Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

‘Simon and Sorisimon. That’s why the name felt familiar.’

The sense of déjà vu was due to the similarity between the names. 

Simon the street urchin, or rather Sorisimon the village-protecting mage, greeted the visitor in a stern voice.

「What do you seek, mortal human?」

“Pfft!”

“Haha!”

While the voice was impressive, the choice of words was so absurd they couldn’t help but laugh.

“What does ‘mortal human’ even mean? Isn’t the mage human too?”

“Hey, be quiet. They might hear us.”

Rike, covering her mouth to suppress her laughter, had turned bright red.

“My son was playing around and tore your talisman… Could we get another one, Master Sorisimon?”

「Have you desecrated the sacred item I bestowed upon you?」

It seemed like Simon was trying to use every sophisticated word he knew, regardless of their relevance.

‘If this is the image of a mage, I might need to seriously reconsider my career.’

“We’re deeply sorry.”

How this shoddy act was working was a mystery, but the villager sounded genuinely apologetic.

「There will be no second forgiveness.」

Simon threw one of the talismans lying around on their side of the veil over the top.

「You must pay the price and leave!」

And thus, the decree of the mage Sorisimon concluded.

It seemed like a roundabout way of saying, “Pay up and get lost.”

The villager hurriedly grabbed the talisman, tossed some silver coins into a jar at the tent’s entrance, and left.

Now, within the small tent, the four mages turned back into three mages and a boy with a tail.

“Hey, fake mage.”

Simon looked at the Binaeril and the others, who were crammed behind the screen.

Three pairs of eyes glared at the boy with expressions that said, “Just look at this.”

“…So, now that my business is done, can we get back to where we left off?”

“What were you—?”

Before he could finish, Simon bolted out of the tent again.

But Binaeril was quicker.

Binaeril froze the tent flaps together, blocking the exit.

“Ouch, cold! What is this?”

With his escape route blocked, Simon tried to flee through various holes in the tent, but Binaeril’s magic thwarted him each time.

Simon finally realized that the visitors were the culprits.

“Who are you people?”

Simon, in his characteristic feline stance, eyed Binaeril and the others warily.

“You don’t need to know who we are. Just hand over that pouch. It’s ours.”

“Are you thugs? Why are you trying to take my money?”

Tired of answering, Binaeril grabbed a blanket lying nearby and chanted,

“Bind him.”

The blanket coiled around Simon like a snake, immobilizing him completely.

Of course, they made sure to retrieve the stolen money pouch before tying him up.

Seeing the pouch fly into Binaeril’s hand, Simon shrieked,

“Ahh! Ghosts!”

Binaeril handed the recovered pouch to Sylvia.

Sylvia checked the contents.

To their surprise, most of the money was still there.

“Who are you guys? Are you mages?”

“It seems like only a few silver coins are missing.”

“Even a few silver coins are still money. Where did you spend it?”

“I bought food for my siblings. Are you mages or what? Tell me who you are!”

As Simon yelled, Binaeril pretended to cover his ears.

“Ghosts, if you like.”

“This much is enough charity, we could just leave.”

“If we report that you’ve been pretending to be a mage, we might even get a reward.”

At the mention of reporting, Simon’s yelling stopped instantly.

“You wouldn’t really do that, would you?”

“I can’t think of a reason why not.”

Simon’s tail drooped.

It seemed you could gauge his mood just by looking at his tail.

“I’ll do anything! Please! If people find out, they’ll beat me to death!”

“If you can’t repay the stolen money, I’ll beat you to death.”

“Give me some time!”

“No can do. We’re busy people. If we don’t get going soon, we’ll have to sleep halfway up Hoenberg Mountain tonight….”

Suddenly, Simon’s tail stood straight up.

“Hoenberg?”

“Are you guys heading to Hoenberg Mountains? I know the way!”

The three mages exchanged curious glances.

“That’s my hometown, I can guide you!”

Binaeril suddenly remembered what the innkeeper had joked about this morning.

‘Who knows? Maybe some lunatic with great navigational skills who treats Hoenberg as his home will fall from the sky.’

Indeed, a guide had seemingly fallen from the sky.

Simon’s true identity was that of a demi-human.

Specifically, he was from the feline race, a type of beast-kin known as the Miao (Miao Tribe).

“Our Miao live deep in the forests of the Hoenberg Mountains. My family, including my father, is there too.”

“Isn’t it dangerous to live in Hoenberg?”

Binaeril swatted away Simon’s twitching tail that was right in his face.

When Simon’s tail was grabbed, he let out a strange scream and wrapped his arms around it protectively.

He retorted, “What do you think is dangerous about it?”

“No food and lots of monsters.”

He shook his head.

“The most dangerous thing for demi-humans like the Miao is humans. In places without humans, demi-humans can live relatively peacefully.”

Across the continent, it was common to hear of demi-humans being traded as slaves.

Binaeril recalled rumors that one of the main income sources for mercenaries was raiding demi-human villages and selling them into slavery.

Simon had also been stoned and ostracized by the citizens of Bruno.

Fleeing from people, he ended up in the tent village.

At least the children didn’t treat Simon like the adults did.

“Imitating a mage was my only option. There was no way for me to earn money otherwise.”

“I see…”

Rike, with her high empathy, already had tears welling up in her eyes. But Binaeril was not so moved.

“If you know the Hoenberg Mountains so well, why didn’t you just return to your Miao族 homeland?”

“I wanted to! I didn’t go to the human cities by choice. I tried to climb the mountains several times on my own, but…”

“But?”

“I’ll explain that bit by bit.”

As they crossed the foothills, the path quickly disappeared. There was nothing but greenery, the sounds of insects, and the rustling of foliage in the wind.

Seeing a Miao for the first time was fascinating. Simon’s footsteps made almost no noise as he moved through the thick underbrush, and his movements were incredibly nimble. While Binaeril’s group was soon drenched in sweat, even after an hour of continuous walking, Simon hadn’t broken a sweat.

He explained that his ability to change his voice and pretend to be a mage was thanks to being a Miao. Mimicking various voices wasn’t difficult, and deceiving people was easy.

“This way!”

“Huff, huff.”

Simon moved like a true mountain cat. Most of the paths he led them on weren’t meant for human travel. They had to navigate through dense thickets, step over crumbling tree roots, and squeeze through rocky crevices.

Binaeril’s group used magic to navigate the forest and keep up with him.

“Are you deliberately trying to make this hard for us?”

Eventually, Sylvia couldn’t hold back her complaints.

“What are you talking about? You asked for the fastest route. Besides, this is an easy path that even Miao children can handle.”

“We’re humans!”

Simon clucked his tongue at the exhausted group.

“Tsk tsk, so weak.”

“Let’s take a short break.”

While Binaeril and Rike sat down to rest, Sylvia approached Simon, who was perched on a tree branch, and engaged in conversation.

As Binaeril watched, catching his breath, Simon climbed down from the branch. He then demonstrated walking on all fours in a nearby clearing.

Binaeril asked Sylvia, who had returned after observing Simon’s Miao族 walk.

“What were you doing?”

“I asked him to show me how he moves.”

“And what are you planning to do with that?”

Sylvia gave him a sidelong glance.

“I’m thinking of applying the Miao’s movements to myself. Why?”

Upon reflection, Binaeril realized it made sense. Sylvia’s main weapon was her martial arts, particularly emphasizing speed. Simon knew how to move more nimbly than a well-trained soldier despite having no magical training.

“So, do you think it will help?”

Sylvia tilted her head.

“I’m not sure yet. If I observe various Miao族 movements, I might be able to master it quickly…”

“Take your time learning as we cross the mountains, Sylvia.”

They had no idea how long it would take to cross Hoenberg. They might even encounter monsters along the way.

“This is the end of the safe zone.”

“Up to here? What about beyond this point?”

“Monsters start showing up. Actually, there is a safe path used by the Miao, but we can’t go that way right now.”

“Why? Is the path more difficult?”

“No.”

“Then is it blocked by monsters?”

“Um, no.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“The Wind Spirit that protects the Miao lives in the Wind Gorge. That’s the problem.”

Binaeril and his companions exchanged glances.

“A spirit?”

Eden, mistaking the call, poked his head out of the ring. Binaeril patted Eden’s head and sent him back.

“Yes, the Wind Spirit of Wind Gorge. Thanks to that spirit, the Miao can safely cross the mountains and establish their village.”

“Um, from what you’re saying, it doesn’t sound like a problem at all. Does the spirit dislike humans?”

Simon shook his head at the hasty conclusion.

“It’s not just humans; even the Miao can’t go near Wind Gorge right now. A strong wind has been blowing around the gorge for some time.”

“No one knows why. Maybe the spirit is angry for some reason. Because of that wind, I couldn’t return to the village and ended up in the human cities.”

Simon looked at Binaeril’s group with subtle hope.

“Is there no way to talk to this Wind Spirit?”

“The spirit lives deep inside the gorge. We can’t enter because of the wind, and more importantly, we don’t have a Spirit Priest.”

Seeing their confusion, Simon quickly explained.

“In the Miao village, there’s a Spirit Priest who communicates with the spirit.”

‘Isn’t that what spirit mages do?’ thought Binaeril.

Among the mages of Elfenbine, those with special talents could communicate with natural spirits.

“The Spirit Priest is a very noble profession that communicates with the spirit. You humans wouldn’t understand.”

Of course, as Simon said, the talent to handle spirits wasn’t very common.

Binaeril asked Simon,

“Does a Spirit Priest communicate with and control the spirit?”

“Control? How could anyone control a spirit? Spirits are sacred beings that don’t follow anyone’s orders…”

Binaeril called forth his small spirit again.

From his ring emerged a spirit with an earthy hue.

Seeing this, Simon was struck speechless. His jaw dropped as if it might unhinge.