Chapter 222._Redo of a Romanceless Author鈥檚 Life Devoid of Love; Another Chance at Youth

Chapter 222.

 Chapter 222. Valentine’s Day: Evening. (1/3)

 Atst, I headed over to the bench where a certain pitiful goth girlid on her back despondently with her wrist over her eyes. I came to a stop in front of her, extended my right hand out, and grabbed her wrist. I pulled it away from her eyes while I simultaneously took a seat on the edge of the bench below shoulder level.

 “Oh, pitiful girl, would you be interested in striking a deal with the devil?” My always neutral face donned a metaphorical mask. A mask with a devilish grin as I looked down upon the goth girl with her dark blue eyeliner ruined, smeared in outward streaks down her cheeks.

 Before she could process anything I continued, “If you make a deal with the devil, all your wishes shall be granted, girl. The one you love so dearly shall turn your way and be yours. You will never age before their eyes, you shall always remain beautiful to them in your most youthful appearance. They will love you eternally even in death. Well, girl? What say you, oh pitiful child? Are you interested, or not? Even that gift you were so desperate to find, to a devil, making it appear is as simple as snapping one’s fingers.”

 She was stunned by my words and the extreme change in my demeanor.

 I released her hand, then moved my right hand in front of her eyes from the bottom up in an instant as I snapped my fingers. She blinked and while her eyes had been drawn to my right hand I’d pulled the box out from under my jacket with my left.

 I held it up in front of my chest and smiled like a fiend as I pulled my right hand back in an open palm and directed her gaze to my once empty left hand.

 To her, it appeared like magic. My once empty left hand she’d seen in in sight suddenly had the item she desperately desired the most.

 It was simple sleight of hand. Draw her attention away with my right while the magic happens in my left.

 “Y-Y-You… how? A devil? What? But… no way…”

 “If I were not a devil, how would I make the item you desired the most appear out of thin air like this, girl?”

 “Devils… really exist? I knew it...” It seemed I was correct in my assessment of her based on her tattoos and appearance. She was into the ult to a certain degree and had an open mind that wished to believe in such paranormal entities.

 “Well, girl? Today is your lucky day. You have met a devil who can fulfill your greatest desire. If you sell your soul to me, you will receive the love and affection of the man you so desire. I will personally allow you to attain it. You will also receive the item you desperately sought out today. All you need to do is sign on the dotted line.”

 I pulled out the receipt only allowing her to see the back of it where I’d preemptively written up her contract. I took out the pen I’d received from the store. It hadn’t really run out of ink, I’d only tilted it at an angle it wouldn’t write so I could keep it to have her sign the contract.

 “Sell… my soul? And… all my desires… will be… fulfilled?” Her eyes were hazy and indistinct as she absentmindedly muttered back what I’d offered to her in a strange trance. She wasn’t of the right mind. Her thoughts were a mess, disorderly in utter chaos. It was a moment of weakness, one for me to exploit and acquire an easy soul. She was in her most vulnerable state having broken down emotionally with how everything always worked against her in life.

 I would take advantage of this girl to resolve Alicia’s troubles. Assuming they did rte to this irritating student council president in our school, I could have him hook up with this girl and get him to forget all about Alicia. That was the benefit I acquired in this deal.

 As for why I presented the condition to no longer age to this girl, I needed my act to be convincing in the event she actually read through it, such a condition in the contract would make this act far more convincing. I only needed to keep it up until she signed.

 Once she did, it would all be over. The magic would all disappear and she’d awaken from this dream-like trance. Her chance encounter with the devil.

 I ced the contract on the box then ced the pen in her right hand. I wrapped my hand around hers to curl her fingers around the pen.

 I leaned forward close to her ear with her right arm passing over my right shoulder and whispered softly, “Sign it, child, and every problem troubling you in your heart shall disappear in an instant as though it never existed.”

 I still had my right hand holding hers with the pen in it.

 “It will… all disappear?”

 “Yes. You will acquire freedom from the mortal shackles that keep you bound up and restrained.”

 “Everything?”

 “Yes.”

 I could hear her breathing faster beside my air. I could even feel her heart gradually speed up with every word whispered into her ear.

 “I just need to sign?”

 “Correct. On the dotted line.”

 I sat back up straight and slowly pulled her hand closer to the receipt on the box I held up directly over her chest.

 I ced the pen down on the box. I didn’t apply any more force than that. Her hand remained still unmoving for a full minute. But after that minute, my hand still holding hers moved. I hadn’t moved it, she was moving it on her own as if controlled by some unseen force.

 She willingly signed her soul away to me.

 When her hand came to a stop, my heart throbbed violently which was immediately followed by the burning sensation I’d grown ustomed to by now. The bitter taste at the back of my mouth signaled the end of my little performance.

 I released her hand and stood up satisfied.

 Great, I made some easy money.

 Hahaha, good thing she was so entranced with my performance that she didn’t read what she just signed.

 “Excellent. Well then, let’s see, crazy goth chick, you now owe me $78.40.” I turned the receipt over and confirmed the price of the item.

 Oh? What’s going on? Well, the real reason I wanted the receipt was to bepensated for the time I’d been dragged around by this troublesome girl.

 I’d been able to purchase my bus pass which I used to frequent the university with my royalty money all this time, so I never factored that into my spreadsheet expenses before. But now that my royalty money would go to Wisteria, I’d been troubled as it threw off my savings a bit.

 With this transaction, I’d be able to get back that month and a bit extra for this month’s bus pass. I could use the leftover change for bus tickets instead in the future since I didn’t n to go to the university as frequently anymore.

 Haaaaah. Work as a devil sure is hard though. Just to secure the $78.40 I had to uncover a potential scam op at a store and also scam a girl into signing a contract for her to pay me back for an item I got for free from that store. But things worked out much better than expected. I got the full clearance price in profit instead of just the difference in the employee discount that I’d initially nned for.

 What a steal. It’s all thanks to that generous cashier. She’s such a good girl.

 With my act over I stood up and showed the receipt side of the contract to her and said.

 “Hand over the $40 you have now. After that, you’ve got to go home and get the remaining $38.40 and meet up with me again today at the designated spot of my choosing to hand it over. Also, you can take the thing in my pocket back now. I’ll keep this until I receive my payment.”

 “Huh? What? A… receipt?” She blinked a few times as she snapped out of her dream-like trance.

 “What do you mean, what? You signed the contract on the back of the store receipt. You didn’t read it?” I flipped the receipt around to the back and pointed. “The use right here says that you agree to pay me back the full amount for the purchase I made for you on the amount designated on the receipt this contract is written on.”

 “Huh? But you’re a devil, why would… Ah.”

 “A devil? Are you dumb? Who actually believes in nonsense like devils? I just wanted it in writing to make sure you pay me back in full without any problems.”

AliNovel

Chapter 222.