[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-saya-and-the-dragon":3,"chapter-saya-and-the-dragon-saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-60":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Saya and the Dragon",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1705047,2177,"Chapter 57: Soul Bargain","saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-60",60,"\u003Cp>I once almost sold my soul to a devil.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>NottheDevil, mind you. Not the Grand Prince of Darkness, not the Horned One of the Ninth Pit, not Old Nick or Belphegor the Goat-Widdler. No. Just some minor bureaucratic imp from the Lower Department of Sulphuric Deeds and Petty Acquisitions. A middle-manager with horns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Figures, right? Of courseIwouldn’t attract the attention of a real hellspawn. Some girls get courted by incubi or tempted by shadow princes with silk gloves and contracts that shimmer in blood. Me? I get Gerald. With a chipped hoof and bad breath. Wearing a vest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He popped up while I was bathing in a hot spring. Which sounds more romantic than it was. I was naked, yes, but also covered in mud, nursing three bruises and a hangover, and screaming at a leech on my thigh. And poof—there he was. Standing on a rock, clipboard in hand, looking me over like a fishmonger examining bad crab.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He cleared his throat, then said, in the driest voice imaginable:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Would you be interested in exchanging your soul for power, riches, fame, or… let’s say marginally improved luck?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I blinked at him. “That’s the pitch?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He shrugged. “It’s Tuesday.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I asked what I’d get in return. He flipped a page. “One enchanted mirror with limited scrying ability. A cursed coin that attracts thieves. And… a slightly increased chance of orgasms during solo activity.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I gaped. “That’s it?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sniffed. “What did you expect? You’re not exactly a maiden of light. Not a virgin—check. Petty thief—check. Swears like a navyman—check. History of sybaritic excess, multiple unrepentant blasphemies, and at least three instances of public lewdness.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I splashed water at him. “I am a product of my environment!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised an eyebrow. “You broke into a temple and tried to charge pilgrims for ‘blessings.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That was a business opportunity!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gave me a flat look. “You stabbed a priest with a hairpin because he looked at you funny.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hewinkedat me during confession.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose, and muttered something infernal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I asked—half joking—if instead of the whole soul business, we could just do… something else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He blinked. Then slowly flipped to a different section in his little black book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you suggesting a barter of flesh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m suggesting I’ve had worse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To his credit, he hesitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he gave me an apologetic shrug. “Technically against regulations. Unless you’re offering as a symbolic act of submission to the will of the Sulphuric Principality.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I batted my eyes. “Would it count if I call you ‘daddy’ while I do it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then checked a footnote.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So we agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No soul exchanged. Just a quick, awkward blowjob behind a mossy rock while he kept his clipboard balanced on my shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tipped me one enchanted match that lights on command and smells faintly of cinnamon. Said he’d put in a good word for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I never saw him again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But sometimes, when things go weirdly my way—like when I find coin under a floorboard or the guard turns left instead of right—I wonder if Gerald’s still out there. Rooting for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My own personal minor demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Probably got demoted for misconduct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But hey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least someone got something out of the deal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I still have my soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Probably.\u003C\u002Fp>",551,"2026-06-06T14:39:25.620Z",1,"novelbin.me","7d592265d1547eeb08fb6ffc242cdd8caf77de5cc64c2799081028bb77aa3d15","saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-61","saya-and-the-dragon-chapter-59",228,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsaya-and-the-dragon-cover.jpg"]