The Chains of a Contract
Yeon Minha's voice trembled as she stammered, "Th-this story...? Wh-what...?" Her eyes were still brimming with moisture, just like her quivering tone. Of course she wouldn't know about the dilemma I'd wrestled with all night. Given our relationship so far, her reaction made perfect sense. In fact, this was more or less the direction I'd intended...
"F-first, g-get out... This is... this is so rude..."
"Do you remember what happened yesterday?" I asked.
"Y-yesterday...? What on earth..."
The connections snapped into place in an instant. Yeon Minha's pupils dilated dramatically as her words trailed off. Her eyes and expression flooded with pure terror. She lunged toward me like someone who'd lost her mind, then curled up in the corner of the empty dormitory living room, shaking violently. I couldn't know exactly what had happened before, but it was clear she'd endured an utterly terrifying experience.
"Hic... Hiccup... Hah..."
Yeon Minha clutched her chest, gasping for breath. She whipped her head around, frantically scanning her surroundings. She'd looked completely deranged yesterday, so I'd wondered if she might not remember any of it. But her current reaction made it obvious—she was fully aware of what she'd experienced and done.
"It was you... It was you, wasn't it...?"
Her gaze finally locked onto me.
"What are you talking about?"
"D-don't play dumb...! If it wasn't you, how could you have come back right after...!"
Her voice was fierce, yet laced with desperate longing. The focus in her eyes suggested her mind was clear this time. Still, the way she continued to suspect me meant she was absolutely certain of her instincts.
"..."
The eyes glaring at me flickered like candle flames. I'd stayed up all night yesterday, running through scenarios like this. At first, I'd considered denying everything outright, just like I'd thought on the day I first used Blockade. As long as I kept playing innocent, there was nothing Yeon Minha could do. She'd be limited to throwing out vague, baseless questions like the ones she was asking now.
But after yesterday's events, one thing had become crystal clear. There was no need to play this tiresome game of blind man's bluff anymore.
"Then what?"
"...!"
Apparently unprepared for my bold counter-question, shock flashed across Yeon Minha's face.
"It seems you were having quite a severe nightmare. It was bad enough that even I, in the next room, had trouble sleeping. So I took some measures in my own way."
"H-how..."
"There's no reason for me to explain that to you, is there?"
"Th-that's impossible... It can't be... How could you possibly..."
"You're the one who asked, and now you're the one denying it? In that case, I have nothing more to say."
I made a show of standing up. After speaking, I turned toward the door with deliberately firm steps. Wearing this mask seemed to make me even more shameless than usual.
"I'll be taking my leave now. You might find tonight's dreams a bit uncomfortable as well. So..."
"W-wait... Wait...!"
-Crash!
A desperate voice trying to stop me, followed by the sound of something tumbling and rolling across the floor.
"...Sob... Wait..."
Her reaction was impossible to ignore. I turned to see Yeon Minha collapsed on the floor beside the bed, as if she'd tripped. The pitiful sight drew an involuntary sigh from me. On one hand, relief that she'd acted exactly as I'd predicted. On the other, a pang of pity and compassion for the intensity of her response...
"..."
I still had no real understanding of what this authority truly was. I used it whenever necessary, carefully avoiding others' eyes, but I couldn't grasp its true nature. The only theory I had was that it was somehow connected to how a complete non-sensitive like me could wield magic through such bizarre means.
The platoon leader seemed to know something about it, but he'd simply pressed his lips shut after saying he'd explain once I graduated from the cradle. He'd also gravely insisted that I keep the existence of this authority a secret. Because of all that, I'd initially planned to deny everything no matter what.
However, after experiencing Yeon Minha's desperation firsthand yesterday, a single thought had occurred to me. Separate from any personal pity or compassion I felt for her, I had a duty to follow the platoon leader's order to return from the cradle with the best possible grades.
The surest way to keep that promise was to faithfully carry out the headmaster's request—helping to restore the fallen Yeon Minha's prestige and repair the broken balance. But right now, there was no foundation of trust between us. The wall between us remained as high and solid as ever, built from the vast differences in our upbringings and positions.
I'd succeeded in getting close enough to test the authority's effectiveness, but there was still a chance she could slip beyond my control. Sympathy for Yeon Minha. And the task I needed to complete. If so, the way to satisfy both in this situation was...
To simply add one more set of chains.
"..."
Yeon Minha remained huddled on the floor, trembling uncontrollably. The two eyes staring up at me were filled with terror and unshed tears. That very fear was also the tool I intended to use. Ignoring the twinge of my conscience, I stepped toward her once more.
"Hic... D-don't come near me..."
She'd tried to stop me from leaving and ended up like this, and now that I was approaching again, she begged me to stay away.
"Hic... Hiccup."
When I finally reached her, she couldn't even look up properly, only hiccuping helplessly. I crouched down in front of her huddled form, bringing our eyes to the same level.
"Are you ready to have a proper conversation now?"
Contradictory waves of hope and despair were what Yeon Minha felt in that moment. The hope came from realizing that the relief of her mental pollution wasn't just a temporary miracle. The despair came from the fact that the one holding the key to her salvation was this perverted masked bastard currently threatening her.
It was no coincidence that he'd barged in the very morning after what she'd gone through. From the beginning, he'd approached her by naming himself her mentor. He'd hidden his true strength to win their duel, then used that as an excuse to invade her dormitory and settle in. He'd used his mysterious ability to give her a brief taste of heaven, only to drag her back down into the abyss. Every step of the process had clearly unfolded according to his design.
The mental pollution that plagued the direct descendants of the Red Fire Yeon family was a side effect passed down through history. No matter how much they'd tried to hide it, rumors had already spread outside—talk of the Spirit Mage's Curse and the like. She hadn't been able to escape it either. On the contrary, her exceptional talent had brought her even more horrific torment.
From the time her spring first formed in childhood until now, she'd lived her entire life plagued by nightmares and hallucinations. Yet even after years of such suffering, the past two nights had been a hell Yeon Minha never wanted to experience again. The shadows and illusions had pressed down on her with greater fury than ever before. Yesterday, she'd witnessed the most horrific auditory hallucinations and visions from the depths of hell itself. If she'd endured even one more night of that torture, she truly would have lost her mind.
And in the rampage that followed those torturous nightmares, she'd shown him her disgraceful, near-mad behavior in full.
"Ah..."
Everything went dark before Yeon Minha's eyes. Until now, she might have been able to brush it off as mere nightmares, but actual eyewitness testimony was an entirely different matter from baseless gossip. That was surely why he could threaten her so boldly now. What made her even more powerless was the realization that, even though she understood his intentions perfectly, there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
"Senior. Do you want to dream happy dreams again?"
"...Hic."
The white, eerie mask pressed down on her once more. Yeon Minha could only give a small, trembling nod.
"It doesn't sit well with me to see my respected senior suffering like this."
He rattled off those insincere, clichéd words without a hint of genuine feeling.
"So I have a proposal. Would you like to hear it? If you accept a few simple conditions, I'll continue helping you restore peace of mind and body from now on."
"Ah..."
Yeon Minha's vision blurred. The "simple conditions" he spoke of were nothing less than a collar being fastened around her neck. Yet, as always, all she could do was nod weakly.
"First. I, Eugene Hyun, will do my utmost to help Yeon Minha regain peace of mind and body."
It was a repetition of what he'd just said—the foundational condition supporting his entire proposal.
"Second. Yeon Minha will never reveal to anyone that I possess such means."
"..."
From his perspective, it was an entirely reasonable and logical condition. Even with the immense wealth gained from the Stellite monopoly and nearly a century of effort, no one had ever solved the problem of mental pollution throughout history. Having experienced his ability for just three days, even she was dying of curiosity. If this fact leaked out, he'd face far more than mere annoyance—he'd be in real danger.
"Third. In return for this help, Yeon Minha will obey absolutely any command I, Eugene Hyun, give from now on."
But the moment he spoke the third condition, Yeon Minha's mind drifted far beyond reason.
"What...?"
The question slipped from her lips before she could stop it. Her hands shook as if they'd been dipped in ice.
"Furthermore, we will draft a contract that formalizes these conditions."
Ignoring her protest, he pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. Yeon Minha immediately recognized what it was. It was a special paper made by mixing Stellite-responsive powder into the fibers—used exclusively for drafting and preserving contracts between mages. Dense text covered its surface. What he'd recited were merely the most important parts of the already-prepared contract.
"You... You..."
Tears welled up in her eyes. The trembling in her hands spread throughout her entire body. Her arms reflexively wrapped around her shoulders. What do you mean it doesn't sit well with you? His head was clearly filled with nothing but thoughts of putting a leash on her and turning her into his plaything. Though her vision was blurred with tears, Yeon Minha struggled to glare at the mask beyond them. This was her last shred of pride.
Absolute obedience was not something the successor of the Red Fire family could speak of lightly. It wasn't just a personal matter—it concerned the honor of her entire clan. The carrot he offered was as sweet as honey, but if it meant bringing trouble to her family, she'd rather die.
"Haa..."
At the sight of her like this, the masked man let out a sigh heavy with concern. Even that small gesture made her flinch, and she hated herself for it. But the completely unexpected words that left his mouth next shattered what remained of her pride.
"And one more thing. I, Eugene Hyun, will never cause Yeon Minha any direct or indirect mental or physical harm, and I will protect her from any danger whatsoever."
"What...?"
"Will this suffice?"
Leaving the bewildered Yeon Minha behind, he quickly added a line to the contract with his pen. Then he produced a seal.
"This is an item the successor of the Black Lotus entrusted to me. Any action I take through this seal carries the guarantee of the Black Lotus Sa family and holds legal binding power. It means that I'm just as bound by this contract as you are, Senior."
With those words, he pressed the seal firmly onto the paper. The faint smell of something burning filled the air, and a subtle light emanated from where the seal touched. When he lifted it moments later, the complex, irreversible pattern remained imprinted there.
"I understand you've already earned the qualifications of a successor as well, Senior. The seal. Stamp it."
"Why... Why are you doing this to me...?"
His attitude kept flipping like a coin, and she couldn't make sense of it at all. Yeon Minha asked in a voice drained of all strength, but only a dry, mechanical reply came back.
"Didn't I tell you from the start? I'm doing this to help you."
"Then why..."
"Because you have value as a tool. To me, and to my sponsor as well."
"What do you..."
"Enough. Stamp it. Now."
"...Hic."
At his curt, domineering tone, Yeon Minha's gaze dropped reflexively. She no longer had the energy or will to refuse. Even her last bit of pride had crumbled beneath that final condition he'd offered. With a trembling hand, she found the seal, pressed it to the bottom of the contract, and infused it with particles. Once again, the smell of burning rose along with a flash of light, and another seal was permanently imprinted.
With shaking hands, Yeon Minha handed the contract back to the masked man. He flicked the paper with his finger, separating two identical thin copies, and returned one to her.
"It looks like we're finished. My apologies for disturbing you so early in the morning. I'll be counting on you from now on, Senior."
He bowed politely like a well-mannered gentleman, then turned and left her bedroom without another word.
Only after the tension finally drained from her body could Yeon Minha form two questions in her mind. One was the reason for the dull ache still throbbing in her lower abdomen. The other was why she'd woken up in her morning bedroom when she'd clearly been in the living room.
"...Hic."
The hazy memory provided only one answer. The last thing she'd seen before losing consciousness was his fist driving into her stomach. A wave of shameful heat flooded her face, and tears began to fall, one by one, onto the floor. The shawl draped over her shoulders had become utterly useless. She stared blankly at the door the man had walked through, then let her head drop heavily once more.
She was already a bug caught in a spider's web—a helpless prey that had been hunted down.