Kaichen raised ducks, had a cozy yard, and yellow-leaved willow around his house. It was so unlike the cold exterior he put up for the world. He was a sentimental person with loads of emotions. The place exuded comfort and I had become so comfortable in this place. It felt like home.
I skimmed through the items in Kaichen’s cluttered lab. After some trial and error and an accusatory gaze from Kaichen, I managed to clean up a spot to sit on. I rolled up the parchment and secured it with a string, which I placed on a desk, and then sat down on the empty spot I had just created.
Whenever I came in here, I would sit on the sofa after cleaning it or by the window, but today, these spots were full of things. It meant Kaichen was really busy. Kaichen didn’t say a word to me all this while but raised an eyebrow when he saw me casually sitting on the floor. He seemed to be familiar with my easygoing behavior by now.
“It wasn’t a coincidence that you were chosen as the medium of time magic that manifested in Acrab.”
“Hmm. As expected, right?”
“Do you remember anything? You must have come in contact with the magician.”
Do you think I have never thought about that before? I sighed.
“His Highness said he has found traces of a member of the Momalhaut visiting Acrab,” he continued, “You can say you are a victim of forbidden magic now, but since you have encountered Momalhaut, you can’t escape the suspicion that you might be on their side.”
“I don’t even remember!”
“Just because you don’t remember it doesn’t erase whatever you might have done in your past.”
“That’s true, but… I don’t think I would ever be conspiring with the Momalhaut.” Even in the original novel, Dalia hadn’t consorted with the Momalhaut. Dalia had died even before the third chapter. Granted Dalia was a drunken countess who wasted her life, but consorting with Momalhaut was even beneath her.
Ugh… I shouldn’t have been frugal with money and should have bought and read everything! I regretted reading the novel for leisure and skipping chapters.
“The focal point between you and Momalhaut is Acrab. Keep in mind that you can’t prove anything right now. And another important thing is that the magic connection with the medium and the definition of magic is completely dependent of you.”
“Me? I know that my mental strength might have been something that maintained the magic but…….”
“Not much about the most dangerous forbidden magic – time magic – has been revealed. Have you ever thought about it? Why was Acrab enchanted by the time magic that repeats one day out of countless days? Why only time magic?”
“That’s… um…”
“Time magic varies depending on the medium. This is the connection between the medium and time magic.”
“Magic was maintained based on my mental strength. Are you saying that I created the source of magic that repeats the day?”
“That’s right,” Kaichen replied calmly. The notebook he was holding was already tattered with how many times he had looked through it. It was almost new two months ago. While nursing and treating me, he had found the time to study on his research until his notebook was this worn out.
Right now, rather than his dedication and effort, I was more shocked that I had created the time magic. No, I corrected myself, it was Dalia. It was created by Dalia. Damn you Dalia! The bad choices of Dalia would always haunt me. Dalia… me. I had created hell on my own.
“But… how is that possible? Why on earth…,” I mumbled.
“As soon as the medium is selected and the magic is activated, the magic changes form according to medium’s desire. Forbidden magic is tricky and takes a lot of mana, but what’s more important is the medium.”
“Medium’s desire?”
“That’s why we usually choose those with desperate desires as the medium. You… what did you desire back then?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what I wanted….” I was so frustrated. I had no memory. Over a period of 100 years, I had cursed the magician who created the time magic a thousand times.
Dalia, who lost her mind. Dalia, who gave up everything. Dalia, a drunkard. Surely, she was in a tight spot. She was suddenly betrayed by a neighboring count who was close to her parents. Her parents then died suddenly and the situation of her land and estate was deteriorating. Because of the burden and responsibility, she turned to alcohol to cope. That might have been an opportunity for the Momalhaut.
“I don’t remember, but maybe… I might have wished for no tomorrow.” If the time magic became attuned to the Medium’s desire, then this made sense.
Dalia didn’t want tomorrow to come and having to deal with everything again. But why? Why Dalia? Only thing that was apparent was that Dalia was the head of Acrab. And Dalia was already at the edge with depression. She had turned to alcohol, but it wasn’t enough. She had no one she could rely on. I felt like I understood why she might have desired something like that. And because of it, she must have seemed like a good bait for Momalhaut.
“Then, Teacher… is it me who set the characteristics of time magic, and is it because of me that I spent a hundred years in it?”
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