[CC] Chapter 47

The stream of wisps rushed into Shouren’s class card. Since the shards were so small, the class card easily absorbed most of the swimming wisps with little obstruction.

The web of insights reappeared within Shouren’s mind, and this time, he knew instinctively that it was an insight that he’d barely touched. It was so far away from the center of the web. Fragments of disheveled knowledge flickered before Shouren, but he couldn’t make any sense of them. The only feeling he got from the insight was… ‘falling down’?

It was a very distorted and fleeting fragment. If Shouren had to put it into legible words, then it was a concept of something simply falling down. He didn’t know how it connected to his Cardsmith class card, but he tossed that thought aside. He would learn more about that insight in the future if he absorbed more similar shards.

“It’s getting late. I should go to sleep before grandma calls for me.”

Shouren stiffed a yawn and made his way back inside the house. He had to wake up early tomorrow for the meeting with Virelle.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Shouren woke up groaning as the sunlight tore through the crack of windows and singed through his eyelids.

“I think I need to stop wolfing down the crazy amount of raw monster meat.”

The boy moaned with discomfort, and his stomach bubbled away at the mere thought. Shouren didn’t have any other choice. Lumen potions were too expensive, and he needed that extra lumen to continue forging multiple cards.

“Be careful today, potato!”

Rhea yelled over her shoulder while she busily shuffled inside the kitchen.

“I always am, grandma.”

Shouren smiled as he rubbed the drowsiness away from his eyes and got to his feet gradually. His stomach still ached, but it wasn’t in a critical condition. After making sure his vault was ready just like how he had left it last night, Shouren got to the door and with another wave goodbye to Rhea, he jogged to the town’s square.

Shouren went over what he was going to say to Virelle, and thought of a few other things he wanted to probe before he signed the contract. With a light sheen of sweat from a few minutes of running, Shouren finally reached the busy town square. Making his way to the street where he last parted with Virelle, Shouren came across the familiar figure of the young nun. She was already waiting for him.

Virelle was leaning against the wall with a small, chocolate-covered bun in her hand. The nun gave a cheerful wave at the approaching Shouren and took a large bite out of her bun. Speckles of chocolate bits smeared around her mouth, but the young woman didn’t seem to care.

Shouren gulped as he stared at the glistening layer of dark sweetness over the soft, velvety bun. Would it be rude if I tried to distract her and stole a bite of that chocolate bun?

Virelle laughed at the expression the boy made. Then, the young girl tore off part of her bun with the thickest layer of chocolate and tossed it to Shouren.

“I promise you, Thalin, once you get a taste of that chocolate bun, you’ll never crave anything else ever again.”

Thalin? Is Thalin behind me?

Shouren almost twisted his neck back before he realized Virelle was addressing him. He had forgotten he’d given a fake name to the young nun.

“Ah, thanks for the bun, Virelle.”

Shouren snatched the treat mid-air and hastily gobbled it down. It was an explosion of sugary richness that melted across his tongue while the bread carried a soft whisper of buttery vanilla. Together, it was a perfect match made inside Shouren’s mouth.

It might actually be better than lemon pie!

“Alright, let’s get down to business, kid.”

Virelle patted her hands clean of the bread crumbs and looked seriously at Shouren.

Shouren had been savoring the last morsel of the chocolate bun inside his mouth, but after hearing the young nun’s voice, he swallowed it down with regret.

“Before we go over the contract, can I ask why you approached me instead of someone else?”

Shouren asked as he hastily wiped his mouth. He wished there was more of the chocolate bun for him to chow down.

A subtle shadow of an emotion shadowed her face for a heartbeat, but it was gone before Shouren could notice it.

“Well, if you don’t agree to the contract today, that’s exactly what I’ll do. You’re not some noble’s son that I could rob, Thalin. I just remembered you from when I healed your burns last time and since it looked like you were short on chronas, I thought this deal would appeal to you. Any random person will do as a health mule, but I prefer for them to be motivated while they’re working with me.”

Virelle shrugged her shoulders and explained in an even tone.

Hmm, it makes sense, and it doesn’t look like she’ll care if I walk away right now.

Shouren nodded and replied to the young woman by initiating the system contract.

“System Contract.”

He held out his hand to Virelle so she could read the terms he wanted in the contract.

A flash of light darted through Virelle’s eyes as she grasped the boy’s hand and her system displayed the list of clauses for the contract. The young nun’s eyes widened with incredulity the more she read the terms Shouren listed there.

“This looks like you’re hiring us for an escort mission and our job is to protect you, rather the other way around where you’re working for us.”

Virelle stated dryly as she glared at the dark-haired boy.

The terms included a series of demands that Shouren would have to be placed in the safest position within the party’s formation, no party member could attack him with either weapons or abilities, and any non-lethal abilities had to have his express permission before being used. That included items and equipment as well. There were also clauses that forbade the party from using him as bait to lure monsters and that he had to be fed the whole time he was in the dungeon. The list of demands went on and on.

“This is just standard procedure to make sure I’m not being taken advantage of.”

Shouren clumsily scratched his cheek. Did he go overboard with the demands?

“Nothing about this is standard, brat! Are you coming on a vacation at a resort? Why do we have to provide you meals like we’re your personal chefs?”

Virelle lost her cool and burst into a tirade. She didn’t care about her mission anymore. This kid was treating her party like his private nannies.

“Okay, we can remove that part. I’ll arrange my own meals.”

Shouren chuckled, trying to placate the fiery young nun.

“Good. I can agree to the other demands that no one in our party will attack you or harm you in any way. This one should be fine as well… we’re definitely thrashing this one…”

Virelle went one by one over the contract clauses, throwing away any demands that were excessive, but kept the ones that guaranteed the boy’s safety. Virelle was already feeling exhausted dealing with the annoying kid, and if not for the bishop’s order, she would have smacked Shouren and bolted out of here.

“Wait, what is this? You want all the party members to bond their lives with you, so if you die, we all lose our lives as well!?”

Virelle almost choked on her spit. She had half a mind to grab the brat and kill him right now and avoid all this headache. The bishop’s order was to confirm a few pieces of information from the boy, and the rest of her party was not in on the mission. In fact, none of them even knew she was a spy for the Sunspire Guild.

“I need an ironclad clause for my life. I can’t budge on this. All the other clauses might have loopholes I might not be aware of, but this clause will ensure I come out alive from the dungeon.”

Shouren crossed his arms over his chest and stated firmly, his hazel eyes boring down on Virelle. Although he lacked much experience with system contracts, he knew one could manipulate them through tiny loopholes. This clause would guarantee that, no matter what, he wouldn’t be killed in the dungeon.

Virelle stared at the boy’s demeanor and sighed with exasperation.

“Fine. But it will only be my life tied to yours. If you die, I’ll join the afterlife with you.”

Her goal wasn’t to kill the boy. Actually, she didn’t even know why the Sunspire guild had become so frantic in the past few weeks. The top clergy seemed desperate in their search for something, giving top priority to any clue leading to it. The bishop believed this slum kid might have some information regarding that.

Her mission was simple: get close to the boy and have him completely trust her. That was why Virelle wanted to take the boy to the dungeon with her. She would have many chances to protect him, teach the basics, and even beguile him with thousands of chronas. The kid was obviously greedy for money, and she could use that to hasten the befriending process.

Shouren thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. That worked for him. He didn’t think Virelle would willingly sacrifice her life so the rest of the party could kill him. His life wasn’t worth the sacrifice of a Tier 1 Cardist.

Virelle breathed with relief. She could continue her mission.

“Eh? You want 100,000 c-chronas sent to your family if you die?”

The young nun felt her blood boiling once again at the last clause on the contract. The guild would not reimburse her for the 5,000 chronas she had to give Shouren until the mission was over. She didn’t even have 100,000 chronas if she combined her entire fortune.

I hate this mission. No, I hate this brat in particular.

“Kid, are you trying to arrange for your funeral in the dungeon? What’s with all this preparation? Let’s just end this here and I’ll find someone else for the health mule.”

Virelle wanted to run away and stick to her role of gathering intel at the dungeon entrance. At least then, she wouldn’t have to continue talking to this boy. She would have the bishop assign someone for this mission.

“I accidentally put that clause there. We can remove it, Virelle.”

Shouren waved his hands in apology and retracted that clause from the contract.

Alright, that confirms it. She’s not targeting me.

Shouren mentally nodded in confirmation. That clause was his final probe. He wanted to see if Virelle would continue despite that clause. If she did, then that meant she was after Shouren for something nefarious as no one one would pay that many chronas when she could have just picked any other kid from the slums.

Virelle raised her brow in suspicion, but let the matter drop. Before the kid could get higher on her nerves, she added a few other basic clauses to the contract that stated the day, time, loot, etc. regarding their dungeon run. Shouren waited for a few minutes and then checked the contract again once Virelle presented the final version.

The new terms were straightforward. They would enter the dungeon in a week’s time, giving the party members enough time to gather their equipment and other necessities. Shouren checked that the guarantees on his life were intact and then signed the final contract.

“Don’t be late, Thalin!”

The tension slipped from Virelle’s shoulders when she saw the system’s notification blink in her vision, and she quickly made her escape from the boy. She wasn’t going to let the kid change his mind now.

“Hey, wait!”

Shouren wanted to ask Virelle where she bought the chocolate buns from, but the nun had already dashed away out of sight. Filled with the memory of the delicious treat, he made his way back to the dungeon. Today was the last day to deliver the 10 Spectral Threads spell cards to Isola.

“Do I stink or something? Why did she run away so fast…”

Shouren mumbled as he turned around to walk.

Meanwhile, in another alley, far away from Shouren’s sight, Virelle stopped when the back of her pocket buzzed. It was her comms card, glowing in activation.

There was a new order from the bishop.