Reincarnated as the Elder's son: My Infinite Shop Points System-Chapter 59: Sign the contract.

Ulena stared at the paper before her, perplexed. She had never heard of this so-called ’contract’ being written on paper before.

Even if she knew what it was, the expression on Jared’s face was not that convincing.

"What is in this?" she asked.

Jared frowned a bit, giving her the ’are you blind?’ look.

He then pointed at the contract.

"As I said, it’s a contract. If you don’t want to read it, you don’t have to. I’ll just explain what is written there."

Ulena nodded her head in response.

Cat people were more or less like wild animals. They were isolated and often barely knew what was happening around them.

This also included education. They were illiterate.

Holding the contract before him, Jared began to read out loud in a professional manner.

"This contract contains three of the following: 1. The cat people are to pay a sum of 1 gold eres monthly per person if they choose to continue staying in Sikone village."

Ulena’s jaw dropped.

Hell, even Lucy and Kiara had the same reaction.

One gold eres? That would be enough to feed a family for a month or so.

Jared didn’t mind. He didn’t care. So he continued reading.

"2. As long as the cat people remain in Sikone village, they are not to harm or be an influence in any kind of malicious intent towards the village. When caught, they are to swear their loyalty and become slaves of the village as compensation, along with a sum of 30 gold eres."

Ulena’s jaw dropped even more, wide enough to pack a whole wagon inside.

"Number three—"

"W-wait! Wait!" Ulena finally spoke up.

Jared tilted his head to the side.

"Is there a problem?"

"One gold eres per month? My people and I don’t deal with money; we never did. How are we supposed to pay such a huge sum, individually?" Ulena shouted, but in a respectful manner.

"I see..."

Jared put the contract down for a while.

"...that might be an issue..."

"Right?! It’s ridiculous. There must be some other way... what if I give you my prettiest cat women? I’m sure you’d like them; we xst are known to be quite good in bed."

A smile formed on her face; at least she was starting to make him reconsider.

Or so she thought.

Jared suddenly carried the same smile he had prior to reading out the contract.

Locking eyes with her, he spoke—

"As I said, that can be an issue. But I’m not one to just let an issue be, so I had something in store for that."

"...something...in store?" Ulena shivered. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

"Yes. You see, the third part of the contract solves this little issue we are having. Once you hear it, you’ll realize you were just worried over nothing. It says—"

He slightly viewed the contract.

"If the cat people cannot pay any of the sums listed above, they have the choice to pay with a lifetime of servitude."

Ulena was no longer surprised. The situation had gone past that. Now, she was just disgusted that a man could stoop so low.

What hurt her the most was she knew she was disgusting as well, and yet somehow, this man seemed worse.

Once again, even though they were right in the matter, Lucy couldn’t help but feel like they were the villains.

Pa!

Ulena clapped her hands.

"Please, I beg of you! We don’t have anywhere else to go. Most of the villages on this side of the north already have powerful villages backing them up. Please have mercy."

Carrying the most unapologetic look, Jared snapped his fingers.

"Kiara," he called out, "it looks like she doesn’t want to cooperate. Sad. Kill her."

"Eh?!" Lucy was flabbergasted.

Not Kiara, though. She was fully prepared to follow that order.

She summoned her sniper and aimed it at the back of Ulena’s neck.

Shaking in fear, Ulena raised both her hands, trying not to make any sudden movements. The chances of her head blowing up if she even tried to fight back were high.

She had seen what the sniper could do firsthand. Having that thing near her head was dangerous as it was.

"Wait, Lord Jared! Are you really going to kill her?" Lucy stepped forward.

It wasn’t like her to doubt him.

"She has refused to sign the contract. It’s beyond my control. If she doesn’t sign the contract, it means she wants to leave the village. That is more than enough time for her to plan a way to take the village from right under my nose."

Ulena’s eyes widened.

"I wouldn’t do—"

"She said it herself; she doesn’t have anywhere to go. Nothing is more dangerous than people who are desperate and have nothing to lose."

Jared cut her off instantly.

"I understand. But please rethink this! You’ve killed ten villagers already, just today! There is no reason to add any more bodies to your count, my lord!" Lucy pushed on.

"Let her go; I’ll take her punishment instead."

Ten villagers?

Ulena could barely believe what she heard. This man even went as far as killing his own people?

Jared, now giving Lucy a death stare, uttered with a chilling voice—

"Are you questioning my order?"

Lucy dared not answer.

She quickly stepped back.

"...I’m sorry...I tried my best," Lucy whispered to Ulena.

’Don’t give up on me like that! Is he really going to kill me if I don’t sign the contract?’ Ulena panicked, practically shaking.

Suddenly—

"Kiara—quit stalling and kill her already."

"As you wish."

Quickly, Kiara pushed the mouth of the gun against the back of Ulena’s head.

"I give up!!! I’ll sign the contract!"

As if he had been waiting to hear those words for years, a devilish smile hitched on his face with joy.

"Excellent decision." Jared laid the paper before her, urging her to sign it.

As she picked up the paper, she slit her thumb with her sharp teeth and began to sign on every page of the contract.

All while Jared and the rest watched with sadistic expressions.

He already expected it to go this way; Ulena was already afraid of him from the get-go. All he needed to do was give her a little push, and she’d do whatever it was he asked of her.

What he didn’t expect, though, was for Lucy and Kiara to play along with him.

All in a day’s work.

After a while, Ulena finished signing the contract and handed it over to Lucy, who went ahead and stored it inside a small chest.

"Okay, good. Now we’ve established a good partnership. As long as things don’t get crazy, everything should be alright," Jared said as he stood up from the bed.

Ulena was still feeling down, which was to be expected considering she just signed both her and her people’s freedom to a man she didn’t know yet.

"I-I have a question—"

Jared listened.

"—now that I have signed the contract... Does this mean we can stay at the watering hole?"

"Absolutely not!" Jared frowned a bit. "You and your people will stay in the village like every other person. For now, sure, but once the buildings have been built, you’ll have to move in with the people here. Which also means you have to learn to get along with humans."

Ulena didn’t really like his response much.

At the end of the day, she was a beast person. Beast people rarely got along with humans. It wasn’t unheard of; it was just weird and unsettling.

Then again, it wasn’t like she had a choice in the matter.

She nodded in agreement.

[The character Ulena prays things don’t get worse.]

[Other gods are feeling pity for the cat woman.]

[They are amazed you can be so ruthless.]

’They forcefully took over my watering hole, and I’m the ruthless one? Are these gods okay in the head?’

Jared couldn’t help but sigh out loud.

Suddenly, he placed one hand on his waist and looked to the side.

"Once you’ve settled into the village, your people will have to take on a task like everyone else. If they can keep it up for a month without complaining, I’ll consider paying them monthly salaries."

Hearing his offer, Ulena looked up at him with such innocent eyes, almost as if she wanted to tear up, snot almost leaking from her nose.

"T-thank you, my lord, I...I appreciate it," she sang.

’I am so going to regret this,’ he shook his head a bit.

Paying them salaries would boost their morale anyway. What harm could it do?

"I’ll go inform the construction crew about the change in plans," Lucy said before walking away.

"I’ll gather the rest of the cat people and let them know they’ll be staying here. Do I have permission to take this woman with me too?" Kiara bent over.

"Sure, WHY not?"

"Thank you."

Kiara wasted no time; she picked Ulena by the arm and dragged her out of the room.

Watching as she walked away, Jared whispered in his mind.

’Perhaps it’s time to upgrade Kiara too.’