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「Don’t say it, Lady! Because I don’t even want to talk about that bastard. He’s a guy who doesn’t hesitate to kill for the sake of his goal, even if his face is shiny. You can’t even go against crazy things. Next time, try to run away even if he pretends to know you.」
But she already got his business card.
Is it because of Madame Pompadou’s explanation? The business card she held in her hand couldn’t have felt so uncomfortable. It was even more so because it was a business card covered in thin gold leaf. Besides, what else is written on this ticket? It feels like she’s being invited.
“Hmm.”
It is right to throw away items that are likely to cause problems immediately, and it is right to get out of the situation immediately. Previous experience was telling Catherine to throw away this dirty business card immediately.
Hiiing.
Catherine leaned against the railing and let go of the business card she was holding in the wind.
The sparkling gold floats in the air and disappears behind it. It took less than five seconds to become invisible, but somehow the anxiety didn’t disappear.
—
Catherine’s body was swimming in the soft water. As the blurry vision becomes clear, the dark deep sea begins to be seen.
Her body was being dragged deeper and deeper into the huge ocean flows. She soon arrived in front of the rainbow coral reef she had seen the day before. An enormous white moray eel came from the coral reef as if to welcome Catherine.
‘Is it a moray eel today?’
‘The dolphins ran away yesterday.’
Is it easy to run away? The deep-sea animals seemed much smarter than she thought.
Somehow he seemed to ask ‘Is it okay with Madam Pompadou?’, and so Catherine take the initiative and open her mouth.
‘Is it okay staying with Madame Pompadou? It hurts my ears because the number of people talking has increased from two to three, but it’s not bad.’
Cesare nodded his head. It was strange to say that the moray eel nodded, but it certainly nodded.
‘It can be seen as a good time. is a fairly famous wizard among the Nephirims who did not sign a contract. If you have any questions while learning magic, you can ask her this and that.’
‘Yes. So what’s her first class?’
It took her quite a while to fall asleep and look forward to this moment. Now, even if she goes out and says that she’s Cesare’s disciple, will it not be a lie? Of course, it’s a skill that doesn’t matter, but she wouldn’t be able to say such a thing with her bare face.
She must have been wagging her tail hard without realizing it. The coral reef that touched her tail burned black with a crackling sound.
‘Oops.’
‘Since you’re an electric moray eel, you have to swing your tail carefully. Today, let’s find out the roots of your mana first.’
Simply put, a root was an attribute in magic. Roots are the most basic classification of magic schools. As a result, identifying their origins was a process that all prospective wizards went through.
‘But I already classified it when I was young?’
Those with the ability to invalidate magic studied demonology and magic with the nation’s support, therefore they were forced to get root classification even if they did not want to.
‘Isn’t it more than 10 years when you were young?’
‘That’s true.’
‘Isn’t it quite a long time ago in terms of humans? I think it’s better to check again.’
Moray eel, no, Cesare rolled his transparent eyes and said.
‘Now that you’ve signed a contract with me, Miss Catherine’s body will contain a vast amount of mana that won’t be depleted if you use it for the rest of your life. If our roots are the same, it’ll create a pretty good synergy—. Well, it won’t make much of a difference even if it’s an opposition, so don’t worry. I can cover everything with my own strength.’
When you become a great devil, you can confidently say such words.
‘This coral is a coral without mana. Imagine going inside.’
‘Is that enough?’
‘That’s enough.’
Catherine imagined entering the coral as advised by Cesare. Of course, nothing changed. Thanks to this, Catherine had to open her mouth feeling a little embarrassed.
‘It doesn’t work.’
‘Hmm. You have no sense at all. Then let’s do this. Do you remember kissing when we signed the contract?’
‘Uhm, yes.’
‘How did you feel then?’
Is he asking what she felt when he kissed her now? How did her heartbeat, how did the texture and warmth of her lips feel and how did she feel?
Catherine shook her head in a hurry. He’s not asking her that, right? He probably wants an objective description. She slowly recited the vivid memories of that time, just like yesterday.
‘It was cold and chilly.’
It happened so quickly that it was only a brief memory, yet it stayed with her as if engraved on her heart.
‘It feels like my blood vessels are going to freeze in my mouth. Still, it’s as hot as fire—. Do you know what I mean?’
‘Think of it as the feeling of mana filling your body. Remember that feeling and try again.’
Oh, that’s how it is.
She seemed to understand what he was saying. That sensation was caused by mana being used at the moment.
Catherine concentrated her mind, reflecting on the sensations of that time, as Cesare had advised. With the feeling of putting herself in that seaweed—. Just as the mana came into her body at that time, this time she feel like she’s going in there—.
Purr.
The earth roared. The earth’s presence, which was shaking finely like a volcanic explosion, began to grow gradually.
Bewildered, Catherine carefully stepped back.
What? What did I do wrong?
At the time when she was about to shift her bewildered gaze to Cesare. The coral reef, which was originally sparkling white, became dark and vanished.
Whoosh.
The filthy wavelength wrapped around Catherine’s body and moved away. At first glance, thick and heavy black debris, which feels like oil, scatters along with the seawater. It happened in an instant.
Catherine asked Cesare in a deep mood.
‘It’s a little ominous. What kind of root am I?’
Staring at the now empty nest of coral reefs, Cesare spoke a bit late.
‘What was the classification result like when you were young?’
‘Could not be classified.’
His body was a moray eel, so she couldn’t tell the expression on his face, but looking at the waving of his tail, it seemed like a movement that roughly meant something.
‘It was a classification method to receive wizard’s mana by blooming flower—I haven’t bloomed the flower in a year when other kids had it in just 10 minutes.’
It was a situation that she could never talk about anywhere.
The wizard, who was in charge of sorting Catherine’s roots at the time, said this. This is not just stupidity, but bad news. If she forces herself to use magic, she will have big trouble, so stay away from it for the rest of her life.
She couldn’t believe it so she spent a few more months concentrating on making the flowers bloom— But in the end, it couldn’t even sprout.
Her mother had not mentioned anything to her regarding root classification.
She didn’t say it was okay, nor did she raise her voice asking if she couldn’t do this. She just accepted it as it is.
So Catherine was very moved by the situation in front of her. However, if anything ‘has not awakened?’, she thought she would be able to avoid the bad news of being a bad person even if she didn’t know about it.
Cesare said after pondering for a moment.
‘As Miss Catherine knows, Mana’s roots can be classified into six categories. Fire and sea, thunder and shadow, wind and divinity.’
It was a calm and relaxed voice.
‘I think I know why you couldn’t bloom the flower. Miss Catherine’s roots don’t exist among those six.’
‘Is that possible?’
The fact that it does not belong to six was the same as saying that there are no roots.
Catherine dropped her head in disappointment. Yeah, she doesn’t have any talents when she was young, and there’s no way that she’ll develop as she gets older.
‘Miss Catherine’s root is transition.’
—transition?
It was the root of a classification she’d never heard of. Or not? Did she learn it during the advanced course? However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t recall learning it.
‘It’s understandable that you don’t know. Because it is a root that can only be found in devils, not humans. I’m surprised because it’s my first time seeing it in thousands of years.’
Transition. She has no idea what it is, but it is a root that can only be found in devils, not humans.
She suddenly remembered being cast as the devil by a cardinal in the Duke’s mansion. The memory of feeling the heat as if burned by fire above the sacred seal camp.
—No way.
‘You know, Cesare. I mean. By any chance am I a devil?’
Tsk. A loud clicking sound was heard.
‘Have you already forgotten the contents of Chapter 1 of Devilology? There is no contract between the devil and the devil, and between human and human. If Miss Catherine was a devil, you wouldn’t be able to make a contract with me.’
That’s true. Catherine thanked the law for proving that she was only born human.
‘I’ll have to think about this a little bit. It has different roots from humans, but I don’t think it’s a very wise way to teach magic in the same way as humans.’
‘Then we can’t learn magic today either?’
When everyone was busy having fun, she just waited for the time she could sleep.
‘It’s good to be careful. Because if you use it carelessly, you can blow everything around you. Do you know why the death of the Nephilim is called a ‘disaster’? Because it loses control of its power and destroys everything around it. To exaggerate, Miss Catherine could be too.’
So it was to that extent. Compared to the disaster of the Nephilim, she could feel how dangerous it was.
Cesare once again emphasized to be more careful.
‘Your roots are known only to us. Okay?’
‘Is it bad if others know?’
‘There are many eccentric magicians who can cut you alive to learn the secret of your unique constitution.’
Well. It was a very understandable reason.
‘It’s terrifying just imagining it. I won’t tell anyone.’
The two moray eels shared a short story with each other and then parted to welcome the rising sun.
The next day was a smooth day without much going on. As it is a luxury passenger ship for sightseeing and luxury, she spent her corresponding leisure time.
「Come on, Lady. We are going shopping.」
It was all possible because of Mrs. Pompadou.
“—Today?”
「I heard that the Lady can take the Grand Duke’s wealth and use it? After all, the Grand Duke is a romantic man that is different from how he looks. This is a great opportunity. Let this Madame Pompadou pick out some awesome dresses, shoes, and jewelry for you. Trust my eyes.」
「Haam. You should have bought a pretty ribbon for my neck. You should also buy a diamond rice bowl too.」
For the first time since her mother disappeared, she experienced an experience of wasting all her daytime by shopping.
The most intense thought was that her leg was hurting. And the fact that she continues to purchase unnecessary items. Not all of her experiences were familiar to her.
Early that morning, she didn’t go looking for Cesare’s dream. To be precise, it would be correct to say that Cesare didn’t call her. The feeling of being a fish in the deep sea was very fresh, so it was disappointing in many ways.
And the bright day of the fourth day.
“You really having a great time, yeah.”
Unfortunately, she ran into Percyville in a passage dedicated to VIPs.