Episode 651
Episode 651
"Wow, what a kind village this is!"
Priestess Siana exclaimed in admiration.
The other priests of the order also seemed to agree, looking equally amazed.
It was rare to find villagers who went to such lengths for travelers from outside.
"This would be a wonderful place to build a temple."
"I agree, Priestess Siana."
Though they were supposed to spread their faith equally everywhere, it was only natural to feel a little more joy when the village itself was warm and kind.
-Thief! The thief got away!!
-Catch him!! If we don't catch him today, the family will send people!!
-Everyone, come out quickly! The priests are outside! We need to catch him before they come in! Do you all want this village to be known as a place travelers should avoid in the Empire?!
-Why did it have to be today! Out of all the peaceful days we've had!
"...??!"
* * *
For the sake of his junior who kept grumbling about giving up, Alsicle stepped in to explain the basics of time magic.
Though it wasn't his specialty, given how notoriously difficult the magic was, he still knew a fair amount.
"Wardanaz. No matter what magic it is, it always starts with detection or perception."
"Right."
Lee Han nodded.
Novice mages always dreamed of dropping meteors with a flick of their fingers or knocking out professors—no, enemies—with a single whistle, but in reality, even exceptional mages found such feats nearly impossible to demonstrate.
Magic always began with the ordinary and fundamental.
For elemental magic, it started with sensing the elements.
For illusion magic, it began with seeing illusions.
For healing magic, it commenced with recognizing illnesses.
Similarly, spacetime magic also started with detection or perception.
"<Temporal Perception> or <Spatial Perception>. Actually, even mages who don't specialize in spacetime magic often learn these two spells. They're quite useful."
"That's true. I've already learned <Spatial Perception>."
"......"
Alsicle stared at Lee Han in shock.
This wasn't something he expected from a student who had just finished their first year.
"You've learned <Spatial Perception>? How on earth did that happen?"
<Spatial Perception>, which precisely maps the space around a mage into their mind, was a 1st Circle spell, but its difficulty surpassed that of most 2nd Circle spells.
Occasionally, there were spells like this—bizarrely difficult for their circle.
Naturally, such spells weren't taught at the 1st Circle level but were reserved for the 3rd Circle...
"A senior taught it to me."
"I don't know who they are, but you'd be better off not associating with that kind of person."
Alsicle grimaced.
Balpatan of the Moradi family, who had reluctantly taught Lee Han <Spatial Perception> for the sake of escape, was now being treated as some kind of mad senior.
Even though Lee Han had been the one to ask for it!
"Ah, he wasn't a bad person."
"Lord Gonadaltes isn't a bad person either."
'Isn't he just bad?'
"If you know <Spatial Perception>, explaining will be easier. <Temporal Perception> is similar in nature."
<Spatial Perception>, which allows the caster to precisely map the positions of objects around them and the exact distances between them, was an invaluable spell—used by combat mages who frequently faced swift enemies to adventurers exploring ruins with spatial magic.
<Temporal Perception> was much the same.
When cast, this spell allowed the caster to accurately perceive the passage of time in seconds, minutes, and hours—without needing a clock—and measure the duration of any event down to the smallest margin of error.
This, too, was highly useful for alchemists crafting precise potions or combat mages who needed to analyze an opponent's magic.
"By the way, I've also learned <Temporal Perception>."
"You haven't learned <Spatial Perception>?"
"Nah. Never needed it."
"......"
"......"
An abrupt silence fell.
It wasn't Alsicle's fault—sometimes, gatherings of people just inexplicably turned quiet.
There are times when silence falls simultaneously because there's nothing left to say to each other.
"I really didn't learn it because I had no need for it!"
"Huh?"
"What do you mean...?"
Yoner and Nilia, who had been discussing 'what kind of clubs might exist at Einrogard,' turned their gazes toward him.
Realizing his misunderstanding belatedly, Alsicle flushed red.
"I mean, I didn't learn it because I had no use for it. I don't do battles or adventures, so..."
"I see."
"That makes sense. It's weird to learn everything like the Wodanazes do."
Unlike the two, Gainando and Eandurde stared intently at Alsicle.
Though they didn't speak, it was clear their thoughts aligned.
'Ugh. These clueless brats.'
"...Wardanaz, let's learn <Temporal Perception> too."
"Yes. I've already mastered it just now."
"......"
While the senior mage was talking, Lee Han had already grasped the incantation and mana flow Alsicle had written down and learned <Temporal Perception>.
Seeing this, Alsicle resolved that he absolutely had to leave the Wardanaz mansion within the week.
Otherwise, he might lose his mind.
'This hellish mansion...!'
"Didn't you say yesterday you couldn't learn it?"
"That's true. But you said many other mages learn <Temporal Perception> and <Spatial Perception>, right? This should be considered separately."
"......"
Alsicle felt a strong urge to slap Lee Han's mouth with a wing.
Though Alsicle himself didn't know it, this was an impulse the Skeleton Principal often felt as well.
"What's next?"
"N-next is th-that..."
"Huh?"
"Next is reading the past—that is, tracing back through time."
His pronunciation had become unclear from clenching his beak too tightly, but Alsicle regained his composure and spoke.
From this point onward, it was a specialized field of time magic that even Alsicle hadn't learned, and most other mages hadn't either.
"Let's look at this Wizard Card. Where do you think this Wizard Card was a year ago?"
"I won it from a guest who visited the mansion!"
As Gainando shouted excitedly, Alsicle tapped the Wizard Card with his staff as if praising him.
"A year ago, it was with a guest who visited the mansion, and two years ago, it was with someone else. Reading the passage of time this card has gone through is the true introduction to time magic."
Handling time was on a completely different level from summoning and manipulating an element like any other.
It required isolating and cutting off the mage's own domain to intervene separately, meaning even basic practice demanded immense difficulty.
This <Past Detection> served as foundational training for that purpose—
allowing the mage to control the flow of time left on an object as they wished.
"Now, take this card and practice reading its past..."
Whoosh!
A massive golden eagle swooped down before the mansion's window. Around its neck hung a crescent moon-shaped pendant.
"Ah! It's here!"
"What is?"
"Something I bought from the Crescent Moon Auction. You need to pay for your helmet."
"Ah, you didn't have to rush like this."
Though he said that, Lee Han couldn't help feeling slightly excited.
What kind of item had Alsicle bought for him?
Sensing his junior's anticipation, Alsicle chuckled and unwrapped the package.
"Ta-da!"
A round silver shield, about the size of a buckler, emerged from the packaging. Its antique style and patterns made it clear it was a relic from the past.
Lee Han was startled.
"Wasn't this expensive?"
"Not that expensive. Because it has many scratches, it's worn out, the design isn't trendy, there are no gems, and the effect is purely practical..."
"......"
Lee Han was at a loss for words at such brutally practical reasoning.
"But I picked it because I thought it'd still be quite useful for you. The magic on the shield is good."
"What kind of magic is on it?"
"Projectile Deceleration."
"?"
Nilia froze at Alsicle's words. <Projectile Deceleration> wasn't an exceptionally rare spell.
Of course, artifacts imbued with magic were valuable in themselves, but that only applied to items with semi-permanent enchantments.
Even now, the hunters of the Shadow Patrol regularly descended the mountain range to request enchantments from mages.
They would temporarily enchant their equipment before heading out to hunt.
Among the commonly seen spells during those times was <Projectile Deceleration>.
It was popular because it slowed down the heavy projectiles enemies threw, and above all, it wasn't particularly difficult—any decent enchantment mage could cast it.
"Wardanaz."
Nilia tugged at Lee Han's sleeve and whispered.
"From what I know, Projectile Deceleration isn't that remarkable a spell. Are you sure you weren't swindled—"
"...It's called deceleration, but it's different!"
Alsicle bristled at the juniors' reactions.
Honestly, all those from Einrogard were equally brutish and rude.
"Even if it's called deceleration, the principles vary. Most Projectile Deceleration spells use telekinesis or wind elements. But this <Silver Shield of Jalharn> decelerates projectiles using time magic."
"!"
Lee Han was startled by Alsicle's words.
Nilia, equally surprised, asked:
"Why go through such a roundabout way to block them?"
"...Mages do unnecessary things by nature. I don't know. Maybe they were bored."
Asking a mage, "Why bother using magic for that?" was practically taboo.
Fundamentally, the moment you asked that, over half of magic would become unnecessary.
And this wasn't even something Alsicle had made himself!
"I figured this shield would suit you since you'll be attending Einrogard. Plus, it'll help you get accustomed to time magic."
"Thank you, Lord Pengerin. This shield will definitely be a great help at Einrogard."
"Why aren't you mentioning getting accustomed to time magic?"
"That goes without saying. Haha."
Caught in his thoughts, Lee Han carefully stowed the silver shield. Regardless of how useful it turned out to be, it was clearly far more practical than the helmet.
"Lee Han. Lee Han."
"?"
"Give me back the card..."
"......"
Lee Han returned the <Saint Iactus> card he'd borrowed earlier for magic practice to Gainando.
Gainando immediately tucked it deep into his pocket, eyeing his surroundings warily. 'I won't let anyone take it from me!'
"We're here!"
Durgyu and Siana arrived at the family estate.
The golem that came out to greet them bowed its head before retreating to the garden.
"Wow, Lord Wardanaz. Do golems handle the work in your territory?"
"Of course."
"Truly befitting a renowned magical family of the Empire!"
Lee Han chose not to mention that demons occasionally appeared in the territory.
It wasn't particularly important anyway.
"Did anything happen on your way here?"
"The villagers were incredibly kind."
"Right. They kept giving us gifts—it was almost overwhelming."
Gainando grumbled.
"My carriage... my coachman..."
"That's not the villagers' fault, Gainando."
"Hmph. The villagers might've chased the coachman away."
"Why would they do that?"
Seeing that his friends (except one) had been properly welcomed after their long journey, Lee Han felt relieved.
At least he wouldn't feel guilty as their host.
"Now that everyone's here, how about we go on an outing to the city tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow!? We just got here today!"
Priest Siana was flustered.
"Then the day after?"
"Ah, we should greet the residents of the estate, visit the surrounding villages to offer service... I think it'll take about a week..."
"......"
"......"
At Siana's words, the friends exchanged complicated glances.