After her initial shock, Mariella quickly dropped to one knee, her expression filled with solemn sincerity and reverence.
"I swear my life to your service, my lord!"
She raised her arm to her chest as she spoke, her voice firm and resolute.
No matter how limited her knowledge might be, Mariella understood one thing clearly: Lord Yuuki, who possessed the ability to bestow magic and power upon others, was destined to surpass anything she could imagine.
To follow such a figure was her honor.
Seeing Mariella kneeling before him, Yuuki revealed a helpless smile and lightly raised a finger.
The ground beneath her feet suddenly began to writhe, lifting her up and gently setting her back on her feet.
"I'm not a noble," Yuuki said, shaking his head softly. "There's no need for such formalities."
"Y-Yes, my lord." Mariella froze for a moment, then hurriedly straightened herself and replied respectfully.
"You've only just gained control over Space Magic. Practice using it more, and you should master it fairly quickly."
After a brief pause, Yuuki continued,
"There's also someone I want you to investigate."
Mereoleona Vermillion's words surfaced in Yuuki's mind, and his interest deepened as he went on:
"This person is a mage—someone similar to me. They can likely use multiple types of magic. Their identity may be hidden, and there's a strong chance they're a noble… possibly even royalty."
Hearing that the target could wield multiple attributes of magic, Mariella's eyes widened in surprise.
"Understood, my lord!"
She answered without hesitation.
Yuuki nodded. The matter of the assassination unit had been resolved, and with the night still young, he could return to the tavern early and finally get a good night's sleep.
"Lord Yuuki…"
Just as he was about to activate Space Magic, Mariella spoke again.
"What is it?" Yuuki paused mid-motion, turning toward her with a faint smile.
"With power like yours, my lord… what is our goal?"
Mariella asked quietly.
The question made Yuuki realize something all at once.
Although he had taken Mariella under his wing, he had never once told her what his true objective was.
No wonder something about her had felt incomplete before—until now, her heart had been consumed entirely by revenge.
"I want to bring something different into this world."
Yuuki looked toward the darkened city stretching beneath the night sky and spoke slowly.
"Royals and nobles stand above all others, while commoners and peasants are trampled underfoot. This has existed for so long that everyone has come to accept it as normal."
He paused.
"But does something being longstanding make it right?"
Lowering his gaze to Mariella, Yuuki smiled casually.
"To change a world this deeply rooted, you need more than just strength. You need companions."
"I'll help you, Lord Yuuki!"
Mariella's black eyes shimmered with light as she spoke without hesitation.
Inside a room at the tavern.
Yuuki's figure reappeared.
"Tonight's gains weren't small."
He smiled as he looked at his now-thicker grimoire.
In one go, he had acquired sixty magic power origins, causing his mana reserves to surge dramatically—yet there was still no sense of breaking through a limit.
His current mana capacity sat at Stage One.
The next realm was Stage Zero, the highest level of mana classification known.
As for how much mana a Stage Zero mage possessed, even Yuuki couldn't clearly define it. One could say that Stage Zero had a lower bound, but no upper limit.
After the elves completed their reincarnation, the Ten Apostles of Sephirah all reached Stage Zero. Yet even among them, there was a clear gap between the other nine and their leader, Patry.
Meanwhile, Princess Lolopechka of the Heart Kingdom, who inherited the power of generations of princesses, possessed strength rivaling the combined forces of all Clover Kingdom Magic Knight squads.
Her mana reserves were even more terrifying. Even Patry paled in comparison when it came purely to magical quantity.
She alone could monitor the entire country and cast spells across its full territory.
And on top of that, she was the host of the Water Spirit Undine.
Yet even such an existence had been captured alive by Vanica of the Dark Triad.
In this world, the power gap between mages became more terrifying the higher one climbed.
Yuuki's gaze swept rapidly across the pages of his grimoire.
Magic:
Fire Magic
(Lesser Sunlight, Great Flame Lion's Roar, Spiral Fire Pillar, Flame Lion's Palm, Scorching Blaze, Phoenix Feather Robe)Water Magic
(Flowing Body, Narrow River Current)Wind Magic
(Tempest Tower, Tempest Fang, White Bow of the Gale, Crescent Kamaitachi, White Hawk of the Gale, Rain of Wind Blades, Heavenly Wind Ark)Mineral Magic
(Sword of Victory, Talos Puppet, Nemean Armor, Titan Heavy Plate, Scimitar)Space Magic
(Fallen Angel's Passage, Fallen Angel's Wings, Spatial Transfer, Subspace, Between-Man)Ice Magic
(Heaven-Piercing Ice Fang, Ice Crystal Spike, Crystallized Ice Shield)Mist Magic
(Phantom Mist Whirlpool, Lost Barrier)Cotton Magic
(Sheep Chef, Head Chef, Fluffy Sheep Cushion, Sleeping Sheep Strike)Food Magic
(Glutton King's Banquet)…[Blank]
Yuuki's grimoire had expanded to seventy-six pages.
Beyond various stealth, transformation, lightning, and quicksand spells, he had also gained a particularly useful Space Magic technique—Between-Man.
This spell was originally wielded by Galeo, allowing the user to form humanoid constructs from spatial mana to attack enemies, dealing damage infused with spatial cutting power.
At present, it was Yuuki's only offensive Space Magic technique.
Of course, Galeo possessed more than just that. One such spell was "The Unopened Red Room," a forced teleportation magic that dragged targets into a self-created space.
For Yuuki, however, its utility was limited, overlapping too much with his existing abilities.
Yuuki reached out and tore another page from his grimoire.
"Replication Magic: Reverse Replication."
Under his control, the page expanded and transformed. Moments later, a crimson grimoire appeared in his hand.
It was Fugeoleon's grimoire, recreated once more.
"With this grimoire… I might be able to make some plans."
Murmuring softly, Yuuki tossed it into his subspace.
"Yaaawn~"
"Time to sleep."
Stretching comfortably, Yuuki lay down on the bed.
(End of Chapter)