Episode 651

“Wow, what an incredibly kind village!”

Priestess Siana exclaimed in admiration.

The other priests from the Order nodded in agreement, equally impressed.

Normally, it was rare for villagers to be so considerate toward visiting travelers from outside.

“It’d be wonderful to build a shrine here.”

“I agree, Priestess Siana.”

Faith should be spread equally everywhere, but when a village was this warm and kind, it made one feel even happier.

-The thief got away!!

-Get him!! If we don’t catch him today, someone from the manor will come!!

-Everybody, hurry up! The priests are outside! We have to catch him before they come in! Do you want this village to be notorious as a place travelers should avoid in the Empire?!

-Of all days, why today! There are plenty of peaceful days, but today?!

-…??!

• * *

Alsicle explained the basics of time magic for his grumbling junior who kept insisting he couldn’t do it.

It wasn’t his specialty, but given time magic’s notorious difficulty, he knew enough to teach.

“Wardanaz. With any magic, it starts with detection or perception.”

“Yes.”

Lee Han nodded.

Freshman wizards always dreamed of dropping meteors with a snap or knocking out professors—no, enemies—with a whistle, but even the best mages could rarely show off such high-level feats.

Every magic always started with the fundamentals.

For elemental magic, it started with sensing elements.

For illusion magic, with seeing illusions.

For healing magic, with perceiving disease.

Space-time magic was no different—it started with detection or perception.

“-Time Perception- or -Space Perception-. Actually, even wizards who don’t specialize in space-time magic sometimes learn these—since they’re so useful.”

“Right. I’ve also learned -Space Perception-.”

“……”

Alsicle looked at Lee Han in shock.

He wasn’t expecting agreement like this from a first-year student.

“You’ve learned -Space Perception-? How?”

-Space Perception-, which let a mage accurately visualize the space around them, was a first-circle spell but harder than most second-circle ones.

Every so often there was a beginner spell with “cross-circle” difficulty like that.

And you weren’t supposed to learn spells like this as a first-year, but rather as a third-year…

“A senior taught me?”

“Whoever it was, I’d avoid them in the future.”

Alsicle was horrified.

Valpatan of the Moradi family, who had taught Lee Han -Space Perception- during a desperate escape, was now just a lunatic senior in Alsicle’s mind.

Even though Lee Han had asked for the lesson first!

“Come on, he’s not a bad person.”

“Gonadaltes isn’t a bad person, either.”

‘Isn’t he, though?’

“Well, it’ll make explaining easier if you know -Space Perception-. -Time Perception- is similar.”

-Space Perception- allowed you to know exactly what objects were around you and the precise distances between them; useful for battle wizards who often faced quick enemies and for adventurers exploring dungeons.

-Time Perception- was similar.

With this spell, you could perceive seconds, minutes, and hours precisely even without a clock, and measure exactly how long something took from start to finish.

That made it extremely useful for alchemists brewing fine potions or battle wizards needing to read opponents’ spells.

“For reference, I’ve learned -Time Perception- too.”

“Haven’t learned -Space Perception-?”

“Nope, never needed it.”

“……”

“……”

Suddenly, the room fell silent.

Not due to any mistake Alsicle made, but sometimes, a group would just go strangely quiet together.

Everyone’s mind went blank at the same moment.

“I seriously just didn’t need it!”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean…?”

Yoner and Nillia, who’d been talking about clubs at Einrogard, now turned their attention.

Alsicle flushed as he realized the misunderstanding.

“Look, I mean I just didn’t need it! I’m not the adventurous or combat type…”

“I see.”

“Right. It’s actually strange to be like Wardanaz and learn everything.”

Unlike the others, Gainando and Eandurde just stared at Alsicle.

They didn’t say anything, but it was clear they were silently communicating.

‘These clueless brats…’

“…Wardanaz, let’s just stick to -Time Perception-.”

“Yes. I learned it just now.”

“……”

Given the incantation and mana flow by Alsicle, Lee Han learned -Time Perception- as the senior wizard lectured.

Upon seeing this, Alsicle resolved to leave the Wardanaz estate before the week was out.

Otherwise, he might go insane.

‘This place is hell…!’

“Didn’t you say yesterday that you couldn’t possibly learn it?”

“Exactly. But you said many wizards learn -Time Perception- and -Space Perception-, right? So those are exceptions.”

“……”

Alsicle felt a strong urge to smack Lee Han in the mouth with his wing.

He didn’t know it, but this was something the skeleton principal often felt too.

“What’s next?”

“N… next comes…”

“Pardon?”

“Next is reading the past—going back through time to read it.”

Alsicle’s pronunciation was distorted by biting his beak shut. He took a breath and continued calmly.

From here on, even Alsicle didn’t know the spells, and most mages hadn’t learned this more advanced field of time magic.

“Take this wizard card, for example. Where was it a year ago?”

“I took it off a guest who came to the estate!”

Gainando, excited, shouted, and Alsicle tapped the wizard card approvingly with his staff.

“A year ago, it was with the guest, and two years ago, with someone else. Reading the time that this card has passed through is the real start of time magic practice.”

Manipulating time wasn’t like summoning other elements and controlling them—it required slicing out a section and intervening.

Even basic practice was incredibly hard.

This -Past Detection- spell provided that basic practice.

It allowed the wizard to control a thing’s lingering flow of time.

“Take this card, go and practice reading the past…”

Whoosh!

A giant golden eagle flew in through the window, an amulet with a crescent moon around its neck.

“Oh. It’s here!”

“What is?”

“The thing I purchased from the Crescent Moon Auction. I have to pay you for the helmet.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to rush it.”

Even so, Lee Han couldn’t hide his anticipation.

What had Alsicle bought?

Noticing his junior’s expectation, Alsicle laughed and unwrapped the package.

“Tada!”

A round silver shield the size of a buckler appeared. Its antique style and design marked it as a historical relic.

Lee Han was surprised.

“Wasn’t this expensive?”

“Not that much. It’s got a lot of scratches, it’s old, it’s not in style, no gemstones, and the effect is practical…”

“……”

Lee Han was speechless at the brutally realistic reasons.

“Still, I thought it’d be useful for you. It has a good spell on it.”

“What spell is it?”

“Projectile Slow.”

“?”

Nillia paused at Alsicle’s statement.

-Projectile Slow- wasn’t exactly a rare or spectacular spell.

Sure, artifacts that kept a spell permanently were valuable, but mostly for regular usage.

Whenever Shadow Patrol hunters needed to go down from the mountains, they’d have enchanter mages temporarily add magic to their gear before a hunt.

-Projectile Slow- was among the most asked for—slowing down heavy projectiles enemies threw, and it was popular and not especially hard; any halfway competent enchanter could manage it.

“Wardanaz.”

Nillia tugged Lee Han’s sleeve, whispering,

“As far as I know, Projectile Slow isn’t that great a spell… Are you sure you weren’t scammed…?”

“…It’s called ‘slow’, but it’s something else!”

Alsicle took offense at the juniors’ reaction.

All Einrogard graduates, so brash and disrespectful!

“Even if it’s the same slow spell, the principle’s different. Most Projectile Slow spells use telekinesis or wind element. But this -Zalharn’s Silver Shield- slows projectiles using time magic.”

“!”

Lee Han was startled by Alsicle’s words.

Nillia, too, asked in surprise,

“Why go to that kind of trouble?”

“…Wizards always do useless things. I don’t know. Maybe they were bored.”

Asking a wizard “why use magic for that?” was practically taboo.

Basically, more than half of all magic would be unnecessary if you took that view.

And this wasn’t even something Alsicle had made himself!

“Since you’re in Einrogard, this type of shield should work well for you. Plus, it’ll help you get accustomed to time magic.”

“Thank you, Pengerine. I’m sure a shield like this will be very helpful in Einrogard.”

“Why not talk about getting used to time magic?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Haha.”

His real intentions revealed, Lee Han stowed the silver shield. However useful it turned out to be, it would surely be much better than the helmet.

“Lee Han. Lee Han.”

“?”

“Give me back my card…”

“……”

Lee Han returned the -Saint Iactus- card he’d borrowed for magic practice to Gainando.

Gainando quickly hid the card deep inside his clothes, glancing around nervously.

‘I won’t let anyone take it!’

• * *

“We’re here!”

Deorgyu and Siana arrived at the family manor.

The golem who met them bowed then wandered off to the garden.

“Wow. Wardanaz. The golems do the work here?”

“That’s right.”

“A true house of Imperial mage nobility!”

Lee Han saw no need to mention that demons occasionally appeared on the estate.

That wasn’t an important fact.

“Was the trip all right for you both?”

“The villagers were so kind.”

“They really were. They kept trying to give us gifts—I was flustered.”

Gainando grumbled,

“My carriage… my coachman…”

“That wasn’t the villagers’ fault, Gainando.”

“Hmph. The villagers might have chased off my coachman.”

“Why would the villagers do that?”

Seeing his friends had been well treated during their journey (except for one), Lee Han felt relieved.

He wouldn’t have to feel bad as the host.

“If everyone’s here, shall we visit the city tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow!? But we just arrived today!”

Priestess Siana was startled.

“Then the day after?”

“We need to greet the people here, visit local villages for charity work… That’ll take at least a week…”

“……”

“……”

At Siana’s words, Lee Han’s friends exchanged complicated glances.