“Looks reasonable.” Sage Yeltz concluded, putting Aurelius’s list on the table.

  “I am open to modifying the secrecy clause to become a little more relaxed, stating that you will be able to tell individuals that Commission representatives have informed.”

  “Your demands on the surveillance clauses and reporting clauses are certainly reasonable. But I will keep you as an apprentice in the contract since it is a rather small caveat to us, but is a core part of the contract that will remain untouched. That should make it easier for Pultris to modify.”

  “And I will remove the instant death clause, but I will, at my discretion, be inserting a suicide clause so that you can kill yourself with a trigger word, and the trigger will also be available to me.” Sage Yeltz said, leaning back in her office chair innocently.

  “What?! A suicide clause? Absolutely not!” Aurelius said, horrified at the suggestion of having a word end his life on a whim.

  …Also, did she say that she will have access to the same trigger word?! Sage Yeltz was just saying that she wants Aurelius to make his life available to her at the command of a single phrase!

  “Do you even know what almost happened in your little hotel room?” Sage Yeltz commented, glaring condescendingly at Aurelius.

  “...What’s that got to do with this?” Aurelius retorted skeptically.

  “You were bloody lucky that the loop triggered under the dubious condition you were in.” Sage Yeltz said matter-of-factly.

  “I am almost 80% sure that the orb that was fusing with your skin was a Soul Splitter. Basically a charm holding a simplified version of a simulacrum spell.”

  Aurelius blinked in shock.

  “Yes. A simulacrum spell. The forbidden earth elemental magic at the sage level.” Sage Yeltz reiterated, snapping her fingers to summon a stack of papers presumably related to the topic.

  “It is a possible way of vow-breaking that has only been theorised.”

  “The Queen was trying to split your soul in two uneven halves. One with the Commission Contract, and one without. And they would have destroyed the one with the Commission contract to free our hold over you for their plans.”

  “But it seems that you annoyed those egotistical angelic cunts enough to get yourself killed the right amount to reset the loop.”

  “Or maybe you didn’t. Maybe half of your soul is still somewhere out there, suffering.” Sage Yeltz said coldly, waving around her mug of coffee irritably.

  “...E-Errr. Can you check if I have all of my soul, ma’am?” Aurelius asked politely, now quite concerned.

  “You have the normal amount of soul. But who knows if you had more once upon a time?” Sage Yeltz assured unconvincingly.

  “The main point is, that for someone like you who is effectively immune to death, it might be wise to have a way to quickly reset your loop.” She finished, sipping her coffee like it was any other day of the week.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  “...Ok.” Aurelius conceded, vowing to check back on his soul back at his flat.

  “Now onto the issue of your contract with Pultris.” Sage Yeltz continued.

  Aurelius gulped down his fear at this statement.

  During his dinner with Seraphine and the wraith, Sylven, they had been vehemently against such an outrageous idea.

  Angelic contracts had burdens that could only be borne by an entity at least the same size as a major magic family.

  Sacrifices for most angels were priced with human souls.

  The way that humanity had skirted around the moral quandary of such a problem was through sacrificing homunculi, non-sentient alchemical beings with pseudo mana based souls crafted by the most powerful magic families.

  They were not quite aware of the sacrifice required for a sealed angel, but they were almost certain that the price would be just less difficult to pay.

  “Ah. I assume that you’re wondering about the price of the angelic contract.” Sage Yeltz commented, jolting Aurelius out of his train of thoughts.

  “...Yes ma’am.” Aurelius replied meekly.

  “Look, Pultris is clearly… kind of evil. And the price for angelic contracts are human souls… so, I’m wondering if it even is worth it to have someone like me contract such a divine being.” Aurelius explained, his face darkening as a hint of amusement crept up on Sage Yeltz’s face.

  “First of all. You are in a time loop. Human sacrifice, and homunculi sacrifice will be reset when you die, or fulfil a condition of the loop.” Sage Yeltz started matter of factly.

  “B-But it doesn’t seem like Pultris is the kind of angel that would accept homunculi as an offer.” Aurelius replied hurriedly.

  “You’re right.” Sage Yeltz said bluntly.

  “It would be human sacrifice that Pultris craves.”

  “And the Commission, or to be more specific, I, would like to pay that price on your behalf.” She said.

  “You are involved in a struggle against a divine power, or at least, you are a slave to the will of The Lost God. Do you really think keeping a clean moral slate in your heart will get you farther?” She asked a paling Aurelius.

  “Your morals do not matter. You serve the interests of The Lost God, and from today onwards, the Commission, and its proxy, me.” She stated flatly, leaning forward towards Aurelius and staring with deadpan eyes.

  “I… I’m going to visit the restroom for a while.” Aurelius strained out, horror clouding his eyes.

  I knew this woman was insane! She wants to sacrifice people to get me a contract that might not even last one loop? I need to get the fuck out of here! Aurelius decided, his thoughts racing through his throat in a very slimy, acidic manner.

  “Pft. Did you really take that seriously?” Sage Yeltz said, amusement rippling through her muscular body.

  With a small smile on her lips, she snapped her fingers, teleporting the two of them immediately to the entrance to the Commission vault.

  “I… Am suddenly not sure about this ma’am!” Aurelius yelled out, backing away slowly and deliberately from this clearly bipolar woman.

  “...There’s no exit here.” Sage Yeltz informed Aurelius kindly.

  “...Ah. It’s one of those.” Aurelius muttered to himself, feeling weak in his knees.

  “At ease.” Sage Yeltz commanded the saluting guards authoritatively.

  “I’m here to show my intern a sealed artefact for research purposes.” She lied smoothly, giving even Aurelius pause.

  “Yes, ma’am.” The guards said in unison, standing aside to let them pass.

  “...Is it ok to lie to them?” Aurelius asked curiously, as they walked down the white, engraved walls of the vault hallway.

  “Lie? Pft. All commission sages are bound by Pultris, kid. If I really did lie against the Commission’s interests, I would have dropped dead right then and there.” Sage Yeltz said in amusement.

  “Also, I am really their boss, so it really doesn’t matter.” She shrugged, making Aurelius feel rather… unnerved at the sight of this… irresponsibility.

  Clearly she took after Mr. Tona in some ways… Aurelius thought to himself as the corridor bent in physics-defying ways all around him in a horrifying snapshot of trauma.

  This time, Aurelius decided that he would stick as closely to Sage Yeltz as possible, and not pay attention to these creepy shapes all around him, nor the maze that was forming right in front of his eyes in a putrid display of magic.

  Sage Yeltz remained unbothered, unlocking the vault casually with her keys.

  And before Aurelius even had time to think, she stepped out of its steel doors with an intricately made pen, gilded in gold.

  “Say hello to your sugar baby.” Sage Yeltz announced sarcastically.