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nTeleportation magic is widely considered the most esteemed amongst high magic.

nTo teleport, it takes a considerable amount of mana, so the number of people who had enough magical poweress were few, and the practice of teleportation spells was even rarer.

nIn a way, it was similar to the magic circle I drew up, but the concept was a little different.

nI used the magic circle as a medium; it was not as convenient as teleportation. There were limitations to space and distance, but it took up considerably less magic than teleportation.

nHowever, to teleport, one had to calculate accurate coordinates, which made it difficult to use.

nDistance may not be an issue for teleportation magic, but accuracy was.

nTeleporting is a skill that was talented in even embarrassing archmages.

nBut this man who used teleportation magic instantly, amidst a high-stress situation at that, must be a very skilled and powerful sorcerer.

nI am also an accomplished wizard, but I’m not good enough to use difficult magic like teleporting.

n“You must have quite a lot of mana? Then please help me. Teleport me back to the slave auction house.”

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n

n“…Why do you want to go back there?”

n“I left something very important behind. You don’t want to help?”

n“… No.”

nEven after teleporting once within the auction house and another to this cabin, that would make two times. I was asking for two more times, one to the auction house, and then back here at the cottage again.

nUsually, this would be wildly brazen, but this man didn’t look tired at all even after two teleportation spells.

n‘Even powerful magicians who could teleport have died, becoming porridge right after they used it.’

nThe man carefully held my hand.

nA dark beam of light began to envelop our surroundings.

nIt was a very delicate and well-crafted teleport spell seeing that I didn’t get motion sickness, and my vision didn’t whirl.

nI was deeply moved by his magical genius. The man was comparable to Alastair.

n“Thank you for helping me.”

nWe arrived back safely at the slave statue.

nI gave my thanks to the man as the auction building went up in flames behind him.

nMaybe Igelto is in the auction house.

nSo I turned to go into the building, but at that moment the man grabbed my arm.

n“…What are you doing?”

n“I have to go inside.”

nThe man was wearing a robe, so I couldn’t see his face, but I knew he was bewildered.

nIt’s not that I don’t understand him either. Even I think it’s an insane act to jump into that hot blaze without any safeguards; I’m no god.

nBut whatever I did, it had nothing to do with this guy I met for the first time today.

nHowever—

n“Never.”

nThe man was determined.

nHe was worried about me.

nI grabbed the man’s hand holding my wrist.

nThen I slowly pulled my hand out of the man’s hand.

n“Hey, Mr. Robe. I’m grateful that you are worried about me, but you don’t need to.”

nTo be honest, I was not grateful.

nThe man helped me several times.

nThanks to that, I was able to escape Hypron and move to this place with ease.

nBut I didn’t thank the man. Frankly, half of my heart wanted to curse him, and the other half wanted to blame him for this.

nIn the first place, you were here at the auction, and things would have been so much easier if I hadn’t placed your bid against me.

nYou made things a bit cumbersome.

nI was extremely selfish.

n“Thank you for your help. Now I’ll be on my way.”

nThe man showed no sign of backing down.

nI sighed at the sight of him blocking my path.

n“I’ll come with you.”

nYou are going to jump into the fire with me.

nIt was pretty daring, but I wasn’t surprised. Intuitively, I felt he would propose such a thing for some reason.

n“You want to go with me?”

n“Yes.”

nWhere have I seen this man?

nWhat is this familiar feeling? I crossed my arms and said in a crooked tone.

n“You will regret it. If you follow me, I’ll use up all your mana until the very last drop.”

n“It’s alright.”

n“It’s alright? I’ll use your magic until it is gone. But are you sure you’re okay?”

n“I’m fine. Please use me,” said the man in a smiling voice.

nI was dumbfounded by him.

nWithout any hesitancy, you are asking me to use you so blatantly?

nOf course, from my point of view, there’s no disadvantage. There was no reason to refuse to say that someone with outstanding skills would help me.

nIt was just a little suspicious. Even I knew that amid my urgency.

nI had no idea why he would help me.

nDoes he have good intentions?

n“Okay, but this is your choice. I hope you won’t regret it.”

n“That will never happen.”

n***

nIgelto quietly looked at the person in front of him.

nThe man in front of me was wearing a black mask.

nHe effortlessly cut off the bracelet that had been protecting me and laughed cruelly.

nThe canine-exposing smile gave off a beast-like chilling feeling as if hunting for prey.

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n

nIgelto stared blankly at the broken bracelet in his hand.

nThe bracelet was broken and could no longer protect him.

nIgelto clenched his hands, his wrist feeling bare.

n“You don’t know how surprised I was. I was trying to bake only that piglet and felt it was unfortunate that I baked you too.”

nThe man in the black mask acted sarcastically as he pretended to wipe a tear away.

nIgelto frowned at his perverse behavior.

n“Even when you frown, you are so beautiful!”

nWhat the hell is this guy talking about?

n***

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