A man calmly walked through a wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms.

His name was Warren, one of the leaders of the Resistance — And he actually had a good reason to be here in the middle of nowhere.

The man was traveling all over the War Demon Nation, recruiting unaffiliated mages to his cause. He had started with Regalia, then Radeata, Beilanea, Romanetown, Iverialtown — going further and further south, until he was here in the suspiciously uncharted southern territory.

“And here it is… the town that has fallen to ruin.”

Warren chuckled and quickly readjusted his glasses, then walked through the gate.

And he was surprised by what he saw — by the strangeness of this supposedly ruined town.

The whole land was neatly levelled, evenly divided into farming plots — and more impressive than that were the people doing all that work.

“A double-sided serpent… And who might that be?”

“Watery~♪ Watery~♪ Watery water~♪ Watery~♪ Watery~♪ Watery water~♪”

“A dancing… watering-can girl? Just these two, residing in this dangerous region? Ah, and this arcane energy signal — isn’t it a…”

“”Oh-ho, a visitor here in the middle of nowhere? We do not get one very often.””

Warren’s monologue was interrupted by the double-sided serpent — a Kagachi.

“Ah, you are a Familiar, I see. Well, I am a… traveler. Isn’t there supposed to be a town at this location?”

“”It IS still a town, though the only ones living here are Us and… that little one over there.””

“…I can see how excellent of a Familiar you are. Surely the mage is formidable as well.”

The Kagachi narrowed its eyes, looking at Warren with doubt. The creature had also noticed how talented Warren was, having sensed the nigh undetectable aura of arcane energy deployed around him.

“”We have no intention of harming you, nor of being harmed. Since you have entered Our territory, the least you could do is state your name.””

Seeing that Warren had refrained from introducing himself with his true name at first, the Kagachi considered the man’s intention and refrained from giving away both his and his master’s names as well.

“Hehehe, apologies for my rudeness. My name is… Ren.”

“”…And you are a liar.””

“Impressive. Hehehe, I suppose it is impossible to deceive a Kagachi’s four eyes. Apologies — My name is Warren.

“”Oh-ho, the so-called Black Emperor. No wonder…””

“As much as I’d like to hear the rest of that… I cannot simply stand and listen, it seems.”

Warren suddenly said, his eyes not on the Kagachi, distracted by what was happening at his side.

The girl with clear emerald green eyes tugged at his desert cloak from behind.

“Sir Instructor, who’s this you’re talking to?”

“You’re quite talented. I never even noticed that you were there until you pulled on my cloak.”

“”Lala, he is a visitor. Go prepare him something nutritious.””

“Aye-aye, sir!”

The girl called Lala saluted to the Kagachi and ran toward the hut in the distance.

“The relationship between you seems… quite interesting.”

“”No denial on Our part.””

“Now, we have talked for quite a few sentences already — may I ask your name?”

“”The people call Us Grandpa Ruta.””

“…And you are a liar.”

“”Think of it as Us pulling your trick back on you. We are Tzar.””

This meeting between complete strangers was yet another weaving of the threads of fate.

“By the way, I’ve been sensing this strange arcane energy signal for a while now… Could it be that there’s a Teleportation Spell Circle nearby?”

“”We suppose there is no harm in telling you. It is a direct connection to the Pochisley Agency.””

“Ah, you are acquainted with Asley. So that’s the story behind Faltown’s rebuilding, I see…”

Brought a basket of boiled groundnuts by Lala — the very same farm that Lala and Tzar had painstakingly cultivated — Warren popped one into his mouth.

A genuine smile formed on his face.

“This is amazing. If you happen to have a surplus of these, then I would like to buy them all. Well, if you are interested, of course?”

“”…We will consider it, depending on the terms of a recurring contract.””

“Do I get an… ‘Asley discount’?”

“”No, only We have the privilege of that discount. You do not.””

“Let me use MY Asley discount to cancel that out, then.”

“”Very funny.””

The deal between Tzar and Warren proceeded without a hitch. Lala stood by their side, listening in with her eyes sparkling.

“All right… Let us settle on these terms for the tentative contract, then.”

Hearing Warren say that, the sparkling turned into a burst of emotion. Lala pumped up both her tightly-clenched fists.

“Lala Farm’s first contract! APPROVED!”

And so, in this ruined town, Asley’s threads of fate brought two previously unrelated parties together into a firm promise… called a business contract.

“”Lala, this is still the tentative contract–“”

“–AAAAAAPPROOOOOOVED!”

“”Good grief… The signing of the official contract looks so far away.””

Tzar heaved a sigh, his shoulders dropping… of they would if he had them.

Silavin: This is a side chapter. In total, there are 4 side chapters just after chapter 240. The posting for this will be 4 per week. So that we can quickly get over this.