"Spatial magic?"
Perrian narrowed his brows.
"Yes, could you please teach me spatial magic?"
"Didn't I tell you to learn from Ian?"
"But, Ian is currently with the Royal army, isn't he? It's impossible."
At this, Perrian crossed his legs and glared at me.
"So, what do you expect me to do?"
"Excuse me?"
"Persuading Ian is a trial in itself, and it's something you should strive for. How can it be a trial if you come to me and ask for a solution?"
That made no sense.
"I'm merely asking for the assurance of basic educational conditions. Are you saying I should consider this my trial and overcome it?"
"Yes. Competition has always been different from the start. Trials vary from person to person. You just happened to face your trial at the beginning."
"But."
"Besides, if I help you here, wouldn't that contradict the fairness you mentioned?"
"You didn't teach me spatial magic."
"That's in the past. Currently, I'm offering no help at all."
I sighed deeply.
"Understood. I'll take my leave now."
I had much to say, but I held back any further words.
Continuing the conversation was pointless anyway.
Dialogue should be with someone who understands.
Speaking more in the face of non-understanding only hurts my own mouth.
Leaving Perrian's office, I clicked my tongue.
"What kind of tasks could he possibly have..."
The documents heading to Perrian were difficult to understand since he personally handled them.
Still, I guessed they might be related to necromancy.
That reminded me, what was Professor Robert doing?
If I get a chance, I should personally visit the Astria territory, where I heard they had necromancers.
Now seemed like the perfect opportunity.
Perrian was in the capital, and the rebels would be busy with their own affairs.
"It's unlikely that the professor would miss such an opportunity."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Still, I couldn't help but wonder.
If Robert was occupied with something else, he might not notice.
I smirked and headed to the library.
I prepared a letter, detailing the current state of the Astria family and the rebels.
Then, I handed it to a maid.
"Send this to the academy as soon as day breaks."
It was my form of revenge.
"And try to find out about the documents my father is handling."
"Are you referring to Lord Perrian...?"
"No need to force it. Don't touch things like letters. Just try to find out from the trash or while cleaning."
It was clear that the content would be about necromancy, but I intended to uncover other clues as well.
His documents couldn't be solely about necromancy.
There must be a plan starting with necromancy.
It was necessary to find out about the people involved in the plan and its contents.
I gritted my teeth and looked up.
"Let them have a taste of their own medicine."
After finishing my tasks, I resumed studying spatial magic.
Studying, in this context, meant simply perceiving the entire space and experimenting with various things.
I tried infusing mana into the space I perceived and fumbling to touch it directly.
However, no solution emerged.
How could I influence the space?
Our mana exists in the real world.
The space I was perceiving wasn't the real world.
I stared blankly into space for a few minutes.
"…Huh?"
Suddenly, I felt a slight twist in the space.
I stood up, sensing this distortion.
"What's this?"
I thought Perrian might be using spatial magic, but the magic wasn't occurring at the Astria mansion.
"In the sky?"
I felt the magic high above in the sky.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})But it wasn't a strong presence.
A slight twist in space.
There were only two things I knew that could influence space: spatial magic and time magic.
Spatial magic naturally affects space, and when Aryandor used time magic, it also caused a twist in space.
So, it was one of these two options.
But among those who knew spatial magic, none could fly through the sky.
Ian and Perrian, having methods of transportation using spatial magic, had no need to learn magic to fly.
Besides, Perrian was currently in the mansion.
Ian's whereabouts were unknown, but it seemed unlikely he was flying in the sky.
I narrowed down the possibilities, focusing on the distortion.
The distortion didn't stay still.
It moved rapidly.
Eventually, the distortion circled in the air before descending.
It stopped within the Royal palace.
And then the distortion…
"Disappeared?"
It vanished without a trace.
Puzzled by this strange movement, I tilted my head.
Had I sensed it wrong?
Or, was this a common occurrence?
No one in the Royal palace knew time or spatial magic.
Perrian was with me, and Ian was at the Royal army's base near the capital.
Could it be Aryandor?
Was Aryandor inside the Royal palace?
If so, it wasn't something to be taken lightly.
"The Royal palace…"
I recalled what the emperor had said last time.
I could visit the palace to see Rie.
If Aryandor had infiltrated near the palace, Rie could be in danger.
So, it seemed wise to warn Rie during a brief visit to the palace.
"I should stop by tomorrow."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Muttering to myself, I surveyed the space again.
For several minutes, I looked around, but no change occurred in the space.
"What in the world is going on?"
The next day.
I woke up in the morning and headed straight to the Royal palace.
Upon arriving at the palace gates.
"Why have you come to visit me first?"
Rie greeted me with a playful scolding.
"I just wanted to see your face, check if you're doing well."
"...Did you come to ask for another favor?"
"It's not like I always come asking for favors."
"Hmm~."
She seemed to grumble a bit, but her face showed that she was pleased to see me.
"So... are you going to stay with me today?"
"That's fine. I don’t have any other plans."
I planned to walk around the palace with Rie.
There might still be traces of yesterday's event.
Hearing my words, a smile formed on Rie’s lips.
"Rie, I haven’t eaten yet."
I said, holding my stomach, and Rie chuckled.
"Alright. Let's have something to eat then..."
"Senior~~~!"
As Rie and I were about to go to the dining area, Yuni ran towards us from a distance.
"Oh, Yuni..."
As I raised my hand to greet her, Rie stepped forward.
"Yuni? Didn't you say you were busy these days? You must have a lot to study, and there's a lot to learn while Professor Gracie is at the palace, right?"
Rie narrowed her eyes and fired off questions like a machine gun.
Yuni gave Rie a sly look and smiled.
"Being busy usually means being busy on normal days. I can spare a moment, can't I?"
"But why spare that time now?"
"Because someone dear has come?"
...Weren't they close?
Surprised by their sudden quarrel, I tilted my head.
Why is Rie reacting so sensitively all of a sudden?
"Did something happen between you two?"
"Nothing happened~."
"Nothing happened."
Yuni and Rie said simultaneously.
Their words only made me more suspicious.
What had they been doing in the palace?
While I pondered, Rie pulled at my sleeve.
"Forget that, you said you were hungry. Let's go eat."
"Are you going to eat, senior?"
"Yes, yes."
"Yuni, you’ve eaten already, right? Maybe you should wait in your room?"
"No, I'll just watch you eat for a bit."
Both of them were quite headstrong.
Seeing them face off like that made me sweat.
"Why are they acting like this..."
"It's none of your business. Let's just go eat. You said you were hungry."
I was dragged along by Rie's hand.
As we neared the dining hall, I saw a man approaching from a distance.
"...Ian?"
"Hmm?"
Rie turned her head towards where Ian was upon hearing my words.
"...Why are you here?"
"Oh, there was a meeting related to the Royal army last night. Seems like he's heading back after an all-night meeting?"
A meeting at the palace all night?
Then what about the magic that occurred yesterday?
Ian, seemingly not noticing me, walked away into the distance.
"Anyway... it seems the meeting ended a while ago... Never mind. Let's go eat."
"...Okay, understood."
I followed Ian with my eyes, then let Rie lead me by the hand into the dining hall.
'It was definitely around here.'
Hours had passed since the meeting ended.
Yet Ian hadn’t left but was still roaming the palace grounds.
He had certainly felt a strange current nearby.
'What was that energy, and why was it felt inside the palace?'
The meeting had somewhat concluded and everyone was resting when a strange energy was perceived in the palace.
A distortion in space.
For Ian, it was the first time feeling such an energy.
'Such a sensation doesn't happen with spatial magic.'
Then there was only one explanation.
Time magic.
The only methods to influence the spatial realm are through space and time.
Thus, it was reasonable to assume that time magic had occurred.
But why here?
Why time magic in this place?
Ian looked around.
This area was inside the palace, a location where lower nobility couldn't enter.
'Aryandor? No, that doesn't make sense.'
Yesterday, there was a significant meeting about the Royal army at the palace.
McDowell and Cromwell were there, along with the most powerful figures of the empire.
Infiltrating such a situation would be like suicide.
'Another time magic user?'
This had also come up in the recent meeting.
Who taught Aryandor time magic?
As the situation eased, people began to consider these possibilities.
But the occurrence of time magic inside the palace meant another time magic user was inside.
'A traitor...'
But that seemed too strange.
If the empire's internal information had been continuously leaked, the rebels would have waited until good information came out before acting.
However, the rebels moved without regard for such things.
'What on earth...?'
No matter how much he pondered, the answer did not come.
His concerns only deepened.
