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nAlthough Zoemi’s concerns were mostly related to him getting stronger. After all, he came here for exactly that, a way to get stronger.

n|Aspakeony sure does fumble a lot with her plans…!|

nHe groaned internally.

n”Oh, I can’t tell you. Orders from the king.”

nValto waved his hand to the sides and laughed off the question.

n”Still, you’re a fire magician, huh…”

nHe frowned and his piercing look send shivers down Zoemi’s spine.

n”I see… so that’s it.”

nValto murmured as if he realized something.

n”Alright. Let’s go.”

nZoemi felt like a complete outsider even though he was the one that Valto was speaking to.

nNot even waiting for Zoemi’s reaction the blue-haired man pushed himself away from the desk and his wheelchair creaked with scorn for such a sudden movement. For a moment it looked like Valto will tip over and fall backward but he skillfully leaned forward and grabbed the big wheels and propelled himself turning the wheelchair around.

nHe did that with a big smile plastered on his face.

n”Teacher, you never change, do you?”

nEven though he was still shaken, Zoemi chuckled seeing the familiar scene play out.

nAfter all, Valto used to show off his wheelchair like that all the time when he was still teaching the youngsters as if he was saying ‘can you do that with your working legs?’

n”Why would I? Let’s go, I think I know what you came here for, there’s no need to wait for your benefactor, I think I scared her away anyway.”

n|Her?! He knows about Aspakeony too?! But then why did he attack and destroyed the corpse puppets so readily?!|

nValto was always incredibly smart anyways, but now it seemed that his level of knowledge was on a whole another level.

nZoemi could only gulp down his saliva and follow Valto like a duckling.

nThe two of them were passing row after row of bookshelves, so many in fact that Zoemi started wondering how is that even possible since if his calculations were correct they already moved farther than the whole length of the royal castle.

nJust as that thought entered his mind he felt pressure on his skin just like when he entered the room in the first place, only this time passing through the thin membrane didn’t cause the world around him to slow down but instead revealed a huge treasure room.

nOr rather a storeroom for precious artifacts… one or the other.

n”…!”

nAt first, Zoemi was so taken aback that he stopped but quickly return to his senses when he realized that Valto didn’t slow down to wait for him at all.

nThe black-haired boy caught up to his teacher but still couldn’t truly focus because he was constantly assaulted by the incredible sights.

nArmors covered with magic runes that emitted a threatening aura, weapons that possessed unique shadows that constantly moved around, jewelry that emitted powerful mana, and paintings with mana crystals embedded in their frames that seemed to be alive. Once in a while, the pair would pass by an object so unique that Zoemi had no idea what was its purpose, or on the other hand, a completely normal object that seemingly had no place in such an incredible place.

nOne such object made Zoemi stop in his track.

nBeneath one of the mysterious paintings portraying a little girl with platinum hair that was hiding her face behind a black teddy bear, a plush bear that looked exactly like the one in the painting was sitting on a translucent crystal box containing what looked like a cut-off human arm, slender and slim with delicate features.

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n|WHAT THE HELL?! I RECOGNIZE THE PLACE! I HAVE SEEN IT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE BEAR!|

nZoemi observing the events from the other timeline felt like jolting up, and he shouted in his mind, which filled the world of murky darkness with his urgent voice.

n|Exactly. This is where my first body is located in every single timeline. Standing guard on Kirissu’s arm, ready to eradicate any Ghost of Bellcephora foolish enough to try and recover it.|

nThe original personality responded with grim seriousness as if he was glaring at the limb showing up on the screen.

n|So Kirissu was the one who tried to kidnap the second prince and got her arm cut off by the squire wielding the wind attribute?|

nZoemi asked, thinking that he already know the answer, recalling the story about the tragedy from centuries past.

n|The boy didn’t have enough power to harm her. The truth was, that when Kirissu was already holding the second prince, she realized that her son, Cherro, was not going to kill the second princess and instead was about to kidnap her… so she tried to stop him. Cherro was already using shadow gate, and it was closing too. You know what happens when that is the case – Kirissu got her arm cut off while Cherro abducted my master… taking me with them accidentally.|

n|…|

nThe original personality was revealed, leaving the black-haired boy stunned and speechless once more.

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nSubconsciously, Zoemi left his teacher and approached the bear.

nThe toy was incredibly worn out and was stitched and patched all over, it must have been very old.

nBut its eyes were pulling Zoemi in.

nJet black eyes that didn’t reflect any light whatsoever.

nIt made the toy look way more menacing than it had any right to be.

nAn unknown force made Zoemi raise his hand and reached for the bear.

n”Don’t touch Zoemi!”

n’Huh?!”

nZoemi was pulled out of the trance by Valto, who grabbed his hand just in time and started dragging him away.

n”T-teacher, what was that… thing…?”

nZoemi shook his head but his mind was still foggy.

n”A cursed item, Zoemi, never ever try to touch it. It has some connection with primal darkness mana and will corrode the mind and devour the body if it’ll come into contact with any living being. It claimed many lives of people who didn’t know any better.”

nValto explained and Zoemi noticed that the teacher was actually sweating nervously.

n”Huh…? B-but, it has patches, that means someone did touch it, right?”

nZoemi asked, still trying to regain a clear mind.

n”It was a normal toy before its owner, the girl on the painting had died.”

n”Oh.”

nThe blue-haired man shrugged his shoulders and explained, making the black-haired boy release a confused sound.

n”The thing is, after her death, the bear was found by her corpse completely destroyed and already had the deadly properties.”

nValto looked like he wasn’t satisfied with Zoemi’s lukewarm answer so he continued.

n”Still, since it was the property of the second princess, it was scooped up and transported here, but not even a full day passed and the bear was mysteriously restored to the state you just saw.”

n”Huh…?”

nThe blue-haired man revealed, making Zoemi flinch and gasp yet another time.

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n|…if that’s the case, then who stitched you up…?|

nZoemi from the world of murky darkness asked, gulping down his saliva.

n|Isn’t it obvious? The only person I ever wanted to be happy and safe – the second princess herself. She didn’t use her time magic on me, and instead stitched me up herself the best she could. Every stitch is the mark of her feelings towards me and serves as a reminder to never forget my purpose.|

nThe original personality sounded as if he puffed out his chest with pride and declared.

n|…she patched you up even though she was…dead…?|

nZoemi asked in a hesitant voice.

n|My master was originally believed to be a normal light magician with a slightly different shade of hair – her actual attribute and extent of her power revealed itself at the moment of her death, throwing her soul out of the time… if you want to know more, you will have to ask her, because I do not know anything else about it.|

nThe original personality sighed in a bitter tone as if recalling the past events saddened him greatly.

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n”Zoemi. This bear belonged to the little second princess who was killed by the Ghosts of Bellcephora when they betrayed our kingdom.”

n”Ah, I see…”

nNo matter what Valto said, the aftereffects of approaching the cursed bear were too strong to just disappear on their own.

n”But if it’s so strong then… Isn’t this the thing I came here for…?”

nZoemi tilted his head and asked slowly, giving his best to stay coherent.

n”Zoemi. That thing killed a Ghost. Someone who had way more control over darkness than you can even imagine. You are my favorite student, I’m not going to let you kill yourself in such a stupid way.”

nValto shot down the idea instantly.

n”Oh? Teacher, but I’m still nowhere near as strong as the first prince or my master.”

nZoemi tilted his head even more confused.

n”I’ve said my favorite, not the strongest. Hmm… Maybe we should go back and get you a healing potion…?”

nValto glanced at Zoemi’s face with concern.

n”Healing..? Ah! Healing!”

nZoemi shouted and made Valto frown, but the next moment, when Zoemi’s body briefly shone with a murky light the frown changed into surprise.

nZoemi, who filled his mana with the healing attribute and used a shadow of a healing spell was no less shocked.

n”Eh…? I actually got better? But the healing magic doesn’t affect the mind…? Was that attack actually purely physical?! How is that even possible?!”

nThe black-haired boy murmured to himself in disbelief over the situation, not really aware that he was speaking loud enough for the blue-haired man to hear him quite clearly.

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