Mage Manual
Chapter 325 - Chapter 325 Chapter 275 Time Off_2

Chapter 325: Chapter 275: Time Off_2 Chapter 325: Chapter 275: Time Off_2 “I’ve chosen this one,” Igula shook the pen in his hand. “No matter what’s written with it, it will firmly catch the reader’s attention.”

“Really?” Ash blinked.

“Why do you look so surprised?”

“I thought you wanted the pen that ‘makes whatever you write come true’ or ‘makes people believe whatever you write’…”

Igula waggled a finger, “For a sociologist like me, it’s not about distorting reality or gaining trust, but rather about attention–as long as I can take away your attention, I can control your fate.”

Ash looked towards Harvey, the necromancer who took out a sewing kit similar to those for mending clothes–Heaven knows why the Kingdom of Gospel would have such a thing; given their productivity levels, shouldn’t the common people be wearing a new set of clothes every day, never needing to wash them?

“I’ve chosen–”

“Stop, I didn’t ask you,” Ash, crossing his arms, signaled a refusal. “I don’t want to hear about special uses for a sewing needle.”

“This isn’t a sewing needle–”

“Then I want to hear even less.”

Hanna and Banjee, undoubtedly, didn’t have to choose; they had made their choice at birth.

Ash scanned the items on the table and shook his head.

“Can I choose something else?”

“Like what?”

Ash went back to his bedroom and then came out wearing a dark red coat and masking his face: “I don’t like anything on the table; I want to choose these two as my Life Companions.”

He pointed to the dark red coat. “This is something that can resist all kinds of harm…”

Hanna reminded him, “Don’t be so utilitarian; do you think this is a game? Would your parents wish like this?”

Ash recalled his parents’ way of thinking and said seriously, “This is a terrifying coat that will make everyone too scared to bully me.”

Hanna was about to say something but was patted on the shoulder by Igula.

The Swindler gestured towards himself, Harvey, and Ash. Hanna immediately understood–they were all orphans from the Kingdom of Blood Moon; how would they know what parental love was?

When you want to judge someone, remember they might not have parents.

With that thought, Hanna’s gaze towards Ash was filled with tolerance.

As for the mask, Ash said, “This is a… um… mask that will make everyone like me?”

“Function doesn’t really match, does it?” Harvey commented. “Though you do look better with your face covered; masks don’t really link to Charm functions.”

Harvey’s comments always baffled Ash; this particular comment could have been seen as a personal attack if it had come from Igula, Liss, or even Hanna, but from Harvey, it left Ash unsure whether it was a compliment or an insult.

But he had a point; after thinking it over, Ash said, “Then this is a mask that will give me a sense of mystery.”

“Why does dad get to have two Life Companions!?” Liss protested. “I want two as well!”

“But if you choose two, the power of the wish may be diluted,” Hanna said. “Besides, the Gospel Book might pick and choose, only rewarding one true Life Companion.”

Liss considered this and replied, “Then never mind, I still want the Magic Mirror.”

“Now that we all have chosen, when will the first Gospel List come out?” Ash asked. “It’s almost time for breakfast, and the Gospel Book isn’t taking a day off, is it?”

“No,” Hanna shrugged, “but it won’t be on time either. If it were really on time, the first future list would have been released at midnight last night.”

“Then why–”

“Because today isn’t over yet.”

Housekeeper Banjee raised his hand, signaling everyone to look at him, “How should I put this to you… if the Weaving Festival were a job, then the Gospel Book would be the creator who submits their work at the very last second.”

“All of these are our speculations,” Hanna said. “As we get closer to the future by one second, the accuracy of the weaving becomes higher. Thus, although the Weaving Festival nominates the first list on the 10th, a list woven at 00:00:00 isn’t as accurate as one woven at 23:59:59.”

“In the history of the Weaving Festival, the majority of lists were released at the very last second of the day, only 25% of lists are published at midnight, and another 10% are released at random times during the day, the pattern is unpredictable.”

“That’s why I didn’t have you all wait until midnight yesterday because in the past several sessions of the Weaving Festival, the first list has always been released at the last second,” Hanna flicked her earring. “But tonight, you all have to wait until 12 o’clock to see the first future list before you can go back to your rooms.”

Ash asked, “Can’t we just look at it tomorrow morning? Must we chase the update?”

“No,” Hanna shook her head, “It’s unlikely, but if you’re either too lucky or too unlucky… something might happen. But it’s not very likely with the first list; our target is the second list ten days later.”

Waiting until 12 o’clock…

Ash’s team set out to explore the Void Realm at 11 o’clock, making it seem like a waste to ask for a leave at 12 o’clock, but he couldn’t just ignore it.

So, after breakfast, Ash hurried back to his bedroom, called up the Gospel Book, opened the game page, and checked if there was a way to delay the team assembly time.

“Void Realm Exploration” – “Team Setup”; Ash looked carefully and discovered a detail — every time Ash chose “Start Action,” secondary options “Leave Immediately” and “Reconsider” would pop up.

Previously, Ash thought “Reconsider” meant to cancel, but this time he pressed it and found “Reconsider” led to “Adjust Action Time,” “Change Team Composition.”

Choosing “Adjust Action Time,” Ash found he could shift the action time from 11 PM to 12:30 AM, but he needed the operators’ agreement.

“Observer has initiated a suggestion: Postpone tonight’s Void Realm exploration time by 90 minutes.”

…

Meanwhile, Liss also returned to her room and said to the small Magic Mirror she had just obtained, “Call the Observer! Call the Observer! Can we delay tonight’s Void Realm exploration by an hour? Observer, please convey this to the Sword Maiden.”

“No, wait!” Liss shook her head, switching to Diya for the negotiation: “Can we delay it by 90 minutes? Tonight, we might need to watch the Gospel List for several minutes.”

…

After a brief silence, Ash and Diya both got the answers they wanted —

“Sword Maiden agrees, Witch agrees”

“Since you beg so humbly, I will mercifully approve.”

…

In another kingdom, Sonia, who had just woken up and was doing her skincare, looked at a letter on her desk with a slightly peculiar expression.

“Dear Sword Maiden”

“The great Observer has kept his promise. Tomorrow you will not need to train and will get a full day of entertainment and rest.”

“But as a cost, your training duration tonight will extend by 90 minutes, and the Void Realm exploration will also be postponed by 90 minutes.”

“… I usually only train for two hours anyway…”

The president of the Claw Club really wanted to be happy, but her intelligence wouldn’t allow it: “What does this mean? Compensatory time off? How is this different from not having a holiday at all!”