Devouring Angels with Demon’s Sword - Chapter 13
“Where did you get this?”
The assistant manager, now wearing gloves, carefully examined the sword after cautiously touching it.
Eventually, seemingly convinced that it was genuine, she asked me that question.
“Wait a minute. You were holding this with your bare hands earlier, weren’t you?”
Yet, despite that, I hadn’t fused with the Void Sword.
That could only mean one thing: I had already fused with another demon sword.
“Please, keep this between us.”
I had no intention of hiding things from her.
In fact, quite the opposite—I planned to tell her everything and get some advice.
Honestly, if I wasn’t going to be open about it, I wouldn’t have shown her the Void Sword in the first place.
“Come.”
With an outstretched arm, blue flames flickered into existence in the empty space before me.
When I grabbed them, a short sword with a polished blade as reflective as a mirror appeared in my hand.
—
“I see, so it was the Abandoned Prison. Come to think of it, that place is barely within the generation range,” she muttered, crossing her legs as if understanding after I gave her a rough explanation.
She then narrowed her purple eyes, the same color as her hair, and stared at me intently.
“It’s a miracle you made it back alive. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, considering you passed my interview process.”
If I recall correctly, she hired me the moment she saw me.
And I wasn’t even looking for a part-time job; she practically forced me into it.
“…So, you brought this Void Sword to me, which means you have no intention of dealing with the Demon Swordsmen Association, right?”
I nodded silently in response.
After getting home yesterday, I did a bit of research and found that there’s currently no way to separate a fused demon sword from its host—except through death.
And the association is always looking to recruit more demon swordsmen.
If I were to report myself, I’d inevitably get dragged into joining, whether I liked it or not.
Joining an organization without fully understanding how it operates? No thanks.
“Well, that’s a sensible decision. The association’s full of muscle-bound idiots who only care about brute strength. There’s no shortage of problematic types, either.”
Even if I had to cross that line someday, it would be wise to thoroughly prepare in advance.
I was grateful for her seasoned advice on how to navigate the world.
“For now, I plan to keep it hidden until I graduate high school. I don’t want to worry my sister either.”
Just another six months or so.
I’ll leave the decisions for after that to my future self.
Good luck, future me.
“Sounds like a solid plan. Just make sure you don’t slip up and reveal yourself.”
The assistant manager tapped her fingers twice on the desk, a habit of hers when changing the subject.
“Back to business. I’ll take care of selling the sword. How about I charge you 20% of the sale price?”
Given the nature of the item, it would be a tricky task to sell it without revealing the source.
Yet she was offering quite a modest fee.
“I was thinking we could split it fifty-fifty.”
“The value of Void Swords is skyrocketing by the day—they’re as valuable as luxury cars now. Twenty percent is more than enough.”
Her motto was to always deal at a fair price.
I’m sure there was some employee discount worked into it, but if she said that, I figured it must be the going rate.
“If you come across another one, bring it to me. There are plenty of buyers who’d want it, and I’d take as many as you can get.”
“That’s fine, but…”
I didn’t have any other connections to sell to, after all.
That said, I highly doubt there’ll be a next time.
Honestly, I hope there won’t be.
—
Oh, right.
I almost forgot.
“Manager, while I’m at it, can you take a look at this too?”
I handed her the black stone I’d found near the Void Sword after escaping the Abandoned Prison.
I briefly explained its context, and the assistant manager received it with a puzzled expression.
“…This… could it be a *tenshiki* from the Heavenly Prison? But this color…”
She rolled the black stone in her palm, still wearing her gloves.
However, she couldn’t seem to discern its exact nature, clicking her tongue and shaking her head slightly.
“I’ll send it for appraisal. I’ll hold onto it for now.”
She tossed the stone onto her cluttered desk and glanced at the wall-mounted clock.
“…It’s already this late? Alright, get that delivery done.”
“Ah, got it.”
Even though it’s against school policy to commute by bike…
Oh well.