The white-bearded old shopkeeper was shaken to the core.
He never expected that this masked, black-robed, mysterious customer actually possessed space magic.
And he knew very well—
A mage who wielded space magic was never a simple figure. Every major faction in the kingdom would fight to recruit someone like that.
Most spells were useless against space magic.
"I—I grabbed the wrong thing earlier. Wrong thing! I've got other mana-concealment items as well!" the old man said quickly, forcing an awkward smile back onto his face. He had originally thought to probe the stranger, but clearly, this was someone he absolutely could not afford to provoke.
He had no intention of being targeted by a space-magic user.
A short while later, Yuuki stepped out of the shop, holding a bracelet-shaped magic tool.
It was pitch-black, plain, and looked like nothing special.
Yet it had cost him 53,000 yul, making his heart ache.
Still—its effects were good, so he couldn't complain too much.
The only downside was that the funds he'd gotten from the Eye of the Midnight Sun had now been completely drained.
After that—
Yuuki headed to another shop that sold mana potions. He wasn't there for potions, but for special seeds.
His replicated Plant Magic required seeds as catalysts in order to unleash its true power. That meant he needed unique seeds for experimenting with new magic techniques.
Another 5,000 yul gone.
Only after that did Yuuki use space magic to leave the black market.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, both the Clover Kingdom and the Eye of the Midnight Sun remained relatively peaceful.
Yuuki used this rare quiet period to focus on researching and developing his magic—of course, all in secret.
Ever since Noelle experienced firsthand that Yuuki could really help her with mana control training, she practically ran to the restaurant every day.
At this point, Noelle still didn't have much sense of belonging toward the Black Bulls. Even if there were missions, rookies like her and Asta weren't required to join.
Compared to the mostly idle Noelle—
Asta was extremely busy. Cleaning the Black Bulls' base, washing clothes, waking up Yami every day, feeding Yami's pet—pretty much all chores were dumped onto Asta.
These were things Noelle obviously wouldn't do.
Because of this, Asta often complained to Yuuki that the work he was doing now didn't feel any different from what he used to do back at the church.
Yuuki wasn't particularly thrilled about Noelle showing up every day to request training.
After all, dealing with a tsundere royal girl was exhausting.
Unfortunately…
Noelle paid far too generously.
Yuuki simply couldn't bring himself to turn her down.
Yuno also visited twice during this period. But compared to the free-spirited Black Bulls, the Golden Dawn had far more obligations.
Yuuki could feel that Yuno had grown stronger since joining the squad.
Yuno originally wanted to spar with Yuuki, but Yuuki refused—using the excuse that training Noelle had drained too much of his mana.
He avoided Asta as well, since the boy was a bit too enthusiastic for his taste.
Those were the things Yuuki did openly during the half-month.
But in secret—
Whenever he returned to his room, Yuuki would use space magic to leave the restaurant and head to remote areas to research magic and search for new spells to replicate.
During this half-month, Yuuki successfully replicated the magic of two nobles.
Magic List
① Fire Magic — Scorching Flames
② Plant Magic — Mandrake Cradle, Thorn Whip
③ Tracking Magic — Observation
④ Wind Magic — Tower of Storm
⑤ Space Magic — Spatial Transfer
⑥ Space Magic — Subspace
⑦ Chain Magic — Demonic Binding Iron Lock Array
⑧ Blank Page
⑨ Blank Page
…
One was a non-offensive support-type tracking spell. The other was a vine-type magic that, in Yuuki's opinion, was inferior to his existing Plant Magic…
So he simply added another blank page.
The mana essence from the two nobles once again boosted Yuuki's maximum mana, stabilizing him completely at the level of the Sixth Domain.
As for why he didn't target commoners?
Yuuki didn't see himself as someone who killed indiscriminately. Reproducing magic didn't require killing the target, but if large numbers of commoners suddenly lost their grimoires, the trouble that would cause would be far worse than simply killing them outright.
In the eyes of the royals and nobles, the lives of a few commoners and the disappearance of a large batch of grimoires were two entirely different matters.
Besides—
After discovering that devouring the magic of two commoners didn't even increase his mana as much as one Miaase noble, Yuuki immediately understood that swallowing the grimoires of seven or eight commoners still wasn't as effective as taking one noble's grimoire.
Yuuki also faintly felt that devouring a large number of useless spells just to increase his page count was not a good thing.
Even if he converted pages into blanks, the essence of the reproduced magic still remained in his soul. That was something Yuuki had quietly been concerned about from the beginning.
The disappearance of two nobles had some impact, but it didn't attract the attention of the Magic Knights. Yuuki wasn't someone who picked targets at random.
The two nobles he chose were minor figures who wandered around the commoner district late at night — nobodies. The fallout was completely within manageable limits.
With his Space Magic, Yuuki wouldn't leave behind any trace.
"Morning, Rebecca."
Yawning, Yuuki walked down the stairs of the restaurant.
His schedule had been so packed day and night recently that even his sleep had begun to suffer.
"Yuuki, perfect timing — try this new stew I made!"
Rebecca's eyes brightened the moment she saw him. She quickly fetched a pot she had clearly prepared in advance, thick with rich aroma, and placed it on the table where Yuuki usually ate.
After half a month together, the two had become thoroughly familiar with each other.
"Oh? Smells amazing!"
Breathing in the fragrance filling the air, Yuuki sat down without ceremony.
"You burn so much mana every day — doesn't it affect your body?"
Hearing Yuuki praise her cooking, Rebecca smiled, though a note of concern rose soon after.
"Work is work," Yuuki replied with a small laugh, lifting a bowl and ladling himself a serving.
Rebecca couldn't help but smile too, envy flashing in her teal-green eyes.
Ten thousand yul per day… even Magic Knights probably only made that much.
In half a month, Yuuki had earned enough to buy her entire restaurant.
Even calm, composed Yuno couldn't help feeling jealous when he heard about it, and as for Asta, he shouted and begged Yuuki to treat him every single time he visited.
"By the way, why isn't Noelle here today?" Rebecca glanced toward the restaurant door, puzzled.
"Maybe she has something else to do," Yuuki said casually while drinking his soup — though a silver glow flickered faintly in his eyes.
Tracking Magic — Observation.
In the next instant—
A parallel map unfolded in Yuuki's mind. Two silver lights pulsed on it: one marking his location, the other marking Noelle's.
(End of Chapter)