Chapter 46: Chapter 46: First Contract
In a dimly lit room, Emily sat on the floor with a mixture of hope and skepticism. She held a small flyer in her hands. On it was an obscure circle with multiple strange symbols. It had arrived mysteriously in her mailbox, and curiosity got the best of her. On its backside was a small and short manual on how the summoning worked. Having discovered its purpose, Emily thought it was worth a shot and decided to give it a try.
Emily whispered, tracing her finger along the summoning circle, "If there's any truth to this... if it can really help me find my lost wedding ring... I'm willing to give it a chance."
As Emily finished tracing the summoning circle, a soft shimmering light filled the room as it began to glow, and she watched in awe as a young dark-haired boy materialized in the room. He had a curious look on his face.
With a polite smile, Harry introduced himself, having already learned her name through the magic of the summoning. "Good day, Emily. I am Harry. It seems you have summoned me. What can I do for you?"
Emily began stammering, "Oh, goodness, you are real... I didn't think this would actually work. B-but what kind of devil is called Harry?" she wondered in confusion.
"I am!" chuckled Harry, not expecting such a question. "We have all kinds of names in the Underworld. And my parents decided to call me Harry."
"Eh, sorry. I didn't want to... well, laugh at your name," she apologized, embarrassed.
"Don't worry. Harry is really a strange name for a devil. Well, what can I do for you?" asked Harry, eager to complete his first contract.
Having calmed down, Emily asked, "So... you can help me find my lost wedding ring? I am looking everywhere for it, but I can't find it. My husband is coming home tomorrow, and I don't want to have to explain that I lost it. It must be here somewhere. But... what's the catch? What do you want in return?" At the last question, she was nervous again, having heard stories about devils taking souls and tricking people.
If the ring truly was here, this task wouldn't be hard for Harry to complete. The question was just what he should ask for in return. "No need to be nervous. It's a wise question to ask, especially with the many prejudices being widespread in the public folklore. But things work a bit differently these days," explained Harry as he looked around the room, having seen the TV with a gaming console with multiple games, including some RPGs. "It's like a typical quest in a video game, just that you had to summon me first. You give me the task, I decide whether I can complete it. Next, I ask what I want for it, which can be money, some of your possessions, or even a favor, but souls are forbidden for devils to trade. Once we both agree that the deal is fair, I complete the task, and after that, I get my quest reward. So far so good?"
Nodding and grasping the concept, Emily asked, "So what do you want in exchange?"
"It's not that hard to complete, but it still did cost a bit of my time. Since this is in the US, I want 50 dollars if the ring should be inside the house, and 200 dollars if I have to get it from the outside. Sounds fair?" asked Harry, unsure whether he was asking for too much.
But for Emily, it was no problem. It was totally worth it to get something of such emotional importance back. She agreed, "Yes, that's fine. I just want to have my ring back."
"Okay, then I will complete the task. Can you describe the ring to me, or do you have a photo of it? Knowing what it looks like would make it easier," explained Harry as Emily pulled out her phone, showing him a picture of the wedding day with her wearing the ring. She also told him there was an inscription on the inside.
Having memorized the round golden form with simple decorations and the inscription, Harry focused while putting his hand out as a magic circle formed in his hand. "Accio Emily's wedding ring."
Harry felt his spell succeed, and they didn't have to wait long as the golden ring flew through the door from the kitchen into the outstretched hand of the young devil. "There it is, your wedding ring. You seem to have dropped it while doing dishes."
"Thank you! Thank you!" said Emily as she hugged the boy. "You have saved me so much trouble." Once the ring was safely back on her finger, she got her purse and pulled a stack of bills out of it, handing him 100 dollars.
"That's too much. It really wasn't that hard," tried Harry to reject, but Emily wouldn't hear of it.
"For me, it was very important. So please take it. You have more than earned it," she decided vehemently.
Accepting the money, Harry said goodbye with a small bow before activating the reverse summoning circle, returning to the Underworld. Summonings were an exception from the rules, and they could directly travel from and to the Underworld without any special permissions necessary.
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With the glow of the magic circle, Harry arrived back in the conference room, where he left from for his contract. Besides Grayfia, who sent them off, Rias was also present, having completed her task before him.
"Welcome back, Harry," chirped the crimson-haired girl happily as she saw Harry return.
"Did you complete your contract? Did everything go well?" asked Grayfia, eyeing him curiously.
Harry nodded at their question, showing them the small stack of dollar bills. "Yes, these are my earnings from the deal."
Seeing the small stack of money, Grayfia nodded in approval. "Not bad for a first-time deal. You earned even more than Rias-sama."
"Tch, Grayfia, how often do I have to tell you, stop calling me Sama. It's Rias! R-I-A-S. We are family; there is no need for any special treatment, at least in private. Don't call me Lady Rias or Rias-sama or similar," complained Rias before turning to Harry. "So what did your contractor want from you?"
"She lost her wedding ring and needed me to find it for her. I could complete the task easily with a simple object summoning charm. And what about you?" he asked, interested.
Now Rias got a small blush on her cheeks. "Well, my contractor was some really muscular buff guy. Definitely a bodybuilder."
"Okay, what is so special about it? Did he want something perverted from you?" Harry questioned with killing intent radiating from him.
"No, no, no, nothing like that. It was just such a hilarious situation I was summoned into, and a bit embarrassing for my first contract ever. The really muscular guy stood on a chair crying for help in his kitchen because there was a cockroach in his kitchen," she explained, shaking her head and laughing.
"What?" deadpanned Harry.
"He was crying the whole time in fear, not daring to climb down from his chair while we were deciding on the details of the deal. In the end, I took his dumbbells he was training with and wiped the cockroach from existence with my power of destruction," she explained, pointing at a set of dumbbells on the floor, making Harry laugh.
Once Harry stopped laughing, they waited for the others to finish their contracts, who returned one by one. Having completed their deals, the lesson for the day ended, and they were free to go.
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