I refused Mea’s offer to teach me the summoning method for her contracted demon.

Well, it was the obvious decision.

Even as a demon warlock, it's practically impossible to just go around making contracts with new demons left and right. Not that it’s entirely impossible, but even if you recklessly form more contracts, you wouldn’t be able to borrow real power from them.

If I were to explain it in simple terms, a contract with a demon is like going public on the stock market. If you consider me, Roman, as a company, then going public means issuing shares (worship, sacrifices, offerings) in exchange for borrowing money (power). That’s the basic principle of demon magic.

And the value of those shares depends on my rank. Think of it as the value of the company.

Now, when a demon warlock increases their rank to form more contracts, it’s like issuing new shares. But existing shareholders don’t like it when new shares are issued, since it dilutes their stake.

Demons are no different.

There’s also the fact that certain ranks place limits on demon contracts, meaning there are demons you simply can’t contract with.

For instance, I’m already contracted with two high-ranking demons, both of which hold noble titles. Right now, I don’t have the luxury of adding any new contracts.

Even if I could, I doubt I’d want to contract with Mea’s demon.

Why would I make a contract with an otherworldly demon when I’ve got earthly demons helping me for free?

No way.

But for some reason, it seemed like my refusal had a big impact on Mea. She looked dejected, lips tightly pressed together, not saying a word.

Offering to teach someone the summoning method for your contracted demon as a demon warlock is a huge gesture of goodwill. Mea must have worked up the courage to make that offer, and maybe I’d been too blunt in my rejection.

‘Maybe I could have said that I’d consider it once my rank increased. That would’ve been a better way to handle it.’

Why do good ideas always come too late?

Saying that now would probably just sound like an empty attempt to comfort her.

The atmosphere was awkward.

"...Hey." "Yes?" "That’s a Plant Goblin. They mimic plants to ambush prey. And over there, that’s a Magnetic Beetle. Be careful, they can pull in metal objects."

Even in this awkward situation, Mea diligently continued her role as a guide.

I had to rise to the occasion and meet her expectations.

'Are you ready, Le?' [Of course, Ro.]

"I’ll take care of them right away."

This was practically my first real battle in the Abyss.

'This is my chance.'

A chance to show Mea why I couldn’t form a contract with her demon.

The monsters?

They're as good as dead.

Fortunately, the awkwardness eventually subsided thanks to the ongoing conversation and the steady progress of the training. Though it took a full day for things to get back to normal, by the third day, we were back on track.

What was originally planned as a two-day training session had long since been extended, and we had been traveling for several days now.

And yet, Mea still hadn’t slept.

Even when I stood watch, she only laid down but never actually slept.

It wasn’t even like she was pretending to sleep—she just stared blankly at the sky, wide awake.

So, by the third day, I gave up and either stayed awake with her or slept alone.

On the first day, I was too busy keeping an eye on the four captives to pay much attention to my surroundings.

On the second day, we occasionally encountered other explorers, so I couldn’t afford to let my guard down, and we were still busy working through the awkwardness.

By the third day, Mea and I finally had the chance to appreciate our surroundings.

Today marked the fourth day since entering the Abyss.

With the crackling sound of burning logs in the background, I found myself entranced by the strangely familiar yet unfamiliar landscape of the first layer of the Abyss.

The deep blue sky, the floating islands drifting overhead, and the shadowed mountain ranges cloaked in twilight.

The mysterious, almost hypnotic beauty of it all was a constant reminder that this place was far removed from the world above.

However, one thing was missing—something you would expect from the Abyss.

"Is it because we’re lower down? There don’t seem to be many monsters around." "They’re here."

Mea pointed with her slender finger.

There, glowing softly in the wind, was a cloud of luminous dust.

"Glow Dust Bugs." "That? Really?"

I’d imagined something like fireflies based on what we learned at the academy, but seeing them in person, they just looked like glowing dust.

"They’re harmless. People even question whether they should be classified as monsters." "They’re beautiful."

When you forget that they’re tiny bugs, they almost look like a slice of the aurora, gently placed on the wind.

"That’s one reason why the first layer is called the Garden."

These Glow Dust Bugs, friends to explorers, drive away the darkness of the moonless nights on the first layer.

Not only do they provide light, but they also serve as the foundation of the Abyss’s food chain, making them essential to the survival of explorers.

The relationship between explorers and Glow Dust Bugs isn’t one-sided either—it’s mutual.

Glow Dust Bugs are both producers and decomposers in the ecosystem.

"...We’ll probably arrive tomorrow."

They are also known as the Lights of Death.

These bugs follow the scent of corpses and consume the dead to nourish themselves.

Naturally, to them, explorers are simply suppliers of their next meal, whether it's the bodies of monsters killed by the explorers or the explorers themselves.

Either way, the bugs will feed on the corpses.

"Mea, don’t you think it’s time for you to get some sleep? No matter how strong you are, it’s not good to stay awake for so long." "I’m fine." "...It’s already been four days without sleep." "I’m an elf." "So sleep is the price you pay, huh?"

Maybe she wasn’t expecting me to be so direct, because she seemed a little surprised.

But she quickly returned to her usual expressionless self.

To be honest, it wasn’t much of a secret.

Refusing to sleep like this was clearly strange behavior. But if you knew that Mea was a demon warlock, it wasn’t all that surprising.

Demon warlocks are always burdened with some sort of price to pay to their demons. And Mea, being an elf, was no exception.

Demon warlocks constantly struggle to avoid or lessen that price, so Mea’s refusal to sleep was part of that struggle.

"...Something like that."

If not sleep, then dreams?

It didn’t make sense that she couldn’t sleep at all.

Mea wasn’t unable to sleep—she was refusing to.

It wasn’t the act of sleep itself that was the problem. It was more like she was avoiding sleep.

In any case, it was a harsh price to pay. It was like sacrificing 30% of your life.

Humans need at least seven hours of sleep a day. One-third of a human’s life is spent sleeping.

Mea might be an elf, and her situation might be different, but even she needed sleep eventually.

"Is it the price you pay to the demon you offered to teach me about?" "...Yes."

Mea’s voice was subdued.

Maybe it felt like she had been hiding the price for her demon’s contract, even though I had cut her off before she could even explain.

"It’s dreams. My contract demon takes my dreams. All that’s left are nightmares."

So that’s why she refused to sleep.

If she was avoiding sleep to this extent, those nightmares must have been terrible.

"Still, it’s not that bad of a price. It doesn’t take away my lifespan or cause any permanent physical damage." "Putting it like that, I guess it doesn’t sound so bad."

A couple of nightmares for two impressive wolf summons? That didn’t sound like a terrible deal...

"It’s actually a really good demon. It even has a noble title. It’s a baron, but still."

Mea tried to emphasize how well-balanced the abilities and the price were for her contracted demon, but unfortunately, my standards were now too high.

I’d become so accustomed to free service from my earthly demon lords that the idea of paying a price seemed unacceptable.

As I silently rehearsed how to tell Mea it was okay, I listened to her explanation for a while.

At some point, Mea’s voice stopped.

She had fallen asleep.

Maybe the tension had finally released her, or maybe it was a hidden trap of the price she paid.

‘After staying awake for over four days, it’s about time she collapsed from exhaustion.’

I had only seen her for four days, but who knows how long it had actually been since she last slept?

I laid Mea down properly as she had fallen asleep in a hunched position.

Before long, she began to murmur incomprehensibly in her sleep, groaning softly.

She was having a nightmare.

It was as though she was suffering from a high fever—cold sweat dripped down her face, and she shivered, her face contorted in pain.

"It’s pretty bad."

I wiped away her sweat.

Fortunately, there was no actual fever, just the torment of the nightmares.

[Shall I help?] "Can you?" [Hmm, it’s tricky to interfere with a demon’s rightful contract, but it’s not impossible.]

As expected from the Lord of Hell, Seir.

A true noble worthy of the title of Grand Duke.

[No, it’s not me. It’s Leraje!]

...Oh, the Great Marquis of Hell!

[So, what do you think? Want some help?] "Yes, please. I’d appreciate it." [It’s easy. Just give me one more sugar-coated fruit skewer the next time you summon me. Deal?]

Of course.

Just moments ago, I was thinking that dealing with nightmares wasn’t such a bad price for a high-ranking demon with a noble title. And now, the Great Marquis was asking for nothing more than a couple of sugary treats in exchange?

I was all in.

I wholeheartedly agreed, bowing to the only ones who could provide such value—my demon lords.

The moment Mea woke up, she knew something was wrong.

Snap!

She immediately sprang up, her abrupt movement sending the blanket that had been covering her flying. But Mea didn’t even notice.

‘Did I... sleep? When? How long?’

She didn’t want to sleep.

She hated the nightmares that dredged up those dreadful memories, forcing her to relive them in vivid detail.

Nightmares that made her experience the things she never wanted to face again.

And worst of all, the hollow emptiness that always followed afterward.

‘Why now...?’

She had been in the Abyss for far too long.

The Abyss saps your energy, even if you’re just standing still. She’d warned Roman about it, told him to be cautious, but in the end, she hadn’t managed her own condition.

‘At a time like this...!’

"Did you sleep well?"

"What?"

"Did you have a good rest?"

Did I sleep well?

He knew.

I had told him about the price I paid—the nightmares I had whenever I slept. And now he had the nerve to ask me if I slept well...?

"Huh?"

I felt... fine.

There was no cold sweat soaking through my clothes, no soreness from tossing and turning all night, no lingering confusion or the crushing weight of the nightmares that usually clouded my mind.

There was nothing.

Instead, I felt... refreshed.

How long had it been since I last felt this well-rested after waking up?

I couldn’t even remember.

"You..."

"Shall we eat and get going?"

"Wait, that's not...!"

The sleep wasn’t the only issue. There was more to it.

Roman didn’t know this, but the nightmare wasn’t the only price I paid.

Just as Roman had contracts with Seir and Leraje, I also had multiple contracts with different demons.

And one of those contracts demanded a price far worse than nightmares.

In a panic, I grabbed my notebook and quickly flipped through it.

I read everything I’d written, from the first page all the way to the last, skimming through every entry quickly but carefully.

By the time I reached the last record, my mind was more confused than ever.

"Why...?"

I remembered everything, didn’t I?