A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 156 The Unassuming Watch Shop

As Rorschach left the theater, he noticed several gentlemen using canes.

A cane? He suddenly realized something and understood that he was missing a tool to assist in casting spells.

The Imperial Academy doesn't concern itself with the principles; it only teaches the basics of spellcasting tools like staves and crystal balls. Rumor has it that the Empire's mages planned to develop a "standard spellcasting accessory pack" to equip the mages accompanying the army and stationed in towns, but they failed to develop a low-cost mana storage unit and eventually gave up.

It seems that this kind of thing is not popular in the Tower of Stars. Kano seems to be the ultimate rich man. Rorschach noticed that when he wants to cast spells quickly, he often relies on gems or crystals - and they are disposable! I can't learn to be so wasteful, but the mages and apprentices of the Tower of Forest all have an oak or birch staff.

"Is that thing a magic staff or a trekking pole?" Recalling their performance during the Black Forest expedition, it seemed that only Archmage Alexander Humboldt had actually used his staff to shove it into the ground, transforming it into a guardian tree.

Rorschach's current search for spellcasting assistance wasn't entirely a spur-of-the-moment decision. When he first graduated from the academy—or rather, when he was so poor he couldn't even afford a learning scroll, let alone a staff. He'd recently become wealthier, but feeling rather complacent, he hadn't considered this possibility.

The idea originated from a battle with his apprentice Paul. During the battle, Rorschach discovered that relying solely on himself to cast the [Anti-Magic Scream] without using the oscillating quartz required exceptional concentration, making it inconvenient to prepare the next spell while casting it.

If Rorschach hadn't anticipated and interrupted Paul's "hidden" magic, catching him off guard, the time it would have taken for Rorschach to prepare his second spell would have been fatally long. At least for a seasoned veteran, this would have been an opening and weakness for a counterattack.

Against spellcaster enemies, if you can preemptively use [Silence Scream] to silence them, followed by an instant-cast attack, it should be extremely effective. Even against non-spellcaster enemies, having an instant-cast spell ready can save your life if a mage suddenly gets close.

Always keep something in reserve. Rorschach recalled Leopold, the knight of the Order of Our Lady, whom he had met when he first started out, and now he realized how frightening it was.

The scroll cannot be used instantly, and because it is written with alchemical ink on a flexible thin material, even if there is an energy storage unit, it will gradually become ineffective. Therefore, the staff is Rorschach's best choice.

As for crystal balls, I'd rather not carry one around every day. Those things are more suitable for setting up a stall to earn extra money when you're short on funds. Customers who want their fortunes told will definitely think the stall owner is professional if they see a ball.

I ran into my senior brother in the Starry Sky Tower. He seemed to be in a good mood lately, and even on the way to the library, the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned.

"The Mage Pascal?"

"Hmm?" The senior brother turned around and saw that it was Luo Xia: "Junior brother, the way you call me is clearly a greeting, but it seems like you are distancing yourself from me."

"Senior brother, do you know where I can buy magical items?" Luo Xiazhen only realized when he wanted to buy a staff that there didn't seem to be any open sales channels for such items in Valuwana. Strange.

"Well, if you ask anyone else, the answer will definitely be the Alchemy Department, but since you're my dear junior brother, I'll recommend the watchmaker Julius Violet to you. However, in our world, you should call him Mr. Fulcanneli. But he's closed on weekends."

Pascal meant that if you went to "Julius Violet," you could only get pocket watches repaired in the shop, but if you went to "Fulcanelli," you could buy some good stuff.

How did he get to know all these different kinds of people? Rorschach laughed and replied, "If I'm looking for my senior brother, I'll call him Master Pascal. If I'm visiting a social activist, shouldn't I call him Thor?"

"Shh! Don't joke like that. If you really want to find Thor, go to the 'Friends of Love and Equality' club." The senior brother hadn't given up on trying to drag Rorschach into the club.

Rorschach accepted "Mr. Fulcanelli's" business card, which displayed the name and address of his watch shop. As a token of his gratitude, Rorschach gave Pascal two tickets to tomorrow's performance.

"How do you have tickets! Ever since I lost contact with Caron, tickets for his shows have been incredibly hard to come by." These days, opera is like a movie for couples on a date, and Pascal is extremely eager for opera tickets.

As long as you're willing to spend money, there's no ticket you can't get. Anyway, Mr. Falcon has already reimbursed the money. Luo Xia suddenly wondered, could this be considered the imperial forces funding a small rebel group from the Holy Kingdom?

No, no, no, it's just a club, one of Valuwana's vibrant social organizations.

Luo Xia didn't bother to explain where the ticket came from. Instead, he made a request that his senior couldn't refuse: "It's worth one ticket to express my gratitude to you. But I'll give you the other one too. I need to do you a small favor for me."

On the first day of the ten-day period, March 1st, Rorschach's original plan was to proctor exams at the Higher Normal School. If he were proctoring his own class, he would be very interested in observing his students' worried faces as they faced the exam papers, but unfortunately, it would disrupt the teacher-subject-class schedule, so Rorschach lost interest and asked Pascal to fill in for him.

He arrived at "Viole Watch Shop" based on the business card. The small storefront was squeezed into an alley. This was a middle-class residential area where residents would buy watches for themselves, whether out of a desire to keep up with the Joneses or for practical work needs. Theoretically, the business should be doing well.

But when Rorschach arrived, he found the store to be tiny and deserted. These days, some major watch retailers open large glass-windowed shops in safe, upscale neighborhoods to showcase their masterpieces. This shop, however, didn't even have a proper window; instead, its sign featured a striking clock and a wooden owl with its eyes closed.

Although the owl-eagle was crudely drawn, it was exceptionally lifelike, making Rorschach inexplicably feel as if it would open its eyes at night.

Luo Xia had already stood at the door and took out his business card for a final confirmation when, unexpectedly, the business card in his hand suddenly broke free. The pale yellow cardstock seemed to come alive, fluttering and transforming into a butterfly.

Illusion? Polymorph?

Everything happened so suddenly; the business card hadn't shown anything unusual before. Rorschach quickly activated [Arcane Vision] to investigate, and saw a small yellow butterfly fluttering, its wings tracing graceful paths—the paths were real, appearing to Rorschach as tiny specks of magical light.

The door opened by itself, the doorbell jingled, and a butterfly flew in, circling as if urging Rorschach to come in. Only then did the boy become certain that the alchemist Pascal had introduced was truly capable.

As soon as you enter, a young man stands there, holding a small pair of tweezers in one hand and a paper butterfly resting on his index finger. He had previously worn the monocular magnifying glasses commonly used by jewelers and watchmakers, but he has taken them off to greet the customer.

"Welcome, young guest. You've come by butterfly, surely you're looking for Mr. Fulcanne? Hello, I'm his apprentice, Cancelitt."

"Good morning, I'm Rorschach. A friend recommended that I come here to buy magical items."

(End of this chapter)