Chapter 43: The Contract
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 43: The Contract
After the commotion died down, my Teacher began to chat as she wrapped my bandages.
“So… you got hurt while hunting monsters?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Why would you… I told you I do the housework because I want to. There’s no need for you to do anything more…”
My Teacher stopped wrapping the bandage and looked up at me. Her pleading eyes seemed to beg me not to hurt myself any further.
However, I met her gaze, my firm resolve unshaken. I didn’t say a word, but she seemed to have read my thoughts. With a soft sigh, my Teacher spoke carefully.
“...Alright, fine. Just as I took over your chores because I wanted to—if you take over my work because you want to—I won’t say anything about it.”
“Then—”
“But! You can’t get hurt like you did today. If you come back injured like this again, hunting is forbidden from that day on! I’ll ban you from going out, too!”
“That’s a bit harsh.”
I laughed, brushing off her words, and looked behind me. Margaret, who had been attacked by my Teacher’s magic earlier, was sulking in a corner.
When I approached her, Margaret didn’t even spare me a glance, as if telling me to get lost. I crouched down in front of her and pulled at her wrist.
“...What?”
“I’m sorry, Margaret.”
“It’s fine. What did you do?”
“I should have stopped my Teacher sooner… Even if not, it’s my fault you were attacked. Because I was the one who said we shouldn’t tell her…”
Margaret glared at me fiercely, as if to say, ‘And you did it anyway?’ I gave an awkward smile, taking her sharp gaze in stride.
Glancing over my shoulder, I realized my Teacher had left to put the medicine and bandages back in the storage.
Realizing this, I carefully whispered into Margaret’s ear.
“Margaret, shall we… go on a date?”
“...What?”
Margaret looked up at me, surprised, as if she couldn’t believe what I was saying. I simply met her gaze with a wide grin.
—Hiss.
The snake flicked its tongue, gazing at the corpse of its dead child. Its child, whose shimmering scales had been particularly captivating, was now dead, with only a few bone fragments left behind.
A human and a wolf had killed the snake’s child. The scent of a witch emanated from the human, and the smell of the forest’s master from the wolf.
Both were far too powerful for the snake to handle. They were mighty beings, and to rush in seeking revenge for its child’s death would only mean losing its own life as well.
In the animal kingdom, when faced with such an impossible situation, they consider it bad luck and quickly give up.
The wild was far too harsh to hold onto grudges. And so, the snake, too, would have forgotten its child and moved on to find a new mate.
That is what would have normally happened.
“How sad. So very sad.”
A woman stroked the snake’s scales, as if she could read its mind. The snake, which would bite any living creature it saw, felt no such impulse toward the woman before it.
Instead, it sensed a paleness in her, just like its own. The snake rubbed its head against the body of the woman, whose skin was as cold as its own.
“What can compare to the sorrow of losing a child… I shall grant you your revenge.”
The woman spoke, a grin spreading across her face, revealing her sharp fangs.
“Offer me your blood in return. The currency of your soul.”
The snake understood what the woman was saying with its very soul.
It willingly offered its neck.
Sharp fangs pierced the snake’s skin.
The merchant who buys and sells blood sealed a contract with the snake.
A contract to avenge its child.
Bustling.
If I had to describe the city in one word, that would be it.
The people were full of life, their faces always blooming with smiles. There were no criminals in sight, and the cheerful citizens acted as if they firmly believed their futures would be brilliantly bright.
‘Uncivilized humans.’
The only reason they could act this way was because of the witches. To be precise, it was thanks to the witch hunts that captured and killed them.
If the harvest failed due to a bad year? It was the witches’ fault, so they’d catch and kill a witch. If a plague spread and people died? It was the witches’ fault, so they’d kill a witch.
They unilaterally shifted all blame and resentment onto witches, then killed them and acted as if everything had been peacefully resolved.
In reality, nothing was ever resolved. Whether a witch died or not, a bad harvest was still a bad harvest, and the plague still lingered.
They were simply averting their eyes.
‘So this is what they mean by dumbing down the masses.’
As I came to understand why modern politicians were so eager to make the public ignorant, I slowly walked through the city.
Did these people know? That I was walking through their city with a witch.
“So—where are we going now?”
“I don’t know. Wherever you want to go, Margaret?”
“Hmph. Disciple, since you’re the one who lured me out, you should be the one to escort me, right?”
She spoke, raising her chin as if to see where I would lead her. A laugh escaped me at her attitude, so determined to show she had the upper hand.
In truth, I didn’t know much about what was in this city. Nor did I know what witches liked. But it didn’t matter.
“Then let’s head to the blacksmith first.”
“The blacksmith? Why…?”
“I actually came here to buy a weapon. The date is just a bonus.”
“...Hmph, so that’s what this was?”
Finally realizing my true intentions, Margaret’s expression hardened with disappointment. I felt bad for her, but I couldn’t have walked all the way to this distant city for no reason, could I?
I led the pouting Margaret to the blacksmith and bought my equipment. I purchased a new set of armor and an additional chain net.
“That’ll be 10 gold in total.”
“That’s expensive.”
“Then you can leave.”
“How about 8 gold?”
The blacksmith nodded silently, accepting the offer. Seeing that, it seemed I could have haggled for more… but I didn’t know the exact prices, and it felt like a waste of time to argue here. I took the equipment and left the blacksmith’s shop immediately.
After we left, I handed the equipment to Margaret and asked her to hold it. Though she was sulking, she didn’t refuse such a request.
Looking at the armor and chains, she put them into her subspace and asked me.
“...What are these? Why do you need them?”
“There’s a monster I need to catch.”
“Do you really need armor? Stronger monsters can shatter armor anyway, can’t they?”
“That doesn’t mean I should go around naked.”
Most fantasy characters neglect armor, figuring they’ll die in one hit anyway. They reason that if it’s a magic attack, both they and their opponent will die in a single blow…
To me, that seemed utterly foolish. Whether you died in one hit or not, you should wear armor. That way, the threshold for dying in one hit would be raised, even if just by a little.
After buying the equipment, we truly began to enjoy our date. Margaret, who had been quite sulky on the way to the blacksmith, gradually started to let go of her anger as time passed.
“Heeey, Disciple. Do you like this kind of thing?”
“I don’t think there’s a man alive who wouldn’t.”
“Really? Is that so…”
Margaret looked at the long one-piece dress in front of her and let out an interested hum.
It was a revealing dress that was completely out of place in this somewhat conservative era. It half-exposed the upper chest and cleavage with a stocking-like material and had open cuts showing off the side of her breasts, her waist, and her thighs.
She pointed out a few pieces of underwear that would go with the dress and told me to pick them up and follow her.
“I’m going to try it on, so wait a minute!”
“...Try it on? But how?”
“I’ll figure it out!”
With that, Margaret took the clothes and went into the dressing room. As she’d told me to, I stood guard in front of it.
A lone man carrying a dress and then standing blankly in front of the dressing room—a store clerk, likely thinking something was wrong, quickly approached me.
“Is there a problem…?”
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking of trying on some clothes.”
“Pardon? This is a women’s clothing store…”
“I’m aware.”
The clerk looked at me like I was crazy.
Confused, I tilted my head at him. The clerk tried to pressure me into buying whatever I tried on, then sighed and went back inside.
Even for a medieval fantasy world, forcing someone to buy clothes they’ve only tried on once seemed a bit much.
“Disciple? Are you there?”
“Ah, yes.”
Just then, I heard Margaret’s voice from inside. She had confidently entered with the clothes, but it seemed a problem had arisen, likely due to the nature of her curse, which prevented her from touching non-magical items with her own hands.
“...Could you come in? I, uh, need some help.”
“—Understood.”
I immediately entered the dressing room. And my eyes met Margaret’s. She was naked, only loosely holding the dress and underwear against her body.
Though she walked around naked in the cabin without a care, she seemed embarrassed to show herself like this outside, blushing as she scratched her cheek.
“I… I tried to put it on with magic, but it doesn’t seem to be working… Could you, um, help me put it on?”
“How?”
“F-First, the underwear…”
She spoke, carefully reaching out to cover her nipples and private parts. It seemed she was trying to hide her precious areas, but I snatched the clothes from her.
“How long will it take if you do it like that? Turn around. I’ll put it on for you.”
“Ah, ahh? O-Okay…”
Margaret turned around and carefully extended her arms forward, taking a pose that made it easy to put on her underwear. I moved closer behind her and slowly began to dress her.
…She smelled just like my Teacher.