I think I can say with certainty that there will be no shortage of stimulation in my life.
A smile formed on my lips the very moment the bedroom door opened and a thin man with glasses walked in.
"Huh? I summoned Koneko-chan. Did I get the wrong one?" The middle-aged man raised his hand, scratching his head. "Wait, why was I in my bathroom, upside down?"
I have absolutely no idea either. Let's just blame the white-haired girl.
Sitting up from the floor, I quickly grabbed the wad of cash and pocketed it.
"Um, sir, Koneko-senpai was busy, so they sent me to take over this contract in her place. I'm Romani Oyama, a new devil from the Gremory household."
Strange as the situation was, I switched into customer service mode. After all, an opportunity to earn a little extra money is never one to be wasted.
Author's Note: Romani has completed his first job, as strange as it was. Contracts are the easiest way for a devil to make a decent amount of money. Although I won't be showing many scenes of him carrying out contracts, he'll still be doing them off-screen.