The corridor shimmered faintly with enchanted glass—reflections stretching longer than they should, twisting the hallway into a maze of mirrored light.
Ace was already halfway through it.
Ace: "Yeah right, like I'm gonna wash a hundred windows. I'm just gonna go back and—"
A blur of grey fur shot forward.
Grim: "AHA! GOTCHA, PUNK!"
Ace yelped.
Ace: "Oh no! They saw me!"
Grim lunged, practically vibrating with rage.
Grim: "Stop right there, pal! No fair gettin' a head start! WAIT!"
Ace didn't even slow down.
Ace: "Who in their right mind would ever wait?! See ya!"
He darted deeper into the hall.
Grim chased.
Grim: "NO WAY ARE YOU GETTIN' OUT OF THIS! YOU THINK I WANNA WASH WINDOWS?!"
Around the corner—
Deuce stepped into view.
Deuce: "...Hm?"
Ace nearly collided with him.
Ace: "Outta my way!"
Deuce: "Hey! What gives?!"
Grim barreled in behind them.
Grim: "HE'S SHIRKIN' HIS CLEANING RESPONSIBILITIES!"
Deuce blinked rapidly.
Deuce: "What? That's not right! But how do I stop him?"
He started thinking out loud.
Deuce: "Like, freeze his legs? Or bind them with a rope? Or maybe I could— hmm... no..."
Grim: "I don't care how! JUST DO SOMETHIN'!"
Ace groaned.
Ace: "H-huh?! What are you bothering me for? You guys could've just banged out the work yourselves!"
And that was when Y/n finally spoke.
Calm. Flat. Already done with the entire situation.
Y/n: "We completed sixty out of the one hundred windows."
Ace blinked.
She continued.
Y/n: "You chose to leave. Therefore, you will complete the remaining forty—plus the portion reassigned due to refusal."
A pause.
Deuce stiffened.
Deuce: "You have to wash a hundred windows as punishment? What the heck did you do?!"
Ace scoffed immediately.
Ace: "I was just screwing with that furball a little. ...Okay, and the Queen of Hearts statue almost got a teeny bit charred. Sue me."
Deuce snapped.
Deuce: "You damaged a statue of the Great Seven?! No wonder he flew off the handle at you!"
Ace rolled his eyes.
Ace: "Oh, shut up. Who are you, anyway?"
Deuce: "My name is Deuce! Deuce Spade!"
Ace smirked.
Ace: "You don't remember my name either, do you?"
Deuce: "That's not the point!"
Grim started inching backward.
Very quietly.
Very suspiciously.
Grim: "...Heh."
Y/n noticed.
Immediately.
"...Do not," she said.
Grim froze.
Too late.
He bolted.
Grim: "Ah ha ha ha! I'll let you handle the rest! See ya, suckers!"
Ace whipped around.
Ace: "You caught me so YOU could run away yourself?! Hey! You there! Uh... Juice?!"
Deuce frowned.
Deuce: "It's Deuce!"
Ace didn't hear him.
Because Y/n had already lifted her hand slightly.
Her fingers didn't point.
They guided.
A thin line of crimson appeared in the air—not from injury, not from violence, but from controlled extraction.
Blood manipulation.
Precise.
Clean.
It didn't surge outward.
It structured.
The hallway reflections distorted for a fraction of a second—
then snapped into alignment as crimson threads formed a lattice across the corridor.
Ace skidded to a halt.
Ace: "Huh—?!"
His legs stopped mid-step.
Not frozen solid.
Not injured.
Just... bound in place by interlaced blood threads that tightened with exact calibration around motion pathways.
Like his movement had been mathematically denied.
He struggled once.
Nothing.
Y/n's voice stayed calm.
Y/n: "You will not leave until assigned labor is completed."
Ace stared down at the faint red bindings.
Then back at her.
"...You can do that?"
Grim, from a distance:
Grim: "SINCE WHEN CAN YOU DO THAT?!"
Y/n lowered her hand.
The threads stabilized but didn't tighten further—controlled restraint, not punishment.
"I can regulate circulation, structure, and external coagulation patterns," she said simply. "Movement interference is a basic application."
Deuce looked genuinely alarmed now.
Deuce: "That's NOT basic!"
Ace exhaled sharply through his nose.
"...Okay, okay. I get it."
He glanced at the bindings again.
Then sighed.
Ace: "Fine. I'll do the stupid windows."
Y/n released the tension slightly.
Not freeing him—just permitting motion again.
A pause.
Ace muttered:
"...You're kind of scary, you know that?"
Y/n blinked.
"I have been informed."
Grim, from somewhere down the hall:
Grim: "HEY! WAIT FOR ME—!"
But the fight?
That part was already over.
YOU ARE READING
I am an Archivist, not a Magician
Hayran KurguAfter returning home from Aranearum, where they survived the nightmare of the giga-hell spider train, Y/n Law thought the worst was finally behind them. During the hunt, they forged an unlikely partnership with a powerful demon after proving they we...
