After dinner, Milagros gave Emilio a ride to the office. It was not that far away and she was going to the same place.

  “Emi, are you sure you still want to make the contracts today?”

  “Yes, I want to know my limit. It is better to plan in the future.”

  “How many did you do up until now?”

  “If I count the ones I did for tests, almost a hundred.”

  “That is quite a lot given that you have to do all of them yourself. How much have you progressed with your skill?”

  Emilio checked it out, “9%.”

  “If it is proportional you should need around 1100 contracts to reach the maximum. If you are tired at 100, you would need at least ten days.”

  “We will see how much I can do today. On another subject, were you able to get someone with a wound to check if I can heal it?”

  “I did, Noel cut himself cooking yesterday. Nothing major but enough to try it out. He should be waiting for us in the office.”

  “Wait, the Noel of our team?” Emilio asked, quite stumped by the coincidence.

  “Yeah, in the end it was easy to find someone for you and he is trustworthy. He was really curious about what we were doing, but didn’t ask anything. You will have to make a contract with him too.”

  “If you say so. How are you doing with the new responsibilities?”

  “It is harsh because I know the final implications of what I am managing, but it is also meaningful. I know that what I am doing matters to the world. Also, with the information I have, I know that I am not a real talent in the System ways. I might be way above average, but not a real talent. I believe this is the best thing I can do with my time.”

  “It’s good to know you actually like it.”

  They reached the office building and headed to a private office where they met with Noel. He was a 45 years old man who was serious at his job and preferred to stay at home with his family in his free time. At the moment he had a band aid in his left index finger.

  “Hi Noel. It is surprising to see you here at this hour.” Emilio greeted him and approached to hug him.

  “This might be the only way to finally know what was going on with you. Also, it is considered working hours. Today I didn’t work in the afternoon.”

  “Remember that you still have the pending offer,” Milagros pointed out.

  “What offer?” Emilio asked.

  “To be your assistant in the office in these wired hours you are working,” Noel answered. “And as I said before, I would first like to know what is going on. I already signed the contracts for you to tell me.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “About that, there is a new form of contract to sign now in high level cases. And one of your new responsibilities would be to regulate them in some ways. Emi, can you share your Skill?”

  As Emilio shared it with the System and Noel was surprised at the message.

  “This is a game changer. Do you really know if someone breaks it?”

  “Yes, I already tried it out, but I have to be one of the parties in the contract.”

  “And that is why it is only for high level deals. Just how high in the hierarchy are you now?”

  “Just below me,” Milagros interceded, “And given some new developments I doubt even I am higher than him.”

  “But no one knows it!” Noel exclaimed.

  “And we would like to keep it like that. You only have to say if you agree to sign a soul contract.”

  “Sure, it is not as if I was planning to share any information either way. But before that, I would like to ask. Why me?”

  “I’m not sure you want to know…” Milagros looked to the side.

  “Come on, just tell me. It is better to know than to let me be while guessing what it might be.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes”

  “Because you have a wound from cooking…” Milagros admitted, looking at the floor and leaving Noel completely confused. He would have never thought that was the achievement that made him rise to the top.

  “What? Why?”

  “Because I have to do some tests to see if I can help you heal,” Emilio explained.

  “And that is enough to make me your assistant?”

  “No, but you already knew each other, we know how you work and we know you are trustworthy. So I decided to offer you the job. Just see it as being in the right place at the right time,” Milagros added.

  “You call ‘the right place’ me being cut while cooking?”

  “Why not?” Emilio agreed. “Luck comes in all sorts of ways.”

  Noel was at the same time grateful of the opportunity, but depressed on the reason. At that moment, he could really understand the difference between being lucky, and not being lucky. One could argue that it also mattered that he knew people in high places. But even that was just luck given that they rose there in the last few weeks.

  Either way, he decided to sign the contract and hear the whole story before he agreed to the new job. Although by that time, he was almost sure he was going to take it.

  Milagros had decided on the standard for the Soul contracts. They wanted to make it simple, but effective and decided that the standard would be to first use a lie detection contract. With the contract active they would verify if the other person already broke the written contracts, then they would ask if they were planning to break them to look for a loophole. They also would ask if they had already found a loophole. After those questions, they would break it with a lie on their name.

  This first part was to verify the real willingness of the other party on the deal they would sign. Even if they already found a loophole, they could say what it is to correct it. It would just mark that everything was right from the beginning.

  On the second contract, they would sign about not breaking the written contracts they had with KimTec. They wouldn’t say it to anyone, but both Emilio and Milagros now knew it would only work if the other party understood the contract and that they were breaking it.

  That made Milagros change several things about contacts. They would have to be easy to understand and they had to be sure the other party (in this case Noel) understood it fully.

  After that, came one about confidentiality. And lastly, one more about not finding any loophole.

  This last one meant that if he found a loophole, it would break. That doesn't mean that they would be considered at fault, but that they have to report it to make the necessary corrections, and then sign the soul contract again.

  This procedure made it so the Soul contracts were simple but involved all possible contingencies. This also meant that any person that had to sign Soul contracts, had to sign four, and break one. No one would keep the one about not lying active.

  Thanks for reading!

  Enjoying the story so far? Following the story makes a big difference!

  You can support me on Patreon to read up to 50 advanced chapters:

  You can also join the discord to talk with other people that are enjoying Paragon of Luck: