Recruiting me...Part 4: Chapter 28

"Will you now comply? This is your last chance Boy." said the old butler as his tone came with murderous intent and with his magic becoming even more tighter at each minimal movement I made.

'Damn it! A fucking slave contract!? Are you kidding me? That's the worst follow up to this event today. I didn't think he would go this far for a contract with me…damn it.' I thought as I was trapped by my own shadow. I was slightly panicked under his threat of being put on a Slave Contract.

Slave Contracts was a type of contract that involved the Dark arts of Alchemy. It was made for the intention to tame wild beast inside gates, as a form of constraining the beast and making it a companion to the journey's of a hunter. It's intention was never for the purpose of human slavery as it is a sin to do so and is against the Kastelyst Kingdom law. So as a precaution to not violate this law, every known slave contract was made to deny the use under a human life.

Yet everything was never as the perfect as it seemed, as people with certain power tend to need the powers of said certain contract. As such they made the Slave contract that violated the laws of human rights. And this was kept secret from the eyes of the king and righteous nobles in the public's eye.

To attain such contract was to go under the table, by which meant it was purchased in a secret market known as the "Black Ridge Market", a certain market located in the shadows of the Kastelyst Kingdom. Here everything was found and everything would be sold, even the most illegal items were present in certain shops. With such a market having access to such materials, it was only natural that it would be taken notice by the king and nobles.

As such, to avoid the involvement of a rather problematic politic into this suspicious market, the place was a given a certain command created by the founder of such market.

"Buy not Question"

It was a pretty vague rule but it only meant two things to the people who enter the Black Ridge Market.

~Buy what you need and don't cause trouble.~

~Reveal this place to the eyes of the ignorant and your life will be halted.~

It was a pretty strict rule that even the king follows because it stood under the blessing of one certain God. The God the certain owner followed under.

If said rule was broken by a person, then the next day he will not come…nor the next….nor the next…until he is founded in the deep abyss of the dark, lifeless and pleading for death. In short, the said person will be cursed of wanting death and sleep by the certain God.

A Dark rule set by a Dark God.

The Black Ridge Market was a risky business to work with but it's profits were golden and secure.

So buying a Slave contract that didn't restrict the laws of the human rights was an easy thing to acquire if you knew such a place that sold this in the Black Ridge Market.

".…" the butler stood in silence as he waited for my answer.

'Damn, this situation isn't really going right for me…Should I just kill this guy? I've never really fought a person before…So should I try killing this guy?…no, it won't help me if I did. One thing I know of is that his skills are no joke and I'm certain that he's an assassin no doubt. If he worked as an assassin then his physical traits aren't something I can just scoff at…' I began thinking deeply of what I should do to escape this situation. But it was probably unlikely.

If I could kill the Butler, it wouldn't help me in the situation because of his position as a butler in the Savez Family. Being how the family is highly recognized by the kingdom, killing the said butler will result in future issues on my part as it will create suspicion for his disappearance.

Talking my way out of this was a no go since he clearly has bloodlust from how he held me down with his skill. And the way he offered only two choices, Join or be forced to join. My chance of escaping was not appealing as of the moment.

And he also brought up the fact about the Slave Contract, which is plainly bad for me as it takes away my right as person in this world and I remain only to serve the master of the contract.

The only viable solution was the contract which was the safest bet I had…but choosing this route in my life will surely ruin my plans I had thought up of when I'll start attending the Royal academy. Which was to simply watch the story progress from afar and at the same time, stop the major catastrophes from happening without changing the plot of the story.

If I join Ranzy in her group then chances of me changing the plot was worrying since I clearly have no idea what will happen. She's a noble who will aim to be at the top, and so as every other noble in the Royal academy would. Trouble will only come my way if I decide to go this path. Trouble that may or may not change the plot of the story.

".…" I lay in silence with my thoughts in jumble… My plan was as simple as my thought process, because I was a simple man with a not so simple job. At the end of it all, I made my decision.

"Fine…you win. I'll comply." I surrendered to this bastard…the price of being a part of a group of a single noble was suicide but…being in a slave contract was way worse. Killing the butler was also an option but the fact that he was an old assassin meant that he was probably stronger than me. Old assassins in novel's tend to be very OP and since this world was based off a fantasy novel, then I had to be careful. So messing with this person might be the worst case scenario as it will probably lead to my death.

'If only I could see his Stats the same way I could with myself, a character profile he can show so that I can give myself a chance…'

This simple hope for a difference was just a passing thought in my head…it was probably never going to happen and it might never will because the trait of Character profiling was only accessible to me on my own body.

This wasn't a novel anymore…this world doesn't revolve around me, I wasn't the main character and something as convenient as my wish happening can never be...

"Hmm, do not blame me for being like this. I only wish for my lady to attain what she wants, and you are one of the steps she needs to attain a proper future." he said, acting as if this situation wasn't fully wrong and that what he did was justified by his standards…this was an irritating moment in my life.

".…"

"Now then, sign the contract." he said as he pulls the contract out of his suit.

He puts the contract down the floor and released one of my arms from his bind so that I sign it while constrained on the floor.

"...Sign."

"..."

"Sign!" he raised his tone at me as he pushed the pen to my finger, telling me to finally sign this contract and end this whole ordeal.

"..." yet I didn't made a move.

"Do you want me to make this harder for you Mr. Hamil?" he said with a tinge of annoyance in his tone.

"...I wont sign it today. Not until I meet the young lady in person." I said as I stared into a blank alleyway, completely avoiding his gaze from meeting mine.

"Why? Why do you want to meet the young miss?" said the butler who was filled with nothing but tension at that moment.

"A personal contract needs to be personally witnessed by the person I intend to work with…I need to meet the lady herself."

"..."

"..."

*Sigh….*"Do you intend to plea yourself with this? Reason yourself to her? Do you think you can run away from the wishes of my young lady?" said butler as he was uncertain of my reason.

I had to tell him a truth…

"...I have additional demands to the contract."

"Demands? What demands?"

"...Tomorrow, in the same family restaurant we ate at, bring Missis Ranzy there at 9:00 AM. We can discuss our contract there properly this time." I

"...And if you don't come?" he said with a threatening tone.

"Then kill me. Even if I hide, I think you're capable enough to find me at the ends of the world and end my life then. But I don't intend of running away this time."

".…Fine then." The butler stood in quick silence as he tried to think of my demand and if it had any credibility in it.

And sure enough he did agree to it.

Just from his confirmation, he knew he had the confidence of bringing me down as I am today. I may be strong regarding my strengths today as a starter in this new world but for him to be fully experienced in the battles here with an occupation that was literally meant for silent murder, then I doubt I had any chance with winning against him.

I'm not even sure of my full strength yet in this world since I didn't have a chance to do so, so I had to be careful. Sure enough I was strong but not enough to be reckless with it.

"We'll be arriving exactly at 9:00 AM in the morning tomorrow, be there." he said as he released his binding power from me.

I stood up from my place while still avoiding his gaze.

With my face facing the side wall, he could tell that I would likely meet with them.

"...Well then Mr. Hamil, Goodnight and I hope to see you tomorrow at the Denny's Filler." He said as he starts to walk away from me and my pitiful presence at that moment.

*Sigh…..*"Damn…I just hope this doesn't end badly for me."

***RANZY'S POV:

At 9:45 PM, a certain girl stayed sitting in her chair as she reads through a certain book. In front of her was a mirror that showed her very beautiful orange hair, slightly freckled face and blue round eyes that was under scope off round reading glasses.

"...I still don't get it." She complained as she clearly didn't understood what was written on that book of hers.

*knock* *knock* "It's me, Young miss."

As she tried focusing on her reading, a knock was heard from her door.

Its simple and ensuring knock, along with this familiar voice made the girl guess who this was.

"Henry, is that you?"

"Yes miss."

"Come in."

As the butler opened the door, he was met with the girl holding a book that was titled

[How to Hunt like a Prodigy: Beginner's Edition]

"It seems that you still haven't finished reading that book young miss."

"Eh, it is quite a thick book." she said

"Its about 250 pages long and you're clearly halfway through." said the butler as he saw the bookmark placed in the center of the small sized book.

"...It's already been a week since I started, yet half of it doesn't make sense to me at all. I'll never meet my parent's expectations at this rate…"

"I'm sure you'll get to finish it before the start of the school year." he said as he tries to encourage his young master.

"You know that's not what I meant Henry. My grandfather, Robert Demero Savez was a man with a hunger for adventure…a man that lead the innovation of today's other-wordly discoveries in his books…The Savez Series. A publication of books that told the stories of the adventures of my Grandfather inside the unknown worlds beyond the Gates. With 25 worlds that took 78 books all together just to fit each content from each world to each book…"

"..."The butler stayed silent as he listened on to the stories of the young miss.

"All my life as a noble, I've buried myself in the books my grandfather left us with…his legacy. His attitude towards the many wonders beyond the gate was his inspiration…his stories beyond some of them were very surreal to a point that it gave me my inspiration to become just like him…An Adventurer."

"His books that were filled with discoveries were the books that I've read since I was little…this book that I am now studying stands to no comparison to what he wrote…my parents told me that someday I'll be just like him but for now they said that I should focus on being a top student at the Royal academy. Only when I do become a top student of the academy, will they let me become an Adventurer just like my grandfather.

"Although the book may not stand in comparison to what your grandfather wrote, this book still has its merits…read it and achieve your goal, young miss." said the butler as he approaches the book and passes it on to the young miss who was staring at the moon.

"You're right, each item has it's purpose even if it's not the book I tend to enjoy." she smiled as she reaches for the book brought upon by the butler.

"...I forgot to ask young miss. How was your progress with training inside the Gate?"

"...I was weak."

"..."

"It didn't take long before those monster cornered me that day, luckily that boy was there to save me."

"I see…"

"Speaking of that boy, how was my request? Did he accept it?" She said, expecting a bright response from her butler.

"The boy….wants to meet in person."

"He did?"

"Yes, He wanted to have a proper conversation with you young miss."

"Well…I did kind of expect this to happen. So? Where will me meet?"

"A Family restaurant near the Hunter's Association."

"Hmm, I wonder if he'll actually help me with my goal…I'm being a selfish person right now, so its only natural that he'll have doubts with the contracts."

"About that…one of the reasons he wanted to meet was because of you're situation towards the social groupings."

"What!? I told you not to mention it!"

"Well, he became suspicious because of how high your offer was."

"*Sigh….I can't blame him though, for being suspicious of a noble you just meet the other day, its only natural. Its also my fault why he's the only member too…I became to coped up in my room reading books that I forgot to make connections with people going to the Royal academy."

".…"

"Well as long as we meet tomorrow, we can talk out our difference and he can finally join my group." said Ranzy as she was confident that their talk was going to be smooth flowing and he will join the group without any conflicts. After all, their interaction with one another was a first great impression

".…" but for Henry, he had some doubts. It was because their first interaction with one another was somewhat…violent.

The Next Day…..

As a black car came closing in the Denny's Filler Restaurant, a person came out of the restaurant with a rather indifferent expression.

"That should be it." thought the boy as he carried with him a bag filled the same hunting supplies as last time.

He only had one thought going through this progress...

Since the contract was Inevitable at that moment, he just wanted to add a few alterations to the contract and continue on his days hunting inside the gate.