The Soul Contract with Sophia
Sophia was losing the duel for the fifth time.
The old man only used simple magic, blocking her strikes with his staff.
"You should put more effort into it."
"Shut up, old man!"
Sophia's strength looked almost gone.
"This ends it... How unfortunate. To make such a foolish choice."
The old man prepared his final spell toward her.
"Your sword is nearly useless against a mage."
Sophia's swordsmanship couldn't block magic.
"Goodbye."
The old man launched his final blow.
At that moment, his attack was easily blocked by my sword.
Sophia had bought us precious time.
"What the...?"
I swung my aura-wrapped blade at the startled mage.
He snatched his staff, but it instantly shattered into two pieces.
The attack was blocked once, but the next strike couldn't be dodged.
The Emperor's Sword Form.
The blade technique I had obtained at the academy when I was Eid.
Among those who wielded aura blades, only those who reached a certain level could master it.
The top-tier swordsmanship praised even in the game.
"Barrier!"
The old man desperately tried to activate his magic, but the barrier shattered and my sword pierced his abdomen.
He staggered back, blood spraying from his mouth as he screamed.
"Kuhak! What is your name...?"
"Winter Rain."
I readied my blade to sever his neck and said.
"Huh? That person wanted you!"
He smiled wickedly and tried to escape through teleportation magic.
"Where do you think you're going!"
At that moment, Elenora used magic.
The power to see the essence of souls, to fix existence, and to pierce a specific memory.
It worked even on the body and spirit about to disappear through teleportation.
The body that had begun to teleport revealed itself again.
"Oh no. Damn it!"
I simply struck the mage's neck.
Blood sprayed like a fountain from the severed neck.
The belated teleportation magic made his body and blood vanish, but the gourd and book remained untouched.
It was clearly something Sophia had deliberately left behind to provoke me into killing her.
Elenora sent me a telepathic message.
'Winter-nim knew that Eid and I share souls. Only the old man I just beheaded knew. That means I haven't shared it with anyone else either...'
With those words, Elenora dashed over to check on Sophia's wounds.
"Are you okay?!"
Sophia now wore a completely exhausted expression, one that looked ready to abandon her life.
***
Sophia had been researching ways to revive Eid ever since his death.
On the first day she had prayed in the hospital that he would wake up.
On the second day, when death was confirmed, she had fallen into despair.
On the third day, the day of his funeral, she had made a vow.
He must be saved.
But today, the day she learned how to save him, her resolve to work with the Black Star Society who had killed him was weak.
'What am I going to become now?'
Looking coldly at her, Sophia thought.
She felt that Winter's swordsmanship resembled Eid's.
Even as she thought it was wrong, she kept seeing Eid's traces in Winter.
At the same time, hating him intensely because he looked like Eid while carrying his soul.
She wanted to kill him to bring Eid's soul back.
'I am an inhuman.'
Sophia had made her vow.
She would die.
She couldn't fall like the Black Star Society that killed Eid.
That was the bare minimum of dignity she could claim.
She reached for the mana bomb attached to her necklace.
A tool that severed mana flow at the moment of pull.
It would let her end her life while appearing to sleep peacefully.
Then, even in the afterlife, she could meet him in her beautiful form.
'Soon... let's meet again, Eid.'
***
I roughly grabbed Sophia's hand as she was reaching for the necklace.
She was drained of strength, so it was easy for me to hold her.
I couldn't lose her like this.
I needed her too.
Not just to solve academy affairs.
But as a friend.
So I was willing to do something unthinkable.
"Do you want me to summon Eid's soul?"
She nodded weakly.
"I can help you."
"..."
"The way to save Eid is simple. I will separate our souls at some point. Then I will place Eid's soul back into his body."
"Can you really save Eid...?"
I answered coldly.
"Of course. I will make a contract. If you help me achieve my purpose, I will return the soul of Eid that remains inside me."
"Purpose...?"
Light returned to Sophia's eyes.
"Didn't I say? It's about achieving my brother's revenge. Once that's done, I will find a way to separate our souls."
If I could return to reality at the point before death, there would come a day when I would have to separate Eid's personality.
So that wasn't a lie.
But she would need her clear cooperation for that task.
"Until the day my purpose is achieved, follow my orders."
Sophia looked conflicted.
"You want to use me too, don't you?"
I answered cynically to her question.
"Use? Correct. I am using you for my purpose. You don't have to believe it. But there is a possibility. The possibility of recovering Eid."
She nodded.
"Good..."
She said in a trembling voice.
"I won't believe you. But I will follow you. If I can recover Eid."
A short while later she extended her hand.
"In exchange, we are equals."
"I will also cooperate in reviving Eid."
We cast the contract magic.
A magic that would make you pay for breaching the contract.
Elenora watched us a little distantly with a lonely expression.
"But there is one condition."
"What is it?"
"Keeping Eid's soul bound to the body and keeping the body alive."
"Why didn't you mention that as a contract term?"
Sophia thought for a moment and said.
"I didn't want to tie the act of violating taboos to the contract."
She looked at me with eyes full of pity.
Was she still trying to see Eid through me?
"I have already prepared it. Eid's soul and body are being stored by the family."
A bright light first crossed Sophia's face.
The body information on Eid Rain, and even the polymorphed model the principal had prepared just in case, meant it wasn't a complete lie.
But seeing Sophia's face as she said that pierced my heart.
"If you look like that, I won't like it as your brother."
"How do you know?"
Sophia asked me with a mix of longing and expectation in her eyes as she looked at my face.
"Because we share blood. I can tell that much."
Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes.
At that moment, Elenora sent a telepathic message.
'Why are you saying things like that?'
Elenora was starting to get annoyed.
'You are... annoying.'
'Eh! Is that a compliment?! You can pet me as much as you want like before!'
She leaned in briefly.
She really was a difficult woman.
"All right! Our Sophia friend! Don't cry like that. Shall we go to a good place together?"
Elenora suddenly supported Sophia and headed toward the infirmary.
"I have to take care of that..."
Sophia's gaze fell on the book and the gourd.
"Don't worry. I will take care of it."
I picked up the Gate of the Dead and the Soul-Collecting Gourd that had been abandoned in the corner.
"Winter... I can believe you, right?"
"Check your body's condition first."
***
"To cut to the chase, I can't separate your soul and Eid's soul right now."
"Can't I just create Eid's body, separate the two souls inside it, and fix it? Wouldn't that be simple?"
Now that she said it, it didn't seem simple at all.
She smiled and said.
"You wrote it right there on your face? It's not simple at all, is it?"
I nodded.
"If it becomes like what you said, then Eid would fall into danger again. And there's no guarantee that memories would continue even after the soul is separated. So let's assume the worst case. What would happen to Eid, who has no memories and was thrown into the academy? A boy with no memories at all."
That was right.
"And technically it's unreliable and too dangerous. Let's say I use the Gate of the Dead and the Soul-Collecting Gourd to trap Eid's soul. Then what happens to your soul?"
The principal said while fiddling with experimental equipment.
"Choosing you as an agent was because your soul has two mixed together. I thought if something happened, you could be replaced by another soul and continue acting."
I was angry at her naive tone and asked.
"Are you looking at me right now like a chess piece?"
"No way! If that were the case, I wouldn't have pulled off such a fake act. You are a precious agent. That's why I don't want to read it."
She ruffled my hair and said.
A scent of freesia rose from her hand.
Her name was freesia, just like the flower fragrance she gave off.
She had always treated me like this.
Showing affection while trying to use me as a tool, and sometimes keeping distance.
"If you say it like that, I'm confused. Noona."
"What did you... say just now...?"
Frisia asked, looking surprised.
It was deliberate.
She probably wanted to talk as if the position of principal had been removed.
"Noona...?"
I lowered my voice and asked.
"Do you want to help me, noona? Or are you using me?"