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Before coming to block Chihaya Asagumo, Asakura had already mentally prepared for the worst-case scenario: 'the other party is completely beyond saving.'
However, after actually using Truth Vision to look, he found that things weren't as bad as that.
Admittedly, time-based abilities are quite complex—to what extent? Simply put, Asakura, who was invincible in the high school realm and even had a fighting chance in the university realm with memories from his previous life, found that the moment he used Truth Vision to examine the pocket watch, he couldn't find much he understood from the information that would have overloaded an ordinary person's brain. At that moment, he once again felt the terror of being enveloped by advanced mathematics and the humiliation of transforming from someone else's child into an ordinary person.
Fortunately, he wasn't a transmigrator who relied on his own talent to make a living; he still had a cheat.
Deep Blue, add… oh, the Cat Guest system doesn't have this function, so never mind.
So Asakura simply connected the Nameless Magic Book to the Truth Vision's feedback mechanism, using it as a translator, directly discarding some content whose principles he couldn't understand and presenting it as comprehensible results.
To use a more easily understood analogy, it's like how many people don't understand the principle of a phone chip, but can still perform various operations with a smartphone.
At this point, the pocket watch could already be recognized by the system, like an item obtained from the system. Its basic information was roughly as follows:
[Moon Clock]
[Mysterious Trait: Chronos's Clock. The Keeper can shatter it to rewind time. Each use increases the amount of time rewound and the Magic power consumed.]
[Mysterious Trait II: Possessed Item. As the materialization of Magic, the Keeper can grant others the right to use the Moon Clock through lending it. In this situation, the cost is shared by both.]
[Mysterious Trait III: City of Time Devourers. When Magic power cannot cover the cost of rewinding time, it will collect the corresponding time as payment. When the cost exceeds all time held by the Keeper, immediate settlement will occur.]
[Keeper: Chihaya Asagumo]
[Note: 'Proficient in throwing knives, road rollers, ribbon tentacles, housework, and afternoon tea, the Moon Clock's consumption will be reduced.' —The Perfect and Elegant Maid Chief]
[Note II: 'Actually, a pad also needs to be equipped.' —A certain black and white mouse with a throwing knife in its head, who wishes to remain anonymous.]
"So what exactly should I do?" Seeing Asakura suddenly fall silent, Chihaya asked uneasily.
"Your current situation, in short, is akin to owing a large sum of money. To survive without being dragged off for spring sales or dismembered for organ retail, you need to approach it from multiple angles."
Asakura explained clearly and concisely, "First, transfer a portion of the debt to others to bear, and at the same time, reduce the total debt as much as possible to an manageable level."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Chihaya clearly hadn't learned such things and asked somewhat blankly.
"Time is tight, just follow me for now."
Asakura said, then quickly walked towards the hot spring inn.
The young girl watched his back, bit her cherry lips, and after a brief hesitation, quickly followed him.
"Asakura-kun, who exactly are you?" she asked curiously.
"Didn't I say before? Just an ordinary Magician."
"Magicians themselves aren't ordinary, are they? And are all Magicians as warm-hearted as Asakura-kun? You're helping so diligently even though you have no connection with me."
The young girl walked to his side, tilting her head cutely to peek at his expression.
Perhaps because the ominous feeling weighing on her heart had found a solution, Chihaya seemed much more relaxed than her previous tense demeanor. Her brown long hair fell past her face, swaying with her light steps, making the young girl as a whole appear to have a touch of the youthful playfulness unique to girls her age.
"It's not what you think," Asakura said in a deep voice.
"Could it be that Magicians are very common, and it's just that ordinary people like us don't know?" Chihaya asked as if she had suddenly understood.
"No, I mean I'm not putting in much effort; I'm just helping out casually," Asakura replied indifferently.
Chihaya: "…"
"After all, you're someone whose name I occasionally see. If you were to inexplicably die in front of me, it would certainly be a bit unsettling. If it were difficult to help, then so be it, but the current situation is clearly not like that," Asakura continued, speaking frankly, "Moreover, time-related Magic is quite rare. If I can successfully save you, it means I'll have a stable research subject, and perhaps I can even share similar power. I think it's quite a good deal."
"I see."
The young girl nodded knowingly, showing no dissatisfaction at being regarded as a research subject or an object of Exploit. Instead, she said quite happily, "To be honest, for me, the phrase 'having utilitarian value' is much more reassuring than phrases like 'purely out of goodwill' or 'having a good impression of you.'"
"But this way, Asagumo will lose the chance to stop Yakishio from confessing to Ayano-kun," Asakura said.
"Well, it's a bit regrettable, but it can't be helped…" Chihaya sighed.
"You gave up so readily. Seeing how many times you rewound time, I thought you had a deep obsession with Ayano-kun," Asakura said, somewhat surprised, "The kind where even if you died, you'd become a special-grade cursed spirit possessing Ayano-kun."
"It hasn't reached that point, and even if Ayano-kun really gets together with Yakishio, what's wrong with that? It's just dating, not marriage. It's just a little bit harder than before!" The young girl confidently cheered herself on, "Who knows, maybe they'll have a falling out sometime! There's always a way!"
"You really live an unexpectedly pure life… Speaking of which, Ayano-kun doesn't seem to have told anyone he was coming to this hot spring inn. How did you know he was here?"
After all, Asakura found the inn, so he was very curious about how the young girl managed to find her way to such a remote area.
Could it be that besides the Moon Clock, her Magic had other functions?
"A se-cret," Chihaya suddenly showed a rather intimidating smile.
"Huh?" Asakura was bewildered.
"...If I absolutely had to say, it's a maiden's sixth sense."
"A sixth sense that can pinpoint to the meter is terrifying?!"
"Compared to such unimportant matters, what are we doing at the hot spring inn now?" Chihaya awkwardly changed the subject, "Are we going to soak in the hot spring?"
"Of course not. Ordinary hot springs are completely useless in this situation." Asakura no longer delved deeper, merely replying, "It's to test if we can reduce the 'time' cost you have to pay using the simplest method."
"Hmm," the young girl was a bit dizzy from his Around: "Specifically?"
"First, try equipping the pad."
"Eh? Eh—!"
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