Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage's Book - Chapter 19

Binaeril and Sylvia were placed at opposite ends of the tournament bracket.

Binaeril’s first opponent was, unfortunately, one of the top disciples.

Malek Baldwin, was it? Something like that.

“You must be that infamous transfer student. I’ve heard you’re quite skilled. Perfect timing. If I defeat you, maybe my professor will finally acknowledge me.”

Binaeril subdued Malek in less than two rounds.

“Winner, Binaeril Dalheim!”

With his new level of achievement, senior disciples and top students were no longer a challenge for Binaeril.

Gospelt Louis was also a top disciple, and Binaeril had a good sense of his abilities.

Malek Baldwin was on a similar level to Gospelt.

No matter how exceptional their magic, they weren’t on par with Professor Freud, and their close-combat skills were no match for Dean Yulio or Sylvia.

Most of the duels were trivial in comparison.

In fact, Binaeril found it more challenging to pretend to chant unnecessary spells.

Throwing magic without any signs would immediately disqualify him.

Binaeril advanced smoothly through the tournament.

And so did Sylvia.

The two of them met in the final match.

“Why are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad.”

“Then why are you so cold to me?”

Sylvia let out a deep sigh.

She glanced around the audience, looking for someone.

Among the crowd, she saw Rike and Dean Yulio.

When Rike met Sylvia’s eyes, she smiled and waved.

“I’ll tell you if you win.”

“What if I win?”

“Yes, if you win.”

Binaeril also spotted a figure in the stands.

Ryoz Elfenbine, the Tower Master, was watching the match from behind a pink veil.

In any case, he had no intention of losing.

“Alright, fine. Let’s settle whatever this is here and now.”

In the Dean’s special classes, Binaeril had never won against Sylvia.

Granted, those were physical sparring sessions.

The sun cast its golden rays between noon and dusk, bathing the arena in a lemony light.

“Begin!”

They started chanting their spells.

Sylvia’s first chant was the same as always.

She didn’t pursue flashy magic.

She fought with close combat, using her agility and strength as her main weapons.

Allowing her to close the distance drastically lowered one’s chances of victory.

And Binaeril was no exception.

However, the difference between her previous opponents and Binaeril was that he had extensive experience sparring with her.

“Clump of blue life.”

Binaeril created water droplets while maintaining his distance from her.

A short, simple chant, a low-tier spell that could be cast on the move without much burden.

Ideally, he wanted to drench the entire arena in rain, but that was beyond his current ability.

Binaeril shot the created water droplets at Sylvia.

The water droplets posed no real threat.

Sylvia evaded Binaeril’s clumsy attacks and charged at him.

“Clump of blue life, clump of blue life.”

Binaeril ran around the arena, continuously casting the same spell and hurling the droplets indiscriminately.

Sylvia either avoided them or swatted them away with her hand.

“Why are you just running away?”

Frustrated, Sylvia finally stopped and spoke.

“Am I crazy? To fight you head-on. Even if I had two bodies, I wouldn’t come out unscathed.”

“Where did your bravado from the monster practice go?”

“Right now, you’re scarier than any monster.”

The arena floor was made of solid rock.

Binaeril’s magic turned it into a sea of water.

So far, things were going according to Binaeril’s plan.

He proceeded with his next move.

He placed his hands on the ground and chanted.

“Let the cold emanating from my hands freeze all things.”

The freezing spell that turns touched objects to ice.

Puddles of water scattered across the arena floor began to freeze from beneath Binaeril’s feet.

He had no confidence in close combat. He couldn’t run forever. Sylvia was certainly faster than him.

So, his plan was to weaken her mobility.

However, Sylvia remained unfazed.

She observed the situation calmly, maintaining her distance.

“I expected this much. I can’t just let you have it.”

Sylvia chanted her prepared spell.

“With even fiercer winds!”

Sylvia grabbed the air as if pulling at Binaeril’s collar and drew it towards her.

A wind started blowing from behind Binaeril.

From a gentle breeze to a strong gale, it gradually increased in force.

“Whoa!”

Binaeril struggled to maintain his balance.

It wasn’t easy. The floor was slippery.

The frozen arena floor had turned into an unfavorable environment for him.

Sylvia stood immobile, focusing all her attention on pulling Binaeril towards her.

“Rise, wall of the earth!”

Binaeril raised a pile of rocks to use as support and pressed his body against it.

He couldn’t afford to be dragged around by Sylvia’s pace.

As he was pondering his next move, a sudden thought occurred to him.

“Wait, isn’t this an opportunity?”

The wall Binaeril had erected obscured Sylvia from view.

Moreover, the wind generated by her spell made it impossible to hear anything.

If nothing could be heard, it applied to both Binaeril and Sylvia, as well as the audience.

Binaeril estimated the distance based on Sylvia’s previous position and formulated a plan.

He conjured a wide, ice spear shaped like an easy-to-use spear with one hand.

“Binaeril! Come out now!”

Sylvia’s magic power was gradually depleting.

Her strength wasn’t suited for this kind of long-range attrition.

As she considered whether to stop and close in,

Binaeril leaped into action.

Binaeril smoothed out the stone wall he was leaning against and covered it with ice.

Minimizing friction, he held the ice spear in his right hand and prepared to disrupt Sylvia’s stance with his left.

One, two, three. Now!

He launched himself off the slippery floor, letting the wind carry him.

The stone wall he created served as a perfect ramp, propelling Binaeril’s body forward.

Seeing Binaeril soaring through the air, Sylvia halted her magic.

Binaeril descended towards her in an arc.

“Ugh.”

Due to the backlight of the setting sun, she couldn’t clearly see what he held in his hands.

But she knew he had prepared something. Sylvia infused her arms with magic.

The arena floor beneath her feet was also slick with ice.

Binaeril subtly lifted the ground beneath her with a gentle slope.

“Ah!”

Sylvia’s stance faltered.

Binaeril, still airborne, tightened his grip on the ice spear’s handle with both hands.

He aimed it towards Sylvia.

“Eek!”

“What the—!”

Gasps and exclamations erupted from the spectators.

To them, it seemed like a sharp spear was about to pierce Sylvia’s throat.

But that wasn’t the case.

Binaeril had made the spearhead wide enough for her head to fit snugly between the two blades.

“The winner is Binaeril Dalheim!”

The supervising instructor confirmed their safety before making the announcement.

“Wow!”

The crowd cheered at the spectacular finishing move.

“Are you alright? Any injuries?”

Binaeril shattered the ice spear and helped the fallen Sylvia to her feet.

Her expression was complicated.

It seemed she couldn’t believe she had lost, yet she also looked relieved.

Binaeril gauged her reaction and asked,

“…Are you still mad?”

She sighed deeply.

Then, grabbing Binaeril’s hand, she stood up.

“I’m not mad. Not at you.”

“Not at me?”

“I’m mad at myself, not you.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not good enough. I couldn’t protect our pri… Rike. I just ended up getting help and being a burden.”

As the sun set, a cool breeze blew from somewhere.

Binaeril couldn’t fully grasp Sylvia’s feelings.

“What do you mean you couldn’t protect her? Thanks to you, Gospelt didn’t get hurt. And if you hadn’t bought us time, we wouldn’t have made it.”

Sylvia dusted off her pants and looked at Binaeril.

“And is Rike someone who needs your protection? You said she’s your friend. Friends help each other. What’s so embarrassing about that?”

“You don’t know what kind of person Rike is.”

Binaeril smiled softly, choosing his words carefully to avoid upsetting Sylvia.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of person Rike is. You said it yourself. She’s your friend.”

Sylvia’s brown bangs fluttered gently in the breeze.

Up close, her eyes resembled the colors of a setting sun, or perhaps a deep night brown. Either way, they suited her well.

Feeling a sense of disquiet, Sylvia asked again, “Hey, do you know something…?”

“Let’s get up. We should greet the crowd.”

The cheers were quite loud.

Sylvia and Binaeril stood and bowed to the audience.

Rike gave a thumbs-up, and Dean Yulio nodded with a pleased smile.

“Binaeril! Binaeril! Binaeril!”

Binaeril responded to the cheers with exaggerated gestures.

This was the moment when Elfenbine’s perennial failure student was remembered differently by the people.

He directed the audience’s attention to Sylvia, who was standing awkwardly, and the crowd applauded the two for their impressive match.

“Wow!”

And so the tournament ended.

It was a rather good evening for Binaeril.

After the match, he was asked if he would participate in the selection for the scholar exam.

“Of course.”

There was no reason to delay. Binaeril already felt he was beyond the student level.

The same question was posed to the runner-up, Sylvia.

She hesitated and said she would answer later.

Unlike Binaeril, Sylvia hadn’t come here to become a mage.

Binaeril didn’t ask Sylvia for her reasons.

But he had a thought.

Rike, Sylvia, and Dean Yulio—these three were precious connections he had made at Elfenbine.

The idea of leaving them behind made his heart feel heavy.

-Well, anyone would think you’ve already passed the exam.

“Be quiet.”

Veritas, who had been silent throughout the tournament, started to provoke him again.

As Binaeril descended from the arena, he made eye contact with someone.

It was Professor Freud.

With a stern expression, he looked down at Binaeril from the high professor’s seat.

Binaeril neither sneered nor smiled. They simply locked eyes for a few seconds.

In the end, it was Professor Freud who looked away first.

“Binaeril Dalheim, the Tower Master is summoning you.”

The most important meeting awaited Binaeril.

This had been his primary goal for participating in the tournament.

-Let’s go meet the Tower Master.

Binaeril stepped forward to meet the greatest mage of this era.