Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

Time seemed to slow down. The lich’s fingers gathered mana. The sight of the magic bullet disintegrating against the lich’s barrier. The fear in Vivian’s eyes. In Binaeril’s vision, time stretched infinitely. Desperately, he scanned through the list of spells he could cast. 

The shadows gathering mana around the lich’s form began to dissipate. 

“Stop, stop!” Binaeril shouted, chanting incantations and trying to amplify his imagination. Nothing worked. Control magic had little effect on a stronger opponent, proving the lich’s prowess was not beneath Binaeril’s.

But calm analysis was useless now. Vivian’s eyes were filled with terror. She was facing death.

‘Is there no way? No way at all?’

As Binaeril frantically gathered more mana, a beam of light suddenly shot from the ring he wore. 

[Let… me… protect you!]

It was a voice Binaeril had never heard before, yet it felt so familiar. For a moment, he was absorbed by the voice, forgetting everything around him.

[I’ll protect you, Binaeril!]

The beam of light wasn’t an illusion. Balram’s eyes glowed. Balram was a high-ranking dark mage. His plan was to take the sacrifices provided by Lord Paguin to Rotfallen. Even when his head was half-blown off by the mysterious intruder, he hadn’t despaired. His body was expendable; his soul was safe in a life vessel in Rotfallen.

With his plan foiled, he had aimed to silence the intruder and remaining humans. But now, a spirit with strange power had appeared with a single shout.

“What is this?”

Balram was confused. The mana gathered at his fingertip scattered. Trying to re-accumulate mana was futile. It refused to obey, as if the mana itself had a will to reject him. 

This was a resistance he had never encountered before.

“What have you done, boy?”

The dark mana entwined in his voice dissipated. Balram’s hollow eyes met the spirit. It was the spirit’s doing.

“This is absurd!”

Binaeril seized the opportunity. The lich was rattled, though he didn’t know why. Eden had given him an opening, and failing to act could endanger Vivian.

Snap!

Binaeril’s magic bullet left his hand, striking Balram’s head with precision. The explosion above her made Vivian scream. Binaeril swiftly rushed in and pulled her away from the lich.

“Fire like a storm!”

Even with the lich’s head shattered, Binaeril knew he couldn’t relax. The creature had kept moving even after losing half its skull. Binaeril’s bombardment continued until Balram’s body was reduced to pieces.

“Hah, hah.”

He was breathing heavily. Vivian, sitting on the ground, scooted backward, trying to distance herself from the scene. Her hand brushed against something—a corpse. The underground space was filled with bodies. Only the two of them were still alive. The black-hooded corpses and the lifeless body of Lord Paguin lay around them.

Binaeril, drenched in sweat, stood among the dead. 

“Lady Vivian, are you alright?” he asked, extending his hand.

For a moment, Vivian understood how the Second Princess must have felt when Binaeril had held her at the royal castle in Essen.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she replied, taking his hand and standing up.

The Duke’s loud voice echoed through Paguin Castle. Awoken by urgent news, he stormed in, glaring at Binaeril. Even though he had done nothing wrong, Binaeril felt intimidated. The Duke’s imposing presence could make anyone feel that way. Now he understood why Lord Paguin had been so terrified.

“Sir Binaeril, is it true?”

“Yes. Lord Paguin was kidnapping villagers and supplying them to dark mages. The dark mages were using the villagers for some sinister purpose…”

“Is it true my daughter was almost hurt?”

“…Yes. Fortunately, she wasn’t injured. Lord Paguin was killed in the attack…”

“Where is my daughter, Vivian? Where is she?”

Binaeril rubbed his temples and pointed in the direction. “She’s resting over there.”

“Vi—vi—an!”

The Duke darted in the indicated direction. 

“If Lady Vivian had even a scratch, I wouldn’t have survived,” Binaeril muttered. The Duke’s world revolved around his daughter.

Binaeril followed the Duke into the room. 

“Vivian!”

“Waaah, Vivian!” 

The sight of the bear-sized Duke burying himself in his daughter, sobbing, was something to behold. 

“I’m okay. Stop it, Father.”

The fact that his daughter had been in danger was a shock too great for the Duke to bear. It took some time and Vivian’s persistent comforting for the Duke to calm down. His commotion had roused all the knights resting in the castle.

Binaeril calmly recounted the events in front of the gathered knights, omitting the part about Vivian. Sir Baron and Sir Asdal, along with the other knights, listened attentively.

“Check the lord’s room,” the Duke ordered.

A third of the knights went to search the underground area Binaeril had indicated.

“The rest of you, gather everyone in the castle. Bind them and make them kneel. Question each one about what they know regarding this situation. Lastly, at dawn, gather the villagers to verify the facts. We need to find out if the lord kidnapped them under threats or if he orchestrated this from behind the scenes.”

With these final orders, the remaining soldiers dispersed to their tasks. The Duke, who had seemed foolish in front of his daughter, now showed his true, commanding nature.

Only the Duke, Binaeril, and Vivian remained. The Duke turned his gaze to Binaeril and called his name.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Thank you for saving my daughter,” he said, bowing his head in gratitude.

“There’s no need for thanks. It was my responsibility since I discovered it.”

“No. It was an issue within my duchy, and you had no obligation to risk your life. If it weren’t for you, I would have left Paguin Castle without knowing any of this. I owe you thanks for my daughter as well.”

The Duke was earnest in his gratitude.

“When we reach my castle, I will ensure you are properly rewarded.”

“…Thank you.”

Binaeril had something on his mind.

“Your Grace.”

“Yes?”

“What do you think the dark mages intended to do with the villagers?”

“Well, I’m no expert in magic, so I don’t know what they had planned. Perhaps cannibalism?”

At the mention of such a dreadful word, Vivian turned pale.

“Your Grace, you have mentioned events occurring in the duchy before, have you not?”

“Hm? Are you referring to the appearance of the undead?”

“Yes. Why?”

As the Duke asked this, his expression grew serious.

“Could it be…?”

“I believe so. I’ve never heard of such a large number of undead appearing naturally. There must be a group involved.”

“You mean the dark mages?”

“Yes. Dark mages usually operate individually, but the ones we fought today seemed to be working as a group.”

This was not a trivial matter. The Duke realized that today’s incident was not just the lord’s personal misconduct.

“There could be similar activities elsewhere in the duchy.”

“In that case, the situation is much larger than we thought… We’ll need to investigate the entire duchy.”

“Or there might be another way.”

“What way?”

“Attack their base of operations.”

The Duke stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“But didn’t you say the last dark mage escaped? Do you have any idea where their base might be?”

“Rotfallen.”

Hearing the name, the Duke shuddered. It was the place where the undead first began to appear.

Binaeril observed the Duke’s reaction and made his request.

“I don’t need a reward, Your Grace. Just take me to Rotfallen with you.”

As the Duke and his soldiers worked on cleaning up Paguin Castle, Binaeril was given some time to rest. However, he couldn’t afford to relax. He had work to do.

Or perhaps he had a companion to talk to?

The familiar spirit emerged from his ring.

[Binaeril! Can you hear me?]

The spirit, uncertain of his reaction, asked again.

[Can you hear me?]

“Yes, I can hear you.”

Eden, the spirit, gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, then fluttered excitedly around Binaeril, circling him in delight. Binaeril couldn’t help but laugh at Eden’s innocent and pure reaction.

[I have so much to say! Uh, uh. From the library in that tower where I was trapped. Uh, do you remember the old lady in the mountains? Oh, and speaking of the old lady, the wind spirit was really scary.]

Eden, in her excitement, rambled on about everything she could think of, switching topics like a child. Binaeril, with the patience of a seasoned caretaker, let her talk until she calmed down. This took longer than he had anticipated.

“Eden, how come I can suddenly hear you now?”

Eden didn’t know. Perhaps their bond had strengthened over time.

‘Come to think of it, we’ve been in sync a lot lately.’

Since leaving Essen and arriving at Paguin Castle, they had fought alongside the Duke’s knights numerous times. Eden had consistently read Binaeril’s mind and supported him.

Binaeril pondered, thinking he had found the answer himself. However, Eden’s response surprised him.

[It was blocking me!]

She pointed decisively at something specific: an old book hanging from Binaeril’s belt. Veritas, the Book of Truth, fluttered its dusty pages in response to her accusation.

From Binaeril’s experience, this reaction was akin to…

‘Mocking?’

Veritas seemed to be mocking Eden. The spirit clenched her fists, trembling with rage as she glared at the book.

[Because of it, I couldn’t talk to you, Binaeril!]