Chapter 14 - Exclusive contract? Are you an idiot? (Patreon)

When I sat down at an empty table, the people seated at nearby tables looked at me. I glanced at them and nodded. After greeting them, I remained silent and waited for my food.

“Mmm…”

I began humming in my head while I waited, as I was getting quite bored.

Then, after a few minutes, something was placed on my table. However, it wasn’t my takeout food. What was placed there was a sheet of paper with several things written on it.

The one who put it there was a man as tall as me, but more muscular.

“God Eryk, may we talk for a moment?” The man had a threatening expression. Have I seen this guy before? I don’t remember ever seeing his face. Who the hell is he, and what does he want with me?

“Ah, of course.” I smiled, trying to be polite.

The man smiled back and sat down. The people around us began to look uneasy. Is this guy famous or something?

I hope he’s not a troublemaker.

“I’d like you to take a look at this first.” I picked up the paper the man had placed on the table, and then he tossed a pen toward me. “Read it first, then decide whether you’ll sign it or not.”

The man had a huge smile plastered across his face. He seems confident that I’ll sign it.

Let’s see…

I began reading. Since I read very fast, I finished reading everything in less than two minutes. In short, it was a contract—a very advantageous one for me, at that. If I were in need of money…

Basically, it was an exclusivity contract. He wanted me to forge weapons only for him in exchange for an enormous amount of money. Is this guy just a muscle-brained idiot? I don’t even need this money.

I make far more money selling weapons and equipment to all the Familias in Orario.

Why is he so confident that I’ll agree to something this absurd!?

“I can’t sign this,” I said, looking straight at him. Despite being a very strong Level Five adventurer, I can’t accept something like this. He’s Level Five and I’ve never seen him before. Surprising.

“Huh? Why not?” The man’s expression changed.

“It’s an exclusivity contract. I can’t do that. If it were just a request for a single weapon, I could sign it, but in this case, it’s impossible.” I tried to behave as respectfully as possible, though I really wanted to call him an idiot.

“I see. Am I not good enough?”

“Huh?”

“Am I not good enough for this contract? If it were Ottar, would you accept?”

Why is he suddenly bringing Ottar into this?

“Of course not. I would never sign an exclusivity contract with anyone. My job is to provide weapons for all the Familias in Orario. I don’t want to favor anyone.”

“I see…” The man looked deeply disappointed—almost like a child.

“I may not sign an exclusivity contract, but I can make an exclusive weapon for you. Write a new contract so I can take a look.” Since he didn’t seem like a bad person, I decided to say that.

The man became very happy, and the people around us were surprised by my words.

“Alright, thank you!” The man left the table, and shortly after, my food arrived.

“Here’s your takeout order.”

“Thank you, Syr,” I replied, paying her with the money I had taken before leaving the mansion.

Syr seemed like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t.

I left the restaurant carrying a large amount of food.

####

When I arrived at the mansion carrying the food, it was already quite late. There weren’t many Familia members walking around the house at that time. When I reached the bedroom, I opened the door and found Hephaestus still lying on the bed, asleep.

“She’s still sleeping? Was she really that tired?”

I sighed and placed the food on the small table in the room before heading to the bed. I went to the side of the bed and crouched down, bringing my face close to Hephaestus’s.

She smells so nice.

We use the same soap, but she smells much better than I do.

“Hephaestus, hey,” I called her, but she didn’t wake up.

So I touched her cheek and gently squeezed it. “Hey, Hephaestus. Let’s eat,” I said.

Finally, she opened her eyes.

When her eyes met mine, her lips curved into a smile.

“What is it? Do you want to kiss me that badly? ~~” Still sleepy, Hephaestus wrapped her arms around me and pulled me onto the bed. She stole my lips and invaded my mouth with her tongue. After we kissed passionately for a few seconds, I spoke.

“I came to call you to eat. Aren’t you hungry?” I smiled wryly.

“Hm? Eat? What time is it?”

“It’s almost ten at night. It’s late. I went out and bought food for both of us.”

“You bought it? Weren’t the cooks awake?”

“She looked very tired, so I told her to go rest. I bought food from the Hostess of Fertility—don’t you like their food?”

“I do.” Hephaestus let go of me and stood up. She noticed the food on the small table and said, “You should have taken it to our private dining room. The bedroom will smell like food now.”

“Who cares? It smells great.”

Hephaestus walked over and smelled the food. “That’s true, it smells great.”

After that, she went to the bathroom and washed her face.

We went to our private dining room, and I served the food.

There were two huge servings of meat with potatoes.

We ate while talking, and I told her about the exclusivity offer I had received.

“An exclusivity contract? Hahaha, is he an idiot or something?” She couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

“I thought the same thing. In the end, I said I’d make a weapon for him as long as he paid a fair price. That guy—do you know him?” I described his appearance to Hephaestus.

“I’ve never seen him before.”

“Strange… He’s a very strong adventurer.”

He really was strong—I could feel it.

It’s surprising that he isn’t a famous adventurer.

“Well, as long as you don’t go overboard, it’s fine. I don’t want you creating an overly powerful weapon for someone I don’t know.”

“Alright, alright.”