With his worries about getting caught by his family gone, Zareth followed Yan back to the town center through the new festival markets.
Although he didn't want to directly hide his power, it seemed that he had no choice for now with Freya domineering over him.
The new marketplace was very lively. Zareth heard much commotion on his way through the streets leading to the town center from inside his carriage, but he hadn't expected it to be full of so many people.
It looked like many people from villages and small cities outside of the kingdom's walls had indeed come for the occasion as well.
As he walked behind Yan with Silio's goofy unconscious face staring at him, Yan spoke about why he wanted Zareth to follow him.
As he expected, a soul contract was not a small deal. Not only were soul contracts expensive, they usually weren't used so frivolously on the spot.
Many days of debate would occur before a soul contract would be written, however, he simply spoke it out loud.
Although it worked that way as well, it was very dangerous, to say the least.
Yan wanted Zareth to meet his father, who was a 60-year-old elder merchant from the capital city of Joutenhiem, Yuun.
From Yan's explanation of him, his father was a stern and straightforward man, who also had a joking side to him.
He had grown up in Bolnuir before moving inside the walls to Yuun after great success in his businesses.
In Yuun, Yan's father went even further in his career, eventually making quite a name for himself in the city and even in other close parts of the kingdom.
Inwardly, the reason why Yan needed to introduce Zareth to his father was that he was now a threat to both his and Silio's life.
Although Yan himself was a man of high honor, and even slightly too much honor, his father was not exactly the same.
Yan's father was also known as a man of honor in the Kaien family, however, he would not risk his or his family's lives over such a thing.
If Yan had made the contract without telling his father, he would definitely face punishment. It was endangering his life without asking permission from the one who created him, which Yan's father saw as a cardinal sin.
Yan knew that after telling his father about his soul contract with Zareth, his father would send scouts out to keep an eye on him at all times.
This was because Yan initially lied slightly when telling him about how the contract worked.
He told Zareth that both he and Silio would instantly die, as their souls would be destroyed on the spot.
However, this was not true. There existed exactly a 10-second span of time where one would still be alive after breaking the contract.
This period counted as a time when all people within the contract were still alive.
In cases where everyone within the soul contract was still alive, if the rule setter of the contract was killed, the contract would automatically be canceled, and the lives of the others in the contract would be saved.
If there came a time when Yan or Silio ever broke the contract, they would be able to express that their contract was broken, allowing the scout watching over Zareth would be ordered to kill him immediately in hopes of saving their lives.
This wasn't a guarantee, but it was an option that existed if all else failed.
Outwardly, however, Yan only told Zareth that a soul contract was an important thing and that his father would want to meet the person who he formed such a contract with.
Eventually, the three arrived at a large marquee tent which acted as a temporary home for Yan and his group to stay in during the festival.
Upon entering, Zareth was led to a part of the tent where Yan's father was.
The old man sat atop a red carpet placed above a small wooden slab, fit for him to sit on in a lotus position.
He had his eyes closed and looked to be meditating deeply.
"Father!" Yan suddenly yelled before bowing slightly, startling the hell out of his father, who was actually asleep instead of in meditation, as his eyes quickly flew open.
Anger immediately clouded his mind, but before yelling, he noticed a little boy standing behind Yan.
"Who is he?" He said, quickly switching from his angered tone to one of concern and confusion.
He knew that his son would never bring anyone into his domain for a petty reason.
"I have made a soul contrac--" Yan spoke, still bowing his head, before being abruptly stopped.
"You fool! I gave you that contract only yesterday, and you have gone and used it already?" The old man yelled, standing up and approaching Yan.
"What is the contract!?" He loudly asked.
"I cannot say," Yan replied concisely, not wanting to anger his father any further.
"Do you think I don't know that!?" His father angrily replied before walking over to Zareth.
He stared into his eyes for a brief moment before ordering everyone else to leave the room.
"I will speak with him alone."
Yan took Silio and immediately left the marquee.
Yan's father turned back and sat on his wooden slab in a lotus position again before pulling out a pipe and lighting it.
"What are your intentions." He said as he let out a puff of smoke.
Zareth paused to think of what to say for a moment as he quickly began realizing the situation he was in.
Making that soul contract... was a mistake.
There was no way he was going to simply be let go, free of any surveillance, after creating a contract with this man's son.
He would need to think of what to do moving on, but for now, he replied truthfully with a convincing expression.
"I have no ill intentions towards your son. I only wish to be discreet and safe." Zareth replied with a stoic and calm tone, his eyes unwavering as though he was telling the utter truth.
The old man stopped to let out another puff of smoke before sighing deeply.
"Alright. I trust you." He suddenly said with an almost defeated tone in his voice.
Zareth was slightly taken aback by this statement but also knew that whatever this old man had in mind, he wasn't going to share it with him under any circumstances, so this was the only proper response he could give at this moment.
"However, I will not permit you to leave my merchant group until this festival ends..."