Spending My Retirement In A Game

Tension in the room was high. Van Horgh was protesting against the idea that Komer somehow had abilities related to the Goddess of Fate and had gone on one of his tantrums, as he tended to do quite a lot. Eisen's angered voice still stuck deep in the ears of every single envoy here, and nobody dared to say anything at all.

But the one to break the silence was Komer himself, who was ready to prove his abilities, "Now, now, there's no need to let things get so tense, is there? There are many people that don't believe in the validity of my abilities, so if you would like, I could try to prove it. With that, you would all also understand the importance of the treaty you are about to be put under."

Eisen looked over to Komer, slowly trying to clam himself down. He closed his eyes and slowly responded, "Yes, I think that would be a good idea. What does everyone say, should we allow Komer to show off his abilities?"

Looking around at the envoys, Eisen saw nothing but approval. Of course, since they were about to sign a treaty created through this young man's abilities, all of them wanted to properly understand what exactly they were dealing with here. So, Eisen quickly looked toward Komer and nodded, telling him to go ahead.

With that, Komer put aside the treaty that he had written up with his skills, and instead got out another small piece of paper. Eisen didn't see everything that was written on it, but it seemed to be a very simple contract.

Komer liked using these to show his abilities to new business partners. Contracts supported and practically enforced by the Goddess of Fate were a valuable ressource for a merchant and their business partners. It would ensure that neither party could break the terms of said contract without serious repercussions.

"This contract here is rather simple. For the next five minutes after signing, this contract will be active for all signors. It prohibits me from doing two things, and requires me to continuously do another, and each of those has different results if those terms are broken. One, I cannot say the colour purple. Two, I cannot attack anyone.

And three, I have to keep standing on one leg," Komer explained, "Based on the severity of the term that was broken, as well as the consequences of me breaking that term, certain things will happen. Now, I have to make it clear that this contract does not stop one from doing anything. I can still do any of those things freely, there will just be consequences."

Komer went around, making sure to show every envoy the contract so that they could confirm the terms for themselves, and then went back to Eisen. Komer got out his pen and quickly signed the contract and lifted his left leg off the ground.

"Now, let's go through these one by one. Let's start with the colour purple," Komer said, and immediately as the word left his mouth, ethereal hands of the contract enforcers were created in front of him, quickly pressing his mouth shut.

Though, after a few seconds, they disappeared again, but it was a surprise to everyone here nonetheless, "As you can see, whenever I say that word, I will be disallowed from speaking at all for up to five seconds."

"Can it be any punishment?" the Irngrad, the king of the giants, asked curiously, and Komer quickly smiled.

"Wonderful question, your Majesty. In fact, it can be any punishment, but it needs to fit the crime. Since, frankly, saying that word has no real consequences, I would not be able to tell it to knock me unconscious or even kill me. But I could certainly tell it to... pinch me.

Now, since the broken term was related to speaking, having the punishment be related to not being able to speak does increase the effect."

"Wait, you said it could kill you? Why would we ever sign such a contract?" one of the central continent's envoys asked, and Komer quickly looked at him.

"Don't worry, if 'killing' is not specified as a punishment, it will never happen. Plus, even then, the 'killing' punishment can only be used on people like you when they have done something comparable. For example, if a contract forbid you from killing, you could be killed after breaking it."

"People like us?" the same envoy asked, confused, and Komer quickly explained.

"Right, sorry. I am an Artificial. When I die, I... well, I get better again. Death is of less consequence to me than it is to you. So, an Artificial could meet the threshold of 'killing' after stealing something of a particular worth.

At the same time, killing an artificial on its own would be very unlikely for people like you to count enough toward the punishment threshold of being killed," he quickly explained, and it seemed like the envoys slowly came to understand some of the rules of Komer's abilities. So, he quickly continued.

"Now, let me show you something else. Eisen, if you will," Komer said, and Eisen sighed lightly, holding his arm toward the young man.

Quickly, Komer struck down at Eisen's arm, basically 'attacking' him. Of course, it really didn't do any damage, but that wasn't the important part. The moment he did, golden shackles appeared around both of Komer's wrists, forcing them together. They disappeared after a few seconds as well. And then, Komer pulled out a knife from his pocket.

Some of the envoys flinched, seeing him carry a weapon, but Eisen just groaned quietly and motioned Komer to go ahead. And then, he quickly stabbed the knife into Eisen's arm.

"Ouch," the old man said almost emotionlessly. It did hurt a bit, though it really wasn't more than a pinch to him. Right then, more shackles appeared around Komer's body, not just his wrist. His neck, wrists, upper arms, thighs and even ankles. Though, he was bound together in a way where he still could stand on one leg.

"As you can see," Komer started, "The severity of the punishment scales with the severity of the crime, as I already explained just now. However, I want you to pay attention to something else. My right leg is still raised. The punishments of the contract can never force you to break another term of a a contract enforced through these abilities.

That means terms within the same contract, and terms in other contracts created through my abilities."

The shackles soon disappeared, and Komer looked at the people in front of him, "Now, what you need to know is that intent matters here. If a contract stops you from killing someone, ordering or paying others to kill them for you counts just the same. So you can't play any tricks and feign ignorance in the future to get what you want out of the treaty.

The intent of the contract is what is important here."

The envoys seemed to all be thinking for a few moments, until the Irngrad asked a question, "And who exactly is it that's determining that intent?"

"The Goddess of Fate herself," Komer responded immediately, "As you know, she rules over the domain of contracts as well, so she is practically the expert on such matters. Wouldn't you agree?" he looked over toward Van Horgh with a smile. The archpriest was completely silent the whole time.

The moment the contract was confirmed, and throughout the 'punishments', the holy power of the Goddess of Fate was extremely evident, so him and the other envoys from the holy empire must have realized that Komer was telling the truth immediately. Enjoy exclusive chapters from m-v l'e|-NovelBin.net

Slowly, Van Horgh nodded, "... If the Goddess of Fate is the arbiter of the contract, then it will be the most fair it could ever be."

"Then it should be settled, right?" Komer said with a broad smile, "Is anyone here still unwilling to sign the treaty?"

"Not unwilling, however... what form will the punishment created by that power take in this case?" the Irngrad wondered, and Komer looked at him after taking a deep breath, trying to find the right words.

"If any involved party breaks the terms of the contract, a number of Enforcers will be summoned by the side of the ruler of every country, state, or clan currently represented here.

Due to the scale of this 'contract', they will be able to act independently to some degree, and through the will of the Goddess of Fate, will ensure that the punishment agreed upon by yourselves in this treaty, such as sanctions, declarations of war, or any other means of pressuring the remaining parties, are enacted thoroughly."

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