Crack!
In an instant, one of Shabhavi’s two heads shot forward like an arrow and bit into Isabella’s shoulder.
It was the process of injecting the core of its ability, ‘heart poison’.
[Calculating the anti-magic resistance of contract target ‘Isabella Ruf Glicia’… Resistance failed!!]
[The oath enforcement rate is 99%.]
Shabhavi’s ‘oath enforcement’ ability grows stronger the greater the level difference between the contractor Aiden and the target. There was no way Isabella, with her high level but no resistance traits whatsoever, could properly resist.
Even without that, the promise just made left no room for wordplay.
Unconsciously touching her shoulder, Isabella.
Her dazed expression suggested no pain.
“Wh-what did you…”
“Just now, a contract between both parties was established under the auspices of the Great Spirit of Oath. If Your Highness breaks the promise you just made, the prohibition will immediately bring pain.”
“…What?”
Isabella’s face twisted.
To her, it was an unheard-of tale. She hadn’t signed any magical contract; she’d merely spoken a word.
Could such an absurd power exist in the world, enforcing a contract with just that?
“You seem unconvinced, so let me first state what I desire.”
Aiden’s demands to her were two.
First, “Never speak of the Great Spirit Shabhavi to any third party.”
Second, “When touching major policies of the Glicia Kingdom or handling matters that directly or indirectly affect me and Blispiel Clan, you must obtain permission from the clan side.”
“The first is because I see no benefit in more people knowing my trump card. And the reporting… Your Highness is clever; you might find a loophole in this oath and plot to threaten me. Consider it insurance.”
“Sub-Master Stroke, the second demand is blatant interference in internal affairs. No matter how much you’ve been transferred partial dominion over the kingdom, it’s an excessive request— Urgh!”
Intense dizziness and headache struck. Feeling a strong urge to vomit, Isabella collapsed to the floor.
“Wh-what trickery is this…”
“It’s Shabhavi’s heart poison. If you intentionally try to break the oath, your mind might collapse, so you’d better abandon any thoughts of rebellion.”
Clutching her head, Isabella trembled with humiliation.
Had she ever endured such humiliation as royalty? Thinking that, the moment she harbored strong resentment toward Aiden.
Crack!
“Urk!”
The headache intensified proportional to that negative emotion. It felt like her skull was splitting, her brain melting in intense pain.
“Aiden, Stroke… You!!”
“You don’t seem in the best mood today. If more business arises later, I’ll visit again.”
Shrugging, Aiden left the office.
The Great Spirit of Oath, the two-headed serpent Shabhavi.
Indeed, its ability was a power worth obtaining through all those troublesome steps.
Of course, since my spirit arts weren’t yet complete, I couldn’t maintain too many contracts at once. I’d need to keep it to a reasonable number until proficiency rose.
Abilities like Shabhavi’s ‘oath enforcement’, which imposed rules on others, were extremely rare throughout all of ‘Reca Chronicles’.
Of course, such abilities occasionally appeared among unique soul imprints, but manifesting U-grade traits or skills required raising the inefficient [Spirit] stat. Even if I raised the spirit value somehow, there was no guarantee I’d get the exact ability I wanted.
“On top of the ability’s own utility, there’s extrinsic value derived from Shabhavi.”
The witches’ arrangements held by the three witches were designed to draw each other in.
Thus, Shabhavi’s existence would be a great help in recruiting the ‘Red Witch Apsaras Mayana’, whom I’d eventually contact.
With her Fate Sight (S) trait and the absurdly powerful soul imprint Destruction Puppet Play (U), she was quite special to me, beyond her abilities.
In fact, during the serialization of Part 3 of ‘Reca Chronicles’, I’d seriously considered dropping the novel. Like other readers, the nihilistic ending of Part 2 had left me in a deep sage mode.
The character who appeared then was Mayana.
She didn’t resonate much with other readers, but for some reason, her mischievous personality and mysterious charm struck right in my strike zone.
Thanks to that, I could recharge with plenty of motivation to keep delving into ‘Reca Chronicles’.
…Thinking back now, making me endure this trash novel to the end doesn’t seem all that grateful.
Thud!
“Sub-Master. Authorization is needed for approximately 308 matters.”
Camillo placed an overwhelmingly thick stack of documents on the desk. I was speechless at the murderous volume.
“…More than I thought.”
“It’s right after the civil war ended.”
After visiting Praga and binding Isabella with the contract, I’d returned to the clan house and was reviewing piled-up administrative work.
Then, Ebel came to the office.
In a calm but firm tone, he said,
“In the fight with Citrio Altus, I felt inadequacies in my own techniques. Upon returning to the Stroke Principality, I plan to immediately begin research to address the shortcomings of heavy swordsmanship.”
“You could stay a bit longer?”
“Sticking around you seems like it’d lead to endless troubles. No thanks. Oh, and I plan to officially announce my retirement soon.”
“Wait. That means….”
“The validity period of the Seal of Struggle you hold has a little over two years left.”
Like Professor Blake, those who officially declare retirement are excluded from the Continent’s Twelve Heroes re-evaluation overseen by the Church of Struggle.
Ebel intended to follow the same path.
“You’re aware that just having your name on the Twelve Heroes greatly aids the Stroke Principality’s prestige.”
“Of course. The grand ducal family has benefited plenty from my position. But….”
Ebel looked at me.
With a gaze full of pride.
“Isn’t the candidate to eventually dominate the central region, the sub-master of Blispiel Clan, right before my eyes? Fill the influence loss from my absence yourself, Aiden.”
“……”
“If you’re that reluctant, all problems are solved if you ascend to the Continent’s Twelve Heroes in the next evaluation. Passing from great-uncle to grandson sounds pretty good too.”
The next Continent’s Twelve Heroes evaluation is in July 987. With steady training, I can definitely reach level 50 by then, so entering the candidate pool is possible.
But the evaluation is conservative, so no guarantee a young guy like me gets selected.
“…You won’t listen even if I try to stop you.”
“It’s all thanks to you broadening my horizons.”
I shook my head at his candid tone.
And the next day, my great-uncle left the clan house with the family’s elite knights. His departing figure, receiving a grand send-off from Elanore’s citizens, looked somehow relieved.
Three months after the civil war.
In that time, I’d taken various measures to solidify our influence in the Glicia Kingdom and Elanore.
First, the king of Glicia died, and Isabella ascended as queen.
“We placed Your Majesty on the throne instead of Lady Mariana due to ability differences. To prove your value, you’ll need to work hard, right?”
“Grr…!”
She bristled at my words, but soon showed signs of suppressing her resentment, feeling the headache from the heart poison.
I proposed to her.
“I understand that one of Your Majesty’s younger sisters, Princess Delfina, has no betrothed yet.”
“…And what of it.”
“Let’s arrange a marriage discussion with my brother Ridle. The heir to the Stroke Principality should be a fitting match.”
“…What?”
Isabella seemed unable to grasp my intent.
Delfina was the most beautiful among Isabella’s sisters and, like her, a princess born of the legitimate wife.
Thus, she was ideal as a marriage alliance card… but from my perspective, even without that, I could treat Queen Isabella like a slave.
That’s where she found it puzzling.
I was planning to densely weave the bloodlines of the effectively ruled Glicia royal family and my maternal Stroke Grand Ducal family with influential figures across regions. For this plan to maximize effect, I first needed to bind the Stroke family and Glicia royalty with a marriage alliance.
The marriage discussion between Delfina and Ridle was in that context.
The kingdom had nine more princesses besides her and Mariana, and Foden had several daughters as well.
Plenty of ammunition.
“…Not a bad proposal. I permit it.”
Considering the contractual relationship via Shabhavi, it was practically an order, but Isabella gnashed her teeth each time yet used the word ‘permit’.
It must be her last shred of pride.
Afterward, I dove into internal management.
Though Blispiel Clan’s fame soared from the civil war victory, we were still an extremely small-scale clan.
We sorely lacked manpower to handle security and issues in Elanore and the central region, so I distributed request fulfillment rights to the sixteen clans that cooperated in the civil war and the Quentaltin Clan side.
For other clans in Elanore, it was far more relaxed than when Caracol was breathing down their necks, so ultimately a win-win.
Ah, the clans that cooperated with Caracol in the civil war?
Disintegrated without mercy.
Time flowed like that.
Before I knew it, it was January 27, 984. Two days before the new year… and finally, the long-awaited guest arrived.
“Sub-Master Stroke. Pleased to meet you; I am Lubork Stiller, court count of the Luser Kingdom. I serve His Highness Prince Sinisha, blood of the Luser Kingdom, though inadequately.”
“Pleased to meet you, Lubork. To get straight to the point, convey to the prince… to Iron Mask that I’d like to meet. I have a request as well.”
“Understood. When would suit your schedule?”
“I’ll visit the Luser Kingdom personally within a year. I have personal business in the Bolrestrom Union anyway.”
“I’ll relay that.”
Handing me an invitation in the name of the Luser royal family, Lubork soon bowed politely and departed.
Iron Mask, Sinisha Luser.
A phantom thief renowned across the Prima Continent, possessor of the unique skill Redial (U).
To retrieve the MacGuffin regarding Tanya, brutally murdered at the Sun Cathedral, I absolutely needed to borrow her friend’s power.
<Aiden Stroke>
[Level: 43/66]
[HP: 10] [Strength: 11] [Agility: 14] [MP: 19] [Spirit: 05] [Sense: 14]
[Divinity: 06]
*Equipped Fortune Wheel Amulet (S) [Divinity +1]
[Traits: Sword Demon (S+), Thunder God Physique (S), Great Educator (S), Firebird (S-), Proxy of the Guardian Tree (S-), Reverse Veins (A), Serene Clarity (A), Spirit Affinity · Strong (A), Magic Prodigy (B), Mana Eye (B), Culinary Prodigy (B), Dexterity (B), Mana Control (C), Lung Capacity (C), Adventurer (C), Alchemy Prodigy (C), Fairy Precognition (U-)]
[Skills: Unique Contract Spirit Arts (S), Brandish Harmony Heart Method · Extreme (A+), Alsigima Resonance Shatter Art (A), Silent Realm (A), Alsigima Heart Method (A), Tranquil Heart Method (A), Dearside Variant Swordsmanship (A), Dearside Dual Heart Method (A), Stroke Strong Swordsmanship (A), Taramu Blood Current Control Heart Method (B), Stroke Heart Method (B), Mercenary King Style Dual Swordsmanship (A), Stroke Swordsmanship (B), Shaw Vision Quick Swordsmanship (B), Kluber Defensive Swordsmanship (B), Mirvana Strong Wire Art (B), Northern Advanced Swordsmanship (C), Itanga Tribe Weapon Arts (C), No Face (U-)]
[Description: 17 years old, human race. Second son of Grand Duke Foden of Stroke, fiancé of Chesa Utland. A swordsmanship genius drawing the attention of all martial artists on the Prima Continent, and sub-master of Blispiel Clan.]
Compared to right after possession, the character sheet had become impressively ornate, enough to evoke deep emotion.
Potential level was steadily rising through the link with Chesa via Firebird (S-), and the skill set was developing in the intended direction.
“It’s about time….”
The Glicia Kingdom’s internal affairs had entered a stable phase thanks to Isabella’s competence, and it was time to gather forces in preparation for the showdown with the Schnifelt family.
I looked at the Prima Continent map.
This time’s destination: the Ascetic Church.
The place where my trump card against Iris Schnifelt, Tisie Verdad, awaited.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.