I Don't Want To Work! - Chapter 62
CHAPTER 62
“……”
I couldn’t even produce a cough.
It felt like my throat was being torn apart.
The only thing I could expel from my mouth was a torn sound like breath and blood.
“Contractor.”
Ifrit twisted his face.
It was an expression that showed he was in pain and suffering.
“Let’s stop now. We’ve done enough.”
“……”
I shook my head. Each time, droplets of blood remained in my mouth.
“Ah, wait……”
I reached out my finger, pointing at the successor.
The successor, almost completely free of curses, was a shimmer.
A bright and warm light.
In that light, there was still a trace of contamination.
“But……”
“Hurry up and finish it!!”
Sylphid shouted.
“You’ll kill the contractor like this!”
Tears were streaming down Sylphid’s eyes.
Gnome was also twisting her face while looking at me.
‘Ha.’
I chuckled.
Those guys do like me.
They worried about me and even cried for me.
Such thoughts made me chuckle.
My chuckling seemed strange, and tears in Sylphid’s eyes became thicker.
Don’t cry, don’t cry.
I’m not completely crazy yet.
I reached out to the faint remaining darkness.
‘Huh?’
I sensed something strange.
Until now, the curses had crawled up like a swarm of insects, but this was different.
Somewhere subtly twisted.
What is it?
Fwoosh!!
Suddenly flames shot up before my eyes.
It wasn’t Ifrit’s flames.
I smelled gasoline.
It was artificially ignited flames.
“Aaah!!”
“Run away!”
The screams of those being swept away by the flames filled my ears.
A village was burning terrifyingly. Giant trees were dyed red.
Dozens of people screamed and ran away, and some chased after them to kill.
It was a scene of chaos.
“……”
I sat on the ground, blankly, and watched the house burn with helplessness.
My cozy home where I had lived for a long time was engulfed in flames.
“Uh, ah.”
The voice I barely managed to utter was young and weak.
“Baby!”
Someone lifted me.
In familiar arms, I finally burst into tears.
“Yeah, you’re surprised. You’re surprised. It’s okay now. Mom’s here.”
“Momma. Mmmaa……”
“Yeah, our daughter, our good daughter.”
It’s okay, it’s okay.
Whether it was meant for me or herself.
Or maybe both.
The woman holding me tightly kept whispering that everything was okay.
Her body, holding me, trembled slightly. I could hear her crying.
“Baby.”
Her body fell, and the woman looked into my eyes.
As if her eyes were sore from the flames shooting up everywhere, she couldn’t focus properly.
But the fact that the woman holding me was smiling.
“Mom will protect you no matter what. No matter what it takes.”
I could recognize her pink eyes looking at me.
* * *
“……!!”
“Contractor!!”
“Are you awake?”
Huh.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the four spirit kings looking down at me.
“What happened……”
I tried to get up but collapsed.
“……??”
“Don’t get up, Contractor.”
As I blinked, Sylphid summoned a small breeze to dry the sweat on my face.
“You pushed yourself too hard. Naturally, your body feels weak.”
“Yeah, lie down.”
Gnome moved the ground to make it comfortable for me to lie down.
“This place is……”
Looking around, it wasn’t a place with a cradle.
The surroundings were brightly adorned with spirit flowers.
It felt like being inside a small dome for some reason.
“I set up the barrier with my power.”
Elam opened his mouth.
“Your body has become too weak to withstand the power of the spirit realm. But we can’t just move you to the human realm.”
Hmm, I briefly closed my mouth, and Elam finished speaking.
“I set up the barrier to filter out the power once.”
Ah, so that’s why breathing has been easier since earlier.
“Thank you.”
When I smiled at Elam, he frowned and turned his head away.
“So, what happened?”
I asked, looking at the four spirit kings.
“I remember being transferred the last remaining curse onto me……”
After that, I only saw strange illusions.
I still felt a strong smell of burnt, so I instinctively pinched my nose.
“We don’t know that either.”
Ifrit shook his head.
“We confirmed that the last remaining curse was transferred to the contractor’s body.”
Ifrit continued.
“But nothing happened.”
“Nothing happened?”
“Yeah, like turning black or getting more shocked, nothing like that.”
Elam continued with a calm face.
“It just touched your body and disappeared.”
“That’s right.”
Gnome interjected abruptly.
“I saw it next to you. It disappeared as soon as it touched your fingertips.”
“Yeah yeah.”
Sylphid also nodded.
“What’s even more amazing is that as the last remaining curse disappeared, the contractor’s condition improved.”
“Huh, huh?”
I widened my eyes.
Unconsciously trying to get up, Ouch! I groaned and lay back down.
Ouch, my body.
I was prepared, but it’s a mess.
“Be careful, you’re better, but you’re not completely better.”
“Yeah.”
I nodded at Sylphid’s words.
“But seriously, what’s going on? Not only did the last remaining curse just disappear, but my condition also improved?”
“We don’t know either.”
Ifrit lightly shook his head.
“While the contractor was down, we checked everything, but nothing seemed to be wrong.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then there shouldn’t be any issues.”
If the four spirit kings themselves, who are not ordinary beings, confirmed it, then there shouldn’t be any abnormalities.
Still, there was a lingering doubt.
What is it, what is it?
From the illusions I saw earlier to the sudden disappearance of the curse, everything was connected.
“Wait a moment.”
I widened my eyes.
“What about the successor?”
“……”
My question was met with an even deeper silence than before.
Sylphid, Gnome, and Ifrit glanced at each other and then turned their heads discreetly towards Elam.
“What’s wrong?”
I propped myself up and looked at Elam.
“Is there a problem? Was the purification too late??”
“That! No, that’s not it.”
Elam fumbled at his lips, frowned, and then took a deep breath.
It was such a heavy sigh that it shook the spirit flowers.
“For now, the successor is safe. All curses have been removed, and their condition seems fine.”
Seems fine?
That’s not the same as confirming it directly.
“Where is the successor? I’ll check it myself.”
As I tried to get up, Sylphid gently pushed me back down.
While looking at Elam, she asked.
“Tell her properly, Elam. The contractor is anxious.”
“But I understand Elam’s situation too. How should he explain this situation?”
“It’s unprecedented~ unprecedented~~”
What the heck?
Why does everyone know about my affairs again??
“Ugh, contractor.”
“Huh?”
“Try to use the sensation that used to summon me before.”
“……??”
“Quickly.”
At Elam’s urging, I revived the sensation from before.
<Baah.>
A white sea rabbit-like creature popped up on my hand.
With its fluffy little tuft of fur and black ears sticking out, it cried out.
<Baah?>
I blinked.
<Baah.>
As I didn’t respond, it cried cutely again and nuzzled its head against my hand.
Hee hee!
“What, what is this!!”
“It’s my successor!!”
“Huh?! Why is your successor popping out of me!!”
“I don’t know!! Suddenly, it went inside you!!”
<Baah!!>
Amidst my surprised cries and Elam’s screams, the successor was fluttering around as if feeling good.
What on earth is happening!!
“Calm down, calm down, contractor. And you too, Elam.”
Ifrit intervened.
“This is how the situation stands, contractor.”
“It’s not about the situation……”
As I tried to calm my startled heart by taking a deep breath, something felt off in my body.
More precisely, in my soul.
“Uh, uh.”
I widened my eyes.
Is this for real?
I checked again, but there was no change.
I turned my head and looked at the spirit kings with tears welling up in my eyes.
“You see.”
I pointed at the successor with teary eyes.
“I seem to have made a contract with this one.”
Four contracts engraved on my soul.
And on top of them, a new contract was shining.
No, what on earth is going on……