Curselock

Chapter 229: Contract

“So the gist of the contract is that I have to contact three other Lords and ask them to stop interfering with the Lord of Magic’s Legacies’ work. In exchange, I will get two brains.”

“Any three Lords?” Jude asked.

Leland blinked in surprise. That was actually a good question. He wanted to say “no,” as he and the Lord of Magic did discuss which three… but did the contract actually state which three? Not that Leland would actively work against the spirit of the contract or anything…

He opened his grimoire.

Cursed contract of the Lord of Magic (Renewed):

Use: Gain access to the spell Dual Mind Resonance.

Dual Mind Resonance: While active, your brain splits in two, offering dual thought processes.

Spell’s duration is limited by proficiency and base contract duration.

Return: Contact the Lord of Prismatic Evolution, the Lord of the First Druid, and the Lord of the Zephyr. Speak with them and attempt to end all of their Legacies’ inquiry into the mana being released by the worldly Tear. Specifically, attempt to put a stop to the raids on the Lord of Magic’s Legacies.

This renewed contract goes into effect after the previous contract expires (23 days)

This contract is renewable after one year.

Leland didn’t so much as make a face at the note. Since when did contracts even have “notes” anyway?

To be honest, he was surprised this contract was even made. Negotiations had lasted hours, mainly because he didn’t hear anything he wanted in return.

As it turned out, other than simply giving Leland another random attack spell, there weren’t many things the Lord of Magic could offer. Of course there were boring options like a magical-proficiency percentage increase or mana regeneration increases. But most of all of the Lord of Magic’s boons had less than stellar effects specifically for Leland.

Curses weren’t spells, after all. Any boon directly affecting spells just wasn’t worth it in the end. Not when dealing with other, unknown Lords.

Still, the contract was open ended. Technically he didn’t have to succeed in talking down the other Lords. And in the end, the contract was renewable in a year. Which… Leland checked all of his other contracts, was something no other Lord had opted for.

He sighed. For the future, he was going to push to add a renew and/or renegotiation clause for any new contract.

“The Lord of Prismatic Evolution, the Lord of the First Druid, and the Lord of the Zephyr,” Leland finally said. “The last two I’ve heard of, but not the first.”

It was Glenny who spoke up, “I have. I think it's an octopus Guardian Spirit Beast, or was. Now it’s a Lord, obviously. I have no idea what it’s power theme is.”

“Prismatic means color, right? Maybe it's an octopus that changes color. Color magic?” Jude asked.

“Not a thing, as far as I know,” Leland replied with a sigh. “But none of that matters for right now. The reason the Lord of Magic wants me to contact these Lords is because of Tears.”

Sybil’s eyebrows clinched in. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, apparently one of the connected worlds is leaking mana into ours and is essentially creating a gold rush. The Lord of Magic wants a monopoly.”

“Are you sure you should be taking this quest, then Leland?” Glenny asked. “Do you want to get in between Lords?”

“I don’t,” he answered honestly. “But originally the Lord of Magic wanted to task me with talking to dozens of Lords. But I talked him down to just three of his strongest competition. Oh, and none of them are Vile. So that’s a plus.”

“But what happens when some pissed off Legacies show up and try to fight you?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I don’t think it would go that far. Lords are honorable, right?”

Jude snorted at that, a smile cresting his face. “We are so totally going to get attacked by colorful octopi, aren’t we?”

The conversation devolved into arguments from there… at least until Aunty P appeared. Wearing very over the top teal eyeshadow, a dress that looked like it was made a hundred years ago, and carrying a hand fan the size of a window, the woman was anything but subtle. Which, in many ways, worked wonders for her. She was the Spymaster General, after all.

Since everyone present knew that she could literally hear everything uttered inside the castle, no one was surprised when she began talking about Leland’s contract.

“You live in an interesting world, Leland Silver,” she said in that tone of voice everyone with a strict mother understood to be patronizing. “Doing a Lord’s dirty work for them? What’s next, assassination?”

To say things between Aunty P and Leland had cleaned up nicely was a stretch.

After she ordered his death, Leland had done nothing but protect her niece, get her home safely, and then subsequently protect said home from annihilation. And what did he get in return? A cleared name, a medal for bravery, and a half-hearted apology from the woman.

And as much as Leland wished he could be indifferent to the woman, he just couldn’t. Over the last two weeks, he’d found every opportunity to say something petty about her knowing full well that she could hear him.

“Hey Sybil? Remember when your aunt tried to kill me?” “Hey Sybil? Remember our time in the Archon Valley alone and lost?” “Hey Sybil? What’s up with Aunty P? Like does she always listen or—Oh, she’s listening right now, isn’t she? Stop listening to us weirdo!”

Stuff like that.

Was this childish and rude? Yes, of course. Did Leland know that? Again, yes. But did he care? Not really. She tried to kill him! And! Oddly, being petty was somewhat therapeutic if he was being honest. Jokes, snide comments, pettiness were all great ways to create a connection of healing between him and Aunty P.

And boy oh boy did Aunty P snark back.

Sometimes Leland wondered what was with the older women he knew and mockery. Isobel and Aunty P could open a masterclass on sarcasm.

Where was Isobel, anyway?

“Assassinations, huh?” Leland replied right back. “I wonder what rewards I could get for a few Lordly assassinations? Something better than a medal of honor, I’d say.”

Aunty P lifted her chin, looking down at him with a fractional smirk. “Oh? Showing your true colors, Harbinger?”

He waved a hand and purposefully gave the outraged Sybil a wink. “Harbinger smarbinger. I prefer to think of myself as someone dependable. Unlike your spy system. How did dozens of cultists get into the city again? You know, the cultists who began to convert your citizens?”

Leland could have sworn he saw a vein bulge at that comment. It was a real mystery, the whole cult thing. For a city protected by divine bone and a workaholic Spymaster General, a lot of things got into the city that shouldn’t be here. And since the battles ended, Aunty P and the Inquisitors hadn’t rested until they uncovered the smuggling ring that orchestrated such an event.

Through gritted teeth, Aunty P growled, “We know who the head players are. We are actively working on capturing them.”

Thinking it was time to throw a bone, Leland said, “Good. Let me know if you need any of my assassination skills. If you know their Lords I can even contact—”

“At least one of the Lords is Vile. Thank you, but no thank you. The Inquisitors will handle it.”

Leland accepted that as it was. He wasn’t going to push, not with everything going on in a few days.

It was time to break a bear out of prison.

Giving Sybil a peck on the cheek, Leland and the boys departed the castle when Aunty P brought up actual problems the Queen needed to fix. And as much as they were interested in helping with these problems, there was only so much they knew about taxes, property laws, and foreign investment.

“Being a Queen is boring,” Jude muttered once the group was far enough from the castle so as to not be overheard.

“Sybil’s not complaining,” Leland said with a shrug. “Though I think she would if the job didn’t hold such responsibility.”

Glenny blinked, his left eye suddenly turning solid white. He grunted, blinking again. It morphed back to its new normal – ringed white and black.

“Gah! It feels like a bug landed on my eye when that happens,” he said, rubbing it in place of scratching. “I need to adapt to itching.”

Being a Legacy of the Chameleon, adaptation came with the territory. With a long flexible tongue and active camouflage, there were few things Glenny couldn’t become immune to or steal for himself. He’d proven that by taking the Sightless King’s primordial crimson power for his own or when he became immune to blunt force head trauma.

“You know, I find it dumb that some things are easy to adapt to, and others are nearly impossible. Like itching! How can I adapt to concussions but not to itching!”

Leland and Jude eyed their friend carefully. The eye-color changing had been happening semi-regularly, and always ended with a rant from the young man.

“Just don’t go hurting yourself because you want to become immune to mosquitoes,” Leland quietly said.

Glenny’s train of thought came crashing down at that statement. All notions of annoyance were lost as he stared at the ground as they maneuvered through the city.

“That’s… huh,” he muttered.

It was just a seed, but that one statement planted an idea in Glenny’s head. It had been some time since Leland created a contract with the Chameleon Lord and received a gift for Glenny. It took the form of a glass shard, a shard that transformed directly into information inside Glenny’s mind.

The gift, in simplest terms, was a catalog of possible adaptations. Which, on paper, was amazing! But unfortunately, it worked in ways Glenny had yet to fully figure out. He needed precursor information about potential adaptation of some sort, information that was hidden or locked away.

And Leland’s statement about mosquitoes might as well have been a treasure map and a key.