Episode 16. I Will Not Become a Slave
“Are you defying me now?”
Freud feigned composure, hiding his inner fear.
The laboratory was filled with a taut tension from the colliding mana of the two.
Binaeril glared at him, maintaining his silence.
Truthfully, he couldn’t speak a single word.
Because every nerve was dedicated to controlling the forces of the magic core responding to Professor Freud’s mana.
It was similar to right after consuming the magic core. Binaeril struggled desperately not to lose his reason.
But his silence grated on Freud.
“Are you trying to test your strength against me right now?”
It was outrageous.
A mere student daring to challenge a professor?
He had indulged this delinquent student’s recklessness long enough.
‘I’m going… crazy.’
Binaeril had stood his ground defiantly, but it was an act without thought for the consequences.
Just controlling his mana reacting to the hostility was overwhelming enough.
Moreover, Professor Freud was gradually radiating denser mana, pressuring him.
—You coward. How long are you going to keep dodging? Fight back. Do you think I lent you my power so you could be a pushover?
To make matters worse, Veritas was not helping but rather goading him into battle.
“Binaeril Dalheim. That name is wasted on you. What gives you such arrogance? Is it your brother you trust?”
Professor Freud finally brought up the person Binaeril hated most.
Binaeril clamped his mouth shut.
“What? Did you think I didn’t know? You seem so haughty because you have your brother as your backing. Know your place. Someone who can’t even reach the soles of his brother’s feet.”
“Please do not speak that name…”
“Why? Does it offend you that a mere professor of Elfenbein dares to mention the Sword of the Order? Whether it’s the Order or their leashed hound, it means nothing to me. Why should a mage fear a dog on a leash?”
That he had not subdued Binaeril with magic must have been Professor Freud’s last shred of pride.
He couldn’t be the one to lay hands on a student first.
And if Binaeril lunged first, he was confident he could subdue him.
But he didn’t know.
He didn’t know that Binaeril was special.
Binaeril’s mana reacted sensitively to his emotions.
Above Professor Freud’s desk, translucent air gathered and began taking shape.
Binaeril’s will-infused mana had reached the point of materialization.
“What in the…?!”
Professor Freud panicked at the phenomenon he was seeing for the first time.
It was a bizarre phenomenon that even a weathered veteran mage couldn’t respond to instantly.
Professor Freud cast a defensive spell half a beat too late.
Binaeril’s magic, now even more distinct, struck his barrier.
A deafening crack from their clashing mana filled the laboratory.
Having endured one attack, Professor Freud flew into a rage.
Daring to attack a professor?
“There is no room for mercy. You will be expelled without fail.”
Fuming with anger, Professor Freud prepared a counterattacking spell.
Just then, the laboratory door swung wide open.
“What is the meaning of this!”
A weighty roar cleaved through the space between the two.
“…Dean?”
Dean Yulio, a giant of a man large enough to fill the laboratory entrance, squeezed his way in.
“Stop. Both of you.”
It was rare for Dean Yulio to speak down to a fellow professor.
But this was an exceptional case.
A student and a professor fighting inside Elfenbein?
Once Dean Yulio intervened, the heated atmosphere cooled sharply.
Binaeril and Professor Freud withdrew the mana they had aimed at each other.
Once freed from their mutual hostility, Binaeril found it no longer as difficult to control his mana as before.
“Professor Freud, what is the meaning of this?”
Dean Yulio targeted Professor Freud first.
Professor Freud had little to say.
It couldn’t be helped? He was trying to discipline him?
Nothing he said would convince the dean.
Because it was obvious he had come to blows with a mere student.
Professor Freud knew excuses wouldn’t work. He decided to brazen it out.
“Dean Yulio. This is a matter between master and disciple.”
It was a demand for the third party to step aside. But Dean Yulio didn’t bat an eye.
“Teacher and disciple? I am well aware that you did not sincerely guide this student, so what talk of master and disciple is this? You were no doubt engaging in baseless threats.”
It was a remark that struck the mark. It wasn’t something a dean should say to a fellow professor.
Professor Freud’s face flushed red with humiliation.
“I cannot easily overlook those words.”
“Overlook them or don’t. I merely spoke the facts as I saw and heard them.”
Dean Yulio was now being completely unreasonable. It was conduct unimaginable from his usual dignified demeanor.
“This student has been under my personal guidance for some time now. A student with remarkable talent. It was work you should have done, a responsibility you abandoned for over three years.”
“Are you slandering me now?”
“Slander? Rumors that you treat students with bias and extort the desperation of those in need are rampant throughout the Magic Tower. And you call this slander? Did you think I was staying silent because I didn’t know?”
Professor Freud’s jaw clenched tightly. Having passed beyond shame and fury, his tone grew calm instead.
“…This matter will be discussed again at the professors’ meeting.”
“You and your damned annoying professors’ meetings. Can’t you prove your own innocence with your own mouth? There is nothing more to say. I will take this friend with me.”
Dean Yulio ignored Professor Freud’s venomous gaze and turned to Binaeril.
“Let’s talk outside.”
Binaeril was no fool. He vaguely sensed how great a risk Dean Yulio had taken to extract him.
He simply followed the dean’s broad back and left the laboratory.
The two who had exited Professor Freud’s laboratory walked in silence for a while.
Binaeril had nothing to say out of shame and guilt.
Still, he felt staying quiet would be impolite.
“Excuse me, Dean.”
“Ah, geez! That felt good!”
The moment Binaeril opened his mouth, Dean Yulio shouted.
The gazes on the campus converged on Dean Yulio.
“That smug bastard, I was so sick of his slick act, but shutting him down like that really cleared my head. Right?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes.”
His head did feel clear. It was the first time he had seen Professor Freud’s face contort like that.
Recalling the sour expression on Professor Freud’s face, Binaeril felt much more cheerful.
“Don’t worry. He won’t be able to expel you. Cutting loose a talented student just because he doesn’t like him? Out of the question.”
Dean Yulio casually turned his head and glanced at Binaeril.
“And that bastard had it coming for a long time.”
Binaeril smiled softly to reassure Dean Yulio.
Because he could feel the dean’s concern for him.
“You’re right.”
Dean Yulio looked at Binaeril’s smiling face and asked in surprise.
“Binaeril, are you unwell?”
“Yes. I think I need to rest.”
The dean observed Binaeril’s face intently for a moment and said.
“I believe you’ve fallen into an addiction phenomenon. It must be difficult to even stand. Come to my training room.”
Upon arriving at the training room, the dean locked the door and urged Binaeril to sit comfortably.
By then, Binaeril’s appearance was ghastly.
Red spots had broken out in blotches all over his body.
Dean Yulio sat facing Binaeril with a grave expression.
“Were you attacked by a monster?”
“Was the fight long?”
“It was short. It didn’t even take ten minutes.”
Dean Yulio was surprised twice.
He had heard from Rike and Silvia that Binaeril had faced a Dire Wolf alone.
He was surprised that Binaeril had subdued a monster in such a short time,
and second, he was surprised that despite having no wounds, the symptoms of demonic energy poisoning were so pronounced.
This issue, called demonic energy poisoning or mana addiction, was commonly found among mercenary mages active on the front lines of battle.
Mages who fought monsters would experience symptoms of rampaging mana if they sustained major injuries or were exposed to demonic energy for too long.
This was not a physical injury. It was a kind of inner demon.
It was not something a student lacking practical experience should suffer.
‘Why has he fallen into addiction?’
In any case, the urgent matter now was not the reason but the treatment.
Since mana addiction was not a physical injury, even Princess Friederike’s healing was of no use.
The majority of mages who suffered addiction symptoms alone faced life-threatening danger.
It was a stroke of luck that the dean had noticed Binaeril.
“Is it painful?”
Binaeril answered, breaking into a cold sweat.
“I can endure it.”
“Quit the bravado. What you are experiencing is a symptom called mana addiction. You don’t need to answer. Listen carefully to my words.
“The source of magic is imagination, that is, the power of thought. The body has limits, but the mind does not. That means, while physical injuries have limits, mental ones do not. Binaeril, do you know why composure is important for mages?”
“To maintain calmness in battle against monsters?”
“I told you not to answer. Tch. That is only half true. The more you hone magic, the more you become convinced that this matter is related to the heart. Do you understand? A mage’s power fundamentally depends on the heart.”
Then Binaeril’s pain was pain of the heart. But its repercussions were transmitted wholly to the body.
What is the dean trying to say? Binaeril wondered.
“Warriors tend to their bodies, but mages must tend to their own souls. Being consumed by mana is the result of failing to care for your soul. You are the master of your imagination; imagination is not your master.”
It was a profound lesson not taught at Elfenbein.
“Demonic energy is the same. It is like the pain and anguish that corrode your heart. You must become the master of your own heart. Can you do it?”
But it was Veritas who had consumed the magic core, not Binaeril.
The desire to grow stronger by increasing mana was also Veritas’s desire.
Binaeril’s goal was to take revenge on his brother. Magic and power were secondary. Binaeril tried to set his standards.
Veritas was whispering to him.
—You can’t grow through simple effort alone. You want to beat your brother? Do you think you can catch up to a brother who grew strong years ahead of you?
—You thought you could beat him by training moderately and killing time? That brother?
Binaeril tried to distinguish between his own desire and Veritas’s desire. Veritas convinced him the two were the same.
He sought to use Binaeril’s goal for his own purpose.
He had to grow stronger. He had to grow stronger by any means necessary to retrieve the pages.
He exploited Binaeril’s desire to learn magic in order to defeat his brother.
Listening to Dean Yulio’s words, Binaeril clearly distinguished between the two.
Binaeril struggled not to become Veritas’s slave.