WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 110: Right Now

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"I should say this in advance, if I sign this contract, I'll need to report its contents to my grandfather."

Kyle spoke as he carefully read through the nondisclosure agreement.

"If you can't agree to that, I can't accept your commission."

"Haha, of course. Sir Kyle does not act as an individual, but as a member of Alastor."

Lentz gave an easy smile and offered him the pen.

"Once you sign the nondisclosure agreement and hear the details of the commission, if you decide to accept it, you may share the contract's contents with Grand Duke Julius. However, Grand Duke Julius will need to sign a nondisclosure agreement as well."

"Is it really that confidential?"

"Of course it is. Frankly, we're cautious even about outsourcing this commission. The reason we still wish to entrust it to Sir Kyle is because we want to build a long-term partnership with you."

Kyle looked at the pen Lentz had handed him. It did not feel like an ordinary pen.

"If you sign the contract with that pen and violate its terms, a penalty will be imposed on you, Sir Kyle."

"A collection?"

"It may be easier to think of it as a curse. The success fee we will pay Sir Kyle for this commission is fifty billion sel. It need not necessarily be money. We can also provide goods equivalent to fifty billion sel."

Kyle checked the nondisclosure agreement. It stated that if he violated the contract, he would have to pay compensation worth ten times the success fee.

He gave a short laugh as he read it.

"Ten times would be five hundred billion sel. You're not planning to make me violate the contract and take Fenris instead, are you?"

"Hahaha! Would we really use such an obvious trick? With Alastor's wealth, five hundred billion sel would not be difficult to raise, and how could we possibly determine Fenris's value?"

"Just out of curiosity, how much would you pay if you were to buy Fenris?"

"Well. At the absolute minimum, wouldn't it have to be in the tens of trillions?"

Lentz answered with his eyes sparkling. Even one trillion was enough to run a decent kingdom.

"That is the lowest figure I can mention on my own authority. If Sir Kyle truly wished to sell Fenris, Duke Oun himself would sit at the negotiating table. At that point, the scale would likely be completely different."

The Crows might have been the continent's largest private military company, but even Kyle found the sums being discussed overwhelming. Would they really pour that much money into a single sword? He did not know the Crows' budget, but it seemed they were willing to spend several years' worth of company funds just for Fenris.

'Those bastards are insane. Do they have money rotting away somewhere? Or is there really something special about Fenris?'

To Kyle, it was simply a sword, but the Crows attached special meaning to Fenris. That meaning probably went beyond carrying on the will of their founder, Cyrus.

"Well... I have no intention of selling it. I was only curious."

Kyle answered and lowered his eyes to the agreement again. Fifty billion sel. It was an enormous reward for a single commission. That meant the Crows considered this request just as important.

"The success fee is fifty billion sel, but depending on the situation at the site, we may offer a higher reward."

Lentz smiled as he spoke. Kyle nodded and finished reviewing the agreement. It was only a nondisclosure agreement, not the full contract, so there was nothing worth objecting to.

When he wrote his name on the signature line, light flowed from the pen, wrapped around Kyle's hand, and sank into the name he had written. After confirming it, Lentz accepted the pen and wrote his own name.

"Now then, let's discuss the commission."

Still grinning, Lentz took something out of his briefcase. It looked like a sheet of black glass. When Lentz placed a finger on it, the glass lit up and displayed something.

"What is that?"

"It is a magic tool developed by our company, called a tablet. It has not been officially released yet, but it is quite convenient. It is especially useful for briefings."

When Lentz tapped the tablet, the screen changed. A pitch-black cube appeared on it.

"This is an object captured on the western dark frontier. Our company calls it the Black Cube. The Western Branch transferred it to the Central Branch, where research has been underway."

Lentz tapped the tablet again, enlarging the image. The pitch-black cube came into view up close. There were no patterns or seams on its surface. Even through the screen, its black color seemed to swallow light.

"It was first discovered about half a year ago, in the village of a Demihuman tribe on the western dark frontier. It was enshrined atop the tribal chief's altar. We have yet to determine exactly where it came from."

"Why haven't you been able to determine that?"

"Because there was no one left to answer our questions. Ah, please do not misunderstand. I am not saying our company's combat units massacred the Demihumans. When we arrived, the tribal village was already empty."

It was probably not a lie. The nondisclosure agreement Lentz had signed stated that the company would speak only the truth.

"Our initial conclusion was that it was likely related to dark magic."

"A Demihuman tribe possessed something related to dark magic?"

"Haha, that is not uncommon. The dark mages active during the Dark Age fled to the far west and the southern Avara Plateau."

Lentz changed the image again, revealing the interior of a white research building. Researchers dressed head to toe in protective suits were examining the Black Cube on a worktable with all manner of tools.

"The Black Cube was moved to the Central Branch. The Western Branch has equipment for analysis as well, but the head of our Central Branch Armaments Bureau is quite... curious and greedy. She insisted on it, so she received the Black Cube. In any case, we tried analyzing it with every tool available, but it was of little use."

Lentz gave a bitter smile.

"We believed the Black Cube was a box and tried to open it, but there was no way to do so. We changed our approach and began analyzing its surface instead... then an anomaly occurred forty-three days ago."

Kyle's expression hardened at the mention of forty-three days ago.

That was the day he had entered the Secret Realm on Beltua Island.

"As you know, forty-three days ago was the day Sir Kyle conquered the Secret Realm on Beltua Island. An interesting coincidence, isn't it?"

Lentz looked at Kyle with his usual easy smile. Naturally, the Crows knew exactly what had happened forty-three days ago. An executive from the Central Branch Armaments Bureau had personally attended the Imperial Palace party and approached Kyle. Their talk of buying Fenris had been something they always said. Their real purpose had been this commission.

"Do you think the Black Cube's anomaly was related to me?"

Kyle asked directly. Lentz's smile faded, and he shook his head.

"I believe that is unlikely. It is honestly rather absurd. Still, the timing lines up too perfectly... so we have considered whether it might be connected to Sir Kyle. Do you know how dark magic works?"

"I know dark magic borrows power from the outer gods."

"As expected, you do know. And Secret Realms are, haha... places that overlap with the outside."

Lentz continued with a smile.

"The boundary between inside and outside. The clergy, especially the Secret Realm Faith, which worships Secret Realms, would call this blasphemy, but that is how our company sees them. Forty-three days ago, Sir Kyle entered a Secret Realm, and the Black Cube being researched by the Central Branch developed an anomaly. Whether it is coincidence or inevitability..."

"I don't think it is my fault."

"Yes, our company has no intention of holding Sir Kyle responsible. We did not come to demand accountability over this matter. We simply wish to borrow the power of the Baal you possess."

Lentz moved his finger across the tablet. The frozen footage began to play. The lights in the research building started flickering.

Flicker. Flicker.

The slow flashes gradually quickened.

"This footage was recorded by the cameras in the research building."

Soon, the screen went completely dark. Lentz moved the image, and footage of a pure white corridor being gradually swallowed by darkness began to play. Researchers fled in terror, but every one of them was eventually consumed by the darkness.

"We do not know why this happened. What we have confirmed is that the darkness swallowed the entire Third Research Building of the Central Branch Armaments Bureau."

"Darkness. You could not break through it?"

"Yes. We tried various methods, but the darkness was impossible to break through, like a magical barrier. Our equipment showed that what formed the barrier was not mana... but another kind of spiritual energy. Something like souls, perhaps?"

Lentz raised his head and stared at Kyle.

"That kind of energy is difficult to handle. It is also a power dark mages favor. The barrier itself keeps circulating as though it were alive."

"Could you not break through it even with the power of the Boundary Realm?"

Kyle remembered Lizet, whom he had fought on Beltua Island. The power wielded at the Boundary Realm carved one's will into reality. When Lizet thought about striking him, power slammed into Kyle's body even though her fist had not touched him.

"Yes, it was impossible. At least with the Central Branch's current personnel, we have no combatant with enough power to break that barrier."

Lentz let out a brief sigh and shook his head.

"If we requested help from the Western Branch, we could resolve this within the company. But the Central Branch Head is terribly stubborn. They refuse to ask headquarters for help over this accident."

"It is fine to ask an outsider for help?"

"Haha, it is not exactly fine. That is how I feel, at least. But I am only a low-ranking executive, so it is not my place to tell them what to do. It was decided above me. I suppose it is a good thing that this has opened a path for us to build a relationship with you."

Lentz shrugged and continued. In the end, this commission was the Central Branch's decision alone. The head of the Central Branch of Crow Company, the continent's largest private military company, had chosen to use Alastor's grandson rather than report the accident to headquarters.

"Why is the Central Branch Head being so stubborn?"

"Honestly, I do not know. As you saw in the nondisclosure agreement, I, as the representative of the company, will tell Sir Kyle only the truth. What I do not know, I truly do not know."

Lentz gave a bitter smile. Kyle rubbed his chin, lost in thought. He could understand wanting to resolve an accident of this scale personally without notifying headquarters, but bringing in outside personnel went beyond simply handling it quietly.

"If I accept this commission, I think the compensation will need to be revised significantly."

Kyle spoke up.

"If the Central Branch Head wants to keep this matter secret, they will need to offer enough to keep my mouth shut."

"Of course we will. May I take that to mean Sir Kyle is considering the commission favorably?"

"First, tell me exactly what I would be doing."

"There are two tasks."

Lentz tapped the tablet, and the screen completely changed.

Recovery or complete destruction of the Black Cube.

Rescue any survivors inside the Third Research Building, with the highest priority being the rescue of Armaments Bureau Head Aia Vernes.

"The first is obvious. The Black Cube must be dealt with. If recovery is possible, we would prefer that. Naturally, it is a research resource of our Armaments Bureau. But if recovery is difficult, please cut it with Baal and destroy it completely."

"Does the success fee differ between recovery and destruction?"

"Of course. If you successfully recover it, the success fee will be eighty billion sel. If you destroy it, it will be fifty billion sel. Recovery is far more valuable to us."

They spoke of tens of billions as though it were nothing. Kyle had grown up cherished by Alastor without ever worrying about money, and the resources he had received so far could fund a decent-sized city for a year, but hearing the figures stated outright gave them a different weight.

'The largest reward I ever received for a commission with the Crow Mercenary Band in my previous life was one billion.'

Even accounting for inflation, this was still an absurd amount.

"The second task is rescuing survivors. At the time the Third Research Building was swallowed, there were twenty researchers inside, excluding the Armaments Bureau Head. Besides them, there were ninety-five other workers. We will pay one billion sel per researcher, and fifty million sel for each of the others."

"Isn't there too much of a difference between those amounts?"

"Haha... the value of lives cannot help but differ. We are not a relief organization. They are all covered by company insurance as well."

Lentz casually added, "Ah, if you recover a body, we will pay ten million sel per person."

"Hah."

"To be honest, we do not expect there to be many survivors. Forty-three days have passed, and we do not know what has happened inside."

"What is the reward for rescuing the Armaments Bureau Head?"

"Ten billion sel."

Lentz smiled.

"Armaments Bureau Head Aia Vernes is worth that much. We do not know what state it is in there, but the Central Branch believes the Armaments Bureau Head is still alive."

Lentz changed the image. A woman's face appeared on the screen, with messy brown hair and faint freckles.

"She is Armaments Bureau Head Aia Vernes. She is the Central Branch's finest armament researcher, a talent difficult to replace in any branch."

"Is she really that valuable?"

"Yes. She is."

Lentz's smile disappeared.

"Like most geniuses, she is arrogant and stubborn. This accident happened because she insisted on bringing the Black Cube to the Central Branch, but she is someone we must save."

"I still do not understand why you would entrust the rescue of someone like that to an outsider like me."

"I agree."

Lentz cleared his throat and composed his expression.

"If Sir Kyle completes every part of the commission perfectly, the reward under the current contract would total one hundred fourteen billion, seven hundred fifty million sel. We will round it up neatly to one hundred fifteen billion sel."

"Can I discuss the confidentiality agreement separately with the Central Branch Head?"

"Yes, we can do that."

"You said the compensation could increase depending on the situation at the site."

"One of the Central Branch's elite combatants will enter alongside Sir Kyle. That combatant will personally judge the situation at the site, conscientiously."

"What if that combatant dies at the site?"

"If the situation is severe enough to kill that combatant, Sir Kyle will likely have difficulty returning alive as well."

"Then you are saying my life is worth one hundred fifteen billion sel. My life is not that cheap."

Kyle gave a short laugh. Lentz's expression stiffened.

"To ensure the worst does not happen, our branch will support Sir Kyle with everything we have. We will provide the highest-grade defensive equipment, and the agent entering with you will lay down their life for Sir Kyle."

"Hmm."

If this were a problem related to dark magic, there was no need to seek out Kyle. They could have asked clergy members who knew holy arts for help. Yet the Central Branch Head had bypassed both headquarters and the clergy to bring the commission to Kyle.

The implication was obvious. The goal was not to resolve the problem on their own. They wanted to test Kyle through this accident.

'Whether it's Baal, or me, that the Central Branch Head suspects is connected to the accident.'

Kyle could not tell which it was.

"I will need to discuss the increased compensation directly with the Central Branch Head, correct?"

Kyle rose from his chair with a smile.

"Let's meet the Central Branch Head first."

"Um... you may discuss the increased compensation with me..."

"No, I'll speak with the Central Branch Head directly."

Kyle gulped down the remaining tea in his cup and pointed at the closed door.

"Let's go to the Central Branch right now."

Footnotes:

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