Robert did not think for long before saying, "Lord Duke, Robert is willing to serve you!"
He did not ask what benefits he would receive after signing the contract. He trusted that Duke would not treat him unfairly.
Duke nodded. "Good. Cut your finger and use your blood to trace the lines of this rune—"
Robert drew his longsword and sliced his finger, then pressed it down to sign the Master-Servant Contract.
A moment later, the Master-Servant Contract ignited in blue flames and vanished into nothingness.
Duke had watched the entire process closely. He had wanted to know whether the Master-Servant Contract would work on players, so he paid attention to every detail.
He discovered that the Master-Servant Contract had indeed taken effect on Robert. With a single thought, he could control Robert's life and death.
He could even punish Robert's soul, making him feel pain that came from its very depths.
But he did not know whether that method would truly work. Players were in a very unusual state—their bodies were indeed living flesh-and-blood bodies, but their souls were merely projections from another plane.
Duke could sense Robert's soul within that body, and it seemed that he could impose punishment upon it as well.
Only after forming the Master-Servant Contract with Robert did Duke send him a message through mental power. "Robert, perhaps it is time for you to learn the truth about this world."
Robert had not yet mastered the ability to communicate through mental power, so he could only ask aloud, "The truth about the world? What do you mean?"
Duke said nothing. He merely sat beside the table in the courtyard and, with practiced ease, took out a stove and a teapot from his Spatial Ring, then began brewing tea.
As he did so, he told