The Next Day.

After a restful night at the inn, Yujin descended to the first floor.

“Oh, you’re up? The other loafers are probably still sprawled out with women hanging all over them, but you’re quite the diligent one!”

As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, the innkeeper, Mary, greeted him cheerfully. Yujin chuckled and responded.

“Well, I just happened to wake up early. Did you sleep well, ma’am?”

“Of course! You need to eat and sleep well to keep working, don’t you? By the way, you’re so polite! Folks from the East sure have good manners!”

Mary laughed heartily, and Yujin smiled along with her.

The cheerful energy of someone like her had a way of lifting everyone else’s mood. Even though Yujin had been dropped into a strange new world, moments like these, filled with simple, pleasant interactions, made him feel like this place could quickly become familiar.

Mary turned to him and asked, “By the way, aren’t you hungry? I just started preparing breakfast.”

“I just woke up, so I’m not particularly hungry yet, but the aroma from the kitchen is definitely tempting. How long will it take?”

“Not long at all! The tables were cleaned up last night, so pick any seat you like!”

“Thank you. I’ll do just that.”

Yujin chose a seat at one of the tables in the tavern-like first floor and sat down.

Although he didn’t have much of an appetite yet, his words weren’t entirely empty. The enticing aroma wafting from the kitchen explained why Hugo had confidently praised the food. Even he couldn’t help but feel a growing anticipation for the meal.

Of course, as a dragon, Yujin didn’t need sustenance for nourishment. Still, the phrase “eating for pleasure” existed for a reason.

『Food... now that I think about it, this will be the first proper meal since our campsite dinner.』

Tiamat, who was always with Yujin, murmured expectantly.

Curious, Yujin asked her, “Can you actually taste the food I eat, Tiamat?”

『Didn’t I mention it before? Whatever you consume, I can experience it too.』

“Ah, I see.”

During their previous meal in the labyrinth, she hadn’t said anything, so he hadn’t realized. Not that combat rations were worth commenting on, anyway.

『Which is why I’m looking forward to this. To think I’d get to taste proper food again after all this time...』

“After going thousands of years without tasting anything, that makes sense.”

Yujin couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as they conversed.

Just then, he sensed something.

“...Speaking of which, some familiar faces are approaching.”

He glanced toward the door, and sure enough, a moment later, it opened to reveal a group entering.

“Innkeeper, we’re here!”

“Oh my, Hugo!”

“Haha, we’re earlier than you expected, aren’t we?”

Hugo’s party entered the inn. Mary greeted them warmly.

“What brings you here so early?”

“Well, we have a breakfast appointment with Yujin, and we’ve already settled our accounts, so we thought we’d drop by and distribute his share while we were at it.”

“Perfect timing. Breakfast is almost ready! Come on in.”

“Thank you. Then, excuse us.”

Hugo, Crom, and Mirien stepped inside. Yujin greeted them as they approached.

“Good morning, Hugo. And welcome, Mirien and Crom.”

“You’re up early, Yujin,” Hugo said with a smile.

“...Hello,” Mirien added, bowing slightly.

“Really now, keeping a breakfast appointment this early? What about a proper drink?!”

Crom grumbled about drinks, prompting Yujin to tilt his head curiously.

“Drinks?”

“Don’t mind him, Yujin,” Hugo interjected with a laugh. “Crom wanted to turn the meal into a drinking session, but I insisted we stick to breakfast. Besides, Mary wouldn’t tolerate drinking first thing in the morning.”

“Damn it! It’s not like the cost of drinks would break the bank!”

“So, can we call this our official breakfast meeting?” Hugo asked.

“Ah, I see now.”

It seemed Hugo was trying to dodge any future complaints about drink costs by turning this breakfast into their promised meal together. Yujin chuckled wryly.

“Well, if you really want, Yujin, we could arrange for drinks later...”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I don’t particularly enjoy drinking.”

“Bah, humans don’t appreciate good liquor,” Crom muttered, but refrained from grumbling further. Instead, he took a seat at Yujin’s table.

Mirien and Hugo joined them, and the four sat together.

As they settled in, Yujin glanced around and asked, “By the way, what about Eri, Shia, and Hans?”

“Eri and Shia are likely back at the Academy dorms. They’re students, so they probably need to be there at this hour, especially with the exam finished. As for Hans, he was just a temporary porter for this mission. He has his own schedule and is probably working with another party by now,” Hugo explained.

“Ah, I see. Hans is quite diligent,” Yujin noted.

As they conversed, Mary approached with large trays laden with food.

“Here you go! Breakfast might not be much, but it’s enough to fill you up for the day!”

Not much? Yujin thought, eyeing the abundant spread.

At a glance, the table looked like it might collapse under the sheer weight of the food. The spread included light soup, bread, fried eggs, bacon, sausages, and salad—standard fare for what might be called an English breakfast in Yujin's world.

But alongside these were roasted turkey, stew, steak, and other dishes Yujin couldn’t even identify. For a breakfast meal, the sheer volume was overwhelming. This wasn’t something anyone could eat unless they had a stomach of steel.

Of course, as a dragon, Yujin was confident he could handle it, but even for him, this felt excessive.

“Wow, Mary, you’re incredible,” Hugo said in awe.
“Haha! This will keep us going all day!” Crom added enthusiastically.
“Thank you for the meal,” Mirien said quietly.

...Or maybe not?

Contrary to Yujin’s hesitation, Hugo’s party wasn’t fazed in the slightest. Instead, they were eagerly licking their lips, ready to dive in. Perhaps food culture in this world was different from Earth’s.

『Yujin, go ahead and eat. I haven’t tasted proper food in ages, and I’d like to savor this too.』

Even Tiamat chimed in, urging him. It seemed he was the odd one out.

Accepting this, Yujin picked up his utensils and joined Hugo and the others in starting the meal.

He began with a simple spoonful of soup.

...Oh.

An involuntary exclamation escaped him internally. The creamy, savory flavor of the soup was genuinely impressive, even compared to the MSG-laden modern foods of Earth.

『Mmm... delightful. It’s been so long since I’ve tasted anything like this.』

Tiamat’s satisfied chuckle echoed in his mind, and Yujin found himself smiling as well. He made a mental note to pay more attention to culinary experiences in the future.

And so, the meal with Hugo’s party began.

“By the way, Yujin, you mentioned this is your first time in the labyrinth city, right?”

The question came from Hugo during the meal. Yujin paused, finishing a bite of meat before responding.

“Yes. I did some research and preparation beforehand, but there’s still a lot I don’t know.”

“I see... Still, judging by how you handled yourself in the labyrinth, it seems you’ve got the basics down. Oh, by the way, have you joined the Mage Association yet?”

“The Mage Association?”

Yujin feigned ignorance, though he was already familiar with it.

The Mage Association was, as the name suggested, an organization of mages.

Created by the notoriously secretive mage community to solidify their influence, the association managed mage-to-mage exchanges and compiled vast repositories of magical knowledge—knowledge they refused to share with outsiders.

Beyond that, the association provided mages with various privileges, but it was also an exclusionary and arrogant institution. Membership came with significant benefits, but those who failed to join were not only denied recognition as mages but also faced numerous disadvantages in magical society.

Hugo explained this briefly before asking, “So, Yujin, are you a member?”

“I’ve never joined,” Yujin admitted.

“I figured as much. The association can be pretty harsh on independent mages with no affiliations or schools of thought. I’m not a mage myself, but I’ve heard they can be quite discriminatory.”

Indeed, mages without affiliations or recognized schools were often dismissed as amateurs or riffraff. Affiliation wasn’t just a matter of following a school; it was proof of being accepted into one. Without that recognition, independent mages were scorned and ostracized.

And as an outsider from the East, Yujin, who had no affiliation, would likely face even greater discrimination. The association might not even consider accepting him.

Not that it matters much to me, Yujin thought.

Whether the association discriminated against him or not, it didn’t concern him. Sure, it would be inconvenient to lose access to the privileges they granted or to be excluded from their world of mages, but that was about it.

Still...

Tiamat, what do you think?

『Do you want me to be honest?』

Go ahead.

『It’s ridiculous. Magic originated with us dragons. The idea of mortal arrogance imposing restrictions on magic is intolerable.』

I see.

Though Tiamat was generally kind toward mortals, her pride in dragons and their connection to magic was unshakable.

In that case, Yujin thought, he had a few options: crush the association’s arrogance, dismantle their elitist system, or find a way to live freely without ever needing to rely on them.

“Hmm... It’s unfortunate. Yujin, you’re clearly a skilled mage, but the association values academic contributions more than power, and their exclusivity makes it hard for outsiders to get in,” Hugo said thoughtfully.

“Hugo,” Yujin interrupted.

“Yes?”

As Hugo pondered how to help, Yujin’s voice cut through his thoughts. Hugo turned to him, curious.

“What is the greatest ambition among mages today? Or perhaps the most unsolved mysteries they’re desperate to unravel?”

“Uh... I’m not really sure about that...” Hugo scratched his head awkwardly, his lack of expertise in magic evident.

At that moment, a quiet voice chimed in.

“...Time and space magic.”

“Hmm? Mirien?”

It was Mirien, who had been silently eating. Both Hugo and Yujin turned to her.

“Ah!”

Mirien flinched under Yujin’s gaze but continued when he gave her a look encouraging her to elaborate.

“...Just as alchemists consider the Philosopher’s Stone their ultimate goal, mages have something similar. That’s time and space magic.”

“Time and space magic, huh...”

“The spatial magic we have today includes teleportation, spatial compression and expansion, and subspace magic—those three. As for time magic, it doesn’t exist. And even spatial magic was only achieved by reverse-engineering knowledge left behind by transcendents. Only a handful of exceptional mages can use it.”

“Hmm...”

“That’s why time and space magic remains the ultimate ambition for mages. After all, time and space are domains controlled by transcendents...”

“Then that’s the answer,” Yujin said decisively.

“What?”

Mirien tilted her head in confusion, but Yujin simply smiled enigmatically, picking up his utensils and taking another bite.

If I write a groundbreaking thesis on time and space magic that makes the association grovel... well, that might solve everything, wouldn’t it?