Magical Girl with Demonic Time Magic-Chapter 69: Suspicious Agreement

Chapter 69: Suspicious Agreement
"Setsuna, so why don’t you just ignore the problem?"
"...?" I don’t understand what Hexael is saying, so I just look at him confused, I’m not in the mood to listen to the crap he usually says.
"Get out of here, I want to be alone," I say, looking directly at him, I have no patience for any tricks or manipulation he might try to pull on me.
"Aren’t you curious? I have the solution to your fear, your fear that Ayane will be disgusted by the person you’re becoming."
"..."
"I’ve got your attention, haven’t I? It’s actually quite simple just ignore the problem. If you don’t understand, I can summarize it."
"Humans are beings who adapt to the current situation they’re in. At first, Ayane might even be disgusted by the being you’ve become, just to save her, but over time she would change her mind."
"Just ignore it and keep doing what you’ve always done, and eventually it’ll work out and..."
Bang.
I shoot Hexael in the head, I’m not going to listen to his crap at a time like this, I perfectly understand this stupid plan it’s literally to steamroll over Ayane’s opinion, forcing her to just accept it silently.
That’s not what I want, I don’t need her to hide her anger just because I’ve ignored her too much, that’s not the kind of relationship I want with her.
"Meow." Hexael appears on the table with another body, it seems that receiving a corrosive shot to the head disables the previous body, or he’s just trying to show off, I don’t know.
"HEY, YOU BASTARD!" I get up when he pushes Ayane’s head to the ground.
"Setsuna, why are you so angry? It’s just a dead body, Ayane is waiting for you in the next attempt, shouldn’t you go there right away?"
"..."
"Hahahahaha" He starts laughing at me.
"Are you afraid to show who you really are to her?" I shoot at him, he’s already talking too much for my liking.
"Why do you want to shut me up? Is it because you know it’s the truth? You’re waiting to calm down before going back, because you’re afraid of doing something stupid with Ayane."
Bang, Bang.
I shoot at him again, he’s right, I’m not mentally well enough to meet Ayane again or I might collapse in front of her and do something stupid.
"Ayane, Ayane, Ayane, it all comes down to something so simple. So how about I help you make Ayane happy and safe?" Hexael speaks with a huge, sickly smile on his face.
"..."
"Think about it, how about another deal? I’ll help protect Ayane, you’ll continue as Ayane’s friend..."
"What are the cons?" I doubt it’s anything good.
"There are no cons, all I ask is that you don’t interfere with Ayane’s decisions, whatever Ayane decides, you’ll be obligated to accept, whether you like it or not."
"...?" I don’t understand how this benefits Hexael, he’s too genius and has too cunning plans for me to comprehend.
"What do you expect to achieve with this?"
"It’s an experiment, Setsuna. I’ll guide you in protecting Ayane, and in return, I’ll observe as you learn the most painful way that the decisions of those we love aren’t always the best for us."
"If I fail, all our agreements will be paid off, you won’t owe me anything anymore. But if you fail, your debt will increase, and you’ll owe me a favor. So I wonder, will you be able to withstand Ayane’s own decisions?"
"Or will your jealousy speak louder, and you’ll lose this bet? You’ll maintain your friendship with Ayane, no more, no less. You’ll continue to protect her with my active support, and maintain your current life."
"We’ll keep this arrangement for a year and a half. If in a year and a half you demonstrate maintaining your current mentality, then I’ll acknowledge defeat. But if you crumble before that, I’ll inform you that you’ve lost, the contract will be broken, and I’ll gain an obligatory favor from you."
"Does this seem fair to you? I’m being completely honest, you know I can’t break the rules of my contracts, and this contract has nothing negative."
"If I lose, you’ll be free of your debts and still have all my current support. And if you lose, you’ll owe me a favor, and you’ll see what you really are inside that cold, human shell that hides your true face."
"And what am I in your view?" I question, seriously considering this agreement. With his active support, defending Ayane would be simpler, as everything is already so difficult, and it’s just the beginning.
"A deep, bottomless well of obsession, jealousy, and envy."
"...Envy?"
"Don’t worry about that, Setsuna. Will you accept or not? Oh, and let me make it clear if Ayane dies or is raped, the blame is yours. I’ll just inform you where Ayane is, what’s happening to her, and give tips if your plans are worsening or improving the situation."
"I know you’re smart and have already noticed that I have limits. Helping Ayane directly exceeds my scope of action, so think carefully. Accepting this agreement doesn’t guarantee Ayane’s absolute safety."
"It just makes it easier for you to know if she’s in danger and if you’re not just making things worse with stupid decisions. And know that I won’t make this offer again."
"I’m the type who only offers agreements once. If you refuse this one and come back for help later, it’s because the situation has become desperate, and the next similar contract will be much worse for you and more advantageous for me."
"..." He’s right, and the agreement seems good, but he knows me so well, so what does he want to show me about myself that I don’t know.
’Maybe refusing would be the best option...but...’ That useless angel has been appearing more, Ayane often mentions him and talks about conversations with him, so in his free time he finds and talks to Ayane.
"I accept..." It’s not that bad, 1 and a half years, and all the time I need to prove to him that I can very well maintain the current pace, and when I win, I won’t have to be so dependent on his help anymore.
"Excellent." Hexael extends his paw to me, while I just grip it with disdain using my remaining arm.
’Why did he say I’m envious...’ I’ve never in my life felt envy in the way he talks about. Calling me a well of obsession even makes sense, but calling me jealous and envious is just his delusion.
"You won’t regret this deal..." Hexael looks to the side in a strange way and averts his gaze, as if he’s heard something not so good from someone.
"Setsuna, how long will it take you to kill yourself?" Hexael asks.
"No..." I feel calmer, ironically, talking to this malicious demon has calmed me down enough, and the tears have already stopped. It’s better for me to go back before my brain decides that the missing arm is painful.
I hold the gun and aim it at my head, preparing to pull the trigger, while thinking whether this contract was the best idea.
I pull the trigger, shooting myself in the head, a shot that kills me immediately, while my vision just cuts and reopens on the way home with Ayane.
It’s an immediate transition as I see Ayane walking beside me in a pleasant silence.
"Ayane, I’ve changed my mind," I say, stopping walking. Seeing her here has an immediate calming effect on me, I want to hug her so much, but I pretend to be calm and normal.
We’re practically in front of her house, we’ve already had the conversation about going to that place, but there’s no reason to go there when I know everything will go wrong, something else will just ruin everything.
It’s better to keep her at school and deal with the attack in another way. According to the contract, Hexael is now obligated to give me some degree of support.
"What do you mean you’ve changed your mind?" Ayane asks, not understanding.
"It’s just that I remembered the consultation can actually be done with the school counselor." I can’t ask for help from other magical girls or warn about the attack because it would make me even more suspicious.
I’m already someone suspicious in the eyes of the magical girls at the top base, and Ayane’s Angel doesn’t trust me either. Giving more reasons for distrust would only make things worse.
"Oh, so we’ll go to class tomorrow then. It’s a shame, I was hoping we could go to a cafe after the consultation in the free time we’d have, but I understand," she says jokingly as we arrive in front of her house.
"Yes, it’s a shame. It seems I’ll see you in class tomorrow then, bye Ayane." I say goodbye to her as I see her going to the door of her house.
"Hexael, it’s better for you to tell me the safest way to save Ayane tomorrow." I say to Hexael, who appears by my side with a devilish smile, as if he had won.
"Of course, Setsuna. I’ll help you. I want to see how long it takes until you realize that just helping Ayane and keeping her happy isn’t what you really want, hihihi." He says with a little laugh as we head to my house.
I need to devise a plan so that she doesn’t have any problems at school. I’m stronger than I was in the beginning, but I’m still weak, and Hexael’s support will be valuable. Of course, I won’t blindly follow what he says.
I’ll just listen to what he says and devise a plan using what he gives me that’s useful. Trusting him too much is difficult, even though the agreement forces him to provide some degree of support.
He himself said that Ayane dying or being raped is not a breach of contract. He won’t prevent her from suffering, we’ll just work together for her to be happy and for me to be able to save her.
’I need to try even harder...’