Lord Summoner's Freedom Philosophy: Grimoire of Love

Chapter 177 The North's Deadly Magical Forest (3) The Oath

"Yes! An oath!" The man uttered with his hands on his hips.

I know, no, I should have known from the start. It's foolish for me to forget it just because we got into such a danger.

It is impossible for a person to save someone without asking for a compensation. I'm not as naive as I was before, I know how cruel the world is, and how much cruel the people living inside are. For him to save all of our lives here, it could also be meant that our lives are now his.

I know what oath he meant. It must be the mana oath. Mana oath is an absolute oath ranking the highest amongst other contracts. It ranks even higher than the slave contract or the slave curse, since the mana oath connected the contract between the souls of those in part of the oath, and the punishment from the mana oath is something that could not be avoided. If there is a person who broke the oath, then it's either death by execution or absolute dominion of one's soul. Or worse yet, it can be used as a leverage to force a person to do something.

If I break an oath, I will have to suffer the consequences.

As I thought about it, I felt my heart beating faster. What kind of oath did he prepare for me? Was it a horrible one? No, it must be an oath for me to give my body to him. I guess this will be the end of my purity. My life is cursed and now I become his plaything. It's unfortunate, but I couldn't avoid it.

"I-I'm ready!" I need to do this. At the very least, all of us will still live and survive. And this man seems to treat his summoned beasts and monsters well. They do say that people who are nice to animals and trusted by them could be trusted.

"Excellent." The man nodded. "Listen carefully, you will have to repeat my words properly. Is that understood?"

"Yes, yes!" I replied immediately. Cold sweats poured in, and helplessness overwhelmed me.

Then the man spoke in a deep voice, "This is your oath. Listen well: 'I vow to be silent about the abilities of Lyan Arkanium Evocatore, and won't tell a single soul that is not permitted by him to know about them, not by words, not by letters, or any other means. I swear upon my soul and my life."

I followed his words one by one, and my mana rages responding to my word of oath. My mana formed a circle below me, and a powerful light made by mana formed on my chest. It's the first time I experienced looking at how a mana oath unfolded with my own two eyes, even though it's sad that I have to get bounded by them, the sight of the process is rather beautiful.

Eh?

"Silent? Abilities?"

Huh? That's it?

"Yes, good. Now I'm once again safe. Thank you for your cooperation. Don't ever forget that mana oath you made, okay? It won't be funny if you recklessly made a slip-up in the middle of gossiping with other girls and ended up dead, after all," The man shrugged.

There is nothing wrong with this oath. In fact, it's a rather simple oath that doesn't need any complicated words, while the oath itself is quite straightforward. It just asked me to keep silent about the abilities that he had shown...

Ah...

It's the power of summoning.

I've heard about how great the power of being a summoner is, but I guess there also comes a great danger from possessing such a strength. So he must be trying to hide them.

'I'm quite surprised that there is someone that could resist my powerful illusion mist that took quite a lot of my mana, but I'm too entranced at your gallant figure that I ended up watching for a while'

The line he uttered resounded inside my head, and I finally understands the situation completely.

That purple mist that suddenly appeared in his doing in order to make all of us unconscious, but it was not to harm us, it was because he wants to help us without any of us knowing his summoning abilities. But despite his effort, I somehow resists his magic and he ended up still helping us despite having the risk of me knowing his secret.

So he is... A good guy?

"Well, young girl. You can go to your friends gathered inside and near the wagon now, you know? As you see, I'm quite busy here..." The man said with a wry smile as his summoning beasts all gathered around him and snuggled their heads to him, asking for his attention.

"Y-Yes..." I uttered meekly.

He really is a good person, isn't he...?

I thought as I returned to my group. The magma bear is sitting near my

unconscious friends. She must be spreading its heat to warm them. What a kind beast.

Well, she's staring intensely at the man and the group of his summoned beasts to show off her jealousy, though.

My companions are all safe. Knowing that fact, I let out a relieved sigh.

After a few moments, my body relaxed from the tension of the recent events, and I sits near the others slowly. My right-hand feels cold and numb from using so much magic during our trip, and then I realized that I should probably have something hot to drink and eat.

Suddenly, a skeleton wearing a servant uniform approached me while bringing a plate of food and a cup of hot dark drink. It approached me while motioning to take them with his head.

"Alright, thank you." I bow my head to the skeleton awkwardly and took them.

The skeleton nods politely and left.

I take a look at the inside of the cup and saw the dark chocolate-colored drink inside.

That skeleton doesn't mistake me for the other beasts or skeletons, right? It's something a human could drink, right?

The color made me wary, but when I sniffs it, it gave a sweet and alluring smell.

*Slurp!*

"It's delicious!" I exclaimed happily. "Truly, I didn't expect it to taste this good. This is awesome! Ah..."

I realized that my voice is too loud and that the other skeletons that are cleaning up the aftermath of the battlefield are staring at me.

"S-Sorry..." I lowered my head in embarrassment and shift my gaze to the plate.

There is a piece of bread, but it seems that the bread is made rather well judging from its softness it looks. Looking at the bread brings back my memories back when I was still in the territory.

I guess if I didn't fall into a slave like this, I wouldn't know how much a luxury eating such a bread like this.

I took the bread and it to my mouth, and bites it-

"S-So Shof!" I exclaimed with the bread inside my mouth.

What happened? The bread is so smooth that it melts in my mouth! It's so wonderful and delicious that I feel like I can eat it forever. It's a sensation that only happens in dreams!

No way! There is something else inside the bread beside the bread! It's not just bread anymore!

"Mwa~ Mwah!"

"Are you alright, girl?" The voice of the man called out to me.

"Eh? Ah... Yes, yes. Sorry..." I stuttered.

"Hahaha. Eat them slowly. You don't want to lose your life because of hasty eating after surviving until now, right? By the way, try eating the bread and drinking the chocolate at the same time. It feels the best in a cold region like this," The man said with a smirk.

It's embarrassing that he saw me acting like a child that ate a piece of bread for the first time, but I'm more interested in his suggestion.

Just like his words, I took a bite of the bread and took a sip of the hot drink.

"D-Delicious!" I exclaimed excitedly. "Ah, I can't believe it!"

I'm able to enjoy the taste of both at the same time! Both flavors are mixed together in the mouth and the sensation is indescribable!

The liquid of the chocolate melted in my mouth, and the bread was filled with flavor from the chocolate, and the whole mixture blended together creating an explosion of intense flavor! It makes me dizzy!

"Ah!" I once again lost myself.

"Pfft! I glad you like it," The man chuckled before staring at the distance with a serious look.

"As expected of the deadly magical forest of the north. Looks like we have no time to waste, we have to move our feet,"

___________________________________________________________________________

Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore

Occupation: Mythril-ranked Mercenary

Money: 3,797,710,950 Elnes / 3797 gold 71 big silver 9 big coppers 5 coppers

Weapon: Magic Glaive, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 1 (Decent) bow

Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, Breastplate, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials

Grimoire's Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime (Lv. 45), Galewing Butterfly (Lv. 45), Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly (Lv. 45), Ice Golem (Lv. 50), Acid Ant Queen (Lv. 9), Magma Bear (Lv. 1), Fey Mammoth (Lv. 1), Arcane Retriever (Lv. 1), Winter Wolf Alpha (Lv. 12)

Grimoire's Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army