Jia Xiu Doesn't Cheat the Poor

"Is a knight squire's contract really this complicated?"

Bubu was visibly cautious, gently pinching the contract between two fingers, afraid of damaging it.

"Uh, because your identity is special. You're both undead and a fairy, an exceptionally promising knight candidate, so the contract has to be more rigorous."

Jia Xiu made it up on the spot.

Of course, this was not a knight squire's contract, but the contract Margaret had sent him to control undead.

Under normal procedures, he would first control the undead, then fulfill its wish, release its resentment, and complete the contract.

But there was nothing stopping an undead from signing the contract voluntarily.

"I'm an exceptional knight candidate? Hehe."

"Here's a pen."

"Thank you." Bubu solemnly wrote its name on the contract.

While the human and ghost were busy, the other cultists tried to slip away. However, they did not escape Jia Xiu's notice.

"Who said you could leave? Stand still!"

These cultists were walking money. The Adventurer Association still had bounties posted for cultists. Though each was worth only 20 Hel, too little for anyone to bother taking, even a mosquito's leg was still meat. He could not turn down free money.

"What should I use to tie you up? Forget it. Radiance, weave; heal and restore."

Before long, several more people suffering from ingrown toenails lay on the ground, unable to stand.

"I've signed it, boss!" Bubu excitedly handed the contract back.

"Don't call me boss. It's unlucky."

"Why not? Boss, I'm your squire, so of course you're my boss."

"Forget it. Call me whatever you want."

"Okay, boss!"

Jia Xiu took the contract.

"Uh..."

Looking at the chibi Bubu drawn in the signature field, he asked, "Is this how you understood signing a contract?"

"Is it wrong?"

"Fine."

Anyway, an undead contract only required the target to touch the signature field. What was signed did not matter.

The contract took effect, allowing Jia Xiu to view Bubu's detailed information.

[Name: Bubu]

[Race: Fairy/Undead]

[Level: 19]

[Relationship: Trust/(Contract signing in progress...)]

[Attributes: Strength 3/Agility 18/Constitution 3/Intelligence 4/Perception 16/Charisma 28]

[Traits: Undead/Magic Resistance/Innate Spellcasting/Magic Weapon/Shadow Concealment/Elemental Affinity...]

What kind of overpowered squire was this?

Jia Xiu had known Bubu was powerful, but he had not expected it to be this powerful.

Level 19!

Half a step into the legendary realm! It was only a little short of stepping into legend.

Fortunately, its Intelligence was 4. It seemed to cast spells through Charisma, or he really did not know how he could have fooled it into signing the contract.

But what was this "contract signing in progress" about?

Jia Xiu checked the contract again and immediately found the problem.

The two necessary conditions for completing the contract were a wish and resentment.

The wish was to become a knight, and starting out as a knight squire counted as fulfilling it.

But the part about releasing resentment had not been completed.

"Bubu, do you have any resentment?"

"No, boss."

"No... would it work if there's none?"

"I don't understand your question, boss."

"It's nothing. I wasn't asking you."

Jia Xiu continued studying the contract.

The bad news was that the resentment field could not be left blank. Some resentment had to be released, or it could not be completed.

And with his current attributes, he was not strong enough to alter the contract.

What was he supposed to do?

Was this "program" written a little too rigidly?

Should he send it back for Margaret to modify?

He could, but it would make him look incompetent.

Bothering his mentor so many times over a single undead.

A good researcher should be able to independently solve unexpected problems.

If there was no resentment, then he would create some and release it.

Jia Xiu recalled the little story in Bubu's nursery rhyme.

The chief culprit was the instructor who had hidden the sword and framed it. Bubu had already driven him mad.

Who else in that story had been bad?

The townsfolk who had refused to believe Bubu when it was framed.

Though it was not an especially grave offense, it had certainly dealt Bubu a heavy blow. Emotional harm was harm too.

"Bubu, have you ever resented the townspeople of Creekwood Town?" Jia Xiu asked.

"Um... no, boss."

Bubu's beady eyes darted away slightly.

Jia Xiu saw at once that it was not telling the truth. "To become a knight, you need to be honest."

Bubu hesitated for a few seconds before answering, "I did blame them before, but knights must also be merciful. They were all very weak."

That was true. At level 19, it could have lived like a king in a small place like Creekwood Town.

"Besides, human lifespans are short. Those townspeople from back then should have been gone long ago, so there's no need to keep resenting them."

"No!"

Jia Xiu figured out how to create resentment for Bubu.

"Justice is also an essential virtue for a knight! And justice means that when you are treated unfairly, you must respond with a just counterattack! The people of Creekwood Town once wrongfully misunderstood you, so they should pay a price too. Uh, not a severe price—just a fair warning."

After hearing this, Bubu briefly considered it with its Intelligence of "as high as" 4.

"That makes sense, boss. The people of Creekwood Town should receive a fair warning, but what price should serve as the warning?"

"Hmm..."

Jia Xiu thought about it as well. What kind of price would be appropriate?

What Bubu had suffered was somewhat like online harassment—pressure brought about by public opinion. It was wrong, but it was not serious enough to make a huge issue out of it.

More importantly, the generation that had spread those rumors was long gone, and Aunt Susan was also a resident of Creekwood Town.

So Jia Xiu felt that a prank-level punishment would be enough.

As he was thinking, Bubu spoke. "Boss, how about making them sleepy all day?"

"You can make everyone in the town feel sleepy for an entire day?"

That punishment was indeed prank-level, but Jia Xiu was even more surprised by Bubu's ability.

"Of course I can."

Jia Xiu suddenly had an idea.

"Then do you have a way to make the people in town lose their hair?"

Emilia gazed at the moon in the sky. It was a full moon night.

There had been no movement from the cave for quite some time. It seemed Jia Xiu had truly dealt with that undead.

A decent outcome.

Acceptable.

According to plan, the next step was to reward Jia Xiu. Emilia had prepared a wand for him.

"All right, let's go back. Nothing else will happen tonight," Emilia told the guards.

Suddenly, she seemed to see several strands of golden hair drifting down in front of her.

She rubbed her eyes. More strands came floating down.

A bad feeling rose in her. She reached up to touch the top of her head, and a large clump of hair fell out.

Emilia fell silent.

"Your Highness, it seems to be that undead's curse. It looks like they're signing an undead contract and releasing resentment," a guard said.

"No, how could an undead have this kind of resentment?" Emilia's voice trembled slightly.

At dawn, Jia Xiu appeared on the streets of Creekwood Town with Bubu.

He held a piece of canvas in his arms.

When he reached the town center, he hung the canvas on a wall. Written on it in bold were the words: "Ancestral Secret Hair Growth Method."

Bubu held a board and stood it on the ground.

Jia Xiu took out some chalk and began writing.

"Free for the poor, 100 for the rich..."

As he wrote, he felt something was off. He bore the main responsibility for the townspeople's hair loss, so Jia Xiu did not intend to charge ordinary people.

But writing "poor people" directly was a little too obvious.

After thinking about it, he changed it to: "Apprentice-level hair growth free, director-level hair growth 100 crowns."

Wording!