NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19
“W-what are you talking about…?”
Dinothael asked with fear in his eyes. Well, anyone would be scared when they realized they were powerless. But this guy, he has done plenty of mischief, and he gave me a hard time in the game, so I don’t feel a bit of remorse.
“Of course, it’s about the earlier magic power measurement. I have two demands. First, claim that the magic power measuring device was malfunctioning and let me retake the test. And… don’t talk about my power at all. To anyone. If you do, I’ll expose your monster research and summoning circles to the school.”
“What!? W-why would you…?”
Oh, he’s surprised, alright. Well, he’s realizing that I’ve been secretly working on this for over a decade and that it’s now exposed, and by someone he considered a failure at that.
“S-so, what will you do? If you accept my demands, I’ll let you win this mock battle. How about it? This way, your reputation will remain intact.”
“But if I don’t accept these demands, won’t you be the one at a disadvantage…?”
At that, I momentarily became serious. Dinothael wasn’t foolish enough to miss that.
“W-well, I see…! In that case, even if I reject these demands, it won’t be a problem—ugh…!?”
I interrupted him with an increase in the binding force of [Water Chains]. The chains wound around him so tightly that he couldn’t breathe properly. But I knew he wasn’t the kind of person who would die from something like this, so I didn’t loosen them.
I grinned again.
“Are you… trying to negotiate with me? While your life is in my hands? But that’s meaningless. In the worst-case scenario, I can erase everyone’s memories of this incident, and it won’t be a problem.”
In reality, I couldn’t erase everyone’s memories, but I could probably get rid of most of them. I wasn’t necessarily lying. With my current abilities, I believed I could even win against the military woman if she showed up, so there was no need to worry about interference.
“Impossible… it’s certain…! Trying to alter the memories of everyone in this venue with your meagre 7000 mana capacity…”
“Who told you I have 7000 mana capacity?”
“Huh?”
Dinothael looked puzzled and let out a silly voice, unable to understand what was happening. I grabbed his head and brought it closer.
“Hey… do you really think my mana capacity is around 7000? Take a good look around.”
“What do you mean…? Why hasn’t the steam around us cleared yet? You don’t mean…”
“That’s exactly what I mean. I’m using magic to freeze everything. It consumes a fair bit of mana, but it’s perfect for concealing us.”
After the steam explosion, I used my mana to stabilize the steam. Originally, it was a non-attribute magic called “Magical Restraint,” but with some modifications, I managed to pseudo-halt the movement of objects by restraining natural mana. While it did consume a fair amount of mana, it was still less than 10% of my total mana, so it wasn’t a problem.
“Now, do you really think my mana is only around 7000 when I’m maintaining such a magic that voraciously consumes mana and casually talking to you using an advanced magic like ‘Water Chains’?”
“Th-this can’t be true…”
I trembled as I spoke, and Dinothael, who seemed to want to avoid hearing this, had an expression of disbelief.
“And I’ve been holding back.”
My words seemed to deliver the final blow as Dinothael’s spirit seemed to break. He drooped down completely and muttered in a defeated tone.
“…Alright, I understand. I’ll agree to your demands.”
“Good, that’s settled. Now, let’s use [Contract Magic].”
“What!? That magic should have been lost a long time ago! How can you… How can you use it!?”
“Any unnecessary probing might cost you your life. Just stay quiet and make the contract.”
As I said that, his expression changed as if he’d just tasted something bitter. He probably intended to break our agreement at some point. But I knew well enough from the game just how much of a scoundrel he could be. I wasn’t going to take that kind of risk. If we were going to do this, we needed to eliminate any possibility of getting caught.
“…Tch. Fine, let’s get this over with.”
“Talking back to me? Do you even understand your position?”
“…Please make a contract with me…”
Defeated by the force of my eyes, Dinothael began speaking in a more respectful tone.
Good, good. It was essential to establish a clear hierarchy here.
“Alright, let’s wrap this up quickly. I, Jin, and the fool, Dinothael, hereby form an unbreakable contract – [Oath of Life.]”
As I said these words, a chain wrapped around our souls simultaneously. With this, the contract was complete. If it were ever broken, our souls would vanish, and no matter how much resurrection magic one used, there would be no coming back.
“That’s it. Well then… I’m counting on you, Mr. Examiner,” I said with a smile, as Dinothael’s body trembled in fear.