The Sorcerer's Handbook

”It seems you’ve already reached an answer,” Phantom Ashe said. ”By the way, here is the treasure tied to this question.”

A spirit materialized in his hand. ”This is your most cherished spirit, Substitute.”

Ashe looked at the Substitute spirit as if he were gazing upon a long-lost love. His expression turned serious at once. ”I can feel it. This is truly important to me.”

Phantom Ashe said calmly, ”Then you should choose carefully. State your answer.”

Ashe shrugged. ”Honestly, I’d love to pick the identities that allow me to crush eras and reverse causality. Who wouldn’t want to have been such an extraordinary figure? But I am a man favored by a mistress like Denzel. My intelligence won’t allow me to lie to myself.”

He paused, then continued, ”Option three. I’m just an ordinary person who knows nothing.”

Phantom Ashe glanced at him and closed his hand around the Substitute spirit. It looked as if the spirit were being suffocated. Then, he crushed it. ”Congratulations. That is correct.”

Phantom Ashe opened his right hand to reveal that it was empty. He then loosened his left hand, and two streams of light flowed into Ashe’s body. ”Your reward is the Command spirit.”

Ashe let out a long breath. ”Don’t scare me like that.”

”If I can scare you, all the better,” Phantom Ashe replied, lowering his gaze. ”That way, when the time comes for you to abandon something truly precious, you might actually be prepared.”

Ashe blinked. He sensed a deeper meaning behind those words, but it was clear Phantom Ashe intended to keep playing the riddler. Ashe could respect that. He enjoyed playing the part of the enigma himself. He dropped the topic and moved toward the final section of the cabin.

”Next is your last question. I guarantee it is very, very, very simple. Relax and enjoy the end of this amnesia test.”

Ashe slid his chair back, half-expecting the Phantom to pull out a timed bomb and ask him to defuse it. Instead, Phantom Ashe opened the picture book on the table. ”Your final question is the same as your first. From the following women, choose the one who holds the highest place in your heart.”

Ashe let out a sigh of relief. This really was simple. He knew himself well enough to recognize he was a sucker for beauty. He only had to pick the most stunning woman in the book.

Phantom Ashe turned the first page. ”First candidate.”

The woman in the painting was someone they all recognized. She had long, wine-red hair and ruby eyes, wearing a short black dress. Holding a longsword, she radiated youthful vitality. It was Sonya.

Sonya’s cheeks flushed slightly. She couldn’t help but give Ashe’s shoulder a light, embarrassed punch.

”Next, the second candidate.”

The second page revealed another familiar figure. It was a woman in a black-and-white checkered dress, with one leg clad in a white stocking and the other in black. Her hair was half black and half white. It was clearly Dia.

”The third candidate.”

The third page showed a stranger. She looked like a blooming violet herself, dressed in a purple coat and amethyst earrings. She held an ornate folding fan of orange velvet, and even her gloves were a pale violet. While she bore a slight resemblance to Denzel, the likeness was only a passing one.

”The fourth candidate.”

The fourth page showed another stranger. This woman wore loose black robes and held a crow mask, lifting it just enough to reveal half her face. Her smooth black hair gleamed like crow feathers, her rose-red lips were enticing, and her crimson eyes seemed capable of seizing the soul.

By this point, Sonya’s expression had already begun to sour.

”And then, the fifth candida—”

”Stop!”

Ashe pressed his hand down on Phantom Ashe’s before he could turn the page. The Phantom blinked. ”What, you aren’t going to look at the rest?”

”No need,” Ashe said. ”I choose the first one.”

Phantom Ashe smiled faintly. ”Are you so certain? The very next one might be a woman you would fall in love with at first sight.”

Ashe shrugged. ”First of all, no matter how I look at it, I can only choose from the three people who entered this cabin with me. Now that I know the mistress isn’t my mistress, the sister probably isn’t my sister either. Right now, only the lover has a chance of being real. Besides, calling her my lover here and then choosing someone else as the one I love most... even I wouldn’t do something that heartless.”

Sonya said calmly, ”You don’t need to worry about me. Everything so far is just your guesswork. Maybe I’m not your lover at all.”

Ashe tilted his head to look at her, then suddenly repeated his own logic. ”Personality shapes memory.”

”Hm?”

”If you weren’t my lover, I wouldn’t feel the need to worry about you,” Ashe said with a smile. ”But I am acutely aware that I do care about you. What do you think that means?”

Sonya snorted. ”It means you’re the type who eats what’s in his mouth while eyeing what’s in the pot. You’re just greedy for everything.”

”The treasure tied to this question is your second most cherished spirit, Reverse Day.”

Noticing that Phantom Sonya had begun stroking the hilt of her sword again, Phantom Ashe forcefully cut off their emotional sparring. ”Please state your answer.”

”Option one,” Ashe said.

”No changes?”

”No changes.”

Phantom Ashe leaned back in his chair and stretched lazily. ”Very well.”

He looked at Ashe, Sonya, and Dia, then spread his hands. ”That’s incorrect. Snap. Your Reverse Day spirit is gone.”

After a brief, heavy silence, Sonya’s voice broke the stillness. ”Can I see what the fifth candidate looks like?”

Phantom Ashe paused. ”Why?”

”I’m just a little curious. By the way, are there also a sixth and seventh candidate?”

Ashe saw straight through her intentions. ”You’re clearly trying to memorize everyone’s faces so you can settle the score with me once you get your memories back! You really are a cunning, petty, and vengeful woman. Please, show some mercy and pretend this never happened!”

”Sorry,” Phantom Ashe said. ”The quiz is over. You cannot review the questions. Candidates, please leave in an orderly manner.”

Phantom Dia spoke up as they began to fade. ”I’m really looking forward to their reactions after they leave the cabin.”

”So it wasn’t her?” Phantom Sonya asked.

”Hm?”

Phantom Sonya continued, ”I thought the person he valued most right now would be... Watcher, what’s the answer?”

Phantom Ashe replied, ”The cabin never told me. It only judges right or wrong. But I can roughly guess that, right now, the woman Ashe values most is still her.”

***

Meanwhile, beneath the Virtual World’s Continent of Time, at the Sea of Knowledge.

A small boat rested by a tiny island. Freya sat on a chair with pen and paper in hand, focused on her Destiny Quiz. She had not expected that, only days after becoming a sorcerer, she would stumble upon an opportunity that most sorcerers would never experience in their entire lives.

What excited her even more was that she had already answered one question correctly, and it had been about Ashe.

[Multiple Choice Question: What plan will Freya Hoyle carry out together with Ashe Heath in the future?]

① A plan to rewrite fate

② A plan to reverse time

③ A plan to overturn the world

④ All of the above

Aside from the joy of knowing she would meet Ashe again, Freya had no idea what the answer was and had simply chosen at random. To her shock, it was correct.

The thought that she and Ashe would become key figures in such a grand plan made her heart race. The veela felt a surge of excitement so strong that she wanted to leave the Virtual World immediately to indulge her desires.

Still, she had to finish the Destiny Quiz. Even a small glimpse into the future was a massive gain. Freya took a deep breath, steadied her nerves, and focused on the paper. New lines of text appeared.

[Multiple Choice Question: Who currently holds the highest place in Ashe Heath’s heart?]

① The Death Maniac Swordswoman

② The Black-White Witch

③ The Crow Doctor

④ Freya Hoyle

⑤ Annan Dolan, the Purple Moth

⑥ Cliose Beymore, the Weeping Red Hat

⑦ His mother

Freya stared at the seventh option and fell into thought. Mother?