Future Diary Survival Game-Chapter 94 : Contract Guarantee - 2

Chapter 94: Contract Guarantee - 2
Edgar had yet to be fully resurrected.
He was still paying the heavy price for shielding Louis from my blood the last time.
His condition was such that his bones and muscles were visible before his skin had even regenerated.
Louis was holding the dying Edgar’s head on her lap.
“Ugh.”
Aina couldn’t help but let out a sound of disgust at the unpleasant sight.
Louis’s head turned at that sound.
Terror soon filled her eyes.
“Ugh. Again……”
She hurriedly pulled out a teleportation bead from her bosom.
Before Louis could flee, I quickly opened my mouth.
“Wait. I didn’t come here this time to kill you.”
“……”
“I have something to say to Edgar. Wake him up.”
“Wake him up? You’re saying that after seeing the state he’s in?”
“Oh my. How did he end up looking like that?”
“You did that to him!”
I picked at my ear casually.
In truth, I was trying to appear nonchalant, but I was actually a little surprised inside.
‘Just three days, and he’s already at that level? His recovery speed has increased.’
Did he perhaps gain some resistance to my blood too?
Of course, I didn’t let that show and simply said,
“Yeah. I did that.”
“Ugh.”
“And the reason I did that was because you tried to take my companions away from me.”
“That was Lady Magireta’s order……”
“Then it’s all Magireta’s fault. Let’s go with that and move on, yeah?”
Louis bit her lip but didn’t respond otherwise.
At least she didn’t seem to be planning on running away immediately.
She must’ve realized that fleeing again and again would be meaningless since we also had teleportation beads—
just like how I’d realized that chasing endlessly was equally meaningless.
Then Armelia spoke up.
“If you care for him that much, why not transform into me and use the Light of Healing?”
“I can’t use that strange ability of yours. Didn’t Mason tell you that?”
“He did.”
“Then why……”
“I just wanted to mock you a little. It worked quite well.”
Our dear Princess had grown a lot.
Then it happened.
“Cough. Ugh.”
Edgar opened his eyes—just in time.
Only his right eye had barely finished forming.
He rolled that single eye around before fixing it on us.
“These days, we seem to meet like this quite often.”
“Did you sleep well?”
“What is it this time? Come to kill me again?”
“If you even look like you’re about to run, you’ll keep fleeing endlessly anyway. I came today to make you a proposal.”
“Let’s hear it.”
I scratched my head.
“I’ll be blunt. Don’t take first place in the next quest.”
“……”
“I’m saying—risk your life if you must, but make sure you ‘miss’ the first place.”
“I see. The first-place reward you bought on credit must be an item from the next quest then.”
Still sharp as ever.
Edgar chuckled and continued.
“It was a sack that replicates objects, wasn’t it? You’ve received quite the fine item in advance.”
“Then you should understand why I’m making this request, right?”
“Yes. You’re trying to make a backdoor deal with your rival before the game begins. I’d say that’s cheating.”
“I don’t really have the intention to play fair anyway.”
Instead of laughing, he coughed up blood.
Aina, growing impatient, spoke.
“Can you answer as briefly and clearly as possible?”
“No.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to kill you.”
“Then I’ll just run away first. Let’s not repeat the same conversation.”
“……”
“Now that I have a bead, there’s no reason for me to get splashed with Mason’s blood again. I refuse to feel that disgusting sensation anymore.”
Aina growled furiously in frustration.
Meanwhile, Edgar continued calmly.
“Besides, I don’t even see the point of this conversation. It sounds odd coming from me, but even if I agree, I could just break that promise later, couldn’t I?”
“Huh?”
“What’s with that reaction?”
“That’s surprising. I didn’t think you wouldn’t notice.”
Truly unexpected.
Not only Edgar and Louis, but even our group had confused looks on their faces.
Without further explanation, I raised my voice.
“Magireta!”
“You know you sometimes forget to call me ‘sister,’ right?”
“Sister.”
“Too late.”
“How have you been?”
As always, Magireta appeared as though she’d been there from the very beginning.
She replied to my overly polite tone with exasperation.
“What’s with that submissive tone again? What favor do you want this time?”
“Please act as a guarantor.”
“What kind of guarantee?”
“There must be one among the hidden rules, right?”
Magireta closed her lips tightly.
Meanwhile, Edgar looked utterly shocked.
He spoke with a trembling voice.
“There’s something like that among the hidden rules? No way……”
“Right? That’s what I thought too. How could someone who’s joined the game five times not know that?”
“……”
“Or maybe you did know, but the memory was erased?”
A strangled sound escaped Edgar’s lips.
Berseum hurriedly asked,
“What do you mean, Edgar’s memory was erased?”
“You brothers were asleep, so you wouldn’t know. But during the Doppelgänger incident last time, Edgar hadn’t been fully resurrected. He was in about the same condition as now.”
“……”
“But right before I dealt with Louis in Bucklet Forest, he suddenly appeared like some prince from a fairy tale, riding in to save her.”
“I recall that story—you told us before. So that means……”
I nodded.
“I believe he made a deal with Magireta and was instantly resurrected from his near-death state. The price he paid might have been his memory of the hidden rules he’d discovered in the past.”
“……!”
“In that case, it makes sense that Edgar, who’s participated in the game five times, doesn’t know about the rule of ‘guarantee.’”
And it wasn’t just any memory—it was about the hidden rules.
Considering how highly Magireta valued her game, that kind of price could’ve easily been enough for a ‘complete resurrection’ from my blood.
Well, though he ended up like this again after being splashed with it once more.
Then Edgar spoke.
“You really are perceptive.”
“Thanks. From the look of it, not all your memories were erased…… Which specific rule did you give up?”
“How could I possibly remember that now? If I did, it wouldn’t have been a price I paid, would it?”
“Hmm. Fair point.”
At those words, Louis’s eyes welled with tears.
“Arcane…… you did all that for me.”
I already knew it, but Louis looked completely entranced by Edgar’s charm.
That poor creature—what was I supposed to do with her?
Clap.
At that moment, Magireta clapped her hands to draw everyone’s attention.
“You two can have your chat somewhere else. I have something to ask my little brother.”
“What is it?”
“Where did you get the inspiration for this hidden rule?”
“Inspiration? Nothing like that. It’s something I tried once during the first quest.”
The self-introduction from the First Quest.
Back then, to dispel Berseum’s suspicion, I had asked Magireta to act as a guarantor.
The content was that if Berseum ever sold our professions to others, she would take both mine and Armelia’s lives in exchange.
“But that time, it wasn’t a guarantee for a deal between me and my brother. That’s probably why you didn’t explain that hidden rule back then.”
“……”
“The precise content of this hidden rule should be something like this.”
—Magireta can act as a ‘guarantor for a deal between participants.’
The deal didn’t have to be made only with Magireta.
Participants could make deals with each other too.
And if my intuition was correct, then any deal guaranteed by Magireta would...
“Carry force, right? If you stand as the guarantor.”
“Hehe. Correct. If a deal made under my name collapses because one of you breaks it, that’d be troublesome. It would ruin my image.”
“Ah, yes. Your image.”
“If one side betrays the other and a loss seems inevitable, I’ll first use my omnipotence to compensate for that loss. Then, of course, I’ll demand proper repayment from the one who caused it.”
In short, if Magireta acted as the guarantor, the deal would be one hundred percent binding.
Good.
“Then I’ll make my request right away.”
“Hold it.”
Edgar stopped me.
“I haven’t said I’d accept the deal yet.”
“……”
“You’ve only made a one-sided demand. If I’m to give up first place in the next game, what are you offering in return?”
“What else? It’s obvious.”
I lowered my voice.
“In the quest where you used your Credit Right—next time, I’ll yield first place to you.”
At that, my companions all gasped.
Armelia flapped her hand subtly.
I understood the signal and gripped the Diary Book.
[Yes, Your Highness. Do you wish to say something?]
[You—y-you actually noticed?]
[We’ve known each other long enough, haven’t we?]
[Hmm. Anyway, are you sure about this? You’re basically throwing away your chance to send Edgar to hell.]
[Calm down and watch. The negotiation’s just begun.]
Sure enough, Edgar soon replied.
“That’s somewhat tempting, but I must decline.”
“Why?”
“Because you have companions. Even if Mason himself yields first place, it won’t count as breaking the deal if one of your companions takes first instead.”
As expected, he caught on to that.
I’d predicted he would see that far.
I shrugged.
“By that logic, you’re the same. You have Louis as your companion—”
“My wife.”
“Right. Since you have your wife, how about this? Let’s add a condition that neither of our companions can take first place either.”
“Hm.”
His arm twitched.
Was he trying to stroke his chin?
Of course, his arm hadn’t recovered enough to move yet.
After some time, Edgar spoke.
“That’s fine, but… just in case, let’s add one more condition.”
“Go ahead.”
“Each game involves dozens or even hundreds of people. If it’s you, you could probably make ordinary participants take first place.”
“……”
“So, not only you and your companions—make sure the ordinary participants you play with can’t take first either.”
“Sure. If you do the same.”
“Agreed.”
Good.
He was sharp enough, but it seemed he hadn’t noticed my final trap.
Though calling it a trap was generous—it was more of an insurance clause.
Then Magireta spoke.
“Alright, let’s make it official and draft a contract.”
Snap.
When she snapped her fingers, the familiar Bulletin Board appeared.
<Conditions of Mason Gear>
Edgar Tyler yields first place to Mason Gear in the quest where the first-place reward is the “Replication Sack.”
Edgar Tyler must also prevent his companions from taking first place in the above quest.
Edgar Tyler must also prevent the ordinary participants playing with him from taking first place in the above quest.
<Conditions of Edgar Tyler>
Mason Gear yields first place to Edgar Tyler in the quest where the first-place reward is “Shoes.”
Mason Gear must also prevent his companions from taking first place in the above quest.
Mason Gear must also prevent the ordinary participants playing with him from taking first place in the above quest.
If either party fails to meet these conditions or intentionally avoids them, the guarantor Magireta shall fulfill them in their stead.
Furthermore, the party who violates the contract shall pay an appropriate price.
Below the board were both my name and Edgar’s.
Magireta said,
“Sign it.”
“I didn’t bring anything to sign with.”
“Just write your name—it’ll do.”
I wrote my name with my index finger.
Since Edgar’s arm hadn’t recovered enough to lift, he turned to Louis.
“Louis, could you help lift my arm?”
“Arcane, are you really sure about this?”
“Yes. It’s a shame to lose my chance to take down Mason, but this contract guarantees my safety in return.”
“Alright… if that’s what you want, Arcane.”
She held up Edgar’s arm for him.
With trembling fingers, Edgar wrote his name.
Then, the Bulletin Board vanished.
Magireta gave a wicked smile.
“Good. The contract’s valid under my guarantee. You’d both better not entertain any funny thoughts.”
“……”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll be going. See you in the next quest.”
Swoosh.
Magireta’s figure disappeared.
Of course, I had no more business here either.
Just as I signaled my party to leave, Edgar’s voice came.
“By the way, which quest has the shoes as the reward?”
“As if I’d tell you that.”
“A pity. I should’ve added that as a condition in the contract.”
“It’s too late to back out now.”
“That’s not what I meant. It’s just…”
His gaze deepened.
“I can’t shake the feeling that you’re hiding something.”
“……”
“You don’t strike me as the kind of man to throw away a chance to eliminate me.”
I only responded with a smile.
That was something he should’ve said before signing.