The Prince Wants to Retire

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The Crown Prince Wishes to Retire

2. Contract (2)

The sudden voice caused Kariel’s expression to stiffen slightly.

He looked around, noticing his body oddly tensing.

‘Is it a curse?’

The strange foreign feel in the voice.

‘Even sealed, the presence is this strong…’

Kariel gazed seriously at the cursed relics.

Artifacts sealed by mages.

Among them, the dangerous ones were doubly cursed, protected by barriers and their seals.

Even so, the curses leaking out were enough to pose a threat to Kariel.

– Let’s make a contract! Let’s make a contract! Contract! Contract with me!

The continuously echoing voices were gradually fogging his mind, but he quickly shook it off.

With the countless scraps of rice from his previous life, he wouldn’t allow himself to be consumed by this.

As Kariel composed himself and walked forward, other curses approached him.

Guys who stiffened their bodies to intimidate.

Those blatantly asking for a contract while cursing him.

Ones pretending to be pitiful, subtly creeping closer.

And those just whining.

Countless cursed relics were flying toward Kariel.

At the point where an unmanageable number of curses gathered, it happened.

[Some of your bloodline abilities awaken due to the curse.]

[The fragment of the God of Destruction responds to the awakening of your bloodline abilities.]

[The first trial hidden by the God begins.]

“……What?”

Kariel’s expression hardened at the suddenly appearing translucent window that hadn’t been visible for a while.

At that moment, the fire energy that had been suppressed by drugs began to wander throughout his body.

“What the hell….”

Kariel uttered a curse unconsciously as he knelt on one knee.

With the weak body of Kariel, an overwhelming amount of fire energy was now seeping out and beginning to materialize.

As the fire energy suddenly rampaged, he was wracked with immense pain, but it wasn’t all bad.

“The curse… has disappeared?”

The pure flame that even burned the curses away.

Surprised for a moment by the fire that purified all the junk, Kariel endured the pain and rose to his feet.

This was to achieve his goal for coming here.

The trashy curses were all purified, leaving only the genuinely dangerous ones behind.

– Quite a decent aura you’ve got there. Let’s make a contract. I’ll make you my master!

– No! That kid should make a contract with me. In the name of the fire witch, I’ll make you the greatest mage! Contract with me!

The witch’s hat sealed with various magical tools.

A pitch-black sword that looked utterly dangerous.

Two cursed relics were tempting Kariel.

But Kariel merely furrowed his brow and walked forward.

Then the cursed relics began to slither and talk to him.

“Get lost.”

Kariel said as he continued to walk away from them.

What would a former emperor like him want to make a contract with such beings?

Master? Mage? He had once sat at the highest seat without needing such titles, so their temptations were utterly trivial.

Above all, none of them could fulfill what Kariel wanted most.

“You pathetic trash.”

Having aimed for recovery through cursed relics in his previous life, he knew well.

Even if he made a contract with them, he would still be unable to cure the congenital disease caused by the fire energy filling his body.

Thus, he was able to walk toward his goal despite all the temptations.

[Fragment of Surth]

A necklace containing a part of the power of Surth, the master of Muspelheim.

Even as he approached it, a terrifying aura enveloped him.

This was a powerful curse that could purify most standard curses, yet it was so strong that it was tainted black.

“……Guess it lives up to its name?”

The relics kept safely in this room, filled only with cursed relics, had one of the strongest curses radiating from the innermost depths.

Despite the powerful curse emanating and pushing him back, Kariel placed a hand on the necklace.

At that moment, he felt dizzy and staggered.

“Ugh!”

Feeling suddenly lightheaded and on the verge of losing consciousness, Kariel panicked and knelt on one knee.

Just then, blue flames erupted from the necklace and began to gather before Kariel.

– The primordial flame…….

The flames transformed into a human shape, quietly gazing at Kariel.

A weak, feeble flame.

The primordial fire felt as rare as a speck of dust hidden within it.

But quantity didn’t matter.

The important point was that the feeling of primordial fire was indeed present.

– Is the flame linked to ‘him’ through the bloodline ability? How extravagant.

The subtly linked flame remained in the form of embers.

It was a power too precious to dwell within a trash-like body, making Kariel click his tongue.

– Tsk! Such a waste, what a waste.

Even though it was just a speck of power, he was struggling to handle it, drawing pity from Surth.

Seeing Surth looking down on him, Kariel’s face contorted in anger.

“And what about you? Who are you to judge? You’re but a fragment!”

Straining through the pain, Kariel shot back.

Then Surth fell silent.

– ……That’s right. I’m in no position to evaluate anyone.

Surth quietly admitted.

Once a being that could destroy the world, now he was a pitiful existence, living off the fragments of his former power.

Just materializing like this was degrading him in real-time.

Having been sealed in the necklace for countless years, his essence was crumbling to the point of his very soul deteriorating.

Therefore, he had become a mere corrupted existence, hardly worthy of being called the Fragment of Surth.

– Still, I must be better than something as worthless as you.

“Bullshit. You think a wraith can compare to my living self?”

– Even as a wraith, I once held a grand name…….

“Still just a wraith now.”

Surth glared at Kariel’s retort.

Kariel shot back with a defiant glare of his own.

Their fierce exchange could have sparked lasers from their glaring eyes, but they looked away and fell into silence for a moment.

– Is it the gods’ manipulation? You’ve come to make a contract.

“……What?”

Kariel stared in shock at Surth’s words.

– You’ve been tricked by the gods too?

“Don’t tell me…… you have as well?”

At his response, Kariel asked with skepticism, and Surth nodded.

In an instant, the tension from before turned into laughter.

And just like that, they began gossiping about the gods.

– Those fucking bastards.

“Right? They pulled tricks until the very end.”

– Gods are all like that. Especially that Loki bastard was the real kicker.

“Oh! Loki’s famous.”

When Kariel acknowledged Loki, Surth began sharing stories of his memories.

Both Odin and those high gods were trash, and he defended the giants as soft-hearted despite their rough appearance.

“Speaking of, what’s that ‘God’ you mentioned? You seem to know something about it.”

As Kariel inquired, Surth seemed to hesitate before falling silent.

It looked like there was something he wanted to say but was being restricted somehow.

Watching him, Kariel remained quiet, only gazing at him.

Then Surth scratched his flaming hair, looking exasperated.

– Tsk! Just remember that he’s a fucking bastard. You don’t need to know anything more.

“True…… What does his identity even matter at this point?”

As Kariel muttered and nodded, he turned to Surth.

“……So, are you going to make a contract?”

At his question, Surth fell silent.

“Why, am I too weak for your taste?”

– In my state, am I in a position to pick and choose? You are quite worthy.

Surth said this while genuinely pleased to have found someone to connect with after so long.

“Then what’s the problem?”

– If you make a contract with me, you’ll die.

Kariel’s forehead furrowed at those words.

“What do you mean?”

– With your current body condition, making a contract with me will mean death.

Though the primordial fire had thinned with each passing generation, as long as even a shred remained, it would eventually reignite.

From Surth’s perspective, the level of the primordial fire was far too high for Kariel to handle.

“The gods said you were meant to overcome this damned fire?”

– ……That is true. In the long term, well, if you just get through that singular moment, I can control the fire to some extent.

Surth nodded in agreement, sharing disappointment at the same time.

– But you’ll have a high chance of dying the moment you make the contract, so it can’t be helped.

“Is there no way to get through that moment?”

Upon hearing that, Surth asked if Kariel understood how contracts worked.

He replied that he had some knowledge, bringing up spirit contracts as an example.

– Then explaining will be easier. With spirit contracts or summoning contracts, the contractor’s mana is amplified temporarily.

“Yeah, the summoner and the summoned resonate, amplifying mana…… Huh? Wait, what?”

– That’s right. Amplification of fire energy.

Kariel’s face was one of confusion at Surth’s statement.

“Amplification should only be minimal, right?”

– Your body is such trash that you can’t even bear that little bit.

As Surth delivered the harsh truth, Kariel grimaced.

He was reminded once more of just how trash his own body was.

“……So, when my body recovers to a certain degree, can it be done?”

– Probably? But could you even manage it?

Surth shook his head as if doubting Kariel’s capability.

“One method does exist, though.”

As Kariel spoke, he began explaining the Body Technique of the Ancient Werewolf.

Surth, having been powerful, didn’t know much about lesser races, but he also wasn’t aware of many things due to being sealed for such a long time.

“So, that means there’s a chance?”

Kariel murmured to himself as he got up from his seat.

Just the fact that he saw a possibility was sufficient.

After all, he had found a mythical being’s relic much faster than expected; that alone was a huge gain.

– ……Are you really leaving?

Surth looked at Kariel with a look full of longing.

“I’ll be back soon.”

– Fat chance.

Surth sighed deeply, eyeing Kariel’s frail body.

Kariel gritted his teeth in response.

“I’ll come back for real, so just wait.”

As Kariel said this, he prepared to report back about the cursed relics.

Then the blue flames lit the way around him, creating a path for Kariel to exit.

– Hurry back. I’m bored.

Distance carried Surth’s voice to Kariel.

Hearing this, Kariel turned and nodded slightly before heading out to report.

“Your Highness.”

As he entered the Second Inner Court, a shadow rushed toward him, as if anxious.

“I need to make a report. Help me.”

“Yes.”

With the shadow assisting him, they passed through the Second Inner Court and reached the door to the Imperial Palace report.

“I’m sorry, but I can only escort you this far.”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

Kariel thanked the shadow before staggeringly stepping outside. Just then, Talion rushed over to support him.

“Your Highness, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

As Kariel leaned on Talion’s support, the Inner Court Attendant managing the Imperial report stood nervously to the side.

According to regulations, even a Crown Prince had to be checked for what was brought out when leaving the Imperial report.

If anything was brought out, they needed to confirm if it was an allowable relic.

“Check me. I haven’t brought out anything…….”

“I-I’m so sorry.”

The attendant hurriedly retreated, trembling as he hurriedly checked Kariel’s body.

Then Kariel spoke to Talion.

“Any watchers around?”

“There are, but they’re quite far away.”

As Talion replied, Kariel nodded and spoke in as quiet a voice as possible.

“I know you’re busy, but I have a request.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“Bring me all the information on the Ancient Werewolves. Make this priority, and keep it as discreet as possible. Understood?”

Kariel’s request drew a bright smile from Talion.

“Yes!”