"What evidence do you have to make such a claim?"
"The spirit of Ophillius."
At this, Robert pulled out a piece of paper.
On it was a drawing of a pocket watch.
"Where is this now?"
"You suddenly show me a drawing of a pocket watch and ask me this?"
"Isn't this the watch carried by the Ophillius family heads? The older nobles might know, but I'll refrain from saying more."
Robert slammed his hand on the desk, pointing to the watch.
"But where is this watch now?"
Ophillius couldn't bring himself to speak.
As Ophillius remained silent, Robert spoke up.
"That watch, Aryandor has it, doesn't he?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Then Robert lifted the paper with the pocket watch drawn on it.
"Principal McDowell would know. Shall we go together?"
"McDowell?"
Robert let out a small laugh.
"Have you ever seen Principal McDowell's flash magic?"
"I haven't seen it..."
"That's why Aryandor recorded the flash magic in the pocket watch. He's not even from the Ophillius family, but he seems quite diligent in his records. Haha."
The spirit of Ophillius.
It wasn't something like a character trait passed down through blood.
It was the past recorded through time magic and all the information – this was the true spirit of Ophillius.
A family that remembered thousands, tens of thousands of past events and responded to everything.
That was the Ophillius family.
"You know things you shouldn't. How much do you know, and who told you?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Robert couldn't have witnessed the fight between McDowell and Aryandor.
If Robert had been there, McDowell wouldn't have lost his arm.
Yet, he knew Aryandor had used the pocket watch.
To this, Robert calmly replied.
"I heard it from the saint."
"What is the saint thinking? Telling you such a story means..."
"I don't know what she is thinking. I just heard the story."
"Huh..."
Ophillius sighed and sat down.
"So, you know the entire past?"
"Yes."
"You came to kill me?"
"That's not it."
Ophillius looked puzzled.
"Didn't you say you heard about the past?"
"Yes."
"That it was me who killed your son and the wife of the head elementalist?"
"That's correct."
Ophillius wore a look of defeat at Robert's words.
"I don't understand the saint's thoughts, nor yours."
"If I were to follow my heart, I'd pierce through your neck right now. You're the one who caused my son's death. But..."
Robert smiled sadly.
"I have people around me who need to continue moving forward into the future. You know what would happen if I killed you here."
"Is it because Aryandor would become stronger?"
Time and spatial magic.
This continuation revealed a significant downside to both time and spatial magic.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})The reason only a few had monopolized these powers wasn't due to a desire for exclusivity.
The more people who shared these powers, the weaker they became.
If only one person used these abilities, they could wield their original strength, but as more people did, each individual's power diminished.
Therefore, Robert couldn't kill Ophillius.
If Ophillius were to die, Aryandor's monopolization of time magic might become unmanageable.
Although it was somewhat possible to counteract now, without Ophillius, stopping Aryandor could be impossible.
"I choose the future over my revenge," Robert declared.
"Why have you come here then?" asked Ophillius.
"I have a request," Robert replied.
"A request?"
"Survive. Survive until everything is over. If you think you must atone to me and others, forget about your dignity and just live."
Ophillius looked at Robert incredulously.
"Is that a request you make to your enemy?"
"You needn't worry about that."
Robert turned and walked towards the window.
Ophillius, who knew thousands of futures through time magic, couldn't fathom what Robert was thinking.
"Robert, I may not know what's on your mind, but let me give you one piece of advice as someone who handles time," Ophillius spoke.
Robert turned his head.
"Don't try to defy the future. There are countless possibilities, but most are already determined. If you live only for the future, the present will disappear."
Even though Rudy could use time magic, he couldn't see the future anymore due to the intervention from another dimension.
Yet, he knew the future wouldn't change much.
New interventions might alter it, but they couldn't change the entire future.
At best, it would only change one person's fate.
"I know whom you trust, but an individual can't change the whole," Ophillius advised.
"It's okay,"
Robert replied nonchalantly, turning his head away.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"He's not just an individual."
With that, Robert leapt out of the window.
I returned to the mansion, deep in thought.
"A time wizard among the empire's key figures..."
My list of tasks had grown.
Finding a hidden time wizard was a daunting addition to dealing with spatial magic.
The problem was that this time wizard didn't seem to be aiding the rebels.
'If that person was really helping the rebels, wouldn't they have caused chaos during Aryandor's attack? Or perhaps led the rebels to a favorable battle?'
I agreed with Rie's speculation.
Despite everything, the individual's dangerous nature remained unchanged.
Regardless of intent, this person had raised Aryandor and even used time magic in the Royal palace.
It was imperative to understand who this person was and their intentions.
I looked at the list of people who were present when the time magic occurred.
The Empire's head wizard, head elementalist, the Principal and Vice-Principal of Libereion Academy, the Prime Minister, and others with influence in the Empire were all gathered there.
Of course, Perrian was not included.
Being out of politics for a long time, Perrian knew little about the current state of affairs and seemed to have been excluded.
Among them, those who might have the ability to use time magic were the Empire's head wizard and the Prime Minister, Jason Ophillius.
They were old enough to have raised Aryandor and were unknown to me in detail.
Yet, these two were known for their loyalty to the Empire.
This was especially true for Prime Minister Ophillius, and the head wizard had long served the Emperor at the wizard Tower.
"But I can't just suddenly go looking for the head wizard or the Prime Minister..."
Both were extremely busy individuals.
Even if they had dozens of bodies, meeting me seemed unlikely.
"…Wait a minute."
Suddenly, Luna came to mind.
She was currently in the Royal wizard Tower.
With Luna, maybe I could meet the head wizard?
As I contemplated this and prepared to act, a sense of self-reproach hit me.
First Rie, now Luna.
It felt like I was going on a tour, constantly seeking help.
In that state, I clenched my fist.
"…I can repay it twice over later."
With a gambler's mindset, determined to pay back what I owed, I headed towards Luna.
"Rudy!!"
As I waited in front of the Royal wizard Tower, Luna burst out of the entrance.
I hadn't contacted her directly but asked the guards to call her, so she came out herself.
"Luna, sorry for calling you out of the blue."
"Ehehe, no, I was free anyway. Seeing Rudy's face makes me happier!"
Luna smiled brightly at me.
"Yes, you can go in now," the guard said, and we entered the wizard Tower.
"I heard Astina was in danger. Rudy, you got hurt trying to save her, are you okay now?"
"Yeah, I received healing magic right away, so I'm fine now. How have you been, Luna?"
"Hmm! I made my own magical tool and submitted a paper! I'm the first in the wizard Tower to write a paper so quickly after joining!"
"Wow!"
Luna had always been adept at paperwork since our Academy days.
With her talent in magic circles, it seemed she had achieved such a feat.
"What kind of magical tool did you make?"
"A device to bind wizards! There was already an existing device, but I made the magic circuit more efficient!"
"More efficient?"
"Yes, I made it so that even with lower-quality manastones than the ones originally used, it could achieve the same efficiency!"
Luna rummaged through her bag and pulled out two small rings.
The rings resembled handcuffs and were designed to bind a person's arms.
"So, if you wear these handcuffs, you can't use mana?"
"Yes! Let me show you."
Luna, with a confident attitude, slipped the handcuffs onto her own arms.
Then, she attempted to manipulate mana.
I read the flow of mana and tilted my head in confusion.
"The mana is still flowing?"
"Yes, but that's okay. It prevents the use of magic."
Luna explained and then shouted an incantation.
"Fireball!"
Mana flowed towards Luna's hand.
Fizz─
The mana trying to escape Luna fizzled out disappointingly.
"In the past, mana flow itself was blocked to prevent the use of magic, but what I made disrupts the conversion of mana into magic!"
Although I didn't understand exactly how she modified it, it was clear that she had achieved something remarkable.
Luna had grown in her own way. She had been outstanding during our Academy days, but now she was influencing the entire Empire.
A smile formed on my face seeing Luna's progress.
"That's impressive."
Luna, perhaps embarrassed by my praise, bowed her head and scratched her hair.
"But how do we unlock this now?"
The sight of Luna scratching her head with the handcuffs on felt somewhat odd.
There must be a way to unlock them.
I hadn't seen anything like a keyhole when I looked earlier.
"Oh, there's a separate unlocking spell for that..."
Luna said this while looking at the handcuffs.
The person wearing the handcuffs was Luna, and the one who knew the unlocking spell was also Luna.
"Ah..."
Luna stared blankly at the handcuffs for a few seconds, then slowly raised her head, making a pitiful face at me.
"Ru, Rudy... Can you unlock this for me..."
"..."
Luna's skills might have changed, but her personality was still the same.
