Chapter 192

"You said you'd do anything, didn't you?"

"......"

"Sir, I need you to become a double agent."

"......Fine. What is there I can't do?"

Lefil had no other choice.

Perhaps this was his last chance.

The New Kingdom had not kept its promise to the old man.

It had broken its contract to treat his daughter in exchange for sending him to his death.

The Current King had never intended to grant Lefil's wish in the first place.

After being stabbed in the back like that, this was the only side the old man could still rely on.

"Good. Then let's make the contract official first."

The scales floated up once more.

We each placed a drop of blood on the silver scales.

Ding!

[Contract Scales]

-Category: Spellcraft Hybrid Item

-Rank: A+

-Status: Balanced

-Description: Scales left behind by a renowned ancient sorcerer. When used, they form a contract with a designated target. A concluded contract has absolute binding force, and the contractors cannot violate its terms. It activates when both parties agree. Termination or alteration of the contract also requires mutual agreement.

The terms of a contract could be changed at any time, so long as both sides agreed.

We revised the existing contract and turned it into something entirely new.

The revised terms were as follows.

Party A = Viktor

Party B = Lefil Seriburns

1. Party A will treat Party B's daughter.

2. All of Party B's decision-making authority will belong to Party A.

3. Party B will obey Party A's orders absolutely.

4. The moment Party B violates this contract or harbors the intent to violate it, the scales will detect it and rupture Party B's heart.

It looked simple in summary, but the actual contract contained many more tightly interwoven clauses.

This should make it unlikely for either side to betray the other.

Since we had placed our souls upon the scales, their binding power was absolute.

They were designed to rupture a heart the instant they detected not only an act of betrayal, but even the intent to betray.

"What do you think? Reliable enough?"

"Yes."

Lefil nodded as if he had no lingering regrets.

It was a contract that gave up every right to make decisions about himself.

In other words, the old man was becoming subordinate to me.

If I told him to die, he would have to die.

Even so, Lefil did not show the slightest displeasure.

His attention was focused entirely on his sleeping daughter.

His wrinkled hand stroked the girl's cheek through the bars.

'Parents really are parents...'

This must be paternal love.

Something more profound than love, something that let a person throw away even more.

No wonder he had sold out the royal family.

I could understand it, but I didn't want to condone it.

He had hurt my lord too deeply.

"Ahem."

In any case, the contract was concluded without issue.

Now it was time to fulfill it.

"Then... I'll begin the treatment right away."

The girl slept soundly.

The unconscious child was laid before me.

I calmly examined her condition.

When I stayed silent for a while, an anxious voice came from beyond the bars.

For once, the old man looked uneasy.

"But how exactly will this treatment work? You don't look particularly skilled in medicine..."

"Who knows?"

"Are you a sorcerer? Come to think of it, you used many mysterious tricks when we fought before."

"I have my ways. I'll cure her completely without any aftereffects, so please sit down and don't worry."

"I-I understand... It's just that I can't help feeling anxious..."

Lefil hesitantly sat down.

Leaving him behind, I carefully read the girl's information.

[Riel Seriburns]

-Age: 17

-Race: Vampire

-Status: Sleep, Unconsciousness, Dream

-Description: Unconscious due to the status effect 'Nightmare Sickness.'

Nightmare Sickness.

That was the name of the status effect that had put the girl to sleep.

It was a disease said to have existed only in the distant ancient past.

No records of it remained in the modern age, making even diagnosis difficult.

I knew about Nightmare Sickness because I had encountered it in the original work.

'The Plague Warden.'

An executive ranked among the Cult's highest alongside Oz.

A mage who commanded hundreds, no, thousands of different plagues.

He inflicted every kind of status effect, and Nightmare Sickness was one of them.

The Plague Warden occasionally summoned ancient diseases as one of his rare attack patterns.

Now things were starting to make sense.

'As expected... Even Nightmare Sickness was orchestrated by the Current King.'

The New Kingdom and the Cult had been working together from the beginning.

To the Current King, who wanted to overthrow the former royal family, Lefil, the kingdom's finest swordsman, must have been a thorn in the Current King's side.

'If the Current King had enlisted the Cult's help to put a leash on Lefil... then everything fits perfectly.'

From beginning to end, Lefil had been dancing in the palm of the Current King's hand.

I decided to tell him that later.

For now, treating Riel came first.

As I examined the girl, I rubbed the back of my neck as though lost in thought.

'This is going to be annoying.'

Originally, I had planned to remove Riel's illness with Status Effect-Parrying.

But Status Effect-Parrying wasn't all-powerful.

There were plenty of status effects the bug didn't work on.

Nightmare Sickness was one of them.

'Of course.'

Even that was within my expectations.

I rummaged through my clothes and pulled out a thin ticket.

Ding!

[You use the item '???-Rank Reward Selection Ticket'.]

[You may choose and obtain one of the rewards presented.]

The joker card I'd kept in reserve.

A long list of options continued beneath the ticket.

-Selection Ticket-

[Please select one of the options below!]

1. Obtain Merit Points (10000p)

2. Damaged Item Repair Ticket ×1 [Sold Out]

3. Broken Item Restoration Ticket ×1 [Sold Out]

4. Item Rank Downgrade Ticket ×1

5. Phenomenon Rank Downgrade Ticket ×1

6. Space Leap Ticket ×1

7. Item Cooldown Reset Ticket ×1

8. ■ ■■(???)

.

.

.

28.■■■■■■(???)

29.■■■ ■■(???)

30.■■(???)

'This one.'

My finger selected the option without hesitation.

At once, the status window lit up brightly.

A clear mechanical sound rang in my ear.

Ding!

[Would you like to select reward No. 5, 'Phenomenon Rank Downgrade Ticket ×1'?]

[Yes/No]

Then a thin ticket appeared in my palm.

A lengthy description unfolded before my eyes.

Ding!

[Phenomenon Rank Downgrade Ticket ×1]

-Category: ???

-Rank: ???

-Attribute: ???

-Description: You may downgrade the rank of a designated phenomenon. This ticket is not bound by attributes and can be applied to all phenomena ranked S or below. The effect activates when the ticket is torn.

Phenomenon Rank Downgrade Ticket.

The perfect item for the current situation had appeared.

Staring at the sleeping girl, I tore the ticket exactly in half.

Riiip!

At the same time, a blue screen appeared.

Light flashed from between the torn pieces of paper alongside a status-window notification.

Ding!

[The ticket 'Phenomenon Rank Downgrade Ticket ×1' has been used!]

[The designated status effect 'Nightmare Sickness (A+)' will be downgraded by two ranks!]

[The designated status effect's rank has been adjusted from 'Nightmare Sickness (A+)' to 'Deep Sleep Sickness (A-)'!]

Fwoooosh!

A pure white flash poured into the cell.

The ticket's effect filled my vision.

Particles like countless stars bloomed, then seeped into the girl.

Like the first snow melting against one's fingertips, white petals sank into her skin one by one.

Ding!

[Adjustment complete!]

Before long, the light gently faded.

The ticket scattered into dust.

There was a change in the girl's profile.

The illness listed as her status effect had been replaced with Deep Sleep Sickness (A-).

'Deep Sleep Sickness.'

Its symptoms were similar to Nightmare Sickness, but it was several grades below it.

I smiled in triumph.

The ticket had worked perfectly.

Deep Sleep Sickness was still considered incurable, of course.

There was even a theory that Nightmare Sickness had faded with time and eventually deteriorated into Deep Sleep Sickness.

'But unlike Nightmare Sickness, Status Effect-Parrying works on Deep Sleep Sickness.'

I took out the things I needed.

A Balloon Knife and a familiar rubber band.

"All right... Shall we begin in earnest?"

I tied the rubber band around the girl's ankle.

Then I tied the other end firmly to the bars.

The old man watching us voiced his confusion.

"What is that string? What are you suddenly planning to do...?"

"Wait quietly. We're almost done."

Character-Parrying Baseball.

This cell was too small to hit a home run.

So I intended to overcome the spatial restriction by expanding my domain.

Ding!

[Omen of the Apocalypse]

-Category: Activation Skill

-Rank: A

-Attribute: Isolation, Territory

-Description: A skill said to be used by the Red Knight and the Black Knight among the Four Knights of the Apocalypse. Upon activation, it creates a barrier extending up to 1 km around the caster. Targets struck by the skill become trapped within the barrier alongside the caster. The greater the caster's magical power, the greater the barrier's strength, duration, and range.

"Open."

I quietly murmured the activation command.

Then a vast, pitch-black domain swallowed the three of us.

'Now.'

I picked up the sleeping girl.

Then I pitched her fragile body into the air with all my strength.

Swoooosh!

"What...?!"

The old man was stunned for a moment.

Regardless, the girl flew through the air.

Then the rubber band's recoil pulled her back.

Her body retraced its trajectory.

I held the Balloon Knife straight in my hand.

I drew my arm back, taking a batting stance.

"Hup...!"

Then a perfectly timed parry landed.

A noise like escaping air rang out.

Pfft!

The girl's flight path changed.

Her body rose once more in an arc.

'Success.'

I caught the floating girl in both arms.

A safe landing.

"What in the world...?!"

Was it because of my sudden actions?

The old man's eyes were wide with shock.

His slightly agitated voice echoed through the cell.

"You! What are you doing...?!"

But even that voice soon cut off.

He had seen the girl twitching in my arms.

Before long, the girl who had not moved at all opened her eyes.

"Ugh, mmm..."

She blinked slowly, her gaze unfocused.

She was clearly still half-asleep.

Like someone who had just awakened, the girl's pupils darted around.

Then she spotted the old man and murmured as though a question mark had appeared over her head.

"Ugh... Fa... ther...?"

"......Riel?"

Her consciousness was still hazy.

It was the moment a miracle occurred.

Footnotes:

Kaepaya is the Korean abbreviation for "Character-Parrying Baseball."