Chapter 21

“Alright then, Mr. Yujin, we’ll be going now.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

After finishing his meal with Hugo’s group and taking the settlement money they insisted on giving him, Yujin returned to the inn as they said their goodbyes.

After exchanging a casual greeting with Mary, who was clearing the dishes, he headed back to his room…

『So, you’re writing that paper, huh? Where do you plan to conduct your research?』

Tiamat asked him this question about where he intended to conduct his research.

“In an alternate space, it should suffice. It seems like there were quite a lot of items for research as well.”

『That’s true, but…』

“Oh, before that, I’ll need some paper and a pen too.”

Since the inn had at least pens and paper available, Yujin quickly moved toward the stairs leading to the first floor.

“Landlady!”

“Huh? What is it, Yujin?”

“Do you mind if I borrow some paper and a pen? I’ll pay for them!”

“Pfft, don’t worry about the cost! Just take and use them! Let me know if you need more!”

Mary cheerfully said this and sent Yujin upstairs.

With that settled, Yujin took the paper and pen from the husband’s room and entered the alternate space.

A space entirely shrouded in black. Inside, the treasures he had swiped from Tiamat’s Tomb were scattered around.

He roughly selected items that might be useful for his research and pulled them out, then spoke.

“Alright. Shall we begin?”

『Do you want help? Of course, since you’re also a dragon, you must have an innate talent for magic… but aside from that, your knowledge is lacking.』

“Hmm… let me try handling it myself first. If I get stuck, I’ll ask for your help then.”

『That attitude itself is commendable, but… alright, let me know if it gets tough.』

Not wanting to stop him from doing what he wanted, Tiamat said this and began quietly watching Yujin from behind.

Of course, Yujin had his own thoughts.

‘Knowledge…’

Indeed, while Tiamat had directly passed on magical knowledge, most of it was related to the powers of dragons.

Beyond that, he barely knew anything about other forms of magic or how the magical system here worked.

But that didn’t matter.

‘Let’s see if I can win through scientific reasoning and intuition.’

He aimed to rely on the intuition gained from science on Earth and the senses he acquired by becoming a dragon. He muttered under his breath.

“[Gravity is the curvature of spacetime.]”

『Hm?』

“It’s nothing.”

Smiling, he recalled the science from Earth.

***

General Relativity.

One of the most successful theories of gravity in modern physics, forming one of its foundational pillars.

Established by Earth’s genius scientist Albert Einstein, this theory reinterpreted gravity not as a simple classical force but as a new kind of phenomenon tied to the geometric properties of spacetime.

While explaining it in detail would get complicated, the core relationship between spacetime and gravity is this:

Strong gravity distorts spacetime.

Actually, that’s not entirely correct.

It’s more accurate to say that gravity is the result of spacetime distortion.

In short, everything that generates gravity causes some degree of spacetime distortion, however slight.

And here’s an interesting point.

‘Tiamat-sama, could you teach me just a little about gravitational magic?’

『Sure.』

In this world, gravitational magic exists.

Magic that strengthens gravity, reverses it, or even changes its direction.

Such gravity-related magics already exist.

This was also true on Earth.

On Earth, some Awakened Ones could use gravity-based magic, and attempts were made to discover spacetime magic using their abilities.

Though these attempts ultimately failed.

But Yujin is different.

‘Spatial teleportation, alternate spaces… the reasons these things exist…’

Mana is a power beyond physical laws—a power capable of producing miracles that would otherwise be impossible.

Physically speaking, it’s akin to a singularity.

‘I don’t necessarily need to base it solely on gravitational magic.’

Yujin trusted his intuition and the computational ability derived from it.

As a dragon, he could sense magical flows of time and spatial vibrations.

This enabled feats impossible by any biological sense.

The inspiration from that and his understanding of spacetime, combined with scientific knowledge and calculations.

Though Yujin wasn’t a scientist, he did possess some relevant knowledge. After all, he hadn’t started working as an Awakened One right away; he’d completed university studies.

Among those, he’d particularly excelled in physics-related lectures, which became less meaningful as mana emerged. Perhaps it reminded him of his parents.

‘No, this is probably too absurd, right?’

Chuckling at the sudden thought, he continued jotting something down on the paper.

Tiamat watched this and was quite astonished.

‘What kind of knowledge is this? This line of thinking is completely new to me.’

Born into a world saturated with mana from the beginning, Tiamat found the discipline of physics very unfamiliar yet refreshingly novel. Naturally so.

Mana, along with other forces like aura, divine power, and miasma, surpass physical laws. And dragons are the rulers of mana.

Their very existence is proof that physical laws mean nothing to them. Thus, physics as a field couldn’t possibly develop.

However, Yujin’s knowledge from another world gave her new inspiration. She felt like she understood the concept of spacetime, which she had previously only grasped intuitively, in a more systematic way.

She spoke without thinking.

『Yujin, I’ll teach you about spacetime magic.』

“Huh? There’s no need for that right now.”

『No, I’m curious. If this knowledge can be integrated into existing magic, how far could it evolve?』

“…Hmm, if that’s the case…”

Following her words, Yujin absorbed Tiamat’s teachings on spacetime magic. He fully understood even complex concepts like how time stops occur via ancient dragon language.

‘Interesting. Should I keep going?’

Fundamentally, spacetime magic isn’t easily usable by mortals, but Yujin might be able to manage it.

Perhaps transforming it into a series of spells even average mortals could use at a basic level.

***

Three days later.

“Done.”

『Ah, done indeed.』

Having roughly finished drafting his paper, Yujin and Tiamat, who had been observing beside him, muttered.

For now, the establishment of a new type of spacetime magic was complete.

On the makeshift desk he had conjured, there were two piles of documents.

One contained the full details of the newly established spacetime magic, while the other was a submission-ready version with only theoretical concepts and a few rudimentary magic circles.

Core magic circles and simplified magical theories were omitted, and the fundamental theories themselves were incomprehensible without proper knowledge of modern physics.

As the name “submission version” implied, Yujin planned to submit this. This way, there was no risk of someone stealing the magic.

Most importantly, Yujin had no intention of revealing the entire content of the paper. While technology itself has no moral alignment, people who use it certainly do.

With no idea how his created spacetime magic might be misused, Yujin had no plans to make it public.

“Then, shall we head out?”

After gathering the submission version of the paper, Yujin stepped outside the alternate space with a smile.

As he was about to leave the inn, Mary, who was cleaning up, spoke.

“Yujin! Are you coming out to eat?”

She already knew Yujin had been holed up in his room, deeply engrossed in research. She’d brought him food several times because he hadn’t taken care of himself properly.

Thinking he’d finally come out to eat…

“Ah, I’ll eat later. I need to submit this to the Mage Association first.”

“Huh? What’s that?”

When Mary saw the submission version Yujin was holding, she asked, and Yujin replied with a smile.

“The result of my three-day research.”

“Eh? You’re already done?”

“Yes. I’ll submit it quickly and come back. We’ll eat then.”

With that, Yujin left the inn and headed straight toward the Mage Association building in Maze City.

‘The Mage Association values knowledge above all else. They won’t recognize anyone, no matter how talented, if their academic knowledge falls short.’

Thus, he prepared a card to put the Mage Association in a subordinate position.

This way, the association wouldn’t bother him with magic-related matters within Maze City. Tiamat would likely be satisfied with this.

With this thought, he arrived at the Mage Association building, where a mage who looked like a guard stopped him.

“Halt! This is the Mage Association headquarters. What brings you here?”

“I’ve come to submit a paper.”

“Submit a paper…?”

Upon hearing this, the mage glanced at the stack of papers in Yujin’s hand. However, after looking at Yujin’s appearance, the mage frowned.

“Are you not from the Eastern lands? A place unrelated to magic. What paper do you intend to submit?”

“I’m also a mage.”

Casually igniting fire in his hand, the guard’s expression changed slightly but only for a moment.

“Hmph. Fine, let’s check. What’s the topic of your paper?”

“Space-Time Magic.”

“Wha—?”

The mage twisted his face as if he hadn’t heard correctly. Seeing Yujin’s serious expression, he chuckled nervously.

“Hah, does this guy think magic is a joke? All mages are the same, right? Some random person from the East with no affiliation, talking nonsense about Space-Time Magic? Get lost before I laugh…”

“Would showing proof suffice?”

“What?”

With that, Yujin pulled out a gold coin from the alternate space. Realizing Yujin could use alternate space, the mage’s eyes widened, then bulged further as he witnessed what came next.

Yujin flicked his finger, sending the gold coin flying upward. Pointing at the airborne coin, a magic circle appeared at the tip of his finger.

And simultaneously…

“!!!”

The gold coin froze mid-air.

Its surroundings turned gray in a spherical shape, and no magical energy or air movement could be detected inside.

As if time itself had stopped.

“Wha, wha…”

“Do you believe me now?”

Seeing the flustered mage, Yujin smiled faintly.

Moments later, the Mage Association was thrown into chaos.