6 – Contract with Saito
I found Saito lying down in a bed in a patient room in the infirmary. After inquiring about his condition, I found that he'd already been healed and was merely sleeping. The school had covered his medical expenses
Nobody seemed to watch or care what I was doing here with him, so I shut the door and moved beside Saito.
The next moment, he was jolted awake when I switched my laser gun to taser mode and shocked him.
"Ah!" He cried out and twitched, eyes searching frantically while I put my gun away.
"Calm down. I just needed to wake you up," I said.
"What—what the hell! You didn't have to do that! What even was that? A taser gun?" He said in outrage, sitting up.
"Oh, you're pretty quick on the uptake. Yes it was."
He frowned as he looked around the room. "So what happened after that bitch hit me?"
"Nothing. Colbert took you away and the school's mages healed you. You've been in the infirmary ever since. How's your head feeling?"
He glared at me. "I feel fine…no thanks to you!"
"Don't act so fragile. A little shock won't hurt you. More importantly, you're mistaken. You wouldn't have been treated so well if I wasn't here. You think that girl's attitude is anything strange in this world? They see you as a commoner, and in this society magic-less commoners are treated like dirt. If they weren't trying to look respectable in front of polite company like me, you might not have been treated at all. They certainly wouldn't have stopped the ritual earlier without my interference, or were you hit so hard you don't remember that?"
He looked taken aback, then his frown deepened. "Damn, you're right. I guess I owe you my thanks for earlier. But aren't you a mage like them too?"
"I'm not from this world either, just like you. Even if I have magic, I don't share their customs and views on people without magic. Even if magicless people are generally inferior, it doesn't mean that there aren't exceptional individuals who are better in areas other than magic. Maybe you're smarter, physically stronger, more charismatic or disciplined…I judge people based on their individual merits, not simplistic generalizations based one trait they were born with. In the end, what you can achieve matters more than how you do it. Where I come from, magic is pretty rare. Science and technology has achieved a great deal that magic couldn't. This world is quite backwards in comparison."
"That's good. At least we have that in common. My world was full of technology and science too," he said with a breath of relief. "I still can't believe magic is even real."
"Did your world have no magic?"
"Not at all. Magic was just fantasy and superstition."
"Well, it's real here. You were healed with magic. And that magic gives the system of nobility here far more power than the masses. They have something to prove that they are different from the rest…and a way to enforce that superior social position."
"Yeah…but that's not a problem for you, is it?" He said glumly.
"On the contrary. These people are quite religious about their magic. My magic, being different from theirs, is at best a curiosity, and at worst, a subject of unwanted interest from dangerous parties. But I will admit, your own situation is much worse than mine."
He swore and clenched the fabric of the hospital blanket. "This is insane. They're saying we can't ever go home. Aren't you angry about it?"
"I'm not particularly pleased about being summoned, but there's no point in getting angry. The reality is what it is. They obviously didn't intend for this result either, and they can't fix it. Blaming them won't achieve anything. You'd be better off thinking about how to survive here."
"But what the hell am I supposed to do? I don't have any magic or money. Where would I go after escaping, even if I could somehow make it out of here?"
"Is that what you're planning to do? Escape?"
The boy threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know! These people freak me out and I don't like the sound of what they want to do to me. I just want to go home, but I can't."
"I wouldn't advise trying to escape. Like you said, you have no magic or money. Life is tough for commoners here, and even more so for someone foreign who isn't used to living in this kind of society."
Saito stayed quiet for a moment as if thinking, then closely scrutinized me.
"So why did you come and wake me up?"
"I came here because I thought you might be hungry soon. You're a commoner so these people haven't made any arrangements for you. That's why I got some food for you myself. Now it would look strange if I, a noble, brought you food, so you need to follow me to the guest room I'm staying at. But nobody would be suspicious if a commoner was following a noble around like a servant, and that way they will think you're working for me, and therefore under my protection."
"Oh…thanks! I do pretty feel pretty hungry."
"Now let's go. We can talk more there. Try not to draw any attention to yourself by looking too fiercely at anyone. Act like a normal commoner the best you can."
"Seriously? Damn, I don't know if I can act like that. I just have to look down, right?"
On the way back, there were many whispers and people pointing at us when they thought we weren't looking. But they all kept their distance.
O O O
While Saito ate, we continued to chat.
"So, what are you planning to do here? I assume you're not going to try and escape, not that you need to, with how they treat you here," he said enviously, looking at room full of what appeared to be antique furniture, and the luxuriously grand meal he was consuming. There was roast duck breast, mussels, veal ragout, onion soup, salad, soufflé, wine. It looked more like a feast for two or three people than one, even though this was apparently the standard dinner portions for a single noble.
"And I'm grateful, but why exactly are you helping me?"
"I'm interested in studying the magic of this world, and exploring it. As for why I'm helping you, well, I think we can help each other. We're both outsiders here…it makes sense to try to work together, right?"
"Help each other? But how?"
"In the short-term, you need food and shelter to survive and a way to protect yourself from the nobles. I can help you with that. In the long-term, you need to find a way back home. I happen to know how you might be able to do that."
"Wait, seriously?! You know how we can go home?" He nearly choked on his food and swallowed hard, rubbing his throat.
"Yes, but like I said, it's a long-term goal. It won't be easy. I know of a spell that can open a portal that goes in the opposite direction as the summoning, but I don't know how to cast it myself. It might take a lot of research, but it's definitely possible."
"Are, are you sure?" A glimmer of cautious hope flashed in his eyes.
"I am 100% sure. I already have a plan. You see, the girl who summoned us has a special magic that I recognize. That's why she summoned humans instead of animals like everyone else, as you've heard us talk about earlier today. If she learns the right spell, she can create the return portal. The problem though, is that the magic required is considered both lost and of religious significance similar to the so-called sacred rite of the familiar summoning that Osmond said would be heretical to mess around with. The church has a lot of power here, so nobody else will help us. Fortunately for us, that girl can only do magic that would be considered heretical, and nobody else can or will help her, which is why people think she's a failure around here. So if we play our cards right, we can get her on our side and have her learn the spell eventually."
"Oh man, that's the best news I've heard all day. At least there's hope," he said, having forgotten all about his food.
"Don't get too excited yet. This is going to be a long and difficult undertaking. I hope you realize that everyone else might become an enemy at any time. If anyone finds out what we're doing, and the church decrees that we need to be burned at the stake…"
"I got it. We just gotta keep it a secret, right? I can do that. So what's the plan?"
If I really cared that much about 'the plan' and keeping it a secret, I'd be more cautious about dealing with an overly excited kid who didn't seem to be taking this very seriously, but his enthusiasm merely worked to my favour.
"First, you need to let the girl finish the familiar ritual on you. Despite what it sounds like, you actually benefit much more from it than her."
"Wait what? I don't want to be her familiar. Isn't it just being a servant?"
"Look, how else are you going to survive? If you're her familiar, she'll have to keep you alive, at least. And if she treats you badly, I can help smooth things over. Right now, she desperately needs my help to learn how to use her special magic, and she knows it. She'll listen to me if I tell her to be nice to you."
He still looked hesitant. "So basically, you're saying I have no choice."
He should have been grateful that I even talked to him about it first. I could have simply told Louise to finish the ritual while he was unconscious. But I didn't say that out loud, as I wanted him to think I was on his side.
Still, he needed to understand his position. People naturally start taking things for granted if you help without a price, and many people often even get the idea that you somehow owe them even more after a while. Like dear Amelia in Worm, the moment she stopped healing people for free, there was quite a controversy over why she wasn't serving the public anymore, and a vocal minority that even blamed her for failing to save their loved ones, at least until her accomplishments as part our hero team outshone her prior reputation as the miracle healer. It was an unfortunately irrational aspect of human nature.
"Do you think you can survive on your own? Becoming her familiar, she'll be more obliged to help you. I also need to observe and research the magic involved with the familiar bond and summoning. And to be frank, I'm much more interested in the dimensional magic itself than using it to go anywhere. From my perspective, there's an adventure to be had out there exploring this new world. So if you aren't going to contribute anything, understand that I'm not going to keep helping a freeloader, nor am I going to be in any rush to discover that particular spell."
"Damn," he said and swore again. "I get it…I'll contribute. But becoming someone's servant, especially somebody like her…ugh…this sucks."
"It's not that bad. Like I said, I'll smooth things over if she treats you badly. Just think of it like a job. You're still young so maybe you won't understand, but if your world is anything like mine, I doubt it'll that much worse than the backbreaking corporate grind of most average workers."
"Yeah but I was just a second year high school student. I had years of messing around before working."
Time to switch my angle. The carrot after the stick.
"Then, at least you get to work for a cute girl your own age, right?"
"She's not…okay maybe she is. Her face is so hot. If only she had bigger boobs, she would be a perfect ten," he said, eyes glazing over as he stared into an image only he could see in his head. That was an abrupt change.
"And as her familiar, you'd be just almost like a lover. You'd be with her all the time, protecting her. Wouldn't it be easy for feelings to develop? She'll probably have you stay in the same room as her at night too."
"Oh, yeah…like a lover…" he said as drool collected on his lips.
"Also, I believe you will receive a special power once you become her familiar. It's the best and easiest way to gain the strength to protect yourself, and you'll look cool while protecting her."
That caught his attention again as he blinked. "A special power?" He asked curiously.
"Most familiars, which are animals, like the ones the other mages have, gain sentience and become stronger once they become familiars. But when a mage with the special magic that the girl has forms a bond with a human familiar, the familiar gets one of several great powers instead. I believe that her familiar would gain mastery of all weapons and a tremendous boost to physical strength and speed. In other words, you would become a superhuman warrior."
"Ooohhh…" His eyes lit up. "That actually sounds pretty cool."
"That's why I said you actually benefit more than her. You get a nice power, and she pays the magical cost, but she can't really force you to do anything."
"She can't? But how do mages keep their familiars loyal?"
"Normally, with an animal, they just naturally become loyal. With a human, I'm not sure. I suppose there might be a mental compulsion of sorts."
"Wait hold on, you mean like mind control?" He asked with shock.
"If you're worried about it, I have a way to deal with it. In fact, I was going to suggest this anyways, to make sure we can trust each other not to betray our secret to the church. We can form a magically binding contract for our little conspiracy, the terms of which would be as follows. Both of us will not deliberately betray any secrets about our true goals and activities to others without mutual agreement, and neither will try to deliberately harm the other directly or indirectly. Our goals are to research the lost magic known as the Void, and to have the girl named Louise Vallière learn and cast the Void spell to bring you back to your world. As part of the process, I will help you survive and mediate between you and the girl, while you need to help me with the magic research. I can further include a clause which says that if I suspect you are under the influence of the girl's mind control, you will obey my commands instead until I can break you free of her influence. It's not perfect, but it should act as a counterbalancing influence."
"A magical contract, huh? Is that really going to work?"
"It's not perfect, but it can definitely impose a penalty if you fail to comply. So if her spell is too strong and you cannot obey my commands because you're under her control, you could be paralyzed as a penalty and she won't be able to control you either. Then I can negotiate for your release."
"But what if it does work, and you abuse your control over me?"
"The contract also says that we can't harm each other, remember? So I won't be able to do that."
Of course, harm was up to interpretation.
"Un, alright. I guess I can accept that."
"I'm going to need some of your blood to cast the spell," I said, taking out a knife. My armour at my hand retracted and I made a small cut on myself first.
He followed my instructions, then I fully recited the terms of the contract again, and cast a Geas curse, which I had carefully refined after experimenting on numerous human subjects back on Worm. In the source material that inspired this spell, the caster had been able to do it with a quick incantation and not even formally reciting the exact terms of the contract. After independently re-inventing a similar spell, I discovered with Agate was that the spell required not only the true consent of the of target, but also that it was more powerful if I got the target to participate in ritual actions that strengthened the conceptual weight of their commitment, and even stronger when they gave me a piece of their body to use as the curse anchor, such as blood, or performed a sacrifice for the ritual.
Agate materialized in my hand and captured the blood from both of us—my own blood was superfluous. It was just there to make him think it was a mutual contract.
There was a lot I wasn't telling him, like the fact that my Geas curse only affected the target of the curse, not myself, even if it was worded to have mutual obligations. The only mutual part of it was that if the target believed that I failed to hold up my end of the bargain, the target's obligations would be cancelled. In other words, the only person that could enforce the contract was me, and I could go against the contract with no consequences simply by making sure the target never realized I was breaking it.
It also wasn't true that it couldn't force people to do things. It was entirely possible to force very limited actions under certain circumstances with the powered up blood ritual version I just used, but it couldn't be used to control people like a puppet for extended periods or complex tasks.
Finally, there was the fact that I was quite certain the familiar bond did have a mind control component, and that it wasn't something Louise had active control over. In other words, I would always be suspecting Saito of being under the influence, therefore I could command him to obey me at any time.
"Argh!" He clutched at his chest painfully. "Could've warned me…"
"Sorry, too late for that. But I can warn you that the ritual for the girl's familiar bond is much more painful."
"Ugh…shit!"
O O O
The two of us went to Louise shortly after and informed her that Saito had agreed to the familiar bonding.
She quickly got over her shock and performed the ritual.
I observed as much of it as I could with Agate, and in the end, Gandálfr was spelled out in old Norse runes on the back of Saito's left hand. I wondered if Brimir actually came from an ancient Norse civilization from another Earth.
I left them on their own to do some master-familiar bonding, and told them that we would meet after Louise's classes the next day to begin training and testing their abilities.
Neither of them could hide their excitement. I doubted their good moods would last much longer after they spent some time together. I could do something about Louise's attitude towards Saito upfront, but it would be better to let him experience it first. If he didn't complain about it, I wouldn't mind if he got used to being a servant. Who knows, he might even enjoy some parts of it.
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