Her words fell like a heavy hammer, and the entire garden suddenly went dead silent. Even the few flowers secretly snapping at the air froze in place.
A gust of wind blew past, leaving only the bells along the brim of Ur's hat chiming softly.
The gaze behind the mask lingered on Isolde for a long time, as if scrutinizing something through her.
Then, a low chuckle rumbled from his throat.
“Interesting! Simply too interesting!”
“Miss Isolde, you truly are the greatest genius at exploiting contract loopholes that I have ever met.”
Isolde took a sip of her tea without changing her expression and said calmly:
“I wouldn't call myself a genius. I simply enjoy exploring other possibilities.”
In truth, she had absolutely no idea whether this unprecedented method would actually work.
But strictly speaking, she had indeed died once before.
Using a segment of “death that had already occurred” to offset a future debt was, after her repeated calculations, the only chip that came closest to “equivalent value.”
If the God of Contracts recognized it, she would be using a dead debt of zero value to herself to cash in on the greatest possible active benefit.
Even if He didn't recognize it, it didn't matter. At the very least, she could use this to test where the absolute boundaries of this mysterious contract lay.
This act of wildly testing the edges of the rules was essentially no different from clearing a minefield.
Trading a factual “death” that had already occurred and had zero impact on her current self for an ethereal “future prospect”—no matter how she calculated it, this was a highly profitable bargain.
As for whether the so-called deity would notice the abnormality of her soul's rebirth...
Well, He would have to analyze and figure out this time-and-space-spanning bug first.
“I am indeed praising you from the bottom of my heart.”
Ur's voice carried a rare trace of excitement. “A segment of a past death... It indeed belongs to you, but it is also indeed far too abstract.”
“After all, without 'death,' there would be no 'new life' as you are now.”
Hearing these words, Isolde's heart skipped a beat. No trace of emotion showed on her face as she simply looked down at the contract.
“Sign it.”
Ur raised his hand, his fingertips writing several lines of small, dark-gold characters onto the contract.
The black parchment quickly unfurled.
【Final Payment Amendment Treaty】
【Original Final Payment: Pay with a segment of future possibilities】
【Amended Final Payment: Pay with a segment of past death】
【Both Parties Confirm: The value of this final payment shall be determined by the God of Contracts as equivalent or not】
【Condition for Effect: If the God of Contracts determines that the final payment is valid, the original debt shall be cleared】
Isolde read it word by word. This time she read very slowly, not missing a single punctuation mark.
After repeatedly confirming that there were no trap words in the contract, she picked up the quill and signed her name with extreme swiftness.
Ur followed immediately after, placing his own twisted insignia on the opposite corner.
In the next instant, the black parchment suddenly erupted with a blinding, dark-gold light that shot toward the heavens.
The light was like a sharp sword, directly piercing through the rolling gray mist above the garden and transforming into an extremely thin gold thread that plunged into the depths of the invisible sky before completely vanishing.
Isolde slightly raised her chin, watching the lingering halo fade away.
“What is this? Is the process finished?”
Ur also looked up for a moment, lost in thought.
“Perhaps the God of Contracts has personally gone to collect the final payment.”
Isolde slowly withdrew her gaze and raised an eyebrow at him.
“A wandering merchant actually believes in gods?”
“Of course.” Ur lifted his teacup. “Every single transaction made by a wandering merchant is strictly supervised by the God of Contracts. In black and white, whether the trading partner is a demon of the abyss or a holy clergyman of the high heavens, as long as both parties willingly sign, the God of Contracts will bestow absolute binding force upon it.”
Isolde suddenly felt a slight chill run down the back of her neck. What she had just paid with was a segment of past death.
But she was neither the original Yu Lingye nor Isolde in the complete sense.
How exactly would that death be collected?
Would it be the moment in her past life when she was swallowed alive and drowned by venomous snakes?
Or would it be the original host's fate of being taken over when she arrived?
Or perhaps... it would simply trigger some sort of bug that even the God of Contracts had never seen before?
【Contract completed.】
【Northern Special Body Part Transport Contract: Terminated.】
【Contract Dispute: Settled.】
【Seller's Additional Confidentiality Restriction: In effect.】
Isolde stared at the spot where the golden light had vanished for a couple of seconds, then raised her black tea and drained it in one gulp.
Forget it. She would set aside the paradoxes she couldn't figure out for now. In any case, clearing the debt was more important than anything else.
At least no lightning had struck her down, and her soul hadn't been ripped away on the spot.
Isolde forcefully suppressed these stray thoughts to the bottom of her heart and looked up at the masked weirdo across from her.
“Since the old accounts are settled, it's time to talk about some new business.”
Ur's mood was clearly still riding the high of the contract just now, and his tone was light:
“Most gladly. What do you intend to buy?”
“A map,” Isolde said without a second thought. “I want the most complete map of the continent's inner territories. The actual boundaries of each city-state, the Holy Court's overt and covert strongholds, the hidden entrances to underground black markets, the known and universally recognized high-risk areas... I want everything that can be marked.”
Ur chuckled. “You have quite an appetite.”
“Because I can afford to pay now.”
“What an impossible reason to refuse.”
Ignoring his flattery, Isolde continued to state her terms:
“Besides the map, I also want skill scrolls.”
Ur set down his teacup, reached into the inner lining of his strangely oversized cloak, and rummaged around for a moment before pulling out an ebony box.
The box slid across the table and popped open in front of Isolde with a click. Inside, six ancient-looking scrolls were neatly arranged alongside a fragment that radiated a golden glow.
“It seems I have anticipated my distinguished guest's needs in advance.”
Isolde looked at him. “You prepared these beforehand?”
“A qualified merchant must always stay one step ahead of their client's needs.”
Too lazy to expose his scheming, Isolde reached out and picked up the fragment. The system's appraisal information immediately popped up:
【Fallen Fragment: Hourglass of Dusk (1/5)】
【Quality: Legendary Skill Fragment】
【Type: Unknown】
【Effect: Unknown】
【Hint: Collect all homologous fragments to unlock a Legendary-grade skill.】
Staring at that final line of dazzling gold prompt, Isolde's eyes darkened.
In this chaotic real-life game, “Legendary-grade skill fragments” were treasures that could only be wished for but rarely encountered.
However, a single Legendary fragment had no practical effect on its own.
Valen seemed to have had one that she seized, which had been gathering dust in her inventory ever since.
In her memory, in order to collect one or two homologous fragments, top players would go to extreme lengths.
Those with gentler methods would pour astronomical sums of money into it. But if they crossed paths with unreasonable, powerful lone wolves, it would instantly turn into a bloodbath of plundering and hunting.
Many factions had come to blows and turned into bitter enemies over this.
In her past life, she had constantly drifted on the brink of life and death at the very bottom. Before she could witness the splendor of any Legendary-grade skill with her own eyes, she had died a pathetic death in a pit of snakes.
To actually run into one here now, she truly didn't know whether to call it a blessing or a curse.
Rate on N.U.
