Doctor Demon

"So you're saying that a demon has been living in my own house and I didn't even know?" Junho roared. "THAT TOO RENT FREE?"

"Relax old man!" Jina exclaimed. "He's harmless!"

"Hey! I'm a Vozakel Lord!" Magrod claimed. "I'm an elite class demon who's very dangerous. Mothers talk about me in fairy tales to calm down their kids!"

"Look-"

"What the hell is the mutt saying?" Junho demanded. "Is he going to pay rent for the days he stayed here?"

"He-"

"Tell the old man that I got hold of his secret stash of money! I'll take it with me."

"You-"

"What the hell is the demon saying? Is he going to return the cookies he ate? Did he eat my chocolate chip cookie?"

"I-"

"Yes, I did and they were delicious! Do we have any?"

"STOP IT YOU ROTTEN OLD MEN!" Jina shouted over the silly argument. "No, he's not paying rent. Yes, he ate your cookies. And he has a hold of your secret stash of cash!"

"I'm exorcising this mutt right away!" Junho growled.

"Who the hell are you calling a mutt?" Magrod argued. "I'm a Vozakel Lord who is a noble class demon! I can turn into a very large dog and kick asses!"

"What the hell is the dog saying now?" Junho snarled. This was the most bizarre argument Jina had ever witnessed. Her grandfather returned from the trip and found out about the events of the past few days. He was not bothered about Jiwoon's kidnapping nor about Siwan's hospitalization. Instead, he was solely focused on the fact that Miyoo brought a demon home and that the demon was living rent free. 

Magrod, on the other hand, believes that he had protected Miyoo on various occasions and had no reason to pay rent under the logic that he was "noble and cute".

What a weird logic, she thought in dismay.

"Old man, the demon protected Miyoo that night," Jina interpreted. "Maggie, no you can't take other people's cookies without permission."

"Maggie?" Junho snickered. "What kind of name is that?"

"It's Magrod!" Magrod growled.

"Anyways!" Jina said loudly. "We need a lot of answers and Maggie-"

"Magrod!"

"Maggie will answer them," Jina said, ignoring the demon. Magrod was annoyed but huffed his chest, feeling very important. Junho only scowled. He was not a fan of taking help from a demon but if the creature managed to win over Miyoo, then he could not complain. Junho did not want to admit it but Miyoo had a knack for sensing people and if she gave someone a nickname, it meant the person was harmless.

"Fine!" Junho conceded. "Jina, you interpret whatever the demon is saying."

"I have a name, ya old geezer!" Magrod muttered. "Anyways…"

He hopped forward onto a board which Jina had brought for him to write on as he had requested. Jina took a seat next to her grandfather, interpreting everything the demon was saying.

"Hell is not the usual place where souls are rehabilitated," he began. "It's the only place a human being walks willingly into but cannot escape. The place where they are punished by demons for eternity. It's part of the deal. You give up your soul, it no longer belongs to you but to the demons who dwell in Hell. Hence, there is no escape from it. Unlike Afterlife or Purgatory where the person is still in control of his soul, Hell doesn't work like that. The human soul in there is punished and then the process of demonization begins. Every soul eventually becomes a demon."

"That doesn't mean that all the demons are like Sungki. Remember, some good souls end up there as well for various reasons. Some demons are actually not that bad. Like me! I'm in an elite class so I'm on a different level. An exquisite being who is gracing your family with dignity and nobility and-"

"Go back to explaining Hell!" Jina snapped at him. 

"Oh yes," Magrod realized. "Hell. Anyways. It can take hundreds of years for a soul to turn into a demon but in rare cases, it can take only a few years. An example would be Cho Sungki. He became a demon surprisingly fast but then again, he was quite obsessed with his wife. The emotional levels of a soul can also affect the process. In short, the crazier you are, the faster you become a demon and even go higher."

"There are six types of demons who live in Hell," he continued. "The C-class as I call it are the newly formed demons. They're like foot soldiers who are trained to deal with contracts. You see, these contracts ensure our existence. There aren't millions of contracts but we get a decent amount thanks to many idiots like the Cho's. If a spell is a generic one, these foot soldiers go to make the deals. Once the deal is fulfilled, they collect the soul and come back."

Junho, who was listening to Jina's interpretation all this time, frowned in understanding. "That explains why a lot of the demons are easier to get rid of while others are hard," he remarked.

"Bingo!" Magrod nodded, writing on the board. "The lower the status, the easier it is to get rid of them. But the higher you go, the harder it is to exorcise a demon. Look at me. I'm a Vozakel Lord, almost impossible to exorcise."

"Nobility my ass," Junho muttered. "A cookie is enough to snuff you out!"

"Correction," Magrod said. "It has to be a chocolate chip cookie. Now, back to business. There are five types of noble class demons. Once a C-class foot soldier is promoted, he becomes a Vusthramis or a Knight level demon."

"Just like the one from the painting!" Jina gasped.

"Yes," Magrod nodded. "That guy was a Vurthramis. These demons think they are very elite but they're not. Just a bunch of sissies who carry out our orders. Meh! Vurthramis nowadays are such morons. They have zero respect for authority! I had to hit one with an iron hot rod fifty thousand times to make him obedient."

"Moving on!" he exclaimed, ignoring the horrific look on Jina and Junho's faces. "The next class is the Kirstis, the one where Sungki belonged. While a Vurthramis is slightly affected by the usual charms, salt and exorcism, Kirstis are not like that. Charms, salt and exorcism won't affect them. At least not easily. You'll have to lock up a Kirstis in a room full of specially made charms for exactly seven days and carry out the exorcism in installments at midnight every night. But it's risky and can kill the person being possessed. Your friend is lucky that I was around. Otherwise, he'd have gone mad!"

Jina was highly disturbed by the things Magrod was saying. She shuddered at the thought of Siwan suffering that much. Thankfully, a disaster was averted.

"The third class is rather unique," Magrod stated. "They're the Aken class. Unlike the others, Akens don't possess living human beings. Summoning them requires more energy and also, a dead body."

"What?" Jina gasped. 

"What is it?" Junho frowned.

"The third noble class of demons are Akens and they need a dead body to be summoned!"

"Yikes!"

Magrod nodded, pleased at the effect he was having on the humans. "They're not easy to summon," he added. "The dead body has to be intact and not dead for more than 24 hours. Once the body is prepped, the demon will enter it and use it until the body starts to deteriorate. The duration of a contract with an Aken is considerably short given that once the body deteriorates, the demon will leave and take the soul of the contract signee with him."

"The fourth class is...moi!" Magrod smirked. "This is where the demons achieve freedom. You see, unlike other demons, we can travel freely between the living world and Hell. We go around manipulating people to sign contracts."

"What?" Junho roared. "Don't you dare make Miyoo sign a contract with you!"

"I would never!" Magrod snapped. "That kid? In Hell? She'll end up in the Ruler's Throne herself if she's sent there! Do you have any idea how much she tormented me in the past month?"

"What's he saying now?" Junho frowned.

"He's saying that he doesn't have the heart to make Miyoo sign a contract," Jina stated.

"Oi, don't twist my words! I'm thinking of the other demons here. Imagine your sister chasing them with her stories of Alpacas! It'll drive us out of business!"

Jina simply shook her head. This peculiar demon was attached to her sister and refused to admit it. How her sister tamed a demon was beyond normal human comprehension.

"Anyways," Magrod continued. "Vozakel class demons are usually more covert. I might look like a dog but it doesn't mean all of us look like this. In fact, Vozakel lords look like any normal human being. They can live among the humans for thousands of years and still send souls to Hell. They're kinda like those male leads in fantasy dramas who live on earth for years without growing old."

Jina interpreted all of it to Junho who nodded but then frowned.

"But how can we distinguish them?" he asked. "What if they create problems here?"

"The task of a demon is simple," Magrod said. "Give out contracts, fulfill them and bring the soul to Hell. We're not allowed to do anything else. We are allowed to possess people only if it means to complete our contracts. Some demons fulfill contracts without any possession required. Some have to possess. But there are rogue demons who possess people without any reason simply because they want to or they have their own selfish reasons."

"We faced a demon many years ago who was possessing people without making contracts," Junho stated. "Wasn't that illegal?"

"It was but I guess he wasn't caught," Magrod sighed. "It has been like that for a while. Many demons have escaped Hell and are creating a ruckus here. There was once a time they were punished but now it's no longer possible."

"Why not?" Jina asked.

"Because, the Jazrads are gone," he revealed. "And that brings us to our fifth and the highest class."