When Duma had written half of the contract on the back, he suddenly stopped.
As he continued to slowly heat the wooden stick in his hands with flames, he carefully sharpened the head again with his demon claws, as if he wouldn't be able to write the rest without doing so.
Ed, now intrigued, didn't interrupt Duma and wanted to see just how long the demon's real name was.
Another minute passed, and only a narrow blank line remained on the back of the contract. Duma finally put down his pen and breathed a sigh of relief.
Along with him, another person and a dragon breathed a sigh of relief; if they hadn't finished writing this, they would have had to add another sheet of paper.
Four hands respectfully presented the contract. Ed took the contract and glanced at it, only to see that after the words "Party B, "Duma's real name was written in another language.
Fortunately, Little Green can translate multiple languages, Ed thought to himself:
" Duma Cizer Pips de Dominic..."
The names, strung together, included surnames, given names, and even what appeared to be place names. All of these elements combined to form an incredibly long real name that rivaled a roster, so long that Ed felt dizzy just looking at it.
There are a full two hundred names here, making it seem like Ed hired a reinforced company, which makes the monthly salary of one hundred gold coins seem well spent.
In order to be able to hire other demons in the future, Ed earnestly asked the question that had been bothering him:
"Are all demons' names this long, or is it just you?"
Duma bowed his head respectfully.
"Lord Tree God, only I am like this."
Ed's heart finally settled down, and the demon continued to explain:
"The demon's custom is to strip a portion of the defeated's name to add to their own. I am unworthy, but in the past few centuries I have achieved minor victories against other demons and humans a few times, so my true name is indeed rather long. I hope the Tree God will understand."
Ed's lips twitched. This wasn't some demon's real name; it was clearly a record of the demon's historical battle achievements.
He could imagine that if Duma were from another world, he could simply write his real name in the job experience section of his resume and immediately receive a ton of job offers.
"I think I can even see some place names in them?"
Ed pressed on with his questions.
"Yes, that's where I won some important victories, so I included it."
Ed, twirling the contract in his hand, suddenly asked:
"So, does that mean today's failure doesn't need to be recorded?"
Duma thought for a moment and said:
"You are the victor today, and by rights you can change my name as you please. Didn't you just bestow a new name upon me? I have already incorporated it into my real name."
Upon hearing this, Ed's one eye scanned the somewhat hastily written names and, sure enough, found Nige Ganhuo at the end. Before Nige Ganhuo was Marba, which likely referred to the battle in which Duma replaced the other.
It's quite a strange custom... Thinking of this Ed suddenly asked:
"So when you were impersonating one of my men, why did you use part of your real name?"
He genuinely wanted to know, because according to Duma's logic, although his current real name was almost as long as an essay, Duma should be the name he had when he was born.
Using this name as a disguise is, in a sense, not a disguise at all, since Ed obtained some basic information from Willow through the name Duma.
So he genuinely wanted to know the reason behind it: was it just a momentary lapse in judgment by Duma, or was there another reason?
That's because...
Upon hearing Ed's question, Duma immediately responded, but suddenly felt a sense of doubt—
Yes, given his meticulous nature, he would never use his real name when playing a role. For an old artist like him, coming up with a flawless fake name is easier than drinking water.
But why did I use " Duma " as my alias at the time?
It may seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision, but I have already reached High Tier, and no coincidence is ever without reason.
Could it be...? Duma looked up at Ed, and after thinking it over, she came to a seemingly reasonable explanation--
" Tree God, I believe this is the guidance of fate."
He wanted to say that it was his way of showing loyalty, but that contradicted the act of testing him, so he could only attribute it to almighty fate.
To say it was a sign from fate meant that he had no clue what to do.
Having no answer to his own question, Ed didn't delve any deeper. He simply entered Duma's real name into his Root Network and then said earnestly:
"From now on, unless there are special circumstances, we can just use the names ' Duma ' and ' Nige Ganhuo '."
"Yes, Your Excellency Tree God."
Job duties confirmed, new identity confirmed, salary and benefits confirmed... Duma felt it was time to show his loyalty to the Tree God.
"Lord Tree God, if you have nothing else to attend to, should I now head south to construct a defensive line?"
Ed glanced at Duma upon hearing this:
"There are still two small things to do."
Duma listened intently, and Ed said:
"First, give me a drop of your blood."
This wasn't a problem. Duma wasn't even interested in asking Ed why he did it. After all, there were too many goals that could be achieved through blood in the World of Disorder. Just like now, if he hadn't chosen to sign his real name on the contract but instead opted to drip a drop of blood, the effect would have been the same.
Duma conjured a drop of blood and pushed it towards Ed, while Ed plucked a leaf from Little Green and pushed it towards Duma.
Ed reached out and caught the blood bead, handing it directly to Little Green for analysis.
On the other side Duma caught the tender leaf that moved without wind and, following Ed's instructions, integrated it into her body, gaining registration access to the Root Network.
"The second thing—come with me to Fir City; things there are almost finished."
Duma was startled:
"Has Fir City fallen? No, has it been liberated?"
Having Marba for so long, Duma's mindset hadn't yet shifted from that of Holy Crusaders commander to Soul Returner Legion Commander, so his wording often had some minor issues.
"Not yet, but soon. There's some finishing work that needs your attention. After all, you're the newly appointed legion commander, and you need to at least get acquainted with the troops you'll soon be leading."
"I am willing to serve you, sir."
Ed stood up and gestured to Seraphina that there was nothing more to see.
The dragon girl clicked her tongue and turned to walk towards her Obsidian Bank. Ed looked at Duma and asked:
"I can use my clone to quickly reach Fir City. Do you have any methods for fast travel?"