Chapter 33 – This is for the best

In Teralis, the first signs of the end of winter arrived. The temperature slowly rose to a more comfortable degree, and the frozen earth began melting, leaving behind the sticky swamps of spring. At this time of the year, everyone in the small village helped out with the preparations for the coming sowing. That included Zeristin, who was one of the more busy men.

“Thanks a lot as always, Zeristin! Man, you are as strong as a bear! Where are you hiding all that strength?”

The man who had tasked Zeristin to help him carry some sacks of dung sighed in admiration. This young man in front of him was seemingly never exhausted, regardless of how many arduous jobs he carried out each day.

Zeristin chuckled politely, slightly embarrassed by the man's sincere praise. He never thought of himself as special as the other villagers made him out to be. Instead, he was much more grateful to their kindness in treating an outsider like him without discrimination. One reason for that was no doubt his useful strength. Still, one couldn't argue the family-like atmosphere that was present among the villagers played a considerable role as well. This closeness between unrelated people was what made Zeristin very fond of the village he'd only spent a short amount of time in.

“Look out!!”

From a distance, someone cried out in alarm. Zeristin was able to turn around in time to realize what was about to happen. Beneath one house, a little child was playing around when a large pot filled with clay dropped from the rooftops. Startled, the little boy looked up aghast, not knowing what to do, and in his fear, he remained rooted on the spot.

There should have been nothing Zeristin could do to help. Despite that, he instinctively moved without hesitation. To his surprise, time seemed to slow down as his feet darted off the ground, sending him through the air with inhuman speed. Long before the pot crashed onto the child, Zeristin grabbed him by the collar on his neck. With this unexpected increase in speed, that Zeristin had no control of, he had no other way to slow down other than to tumble to the ground, letting the law of gravity and inertia do its work.

The sound of the shattering pot startled the nearby villagers out of their stupor. Immediately afterwards, they went to look for the boy as they prayed for his well-being. Only the man who was a few house corners away knew what had just happened. In utter disbelief, he rubbed his eyes fervently, wondering which Zeristin was the real one. Had he been talking to an illusion? Or did he, in his wishful thinking, create the illusion of the child being saved? No matter which one it was, he should lay off the bottle for a while...

Eventually, the villagers found Zeristin lying on the ground some distance away. The young boy in his arms remained completely unharmed. After a short examination, they concluded he'd merely passed out from fear. No one exactly knew what had happened; nonetheless, everyone was very thankful to Zeristin, who had prevented this crisis. He gratefully accepted their sincere thanks and baskets of expensive fruits from distant lands.

Like that, another day had come to an end as Zeristin was on his way to return home. A short distance into the forest, there was a clearing amidst the sea of trees. It wasn't of natural cause, as evidenced by the stump of trees surrounding the small wooden hut. Compared to the cleanly felled trees and the neatly stacked logs at the side, the house was built with less expertise. The shabby construction looked like it would topple over from a mere breeze. Still, contrarily to its appearance, it had weathered the last months of winter with only minor repairs needed.

A heartful smile bloomed onto Zeristin's face when he saw a lovely woman stepping outside to welcome him.

“Daddy!”

Behind the woman, a little girl ran out in excitement, jumping into her father's arm. As a result, Zeristin laughed joyfully and whirled her around in circles before returning to his home, where his loving wife was watching them with a warm smile. 

“How was work today?”

Stella asked him, not once stopping her hand that was stirring the hot pot. While waiting for dinner to finish, Lea sat on her father's lap, who sat on the very few handcrafted furniture. Although these chairs and tables appeared rather crude, they were stable in their foundation and able to support all that was asked of them.

Zeristin gave a brief recap of the day's events, leaving out the matter of the child he'd helped out. Except for that, it wasn't much different than usual. The villagers attributed his incredible strength to the blessings of The Benevolent, something he didn't care much about. He was more focused on helping out anywhere he could. In that regard, his tasks weren't much different from a horse or a mule. Nevertheless, he was delighted with this way of life, where he was able to help those around him in their need.

So altogether, it wasn't much he did. Regardless he was needed and welcomed around here, and he also had a great family that needed him as well. What more could he want? Wishing for anything more would be foolish greed and only cause the wrath of the gods for his conceitful desires.

“Today, I helped Mommy with cooking dinner!”

Sitting on her father's lap, Lea swung her legs back and forth while straining her neck to look up into her father's eyes that contained half of her world. Naturally, the rest of her world was made up of her mother.

“Really? Then I can't wait to eat all of it!”

Lea's eyes shone in a radiant light in response to her father's words, eagerly anticipating the dinner preparations to finish. Meanwhile, at the back of the small room, Stella released a light chuckle. Her husband didn't know what he'd signed himself up for.

When the first bowls were eventually prepared, Zeristin dug in with much enthusiasm. Although he'd been working all day, he wasn't particularly hungry. He was used to this strange feeling of limitless energy, but since his daughter had personally helped out, he would do as he'd said.

But after the first spoon entered his mouth, he abruptly stopped in his actions. In his excitement, he hadn't paid attention to the chunks flowing in the soup. Taking a proper glance down, with the spoon still in his mouth, he saw the familiar fruits he'd been gifted the day before, floating in a broth together with some chicken meat. Next to him, Lea looked at him, the light of expectation glittering in her small eyes, waiting for her father's opinion.

“Delicious!”

Forcing himself to swallow the sickeningly sweet soup in his mouth, Zeristin strained a smile on his face that was enough to deceive his daughter, who giggled with glee. However, that didn't last long as she took a mouthful of the soup herself and quickly realized the problem. She was a smart kid and immediately understood the act her father had put up for her sake.

“I'm sorry...”

She quietly muttered, hanging her head low to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. Earlier this day, she had insisted on 'helping' her mother, demanding her to include these delicious fruits. She full-heartedly believed it was a good idea. When Stella finally gave in to her unceasing demands, Lea had been laughing triumphantly in her ignorance. Looking at their heartbroken child, Stella stifled her laughter and looked at Zeristin expectantly. The latter lamented his fate, and with big gulps, wolfed down the rest of the soup.

“More, my dear.”

“Yes.” Stella happily answered, not taking his quivering eyes into account that pleaded for this torture to stop. Alas, he'd already made a promise he was bound to keep...

Incredulous, Lea looked at her father that ate bowl after bowl until there was nothing left in the pot. Wondering if her initial impression was wrong, she'd taken another mouthful of the sweet soup herself, only to grimace shortly afterwards. She'd even walked over and sat back on her father's lap to take a taste of his freshly-poured soup, wondering if there was a difference. But the scowl on her face told the same story. Confused, she looked up at her father, waiting for an explanation.

“You shouldn't waste food.” His hand that was as big as a bear paw tussled her comparably small head. “One never knows when dire times arrive, so you should eat when you can and be grateful for what you've gotten.”

Although he said so, he also made sure for her to understand the difference between bad-tasting food and harmful-food. In response to her father's lecture, Lea wiped away the last remaining tears from her face and went back to her seat. Staring at the soup in front of her like her sworn enemy, she gathered all of her little courage and downed the soup in large gulps as her father had done. When she was finally finished, the expression on her face told the story of that day's family events.

“Thanks... for the... food.” She forced herself to say politely. Next to her, her mother swallowed the rest of her own soup without any changes in her expressions. From the look on her face, this meal seemed nothing like the catastrophe it tasted like, and instead, appeared to be rather delicious and nutritious. But only its victims knew the true colors of the dreadful dish that had been cooked by their little devil.

The family of three spent the rest of the time talking about nothing in particular. Lea leaned into her mother's arms, where she fell soundly asleep. Zeristin watched his wife slowly caressing the strands of her disheveled hair. On her face was the expression of a mother that tightly held onto the sole meaning of her life.

Watching this picture of a mother and her child, Zeristin felt incomparable happiness.

But all of a sudden, he was ripped out of this serenity when someone knocked on their door. The loud echo traveled through their small home, waking up their daughter. Wondering who would come this late into the night, Zeristin walked towards the entrance with apprehension.

“Who is there?” He asked without opening the door.

“It's me.”

Zeristin was puzzled. He'd never heard this voice before. Even more on guard this time, Zeristin leaned himself against the door, barricading it with his body instead of opening it.

“Open up, Zeristin! Is that how you greet an old friend?”

This previously unknown voice slightly tugged the strings in his heart. He still couldn't tell to whom it belonged, but his gut told him that this person shouldn't have any harmful intentions. So, he slowly opened the door to meet their visitor.

“Excuse me, but have we met before?”

When Kaemir Lorak saw Zeristin timidly opening the door, he was at a loss for words. All traces of the mighty magus were gone, leaving only an apprehensive man in his place. Ever since arriving in this village, Kaemir hadn't had the slightest idea of what was going on. For some time, he'd been watching Zeristin from a distance, whose behavior was utterly unexplainable. Deciding it was time to meet personally, Kaemir went to confront him, but...

“Zeristin... Do you really not recognize me?”

This wasn't just an act, Kaemir was sure of that much. But the silent response he got, made his heart sink in trepidation.

“What happened? Who did this to you!?”

Kaemir's voice grew more frantic, containing a hint of anger at the unknown assailant that had harmed his friend. He blindly ignored the fact that someone who could reduce Zeristin to this state definitely wasn't someone he could confront. His heated emotions rose out of control, turning into the pressure of a magus. Without realizing what he was doing, the wind centered around him, making Zeristin look at him in fear.

Zeristin himself still had no idea who this person in front of him was. But the scenery of the wind heeding this mysterious man's call left him stupefied. This was no doubt, a magus, and he had come for him. His mind entered a state of panic when he heard the rustling and moving of chairs behind him. Turning his head slightly, he saw his wife and daughter that had come to see what was going on.

“Go back!”

Zeristin shouted at them, but they remained unmoving. The two were too frightened by the gusts of wind as the slight pressure in the air forced them to their knees. Grasping at her remaining wits, Stella sheltered her daughter within her arms.

“Who is this!?”

Kaemir shouted as he lost more of his composure at the sudden appearance of the woman and child behind Zeristin. He forgot that he was in the presence of non-magi, and the wind became the embodiment of the turmoil in his heart, ravaging their surroundings. The small wooden hut crumbled beneath the onslaught of wind, almost yielding to its fierceness at every passing moment.

“Is this the wench that bewitched you!?”

Closing her eyes in prayer, Stella continued shielding her child beneath her while her body shivered like a stack of leaves in the wind. Lea, on the other hand, remained unresponsive when confronted with the sudden threat that could destroy her life. Instead, her gaze was fixed onto her father that courageously stood in front of them as he weathered the mighty storm. With his arms stretched out behind him, he braced himself against the gusts of wind, trying to shield his family. She could see his trembling legs that urged him to run away. Yet, despite the insurmountable difference of might between them, her father remained rooted on the spot like a mountain that would forever provide shelter for the people behind it.

With her wide round eyes, she stared unblinking at this scene before her. The appearance of her heroic father would forever be ingrained into the depths of her mind as he confronted the seemingly almighty forces of nature.

“Daddy!”

Hearing his daughter's call, Zeristin snapped out of his own fear. Gritting his teeth, he defiantly looked at Kaemir, his gaze containing the fierceness of a wounded animal that had no path of retreat.

“I don't know who you are, and I don't know what you want from me.” The fierce gaze that was directed at Kaemir made him realized how much he'd lost himself. Other than that, he remembered scenes of a past long ago. That sole gaze of Zeristin's contained far too many memories for him.

“If you want to take me, then fine, but I dare you to harm just a single hair of my family, and I swear by the gods, you will regret this decision for the rest of your life!”

Zeristin's chilling threat should contain nothing but boasts. Yet Kaemir, more than anyone else, knew the man in front of him wasn't lying. He may have forgotten his own identity as a magus and his past, but the man behind the famous magus known as Zeristin Wezlak was the same.

No doubt, this was the man he'd always known. The man who loved his small family, unwilling to make the same mistakes again.

“I'm sorry for my behavior.” The wind around Kaemir died down. As soon as tranquillity returned to the surroundings, Zeristin felt immense relief as he took note of the cold sweat on his back that was stuck to his shirt. With the disappearance of the pressure and tension in his body, his legs finally gave out beneath him. In his mind, he'd just survived with a brush of death.

“Take care, my friend. From the bottom of my heart, I wish that the rest of your days may remain as peaceful as these.”

'Even if you will never recognize any of us ever again.'

With those last words, Kaemir turned around to leave the family of three alone.

Kaemir could have never imagined that the perpetrator that had caused his friend's circumstances was only a short distance away, observing him.

“Would he make a good seed...?”

Catherine sat on top of the roof of the church, quietly talking to herself as she pondered various matters.

“But I probably shouldn't use another human again...Hm?”

In the most distant reaches of the horizon, she saw the sight of lightning striking the ground. No sound would travel to her ears, but the unmistaken red flash was a familiar sight, only visible to her.

“The thirtieth one... He seems hard at work, my little boy.”

However, her interest in her servant's action didn't last long. Since she had already gone through all of the trouble of using a Primal Contract, there was no need to pay too much attention to his actions. Therefore, she was much more concerned with the selection of a new seed.

Ever since Aien became a devil, he instinctively gained a basic understanding of how the world functioned. Everything necessary to govern the world and its foundations was decided by the laws of the gods when the world was created.

Why did gravity work the way it did? Who decided things had to fall down or attract each other? These fundamental laws and many more were written in the Primal Contracts that had existed since each beginning. In Mentor's world, these would be called the laws of physics. All of them had been written in stone, unchangeable for as long as the world existed. 

The contracts of devils were similarly another foundational law that had existed since the Second and Third Beginning. The world rendered punishment to those that disobeyed and rewarded those that followed the rules. Because such were the regulations that had been decided.

All of these laws had to exist and could never be broken. Because if they were...

The world would fall into turmoil, as a broken law would lose all of its meaning. In that case, all of the other laws also would lose their meaning, inviting chaos and a lawless world to take over. In such a world, nothing but the gods could continue to exist.

Thus, the world itself made sure these laws were upheld under any circumstances. Above anything else, it would enforce that which was written in the Primal Contracts.

Aien didn't know what had spurred Catherine to use such a drastic method to bind him. Although he had no details, he was sure these Primal Contracts were definitely a limited resource. Especially those that could be configured for personal uses like in his case. He knew without a doubt, any trivial form of harm could never befall her by his actions. Aien would never be able to harm her, the same way an apple could not ignore the call of gravity without the use of energy. The single action of him trying to harm her would arise the ire and judgment of the world. For this, too, had become a new law that governed this world.

With this knowledge in his mind, Aien continued his journey like an unceasing machine without pause, somewhere in the remote reaches of the distant north.

“Everything.”

A man uttered in his sleep before a satisfied smile broke out onto his face. But it didn't last long as his sweet dreams were interrupted by the loud crackling of the fireplace next to him. Still dozing off and barely awake, the young man rubbed his eyes.

“A... dream?”

He sighed disappointedly. However, at the same time, as he dismissed his fantasies, an image popped into his mind. It was a picture of a red piece of paper that was far clearer than the rest of his dreams. A strange premonition told him that no matter what happened, he would never forget this single piece of paper.

Contract 

You desire the love of a woman named Ann Luye. In exchange, you, Synn Uruk, will sacrifice everything.

The world acknowledged this plea.

To grant your wish, I, Aien, a devil under the Law of Death, will abide by the rules to take it upon myself to honor the contract.

Additional Clause:

The devil, Aien, has to complete the contract, before the 4th day of Alir, 2374(attb.)

The contract was made.

“Man... That was intense.”

As he remembered the contents of the contract, he also remembered more of the dream he'd just had. Closing his eyes, he tried to grasp the surreal feeling that had almost been too real as his hands clasped at the air while a lewd smile covered his face.

“Too bad...”

Savoring the last remaining touches of his dream, the man thoroughly woke up and got to work. Naturally, he dismissed the 'contract' as the meaningless remains of his blissful dream that might, however, soon become a reality.

This was the five-hundred-twenty-sixth contract.