“Why is that kid out here at this hour…?”
Kiriel raised her eyebrow as she muttered.
What made him come out here late at night?
What was Siegfried doing letting that boy wander alone?
Kiriel prepared to go out to the store.
Because she couldn’t let that child be alone out there. As she opened the door, a large hall appeared. There were numerous doors each with a number above them.
The Saint-Dermain branch was number 16. The door above revealed a shabby interior with a chilly air.
A small silhouette was creeping through it, and it looked rather cute.
“Come in.”
“Ah!”
A young voice from outside. The rusty hinges of the door screamed.
Jamie Welton, a boy with emerald hair and eyes, greeted Kiriel with a bright face.
“Hello!”
Kiriel frowned at Jamie’s bright greeting. During the day this boy was alert with her and now he seemed like a completely different person.
“You came here at this late hour all alone. What is going on? “
She didn’t want to have a long conversation with him.
Still, now that she had looked at Finn’s photo, she became a bit energized so she wanted a peaceful nap.
Whether he knew it or not, the Welton kid ran and stood in front of the counter.
“It is nothing much.”
“Something you want to buy?”
“It isn’t that… I… please lend me some money.”
At those words, Kiriel’s expression wrinkled.
Words which asked for money out of the blue.
The kid, who turned eight this year, at such a late hour.
Before asking the reason, Kiriel asked the amount he needed. Because she wondered what sum he needed for him to come here.
“How much?”
“Without limit. Just give me?”
Again, blatant shameless words.
Not just asking for money, but an unlimited amount as well.
Despite being a great kid, she thought he was still a kid. Wanting to buy snacks or something like that. However, his words blew her mind.
A squirrel popped over the kid’s shoulders. It was standing by holding onto Jamie’s neck with a worried expression.
She didn’t see this one in the morning.
“Why do you need that much money?”
“That I can’t tell you.”
“… you want to borrow money without giving me a reason?”
“I just need to pay you back.”
It wasn’t wrong.
There was no need to disclose what the money was needed for. All she had to do was lend it and the boy would have to pay it back.
However, even if it was simple, money coming and going wasn’t a simple matter. The most important thing was trust.
“Why should I trust you enough to give you that amount of money?”
Although he had a strong background and was a kid of the Welton family, this kid was still 8 years old.
She didn’t know exactly what, but she knew that the kid wouldn’t be able to repay it.
If he borrowed it from his family treasury, it wouldn’t be impossible. But if it was possible, the kid would have talked to the family from the start.
Coming all the way here meant he was hoping to find some money secretly.
Perhaps the secret auction.
“Hmm.”
When asked about trust, Jamie thought.
What he could do with his body right now was limited. But that was just for now. With a little more time, there would be an overwhelming amount of things he could do.
So he said.
“A future possibility? Think of it as an investment.”
“Ha!”
At that, Kiriel burst into laughter.
Quite a shameless boy, but he wasn’t wrong.
From the rumors, Jamie was the one who would touch the legendary 9th class.
If only Kiriel invested, she would be the most successful person, but the thing was that Kiriel wasn’t interested in it.
“Unfortunately, I have a lot of talented people.”
Even if not Jamie, she had people who were skilled in more than 30 academies that she ran.
After graduating, they would come to work for Kiriel so she didn’t have to look for talent from outside.
Especially by spending money on it.
“Then I guess it’s a no…”
Jamie didn’t expect this answer. And he didn’t understand. This woman didn’t know how much money he needed and refused to invest in him who would do great things in future.
It was a huge loss of opportunity.
Jamie was a bit of a narcissist.
“So stop and head back. It is late. Why is a little boy like you wandering around? Where did that Siegfried bastard go, leaving a child alone?”
She thought she had to speak with him.
Even if Jamie was the child of another house, Siegfried had to protect him until they reached the Magic world. The nights in Saint-Dermain was more dangerous than one would think. No matter how talented Jamie was, there would be nothing he could do if a dangerous adult came.
“I’ll give you an escort so you can head back to your room.”
Kiriel took out a small capsule from her arms and threw it to the floor, and a handsome man appeared with a pop.
He had a sword on his waist and didn’t seem bad.
-Wow! Handsome!
Venna, who was on Jamie’s shoulder, covered her mouth as she looked at it.
But it wasn’t a human.
‘Homunculus.’
A battle doll with human form.
She was called the best alchemist in the word with unparalleled skills. But Jamie had no intention of going back.
He needed money.
“Sho-sho-”
Kiriel shook her hand trying to get rid of him.
Looking at her, Jamie said.
“If not, maybe another suggestion.”
“Whatever you can do, I can do too. So, go on now, that doll will take you to your place.”
-Doll?!
Venna, who realized it late, was shocked.
Jamie spoke again,
“Aren’t you going to enter the shadow world?”
Kiriel went stiff.
She turned her head and looked at Jamie.
“What are you saying?”
“The Shadow Sheep’s Heart is one of the ingredients to enter the Shadow World.”
“How do you… ah!”
She was so flustered that she gave out her intentions.
It was because the Shadow Sheep’s Heart was only known to alchemists.
As far as she knew, there weren’t many people who knew of it.
If it was common information, she wouldn’t have suffered for decades.
She bet that neither the Magic World of Seldam or the Klone Kingdom were aware of it.
But an 8 year old knew?
“… does the Welton Family’s library have something written about it?”
Jamie avoided answering with a smile, seeing that, Kiriel sighed.
“Right. As you said, I want to enter that Shadow World, so I am going for the heart. Happy now? Now go back. This old lady wants to rest.”
“It has been said since ancient times that the Shadow World is connected with the afterlife.”
Energy gushed out of Kiriel.
The energy wasn’t directed at Jamie, but made the store move.
“Guessing such things is bad, kid. Since you are a child, go back to Siegfried. It is late.”
“Maybe I can help.”
“… What?”
“Shadow World. Even with the materials, there is a high chance of failure. Because even if the materials are fine, the Master of the Shadow World is moody, so he won’t allow entry into it. Of course, that doesn’t mean he will let us use the material again. You will have to search for them all again from the beginning.”
Jamie remembered the Master of Shadow World.
The Shadow World was nothing like this world. There was no matter there, and everything which existed was in the form of spirits.
Why?
The reason was simple.
It was because the Master of Shadow World was the ‘Spirit King’.
‘And not an ordinary Spirit King.’
In general, spirits lived in the Spirit World.
And there were five Spirit Kings.
They were the ones who controlled the most basic attributes. Most people thought that was what spirits were.
It was inevitable because humans knew nothing about the other worlds.
However, the Shadow World was similar to the Spirit World but of only one attribute.
It was ‘darkness’.
Another name for the Shadow World was the ‘Dark World’.
It was a world where the Spirit King of the dark spirits reigned as ruler.
‘The Spirit King has more power than the 12 Gods in that place.’
In other words, the Dark Spirit King in the Shadow World was more powerful than any being.
Even if Jamie regained his full power, defeating that Spirit King would be difficult.
If such an existence eats the ingredients and refuses to let her enter, Kiriel won’t be able to do anything.
But Jamie knew how to make him allow it.
“How do I trust that what you are saying is true?”
Kiriel couldn’t believe Jamie’s words that easily.
The Shadow World was an unknown realm that had little information in the human world. And, to say, it was all from the creatures of the Shadow World which appeared here occasionally.
However, a kid was saying that there was a Master for the Shadow World, it would be difficult to believe those words.
Jamie, who understood that, suggested.
“Let’s write a soul contract.”
-Master!
Venna was startled by it.
Soul contract?
A contract which mortgages them for life after life, the soul being collateral.
Venna didn’t think that her Master would be so crazy.
-Have you lost it? Can’t we just get the money elsewhere? A Soul contract!!
‘Don’t shout, my head hurts!’
-Mas…!
Jamie looked at Kiriel. She too was shocked by the Soul Contract. That wasn’t something which could come out from the mouth of an 8 year old.
‘That is how earnest the request is.’
She had to get this thing into her hands this time.
“Shouldn’t that be enough?”
“… what are you doing kid? No, are you really a kid?”
Kiriel felt a little scared of Jamie now. Jamie’s intelligence made no sense unless this child was a monster.
In addition, he had the courage to mention a Soul Contract.
“So what do you plan to do? I can help you, Miss Kiriel. I am sure.”
It wasn’t a bluff.
In her 80 years of life had she ever been swayed by a child?
Rather, she even went against the strong people and now she had enemies in most places.
“Conditions?”
“Prepayment. Contract fulfillment later.”
To get the heart, he would have to participate in the auction. And at the same time he needed to get his artifact too.
Kiriel, who thought for a moment, said.
“Bring the contract.”
And the Soul contract was made.
