Chapter 187: Time Discrepancy

"Oh, sorry. Are you an orphan or something...?"

"No. It’s just that I’m an old middle aged man on the inside. I never got married either, so I don’t have any family anymore. Haha."

After saying it out loud made Qiu Nuoya feel a little depressed himself.

Well, he’ll do his best to make up for that in this life.

"You’re an old man on the inside...?"

"Yeah, that’s right. God made me younger, and even gave me this appearance too. He basically told me to take my time and enjoy my new life..."

"That’s not fair! What is that supposed to mean? You’re a cheater! I’ve been having nothing but terrible experiences ever since I came to this world!!!"

Xiao Tao sulked with tears still welling up in his eyes.

"Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a cheater. God gave me all kinds of extra perks, too. But don’t you have something like that as well? I heard Shangguan Wan’er had the aptitude to become a Saintess, and since you were summoned as a Hero, I imagine you must have received some kind of divine protection as well."

Xiao Tao tilted his head in confusion at Qiu Nuoya’s words.

"...What’s divine protection?"

"Eh? It should be listed under the titles in your status, shouldn’t it? Don’t tell me you don’t have one?"

"Wait a minute, what’s a statusssss!?"

Eeeeeh!? He doesn’t even know about that!?

"By the way, Xiao Tao, have you ever been to a Church?"

"I’ve been chased by someone this entire time, you know!? I was too scared to go anywhere like a town or village where I had no idea who might attack me!"

Oh wow. He’s a genuine survivor.

How on earth had he managed to live all this time?

"You’ve done really well to survive this long."

"Well, that cursed knife protected me, at least!"

"I see. But if that’s the case, won’t giving up the knife put his life in danger?"

The reason people had been attacking Xiao Tao was apparently because of the knife, which was currently in the form of an ordinary sword. If he got rid of it, would he really be able to live a normal life?

"Hey, I have a question. Do you have any idea how you’re going to live from now on?"

"...Huh?"

"It looks like the curse has been transferred to Warren, but if you give up the sword, will you be able to survive on your own?"

There was a long silence.

Then Xiao Tao’s expression crumpled with despair, and he lowered his head.

Ah, he really hadn’t thought that far ahead.

He had been so focused on wanting to get rid of the cursed knife that he had not considered what he would do afterward.

"Th-Then... how am I supposed to live from now on...?"

Xiao Tao once again burst into tears.

Qiu Nuoya was starting to feel genuinely sorry for him.

"Xiao Tao, if you’d like, would you like to come with us?"

"Eh? Is that really okay?"

If we leave him alone like this, he looks like the kind of person who might die before he can even adapt to this world. There’s no way we can just abandon him.

"I’ll take care of him. Is that all right with everyone?"

When Qiu Nuoya made the suggestion to the others, Igor nodded. "Well, if that’s what Qiu Nuoya wants."

Viktor also nodded. "I have no objection to anything you decides."

Finally, Warren gave an awkward smile. "We don’t even know what this cursed sword is capable of. Until we figure that out, I can’t exactly say no."

...

The boy they had met was named Xiao Tao, and when they asked his age again, he confirmed that he was fourteen. Even after Qiu Nuoya explained that three years should have passed since Xiao Tao came to this world, Xiao Tao continued to look completely bewildered.

"I’ve been keeping track of the days since I came here, and I’m absolutely sure it hasn’t even been a month yet! Um... today is my fifteenth day!"

When they heard that, they had no choice but to believe him, and this time, it was their turn to tilt their heads in confusion.

The way dates were counted in this world was almost identical to that of Qiu Nuoya’s original world. A month had thirty days, and there were twelve months in a year. If today was Xiao Tao’s fifteenth day, then he had unquestionably been here for only half a month.

Could something this strange really happen?

Xiao Tao certainly did not look like he was lying. Besides, there was no benefit for him in telling such a lie in the first place.

While everyone was still puzzled, Viktor spoke up. "There is only one hypothesis I can think of that might explain this."

"A hypothesis?"

"He wished to escape using that cursed sword, and the moment he wished to escape, he found himself outside. That is clearly teleportation magic. If we assume that the sword is some kind of magical sword, it is said that Space-Time Magic can transcend time once it reaches Level 10. From that, the most likely conclusion is that the sword has an extremely powerful Space-Time Magic spell formula embedded within it. Of course, we cannot confirm that because we cannot touch the sword."

What!? Space-Time Magic can actually transcend time once it is mastered? That’s incredible!

Qiu Nuoya’s current Space-Time Magic was only Level 1, so he still had a very long way to go before reaching anything like that.

"By the way, what level is your Space-Time Magic, Viktor?"

"I’m currently at Level 8."

The levels ranged from 1 to 10. Once someone reached Level 5 or higher, they were considered highly proficient and had entered the realm of true mastery.

As expected, Viktor’s Space-Time Magic was truly at the level of an expert.

Well, he had already reached Level 10 in the four basic elemental magics.