Chapter 1243

"Paridim?"

"Ah. Yes."

Paridim, who had been writing a report, quickly covered the paper.

Had the other person's anger perhaps subsided?

"Is there anything you'd like for dinner? Her Majesty wants white chocolate pudding."

"Ah. That sounds good to me as well."

"And after dinner, could you teach me about divination?"

"Of course! Actually, I performed a divination this morning, and I got a favorable result."

"What did you get?"

Lee Han was curious.

This mage from Oculoguard was a stickler for principles, just as one would expect from the academy's culture. Naturally, Paridim did not use foresight magic to flatter people.

Lee Han himself would have been ready to say something like, 'You have the face of someone destined to become Emperor!' for a single Imperial gold coin, but...

'Was it really a good result?'

"There is a sign of 'liberation' at the end of this semester."

"Oh!"

Lee Han brightened.

From talking with Paridim in the punishment room, Lee Han had learned that Paridim was definitely highly skilled at mage-card divination.

In a way, that might have been thanks to Oculoguard's characteristics.

Because the foresight mages of this magic academy fundamentally operated on the assumption of collective action, they did not waste time on magic they did not need.

When Paridim had said, 'I don't know how to summon water,' Lee Han had briefly thought they were making excuses like Gainando.

-Phew. Gainando already used that trick.

-Trick? I'm not sure what you mean...

-...Haha. It's nothing.

-Has Gainando perhaps used such a trick before?

-I said it's nothing.

-Ah. Yes.

In any case, this kind of selection and concentration allowed them to sharpen their strengths to an extreme degree.

Even within foresight magic, Paridim used only a limited number of spells.

Mage cards, coins, and the shapes of clouds.

That too was one of Oculoguard's school rules.

'It's already far too late for me to imitate that, but a divination from a mage this serious about the art should be quite effective.'

"Look at this. It's the Shadow Patrol card. What comes to mind?"

'All I can think of is Nillia cursing them.'

Lee Han thought inwardly.

There was probably no one who hated those rangers more than his friend from the Shadow Patrol.

"You're saying this is the sign of liberation?"

"That's right. Rangers have symbolized liberation since ancient times."

"That makes perfect sense. As expected, Oculoguard's reputation is well deserved."

Satisfied, Lee Han praised Paridim highly. It seemed Paridim's meal today might become a little more lavish.

In a good mood, Lee Han decided to ask a few more questions. There was much to learn from Oculoguard's mages in various ways.

"But let me ask you something. If the Skull Principal card is next to this Shadow Patrol card, doesn't the interpretation change because there's a powerful authority figure beside it?"

Lee Han's question was not intended as criticism. He was genuinely curious.

He expected the mage from Oculoguard to neatly explain why the cards were not interpreted that way this time.

But Paridim's eyes filled with shock and horror. A moment later, the mage struck their own head hard.

"How could I make such a foolish mistake! How could I make such a foolish mistake!"

Clearly, the recent events had disrupted Paridim's concentration.

If someone made such an obvious mistake at Oculoguard, they would have no grounds to complain even if they were demoted an entire year.

"...N-no. Well... couldn't you just ignore it? If we say the Skull Principal card represents someone cheering you on..."

"No. You pointed it out correctly. Since the Lord of Einroguard is beside it, this does not mean liberation. It means forced labor outside the academy!"

"......"

Lee Han's expression darkened.

Paridim had failed to realize that those words had just lowered the quality of tonight's dinner by several levels.

In the end, even a foresight mage had difficulty seeing their own future.

"This Shadow Patrol represents a future in which you suffer through a difficult commission assigned by the Lord."

"Wow.ForesightMagicIsTrulyFilledWithJoy."

Lee Han replied in a completely emotionless voice.

Paridim failed to grasp what he meant and nodded.

"Indeed. The future is like an uncertain fog, but isn't that precisely what makes it worthwhile to explore?"

Listening any further would only make him angrier, so Lee Han turned the conversation back to magic.

"We stopped partway through our discussion of Oculoguard's methods last time. You said there was a way to improve the accuracy of divination and make the symbols clearer..."

"That's right."

More precisely, the conversation had blown up after Paridim said they could see a future in which Lee Han became a professor, but Paridim carefully glossed over that.

Perhaps it was only their imagination, but this mage from House Wardanaz did not seem particularly pleased with the prospect of becoming a professor.

From Paridim's perspective, that was incomprehensible.

Why would a mage reject a higher position, greater authority, and the opportunity to use higher-level magic?

Of course, Einroguard's system was somewhat different from Oculoguard's, but surely the power of the position of professor could not be all that different.

"First, there is the 'price.' Divination methods currently used throughout the Empire employ numerous vague and varied symbols in order to avoid the price of glimpsing the future, and even that is not enough, so they also prevent harm by paying a price in advance."

"Yes. Something like mana."

"...Divination that uses mana as the price is relatively rare... but yes, for now."

Paridim made a mental note to include that in today's report.

This mage from House Wardanaz, perhaps because of his peculiar mana, enjoys divination that uses mana as the price... He even resolves twisting causality with mana... If that's possible, then why does Oculoguard go through all that...

'Ah. I shouldn't write the report like this. What am I thinking?'

Paridim shook their head to dispel the wicked thought that had suddenly entered their mind.

Perhaps the change in environment was causing distracting thoughts that interfered with foresight.

"At Oculoguard, we also include the number of uses as part of the price."

"By the number of uses, do you mean the number of times you attempt the divination?"

"That's right."

Because Oculoguard thought and acted as a single collective, its magic had a strongly efficient and economical character.

Not only were roles divided among individuals, even the number of times magic could be attempted was calculated in advance.

Since the force of will accumulated within the territory was limited, there was no alternative.

But Oculoguard's mages had turned that limitation into an advantage.

"In the case of cloud divination, for example, I can perform it only three times a year. By offering up those uses as the price, I increased its accuracy."

'That would be difficult at Einroguard.'

It was obvious why Einroguard's mages did not particularly favor that sort of price.

They might sooner cut off an arm and offer it up, because the moment one form of divination was sealed away, life at Einroguard would become far too inconvenient.

Everyone had to fend for themselves there, so having magic sealed away...

"In our school, we sometimes perform special actions to avoid misfortune."

Paridim looked appalled at the Einroguard method Lee Han described.

"Those actions are almost always bizarre and grotesque. If every foresight mage went around doing things like that, imagine how chaotic the territory would become. Order would disappear."

"That's fine. Einroguard is already somewhat chaotic, so no one would notice."

The golem upper-year student wandered around in golem form every day, and no one considered it strange.

Paridim tilted their head, unsure whether Lee Han was joking or speaking seriously.

"In any case, offering up the number of uses as a price does seem like a fairly worthwhile option..."

As Lee Han pondered, something suddenly occurred to him, and he asked another question.

"What about this method? Increase the number of divination spells you can use, and when one gets sealed, use a different one."

"That sounds unrealistic."

Paridim looked troubled by the suggestion.

Even though Oculoguard's mages abandoned other schools of magic to focus entirely on foresight magic, the number of divination methods any one of them knew was still only a handful.

Divination was the sort of magic where dabbling carelessly was an excellent way to get into an accident.

The more dangerous the price involved, the less casually one could approach it.

"Considering the time and danger involved in learning them, you would lose far more than you gained."

"I thought of that too. I would increase the number mainly with divination spells that use mana as the price. Then not only would they be easier to learn, but even if they failed, they shouldn't be that dangerous."

"......"

Paridim was left speechless, blinking.

For the sake of preserving the traditions of foresight magic, I must stop this mage from House Wardanaz...

'Ugh. Distracting thoughts again.'

Having trained in the strict and tranquil environment of Oculoguard, Paridim did not fully recognize what emotion they were feeling.

It was an emotion every second-year student at Einroguard knew perfectly well.

Annoyance.

I want to smack this guy in the back of the head!

"If there are any divination methods recorded at Oculoguard that use mana as the price, could I learn them? I've been searching at Einroguard too, but there aren't very many."

"...I'll ask when you visit."

For some reason, Paridim felt exhausted.

Perhaps it was because they had left Oculoguard and were no longer protected by the territory.

"Then I'd like to ask a little more about the magic that twists the future. The upper-year student called it the secret art of causal induction. At Einroguard, it's implemented as difficult Circle magic, while Oculoguard implements it through force of will accumulated collectively. I'd like to know how far mana can substitute for that..."

Seeing Lee Han grow even greedier after having already succeeded in substituting mana for it only a week after learning it, Paridim felt a stinging pain rise in their chest.

'I must get rid of these distracting thoughts. The distracting thoughts...'

***

When Paridim was summoned upstairs, they actually felt relieved.

It was not certain, but if they kept talking with the mage from House Wardanaz, Paridim could faintly see a future where they eventually grabbed him by the collar.

"It is an honor to meet you, Professor."

Upon seeing the massively built troll half-blood professor, Paridim became even more respectful.

This had to be Professor Garcia Kim, the genius professor whose fame had spread even throughout Oculoguard.

'I heard Oculoguard invited Professor Garcia too...'

And beside the professor stood a familiar face, the golem upper-year student from Einroguard's foresight magic school.

The angular stones of the golem's body were dented, as though someone had struck them several times.

"Were you attacked by someone?"

"Absolutely not! Don't spread ridiculous rumors! I fell while walking by myself!"

The golem upper-year student jumped in alarm and denied it. Professor Garcia nodded solemnly.

"The roads have been slippery lately. Professor Kraer fell too. It's quite serious."

"Indeed."

"????"

Paridim still lacked sufficient Einroguard experience.

Far too little to understand the hidden meaning behind the conversation that had just taken place.

"We're sorry you came all the way to Einroguard and we couldn't even give you a proper welcome, Paridim."

"Not at all. I came on official business. If I received a private welcome, I would actually be punished."

Professor Garcia, who knew Oculoguard's rules, gave a wry smile.

The frightening part was that this was not a joke. Under Oculoguard's school rules, Paridim really could be punished upon returning.

"Is anything uncomfortable about staying in the punishment room?"

"Not in the slightest. I've been discussing foresight magic with Wardanaz, and I truly want to hit him just on—"

"What?"

"Ah, no! I misspoke! I meant that I truly want to learn from him separately sometime!"

"......"

"......"