Chapter 304

Chapter 304

The agreement with the Dark Spirits went more smoothly than I expected.

The contract emits a faint beam of light as the last Elder signs it.

"Ah, that's it."

The contract, made of monster byproducts and magic stones, began to take effect.

"I don't have to explain to spirits what the contract means, do I?"

-Yes, I understand. We will treat the organization known as Corleone as a contractor and perform your duties accordingly. Everything else is part of being a member of the organization, right?

"Exactly, and as long as you stick to that, you'll be fine."

The spirits are a race that takes contracts very seriously.

The Elementalists are also bound by a contract with the spirits, so it's not surprising that they would see it as a matter of course, but the contract I'm holding is a contract that is directly imprinted on their souls.

With this, no matter what they do, they will never be able to break the contract.

"Welcome to Corleone, Black Hand, Don of the Darkness Family."

Before coming here, I had already inherited the right to appoint a new Don from my father.

With this, the cave is no longer just a lair of dark spirits, but the home of the Darkness Family under Corleone.

-Will this......improve our situation a bit?

Black Hand looks in my direction with a bitter smile.

I smiled back at it and replied.

"Don't you people realize what it means to be under a contract with Corleone?"

-......Yes?

Well, let me give you a quick reminder.

"Any attack on you will be considered an attack on Corleone, which means that at that moment we will begin retaliating against the attacker with the favor of Corleone branches around the world."

This is why the Corleone call themselves a family.

No mercy is shown to those who cross them.

"From the moment you signed the contract, you are Corleone. We will support you as you deserve, and you will never have to worry about resources. If you ever need to venture out into society, contact us, and we'll make sure you do it in style rather than sneaking around."

As I began to explain the other benefits of being a member of the Corleone, I could see Black Hand's eyes widen.

"And again......what's with the look on your face?"

-You mean that it offers so much?

"Sure. Of course, you'll have to fulfill your duties as a member of the Corleone family, but that part was covered in the contract, right?"

Black Hand nodded in response to my question.

The parts I mentioned were roughly about serving Don Corleone as their godfather and always responding to the call of Corleone. Compared to the support received by the Darkness Family, well...they were certainly better terms.

"Then we have one last step."

-You mean the final procedure......?

"Your true name. I haven't gotten your real name yet. I don't think it's necessary for us to have a spirit question and answer session, but it's good to know for our mutual trust."

The names that are required to be exchanged in a contract with a spirit.

Even though it's not a contract between spirits, it would be convenient to know each other's real names.

As if it hadn't occurred to him, Black Hand let out a smirk and dropped to one knee.

-Surely, I hadn't thought of that, this is a contract.

"Don't worry, I don't intend to enslave you just because I know your true name. By the way, the old man and Dulchan, can you both cover your ears for a moment, this is pretty important."

"Yes!"

"How bright this old man's ears are......."

Only when I was sure that the two of them were completely deafened by Aura did he bow to me and reveal his true name.

-My real name is Umbra. I hope to serve you well in the future.

"Eugene Han Corleone. I'll take care of you too."

With that, the contract was complete.

"Okay, so we have a contract. Now let's contact the outside."

The old man, realizing that the important part of our contract was over, removed his hands from his ears and asked me.

"Huh? How do you expect to make contact from here, by flying a pigeon?"

Apparently he didn't understand the idea of communicating from here, where the dense enchantment prevented even a phone from working, let alone a machine.

"Oh, well, a scientist I sponsor recently developed something, and I thought I'd give it a try."

With that, I pulled out a smartphone with an oddly decorated case.

It was an accessory called a ‘Mana Radio Transmission Device'.

"But is it okay to keep feeding him lettuce?"

"It's the biggest lettuce head of lettuce I have in the house......and he likes it, so that's good."

Lettuce is good, hmm.

Black Hand, who let out a languid laugh at the sight, stepped back and bowed to us.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, but if there's anything you need, please──"

Just then, a bright light began to shine through the window in the room.

Wait, a bright light?

I scrambled out of bed and looked out the window.

In the distance I saw a bright red glow, even though it was a dark forest where light shouldn't exist.

"......that."

-Deeng, deeng, deeng, deeng, deeng, deeng, deeng, deeng.

Alarm bells begin to ring around them.

-Attack!

-Children and women, get underground!

I crack my knuckles and sigh, realizing that the town is in an uproar.

"I guess it's time to fulfill the contract as soon as we made it."

"What? Do......I have to get up too?"

The old man who just got out of bed makes a pained sound like he's bothered.

"It's okay, I'll go by myself."

"Whatever~ Ehhhhh."

After hearing that I’m going to go alone, the old man relaxes back into bed.

-Ho, you'll be okay by yourself?

"That's enough. So, what's this about now? Are attacks usually this frequent?"

I follow Black Hand as it heads out of the cave, asking about the current situation.

-No, they've never raided us like this before. They just set the forest on fire out of nowhere.......

"I'm guessing it's because I ransacked the elixir cultivation facility."

-......Yes?

"I took out a few earth spirits there. I'm guessing they're here for revenge......I'll have to show them their place."

Already outside the cave, the spirits were lined up, ready for battle.

They were at least mid-level spirits, judging by the aura of each one of them.

It was enough to wipe out any guild in an instant.

-Black Hand, there are quite a few of them!

At that moment, a spirit with a burning robe approached and began to report the current situation.

-The enemies are a small battalion of flame elementals, around 40 in number. Every single one of them appears to be at least a mid-tier elemental!

Luckily, the forces here should be able to drive them off without any problems.

-They've been setting fires and fleeing, but the flames are making it very difficult to locate them, let alone chase them!

They're not fighting an all-out war, they're just setting fires.

Black Hand grinds his teeth and swings his arms in frustration at the report.

"Everyone except for a few will follow me! First, surround them on both sides and push them out of the forest! Meanwhile, the rest will use their magic to control the flames and prevent them from spreading!"

The order of Black Hand is not wrong.

If we try to control the flames, they'll just keep starting them, so we need to drive them out first.

Of course, since I'm here, there's a better way.

"Okay, ignore the fire and follow me. I'll wipe them out in one fell swoop."

From far away, a pillar of fire lit up the Black Forest.

It was gradually expanding, emitting brighter and brighter light.

-If we ignore the fire, we may lose the forest itself!

Black Hand tried to stop me, as if to say no.

"Don't worry about that."

I snapped my fingers and smiled.

"I'm a master at playing with fire."

At that moment──The massive pillar of fire that had illuminated the forest was plunged into darkness.