LMOFSF 04

Episode 4 – The Contract

“Ugh… This is still kind of creepy.”

“Hmph…”

Emma and I arrived at the warehouse.

On the floor was… a huge symbol, once bright red but now stained a dark, dried crimson.
And in the middle of it was a plain longsword stuck into the ground.

I know what this is.

It was one of those black magic rituals I had seen countless times on the battlefield centuries ago—
the same kind those lunatics performed, screaming “Blood is the currency of the soul” and spilling it without pause.

Yes… this was—

“This is what those mad cultists used to summon an Avatar.”

“An Avatar?”

Ah—right, Emma was standing beside me.

“Ahem… Well, if I made the mess, I should be the one to clean it. Go get me some cleaning tools.”

“Oh, no! I’ll take care of it—”

“Emma. Please.”

“…Alright. But I’ll help too, so please wait a moment, young master.”

After sending her off, I looked around once more and shut the door.

A headache began to pound as I stared at the floor.

Was this the Duke’s doing?

Black magic cultists sometimes used spells that tampered with the mind… but no, unlikely.
If he was bold enough to do something like this openly, he wouldn’t have stayed quiet for so long.
Besides, I heard he only arrived after I had collapsed.

“Then who could it be?”

Could there have been another cultist survivor besides that Carter guy?

As far as I knew, the previous “Haun” had no ties to cultists.
He couldn’t even handle mana—let alone black magic.

“Too little information… Still, it looks like the ritual failed—”

[—It did not fail.]

The sudden voice made every nerve in my body tense.

No one else was in the warehouse.
Emma hadn’t returned yet.

Then… where was it coming from?

[At last…]

“…We’re finally alone.”

This time, the voice came right by my ear.

A cold touch wrapped around my neck from behind.
Black hair spilled like water over my shoulder.

She got this close without me noticing?

Even if my body was weak now, my mind was still the same as in my past life as Howard.
I shouldn’t have been caught off guard like this.

I quickly pulled the sword from the floor and stabbed it backward—

…Nothing?

The voice came again from behind me.

“You are cruel indeed. You left me for days, and when I finally spoke first, you try to stab me.”

I turned—and saw her.

A stranger stepping lightly onto the dark-red symbol.

Tall. Mature face.
A woman.

Seductive red eyes.
Black hair flowing like living tendrils.
A languid voice, like a bard singing of eternity.
A figure covered entirely in deep black garments.

Danger.

She’s dangerous.
Every instinct from my life as Howard screamed at me.

And that presence—yes…
It was the same power I had faced countless times on the battlefield centuries ago.

“…An Avatar!!”

“Oh, don’t interrupt. I was still speaking.”

I thrust the sword with all the strength my current body could muster—

—Shhk!

Got her—

But even with the blade driven into her, she spoke calmly.

“Let me correct you on one thing.”

Grabbing both the sword and my hand, she pushed the blade deeper into herself as she stepped closer.

“What?!”

The blade pierced straight through her body—
but no blood flowed.

“I am not one of those vulgar Avatars you call them.”

A shadow loomed over me.
She was close enough that I could feel her breath.

Maybe it was her clothing.
Maybe it was because every window in the warehouse was now covered.
But in that darkness, it felt like the shadow itself was smiling.

“I am Mυnο—Γη—ρα.”

“Ugh?!”

A shiver ran through my ears, like hearing something I shouldn’t.

“Kin of darkness. The winged night. And—”

Her lips curved in a crescent-moon smile.

“One of the true beings your kind calls Avatars.”

One of the originals—the beings the cult worshiped.

In my past life, even the most powerful mages feared a single Avatar…
and this was the real thing?

If she had hostile intent, I wouldn’t stand a chance.

—Tap.

“Your thoughts are plain to me.”

Her finger tapped my forehead, and my mind suddenly felt calm.

“I’m disappointed.”

Her face drew closer.

“I came all the way from the Void, yet in this life you faint from my presence… And when I wait until we’re alone out of courtesy, you stab me.”

She brushed a hand over the sword still stuck in her chest.

“Most of all… if I wished to harm you or your family, I would have done so already. Don’t you think?”

…Much as I hated to admit it, she was right.

Wait…

She said “this life”? Did she—

“You talk as if you know me from before.”

She smiled lightly.

“Of course. I’ve been watching you since that battlefield you called the Screaming War. Back then, your name was Howard, wasn’t it? Or should I say ‘Mercenary King’?”

Names long forgotten… spoken by someone I had never met.

Black strands of hair slid toward me like living things.

“Well? Are you willing to talk now?”

Her blood-red lips curved into a deep smile.

(The story continues with their negotiation and eventual contract…)