Guinevere had left Larisa in the care of the maids and had been investigating traces of magic for days at the spot where her son had died, or rather, where time had been reversed.

Since magic flows like water but also has the property of being contained in substances like water in a cup, investigating traces of magic was a task that required as much time as fossil excavation.

It was also a task that required pouring out an enormous amount of magical power. Guinevere, who had poured all her magical power over the traces where William’s magic had flowed, staggered as she opened the door and came out.

Her disciple Hedel, who had been waiting in front, stood up abruptly.

“Bring me a magic recovery potion. Now.”

“You’ve drunk them all. There’s no stock left right now. Rather than waiting for the potion to be completed, it would be faster for you to rest and recover…”

Hedel’s mouth gaped open as he saw the massive sphere of magic visible behind Guinevere.

What Guinevere had materialized by pouring out her magic looked at first glance like a giant tangled ball of thread, but upon closer inspection, each thread was actually an immense amount of magical power flowing at tremendous speed.

To the point where the term ‘flowing’ barely did it justice.

“…Are you trying to blow up the continent?”

Hedel asked, barely regaining his composure. Guinevere, who had been leaning against the doorframe, collapsed to the ground.

“Shut up and bring me a magic recovery potion. Now. You must have some stashed away.”

“What are you trying to do with that? Please tell me you’re not planning to blow up the continent.”

“If I don’t recover my magic power right now, I won’t be able to control that, and the continent might indeed blow up.”

Hedel, who had turned pale, quickly teleported to his room and brought back all the magic recovery potions he had.

Guinevere downed all five bottles that Hedel brought in one go. Hedel made a pitiful face.

“Now please explain. What exactly is that? What are you doing?”

“I’m restoring magic.”

Hedel was bewildered. Usually, restoring magic requires ten times the magical power of the magic being restored, but for a master like Guinevere who has reached the pinnacle of magic control, only about three times is needed.

Even so, looking at the massive sphere that filled Guinevere’s spacious laboratory, he wondered what kind of magic had been used before to require that much magical power.

“Did you perhaps already blow up a continent?”

“…”

“Since this place is fine, did you blow up the opposite continent?”

“It wasn’t a continent, but time that was blown away.”

‘Not by me, but by William.’

Guinevere lay down on the floor, waiting for her magic power to recover.

Seeing her attitude with no intention of explaining, Hedel peered around trying to find answers on his own. He had misunderstood the meaning of ‘blowing away time’ as wasting time.

“Don’t go in.”

Hedel hesitated.

“If even a single hair of yours goes in and explodes, will you take responsibility?”

“Why are you doing something so dangerous? Did you get permission from the Imperial family?”

“…That’s for later.”

“If you do this without permission, who’s going to deal with the aftermath? You might as well kill me!”

Hedel sat down next to Guinevere, feeling too pitiful for himself who would have to deal with all the consequences.

Even in the midst of this, he couldn’t take his eyes off the sphere of magic. The flow of magic, too complex to see its center, was moving at an incredible speed, and if even a single strand collided with another, it would cause a massive explosion.

Knowing this, Hedel’s eyes still followed the magic as if mesmerized. And he was startled by a faint humming sound.

“…I can hear a sound.”

Originally, magic that hasn’t been cast doesn’t make a sound. Even if it’s materialized as light, that’s all there is to it. If magic made sound, the world would be too noisy.

Magic originally exists in a different dimension that humans cannot detect, and only when a magician manifests it through magic does it appear in three dimensions, vibrating the air and making sound.

It was impossible for magic to exist in just a magical state and make sound.

“It’s making a sound, Master!”

“It always does.”

“Ah, I see. So… Wait, what did you say?”

What are you talking about? If Hedel reported this to the academic world, people would surely dismiss it as nonsense like ‘I can hear the sound of sound.’

Seeing Hedel’s expression turn bizarre, Guinevere chuckled.

“It’s usually too small to hear. If you listen carefully, it always makes a sound.”

“You’re joking, right?”

But Guinevere didn’t even respond, peacefully closing her eyes. This was the first time the origin of the time reversal magic was in her laboratory, and it was an incredible opportunity.

Her laboratory was perfectly controlled, making it easy to find traces of magic. Even so, since it had been several days since the magic was used, much of the trace had already dissipated.

Feeling relieved at the thought that she had done her best for three days, Guinevere’s consciousness slowly drifted away. Soon, snoring sounds began to echo.

“Master?”

Hedel, growing anxious, called out to Guinevere, but there was no response.

“You’re not sleeping now, are you? Master? Master?!”

But no matter how much he called, Guinevere didn’t answer. She had fallen into a dead sleep, leaving Hedel in a state of maddening fear.

When she woke up again, she saw Hedel in an almost half-dead state, his mind gone blank.

“Why are you like that?”

Guinevere realized the answer as soon as she asked the question. It was because she had fallen asleep without giving any explanation.

“You’re… alive…”

Hedel started to cry. Feeling a bit sorry, Guinevere said to ease his worry,

“That was already in a stabilized state. The part about it exploding was a lie.”

“Why, why are you telling me this only now? I didn’t know that, and I was afraid of waking you up in case that thing might explode, I… I… You never used to lie like this!”

Separate from her feelings of guilt, Guinevere couldn’t tell the truth. If it became known that the magic she had restored and materialized was time reversal magic, probably all the magicians in the world would go crazy and come running.

“That was because I was afraid you might steal my research secrets. I didn’t have the strength to defend against that at the time.”

“Ha, really, what kind of… Oh my God. I…”

Hedel, who had been lying face down and sobbing, declared dramatically,

“I’m quitting!”

And then he glared at Guinevere, turned around with a whoosh, and stomped away.

Guinevere, as always, didn’t pay much attention, thinking he would soon return on his own. Even though it was materialized, it was only a tiny part. It might take years to infer the rest and formulate it.

Guinevere’s violet eyes gleamed ecstatically as she gazed at the sphere of magic.

*

Hedel didn’t even have the energy to teleport. Guinevere had slept for a full day and a half.

Before that, she had worked through the night for three days, and during all that time, Hedel had been guarding Guinevere’s laboratory without proper rest, so he wasn’t in his right mind now.

And the reward he got for that was.

‘That was because I was afraid you might steal my research secrets.’

“This is bullshit! Really.”

They say dirty and petty things are part of working life, but being Guinevere Rodante’s disciple, secretary, and errand boy could proudly claim to be the worst of them all.

Feeling upset, Hedel sat down halfway across the garden. He simply didn’t have the confidence to walk out of the mansion normally and face people.

‘Let’s just get some fresh air here before leaving.’

It was the wrong choice.

“Mister, are you crying?”

Startled, Hedel looked up to see a little girl crouching in front of him.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Larisa.”

“And who’s that?”

Hedel pretended not to know, but he actually knew who Larisa was. Like William, he had investigated when Guinevere brought some girl, wondering if she was another candidate for discipleship.

But Larisa was just an ordinary slum kid, and they said she had absolutely no talent for magic.

“Um, I’m seven years old, and I’m Marina’s daughter. I used to live in the back alley, but I came here a week ago.”

Larisa introduced herself, doing her best. Hedel nodded and extended his hand.

“I see. Nice to meet you, little one.”

As Larisa took his hand, suddenly Hedel’s palm felt warm, and then a gentle breeze blew.

Larisa’s eyes widened at the wind that had suddenly blown. At the same time, William appeared.

“What are you doing?”

He was the second person Hedel least wanted to see right now.

William grabbed Larisa’s wrist, pulling it away, and quickly hid her behind him.

‘Anyone watching would think I’m some terrible person.’

“I was just checking if she had magic power.”

William frowned at Hedel’s dry response.

“Who asked you to check?”

Hedel sighed.

‘Arrogant brat.’

‘Annoying four-eyes.’

The two thought simultaneously.

Larisa, with her instinctive sense, grasped that the two were not on good terms. Clinging to William’s leg, she whispered cautiously.

“William, we were going to go out, remember? Let’s hurry.”

William, who had been warily eyeing Hedel, looked down and said,

“I told you to be careful of magicians here.”

“But I don’t know who’s a magician…”

“He clearly looks like a magician.”

They thought they were speaking quietly, but Hedel could hear everything. He frowned.

‘What does “clearly looks like a magician” mean?’

Larisa protested in a small voice.

“But he was crying…”

William looked at Hedel with an expression that seemed to say, ‘What kind of nonsense is that?’