Mage Manual-Chapter 269 - 233 Shut Up

Chapter 269: Chapter 233 Shut Up

Chapter 269 -233 Shut Up

Actually, “Liss” could vaguely guess what Igula was thinking.

Just like what they saw in the picture book “Beastman and the Elf Queen,” where the beastman slave discovered the secret of the Elf Queen but did not report it to the emperor. Instead, he used it to coerce the Elf Queen, forcing the formerly unrivaled, proud, and beautiful, untouchable like the Heavenly Gods, Elf Queen, to yield to the vile beastman slave. She shed her regal queen’s robes, accepted the dominance of the beastman slave, and became—

A ferocious Empress who killed traitors, removed princes, reformed the bureaucracy, and liberated slaves.

So it’s said that as long as you hold one’s weaknesses, you can really make them do outrageous things.

If “Liss” caught Igula’s weakness, she would definitely not report him. Now was the time for their startup, and aside from the general manager Liss and the nanny Ash, they had no other subordinates. They desperately needed talent like Igula to fill the gaps in diplomacy, finance, and military positions.

In Igula’s view, Liss might not seem talented, but don’t forget, Liss is now bound with Ash; though Ash may not be very talented either, don’t forget, the two of them together represent half the territory of the “Blasphemy of Divine Beings Squad.”

As long as Igula could control Liss, then Ash would naturally be grasped tightly in his palm. Then this Swindler would find a way to persuade Harvey, and their small squad would be completely united for better or worse.

However, Igula’s idea also exactly matched “Liss’s” wishes.

After the last question, “Liss” had already realized she couldn’t monopolize Ash alone. Such a naively taunting companion, even if not very useful, was worth keeping as a backup. Since she couldn’t form a reliable father-daughter alliance with Ash, she had to consider a second-best alliance for mutual benefits.

“Liss” even felt it wouldn’t be bad if Igula discovered her secret, so she wouldn’t have to waste her efforts persuading Igula. If the little witch had called Igula “mom” before, maybe this day could have come sooner.

Of course, “Liss” wouldn’t easily comply. “Name your price, Mr. Bokin. By the way, don’t be too outrageous. Although this secret is important to me, its true value isn’t that high—Hanna won’t give up on Ash, and Ash can’t give up on me either. She won’t kick us out of the home just because I’m feeling moodier than a little kitty.”

“You just called Ash by name, now you’re calling him father?” Igula suddenly said. “Do you—or should I say you both—think that familial affection is the easiest collar to enslave Ash?”

“Liss” paused for a moment, shaking her head. “No.”

“Mr. Bokin, you misunderstand. We seldom interfere with Liss’s choices, nor force her to do anything in the name of a sister… At least, when Liss chooses to act spoiled with Ash, we never gave her any instructions.”

“The Liss you usually meet is just a naive, six or seven-year-old little girl. She might be as bad as you imagine, but she’s certainly not as bad as us.”

“Mr. Bokin, you might not like her, but don’t dislike her because of us.” “Liss” sincerely said, “This is a request from a sister.”

Igula remained silent for a moment. “Such words are useless; you should also know, we come from a strange country where everyone is an orphan, with neither parents nor siblings. Emotions like familial love were cut off along with the umbilical cord the moment we were born. I can’t understand your request involving familial love.”

“But?” Liss ventured to ask.

“There’s no ‘but.'” Igula said sternly, his face dark. “I want control over you and Ash.”

“Impossible!”

“Then you have nothing else to offer besides you and Ash. If you’re not giving anything else, I might just have to talk to others about the ghost story of Liss liking to look in the mirror at midnight.”

“I can’t give you control over myself,” “Liss” earnestly said. “I barely escaped Hanna’s direct control and reached a deterrence agreement with Ash just to barely maintain my autonomy. I can’t compromise on this… I can only share a bit of Ash’s control with you.”

Igula looked troubled. “Even without you, I could win him over myself… Ah, alright then, just give me complete control over Ash.”

“Impossible!” “Liss” shook her head. “Though I hold Ash’s control, he also holds mine. Over these 101 days, I must maintain my own control to counteract Ash’s control, otherwise, I’d truly become his obedient girl… I can give you control over Ash after 101 days.”

“After 101 days, the Weaving Festival will be over. What use would Ash be then? He’d just be a waste of food to keep.” Igula said with a look of disgust. “Ash’s value lies only within these 101 days… How about this? Let’s share Ash equally, and we both share control over Ash, how does that sound?”

“Liss” was very sharp. “Then if there’s a conflict between your order and mine, whose will Ash listen to?”

“Mine, of course!”

“This is impossible!”

After a tense and exhilarating round of bargaining, the allocation results for Ash were finally out: Igula would have complete control over Ash after 101 days, and during these 101 days, Igula would have one “Absolute Command Authority” over Ash. Even if Liss’s orders conflicted with his, Ash must prioritize the Swindler’s demands.

Liss actually did not want to give up the “Absolute Command Authority,” not even once; she would rather share Ash with Igula at other times. But Igula was very firm about this point; it seemed to be his bottom line. Liss felt that if she refused, the negotiations would likely fail. Moreover, since Igula was now in the driving seat, Liss eventually yielded.

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

“But do you know how to ‘Transfer Contract Rights’? I am not versed in the Ritual Faction.”

Liss deliberately waited until the negotiations were over to bring up this issue. If she had brought it up at the start, Igula, realizing he couldn’t gain any benefits from her, would probably have just walked away.

But now that the two had discovered through negotiation that cooperation was indeed possible, along with the terms that had been set, it would increase the sunk cost of Igula flipping the table.

However, Igula simply smiled slightly and produced two pieces of paper from somewhere.

“Playing with contracts for a Swindler is as natural as playing with mud for a child; it’s an essential skill that doesn’t need to be learned.”

Of course, it wasn’t that simple—if “signing a contract” was basic arithmetic, then “transferring contract rights” was at least calculus.

The contract was straightforward: Igula promised not to reveal Liss’s secrets in any way to anyone, and to help conceal her ‘sisters’ if Hanna or anyone else became suspicious.

In return, Liss would give away the latter half of Ash’s life to Igula, as well as one “Absolute Command Authority” over the next three months.

When the contract took effect and dissolved into points of light, Liss suddenly said, “From the beginning, the person you wanted was not me, but Ash.”

“Exactly.” Igula candidly nodded. “I had guessed that you wouldn’t give up your control, and I could only hope to scrape away as much of Ash from your hands as possible. Getting this bit of Ash in exchange for your secret, I feel this might be the most losing deal I have ever made.”

“Is that the reason you’ve prepared for yourself, Mr. Bokin?”

Liss gave him a glance. “You know, little Liss was very noisy just now. She really didn’t want me to sell future Ash to a bad person like you; she didn’t want Ash to suffer misfortune later on. But I was the one leading the negotiations, and I ultimately dismissed her wish.”

Igula snorted coldly. “Oh, are there cracks in the affection between you sisters? As a Spirit Mage, I’d be more than happy to serve you.”

“Not at all, because I explained it to her clearly—selling Ash to you poses absolutely no risk, in every sense.”

Igula didn’t quite understand what she meant, but then Liss swiftly changed the topic. “I recently gained a skill called ‘Love Hunt,’ which allows me to keenly sense romantic emotions revealed in details.”

“When I look at Hanna and Banjee, I know that Hanna’s feelings for Banjee are more than just familial.”

“How do you tell?”

“Although Hanna orders Banjee very naturally, whenever physical contact with her seems about to happen, Hanna either dodges or appears slightly stiff. This shows her internal conflict, her heart twisted into a knot by ethics and true feelings.”

Igula recalled the interactions between Hanna and Banjee, and couldn’t help nodding. “Indeed, there are signs.”

Liss continued, “When I look at Mr. Harvey, I know he once had a loved one, and that loved one has already passed away.”

“How do you tell?”

“He often falls into deep thought, which might be a side effect of cat grass smoke. But his eyes are filled with tenderness, yet his fingers tremble continuously, and lately, he has been opening the Gospel Book to look at memory photos. Grief, like a stone tied to him, is drowning him in a sea of memories.”

Igula nodded convincingly. “Indeed, he came to mingle with us after hearing the news of his lover’s death.”

Then Liss said, “Then, I looked at…”

Igula turned the volume of the gramophone to the maximum, “Shut up, you.”