Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Slave Contract (2)
After dealing with Canis Ulbushis, I finally had some breathing room. Since I had the chance, I planned to take care of something that had been on my mind.
I never dreamed I would come here on my own two feet. Even in broad daylight, darkness swallowed everything so completely that I couldn’t see an inch ahead. Guided only by the light of the Holy Scripture of the Anaye Faith, I barely managed to reach [Laboratory―301].
“It’s faintly glowing.”
I had seen it once before, so it wasn’t as frightening this time. That massive frame that didn’t even feel human.
Hair grotesquely split between white and black. And yet, rather than seeming unnatural, it gave off a stronger sense of mystery.
Astral was bound by countless chains just as before, lying there unconscious.
“Nothing. There’s no reaction.”
I wondered if something might respond like the metal fragment that had flown into my ring, but everything remained silent. There were metal fragments embedded in the wall, yet seeing no reaction from them, I didn’t bother collecting them.
I leaned against the wall and stared at Astral. The moment I saw that delicate face with faint cracks running across it, nightmares from the game surfaced as a conditioned reflex.
It hurled car-sized boulders without pause and sent sword energy flying from a broken blade.
The periodic bursts of wide-area magic waves made it nearly impossible to approach, and any ranged attacks were dodged without exception. Every strike left an afterimage, adding an extra blow on top of it.
The absurd part was that this was only Phase 1. Without several formidable named characters, it was an impossible difficulty that could never be cleared.
I decided not to think about it anymore. If I kept recalling it, I felt like I might actually cry.
“Well. It’s still far off.”
Come to think of it, I had picked up a few strands of hair before. I wasn’t sure if they would be useful, but since they belonged to a transcendent being, surely they would serve some purpose.
Since I was already thinking about it, I examined the floor. The strands I had picked up last time had more white in them. This time, I intended to gather some black ones as well.
I remembered a game item—a bracelet woven from hair. I wondered if I could make something similar.
“Huh?”
Given the size of the body, it was only natural that the hair was large as well. While searching for strands as thick as thread, I discovered something strange.
A handful of hair lay buried beneath a pile of stones. I was about to pass it off as nothing unusual, but I paused when I noticed how sharp the stones were.
“What is this?”
I brushed the stones aside and lifted the hair. Though it had been in direct contact with the sharp edges, it maintained its intact form.
I tried cutting the strand with the sharp edge on the back of my gauntlet. Astonishingly, the hair didn’t sever and remained exactly as it was.
“It’s this tough?”
It felt soft when I touched it. But it wouldn’t be cut by anything sharp. Could even hair be this durable?
I admired the body of a transcendent being, yet if even the hair was like this, what about the follicles holding it in place? Shouldn’t hair like this never fall out in the first place?
“As expected. Baldness is incurable.”
Something came to mind. If the hair possessed this level of defense, there was no reason not to make use of it. I would think about that later.
For some reason, I wasn’t afflicted by fear. It meant I could stay here as long as I wanted. Still, I had things to do, and I wanted to take a nap.
If possible, I wanted to sleep comfortably while listening to Winter’s bell chime. Perhaps this little outing was enough. I rose from my seat and dusted off my backside.
—Clank.
“…….”
The sudden noise sent chills down my spine. My thoughts expanded in an instant. A sharp sensation ran along my back.
Slowly, I turned my head. There was no reason for the chains to make a sound. My sharpened senses had already detected something, and my mind immediately assumed the worst.
“Phew.”
Powdered stone was falling from the ceiling. It seemed a chunk of rock had dropped from up there and struck the chains.
Still, just in case, I examined Astral. I thoroughly inspected the surroundings as well. Recalling how it had looked before, I checked for any changes.
Fortunately, there was nothing unusual. I let out a breath of relief and turned to leave. In that brief moment, my entire body had been drenched in sweat.
***
“Senior!”
For once, Winter’s face was full of a smile. She wasn’t exactly the bright and cheerful type, so it was rare to see her grinning like this.
She happily held up a notice from the academic affairs office. I looked at it with mild indifference.
The paper in Winter’s hand was the announcement rescinding my suspension. With a radiant expression, she handed it to me, and I accepted it.
Some formal explanation about the student, and a statement that I could resume normal classes starting next semester. I tossed it onto the table as if throwing it away, and Winter’s face stiffened dramatically.
“Are… you not happy?”
I wasn’t sure. My indifferent expression didn’t change. A suspension didn’t hold much meaning for me.
It didn’t matter whether I attended or not. Considering how bothersome it was, suspension wasn’t so bad. But thinking about having to attend for an extra year, it was probably better to just continue as normal.
“It would’ve been lifted in a year anyway if I did nothing.”
“No, Senior. This shows that you did nothing wrong! Considering the Order’s image, this is absolutely necessary!”
“……Oh.”
I hadn’t thought that far. In that sense, it was certainly necessary. It was true that I had been somewhat neglectful regarding Order matters.
Still, there were too many things poking at my nerves lately, making it hard to focus. The Imperial Family’s side, and Astral as well.
There were no episodes before vacation. Events could still occur, but roughly speaking, there was a grace period of about three months.
Once vacation began, I would also have to go on a pilgrimage. Of course, when the pilgrimage started, Episode 3 would begin as well, so I needed to prepare for that too.
“Ah~ I just want to lie on a sofa and live comfortably for the rest of my life.”
“……You’re the Cult Leader of the Order. How about becoming a more upstanding person?”
“I am living diligently, though.”
I brushed off Winter’s dumbfounded reaction with a laugh. This kind of rest was nice, but it was probably better to deal with what was bothering me first.
“I guess we need to increase the number of Order members.”
“Hmm? Already? We don’t even have a stable income yet. Wouldn’t that be difficult?”
“Just one person.”
“……If it’s just that much, do as you please.”
I filtered something that struck me from Winter’s words. Stable income. We certainly needed operating funds for the Order.
Other Orders had many Believers, and the money they contributed couldn’t be ignored. Above all, they accepted commissions from various places and carried them out.
Some even sold special products unique to their religion.
“Hey. Wait a second.”
“Yes?”
“We have something we could use as a product too, don’t we?”
“What? We do? Uh…… Silent Bell is not allowed!”
There was no need to pay attention to someone who got worked up over her own misunderstanding.
Silent Bell couldn’t be used by anyone but Winter in the first place. Proof that Anaye played favorites, perhaps. Come to think of it, since only I could use the Lightning Spike of Anaye, maybe that made us even.
Anyway, we had something we could proudly sell under our own name. This thing I made every single day without fail.
“This is enough.”
“……It’s a marble.”
“Are your eyes just knots in wood?”
What I confidently pulled out was a marble. Winter’s eyes instantly turned cold.
I twitched my brows and handed the marble to her. She examined it with a puzzled look, then finally nodded.
“The mark.”
“Right. That’s worth selling, isn’t it?”
Essentially, a grenade. In terms of this world, it was closer to a runestone.
The power of the glass marble engraved with the Thunder Horn Mark was tremendous. It was such a reliable weapon that I used it frequently.
It was a shame that it was single-use, but precisely because it was single-use, it had its proper applications.
Now that my stamina had increased significantly, its base damage was higher as well. Compared to an actual grenade, the range was slightly lacking, but this thing inflicted the rare shock status condition.
On top of that, the marble itself shattered in the explosion, dealing additional damage—a vicious design.
“True. You used it often in battle, didn’t you? You even landed a solid hit on that crazy magician back then.”
“It’s a dependable one.”
“But selling something this dangerous isn’t easy to get approval for. Assassins or criminal groups could purchase it. The management requirements are strict, and that alone costs quite a bit.”
“We can just supply it for military use.”
“Military use. Military use? Huh?”
“We just need to supply it exclusively to the Imperial Knight Order.”
“Ah! That would work, wouldn’t it?”
Only then did Winter’s expression brighten. We wouldn’t need to worry about the Imperial Family’s scrutiny, and verification, supply, and distribution could all be handled at once.
This was actually quite good. Winter muttered to herself as she began drafting a business plan.
“But there’s a bit of a problem.”
“Yes?”
“This thing only explodes when I give the signal.”
“Huh?”
It was a foolish but adorable reaction. For a moment, Winter failed to process what I had said, and her blank response continued.
“Then that makes it meaningless!”
“We’ll just find a way!”
“Find it first and then talk!”
That was a rather inappropriate reaction from a priest toward her Cult Leader. If I had heard it from someone else, I might have been annoyed.
For some reason, when it was Winter, it was just amusing. Even when she flared up, it only felt like a mild “Oh really?” at best.
“Ahem. I’m sorry. I was just worried…….”
On top of that, she knew her place and apologized immediately. I let out a small chuckle and waved my hand dismissively.
“Canis. Are you there?”
“Mhm~ I’m always here~”
“Gyaaah!”
Just in case, I called for Canis Ulbushis. I had been sprawled out on the sofa, and she suddenly popped out from behind it.
At the sudden appearance of a top-tier assassin, Winter let out a sharp scream. I was used to it by now, but for the fragile Winter, Canis was still far too much.
An astonishing level of stealth. Call her name, and she appeared like a ghost. I even suspected she was using some kind of magic related to names.
Shaking off the stray thoughts, I tossed a marble to Canis.
“I’ll let the backstabbing slide with this. Find a way to make it explode without my signal. You’re the second-ranked student in the Magic Department, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Of course~ I don’t know if it was really wrong, but I do owe you anyway~ Shall I lend a hand~ Though I’ll need plenty of samples~”
“Here.”
I handed her a pouch full of glass marbles. It was a bit of a waste, but since I had no battles to fight, I gave them willingly.
As for the marbles, I could just make more anyway. Come to think of it, Winter could create the Thunder Horn Mark as well.
“W-Why…… why?”
“You can make this mark too, you know?”
“Huh? Really?”
“Why don’t you know that?”
“How would I know if no one teaches me! Neither you nor The Goddess told me, so how am I supposed to know…….”
Her steadily rising tone dropped sharply at the end. I shrugged. With Winter’s pitiful stamina, it was hard to expect much damage output anyway.
Still, knowing was better than not knowing. If used properly, it could greatly help her escape a crisis.
“Oh my~ Can all Order Believers use that?”
“Hm? Yes. If I appoint them personally.”
“Ooh~”
“Why? Thinking of joining the Order?”
“I’m interested~ but my father would blow his top~”
It seemed Canis had taken an interest. The idea of using the rare lightning attribute without any apparent cost must have appealed to her.
Of course, she had no idea that the cost was stamina. Even so, it was still worthwhile.
If it was someone like Canis, she would surely come up with all sorts of creative applications.
“Then~ shall we do some research together with our Winter~”
“Excuse me? I-I need to study for midterms.”
“Hm? Exams are meant to be taken with your usual skill level~”
“……Deceiver.”
At Winter’s sharp glare, Canis burst into laughter. Despite laughing, she was gradually closing the distance between them.
Winter looked at me with pleading eyes. I shrugged.
“You don’t need to try that hard.”
“Pardon?”
“You’re going to live forever as a priest of our Order anyway. That means no worries about employment, right?”
“Uh…… oh. That’s true.”
For some reason, it felt like I had corrupted an innocent child. But wasn’t it the truth? Winter would study what she truly wanted on her own.
Instead of worrying about useless things, it would be better for her to run laps around the field with Bereninche Duhein.
After all, if we failed to stop the mastermind, there wouldn’t be any future to worry about.
“Hey. You two work on the research. If you break the chapel, I’ll make your heads look the same. Be careful.”
“Eh? Where are you going?”
“To get a new slave.”
Three months was a long time. I might as well bring that guy along and put him to work.