Transmigrated as a Ghost

Count Vendrick seeing how upset Marcus had become over the marriage proposal he had put forth, backed down immediately.

“Excuse me, it seems that was out of line. I had heard that you refused any such talks of marriage, but it seems that you dislike the idea more than I could have guessed. Please feel free to disregard what I said. It is of no consequence.”

His smile returning, Marcus was happy that the viceroy did not push the issue any further, as he had no intention of ever getting married as Irene.

‘I already have a fiancée I am in love with. I certainly would not want to have to juggle two partners. Especially if one was a guy.’

With any talks of marriage now thrown out, some of the viceroy’s servants began preparing some light refreshments for a quick celebration while the magical contract was being written up.

“My how in the world did you get this wine? I believe it is something that can only be found in the cellar of the royal castle, or perhaps a duke’s main estate.” Count Vendrick said when he saw the label on the bottle.

It was clear that it had come from the royal family’s personal vineyard that grew in the magical atrium attached to the castle.

“Yes, my friend princess Mrazivý gifted it to me. Oh, and I would like to make sure this stays a secret between us.” Marcus said with a forceful smile.

Nodding his head, the viceroy agreed that he would not tell anyone else and assured that the information that Marcus had this wine would not leave this room.

After that they enjoyed some cheeses and cured meats that went well with the rich and fragrant wine that came from the cellar of the royal castle.

Then as they were winding down, Bastian who had left earlier returned with a few sheets of thick parchment in his hands.

‘That must be the contract.’

Quickly the Count Vendrick read over the contents and nodded his head before passing it over to his son.

When they were done and were both satisfied, they handed it over for Marcus to look at.

‘They are pretty thorough.’ Marcus thought once he was finished going through it.

There were quite a few clauses that worked out greatly in the viceroy’s favor should anything unfortunate happen.

One example was that they would only supply enough adamantine for one set of armor, and if he was unable to create as system recognized set, he would be forced to procure more on his own.

There was also a time limit of three months in which he had to fulfill the order or be penalized for each moth he was late.

In that case he would either have to return one of the skill orbs or pay a sum of forty thousand gold coins.

Truly pretty harsh conditions, but only in the case he was not able to complete the contract within the parameters he had already agreed to.

‘Well, I should have no trouble getting everything made on time, but I should fight back a bit on some of these clauses out of principle. I still have a bit of my pride from my past life.’

Nearly three hours went by as Marcus obstinately had the contract reworked to be far more in his favor.

He got pretty much ever penalty reduced and extended the deadline of his delver to five months.

Did he honestly need to do any of this. No. But once he started getting into it his instincts took over and he fought for the best possible deal for himself like a tyrant.

And while he was all smiles and refreshed by the end of it. Having thoroughly enjoyed arguing with the count and his servants. The opposing party looked exhausted, and part of the reason they had agreed to most of what Marcus asked for was simply because they did not want to deal with him anymore.

“There you go, I have signed it now that all the revisions have been added.” Marcus said with a bright smile.

The words on the contract then glowed gold for a moment to show that the magic had taken effect.

With his business now taken care of, Marcus collected the six skill orbs that were his payment which he made sure he would get in advance.

Along with that he took with him a few magic bags that contained the materials Count Vendrick was going to be supplying. Which of course included the amethros ingot.

“It has been quite the pleasure Lord Vendrick and Lord Alard, but I believe it is time for me to get going. I have much to do in the dungeon and must get back posthaste.” Marcus said as he turned around to take his leave.

Though before he got out of the room, the count stopped him.

“Lady Irene, I believe it would be prudent for you to spend the night here. It has already gotten late now, and I must say that there have been a few more ruffians in town due to the recent incidents. Without any guards I could not let you leave without offering you an invitation.” The viceroy said with a look of genuine concern.

However, it was clear that his concern was less for Marcus and more for the very valuable goods that were currently in his possession.

“Thank you for the offer, but I do have things that need to be done. Anyway, if there were any ruffians in this city that could threaten me, I daresay that there would be anarchy in the streets.”

With that Marcus took his leave despite the viceroy’s instance that he stay the night.

Along the way they did actually get attack by a group of thieves that thought the unguarded carriage on otherwise empty roads would be an easy mark.

Sadly, for these thieves, they were easily crushed by Marcus in a show of overwhelming power and swiftly taken over to the city guard who arrested them.

Not long after that Marcus returned to the Towering Bear Inn with Clara, and he left his head maid there while he went back into the dungeon immediately.

‘I need to see how Alaric did today, and I managed to score quite the impressive upgrades for him.’