The Most Arbitrary Wizard

Sean never expected that the Chain of Truth, which he often used to bind his enemies, would one day be wrapped around him.

He examined the chain’s composition carefully. The characters within the faint golden light were exceptionally clear, and the light’s hue was pure, brimming with an aura of knowledge. In professional terms, this Chain of Truth was of remarkably high quality.

"There’s something to this."

Sean’s interest was piqued, and he looked toward the old man resting with his eyes closed inside the bookstore.

To think that after so many years, there was someone else besides him who could wield the Truth Technique with such mastery. This alone was enough to deduce that this Grand Mage must be highly regarded by the Saintess, a true pillar in the effort to restore the Hall of Truth.

Tony and the others, however, were focused on the technique itself.

"What does 1+1 equal?"

"Am I seeing this right?"

They were first amazed at the form the Truth Technique took—that it could condense Magic Power into a math problem—and then they were confused.

"This is a problem a three-year-old could solve. Are you sure this isn’t a prank?"

"Maybe Mr. Scholar just uses it as a doorbell?"

The problem was the "button." Answering correctly was like "pressing the button," which was equivalent to knocking. This way, even if Mr. Scholar didn’t notice them, he would sense someone had arrived through the Truth Technique.

"That makes sense," Tony said with a nod. Full of confidence, he loudly declared the answer, "1+1=2!"

He was met with silence.

A Smell Crow flew across the sky, letting out a "CAW, CAW," but the chain didn’t move an inch, still tightly bound around their legs.

Everyone: "..."

Tony: "?"

"What’s the meaning of this?"

"Aren’t we supposed to answer the question?"

The old man didn’t react, as if he had fallen asleep. Kave and the others could only look at Elise with questioning eyes.

"What’s going on?"

"What else could it be?" A gloating smile appeared on Elise’s face. "You got it wrong, of course."

Tony: "?"

"Do you even hear yourself right now?"

1+1=2 isn’t even "knowledge" anymore; it’s common sense. Everyone knows that. How could it be wrong?

But Elise clasped her hands behind her back like a little professor and said, "I don’t need to. I know what I’m saying. Wrong is wrong."

Years ago, she had faced the same predicament as Tony and the others, blocked from entering the bookstore by a seemingly simple problem. She was stuck for over a month until Lady Catherine helped, and Mr. Scholar finally agreed to let her in.

The answer to this question was likely the same as before. Elise had already guessed it, but she couldn’t say it out loud.

Otherwise, it would be "cheating."

For Sean and the others, this wasn’t just a matter of entering the bookstore. It was a test from Mr. Scholar. Only by answering correctly, or close to correctly, would they be considered to have the Talent for it. Only then would Mr. Scholar teach them the Truth Technique. Otherwise, they’d be left to teach themselves.

However, seeing as they were her sister’s companions, she could risk giving them a hint.

"You’ve been Wizards for so long and you still don’t understand one simple principle?"

Elise said, "Some problems can’t be taken at face value."

As she spoke, she glanced at Sean and gave him a wink, as if she were speaking specifically to him. "Think about it. Mr. Scholar is a Grand Mage. How could his 1+1 possibly equal 2?"

"Hold on a minute." Tony was not happy about Elise playing favorites. "What does being a Grand Mage have to do with anything?"

Math is rigorous.

Never mind a Grand Mage—even if Mr. Blake himself were here, 1+1 would still equal 2, wouldn’t it?

Besides, if it’s not 2, what is it?

Could it be 3?

"Oh, I get it!" Kave suddenly slapped his forehead, a metaphorical light bulb flashing above his head. "One man plus one woman can have a child, so 1+1=3!"

Chain of Truth: "..."

It still didn’t move.

Kave: "..."

Ryan retorted, "What kind of weird logic is that? By your reasoning, a man and a woman could have twins, so wouldn’t 1+1 equal 4?"

Johnson chimed in, "Not only that, if they have enough kids, it could equal 5, 6... or even a whole soccer team."

Tony: "What if they have an unhappy marriage, one of them cheats, and the other one kills them? Couldn’t 1+1=1 in that case?"

The Eleanor Sisters: "..."

Sean couldn’t help but facepalm.

’Mr. Scholar is testing them on the Truth Technique, and these guys are over here treating it like a brain teaser. If I were the Scholar, I’d have told Tony and the others to get lost right then and there. They aren’t taking it seriously at all, just fooling around.’

Seeing that he couldn’t count on his adorably clueless teammates, Sean could only sigh and say, "Since you’ve heard of the Truth Technique, you should know the saying from back when the Holy Sanctuary still existed: ’Understand the truth, believe the truth, question the truth, I am the truth.’"

"These four phrases represent the four stages of understanding the Truth Technique. They were written on the first page of the old textbooks. If you could find one, you’d see them as soon as you opened the cover."

"So the answer to this problem isn’t 2, nor is it 3, and it certainly has nothing to do with how many children someone has."

"It doesn’t have a definitive answer."

"It is whatever Mr. Scholar wants it to be."

Everyone: "?"

They were all bewildered. How could that be the explanation? Wasn’t that just being deliberately difficult?

Sean sighed again. ’These guys are so dense. There’s no single correct answer, but there is a correct line of thinking! The Scholar wants to see that line of thinking. As for the answer... he’s already told us. It’s right in front of our eyes—’

1+1=?

Sean reached out, used his Magic Power to erase the question mark at the end of the problem, and then wrote a new question mark in its place.

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