"Day after day, aside from your Sweet Card and my Bubble Card, have you actually been keeping proper track of the Clow Cards under our care?!"
Suppi's scolding came with a flurry of crackling sounds and pained cries of "Ow, ow!" It sounded like Suppi had unleashed a barrage of kitty punches on Kero.
I really want to see that...
But that was not the important part. What mattered was what Suppi had just said.
"Twin Card?"
The image of that Clow Card surfaced in Adam's mind—a pair of twin children dressed like clowns.
The appearances of the Clow Cards could roughly be divided into four types: human figures, people holding elements that represented the Cards' abilities, animal forms possessing the Cards' traits, and objects that embodied the Cards' abilities themselves.
Among the Clow Cards designed with human figures, nearly all depicted a single person. The Twin Card was the only one with two people on its face.
And the Twin Card's effect was particularly special. It could duplicate an object or person into two identical copies. If the magic was not released within a day, the duplicated person or object would continue to exist indefinitely.
But... could the Twin Card actually duplicate a Sorcerer's Stone?
Even if it could, his magic power should not have been enough to create another Sorcerer's Stone, right?
"But with my magic power, it should be impossible for me to duplicate a Sorcerer's Stone, right?"
Adam voiced his question honestly.
"The Twin Card's magic is not 'duplication,' you know~"
The sounds of kitty punches stopped, and Suppi's voice rang out.
"Adam, do you know about parallel timelines?"
Adam: "???"
"If a world's progression is compared to a line constantly moving forward, then whenever any possibility for change arises, that line diverges in every possible direction, forming parallel timelines."
"Even the path a speck of dust takes in the wind can give rise to countless parallel timelines. Yet most of the time, these 'possibilities' cannot create differences great enough to stabilize those parallel timelines in a short period. So after some time, those parallel timelines converge again and overlap into a single line."
"Sometimes, when different people have differing memories of the same event, it is the result of overlapping memories after parallel timelines converge."
"The Twin Card's magic does not duplicate one thing into two. Instead, it transfers that thing from parallel timelines that are about to converge into this timeline—once the timeline where that thing originally existed has converged, this magic can no longer be undone."
"The Philosopher's Stone is a collection of powerful magic power, but it does not possess uniqueness across parallel timelines. That is why the Twin Card can duplicate a Sorcerer's Stone from a parallel timeline~"
Adam: "..."
Setting aside the bizarre magical explanation for the Mandela effect.
Suppi's explanation of the Twin Card's ability had truly overturned Adam's understanding of that Clow Card—or rather, of the entire concept of Clow Cards.
He had thought it was duplication in pairs, but it turned out to be the Second Magic?
Come to think of it, the Clow Cards' setting had always seemed incredibly high-level. It was just that preconceived notions had hindered Adam's understanding.
The Clow Cards combined numerous elements in their creation: the forces of nature, playing cards, Tarot Cards, the four alchemical elements, the twelve zodiac signs, the Eight Trigrams and Five Elements, and more. In terms of design, they were the culmination of both Eastern and Western mysticism.
Their creator, Clow Reed, was a great mage who could travel freely between parallel worlds, whose mere wish for Yūko Ichihara to revive could halt time and space, and who had lived for centuries in a youthful form through his own power.
Yet Clow Reed himself seemed never to have used the Clow Cards in battle, while Sakura, his successor and the protagonist of a shoujo manga, generally used the Clow Cards to save people and rarely displayed their true power.
Because of all this, even though Adam had formed a contract with the Book of Sealing, he had done so merely with the thought that having an extra source of power was always good, rather than because he believed the Clow Cards were particularly powerful.
"Do not limit your understanding or imagination, Adam."
As if he had noticed Adam's thoughts, Suppi spoke again.
"Magic is a kaleidoscope that projects the heart, will, and soul through magic power. Magic power can only determine a spell's strength; what truly makes magic endlessly versatile and capable of anything is your heart."
"Do not merely investigate the principles of Clow Cards you do not understand. Even the Clow Cards themselves can be modified according to your own wishes once you fully understand them."
"Thank you, Suppi. I understand now."
Adam suddenly saw the light.
His understanding had been too narrow before. He had not even studied the Clow Cards in depth. Now, it seemed their potential for development far exceeded his imagination.
A single Twin Card alone held the potential to develop into the Second Magic. What about the other Cards?
He could slowly research the development of the Clow Cards later. The urgent matter now was, indeed...
"O key that hides the power of darkness..."
After summoning the Wand of Darkness, Adam paused and looked toward the Book of Sealing.
"Suppi, can this incantation be changed?"
Darkness itself was neither righteous nor evil, but it could easily cause others to misunderstand.
"Nope~ It is part of the contract~ But while the incantation cannot be changed, you can skip it entirely when you have sufficient magic power."
This time, Kero was the one speaking.
"Ah, that's great."
The Book of Sealing opened automatically in the air, turning to the page of the Twin Card.
"Release the seal!"
The sun-shaped pointed tip touched the Twin Card, and the twin spirits in clown outfits on its face immediately broke free from the seal, leaping out of the card and landing on the ground.
"Yo~"
The twin spirits were nearly identical, distinguished only by one having pink hair and the other blue. When they bowed to Adam, one used their left hand while the other used their right, making them look like reflections in a mirror.
"Can't you speak?"
It was Adam's first time summoning spirits from the Clow Cards. He looked curiously at the twin spirits, who were about as tall as he was.
"Only a few Clow Cards can speak. After all, Clow Reed was someone who liked quiet."
Kero explained.
"I see. Then please create a second Sorcerer's Stone."
Adam held the Sorcerer's Stone out before the Twin Card.
"Yo~"
The Twin Card approached the Sorcerer's Stone. A flash of white light passed, and two Sorcerer's Stones lay quietly in Adam's palm.
"Gasp—"
Though Suppi had already said it would work, Adam still sucked in a sharp breath when the Twin Card truly created a second Sorcerer's Stone.
"Can you make even more?"
The Twin Card looked at Adam and nodded.
"Gasp—"
A golden gleam filled Adam's eyes.
"Adam, duplicating too many Philosopher's Stones is not a good idea. Two Philosopher's Stones are not fundamentally different from one, and if this is exposed, it could easily cause trouble—you currently have no way to use the Clow Cards too many times in a single day!"
Suppi's voice rang out.
"Huh? But I already have a Philosopher's Stone..."
Adam put one of them back into the bag Nicolas Flamel had given him, holding the other as he asked.
"Can't the magic power in the Philosopher's Stone be used to operate the Clow Cards?"
"Unfortunately, no."
Kero stepped in to dampen his spirits as well.
"The Book of Sealing's contract prevents anyone other than you, and any magic power other than yours, from using the Clow Cards. But if you learn the Twin Card's magic and cast it yourself, then you can use the magic power within the Philosopher's Stone."
"Huh? Then duplicating Philosopher's Stones... Well, being able to turn stone into gold and make an elixir of immortality is still useful, I suppose."
Adam sighed.
Before you continue