Zorian felt the mana-filled marble approaching him, but he didn't move. He couldn't tell if it was aimed left or right, but he knew it wasn't aimed at his forehead. When he couldn't really determine where the marbles were going, the marble whizzed past him, and he struggled to make out which side it was passing by.

"To the left," he tried.

"Wrong." Xvim said in a nonchalant tone. "Again."

Another marble was thrown at him. The blow was not directed at his forehead either.

"Yes," he said.

"Wrong." Xvim responded immediately. "Again."

That's why when Xvim throws the next marble, Zo

ia

Quickly twist the blindfold to see what is really going on.

Marbles flew straight over his head.

That bastard!

"I didn't say you could take the blindfold off," Xvim said calmly, just like Zo

ia

Didn't catch him red-handed the same.

"Cheat!" Zo

ia

protested, completely ignoring Xvim's remarks. "If you don't even follow your own rules, I can't guess!"

"You shouldn't guess, Mr. Kaczynski," Xvim said unapologetically. "You should be able to feel it."

"I feel it," Zorian interrupted

"Now don't waste any more time, put on the blindfold and move on."

He relied primarily on intuition to guess which shoulder the marble was going to, rather than clearly perceiving where the marble was. But it's not his fault, he can't reliably track fast-moving objects with a faint discharge of mana, another advanced skill that will take years to master! To be honest, it's completely unreasonable for a third grader to master this kind of thing.

What part of school isn't boring at this point? He took his little sister with him and skipped class! Go and do your own thing.

"Zorian!" Kirisishli greeted. "Good timing! We just received a new batch today and Iberg had to go home early. ”

"Uh, well," Zorian said slowly. He was about to ask what type of cargo had arrived, but then he found out that it was a stupid question. Of course, it's a batch of books, ha.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Just take the books out of the box and sort them roughly into categories," Kiritishli replied, pointing in the direction of a hill-like box. "I'll examine them in more detail later."

"Someone donated their private library to the college. Many old books can only be used as historical treasures, and sometimes they are not even useful. Honestly, most of the books in these boxes will be disposed of. ”

"Oh?" Zorian asked, opening one of the boxes and pulling out a book piled inside. This is a handbook on plum cultivation. It was published 20 years ago. "I was amazed at that. I distinctly remember you saying that librarians should preserve everything they can, rather than picking what they think is 'good' or 'useful'. ”

"Stop being smart and get to work."

Zori threw himself into the task safely and physically, unpacking box after box. Kiritishli gave him a large book that listed the most common books they received in such deliveries and told him to use it to distinguish the apparently duplicated ones from the others.

If using the book manually to find matches is a complete nightmare, especially since the letters are printed very small in order to cram so many words on each page,

Connect the list to the target book you want to search for with divination spells. At the time he didn't think it made much sense, but now he realizes that it was made for exactly that purpose.

Nearly two hours later, he hurriedly wrote down a list of 20 items, separated the copy from the rest of the book, and was flipping through a spell book he found in the box when Kiri returned. His mission. She was amazed at how quickly he had progressed, and she didn't even know he was so proficient in library magic.

"You're not funny at all," she sighed dramatically. "When I get back, I want to show you this trick, after you've spent two hours struggling to find a match in this monster book. The look on your face will be priceless. ”

"Did you find anything interesting?" She asked.

"Not exactly," Zorian said, slamming the book shut. There's nothing particularly interesting about it anyway. "I kind of wish I could find a book about powerful ancient magic or something, but I didn't."

Kirisishli snorted. "Even if you do find something like that, it won't do you much good. Impractical, the ingredients or conditions that are needed no longer exist, or because they are considered very immoral in modern times. For example, nowadays you'd be hard-pressed to find participants in the magic of the carnival ritual, and the Heruan volcano spell relies on the condition of a specific volcano that has not been active for more than 200 years. ”

Zorian blinked. "Oh. Well, that's disappointing. ”

"That's true," Kirisishli agreed.

"Many of the old spells are outdated for properly trained mages," Zorian concluded. He always knew that most history books presented highly idealized images of their ancestors.

It was a long (and boring) day, and aside from his regular classes, Xvim classes, and working at the library, all he really wanted was to go back to Imaya's place and relax. Sadly, this is not the case, because the moment he walked out of the library, he was accosted by a suspicious-looking man who had been waiting for him outside the entrance.

The man was just leaning against a pillar next to the entrance, not blocking his path or even speaking to him. Still, the moment the man looked up and their eyes met, Zorian knew that the man had been waiting for him, and that he was alone. He was a middle-aged man, dressed in a cheap, crumpled suit with a scruffy beard, and looked almost like one of Theoria's many homeless people, but his posture was full of confidence that did not match the image.

He immediately stopped, and there was an uneasy silence as the two analyzed each other. Zorian didn't know who the man was or what he wanted to do to him, but he wasn't inclined to charity. He hadn't forgotten how he had been assassinated during the initial reboot, and he didn't want to repeat the experience.

"Zorian Kaczynski?" The man finally asked.

"It's me," Zorian confirmed.

"Detective Haas, from the Kooria Police Department," the man said. "Ilsa sent me to be your divination teacher."

Ilsa chose a detective to be his mentor? His idea was to convince his new divination teacher to teach him the limited divination skills needed to actually investigate the business of this time loop. Why do we have to enforce the law?

"That's great," Zorian said lightly. "I wonder when Ilsa will find someone?

"Let's go, kid, let's go find a tavern and sit down," he said, putting his hand in the pocket of his jacket.

"Come on, don't look at me like that," the man said. "We're not going to do anything too serious today. I think it's been a long day for both of us – you're tired, I'm tired, so let's have a couple of drinks and talk. ”

"I don't drink," Zorian warned.

Haslush gave him a curious look. "Religious taboos?"

"Ah," Haas replied, satisfied. "It's okay, you can order some juice or something. Gosh, I can even show you the mantra I used while on duty, but I don't want to offend anyone by refusing to serve a drink. ”

Now sounds useful! Zorian looked at Haas.

"It's a clever little alteration spell that converts alcohol into sugar," Haslush said, raising his right hand to show a plain metal ring on his middle finger. "I've imprinted it on this ring so I don't have to cast it visibly – believe it or not, it's often more resentful to cast a spell visibly on your drink than to reject it outright. The moment I touched the glass, it was done. ”

"Convenient." Zorian said appreciatively. This spell can save him a lot of trouble over the years. "But I don't think organics can be reconstituted by changing spells?"

"Both ethanol and glucose are fairly simple molecules and are well understood, so converting one into the other is not difficult." He suddenly stopped in front of a nearby sign, studied it for a moment, and then turned to Zorian again. "I think it's a nice place. ok？ ”

The inside of the tavern was dark and the air was a bit muddy, but the tables were clean and the noise was manageable. Haslush picked a remote table in the corner and cast a long, complicated spell on the table after they had both ordered a drink. Probably some kind of privacy ward shield.

"Huh," Haas snorted. "A good question. Usually something like this is the last thing I want to do, but yesterday my commander threw a very stupid box in my lap. Apparently there's a rumor circulating in town that psychic spiders are lurking in the sewers and I should check them out. He sighed and rolled his eyes. Mind spider, honestly......" he muttered.

Zorian struggled not to show his surprise and somehow succeeded - mostly because Haslush was more focused on his drink than himself at the moment. He unknowingly spread rumors? He figured he shouldn't be surprised, because he told Tevin about the spider in front of Imaya and his sister—between Thaiwen and the two, they might have talked about it to at least a dozen people.

"Anyway, I went to meet my good friend Ilsa after work when she told me she was looking for a soothsayer for you. That's when I realized I had a perfect solution to my problem. I can pass the case on to other poor, help friends in need, and settle long-standing disputes between me and my commander in one fell swoop. Lo and behold, a few years ago, Eldermar's bureaucrats decided to launch an initiative to get more mages interested in a career in law enforcement. However, instead of taking concrete measures to attract new talent, they asked the mages who were already working in the police force to take the initiative to introduce the profession to the mages in training. ”

"Ah," Zorian said. "So you're supposed to do something like this anyway?"

"Yes, but I'm a little slack on this, so my commander always nagged that I didn't fulfill my quota. Can you blame me? We get extra paid for doing so. ”

"You know better than I do," Zorian shrugged. "Uh, how does 'Introduce Me to the Profession' get you out of the Spider case?"

"I don't have time to do both," Haslush said. He frowned for a second, then shook his head, as if to clarify the point. "Yes. That's my story, and I'm going to stick with it. ”

。。。。 Two.....

Zorian stamped his feet impatiently, waiting for Imaya to open the door. He had the key to the front door, but that didn't help – Imaya had an annoying habit of leaving the key in the lock, and today is no exception. He couldn't get in without her help.

She probably likes it.

The sound of the door opening brought his attention back to the door itself, and it slammed open, revealing a worried Imaya staring at him.

"Uh...... Is something happening? He asked. Did El do something stupid while he wasn't there?

"I'm supposed to be the one who asked that," she said. "Where were you then? You should have been back a few hours ago. ”

"Uh......" said Zorian. What's the problem? I didn't come here in the middle of the night......

"Try to inform me when you're going to be late in the future," Imaya said. "There must be some kind of magic that can deliver a message within the city, right?"

Zorian had to admit that it was a good idea. "I'll see what I find," he promised.

"Good," Imaya said. "Your little sister has been looking for you for a while, you know?"

Zorian shouted. "She didn't bother, did she?"

"No, she's a little angel," Imaya said, dispelling his worries. Thinking that El was an angel, Zorien rolled his eyes silently.

"She spends most of the day drawing, playing with the Rubik's Cube you gave her, chatting with Kana. I swear, this kid is too quiet. I have to talk to Kyle about it these days. It's not normal for children to be so withdrawn......"

Zori nodded quietly, glad that the cube he had made was so successful. It's nothing special, just a simple stone cube with a bunch of glowing runes arranged in a childish puzzle. He found a design in a book that Nora recommended to him when Nora had been coaching him in spell formulas and decided that making one would be doubly useful: it would give him some hands-on experience using spell formulas, and give El something to pass the time and.

"Sounds like she had a great time today," Zorian said. "And what does she need me to do?"

Imaya looked at him with strange eyes. "You're her brother. She doesn't need a special reason to miss you. ”

"What is the real reason?" Zorian pressed.

"Kana dozed off, your toy ran out of mana and lost consciousness." After a second of silence, Imaya finally admitted.

"I guess she's in her room?"

"No, she's in your room, reading your book." Imaya said nonchalantly.

Zorian's eyes twitched, resisting the urge to go straight into his room and throw El out. In fact, he was lucky to have a room of his own. Imaya still hasn't found anyone willing to rent another room in the house, which Zorian is grateful for because it means he can keep this room for himself. Unfortunately, he has absolutely no power to stop the little girl from entering. She can come and go as she pleases, and Imaya is even more reluctant to stop her. She seems to find Eyre's behavior "natural".

The little devil knows this! She knew she could get away with almost anything because Imaya liked her more than him, and she made the most of that. So, when Zorian walked into the room loudly, she ignored him completely. She lay on his bed with an open book in front of her and her feet resting comfortably on his pillow. As he looked at her, she reached for the plate of cookies that Imaya had brought her, intending to sprinkle more crumbs on his sheets.

"Hey!" She protested. "Those are mine! Go get your own cookies! ”

"You know, I was just trying to get your attention and stop you from making things worse, but they do look delicious......"

"No!" Kirrell opened his mouth and let out a wail, threatening to swallow a handful of cookies at once. She didn't seem willing to leave his bed to bring them back, though. She probably knew that he wouldn't allow her to take her place easily if she gave up, she was a clever little devil.

"Tell you," he said, shutting his mouth and putting the cookies back on the plate. "If you dispose of all the crumbs of bread that are on my bed, I'll give you cookies."

Al immediately swept his hand over the sheets, pushing all the crumbs onto the floor. Her mission was accomplished, and she gave him a cheeky smile.

"Haha," Zorian said humorously. "Now go get a broom and do a good job. Every time there was a mess left in the room, I ate a cookie. ”

He shoved a cookie into his mouth to emphasize his words. They are actually very good.

Al let out a cry of protest and jumped out of bed in a huff. She tried to retrieve the plate of cookies, but was unsuccessful, but when she realized she couldn't get him to return it (when he ate the second cookie), she ran instead to get a broom and dustpan. Apparently she also complained to Imaya because she showed up a few minutes later with another plate of cookies "so that he wouldn't have to steal his sister's things". Ha

Sadly, even though he regained his bed from El, she still returned to his room. Now she was lying on his chest, and when he closed his eyes for a second, she collapsed on top of him.

"Why are you still here, Kiri?" Zorian sighed.

Kirill didn't answer at first, busily crawling over Zorian's body like he was an inanimate object, not feeling pain or discomfort. When she lay firmly on the bed with him, making enough room for herself, she spoke.

"I'm bored," she said. "By the way, your puzzle is solved."

"It didn't break," Zorian said. "It just ran out of magic. If you want, I can make you a new one tomorrow. ”

"Okay."

There was a brief silence between them, and Zorian closed his eyes and took a nap.

"Zorian?" Kiriel snapped.

"Yes?" Zorian asked.

"What is Morlock?"

Zorian opened his eyes and looked to the side, looking at Kiriel with a curious expression.

"Don't you know what Morlock is?" He asked incredulously.

"All I know is that they're white-haired and blue-eyed people," El said. "And people don't like them very much. Kyle is one of them. But Mom never wanted to tell me what was going on between them. ”

"She didn't, did she?" Zorian grunted.

"No," El confirmed. "She said young ladies like me shouldn't talk about these kinds of things."

To avoid controversy, Zorian did not make a sneering comment about whether or not Kirill qualifies as a lady. Not even a mocking snort. Someone should give him a medal.

"Basically," Zorian said, "they're a race of underground humans. Although most of them no longer live underground. The disappearance of the gods dealt a heavy blow to their civilization, and the dungeon's inhabitants drove them off the surface. The Icosia settlers helped the process by kicking them as they fell and burning down several of the more important settlements. ”

"Oh," said Kirill. "But that doesn't explain why people don't like them. It sounds like they should be angry with us, not us at them. And Kyle doesn't seem to hate us. ”

"Cannibals!?" Kiriel screamed. "They're eating people!? Why!? ”

"Well, yes, they eat people," El said. "That's evil and disgusting. Are they still doing it now? ”

"No kidding," Zorian scoffed. "The authorities will never let them go for such a thing."

"Oh," said Kirill. "That's good. Is that why people don't like them? Are they afraid that the Moroks will eat them? ”

"It contributes," Zorian sighed. "I've lost count of the rumors I've heard that the Morlocks would kidnap children on the streets to eat them or whatever. But there's more. The Moroc have their own brand of magic, which is currently banned almost everywhere, but many Moroks still practice it. The guild calls it 'blood magic'. ”

"Sounds sinister," Kirill said.

Kiriel snuggled up to him, trembling.

"I'm glad Kyle and Kana weren't like that," she said.

"Me too, Kiri," Zorian said, patting her on the head. "Me too."