Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 27 – Debts and Contracts (Patreon)

Somehow Yolani managed to keep her focus as they extracted themselves from the Mercenary District. Once they made it to the safer side of the city, she surrendered her safety to Henri as he guided them back home. Her mind swirled with the orphan’s words. Each step felt heavy, and more than once she struggled with the reality of her father’s absence.

There was a stupid thread of hope that when they made it back, he would be there waiting to chastise her for worrying so much and tell her everything had been a misunderstanding.

Instead, there was a carriage adorned with the symbol of Neftasu’s Council parked outside her shop. She shared a concerned look with Henri as they walked up. The Magister was already standing outside, patiently browsing the wares she’d set up in the window display. His rich burgundy robe shimmered under the city’s light stones, making him look every bit as intimidating as his title suggested.

[Arch Magus – Human – Level 883]

She didn’t recognize him immediately, but the insignia was the same one she had seen on the work orders related to her father’s contract for the city’s light stones.

“Good evening, Magister,” Yolani greeted, bowing slightly in respect. Henri followed suit beside her, but his face revealed he felt just as blindsided as her.

“Ah, Miss Aetherhart, I assume?” the Magister said in a deep voice that echoed on the stone pavement and wall of the shop. “I trust you’re well.”

A frown crossed her lips. Did he really think there was any possible way she’d be ‘well’ under the circumstances? “I’m managing,” she replied cautiously. “To what do I owe this visit, Magister…?”

He frowned, obviously annoyed at her not knowing his name. “Relain. Magister Relain.” His gaze turned steely, “I’m here because of your uncle Hector’s concern about your father’s disappearance and its implications for our city.”

Yolani’s eyes narrowed. Hector had wasted no time in ensuring her troubles multiplied. “And…?” she prompted.

“And as such,” he continued, “the contract regarding the city’s light stones is currently in jeopardy. According to the responsibilities therein, your father guaranteed the safety of the stones while they were in his care. Now that he is no longer here, that places him in default.”

“There is nothing wrong with their safety. No one can break into the shop without a cataclysm level weapon or artifact. The runes that have been engraved into the structure have been built up over two decades, even before I was born,” Yolani informed him.

He raised his chin, then looked at the wall again, before looking back at her. “Even if that is so, you currently use the abode as your home, and I don’t see how we can allow you custo—”

“Magister Relain, with all due respect, I am fully skilled in artifice. I am more than capable of caring for and repairing the light stones on my own,” Yolani said.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Is that so? Then why is your title ‘apprentice artificer’ then? This equipment is far too value to be leaving in the care of an apprentice, as high as her opinion of herself might be.”

Yolani opened her mouth, then shut it without replying. He wasn’t wrong, her title was ‘apprentice’ although she’d far surpassed that years ago. She’d become her father’s equal in the last few years, but she’d never once considered the title ‘apprentice’ a burden. She loved working under his guidance, and he never talked to her about things.

He listened to her theories and helped her shape them into real, workable artifice.

Henri shifted uncomfortably beside her, obviously feeling out of place. She put a hand on his shoulder to calm him before looking back at the Magister.

She took a deep breath and locked eyes with the man. “I am a Master Artificer.”

There was no audible sign or visual effect. Instead, she activated her [Status] and snatched the scroll from out of the air and opened it. It answered her demand for just the single piece of information:

[Class: Master Artificer]

Yolani let out a sigh of relief and flipped the scroll around and displayed it to Magister Relain. He eyed it warily, then looked at her, no doubt scanning her with his own skill.

Relain grunted in acknowledgement. “So, it appears. Very well, I admit the light stones are not in danger. I had planned to force you to accept default here in order to partially preserve your wealth and ensure your safety under the care of your uncle.”

Safety? Under the care of her uncle?

“Magister Relain, did you work with and help my uncle Hector setup my father to purposefully get him killed so you could claim the valuable of the default?”

Henri blanched and recoiled from her question. She could hardly believe she’d went straight for the jugular herself.

The Magister’s eyes narrowed sharply. “What?”

Yolani reached up and snapped the thin gold chain holding a clear crystal off her neck. She held it up in front of her. “This is a truth stone. If the bearer channels their mana into it tells a—”

“I know what it is,” Magister Relain snapped.

The stone lit up as she pulsed her magic into it. “You are Magister Relain. You’re a level 883 Arch Magus. I can’t tell what elemental superiority you have, because it looks like you have all four at an equal level far higher than I can really calculate.”

She took a single step forward. “You have 564 defensive runes on your person, which will require 2458 points of power to disarm. Your mana reserve appears to be in the 2000-3000 range, but I can’t be sure.”

The truth stone continued to glow with a sparkling glow without shattering.

“What I can be sure is that you don’t have enough visible defenses to stop me from disarming your spell wards with my wand, which has 1123 available power before you can cast a spell to kill me.”

She stared at him intently; he glowed a vibrant array of colors in her mana sight. “I don’t think you have anything that escaped my notice. Which will allow me to detonate the security sigil you are currently standing beside, which will outstrip any defensive spell you can cast by at least 11,000 to 12,000 mana.”

Yolani let the power fade, then tossed the truth stone to him. He caught it by the chain.

“Now channel your power into that and tell me if you had a hand in killing my father or not.” Her entire body felt tense, searching for a single sudden movement or change in the mana currents surrounding them. If someone had jumped behind her and shouted “Boo!” at her, the entire block was going to explode.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Relain hissed at her.

“Do I look like a woman who would let the murderer of her father get away with it?” Yolani demanded, her heart pounding louder with each word spoken.

“Yolani…” Henri stepped forward and reached for her, but she slapped his hand away while focusing on the Magister.

It was hard to keep her wand hand ready to draw while he distracted her. She shoved him. “Shut up Henri. You should run away.”

The truth stone lit up. “I had no intention or inclination to see your father harmed or dead. Both the contract and the liquidation of the contract before it defaults was your uncle’s idea. I stand to gain from events, either way.”

The stone didn’t shatter. Her shoulders slumped; she’d misjudged.

“It’s the death penalty to threaten a Magister going about his duties or force him under duress to answer questions while under spell or drug,” Magister Relain continued.

“Magister, please!” Henri said. Yolani’s hand on his chest cut him off.

Relain shoved the truth stone in his pocket. “If you don’t wish to sell the shop, then so be it. I’ll remind you that upon your father’s death, you will inherit his debts. The default wasn’t to include the shop, but it included his person. That would be you now.”

Yolani felt a chill run down her spine. Debt slavery was worse than being homeless in the Mercenary District.

“If your father does not return within two days’ time and you cannot fulfill the first half of the contract by then… I’m afraid I’ll have no choice but to seek out another artificer and claim your default.”

“Two days? We had two weeks left! Two days is impossible!” Yolani protested.

Magister Relain licked his lips, then nodded. “I am not unsympathetic to your misfortune, Miss Aetherhart. A week, then. No more. I wish you luck in bringing those who engineered your father’s fate to justice.”

He turned and climbed back up into his carriage, leaving them standing there in front of the shop. A heavy thud heralded someone landing on the roof.

[Death Dealer – Lesser Demon – Level 556]

Henri’s hand went on her shoulder, and she suppressed a bolt of panic. She had no idea what the demon was capable of, but then the Ralfots let out a ‘Moobaa’ and began to take the ensemble away. The demon sat down, crosslegged, and ignored them.

She realized it had been the Magister’s bodyguard.

She hadn’t been in control of the situation at all, and he’d kept her truth stone. It was easily worth a large gold. That stung. But it could have been worse. He wasn’t wrong about the city’s laws on threatening a Magister.

It felt like a defeat, but at least she knew for sure who her real enemy was now.