4- Soul contract (4)

He got up and examined the small goblin closely.

"W... Why are you looking at me like that? It’s all true! I’m not lying! Why would I lie about something like this?”

“No one said you were lying except you.” Raihle said, then ignored the matter.

“Why are you luring people into the forest?”

He kept his eyes on the goblin, planning to get as much information as he could.

The goblin scoffed. “Isn’t that obvious? The same reason why all goblins are gathered here is for.”

Raihle’s eyes lit up and widened. “So there are more goblins in here other than you.”

The goblin’s head snapped like fireworks, and his eyes started trembling.

“What? No! It’s just me… Ah, they are my subordinates!”

Raihle narrowed his gaze. This goblin’s ability to lie was like that of a three-year-old.

“I see. What are you and your subordinates doing here?”

“Making contracts, of course!” He flew and circled around excitingly but Raihle’s cold tone put off his enthusiasm.

“Why are you making contracts?”

“You… Did no one teach you anything at human school?” He glared at him in pity.

“What a poor, weird human," he mumbled, then clarified. “Contracts make us more powerful! not just us but all creatures become more powerful with more contracts, except you humans; that’s why you are mostly who we get contracted with. We make your wishes true, and in exchange, we get an extra contract in our records and a raise in rank.”

Make your wishes come true.

So the real Raihle’s wish was to leave this world and take Hyun Wa’s body?

Raihle rubbed his chin while thinking.

No. He remembered what was written in the journal.

{To the person who is now possessing my body…}

This might indicate that he didn’t know whose body he was going to swap his body with. There is a fair chance that Hyun Wa wasn’t chosen specifically but rather picked randomly.

The possibility of it being pure bad luck gave him a bitter taste in his mouth.

‘Damn it.’

Raihle swallowed up his curses and saved his anger for the damn thief. “Is there a limit on what you can do?”

The goblin chuckled, then looked at Raihle’s stoic face and realized he wasn’t joking.

“Were you raised in a cave? Tsk… You must be very stupid.”

Raihle subconsciously frowned.

It’s the real Raihle who was a dumbass. He didn’t want to be included under that category as well.

“No, I’m just clueless, and I want to know.”

The goblin sighed, releasing a blue flame from his mouth. “Fine, fine, let this great, handsome goblin explain it to you simply.”

First, there are three kinds of contracts: Ink, Blood, and Soul contracts.”

Raihle's memory brought him back to the room he opened his eyes in. The paper that showed up in his hand, written in wet red ink, had these two words in it: Soul contract.

The fire orb started spinning in the air.

“Ink contracts are very easy; sometimes even humans write them with each other, they rarely have consequences. Low-ranked goblins can write those as well. The second kind is more complicated; only middle-ranked and higher-ranking goblins and creatures who hold a great deal of power can write those. Blood contracts require blood, and they always have dangerous consequences on both sides of the contract. Sometimes they can kill both. They work best when both sides are powerful. That’s why higher-ranking goblins choose their contractors carefully. It doesn’t benefit them if they contract with someone weaker or unequal.” He shrugged at the end.

Raihle waited for him to continue, but he remained silent.

“What about soul contracts?”

“Oh, you don’t need to know about those. No one has ever done them.”

Raihle frowned. He remembered what he read clearly.

{The Soul Contract between the Thirteenth Goblin and Raihle Latarseil has been made.}

The Soul contract is the kind Raihle used with the Thirteenth Goblin.

“Tell me about it.”

“No seriously, goblins are the masters of contracts, but even they can’t make a soul contract.”

Raihle furrowed harder. His eyes were sharp and delicate like a blade.

There is one who did it. Otherwise, how did he end up here instead of in his room, eating the cup of instant noodles he worked hard and saved money for?

The blue goblin mistook his gaze as anger directed toward him.

“Ah… I mean, Soul contracts have the most expensive price to pay. Giving up your soul will grant you absolute power to make anything possible, but it takes a goblin with godly abilities to pull off that contract without dying and killing its contractor. It’s impossible even for the First Goblin.”

Air stuck in Raihle's chest, and he spoke out of breath. “What do you mean without dying?”

“Even one tiny soul can bend time, the world, and its boundaries, but doing so will recoil on the creature who used the soul. Their bodies might explode or chatter in pieces! they might melt down or even lose some of their parts. Either way, if they fail to complete the Soul contract contents, the contractor will lose their life for nothing.”

His head slowly lowered, his eyes remained open, but he saw nothing other than the masses of thoughts inside his head.

The real Raihle made a contract with a goblin called the Thirteenth Goblin.

He risked his life, the goblin's, and the whole world to make it happen, and since Hyun Wa stood here, he can safely assume it worked.

“Also, if someone ever manages to succeed, the greater forces on earth will definitely sense it. And goblins love to show off their contracts! They won’t shut up if they ever make a soul contract. I would have definitely been the first to know.”

Raihle's eyes shook. The Thirteenth Goblin didn’t let the world know. No one knows about the bent of time or the hole in the world boundaries where Raihle and Hyun Wa had switched places.

But all that raised more questions. Why did Raihle go through this to escape his world, and why did the goblin agree to do it, despite the risks?

The goblin was trying to get Raihle's attention by swirling around, and when he finally raised his head, he asked at once.

“Is there any chance to breach a soul contract?”

“Absolutely not. Did you not hear what I said? The price is a soul! nothing can break a soul.”

Raihle slowly nodded, then gave him a final question: “Do you know who the Thirteenth Goblin is?”

The goblin paused, and a devastated look appeared in his flaming eyes.

“Why? Do you want to make a contract with him?” He shouted at the verge of tears. “How can you speak about other goblins in front of my face!” He whined, and his voice filled the whole quiet forest.

A headache rose at the back of Raihle’s brain. He reluctantly shook his head.

“I don’t want to make a contract with him. I just want to meet him.”

“How can I trust you?” He started shouting again, “You even ignored me and pretended to be asleep! You are the first human to do that to me! You hurt my feelings, Cave Boy!”

“I will make an ink contract with you if you tell me where he is.”

The whining disappeared immediately, and the goblin’s eyes gleamed like stars. “Really?”

“Really.” Raihle answered blankly.

“Then let’s make the contract first,” the goblin suggested with pure joy and excitement, erasing all signs of drama. “What do you want? I can lead you back from where you came.”

Raihle realized what the goblins in the forest were doing. They lure people to get lost and then make Ink contracts with them to send them back.

‘But I don’t need that.’

Even without knowing his way back, the knights would eventually cut down the whole forest to find him.

“I want something useful.”

“Useful?” The goblin thought for a moment. “How about ‘My little friend’?”

Raihle tilted his head.

"...Right, I forgot you lived in a cave," he said with a bit of sympathy. "They're untouchable and invisible creatures. They are like air particles; they exist everywhere and see everything. They are very chatty and like to gossip. You won’t feel lonely and friendless with them! I will give you the ability to hear and understand them.”

Raihle looked at him doubtfully. “…This is the best you got?”

The goblin flinched and avoided his eyes. Raihle knew his previous words were made up, but he played along. This tiny, glowing goblin wasn’t capable of many things, and he understood that.

He already gave him a lot of information for free, so he decided to go easy on him.

“I will sign the contract,”

"YAY!"

“But I have a condition.”

The goblin paused midair and asked nervously, “What is it?”

Raihle said, “You will inform me in the future about anything that relates to the Thirteenth Goblin or Soul contracts. Do you understand that?”

The goblin eyes smiled. “Yes, it’s very easy! Goblins in the Abyss gossip about contracts all the time. I can get you all the news.”

Raihle nodded in satisfaction and a blue paper showed up in front of his face.

It had a weird language but he somehow managed to understand, as if the meaning transferred to his brain directly. It’s felt like a weird experience, but he thought it was because it’s Raihle's body and not his, so he is able to read their language.

He read it carefully before signing his name at the end, then the goblin flew in circles around his head and his light split and turned into two dots, then transformed into a long earring with a small, blue lotus flower at the end.

“Woo-who! Another contract! I feel powerful already.” The goblin howled while floating and swaying everywhere.

“The Thirteenth Goblin.” Raihle's strict voice reminded him, “Where is he?”

“Ah, right," the goblin stopped. “He’s one among the highest thirteen ranks. We don’t know much about him.”

“Do you mean the thirteenth is his rank?”

“Yes, and his name too. We don’t have names but numbers to know our ranking.”

Raihle rose an eyebrow. “You said you are the great, mighty, respected, and most powerful Goblin, so what’s your number?”

The blue goblin turned into a pale blue as he chuckled awkwardly. “Ah… Who said that? Hehe," he said, avoiding looking at his eyes and whispering, “It’s…it’s seven hundred and fifty-three."

Raihle already expected that. His face didn’t change at all and that hurt the goblin more.

“Act like you are surprised, at least!”

Raihle feigned ignorance. “So there is no way for you to know if the Thirteenth Goblin made a Soul contract or not?”

“Like I said, everything will be in a mess if that actually happens. I don’t think there is a goblin capable of keeping such news to themselves. But because I’m kind and I pity you,” he said and then repeated, “Pity you, you poor Cave Boy."

Raihle cut him off coldly. “It’s the condition I wrote in the contract. The kindness of your heart has nothing to do with this.”

The goblin pretended not to hear. “I will personally go to the Abyss and investigate the Soul contract thing. However, it would be hard to find the Thirteenth Goblin. The high rankers don’t live in the Abyss like the rest of us goblins and monsters do. They can transform into any shape, living or not, and be in any place in the world.”

“But do you have any clue?”

The blue goblin shook his body. “If they want to contract with you, they will find you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t see them.”

Raihle thought about it deeply and then nodded. “Okay then, I will see you soon.” He turned around when he remembered and touched the end of his earring. “I can’t hear anything. Did you scam—" A wave of loud noise burst his ear.

{Finally, a big human who can hear us! I’m tired of speaking with trees!}

{Wow, you are handsome! I like your eyes!}

{Hey, are you the missing human who they are looking for? Those people are noisy.}

{I know where they are do you want me to guide you?}

{Do you want to guess how many fingers I have? They aren’t three!}

A million voices rushed into his ears. He felt as if he were standing in the middle of a crowd, and all of them were shouting in his ear at the same time.

“If you can hear them all the time, you will lose your mind.”

Raihle agreed. When he touched the earring, the voices disappeared.

“See you later, Cave Boy.” The goblin raised his flame like a hand and waved good bye.

“It’s Raihle, not Cave Boy. And I won’t call you the seven hundred and fifty-third goblin. I will just call you Blue.”

The goblin blinked twice. “You are … giving me a name? But I’m a goblin…"

Raihle ignored him and walked away. “Tell me when you find anything strange or hear about the Thirteenth Goblin.” He raised his hand and waved without looking at him. “See you then, Blue.”

He floated in air without moving as Raihle disappeared within the woods.

"… Blue," Blue muttered, repeating his name to himself.

“Your Highness!”

When Raihle went back, he was a bit shocked.

“Are you injured anywhere? Did you get hurt?” They scanned him from head to toe and dusted off the dirt of his clothes while tears hung on their lashes. They looked terrible, as if they had lost a few years from their lives. Their fear of the Emperor exceeded their care about him. He could swear they are all cursing him in their heads for what he did.

He didn’t feel the slightest guilt. He was rather amused a little by the mess he caused.

“I’m hungry.” He nonchalantly said to them.

Because of that accident, their arrival was delayed for a day.

“Is there some kind of festival?” Raihle, who watched the capital city from the carriage window, was bewildered.

The city streets were crowded and decorated with flowers and signs; people wore luxurious clothes and fixed their hair as if it were the biggest day in their lives.

“It’s all because of you, your highness.”

“What?”

Raihle's disbelief sounded clear in his tone.

His companion faked a cough and then spoke in a low voice.

“The Emperor ordered everyone to celebrate your return. He said anyone who doesn’t show his warm welcome to the Imperial Prince will be a prisoner for an indefinite period.”

Raihle couldn’t stop the scowl from getting to his face. The more he heard about the Emperor, the more he was sure he was a crazy old man.