Chapter 42: Temporary Contract

“F*ck this sh*t!!!”

My rage boiling over, I shouted loud enough for the entire half-flattened forest to hear.

Some might say it’s pointless to get so angry over someone else’s story, but how can I not be furious when this all stems from Baldo not being widespread enough?

If Pierre had used a katana – a real man’s weapon – instead of that sissy rapier, none of this would have happened.

Even if it did, he could have just slashed those bastards along with that b*tch of a daughter.

Ultimately, this all comes down to Pierre not learning Baldo.

I nearly shed a tear of pity for the poor victim seduced by that stupid a*s weapon, the rapier.

‘Married for 20 years, daughter around 19…’

While it’s possible they lost interest after the first year of marriage and started cheating, considering the knight was originally from her family, they were clearly f*cking long before that.

Those filthy creatures who’d been screwing since before marriage must have been thrilled to snag a sucker ATM who uses a rapier.

This is why you never get involved with a woman who leads men by the nose before marriage.

Every time Pierre was away, those two must have been ecstatic, begging each other to thrust and slash all night long.

The thought of them asking for such filthy slashing before marriage made me want to vomit.

What a truly insulting scene. The daughter not saying anything until then shows she just saw her father as an ATM.

‘No matter how I look at it, this is unforgivable…!!’

Though Pierre committed sins equivalent to insulting Baldo with mistranslations in the comments section several times, that doesn’t mean he deserved this fate.

Only I, a Baldo user, had the right to punish him. At least not those filthy creatures.

“Spirit!! What happened to those bitches after that?!!”

“Why are you shouting so suddenly…. Unless they repented and confessed their sins, they probably took over Pierre’s house…”

“Bleeeeurgh!!!!”

No way those dogs repented, so that must be what happened.

Unable to contain my anger again, I shouted with all my might at Pierre’s grave.

“F*ck, Ponpon hyung!!! You know why you f*cking died like that?! You should’ve killed her when no blood came out on the wedding night!! If you learned Baldo, you could’ve done that, f*ck!!”

“Ponpon hyung…? Were you perhaps brothers with him in your world?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…!! Argh!!! f*cking hell!!”

I don’t want to curse the deceased, but what kind of idiot doesn’t kill them when he finds them in bed, kid or not?

He had justification and the power to kill, yet he doesn’t and just goes to the forest to commit suicide alone? Is he insane?

“Hey, which direction is the Pierre family territory?”

“Why are you asking that…?”

“It’s not my intention, but I’ll avenge him in his place.”

I’m reluctant to use Baldo for personal reasons, especially for such an absurd cause, but I can’t forgive those cuckoo bastards even more.

I decided to take revenge myself on behalf of the pitiful Pierre who never learned Baldo.

“…Give it up.”

But even as I said I’d avenge him, the spirit shook its head.

“Why?”

“That’s not what Pierre would have wanted. Do you really not understand why Pierre couldn’t kill his daughter then?”

“I don’t know, why couldn’t he?”

“…Even if she wasn’t his real daughter, he couldn’t bring himself to cut down the child he’d watched grow up since she was little.”

“That makes even less sense?”

If he’d watched her since she was little, wouldn’t he know exactly where to slash to kill her easily?

I used to unconsciously gauge where to slash my parents or maids if I ever had to use Baldo on them since I was young.

When I shared this thought with the spirit, it looked at me with disdain and said:

“I thought you and Pierre might have some similarities when I heard you were from the same homeland, but it seems that was my mistake.”

“Huh? Of course it’s a mistake. That guy uses a dumb f*cking weapon like a rapier while I use a katana.”

Obviously, we have nothing in common. I’m far superior both as a swordsman and as a human.

“Anyway, I don’t want revenge. Who would I even be taking revenge on? Making descendants pay for crimes their ancestors committed 200 years ago – how ridiculous.”

The spirit laughed self-deprecatingly as it said this, but the corners of my mouth didn’t even twitch.

No, why does someone living in such a world think like this?

Isn’t it normal to rip apart even the grandson’s grandson, dig up their graves, and desecrate the corpses?

“Even if we were to take revenge, only Pierre, Lobo, and I have that right now. I appreciate your concern for him, but please let him rest in peace…”

“Urgh…!!”

When the person involved responds like this, I lose any justification to act.

It would be very simple for me to go alone to the Pierre family territory and bisect those bastard descendants with Baldo.

But that would only leave the fact that I killed them with my magnificent Baldo.

The fact that I punished the illegitimate children who took their position unjustly wouldn’t remain.

I needed some justification. For that, I needed the cooperation of the spirit who had been alive since then until now.

But how could I possibly persuade this spirit who had become one with nature to the point of gaining enlightenment through Baldo under a bodhi tree like Buddha?

Unable to think of a way, I just hung my head without saying anything.

“…Take this.”

As I despaired at being unable to fulfill Ponpon hyung’s grudge, the spirit handed me the rapier and staff that had been stuck in the ground.

“Truly honoring Pierre isn’t through pointless revenge, but by using these properly to save as many people as possible. Please do so.”

Unable to refute those words, I was about to take the rapier when a devilish – no, Baldo-like – idea came to mind.

‘I may not have the right to revenge, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to retaliate.’

That’s right. Even if I don’t have the right to revenge, if the other side moves to punish me first, I have no choice but to fight back.

Before taking the rapier the spirit offered, I said to it:

“Spirit, make one promise with me.”

“A promise? What is it?”

“Promise that if a dispute arises over ownership of the rapier and staff after I receive them, you’ll unconditionally take my side.”

“I can certainly do that much. From the moment I acknowledged it, the ownership belongs to you anyway.”

The spirit said the ownership belonged to it as if it were obvious, but that wasn’t actually the case.

I hate to admit it, but strictly speaking, the ownership of this rapier and staff belonged to the descendants of those illegitimate children.

But what if a newly appeared baronet – one who’d made enemies with the von Grund family’s daughter – were to get his hands on the founder’s weapons?

If I were a renowned noble, they might have handed over the rapier to me in recognition of my merit in subjugating Lobo and solidified our relationship.

But even though I use Baldo, I’m just a low-ranking noble.

And one with a bad reputation for making enemies with a high noble’s daughter at the academy!

They would surely demand I return the rapier and staff, claiming they were the rightful owners.

If that happened, I could denounce them as descendants of illegitimate children and assert my right to the rapier.

Of course, they would say my words were lies, but I have a witness who saw and heard everything.

If the spirit, clearly a high-ranking one, testifies with its existence on the line, no evidence could overturn that.

To somehow settle the matter, they would try to prove their innocence through a duel.

After that, I could just drive out those illegitimate children through duel or war and return the position to the more legitimate branch family.

‘…I’ll definitely desecrate those b*tches’ corpses.’

It won’t change the fact that Pierre got cuckolded, but it has the irreplaceable advantage of making me feel better.

I can’t wait to dig up those bastards’ graves, smash their thick faces, and slash their necks.

Perhaps my thoughts showed on my face, as the spirit asked suspiciously:

“…You’re not thinking of anything strange, are you?”

“Of course not! More importantly, let’s make that temporary contract quickly. I’d rather not have to search the forest again because of your testimony.”

“…Ah, right.”

The spirit reluctantly extended its hand, and I likewise reached out towards it.

“My name is Marga, the high spirit of earth. I swear to entrust myself to you for a while according to our covenant.”

With those words, Marga lowered its hand. As this was my first contract with a spirit, I tilted my head and asked:

“…Is that it?”

“What were you expecting for a temporary contract? Now whenever you call my name, I’ll come running to prove your ownership.”

“Really?”

“That’s reassuring,” I said as I quietly smiled.