Chapter 552: Bookbinder
“Well, let’s eat something and calm down.”
With that, he served wine and freshly baked bread. Next came pumpkin soup and an orange salad. The main dish was roast duck accompanied by mashed potatoes and roasted red chicory.
The red chicory was grown on the island. Chicory, red chicory, cabbage, lettuce, and butter lettuce were all thriving.
The napa cabbage, on the other hand, seemed to have exploded open. It was so spread out that it looked like a giant leaf button stuck to the ground. Unlike lettuce, which doesn’t have much impact even if it doesn’t roll up nicely, an open napa cabbage certainly makes a statement.
“You can’t calm down, can you? This incident means that all contracts are now questionable, right? If this spreads, the credibility of contracts will be in jeopardy!”
She gulped down the wine I poured with a roughness that matched her words.
“It hasn’t spread yet?”
“By chance, I had a Spirit monitoring the situation when it happened.”
Haulon, having slightly calmed down from his earlier fervor, placed his wine glass on the table with a soft thud.
So, he was monitoring it for Dinoss and the others?
“What did the monitoring Spirit say?”
“Nothing in particular.”
Thank you, Spirit.
“This is a deviation from the original contract, and since I had to renegotiate the contract to gather information after the commotion, it’s a bit concerning.”
He sighed.
Perhaps the wine had whetted his appetite, as Haulon picked up a spoon and began to sip the soup. I served myself the same dishes and nibbled on the salad.
“Why not just ask the Spirit what happened?”
“Normally, it’s not that convenient. Besides, usually, you can’t converse fluently with Spirits.”
He shot me a pointed look. Sorry, I just thought Haulon could do what I could.
“If a strong Spirit interferes and nullifies a contract, you can tell because the medium—like the contract itself—would burn or break. But in this case, the medium is intact, yet the content has changed. That’s terrifying, right?”
“Ah, if it’s not immediately obvious, I’d have to read through everything to check it…”
“Exactly. There are people in the Temple and the royal palace whose job it is to check the state of books every day, but they don’t read the contents in detail.”
“It sounds like there’s a small library.”
“There actually is. Small merchants and the Adventurer’s Guild are different, but contracts from nobles and large merchants are numerous and often long-term.”
I didn’t know about the small merchants, but contracts in the Adventurer’s Guild tend to be shorter than the periods when Spirits start their pranks.
That’s why they use a method of storing them one by one in drawers. Not exactly drawers, but shelves with lots of boards that can be pulled out, or deep drawers where they’re stored vertically with dividers. The chances of contracts burning or failing are higher, so they avoid binding them.
Contracts from countries or large merchants likely span years, so they have no choice but to bind them into books. That sounds like a hassle.
“Even if you seem calm, your contract might become invalid too, you know? Tomorrow, I might start revealing your secrets to the Authorities.”
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“I never expected much from the contract itself. In the world I came from, contracts had legal binding but no magical constraints.”
“Legal systems differ from country to country. They can change on a whim.”
Haulon looked at me wide-eyed.
I could understand her surprise, but it can’t be helped. In this world, even large nations can suddenly enact strange laws. In smaller places, it all depends on the Lord, and of course, laws vary by country, making it difficult to cross borders casually. Many places will arrest you just for stepping into their territory.
In such a context, contracts involving Spirits are absolute, completely disregarding laws and other matters. In Japan, there are things that take precedence over what’s written in contracts.
“Oh, I almost forgot. I’ll nullify the contract with Haulon too. I can do that from my side, right?”
“The contract can stay as it is. At least until you can keep yourself hidden from the Hero, you might accidentally confront him.”
She winked at me.
“What about you, Haulon? How do you handle your contracts?”
“I bind them properly into books. I’ve managed to recruit a good bookbinder for the country, but I handle my personal ones myself. —Oh, this duck is delicious.”
So, there really is a difference in the quality of bookbinders. When a book is beautifully made, Spirits can attach themselves more easily, protecting it from damage and making the content a bit sturdier. Now that I think about it, I did find a book with a Spirit attached to it when I was looking for magical tomes.
“Should I hire a bookbinder too?”
“Are your contracts increasing? If you increase the number of people who know what you’re doing, Retze and Dinoss will start to worry.”
Haulon said.
“No, it’s just that I’m trying to catch the names of the Spirits.”
It seems like the name registry at the House and the Island Tower is filling up faster.
“…You’re probably the only one who can bind that.”