Ch.53More Precious Thing Than Truth (1)

One spring day.

When winter sleeps and life begins to sprout.

On such a day, Melina was sold.

She wasn’t captured by slave traders, nor did she suffer at the hands of bandits. She was simply sold by her parents.

Seven silver coins.

That was Melina’s worth.

The merchant didn’t even ask for her name. He simply locked her in an iron cage to prevent her from escaping, and once a day, handed her a hard piece of bread and a little water.

‘Delicious.’

But even that was several times tastier than tree roots.

The carriage carrying Melina rattled along. The merchant cursed as he cleared away a boy’s corpse.

“Damn it. Why do these beggar brats always die on the road?”

Melina knew the reason.

Because it was spring.

Spring, when tree bark hasn’t yet grown and sprouts haven’t yet emerged, is merely a warm winter.

Begging becomes impossible during this time. With last year’s harvest depleted over winter, there’s no one left to give.

Spring is sometimes crueler than winter. It tortures the hungry with false hope, as if promising to feed them well.

People who were already at their limit can’t endure this period. That’s why they give up like that.

The carriage stopped. Iron cages were everywhere. It was a slave market.

“Gladiator slave for 10 gold!”

“Strong boy for 2 gold!”

Unlike other slaves who sold quickly, Melina remained unsold for a week. Not because her value was low, but because no one with enough wealth to purchase her had appeared.

Jewel eyes meant exceptional potential. Not all Grandmasters had jewel eyes, but those with jewel eyes always became Grandmasters.

And Melina possessed golden jewel eyes, something never seen before.

“Come, come! An elf captured from the Great Forest! Starting at 100 gold!”

“200 gold!”

“300 gold!”

Young Melina learned the principles of the world in just a week.

Pay a fair value, and receive another value in return.

Truly reasonable.

“Fools.”

Melina cursed her parents into the air.

Melina’s parents were idiots. Ignorant humans who didn’t know what value their daughter held.

“……”

She wasn’t worth just seven silver coins. If they had negotiated even once, they could have gotten a hundred times that amount.

Then, they would never have had to eat tree bark again for the rest of their lives.

“Stupid idiots.”

If they had sold her at her proper value, they could have at least lived with full stomachs for the rest of their lives.

What could they possibly do with seven silver coins?

Another week passed.

Many people gathered to purchase Melina. But perhaps because of the enormous price, no one stepped forward.

From a certain day, the slave trader began giving her soft wheat bread instead of hard barley bread. She tasted cow’s milk for the first time. The bathtub was warm, and her new clothes were soft.

From some point, sleeping in a bed became routine.

Another week passed.

“Read this.”

Melina learned to read. The first book she read after mastering the common language wasn’t a fairy tale, but a basic magic text.

On the first day she received the magic book, Melina conjured flames in front of everyone.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Behold! Jewel eyes, and golden ones at that—something never seen before in history! Tremendous talent that mastered basic magic in just one hour! The next Grandmaster is practically guaranteed! Bidding starts at 100,000 gold!”

“100,000!”

“150,000!”

Hundreds of powerful figures gathered. Standing on the platform with her hands bound, Melina realized once again that she had been right.

‘Mom and Dad are fools.’

The girl worth 7 silver was sold for 7 million gold.

The buyer was the Emperor of the Empire.

In exchange for feeding her, housing her, and teaching her magic, the Empire demanded that she become a Grandmaster within 20 years.

A truly reasonable request.

“Fire magic works by burning mana…”

But nothing was as reasonable as magic itself.

Equivalent exchange.

Receive as much as you give.

A simple and very reasonable principle of the world.

There were only two fools in the world who didn’t understand this simple principle.

Every night before sleep, Melina thought and thought again about why her father had sold her for such a low price.

“Is this the child?”

“…Yes.”

“Hmm. Originally 4 silver, but I’ll add 3 more since she has bright eyes. How about it?”

“Is it true that if she’s sold to a noble house, her stomach won’t rot?”

She thought he was pretending to care. She thought he was putting on airs, acting concerned after already selling her.

“Don’t worry about that. At least she won’t starve.”

“…Then I’ll sell her.”

Only after asking the merchant several times did her father feel relieved.

Melina didn’t understand why her father made such a face. No, she didn’t want to understand.

He should just be happy with the money.

“……”

No.

In truth, she knew.

Melina had four younger siblings. The second child froze to death, the third died from illness after eating dirt, and the fourth starved to death.

Each time, her father wept in anguish. Her mother held the cold bodies of her siblings and shed tears of blood.

Though there were fewer mouths to feed, the situation didn’t improve at all.

The youngest, still nursing age, was skin and bones. It was clear they wouldn’t last a week.

The forest trees were all stripped bare, and instead of grass, all that could be seen were rotting fallen leaves.

Spring—no, winter—still had a month left before ending.

In the end, Melina’s parents had no choice but to make a decision.

To save at least one child.

Melina finally understood.

Why her father, her mother had sold her.

7 silver?

The price wasn’t what mattered.

What mattered was that their daughter would survive.

Her father, in exchange for the disgust, guilt, sorrow, and eternal pain of selling his daughter…

Saved Melina.

It was truly a damned equivalent exchange.

“……”

Drip.

Rain fell inside the blanket.

One drop, two drops.

The rain didn’t stop until it had soaked through Melina’s sleeve.

*****

Melina’s eyes glowed golden.

Olivia knew very well what that meant.

The magic Melina wielded was time.

She was now focusing all her concentration on reading Olivia’s time.

‘…She still can’t read it.’

Melina’s level only allowed her to interfere with others’ time. Slowing movements, slowing perception.

Therefore, no matter how wide she opened her eyes, all she could see was the scene of the current Olivia switching with the Olivia from the annihilation timeline.

Nothing beyond that was permitted.

[Time remaining: 13 minutes 21 seconds]

To achieve more than that, she would need to advance one step further.

‘I know because I’ve tried it.’

Reading another’s time isn’t so simple. At minimum, one would need to be able to interfere with the world’s time.

In other words, one must reach the truth.

Of course, if one could do that, not only could they stop time, but they could also read hidden pasts never spoken of and futures yet to unfold…

But the current Melina absolutely could not do that.

“Master.”

Olivia gently took Melina’s hand. Then, very slowly, she shook her head.

“You can’t.”

“…What?”

Melina’s lips parted.

“What do you mean I can’t?”

“……”

“I am the Master of the Golden Tower, and the strongest Grandmaster on the continent. No one on the continent is more proficient in magic than I am.”

Melina’s grip tightened.

“If others cannot, I can.”

“……”

Instead of answering, Olivia kept her mouth shut. Sometimes silence carries more meaning than words.

“My disciple. I…”

Melina stopped speaking.

“……”

Why was it?

The more she listed her achievements, the more she insisted she could do it, the more her own inadequacy was starkly revealed.

Melina bit her lip.

She knew.

She was putting on airs before a chrysalis.

Just as she had treated the Red Tower Master and mages from other towers like insects, her own achievements were mere dust to Olivia.

Olivia smiled.

Though she had faced that smile countless times before, today’s was somehow different.

Her heart sank.

She didn’t understand.

Melina simply couldn’t control this emotion. Having lost her emotions for so long, she had forgotten what to call such feelings.

But one thing she did know.

Her disciple was a fool who didn’t understand equivalent exchange.

A distant memory from the past, now hard to recall.

“Daughter, this father is sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Melina didn’t want to repeat that pain ever again.

She didn’t want to feel again the pain of receiving generously while being unable to return anything.

“My disciple.”

“Yes, Master.”

“…Can you make me one promise?”

“……”

This time, no answer came. But Melina continued without concern, not taking her eyes off Olivia.

“Later, when the time comes. Could you tell me your secret then?”

After thinking for a moment, Olivia answered.

“…Yes.”

Melina’s face grew slightly serious.

“If it’s a lie, better not to promise at all.”

“No.”

Olivia shook her head.

“When the time comes, I’ll tell you.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Melina felt relieved. To such a Melina, Olivia handed over a paper as always.

“Please take it.”

“……”

For the first time, Melina hesitated.

“If you don’t take it, I won’t keep my promise either.”

Only then did Melina accept the paper.

“…Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Watching Melina’s back as she disappeared through the door, Olivia thought.

She had actually told one lie.

Olivia had no intention of telling her secret.

No, more precisely…

Before that, Melina herself would come to know it.