Episode 649
Episode 649
"Wod...an...az...Han...te...ma...na...recov...ery...bro...och...how...about...this..."
"It...will...def...inite...ly...be...use...less..."
To Lee Han, it felt like about 5 seconds.
During those approximately 5 seconds, the voices of people around him sounded slowed down. Lee Han realized that time in the area around the pocket watch had sped up nearly twofold. 'A time magic artifact!' Time magic was considered one of the most difficult schools of magic in the Empire, alongside spatial magic.
The talent and effort required to master it, the mana and reagents consumed during casting, and even if all those conditions were met, the inevitable accompanying dangers—these numerous drawbacks prevented spacetime magic from forming its own separate school.
Even divination magic had managed to form a school with gathered mages, but spacetime magic was something only a handful of life-risking geniuses would even attempt. 'Who could have made this? No, how did Lord Baldorhorn even know about this?' As these thoughts raced through his mind, the 5 seconds ended.
At that moment, Lee Han suffered a powerful backlash. It felt as if every muscle in his body was screaming.
"Ugh!"
"What about the mana recovery letter opener?"
"Anything with just mana recovery attached will definitely be useless even if I die."
Alsicle and Yoner's conversation returned to normal speed. Lee Han groaned and dropped to his knees.
Thud!
"Everyone, stand back!"
Alsicle leapt up in alarm, brandishing his staff. True to his experience as a senior mage, he immediately understood what had happened.
Clearly, they had touched some malfunctioning artifact!
"Don't approach! It could be poison or a curse!"
"B-but... poison or curses shouldn't work on Lee Han, right?"
"......"
Even while swinging his staff to erect a barrier, Alsicle had to admit this was a sharp observation befitting a close friend.
"That may be so. But there are always exceptions! And the Wardanaz have too many artifacts from mad mages!"
"Mad mages?"
"Lord Gonadaltes! I always knew Lord Gonadaltes would cause an accident someday!"
Living with danger was part of being a mage, and Alsicle was one who would take risks for results, but even he thought the Skeleton Principal was a bit extreme. He'd always suspected that suspicious and sinister artifacts like Lee Han's Behemoth necklace or the Bracelet of Ten Thousand Demons might someday turn on their owners.
"That bracelet is suspicious. Just look at how much evil energy is swirling around it!"
"Ti...time magic."
"What did you say, Wardanaz? What??"
"That pocket watch...it had time magic cast on it...it just accelerated..."
"!!!"
Alsicle immediately understood Lee Han's meaning.
Time magic!
Its rarity was astonishing, and the fact that such magic was cast on an artifact was equally shocking, but that wasn't important right now.
Just as powerful enhancement magic brought various side effects, so too did time magic.
It isolated the caster's surrounding world from the external one and twisted the timeline, so of course there would be a rebound when the magic ended. Even for very brief time magic, without proper preparation, one's body could be torn apart.
"Bring recovery potions!"
"You're the one who said the bracelet was suspicious!"
Gainando shouted angrily, his eyes already looking half-mad.
If he'd been wrong once and was wrong again, he might end up killing Lee Han outright.
"People can be wrong! Aren't you going to bring them quickly?!"
"Here!"
"Mana recovery potions too! Call that demon...no, golem? Have the golem bring all the healing potions from the mansion!"
"Mana recovery potions too?!"
"Don't talk back! You brats who don't even know what time magic is!"
Alsicle laid Lee Han down and shouted.
The rebound from time magic wasn't just about the physical burden of compressed time rushing back in.
As the isolated world collided with the external one, the mana inside the mage was going berserk like mad.
Alsicle knew all too well that nothing was more dangerous than a mage losing control of their own mana. 'At best, it's mana exhaustion—at worst, an explosion!' Drenched in cold sweat, Alsicle tightly gripped his staff, well aware of Lee Han's mana capacity.
"Wardanaz. Are you listening? Starting now, your mana needs to—"
"Phew. I'm better now. Thank you."
"......"
"......"
As Lee Han abruptly sat up from where he'd been lying, Alsicle felt the urge to grab this genius by the collar.
* * *
Still, just to be safe, Alsicle began a thorough examination.
"Are you really sure there's nothing unusual?"
"Just a bit of muscle soreness..."
Alsicle squeezed his eyes shut.
Too many eyes were watching here. He couldn't afford to be known among Imperial mages as "Alsicle the Junior Envier" or "Alsicle the Collar-Grabber."
"That doesn't count as unusual..."
"How is that not unusual?!"
Gainando flared up and shouted.
Between doubting the bracelet earlier and now, he was starting to question whether this mage could even be trusted.
"Lee Han. You didn't hear earlier, did you? Lord Pengerin said your bracelet looked suspicious! And then immediately took it back!"
Alsicle summoned a snowman and ordered it to attack Gainando, who screamed as he was chased out of the mansion.
After barely regaining his composure, the penguin beastman mage took a deep breath and spoke.
"Well... I suppose muscle soreness could be considered unusual. It's probably the rebound from time magic."
"Ah. Like how some enhancement magic skips the physical protection process and causes pain?"
"Exactly. Though this is a far higher-tier magic, the principle isn't that different."
"Still, the rebound wasn't as severe as I expected. The time magic I read about in magic tomes seemed much more dangerous."
"......"
Without a word, Alsicle stood up, opened the mansion door, and stepped outside.
Then he pelted Gainando—who had destroyed the snowman—with a barrage of snowballs.
When Alsicle returned after venting his anger, his expression was noticeably calmer.
"It is much more dangerous. In my opinion, your rebound wasn't severe for three reasons. First, the duration was short and the intensity wasn't extreme. Second, you've trained your body to a level comparable to a decent knight. Third—and most importantly—you have an absurd amount of mana."
"So it ended at this level because the magic duration was short and the intensity wasn't extreme."
"...Hey, forget the first and second reasons. From what I can see, the third is the biggest factor."
"?!"
Annoyed by his junior's nonsense, Alsicle spoke bluntly.
"Look. See this snowflake here? If you close the window and then open it, the snowflake immediately blows away in the wind. But this big table? It stays put. You're the table. Got it?"
"Yes. But why are you angr—"
"I'm not angry!"
At Alsicle's outburst, Yoner and Nilia whispered to each other.
"It's because of Gainando."
"Right? He must've taken it personally after being wrong earlier."
"......"
Realizing further conversation would only bruise his pride, Alsicle changed the subject.
"More importantly, you bought this artifact in the village? And from a secondhand shop selling cheap goods at that?"
"Yes. I think Lord Valdororn might have known and recommended it..."
Lee Han explained how Valdororn, who lived in the village near the school, had recommended this pocket watch.
Alsicle listened with interest.
"That makes sense."
"Should I send a letter to ask what he meant by it?"
"Probably pointless. Even I wouldn't answer. If I'd dropped a lesson for a junior, only for them to ask for the solution instead of figuring it out themselves, I'd find it downright disrespectful."
'Why do mages have to be like this?' Lee Han thought to himself, but he couldn't deny Alsicle had a point.
"If someone went to the trouble of recommending it with hidden meaning, how lazy would it look if you didn't even try to figure it out yourself and just asked outright?"
"And I think I know what the meaning was. Since it's an Artifact with time magic, it must mean you should study time magic."
"Isn't that reading too much into it? Expecting a student who's barely finished first year to study time magic?"
"Hmm. You're right, Wardanaz. For a first-year to attempt domain mastery would be impossible. Wouldn't you agree?"
"...You're not actually angry, are you?"
"I said I'm not angry."
Lee Han resolved to put extra care into preparing sardines for dinner tonight.
"More than that, I'm curious who made this Artifact. You said it activated when you touched the exhaustion device? It must have been made by a particularly eccentric mage."
Most Artifacts were made to clearly announce, 'I am an Artifact!'
If someone unknowingly touched one and accidentally triggered magic, the caster could be seriously harmed.
But this pocket watch felt deliberately malicious and perverse.
Outwardly, it appeared to be an ordinary object with no magic, but upon deeper inspection, its secrets were revealed.
And those secrets contained magic that could deal a heavy blow to the caster!
Such Artifacts were commonly referred to as cursed Artifacts in the world.
'That's definitely accurate.' Lee Han agreed with Alsicle's assessment.
A trap-style Artifact like this...
"Could it have been made by the Headmaster? It was from an antique shop near the school, and there can't be many people who'd handle something like this."
"I don't want to blame every misfortune on Headmaster Gonadaltes, but honestly, it's suspicious. There aren't many at Einrogard who can use time magic. Headmaster Gonadaltes, Professor Garcia..."
"Ah, I think I've heard of the professor."
Lee Han nodded.
He'd once heard that Professor Garcia's original field of study was spacetime magic.
No wonder he was the freak who'd taken courses from every school at Einrogard.
'Maybe the professor was a bit unhinged in his youth too. How could anyone take courses from every school?'
Though Lee Han had been dragged into it against his will, Professor Garcia had chosen it himself, hadn't he?
No matter how he thought about it, only a madman would do such a thing.
"Bagrak too."
"Eh, Professor Bagrak can use time magic too?"
"But it's probably not Bagrak. He only uses it in condensed forms for combat."
"No, it's possible Professor Bagrak made it and placed it outside. Maybe in anticipation of me finding it someday."
"...Did Bagrak do something to you?"
Alsicle was utterly bewildered by Lee Han suspecting Professor Voladi even more than the Skeleton Principal.
Even his reasoning sounded like insane conspiracy theories.
"Wait. I think this is open."
Though the pocket watch had no lid—just glass covering the hands—the back now appeared to be open.
Since the back had originally been seamless, it must have opened when the magic activated. Lee Han carefully opened it further.
Congratulations, foolish and ignorant junior. If you're reading this, you must have experienced the great magic.
Master the spell engraved in this watch, then come find me. I shall impart the proper secrets to you!
- A Great Senior
'Could it be Headmaster Gonadaltes?' Alsicle tilted his head in thought.
Judging by the message, it seemed to be an Einrogard student. That would take the Skeleton Principal off the suspect list.
Unless... the Headmaster was cunningly pretending to be an Einrogard senior?
"Hmm. Could it still be Professor Bagrak?"
"...Wardanaz. I'm not exactly close with Bagrak, but I swear on my name—Bagrak isn't the type to do something like this."