Tension in the room was high. Van Horgh was protesting against the idea that Kor sohow had abilities related to the Goddess of Fate and had gone on one of his tantrums, as he tended to do quite a lot. Eisen's angered voice still stuck deep in the ears of every single envoy here, and nobody dared to say anything at all.
But the one to break the silence was Kor himself, who was ready to prove his abilities, "Now, now, there's no need to let things get so tense, is there? There are many people that don't believe in the validity of my abilities, so if you would like, I could try to prove it. With that, you would all also understand the importance of the treaty you are about to be put under."
Eisen looked over to Kor, slowly trying to clam himself down. He closed his eyes and slowly responded, "Yes, I think that would be a good idea. What does everyone say, should we allow Kor to show off his abilities?"
Looking around at the envoys, Eisen saw nothing but approval. Of course, since they were about to sign a treaty created through this young man's abilities, all of them wanted to properly understand what exactly they were dealing with here. So, Eisen quickly looked toward Kor and nodded, telling him to go ahead.
With that, Kor put aside the treaty that he had written up with his skills, and instead got out another small piece of paper. Eisen didn't see everything that was written on it, but it seed to be a very simple contract.
Kor liked using these to show his abilities to new business partners. Contracts supported and practically enforced by the Goddess of Fate were a valuable ressource for a rchant and their business partners. It would ensure that neither party could break the terms of said contract without serious repercussions.
"This contract here is rather simple. For the next five minutes after signing, this contract will be active for all signors. It prohibits from doing two things, and requires to continuously do another, and each of those has different results if those terms are broken. One, I cannot say the colour purple. Two, I cannot attack anyone.
And three, I have to keep standing on one leg," Kor explained, "Based on the severity of the term that was broken, as well as the consequences of breaking that term, certain things will happen. Now, I have to make it clear that this contract does not stop one from doing anything. I can still do any of those things freely, there will just be consequences."
Kor went around, making sure to show every envoy the contract so that they could confirm the terms for themselves, and then went back to Eisen. Kor got out his pen and quickly signed the contract and lifted his left leg off the ground.
"Now, let's go through these one by one. Let's start with the colour purple," Kor said, and imdiately as the word left his mouth, ethereal hands of the contract enforcers were created in front of him, quickly pressing his mouth shut.
Though, after a few seconds, they disappeared again, but it was a surprise to everyone here nonetheless, "As you can see, whenever I say that word, I will be disallowed from speaking at all for up to five seconds."
"Can it be any punishnt?" the Irngrad, the king of the giants, asked curiously, and Kor quickly smiled.
"Wonderful question, your Majesty. In fact, it can be any punishnt, but it needs to fit the cri. Since, frankly, saying that word has no real consequences, I would not be able to tell it to knock unconscious or even kill . But I could certainly tell it to... pinch .
Now, since the broken term was related to speaking, having the punishnt be related to not being able to speak does increase the effect."
"Wait, you said it could kill you? Why would we ever sign such a contract?" one of the central continent's envoys asked, and Kor quickly looked at him.
"Don't worry, if 'killing' is not specified as a punishnt, it will never happen. Plus, even then, the 'killing' punishnt can only be used on people like you when they have done sothing comparable. For example, if a contract forbid you from killing, you could be killed after breaking it."
"People like us?" the sa envoy asked, confused, and Kor quickly explained.
"Right, sorry. I am an Artificial. When I die, I... well, I get better again. Death is of less consequence to than it is to you. So, an Artificial could et the threshold of 'killing' after stealing sothing of a particular worth.
At the sa ti, killing an artificial on its own would be very unlikely for people like you to count enough toward the punishnt threshold of being killed," he quickly explained, and it seed like the envoys slowly ca to understand so of the rules of Kor's abilities. So, he quickly continued.
"Now, let show you sothing else. Eisen, if you will," Kor said, and Eisen sighed lightly, holding his arm toward the young man.
Quickly, Kor struck down at Eisen's arm, basically 'attacking' him. Of course, it really didn't do any damage, but that wasn't the important part. The mont he did, golden shackles appeared around both of Kor's wrists, forcing them together. They disappeared after a few seconds as well. And then, Kor pulled out a knife from his pocket.
So of the envoys flinched, seeing him carry a weapon, but Eisen just groaned quietly and motioned Kor to go ahead. And then, he quickly stabbed the knife into Eisen's arm.
"Ouch," the old man said almost emotionlessly. It did hurt a bit, though it really wasn't more than a pinch to him. Right then, more shackles appeared around Kor's body, not just his wrist. His neck, wrists, upper arms, thighs and even ankles. Though, he was bound together in a way where he still could stand on one leg.
"As you can see," Kor started, "The severity of the punishnt scales with the severity of the cri, as I already explained just now. However, I want you to pay attention to sothing else. My right leg is still raised. The punishnts of the contract can never force you to break another term of a a contract enforced through these abilities.
That ans terms within the sa contract, and terms in other contracts created through my abilities."
The shackles soon disappeared, and Kor looked at the people in front of him, "Now, what you need to know is that intent matters here. If a contract stops you from killing soone, ordering or paying others to kill them for you counts just the sa. So you can't play any tricks and feign ignorance in the future to get what you want out of the treaty.
The intent of the contract is what is important here."
The envoys seed to all be thinking for a few monts, until the Irngrad asked a question, "And who exactly is it that's determining that intent?"
"The Goddess of Fate herself," Kor responded imdiately, "As you know, she rules over the domain of contracts as well, so she is practically the expert on such matters. Wouldn't you agree?" he looked over toward Van Horgh with a smile. The archpriest was completely silent the whole ti.
The mont the contract was confird, and throughout the 'punishnts', the holy power of the Goddess of Fate was extrely evident, so him and the other envoys from the holy empire must have realized that Kor was telling the truth imdiately. Enjoy exclusive chapters from m-v l'e|-
Slowly, Van Horgh nodded, "... If the Goddess of Fate is the arbiter of the contract, then it will be the most fair it could ever be."
"Then it should be settled, right?" Kor said with a broad smile, "Is anyone here still unwilling to sign the treaty?"
"Not unwilling, however... what form will the punishnt created by that power take in this case?" the Irngrad wondered, and Kor looked at him after taking a deep breath, trying to find the right words.
"If any involved party breaks the terms of the contract, a number of Enforcers will be summoned by the side of the ruler of every country, state, or clan currently represented here.
Due to the scale of this 'contract', they will be able to act independently to so degree, and through the will of the Goddess of Fate, will ensure that the punishnt agreed upon by yourselves in this treaty, such as sanctions, declarations of war, or any other ans of pressuring the remaining parties, are enacted thoroughly."
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