A series of contracts

Chapter 8

Elim looked up at me, scared but determined, and I admired that. I thought he was a little dumb for it too, but I was keeping that bit to myself. He wanted to save lives even if it meant allying himself with obvious evil. That wasn’t the sort of compromise a normal person would have been willing to make. The mountain of “deal with the devil” stories that existed in fiction aside. Those all centered around personal gain, not sacrifice.

The only problem was that I didn’t have an easy answer for what to do. I could make potions by the gallon with enough mana but purging a water table wasn’t feasible. Not without some horrendously detailed maps and more time than I had. There might have been a solution with the science of my old world, but I hadn’t been someone who studied it.

My knowledge was a shallow kind that didn’t include virology or engineering. Just what I’d read about in random articles or watched on less than accurate tv shows. My knowledge of magic for my new world wasn’t any deeper. I knew it existed and I could buy quite a few items from my store that utilized it, but that was all.

“Okay, I’m going to offer you a deal. If you accept it then we’ll proceed with negotiating the next step,” I said, filling out a quick pact. Trust was a thing earned and this would be a good foundation.

Pact

In exchange for your oath to do me no harm, I swear the same to you. Neither of us will work to bring harm to the other through action or inaction. We both will work to prevent any harm we know of, so long as it is reasonable and does not risk our own life.

The protection of this pact extends to all your kin and loved ones. This protection shall last until the end of the lifetime of your great-grandchildren.

In exchange for this, you will receive four healing potions and payment of ten gold coins.

I felt like it was a basic non-aggression pact that would serve both our interests. Neither of us would be able to harm the other. I'd also given up the ability to harm his loved ones for at least a hundred years or so. It would be a bonus if it let him feel more at ease about my intentions.

He read the contract four times. His brows knitting whenever he got to the bottom section where the rewards were listed. He touched what I assumed was the tooltip for the potions each time and on the fourth, he looked up at me.

“Why three different potions that cover such disparate conditions?” he asked.

“You said your mother was sickly, I gave you potions that would cover all of the potential causes,” I said, not sure why he had an issue with it.

“You think it isn’t a sickness?” Elim replied, still not seeming to get it. I realized that I was expecting too much from him. Even my shallow pool of tv drama’s and half-remembered biology classes was borderline sage level. At least compared with an everyday person in a medieval-ish world. Given the use of magic the local level of practical knowledge might have been lower.

“It might be, but it’s also possible that something wrong with her… constitution?” I said, trying to think of how to describe a metabolic issue and failing “Or a dysfunction of the organs.”

“Wouldn’t those have claimed her as a child?” he asked, and I searched my brain for an answer that wasn’t eighty percent assumptions.

“I don’t know for sure since I can’t assess her from here. It could still be a disease, but if it’s not, then there are plenty of reasons it might not have shown up until she was older. It might not have been as severe but was there when she was younger. Or it could have been aggravated by some change in her lifestyle. Those only apply if it is inborn. If it wasn’t, something could have caused it later,” I replied, and his eyes went wide.

“When you say it, it seems simple,” He said with a thoughtful expression once he’d absorbed it. “yet even the divine healers said nothing of the sort. Only that she was beyond their help.”

“Well, what happens when divine healing fails? Do they get… a revelation of why?” I asked. I was uncertain of how magic worked in general, let alone for a specific type.

“No, no they do not. The afflicted simply do not improve,” Elim said, looking surprised again then unhappy as he mulled over the.

“Uhm, how does healing even work? Do they have to ask for something specific or does it heal anything wrong?” I asked, trying to figure out why they hadn’t been able to help. It could have been an issue of their ability vs the severity of the condition, but I didn’t know.

“They pray to the gods for a type of healing of a certain strength… so if it’s wrong or too weak, they wouldn’t know?” Elim wondered rhetorically. I lowered down and patted him on the shoulder, feeling bad for how shitty that revelation must feel. A good number of people had probably died because they asked for the wrong type of healing in the past.

I knew I’d made a mistake the second my hand touched down, which was far too late. Elim reacted as if I’d bitten him, and scuttled sideways to the corner of the room. Surprised I reared up, my head hitting the ceiling of the room. Breathing hard he stared, and I looked back, not upset so much as confused.

“Elim-” I started but in the next moment he was prostrating himself on the floor, nose to stone.

“I apologize!” He said, panicked, and I felt like an idiot. I scared him, I knew that. Now he thought he’d offended me. I’d gotten used to talking to him semi-normally and made such a basic mistake.

“Sit again, or whatever you want to do. I’ll move.” I said and moved back down to a hovering height that was like an adult standing. He was slow to respond but took up his original seat again while I went and hovered in the doorway.

Feeling self-conscious, I abandoned that spot and moved back into the hallway. Stalin and the lady hound were nearby and giving me pitying looks. They’d both had to convince me to reveal myself and now here I was, back in the hall hiding. I knew it was silly, I was a literal monster, but the way he’d reacted had hurt.

“Mistress?” Elim called and I peeked around the corner immediately only to flinch back. I didn’t want to surprise him a second time. A moment later the contract I’d sent him registered as accepted.

“I apologize for my behavior. I was lost in thought and you startled me,” Elim said graciously and I looked around the edge of the doorway once more.

“It's fine, I should have respected your personal spa-” I felt a heavy hit from behind. The pattering sound that proceeded it making sense as one of the hounds headbutted me in the ass. Pushed back into the room I floundered for a moment until I realized I Elim was laughing.

“I’m sorry! It's just-” he couldn’t contain himself and I had a hard time resisting the urge to pout. In the doorway, Stalin and the lady hound were peeking only to retreat when I looked. Negative two to the dungeon mistress’s dignity confirmed. My assessment reinforced by the sound of laughter in the hall. When I turned back Elim was more composed and kneeling.

“I’ve been rude to you twice, I apologize mistress. It was unbecoming,” He said, looking positively knightly. I felt like he would have been a troublesome kid to raise since it seemed hard to get mad at him.

“Apology accepted,” I said, a little reluctant since my pride was still bruised.

“Getting back to the main point. I don’t have a solid plan, so I’d like you to become my agent. If we work together, I believe we can get the information we need to solve this,” I admitted my lack of an answer bluntly. It was a gamble but I hoped he’d be game to work with me still. Even without the threat of plague, having someone to do research and explore on my behalf would make my life much easier.

“You wish for me to be your sla-” Elim stopped mid-sentence. I wasn’t sure why, but it didn’t bother me since I was focused on what he’d been about to say.

“‘Employee’; I’m going to offer you a job. One you can quit if you want to, at any time,” I said and he nodded, eyes still a bit round.

“What?” I asked, realizing something was off.

“When you’re mad, your orbs get larger and burn brighter,” Elim said, pasting on a nervous smile.

“Oh? I wasn’t aware… About slavery, I hate it utterly,” I said, my feelings on the point vivid. I hadn’t come from a world without it. It had still existed even in supposed first world nations, tucked away in places like prisons. Knowing its effects and the moral decay that had to exist to allow it to continue was the root of my hatred.

“Glad we agree on that,” Elim said and I nodded. It was good that we did, and out of curiosity, I checked his alignment. I was certain I’d done it early but couldn’t remember the result after all the excitement. It was LG which I assumed stood for lawful good. As I looked at it the acronym disappeared to be replaced by the full words. A curious change but not terribly important.

“So, you intend to employ me?” He asked, probably trying to move the conversation out of the awkward pause it had fallen into.

“I’ll have an offer right up,” I said and opened the contract interface and selecting the employee option. The interface was reasonably simple. There was a field for desired days to be worked, hours, and rate of pay, with a text box for everything else. I looked but didn’t find an ability to enable benefits at first.

One shimmered into existence after I thought about it hard for a few minutes. It seemed the interface was partly molded by my desires and strength of will. Something I'd suspected for a while given how it was prone to change.

Benefits fell into two categories, a monetary benefit, and potion access. I checked both and put full coverage under the monetary benefit. If he needed medical care, he’d be automatically supplied with gold from my coffers to pay for it. Coffers I needed to start filling legitimately.

The potion access was a little different. A popup alerting him to what he’d need would appear. If he chose to accept it, I’d get a warning and the option to allow it. If I did, the cost of it would be taken out of my mana. I checked the store, the most expensive potion I had at my disposal was twenty mana. Since I didn't anticipate him to needing to turn into a dragon for an hour for health reasons, I felt confident the cost would generally be low.

I chose to make him a salaried employee but put overtime after the eight-hour. Since I didn’t know what I might end up needing him to do it didn’t make sense to go with hourly. His suggested rate of pay was one silver a day which gave me pause.

“Elim, how much do you make as a soldier for Earl Savex?” I asked.

“Two silver a day and meals when we're garrisoned. Three when were on active duty, and one if we’re at home but still go for training musters. He’s always been generous with our wages like that.” Elim said and I nodded to acknowledge him, not to agree.

“How much do most villagers earn in a day?” I asked, knowing I wouldn’t like the answer.

“Half a silver or so, depending on what they do,” Elim volunteered and I felt relieved that I’d already made up my mind not to offer monetary rewards. I’d have utterly destroyed the local value of gold.

“To work for you I’ll have to buy myself out of service to the Earl. That means going to the garrison after I report in, which will take two weeks. Is that alright?” Elim asked.

“I don’t want you to do anything that will get you in trouble, so leave his service the right way,” I said, not exactly happy but seeing it as necessary. It wouldn’t do either of us any favors for him to get in trouble with the local authorities.

“Okay, how much is a night’s stay with meals at the most expensive inn you know of?” I asked, trying to get a range going in my head.

“In my village, two coppers for a room at the chief’s place. In the capital of the fief… I heard it can cost a silver, but I’ve never been to such a place. In the capital of the kingdom some of the knights who pass through say it can cost as much as a gold,” Elim said, looking serious as he spoke. I mulled over his answer for a moment before making up my mind.

“I’ll give you some gold to relocate your family and pay to get out of the Earls service. If things don’t work out, you’ll need them to be away from the village and safe,” I said with a confidence I didn’t feel. Finding a suitable place would be time-consuming which might hinder his usefulness to me. I wasn’t going to give up on the venture because of that, but it gave me new things to worry about.

Elim looked confused, shaking his head at my offer “If it’s a matter of somewhere else, my mother’s family left her property. I was worried about not being near a healer for her sake or we’d have lived there already.”

“Property?” I asked, surprised by the news but happy.

“Your mother, she isn’t a commoner I take it,” I said, holding back the strange sense of elation I felt. His life matching up with my idea of a proper backstory was childish at best.

“How did you know?” Elim asked and I pointed at the sword. It wasn’t a thing a common family would have had. Land ownership also wouldn’t be available to anyone outside of the aristocracy. At least not in any feudal system I was aware of.

“Her father was a Ducellet and threw her out when she got pregnant. That was the family coat of arms.” Elim said glumly.

“Okay, I’ll give you start-up funds for your estate’s repair and keeping,” I said, happy there was a faster solution. Getting back to the employment offer I set his wages at five silver and allocated a gold a day for expenses. The text box still needed to be filled out, but it didn’t give me a clue to what I should put in it. I made of lists going off what I thought would work best for both of us.

Duties and Rules

Carry out to the best of your ability all orders and instructions issued.

-Engage help when prudent.

-Reschedule if the timing is poor.

Do not reveal unnecessary information

-Ask if you think someone knowing my identity would be helpful.

-Do not reveal that you have an employer unless required or unavoidable.

---Do not endure torture to hide it, you’re more useful in one functioning piece.

-Revealing part or all of your tasks and goals is at your discretion but should be kept to a minimum.

Communicate

-Communicate problems or setbacks so alternatives can be considered.

-Report strange or suspicious events, objects, and people.

-Report weekly at a minimum.

Duration

The terms of this contract are negotiable at the start of each calendar year. At the time of negotiation, the Dungeon Mistress retains the right to choose to go forward with or dismiss Elim from employment. Elim retains the right to leave service at any time. He may only be fired for breach of contract, harassment of other employees, or recklessness during the employment period.

Benefits

Item Box

Communications

Guardian

When I went to finalize the contract offer an error appeared.

Guardian not defined: Choose a Guardian

A little box icon appeared. When selected it opened my monsters tab in the store and my dungeon inventory. Looking at my options I closed the one for the active ones right away. Stalin and the lady hound were the only one’s worth sending and I wasn’t going to do that to either of them. Elim needed something strong but not too threatening or made of fire. I found a better fit in earth elemental creatures.

“Elim, are you a cat or a dog person?” I asked, not considering if that was even a thing here.

“Who would be a cat person?” He replied. The lady hound laughed her huffy laugh while Stalin woofed appreciatively. Snickering at their approval I selected an Elemental Earth Hound. It was rocks and dirt held together by moss with glittering black gemstone eyes. More importantly, it looked like a good boy. At challenge rating D it was also formidable.

I could have picked something more powerful, but I felt like that would cause trouble. He needed someone to watch his back and help him in a fight, not burninate the countryside. It also had the advantage of an excellent sense of direction and the ability to find water. The latter something it needed to keep its mossy coat nice and lush. Or at least that was what I decided to assume because I thought it was cute.

I sent him the finished job offer and let him take his time reading it. It didn’t take long for his brows to knit.

“What are stipends and expense accounts?” he asked.

“The stipend is money for accommodations and meals since you’ll be traveling as part of work. You can spend it how you like," I started, pausing to figure out how to explain the next part.

"The expense account is for purchases related to your work like equipment or paying for helpers. I have to approve any purchases, but the spending limit is higher,” I clarified, wanting to go float next to him and point things out in the contract. I suppressed the urge, not wanting a repeat of what happened earlier.

“Okay, and medical benefits?” he asked.

“Money for treatment if you’re injured - or potions, if that’s easier. It covers your whole family, up to four friends, and anyone you hire as part of the job.” I said with a little nod for emphasis. Refusing to recognize anyone outside of the nuclear family structure had been a failing of many health care systems of my world. A mistake I wouldn't repeat.

Covering Elim’s potential sub-contractors was basic in my mind. The better a reputation he had as a boss, the easier it would be to get quality help. Reputation was a resource like anything else. One that might be important, depending on what solution we ended up coming to.

Elim looked at me funny, then touched his prompt. I wondered if he was checking tooltips because he didn’t believe me. After a few minutes, he finished reading and let out a heavy sigh.

“Something wrong?” I asked, not understanding his reactions. He smiled in a cheerless way and accepted the job offer.

“I feel like I’m going to wake up on the verge of death with all of this having been a hallucination,” he said, scrubbing his face as if to wake himself up. I didn’t know how to feel about it and remained silent, waiting for him to say more. Sighing again he pulled himself up to his feet and held his hand out to me.

“Until then, we have a deal,” He said, and I realized a beat late that he wanted to shake hands. I reached out and he took mine in a grasp I barely felt. I was cautious about not using any strength since I didn’t know what I was capable of. After shaking several times, he let go and looked at his hand with a livelier smile than before.

“You feel like smoke and peach skins,” He said, grinning for the first time.

“Good to know,” I said, as I put my hands behind my back. I wasn’t certain if what he’d said was a good thing or not, but he was smiling, and I felt embarrassed. I was starting to get the impression that I might have been awkward with people before. His words weren’t negative, they were at worst simply neutral descriptions.

It reminded me of how I’d felt like I’d be judged when I wrote back to Mephisto. A negative mental artifact from my previous life, rather than something rooted in my current existence. Slowly I made myself lower my arms back to their usual ‘knitting with invisible needles’ pose. I felt better almost immediately, as I found myself relaxing for the first time since Elim had woken up.

A thought occurred to me as I remembered how difficult it was to get to the valley outside. “There might still be some horses outside. The bandits had them too.” I said, hoping that the soldiers had run off without collecting all of them. Elim nodded, eyes wide and looking to the doorway eagerly.

“Get going,” I added with a laugh when he looked at me, hesitant and wanting permission from what I could tell.

“Thank you, for everything… Uhm, what should I call you?” Elim asked and I felt my orbs flicker. I’d forgotten about picking a name.

“What are these mountains called?” I asked, my map not telling me that.

“The mountains of Lorrel, named for the goddess who made them,” Elim said, surprised by the question.

“If someone asks who you work for, I’m the hermit of the Lorrel mountains. Between us… call me 42,” I said, recalling the default name for my dungeon was Dungeon 42.

“As you wish, Mistress 42,” Elim said and bowed to me. It made me want to ruffle his short hair, but I held off. He was an adult already by the standards of his society and a father. He wouldn’t have taken me treating him like a kid very well. At least not once he realized that was what I was doing. I did a little imitation curtsy back at him then handed him the rooms lamp since it was pitch black in the hall.

As he headed to the exit he turned around once to wave goodbye and I did as well, though I wasn’t sure if he could see me or not.

“Mistress…” Stalin said before giving me puppy eyes and whining.

“Friend, not food,” I said which only caused the whining to intensify.

“What?” Elim called from mine’s entrance, not many yards away.

“Nothing!” The lady hound and I both said at the same time, though with very different tones. She laughed while I sighed and Elim just looked confused.

“Safe travels!” I said, and he just nodded, then left. Beside me, Stalin was pouting terribly but I couldn’t say anything. I wasn’t going to let him eat Elim just to make him feel better.

“How about I make you guys a dining hall and put the bodies in it?” I asked, remembering that I’d taken their snacks away.

“By the pool!” the lady hound said, yapping happily at the idea. I immediately constructed a room then tossed the bodies from my inventory into it. The guards I’d buried I decided to leave where they were. I could make tombstones for them later. Their deaths had freed me from worries about my tithe, so I felt I owed them something in gratitude.

“Why go out of your way to help humans?” Stalin asked as I floated after them on their way back down to the pool.

“Well, partly because I used to be one,” I admitted without any shame. I wasn’t one but I still remembered things and could sympathize.

“And?” He demanded, dissatisfied with my answer.

“Well, two things. First, it was a disease made in a dungeon. It behooves me not to let someone else steal a lead in points if I can help it,” I explained, which wasn’t my actual motivation but a valid point none the less. Going by the fact that we could increase our core’s power by consuming other cores, it stood to reason that we were expected to fight.

That I wanted Dr. Satan, whose description of the disease was ‘super leet super magic cholera’, to die in a car fire was something I felt Stalin wouldn’t understand.

“Oooh, what’s the second thing?” the lady hound asked, interrupting Stalin before he could do more than growl.

“Well, simply put, I need a local population. They’ll point out where I am and let the adventures buy supplies and things. If everyone dies, it's going to be a lot harder to draw anyone in. Especially if they assume the area is cursed or they’ll catch the disease,” I said with a shrug. I was proud of bullshitting a more dungeon appropriate reason to deal with the problem.

“See, Mistress is clever!” The lady hound said, laughing and brushing against Stalin’s side affectionately.

“Clever enough to give that male a sword to kill her with when their alliance ends,” Stalin responded severely, throwing his noise in the air.

“Well, I’ll have to build this place up so he can’t,” I said wryly, not worried about that eventuality. Less because it was impossible, and more because I felt confident. I was more valuable to Elim alive than shattered.

“Sounds metal, I’m in,” the Lady hound said cheerfully while Stalin kept his grumbling up.

“Blackmore, that’s what I’ll call you,” I said to the lady hound, Blackmore, as the name occurred to me. I couldn’t remember if it belonged to a band or a guitarist, but it made me think of metal.

“I like it!” Blackmore said approvingly, then slammed into Stalin hard.

“Race you!” she said as she took off at top speed. Stalin slid sideways from the impact then let out a deep howl before racing after her. Watching them go I felt a little jealous; I wasn’t fast. Or at least I’d never gone fast. Curious, I went chasing after the pair, wanting to find out.