Book 1 Chapter 1022

1022.

Leo's expression was a little surprised by Chloe's question.

"I had a hunch, but it's true?"

Chloe, her face filled with shock, looked at the magic circle Leo was drawing.

A moment later.

Chloe's face flushed.

A mysterious magic she had never seen before.

But she saw herself within the magic's incantations.

That alone brought countless possibilities to Chloe's mind.

Those possibilities were originally closer to delusions.

But the existence of the magic before her eyes now made those delusions a possibility.

The essence of a mage is the exploration of the unknown.

And Chloe, who was closer to the essence of a mage than anyone else, couldn't help but feel excited at the sight of the magic circle before her.

"Leo! Hurry and draw the rest! Quickly!"

She wanted to see the completed magic more than she was curious about how this magic could exist at this point in time.

Overcome by such an urge, Chloe urged Leo on.

At her reaction, Leo began to finish drawing the magic circle.

Chloe, who had been sitting opposite him, moved to sit right next to Leo.

Her eyes, which had been focused solely on the magic circle without blinking, moved even closer to the paper as the circle was finally completed.

Naturally, their bodies became close, but she seemed too excited to notice.

"Wow!"

Chloe exclaimed and broke into a wide smile.

Chloe's eyes usually sparkled.

But at this moment, they shone brighter than ever before.

Her blue pupils reminded him of sapphires.

Seeing this, Leo held up the paper with the magic circle drawn on it.

Chloe, too engrossed, could only turn her head and follow the magic circle with her eyes as if entranced.

'Sometimes, her reason gets overwhelmingly paralyzed by magic.'

Chloe was a very intelligent person, even by Leo's standards.

But sometimes, she became strangely absent-minded like this.

Leo handed Chloe the paper with the magic circle.

"Here, take a look."

"Thanks! Huh?"

Chloe's face, which had been beaming as she eagerly took the paper Leo was handing her, suddenly stiffened.

It was because she belatedly realized how close she was to Leo.

Students from Seirun were whispering around them.

"Aren't those the student council president and vice-president from Lumern?"

"See. Lumern students are so open-minded."

"Such passionate displays of affection! It seems romantic."

Hearing the elf students' murmurs, Chloe's face turned bright red.

Chloe subtly moved away from Leo and returned to her original seat.

And clearing her throat, she looked at the paper.

"This magic circle."

"You're holding it the wrong way."

When Leo pointed this out to Chloe, who was speaking while holding the paper so the magic circle wasn't visible, Chloe startled and turned the paper around.

"Ahem!"

Chloe placed the paper on the table and stared at it intently.

Her embarrassment lasted only for a moment.

Her expression became serious, and after focusing on the magic circle, Chloe picked up the pen Leo had been using.

Leo took out a blank notebook from his spatial dimension and gave it to Chloe.

"Thanks."

Chloe began to decipher the magic incantations on the notebook at a rapid pace.

Leo quietly watched her.

After about thirty minutes of writing without pause, Chloe's hand suddenly stopped.

Then, she reached out, picked up her cup, and took a sip of coffee through the straw.

"Hoo."

Chloe sighed deeply and fell into thought.

"How should I describe my future self… Hmm…"

Leo smiled as he watched Chloe's eyes darting around, trying to define her future self.

"Doesn't it seem like a pervert?"

"Ah, that's right! Like a pervert… Leo!"

Chloe, who was about to agree with Leo, bristled.

Leo chuckled as he watched Chloe, her face bright red, yelling.

"It seems you're becoming an amazing mage. Just as I expected."

"You expected me to become a mage of this caliber?"

"Yes. Because you're amazing."

At Leo's sincere words, Chloe slightly turned her head and let out a groan.

"But how did you know about the magic your future self would create?"

To that question, Chloe replied nonchalantly.

"I have a pattern when I create magic incantations. Do you remember when we fought Chubal?"

"That's a memory too."

"Now that I think about it, it is."

Chloe let out a soft laugh.

"At that time, you created an ice world on the spot, didn't you?"

Chloe's unique magic, the Ice World.

Normally, unique magic is like a mage's symbol.

Of course, there are cases where mages stop using a unique magic they created long ago if they create a new one to replace it.

But Chloe's unique magic, the Ice World, was special.

'It falls into the category of grand magic.'

There's also field magic, but this magic was always in the realm of grand magic from the moment it was created.

It's not just about the power of the magic.

The Ice World is magic that reveals Chloe's inner thoughts.

Therefore, as Chloe grew as a mage, the magic also grew with her.

In a sense, it was Chloe's eternal symbol.

Whether it was created intentionally or not.

It was truly amazing to complete such incomplete magic, lacking overwhelming experience and knowledge, in her first year.

And under such life-threatening circumstances.

"I've continued to use the unique incantation pattern I used back then. And it seems I'll keep using it in the future."

"Oh? What kind of incantation pattern is it?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Is it a trade secret?"

"Something like that."

Chloe said with a smile.

Actually, there was nothing special about it.

It was just a simple pattern connecting one incantation to another.

However, a secret was hidden within that incantation pattern.

'How can I tell him that combining it with runes completes the word 'Leo'?'

Chloe pouted at Leo.

The pattern was created unconsciously due to her strong consciousness of Leo at the time of completing the Ice World.

And that was also the period of the greatest turning point in Chloe's life.

'Perhaps, even if I lived my whole life, nothing else would influence me as much as that moment.'

For Chloe, it was a moment of beginning.

Remembering that time, Chloe smiled shyly and asked, "By the way, how do you know about this magic?"

"There's someone from the future."

To Chloe's question about the origin of the magic, Leo replied with a sigh.

"Could it be… related to what happened yesterday?"

"Yes."

Chloe's face turned serious.

Leo glanced at the notebook with Chloe's deciphering and said,

"Chloe."

"Yes?"

"Want to decipher this magic incantation further?"

"I'd love to."

Chloe nodded.

A moment later.

"…"

Chloe stared blankly at the people in the room.

There were familiar faces.

Elena and Lunia were prominent examples.

However, two other mages made Chloe tremble.

"This is Chloe Müller, the one who will create this magic in the future."

Leo placed his hand on Chloe's shoulder, pushed her into the room, and closed the door.

"I brought you because you'll be very helpful."

Even though Chloe had arrived, Elena and Lunia didn't speak to her.

They merely glanced at her and became engrossed in deciphering the magic incantations again.

Chloe's gaze shifted to one side.

A beautiful elf mage.

She had seen this hero of the great upheaval many times in textbooks, history books, and grimoires.

Seirun was there.

But that wasn't all.

'Luna-nim?'

Chloe was shocked as she identified the elf girl who approached her.

However, Chloe didn't have time to just be surprised.

Luna quickly flipped through the incantation deciphering that Leo had given her.

"Hmm? Stop here for a moment?"

Then, after saying a few words into the air, she nodded.

A moment later, the young Luna placed her hand on Chloe's shoulder and said,

"New slaves are always welcome."

"What?"

"Go sit next to Lunia and decipher the magic incantations together."

At those words, Chloe sat next to Lunia, not understanding what was happening.

"Lunia, what exactly are you doing?"

To that question, Lunia, whose head had been hurting from deciphering incantations all morning, said with a haggard look,

"I'm creating magic to go to the past."

Chloe's eyes widened.

"Why would future Chloe create such magic and trouble you, senpai?"

At that moment, Elena, sitting opposite, looked at Chloe and said.

Chloe pondered and replied,

"Perhaps… because it's possible, she made it?"

Elena's eyes narrowed.

Chloe avoided Elena's gaze.

"The one who misused the magic is bad, not Chloe."

Lunia, unable to watch any longer, intervened.

Elena sighed and said,

"By the way, why isn't Leo participating in this work?"

"Lunia-nim told him to cool his head because he'd been deciphering incantations all night yesterday."

Elena sighed.

Listening to their conversation, Chloe looked around the room.

Past and present.

Mages with the greatest magical talent were being worn down.

'Magic to go to the past.'

She was filled with a strange excitement.

Elena, without even looking at Chloe, said,

"Chloe."

"Yes?"

"You're enjoying this situation right now, aren't you?"

"…"

"Our junior is really like a pervert."

"Ah, no!"

***

Having enlisted Chloe, Leo headed to the restaurant to eat.

'I didn't intend to escalate things originally.'

He had asked just in case, and Chloe noticed.

If so, there was no reason not to use her.

'I'll just eat and join them then.'

Thinking so, Leo entered the restaurant.

"Oh! Leo-nim!"

At that moment, a bright voice was heard.

It was Eiran.

Lena was sitting in front of Eiran, who was waving her hand.

"Let's join you!"

Leo nodded at Eiran's words and went to sit down.

"Speaking of which, Eiran, I had something I wanted to ask."

"What is it?"

"Do you know about your ancestor, Aneli?"

"Of course! She was the former head of the Ersar family who was active in the same era as Seirun-nim."

Eiran, who loved hero stories, knew her family history thoroughly.

At that answer, Leo pondered for a moment and said,

"Then, by any chance. Did that elf named Aneli have a child with Lumern?"

"What?"

Eiran's eyes widened at the sudden remark.

Lena's face also became similar to Eiran's.

"I've never heard such a story."

Eiran shook her head.

As Leo tilted his head at her answer,

"Huh?"

Rena's eyes widened as she looked out the window.

Leo and Eiran also turned their heads to follow her gaze.

And their eyes widened.

The northern part of the continent always faced harsh cold.

The cold was even more severe in winter.

When Leo entered the restaurant, snow was still piled up outside.

But now, there was no snow outside the window.

"What… what is this?"

As Eiran's expression turned bewildered.

"It seems to be quite cold for winter this year."

"I agree. I wonder if it will snow this year?"

"They say the eastern part of the continent is always frozen land."

Strange conversations could be heard from the restaurant.

Leo's eyes twitched as he heard the conversations of the Seirun students.

At that, Leo stood up and approached the two students.

"I have something to ask. You said the eastern part of the continent is frozen land?"

At that question, the elf students, who appeared to be first-years, looked puzzled.

"Yes? Frozen land is our northern region."

"What?"

"Leo-nim! The outside of the window!"

At Eiran's words, Leo looked out the window.

Before he knew it, the scenery outside the window had changed back to a snowy landscape.

Seeing that, Leo narrowed his eyes.

There was only one answer to this mysterious phenomenon.

'Did a fragment of Erebus, who went to the past, start influencing things from the past?'