CHAPTER 24: 24: SOUL HELPER CONTRACT

"Helper..."

[ System Information:

Helpers are loyal and trustworthy people of the Stationmaster.

There are two types of Helpers.

The first is the Soul Helper Contract, where the Helper becomes a servant bound by their soul.

They cannot betray, harm, or kill their master, if they do, they will lose their soul.

The second is the Normal Helper Contract, where the Helper is like an employee of the Stationmaster inside the Heavenly Train Station.

Normal Helpers are not bound by their soul, but they also cannot betray the Stationmaster as long as they are under the contract....]

Aria read further in silence, but to the mute boy staring at her, it seemed like she was just looking into nowhere and talking to herself.

She gave off the impression of being somewhat crazy to the other party.

"I got it!"

Aria clasped her hands together with an excited smile.

She looked at the young boy again, giving him her full attention this time, then leaned a little closer and whispered delicately.

"Do you want to be saved?"

The mute boy’s eyes, which had already looked blank and lifeless, seemed to move, and he gave a small nod using the last bit of his consciousness.

"Good. That’s enough confirmation for me." Aria nodded back, sighing inwardly.

She had to do this in order to save the young man.

At that moment, Fluff Ball displayed the full instructions on the system screen, and Aria lifted her finger to touch his forehead.

"I, Aria, the Stationmaster of the Heavenly Train, now acquire you as my Soul Helper. Your soul is mine at my disposal, and you shall not betray me, harm me, or kill me. If you dare to do so, your soul shall vanish across a thousand worlds."

A faint stream of unseen golden light flowed from her finger into the young man’s forehead, spreading through his entire body.

The dark veins beneath his skin slowly stilled and ceased their movement.

The golden glow beneath Aria’s hand faded, and in its place, a small reddish-pink hibiscus mark appeared on his forehead.

[ System Notification: Congratulations, Host, for hiring your first Helper!]

The mute boy’s breathing slowly returned to normal and he could hardly believe what was happening to him.

His heart began to beat again at a steady pace almost loud enough to hear beside his ears.

The extreme pain that had coursed through his body was gone as if his broken legs were nothing.

Though he knew, he still could not stand.

Unable to speak he used sign language to ask what Aria had done.

Aria did not understand sign language so she asked Fluff Ball for assistance with translation.

"Oh nothing much. But remember this is our secret. You cannot tell anyone what I have done. Just think of it as a miracle."

Even she had no idea how deep the system’s workings truly were.

She could only conclude that her system was far from ordinary unlike anything in those novels.

The mute boy nodded, realizing this woman was extraordinary.

It would be bad if anyone found out how he had come to be better.

"You are mute right? You cannot speak so I do not know how we will communicate aside from writing. But if you can write that would be better. "

Aria mumbled this more to herself than to the other party.

She still had the idea to ask the system if there was a way to cure him or make him able to speak, but Fluff Ball system kept insisting that the Host level was insufficient.

So stingy.

Fluff Ball: "..."

The boy shrugged and made another sign saying he did not know how to read or write.

Born a year after the apocalypse he had no mother or father.

He had grown up fighting for bread and water in the streets.

Who would have had the time or the will to teach him?

"That’s too bad." Aria said, saddened, then added with a comforting smile.

"I will teach you then. For now, I will try to understand what you’re saying using my skill."

The skill was obviously Fluff Ball, a faceless, mouthless system floating silently around her shoulder.

Aria wanted the boy to communicate in writing even though she had Fluff Ball System.

It was not something she could rely on every time, and she did not want to become too dependent on it.

Learning this skill would also help the mute boy.

One day, when she was not there to communicate for him, he could proudly converse with another human being without worry.

When Aria said she would teach him, the mute boy’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears, and she panicked at the sight.

"Hey, hey, why are you crying? You’re no longer going to be a zombie. I know it’s hard to accept being my servant, but I won’t treat you like that. You don’t have to worry."

The boy shook his head quickly from left to right, as if his head might fly off.

He tried desperately to sign that he was not crying because of that, but because she was going to teach him how to read and write.

It had been his dream.

To learn to read and write was his dream.

He had seen many books but could never understand them.

Only picture books had ever brought him joy.

As for being a servant, he remembered her earlier words and realized that his life being saved was tied to it.

He had no worries or complaints about it.

He was truly grateful, and saying thank you did not feel nearly enough.

Though he could not speak, he truly regarded himself as a servant of this woman.

As her Helper, a Soul Helper Contract, he suddenly heard a voice.

It told him that he must never dare to betray, harm, or kill his Master.

If he did, his soul would be gone.

Even without the warning from the unknown voice, the mute boy had already promised himself.

He would never betray this woman.

She had saved him, and he could not fail to honor that act of kindness.