“So, one can get any wish as long as they have sex with you?” Even the stoic Maki looked perturbed, and she only had one question. “Why?”
“Because I turned a wheel.” Adam’s sigh only seemed to strengthen the awkwardness.
“Can’t you like change it to something, um, different?”
“It’s not in my power to do so.” Adam shrugged. “It is too much, I understand, but…”
“No, I don’t mean it that way. I thought it’d be more like you asking for my soul or making me your servant or something.” Maki shook her head in exasperation. “I mean, sure, sex isn’t a small thing to ask of a woman, but compared to other possible outcomes, it’s basically child’s play.”
“There are still people who think this is a problematic contract, and to a certain degree I can agree.” Adam didn’t have the power to change it now anyway.
“That’s just how systems are, advantageous to some groups and disadvantageous to others.” Maki’s tone turned sombre by the end.
“You are taking it much better than expected.” He couldn’t help but celebrate in his mind as he finally had someone understand his plight.
“Did you think I would be more difficult?” Maki rubbed her chin in deep thought. “I suppose I do give off a rather prickly vibe.”
“Regardless, I’ll go ahead with the contract. Just promise me that Mai will be the same Mai I know. I don’t want any funny business there.” She wasn’t kidding about that part.
“I can add that in the contract if you want. I’ll die if there is any problem.” Adam smiled.
“What will your death solve?” Maki gave a dry smile as the sun vanished on the horizon.
As the clouds opened up to reveal the moon, Maki looked at the contract in her hand with a measured eye. She had read over the lines hundreds of times, and Adam had been there patiently to fix anything that gave her even a bit of anxiety.
“Thank you.” She said, finally satisfied with the conditions.
“You can say that after I’ve done my part.” With an understanding look, Adam handed her the pen.
With a final deep breath, Maki signed the contract. The parchment burst into a ray of light and entered her body. There was no turning back now, and she doubted she would even if a way presented itself.
“Well then, allow me to uphold my end of the bargain.” Adam snapped his fingers as the air started to twist.
Maki felt a sharp pain in her head as the vertigo took over. Because of her enhanced senses, it felt like her stomach had twisted into knots. As she suppressed the rising bile, the scenery around her changed.
From the terrace of the broken mall to the curse pit in the Zenin Clan compound, where she had lost her sister. Her blood was still on the floor, and Mai herself rested on the floor.
Her lips had chapped, and she looked pale. Maki couldn’t sense the heartbeat either. She was dead, as dead as Mai was when she handed her to Nishimiya. Thankfully, she had asked the latter to wait till she finished her promise before they could handle the service.
Adam crouched before Mai and placed a hand on her forehead. He then closed his eyes and scanned her body with his senses. After a solid ten minutes, he stood up with a nod.
“There is no problem with her; they looked after her well.” His consoling words eased Maki’s nerves a bit.
Well, if he really wanted to ease her nerves, he shouldn’t have brought them back to the room where Mai died. Still, he had clear reasons.
When a person passes on, their spirit leaves their body on that spot. And without the body to anchor it, the spirit starts to deteriorate and merges back into the natural energies. At least that’s what he had learned from the world he had lived in most of his life. And the process wasn’t much different in any of the worlds he had seen till now.
Even in this world, as long as he gathered the particles that used to be Mai’s spirit and reassembled them, re-anchoring the spirit into the body, would complete the job.
As simple as it sounded, this was like pouring a bottle of water into the ocean and then trying to collect the same water drop by drop days later.
Still, to someone like Adam, who had done a similar task in much more challenging conditions—with Akeno’s mom—Mai’s case was actual child’s play.
This became more apparent when he only had to sense the energies in the Tokyo area, since not much time had passed since Mai’s death. But the process did take an hour, thanks to the other conditions Maki wanted.
‘Well, I must follow the contract. And if one makes a contract with me, it is only good that they get what they want without any problems.’ Adam didn’t want to compare with the unethical genies who fucked over their summoners intentionally. ‘Those fucking bastards, they better not come across me ever again!’
As Adam’s brow tensed, Maki looked on from the side. Although there was a growing sense of unease, Maki now felt a bit calmer because of the effort he was putting in.
‘He’s not a bad guy, just unfortunate in a strange way.’ She thought as his tense expression eased up.
“I will move to the next step now.” Adam looked at the completed spirit of Mai. It resembled the person greatly, but with a broken chain dangling from her heart.
The hard part was over, so he moved quickly. With a careful gesture, he lowered the spirit and raised the leftover spirit chain in the body. With a little effort, he connected the two, and the cracks started to glow golden.
‘This reminds me of the Kintsugi practice I did before. Maybe I should do that again.’ With the random thought, Adam allowed the spirit to sink into the body and settle on its own.
Seeing him lower his hand, Maki finally asked him the loaded question.
“Did it succeed?”