I'm Jealous to Death!

Pedro looked at Anton with a deep, shadowed gaze. "You saw a great deal of knowledge in my memories. Tell me, what is time?"

Anton thought for a moment. "All the information each intelligent being perceives from the world forms the deepest, most fundamental memories within the soul—memories observed without any emotion or will mixed in. And the memories of all intelligent beings together form the River of Time. When a memory is missing, it means that memory has been erased from time."

"I don't know whether that's right."

Pedro smiled faintly. "It is, and it isn't."

"But I can't tell you too much about my own understanding of time. Clearly, you already have your own system of Magical Theory. I can't influence its foundations."

The hand holding his cigar swayed in midair, and the red flame at its tip scorched a long red trail through the air.

Pedro pointed at the line. "Following your line of thought, this line is the River of Time."

As he spoke, his thick finger moved, its sharp, long nail slashing across the red trail and cutting a section from its end.

"This section is the memories and time I collected. It granted me powerful Time Magic."

"Of course, to bear this piece of history, I paid far, far too much."

Recalling the past, Pedro was filled with emotion. Several centuries had passed. He had endured through them for several centuries, and he had no idea how much longer he would have to endure in the future.

He took a puff of his cigar and gently exhaled. The smoke formed a trail in midair, joining the middle of the original red mark.

"This section is the new memories and time that suddenly appeared in this world because of your arrival."

"And you..."

He pointed