"I'm not interested in being an accomplice to the devil. Cheese replied decisively. As fragile as life is in this world, that's no reason for mages to turn them into bargaining chips with the devil.

"Hey, don't be so sure. I promise that the three people you're going to kill won't cause you any trouble. The Smiling Man seemed a little surprised by Cheese's reaction, and it seemed to the Devil that a spellcaster like Cheese who put knowledge first would readily agree to his request. After all, those ignorant mortals are no different from livestock ants in the eyes of the latter, and killing a few ants can be exchanged for the knowledge they want, which should be a good deal anyway.

But the mage just shook his head, "If they die from the contract they signed with you, then I have nothing to say. But let me kill myself, that's another matter entirely. Devil, although I consider myself not a noble person, I am not yet a slave to my desires. Yes, I crave knowledge, but that doesn't mean I don't care about anything else. ”

"What a surprise to me, are you really that Clarke's disciple? or would he let his disciples have such a notion? Or is this just another foolish attempt by you to inflate your value? I warn you, Mr. Cheese, that whatever you really think, what you show me is a little more confident in making a deal with you. I don't want my deal to be, well, sentimental. The devil shifted his body, his tone tinged with unmistakable displeasure. "If you want me to say, you'd better sign this contract quickly, so that we can both retain some good feelings for each other?"

"Huh. Cheese smiled. Indeed, the education of the Gray Tower has never been about respect for life. For the Lord of the Grey Tower, the apprentices were still slow to study the mysteries in their limited time, and he naturally didn't care about their values anymore. This also causes the indifferent character of most gray-robed mages, they only care about more knowledge or things they are interested in, and these casters do not care about the good and evil of their actions.

But Cheese is different, and in the Gray Tower, he is a special being. Because all the other apprentices, they are all lonely, and from the moment they came to the Grey Tower, they have only themselves and endless knowledge left in their lives. However, Cheese has a second teacher besides Clark, Ann Lina. The ancient vampire raised Cheese like a mother, and in the process, some of her values inevitably found their way into the young mage's mind, along with magical knowledge. Coupled with the fact that Cheese's first stop in the world was the Blue Lion, a kingdom of chivalry, the people he came into contact with showed great reverence for life. These two influences work together on the mage, allowing him to unconsciously avoid becoming a man like a cursed crow.

"On another condition, I won't accept this. The gray-robed mage didn't care about the devil's threat, and shook his head and said.

Devil, silence. He stood behind Cheese, not knowing what he was thinking. The candles in the room burned quietly, and there were not many red candles left, but the contract still floated in front of the mage, and the words written on the paper in both devilish and human words gave off an ominous glow of dark red.

"All right, wizard. Looks like I did have some misappreciative of you before. So can I ask you a question before I change the terms of the transaction? to satisfy my curiosity that I haven't had in a long time. ”

"Please, I'll try to answer you. The corners of Cheese's mouth turned upward, and he knew that the devil had given in.

"Why, you can promise the witch Emia to hunt her kind, but not kill me for the sake of making a deal with me?"

The mage was silent for a moment, then spoke, "It doesn't make much sense. I didn't hunt those heartless witches because they belonged to the darkness, nor did I refuse because you wanted me to kill three mortals. It has nothing to do with the identity of the person I'm going to kill, and it has nothing to do with the benefits I can get after killing. I just think that killing people according to your contract will make me uncomfortable, and that's it. ”

"I see, I get it all. Hahaha, I see!" This was the second time the devil laughed out loud, and at the same time, the candle at the five corners of the circle burned out as the presence beneath the mask of that smiley face continued to laugh unpleasantly. However, the devil did not disappear with the candle flame, the smiling man just waved his hand, and the five candles that were about to be extinguished stopped strangely. The flames above their heads stopped beating, and it felt as if time had suddenly frozen.

Cheese knew that this was not the case, and if the devil could really stop time, then he would not need to make a deal with himself at all. So there is only one explanation for this situation. "Are you paying the price of your existence? I've heard that's a staggering price. The mage's eyes narrowed, and the devil behind him was more interested in the deal than he expected, which was not a good sign.

"It's just a few orders for nothing, and since you've shown me such interesting things, a few empty souls will be my tip for you. The devil said, and walked from behind his chair to the mage. This almost caused Cheese to jump out of his chair, because in this summoning ritual, the summoned devil cannot appear in front of the summoner. And the fact that the Smiling Man can do this so calmly means only one thing, he is free from the limitations of the summoning ritual.

As the parchment turned to ashes in the devil's hands, the smiling face on the mask looked even more eerie in the shadow of the flames. "Forget about this boring contract, given your performance, I can serve you better this time. As he spoke, a gold plate appeared in the air, and the devil delicately marked it with his fingernails, and large sections of writing were engraved on it.

"Come on, Mr. Cheese, I promise you'll be happy with this contract. ”

The mage quickly read the contents of the gold plate, and he realized that in this new contract, the terms that had only provided the broker with limited information had been changed to provide the broker with all the information during the plague event of the lion. At the same time, the original clause that allowed him to kill three mortals and harvest their souls was changed to another unbelievable content, protecting the widow of the former Earl of Salon, Gloria, for three years.

"Gloria, what's the matter with her?" Cheese looked up at the devil in confusion, not understanding why the poor girl was brought up here.

"Oh, that's not in the scope of the contract. I beg my pardon for not being able to answer your question, Mr. Cheese. The devil bowed exaggeratedly and said with "apologies".

The mage took a breath, he knew that the other party must have cheated, but ...... There's always a price to pay for making a deal with the devil, doesn't it? At least it doesn't seem like he's resisting protecting Gloria. "Okay, deal. Cheese nodded and held out his right hand.

"Deal!" the devil shouted, grasping the mage with his right hand! The gold plate symbolizing the contract quickly melted and turned into flowing golden molten slurry, leaving a strange symbol on the hands of both sides of the transaction along the invisible trail. The symbol flashed three times before disappearing into the flesh.

............

The sun has finally set. After a long twilight, the wizard made a deal with the devil. Not to mention what Cheese did when he got the information he wanted, after the figure of the smiling man disappeared from the secret room, a quiet forest three kilometers outside the royal capital welcomed visitors.

It seems that they sensed the disturbing aura of the visitor, and the small animals that had been drinking by the pond all fled into the bushes when the smiling man approached, leaving only the devil and a secluded pond.

"My deal with you, done. The smiling man knelt on one knee by the pond and said to the water.

"Hum!" When the devil's voice fell, the water in front of him wrinkled out of thin air in a low vibration, and these ripples scattered the original color of the pond, and when it dispersed, the reflection in the water was no longer the clear night sky and the surrounding trees. In the pool is a huge throne, and the one that sits on it, presence.

The throne was so dazzling, made of molten gold, platinum and other precious metals, and dotted with huge gems that even the great dwarven kings could not imagine! Underneath the throne were piles of treasures, coins, beautifully crafted weapons, magical wands, and works of art piled up like garbage. From the wall behind the throne, it was only a corner of a huge room, and if the whole room was covered with these treasures as in front of the throne, God knows what kind of wealth its owner had!

But the devil knows that the dazzling throne is more than just a pile of valuables, just like most people always think that its owner is a brainless nouveau riche, and the overly ornate appearance of the throne always makes people ignore the truth. The truth is that the precious metals and gemstones are not the work of any one artist, and if you ignore the precious light they emit and consider only the shape, then you will find that the entire throne is actually made up of bones of different sizes. It is said that some of these bones were once called gods.

"Long time no see, my dear friend. A low and feminine voice that unconsciously came from a gentleman in a straight gown came from the pond. It's just that its owner can't get along with a handsome gentleman. What a monster it was! Its fat body occupied almost the entire throne, and although it wore a splendid costume made by the best tailor in the world, it could not hide the bulge of the bloated lump of flesh under the gown! The monster's face was not visible in the image of the pond, but it must have been ugly.

"Yes, my lord, the time between every conversation with you is long and wants me to kill myself. The devil bowed his head deeply and complimented him in the most sincere tone.

"Okay, you and I are both businessmen, let's put these useless words aside for now. You've done a great job this time, and I'm very satisfied. The monster said in a disobedient voice.

"I can't help but panic. You must have known that the mage wouldn't accept the first contract, did you?"

"Hehe, what do you think?"

"I don't dare to speculate on what you mean, after all, your wisdom has long been subdued by all the devils, Lord Broker. ”......