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Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part 1

CHAPTER 1: CONNTRACT

A carriage drawn by two horses was slowly advancing on a narrow highway that cut straight through the dark forest. A rainbow-designed flag fluttered on top of the carriage.

Aside from the coachman, there was only one passenger riding inside of the carriage.

Shaking along with the carriage was a young woman wrapped in a cloak large enough to cover her whole body. She crossed her slender legs, leaned against her right side, supported her chin with her hand, and stared at the passing scenery outside the window with a sullen expression.

Just the other day, the Mage Siluca Meletes graduated from Elam’s University of Magic.

The coachman was a man named Irvin.
During the incident known as the 「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral 」, he was an Artist who subdued Siluca when she tried to prevent the convergence of chaos on a very large scale. After the incident, Irvin resigned from his post in the Kreische family where he was a servant until then and remained in Elam after he unilaterally swore to work as Siluca’s bodyguard answering to her every beck and call.

Since Siluca was planning to stay at the Magic University, she insisted that even if he was to be her bodyguard she would not be able to pay him or provide him with any real work to do, but Irvin was adamant that he was alright with that.

Irvine found a job on his own and started working in Elam. Then he also started coming to Siluca’s house, taking care of the chores such cooking and cleaning for her.

At first, he was being a nuisance to her and she was hesitant about it, but after this continued for a while she grew more and more lazy and started to leave most of the work to him on earnest. The only thing that she was doing by herself was washing her own underwear.

Irvin was terrifyingly talented, as was to be expected of an Artist formerly serving the house of the Archduke Kreishe as a footman, which is why Siluca thought that he would be wasting his talents on playing housekeeper for a student of Magic University, but she soon found herself in need of his abilities.

The reason why Siluca is being rocked in a carriage like this right now is because she was on her way to make a contract with a certain Lord.

Her destination: Artuk.

They were now on the road that stretches east from Elam, near the border of Clovis and Sevis.
Artuk is ruled by Villar Constance, a Lord in the rank of Earl. Among the students of the Magic University, he was nicknamed「The Lustful Earl 」, because Villar was only making contracts exclusively with the female students of the Magic University and was rumored to select them based on their appearance alone, and as soon as they all reach the age of 25 years old, he is cancelling their contracts replaces them with a new female student he makes a contract with.

A contract between a Lord and a Mage cannot be canceled without a justifiable reason for doing so. However, his situation is an an obvious exception and something that can’t be made public, but that is the privilege of the Earl Constance’s prestigious family that has been ruling Artuk for ten generations. The leader of Artuk from previous generation conquered Regalia in the south of Artuk and added it to its territories, and now, although Villar Constance calls himself an Earl, it is rumored that his title has actually reached the rank of Margrave, granting him the position of one of the leaders of the Fantasia Union. Even the Mage’s Association had to reluctantly admits that he is indeed a talented and gifted individual.

From a geopolitical standpoint, Artuk borders the Factory Alliance from its the western, northern, and eastern borders, which makes its territories a candidate for becoming one of the fiercest battlefields in the Great War that was to come.

Despite such a situation, it was unbelievable for Siluca that someone could actually have the audacity to choose a Mage to contract based on gender, age, and appearance rather than on their abilities. And most of all, the most unbelievable thing for her was the hopeless fact that she had to make a contract with that Lustful Earl.

Originally, Siluca was supposed to have enrolled in the Violet Faculty of Creation Magic, and was supposed to be taking creation magic classes that required the most precise sensibilities.

「And yet… 」

Siluca unintentionally let out a voice of complaint.

It all started on that day when she went to the Magic University’s Headmaster Sembros to submit a transfer notice to the Violet Faculty of Creation Magic.

Ten days ago, one month after 「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral」incident.

At that time, Villar Constance happened to be visiting the Headmaster’s office because he wanted to choose yet another Mage to make contract with.

Several female students who had completed their undergraduate studies and were planning to graduate from Magic University were summoned and lined up in front of the Earl. They were all exceptionally good-looking girls, but they were also forced to wear clothes that revealed a lot of skin, which has now become the standard attire provided by the Magic University to the female students who were to make a contract with the Lustful Earl.
Sitting down on the chair and putting his hand on his chin, The Lustful Earl stared at the female students before him who looked like they were practically wearing nothing but their underwear.

(Poor girls…)

Keeping her disgust to herself, Siluca made sure that she would never made eye contact with The Lustful Earl, as she went to the Headmaster and tried to hand him an envelope containing her transfer notice.

However, The Lustful Earl suddenly called out to her on her own, which was something that she never anticipated that could happen.

「Hold it right there! 」

Hearing his sharp tone, Siluca instinctively stopped her hand and looked back at the Earl. When their eyes met, The Lustful Earl nodded in satisfaction, and said:

「You are the one I am choosing. 」

And he laughed

「I beg your pardon? 」

Siluca didn’t understand what he meant at first.

「By my Crest, I want make a contract with her. I trust that you have no objections about that, right, , Headmaster Sempros? 」

Hearing Villar’s words, Siluca understood her situation, and her complexion paled in an instant.

「Now wait just a moment! 」

Headmaster Sempros hurriedly got up from his chair.

「It has already been decided that she will be transferred to the another Faculty, so I implore you, please choose from the students we have summoned here for you today instead. 」

The Headmaster said to Villar in a rushed tone.

「Transferred to the another Faculty, you say? Well, does that not mean that she has not been transferred just yet? 」

「W-Well, that is correct, but… 」

「I remember her very well. During「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral 」, she was the only Mage present at the scene who noticed the convergence of Chaos and acted to prevent it, even though you and the other high-ranking members of the Mage’s Association were also there, which brings me to a particular concern, the one that the investigation into the truth of the incident has become quite obscure. Would you like to address these suspicions of mine? 」

Rumors circulate that the unprecedented incident in which the heads of the two Archduke families were killed by a Demon Lord from another world in the Grand Cathedral of the Magic City of Elam was the work of a Dark Mage who does not belong to the Mage’s Association. However, the truth of the incident has not been revealed as of yet.

But even if it did turn out that it was indeed the work of a Dark Mage, it would not change the fact that the failure stop the tragedy from happening was nothing other than a failure of the Mage’s Association that governed the autonomous Magic City of Elam.

Moreover, there are many Lords who criticize the Mage’s Association, because they are dissatisfied with being forced to follow the rules that the Mage’s Association has originally imposed upon them.

「We Lords and you Mages have worked together to quell the influence of Chaos and govern the continent for generations now, so I would like for this good relationship of ours to continue on untarnished. 」

Headmaster Sembros was unable to come up with a response to Villar’s clearly threatening words.

「I think that a young female Mage like her, the one with high potential, excellent judgment, enough courage to spring into action when it matters and an excellent appearance would be suitable for making a contract with my family, do you not think? 」