Whenever he gets a little closer to the source of this chaos, complications arise to hinder his progress. It's incredible...... Now that he remembered it, if he had started to think that the troll war was a nuisance, rather than an existential threat, his perspective must have changed radically in the last year, which was a bit scary.

[Don't do that again," the Spider Matriarch grumbled telepathically. [How did those things keep finding us?] I keep the whole network free of things like divination......]

This wasn't the first time the matriarch had encountered a war troll, as he exchanged a knowing look with Kyle, and the two turned and ran in the direction they were compating. Zorian motioned for the spider to follow them.

[We can't outrun them," the matriarch said as they ran. [Especially us spiders - except for a brief speed, we are much slower than humans.] ]

[It's okay,] Zori thought reassuringly.

[Kyle and I have some surprises in store for the pursuers behind us.] They should slow down the trolls so we can reach the ground. ]

Zorian slows down in frustration and lets the spider catch up with him. They were about to pass the first trap, and he didn't want to seal them away with the spiders and trolls on the other side of the field. Can't you use your psychic magic to quell those things? 】

The war trolls gathered in a tight mass of green flesh, rounding corners, howling like madmen, wielding huge swords and maces, but Zorian was ready for it. He sent a bolt of mana to two nearby imprinted cubes, and a force blocked the hallway. But a bunch of trolls continued to beat it, and it wouldn't last long.

There was a terrible commotion behind them, and Zorian happened to glance back at the barrier to see what was happening. The sight of him greeting him made him smile - the trolls had clearly not been able to control their momentum well and had slammed headfirst into the barrier. The narrow corridors don't allow the trolls to advance in a single line, and the trolls in the back can't make the trolls in front charge wildly. Maybe they don't know what a force field is?

They're all messed up on the ground right now and will take some time to put things back together. This should give them enough of a lead to escape cleanly as quickly as possible, even with slow spiders pressing down on them.

He activated two more barrier traps, two cubes with explosive traps. He wasn't sure if he could activate them without blowing himself up with his target. Because they are designed to deal with more vulnerable targets.

Zorian had to admit that he didn't expect the spider's mind magic to be so ...... Subtle. It seems that he still takes them too lightly.

They finally returned to the surface, completely safe. Hehe.

He didn't expect the whole thing to be so ...... Successfully concluded. When he realizes that a group of trolls are chasing them, he fully expects himself to start over early. But the conversation with the spider was not over, and the four soon arrived in a deserted alley to continue the conversation.

"Safe enough to talk." The matriarch said in her magical voice. "I don't feel the presence of any thoughts that don't belong here. Not even those damn skull-headed rats. ”

"What?" Zorian asked.

"We recently got another psionic creature who shares the city with us," the matriarch complained. "They look a lot like normal mice, except that the top of their head seems to have been sawn off to make their brains visible."

"Oh," Zorian said. "Actually, I saw something similar in my initial livestream this month. I haven't been to that street in any subsequent reboots, though. ”

"Maybe that's the best outcome," said the matriarch. "They are most likely working for the invading forces. It only recently appeared, and when we tried to eliminate them, the trolls began harassing us. ”

"Are rats smart?" Kyle asked. "You seem to be suggesting that they are some kind of spy, do you?"

"They have spirituality," the matriarch said. "Their minds are connected to each other through telepathy, forming a collective intelligence. The more they come together, the smarter they become. Their telepathic abilities also become stronger. They are small enough to reach anywhere, and the death of the rats is irrelevant. Each rat is a relay of all the strength and wisdom of the entire group. They're pretty much perfect spies, even better than us spiders.

As I said, we must get rid of them before invading our territory...... But we did not take into account that they did not act alone. ”

"Oops," Zorian said. "These things are running around the city, no wonder the intruders are well informed. They may extract information directly from people's minds. It's okay for them to find a person who understands sensitive information, and whose mind is not protected, they can blow a hole in the whole system. ”

"Yes," the matriarch confirmed. "We're too big to move freely around human settlements like head rats, and they have access to many places."

Zorian frowned, suddenly realizing something. Since these head rats are at large in the city and cooperating with the invaders, it is impossible for the invasion organizers to be ignorant of the time loop of each reboot.

Zorian himself didn't advertise his case too much, but Zach did. It's pretty obvious, so whoever controls the head rat knows that Zach is a time traveler, at least in some of the reboots......

"Interesting," said the matriarchess, interrupting his thoughts. "I'm starting to understand why you're so reluctant to deal openly with this Zach. But here we are distracted, dancing around the real problem. You heard my proposal, Zorrian. I am very generous with my message, so far away, but I'm afraid I'll have to take a stand now. I want a straightforward answer – will you let me send a memory pack through you? ”

Really, how could he? Psychic magic is only marginally better than soul magic in terms of abuse potential, and that's only because psychic magic has a perfect counter, while soul magic doesn't.

"You're asking too much," Zorian complained.

"I offer a lot," the matriarch retorted. "Besides, I'm taking as much risk here as you do. I can't guarantee that you'll actually find me every time you reboot, and I'm confident that I'll take the leap with you. Is this that wrong? Expect you to do your promise as well? ”

Zorian digested her words in his head, and the scene fell into a brief silence. He thinks there is some truth to what she said, even though he doesn't fully believe her. His risk is more immediate than hers.

All right. No pain, no gain.

"Okay," he said. "I agree to your terms."

。。。。。。 Four.....

"You're braver than I am," Kyle told him.

Zori rubbed his forehead nonchalantly, not giving him the right answer. Truth be told, after the spider finished the operation, he didn't feel a noticeable difference. Kyle worries that the matriarch may have implanted the dormant command spell with the memory pack, but ......

"I actually have reason to think that this might not be that dangerous," Zorian concluded.

"Oh?" Kyle prompted.

"Yes. Before we went to talk to the matriarch, I researched the limitations of psychic magic, and if the matriarch tried to do something truly terrible to me, we'll soon find out. ”

"I'm not quite sure how much I can do for you,

"It's okay," Zorian said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out one of the two unused pieces of explosives. He holds the stone in his palm so Kyle can see it. "All I have to do is send a mana pulse into it, and the matriarch and I will end up crushed!"

"Suicide?" Kyle asked, sounding surprised. He shook his head. "You're really braver than me."

"As Zach once told me, time loops distort your perception of death," Zorian said, putting the cube back in his pocket. Now that he remembered, his temporary security system reminded him of something like the one that protected Zach from the Lich Soul Fusion spell. He should probably start carrying something like this all the time, just in case. This is lighter and less obtrusive than two large stone cubes.

"It's still possible that she's still using something less complete than a full personality rewrite for you, though," Kyle said after a few seconds.

"I know," Zorian said. "But you hear the last thing she says. The memory pack should last for at least one year. "Of course, this means that it will take you a while before you can ask the matriarch again. She did say that she wouldn't say anything until you pass the memories on your next reboot to her reborn self. ”

"The delay is acceptable," Zorian shrugged.

"So...... Do you want to tell me your master plan for going into this time loop now or later? ”

"We'll talk about it later," Kyle grumbled. "I haven't figured out all the details in my head. Stupid spider and her big jaw ......"

The rest of the journey passed relatively quietly.

。。。。。 Five.....

As the start of the summer festival approaches.

He'll have to see if he can convince Kyle and Imaya to leave with them.

Now he just wants to eat something and lie down for a while. As soon as you enter the house, the smell of food in the kitchen fills your face.

He walked into the kitchen and was immediately stopped by El.

"Brother, I hurt my hand!" She wept, waving her hand in front of him. "Hurry up, you must cure it!"

Zorian grabbed her wrist, stopped her from moving her hand excessively, and checked for "serious injuries." This is a shallow wound – actually a scratch – that may heal on its own by the end of the day. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Imaya trying not to laugh.

With a serious expression, he slowly turned Kirielle's "wounded" hand one way or another, pretending to study it closely. Finally, after a thoughtful snort, he looked directly into Kirier's eyes.

"I'm afraid there's nothing more you can do, miss. We're just going to have to chop it off," he said solemnly. Then he turned to Kana, who was sitting at the table and watched the conversation carefully, and gave her a deep and meaningful look. "Bring the saw."

Zorian was sure that the little girl knew this too well, and was just cooperating. Do they have saws in their house?

Regardless, hearing his announcement, Al wrenched his wrist out of his grip and pouted at him.

"Bastard," she shouted, sticking her tongue out at him.

The meal was relatively quiet, except for the occasional tantrum from Al. But this is Kiriel

Ielle) – She's a noisy person by nature.

After eating, Zorian retreated to his room, Al following him. Zorien wasn't in the mood to get rid of her, but she seemed to be in a pretty good mood today,

He was now sitting cross-legged, practicing his shaping skills, while Al was lying on the ground drawing something, with a small pile of paper scattered around him. But eventually, her pen stopped moving, and she chewed on the nib. Zorian was now familiar enough with her twitches that he knew his calm would soon be over.

"Zorian?" She asked suddenly.

"Yes?" He sighed.

"Why are you studying so hard?" She asked, glancing at him curiously. "Even though it's not important to be stuck in this time loop, but you're still working, don't you want to have some fun every now and then?"

"You're wrong," Zorian said. "First of all, everything is important. You are what you do, and I find it fun to learn.

There was a brief silence, and Kirielle seemed reluctant to continue the conversation, even though she clearly wanted to say something. Zorian decided to help her. "Why do you ask this? Is there anything you'd like to do? ”

Kirielle's gaze went back and forth between him and the pile of drawings on the ground several times before she finally made a decision. She neatly packed the papers in a stack and immediately placed them on Zorian's lap.

"Can you take a look at my painting and tell me what you think?" She asked excitedly.

Damn it.

Zori watched and listened in silence as El vividly demonstrated the fruits of her labor, explaining what the picture represented. Not that she needed to, because the drawings were terrifyingly real. Not only did she do a great job, but she was also very good. Zorian could swear he saw a painting by a professional artist, not some childish painting of his sister. One of the drawings was a very detailed scene of Theoria's cityscape, full of small details, and Zorian was shocked that El actually had the patience to draw them on paper.

"Fantastic," he said honestly.

"Should a mother brag about her daughter being a budding little artist?"

El moved uncomfortably in his lap. "My mother didn't approve of me drawing. She wouldn't buy me any supplies, she would yell at me whenever she caught me drawing. ”

Zorian looked at her with a confused expression. What? Why the hell would she do that? The mother is closed-minded and status-oriented, but there is no malice or anything else. He picked up a stack of Kirill's paintings, flipped through them again, and stopped in front of a very beautiful portrait of Byrne, where he and Kirill interacted with the boy on a train bound for Kooria. After that day, El never even saw the boy again, but she was able to reproduce him very faithfully, presumably from memory alone.

"Wait," he said suddenly. "Is that why you've been stealing my notebook and pen?"

"Ahh I thought you hadn't noticed at all," she admitted. "Because you never complained to your mother. By the way, thank you. ”

Well, he didn't say anything.

"And what about the books? I guess she doesn't like those books either, right? Zorian guessed.

"Yes," El said, hugging her painting tightly to her chest. "She won't buy me anything. She said that ladies should not waste time on this kind of thing. ”

Truth be told, he did expect it. His mother didn't like him to spend his time studying, so he thought she wouldn't be too happy to see her beloved daughter have such a hobby. But there is still no explanation as to why she doesn't want El to paint.

"Well, that's your mother," Zorian said.

"Don't worry, I was like this at first,"

"It's different!" Kiriel snapped at him.

What to do?

"Kiri ......"

"You don't understand! It's different because you're away from home most of the year and she can't do anything to you while you're away! You're here with Daimon and Fortof, learn magic and do whatever you want, I'll never be able to do it! She buried her head in Zorian's chest, her tiny fingers digging painfully into his arms. It's different because I'm a girl......"

Zorian put his arms around Kirill and gently shook her to calm her down, and he realized. Traditionalists at Cillin often think that educating girls is a waste of time and money. Mage colleges tend to be quite expensive, even ......

"They won't send you to the Mage Academy......" Zorian concluded loudly.

Al shook his head, face still buried in his chest.

"They said I didn't need it," she said with a sad sniff. "They have already arranged for me to marry when I am 15 years old."

"Wouldn't that be great for them?" Zorian said coldly. "You know what, Kiri? You are right. It's not the same. I had to rebel against my parents alone...... And you, you have me. ”

El took his face away from his chest and looked at him scrutinically.

"You never wanted to help me before," she accused. "Every time I ask you to teach me magic, you let me down."

"I don't know what you're dealing with," Zorian shrugged. "I thought you were just impatient, rest assured, if your parents don't change their minds over the years, you will always have a teacher in my heart."

She stared at him for a few seconds, then grabbed the wrist of one of his arms and held it in an oathed position.

"Promise?" She asked.

Zorian gripped her hand tighter, causing her to scream.

"Guaranteed," he confirmed.

。。。。。 Six......

With two days to go until the Summer Festival, Kyle finally tells Zorian his plans. It's much more specific than the matriarch and basically involves talking to some people Kyle thinks might be aware of soul magic or time travel.

The reboot ended completely uneventful – on holiday night, he, El, Kyle, and Kana boarded the train from Kooria and spent the last few hours playing card games to pass the time. It was not surprising that Imaya refused to go with them, as their request was sudden.

Then, as usual, Zorian woke up in Sirin and El wished him a good morning. He didn't take her with him this time, which turned out to be a good idea, as Zach did come to class on that restart. Another time traveler tries to strike up a conversation with him, but Zorian is determined to avoid him and snubs him. After a few days, Zach seemed to admit defeat and give up, but Zorian could see another boy watching him more closely than most.

And so the whole reboot passed. There's the next one. It took a total of six restarts for Zach to stop approaching him and pay attention to him in other ways at the beginning of each restart. Still, Zorian is happy with what he has achieved.

Three of the six reboots were learned from the enthusiastic Norrabull and were already quite skilled in spell formulas to create a lighter, more inconspicuous version of the explosive suicide switch. It's still a cube, albeit a much smaller one, made of wood and stone – he now makes two cubes every time he restarts and attaches them to the keys so they look like decorations.

Zach was still in class at the seventh restart, but he seems to have given up on Zorian in the end because he had failed. It's time to get down to business.