Ch.188188. Slave Contract Starting from Zero (2)

“Gyeon Gwan-im.”

This news naturally reached Governor Heo Jin-ho, who ruled Daegu.

As the person who had effectively usurped the Daegu government and ended Heo Jin-ho’s reign as a warlord, the name Gyeon Gwan-im should have automatically filled him with hatred.

“I don’t really care.”

“Are you sure that’s alright?”

Contrary to expectations, Heo Jin-ho’s hatred toward Gyeon Gwan-im wasn’t particularly strong.

When informed that Seorabeol would make a plea deal with Gyeon Gwan-im, Heo Jin-ho simply nodded calmly without showing any resistance or disappointment. Park Cheol-gon, the Speaker of the National Assembly, was so surprised by Heo Jin-ho’s calm reaction that he actually asked if he was really okay with it.

After all, since Gyeon Gwan-im had effectively ended Heo Jin-ho’s status as a warlord, it would have been natural for him to express hatred if he still harbored ambitions of maintaining his own power base.

“Gyeon Gwan-im didn’t massacre Daegu citizens. He merely took over the provisional government I had established. At the time, I didn’t want to acknowledge him, but the truth is—I recognize that as a warlord, he was quite gentlemanly.”

“You don’t have any personal grudges?”

In reality, Gyeon Gwan-im hadn’t massacred Daegu citizens or sent pursuit teams to kill Heo Jin-ho completely. He had simply acted as a warlord trying to establish independence using Daegu as his base.

Unlike Jo Sun-do who had declared outright tyranny, Gyeon Gwan-im had properly succeeded the provisional government and tried to form his own government as a usurper. For this reason, the reaction from Daegu citizens—apart from Heo Jin-ho who had personal reasons—wasn’t particularly negative.

From Daegu’s perspective, it was difficult to claim that Gyeon Gwan-im was a villain who absolutely deserved death. Nevertheless, Park Cheol-gon asked if Heo Jin-ho had any personal grudges, suggesting that the governor’s feelings were important.

“I have mixed feelings about him.”

Clearly, Heo Jin-ho hadn’t completely forgiven Gyeon Gwan-im.

He immediately responded to Park Cheol-gon that he had mixed feelings and continued:

“In the end, he completely destroyed the Daegu provisional government. But since I became the governor of Seorabeol instead, you could say nothing has really changed. You know that well, don’t you?”

From Heo Jin-ho’s perspective, Gyeon Gwan-im had destroyed everything he had built.

Due to that clever scheme, Heo Jin-ho couldn’t maintain independence as a warlord, and after returning with Seorabeol’s help, he had sworn loyalty to Seorabeol as governor.

The freedom of being a warlord versus the constraints of being a governor.

If asked which he preferred, he would naturally lean toward the former.

“A warlord can shape the world as he wishes. A governor cannot.”

As a governor, he always had to consult Seorabeol on official matters, and Daegu’s survival depended entirely on Seorabeol’s intentions.

In contrast, as a warlord, Heo Jin-ho could implement policies freely and enact measures that benefited only Daegu without having to be mindful of others.

“Now Daegu must serve as Seorabeol’s shield. Even if Daegu citizens don’t want it, Seorabeol will definitely use Daegu as a shield. But how do you plan to address the suffering this causes to Daegu citizens?”

“That’s unavoidable.”

Even now, according to Seorabeol’s wishes, Daegu served as Seorabeol’s shield and had to defend against external threats approaching Seorabeol from the front lines.

How many Daegu citizens had been injured because of this?

But Park Cheol-gon had plenty of excuses for this situation.

“Pohang handles the economy so it’s unreasonable to use it, and North Ulsan is practically an empty military base. So the only region that can serve as Seorabeol’s shield is Daegu.”

“I understand. Given Seorabeol’s current territory, Daegu is the frontline.”

Given Seorabeol’s current territory, making Daegu the frontline was an unavoidable choice.

From Seorabeol’s perspective, they couldn’t make Pohang, which handled the economy, the frontline, and North Ulsan was essentially an uninhabited area.

So by process of elimination, Daegu was the only region that could serve as Seorabeol’s shield.

“In that sense, Gyeon Gwan-im’s abilities aren’t bad. They’re actually good. For Daegu’s effective defense, we need more field commanders like Gyeon Gwan-im right now.”

“Then…”

So the plan to release Gyeon Gwan-im and use his troops to protect Daegu wasn’t a bad one.

Heo Jin-ho was well aware of Gyeon Gwan-im’s abilities and actually expected someone like him to be active on the Daegu front.

In this era, they needed as many capable field commanders as possible, and Gyeon Gwan-im was indeed such a commander.

“However, Gyeon Gwan-im is still the one who destroyed the Daegu provisional government. As governor, I demand a stake in Daegu in exchange for his release.”

But precisely because he was so capable, suspicions about Gyeon Gwan-im couldn’t be completely dismissed.

Warning that if given even a little freedom, he might seize the opportunity to establish himself as a warlord again, Heo Jin-ho made a statement anticipating Gyeon Gwan-im’s betrayal.

“That’s easy. What are your demands?”

At the same time, as the governor of Daegu, he requested a kind of favor from the Seorabeol cabinet in exchange for setting aside his personal grudge.

“Budget increases to create jobs for Daegu citizens. And barrier repairs.”

“We’ll definitely handle the barrier repairs. As for the budget increase… I’ll have the Constitutional Democratic Party put it on the parliamentary agenda.”

After listening quietly to Heo Jin-ho’s request, Park Cheol-gon indicated that while the latter was possible, the former would be somewhat difficult, saying he would submit it as an agenda item to parliament.

Somewhat dissatisfied with this response, Heo Jin-ho strongly pressed Park Cheol-gon.

“Can’t you report this to Lord Bahamut?”

From Heo Jin-ho’s perspective, the Dragon Lord Bahamut, who could definitely keep promises, was preferable to a parliament that might not fully honor commitments.

There was trust that if Dragon Lord Bahamut made a promise, it would definitely be fulfilled.

“Lord Bahamut? He’s currently preparing merits for the Hwarang. I don’t think I can give you a definite answer right away.”

“That’s unfortunate. Then if you, Mr. Park Cheol-gon, swear and promise in the Dragon Lord’s name, I will also dismiss the matter regarding Gyeon Gwan-im.”

When Heo Jin-ho first mentioned the Dragon Lord, Park Cheol-gon stepped back as if troubled, mentioning Bahamut’s current situation to try to persuade Heo Jin-ho.

In response, rather than continuing to insist on a promise from Dragon Lord Bahamut himself, Heo Jin-ho asked Park Cheol-gon to promise in the Dragon Lord’s name…

“…I promise in the Dragon Lord’s name.”

“That’s good enough.”

Park Cheol-gon was silent for a moment but eventually promised in the Dragon Lord’s name.

Satisfied with this, Heo Jin-ho moved on to the next topic.

“Now regarding Gyeon Gwan-im’s treatment. Surely you don’t plan to release him just like that?”

“Of course not. Gyeon Gwan-im is a proper warlord. We’ve prepared a leash to control him, naturally.”

The next topic to discuss was, of course, the treatment of Gyeon Gwan-im after his release.

Heo Jin-ho mentioned that releasing Gyeon Gwan-im without any safety measures would be unacceptable, essentially asking if there was some strategy in place, and Park Cheol-gon confirmed that they had a leash to control Gyeon Gwan-im.

“A leash?”

“This.”

What he showed was none other than a Geass Scroll.

Heo Jin-ho looked at Park Cheol-gon with a somewhat strange expression, as if he had seen Geass Scrolls before when joining Seorabeol.

“Isn’t this a Geass Scroll that circulates in the market? A magical contract that imposes precepts in the form of rules for agreements between companies. Although the restrictions and penalties it imposes are frightening, doesn’t it have the drawback that someone can break it if they’re determined enough?”

It was indeed a scroll with the power to restrict the other party’s actions and ensure the fulfillment of contracts, but the fact was that if someone was determined to break it, they could.

Of course, they would have to accept the penalties, but if the benefits outweighed the penalties, there had been several cases where people ignored such “scraps of paper.”

Since there were some uncertain elements in relying solely on this scroll, he looked at Park Cheol-gon as if asking whether this was really sufficient.

“Yes. The Geass Scrolls sold in the market are actually downgraded versions of an item whose performance has been reduced for commercial sale.”

“That means…”

“This is dozens of times more powerful than what’s sold in the market. It’s an original contract created directly by Dragon Lord Bahamut.”

“Lord Bahamut?!”

Park Cheol-gon said it was possible and explained that the contract he was showing was created by Dragon Lord Bahamut himself.

Moreover, since the Geass Scroll itself was a downgraded version of an item created by Dragon Lord Bahamut and sold on the market, the power of a scroll used for military purposes rather than civilian use was…

“Yes. The contracts available in the market do have the effect of enforcing the content and precepts of the contract on the contractor, but that effect wasn’t very powerful. If there was a magician who had learned the Dispel magic, they could dispel even established contracts. But this is a special contract that prevents such loopholes.”

“Then it can prevent Gyeon Gwan-im from taking impulsive actions. So what’s the penalty?”

It was an item that prevented what are commonly called loopholes.

In other words, it meant they could put on a reliable leash, and naturally, the penalty had to be terrifying.

“Unlike regular Geass Scrolls that impose physical or mental pain or some kind of restriction, this one imposes a level down each time a precept is violated.”

And that penalty was none other than a level down.

For an Awakened, it was the most terrifying punishment imaginable.

“…That’s frightening. You’re saying they have to pay with their level, which is more precious than life?”

“Yes.”

If the apocalypse were still raging, while a level down would certainly be regrettable, one might not necessarily consider it more precious than life.

The surroundings would be filled with undead and monsters, and somehow, the lost levels could be recovered through hunting, so one could certainly violate the precepts of the contract in anticipation of the penalty.

But now it was different.

“A level down in this situation where the apocalypse has somewhat calmed? If levels go down, where can one raise those lost levels again?”

“Who knows? The monsters threatening the areas around Seorabeol have settled deep in the mountains. And the undead wandering around local villages are on the verge of extinction.”

It wasn’t like a game where monsters and undead respawned every hour.

In this era where the apocalypse had calmed down, to find monsters to hunt, one had to physically travel and search through mountains.

Of course, outside the territories controlled by Seorabeol, undead and monsters were overflowing, so there was certainly a way to hunt there, but…

“This isn’t a one-time contract, is it?”

“No. It activates the moment the contract is violated. Given the powerful penalty of level down, there is some flexibility, but once the contract is properly violated, it activates multiple level downs in succession.”

“It must be hell for high-level Awakened.”

Even for an Awakened who had surpassed level 15, if they suffered several level downs, they would instantly drop to single digits.

Moreover, the level down didn’t activate just once but multiple times, and even if someone somehow managed to escape to outside Seorabeol while violating the contract, it would be practically impossible for Gyeon Gwan-im, who had become a low-level Awakened due to the level downs, to survive out there.

Above all, there was no guarantee that one could recover their original level outside, and the outside wasn’t just filled with undead and monsters but also warlords and raiders who were competitors.

In this situation, if asked about the possibility of Gyeon Gwan-im betraying in exchange for levels more precious than life…

“It’s a definite contract to bind Gyeon Gwan-im. Good.”

Gyeon Gwan-im, who always aimed for battles with the highest chance of victory, would absolutely not consider betrayal in this situation.

Heo Jin-ho said it was definite as a leash and agreed to join in binding Gyeon Gwan-im with the leash proposed by Seorabeol.

“Then let’s try to make a plea deal with Gyeon Gwan-im with this.”

“He will definitely accept it. To preserve the value he holds, that’s the only answer.”

Having resolved the most difficult issue, what remained for Park Cheol-gon was for Gyeon Gwan-im to accept the plea deal.

Heo Jin-ho said he would definitely respond to the plea deal and that Gyeon Gwan-im would voluntarily put on the leash prepared by Seorabeol himself.