Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

“Leave it at the door and go.”

Dean Yulio flinched at the voice echoing in his head. He quickly realized it was an order from the Tower Master.

“I’ll take him to the room.”

“Dean Yulio. Do not make me repeat myself.”

The voice was astonishingly firm. It was far too cold a tone to be directed at someone who had just returned from the battlefield. Yulio laid the sleeping Binaeril in front of the Tower Master’s room. Even after that, he checked two or three times to make sure everything was in order.

“Will you take care of Binaeril if I leave?”

“Yes. Now go. And make sure no one approaches without my permission.”

With reluctant steps, Yulio descended from the top floor of the tower. A short while later, something began to stir on the floor where the dean had just stood. A young girl poked her head out.

“Big sister, it’s me. I brought what you were looking for.”

“Are you going to drive me away like you did that man?”

Elfenbine remained silent for a moment behind the door. Kaya got the impression that her sister was hesitating. Soon, the door to the Tower Master’s chamber opened.

– Bring Binaeril inside.

Kaya did as her sister instructed. Creak, slam! As she entered, the door slammed shut, as if it were guarding against intruders. Kaya widened her eyes as she took in the room.

Her sister’s room was a mess. It wasn’t just disorganized or untidy; it was absolute chaos.

“…What is this?”

Kaya, who rarely showed her emotions, was visibly taken aback by the alien environment. The walls were melting, the ceiling shattered like glass. Objects that defied description were rolling, sticking, and spinning on the floor like unfinished drawings by a child who hadn’t yet learned to speak.

A chandelier, hanging upside down, jangled as it pointed towards the ceiling, and the flowers scattered everywhere withered instead of blooming. But most unsettling of all, there was complete silence.

If one could depict a noisy stillness, this was it. And in the center of the room (though Kaya wasn’t sure how she could even identify the center), there stood her sister.

Elfenbine was dressed in a garment that looked as if it had been pieced together from a hundred different dresses—either extravagant or tattered, depending on how one looked at it. Kaya cautiously approached her. Not having prepared anything to say was her mistake.

As a result, the two sisters stared at each other in a silent standoff. Fortunately, Elfenbine was the first to break the silence.

– Did you bring the crystal?

Kaya pulled out the crystal she had carried from underground. She wasn’t sure if the side with the lights and the chandelier should be called the floor, but in any case, a massive black crystal floated up like an egg beneath her feet.

– Good.”

As she observed her sister closely, Kaya noticed that her sister’s lip movements didn’t match the timing of her voice. However, she decided not to be surprised anymore by the bizarre occurrences in this chaotic space.

“Is that all?”

– What do you mean?

“We’re meeting for the first time.”

Kaya stared intently at her big sister, whom she was seeing for the first time in her life, silently applying pressure.

– What do you want?

“…Not really.”

Kaya didn’t have anything in particular she wanted. It was just that the lack of a warm greeting or an affectionate hug in a situation like this felt awkward. Come to think of it, her younger sister on the battlefield hadn’t exactly welcomed her either.

‘Well, I guess nymphs have their own way of doing things.’

What that way was, Kaya, who was also a nymph, didn’t really know.

“Can I go now?”

– No.

Her older sister surprisingly didn’t tell her to leave.

– Wait here.

“How long?”

– Maybe for a while.

Without complaint, Kaya found a corner she guessed was a corner and sat down. As Elfenbine moved to approach the black crystal, she suddenly stopped in front of Kaya and looked at her.

“…What?”

– You’re too young.

“So what?”

– It’s unfortunate.

Her older sister didn’t seem to be the type to explain things. As if that was the end of their conversation, Elfenbine spun around, placed her hand on the black crystal, and pressed her forehead against one of its sides.

The ensuing conversation didn’t reach Kaya’s ears.

– The Book of Truth. So you’ve won.

– A filthy opportunist.

Veritas responded without hiding its displeasure.

– How does it feel to be the last remaining fragment?

– Don’t be ridiculous. I haven’t achieved complete victory yet.

– Already planning your next move? Why not savor the victory a little longer? The demon sword Mimung and the holy sword Starfall are both gone. You’re the only fragment left in this world.

Veritas thought she was mocking him. He burst out in anger, shouting.

– But you’re still here!

If Binaeril had heard that, he would have been shocked. But unfortunately, he was in such a deep sleep that no sound from reality could reach him.

– If you’re so upset, why not wake him up and tell him? Oh, is that impossible now? After devouring Starfall, you broke the contract and drained Binaeril of his power, didn’t you?

A grinding noise. It wasn’t a trick of the mind; Veritas was gnashing his teeth.

– First, the contract wasn’t ‘broken.’ It was ‘fulfilled.’ Second, I don’t know why you’re so protective of Binaeril, but his usefulness has ended.

– That’s your opinion.

– And third, the moment I break out of this crystal, I’ll chew you to pieces, you damn midwife.

Veritas’s words dripped with venomous malice, pure and concentrated enough to be chilling. But Elfenbine didn’t even blink, letting the fragment’s malice wash over her.

– It will take you a long time to achieve that wish.

– How long do you think you can hold me with these petty tricks? I have everything else.

– You seem to misunderstand the meaning of ‘everything else.’ Let’s see who’s faster, you or me.

– Faster? What have you done to Binaeril?

– I’m sorting the wheat from the chaff, seeing who’s truly worthy of being the master.

– Gah!

The black crystal trembled violently as Veritas’s mana raged within.

– Let me out! I am the true master! It’s me! I have everything! So why do I still need to prove myself? Who are you? What gives you the right?

– You haven’t acquired everything yet. At best, you have everything else. And…

Elfenbine glanced briefly at Binaeril’s face.

– …That’s my role. The midwife of frozen dreams. I am bound to watch and weigh the candidates until the end.

– Binaeril is unworthy!

– That’s not for you to decide. Don’t overstep your bounds, mere candidate.

Veritas, consumed by rage, screamed out, but Elfenbine had already removed her hand from the black crystal and paid him no heed. Realizing he was being ignored, Veritas began to throw a fit. It was useless, though. There was no immediate way to break the crystal, at least not until Veritas had fully absorbed the power of Starfall. For now, the situation was under control.

Rumble! Crack! Boom!

But there was nothing Elfenbine could do about the tremors shaking the crystal. Kaya, wide-eyed like a deer, silently watched her older sister’s actions.

The door to the Tower Master’s chamber opened.

“…What on earth is going on here?”

Their middle sister, Priya, barged in. Kaya raised a hand in a lifeless greeting. Priya, on the other hand, was clearly bewildered, her eyes darting around as she surveyed the chaotic scene.

“What a mess! Is this your doing? Are you trying to prove you weren’t just playing around while people were fighting a war?”

– Come in and sit down.

“Where exactly should I sit?”

Priya’s gaze swept over the chandelier embedded in the floor, Kaya, the Book of Truth trapped within the crystal, Elfenbine, and finally, Binaeril.

“What happened to Binaeril?”

– He’s asleep.

“Conveniently?”

– He won’t wake up for a while.

“…Is he badly injured?”

“Why do you talk like that?”

Priya had so many questions. But when Elfenbine quietly pointed to the floor, Priya calmed down a bit. She looked around for a place to sit, but there wasn’t even a chair-like object among the scattered items on the floor. With no other options, she conjured a soft cloud chair from mist and sat down.

“Oh, so that works.”

Seeing this, Kaya molded a similar chair out of dirt and sat on it as well.

“By the way…”

“Did she always look like that?”

Kaya, with a questioning expression, alternated her gaze between her older and middle sisters. She had no way of knowing since this was her first time meeting them.

Priya tried to recall what Elfenbine used to look like. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t quite remember Elfenbine’s original appearance. She vividly recalled her sister’s attire, the aura she exuded, and even her manner of speaking, but for some reason, Elfenbine’s face was as blurry as if it were shrouded in fog.

But now, standing right before her, was Elfenbine’s sculpted face. A delicate beauty with thin features. Her long, flowing hair cascaded down past her shoulders, reaching the small of her back. It was a misty, silvery-gray color, just like the fog Priya vaguely remembered.

“She has merged.”

“With Binaeril’s dream.”

Kaya found the words meaningless and looked subtly at her middle sister instead of asking. Priya, sensing Kaya’s confusion, asked the question on her behalf.

“What in the world are you talking about?”

*Sigh.*

– Do you know how you both came to be here?

“Look at you, dodging the question again. You never give a straight answer. Do you really not know? It’s because of the war the Order started. And since we’re on the topic, why didn’t you help us? Hiding Elfenbine away when you could have directly helped us fight the Order would have been much better. Do you even know how many people died out there?”

– You’re wrong.

“What do you mean I’m wrong?”

– It wasn’t because of the war that we gathered. The three of us sisters.

It seemed that today, their older sister was determined to only hear what she wanted to hear.

“Then what was it?”

– Because of the fragment.

“That damn fragment again. I’m so sick of it. Are you saying everything is because of that fragment?”

– Yes.

“So the war is because of the fragment. We’re gathered here because of the fragment. If I tripped and broke my nose, would that be because of the fragment too?”

– We can’t help it. That’s the truth.

Elfenbine lightly tapped the vibrating black crystal.

– We nymphs are bound to the fragment. Our innate magical talents prove that.

She pointed a finger at their youngest sister.

– Kaya. Just as you govern what lies beneath your feet.

As she said, Kaya had a natural talent for controlling the earth and soil beneath her.

– Priya. Just as you govern what floats in the air.

Priya’s talent lay in controlling the wind and mist.

“And what about you, sister?”

This time, Kaya asked the question.

Elfenbine raised her finger upward.

“The sky?”

She shook her head.

– I govern dreams. Very old dreams. The dream of a preserved world, born of a great mage, with me as its midwife.