Silly question, but regarding the whole thing with Sebastian's offer to bring R!Ciel back from the dead, how would that even have worked? Sebastian is manipulative, sure, but I don't think even he's capable maintaining that ruse indefinitely, especially once multiple people get involved, and it's not like he can hypnotize people. What do you think- would the demon have just shapeshifted into the dead earl, or are we looking at some kind of morbidly hilarious Weekend At Bernie's situation here?
【Response to: Will UT use Bizarre Phantomhive Dolls to lure O!Ciel?】
Dear Anon,
It is not a silly question at all! But the answer is very simple; Sebas wouldn’t have to do anything as long as his master does not manage to bind him completely and effectively. It is a bit similar to what I have written before in this post about what Sebas would do if somebody asked for teleportation or mind-reading powers. We’re dealing with this ⇊ piece of Trash™, after all.
Now, let us look at how everything would have worked in practice depending on how the contract was discussed.
The Importance of Phrasing
First of all, the execution of a term about reviving the dead would depend entirely on how the order is phrased. Whether Sebas can lie or not does not matter one bit.
With important contracts and laws, it is of paramount importance that no loopholes and freedom to interpretation are left. And yet, if we pay attention to chapter 138, nowhere do Sebas and O!Ciel discuss how the contract terms need to be phrased exactly. From this, we can tell that in this universe, law is that the way terms are phrased is in great part dependent on how the demon likes it. Demons are free to paraphrase term demands.
By not diverting from O!Ciel’s specific demands, Sebas was actually already being “fairly kind”. During the signing for example, O!Ciel said: “you must never lie to me,” but then he also added that “all my questions shall be answered truthfully from now on.”** (this is my translation from the original Japanese. Will explain at the bottom of this post.) If Sebas really wanted to, the first term could also have been:
This would have meant that as long as Sebas is not ANSWERING a question, he could still lie. So if a later wish O!Ciel makes revolves around reviving his dead family, it’d not be a question, so Sebas could still lie and say he agrees to the term... and then just not carry it out.
Now, what would have happened if O!Ciel did manage to effectively seal off the demon’s lies like he did in the manga, and he asked for the revival of his family?
As demonstrated, the way contract terms are phrased are in much control of Sebas. So if O!Ciel asks: “Revive my dead family”, Sebas could easily turn it into: “reunite the contractee with his deceased family.” And as you can see, whether Sebas’ lies are sealed first or second wouldn’t matter one bit, because paraphrasing is not necessarily lying, after all.
In this case, O!Ciel would truly, truly, truly be screwed, because then he’d sign a contract term that ‘legally’ allows Sebas to kill him. That’s the easiest way to “reunite” the Phantomhives, after all. As I wrote before in the post linked above: “As long as there is no clause in the contract that makes Sebas prevent AND forbid his master from being exposed to danger,” Sebas is free to “reunite” O!Ciel with his dead family.
In this sense the Sebastian roleplayer @akumadeshitsumon was very right in this reply about the shortest contract term lasting mere seconds, as we now fully understand how powerful Sebas can be just because he’s so eloquent.
Now you may ask, what IF there is a clause similar to term three?
Even so it would not matter too much to Sebas as long as the hypothetical second term is phrased as “reunite the contractee with his deceased family”, and signed. The steps would look as follows then:
Term 1: “Do not lie to contractee” ➡ Lies or no lies don’t matter as long as paraphrasing is possible within magic law.
Term 2: “Reunite the contractee with deceased family members” ➡ Signed contract term to obey.
Term 3: “Do not betray, but protect the contractee” ➡ Because contract term 2 is valid and agreed upon mutually, fulfilling this term would not be “betraying”. And what “dangers” you protect someone from is subjective. One could interpret “protect contractee” as “protecting the contractee from not getting his second deal fulfilled”, or “from solitude of NOT being reunited with his beloved family”.
Conclusion
So, to conclude, as canonically demonstrated, a demon has quite a lot of power in manipulating the contract since they have the ability to paraphrase contract terms. Regardless of whether Sebas can lie or not, as long as the contract-terms are phrased and agreed upon in a way that allows Sebas enough wriggle room, this demon could hypothetically end his end of the contract within seconds, never having to break a single sweat.
I hope this helped and had been interesting! (*´ ｀*)ノ⁾⁾⁾
Bonus Translator’s note:
** I re-translated this myself for this because I am being a pedantic arse. The phrasing in the official English translation would have been disastrous😱 for O!Ciel if contract term 1 really became: “from now on you are only allowed to answer my questions truthfully [as service within the contract]”.
That would have meant that besides answering questions, Sebas can’t do ANYTHING for his master. Not fight, not protect, not cook XD And also not sign contract numbers 2 and 3! (By adding “as service within the contract” Sebas could then easily do anything else he pleases as long as it’s not ‘service’.)
Look, don’t get me wrong! 99% of the time the official English translators probably do a marvelous job, and it is a difficult job too. It’s just that in very specific cases wherein Yana purposely chose words VERY carefully because she understands Sebas fully, the official English translations can end up undoing the result of Yana’s carefulness a bit. (Then again... I wonder how many people actually read as carefully as Yana had hoped...)
