Chapter 244: Viktor’s Little Secret

Qiu Nuoya had never quite understood how he was supposed to use spatial magic, but now he realized that this was exactly the kind of thing it could be used for. It was as if scales had fallen from his eyes.

I still have a long way to go when it comes to applying magic. How could I not have thought of something so simple...?

"I can do it! I’ll do it!"

Qiu Nuoya jumped into the cargo compartment, placed his hand against the floor, and chanted, "Expansion!"

The inside of the cargo compartment suddenly expanded to about one and a half times its original size.

Qiu Nuoya wanted to make it even larger, so he expanded it twice more. Before long, the cargo compartment had grown to roughly the size of a small plaza. With this much space, no matter how badly someone tossed and turned in their sleep, they would not be kicking anyone else.

"Nuoya really can do just about anything. I’m impressed."

Igor peered into the expanded cargo compartment with a wry smile.

Qiu Nuoya did not think he was capable of doing everything the way Igor described, but it still made him happy to receive such praise.

And so, with their means of transportation secured, the entire group set off for the royal capital.

Incidentally, Saintess Shangguan Wan’er had initially tilted her head and suggested, "Why don’t we just use teleportation magic to go back?"

But when Qiu Nuoya asked, "Then would that mean traveling separately from Long?", she immediately changed her mind.

"Taking a leisurely journey sounds nice too!"

She happily linked her arm with Long’s.

Returning to the royal capital with teleportation magic would certainly have been easy, but it cost money. They were not particularly short on money at the moment, but since they had already gone to the trouble of preparing a horse-drawn carriage and setting out on a journey, simply teleporting there would have completely ruined the atmosphere.

Incidentally, there was a reason Shangguan Wan’er had casually brought up teleportation magic. Apparently, she could already use it. And not only by herself. She could teleport together with the prince and Arana, the female knight assigned as his guard.

Qiu Nuoya could not even reliably use teleportation magic by himself yet, so Shangguan Wan’er was unquestionably another overpowered other-worlder. After all, if she could teleport multiple people at once, that meant her Space-Time Magic level was actually higher than Viktor’s in terms of practical ability.

After realizing this, Qiu Nuoya casually asked Shangguan Wan’er what level her Space-Time Magic was.

She said it was Level 6.

...Huh?

"Nuoya, is something wrong?"

"Viktor, didn’t you say before that your Space-Time Magic is Level 8?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"Shangguan Wan’er’s Space-Time Magic is Level 6, right? And yours is Level 8. So why can Shangguan Wan’er use teleportation magic with multiple people when you can’t?"

For a brief moment, Viktor’s expression clearly said, Oh no.

That turned Qiu Nuoya’s suspicion into certainty.

Actually, Qiu Nuoya had thought something was strange for a while.

Whenever Viktor teleported with Qiu Nuoya, he always picked him up and held him in his arms. Teleportation magic was an extremely advanced form of magic, and even teleporting oneself was very difficult. Viktor had explained that once one’s level became high enough, it was possible to teleport multiple people at once, but he still could not do that himself.

That was why, whenever he needed to teleport someone else with him, he had to keep their bodies in close contact while casting the spell. That was how Viktor had always explained it to Qiu Nuoya.

But Viktor had said that multiple-person teleportation became possible as one’s level increased. If Shangguan Wan’er could do it despite having a lower Space-Time Magic level than Viktor, while Viktor could not, then no matter how Qiu Nuoya looked at it, something did not add up.

"Could it be that Viktor has been lying to me this whole time?"

"Eh? Ah... No, well, you see..."

Viktor looked flustered, prompting Igor to tilt his head in confusion.

"What’s wrong?"

Qiu Nuoya did not really mind if Viktor could teleport several people at once. In fact, that would be incredibly convenient.

But why had Viktor kept it secret all this time? More than that, Qiu Nuoya had the feeling that Viktor had deliberately hidden it from him. Why?

"It’s not that I was lying to you..."

"Was there a reason?"

Viktor’s eyes darted away.

Whenever Viktor believed he was in the right, he spoke his mind clearly. The fact that he was being this evasive meant there had to be something he felt guilty about.

"Igor..."

"Huh? Me?"

"You kept picking him up so casually..."

"Huh?"

"I lied."

"???"

Both Qiu Nuoya and Igor tilted their heads in confusion. Neither of them could understand why Viktor had needed to lie because of something like that.

It was true that Igor had often picked Qiu Nuoya up when they first met, but what did that have to do with Viktor?

Qiu Nuoya thought about it for a moment, and then suddenly realized.

"Could it be that Viktor wanted to carry me too?"

"..."

Silence was probably an answer in itself.

In other words, Viktor had wanted to pick Qiu Nuoya up just like Igor did, but he could not bring himself to do it without a reason. So he had lied and invented an excuse simply because he wanted to hold Qiu Nuoya in his arms.

Is that really what happened?

Come to think of it, Igor was not the only one. Around that time, Warren had also often wanted to walk around holding Qiu Nuoya’s hand. Only now did Qiu Nuoya realize that perhaps Warren had meant something similar by it.

And Viktor really had only touched Qiu Nuoya when teleporting together with him. Well, after he had been given the Guardian Mark, Viktor did touch him quite often.

Qiu Nuoya did not actually dislike being picked up by Igor, but it had made him feel a little awkward, so Igor had needed some kind of excuse to pick him up. Now that Qiu Nuoya thought about it, it all made sense.