The worst―and last―day of his life! Masamichi Adachi left his hometown in the country to study agriculture at university. He prepared diligently for the exam, got his own apartment, and landed a part-time job to pay rent and support himself. He’s doing everything right, so why is it all going horribly wrong?! He’s failed the entrance exam twice, lost his job, and to top it all off, a hit-and-run leaves him a lonely, bloody mess on a dark road. Just as he accepts his fate and goes toward the ligh...
A full re-write of a previous series
妖魔と下僕の契約事件 is a full rewrite of 妖魔なオレ様と下僕な僕 by the same author; I have not read the original, so won't be commenting on it here.
In 妖魔と下僕, we follow the unfortunate 足達正路 (あだち・まさみち), a young man who in one day: finds out he's yet again failed the entrance examination to his number one university, gets fired from his part-time job, and topping it all off, is brutally run over in a hit and run. Left to die alone on the street, 正路 gets a second chance in life when he meets 司野, a handsome man drawn by the scent of 正路's blood. 司野 is a 妖魔, and convinces 正路 to form a contract with him: 正路 will become his servant and food, and in return 司野 will shelter and feed him.
The beginning starts off quite sad, with one disaster after another for the quiet 正路, and 司野 is about an unnerving partner as you could have, but I love what the authors set for their dynamic and relationship: 正路 is timid, but kind and eager to learn, while 司野 is brusque but caring in his own way. This first volume is pretty slice-of-life: we're introduced to 司野's line of work as 正路 navigates his new life, and honestly I loved it.
This felt like a very "standard" novel to read: few furigana, mostly everyday vocab with the occasional antique or spiritual vocab thrown in (always with furigana, iirc), no unusual grammar. The prologue features a small amount of 関西弁, but it's a one-off and doesn't appear again in the book.