The Contract Between a Specter and a Servant Volume 1 Review
“Do you want to run away? Do that, and the blood gushing from your exploding heart will spatter the old items in this place before you take three steps.” The specter, explaining the terms of the contract to his new servant.
Masamichi Adachi has pinned all his hopes on gaining a university place on his second try – but on the day he learns he’s failed again, he also loses his job. On his way home that night, he’s knocked down and left for dead by a speeding driver. As his consciousness fades, he becomes aware that a man is tending to his injuries – or so he thinks at first, only then realizing in horror that this devastatingly good-looking stranger has been drawn by the smell of fresh blood and is proceeding to devour his severed leg. “Be my servant,” says the man. “Work for me and be my food. Do that, and I will restore your body mostly to its former state.”
And so Masamichi wakes up three days later in the store of Shino Tatsumi, his broken body remade. He is given his own room and Shino cooks delicious food for them both. But Masamichi is now bound to his new master who reveals that he is a specter, given human form in the Heian Era a thousand years ago (the time of renowned onmyouji Abe no Seimei). Shino runs the store, the Bougyoudou (the name means ‘forgetting the dawn’), which he inherited from his master, Tokifuyu Tatsumi – long dead – who laid a curse on him so that he can never leave. Antiques, the used goods in the store, are all unique in that they have souls and have stories of their own to tell.
After a terrifying close encounter with one of the items in the store, Masamichi is abruptly told by Shino that he must use his third eye to ‘read’ what’s going on. Opening this third eye that Shino’s given him is an excruciatingly painful experience – and Masamichi doesn’t entirely understand how to use it as Shino doesn’t seem that eager to have to explain it to him. He’ll have to work hard to utilize this new skill.
And then one day… a customer arrives. Masamichi is about to find out what draws people to the store and what kind of services Shino offers them.
This light novel is very light on actual content, coming in at only c. 150 pages, but it’s an engrossing read, imbued with a deliciously sinister atmosphere that will appeal to readers who like their Japanese urban fantasy on the darker side. In author Michiru Fushino’s detailed afterword, we learn that it’s not just a re-issue (the original publication date was 2002), it’s a complete re-write of the original novel Me, an Apparition, and Him, a Servant. The rewrite came about, it seems, because the original line, Az Novels, was discontinued before the series was concluded. The author decided to change the narrative from first person (Masamichi) to third person to allow herself greater flexibility. She also clarifies – to a certain extent – her feelings as to whether the new version is Boys Love or not (the original was published under a BL label and Yen have tagged it as LGBTQ). ‘But I have never categorized my work as such, and like my other work, this is a story about someone developing feelings for another during their daily lives and nurturing a strong bond.’
I wonder if this is why this title makes such a satisfying read as it pre-dates the more recent web-novel style that we see so frequently in translation at the moment, resulting in volumes that seem to have been far too swiftly dashed off. This doesn’t mean that it’s a more challenging read; Michiru Fushino delivers a well-paced and exciting (sometimes disturbing) read from ‘servant’ Masamichi’s point-of-view as he undergoes a literally life-changing experience. Some of the more chilling passages deliver moments of visceral horror but this comes seasoned with the occasional dash of wry humour – and when supernatural events occur, they’re believably written as we experience them – through Masamichi’s eyes. (For those interested, we’ve had a couple of anime series recently based on the belief in Japan that once an inanimate object reaches a hundred years, it becomes sentient: a tsukumogami (translated in this novel as a ‘divine artifact’) most recently Malevolent Spirits: Monogatari and in 2018, We Rent Tsukumogami, both on Crunchyroll.)
However, even given the 16+ rating, I have to mention that in one chapter, Masamichi is threatened with ‘being raped’ by Shino so that he can continue to fulfil his part of their bargain, rather than lose another limb (which Shino would then have to restore). This leads to a really uncomfortable confrontation between the two men in which the inhuman Shino doesn’t understand Masamichi’s horror at the prospect of such a deal and Masamichi tries to explain to Shino that sexual congress should only take place when two people love each other. “Sex without mutual consent does mental and emotional damage.” With so much at stake, it’s a well-written and thought-provoking conversation in which Masamichi does his best to reason with his ‘master’ and persuade him that there has to be another way. A very different kind of conversation then ensues, with an attempt on Masamichi’s part to share his energy with Shino (which develops into a rather touching scene in more ways than one).
The fluent translation for Yen On, which reads extremely well, is by Eriko Sugita. Not long to wait for the second volume (of four) if, like me, you’re eager to see what happens next; it’s due out on July 23rd (with another eye-catching cover from Aki Aoi).
Our review copy from Yen On was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
