Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

Binaeril was falling.

He clutched a sword in his arms, oozing ominous red mana.

If he plummeted straight to the ground, even Binaeril wouldn’t survive.

“What are you doing?”

Inyakan expected Binaeril to return soon, holding onto the cursed sword.

But watching his flight closely, it didn’t seem like it.

His body began a steep descent in a parabola.

Inyakan dashed along Binaeril’s falling trajectory.

“Get a hold of yourself, Binaeril!”

He ran and slid—

Shaaak!

Just in time, he caught Binaeril by supporting his knees and neck.

Binaeril had his eyes closed.

Red fever spots were blooming all over his face.

His body was scorching hot like a burning flame.

Inyakan had seen Binaeril in this state once before.

It was right after dealing with the demon, Hydra.

“Binaeril, wake up.”

Inyakan tapped Binaeril’s cheek.

He was sweating coldly and suffering like someone with a fever.

“You really are a troublesome kid.”

He watched Binaeril for a moment.

After a while, Binaeril suddenly opened his eyes.

But something was off about his appearance.

His slightly parted lips and oddly unfocused eyes, as if…

Inyakan jerked his head back abruptly.

A magic bullet grazed his chin.

When he turned his head back to look at Binaeril,

Binaeril was casting another spell at Inyakan.

‘CPALNOM!’

Cursing in his mind in Inya, he threw Binaeril away from him.

The bracer that had held him was burning hot. This was also due to Binaeril’s magic.

Binaeril looked at Inyakan with unfocused eyes.

Then, he gathered his mana again.

“He’s lost his mind!”

This wasn’t a metaphor. Binaeril was literally ‘out of his mind.’

Inyakan recalled the promise Binaeril had asked of him before.

‘Inyakan, if I lose control like that again, please do it. Seriously.’

Sparks flew as Inyakan struck his burning bracer together.

“Fine. You brought this on yourself.”

As Inyakan gritted his teeth in anger at Binaeril,

Binaeril was fully aware of everything happening with his own eyes.

He wasn’t in control of his own body.

Two fragments of mana wreaking havoc inside him were moving his body.

Unable to regain control, Binaeril could only stomp his feet and chant Veritas’ name.

‘Veritas! What’s going on!’

Grasping the sword’s hilt, he poured Veritas’s mana into it.

Engrossed in this, he then felt a burning pain as Mimung’s mana started to be absorbed instead.

Binaeril briefly lost consciousness, feeling a part of his mind burning away.

When he woke up again, his body was moving on its own.

Despite his mind being fully alert, he couldn’t regain control of his body.

-Why are you calling out like this?

After shouting for a while, Veritas’s nonchalant response came.

‘You lied to me.’

-When did I ever?

‘You said that if I recovered the magic sword, I could overcome the addiction symptoms. But what is this now?’

-Hmm… Binaeril, I think you’re misunderstanding something.

-I never said the addiction symptoms would disappear. I said you would become ‘safer.’

-Safer. From what? From everything that threatens you. I explained that you would grow stronger with each page you retrieved.

‘What kind of nonsense are you spouting now?’

Binaeril clicked his tongue in disbelief and asked.

-Look, Binaeril. The madness and violence that mana contains, the things you call ‘symptoms’ and treat as pathological, are not something to ‘overcome’ as you say.

-These are powers you need to accept and pursue. Listen to me carefully. To defeat your brother and Starfall, you absolutely need this power.

Again, as always.

As always, the Book of Truth deceived and misled Binaeril.

Binaeril stomped his feet and clenched his fists.

Rage boiled within him, but he had no way to vent it.

In the empty space where Veritas did not appear, he was always alone.

“How are you feeling, senior?”

Avia asked as she ran towards Pierre.

Pierre’s complexion was still pale.

Surely, his body hadn’t fully recovered.

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t just say that. Bernstein might be where we’re headed. Can you fight him again in this condition?”

Pierre smiled faintly at her question.

“Can I? That’s not the question, Avia. I must. That’s our job, isn’t it?”

Pierre Blanchot was that kind of man.

Avia and Pierre had relied on each other as comrades on the battlefield since they were younger.

So, unlike the other scholarly professors of the Magic Tower, he had a soldier-like demeanor.

Efficient and obedient to orders, ultimately neglecting himself in the process.

“And Bernstein might not be at the end of this.”

“We’ve gotten this close, yet my detection magic hasn’t revealed any trace of Bernstein. It’s more likely he’s where Binaeril went.”

Binaeril hadn’t explained how he could locate Bernstein.

Although Avia was skeptical, with all other leads lost, they had no choice but to rely on Binaeril’s method.

“Or maybe Binaeril’s method is wrong.”

It was hard to expect that a novice mage like Binaeril would have more insight into tracking magic than her senior, Pierre.

Even listening to a greenhorn who hadn’t been graduated for a year was an excessive consideration.

“That’s unlikely.”

Pierre coughed lightly and continued.

“Avia, do you remember the old Binaeril?”

“…Vaguely. He was a famous student, in many ways. They said he was a perpetual failure, but then he suddenly turned 180 degrees and displayed brilliant talent in class.”

“It was the same in my class.”

“Really…? So, what’s your point?”

Pierre looked at Avia with an exasperated expression.

“The point is that, as you said, he has some shining talent. Avia, don’t you remember the moment Binaeril hunted the Echidna?”

“I do… remember.”

“What kind of rookie could so swiftly deal with an Echidna, a predator even among medium-sized monsters?”

Come to think of it, he was right.

At the time, she hadn’t questioned it much due to the urgency, but recalling the presence she felt when Binaeril arrived and his skill in handling the monster, it was clear that the mage Binaeril wasn’t just a novice.

“I believe Binaeril is a far greater mage than either of us. The man who was with him was no ordinary person either.”

“Is he that remarkable?”

“If Lord Elfenbine sent him, there’s a reason for it.”

Avia reflected on her previous thoughts.

“If Bernstein is over there, that’s actually a good thing. Binaeril can handle him well enough. Which means, the direction we’re heading should be safer.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Isn’t it the role of every mentor to push their apprentice into danger while ensuring their own safety?”

They laughed lightly at the joke.

But they didn’t know yet.

The destination they were heading to held an opponent far stronger than Bernstein.

The two professors arrived at the location Binaeril had indicated.

It was the top of a dizzyingly high gorge, a place where no one would normally be.

But there, they found an unexpected figure.

“Bernstein?”

“…Where?”

“No, it’s just a person. I had a hunch.”

“Senior, are you sure you’re not seeing things due to pain? That’s clearly not Richard Bernstein. The gender is completely different!”

“Who are you folks?”

She looked like someone who had just swum through white paint and then added some flesh color. 

Priya, with an annoyed expression, was continually drawing on her pipe.

Noticing the two professors, she asked irritably.

“Mages, huh? Are you from Elfenbine?”

Avia was startled.

If she had realized they were mages, it meant she had read their mana.

But Avia couldn’t read her mana.

That left two possibilities: either she was a mage of a higher level who could conceal her mana, or she was an ordinary person with exceptional perception.

“Yes, we’re professors from Elfenbine. Who are you?”

“Elfenbine, huh.”

The woman in white nodded to herself, ignoring Avia’s question.

“Hey, who are you?”

“Were you looking for someone?”

“Or should I say, a person who has turned into a monster?”

“Have you seen Richard Bernstein?”

Priya described Bernstein’s appearance.

Pierre nodded as he listened to her description.

“Yes, that’s him. How do you know? Have you had contact with him?”

“Yes. He attacked me out of nowhere. If the Magic Tower was chasing him, you should’ve caught him sooner. Thanks to that, I ended up getting hurt for no reason.”

There were no visible wounds on her.

“What kind of harm did you suffer?”

“Anyway, that’s not important right now. Hey, can you help me out? Having two professors from the Magic Tower is much better than borrowing a cat’s paw.”

The flow of the conversation changed according to her mood. It was impossible to keep up.

Avia sighed and asked again.

The only things she’d said since meeting this woman were either ‘Yes?’ or questions.

“What do you need help with?”

“There are men coming to kill me soon. I’ll introduce you to them when they arrive.”

She was at a loss for words.

What was this about? She’d heard of premeditated murder, but never premeditated murder victimhood.

But the woman in white didn’t answer any more questions.

She simply stared anxiously in one direction.

“There they are.”

Avia followed her gaze.

Two men dressed in white like her appeared.

What was this? A gathering of white-clad devotees?

Perhaps the woman had given a long speech about the convenience of black clothing and fled. Was that why she was being threatened with death?

But the identities of the newcomers were quickly understood.

A gold circular border with two black horizontal lines and a red vertical line crossing them.

“The Holy Kingdom of Vitory? Why are members of the order here?”

“Sister.”

“Nice to see you, Sir Callisto. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

The man called Callisto nodded lightly to the two professors standing behind Priya.

“You’ve made new friends since we last met.”

“Don’t worry. They’re not friends. We just met. Strangers, really.”

“That’s a relief.”

What was a relief? That they weren’t friends, so they wouldn’t have to increase the body count?

“Shall I introduce everyone? These are professors sent from Elfenbine. And these are… members of the order’s Twelve Knights. Two of them, in fact.”

The two professors were startled.

The renowned paladins of the order? Both of them?

This made them even more curious about the woman’s identity.

Who was she, being chased by the order’s paladins?

“We’re here to retrieve the magic sword.”

“Did you leave it with me?”

“Sister, you took it.”

“No, I didn’t. Do you have proof?”

“Do not try to obscure the truth.”

“Seriously, I don’t have it. If you don’t believe me, come and search me.”

Priya raised both hands high.

The sleek dress she wore clung to her body, revealing every curve.

There was obviously no place to hide anything.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Callisto cleared his throat and looked away.

“What’s the matter, Vice-Captain?”

The second paladin, who had an eye patch, asked him.

“It was an attack from the sister.”

“Should I retaliate?”

Their conversation was like a silly comedy skit.

Despite being paladins of the order… Avia’s impression of the Holy Kingdom’s prestige dropped significantly.

“Even if you try to change the subject, we know you took it. Sister, we didn’t expect you to return it willingly.”

“You can’t trust a word I say. So rigid. You’ve always been like that, Sir Callisto. Not that I disliked that about you.”

Priya leisurely inhaled and exhaled pipe smoke.

“But it’s a bit annoying when that rigidity bothers me. Sir, if you keep living like that, you might end up alone forever.”

“Thanks for the concern, but I have already devoted myself to a higher being.”

The friendly chatter seemed to end there.

Callisto reached for his sword.

“Um, excuse me, wait a moment.”

Avia spoke up in a flustered tone. But no one paid attention.

“Brother Matthias, keep the professors from the Magic Tower from interfering.”

“Understood, Vice-Captain.”

Priya’s question left Avia dumbfounded.

Avia wondered if perhaps she was playing the dumbest role in this whole situation.

“As you can see, I am a poor woman fated to be chased by the paladins of the order. So, will you help me? I don’t usually ask for favors easily, but today’s opponent is a bit tough.”

“Why should we?”

“We’re in the same line of work.”

“Are you a mage?”

Priya didn’t answer and instead exhaled a long stream of smoke.

The pipe smoke she exhaled was infused with mana.

“Sister, be careful.”

Callisto gave his final warning, and Priya elegantly bent her finger to point at Avia.

“Watch. If you feel like helping, I’d welcome it.”

Callisto drew his sword from its sheath.

The speed was like lightning.

The elegant meteor shower-like trajectory left by Starfall astonished the two professors once again.