[ POV of the Governor of Roheb]

I walk down into the dungeon with two priests and six guards. The witch claims she is only a minion of a powerful warlock. I’m skeptical, but this needs to be investigated properly. As I walk into the room, I see a naked witch bind the wall. There is no point in making interrogation pleasant for her.

“I’m here. What’s the information you want to tell me?”

“Well… I want to sell it.”

I chuckle. “I don’t think you are in a position to haggle.”

She grits her teeth. “I’m not the powerful and scary witch you all make me. The warlock behind all of this is, though. I’m willing to help you take care of him.”

“Why would you betray him so fast? Don’t you have any loyalty?”

“Ha! What loyalty! He used me and then threw me away like trash! I didn’t want to get any cursed titles!”

I shake my head, and one of the priests starts to explain. “You are lying. The curses from the gods don’t work that way. For example, you won’t get a curse for copulating with a monster, unless it’s for procreation and, therefore, creating another monster. Rape doesn’t count. Sex for pleasure doesn’t count. Even if the goal of sex is to have a child with a monster, as long as you do it for something else, like survival, it doesn’t count.”

She has three more cursed titles on top of that. Most of them require genuine cooperation with monsters. Only the curse for attacking a temple and killing a priest can be somehow forced on a person, by blackmail, for example.

“This… it’s a bit more complicated. He told me that after having children with him, I will be able to boss them around. After he have raped me for the first time, he told me no humans nearby will accept me. He shown me a kindness then. Tricked me. I really wanted to join him. Not for power or anything like that. I just wanted to be safe.” She starts crying. That’s not going to convince me. I’m pretty sure there are perks that can do it on demand.

“After I got my first cursed title, he just consoled me and used my naivety to control me even more.” She sighs. “I understand I did a lot of evil, and I will be punished for it, but I don’t want to die. And Smag needs to be stopped. He is too dangerous.”

“Tell me his capabilities.”

“I know he controls five-merged mana type. I don’t know all his spells, but I know he can heal himself and his allies with it easily. He can also buff himself and create some sort of undead or something else. I know he can control corpses. I’m sure he was a human or maybe of another enlightened race before he became a goblin.”

“Anything else?” The five-merged mana type is powerful. Of any kind. If that guy really exists, he must be staying low.

"He remains a shaman, preferring to delegate all day-to-day leadership duties to the most capable goblin available. He sews monster corpses together to create puppets. He has a magic-oriented evolution. She keeps saying random things.

“Why didn't he attack my town? You said he was a former archmage. Killing all citizens of Roheb and raping women would strengthen his forces considerably.”

“I know he is working on some grant project. He spends the most time with it. Something about souls.” Souls? Now, that’s interesting. Souls are the domain of gods. All churches offer bounties for soul mages of any kind. Not like that stops cultists from practicing soul sacrifices in secrecy. It also doesn’t stop nobles, who usually just openly donate enough, but they still need to keep the mascarade.

“He just wants to stay low and quiet until he finishes.” She takes a moment and then adds, “I think he doesn’t care too much about the tribe’s strength. He prefers to cultivate his own power.”

That would make some sense. Frankly, I don’t really believe it, but I can't just dismiss it all. I think she just wants to prolong her life. The only way for me to confirm she is not lying is through the merchant’s Contract perk. There’s a reason this perk belongs to merchants and not judges and nobles. For the perk to work, both parties need to believe that the deal they are agreeing to is fair for them, not just agree to it. It’s possible to trick someone. There is a cautionary tale in some circles in which a powerful mage agreed to become a slave to a seductress because he equated that to becoming her sex slave. Apparently, he was a deviant. She just used him as a regular slave. The Contract stipulations are literal. A contract can be broken, but there’s a backlash depending on how much mana a merchant invested in it and the severity of the misbehavior that broke it. Backlash, at its weakest, causes a dramatic loss of HP. Stronger backlash can cripple someone mentally, magically, or just outright kill them. The second party would also learn of it.

“I’m thinking about a Contract. What terms do you think would be fair?”

“That’s…” She is thinking. That’s fine, but I doubt we will reach an agreement. Criminals who know they have done evil can be negotiated with like this, but someone who thinks they are innocent would feel they should just be released without any complications. After all, “I’m innocent, so why would I work for free?” I have encountered such a situation quite a few times. Even if they want to reach a deal, the Contract won’t happen because they feel it’s unfair for them. Even if they know intellectually that it’s a great deal.

The only other way is to use mind magic and not low-level mind magic, like some three-merged emotion magic. You need to read someone's mind. This means overpowering their will, so a simple enchanted item won’t do either. Only emperors, archmages, and maybe wealthier kings should have such measures.

“I will do my best to apprehend or kill Smag. I won’t try to escape. I will help your forces for as long as I stay here. I will speak only the truth to you and your people. In exchange, after Smag dies, you will let me leave the town and this region unbothered.”

I think about the offer. It’s not that bad, since the supposed warlock needs to die for her to be released. If the goblin doesn’t exist, so does her freedom. The description is too vague, though. She could have named a random goblin Smag. She can just point us at it.

“I will want you to change Smag to Smag, a former warlock with a five-merged mana core.”

“No problem.” She nods.

One problem down. “You also need to swear that you won’t attack my people.”

“Sure. Unless it’s in self-defense.”

I nod. That’s reasonable. I send one of the guards to fetch a merchant. Although we have yet to sign a Contract, I would say I currently have a significant advantage in terms. The most common way to sever the Contract is to kill one of the parties. Nearly all Contracts have any killing measurements because of that, like ‘I won’t try to kill you in any way, directly or indirectly, for the next month.’ This is usually enough for most trade deals. After a month or two, a merchant is usually far away enough to render killing him impossible, or at least not cost-effective. In my current version of the Contract with the witch, I can kill her any time before Smag dies. Like just after interrogating her. I doubt she thinks she will be essential to us. This is likely a mistake on her part due to her inexperience with such things. This type of Contracts are all about finding a loophole to screw the other side.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The merchant arrives, and we recite our oaths.

“I will release you from custody and let you leave free as soon as former warlock Smag, who possesses five-merged mana cores, dies.”

Now it's her turn. I’m not worried she will change the oath at the last moment. That would make the deal unfair to me, and the perk would simply fail.

“I won’t try to escape; I will help you by any reasonable means to kill former warlock Smag, who possesses a five-merged mana core. I will speak only the truth to your people. I won’t attack your people, unless in self-defense.

Merchant does his thing, but it seems it fails. “The deal failed on her part," he says.

I sigh. That’s the reason this is the merchant's perk. “Which part feels unfair to you?” It’s unlikely there will be any deal, but I may as well entertain her a bit more.

“I… I don’t know. I’m not sure.” She looks anguished, but that could be just good acting skills. I’m not going to behave based on that anyway. There are tricks to change her feelings. Sealing a deal with someone else is impossible. She won’t take a deal with another criminal unless I completely fool her into thinking that the criminal has more power than me. Difficult. It also needs to be criminal, since a backlash is very probable, given that such a route means complete disregard for any deal she would make on my part.

The other way is to soften her up. Announce her execution, and then send someone else. It’s easier to make a fair deal with someone you don’t think is your enemy. I doubt this is necessary, though. Even if she really thinks this Smag goblin is a former warlock, it’s actually very improbable. She had likely been deceived as well.

“Do you know where Smag went?” I ask. I may as well demand information. If she fails to answer, torture is always back on the table. She is likely to agree, anyway. She can always feed us false information. Regardless, I will need to send some scouts. As for the witch, “keep her locked up for now.”

[Ferdinand's POV]

A warlock. A former archmage. Have I been fighting on the wrong side all this time? I don’t have any options on the human side to quickly reach the next tier. On the other hand… The decision comes quickly. I don’t want to die. Now, I need to plan. I don’t want to be exposed as a monster sympathizer, but it’s not a necessity. Would the warlock accept me? Likely. He was fine with a weak 1st tier girl. I’m at the peak of the 2nd tier, and the deal would be to make me a 3rd tier. Who wouldn’t want such a servant? From what I heard, the warlock, Smag, doesn’t have any powerful subordinates.

Maybe it’s by design? In this case, I’m fine with a Contract of subservience for a few years. There are self-hypnosis methods that can remove feelings of unfairness from a deal, as long as it’s reasonable and you don’t have any particular strong feelings about it. Firstly, let’s have a chat with the witch. She can’t have visitors, but a hefty bribe can get you nearly anywhere. I’m currently moderately rich and may soon have no way to even spend it. There is no point in being frugal.

[Anastasia’s POV]

I curse myself once again. Me and my stupid feelings. How can I say it feels unfair to me to be forced to go against Axi? I can’t just tell them to remove her from the deal. They will instantly think she is the actual former witch and the most dangerous monster. But forcing me to go against her… I can’t make such a deal. Intellectually, sure. I could force myself. At the time, I could shout to her to flee. Maybe even help her a bit. The deal was to kill Smag.

She is going to be with him, though. The governor is going to order me to fight against her. Even before that, they are going to interrogate me. Sure, they are going to know I’m speaking the truth, and Axi is not that dangerous, but would they let her be? Unlikely. How can I survive then?

Some time later, a person comes close to my cell. Food?

“Hello.”

“Who are you?”

“That’s not very important. I have some questions.”

“Sure.” I shrug. I don’t want to be tortured.

“How do you know Smag is really a former warlock?”

I recount all the information I have about how Smag behaves similarly to a human. Including sex stuff. “I don’t think there’s a way for him to get all this knowledge from somewhere else.”

“How strong do you think he has been as a warlock?”

“I’m not sure. At least he had access to four-merged mana types.” This is reasonable since he knew how to get a five-merged one. Smag is not that strong, though. I think he has some sort of amnesia since he doesn’t have many rare skills, and his knowledge of runes is only a bit better than mine. He even wanted me to teach him. I can’t dismiss his strength, though. I need a big, bad monster. “I know he has runes for his five-merged mana type. I didn’t notice any stronger magic, but I know he used runes for two-merged mana.”

“Could you track him down?”

“Yes, most likely.” Unlikely. He probably left the region, and tracks rarely last so long. I’m also not a very professional tracker. My best bet would be to pick a likely direction and hope for the best. I want out of here, though.

“I see.” He left after that.

[Ferdinand's POV]

Busting the witch out of prison is going to be hard. The point is, I don’t necessarily need to. I want to warlock, not the witch.

The next best option is the refugee camp. Adam seems somehow reliable, and his people should have levels in tracking skills. There are also more of them.

The next day, I sit alongside Adam.

“I have a task for you.”

“Task? I’m sorry, but we are busy trying to survive.”

I smile and take out a pouch with money. “One hundred silver. For agreeing. Another hundred for completion of the task.” That shuts him up. He stares at the money. I purposely opened the pouch up.

“What task? I need to know.”

“I’m representing some influential people who have some, let’s say, morally controversial goals. Have you heard about the warlock?”

“Yes. There are some rumors going around.”

“I need you to find him and deliver a massage.”

“That’s… how can I do it? The whole town is already trying.”

“Not really. They are trying to kill him. I want you to deliver a massage. A small group that can stay in the forest for a day or two and follow the goblins. A larger group needs excessive logistics and preparations. Going on a merry chase with a small army is just impossible for the governor, but not for you.”

“You are assuming the warlock didn’t escape farther than a day of travel.”

“Even if not, you are still the best for the job. Adventurers in Roheb are there to delve into the local dungeon. There are few hunters here. Your group probably knows the most about local forests.”

“And you are paying us just for trying.”

“For a serious attempt.”

Adam sighs. “Very well.”

[ Samantha’s POV, a day earlier]

“Goblin’s slut!” I fall down. She punched me. Damn it. I raise my head. The rest of the girls share the little food we have.

“Nancy, kick that slut, and we will give the leftovers to you.” One of the girls says. I look at Nancy. I shared food with her. I suppose she was my windwoman. I suppose no longer.

“Get up. Let’s get out of here.” She helps me. What? Maybe I'm a better judge of characters than I knew…

“What didn’t you agree?” I ask, cursing myself in the process.

“Didn’t you hear? She said leftovers. Do you think they will have any? Besides… I owe you. I know I’m stupid for doing this; there's no need to remind me.”

I smile. “Think you.”

"Thank you won’t feed me. We need to eat. How long can we last without food?”

I sigh. “Probably longer than them.” For the service of birthing goblins, they fed me rather nicely. I’m not fat, but I have a bit of it. Unlike most of the girls, who are skin and bones. Nancy is not a stick either, since I helped her.

“Doesn’t matter. We need to find a way to eat.”

I go to our water supply and fill a bucket with water. Then I clean my face of blood. Bitch punched me hard.

“I think I know a way.” I say it hesitantly.

“Tell me.”

“We need to find goblins.”

She looks at me like I'm an idiot. Maybe I’m. “Look,” I continue, “you heard about the warlock. The witch is gone, but we don’t need her. We just need to find that hobgoblin who behaved like a boss.”

"I would rather have a nice family," Nancy says. Stupid.

“I don’t think that’s possible. Unless you want everyone to die. Again.”

She lowers her head. Damn, I was too harsh. “Look, you know there’s a war going on. Normality is impossible. This is actually a dream job. Just a bit of work every two weeks for food and a comfortable life. It's practically like becoming a wife of a rich noble. You just need to birth babies for them.” She looks thoughtful. Ha! I got you! I thought for a long time about the best comparison.

She frowns. “Even if I agree, how are we going to get to goblins? They escaped! We can’t go through the forest full of powerful monsters. Maybe near the village, but not farther.”

"I will figure something out.”