"I'd like to read the contract beforehand," Jered nodded thoughtfully, then he leaned down and whispered into Evelyn's ears, "What's the difference between a contract and a magical one?"
She glared daggers at Seline as she whispered back, "The only difference is that magic itself notarizes the contract. This means if you break it, you're fucked. It's the same for her too."
"You reckon I should do it?"
Evelyn scrunched up her face, "It depends, really. It could be extremely favorable to you if the clauses are honest and beneficial. If she leaves a backdoor to exploit the contract, then you could wind up having to do way more than you agreed to. It's a practice hardly used nowadays. If I were you, I wouldn't do it. But I guess there's nothing wrong with reading the contract first."
Seline's grimoire floated atop her hands, the pages flipping. She chanted a brief verse, and a sheet of paper materialized in the air in a flurry of white lights. She murmured something, and an array of words blazed across the page, "Here. If you agree with the terms, all you have to do is feed some of your mana into it. I've already signed it," she wiggled her hand, and the contract floated towards him.
"Hmm," Jered pored over the content, looking for anything funny. Admittedly, Seline had most likely a hundred years of experience over him. If she wanted to scam him, she'd probably succeed in some way, "What makes you think that I won't just kill you and take the relic for myself?"
"Do you even know where it is?"
"I'm sure someone knows where it is."
She shrugged, "You'd be wrong. But if you want to take the chance, then go ahead. Kill me. I'm your only hope right now."
"You could have waited until we were back to the human realm to kill your father," he said with a hint of annoyance, "Evelyn, what do you think about the contract? Is it legit?"
Frankly, Evelyn couldn't give him a satisfactory answer. It looked good. Way too good, in fact. It was bound to raise suspicions, and she didn't want to make the decision for him.
"So, what are you going to do?" Seline stared straight into his eyes, "I know that a 'trust me!' here wouldn't work. I've just killed my father, I'm sure you think of me as the most unreliable person in the world right now."
She wasn't wrong.
"Hah, that would be an understatement. But from the bits and pieces I managed to overhear, I can't say I don't agree with your method," Jered sighed, "The issue here is that you literally ripped apart my ticket back home, and now you're blackmailing me into signing a potentially nefarious magical contract."
"Nefarious, huh," Seline rolled her eyes, "I have nothing against you, seriously. Even after you killed my father's retainer. I've lost a lot today, but it was a necessary loss. I've ensured that the terms would benefit you the most. Besides, the contract would last for only ten years. But you're still suspecting some underhanded trap. Fine. Whatever."
Unexpectedly, she pouted.
"Are you pouting?" Jered asked.
"I'm not!"
Evelyn frowned, "This is not something we can decide on a whim. We should be given more time."
To be honest, Jered couldn't afford to waste more time. Who knew what Jasmine was up to.
He grabbed Evelyn's wrist and signaled her that it was okay. That she didn't need to get worked up.
"Seline, maybe we should talk about it once we're out of the dungeon? Also, I need to know exactly what your contract with Vozremeth was about."
She didn't seem willing to elaborate on that, but under his constant stare, she gave in.
"Fine..."
----
After his mana pool made a full recovery, digging their way through the piles of debris was a cakewalk. The problem was explaining to the very concerned Ginnungs where the Lord was. Luckily, Seline was a great actor, and with tears in her eyes, she convinced the whole population that a most unfortunate event had occurred, and that the Lord had perished in battle. Naturally, they seethed with anger and sadness. But Seline managed to calm them down.
Jered and Evelyn received no little amount of nasty looks. They probably blamed them for the Lord's death.
"This way," Seline guided them back to the Lord's mansion, "My father never had good taste," she said off-handedly as she started at the furniture. After a few turns, and going past the Lord's throne room, she opened a door on the far left of the hallway.
The room was not that different from Jered and Evelyn's, but that one was more embellished, with a strong hint that a woman owned it. And it definitely wasn't because of the bras strewn all over the floor.
"This is my room," she said in a blasé tone, "Sorry if it's a bit messy. Didn't have the time to tidy it up."
Seline flopped on her bed, sighing blissfully.
"..."
"..."
Jered didn't know what expression to wear, so he just went with a practiced smile, "So... the contract, Seline. The one with Vozremeth."
"You know perfectly well that with my strength there is no way for me to kill my father," at his nod, she continued, "It was a bit tricky to contact Vozremeth. After all, I couldn't afford to open the gate to hell. My father would have noticed, and it would have been a disaster if the negotiations didn't work. However, there is a spell in my grimoire that allows my astral body to visit either Heaven or Hell for a very brief amount of time, while my real body sleeps in the real world."
"That doesn't sound like a spell anyone can just cast..." Evelyn didn't seem convinced.
"I'm not just anyone, I have royal blood," Seline wrinkled her nose, "It was thanks to that spell that I managed to contact Vozremeth. Of course, it took many months of trial and error to find him; hell is a very big place."
"Yes, I can imagine..." Jered commented, "And what did you promise it?"
At those words, Seline seemed to be conflicted about something. He could see the shame, and the determination of doing what was right, swirl in her eyes. She was probably blinded by some far-fetched definition of righteous vendetta against her father. She did indeed remind him of Rainey, though the latter's ambition worked on a larger scale.
"I promised it..." she paused, her jaw tense, her fists clenched, "... my next child. But in exchange for that, it agreed to help me get rid of my father, and to sign a two hundred year truce contract."
Evelyn was horrified, "You promised it a child? Your child?"
Apparently, that was all the woman heard. Then again, it was a pretty fucked up thing to do, but who was Jered to judge?
Having her words thrown back at her with such hostility did make Seline feel self-conscious about what she did, "Yes, but it doesn't matter!" she argued, "By then, I will definitely be a Royal Tier. Even if it comes waltzing back here, I would stop it! I will have the strength to defeat it!"
"Oh, really?" Evelyn snarked, "Not even your father could kill it! What makes you think you will be successful?"
Seline smiled, and looked at Jered, "If he agrees to sign the contract with me, I won't have anything to fear. As I said, within ten years, he'll be strong enough to face Vozremeth. Let alone one hundred years!"
"This just gives me more of a reason to turn down your offer. Surely, you're pinning everything on me, on that off-chance that I'd be desperate enough to sign a contract to go back home," he sighed theatrically, giving her a pointed stare, "This is not how it works. Actually, it might have worked on someone else. Not me. Props for the plan, but that's it. Do you think I don't have my way of getting what I want? Do you really think I'm that helpless without the relic?"
"How are you going back home, then?" she shot back defiantly.
He smiled, "Oh, you know... I could force you to watch as I murder every single one Ginnung here. It's not like there's anyone who could stop me? Your father is dead, and so is that team he brought along for the expedition. You're the only Elder Tier left. Quite miserable, isn't it? But I'm kidding, of course! I would never do that, pinkie promise! Every innocent life is important, and I would never go against God's will and forcefully take away what's his."
"..."
"Don't make that face, Seline. I'm not Vozremeth, I'm not your enemy... I just need the relic, please?"
"Jered..." Evelyn intervened, quite disturbed by the aura he was giving off, "... maybe we should go about it a different way?"
"There's no different way, only violence. But I'm not so barbaric that I can't reason," he shrugged, taking a seat next to Seline. They made eye contact, "You're so vicious that you'd be willing to give your future, unborn child's life away. And you're expecting me to trust your terms?"
"There was no other way!" Seline nearly screamed out of frustration. Tears began to pour down her dark eyes, "I didn't want to... but if it meant finally giving that man what he deserved, then I was prepared to do anything! I'm so close to unlocking my next vein too. Then you came along, and I saw a glimmer of hope. That you'd be able to help me. I have no one else left, Jered... I'm alone, with my whole race depending on me. They're expecting me to lead them out of the Abyss Gulf. How can I do that within one hundred years? How can I do it alone?"
The way her face twisted wasn't fake, and so wasn't her narrowed eyes, or tears.
Jered didn't find an inkling of deceit on her expression.
She was being truthful.
In fact, Evelyn went quiet, having the decency of not condemning the woman for her vile promise to the devil.
A hand gently squeezed his shoulder. He turned around. It was not Evelyn's.
Then a voice whispered into his ear.
'She needs you, son. And you need her. She can be used.'
He didn't know how to react. And even if he did, that was not the right time to call out his father. Still, he trusted him. He always had.
"Alright..." Jered said after some time, "This partnership. I agree to it."
Seline blinked off her tears, and avoided her gaze, "Thank you..." then she found the courage to stare at him, "... I promise you won't regret it."
As for Evelyn, she didn't know what to feel. She did want to go back home as soon as possible, but if it was at the cost of a contract with Jered...
"Are you sure?" she tried to change his mind.
... it didn't sit well with her.
"I am."
It was a curt reply, and his eyes gave away nothing.
It didn't make sense. Just a few minutes ago, he had openly threatened her race under a joking disguise. She couldn't understand his thought process. What moved him? Was it her beauty?
"..."
"Evelyn?" Jered noticed something off about her eyes, "Hey, Evelyn?"
She found his eyes amidst her rampaging thoughts.
"You look constipated. Are you okay?"
She giggled, "Oh, I'm fine. Don't mind. I'm very fine."