Chapter 180.
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Chapter 180. The Angel of Death’s Real Name (5/5)

“Certainly, you can never live in peace without someone recognizing you when you go out. It’s a major inconvenience when you just want to do something normal that any regular person might do. Simply going to the movie theatre becomes a grand ordeal. If you drop something on the ground you’ll have fans diving at it to try and be the one to return it to you. If you go to a mall to shop for some clothes everyone will swarm around you.”

“Exactly, so you get it.”

“Then, having someone like me who doesn’t know you, is it really so bad?”

“Hmm… now that you mention it, maybe.”

“Thus, so long as I don’t know you, is there a need for you to know me? If you know me, I may end up coming to know you in the process.” I was trying to ensure she wouldn’t have people tailing me through this angle of attack.

“Are you concerned about people I might have keeping an eye on you?”

“It’s annoying to be quite frank. I enjoy my privacy and you’re making that very difficult.” It was baiting confirmation out of her with my response.

“They lost sight of you the last two days when you started making a bunch of random turns through back alleyways if that’s what you’re worried about.”

So she had sent people to stalk me. I didn’t even notice them. The extra precautions I’d taken weren’t a waste this time.

“Please at least allow me my privacy.”

“Haaaaah. Fine. I didn’t have high hopes of finding anything out either way. Nobody on campus even knows who you are or your name either. I spent all of yesterday asking around, but not a single person knew anything about you. Just who are you? How is it possible for nobody to know who you are or your name? Do you really even exist? Or are you something I’m imagining to cope with my problems?”

“Who cares? I’ll have you know now, I don’t give a shit about some stupid celebrity’s inconsequential problems. All I want is my peace and quiet. I can compromise in that I will tolerate your presence if we meet here, but in return, you can’t go digging around and stalking me.”

“You’re fine if I come here as long as I don’t keep trying to find out anything about you?”

“Yes. I’ll obediently play the part of your boyfriend if you promise me that.”

“Hmm… deal. If you’ll obediently be my boyfriend so I don’t have to worry about being betrayed, I can accept those terms. Should we sign a contract?”

“No can do, I don’t want to inadvertently learn your name.”

“Then how about I keep the contract so you don’t see it? Hehe, might as well sell my soul as well. It sounds pretty funny.”

“Oh? You actually want to sell your soul because it sounds funny? Are you okay in the head?”

“Of course I am.”

“Then, how about we include a condition where you no longer age.”

“Hahahaha! Sure, sure. That sounds hilarious. Why not?”

“Alright then, let’s do that.”

I wrote up a contract with the terms and conditions we set forth and handed it over to her.

“Just sign on the dotted line and the contract will be complete.”

“Wait, I just realized, since you’re not going to look at it to verify my name, how will you confirm whether or not I signed my real name and the contract is valid?”

“I am a devil, I will instantly know whether or not you signed your true name or not. I don’t even need to look to know.”

“Oh? That sounds pretty impressive. How about we play a game then?”

“What sort of game are you proposing?”

“You will close your eyes and I will sign it on the other side of this exhibit to your rear. There will be no way for you to see my name this way or even know whether I have truly signed it or not. Consider this a gamble with the devil. Whether or not I can defeat the devil at his own game.”

“Oh? Such a gamble does sound quite interesting. But… I’ll have you know, I don’t take on things I’m not confident in winning.”

“So you’ll reject it?”

“No, I’ll accept it.”

“Huh? You mean you have a guaranteed way to win?”

“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll just have to see, now won’t we?”

When she saw how confident I was she gulped nervously.

“Seriously, you’re not actually a devil, right?”

“I’m not, I’m not.”

“The way you sent it makes me feel even more that you really are one.”

“Fine, I’ll admit it. I’m a devil. There, do you believe me?”

“Hahaha, not at all anymore. There’s no way a devil would really come out and say he is one.”

“Then let’s begin this wager.”

“Uh… I want to make sure there’s no way you can see first.”

“Sure, blindfold me if closing my eyes isn’t enough.”

“Okay.” She stood up and removed her jacket. She wrapped the long sleeves securely around my eyes. When I breathed in her sweet scent entered through my nose and filled my lungs. 

“I’m in position now.” Her voice came from the distance to my rear.

“If you think I’ve written my name, say so.”

“I do not believe you have written your name.”

“... correct, I haven’t signed any name yet.”

After a minute passed she said, “I’ve written my name now.”

“No, you haven’t.”

“Ugh. Correct… I still haven't written anything yet.”

I was taking this game she proposed very seriously. There was a good reason for me to. It could completely eliminate the possibility that what I experienced was a placebo effect from someone signing the contracts I wrote up.

Three minutes later she said, “Okay, I really, really signed it this time.”

“You did not.”

“Why! How do you even know? There’s no way you can tell.”

“I’m a devil, you cannot deceive a true devil, Ms. Angel of Death.”

“Fine, I get it, I get it. I can’t win. I surrender. I’m signing my name now.”

I could vaguely discern the sound of the pen moving. It felt like she was doing it intentionally loud this time.

“I signed it, you happy now?”

“You didn’t sign it.”

“What? I really did sign my name though.”

“I’m 100% certain that you did not sign your name.”

“You think I signed with a fake name?”

“That… or, you just wrote down something on a random piece of paper. All I know for certain is that you did not sign your name on the contract.”

“Do you have a third eye on the back of your head?”

“No.”

“Then how would you know I wrote something down on a random piece of paper?”

“It’s just one of several different things you could do to try and deceive me.”

“Okay, give me a second, I’ll sign now for real. Okay, done.”

“What you randomly wrote down, did you write up a new contract and sign that or something?”

“What the hell are you! You’re cheating, right? You secretly have an earpiece in one ear and have someone watching from somewhere out of sight, don’t you?”

“Check my ears if you want or search my body, you won’t find anything. I’ll even move my bag far away from me if you want.”

“Okay, then please don’t mind me.”

She removed her jacket from me and searched the pockets in case I hid something inside it. She then checked my ears and patted me down but she found nothing on my person.

“Move your bag into the far corner over there and I want you to stand facing the wall opposite to your bag. This way I can rule out there being anything hidden in the couch as well this way.”

“As you wish. You’re quite on edge. You really do hate to lose.”

I did as instructed and she tied her jacket around me again. This time she went to a random position in the room rather than telling me where she went.

She’d taken every possible precaution this time to ensure I couldn’t cheat.

“Now?”

“Nope, you didn’t yet.”

Five minutes passed and she said, “I’ve really signed the contract you prepared this time.”

“But you didn’t sign your name.”

“How do you know!”

“Because I do.”

“This time I did sign yours, but it was with the name Ange Delamort.”

“I see. Do you need me to write a new one for you?”

“Haaaaaah. Please do.”

“Alright.”

I rewrote the contract for her and we resumed our game where we left off.

This time I was kept waiting ten minutes before she said, “It’s do-”

“You didn’t sign it.”

“...”

From that point on all that remained was complete silence. 

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Fifteen minutes.

Forty-five minutes.

It was silent and I started to question whether she’d gotten fed up and left me here all alone.

At least, I thought that until my heart suddenly throbbed violently as a burning sensation engulfed it. The sour taste was there too.

“So you finally signed it, huh?”

“How! How could you know that as soon as I signed it without even telling you!”

I removed her jacket, turned toward her, and nonchalantly revealed, “Haha, because it turns out I’m a bonafide devil.”

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