Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

The Inyakan, who had been crying for a long time, finally managed to gather his emotions. He met Priya’s eyes and asked, “Where is he?”

“Where is he?” he repeated.

“The man who killed the Inya. Where is he now?”

“Are you talking about Yunnaeril? Of course, he would be with the Order. But why now? Don’t tell me… are you planning to go after Yunnaeril immediately?”

“Now that I know the identity of my enemy, I can’t afford to waste any more time.”

With that, Inyakan turned and began to walk out of the cave. It was Binaeril who grabbed his collar.

“Inyakan, are you planning to go after my brother right now?”

“He is stronger than any opponent we have faced so far.”

“That doesn’t matter at all.”

The determination in Inyakan’s eyes was resolute.

“It doesn’t matter whether he’s strong or weak, what his rank is, or how old he is. None of that is important. I’m not going there for some cursed duel.”

“This is simply a family’s revenge. The kind of thing you can’t calculate or rationalize.”

There was another person who reacted to the word “revenge.” It was Callisto, who had been watching the two from the back of the cave.

‘Paladin Callisto Padano, I swear before my brother’s death that I will exact revenge so that he is not wronged.’

He had vowed this upon his brother’s death.

“The Code of Inya is very thin, thin enough that everyone can engrave it in their hearts. That code conveys only one message.”

“What is it?” 

“If someone kills your family, you must inflict the same pain upon your enemy.”

“If he killed my family, then I must do the same.”

However, the next words were not easy to say. Yunnaeril had only two family members left: his father and his younger brother, Binaeril Dalheim himself.

Inyakan also read the meaning in Binaeril’s eyes.

“Don’t worry. That’s not what I meant. With your brother alive and well, I have no intention of harming you without reason.”

Inyakan brushed off Binaeril’s hand, which was clutching his collar. Binaeril was overcome with a strong sense that he couldn’t let him go like this. If he were to rush to the Order and confront his brother, it would only result in a meaningless death.

“Stop! Binaeril! You know this too! This is the moment I’ve been waiting for! Don’t get in my way!”

“No. You can’t. I won’t let you.”

“If you don’t let go…” Inyakan clenched his right hand tightly. “I’ll have to make you.”

He swung his fist. Binaeril didn’t avoid it. With a dull thud, Inyakan’s fist, as hard as a rock, struck Binaeril’s face. Yet, Binaeril neither flinched nor fell. He merely maintained a calm gaze, staring directly at Inyakan.

Thud. Thud. Thud… Inyakan relentlessly continued to pummel Binaeril’s face without hesitation. Dominic shot up from his seat, but Priya and Callisto remained seated, silently observing the situation.

“Aren’t we supposed to stop them?”

“Why should we? Let them settle this between themselves. Whether that barbarian rushes off to the Order to die or not, I couldn’t care less.”

But Dominic did care. Whether he liked it or not, they were his companions for the time being.

“Stop, you’re going to kill him.”

Thud. Thud!

“You damn brute of a barbarian, stop right now!”

Inyakan shot him a look that asked, “What business is it of yours?” Even as he was being beaten, Binaeril didn’t let go of Inyakan’s collar. Instead, he finally spoke.

“I…”

Both Inyakan and Dominic turned to look at Binaeril. Blood was trickling down from his split lips.

“I want revenge on my brother just as much as you do.”

Everyone except Dominic knew this. Binaeril hated his brother. The feeling was close to hatred.

“Ever since the day my mother died because of my brother’s cruel prank… I’ve lived with only one purpose.”

“…What is that purpose?”

“To bring Yunnaeril Dalheim to his knees. To hear an apology from his own lips. To use that to quench the grudge of my deceased mother. And finally, to kill my brother.”

This wasn’t a childish sentiment, as Yunnaeril might have dismissed it. Binaeril still imagined killing his brother several times a day.

“But I won’t rush off to the Order like you. I won’t foolishly throw my life away like Inyakan. You say status, power, and authority don’t matter? That’s not true. That’s your arrogance.”

Inyakan’s brow furrowed at this sudden criticism.

“If you want revenge, do it perfectly. Gather allies, build your strength, and rack your brain to find a way to bring down your enemy. Rushing in like a fool and dying at your enemy’s hands isn’t revenge. It’s just cowardly self-consolation.”

“That’s why I can’t let Inyakan go. Because I believe revenge should not be driven by emotion. And…”

Binaeril, with his swollen eyes from the beating, looked up at Inyakan.

“Because you are the strongest ally I have for my revenge.”

Inyakan’s resolute gaze began to waver. Seeing this, Dominic seized the moment to add his own words.

“You, the barbarian, spoke of having one person left after losing all your family.”

“Where did the one who yelled at me to not betray or torment your son go? Is beating someone to the point they’re unrecognizable part of the Inya’s way of raising their children?”

Inyakan roughly pushed away Binaeril’s hand, which was still clutching his collar.

“Enough! I understand. I get it.”

“I’ll follow your lead. Wasn’t it always you who made the decisions, Binaeril?”

Hearing this, Binaeril smiled widely. But his face, distorted from the swelling, looked like a poorly made dumpling.

“Get that ugly face out of my sight. I’m not going anywhere.”

Priya covered her mouth and let out a small laugh, but Callisto did not. He simply stared silently into the flames of the campfire.

The conversation then returned to the earlier topic.

“Is it true?” Binaeril asked.

“That the Word Spirit of Inya is a fragment?”

“Only Yunnaeril knows for sure. But it is true that after hearing their spell, Yunnaeril became like that.”

Binaeril fell into deep thought. He had known that Inyakan’s words sometimes carried a special power. But he had never imagined that it could be the power of a fragment. Even Veritas had never mentioned a word about it to him.

-Veritas.

-Is what she said true?

-I’m not sure. Fragments can exist in many forms. There’s no guarantee they will take on a physical shape.

-So, it’s possible.

But if that were the case, why hadn’t Veritas noticed this power until now? There was only one way to confirm it.

“Inyakan,” he called out.

“Could you recite the Inya spell Priya mentioned?”

Priya interjected, flustered.

“Wait, you’re going to do that here? Binaeril, you have that cursed thing too,” Priya exclaimed.

“That’s exactly why I need to do this,” Binaeril replied calmly.

“How can you be sure of what will happen?” 

“Don’t worry, sister. Nothing will happen.”

Binaeril tried to reassure her. He had heard Inyakan’s spells before, and nothing had happened then. Even if Inyakan’s spell was a fragment itself, Binaeril, who had already absorbed the powers of Mimung and other fragments, didn’t believe he would easily lose control. But all of this was still just speculation.

With his mind firmly set, Binaeril once again requested, “Inyakan, please recite the Inya spell you used before.”

Inyakan cleared his throat, shaking off the remnants of emotion from his voice. He hesitated for a moment, tilting his head in confusion.

“But what exactly do you want me to say?”

“The one you shouted before, during a fight, right before you took down those people.”

“Which one exactly?”

Even if Binaeril asked, he couldn’t be sure, as no one present understood the barbarian language.

“Just recite whatever comes to mind.”

Inyakan searched his memory for a fitting phrase.

“KSHTAL YA!”

“Oh, that’s good. But do you have something longer?”

“CPALNOMDLA, KSHTAL, KSHVARL!”

“…One more time.”

“MAL… It doesn’t feel great to be shouting curses into the air, Binaeril.”

“But there’s no reaction,” Binaeril said, turning to Priya with a look of confusion.

Priya, however, had no answers. Binaeril was more knowledgeable about fragments than she was.

“Could it be the wrong spell?”

“You need to tell me what the spell is for!” Inyakan retorted.

“How would I know? It’s a spell from your Inya tribe.”

“Do you remember anything similar?”

Priya hesitantly recited the words she could remember. Inyakan listened, tilting his head, trying to piece it together.

“MAL PARAVINYA, INYA VAISA?”

“Oh, that sounds about right!”

“No, the spell the tribesmen chanted back then carried magical power. It wasn’t just about shouting loudly.”

It was clear that Inyakan wouldn’t fully understand what they were suggesting. He didn’t know how to wield magic. Priya offered another piece of advice.

“Try imagining there’s an enemy right in front of you. It could be a demon or whatever. Or even better, imagine it’s Yunnaeril, the one who killed your entire family.”

The moment she said that, Inyakan’s demeanor changed. He spat out the spell with venom.

“ISH KSHTAL, INYA VAISA.”

A chill ran down Binaeril’s spine at the murderous intent in those words. It was the same phrase Inyakan had spat at a knight during a slave auction once. This time, there was undoubtedly magical power in his words. Both Binaeril and Priya could clearly sense the power embedded in his incantation.

“Nothing happened,” Binaeril muttered, the initial sense of anticipation quickly turning into disappointment.

He and Priya huddled together, trying to figure out what went wrong.

“Could it be that Yunnaeril already absorbed the power of the Inya tribe’s magic? Maybe that’s why it’s not working,” Binaeril speculated.

“But if that were the case, then Inyakan’s spell wouldn’t carry the power of the Word Spirit at all. The fact that he can use the power means the ancestors of the Inya still have strength left.”

“So, what’s the problem then?”

“Is there anything different between now and then?” Priya pondered deeply.

After some thought, she remembered. During the encounter with Yunnaeril, even when Valra II chanted alone, nothing significant happened.

“Now that I think about it, back then, the tribesmen gathered and chanted the spell together. It wasn’t just one person shouting alone, like it is now.”