Chapter 215: Chapter 188: Daddy! Chapter 215: Chapter 188: Daddy! “Party A: Hanna Doran”
“Party B: Ash Heath/Igula Bokin/Archibald Harvey”
“Clause 1: Party A must protect the personal safety of Party B.”
“Clause 2: Party A must ensure that Party B has 8 hours of rest each day.”
“Clause 3: Party B has the right to decide their own course of action when injured.”
“Clause 39: Party B has the right to refuse unreasonable mating requests.”
“Under the premise of adhering to the above clauses, Party A can command Party B to do anything, but the command itself must not violate the aforementioned clauses.”
“Contract duration: 101 days, start time: May 2, 1668, 19:15, end time: August 10, 1668, 19:15”
As the three contracts dissolved into golden light in the air, the girl in purple, Hanna, pressed a button, and the locking collars of Ash and his companions instantly released.
“Welcome to our team. Let the next 101 days be a time of pleasant cooperation.”
Hanna spread her arms as if to welcome them: “I am Hanna Doran, the director of the Funeral Service Office. You can call me director, miss, or boss, but I prefer another name—Purple Moth. This is my housekeeper Banjee Mikalis, the second member of our Office.”
The young housekeeper politely nodded at them, handing over several handkerchiefs.
Igula accepted the handkerchief with a cold demeanor, feeling somewhat unwilling—time was indeed too tight, and they really had to bow their heads under another’s roof as the other party insisted on not amending ‘absolute command.’ Igula could only add clauses to ensure their rights.
Moreover, Hanna’s reason was quite sufficient: she needed them for some very secretive tasks, and without having obtained authority, how could there be a basis of mutual trust for her to reveal her real needs?
Ash, staring at the handkerchief, suddenly asked a strange question, “Is it also the year 1668 here?”
“Hm?” Hanna caught the key term: “Also?”
“We come from the Kingdom of Blood Moon,” Igula said with a flickering gaze: “According to the Blood Moon Calendar, today is also May 2, 1688.”
The fact that different realms shared the same calendar felt like a secret from ancient times, and everyone tacitly chose silence to end the conversation.
“Actually, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask for a long time.” Ash said: “Even though we are from different realms, why do we have the same language and the writing seems to have the same origin?”
At these words, everyone cast subtle glances at Ash, Hanna sharply asked with emotional intelligence, “It seems like the Kingdom of Blood Moon is quite a barbaric realm, haven’t they even popularized basic education?”
“I’ll not refute the first half of your statement, but he really did slip through the cracks of basic education.” Igula sighed: “I beg you, don’t let his personal actions reflect on all Blood Moonians.”
Ash still looked utterly confused when Red Hat Cleos came over and clarified his doubt: “The origin of the writing comes from the names of Technique Spirits. When a Mage fully masters a Technique Spirit, they learn its True Name and pronunciation, so in any realm dominated by Mages, the language and pronunciation are largely consistent.”
Hanna added, “The writing you did not recognize just now consists mostly of ‘extended characters’ that never became names of Technique Spirits. If I’m not mistaken, the number of ‘extended characters’ is decreasing each year, gradually being replaced by the ‘root characters’ of new Technique Spirits.”
“So, there is a set of root characters in this world?” Ash suddenly understood, “Then, who created those root characters…?”
“That’s an excellent question, every generation of Mage tries to uncover the mystery behind Technique Spirits. By taking an interest, it means you too might advance this great undertaking.” Hanna encouraged, “As long as you follow my commands during these 101 days, you’ll not only gain your freedom afterward but perhaps possess the power to know the truth. I will not let you down.”
Being adaptive in painting the cake is crucial, and in this regard, the director of the office indeed has the talent for exploitation. However, her heart doesn’t seem hard enough, so it should be fairly easy to slack off under her watch… Ash quickly assessed the properties of his new boss.
At that moment, Cleos turned to Hanna and asked, “Hanna, did you say you only picked up three people from the Exotic Realm through the ‘Gospel Book’?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“Besides these three, we’ve discovered another from the Exotic Realm.”
As everyone was taken aback, a Red Hat approached, leading a little girl with white hair—Ash and the others recognized her at a glance: she was the drama queen from the sacrifice ritual, who remained calm and composed without crying or fussing.
The drama queen hung her head low, nervously tugging at her clothes, and timidly glanced up at Hanna, her large eyes filled with fear like a trembling little lamb, stirring up a feeling of compassion in anyone’s heart.
Hanna’s tone became sweet as melting ice cream, “Sweetheart, let your sister check if your ears are injured.”
She examined the back of the little girl’s ears and found no countdown, but since Cleos said so, it certainly couldn’t be false. Hanna quickly confirmed through the ‘Gospel Book’ that the little girl was indeed from the Exotic Realm.
Because she couldn’t find any trace of the little girl’s past!
Only those who had never lived in the Kingdom of Gospel would have no past records available in the Gospel Book!
“Sweetie, can you tell Sister why you’re here? Where do your parents live? I can take you back to them.”
The little girl with white hair looked timidly at her, shaking her head: “I… I don’t know… The bad guys kidnapped me…”
“Where were you and what were you doing before the bad guys kidnapped you?”
“I don’t know… I’ve forgotten…” She shook her head in pain: “I don’t remember anything.”
Hanna didn’t believe or disbelieve her but simply opened the Gospel Book to conduct a search by spending points.
The Gospel Book’s conclusion was that the little girl was not lying.
She had indeed lost her memory!
“It could be an accident that occurred while crossing through the Void Realm passage or while being captured by members of a heretical cult that led to amnesia,” Hanna looked toward Ash and the other two: “Answer me, had you seen her before coming to the Kingdom of Gospel?”
“No.” All three responded in unison.
Before Ash could react, his mouth had already replied.
The expression on Igula’s face slightly changed—although it was an obvious form of intimidation, it was indeed very effective. Hanna’s control over them was more direct and thorough than imagined.
“Did you check her body?”
“There are no traces of Miracle or Technique Spirit,” Cleos said: “Theoretically, she should pose no threat, but…”
Hanna understood Cleos’s concern. People like Ash and his companions, who had cut off all ties and sneaked in, were manageable, but a little girl with an unknown background from an Exotic Realm was indeed a very dangerous bomb. Under normal circumstances, Hanna would have suggested letting the little girl sleep forever in her dreams; after all, even if she let her go, what family would want to take in a child from an Exotic Realm?
But Hanna just happened to need a person from an Exotic Realm, and children were more suitable candidates for her requirements than adults.
After thinking it over, she asked, “Do you remember your name?”
After a moment of silence, the little girl with white hair said, “Liss. My name is Liss.”
“Hanna,” Cleos couldn’t help but say: “Contracts signed by minors aren’t valid.”
“It’s just ‘Paper Weaving’ that doesn’t recognize contracts signed by minors as valid, but the basic Void Contract doesn’t care about the age of the parties involved,” Hanna extended her hand to the little girl: “Shake hands.”
However, the little girl stepped back in fear, as if Hanna’s palm hid needles.
The beautiful Purple Moth narrowed her eyes slightly, her smile growing even more radiant, “What’s wrong, don’t you like shaking hands with Sister? If you shake hands with Sister, she’ll take care of you, buy you pretty clothes, tasty snacks, and even tell you fairy tales to lull you to sleep at night~”
Igula watched coldly from the side; this woman named Hanna, although appearing somewhat naive in her methods, definitely had a decisive and dark heart. First, she sold them to the Divine Sect of the Four Pillars, then conspired with Red Hat to attack the Divine Sect and rescue them, followed by having Red Hat threaten them, and finally, she appeared herself to save them… It was a roller coaster of dramatic ups and downs.
Someone from an Exotic Realm, already disoriented, experiencing such rapid and overwhelming events, had already turned their mind into a mess, incapable of making accurate judgments.
Seeing the same Hanna who had betrayed them now willing to rescue them, it was easy to trigger a ‘victim mentality,’ moved by the abuser’s gentleness to the point of losing all reason, and naturally ready to sign a demeaning slave contract.
Luckily, all three of them were big bad guys who had clawed their way out of the pits; even if they weren’t in top form, they could instinctively see through such basic deception—it was almost a survival instinct for them, and even Ash wouldn’t be fooled.
Though the plan failed, this didn’t mean Hanna was incompetent.
Her ability to quickly calm down for negotiations with Igula, even willing to make concessions to speed up the signing of the contract, made Igula look at her with new respect—ambitious yet not greedy, unconcerned with sunk costs, not seeking the best result but always able to make the best judgment; she had the makings of a ‘perfectly rational being.’
Thus, Igula knew that if they didn’t sign the contract, Hanna would definitely not let them go—putting himself in her shoes, if Igula couldn’t obtain a ‘scarce resource,’ he would rather destroy it than let it slip away.
Similarly, if this girl named Liss refused Hanna’s invitation, then Hanna would no longer treat her as a cute little girl but purely as a ‘scarce resource.’
One can be pleasant to a little girl, but for a scarce resource, one only needs to make the optimal decision.
Seemingly sensing the danger, the little girl with white hair retreated even more dramatically, her lips pouting in distress, tears nearly spilling over.
She looked around the room, then suddenly lunged toward one of them—