Chapter 275
A False Sense of Time
“——But, how do you know about this ritual? It’s a ritual the old man developed… Did he really leave something behind as an inheritance? Never mind. Since you say you don’t know him…”
“——Then I presume you won’t mind that I cursed your grandfather to death, will you?”
Prince of Giants, Wolfram’s voice echoed in Eivass’s mind.
Now, Eivass put aside his anger and impulse, carefully dissecting the sentence, chewing on each word. He soon realized that Wolfram, in his subconsciousness, deeply respected Eivass’s grandfather. And he believed that Jacob had left behind some kind of “inheritance.” It was precisely because he was certain that Jacob was dead, but didn’t know where Jacob died, that he pretended to have cursed him to death. If Eivass reacted with strong emotion, it would indicate that Eivass had not come into contact with Jacob and had not received his inheritance. Conversely, if Eivass had contacted Jacob, he would know that it wasn’t Wolfram who did it.
As a contrast, another giant said something similar:
“——Were you injured by the curse flowing in your bloodline? Speaking of which, do you know how your biological parents died?”
Eivass had been extremely dismissive of his words at the time. He thought they knew nothing… but after Eivass mocked them, they were directly struck and disappeared without any resistance.
——They could have attacked Eivass. The mirage’s mirror image could also inherit some attack power.
But they didn’t.
Because their objective had been achieved. When Eivass mocked them, they immediately realized that Eivass knew how his parents died. At the same time, they deduced that Eivass had not obtained Jacob’s遗物 (relics).
Eivass slowly clenched his fists. He finally understood everything.
——Eivass had underestimated this giant who had lost his Path of Power and regained his rationality. This giant, who had been imprisoned from youth to old age, who had thought alone for four hundred years in dark confinement without going mad.
Just because he was a giant and acted arrogantly, Eivass subconsciously applied his stereotype of giants to him—which was precisely the method Eivass himself was best at using, yet he overlooked it. This was precisely because Eivass was also arrogant.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too late. The other party used this method simply to make Eivass reveal information… If nothing unexpected happened, they were very likely to come, or had already come, to Eagle Cape Village.
Another doubt arose in Eivass’s mind— Who exactly was his grandfather? His “relics” could attract the attention of both Professor Moriarty and the Prince of Giants at the same time?
Professor Moriarty, the final BOSS of 6.0, how much power he had now, and whether he had already turned into a BOSS due to blackening, Eivass was completely unaware of. But he could at least confirm that Prince of Giants, Wolfram, was a Fifth Tier powerhouse! And he was the one who suddenly escaped from prison more than ten years ago.
More than ten years ago— this timeframe coincided with Jacob’s death. Eivass and his grandfather both contracted strange headaches ten years ago; Professor Moriarty recruited the Curse Master Aziz, and Eivass was adopted by the Professor, also ten years ago; even the Royal Family of Avalon began to die one after another from the second generation, Prince of Giants Wolfram escaped from prison, Jacob wrote a manuscript, Lily’s mother was assassinated by Gray Green, and Yulia turned into a Phantom Demon Egg… These events all happened “more than ten years ago.” Now, it seemed that everything might have happened in just two or three years.
And if they traced back one or two more years, it was when the first heir of the Avalon Royal Family was poisoned, Avalon and the Iris Flower engaged in war, Avalon’s mainland was landed on by the Iris Flower army after only ten days of war, Meg exerted her power for the first time and created the fame of the “Ten-Day War,” the Birth of Noble Red… and the days when Ibn and Nobel were recruited.
Among these events, which were connected to each other? Eivass fell into thought. He felt that he was still missing a crucial piece.
But he could at least confirm one thing—that Jacob’s manuscript was not easy to find. The advantage was that others who wanted to get their hands on the manuscript would not find it easily either. Although Eivass arrived late, he might have arrived the earliest.
This village was a bit strange. If one didn’t take the small path introduced by an acquaintance, it was impossible to discover its existence—the more relaxed the forces were in communicating with ordinary townspeople, the later they would get the exact coordinates of Eagle Cape Village. Eivass regretted letting the two Gryphon aunts return. But there was nothing he could do… At that time, he didn’t know how the subsequent developments would turn out.
After standing in place and politely inquiring for a few more details, Eivass bid farewell to Old William. Although Haina didn’t understand what Eivass and Grandpa William were talking about, she and her Gryphon, Liz, were having a great time, so she didn’t feel bored. They stood there chatting for at least twenty minutes.
But when Eivass looked up, he saw that the sky was still twilight— and when Eivass and his group followed Haina to her house, the sky was still twilight.
“…What a long twilight.” Even Sherlock couldn’t help but complain, “There’s clearly something wrong with this, isn’t there?”
“Huh?” Haina seemed a bit confused, “It’s… it’s long?”
Eivass raised his eyebrows and retorted, “Don’t you think it’s long? Is there any difference from your experience on Glass Island?”
Haina looked puzzled, “Is there?”
Hearing this, Sherlock took out a silver pocket watch from his embrace. He opened it and checked the time. But soon, his expression turned grim.
“It’s indeed not long,” Sherlock said slowly, “From the moment we saw Haina until now, less than three minutes have passed.”
Hearing this, Lily was stunned on the spot. Eivass also asked sternly, “Are you sure, great detective? You haven’t misremembered the time?”
Not to mention how long Eivass talked with the old supervisor… just walking over from the north end of the village took more than three minutes!
“I know this is incredible. But I’m sure only three minutes have passed,” Sherlock said seriously, “I picked up the watch as soon as I saw the light again.”
Hearing this, even Haina felt something was wrong, “Could it be… that some power has nudged your pocket watch? I feel like we haven’t met for long… otherwise, I would have been bored long ago and urged you to leave quickly.”
Eivass’s heart sank. He exchanged a glance with Sherlock, then said in a deep voice, “Senior sister, I might know… why you are often late.”
“…Are you saying my perception of time is inaccurate?” Haina was greatly surprised. She was about to retort, but suddenly recalled— the first time she experienced the “symptom of being engrossed in reading” was when she left her hometown and started junior high school in Windpipe Town. At that time, her classmates often said she was a child cursed by the Hourglass— whether she was reading, practicing swordplay, or running, she felt as if several hours had passed in the blink of an eye. It was as if she had just zoned out for a moment, and time had jumped to the end. Time seemed to flow away particularly quickly for her. She didn’t feel it at all, nor did she feel tired because of it, nor did she slack off or get distracted… Because for her, it simply hadn’t taken that long. And in elementary school, she had never experienced this strange “genius illness.”
…So, could the problem not be “age” but “location”? As long as she was not in her hometown, she would experience this strange “time sense disorder.” This made her grades exceptionally excellent, but at the same time, it hindered her work and caused her considerable trouble. And as she stayed away from home for longer and longer, the time she deviated gradually returned to the midpoint… The best example was when she first met Eivass, she could still deviate by several hours; now she could control it within half an hour or so.
For a moment, Haina didn’t know what to say. She only felt an absurd yet fearful feeling surge in her heart— Was she not cursed by the Amber God as the children jokingly said, “cursed by the Hourglass,” but truly cursed by the Amber God?
Just then, she suddenly looked up. The others also started, as if they had sensed something, and looked up. To their astonishment, they discovered— at some unknown time, a deep moon had already appeared in the sky. Night had fallen, but no one present had noticed. Instead, Haina was the first to sense that something was wrong.
Ever since entering Eagle Cape Village, everyone’s sense of time had been off.
“Run faster!” Haina’s face instantly changed, “If you don’t get inside before nightfall… sometimes you’ll encounter legions of Und marching at night!”
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