Robert looked around him.
"Please, save me..."
He had killed most of the necromancers, but a few remained.
Those who didn't resist, trembling with fear.
Robert did not kill those who did not resist.
There was no need to kill those who had already lost the will to fight.
He approached one of the women.
"Please... spare my life..."
"Have you been in contact with Perrian Astria?"
"What?"
Perrian had returned to the capital, but he wouldn't just leave this place alone.
He intended to make sure the laboratory was running as usual.
"Are you in contact or not?"
As Robert repeated the question, the woman in front of him nodded her head up and down.
"Yes, yes! We have been in constant contact!"
"Who was in charge of that role?"
"That... that person over there..."
Robert looked where she was pointing.
It was the man he had just killed.
He used to be in charge here, but now he was in no state to rise again.
Robert sighed.
"Then there's no choice. You'll take over the communication."
"Me?"
"Yes, Perrian must believe that everything here is still running normally. Can you do that?"
"I'll do it!"
"Also, clean up everything here. Release all the people you've captured, and burn all the experiment records."
"The experiment records...!"
"Don't like it?"
Robert looked at her with a menacing gaze.
"I'll do it!"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Good. And don't think about escaping from here. The moment you try to leave, you'll die."
"Understood!"
Robert said this and moved on.
'No one will come to check this place other than Perrian.'
Unless Perrian was insane, he wouldn't have informed his associates about such an incident.
If someone mentioned they were harboring a necromancer, they would be arrested immediately.
So as long as they exchanged letters properly, there was no way to know the state of this place.
As Robert stepped outside.
A woman was waiting for him.
"Hello?"
The woman, her eyes covered with black cloth.
She was the saint, Haruna.
"Why are you here?"
Robert narrowed his eyes at Haruna.
"It would be inappropriate to go inside, wouldn't it? Even if I can't see the brutal scene, I can guess what's happening from the sounds and smells."
Haruna smiled and tapped her covered eyes.
"That's not what I'm asking."
"Just a joke~. It's a bit awkward if you react like that."
Robert furrowed his brow.
"Drop the tasteless jokes. Why are you here? There's even less reason for a saint to be here alone."
"I've been traveling alone these days. Given the situation, it's too dangerous for the temple people."
"The current situation?"
"Aryandor. He must be grinding his teeth thinking about me."
The temple had become corrupt.
Aryandor, the leader of the rebels, could go as far as take the life of the saint if the temple was paid enough.
Robert nodded in understanding.
"Alright, being alone is one thing. But why are you here?"
"Well... I came to tell you some stories about the past and the future, Robert."
"To me?"
"About Levian and Rudy. I'll tell you their stories. And then."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Haruna smiled.
"After you've heard everything, you can write the current story."
As soon as the study was somewhat organized, I dressed appropriately and boarded the carriage.
"Head to the Mayer family."
Normally, when visiting another family, it's polite to inform them in advance.
But there was an issue with following that procedure.
'There was a promise I made with Count Mayer in the past, wasn't there?'
Something Perrian had said.
That I, in the past, had promised to marry Karen.
Count Mayer had mentioned it to Perrian because of that promise.
My head began to throb.
Although it was a story from my childhood, noble marriages often involve engagements from a young age, so it wasn't something to be dismissed lightly.
Therefore, I had to hurry to the Mayer household.
If I waited, Perrian might proceed with the wedding.
From Perrian's perspective, it would be more advantageous to marry someone from the Mayer family rather than someone close to me.
So I had to reach an agreement with the Mayer family before Perrian could proceed without anyone knowing.
"Young master Rudy, we have arrived."
With the coachman's words, I stepped out of the carriage.
Then Count Mayer rushed out to the front of the carriage.
"Young master Rudy? What brings you here..."
The robust middle-aged Count Mayer, though charismatic, wore a bewildered expression.
"Count Mayer, good to see you. I apologize for visiting without notice. I came to discuss something important."
"Something to discuss?"
"About a marriage proposal."
As I said this, Count Mayer's expression hardened.
"Would you come inside? I don’t have anything prepared, but let’s have a cup of tea."
"Yes, thank you."
I followed Count Mayer into the mansion.
"About the wedding... What did you come to discuss?"
I closed my eyes for a moment and then looked at Count Mayer.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"I want to cancel this marriage engagement."
"...The engagement?"
Count Mayer's eyes widened.
"Is there... a problem? With our Mayer family... or, perhaps Karen..."
His voice was full of panic.
Usually, canceling an engagement implies a significant issue with the other party.
I understood why Count Mayer was so alarmed.
"There's no problem with the Mayer family or Karen."
In fact, in this situation, I was the problematic one.
Count Mayer had only proceeded with an existing engagement, and I was trying to stop it.
"Then how about postponing the engagement for a while?"
"I think it would be better to cancel it. For Karen's sake, and for the Mayer family's... Oh, but that's not to say I intend to snub the Mayer family.
I am well aware of how earnestly you've been helping me."
"That's not the reason."
"What?"
"Our Karen is very fond of you, Young master Rudy. It seemed she had made up her mind after seeing you this time. That's why we wanted to proceed with the engagement again."
I wondered if I should not have acted in front of Karen.
It seemed my poor acting had come back to haunt me.
This made me think that people say not to lie for a reason.
"So, please reconsider canceling the wedding. This is not as the head of the Mayer family, but as a father asking you."
I returned to my family home and stared at the ceiling.
Upon reflection, time would solve this problem.
Karen was fond of the original Rudy Astria, not me.
The situation arose because I had acted in front of her; now, I just needed to stop acting.
So, I made a separate agreement with Count Mayer.
When Karen gave up on me, that's when we would cancel the engagement.
After all, time would take care of it.
When I met Karen, I would just need to show her the real me.
"Well, that issue is somewhat resolved, and now..."
What remained was to train in spatial magic.
I had gained some understanding of spatial magic.
I grasped the framework of space and could see new realms.
Yet, I lacked the ability to apply it.
The spatial magic I knew involved things like spatial slicing or teleportation.
Applying spatial magic meant influencing this framework.
Spatial slicing could be predicted as cutting through this framework.
But how does teleportation work? That was my biggest question.
In fact, teleportation and time magic didn't seem very different.
The concept of 'transferring' was the same in both.
I slowly recalled my fight with Aryandor.
Aryandor used time magic, and his form disappeared.
This concept of 'disappearing' was the issue.
Typically, in teleportation magic, the form doesn't disappear.
One might be visually deceived into thinking it has disappeared, but in a situation where one is aware of spatial magic, that shouldn't happen.
So what had Aryandor done to cause such an event?
No, let's not look too far ahead.
I need to understand the basics first.
Spatial magic is not a magic that occurs in the physical world.
It's magic that influences an invisible realm.
I mustn't forget that aspect.
"So spatial slicing is..."
Literally magic that slices through space? But I couldn't think of a way to slice through space.
I could only perceive space but did not know how to influence it.
"I wonder if I should visit my uncle..."
Then a fact suddenly struck me.
Perrian.
Perrian was in this mansion.
If there was someone here who could teach me spatial magic, there was no need to seek out my uncle.
Moreover, Perrian was someone who could actually use spatial magic.
He could show me examples, making him a better teacher than my uncle.
With this in mind, I moved towards the office.
