The Cheapest Thing of All: Time

Impossible.

Manus dismissed the question the moment it arose in his mind.

There might be researchers in this world who were unknown yet capable and accomplished, but there had to be limits to how much their abilities could grow. More importantly, their results would inevitably display an extremely obvious sameness.

That was the unavoidable limitation of working behind closed doors.

To break through those flaws and constraints, one had to communicate and learn from others. It was impossible to remain completely secretive and leave no trace in the process, especially given how closed off the academic circles of the British Wizarding World were.

Academic journals, published books, competition awards... These were not merely proof of academic ability; they were also invisible thresholds. Without them, one could not enter the circle, and with them, one could not possibly remain unnamed.

But Manus had truly never heard of anyone named Nick.

So who exactly was the other party...?

No, wait. Searching his memories with Nick as the keyword did produce a result. The man was indeed a master in numerous fields of research, and his abilities matched what he had demonstrated in their past correspondence.

Although he was not from this era, strictly speaking, he could have lived into this era.

But he was not called Nick, but Nicolas—well, the two could be considered the same name anyway.

(Like Ron and Ronald, Manu and Manus—the former was a nickname form of the latter.)

"Nicolas Flamel?"

Nicolas Flamel froze for a moment. He had not expected Manus to identify him at once. Though he had not lied, still...

"How did you recognize me?"

Was it really that obvious? Normally, no one would think of him, a man from more than six hundred years ago, just because of the name Nick, would they? Could