Chapter 43: Baptism Day, I Refuse to Contract with You!

I lay in bed, shaking a token I’d swindled from the princess. Cindira, sleeping beside me, was unusually quiet today. Had my joke before dinner gone too far?

“Cindira? What’s wrong? Feeling down?”

“No… I just miss home…” Cindira turned over, looking at me with tear-filled eyes.

“Why suddenly miss home?” I stroked her purple hair gently.

“It’s your fault! That joke this afternoon…” Her eyes widened. “What’s that in your hand?!”

“Oh, this? Swindled it from the princess. I said I’d swap Monaluna’s dinner for her most precious possession. She blushed and called me a pervert. So I asked for her second most precious thing—and she gave me this. You recognize it?”

“This is the King’s token of the Saint Karmes Empire! Holding it is like having the King himself present.”

“Tch. So it’s like an imperial decree, huh? ‘As if I stand here’? Didn’t expect this world to have something like that.” I muttered to myself.

“What are you saying?” Cindira looked puzzled.

“Why would Komor have this?” I still didn’t get it.

“I don’t know. I heard the King of Saint Karmes Empire favors his second daughter. Rumor says he once considered passing the throne to her.”

“I see…” I stared at the token. It probably carried three parts protection, five parts hope, and two parts guilt.

“Her father… really loves her…”

“Actually… your father loves you too. You have to believe him.”

“I don’t trust him. But I trust you.”

“Haha, that’s quite an honor!”

“Daddy, it’s time to pay your marital dues today~”

“…Guess you’re feeling better.” I ignored Cindira’s sudden weirdness and turned away to sleep.

“Hmph! I’m keeping a ledger of this!”

Not hearing it, not hearing it, not hearing it!

****************************************************************************

Days turned peaceful afterward. The recovered princess took the girls from the manor on shopping trips and outings. I gave Kasa a batch of rune communicators—modified tracking magic devices for instant calls. Now, whenever the princess wanted to go out, Kasa and the Silver Scale Guard could prepare immediately.

With high-ranking knights and well-trained guards protecting them, the girls were safe. Plus, after I crippled Stanis and Cui a few days ago, unstable elements dropped sharply.

By day, the princess had Kasa and the guards; by night, she rested at the Old Mage’s manor. Any assassin targeting her would find it extremely difficult.

But little Bobo kept sulking because she couldn’t join the outings. During breaks from researching Raven’s Lament, I told her edited fables.

The Old Mage seemed obsessed with the Inferno Cerberus I’d returned. He practiced swinging a staff in the backyard daily—and threw out his back. With Helle away, caring for him fell to me.

Me, a fine man, reduced to a stay-at-home husband. Just thinking about it made sadness well up in my heart, tears streaming down.

Happy times fly. In the blink of an eye, Baptism Day arrived. Fourteen-year-olds gathered at the town hall. Kasa, as the baptism guide, supported the ceremony there.

Meanwhile, I stood in the manor’s backyard for my own baptism ritual, led by the Old Mage.

“Master, are you sure I must sign a soul contract with this thing? I don’t even have a soul engraving.”

“Hey! Brat, don’t call me ‘this thing’! Call me Dragon Princess!”

“Tch! Ripple Overdrive!!!” I grabbed the Crystal Dragon Horn and shook it violently.

“Stop bullying her. Dragon Princess is a creator-level deity, beyond even the chief gods. Her soul engraving has fully transferred to her divine core. So what you hold isn’t just her divine core—it’s her complete soul engraving. Signing a soul contract grants you its benefits and access to her engraving.”

“Won’t that make me weaker?”

“It won’t affect you. The ritual only gives you permission to use her soul engraving. Your own soul remains unmarked.”

“Oh, like an external key! Does she agree?”

“I… I agree.”

“What? You’re spineless down to your soul!” I couldn’t help but scorn this so-called Dragon Princess. A creator accepting such a humiliating master-servant contract?

“You know nothing. I know what I’m doing. I may dislike Emilier, but I love this world. I won’t let it be destroyed. Since Emilier chose you as savior, I’ll help. After tens of thousands of years… I’m tired. I want rest.”

“What does that mean? Master, what happens to this dumb Dragon Princess after the contract?”

“Hey! Who you calling dumb?!”

“As you know, a soul engraving is a being’s proof of existence. Dragon Princess, whose consciousness resides solely in her divine core, will transfer her engraving to you upon signing. Without it, her divine core will scatter into the void… and her consciousness…”

“I’ve long prepared for this.”

“…Is there no other way?” I refused to gain power at the cost of erasing a stranger.

“There is one. Insert the divine core directly into your heart. Her consciousness could reside within you, letting you use her engraving. But it risks your life.”

“Damn, forget it. I’m not getting baptized.” I placed the horn back on the table.

“Don’t feel pressured! As savior, you must have power to protect the world! Dragon Princess agreed—why hesitate?”

“I’ve made mistakes. This is my redemption! Kid, protect this world for me!”

“Shut it! Stop deciding for me. If I’m savior, I’ll do it my way!” I pointed at the horn. “This Dragon Princess is dumb, but she loves this world. A true savior saves not just the world, but every being who cherishes it. I won’t abandon a single life. Even if she’s dumb!”

“Hey! How many times must you call me dumb?!”

“Idealist! Saving the world isn’t that simple. Sacrifice is inevitable!”

“Every life is precious—brief, humble, a speck of dust beside the world. But! To each life, itself is unique and irreplaceable. Erasing any life for the world isn’t sacrifice—it’s murder!”

The Old Mage and I glared, unyielding. Suddenly, a massive explosion echoed from town!

“What was that?!”

“Boom!” Another blast.

“Trouble!” We stopped arguing. I pocketed the Crystal Dragon Horn and followed the Old Mage into the sky, gazing toward Crescent Town.

“The town hall! And that high-end inn—the Silver Scale Guard’s base!”

“Grandpa, what’s happening?” Monaluna and the others ran out, shouting up at us.

“It’s fine, Nana. Take the princess and everyone inside. I’ll check the town!”

“No! Master, stay and protect them. This might be a ploy to draw you out! I’ll go. As long as the manor is safe, we hold the advantage!”

“Then be careful, Mashang!”

“Don’t worry! Elemental Armor!” I dropped the act. Enemies brazenly attacking civilians and ruining Baptism Day meant they had no intention of peace. Such madmen had to be eliminated fast—any delay could cause horrific losses.

Assault Zaku covered me instantly. With magic arrays and battle aura roaring, I shot toward the town hall. Upgraded Elemental Armor pushed speed to the limit. In moments, I reached the ruined hall.

“Kasa! Kasa!”

“That voice—President?!” A dozen teens emerged from the rubble—this year’s baptism candidates from Crescent Town.

“You’re safe! I was so worried!” I retracted my helmet, revealing my face.

“Wahh… President, right after baptism, a black-clad man attacked us. Kasa protected us and got hurt by him.”

“What?! He injured Kasa?” I realized the foe’s strength. Kasa, captain of the Silver Scale Guard, was at least mid-Golden Knight level. To wound him quickly meant the enemy was likely Saint-tier.

“Take me to him.”

“Yes! This way.” Guided by the teens, I found Kasa lying behind the rubble.

“Yo! Bro!” Kasa’s face was bloodied, but he saluted me. “That armor’s so cool!”

“You scheming jerk—joking at a time like this? How bad are you hurt?”

“Cough… No hope.”

“What? No fatal wounds!”

“That short guy… was a Dark Brotherhood believer. His combat skills carried dark-element attacks. I was weak after guiding the baptism… didn’t see it coming.”

“That bastard—I should’ve crippled him too!” I regretted holding back my Elemental Armor that day.

“Sigh… I’m done. He came to kill me. Scarface probably attacked my brothers at the inn. Humiliating defeat… You’ll have to protect the princess now.”

Only then did I realize my mistake! Their target wasn’t the princess—it was her loyal aides. A perfect move to cut off the root.

“How can I save you?”

“No way. Dark-element attacks erode the body. Only a Holy Light blessing from a divine caster can heal it. But this remote town has no church, let alone a caster.”

“Uh… like this Holy Light magic?” I raised my left hand, gathering light elements into the mid-tier divine spell, Holy Light’s Grace.

“Bro! I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth!”

“Get lost! I don’t want a junior twice my age!”