Chapter 28: Confidentiality Contract

“Gah~! Gugu!?”

The rabbit that had been face-to-face with Zheng Yichen widened its eyes dramatically. A moment later, it fell limp on the ground, plain and simple. As it fainted from fright, its form quickly blurred and vanished.

“…Huh? Scared unconscious…” Petty quickly tried to communicate with her summoned creature through their contract. She received no response, but the contract itself remained intact, indicating her summoned creature was still alive. The most likely scenario was that it had been scared into unconsciousness.

“No problem.” Zheng Yichen gently waved his hand. That rabbit was more of a Harefolk than a regular rabbit; its size was several times larger than any rabbit he knew of. And judging by its earlier reaction, it seemed fairly intelligent.

At the very least, from its terrified gaze, Zheng Yichen could tell it recognized him. It was almost like it wanted to scream ‘A dragon!’ like a person would.

“Can Summoners only summon their creatures through these Projections?”

Petty felt a bit awkward. “My Mana isn’t that plentiful, so I can only do this. If I were stronger, I could summon the creature directly to my side.”

“But then, if you contracted a more powerful creature, wouldn’t you be unable to summon it during crucial moments?” Zheng Yichen asked while staring at a Rune Patterns he had drawn in the center of his palm. This was the summoning pattern he had just seen earlier.

Compared to flat patterns, these three-dimensional ones were much harder to draw. At least with flat ones, you only needed to draw the picture correctly. For three-dimensional patterns, you had to consider many more factors.

Petty shook her head. “If a contracted summoned creature is very strong, the Summoner also receives extra feedback from it. Even if the main body can’t be summoned, a Projection can be called forth. If the summoned creature is willing to share the Mana cost, then summoning the main body is definitely possible.”

“Hmm~ I see.” Zheng Yichen nodded slightly. “That rabbit should also be able to help you share the Mana cost, right?”

“He’s a bit timid, so every time I summon him, he arrives first as a Projection to check things out,” Petty said somewhat helplessly. Even for that previous summoning, she had hidden Zheng Yichen’s presence. Otherwise, that Harefolk probably wouldn’t have even accepted the basic summoning.

Nodding, Zheng Yichen indicated he had no more questions. After that, they chatted a bit more, and Petty also relaxed her posture a little. She watched as Zheng Yichen stared blankly at the Magic Rune Array he had drawn in his hand.

She took several small breaths. The moment Zheng Yichen dispelled the Magic Rune Array, she cautiously approached his side. “Um, Mr. Dragon, may I… touch you?”

“……” Seeing her hopeful eyes, Zheng Yichen nodded.

Having received his permission, Petty’s small hand trembled slightly as it touched one of the Scales on Zheng Yichen’s leg. At that moment, the joy in her heart almost made her jump—she was actually touching a dragon!

“Ugh… Am I not dead?” Hearing a weak voice from behind, Petty regretfully withdrew her hand from the Scale she had been lightly touching. She turned to look. The second girl to wake up was her roommate. She wasn’t a Summoner but a Mage. Perhaps a Mage’s Mental Energy was stronger, so she shook off the illusion’s effects faster.

However, the others were also about to wake up. With Petty’s reassurance, they were surprised upon seeing Zheng Yichen but didn’t have the extreme reaction Petty initially showed.

“Why hasn’t the teacher woken up yet?” Petty’s roommate looked at the still-unconscious teacher leading their group, feeling puzzled. “Could it be we’ve become stronger than the teacher?”

Where did youngsters get such confident ideas? Zheng Yichen glanced at this girl and pointed to a long stick stuck in the ground nearby. “He woke up earlier than all of you. But he hadn’t recovered from the illusion, so I knocked him out again.”

“Now that most of you are awake, take him and leave this place.” Because of these people, Zheng Yichen hadn’t moved from this spot for a whole day and night.

Looking at Zheng Yichen, Petty nodded reluctantly. In the end, she didn’t voice the thought she had been wanting to propose. She wanted to form an equal-summoning Contract with Zheng Yichen… No, she would even agree to a Contract where her side was inferior!

But this remained just a thought. She didn’t dare to ask directly, even though Zheng Yichen’s behavior didn’t match the records about the Dragon Clan in the books, and he had even actively saved them…

The records about dragons in the books all stated that dragons were very proud, and they had the qualifications to be so. But she herself was only a novice-level Summoner—where did she get the right to propose such a thing?

To describe it, it was like a beggar wanting to eat and drink with a wealthy magnate as equals. If she said it out loud, wouldn’t he be furious?

That would certainly implicate her classmates and teacher.

“By the way, don’t tell anyone about me.” Watching Petty and the others prepare to leave, Zheng Yichen added.

The students hurriedly nodded and agreed. Just as they had finished packing and were about to depart, the Ghost Maid who had left not long ago returned. She stopped them all, then placed a dark-colored piece of paper in Zheng Yichen’s palm.

“Hmm… a Contract Scroll.” Squinting his eyes to read the contents on the paper, Zheng Yichen mumbled. His voice wasn’t very soft, and it caused the faces of two students in the group to stiffen for an instant.

Giving those two a look, Zheng Yichen snorted lightly. He wasn’t stupid; their reaction clearly showed they were guilty.

The two students who were glanced at immediately turned pale, with a faint urge to flee. They didn’t know much about dragons, but they could tell Zheng Yichen was at most a Juvenile Dragon… his strength probably wasn’t very high. If they reported this back to their families, it would be a great achievement.

After all, the Forest of Illusions had never shown signs of dragon activity. The nature of this place meant it could only support certain special creatures.

After reading the contents, Zheng Yichen directly pressed this Contract in front of Petty and the others. “This is much more effective than a verbal agreement. You all sign it.”

The contents of this Contract completely obligated these students and their teacher to keep everything about him secret. They were not allowed to actively leak any information by any means. If they did, they would lose everything regarding him, and even their Souls would not be spared!

Looking at the contents of the Contract, the two pale-faced students’ expressions worsened. This Contract evidently crushed any ideas they had. Moreover, the dark energy radiating from the paper indicated this was no ordinary Magic Contract… Contracts emitting such energy were usually extremely sinister, and their binding power was naturally stronger. Violating it even slightly would cause the entire Contract to take full effect, leaving no room whatsoever.