Chapter 262 Hundred Years Vow (2/2)
”....”
”Aurora, was it?” he then shifted his attention from the stunned Hannah onto Eos. ”Can you convince her to just do as we ask so you guys can go? It doesn't even have to be a permanent vow. Just give us a buck hundred years or so, and we're set!”
”....”
”No? What the fuck? I thought Writs were supposed to be wise or something,” Lino frowned. ”No, wait, I used to think that about fifteen years ago when I first learned about them. Ever since then, I've been pretty much exclusively proven the opposite is true. Exalted, revered, respected... but as dumb as a bell. Kind of like villages' local charlatans.”
”...”
”...”
”... well this is no fun,” Lino sighed dejectedly as he realized both Writs didn't utter another word. ”Hey, if nothing else, it was a decent chat. Alright, you can now go back to pointless bickering that literally means absolutely nothing and won't amount to even less than that.”
”... I'll convince her,” Aurora spoke out as Lino began walking away. ”Any idiot who believes he will be able to contend within a hundred years... well, I'll just leave it at that.”
”... oof, bad bet.” Lino sucked in a cold breath, winking. ”But that's great to hear.”
”... she told you my sensitive spots?” a cold, murderous voice forced Lino to come to a halt as he awkwardly turned around and met Hannah's dead eyes.
”Hey, hey, what did we talk about just a few days ago?!” Lino frowned ”Don't cover up your embarrassment with angry flare-outs! It's not healthy!”
”How else am I going to cover it up, dammit?!!”
”... just... I don't know... leave?”
”... don't look for me for at least three days.”
”Wow, that's one long-ass chill period.” Lino said.
”No, that's how long it will take me to rip her out of my soul and give her the beating of her fucking life.” Hannah mumbled through her gritted teeth.
”... yeah. Good luck with that.”
”...” Hannah quickly vanished, leaving Eos and Lino alone again. ”So? You convinced yet?”
”... the next time we meet, I'll rip you in half with my bare hands.” Eos commented coldly before taking a deep breath. ”In the name of my Heart, Soul and Will, I vow to not disclose any information regarding the Empyrean, the Elysian, the Sword Maiden and their concurrent circumstances for a hundred years; shall I break the vow, may the sky smite me dead.”
”See? Was that so hard?” Lino chuckled. ”Well, I'll leave you to it. From what I remember, it takes roughly four-five days for the oath to fully chain you, right?”
”... five days.” Eos said.
”I'll see you in five days, then!” Lino smiled widely and vanished too, leaving behind Eos who merely cracked a faint smile before closing her eyes and sitting upright and cross-legged, meditating.
Lino found himself on the outside, at last, his gaze quickly moving toward the distant, floating Palace and then beyond, where a tranquil and seemingly ordinary lake rested. It has been over a year since he took the mission from the balded guy, and it was finally time for him to reap his rewards. Though he was promised an answer to a single question he may have in mind, ever since he completed the mission he had been concocting a plan on how to get far more from it all.
The whole plan formulated just recently, however, when he learned that the old baldy was his family. And however much Lino respected the familial bond, he still had no qualms about ripping the poor old man for all he had before leaving that place again. He was once again dry on materials save for what Hannah handed over which, though enough for a few pieces he had in mind, wasn't enough for his next big project.
He had three main priorities when it came to the rewards: learn everything the old man knows about the Primal Chaos, obtain at least two books describing the two Laws he put the most time into -- Death and Time -- and, lastly, obtain a mountain of materials that would last him for years to come. Anything beyond those three, small favors he'd consider a bonding gift and accept graciously, as one should always accept the definitely not backhandedly-extrapolated gifts.