“I plan to visit Vanda this evening,” Illyan said as he took the small kettle and poured the tea into two cups that were already prepared beforehand.

  Aurelia didn’t play coy as she took one of the cups and drank it elegantly.

  “Are you afraid that they will try something?” she asked, but it was obvious she already knew the answer.

  Illyan sighed as he thought about it.

  “My guess is that this time they will use blood contracts to do a more constricting pact,” Illyan revealed his thoughts as he gazed out of the windows, watching the dark clouds drift across the skies.

  Aurelia nodded thoughtfully.

  “You are right. A few days ago, Vanda visited my father and asked for our family contract scroll. It is much more secure. At least if you know what you are signing for,” she smirked as she tapped the wooden table with her finger.

  Both of them knew that, this time, he showed his worth and would not be just some pawn in their eyes. The strange obsession that Vanda had with him was also a kind of shield that was protecting him from others’ eyes.

  But Illyan would be a fool to think that made them equals.

  Taking advantage of ignorance was a human instinct.

  Illyan was sure that he would need to be careful if he truly wanted to accept their deal.

  “But would refusing be even an option?” he muttered to himself as he finished the tea in one big gulp. The still-hot tea would definitely scald a normal human’s throat, but Illyan’s body could withstand it.

  Instead, he felt the instant gratification as the warmth overwhelmed his body.

  “How coarse,” Aurelia flicked her hair with a mocking tone, but it was just her playing around as she immediately added, “Refusing is not an option if you don’t want things to escalate this soon. Moreover, from what you said, it could be an opportunity to dig up some resources. But of course, it is your decision in the end.”

  She said that, but only a fool would not take the deal.

  In the end, Illyan just let off a small laugh as he asked about things of importance.

  “Do you have a way to counter the contract?”

  “I thought you wouldn’t ask,” she said lightly with a smile as she took something out of her pocket.

  It was a very small metallic container.

  She threw it at him and he caught it in his palm, looking at it.

  He held it between his thumb and index finger as he observed it.

  It was shaped like a cylinder. Slender and clean. With a little shake, Illyan felt a liquid content swirling inside.

  ‘What is this?’ he wondered.

  “It is something that Grandfather created back in the day when he lost all of his expectations for Father. It is kind of a saving grace for him if Father tried to push him into some bad pact.”

  As she explained, Illyan realized that there was an uneven wall on one side and pushed it with his finger. With a click, the side of the cylinder revealed a small but sharp needle.

  “As I already said, we have family contracts that are used for all kinds of stuff. There were, of course, many who tried to avoid bearing the consequences of the contract by using loopholes. However, not many loopholes existed. The contract works only if you use your own blood that is fresh.”

  Illyan frowned. If that was the case, then there was no way he would allow the contract to be finished.

  However, he was silent as he knew that Aurelia had just begun her explanation.

  “My grandfather was one of these people. And obviously, he was also the one who found the way to avoid the contract’s binding while still activating the pact. There was a great and loyal blacksmith who made this possible for him.”

  Aurelia laughed gently. “You still need to use your own blood that is a minute old at most. But what you do with the blood from then on is what matters.”

  Illyan narrowed his eyes when she said this.

  “Blood Ignition?”

  “Very similar but not quite.”

  With a nod, she pointed at the small container.

  “You will cut out your index finger’s distal phalanx and change it for this. With the hidden mechanism, it will release the needle and draw your blood inside of the empty compartment. Then, the second mechanism will open the wall between the first and second compartments. In the first one, there is a small amount of colorless and scentless herbal mix.”

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  Once mixed with your blood, it would cause rapid corrosion similar to that of Blood Ignition. Grandfather reverse-engineered the spell through experimentation with the depleted blood of Blood Ignition.

  Illyan’s eyes lit up at that.

  If that was the case, then it would be basically him neutralizing the blood pact.

  “But would it be noticed?” he asked carefully, still hesitant. Illyan didn’t want to reveal himself by using something faulty.

  “No, it definitely works. It was tested. The blood looks normal and is still in good shape, but it would have no connection to you anymore. That will allow the contract to be concluded, but when it comes to enforcing the binding, it will not be able to find a connection with you. That means the contract works with a ghost contractor and can never be enforced.”

  Just as she said that, thunder resounded in the skies as the sound of water falling and splattering on the ground could be heard from outside.

  Illyan looked out once again, and the dark clouds he had noticed before were now just above the town as they reflected the somber atmosphere of its inhabitants.

  The place seemed to be more and more dangerous with new players entering the game.

  However, Illyan didn’t mind overthrowing the entire board. He would gladly do so.

  “Considering your regeneration, you won’t have to give up on the bone if we do the surgery smoothl—”

  Squelch. Crack.

  Before Aurelia could finish her words, Illyan didn’t hesitate to bite off the tip of his index finger.

  Aurelia was shocked for a split second before rolling her eyes.

  “Disgusting and vulgar.” With a snort, she took out a pure white handkerchief and handed it over to Illyan.

  “Take it. Seeing you leave the spit on your finger is distasteful.”

  Illyan gulped down the finger fragment and took her handkerchief without much consideration.

  As she said, most of the liquid he wiped off the wound was actually just his saliva. Only a small dot of blood adorned the red handkerchief even after fully cleaning it.

  It was because Illyan had already learned how to stop his bleeding to some extent.

  Illyan just smirked at Aurelia’s expression as he pushed the cylinder onto his wounded finger and waited as the nerves spurted out of his flesh and slowly weaved around the new object.

  “Hmm… That’s actually interesting.”

  Aurelia ignored his smug smirk as she watched with interest as the flesh started to grow and accommodate the metallic object as part of his body.

  “Is that normal? Because that could be a hazard if some unknown object becomes stuck inside your body,” Aurelia added as she watched Illyan’s finger becoming like a new one.

  “I don’t really know how it works, but when I had arrowheads stuck inside my body, they automatically fell off if I waited for some time. So maybe it depends on the situation.”

  He shrugged as he clenched his fist. It felt a little weird, but nothing serious. He could make up for it.

  “I see…” Aurelia observed the finger for a moment before nodding with satisfaction.

  It didn’t need to be perfect. If it completed its mission, then it was totally successful.

  “Now you know what to do, so you can be said to be prepared, but…” Her face became somber.

  Illyan, who noticed her shift of mood, could guess what was on her mind.

  “How difficult it became for us to get that inheritance?”

  He was obviously talking about the arrival of two new possible contenders that could shake the entire game.

  Aurelia sighed with a bit of helplessness as she tapped the table with her finger. This time, however, it was mostly because of the turmoil in her heart.

  “Headmaster Alfred is an upright man. Even if he wanted the inheritance, he would not be on the same stage as those snakes. He isn’t the cunning one. It is a common misconception that he should be quite wise since he is headmaster of an academic institute, but he likes knowledge, not schemes.”

  As she said that, Illyan immediately felt a sense of familiarity and camaraderie. He was the same after all. He didn’t consider himself smart or extremely cunning. He was just trying to find his own path…

  “Do you know him? He was staring at you at one point,” Illyan pointed out.

  He heard Alfred mentioning a woman named Vianna who seemed to be a sensitive matter to Brynjar. And considering that he mentioned Aurelia just moments before…

  “Mr. Alfred was my mother's mentor,” Aurelia said curtly.

  “Oh?” Illyan opened his eyes wide. This could implicate quite a few things.

  “Do you think there is a chance that he would become our… ally? Or at least not become our enemy?” Illyan asked, as Alfred would be very formidable as both enemy and ally.

  Taking him on their side could be the variable that could decide whether they succeed or would have to give up.

  “I honestly don't know. I saw him just a few times when he visited grandfather when I was younger. There is a certain friendliness between him and grandfather, but they are not exactly friends either. On the other hand, I didn’t talk to him more than a few sentences back in those days…”

  Aurelia shook her head. She knew about him from hearsay and from grandfather telling her stories. Personally? Not so much.

  The man was very fickle and was traveling around most of the time, so there were not many opportunities to meet him or even get to know him. Most stories were at least a little bit modified.

  “Hmm, I see. Let’s stop thinking about that for now then. Tell me about the royalty. There is not much about them in the library.”

  There was only superficial knowledge that probably any townsfolk here knew about. Maybe a lot of the serfs in isolated villages would not know, but these people probably didn’t even know that they were inhabitants of Vanaras Kingdom.

  “The Royal Family Line of Vanaras reigned this kingdom since its dawn. However, only the king is important. The rest are just replacements if something happens to the king. This prince built his prestige on his own. The reason for that is that the family of Vanaras isn’t actually from Vanaras but were servants of some Arkravav Empire’s family.”

  What Aurelia revealed made Illyan open his eyes wide.

  ‘Damn, that empire really has fingers in everything,’ he thought demurely as he wondered what kind of place it was.

  ‘I really want to visit it soon.’ As his mind wandered for a bit, Aurelia continued explaining.

  “They are basically puppets that are herding the local people. Of course, over time they became less prominent as this place sapped away at their power and inherent talent. But still, they managed to keep the throne with the help of the family above them.”

  Aurelia concluded the talk of the royal family while Illyan shifted his attention to the prince they met today.

  “If that is the case, then the prince must have come of his own accord.”

  “That is right. With his help, they probably want to isolate this place for as long as possible to hide the truth of what happened so that they can get the inheritance without anyone knowing. He would, of course, get part of the pie. Or at least he believes it. Or not, and he plans to betray them. Which they probably do too,” Aurelia smirked.

  There would be some leaks about Aziro's death sooner or later. They wanted to hide it, but it would be impossible to do so forever. The best possible course was to change the truth itself by manipulating the information.

  That was the second reason they threw the blame at the Academic Institute. Alfred was a perfect victim who was known to clash with some acolytes in the past.

  ‘And in the same way, they are trying to push me into their unfair contract. Unfortunately for them, I am the one who holds the information now.’

  Illyan thought with amusement as he caressed his now fully healed finger…