Chapter 93 Chapter 92 Signing the Contract
George quickly regained his composure; he was always calm. If it weren’t for Jima using schemes to drive the four hundred pounds of madness pursuing George, she probably would never understand a day when George showed fear.
George said, “You were following us?”
“I knew long ago that the so-called ‘bank robbers’ that day were you.”
Boss Fulis seemed confident; he reached out and picked up a cup of wine from a nearby silver platter, sipping leisurely. To give George more time to imagine, he enjoyed intimidating his opponent this way, often making his inscrutable demeanor lead others to feel he knew everything.
George asked, “Did you know we obtained the key from the bank before we met on the flower boat?”
Boss Fulis leisurely swirled his silver cup and retorted, “You can take a guess.”
George stated, “That means you didn’t.”
Boss Fulis felt as if he had punched into thin air; just as he was about to continue intimidating, he realized the other party could detect lies and changed his words:
“It’s no surprise that you, the brave George, have such courage. I admire it greatly.”
“You are lying.”
Boss Fulis was momentarily speechless, gripping the armrest tightly as he looked at George’s determined face, feeling as if he had kicked against a steel plate.
Jima wanted to laugh; she enjoyed seeing the seasoned veteran caught off guard by the resolute man.
Boss Fulis shot a glance at her and said, “Little demon, here you can safely reveal your true form.”
Jima sensed the threat in his words; although she was prepared, she still momentarily froze.
Boss Fulis wanted to rise to the surface, to seek the noble position by pleasing the great benefactor, and Jima herself was a fine gift.
She leaned closer to George, showing a calm expression, signaling that she had protection. Meanwhile, she felt the tail wrapped around her thigh was tiring, so she curled and relaxed it, letting it drop from her robe, shaking it a bit to ease its stiffness, feeling much better.
George said, “Do you always like to drag things out before discussing a deal?”
“Hah, young people are so impatient,” Boss Fulis replied. “As long as you can open the Demon King’s door and give me the gold inside, I can help you break the slave contract and provide a safe haven. After all, you’re from the church and don’t care for worldly possessions; why not give them to me, a mere mortal? Doesn’t it sound fair?”
“No, I cannot guarantee that I can open the Demon King’s treasury,” George said. “I merely acquired the key and know nothing about the treasury itself. Even if everything goes smoothly, are you expecting me to move the gold under the eyes of the great benefactor? That’s a trap.”
It was definitely impossible to open the treasury; that was a false key.
Jima felt quite guilty and started hoping the negotiation would fall through.
Boss Fulis laughed: “This is already a good choice; I have another option, which is to kill and take the key. If I’m not mistaken, you used some extremely costly secret technique to kill the Demon King, but due to the contract, your strength has diminished remarkably. Right now, you’re not so formidable.”
George countered, “Do you think the church would send me to Sarin City just to die?”
“Oh, what backup do you have?”
“I can easily escape Sarin City with Jima,” George said, “and then I will throw the key deep into the church’s warehouse.”
Boss Fulis fixed his gaze on George, as if trying to use his authority to force George to reveal a flaw. The two fell into silence, and George maintained an unwavering stare in return.
Jima quietly muttered, “Fool, the paladin can’t lie.”
Boss Fulis smiled, a bit awkwardly, and said:
“Fine, I believe you. What I want you to do is really quite simple.”
He placed the silver cup back on the platter and continued:
“Children like me, born of misfortune, need to achieve a great merit to become noble. I was fortunate to encounter a great benefactor who attracts talent without prejudice, but even he, generous and kind-hearted, needs me to accomplish something great, to silence the incessant prattle of old-fashioned nobles like Chamberlain.”
Jima looked at George’s brows; he did not frown, indicating this was the truth.
“The great benefactor found the entrance to the treasury, but it leads to a maze. There might be a door that can directly pass through the maze, but nobody can open it. Everyone has calculated; it could take three to five years to figure out the maze. Unfortunately, Chamberlain somehow got hold of a universal key that can deal with the maze.”
“I want to compete with him and get to the treasury before he does. At that time, no one can deny me anymore. As long as you can open the treasury faster than he can, at least ensuring he doesn’t open it first, that will suffice. This is the biggest concession I can offer.”
George said, “Deal. We will discuss the details later. Tell your people to bring a vial of oil, a roll of parchment, and two white candles.”
Jima felt very anxious.
George was holding a false key, and the incantation written on the key box was also fake. What was the so-called incantation for opening the door again?
It seemed to be under the moonlight, shouting to the moon: “I am Ultraman, transform! Moon Warrior!” This guy, who was definitely a virgin, would persistently shout such embarrassing lines while grimacing.
Jima slightly imagined the scene. Under the moonlight, the resolute paladin lifts the key, shouting to the moon, “I am Ultraman, transform! Moon Warrior!”
Just the thought of it made her want to cringe, as if her middle school “cringe history” was being read aloud in front of the whole class.
What was worse was that if he found it ineffective, he would surely get angry and interrogate her. She could not lie; if it came to that, he would eventually discover that she had given him a fake key, and the four hundred pounds of madness was her doing… That would definitely be dreadful.
Jima tensed up, torn between fear and a hint of… anticipation.
Just a hint. It was like standing at the edge of a cliff, unable to resist the thought of accidentally falling off. Definitely not the kind of excitement one would expect.
At this moment, George and Boss Fulis had reached an agreement; after reviewing the contract repeatedly, both signed their names.
An anxious Jima stepped forward to observe.
She watched as both men used a silver dagger to prick their fingers, letting their blood drip down to the parchment under each of their signatures.
Jima felt a little pain in her finger and retracted her hand.
Blood is very important in mysticism, especially blood given voluntarily, as it can easily be used for curses and tracking materials. It seemed both of them were serious.
After they finished dripping blood, George held the holy emblem, lighting the two white candles. He then placed the vial of oil between the candles, opened his right hand, and pressed it against his heart, softly reciting the name of the God of Dawn.
As expected of the God of Dawn. Jima felt the dark room growing brighter.
“… Guardian of Order, please witness this notarization.”
As George’s voice fell, the oil began to glow, and his holy emblem also shone. He took out the emblem and stamped it onto the parchment like sealing it, revealing the God of Dawn’s emblem outlined in glowing lines, which merged into the parchment.
The blood dripped on the signatures was also absorbed into the parchment, disappearing without a trace.
Jima felt inexplicably as if a gaze from above swept over everyone, resting for a moment on her. She felt somewhat uneasy; having been in this otherworldly place for so long, she had witnessed the might of gods to some extent. She had seen a fool call a god by their true name, and when he invoked a god with a bad temper, he was struck dead by lightning.
Everything luminous dimmed, and the oil in the vial vanished.
George opened his eyes and said, “Under the gaze of my god, the contract has been established. Any violation from either side will result in backlash, and burning the contract will not suffice.”
“Will the backlash be biased?” Boss Fulis asked uneasily.
“Everything will be according to the regulations. Regardless of good or evil, belief or disbelief, before the law, all are equal,” George replied, pointing at a piece of paper on the table filled with dense writing, the title of which read “Details Regarding the Notarized Contract — Tenth Edition.”
Jima leaned forward, stretching her head to see what George was indicating.
Indeed, as expected from the god of order and goodness, even the penalties for breach of contract had so many regulations. A rough glance indicated that the greater the breach, the higher the backlash, but even the least severe backlash would harm oneself, leading to a temporary drop in strength.
Isn’t that encouraging people to exploit loopholes? What a foolish god. If it were me, I wouldn’t care about so much; anyone who dares to breach the contract would be struck dead.
Boss Fulis finally felt at ease, grinning widely as he picked up the parchment, saying, “This is truly a marvelous thing. We are just about to have people sign something similar, but it’s been quite the hassle; everyone wants to violate the rules for their benefit. I will cherish this well.”
Jima looked at Boss Fulis as he tucked the contract into his arms. For some reason, she couldn’t help but think of George shouting to the moon under the moonlight: “I am Ultraman…”
Why not just honestly admit it?
As soon as this thought popped into her mind, Jima quickly suppressed it.
No, this was my last treasure! Not only was there a pile of money, but also the treasure map of the crown fragments! That was an important prop for my return to the throne; it must not fall into anyone else’s hands. Even if the virgin beats my bottom raw, I will never let it fall into anyone else’s possession.
Jima made up her mind to leave with George for the safe haven promised by Boss Fulis.
All the way, she was deep in thought, contemplating how to take the lead and enter her own treasury first. She thought for a long time, and by the time she went to bed, she still hadn’t come up with a good plan.
Now, she was being watched by George. How could there be time to sneak into the treasury? There was only one day of freedom left, hardly enough. Even if there was time, the treasury entrance had already been found by the great benefactor, so she couldn’t sneak in.
What a hassle! If the whole family of the great benefactor died out, there would be no one eyeing my treasury, and I could easily retrieve my things. Also, it would be nice if George could appear and disappear like a celestial warhorse.
Jima anxiously swayed her tail and adjusted her pillow. Weighed down by the exhaustion of copying the “Guide to Preaching,” she closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep.
…
…
On the other side, in a certain noble’s bedroom.
The Shadow King Akarnis lay comfortably on a feather bed, sound asleep. Beside him, under the covers, slept a young woman, fair-skinned and beautiful, revealing her white neck, covered in kiss marks; she was indeed the mistress of the bedroom.
The white eyelashes of Shadow King Akarnis trembled slightly. In his dreams, he saw a strange beauty.
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Update progress 2/13
