What Haren Gave in Thanks

The item Haren offered as a token of gratitude was none other than Angel's Tears.

"You're giving me this? Seriously?"

Yujun asked, only half believing it.

Haren nodded.

"I just did."

"Something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this precious?"

"I told you. Thank you. This is the return for that."

"You could've just shut your mouth and stayed quiet, couldn't you? It's something you were free to use yourself."

"Conte and I already used one each."

"What? You're still that weak after drinking Angel's Tears? Does that even make sense?"

"......Give it back."

"Hey. Sorry. And thanks — I'll put it to good use."

Afraid the gift might be snatched back the moment it was given, Yujun swept Angel's Tears into his inventory.

A smile touched the corner of Haren's mouth.

"I'll be going. There are a lot of people who still need treatment......"

"Take care."

Yujun did not use Angel's Tears right away. Its option raised every stat by one-tenth of one's level, and there was no harm in waiting until the event rewards were in hand. The final reward would raise his level. If he drank Angel's Tears then, he could wring its efficiency to the absolute limit.

The players who had survived were just as buried in the cleanup. The beings of darkness had left such a wreck that buildings lay shattered, fires burned, and the whole place was in chaos. Yujun's Hellfire had done its share of the damage, but no one blamed him for it.

Wait...... now that I think about it, I feel like I forgot something.

Yujun glanced at his right shoulder. Harp, looking for all the world like a harp seal, was fast asleep.

Cute.

Ah. Not that.

He drew the Absolute Sealing Orb from his inventory. He had forgotten the Emperor was sealed inside it. A good deal of time had already passed since the man was shut away in the orb. He would be suffering terribly. Yujun needed to get him out, and quickly.

Only now, with the moment of release at hand, did the guilt hit him.

I locked the Emperor away. He didn't do a thing wrong.

It had been unavoidable if they were to survive the crisis, but how much pain must an innocent emperor have endured?

"The Absolute Sealing Orb was in the wrong. I'll apologize in its place."

For a moment he almost thought he heard the Emperor screaming to be let out instead of listening to apologies.

Nah. Imagination.

Yujun held the Absolute Sealing Orb out.

Better hurry.

Before the trial ended and the forced transfer took him, he had to meet the Emperor and claim the two rewards still outstanding.

"Summon the Emperor!"

He even threw in the pointless shout as he released the Emperor from the sealing orb, the better to draw every eye nearby. Sure enough, quite a few players — their bodies as sharp as one would expect — came running at the sound of his voice.

The Emperor, unsealed, looked every bit as haggard as Yujun had expected. His face, however, was not a face in pain.

"......You. Why didn't you tell me it was a place like that?"

The Emperor's voice was low.

"......I didn't lie."

"True. You did not lie. You simply withheld the truth and never spoke it."

"Was it rough?"

"For the sake of my dignity I ought to watch my tongue, so allow me to put this delicately. I wanted to tear your limbs apart and kill you as painfully as I possibly could."

"......That was the delicate version, right?"

"In my mind I have already killed you thousands of times. Tens of thousands. I did not count them myself, so I cannot be precise. It may well have been more."

He spoke calmly, but the tremor in his voice would not be hidden. He was furious.

"Wow, you really killed me a lot. Then you don't have to kill me anymore, right? You've already done it plenty."

"Not a chance."

"Ah, just let it go. Things worked out, didn't they?"

"......Now that you mention it. The enemy assault?"

"It's over."

In one corner of the Emperor's heart, the conviction had taken root that the empire would fall. Even after an absolute powerhouse named Yujun appeared, he had not been able to look on the situation with any optimism. The enemy had been that overwhelming.

"Completely over? Truly?"

"Can't you see for yourself? Ask the others. No — before that, give me the items."

Yujun held out his hand. There was no telling when the forced transfer would strike, and he would not rest easy until he had what he had been promised. The Emperor, who seemed to have heard the gist of it already in a message from Haren, nodded.

"......Very well."

His face was sour, but true to an emperor of the orcs, he kept his word. The moment the Neutralized Behemoth's Blood and the Long-Aged Elixir were in his hands, Yujun broke into a wide grin. Those two items would have been nearly impossible to obtain even for a fortune beyond measure. He had picked up Behemoth's Blood on the black market once before, but that had been the unneutralized kind. The value was not the same.

Paranet and I have both already gotten the benefit of Behemoth's Blood......

Precious as it was, it was of no immediate use to him. So he gave it to Manuela, who bounced with joy.

"I'll make you lots of enchant stones, too!"

"Then I'd be grateful."

She could make enchant stones again? He was glad he had handed the Behemoth's Blood to Manuela.

The other item was the Long-Aged Elixir.

An item that granted one more trait. The time had come for his towering luck to show itself again. The Luck Engraving Stone he had received from the Emperor earlier had already pushed that luck higher than before. It was reasonable to hope for the grade of whatever ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trait the elixir produced.

Has the reward settlement not finished yet?

It felt as if it were taking a very long time. He was fairly sure he had been waiting more than ten minutes.

Doesn't matter.

There was still plenty left to do, from drinking the elixir and confirming the trait all the way to pulling information out of Miura Genshin, still trapped in the sealing orb.

That was when a crowd of orcs came charging toward him. At a glance, their numbers ran into the hundreds. They were not attacking. They seemed to want a closer look at the man who had done so much in the war.

And I don't have the time.

He cast Flash and vanished behind the castle wall. The orcs who had been chasing him stared about in bewilderment.

Hidden from sight, Yujun swallowed the Long-Aged Elixir at once. It slid down his throat whole. A holographic message rose before his eyes.

Yujun's eyes went wide. This was the first time the luck message had appeared twice, and with emphasis.

I can actually get my hopes up for this one, can't I?

"What?"

Yujun tilted his head. Genius? Was there even a trait like that?

The name's kind of lame...... but the effect is insane.

What kind of broken trait was this? Every ability's effect, doubled. That alone was absurd. And on top of it, a higher chance of enlightenment based on his Luck? To Yujun, who had always thirsted for skills and traits, it was an effect more precious than any fortune.

"Whoa. This is actually insane."

Staring at the Genius trait, he could not stop marveling. The more he looked, the more astonishing it became. Being EX-tier made it somewhat understandable, but hadn't this gone too far? If this were a game and not reality, he would have had nothing to say even if the trait were deleted for shattering the balance. The effect was excessively good.

If I'd gotten this sooner, I'd have a few more skills by now.

Still, getting it now was better than never. The corners of his mouth climbed toward his ears. He wanted to test it immediately. His whole body itched with the urge, and holding it in was nearly impossible.

Not that I can go trying skills out on the orcs......

All he could do was wait for the trial to end.

The reward settlement took even longer than he had expected. A full day passed before a message finally appeared before his eyes. In the meantime he exchanged farewells with several people and even went to the imperial palace to enjoy a banquet.

Delicious, as expected.

The food was so extraordinary that he found himself wanting to come back to a place he was sick to death of fighting in. He sought out the chefs who had prepared the evening meal and even asked for the recipes. Knowing a recipe was no guarantee he could reproduce it, but now that he had the Genius trait, he figured it would work out somehow.

He also obtained the Extreme Ice Stone, the trial's objective item, which had been somewhere within the empire. Time passed, and a holographic window rose.

Nothing much to the Extreme Ice Stone itself.

"Whoa...... what is all this?"

He had not checked the rewards themselves yet. All he had seen were the advance notices promising good items to come. The contribution figure alone left no doubt. Yujun moved to open the holographic windows lined up beneath it.

Of all moments, that was when he was warped to the cave where the capsule had been. Genus, Manuela, Paranet, and Tapagol were there as well.

Genus approached.

"You were impressive."

"Bit late to be impressed. Just hand over the Synchronization Marble."

"Did I not say I do not have one?"

"If you don't have one, make one and bring it."

"......"

"I saved you from dying and even cleared the trial for you. You owe me at least that much, don't you? Person to person?"

"I am not a person...... but you are right. I owe you a great debt. I have gained a great deal thanks to you."

"There you go."

"However, I have no item to give you at this moment."

"......What?"

Faced with Yujun's murderous expression, Genus hastily added more.

"Th-that is! How about we exchange messengers?"

"Why would I? That's just convenient for you, isn't it?"

"Absolutely not! After we exchange messengers, if I find a Synchronization Marble, I will contact you. Would that not suffice?"

"Hmm...... it's not bad."

He had never expected much from Genus in the first place. The problem was that nothing guaranteed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the fellow would keep his word.

"Let's form a soul contract."

"......A soul contract."

"Don't want to?"

"Ah, no. I will."

A soul contract was high-difficulty magic of the advanced order, binding souls into a promise that could not be broken. If the promise were broken, Genus would lose his life on the spot. He seemed to know the magic well enough; his face stiffened for a moment, but he accepted with a resolute ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gaze.

The contract was concluded on Yujun's terms. The instant a Synchronization Marble was discovered, it was to be reported and delivered to Yujun — and with no time limit whatsoever.

"I-is this not excessive? A soul contract that lasts a lifetime?"

"You don't even need a Synchronization Marble. Unless you're planning to secretly swallow one yourself, what's the problem?"

"......Does it not feel rather unsettling?"

"Is that unsettled feeling more precious than your life?"

"My apologies. Let us contract at once."

"Our Genus is such a good boy. Listens so well."

He even stroked Genus's head. Perhaps because the archmage was rabbit beastfolk, the feel against Yujun's palm was remarkably pleasant. It was plainly a humiliating situation, and yet Genus felt a comfort he could not explain.

And with that, the slave contract — no. The soul contract was complete.