Chapter 100 : Chapter 100
Chapter 100. Come Sign the Contract
Logaris looked Iowen up and down.
Dark green hair, that unique fluctuation of life magic, and that smooth-talking yet vaguely aristocratic demeanor.
“Nature Elf? Equality for all living beings?”
Logaris raised an eyebrow.
“Your accent carries a clear modulation of Ancient Elven Speech. That is a habit only found in people who grew up in the core circles of the southern Elven Royal Court.”
“And the buttons on your shirt are polished from Moonlight Shell. In your homeland, ordinary elves would not be qualified to use something like that.”
The smile on Iowen’s face froze.
He subconsciously covered his collar.
“You are definitely not some wandering bard.”
Logaris stepped forward.
Through the iron bars, those blue eyes seemed capable of seeing through everything.
“If I am not mistaken, your status over there should not be low. Perhaps the young master of a great family, or someone holding an important position.”
“But none of that matters. Since you are a noble from the Elven Royal Court, that actually makes things easier.”
Logaris pulled a small notebook from his pocket and flipped through it theatrically.
“According to the kingdom’s laws, the safest way to handle a foreign noble who has illegally entered the country and committed theft is…”
He deliberately dragged out the final word.
Iowen’s ears practically stood upright.
“Deportation.”
Logaris closed the notebook.
“I believe the Elven Royal Court would gladly pay the travel expenses. They might even reward me with a large sum in gratitude. After all, helping them return an important figure who ran away from home would certainly count as a great achievement.”
“NO!!!”
The scream was so miserable that anyone who heard it would feel sorrow, and anyone who listened would shed tears.
Iowen dropped to his knees with a thud.
He grabbed the bars tightly with both hands, his face pressed so hard that it became distorted.
The image of the elegant young noble shattered completely.
“Brother! Sir! Ancestor!”
“Please! Do not send me back!”
“If I go back, I am finished!”
Tears and mucus ran down Iowen’s face.
“I am only one hundred and twenty years old! I am still just a child!”
“If I return, my entire life will be over! My art! My freedom! My girls!”
Lilith, standing nearby, stared in shock.
Was it really that terrible?
Was the Elven Royal Court some kind of hell?
Logaris looked at Iowen with amusement.
“You really do not want to go back?”
“No! Even if you beat me to death, I will not go back!” Iowen shook his head desperately.
“Fine.”
Logaris nodded.
“I am a reasonable person. I can refrain from handing you over to the Elven Royal Court. I can even grant you political asylum. In the Northern Territory, no one will be able to take you away.”
Iowen’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Really? You are practically my second father!”
“But.”
Logaris suddenly changed his tone.
“I never keep idle people.”
He extended one hand, palm facing upward, making a gesture of asking for payment.
“I want that magic of yours.”
“What?” Iowen froze.
“The musical magic you used that night to pick the lock.”
Logaris’s eyes became feverish.
“Musical magic is one of the rarest forms of magic.”
Iowen’s expression changed slightly.
He hesitated.
That was his signature ability.
It was a forbidden secret technique he had secretly learned in the royal court.
It was also the foundation that allowed him to wander freely across the continent.
“Well…”
Iowen stammered.
“Sir, this is a talent unique to our lineage. Outsiders cannot learn it…”
“Talent?”
Logaris pushed up his glasses and looked at Iowen without mercy.
He pulled a silver scalpel from the pocket of his robe and spun it elegantly between his fingers.
“Since you say it cannot be learned, then I will have to study it in another way.”
“The Astrelia Kingdom’s Castle Law clearly states that for thieves who illegally invade a lord’s private domain, the lord has unlimited right of self-defense, including but not limited to immediate execution…”
Logaris stepped forward again.
The scalpel scraped lightly against the iron bars, producing a sound that made one’s teeth ache.
“So tell me. Which option do you choose?”
A devil.
This man was a devil.
Iowen looked at Logaris’s refined yet sinister face.
Then he glanced at Lilith, the half-elf beside him who was clearly enjoying the spectacle.
The last trace of hope in his heart collapsed completely.
This was not some sanctuary.
This was practically a bandit den.
But when one lived under someone else’s roof, one had no choice but to bow one’s head.
Iowen took a deep breath.
He reached his hand through the bars and tightly grasped Logaris’s hand.
“Deal!”
He wore an expression of righteous determination, as though he had made a great sacrifice.
“For the progress of Magitech. For the everlasting friendship between our two races. I, Iowen, am willing to contribute my humble wisdom!”
“That is more like it.”
Logaris put away the scalpel.
The sinister smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by the satisfaction of successful exploitation.
Immediately afterward, Logaris produced a scroll of parchment from thin air.
Golden patterns covered the surface of the parchment.
Lilith, squatting nearby, instantly lit up with excitement.
She recognized that thing very well.
When she had been captured on the train before, Logaris had used exactly the same item.
Now it was finally someone else’s turn to suffer.
Thinking of that, the corners of Lilith’s mouth rose uncontrollably as she tried to suppress her laughter.
This mentality of “as long as someone is more miserable than me, then I am not the most miserable” instantly lifted the half-elf girl’s mood.
She even felt like pulling out some sunflower seeds from her pocket to snack on while watching the show.
“Come on, Mr. Elf.”
Logaris shook the parchment in his hand.
“For the sake of our pleasant cooperation, and so that you can comfortably pour all the knowledge of musical magic in your head out, sign your name.”
Iowen leaned against the bars and looked at the patterns on the contract with a troubled expression.
Although he was a runaway troublemaker, he had been born into the high ranks of the Elven Royal Court and possessed considerable knowledge.
Those golden patterns were clearly a form of Ancient Script.
Iowen forced a smile and spoke awkwardly.
“Well… I have trypophobia. There are too many patterns on that thing. Looking at it makes me dizzy and nauseous. Professor, we are both respectable people. Could you change it to something simpler? Even an ordinary sheet of white paper with black ink would be fine.”
Logaris pushed up his glasses, and a trace of impatience flashed in his eyes behind the lenses.
“You sure are troublesome.”
He sighed.
With a flick of his wrist, the parchment covered in golden patterns instantly disappeared.
In its place appeared a completely ordinary contract.
White paper.
Black text.
There were no magical fluctuations.
No Ancient Script patterns.
Even the paper itself looked like common alchemically printed paper that could be found anywhere.
“Is this acceptable now?”
Logaris passed a pen and ink pad through the gap in the bars.
“Hurry up. I still have three experiments to finish.”
The smile on Lilith’s face instantly disappeared.