Yuuki stood rigidly in place, his mind racing as he recalled the conversation between Marco and her siblings.
He drew a deep breath.
Turning toward the children, he began walking in their direction.
"Yuuki-onii san."
"Yuuki-onii san?"
"...."
"Yuuki-onii san!"
The kids' voices rang out in unison as they saw him approaching, their excitement evident.
A gentle smile spread across Yuuki's face as he reached down to ruffle Luca's small head, then turned his gaze toward little Marco, only four or five years old.
"Marco, could you repeat what you just said?" he asked softly.
Marco blinked in slight confusion but nodded obediently.
"I said… the tables are made from wood, right?" she repeated. "If there were magic, we could turn the old tables back into trees, and then reuse them again."
Her small face was tinged with puzzlement, and she exchanged glances with her siblings.
"Shh, Brother Yuuki is thinking," Luca, a bit older, whispered, placing a finger to her lips.
Indeed, Yuuki was deep in thought. Marco's words kept replaying in his mind:
'Tables are made of wood.'
'Turn old tables back into trees.'
'Reuse them.'
When he had first heard her words, it had been like a lightning strike in his mind. Now, the thought crystallized clearly.
Suddenly, Yuuki stood perfectly upright, his eyes shining with sharp brilliance—he finally realized what he had overlooked.
"Yuuki-onii san, what's wrong?"
Marco asked cautiously, noticing his astonished and joyful expression.
"I just realized something important. Thank you, Marco," Yuuki said, patting her red hair gently, a warm smile on his face.
"I'm glad I could help! And if you could tell a new story tonight, that would be even better!" Marco said happily, making a small request.
Yuuki chuckled with delight.
"No problem," he replied, nodding with a smile.
"What's the matter?" Rebecca, curious about the commotion, walked over.
"Ah… sorry, Rebecca. I just remembered something I haven't finished yet, so I need to step out again," Yuuki said apologetically.
"It's fine, Yuuki. I'm here, so don't worry," Rebecca said gently, her pale teal eyes softening.
Yuuki nodded and smiled at the children. "I'll bring back some treats when I return."
With that, he left the restaurant.
Walking down the street, his eyes occasionally glimmered with keen light. If not for Marco's words, he might have continued overlooking something crucial.
Old tables turned back into trees, recycled!
Could the same principle apply to Replication Magic? Or was it really only usable for replicating powers for oneself?
A few thoughts flashed through Yuuki's mind. He needed an experiment.
Half an hour later.
On a desolate cliffside, Yuuki emerged from a spatial portal, carrying an unconscious man.
This location, at the boundary between the ordinary world and the outer plane, was one of Yuuki's secluded spots used for training.
The unconscious man was a local thug. Yuuki wasn't a saint, but he disliked killing innocents, making this thug the perfect subject for his experiment.
He casually dropped the man onto the ground, took his grimoire, and found a clean spot to sit.
"So this is exactly as I suspected… let's test it," he murmured, showing rare seriousness.
Yuuki placed the thug's grimoire atop his own silver grimoire.
The grimoire contained Hound Magic, allowing the user to summon and control hunting dogs. Useful for theft and harassment, though relatively weak offensively.
Complete replication.
Yuuki's thoughts surged, and silver magic rapidly enveloped the grimoire, consuming it.
In the next instant, a new page titled Hound Magic appeared in his silver grimoire, and his soul gained a magical power source.
He sensed the magic's growth—nearly negligible. At his level, reaching the fourth-domain tier, normal magic gains were insignificant.
That didn't matter; his experiment wasn't about power accumulation.
The grimoire's pages rustled, flipping to the last one, revealing the newly acquired Hound Magic page.
Yuuki's gaze hardened. He lightly placed a hand on the page, then did something unimaginable to any other mage in the world.
Shriiiik!
A piercing sound split the air.
Yuuki grabbed the Hound Magic page and yanked it from the grimoire.
Instantly, his magic surged, his mind jolting. The magical power source that had been replicated into his soul disappeared along with the page.
Boom!
The torn page hovered in midair, still emanating silver magic, trembling slightly.
"It actually works!!"
Yuuki stared in astonishment at the floating page, radiating its own silver light.
Suddenly, the page began to fade.
He realized that without the grimoire as a medium, the page couldn't exist independently and would eventually dissipate on its own.
A sudden inspiration struck his mind.
Boom!
Yuuki's silver grimoire exploded with a brilliant silver glow.
Replication Magic—Reverse Replication!
A sense of revelation surged through him, and he let out a low shout.
The floating page stopped dispersing and began to shrink, gradually expanding again, until in the blink of an eye, it became the full grimoire of Hound Magic, restored completely.
Yuuki stared in shock. He could sense that the grimoire had fully returned to its original state—and he could control it!
(End of Chapter 68)
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