As I lost almost all the abilities of the Book of Contracts, Lin Luo was in no position to leave the Garden of Time by himself. Therefore, he had no choice but to rely on Precia's teleportation magic circle to travel to Earth with Fate and the other two, heading for the location of the Jewel Seeds, which also happened to be the city where Takamachi Nanoha resided: Uminari City.

Here, Lin Luo couldn't help but marvel at Nanoha's protagonist halo. Yuno, that notorious troublemaker who digs pits but never covers them up, although the time-space ship was only shot down while passing by Earth, why did all twenty—no, wait, all twenty-one Jewel Seeds—land in this one place, Uminari City, on such a large planet?

Aside from Nanoha's protagonist halo, Lin Luo couldn't think of any other reason. However, this situation made things much easier; at least he didn't have to search for the Jewel Seeds all over the world.

"This is our new home! It’s so spacious and comfortable."

Elf suddenly leaped into the room and onto the large bed, rolling around happily. Being out of Precia's sight was a monumental relief for her, a great thing whether for herself or Fate.

"Mhm, this room is indeed nice," Lin Luo said after surveying the surroundings before walking over to Fate and squatting down with a smile. "The equipment is quite complete. What do you think, Fate?"

"It doesn't matter, as long as we can stay here," Fate replied in her usual detached tone, as if indifferent to everything. In reality, that was mostly true; besides the Jewel Seeds, food and shelter were unimportant to her.

Lin Luo knew her heart was still closed off, and he harbored no resentment toward her cold demeanor. He smiled faintly. "But before that, we should eat something first and fill our stomachs. It looks like it’s almost evening." Saying this, he walked to the phone in the corner of the room and ordered a three-person set meal.

This location was a high-end residential district in Uminari City. Lin Luo and the others materialized on the rooftop of this upscale apartment building after being teleported from the Garden of Time. The floor directly below the rooftop, the very top floor of the complex, was the suite Precia had prepared for them.

No longer confined to a single room like in the Garden of Time, this was a suite with several bedrooms, which caused Lin Luo a slight sense of regret. Truly, the dream of sleeping with his cherished consort held close like a pillow wouldn't be realized so soon.

"I'm full." Dinner concluded in an unusually normal atmosphere. After eating, Fate stood up from her seat and once again donned her signature black cloak. "I'll go search for the location of the Jewel Seeds."

"I’ll go with you, Fate," Elf quickly offered.

"Mhm," Fate nodded, then glanced toward Lin Luo.

Lin Luo understood that Fate probably didn't want him to go, as his body hadn't fully recovered. Since there was no one who needed to be intimidated, and it was only a search that posed no immediate danger tonight, Lin Luo couldn't be bothered to put on a show. He waved his hand and smiled, "Then the two of you go ahead. In my current state, I might just slow you down, so it’s better if I stay put. Just remember to be careful."

Afterward, Fate and Elf flew out the window, disappearing into the darkness in a flash.

"Jewel Seeds..." After Fate and the others left, Lin Luo couldn't help but set down his chopsticks and ponder. There were things he needed to consider carefully. In this Jewel Seed incident, due to his injuries, there were many areas where he likely couldn't intervene. Moreover, the Jewel Seeds and Walkers have an incompatibility... No, wait!

The Jewel Seeds, while powerful, weren't to the extent that they actively repelled Walkers. The reason Walkers found it difficult to touch the Jewel Seeds was because the Essence of the Heart was too advanced, subtly interfering with the Seeds’ power. Even a slight thought could potentially trigger the Seed's abilities.

Therefore, in this Jewel Seed incident, he couldn't personally touch those things. Furthermore, he didn't possess any method to seal the Jewel Seeds; touching them arbitrarily could easily cause an anomaly.

Of course, the sealing could be left to Fate and Nanoha. They were the experts; he had absolutely no need to interfere, only needing to stand by and watch out if danger arose. Barring any unexpected occurrences, everything would proceed according to the original plot...

But would there really be no deviations?

A butterfly flapping its wings could cause a tornado on the other side of the world. With his chaotic intrusion, plus one "missing" Jewel Seed, the variables for the future might become extremely large.

"No matter what, the most important thing right now is my body," Lin Luo sighed, then walked back into the room and took out dozens of A-rank gems from his storage space to begin his recovery. Using pure magical power for recovery, at least seventy percent of the magic was wasted. Although Lin Luo felt a little regretful, there was nothing he could do about it. Of course, his wealth was vast; even A-rank gems were insignificant to him.

To speed up his recovery even further, he even took out a smaller quantity of A+-rank gems, draining the magical energy from a Mountain-grade magic gem in only five or six minutes. Only about one-third of that energy could actually benefit his body; the rest mostly dissipated into the surrounding world. If Tohsaka Rin were to witness this action, she would surely slap him hard—it was such a waste!

In fact, for mere physical restoration, just a dozen A-rank gems would have been enough to restore his free movement, given his monstrous constitution. Speeding up self-regeneration using magic was quite simple. The more crucial reason Lin Luo hadn't recovered yet lay with his Source and his soul.

During the previous battle, excessive use of Spiral Power for transcendence had severely damaged both his Source and his soul. Although he wasn't entirely incapable of fighting, using any power tied to his Source would inflict a certain degree of damage on his body, which would also impede the recovery of his Source.

Thus, the Source and the soul were the foundation of his healing.

And these two entities—trying to repair them using pure magical energy, while not impossible, was sheer fantasy if he expected rapid recovery.

"Mmm... It hasn't reached the critical point yet. It seems I can use another dozen G-rank gems." After exhausting all the gems around him, Lin Luo stretched his limbs slightly and opened his storage space again. However, just as he was about to take out the magic gems, his gaze was caught by something else.

The Book of Origins!

This book, he had barely taken out since arriving in Gensokyo. It wasn't due to a lack of regard, but because some of its contents—like boundary magic or life magic—were beyond his reach with his current abilities. Those aspects he could reach offered little practical benefit compared to the tangible results of interacting with a powerhouse like Yukari Yakumo. Thus, for a long time, he hadn't bothered flipping through the Book of Origins, to the point where he had almost forgotten about it.

The Book of Origins contained hundreds of spells, covering everything from offense to defense, support to healing. Furthermore, ancient magic was inherently designed to work in conjunction with the Source, so it surely contained magic to heal the Source!

Thinking of this, Lin Luo immediately felt a surge of excitement. He quickly opened the Book of Origins, and moments later, he actually found spells capable of repairing the Source—three of them, in fact. "Damn it, this won't work either!" Lin Luo groaned. While it frustrated him, thinking it over, it was perfectly logical: the fundamental reason he could access and learn the magic within the Book of Origins was the existence of the Book of Contracts.

But with the Book of Contracts sealed, he had lost the bridge connecting him to the Book of Origins.

"It seems there is only one way to repair my Source," Lin Luo stated solemnly, pointing a finger at the Book of Origins. Only two types of people could learn the magic within it: one, an entity whose Source was unlocked and moving freely, and the other, the Host!

While Lin Luo was preoccupied with the Book of Origins, Fate, who had gone out to search for the Jewel Seeds, encountered a small problem... or perhaps it shouldn't be called a problem, but rather a destined event—because she ran into Nanoha.

Originally, without Lin Luo's interference, everything would have proceeded according to the original plot. Fate and Nanoha's first meeting was supposed to happen a few days later at the home of Suzuka Tsuki-mura. But because the butterfly had flapped its wings, not only did they meet earlier, but the location of their initial confrontation also shifted.

The reason the two met was, naturally, a Jewel Seed. When a Seed emitted a faint fluctuation, both Nanoha and Fate sensed it. Neither would ignore any Jewel Seed, so they rushed to the location immediately, resulting in them running squarely into each other.

At this moment, the two were in a park. Fate stood atop the lighthouse, looking down, while Nanoha stood on the ground, looking up. Elf, transformed into her canine form, and Yuno, transformed into a sable, accompanied their respective companions.

"Fate, she's a mage of the same type as you, probably an Investigator of Ancient Heritage. But she seems new, not much of a threat," Elf commented regarding Nanoha, her tone laced with a hint of disdain, not taking Nanoha seriously.

"That's right, she's also from my world—a mage." Yuno looked at Fate with a gaze of slight surprise. "And this girl... she also knows the nature of the Jewel Seeds. Nanoha, be careful."

Neither Fate nor Nanoha paid attention to their companions' words, instead pointing their staves at each other, observing quietly.

Looking at Fate's cold expression, a ripple stirred in Nanoha's heart: This girl is about my age, with beautiful eyes and long, lovely hair. But, for some reason, I feel an inexplicable sadness. I just feel that this girl is so lonely, so isolated... "Yuno," Nanoha communicated with Yuno telepathically through magic, "I finally remember the dreams I've been having. This girl, she appeared in my dreams."