"Since the contract is based on the time of its creation, I can rest assured," Angel showed a relieved expression.
After all, he had already disclosed almost everything necessary earlier, and Ironclad Granny already knew his intentions. Even if Angel said nothing more afterward, Ironclad Granny would understand.
Moreover, even with the contract in place, others could still reveal information.
For instance, Cicia—Cicia didn’t sign any contract.
And Dororo, who knew about Angel’s journey, could make prophecies based on it. Furthermore, Cicia could serve as a medium for Dororo’s prophecies.
So, for Angel, the third clause seemed the most stringent but was actually the least concerning.
As Angel breathed a sigh of relief, The Sage Sovereign felt a bit puzzled. He didn’t understand why Angel was concerned about this point, which was completely different from what he had imagined.
Shouldn’t he be questioning the restrictions of the third clause? Shouldn’t he be asking why the reward section was blank? Why did he ask such a perplexing question?
Could he have already leaked information? As soon as the suspicion arose, The Sage Sovereign dismissed it. Because even he didn’t know what Angel and his group would face next, what the situation in the relic was, or what the truth about the Goddess was. What secrets were they hiding? All matters requiring confidentiality through contracts had yet to occur, so how could Angel possibly leak anything in advance?
But if not this, then why was Angel more concerned about the effective time?
The Sage Sovereign felt utterly baffled... At this moment, he glanced sideways at Dox, who was stroking his chin and looking at Angel with a puzzled expression. But soon, he seemed to think of something, and a look of realization appeared in his eyes.
The hidden smile in Dox’s eyes made The Sage Sovereign suddenly "realize."
Previously, Dox had been saying that Angel was deviously mischievous. At that time, The Sage Sovereign hadn’t paid much attention because he hadn’t been concerned with Angel’s character and personality. Now that Angel was temporarily becoming the guardian of the Wood Spirit, The Sage Sovereign began to consider Angel’s nature.
Dox was Angel’s companion; he must understand Angel well. Moreover, when Dox described Angel’s mischievousness, he seemed very certain, as if he had witnessed it firsthand. So what he said should be true.
Also, knowing Angel’s age, The Sage Sovereign felt that the term "mischievous" quite befitting. After all, young people tend to be naughty.
Could this whole thing be just Angel’s pure mischievous act?
Deliberately avoiding the main topic to express dissatisfaction?
Thinking about it carefully, it seemed like a real possibility. He had already witnessed Angel’s intelligence and sharpness; Angel must have noticed that the contract was worded to emotionally bind him into protecting the Wood Spirit willingly.
Additionally, the contract deliberately left clauses needing supplementation, which Angel must have discovered too.
He was subtly expressing a request, which gave Angel a perceived "counter" capital, hence the passive-aggressive way of expressing dissatisfaction?
The Sage Sovereign found this possibility very likely, because he couldn’t come up with any other reason for Angel’s attention to such an insignificant point.
If this hypothesis was correct, the Sage Sovereign thought about how he should respond... In the end, he decided not to respond.
Even Angel’s expression of "dissatisfaction" was reasonable, choosing not to ask confrontational questions.
Just like how The Sage Sovereign subtly made a request in the contract, Angel also used a subtle way to protest.
And any protest includes a request. Angel’s protest request, though unspoken, was guessed by The Sage Sovereign—to hope for a concession from him? Or increase the reward?
These "requests" weren’t considered too excessive. The Sage Sovereign thought, as long as Angel was willing to sign the contract in the end, cooperating a bit wasn’t a problem. After all, the Wood Spirit needed to stick with this golden thigh; it was like investing in the Wood Spirit in advance.
With this in mind, The Sage Sovereign showed no sign of impatience. Instead, he gently asked, "Besides that, do you have any other doubts? For example, the third clause, or why the punishment is so severe while the reward is blank?"
The Sage Sovereign chose to take the initiative to ask, showing that he accepted Angel’s request—very "wise," taking the initiative to de-escalate.
On the other hand, Angel had no idea that The Sage Sovereign had conjured up an entire play in his mind and had spontaneously entered a role, thinking that taking the initiative to de-escalate was a form of concession.
From Angel’s point of view, even if The Sage Sovereign hadn’t asked proactively, he would have continued to probe. Since The Sage Sovereign brought it up, it only saved him the effort.
Besides this, Angel felt nothing else.
The Sage Sovereign completely moved himself.
Fortunately, no one present could see the play inside The Sage Sovereign’s mind, and even The Sage Sovereign didn’t realize where he might have been wrong, so everything remained in a state of calm.
Angel also followed up on The Sage Sovereign’s words, saying, "Indeed, these two points are also my subsequent questions."
Listening to Angel’s response, The Sage Sovereign silently nodded in his heart. Angel knew when to stop, making him quite "savvy."
The Sage Sovereign: "Your doubt about the third clause should be the scope of confidentiality, right?"
Angel nodded, pretending not to notice The Sage Sovereign answering his own setup.
"Regarding the scope of confidentiality..." The Sage Sovereign had only begun to speak when he suddenly paused.
After several seconds, when Angel saw The Sage Sovereign not making a sound, he looked up. Only to see that The Sage Sovereign had somehow taken out a strange three-frame pair of glasses, and the mirror on his forehead was flashing continuously, making it impossible to see his underlying gaze. Both his left and right eyes seemed listless and wooden.
As Angel felt something odd, the voice of the Black Earl came through the Mind Ribbon.
"Hmm, the opening... disappeared," he said.
Angel was stunned for a moment. At first, he didn’t understand the Black Earl’s meaning, which took him several moments to realize that the "opening" he referred to was the dog hole they encountered on their way here.
Those "dog holes" that appeared to have life.
The Black Earl had left a scent-marking point near each of these dog holes. Initially, it was to observe the dog holes’ situation, but later it was used to track the Traveling Merchant Organization’s whereabouts.
"Which opening disappeared?" Angel asked, pondering whether the disappearance of the dog hole had anything to do with The Sage Sovereign suddenly spacing out.
"The openings I marked before, they all disappeared," said the Black Earl.
"What does the disappearance of the openings mean?" Dox asked, puzzled.
The Mind Ribbon fell silent as no one could answer this question. They didn’t even know the truth about those openings.
While they exchanged bewildered looks, they heard a couple of coughs. Looking towards the sound, they saw that The Sage Sovereign had somehow returned to normal.
"I was suddenly reminded of some things just now, hence the brief delay. Let’s continue with our previous topic," said The Sage Sovereign.