Chapter 324: Contract

Veronica knew it would be naive of Leo to allow her to freely use his resources without any clause.

She closed her eyes for a moment, recalling the events that had transpired during the 10 days she had stayed in the territory.

There were three blue-haired girls. Though annoying at times, they weren’t bad. Then there was Brok—the second-term student who always seemed busy training himself after finally getting to stay in a mana-rich place. She clearly recalled his words.

"Boss may look like he gives too much without needing anything," Brok had said with a shrug,

"but that’s because he has that much. And don’t get him wrong—he may seem easy-going, but I’ve seen him dealing with people who try to harm him. And trust me, you’d never want yourself in that situation."

She had been shocked hearing that Leo was even going to torture a girl—someone no less beautiful than her, and a second-term student at that—in front of her brother’s eyes, which he himself had kept open

But she was even more shocked after hearing that Lily was more dangerous than he was.

Veronica already knew something was wrong with Lily because of her behaviour during the fresher’s competition, but this was next level. Especially when she could feel the creeps just by hearing Brok’s description of the events.

Then her mind drifted to the positives.

The most important thing was her brother.

She had always been grateful for how much Virat had done for her, and she wanted to keep him by her side as long as possible. But she knew his fighting talent wasn’t that great, and her alchemist talent was leagues ahead. Because of that, she had already accepted that they would eventually end up in different territories, and that she would do her best to support him so he could become strong.

But all her worries vanished when Leo simply said Virat would also join his territory.

At that moment, she decided she would work so hard and increase her value so much that even if Virat’s contribution remained low, Leo would never throw him out. Doing so would cause discomfort to her—to the valuable member of the territory she planned to become.

And for that, she forced herself to work harder to create the mana regeneration potion with limited apparatus, time, and facilities. She was genuinely happy that Leo had praised her.

Her mind drifted to yesterday’s attack on the territory—an attack strong enough to vaporise beings like her.

Then she thought about the defence mechanism that had activated, which—according to Miho—was a defence array Leo had installed in the territory. Brok had said the cost would be no less than 20 million AC for the territory and the area where it was installed, and that the fact it could retaliate would add another 10 million.

It simply meant the other higher-ups in the territory—Lily, Leon, and Miho—had pooled their rewards and betting money just to install this single array.

This also meant the 4 of them were tightly knit friends who trusted each other.

And this was great news for members like Veronica, since it guaranteed no trouble from corruption.

It also displayed the territory leader’s dedication to protect and prosper the territory, along with his responsibility to safeguard the non-combat professionals within it.

"Veronica..." Virat nudged her lightly from behind, pulling her out of her stupor.

"S-sorry for spacing out," she apologised, turning her gaze toward Leo.

"Lord, I am ready to accept the conditions that you will provide... but..." She hesitated, then shook her head. "No, nothing."

She didn’t continue, thinking it might anger Leo.

Leo simply nodded. With a small flick of his finger, a mana contract appeared in his hand, the parchment shimmering faintly before he handed it to Veronica.

The mana contract laid out the following information:

Conditions to officially join Leo’s territory.

- No information regarding the working of or about the territory can be shared with others.

- Do not approach the plateau region, in or around it, without prior permission of the territory leader or vice leader.

- No tampering with the territory grounds without authorisation, which includes farming, planting, digging, etc.

- Cannot leave the territory once you have started to consume its resources to rank up in your life-talent work unless authorised by the territory leader.

- Contract agreement for profit share in the creation of products from your talent is negotiable and can be changed in the future at the discretion of both parties.

Benefits:

- Becoming a member of the territory.

- Territories help in advancing your talent.

- Protection from anything harmful.

- Safe working environment.

Veronica frowned slightly.

So far, these clauses were nothing special.

But at that moment, Leo took out another contract. It had a different appearance, the parchment thicker and faintly glowing with gold—signifying that it wasn’t a normal mana contract but an Empire-authorised contract that had to be followed anywhere in the world unless one wanted the Empire itself to take action.

This new contract laid out the following clauses:

Conditions to be a part of Leo’s subordinates.

- Will only work exclusively for Leo and his ruling area unless authorised by him or his close circle.

- No information regarding Leo, his people, or subordinates can be revealed to anyone under any conditions.

- Contract agreement for profit share in the creation of products from your talent is negotiable and can be changed in the future at the discretion of both parties.

- Contract duration remains active as long as both parties maintain the agreement. If the subordinate faces abuse, overbearing control, or unfair treatment, the Empire may intervene to nullify the contract.

- Even after the contract is nullified, no information should be leaked.

Benefits:

- Becoming a permanent subordinate of Leo.

- Priority access to rare ingredients.

- Dedicated laboratory.

- Direct funding for experiments.

- Protection under Leo’s personal authority.

- Leeway in taxation.

- Safe working environment.

- Can file a personal request for the acquisition of materials that will help you.

- Access to facilities that might normally have been inaccessible.

As Veronica read the contract with wide eyes, Leo recalled Kaelion’s words about her being a one in a million talent if she managed to reach amateur rank under 30—especially considering she was a commoner with very limited resources.

It was obvious that Virat’s strength was nowhere near enough to support her adequately, even if he laid his life down for it.

He had also been informed by the three girls that during their ’interrogation’, Virat had revealed the reason Veronica had never been noticed by higher-ups back in their city.

A noble girl had continuously prevented them from being noticed because of her inferiority complex—unable to accept that a commoner could be more talented than her in alchemy. She had even gone as far as burning Veronica’s workshop days before a small-scale competition, ensuring Veronica would lose her notes and research papers and fail to perform well.

Leo then proceeded to hand a normal contract to Virat containing only the basic clauses.

This made it clear to both siblings that Virat was indeed of lower value in Leo’s eyes and that he was here only because of Veronica.

"The first contract makes you a member of the territory," Leo said calmly. "The second makes you my personal alchemist. If I invest in your talent directly, I will expect loyalty in return."

Leo finished speaking as Veronica slowly looked up at him, determination burning in her eyes.

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A/N: Once again, if anyone has any suggestions to improve the contract, you can write a comment about it. If I feel it would be nice to have it, I will add it to the story.