Chapter 60 - Rules for Survival (3)

To save time, I took off the ring right away.

No. 9425, the Frost Spirit Ring.

The Numbered item I had acquired by fleecing that old man, the master of the Altemion School.

"Here, take it."

"Huh? A ring? What's this for all of a sudden, nyah...?"

Misha accepted it without thinking, then belatedly looked flustered, as though wondering what this was about.

"I was saving this ring until I found someone worth giving it to."

"But... why give it to me, nyah?"

Because circumstances had changed, obviously.

I answered briefly.

"Swear to your guardian deity. In exchange for this, promise to stay with me from now on."

The Frost Spirit Ring's market price was 1.5 million Stones. However, with none up for sale, it was difficult to obtain even if you wanted one.

And if its true value became known, that price would skyrocket.

"Whaaat?! Bjorn! Have you gone crazy, nyah?!"

Misha recoiled in horror and accused me of insanity, but I was perfectly sane right now.

Did she think I'd just give this thing away?

Sure, I would use it for our survival, but at the very least, I needed a promise that she would keep accompanying and helping me afterward.

Of course, this wasn't a one-sided contract.

"The moment you accept this ring, I swear on my honor as a warrior to remain by your side and help you. So I want you to do the same for me."

"Are you serious, nyah...?"

To prove it, I looked straight into her eyes and spoke clearly.

"I am serious."

A win-win in the truest sense.

A sort of pledge of companionship.

Had she understood that?

Misha stared at me for a long time with wide eyes, then spoke in a voice stripped of all playfulness.

"... This is sudden, but I can tell you're not teasing me, nyah. Honestly, no one's ever proposed anything like this to me, so it's not as if I'm not h-happy, nyah!"

"Then that's a relief—"

"But Bjorn, I'm sorry, nyah. I've never once thought of you that way, nyah."

"... What do you mean?"

Misha squeezed her eyes shut. Then, as though she'd made up her mind, she looked me squarely in the face and answered.

"I... prefer slim men, nyah."

"Slim men...? What are you talking about? I don't under—"

"Ugh!! I mean I don't find you attractive as a man, nyah!!"

My mind goes blank for a moment.

Is this what they call getting rejected when you weren't even trying to confess?

I didn't know, but one thing was certain.

"... There's been a misunderstanding."

"Sure, let's call it that, nyah. We still have to travel together, and there's no point making things awk—"

What was she going on about?

I'd talked around it, saying I'd help her and all that because I didn't want to sound too mercenary. That had been my mistake.

A barbarian ought to do things the barbarian way.

"I meant you should pledge to be my companion in exchange for this ring."

"Pledge to be your companion, nyah...?"

"Of course, you can end the contract whenever you like if you get me an identical ring or earn me fifteen million Stones in profits along the way. Now, do you understand?"

"H-how could I, nyah?! What even is this ring that it's worth fifteen million Stones, nyah?!"

"Fifteen million Stones is a low estimate."

"No, I'm asking what this ring even—"

I cut straight to the point.

"This ring can fulfill your lifelong wish."

"... What? My wish, nyah?"

"For example, your brother won't be able to call you a half-wit anymore."

Had I touched a nerve?

Misha flinched and froze. But after a moment's thought, she forced an awkward smile.

"Oh, come on. You think I'd fall for that, nyah? I know you're embarrassed, but you shouldn't tell lies like—"

"I'm not lying."

The conversation stopped, leaving a moment of silence.

Misha's smile, awkward as it had been, disappeared. In fact, she was staring at me coldly.

"Isn't this taking the joke too far, nyah?"

Her voice was uncharacteristically cold and rigid.

"I smiled and gave you a chance to stop, nyah. Why do you keep lying? Did you think you could make a fool of me because I kept smiling and going along with you, nyah?"

Misha bit her lip in resentment.

"... I shouldn't have told you about that, nyah."

I hadn't anticipated this reaction, but perhaps it was only natural.

Trauma.

A wound that had festered her entire life would hurt at the slightest touch.

"I didn't bring it up to reopen your wounds. I really—"

"I've never heard of anything like that existing, nyah. How would you know something even my tribe doesn't, nyah?"

Instead of answering, I pressed my lips together.

This wasn't something to explain at length, nor did I want to.

We couldn't stay here doing this forever.

Let's keep it short.

"Misha, let me ask you one thing."

"Go ahead, nyah."

"If everything I've told you is true, will you accept my offer?"

"You're still jok—!"

I interrupted her rising anger with a shout of my own.

"Just answer me!"

All she had to do was answer the question.

Yes or no.

When I shouted and demanded an answer, Misha flinched, then bit her lip again.

"... If everything you said is true, even honoring you as my benefactor until the day I die wouldn't be enough, nyah. But—"

But, nothing.

"That's settled, then."

I stepped closer and took her wrist.

"Misha Karlstein, I know it's hard to believe, but I swear on my honor as a warrior that everything I've told you is true."

"... Wh-what, nyah?"

Misha looked confused.

Seeing that made me wonder if using the warrior's oath from the start would've made things easier...

Well, it didn't matter now.

"So when you wake up, keep your word too."

I pulled Misha toward me and slipped the ring onto her finger.

Then...

CRUNCH!

I crushed the blue glass gem on the ring with nothing but the strength of my grip.

「Frost Spirit Ring has been destroyed.」

「Glacial Magical Beast Scadia awakens from its seal.」

Like ripples spreading across a lake, a wave of cold spread along the ground.

WHOOOOSH!

No. 9425, the Frost Spirit Ring.

This was the peculiar effect that occurred when the item was destroyed.

It dealt virtually no damage, making it a practically useless feature, but after trying all sorts of things, I had made a discovery.

「Special conditions have been met.」

If the wearer was a Therianthrope, an event would trigger separately from the destruction effect.

「Ice Magical Beast Scadia offers Misha Karlstein a contract.」

A Spirit beast contract.

It could forcibly awaken the special ability possessed by the Therianthrope race.

* * *

「The contract has been successfully completed.」

* * *

A freezing gale had swirled around Misha, leaving her at its eye. As it slowly subsided, she opened her eyes.

Her red eyes held a complicated, somehow hollow look.

"It was... this easy, nyah...? Then what was all that time I spent... even for, nyah...?"

Misha turned to me, her words disjointed. Then she asked, her face filled with betrayal,

"Bjorn, what is this ring, nyah? If something like this exists, why didn't my father tell me about it, nyah?!"

I didn't know whether the Therianthropes were aware of this ring's existence.

But to give her the answer she wanted...

"He probably didn't know either."

"... He didn't know, nyah?"

"Right. Apparently, a mage only discovered this recently after studying it for a long time. I'm sure your father wasn't hiding it because he didn't consider you his child."

This would be better for her mental health.

Even after my answer, however, Misha seemed full of questions.

"Wait, then how did you know about it, nyah? And where did you get this ring, nyah?"

Explaining wouldn't be difficult. I had stories prepared in advance.

But there was something to do first.

"We should finish talking after you put some clothes on."

"... Clothes, nyah?"

Misha tilted her head, then followed my gaze downward.

And when she saw her current state...

"Uh, ah? Huh? Wh-why am I completely naked, nyah!!"

After stuttering like a malfunctioning robot, Misha screamed.

"I've folded everything beside you. Get dressed first, then we'll talk."

"O-okay, nyah..."

While I turned away for a moment, Misha gathered up her clothes and pulled them on.

"Y-you can turn around now, nyah."

"That was quick."

"Was I supposed to take my time, nyah?!"

When I turned around, Misha was wearing her ordinary clothes—the thin cloth outfit she had worn beneath her equipment. Perhaps because it fit so snugly, it made her curves all the more apparent.

"Aren't you putting your equipment on?"

"Answer this first! Why was I n-n-naked, nyah?!"

"Because I undressed you."

"U-u-undressed me?! Y-y-you, nyah?!"

"I had no choice. I heard that this ritual destroys all the equipment you're wearing."

For the record, that was a lie.

I hadn't heard it. I'd experienced it firsthand.

Fuck, I'd worked so hard building that character, only to get a game over because losing all my equipment left me unable to do a damn thing.

"... W-wait! Is that why you asked me that question at the start, nyah?"

"What question?"

"Didn't you ask about marriage and stuff, nyah?"

Oh, that.

I nodded honestly.

"If you had a spouse, wouldn't he be upset?"

I was a proud Korean Confucian.

I could never commit the indecency of undressing a woman who even had a husband.

But Misha shouted incredulously at my answer.

"You thought about that, but you couldn't think to tell me beforehand, nyah?!"

"I wasn't trying to hide it. But you wouldn't believe a single thing I said."

"Th-that's true, but, nyah..."

With a reasonable explanation ready for every question, I seemed to have left Misha with nothing more to say.

So I could start pushing a little harder now.

"If anything, having to undress you in such a hurry was an absolute ordeal. Tsk, I never would've guessed you wore so many accessories."

"... S-sorry, nyah."

"Never mind that. Isn't there something you should do before apologizing?"

I looked pointedly at Misha as I hinted at it.

You had to milk a favor for all it was worth while you could.

"... Thank you, nyah."

"Is that all?"

Misha thought for a moment, then tried again.

"... Thank you very much, nyah?"

"Don't try to gloss over this. Isn't there something we need to make clear?"

"D-do I really have to say it myself, nyah?"

Misha averted her eyes, looking shy and embarrassed, but I wasn't about to let her off for that.

These things always needed to be spelled out.

"Of course."

At my firm reply, the look in Misha's eyes changed.

As though that was enough joking around. As though she had never intended to brush this aside in the first place.

She straightened up and looked at me.

"Bjorn, you know... I once... tried to kill myself, nyah."

Where had that come from?

I did feel that way, but her serious tone made me listen for now.

"My father was the one who found me and saved me, nyah."

"You should be grateful to your father, then."

"I wish I could be... but it's not such a beautiful story, nyah. Do you know the first thing my father said when I came to, nyah? If I wanted to die that badly, I should go die in the Labyrinth, nyah. He asked how much more shame I had to bring on the family before I was satisfied, nyah."

Ah. Uh. Um...

Her family was far more dysfunctional than I'd imagined.

As I seriously wondered whether to retract my earlier blunder, Misha continued matter-of-factly.

"That's why I entered the Labyrinth, nyah. Not to die like my father told me to, of course, nyah. I just wanted to escape that family, nyah. And I hoped that if I became a great explorer and earned recognition even without a Spirit beast, maybe my father would see me differently, nyah."

Her voice was restrained.

Yet the effort in that voice only made all the emotions she must have felt growing up come through more clearly.

"Of course, I don't know whether this will make my father acknowledge me, nyah. But somehow... now I feel like it doesn't matter anymore, nyah."

Then Misha bowed to me.

"... Thank you, Bjorn, nyah. Until the day I die, I'll keep this kindness in my heart and repay you, nyah."

Even if that feeling might fade with time, there seemed little point in doubting her sincerity right now.

And on that note, we'd had enough melodrama.

"Do you swear to your guardian deity?"

Having listened attentively, I asked that brief question.

Misha chuckled and nodded.

"I swear to my guardian deity, nyah."

Okay. Nice and clean.

* * *

Summoning, enhancement, and special powers.

Therianthropes who contracted with Spirit beasts generally acquired one of these three types of abilities.

Misha had received enhancement.

「The power of Ice Magical Beast Scadia permanently imbues Misha Karlstein's body.」

Besides raising her physical capabilities to the next level, it permanently imbued her with the freezing element.

As demonstrated by the icy ache in my stomach where she'd just hit me.

"Ah! You told me to hit you, so I did, but I didn't know that would happen, nyah. A-are you okay, nyah?"

Looking at my skin, red as though frostbitten, I grinned.

'It's a shame she didn't get summoning or special powers...'

But this was still plenty.

Taking a hit made it even clearer.

We finally had the means of elemental attack I'd wanted so badly.

Now we could beat the shit out of those spirit-monster bastards too.

"Huh? Snap out of it, Bjorn! Why are you grinning like an idiot, nyah?!"

"It's nothing. Let's move now. We've stayed in one place too long."

After tidying up our surroundings, I set off with Misha. Along the way, we tried fighting a rank-9 spirit monster called a Wraith.

「Wraith has cast [Corpse Flame].」

[Corpse Flame].

An active skill combining the dark and fire elements.

It was weaker than even a rank-9 spell...

And with the Darkness Defense my Vampire's Essence gave me, getting hit felt only pleasantly warm.

Like this, most spirit monsters were weak in combat for their rank.

They were only troublesome early on because you lacked a way to attack them.

「You have defeated Wraith. EXP +1」

With my holy-water-coated mace and Misha's frost-imbued fists, we beat down around fifteen Wraiths.

"Ugh, it feels weird every time I hit one, nyah..."

There was a simple reason she used her fists instead of the spear.

'As expected, it doesn't apply to weapons at the first awakening stage.'

Just as barbarians' Spirit Seals had stages, Therianthropes' Spirit beast contracts developed gradually.

Still, it was fortunate that Misha had originally been a martial artist. Hadn't she said she'd fought with just her fists until she hit a wall, then switched to a dagger because it looked relatively easy to get used to?

「You have defeated Witch's Lamp. EXP +1」

「You have defeated Diroter. EXP +2」

「You have defeated Mutant Lesser Elemental. EXP +2」

Anyway, we continued wandering through the forest after that.

We killed every monster we saw as long as we didn't have to overextend ourselves. We also rested as much as possible whenever we had the chance, conserving our stamina.

「You have defeated Woodman. EXP +1」

「You have defeated Homunculus. EXP +2」

「You have defeated Owlbear. EXP +2」

About eleven hours passed like that.

We hadn't encountered any rank-7 monsters yet, but fighting anything below that wasn't particularly difficult.

We hadn't been in any dangerous situations either.

And contrary to my concerns, there was still no sign of that bitch Elisa and her lot coming after us.

'Did something happen to those bastards too?'

Well, maybe it had.

Maybe it hadn't.

Rather than getting complacent with wishful thinking, I should keep preparing myself.

While doing what I could right now.