Faulty Contract
Chapter 4 – The Blind Spot of Darkness
---
Three days after the sparring incident.
Rumors about Rei spread throughout the academy.
"He has no stats."
"No emotional response."
"He doesn't belong to any classification."
Some called him an Error.
Some called him Elias's weapon.
Rei recorded it.
No reaction.
---
Inside his private office, Elias received a summons from the Council.
The meeting chamber on the highest floor was covered by sound-isolation magic circles.
"Elias Nocthar," one council member spoke.
"Are you aware of the risks of keeping that subject by your side?"
"I am."
"Can you guarantee control over him?"
Elias did not answer immediately.
"The contract is stable."
"We are asking about control."
A moment of silence.
"No."
The room fell silent.
"I do not 'control' him. I only have a link."
One member tapped a hand against the stone table.
"Then what if one day he goes beyond your understanding?"
Elias replied, his voice still even:
"Then he has already been beyond the system since the moment he appeared."
---
At the same time, in the training forest behind the academy.
Rei was assigned to participate in a field test.
A four-person team.
Mission: clear a low-level mana disturbance zone.
The team leader was Arlen — the top student of the class.
Arlen looked at Rei for a moment.
"You follow instructions."
"Understood."
The team moved into the forest.
The mana within the area was slightly out of phase. Trees grew twisted, as if pulled by an invisible force.
Rei crossed the boundary and immediately sensed the change.
Micro-fluctuations in gravity.
Reversed mana air currents.
His body adjusted automatically.
His pace changed.
Arlen turned back.
"You notice something?"
"The disturbance is unstable. There is a generating core inside."
"You sure?"
"Seventy-eight percent probability."
Arlen did not argue.
The formation continued forward.
---
Ten minutes later.
A mutated beast appeared.
It was not listed in the training catalog.
Its body structure was distorted, like something torn apart and stitched back together.
One student stepped back.
"This isn't low level!"
Arlen immediately ordered a defensive stance.
Rei did not wait for an attack order.
He observed.
The beast did not move along a natural trajectory.
It was being pulled by a point beneath the ground.
"Not an independent entity," Rei said.
"What?"
"There is a control core."
The beast lunged forward.
Arlen cast a spell to block the strike.
The impact cracked the ground.
Rei sidestepped, avoiding direct confrontation.
One minute.
Two minutes.
He allowed the beast to attack him three times at close range.
No counterattack.
Only data collection.
At the third minute—
Rei suddenly lunged downward.
His hand pierced through the soft soil.
He shattered a black crystal hidden deep beneath the ground.
The beast immediately lost control and collapsed.
Silence.
Arlen looked at Rei.
"You dragged it out on purpose?"
"Enough data was required to identify the core."
"You could have been injured."
"Acceptable probability."
Another student spoke with a trembling voice:
"Aren't you afraid of dying?"
Rei looked at her.
"Fear does not improve results."
---
When the team returned, the report was immediately sent to the Council.
A mutated beast appeared outside the plan.
An artificial control core.
Someone had interfered.
Elias read the report.
His gaze stopped at one line:
«Rei detected the control core before the team leader.»
The shadow beneath his feet fluctuated.
---
That night.
Rei stood on the dormitory roof.
The wind blew strongly.
Below in the courtyard, students gathered, talking and laughing.
Rei observed.
Did not join.
A voice sounded behind him.
"You do not integrate."
Elias.
"Unnecessary."
"Aren't you curious? Why they laugh?"
Rei looked down at the courtyard.
"It is behavior that reinforces social bonds."
"Nothing more?"
"Nothing more."
Elias stepped beside him.
"Have you ever wanted… to be acknowledged?"
Rei tilted his head.
"What is acknowledgment?"
"To be seen as a human being."
A pause.
Rei thought longer than usual.
"…If I am acknowledged, will the system be able to read me?"
"Possibly."
"Then it is not optimal."
Elias froze.
"Why?"
"If the system can read me, the system can control me."
The answer was logically cold.
Elias suddenly realized.
Rei did not resist because he was emotionless.
Rei avoided being defined out of a survival instinct.
An entity that once existed in an environment where being understood meant being exploited.
---
Somewhere else.
In a dark room outside the academy.
A group of people stood around a black crystal similar to the control core that had just been destroyed.
"The subject reacted exactly as predicted."
"He adapts faster than expected."
"Then it's confirmed?"
One person spoke with a hoarse voice.
"Rei is not an error."
"Then what is he?"
"The system's blind spot."
The crystal lit up.
A diagram appeared:
«Soul structure: Positioned between two spectrums
Not completely human
Not completely non-human»
"Prepare the next phase."
---
Back on the rooftop.
Elias spoke quietly:
"What if one day I give the wrong order?"
Rei did not hesitate.
"I will execute it."
"Even if it harms you?"
"I am a tool."
The darkness around Elias fluctuated more violently.
"You are not a tool."
Rei looked at him.
His eyes remained calm.
"That definition does not change efficiency."
Elias did not reply.
But for the first time, a dangerous thought appeared in his mind:
If Rei continues to be treated like a tool—
Then one day, this world will have to pay the price.
---
At the end of the chapter, the academy's internal system recorded:
«Rei (零)
Tactical analysis capability above standard
Adaptation frequency increasing
No surface emotional fluctuation detected
However, processing delay appears when asked about "acknowledgment"»
Very small.
Only 0.2 seconds.
But for an entity optimized down to the millisecond—
0.2 seconds is abnormal.
And in the darkness—
The blind spot begins to become aware of itself.