Darn it. I thought I'd keep this secret for longer than that. “Well, that's not it. I suppose you could call it my slothfulness? I wasn't sure what your conspiracy meant me to do once I finished binding a Demon? But if I had to make a sincere effort this one time, I at least wanted everything afterwards to be easy. So I summoned Satan.”
The chocolate drops from the Wicked Vizier's fingers and he slumps to the side, but thanks to my alert reflexes I manage to leap forward and catch the chocolate.
The next morning, after eating a passable breakfast with the Devil standing behind me, the Wicked Vizier summons me into a palace meeting-chamber.
Already sitting in the head chair of the table when we arrive is a middle-aged man I don't recognize, clad all in black.
“Summoned Hero Yuuki,” the Wicked Vizier says, “you can show your face to this man; he's the final member of our conspiracy.”
I flip over my veil and slide into a seat, gazing in puzzlement at the black-clad man at the head of the table. Should I recognize this person? There's something reminiscent about his face, but I'm sure I've never met him.
The Wicked Vizier takes a seat himself. “Both of us thought it might be prudent not to tell you for a while about what's going on. However, after the events of last night, we've reconsidered that policy. I would say that I'm worried you might go to further extremes, if not for the fact that I literally can't imagine how.”
That's a bit harsh, but also a bit fair. “Then, what am I to do next?”
The man at the head of the table speaks. “Fundamentally, you need to master politics, management, and a skill we might term 'discretion'. My thought is to first introduce you at the Wicked Court and let you have some fun there; you must learn to recognize false friends and those who'd take advantage of you. You should continue posing as 'Kiri of Rolan' to accomplish that. Afterwards, I'll place you in charge of a business for a while, followed by a term as a regional judge. Then we might have you govern a province, in order to test your competence.”
I frown, puzzled. “I can see how that much is prudent, given that I must become Wicked Empress as part of your plot to seize control of the Summoning Spell…” I look back and forth between the man and the Wicked Vizier, both of them watching me. “But, what else?”
“The Vizier says that you seem unimpressed with the luxuries of this Empire. Why is that? Were you already a princess in your former world?”
“I don't mean any offense by this. But my home world of Earth is older than this place, more mature. Simply put, Earth stands in the same relation to this world as an adult does to a child. The adult isn't always kinder or happier than the child, but the adult is more sophisticated. By my standards, a tall building should be a hundred stories high.”
“Hm. Then, does your sophisticated world perhaps have more mature ideas about how to rule a country? Or is the art behind those huge buildings something you can teach?”
I slowly nod. I can't call myself an expert on anything, but I know… that farmers should try rotating their crops, the idea of a printing press with movable type, the concept of scientific investigation, the goal of developing machines to improve production, the theory of evolution and the concept of animal breeding, the core idea from economics that weird retribution is visited upon governments that try to regulate prices away from the balancing point of supply and demand… actually, by local standards I know a number of important things, don't I?
The black-clad man speaks again. “Marvelous. Well, I'll have you speak of your world's ways to me before I approve your becoming Empress. I won't set myself up as a skeptic of your world's wisdom, but I need to know it's not just the purposeless taboos of a foreign land.”
The Devil is laughing to himself, though it has a bitter sound. Neither fact reassures me.
“Again, that all sounds very sensible…” I have an ominous feeling about this. “But, you haven't answered the most important questions. For what purpose did you twist the Summoning Spell to bring me here? What other conditions must I carry out for you to make me Empress? And how do you mean to ensure that I overturn the Wicked Emperor?”
The black-clad man smiles. “Oh, you still haven't recognized me, then? I guess you haven't handled much of this country's coinage.”
“You're the Wicked Emperor?!”
“I am!”
“Then, you'll just step aside for me when the time comes, ensuring that part of the plan succeeds with one hundred percent probability?”
“Indeed!”
“But then, the mysterious deed that you'll require me to accomplish before that—”
“There isn't one!”
I gasp. “Then, the whole purpose of this plot was just to obtain a candidate for the Empire's succession?”
“Yes, by—”
“By Summoning a woman with the wisdom of another world who, as a perverted virgin, could also become an Empress that wields supreme diabolical power! That would stabilize the changes of her reign against personally targeted forms of revolutionary activity, and also relieve the civil government's need to treat with powerful diabolists in order to gain protection from other powerful diabolists—”
“Precisely!” The Wicked Emperor interrupts me. “To that end, I even began calling myself the Wicked Emperor! I spread false rumors of corruption, so that every province thinks itself the only righteous one in my Empire! Have you noticed how even though everything here is called 'wicked this' and 'wicked that', it's hard to spot any evil right in front of you?”
“Not particularly, but I see it now! It was all to lure the senior Angelic mages into targeting you so that you could shape the outcome of the Summoning Spell!”
“Yes! Those tradition-bound greyheads wouldn't go along with it when I first petitioned them all those decades ago! Even though there are some problems that can't be remedied just by assassinating one evil overlord every three centuries! All of this, all my planning over these years, has been for the sake of my great plan to save this world that is descending into chaos under the pressures of modern diabolism!”
“Well, that makes perfect sense, then!”
“A plan to which you are the key, Yugano Yuuki!”
“I understand, and I'll go along with it!”
“The fate of this world depends on you!”
“I know! I said I'll do it, so you can stop persuading me!”
I think the Emperor has been waiting a long time to explain to someone about this plan.
13. The final bargain!
The Emperor insists on continuing to explain for a long time, though after a while it turns into more of a briefing on the Empire's state. Eventually darkness falls, as it always does, and I head back to my bedchamber.
I doubt I'll be able to sleep tonight. Yesterday, I was exhausted enough that I was able to fall asleep despite the Devil standing silently next to my bed. Tonight I can look forward to a long time tossing and turning—
No, that's silly, the Devil is above the Sin of Sloth. There's no insomnia in this world that would withstand his supreme Sloth powers.
I begin stripping off my clothes in preparation for donning pajamas, aware that the Devil is also watching me, as is the Angel.
To say that I feel unworthy of my fate is putting it mildly. I know so little that it horrifies me. Other people from Earth would do far better in my place.
And, I think I know what went wrong.
In retrospect, the Emperor should have committed himself to demand more otherworldly knowledge from the person he Summoned, as his condition of setting that person on the throne. But a person from this world has no sense of where to place that threshold. If the Summoned Hero knows about the scientific method but only barely passed her calculus class, is that a lot of knowledge or a little knowledge? Nobody here knows the difference! Whereas in this world's concept of diabolism, 'she took the Devil's soul' is understandable as the greatest possible win.
Since I have a one hundred percent chance of victory, I expect that my palt
ry share of Earth's knowledge will amaze the Emperor, and he'll readily confirm me for the throne.
And once the Summoning Spell's conditions are already met with one hundred percent probability, it won't try to summon anyone better, will it?
Or maybe, if a perverted virgin who knew more science had been Summoned here, that more intelligent person wouldn't have impulsively invoked Satan. The Emperor couldn't have been impressed by their superior knowledge to Yugano Yuuki, since I wouldn't have been here to establish the comparison. So the Emperor would have been less impressed in total, and that person's success probability would have been slightly lower.
So that's unfortunate, but by now it's too late to change anything… I think? I mean, it seems futile for me to imagine that I can change who would have been Summoned when I'm already here?
Or rather, if I was the sort of person who'd look over this situation and refuse to ascend as Empress, then someone else would have been Summoned instead of me. But since now I have to decide while already being here, am I at fault in that?
Is it even possible for me to decide, when finding myself in this situation is tantamount to already being told my decision? Wouldn't that be akin to trying to alter the timeline in a time travel story where there's only one timeline, implying some disaster that forces my story back on track?
Concepts like these make my head hurt. I want to say that even the knowledge of Earth didn't say anything about this, but I'm too ignorant to say even that. If there's a genius theory that resolves all these issues, I don't think I can invent it on my own.
So in the end, I'll go with what my beliefs say when prophecies and Summonings aren't involved: I won't refuse to help just because someone who isn't actually here could have helped more.
Once my pajamas are on, I sit on my bed and gaze at the face of the Devil who now follows behind me. He seems content to say little, perhaps because chattering would be beneath his dignity. It's still impossible to look at his beauty without desiring it.
I wonder if becoming an Empress is the least of my worries.
“Hey, Satan,” I say. “You and I need to come to some understanding.”
Amusement flickers in the ancient gaze. “The Devil will always bargain, though the price may not be to your liking.”
“Who owns whose soul, again?”
The smile vanishes from his face. “You are arrogant. It's not only a sin, but a flaw.”
“Fine, so I'm arrogant. You're also a tad arrogant, which is how you ended up here. We're two arrogant people, and you're not in the superior position. Now, can we talk about how to make our time together be not so unpleasant?”
“I'm listening, mortal.”
“Angel, I'd like you to listen too.”
The small winged form turns his face to me. “Heaven always hears you, Yugano Yuuki, even if it doesn't always answer—”
“Great! First, it's clear that the end of a mortal lifespan doesn't change the fact of a Demon owning the mortal's soul. Then, am I right in guessing that after I die I'll still own the Devil's soul?”
The Devil doesn't say anything. Neither does the Angel. I think that's answer enough. If I wasn't going to own him forever, I believe the Devil would correct me about that.
“So the Devil and Yugano Yuuki are together for eternity, then.”
Again the silence.
“Satan, remind me to explain to you about the Prisoner's Dilemma sometime in the next million years. You can probably make things unpleasant for me, but over the course of eternity I can make them more unpleasant for you. Alternatively, we can ask ourselves about how to make each other's lives nicer. But that has to be both of us. I won't keep my hand stretched out to you if you refuse to reach back.”
The Devil is looking at me. I can't read his gaze.
“We could be friends, Satan. We could just not do the whole thing that isn't friendly.”
Still the Devil doesn't speak. I wonder if the mode of thought I'm suggesting is too alien to the Devil, or if he's too old now to take another path, or if it's a rule that only mortals can change their natures. If I talk to this entity for long enough, will I find a person in there besides the idea of the Devil? Or is that idea all that there is?
I sigh, exhaling my breath. “Satan, if you want us to be friendlier, you might need to speak more freely. I don't mean that as a threat, it's just part of how friends are with each other.”
When the Devil finally speaks it's slower than anything I've heard from him. “Then… what would you have me say?”
“For one thing, talk with me more about what's happening. I don't think it will hurt you to let me learn things I'm bound to discover eventually. Like, did you lose your rank in Hell's hierarchy from this?”
“That's impossible. I am the Devil above the Seven Sins.”
“Then, what am I to that hierarchy?”
Again the Devil speaks slowly. “You are… a contradiction to that hierarchy. You're worthy to be called Yugano Yuuki above the Sin of Lust, but no more than that. It's impossible to call you Yugano Yuuki above the Seven Sins.”
“I think I have some grasp on Sloth. 'Yugano Yuuki above the Sin of Lust' has a fine sound to it, so I'm not a stranger to Pride. I can see myself having fun with Gluttony, so long as 'food that doesn't fill your belly' translates into 'chocolate without any calories'…” I trail off, because the Devil doesn't look impressed. Well, my levels there are admittedly lower than my score in Lust.
The Angel speaks. “Yugano Yuuki, the Sins aren't something you should try to cultivate through diligence. They're weaknesses in the structure of a mortal spirit, not skills.”
I sigh. “I've been thinking this for a while without saying it… according to my own world, lust isn't a sin in the first place. You can do ill things in the pursuit of sexual desire, but that's something you could say of any human motivation, including love or charity.”
The Angel gazes at me pityingly. “Has it occurred to you that your world might not be an entirely righteous one?”
I look down at my hands. I can't think of anything to say to that. The gap that separates my way of thinking from this Angel's way of thinking is just too large.
I wonder if there's a view on the six other Sins that makes them also not be evil? The Sin of Greed… the obvious thought to an Earth girl is 'the code of an honest capitalist who only tries to gain wealth through trades that benefit both sides', or maybe something like 'seizing opportunities'.
But if you consider the way that the perversion of the Internet embodies the darkest depths of Lust that this world finds horrifying, even aspects like the desire to experience nonconsent… even so, you blink at it and there's nothing malicious about a woman tormenting her chaste husband with the sight of her cuckolding him, so long as everyone is getting off. You can sink far into the depths of the Sin as it's usually conceived, while avoiding every bit of real harm. If the same is true of the other Sins, they shouldn't need to be whitewashed or made into something abstract. In all the parts that I do understand, this world's concept of 'sin' seems to heavily overlap my culture's concept of 'pretty much okay'.
After a while, I shake my head. “Leaving all that aside, this Yugano Yuuki above the not-actually-a-sin of Lust has a certain problem. Devil, Angel, one of you needs to think of a way for me to relieve the urges running through this nubile young body. It builds up, you know? And thinking about how it's not allowed makes it worse. You've got maybe three days left before I snap, and that's if the Devil wraps himself in a blanket and wears a paper bag over his head.”
The Angel has a sad look. “Angels never bargain, Yugano Yuuki. I think it will be better if I stay by your side and continue to watch over you, but only you can choose that.”
“Please.” The Devil whispers the word, again sounding like he's choking.
I am so not spending my mortal lifetime this way. “I'm asking one of you to think of a loophole. Like, that gold-robed mage said that I mustn't sully myself with the touch of a man, so can the
Devil become a woman and do me with a cucumber?”
The Angel makes a horrified sound. “That… but that's still…”
“Then how about if it's a genderless monster with tentacles?”
“Yugano Yuuki, the compact requires you to be a virgin of unsullied flesh—”
“What if the Devil does it to me in my dreams?”
The Angel is huddled inside his wings. “But… but I'm supposed to protect your dreams from temptation…”
“You've been doing what?! Those are my dreams and meddling in them without permission is something that my world considers unrighteous. Do you see my sincerity, Angel?”
“Yes…”
“Then will you go on constraining my dreams after I've revoked my consent for you to do so?”
“That's forbidden to me.” The little Angel looks worried. “But, you're making an unwise decision, Yugano Yuuki! The Devil is connected to your soul. Who knows what terrible visions he might visit on you?”
“I suppose if he visits any visions too terrible, we'll revisit that issue of protection. But, I can handle a fair amount of terrible.”
The Angel's eyes widen. “As a virgin of the Angels, you can't agree to—”
“Agreement won't be an issue. In my dreams, the Devil's going to restrain me so all I can do is struggle while he, in his form as a tentacled monstrosity, does things that even I wouldn't willingly ask for but secretly want deep down. I'm not agreeing with the Devil doing that. I'm just predicting what awful fate will befall me now that you're not protecting my dreams. Now, when this still-virgin maiden dreams helplessly of being violated by something that's definitely not the touch of a man, is that going to break our bond?”
The Angel seems frozen. I'll take that as approval.
…wait, what did I just say?
The Devil is chuckling darkly. “Ah, the creativity of a mortal soul. I suppose it's possible that we'll get along somewhat, Yugano Yuuki above the Sin of Lust.”
A Girl Corrupted by the Internet Is the Summoned Hero?! Page 6
