Physics The Greatest Magic

Chapter 219 - The Real-Time Clock

As John walked away, through the hall towards one of the doors to one of the other rooms, Zakaragi asked the question that he had in his mind for a while now. 

"Is it just me, or did it feel a bit windy near John?" 

Lydia who heard this, remained quiet, unsure whether or not she was supposed to tell him or not. Since she didn't know, she just decided to go with the latter. 

"It was probably your imagination... So what do we do now?" Tiana asked 

"Let's just try to enjoy it." Said Zakaragi as he looked around 

There weren't any dances nor music, only people talking amongst each other, waiting for the Earl and the Duke to make their speech and introduction. 

The party hadn't started yet, but it sure was taking a while to. 

"Also, what did you tell John, earlier?" Tiana asked 

"Nothing much, Just told him to enjoy his time." 

"Is that so..." Tiana muttered as she stared at him 

Zakaragi, reflexively looked away without even realising it, seeing this, Tiana continued to stare, and as Zakaragi could feel himself getting more and more nervous, not because she might figure out what he said, but because she kept staring at him. 

Eventually, Tiana gave up and let out a sigh before turning to Lydia. 

"Miss Lydia, is there anything you'd like to do?" Tiana asked 

"Just Lydia is fine, I may not look it, but I'm 17, so miss is a bit..." 

Lydia hung her head down at the thought of being much older than she had originally thought and Tiana who saw this, felt bad for doing so. 

"A-Ah, I didn't mean it like that, it's just because you're older and an adult and... Sorry..." 

"I-It's fine... And regarding what you asked... I'll just do whatever you two plan on doing, don't mind me, please, carry on." 

"R-Right..." 

------------------------- 

As John walked through and past people, he noticed that there were quite a few kids his age or slightly younger, meanwhile, the rest were either teenagers or adults, 

 he managed to find an area which wasn't occupied before initiating his plan 

[Since, I can't see them... I'll just have to find them.] 

After confirming that no one was around, John quietly muttered the words. 

"Verum Deprehendre" Translation: True Detect 

Unlike the normal detect, True detect is more accurate and allows John to pinpoint things more precisely, the only difference is that the range is lower and can only reach around 50 meters before it starts to exhaust John's mana. 

John looked around before seeing it. Two areas highlighted, each with the shape of a girl. He had set It to find Serena and Ariel's Magic trace, but they were both the same colour. Both were highlighted in a blank white aura. 

[What's happening? Usually there'd be colour to it, so why can't I...] 

As john wondered why the spell was malfunctioning, he took a good look at their locations. One was in one room on the left side of the mansion, while the other was a few rooms away. 

John didn't understand why they were spread out, or what exactly they were doing. He also didn't know why Deprehendre was malfunctioning, but decided to just ignore it and go to the closest one which was just a few rooms away. 

[Maybe it's because I haven't used the 'true' version in a while...?] 

Without wanting to waste any more time, John began heading to the closer light. He opened the door to the next room before passing through it, thankfully he wasn't stopped by anyone. 

[So I'm guessing you're allowed to walk through the mansion... When's the dancing going to start? It's been over 3 hours... How long do these usually take? I mean we got ready 4 hours earlier than the time we were supposed to arrive, meaning it should be starting soon.] 

"if only I had a clock." 

The instant John said that, he heard the sound of a clock ticking and right in front of him, a transparent blue sort of clock, appeared. 

*Tic* *Toc* *Tic* 

With every second that passed, the hand in the clock moved as well. There was no mistaking it, it was displaying the time. 

John's Sacred Treasure was in his ring, he put his sheathe and his other clothes and armour, all into the ring, so that fact that his Sacred Treasure was still responding despite being in the ring, was quite the discovery. 

John quickly looked around and let out a sigh of relief once he realised that the other hall which he had entered was empty. Well partially, there were a few servants walking around, but they didn't seem to notice. 

There were windows on the hall which allowed you to see what was outside, judging from the entrance, they were on the east side of the building. 

The trees in the territory outside were visible, John could also see that it was getting a bit darker. 

"Okay, the time is around 4.30 Pm, thank you, now close, quick!" 

In that instant, the clock suddenly disappeared, and fortunately, no one noticed it. It's not like there would have been a problem if they did, he just didn't want them to start suspecting him of planning something. 

[This sacred treasure... The dimensional ring stops the time of whatevers inside from progressing, meaning you can store food in there for days... So if my sacred treasure is still functioning despite that... That can only mean one thing. Not only can it control time, but it's immune to spells related to it.] 

"Just how much amazing are you...?" John muttered with a hint of excitement in his voice. 

As he walked through the halls, he waved at the servants which were doing their work, and they bowed in return. None seemed to be enjoying the day or happy, they seemed more sad than anything. 

[It's probably because there's an event today, so more work for them...] John thought to himself as he opened the door at the end of the hall 

"So, either Ariel or Serena should be right on the other side of this do-" 

John was interrupted by a sound which came from the other side of the door as he opened it. 

"Since you're single, how about we get engaged?" 

[Engaged?] 

Once the door was fully opened, John could see the situation. 

It was Serena and a boy who john didn't recognise talking to each other. 

"What?" John unintentionally let out