Chương 111: Chapter 116: On it!

Holy flying fuck, what a massive clusterfuck. I was two hours in and no closer to finding a solution, and that was considering the increased reading and comprehension speed my stats allowed me. This contract was an absolute disaster. I didn't know who the fuck wrote it, but it referenced itself and some other System laws that were nowhere to be found here. I would have to buy at least another book to reference the laws in question. But this thing was impossible to read straight.

I was constantly flipping pages and trying to find a way to free these dumb fucks.

"Chloe!" I shouted as our Professional Archivist came into the common room. It was getting crowded now that dusk was approaching, nearly thirty people mingling and doing who knew what. I was too busy to care. She jumped a little, startled at my call, but she approached my table, looking at the piles of documents loosely arranged around me.

"Yes, Elias, do you need something from me?" she asked, pointing at herself, incredulous.

"Actually, I do. Did you have a chance to read the contract they wanted us to sign? The one all these people are under?" She fidgeted with her hands while she answered.

"N-no, I just heard the rumours and what Quin said when he came to fetch us. Why?"

"I'm trying to find a way to free them, and I could use your help." Her eyes widened as if I had told her something ludicrous. What was wrong with this one?

"I—I, well, I don't know how I could possibly help you with that… but I'll try! Just tell me what you need!" I gestured for her to sit.

"Your class, I remember it was bureaucratic-related. What kind of skills do you have?"

"I evolved my first class into something more magical. Now I'm a Lore Warden. It didn't really change much from the beginning, but I gained a couple of combat skills. But I guess those are not what interest you… I have a skill that helps me recall stored information, and one for cataloguing, another for spotting inconsistencies in stored information. But I didn't manage to level them up past ten.

You see, with nothing to work on, I tried to make them function based on memory alone, but it only worked so much before stopping completely. Now I can buy more skills though! I can be part of the vanguard too!" I didn't care one bit about her combat potential. If anything, it was a pity that she started going toward a combat route and didn't stay purely information-centered, but I could work with that.

"Actually, your skills can be very useful right now, so wait a second before impulsively spending. I gave the basics, but there is still much we need to discuss about our potential development. In any case, look at this." I said while passing her the first part of the contract. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. She started fast-reading everything. I passed another paper, fourteen pages away from what she was reading, as she arrived at a particular reference.

She took it and found the section I marked, then went back to read the first introductory part of the contract.

"What the fuck?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know, it's total bullshit."

"More than that! It's purposefully misleading. It will take a while to untangle all of this, and we'd probably need to reference other laws and codices that are not present in the contract."

"My exact thoughts," I said with surprise. I was starting to rethink this whole Professional Archivist thing wasn't so bad in the end.

"I need to find these books." I passed her a list of all the ones referenced in the contract.

"Can you go to the shop and get them for me? And paper too. I'll refund you the points, don't worry."

"Yeah, of course I can. This would be a great help in progressing my skills too, but I have to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Why are you doing this? Why go to such lengths to help total strangers? I mean, not to sound offensive, but I think our efforts could be better spent elsewhere," she said in a low tone. Why did I want to help them? Because my curse demanded it, but I wouldn't just spill it like that.

"Because I don't want our people to become slaves of some alien corporation that would take advantage of us. It's not really a matter of mercy or honour, more that I don't want those bastards to win. They are coming for us. The chief of the safe zone said it plain already. Our planet is going to become a big juicy pie, and we are the cherries on top. Everyone and their mother will come for a slice of that pie, and I refuse to let them do what they please with us."

She looked at me intently for a moment, then she nodded.

"Ok, ok, I see it. In the end, the universe is not that different, no matter where you go. I'll help you, but I want something in return." Oh? The girl had bite. I was honestly surprised.

"What do you want?"

"I want a place in your circle. I want to matter." Her eyes were fixed on mine as she said it.

"I don't want to be sidelined anymore. It has been dreadful, the lack of control we all had in the past days. But you are not like us. You move forward with purpose, always. I want that. I want to be part of that." Her determination was remarkable, really, and it cost me nothing to accept, but I would have to make some things clear.

"I accept." I raised a hand before she could say anything else.

"But know this, what I can give you is a chance. It will be up to you to keep up with us, and believe me, you are pretty far away from our level. So if you want to join, bear in mind that you'll have to put in the work too. It won't be easy. You are starting at a disadvantage." She stared, probably dissecting my words or thinking this through. It would be better if she could manage. Gods knew it was hard to find people with the right mindset to join the vanguard, but I didn't really have much hope for her.

Let's see if she could prove a valid addition or just empty words.

"Deal, but I want to know anything useful for improving my chances. I overheard about some achievements and things you all did, but I want the full package, plus all you can tell me for getting skills that could improve my class and skillset."

"I'm working on that for myself too, but we can deal with it later. Now, if we are in agreement, I need those books."

"On it, boss!" She excitedly got up and power-walked out of the common room. Well, at the very least I secured an aid for my rescue-the-dumb project. Let's see how this thing will pan out. For the moment, though, I had to re-read the entire contract from start to finish. There had to be something. There is always something, especially in a contract this massive. It wasn't my first rodeo, I was sure of it. You can't create a clusterfuck of rules and expect them to all work seamlessly together.

For now, it appeared airtight, but I would find a clause, an article, anything. And when I found it, I would take more than their freedom back. Of that, Omnitech Labor Solutions could be certain. I wouldn't venture into this just to get out with zero gains like I did before. Now I had agency. I would take everything I could, and more.