Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

Elfenbine announced a war against the Order to the entire continent. It was, quite literally, a “declaration” of war, not an actual declaration. The unprecedented nature of this war notice left those who heard it doubting their own ears.

Elfenbine revealed to the public the reason the Order was planning to wage war: to capture a single mage. He also disclosed that six Paladins had already lost their lives trying to capture this one mage. The Order, believing that all of this was part of Elfenbine’s scheme, was ready to wage war under that pretext. Although this claim differed significantly from the truth, the facts themselves were not what mattered.

Thanks to Elfenbine’s swift dissemination of information, the people, though skeptical, collectively criticized the Order. This was because Elfenbine had always played the role of protecting people from demons, while the Order had not. Soon, news of the impending war began to spread across the entire continent.

“Yunnaeril, what on earth is happening!” 

“Elfenbine made the first move,” Yunnaeril replied calmly.

Archbishop Vigilio scolded Yunnaeril harshly. They had been secretly gathering forces, but Elfenbine had beaten them to the punch.

“Wasn’t the plan a surprise attack? How did they find out before the war even began?” 

The Order did not know the full extent of Elfenbine’s power, which filled them with fear. That was why the Archbishop had ordered Yunnaeril to raid the Magic Tower.

“There must be a spy! We need to root out the traitor immediately!”

“Calm yourself, Archbishop.”

Yunnaeril soothed the agitated Archbishop.

“It was going to be revealed sooner or later. It might not be a spy; they could have used some kind of magic to uncover our plans.”

“Is there even such magic?”

The Archbishop was ignorant of magic. In fact, most people, including the Archbishop, knew little about magic.

—It must have been that talkative fool who discovered it from the Book of Truth, whispered Starfall.

There was no need to disclose the matter of the Fragments to the Archbishop. Now that the Cardinal was dead, only Scylla within the Order knew about the Fragments. And there was no need to inform anyone that the true objective of the war was not to destroy the Magic Tower, but merely to seize the Fragments.

Therefore, it was necessary to keep the Archbishop reassured until the war began.

“I never expected Elfenbine to be caught off guard. We should proceed with our plan as intended.”

“How can I trust you? That mage killed six Paladins alone! Elfenbine is full of mages like that!”

Yunnaeril sighed softly. It seemed necessary to demonstrate his abilities, at least partially, to calm the Archbishop.

“Archbishop Vigilio.”

“My brother, Binaeril, is not like other mages.”

Yunnaeril met the Archbishop’s gaze directly.

Then, he unleashed the gray divine power that had originally belonged to the Cardinal.

“And neither am I like the other Paladins.”

People couldn’t quite identify the exact nature of the force emanating from Yunnaeril. They only felt an overwhelming pressure that made it hard to breathe.

“There are no problems with our preparations. The fact that Elfenbine has noticed changes nothing.”

After briefly pressuring the people in the chamber with his divine power, Yunnaeril reined it back in, allowing everyone to catch their breath. The Archbishop, overwhelmed, no longer voiced any complaints.

‘But this is not a good sign,’ Yunnaeril thought. As he sensed, the situation was turning against the Order. There was a reason Elfenbine had announced the war with the Order in advance: he wanted to inform as many people as possible about the impending conflict. The news of the war between Elfenbine and the Order spread across the continent, reaching even the capital of the Albrecht Empire, Essen.

“Your Majesty!” A woman burst into the Great Hall of Essen Castle, where two emperors resided.

“Friederike, Your Majesty!”

“Sylvia!”

Like lovers calling out to each other, the two shouted each other’s names. Emperor Charlotte I, who was seated beside them, glared fiercely. Realizing her mistake, the second emperor hunched her shoulders and corrected her address.

“Countess Forzia, what is the matter?”

The retainers gathered in the Great Hall silently yielded their turn to the countess, looking at her with indulgent smiles, as if watching a beloved daughter. No one criticized the emperor or the countess for their breach of protocol. After all, there wasn’t a single person present who didn’t know how close Emperor Friederike and Countess Forzia were.

“Forgive my intrusion during the meeting, Your Majesty. But such news…”

Sylvia hurriedly handed the emperor a crumpled document, a result of her hasty run. Normally, she would report directly to the emperor, but given the sensitive nature of the information, it was difficult to do so formally in front of the other retainers.

“What? Sylvia, is this true?!”

The informal tone made Charlotte I’s eyebrows shoot up again. However, after hearing her sister’s next words, she couldn’t help but spring from her throne.

“Elfenbine and the Order are going to war?”

The shock and disbelief spread not only to the two emperors but also to the other retainers. Sylvia’s efforts to keep the news discreet had been in vain.

Emperor Charlotte I leaned in close to her sister’s face, frantically scanning the document’s contents.

“Is this true, Countess Forzia?”

“As far as I’ve been informed, it is true.”

Rike let out a scream.

“That’s not all, Your Highness.”

“Your Majesty.”

“I’m sorry. That’s not all, Your Majesty.”

“What else is there?”

“The document also mentions who the Order is targeting and which mage Elfenbine is trying to protect. Keep reading.”

The two emperors’ gazes, which had been following the text, suddenly halted at the same spot. In unison, they uttered a single name.

The news of Elfenbine, the Order, and Binaeril didn’t just reach the Empire. Cries of alarm erupted across the continent as people discovered the name Binaeril Dalheim.

“Dalheim!”

“Why is he involved in this?”

“The Order has lost its mind.”

The master of the Magic Tower, Elfenbine, had intentionally leaked Binaeril Dalheim’s name to the continent.

“Dear, take a look at this,” a voice called out in the southern region of the Empire, within Vinzburg Fortress in the Duchy of Dux.

“Father! I heard some strange news while I was down in Bruno today!” another exclaimed.

“What news?” came the reply, this time from a village of the Miao tribe in the Hoenberg Mountains.

“Ducat! Look at this!” someone shouted in the capital of Aliba, Steelbelt.

From the soldiers of Piguin Castle and Fairhill in the Pigny Principality of the Kingdom of Ruben, to the border town of Valhardt, and even among the Barbarians who had recently begun interacting with the Empire, anyone who recognized the name Binaeril Dalheim was shocked and angered by the news.

“We need to prepare to deploy troops,” Friederike muttered, only to be scolded by Charlotte I, who smacked her on the back.

“Ouch! Sister!”

Lowering her voice, Charlotte I spoke to the now-pouting Rike. “Don’t act rashly… especially in front of the ministers.”

“So what, we just sit here when a war is about to break out?” Friederike retorted.

“Wait a little. We’ll talk about it soon,” Charlotte I responded, swiftly wrapping up the remaining agenda items. The gathered ministers, already preoccupied with the news they had just heard, were mentally elsewhere. As soon as they returned to their offices, they would undoubtedly seek to verify whether the news was true.

Fortunately, the ministers present had no need to seek confirmation. During what felt like an interminable meeting, more than seven messengers arrived to inform the two emperors of the impending war.

“It seems to be true after all,” Charlotte I remarked.

“In that case, we must mobilize our forces immediately!” Friederike pressed.

“Wait a moment!” Charlotte I had to physically grab her sister’s clothes to stop her. Friederike’s constant impulsiveness was becoming difficult to manage.

“This is just a war notice. Literally a notice. The war hasn’t actually started yet.”

“But it could break out at any moment.”

“Which is why we need time to assess the situation.”

“What assessment? Is that really what’s important right now?”

“Of course it is, Friederike. Don’t forget who you are.”

She was the emperor. One of the only two emperors.

“The fact that six of the Order’s Paladins are dead seems to be true. There are reports that the Order recently sent forces, including four Paladins, to Barbaroana. No one saw them return to the Holy Kingdom,” Sylvia interjected with new information.

“Half of the Order’s twelve knights, gone… Binaeril really is amazing!”

“Sigh…” Friederike II always seemed to change completely whenever Binaeril was mentioned.

“Your Majesty, that’s not what’s important right now,” Sylvia reminded her.

“We can roughly estimate the Order’s strength, given that the Empire and the Holy Kingdom of Vitory have been long-time allies. But what about Elfenbine? What do we know of their forces?”

“They’re difficult to analyze,”

Among those in the imperial court, the two people who knew the most about Elfenbine were right in front of her: Friederike and Sylvia.

They were mages who had studied at Elfenbine. And yet, even they didn’t know?

“As you know, Elfenbine has never been involved in a full-scale conflict with another nation. The Empire, the Holy Kingdom, and everyone else have always been reluctant to antagonize Elfenbine. In short, this is an unprecedented war situation.”

“Elfenbine is essentially more of an educational institution. The mages affiliated with it are more akin to researchers under employment contracts. Even setting aside the combat capabilities of the numerous professors and deans within the Tower, it’s completely uncertain how many mages will actually participate in the war.”

It was only after hearing this explanation that Emperor Charlotte began to grasp the uniqueness of the situation. She looked over at her sister, her eyes silently asking, “Do you know anything?”

Friederike quietly averted her gaze, signaling that she knew no more than what Sylvia had just explained.

“What should I expect from you, anyway?” Charlotte thought, though she was somewhat relieved that Friederike wasn’t causing a commotion about rushing off to Elfenbine immediately.

Emperor Charlotte folded her arms and fell into deep thought. She owed a personal debt to Binaeril Dalheim’s brother. Even setting aside his name, Elfenbine had the potential to become a valuable ally to the Empire as it faced changes. In contrast, what of the Holy Kingdom of Vitory? Corrupt clergy, greedy bishops and cardinals… They were the Empire’s allies once, but they wouldn’t be in the future.

Charlotte I looked back and forth between the two of them. “Prepare for deployment. We must support Elfenbine.”

“Sister!”

Both Rike and Sylvia were overjoyed, practically jumping with excitement.

Meanwhile, Yunnaeril was spending the night in his room, sharpening Starfall. With the window open, a chilly night breeze blew in.

Swish—swish—

The only sounds in the room were the wind and the sharpening of the blade. Without turning his head, Yunnaeril spoke.

“It’s a night that seems fit for ghosts to appear.”

There was silence, the sound of the whetstone, and then a voice that followed—a familiar voice, though one he hadn’t expected to hear again.

“Who are you calling a ghost, Commander?”

It was a voice Yunnaeril knew well.

“Deputy Commander.”

They addressed each other by their old titles. But Yunnaeril was no longer his commander, and Callisto was no longer his deputy.

“I’ve come to see you.”

“This is an unwelcome visit.”