Diary of a Dead Wizard
Chapter 452: The Silver Pocket Watch

After leaving the place where Sander was renting, the carriage moved slowly along the streets of Bluewater City.

Saul sat inside the carriage, deep in thought.

Truth be told, Sander's suspicion toward that wizard named Karon didn’t come with solid evidence.

After all, it was completely reasonable for a Second Rank apprentice who had failed to advance to the Third Rank even in his fifties to want to find a quiet and safe place to live out his days.

As an ordinary person, Sander couldn’t possibly know that wizard apprentices could, to some extent, predict the coming of soul tides in advance.

But could a mere Second Rank apprentice really predict a tide shift one or two days ahead of time?

Saul lightly shook the page of recorded numbers Sander had given him.

It was a string of digits written down from Sander’s memory.

Before Saul had come, Sander only dared to keep this information in his mind—he didn’t even dare write it down.

That being said, Sander’s memory was impressive.

It was a pity he was already in his thirties. Otherwise, Saul might have tested whether he could become a wizard apprentice.

Saul already had too many people around him—he had no intention of taking on a student. Mentor Kaz probably had no interest in accepting a new apprentice at the moment either.

There were some other wizard factions nearby. The largest one was Bayton Academy in the city of Caugust City.

But since Sander was already over thirty, nearing forty, all of that was just idle speculation.

In addition to the note, Sander also gave Saul a family heirloom. According to him, it had been left to him by his grandfather before he died.

At the time, his stepmother hadn’t yet married into the family, so the only ones to receive gifts from the grandfather were him and his sister, Mido.

Mido received a golden hairpin.

Sander got a rusted silver pocket watch.

The casing was rusted, and the hands inside spun erratically. Though his grandfather had said it was a family heirloom, Sander had never been able to use it. He simply kept it on him, as a keepsake.

But considering Mido’s hairpin had such mysterious power, perhaps the pocket watch wasn’t ordinary either.

The rusted silver pocket watch had also become a symbol of Sander’s identity. He didn’t dare take it out in public, nor could he unlock its hidden power. Giving it to Saul was the only possible token of value he could offer.

Originally, he hadn’t intended to give the pocket watch as a reward.

But after Saul brought Mido to him, Sander no longer knew how else to repay this kind-hearted wizard.

Saul had already memorized the content of the note. A small flame rose in his palm, and he turned the paper into ash.

Then he looked at the rusted silver pocket watch.

The mysterious ability of Mido’s hairpin had intrigued him, but since it had been the last spiritual anchor for the poor girl’s soul, Saul hadn’t tried to take it.

However, the Nightmare Butterfly had been incessantly whispering in his mind, urging him to kill Sander, seize the hairpin and pocket watch, and leave no witness who knew the items were in his possession.

Such behavior was entirely in line with the Nightmare Butterfly’s usual way of doing things, but Saul refused.

He brushed off the dust on his hand and opened the rusted silver pocket watch again.

Agu, seated opposite him, looked over with keen interest.

“Master, the pattern on this watch is quite unusual. I suspect it’s not something from the Lunar Era.”

As a soul that had once wandered the archives, Agu had read many books, and suffered much for it. Still, he persisted in absorbing knowledge, always searching for a way to escape the wizard tower.

“If it’s not from the Lunar Era, then it must be at least over three hundred years old?”

If that was the case, then the rust on the watch was surprisingly minimal—it was in pretty good condition.

“What era came before the Lunar Era?” Saul asked—this was one of his knowledge gaps.

Back in the day, he had only studied practical knowledge useful for survival and advancement. He didn’t know much about history or geography.

“Before the Lunar Era was the Dark Moon Era. Not much is written about it in books—just that wizards were often at war back then, though the reasons aren’t clear. At that time, a continent would typically only have two or three empires. Unlike now, where empires are rare, and most places are made up of smaller kingdoms or even duchies with limited territory and power,” Agu said with a smile. “In fact, among all the duchies, the Kema Duchy is already one of the larger ones in terms of territory. In the southwest of the Stat Continent, there's a patch of land about the same size as Kema’s domain, and there are seven small duchies crammed into it.”

“That sounds about right.” As a well-traveled transmigrator, Saul wasn’t particularly surprised.

He swept the rusted pocket watch with his mental energy but didn’t detect any magical fluctuations.

He repeatedly opened the watch, even pried off the back cover and removed the chain, but still found no sign of it functioning as a magic tool.

The only thing of note was its unusual engravings.

And the hands of the watch truly moved erratically—one moment it showed 3:15 in the afternoon, and after a single flip, it read 9:22 in the morning.

Saul continued watching the movements and time shifts, trying to find a pattern, but found none. Of course, it was possible he simply hadn’t discovered it yet.

“Hidden this well… now that’s interesting.” Saul put the watch away. “We’ll all study it together later.”

As a wizard who carried around six consciousness entities and two pets, Saul wasn’t worried about lacking research assistants. His only concern was that his resources wouldn’t be enough to keep up with their consumption.

He had thought about it—if he was truly going to Broderland to establish his own wizard tower, he had to be prepared for its dangers.

And once the tower was built, he would also need to create his own research projects—not work for others anymore, but focus on his own knowledge, abilities, and talents.

As for those projects, the main one would certainly be the Diary. His own soul, which wasn’t repelled by any body, was also worth studying.

The carriage continued along the streets of Bluewater City—but not to find a place to stay.

Saul didn’t plan to stay in Bluewater, so he had instructed the coachman, Marsh, to head straight for the airship terminal—might as well make use of what Master Gorsa had left behind.

Even if he suspected that the Broken Goblet’s owner was that Karon wizard, he had no intention of confirming it.

After all, the man’s goal was probably just Gorsa’s resurrection experiment.

And in truth, their plan had already succeeded. Lady Yura hadn’t been revived, and the master had left the western continent.

Saul was now planning to go to the Broderland, but before that, he needed to prepare thoroughly.

That included but was not limited to strengthening himself and learning more about the Broderland.

He couldn’t just charge in blindly.

Even with the Dead Wizard’s Diary giving him foresight, there were dangers that no amount of warning could prevent.

His current plan was to head for the prosperous and wealthy city of Caugust.

Its urban culture was quite unique. Wizards there had set aside their lofty pride and created many magical tools for the convenience of everyday life. Its social structure was different from that of the duchies. And most importantly, they sold magical tools that Saul had been interested in for a long time.

That unique cultural shift was probably the real reason Bayton Academy had been able to take root and rise quickly after emerging from the Broderland.

Just then, the carriage began to slow and gradually came to a halt.

Saul and Agu both looked outside.

A few pedestrians on the street had also stopped and were looking in the direction of Saul’s carriage.

A servant-looking man had just stepped out and blocked the carriage.

But this man, who had been used to throwing his weight around in Bluewater City, didn’t expect that instead of stopping immediately, the carriage only slowed gradually.

When the carriage finally stopped, the tall horse at the front raised its lips and sprayed saliva all over him.

Marsh snorted inwardly. As if I’d pull up quickly for some random guy blocking the road?

“What is it?”

The servant finally realized that his hasty move to stop the carriage had annoyed them.

Terrified, he stepped back and fell to the ground.

“Please inform the wizard lord inside that Lord Mayor Maken of Bluewater and Wizard Karon have prepared a fine banquet and comfortable lodging to welcome him.”

Marsh curled his lip. Now that’s the proper attitude.

He turned back and repeated the message quietly through the door crack.

“That Karon wizard’s actually inviting me? Could it be a trap?” Saul looked toward the Diary floating in his mind.

The Diary drifted lazily in place and flipped itself over with a yawn.

(End of Chapter)