His calm voice steadily recounted the past.

“At that time, a boy who was a sailor on the ship stepped forward, claiming he remembered the sea route. Of course, the captain and passengers laughed it off as nonsense, but in the foggy path where there was no hope, they had no choice but to try anything.”

And the boy gave precise directions for the ship to escape the fog.

Although the compass was spinning in circles, if a skilled navigator took the helm, they could break through even where the fog obscured their vision.

The problem was the tenacious seaweed that bound the ship, preventing it from moving.

But among the frightened crew and passengers, no one dared to approach the sea of death in that terrifying fog that could swallow someone at any moment.

The boy stepped forward again.

With a knife in hand, he requested that a small boat be launched.

He was clearly not yet twenty years old.

Sergei simply could not entrust so many lives to the boy alone.

“Let me go with you.”

Of course, Sergei, born as the second son of a duke’s family, had never done anything dangerous before.

But that didn’t mean he could shy away and cower in a moment of crisis.

Especially not while putting a boy who looked younger than him at the forefront.

“I can do it alone. This kind of thing is dangerous for you, young master. It would be better if you waited in the cabin.”

“If it’s something you can do alone, it’ll be easier with two. Don’t argue, if you can do it, so can I.”

Despite appearances, I’m not in bad shape, having learned swordsmanship as part of my education when I was young. Sergei said so.

The boy’s beautiful face brightened cheerfully.

And so, the two of them climbed down the rope ladder attached to the hull and boarded a small boat together.

The fog was so thick it blocked visibility just a few meters ahead. The seawater was as black as if it would swallow even a fingertip barely dipped in.

The seaweed was sticky, as if it would wrap around their entire bodies and drag them under the sea at any moment.

It felt like instinctive fear would sweep away reason like a wave and disappear.

“Are you alright?”

“…Yes, I’m fine.”

Still, it was fortunate that there were two of them.

Having someone within sight, within reach of one’s voice, was the greatest reassurance and comfort.

“I’m Sergei Tiser Daiern. What’s your name?”

“Joseph.”

“Joseph. That’s a good name. But I’m curious about something, may I ask? How did you know the way out?”

“Just… I memorized the route. Since I was young, I never forgot anything I saw once.”

“That’s amazing. Then you…”

The two talked about many things. Though it was just small talk.

How they ended up on the ship, how long they had been on it, where they were trying to go.

Time passed imperceptibly, shrouded in fog.

The seaweed entangling the ship was tougher than expected, and terribly tangled.

As if it were a water ghost grabbing at their legs, urging them to sink together in this cursed fog. Nevertheless, it slowly lost strength to the two boys’ knives.

Before they knew it, their hands were a mess of blood from cuts by the blades. The wounds stung as seawater entered them.

“Still, it’s good that there are two of us, right?”

“Ahaha. That’s right.”

Joseph let out a pleasant laugh at Sergei’s question.

At last, the ship was free enough to shake off the seaweed.

The two decided it was time to return to the deck.

That’s when the problem arose. The waves became ominous.

“I couldn’t tell, but the boy who was a sailor seemed to notice. That a huge wave was coming.”

The boy looked out into the distant fog once, then helped Sergei onto the rope ladder first.

However, in an instant, a tall wave rushed in and collided with the large ship.

Sergei too had to face the enormous power of the black wave before reaching the deck.

He wrapped the rope ladder around his hands and legs. He clung desperately, trying somehow to withstand the wave.

And so he was barely able to endure until the wave passed.

But by then, the small boat they had been on was gone.

“Joseph!”

The boy’s voice, swallowed by the fog and black waves, was no longer heard.

“Joseph, answer me. Joseph!”

Sergei shouted until his throat was raw.

But even after the waves calmed, not even an echo came back from the black sea.

“Fortunately, following the directions given by that boy called Joseph, the ship was able to return to its course. People who heard this news all said it was a miracle, that it was the first ship to return from the foggy path.”

Sergei’s voice sank desolately.

“But after that, we couldn’t find the boy. Even though I postponed my admission to the Academy for a year and searched every ship thoroughly…”

In the end, he had no choice but to give up. Sergei uttered those bitter final words.

“…So you say that sailor Joseph resembled me.”

“If it seemed impolite, I apologize. Of course, the resemblance is in facial features, while the hair and eye color are completely different. That child had light brown hair and clear sea-blue eyes. His age, too, I heard he was seventeen at the time, the same as Lord Joseph now, so I wondered.”

“No, it’s possible we could resemble each other. But I truly have no siblings. Perhaps a distant relative, but I’m not sure.”

“A distant relative…”

That would be a plausible story.

Distant relatives of nobles were quite common, after all. But for that very reason, it probably wasn’t very valuable information.

Sergei lowered his gaze into silence again. He seemed disappointed now that it was proven wrong.

‘Hmm.’

And Joseph, having heard Sergei’s story, had to hide his surprise inwardly.

‘To think he would remember my face.’

This was rather unexpected. Especially since my hair and eye color had changed.

Moreover, they weren’t ordinary colors. Silver-white hair and ominous ruby-red eyes.

Ordinary people are usually captivated first by Joseph’s mysterious hair and eye color, rather than his face.

‘Yet, to see through the essence of form without being deceived by color.’

He couldn’t help but feel pleased.

Of course, that memory was quite special to Joseph as well.

Among those who were so pathetic that it was unclear whether they lacked the will to live or if even that will had been swallowed by the fog of death, only Sergei was different.

Undoubtedly, Sergei was the most noble person Joseph had met until then.

No, he was the most ideal human being.

‘He’s still a good person, both then and now.’

Even searching for him for a year after his disappearance.

But regardless of his happy feelings, he couldn’t just step forward and say, ‘I am that Joseph from back then.’

‘It would be troublesome if it were revealed that I’m not of noble birth.’

Above all, if asked how that sailor from back then came to be here, it would be quite awkward to explain.

That the small boat capsized due to the waves, and when he came to his senses, he was in a land where the lost tower of the Mage Emperor from a thousand years ago stood?

That to survive there, he had to search for any method possible and ended up inheriting Chronomancy?

That the Chronomancy he seized like a plunderer, despite not being the rightful successor, is now nesting in his mind, driving him to madness?

“Lord Joseph.”

It was natural that he couldn’t explain.

So it was better to let Sergei think that the sailor Joseph from back then had died.

Isn’t it enough if only Joseph himself could feel the joy of reunion?

“Lord Joseph, did you perhaps not hear something?”

The more he thought about it, the more interesting it became.

In fact, Joseph had once lived as a sage, ascending the Tower of Honor.

The Tower of Honor, known as the repository of knowledge, was the only place that preserved knowledge related to magic lost a thousand years ago.

He thought that there, he might find a way to survive.

And his prediction was correct.

Joseph barely managed to learn the true nature of Chronomancy.

Interestingly, it was thanks to Sergei that Joseph found the answer.

Most sages had one field of study they specialized in, and what Sergei had researched was precisely Chronomancy.

“It seems to be over there.”

Joseph, who had been lost in his own thoughts for a moment, could only then see what Sergei was pointing at.

Ah.

And upon seeing that direction, Joseph couldn’t help but bite his lip. He had come out because of that.

To think Sergei would discover it first.

Before Joseph could react, Sergei strode towards that direction.

Then he carefully crouched down towards the dark alley.

“It’s alright, come here.”

A gentle and kind voice reached out into the alley.

After a moment, something small and gray like a ball of cotton touched the tips of Sergei’s fingers.