Divine Contract

Chapter 7 - The Second Contracted Pair

We set off early the next morning. Our goal for today was to travel to the next town, get some provisions, and find a place to stay the night. We would try to avoid doing anything to draw attention to ourselves, as we had last night. I was also on high alert. After all, the Glass Globe displayed those two girls, and I have no idea whether they may be friend or foe.

We barely spoke while walking today. I thought that was because Highlander was still angry about me stealing the money, but she had a smile on her face, giggled to herself every so often, and had a slight blush on her cheeks, the entire time. I was relieved that she didn’t seem to be angry, but I didn’t understand her behaviour in the slightest. Maybe she had a nice dream?

“We should be getting close to Satoru Village,” I announced to break the silence. “We can gather information and supplies there, and then it will only be a few hours before we reach today’s goal.”

“When you say ‘gather supplies’, do you mean...” Highlander started.

“I mean, buy them.” I interrupted.

“With stolen money...”

“I wouldn’t say that it’s ‘stolen’,” I argued. “They attacked us. We won. ‘To the victor, go the spoils.’ We had every right to take that money.”

“If you say so...” Highlander sighed, a slight smile gracing her lips.

As we finished talking, we approached the entrance to the village. The guards looked us up and down, but didn’t bother stopping us.

We walked down the main street, stopping at stalls to buy food rations and other necessary supplies. However, while we were doing that, I had a strange feeling that something was wrong. I looked around to try to see what was bothering me, and then it suddenly hit me.

“There are no Demons around?” I questioned, not really expecting anyone to answer.

“That’s right,” the stall owner replied. “Ten minutes ago, they were acting as they always do, but they suddenly got all serious and ran in that direction.” He pointed down the street.

I looked in the direction he pointed in, wondering what could possibly have made the Demons do as they did.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Highlander whispered to me. “I can only think of one reason why the Demons would act like this.”

I was confused for a second about what she meant, but when I saw the look on her face, I realised what she meant.

“A Contracted Pair?!” I asked in disbelief.

“That’s the only thing I can think of.” Highlander replied, a worried expression on her face.

I looked back in the direction the stall owner had pointed and made a decision. I threw a bag of Linux to the man, thanked him for the information, and started running in the same direction as the Demons.

Highlander was close behind me, undoubtedly sensing what I intended to do.

***

As we ran, I started to hear the noise of clashing weapons. We were nearing the source of the sound. We ran through an alleyway and emerged into a courtyard. There were a dozen Demons surrounding two girls.

One of the girls had a small stature, her auburn hair tied up on the left side, and was wielding a large, purple scythe, which I assumed to be her Relic.

The other girl was a bit taller than the first girl, had blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, and was firing arrows from a bow; however, the bow seemed to be an average wooden bow, not a Relic.

“That’s the two from the Glass Globe’s prediction!” I thought.

When Highlander got a good look at the girls, she gasped, “That’s Lia!”

“Is she a friend of yours?” I asked.

“Yes. I’ve been friends with her and her sister since we were children.”

“That gives us more than enough reason to go help her, then.” I grinned as I drew my knife and ran towards the crowd of Demons.

The girl with the scythe, Lia, was holding her own against the Demons. She was easily sweeping aside their attacks and followed up by cleaving them in two. Her movements were so fluid that the Demons were having trouble getting near her. On the other hand, the girl with the bow was perfectly analysing the situation and choosing the best targets to take out with her bow. Her accuracy was such that I hadn’t seen her miss a single shot since I arrived on the scene. With their skills, there was a fair chance that the two girls could win without Highlander and I joining the fray.

However, with the numbers of Demons surrounding them, they were still under a fair bit of pressure, so Highlander and I didn’t hesitate to assist them.

We rushed the Demons while their attention was still on the girls.

I was faster than Highlander, so I reached the Demons first. Before any of them had a chance to respond to our sudden attack, I used my knife to pierce the neck of the nearest Demon.

Upon death, Demons burst into dark particles, before disappearing into nothingness. Despite my hatred of the Demons, Iwas never foolish enough to attack a large group head-on like this, so I don’t get to experience the feeling of killing as often as I would like. However, ever since I accepted the contract with Highlander, I have gradually been feeling my strength and speed increasing, giving me the confidence to engage them like this.

Responding to the sudden, unexpected death of one of their own from the rear, the nearest three Demons turned their attention to me, rushing the new threat that had suddenly appeared. Two approached from my right, the other from my left. I ignored the two on my right, focussing entirely on the Demon to my left. Seeing this, the two Demons on my right lunged towards me, however, since their attention was completely on me, they failed to realise that I wasn’t alone.

Highlander took the opening I had created and attacked the first of the two Demons, cutting him clean in half. However, she didn’t stop there. As the particles of the last Demon were still clearing, she launched her next strike; a thrust aimed at the next Demon’s heart. The thrust was so fast that the Demon didn’t even have a chance to defend against it.

As Highlander was finishing up with her Demons, I was still engaging mine; a mix of dodging and parrying his sword. The Demon launched a horizontal s***h. I jumped over his blade, did a flip over the Demon, turned 180 degrees, and then slashed the Demon’s throat.

After confirming that both Highlander and I had defeated our targets, I turned towards the other girls, just in time to see Lia cleave the last Demon in half vertically with her scythe.

As the particles cleared, I turned to look at Highlander, who gave me a big smile and a thumbs-up. I responded by sighing and returning the gesture.

***

After defeating the group of Demons, we were able to relax, somewhat. I sheathed my knife, the two Angels dematerialised their Relics, and the blonde girl started collecting any reusable arrows.

“Lia!” Highlander exclaimed, running to the small auburn-haired girl. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Sylvie.” Responded Lia, smiling cheerily. “I can handle myself against Demons of that calibre.”

Highlander checked Lia over and, once she had confirmed that she was unharmed, breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad we got here when we did,” smiled Highlander. “The two of you were at a serious disadvantage there.”

“I wasn’t worried in the slightest.” Lia boasted. “With my skill, and Aya watching my back, we would have won, even without your help.”

Highlander only sighed in exasperation at her response. Normally, that sort of boasting would have irritated me, but it seemed similar to what I imagine a younger sibling bragging about their accomplishment to their older sibling would be like, so I just let it slide. Especially considering that the relationship between the two Angels may be similar to that, since they are childhood friends.

After seeing those two interacting like that, I decided to check on the bow-wielding girl; the one Lia referred to as Aya, and maybe help her pick up some arrows. I turned to look at her, but instead of finding her gathering arrows, I found her aiming her bow directly at me.

I immediately jumped backwards and took on a defensive stance. “Is this how you always treat those who come to your aid?”I asked, accusingly.

“Only if the one offering their assistance is male.” Aya responded, matter-of-factly.

Seeing the exchange, Lia desperately tried to defuse the situation.

“What are you doing, Aya?!” Lia questioned, panicking slightly. “He’s not our enemy.”

“I cannot trust a man.” Aya answered, coldly. “They never offer their assistance without expecting something in return.”

“Does she truly intend to shoot?” I wondered. “Should I restrain her before she has a chance to?”

I didn’t know what was going through her mind at this moment, but I had no intention of letting someone point their weapon at me for no good reason, especially after I just helped them.

“Wait a second!” I realised something. “It doesn’t feel like her animosity is directed at me. It feels like she’s directing her attention at something behind me.”

As I was contemplating, Aya let loose her arrow. My reflexes were already good, but they had been enhanced further with the contract. Which is why I could tell that Aya’s arrow... was going to pass right by my head. To hit a Demon who had launched a surprise attack from behind a stack of boxes.

The arrow hit the Demon in the shoulder, and I took advantage of the opening to grab it by its sword-wielding arm, flip it over my head and slam it into the ground. I followed up by unsheathing my knife and stabbing the Demon straight through the eye.

***

After the surprise attack, Aya placed her bow on her back, and the Angels breathed a sigh of relief.

Now that I could look at her properly, I could see the mark on her ring finger, meaning that Aya had already accepted the contract from Lia, and become a Contractor, just like me. Regardless, due to her clear distrust of men, it was clear that we weren’t going to be able to get along.

“Let’s go, Highlander,” I said, starting to walk away. “We’d best leave soon, if we want to make it to the next town by sunset.”

“Wait,” Highlander stopped me. “Wouldn’t it be better if we all travel together? We will have an easier time if we watch each other’s backs.”

“True, but I refuse to travel with someone who is liable to shoot me in the back at any given moment.” I responded, glaring at Aya.

“I won’t shoot you,” responded Aya. “After all, if I kill you, I’ll be killing your Angel at the same time, and I don’t think that Lia would be happy at me for that.”

“I wouldn’t be happy with you killing him at all,” chimed Lia.

“I’m willing to temporarily work with you, if it means getting to our destination safely.” Aya concluded.

I looked between the three girls, finally deciding that resisting was pointless.

“Fine,” I sighed. “We should get there in two days, anyway. I suppose I can sleep with one eye open for that long. But I suppose introductions are in order, if we are going to be working together, even temporarily. I’m Ross Knight.”

Highlander walks up to the Aya girl. “I’m Sylvia Highlander, but feel free to call me Sylvie.”

The Aya girl smiled at Highlander. “My name is Aya Fields. It’s nice to meet… one of you.” She glared daggers at me. I simply responded with my own glare.

The Lia angel girl walked in between the two of us, and looked at me. “I’m Lia Fortuna. I hope we get along, Ross.”

I looked at her, and softened my expression slightly. “Likewise.” I then started walking in the direction of the next town, with the girls following while chatting happily amongst themselves.

I mentally sighed. The next two days were going to feel very long. I just hoped I wouldn’t regret this decision.