Tylene followed Joshua to the tavern’s second floor. She had prepared herself to activate her escape bracelet at any moment.
If the situation turns dangerous or if an ambush was waiting for her upstairs, she will immediately activate the runes on her bracelet to teleport her to her room in Madam Schroder’s mansion.
But, upon reaching the second floor, she discovered that her worries were unnecessary. The second floor was extremely unadorned, completely different from her expectation.
There weren’t any magic formations with vicious energies. There weren’t any containers filled with different kinds of ominous objects. The only thing present on the second floor was an ordinary room.
Joshua pushed open the door to his office. In the office was a bed used for resting. For the time being, Joshua placed the sleeping Ciri on the bed.
“Since you’re here, you must be prepared to sign a contract with me, right?”
Joshua turned around to look at the elf by the door. She appeared somewhat reserved. Her long ears trembled slightly like a rabbit’s ears. It seemed like she would escape the instant she sensed any strange movements.
“May I... have a look at details of the contract?”
Tylene was on guard against any magic fluctuation. She was even listening out for footsteps. But, she was only able to hear the noise from the tavern below.
“That’s not an issue.”
Joshua found an employment contract from his desk. That employment contract was something Joshua wrote last minute several days ago. It was going to be his entertainment company’s general contract.
Unfortunately, Ciri was the only person hired by Joshua’s entertainment company right now. But, this Frost Elf might become the second person.
Tylene carefully accepted the contract Joshua handed her. When her hand touched the paper, she was worried that it could detonate at any moment. But, once again, she was surprised to discover that the paper was not embedded with any curse or magic power.
Tylene was absolutely confident in her senses. She was able to detect the magic power embedded into any object no matter how minute they might be.
What she held in her hand was ordinary paper. At most, there were several paragraphs of words written on the paper.
Could it be that the trap was laid elsewhere?
Tylene began to browse over the contents on the contract. But, she saw no sign of the things she was expecting, the things rumored to be commonly seen on demons’ contracts like ‘offering one’s life,”forever becoming a slave to the contract holder,’ et cetera...
Instead, Joshua’s contract was an ordinary employment contract. The conditions of the contract were very comfortable too. It didn’t even mention the work hours.
“Entertainment... guild?”
Tylene muttered the unfamiliar phrase present on the contract. She had expected Joshua to be a certain theatrical troupe’s manager. However, it seemed like that was not the case.
“You can comprehend it as a kind of trade guild. But, what we will be selling are music, drawings, games, movies, television shows et cetera...”
“Then... what do I have to do for the guild?”
Tylene’s contract did not state what her job would be. It only contained several paragraphs concerning confidentiality agreement, patent rights, etc cetera. At the bottom of the contract was a wax seal from Norland’s Business Council. It meant that the contract was under the protection of Norland’s laws.
“That depends on what you know.”
Tylene found Joshua’s question difficult to answer.
She opened her mouth and discovered she was unable to say anything. She discovered that Joshua didn’t need the abilities that the elves were most proud of, whether it be their archery skills or your magic.
“I am confident in my singing voice.”
Tylene was only baffled for a moment. She still discovered her expertise. The elves live among the forests. At times, they would need to communicate with spirits. Those creatures from ancient trees and plants are attracted to beautiful singing voices.
Even the consciousness born from the World Trees is that way... Because of that, Tylene was absolutely confident in her singing voice. After all, back when her race’s World Tree was an ancient tree that reached the skies, she had managed to lure out the consciousness of their World Tree to listen to her singing.
“A singer? Would you please sing to demonstrate for me. You only need to sing a little bit. You can sing anything.”
Joshua immediately connected what Tylene said with that Blackwood Elf. Back then, in the garden in Madam Schroder’s mansion, that Blackwood Elf had utilized her singing voice to lure out the black cat.
Who knows, maybe this Frost Elf would be able to lure out a white cat with her singing voice?
Tylene did not show any shyness at Joshua’s request. She took a deep breath and was planning to sing ‘Let It Go.’ But, it was then that she felt like there was something stuck in her throat.
The next moment, her eyes grew dizzy and her body weakened.
Crap... Tylene grabbed her forehead and took several steps back. She extended her other hand with the intention of grabbing onto the wall to stabilize herself. Unfortunately, her hand only moved through the air. Because of that, she lost balance and fell toward the ground.
As time passed, this sudden weakness grew more and more frequent and lasted for longer and longer. That was the reason why Tylene was in such a rush to find nourishment for the World Tree seed.
Tylene propped her body up and tried to stand. But, her consciousness was slowly fading away from her.
It would be one thing if she fell unconscious in Madam Schroder’s mansion. But, she was currently right next to a demon!
If she was to lose consciousness at a time like this, Tylene had no idea what would’ve happened to her by the time she woke up.
Despair emerged in Tylene’s heart. She tried her best to maneuver her magic power to resist the weakening of her body. But, her magic power was slowly being nibbled away by that unknown power.
Gradually, Tylene’s vision darkened. In the end, the darkness began to swallow her consciousness.
With a confused expression, Joshua was looking at the fainted Frost Elf. Moreover, by pure coincidence, Ciri also woke up from the bed.
Ciri regained her awareness very quickly. It must be because of the magic power in her body.
Because of that, Ciri’s eyes were shifting back and forth from Joshua and the fainted Frost Elf.
“Perhaps you might not believe me, but I’ve not done anything. She fainted on her own.”
Joshua spread out his hands and shrugged in an innocent manner. But, from the skeptical expression on Ciri’s face, Joshua could tell that she would immediately call the police on him should they be on earth.
“Don’t bother explaining... how are we to deal with this elf?”
Ciri sighed. Her expression changed to one of understanding. After all, she was someone who was kidnapped by Joshua before. The only difference was that she became his accomplice now.
Ciri had already made her determination that she was already in a criminal gang... or became a demon’s follower. In other words, she had reached consensus with a criminal.
“Okay, okay. Let’s bring her to the bed first.”
Joshua was disinclined to bother explaining things now. Since Ciri had woken up, he couldn’t possibly have this Frost Elf who seemed to have some sort of strange illness sleep on the ground.
“Are we to take off her clothes after?” Ciri pulled up her sleeves. She seemed to be planning to do the job herself.
“No! We’re lawful business people, okay? We’re not going to do something that shady... eh... at least not now.”
Joshua suddenly recalled that he had kidnapped Ciri before. But, he had already washed his hands in a gold basin.[1]
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[1] [Washing one’s hand in a gold basin means to abandon one’s previous life/profession.]