Chapter 142: CHAPTER 142 – Contract.
"Oh, about that, I will be using my skill," Max replied to Alex and Alex leaned back on his chair with a thoughtful expression.
"What is your skill? if you don\'t mind me asking," Alex questioned as he leaned back on his seat but his eyes were fixed on Max.
Max smiled and waved his hand as three golden sheets started floating right in front of Alex, Alice, and Ann\'s faces.
"Showing it would be better than telling you how it works," Max spoke as he smiled seeing the three of them reading the contract.
Max had already had his life saved by Alex, so he didn\'t think telling Alex about his ability would not be bad, it would be good instead as it might let him gain more of Alex\'s trust.
How could he have known that Alex, Alice, and Ann already knew about his ability?
Lily, who was eating the cake also saw the contract materializing in front of Alex, Alice, and Ann, and her eyes sparkled with curiosity, but looking at her mom and Uncle Damien\'s serious expression, she decided to keep quiet.
{I Alex Matthew/ Alice/ Ann White, agree that I will not disclose any information about the skill of Maximus Steele to anyone, and if I do, then may I have a string of my hair plucked off.}
This was what was written in the contract.
Max didn\'t put any hard conditions or something complex, nor did he play with his words or have something hidden in the contract.
He would never do that to Alex, Alice, and Ann, he just wanted them to know how the contract works.
Alice, Ann, and Alex all read the contract when Max spoke.
"If one signs that contract, they can\'t break the contract and if they did go against the terms written on the contract, directly or indirectly, they will have to face the penalty first."
Max explained how the contract works.
"So, this is your ability/ skill? The contract thing?" Alex asked as he touched the contract only to have his hand pass through it.
"Yes, this is my skill, the same thing that helps me have control over my whole organization," Max replied with a smile.
"I see, and does it have any restrictions?" Alex questioned again.
"Yes, I can\'t bind someone two rank higher than me into a contract, and I can\'t make someone forcefully unwillingly sign it, they need to sign it willingly."
Max replied, but Alice didn\'t completely get what he meant so she asked.
"Can you give me an example of the willing and unwilling part of the restrictions?" Alice asked as she looked at Max.
"Yes, I can.
Let\'s say that I am an employee in your guild, someone who always brings paper to be signed by you, and I sneakily placed this contract between those papers.
Now, no one reads that many papers, and most people just sign them without even looking at them, and if you do just that, then the contract won\'t work.
But, if you read the contract, you know that it is a contract and what would happen if you sign the contract, then the contract will bind you."
Max explained his point with an example to Alice who nodded her head with realization.
"You are saying signing the contract every time, but I can\'t even touch the contract, how am I going to sign it?" Alex asked as he tried to touch the contract again only to have his hand pass through it.
"You get my point?" Alex asked as he looked at Max.
"I can have the contract customized in different styles and types, the one you are seeing right now is a contract that can be signed mentally," Max replied to Alex with a nod.
"I see…" Alex nodded his head but then….
"Stop," Alex spoke as he placed a hand in front of both Alice and Ann while looking at his contract.
This action confused Max and alerted both Damien and Grace.
\'Did he try to trick them??\'
This was the first thing that came to their minds, they didn\'t believe it, of course, but their bodies tensed up as they saw Alex looking at the contract intently.
Max on the other hand was confused.
\'What\'s wrong? I didn\'t write anything complex or misleading in it….\'
Max knew what he wrote and what was in it, so he was just confused by Alex\'s reaction but then they all saw the contract in front of Alex break into particles before it shot toward Alex, disappearing into his chest.
"That\'s it?" Alex asked as he looked at Max.
Max who saw the whole thing happening just nodded his head.
"Yes, the contract is completed."
Max still didn\'t get why Alex stopped Alice and Ann, but he waited.
Grace and Damien who were tensed also calmed down a little when they saw Alex had signed the contract and just like Max, Alice, and Ann, they waited for what Alex wanted to do.
"Maximus Steele\'s skill is a-"
The first thing that came out of Alex\'s mouth was the thing that the contract was against, but he didn\'t complete his words as he already got the penalty even before he could complete his words, he just looked at the string of hair that fell off his head.
If it were a contract with the death penalty, then the contractee would have died before they could complete their words.
"I see, I see," Alex spoke as he looked at the contract.
"...Why did you do that?" Max asked after a pause.
He couldn\'t comprehend the reason behind Alex\'s action.
"I wanted to see if I could resist the contract with my willpower, but I guess that\'s not possible huh," Alex replied to Max with a thoughtful look on his face.
Alex had tried forcing the penalty to stop as he could feel the particles that entered his body move and he discovered something very interesting.
But the real reason behind this was not this as Alex had some other reasons for doing it.
Alex was the strongest among the Crimson Lotus Guild according to many people out there, it was just a hypothesis as no one had seen him use power, but that is what they believed.
Then there was also a thing about Anna Gorge saying that Alex is stronger than her in a press conference.
So, for Max, Grace, and Damien, Alex was the strongest, and if the contract worked on Alex meant that Alex was still an SS-ranker.
\'If Alex was an SS-ranker, then that means that Alice and Ann were not higher than him\', this is what they will think, and it is what Alex wants them to think.
He couldn\'t have let Alice or Ann try it as it wouldn\'t have worked on them, but it would work on him for now.
It wasn\'t that Alex thought that Max was going to cross them.
He could tell who was sincere and who was not, and something told him that Max was not the type of person who would betray someone.
But Alex also knew that if Max\'s family\'s life were to be put on the line, then he would do anything, and Alex who didn\'t like taking risks that could potentially harm the people he cared for, decided to hide his, Alice, and Ann\'s true power.
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