Chapter 218: The Bird That Flew for Comfort in the Cuckoo's Nest (2)

"You must have heard the explanation. It is just a simple oath ritual. We dissolve the contract we both signed in this chalice, and drink the water together."

Salina did not seem to realize at all that I knew what the Oath of Meiga was. That was natural for her. Her only daughter had firmly been keeping silent in her own way, and there was no way I could know about the Oath of Meiga handed down only within the royal family.

"In that chalice?"

I pointed at the Oath of Meiga. Salina nodded her head and held up the chalice. It was already filled with water, making a sloshing sound. Salina shook the chalice vigorously but did not spill a single drop of water.

"Yes. This is a very precious chalice for oaths. We pour holy water into this chalice, dissolve the contract, and drink it. That is all. I am sorry for making you come all the way here for such a cumbersome matter, but since this is somewhat of a tradition of Ahildern in its own way, it could not be helped."

"It is my first time hearing of such a tradition."

When I spoke, Salina retorted without batting an eye.

"Did you think all the traditions of the royal house would be known? It is unreasonable to burden you with Erina's matter, but we cannot demand compensation or make it a public issue either, so we are just making an oath."

"Just an oath?"

Salina shook her head.

"Of course, after this ritual is over, we will make an actual contract again and sign it. It will also state the fact that we made an oath, and if you ever make any statement to damage the honor of Erina and the child of the Ahildern royal family in the future, it will be used as evidence on our side. Do you consent?"

Hearing just her words, it was extremely rational. She would not hold me responsible. She would not demand compensation or publicize this issue either. Instead, I just had to keep my mouth shut and sign a contract stating that the child was not my biological child, but AA's child. Where else could there be such a seductive condition?

But this was nothing more than an illusion. That Chalice of Meiga was a terrifying brainwashing weapon that brainwashed the contents of the contract directly into the other party, and the elf queen Ahildern Salina in front of me was nothing more than an evil villain trying to deceive the kind-hearted and innocent Lucius. There was clearly a very wicked content hidden in the contract that woman was handing over.

"Then, as they say the sooner the better, we will begin signing the contract. Read the contents once before we do."

Where did this confidence come from? Salina handed the contract over to me first. I took the contract and began to read it meticulously.

- Peta Lucius (Party B) acknowledges that Ahildern Erina's child is not his biological child, and ensures he will say, 'That child is not my child,' if any question or scandal arises regarding this.

- Ahildern Salina (Party A) can claim labor corresponding to the price if Peta Lucius violates the above provision.

There were only two sentences written on the contract. I keep my mouth shut, and Ahildern Salina manages and supervises this to claim corresponding compensation if I violate it. I meticulously scanned the contract once again. Since I knew for a fact that the chalice was a Chalice of Brainwashing, there was no way I would sign this contract in the first place, but still, this contract was too weak.

Couldn't they put in something different since they were using the Chalice of Brainwashing of all things? I flipped the contract over. But the back was blank. Seeing me flip the contract over, Salina gave a snort of derision and said.

"Do you think we would pull such a scam? Just sign it quickly."

Suspicious. It was too suspicious. It seemed certain that some treaty was hidden somewhere, but I could not confirm it with my eyes. Especially seeing the very long gap between the first clause and the second clause, it was clear that some condition was hidden in between. I checked the contract's status window.

[Contract written with a secret. If scorched with fire, something might become visible.]

"Fire?"

"W-What are you talking about?"

Salina's facial expression crumbled in an instant. She reached out with a flustered face as I suddenly stood up. But with leisure, I shook off Salina's hand trying to snatch the contract and looked for a fire. Was it because there were various artifacts in the room? I couldn't see any candles in the room. I asked Salina.

"Candle."

"What?"

"Do you not have a candle? I'd like to have one."

"Unfortunately, there are no candles."

Salina shook her head and said. Right. There was no way she would give me one. But didn't they say if you don't have teeth, use your gums? I slowly looked around the furniture. Salina seemed a bit flustered as I skimmed over the furniture without signing, like a customer who had come to IKEA. Uneasiness could be felt from the way she tightly gripped the chair with her fingers.

"I told you to sign quickly, so what are you doing! This is not a market stall in your territory! As queen, I command you to sit in your place and sign this instant!"

I ignored her command. The fact that she was fretting to that extent and wanting me to take my seat meant that my guess was a fact right now. Whether it was Salina or Erina, they were all peerless figures of arrogance, so if I had guessed wrong, they would have clearly mocked me openly. I grabbed the wardrobe and asked.

"This is wood, right?"

"Y-Yes, but?"

"Then it should catch fire!"

Crack!

"Kyaaaaagh!"

Salina screamed in shock. The wooden wardrobe struck by my fist shattered into utter destruction. The fragments that soared high into the sky rained down over my shoulder. I brushed off my clothes and picked up the wooden planks that fell on the floor.

"Y-You! You crazy bastard! You insane bastard! Just what act are you doing!"

"Trying to start a fire."

I picked up the broken wooden planks and began rubbing them together vigorously. As my superhuman strength and the luxurious wood material combined, the tip of the wood turned red-hot in an instant. I appropriately rolled up the carpet laid on the floor so it wouldn't catch fire, and began placing small blocks of wood on top of the smoking wood.

Salina did not stop my action. For her, she couldn't stop it. Because she wouldn't want my face to be seen. Erina had said directly with her own mouth, 'I do not want to show my appearance to others'. The fact that she secretly called me in while even revealing the royal house's secret area information, which could be considered truly dangerous information, meant that she would have sent all the people in her surroundings away so no one would know even if a commotion broke out. In fact, even though Queen Salina had screamed loudly just a moment ago, there was no presence of anyone approaching.

"I-I will call for people! I will call the royal guard right now, so stop! If you stop now and meekly, meekly sign it, I will pretend what just happened never occurred!"

Whether she did or not, I transferred a small ember from the blooming flare. The tiny embers burning like a matchstick at the tip of the wooden branch were incredibly beautiful. I carefully began to scorch the contract with the fire.

"No!"

Salina suddenly jumped out of her chair and rushed at me. I lightly dodged her charge. Floating up in the air, she fell right onto the blocks of wood I had smashed into utter destruction. Suddenly rolling on top of heated and sharp wooden blocks, Salina flailed around while screaming.

"Kyaaaaagh!!! It's hot! It hurts! Aaaaagh! Aaaaagh!"

"Fuck, you're noisy."

I stomped out the remaining embers on the floor, and kicked Salina, who was making an appeal of her pain, shoving her into the corner. Having turned into a disheveled appearance in an instant, she reached out with a pale face, trying to snatch the paper in my hand.

"No! Wait! Peta Lucius! Listen to my story...!"

Black letters began to appear whenever it touched the fire. I frowned my facial expression upon seeing those characters. The contents of the contract were truly horrific in themselves.

"You demon-like bastards!"

"L-Listen! I am telling you to listen to my words. Lucius!"

"Fuck off. You dare attempt a fucking contract like this?"

I shoved the contract right in front of Salina's eyes. I shouted, bringing it so close that it seemed like I was rubbing her face with the contract.

"Fuck! Do I look like a fucking cock to you?"

- Peta Lucius will become an impotent person who cannot feel sexual desire at all, and as a cleric of the Archdeity Church, he will become an owner of a faithful and righteous life that fits the doctrine of the Archdeity Church. Furthermore, he will strive to defeat Evangeline. Furthermore, the moment he leaves this room, his memory will be altered to, 'We only talked in this room'.

To make me an impotent person and turn me into a righteous man on top of that. I thought such a horrific idea wouldn't exist since [A Clockwork Orange], but that was my mistake. I grabbed Salina by the collar and threw her onto the bed.

"Kyaaaaagh!"

And I tore the contract apart. I crushed the contract that had completely turned to powder in my hands and threw it into the remaining embers to turn it completely to ash. Only after crushing even those ashes could I feel relieved. Salina, who had landed on the bed, was covered in scratch marks all over her body, and her face was pale with fear. I spoke.

"Fuck, I was going to let it go if you just kept it moderate with a 'let's just mutually keep quiet~'. But you try to pull this trick? This is a chalice of brainwashing, isn't it? Right?"

"W-What are you talking about? Brainwashing! That can't be true, can it? How could we, how could we do such a thing while risking such diplomatic burden! Now, Peta Lucius... you may just, just go back. I will consider the signing done, so... just go back! I will not make an issue out of what happened here. Do you understand?"

"Fuck off. Erina is fucked now. Because I'm going to blab about all of this."

Salina's face turned even whiter. A strong-willed woman like this wouldn't listen if you simply used a threat with her own life. If you threatened her using something more precious than her life, for instance, the daughter she wants to protect even while bearing such political burden, it works well.

"L-Lucius...? N-Now, think about it carefully. Wouldn't that be a burden to you as well? Right? Just, just go back. I will prepare the carriage right away."

"I'm also going to blab about how you tried to brainwash me, you know? If I hand this [Oath of Meiga] over to the Human Kingdom and tell the king that you fucking tried to brainwash me, who's going to be fucked? Did you think I wouldn't know how to use this?"

"H-How do you know that is the [Oath of Meiga]..."

The Oath of Meiga was already held in my hand. The secret passage had a security device, but there was no security device here. Come to think of it, it was natural. Since it was a chalice that had to be passed around and drunk from in the first place, anyone should be able to touch this chalice. Salina was trembling.

It was a perfect checkmate. There was no hole for her to escape through. I tore out a random page from a book in my surroundings and then began to write on the paper. Salina was trembling. Right now, in this place, there was nothing she could do. I looked at the text I wrote and smiled a satisfied smile.

- Ahildern Salina (Party B) becomes the slave of Peta Lucius (Party A).

And I threw that paper and pen at Salina.

"Sign it. If you don't sign it, I'll make sure the entire continent knows even the color of Erina's cunt."