Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

“How?”

Inyakan thumped his chest in frustration as he spoke.

“What do you think is attached to your back? Having wings means you can fly!”

Binaeril felt as if he’d been struck by a hammer. What was the purpose of wings? They existed to fly. How had he never considered this obvious truth before?

Had spending time with Inyakan made him dull-witted? Binaeril found himself looking at Inyakan with fresh eyes.

“…Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Inyakan, you’re smarter than I thought.”

“Hmph.”

Though he responded with a pout, he seemed pleased. And why wouldn’t he be? It was probably the first compliment he’d ever received in his life.

Binaeril tried to flap his wings with determination. The blue wings that stuck out in the corner of his vision didn’t move at all.

‘How do I do this?’

– What kind of foolish attempt is that? Those wings are made of mana. You can’t just move them like you would your body.

Veritas, unable to watch any longer, offered his advice.

‘Then how should I do it?’

– My goodness, how does a human who’s never had wings expect to move them? Of course, you need to move them with magic!

‘Ah!’

Binaeril felt like he’d been struck on the back of the head again. Finally, he stopped the foolish attempt to twitch his shoulders and started imagining it in his mind. He envisioned himself flapping his wings and soaring into the sky.

It wasn’t hard to imagine. There had always been an unidentified flying object fluttering around him, floating gracefully in the air as the pages of books fluttered.

Flap—

When he opened his eyes, he saw that his body was hovering about a hand’s breadth above the ground.

“I did it!”

Binaeril shouted with joy. His first flight filled him with overwhelming emotion. But there was no time to be lost in euphoria.

The soldiers of the Order were closing in by the second.

“Binaeril, you did it!”

“But what’s the point if you just fly away by yourself?”

“Carry me!”

“…Just you? Besides, is it even possible to fly while carrying someone?”

“Cut it out!”

Ignoring the grumbling of the two men, Binaeril began chanting a spell. He shattered the stage floor, creating planks sturdy enough for people to stand on.

“Sticky threads!”

He then used magic to produce threads, attaching them to the planks and extending them to form handles.

“Get on this!”

Inyakan and Dominic quickly climbed onto the makeshift platform. As Binaeril grabbed the threads and prepared to take off, he hesitated. The platform wobbled precariously, causing the two men to snap in irritation.

“What are you doing!”

“Why are we stopping!”

“Come here, too!”

Binaeril called over the third participant of the lantern festival, the nymph.

“Me? Are you sure?”

She eyed Binaeril, with his wings, and the two intimidating men suspiciously.

“Hurry up!”

Inyakan bellowed, his forceful tone compelling her to climb onto the platform without further delay.

“Let’s go!”

Inyakan shouted, and Binaeril, brimming with imagination, flapped his wings with all his might. They took off!

As they kicked off the ground and began to rise, the scenery below quickly receded. The higher Binaeril soared, the more his wings glowed, scattering a brilliant light and whipping up powerful winds.

“Waaah!”

“Wooow!”

The three passengers, clinging to the wings for dear life, let out cries that could have been either fear or admiration.

The fleeing spectators, the festival’s announcer, and even the soldiers from the Order who were chasing them all looked up, becoming witnesses to this fantastical escape.

“An angel!”

“What is that? A bird?”

“They’re flying!”

Someone, finally regaining their senses, shouted.

“They’re escaping! Capture them!”

The other soldiers, snapping out of their daze, hastily grabbed their weapons and hurled them skyward. But by then, the group had already ascended to a height that made the soldiers’ efforts futile.

Inyakan looked down and cheered triumphantly.

“You can really fly! Incredible, Binaeril!”

His voice was uncharacteristically excited, but Binaeril was in no condition to reply.

“Don’t talk to me. You’re all… incredibly heavy…”

“Hey! Isn’t this exhilarating?”  

Inyakan turned to Dominic, trying to share his excitement.

“It’s… too high…”  

Unfortunately, Dominic couldn’t share in his euphoria. For the first time in his life, Dominic realized he had a fear of heights. Gripping the rope attached to the plank, he squeezed his eyes shut, praying for this flight to end as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, back on the ground, a different shout echoed through the air. Paladin Antero, who had arrived at the scene a moment too late, looked up at the airborne figures. Thanks to the wide, spread-out blue wings, it wasn’t hard to locate them. However, identifying exactly what he was seeing proved more difficult.

“A winged human has taken the fugitives and is flying away!”  

“…What nonsense is this?”  

“Regardless, we must bring them down!”

One thing was clear: they needed to bring that down before asking any more questions.

“Stand aside.”  

Antero ordered the soldiers surrounding him to step back. Drawing his sword, he focused intently. A brilliant white light began to glow around his blade.

“Oooooh!”  

The light on his sword was a symbol of his faith. The soldiers of the Order felt a surge of emotion as they witnessed it.

“Punish the enemies of the Order!”  

Antero recited a prayer as he swung his sword with all his might toward the sky. The radiant light from his sword left a long trail as it shot toward Binaeril.

“Something’s coming at us!”  

Inyakan was the first to notice the attack. Binaeril was entirely focused on flying, and Dominic was too panicked to be aware of anything around him.

Inyakan pulled out the Sikrun he had purchased a few days earlier, but the shifting weight made it hard to defend properly. In the end, Antero’s sword strike severed its target.

Binaeril suddenly felt the weight on his arm lighten. The light from Antero’s sword had severed the threads of mana connecting the plank.

“AAAAAAAH!”  

The three people standing on the plank screamed as they plummeted.

“Binaeril, you bastard!”  

Dominic’s expression was particularly striking.

“W-we’re falling!”

“Inyakan! Dominic!”

Binaeril tossed aside the rope he was holding and sharply altered his flight path, diving straight down. However, the second wave of sword energy aimed at his blue wings hindered his descent. Twisting his body, Binaeril narrowly dodged the sword strikes and looked down again. The three figures were mere moments away from crashing into the ground.

But then, the ground beneath them began to ripple and change. Binaeril rubbed his eyes and looked again. It wasn’t an illusion or a trick of the mind. The ground had transformed, undulating like a sponge to cushion the fall of his three comrades.

“Ugh!”

Even from a distance, Binaeril could hear the surprised groans of the two men. The nymph, who had fallen with them, placed her hand on the softened earth. Instantly, the ground, which had been malleable just moments before, returned to its original solid state.

By then, Antero and the soldiers were already rushing toward the crash site. Binaeril completed his flight and landed just as the Order’s forces arrived. Antero’s eyes gleamed as he scrutinized the faces of the fugitives.

“Who are you?”  

Inyakan stepped forward to answer.

“I am the Sword of the Order. I’ve come to capture you, fugitive.”  

“Capture me? Not him?”  

Inyakan pointed at Binaeril, his tone one of disbelief.

“Of course, all accomplices will be arrested. But you’re the one we’ve been pursuing.”

“Why would a Sword of the Order, a title that’s supposed to be feared, come after me?”  

“You know your sins better than anyone. Have you given up on running?”

Inyakan leaned close to Binaeril and whispered, “What’s going on, Binaeril? Do you know why?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, let’s focus on getting rid of him.”

“What did you do this time, you sly little brat?”

“It wasn’t me!”

While the two bickered, Paladin Antero confidently pointed his sword at them.

“If you hand over that man willingly, I’ll let the rest of you go.”

“What if we refuse?”  

Binaeril stepped in front of Inyakan, shielding him.

“So, you’re the arrogant brat I met at the forge. It seems you haven’t learned your lesson yet.”

“The one who hasn’t learned is you.”

Dominic, having regained his composure, drew his sword and stood ready to fight.

“It seems you’ve chosen not to cooperate. Capture them!”

Antero’s soldiers surged forward at his command. Binaeril grabbed the nymph’s wrist and pulled her back.

“Your name?”

“…Kaya.”

“Kaya, please wait here for a moment. We’ll handle this.”

Binaeril reassured her and then stepped forward to face the advancing soldiers. Kaya, with her hands clasped over her chest, watched their backs with a mixture of anxiety and hope.

Binaeril, Inyakan, and Dominic each prepared for battle in their own way.

“Capture him!”  

The soldiers’ first target was Inyakan, who was the main objective.

“Haha! Die, you scum of the Order!”  

Inyakan swung his Sikrun with wild abandon, sending the soldiers who charged at him flying as if they were mere feathers.

“Get that one first!”  

The soldiers then turned their attention to Dominic, the silver-haired knight.

“Vermin like you… If any of you manage to scratch me, I’ll consider it praiseworthy.”  

With a single sweep of his sword, Dominic cut down three soldiers at once. Two heads flew off, while the third hung from the tip of his sword.

“The blade is sharp today.”

His swordsmanship was nearly divine. The soldiers behind the fallen didn’t even realize that Dominic had already struck.

“Go after the kid!”  

Desperate to save their own lives, the remaining soldiers targeted Binaeril.

“It’s been a while since I’ve cast an area spell.”

Binaeril spread his fingers and raised both hands as if he were holding something invisible beneath them. Then, with a grunt, he flipped his arms upward as though he were overturning a table.

“Overturn… and devour them!”

The ground beneath the soldiers began to bulge and rise. The nymph watching from a distance had a look of astonishment in her eyes. The earth opened wide like the jaws of a deep-sea creature and swallowed several soldiers whole.

Witnessing their comrades vanish into the ground, the remaining soldiers’ morale plummeted.

“These… these guys are not to be underestimated!”

Antero, gripping his sword tightly, stared in shock. He had assumed Binaeril was just a pampered nobleman, but now he realized that the boy was a mage—a powerful one at that. And those who fought alongside him were far from ordinary.

“Antero, sir. We must retreat…”

“Ugh…”

Antero knew that retreating without even drawing his sword would be a blow to his pride as a Paladin. It was an outcome he could hardly tolerate. He drew his sword, muttering a prayer as the blade began to glow with a blinding white light.

Binaeril noticed Antero preparing his attack. As the Paladin’s sword and Binaeril’s magic bullet clashed in midair, the two forces intertwined, creating a tense standoff between them.