Soaring Firebird (2)
Soaring Firebird (2)
A few hours later, the Firebird Hunter, Juan, and I headed to the temple in the eastern part of the city.
Unlike the temple in the Marquis's city, the one in the Duke's territory was beautiful but otherwise ordinary.
As usual, there were believers and a priest inside the temple. Thanks to my position as the Duke's son, I was able to meet with the priest.
He was not the same priest who had rushed to treat my illness when I was young, but the priest at this temple also seemed fairly skilled in his own right.
He welcomed me warmly. Fortunately, perhaps because he was a man of faith, he showed no outward contempt for a bastard son.
Leaving Juan in the chapel, the mercenary and I followed the priest to an inner chamber.
"What brings you here, Young Lord?"
I handed him a stack of papers.
It was the contract the Firebird Hunter and I had been working on all this time.
"I came to have it notarized."
The priest took the contracts and examined the stack with a dumbfounded expression.
"Are these all contracts?"
"Yes."
At my answer, the Firebird Hunter shook her head.
She seemed to remember spending hours with me filling in the details of the contract.
Drawing on the experiences of my past life, I had written the contract as meticulously as I could.
"There's no problem with notarizing it, but contracts written in this much detail are rare..."
Contrary to the priest's words, it wasn't that unusual a contract.
It contained only essential clauses, such as a prohibition against harming each other during the contract period, how any profits would be divided, and measures to prevent information leaks.
It didn't include details like how to respond to a breach of contract or what compensation would be owed.
Unlike in my past life, there were no courts or prosecutors here to resolve contract disputes.
Well, the lord did perform a similar role within the territory, but unlike the residents, a mercenary only had to leave the territory, and that was that.
Besides, I was the lord's son and a noble, so it wouldn't be easy for her to protest if I broke the contract.
Still, this world had its own way of enforcing contracts.
It was the priest's notarization.
According to the priest, notarization meant that God watched over the fulfillment of the contract. To me, though, it seemed like a form of mana utilization or an inherited ability (though I couldn't say that to the priest).
In any case, contracts in this world took effect through a priest's notarization.
If the contract was properly fulfilled, there was no problem. But if it was breached, a divine curse would be cast.
Well, the divine curse wasn't anything that grand.
"It has a tracking function, and the priest will find out during the next contract, right?"
"You know it well."
The priest nodded at my words.
Unfortunately, the tracking function was only a simple direction-finding feature, like a compass. And what the priest would learn during the next contract was only whether the previous one had been fulfilled. Even so, this was quite satisfactory.
Well, if you killed the other party without anyone finding out and never had another contract notarized, you might not get caught. But even in my past life, criminals like that were quite difficult to catch.
Aside from notarization, I could still minimize the chance of betrayal by putting a few safety measures in place.
"Then, both of you, please place your hands on this contract."
The priest in the Duke's territory pointed to the contract on the altar.
She and I placed our hands on the stack of contracts. The young priest cut his palm with a small dagger and dripped blood onto the papers.
The blood seeped into the contract, and some of it got on her hand and mine.
Then he began to pray.
"This promise is made in the name of God. May the blood of the one who breaks it flow like a river..."
His prayer, uttered with his eyes closed, had surprisingly terrifying content.
'Isn't this more like a curse than notarizing a contract?'
He continued, and his blood began to emit a faint light.
"...Thus, in the name of the God whose name cannot be spoken, I bear witness to the contract between these two. Karat Brit."
He spread his hands and made the declaration.
"If you break this promise, your body shall be torn apart in the name of God. Thus, in the name of the God whose name is unknown, I bear witness to the contract between these two. Karat Brit."
The moment he finished speaking, the contract and our hands resting on top of it began to glow faintly.
I felt strange mana flow into my hand.
'Should I push it out?'
It was weak mana, so the thought crossed my mind. But thinking that it would protect the contract, I let it permeate my body.
The mana swept through me and disappeared somewhere.
The blood pooled on the contract was no longer visible, and the priest's wounded hand was perfectly fine.
"Is it done?"
"Yes. The contract has been witnessed in the name of God."
"Surely we won't bleed out and die like you said in your prayer, right?"
His prayer was different from the stories I had heard, so I asked cautiously.
"Haha, of course not. It's simply that the Sage's prayer from the Great War has been passed down. There's a legend that the Sage's contract witnessing had an effect similar to what the prayer describes, but the actual effect is exactly as you know it. You don't have to worry."
I inwardly let out a sigh of relief. This was a world where unexpected things happened left and right, so I felt like my worries were constantly mounting.
"Thank you. Then, though it's a small amount, I'd like to make a thanksgiving offering to the God who bestowed His grace."
I took a purse from my breast and handed it to him.
Even though it was only the standard notarization fee, the process of paying was rather cumbersome—perhaps because this was a temple.
As he took the purse, his expression brightened.
Was my greeting that impressive?
"Oh, you brought it with you. That's a relief. If we had to contact the mansion separately to receive the offering, it would have been quite troublesome."
He was pleased not because of my greeting, but because I'd paid upfront in cold, hard cash.
As I packed up the contracts and walked out of the temple, he complained about nobles who didn't bring money with them.
"This territory is still on the better side. In other places, they even write promissory notes. A promissory note for an offering... It's only because God is merciful; otherwise, there'd be plenty of people receiving divine punishment."
Perhaps the priest's status wasn't low, because until we parted, he kept badmouthing the nobles—something commoners wouldn't dare to do.
After meeting Juan in the chapel and leaving the temple, the mercenary spoke.
It was the first time she had spoken since entering the temple.
"Then let's meet in front of the south gate tomorrow morning."
With her cloak drawn low, she left first, leaving only those words behind.
"Ugh, did I make the contract too harsh?"
"I don't think so."
At Juan's words, I shook my head. In any case, I could just ask her tomorrow.
More than that, tomorrow was the problem.
"What excuse should I make to slip out tomorrow...?"
Since I had to leave fully prepared, it seemed I needed to come up with a proper excuse.
The next day, fortunately, I was able to slip out of the mansion without needing to make any particular excuse.
Everyone had become incredibly busy preparing for the visit of Simon's fiancée, Adria, which was only a few days away.
It was a return visit after Simon's trip to the Marquisate, intended to finalize their engagement.
'Was it a few days later than in my previous life?'
Even so, the date of her visit hadn't changed much. I'd set so many things in motion that I'd thought it would change a lot, but surprisingly, the butterfly effect wasn't that great.
Wait, Adria was coming?
"Ah! Come to think of it, was it today?"
"Is today some special day?"
Juan, who was walking with me, asked when I suddenly spoke.
"Ah, no, it's nothing."
I shook my head.
It wasn't something I could tell him.
By my count, today was the day I'd died in my previous life.
The very day I'd gone out to see the fortress with Adria and lost my life while being chased by mercenaries.
In a few hours, it would be time for me to die.
Since the ones who had killed me were already dead and there was no reason for me to suddenly die now, it seemed I'd finally be able to see the message again after a long time.
Four years wasn't a short time. If I hadn't had a goal, it would surely have been incredibly difficult.
Once a few more hours had passed, I wouldn't have to endure that long stretch again.
Juan and I pressed on and soon reached the south gate.
She was waiting there.
As always, she had her cloak drawn low.
"There you are... Are you really carrying that around to use it?"
She stopped waving and pointed at my hand.
In my hand was a sword wrapped tightly in cloth.
It was so massive that I had to drag it along again today.
Juan had offered to carry it, but I'd refused because I needed to get used to its feel.
"I don't know what kind of sword that is, but wouldn't it be better to use one that suits your build? Using a sword like that will only give you bad habits."
Her words were right, but I couldn't bring myself to take a sword suited to my build to the place where I had died.
A sword suited to my build was best for swordsmanship, but in the eyes of others, it was just a little knife for a child.
A short, lightweight, toy-like knife with little reach.
And since it was a common, mass-produced training sword, it would snap in two before long if it clashed with a well-forged blade.
I'd already experienced that, so I needed a sturdy sword that at least wouldn't break.
'Well, if only I had money, I could have ordered a proper sword...'
Yesterday had been no exception, and with the money I'd saved recently draining away rapidly, I barely had any left.
"Aside from the sword, you seem to have prepared properly, but why on earth did you bring a sword like that? I thought you were really smart, but you're acting like a child in the strangest way."
Just as she said, I'd prepared thoroughly.
I was dressed in leather armor, and Juan was properly equipped too.
"Well, since we won't be fighting here, even a sword like that shouldn't matter."
After saying that, she sighed.
"What on earth do the mercenaries here live on? There are no monsters, public security is good, and all they can do is follow merchant groups around. Can they even make a living?"
"Certainly, there are plenty of jobs escorting merchant groups and nobles. And although this territory is safer than others, monsters do occasionally appear in the mountains and forests along the domain borders. I've heard that the rewards are higher than in other territories, so even though monsters appear infrequently, it's still worthwhile."
The Firebird Hunter's mouth fell open in surprise at Juan's answer.
"Oh, so the territory offers high rewards? The Duke must be a good lord."
She praised the Duke while looking at me, but I had no interest in such praise.
"Let's go quickly. Otherwise, we won't be able to return today."
"Ah, right."
As I took the lead, she followed behind with an embarrassed expression.
The guards recognized Juan and let us through.
I resumed walking along the road I'd traveled by carriage a few years ago in my previous life.
Though the journey took twice as long on foot as it had by carriage, we reached a spot where we could see the ruins in the distance.
After confirming that the ruins looked just as they had before, I turned the other way.
Onsu Forest, a large forest a little to the west of the ruins, came into view.
There was no reason to take the exact same path as in my previous life.
Our destination was the abandoned tomb. It was much faster to enter through the exit.
The female mercenary, Juan, and I made our way toward the tomb's exit—the abandoned village with the empty well.