Sword Saint Story: Starting from Zero Attack Power ~After being abandoned by my childhood friend, the princess, I enrolls in a magic school and ends up making a contract with the Demon Lord~ Volume 2 Chapter 1

 Chapter 1 Eugene speaks with the Demon Lord

“Hey, you’re late, Eugene!”  

“Sorry about that, Ellie.”  

As I arrived at the Seventh Sealed Prison, I was greeted by a beaming Demon Lord. Her black wings fluttered with a pata-pata, and she seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood.  

On the other hand, I was here for my routine duties with the Biology Club, but… today, I felt a bit heavy-hearted.  

This was the first time I’d faced the Demon Lord since forming a contract with her.  

“Come on, over here, my Eugene.”  

“Who’re you calling…”  

I tried to protest, but her words carried an irresistible magical allure. In the end, I obediently sat beside Ellie. Then, with a tug, she pulled me by the shoulder and pushed me down.  

Powerless to resist, I found myself lying on the bed with Ellie straddling me. Her gaze, looking down at me like a predatory beast, was even more bewitching than usual.  

Normally, this would be the moment she’d start tearing off my clothes or stripping herself…  

But for some reason, today, she hadn’t done anything yet. She’d only pinned me down.  

“Hey, Eugene… how did it feel to be connected with me through our last contract? Did it feel good?”  

“D-Don’t phrase it so weirdly!”  

The memory made me feel strange again.  

As Ellie said, during that moment, I was intoxicated by an odd sense of omnipotence. …But.  

“No, more than that, afterward, it felt like my strength—my life force—was drained…”  

“Oh, that? That’s because the [Demon Lord’s Miasma] and [Angelic Aura] flowed into you all at once, so your mind got overwhelmed. I put up a [Barrier Magic] afterward to protect you, didn’t I?”  

“Yeah, you really saved me back then. Thanks, Ellie.”  

“Oh? Really?”  

At my words, Ellie grinned with a nima-nima smile, like a small animal toying with its prey—an oddly endearing expression.  

“So… what’s the price I have to pay for the contract? Let me be clear: breaking you out of here is beyond my abilities.”  

I voiced the concern that weighed most heavily on me.  

Most likely… the Demon Lord’s wish would be to break her seal and escape this underground prison. Personally, I didn’t harbor much aversion to the Demon Lord.  

We’d had personal conversations, and I’d even confided in her at times.  

I felt a slight fondness for her, if I’m honest. But she was still Erinyes, the Demon Lord who once ruled the southern continent. Breaking her seal and setting her free was out of the question.  

Yet… in the battle against the divine beast, victory would have been impossible without borrowing Ellie’s power. No, I can’t even call it a victory.  

I merely managed to earn the acknowledgment of the divine beast [Cerberus].  

If Ellie were to say, “Help me escape,” could I refuse her…? After all, a contract with a demon is absolute. If that’s the case, then I…  

“Hmm… well, for now, it’s fine. I don’t really have any requests.”  

“…Huh?”  

Despite my hesitation, the Demon Lord answered casually.  

“No, no, you wouldn’t lend me your power without a price, would you!? And you’re always saying you want to get out of here!”  

“Yeah, ‘cause it’s boring in here.”  

“So then…”  

“But that’s because you weren’t challenging the labyrinth at all, Eugene. Things are different now, right?”  

“… …”  

Ellie’s words left me speechless.  

“You’re going to take on the labyrinth that the surface dwellers call the [Zenith Tower], aren’t you? So I’ll have to guide you. Fufu, this is getting fun!”  

With a kusu-kusu laugh, Demon Lord Erinyes chuckled freely, as if she were truly enjoying herself.  

Her demeanor was almost angelic.  

“But then, what do I owe you? I can’t just keep borrowing your power…”  

As I mumbled, Ellie looked at me with a puzzled expression.  

“What are you talking about, Eugene?”  

“What do you mean, what…”  

“I’ve already been getting plenty from you.”  

“Getting…?” What was she talking about? No way…  

“Did you… take my soul, Ellie?”  

“Idiot!” Pesh! She smacked me on the head.  

“What do you take me for, Eugene?”  

“A Demon Lord, obviously.”  

Everyone on the southern continent knows of her—the legendary Demon Lord Erinyes.  

“That’s right, a Demon Lord. But I’m not a demon. Why would I need your soul?”  

“Well, I can’t think of anything else…”  

“You’re so serious, but such a natural airhead… What do you think you’ve been doing, coming to see me every week?”  

“Well, that’s…”  

I hesitated to say it aloud.  

—Offering my vitality as a sacrifice to the Demon Lord.  

That was my role in the Biology Club, a duty personally assigned by Headmaster Uther. In exchange for this role that only I could fulfill, my academy fees were waived.  

Ellie continued, speaking as casually as if we were having a friendly chat.  

“Every seven days, you come to let me embrace you, don’t you? Honestly, I’ve been feeling a bit guilty for playing with your body all this time for free.”  

“Huh…? I was being played with?”  

It was a shocking revelation. I looked at Ellie’s appearance again.  

Her long, beautiful hair.  

Her flawless white skin and crimson lips.  

A perfectly proportioned figure, more flawless than a doll’s.  

When we first met, knowing she was the Demon Lord filled me with fear.  

But even now, after getting used to her, her beauty still took my breath away at times.  

“What’s wrong, Eugene? Are you suddenly smitten with me?”  

“N-No way!”  

I brushed it off with a dry voice.  

“So, you’re saying I’ve already paid the price? No additional payment needed?”  

“Yep, but…”  

At that moment, Ellie licked her lips with a pero.  

“Today, I might take a bit more than usual ♡.”  

“… …”  

I swallowed hard. As Ellie said—  

—The act that followed was far more intense than usual.  

◇  

(…My body feels heavy… so sleepy…)  

Leaving the underground prison, I trudged back toward the dormitory.  

I just wanted to get to my room and collapse onto my bed.  

By the way, Ellie was fast asleep on her own bed, snoring soundly.  

I wanted to crawl in and sleep beside her, but… maintaining the [Barrier Magic] while sleeping was such a hassle. As I was thinking about that—  

“Ah!!”  

A voice called out from a distance, followed by the pata-pata of approaching footsteps.  

“Eugene-kun! Hey!”  

“S-Sumire…?”  

I ran into my partner, Sumire.  

“Huh? What’s wrong? You look exhausted.”  

“N-No, it’s nothing like that.”  

I nodded once at Sumire’s words, then brushed it off. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but…  

I wanted to avoid her asking what I’d been doing.  

“Hmm?”  

“What about you, Sumire? Weren’t you supposed to meet Leona today?”  

I subtly changed the subject.  

“Yep, I’m on my way to see her now. Oh, and I had a meeting with the headmaster earlier, and he told me to tell you to come to his office if I saw you, Eugene-kun.”  

“Headmaster Uther?”  

What could it be? By the way, Sumire is required to have regular meetings with Headmaster Uther.  

I once asked her, “What do you talk about with the headmaster?”  

According to Sumire, it’s things like, “Have you made any friends?” or “Are the classes too hard?” or “Any complaints about the cafeteria food?” It’s like talking to a nosy uncle.  

I was shocked that he’d use precious meeting time for such questions.  

Couldn’t he just ask those things directly?  

Apparently, he really wants to talk to a member of the [Flame Godkin Tribe] in person.  

He’s such a scholar at heart—it’s hard to believe he’s the ruler of a city-state.  

“Got it. Thanks, I’ll head over.”  

Honestly, I just wanted to rest, but if the headmaster was calling, I’d better hear him out quickly. His time is far more valuable than mine. Plus, I had a few things I wanted to discuss with him. As I turned toward the headmaster’s office—  

“Wait, Eugene-kun.”  

“What?”  

Sumire tugged at the hem of my clothes.  

“There’s something on your clothes. Is this a feather?”  

“…Ah, yeah.”  

It seemed to be on my shoulder. Sumire was holding a [black feather] between her fingers. It must have fallen from Ellie’s wings.  

“Haha, a feather, huh? Wonder when it got there…”  

“A pitch-black feather. Maybe a crow’s?”  

“A crow?”  

“Um, it’s a black bird from my previous world.”  

“…It’s not a bird’s feather.”  

I answered in a serious tone. Ellie—or rather, all members of the [Angelic Tribe], it seems—take great pride in their wings. Even fallen angels are no exception.  

I once said her wings looked like a bird’s, and she got genuinely angry. That was terrifying…  

“I’ll take care of the feather. Hand it over.”  

“Here you go!”  

I took the feather from Sumire. At that moment, she gave me a suspicious look.  

“Sumire?”  

“Hmm… Eugene-kun, your body smells like this feather.”  

“Huh!?”  

I hadn’t noticed it myself. But Sumire, being a member of the [Flame Godkin Tribe], has senses sharper than an ordinary person’s. She picks up on things even I wouldn’t notice.  

“Maybe it’s from that rare creature you’re taking care of in the Biology Club? Now that I look at it, this black feather is really pretty.”  

“Y-Yeah, something like that.”  

Sumire’s senses were too sharp today.  

“I wanna see that rare creature sometime!”  

“N-No way! The sealed prison is dangerous.”  

“Aww, really?”  

Sumire pouted in disappointment. It’s possible that Sumire, being a [Flame Godkin], might be fine, but… I had a feeling I shouldn’t let her meet Ellie.  

“Well, I’m off to hang out with Leona-chan!”  

With that, Sumire skipped off with a tata-tat.  

(Phew… that was close.)  

There was no real reason to panic, but I did anyway.  

I watched Sumire’s cheerful, skipping figure as she left.  

(Alright, time to see Headmaster Uther.)  

I headed toward the headmaster’s office.  

◇  

The headmaster’s office at Lykeion Magic Academy is right next to the staff room. But the headmaster is almost never there—he’s usually holed up in his research lab.  

Today, though, I could sense his presence from within.  

I knocked on the heavy, weathered door.  

“This is Eugene. I’m here at Sumire’s request.”  

“Come in.”  

A voice responded.  

“Excuse me.”  

I announced myself and opened the door.  

Inside, Headmaster Uther was seated, squinting at a grimoire with incomprehensible text on its cover.  

His desk was piled high with unfamiliar magical artifacts.  

Not only that, but the entire office was littered with various magical artifacts and grimoires. They were treated carelessly, but each one was likely worth millions of G.  

Once, I accidentally kicked and broke a magical vase lying around. Later, I learned it was a [Magic Vase of Endless Water], enchanted to produce infinite water.  

It was worth about five million G on the market.  

Panicking, I apologized to the headmaster and asked what to do.  

“Oh, it broke? Just toss it out,” he said nonchalantly.  

The headmaster’s sense of value is absurd.  

Careful not to touch any magical artifacts, I sat on the guest sofa in front of his desk.  

I thought I’d have to wait until he finished reading, but he closed the grimoire immediately.  

“Boring book.”  

“What kind of grimoire was it?”  

“Interested, Eugene?”  

The headmaster tossed the grimoire to me with a poi.  

“Whoa!”  

I hurriedly caught it. The black cover had a strange texture.  

And above all, it felt… slimy and unpleasant. What is this!?  

“What’s this book?”  

“It’s a copy of a grimoire called [Necronomicon], but it’s no good. Too much missing information. You can have it if you want.”  

“…Isn’t this book cursed?”  

The [Barrier Magic] protecting my hand was crumbling rapidly just from holding it.  

I had to recast the spell multiple times. No matter how you look at it, this wasn’t a normal grimoire.  

“Yeah, it’s cursed, alright.”  

“…I’ll give it back.”  

I gently placed the grimoire on a nearby bookshelf. Don’t hand me cursed books…  

“So, what’s this about?”  

With a small sigh, I asked. The headmaster looked at me and grinned.  

“Hoh? You don’t know why you were called here?”  

His words made my heart skip a beat. …Of course, I had an idea. I’d been planning to bring it up myself. But I hadn’t yet figured out how to put it into words. If I wasn’t careful, I could end up branded a criminal and thrown in jail.  

Yeah, that was definitely a bad idea… As if reading my mind, the headmaster spoke.  

“Eugene, you made a contract with Demon Lord Erinyes, didn’t you?”  

“… …”  

I was at a loss for words. It seemed the eyes of the ruler of the Labyrinth City saw everything.