READER'S POV

For the past couple of nights, I have been sneaking out of my room to go to that spiral staircase that's leading me to that mysterious voice that I heard from before but, unfortunately, the eldest brother is always on guard and he catches me in the act. Like last night, when I went to the staircase again, Lucifer caught me.

It looks like I won't be able to reach the top of the staircase unless I can do something about Lucifer because if I don't, I won't be able to find out who's been calling out to me.

The next morning...

I got up from the bed and I got ready for school. I tied my hair into a ponytail and then I grabbed my schoolbag and headed down stairs. I was about to head into the dining room until I glanced at bulletin board for the job requests. I thought about performing at the park but, I was worried about the demons attacking me since there's a chance that there might not be any friendly ones. I think I will find work later, right now I have bigger things to worry about.

I walked into the dining room and I found Mammon already sitting at his spot as usual.

"Morning," I greeted him before sitting down at the table.

"*Sighs* Why do I gotta be stuck here with you first thing in the morning having to look at your face while I'm tryin' to eat my breakfast," Mammon complained while I ate my meal and sipping my coffee.

"To us demons, eating a human like you is a special sorta treat, understand? Yet I'm not allowed to do that. I've gotta sit here and eat my breakfast instead. I mean, it's like havin' a premium-grade roast Iriomote musk hog right in front of me. Medium rare, cooked to perfection. But I can't have it. Instead I'm sitting here eatin' dried blackbelly newt legs. I mean, I'm not sayin' blackbelly newt legs are bad. I actually like 'em but still."

For some reason, I was starting to lose my appetite when Mammon said this. I picked up my mug of coffee and I sipped it a few times.

"And what's even worse is that thick, juicy hunk of meat has started giving me orders now, like it's the boss of me or somethin'. It's REALLY not fun. I mean, what sick kind of torture is this, anyway?!"

I sighed heavily before I asked Mammon.

"Where's Beel?"

"Speakin' of Beel, that reminds me. He went and ate the custard I left in the refrigerator-the one I was saving for later! I told him NOT to eat anything that had my name on it! Ugh, I'm gonna kill him!"

"Well, that's bound to happen when you don't label your food. We had that sort of thing happening back in the Orha-" I stopped mid-sentence since I didn't want anyone knowing where I lived before coming here.

"Uh, I mean in the human world. That's right..."

Mammon stared at me for a few moments before he asked me.

"Anyway, what's up with you? you looked like you had your head in the clouds."

"Nothing."

"Okay...I'm sure the others have already scurried off to class and left me to look after ya on my own, the punks. Dammit, they're all rotten, every last one of 'em."

I sweat dropped when I saw that look on his face and I knew what was coming next.

"Here he goes..." I mumbled quietly.

"This all comes back to Lucifer! Getting stuck having to look after a human, ending up in a pact, everything bad is his fault! The way Levi's haircut is so lame, and Satan's horns are so stupid-lookin'. and Lucifer's feet are so putrid, all of it is Lucifer's fault! ...Not that I've ever actually smelled his feet, but still!"

I glanced at Mammon and then an idea popped into my head.

'Wait, this is my chance to ask Mammon.'

"Hey, there's something that I'm curious about. What's at the top of the stairs?" I asked Mammon.

"HEY, I TOLD you to LISTEN to me when I'm TALKIN' to you! I was tryin' to tell you about Lucifer's fe- wait, what stairs? are you talkin' about the stairs that lead up into the attic?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Oh man, there you go again, stickin' your nose where it doesn't belong..."

I looked at Mammon confused before explained to me.

"Now listen, do you know the secret to getting people to tell you stuff? Go ahead, tell me."

"That's easy, money."

"EXACTLY! Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! I guess you DO get it! If ya wanna pry valuable information outta someone, you've got to offer 'em proper compensation!" Mammon spoke with a grin before he realised something.

"Wait a second... oh, I know what this is about!"

"You do?" I asked him nervously.

"You tried to climb those stairs but, Lucifer stopped you, right? That's totally it, isn't it?" Mammon asked me.

"Guilty as charged..." I confessed to him.

"Well, then there's something you really to get straight now. If you think you can just offer Mammon here a little bit of money and he'll spill the beans, you're dead wrong. I mean, pretend I told you somethin' I shouldn't. Lucifer would beat me half to death. Actually, I'd be lucky if that's all he did. If I WEREN'T lucky, he'd have me eliminated. It'd take a good two hundred million years to recover from that."

'Oh man...well, I gave it try...'

"Still, if you're bound and determined to buy this information off of me...Then you'll have to offer me, let's see... How about the monetary equivalent of the world's total oil prodcution? Two hundred million years' worth. That might do it. In other words, I ain't gonna tell ya. Is that clear enough for ya, blockhead?"

A tick mark appeared on my head when he called me that. I smirked at Mammon and I asked him.

"Mammon, are you by any chance afraid of Lucifer?"

"WHAT?! whoa, what'd you just say? You think I'M actually afraid of Lucifer?! Me, the Avatar of Greed? You've gotta be kidding! I'm not the least bit afraid of him, got it? Not even a little!"

"Be honest, though. You're scared, aren't you?"

"I told you, I'm not! I mean, that's crazy! Listen now, most of the time, I don't let people see the full extent of my power! What I'm sayin' is that even if I did face off against someone like Lucifer, I wouldn't even have to use all of my strength to win! Understand?!"

"Then why don't you tell me what's up those stairs?"

"...All right, fine! I will! You can't get up the stairs because Lucifer's blocking the way, right!? You need to do somethin' to get rid of him, right?! Well, guess what? Distracting Lucifer is easy as pie Listen up, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once, so, clean the wax outta your ears for a change and pay attention!"

I sat there and I listened to what he was about to tell me.

"You know that series Levi likes? What was it called...um, The Tale of the Seven...Seven...Seven Ways to Get Rich Quick...wait, no. That's the book I was readin' the other day."

"I think you mean The Tale of the Seven Lords," I told him.

"Right, yeah. That's the one."

"So what has that series got to do with Lucifer? I mean he's not much of an Otaku," I asked Mammon.

"That's true but, you need to get your hands on a viny edition copy of the soundtrack for that Tale of the Seven whatsawhosit. If you have that, you can use it to distract Lucifer no problem!"

"Why is Lucifer interested in a vinyl soundtrack?"

"Don't ask me, 'cause I've got no idea why Lucifer's interested in something like that either. But if you wanna climb those stairs, you're gonna have to start by gettin' your hands on that soundtrack."

I smirked at Mammon and I asked him.

"If that's what I have to do then why don't you help me out?"

"Wha? I don't understand. Why should I help you? If ya want that sound track, then go find Levi and work it out with him yourself, dummy."

I frowned when he called me that name before he stood up from his seat.

"Welp, time for me to go. As much as I hate goin' to class, I don't have much of a-"

"Mammon...come!" I commanded him.

"HEY! Wh-What's goin' on?! Dammit, my body...it's movin' on its own!"

I smirked evilly at Mammon as he followed me out of the room.

"Did you forget that we made a pact? I can command you, Mammon. Now let's go," I told him.

"Grr...! F-Fine, all right! I'll go with you, okay?! It feels like you've got some kinda invisible cord tied around my neck.  ...Aaah, stop pullin' on it! ...I said stoooooop!!"