Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date- 5 April 2321

Time- 04:13

Location- Southern Region, Blossom district, Sky Blossom City, Outskirts

How far was I willing to go to help Anna?

Better yet, How much did Anna mean to me?

The answer was obvious, realizing this, without any hesitation and delay, I equipped the Devil Merchant card and summoned the devil merchant Belphegor.

Soon a jet-black monster worm appeared in front of me. Then it looked at itself and made a weird noise which I understood as "I don't remember giving my card to a worm."

Then the jet-black monster worm turned to look at me and asked, "You, are you really a monster worm?"

"Does it matter?" I conveyed to the jet-black monster worm using the monster worm communication method.

"Right, it doesn't matter," the Jet black monster worm agreed with me.

Then I enquired about the Jet black monster worm's identity, "You are?" Not wanting to make any assumptions because when it comes to devils, assuming something based on their actions and tricky words would prove deadly as they are known to thrive on trickery. They especially enjoy tricking their victims into an eternity of misery, sorrow, and pain.

"Isn't it obvious?" the Jet black monster worm said.

"Obvious what?" I asked, not planning to answer it.

​ "Demon merchant Ezra, here to grant you your desire for a fee," the Jet Black worm introduced itself.

Hearing the Jet Black worm's introduction I looked at it in suspicion, had I not read the real card info I would have believed in its fake introduction.

Why would the devil bother with a fake name? Was it to misuse the devil pact? I had a hypothesis but it was best if I did not jump to any conclusion. Because I did not know anything about Devil merchant codes and Devil Pact, it was uncharted territory for me. I had to stay calm and be smart about it.

"Are you the demon merchant Ezra? Is your name Ezra?" I asked the Jet black worm to get confirmation from it.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" The jet-black monster worm dodged answering my questions.

Hearing the Jet black monster worm, I did not bust its lie, instead patiently asked, "I heard you, that is why I am asking to confirm if you are demon merchant Ezra?"

"Are you dumb?" The Jet black monster worm continued to dodge answering my questions.

"For the sake of this discussion, let's say I am. So, are you the demon merchant Ezra?" I continued to ask the jet-black worm the same question about its name and identity.

"I said, Demon Merchant Ezra, here to grant your desire for a fee," The Jet black monster worm repeated its fake introduction. If one were to carefully scrutinize its words, you may see that it never said that it was the demon merchant Ezra. And never in our conversation did it agree that it was the demon merchant Ezra.

Despite my repeated inquiries the Jet Black monster worm stuck to its fake introduction. Had I not read the real info on the card, no matter how cautious I was I would have fallen for its fake introduction. Because I had no choice but to take its word for it.

What's the harm in that? When I enter a devil's pact with it, if it doesn't use its real name, then who am I supposed to hold responsible for the bargain we agreed on, Demon Merchant Ezra? That's a fake identity, odds were there wasn't a demon merchant named Ezra, to begin with.

Was I overthinking it? No, I wasn't.

For the sake of an example let's say I agreed to exchange something with that devil on the spot and not on a later date and entered a devil's pact as proof of the agreement between me and the devil. Then I give the devil what it had asked of me in exchange for it promising me to fulfill my pre-stated desire thinking that we had made the devil's pact. But here's the thing, the devil had used a false identity in the devil's pact, so it would not be valid under the Devil Merchant code. Meaning the devil was under no obligation to uphold the agreement between us, in the end, I would be tricked into giving the devil something precious to me in exchange for nothing.

Again, these were my hypotheses on how the devil merchant code worked and why the devil Belphegor kept trying to make me believe that it was demon merchant Ezra. The only way I can prove it was by learning the devil merchant code. And where do I learn that?

"I heard you, the first time. So are you saying that you are demon merchant Ezra?" I continued with devil's charred.

"Where did you get my card?" The Jet black monster worm asked me with a frown, it seems to have realized that I was on to its trickery.

"Does that matter?" I did not answer the Jet Black monster worm as the more it knew about me the easier it would be for it to trick me to my doom.

"No, it doesn't," Jet Black monster worm said, shaking its head.

I know that the Jet Black Monster worm would not play ball until it felt like it was tricking me. I did not have time for that. So I asked the jet-black monster worm, "Can I get the devil merchant code?"

"Devil merchant code? How do you know about that?" the Jet black monster worm asked me in surprise. Now it was sure that I knew something but what I knew was not clear to it and that bugged it.

"Does it matter?" I asked the devil, having resolved to reveal as little information about me to it as possible. Though I wasn't clear on the fact of how much the devil knew about me.

"No, it doesn't. If you want it, I can get you the devil merchant code. For an appropriate price… I can get you anything."