CH 149

“Magic-devouring Dragon…” was this supposed to be an upgrade from “Destroyer of Clubs!?”

This was almost like getting a job change in a video game!

Seiji’s eyebrows rose to their maximum height as his expression distorted heavily.

Mai couldn’t help but cover her mouth and conceal another smile upon seeing this.

“Senpai, how did you learn about this nickname?”

“My friend told me about it. Even the third-year high school students know about your name now, since what you did… was truly astonishing.”

Seiji couldn’t find any words to respond to this.

“You single-handedly defeated all the members of the karate club and trampled over their corpses as you conquered the ‘twin witches.’ After that, you treated the crying twins mercilessly and devoured them completely as if you were a vicious and greedy evil dragon…”

“Slow down! Wait a moment!!”

Seiji was completely shocked to his core.

“What’s with this overly exaggerated legend!? I didn’t actually face off against the entire club! What the hell’s with saying I ‘trampled over their corpses’ or ‘devoured the twins completely!?’ Why was I turned into some sort of incredible villain!?”

An incredibly cliché villain at that.

“You didn’t deny treating the crying twins mercilessly,” Mai observed; as always, her intuition was sharp and on the point.

“Oh…! That’s… there’s a reason for that!” Seiji received an impact from this. “At any rate, I’m not a villain. There was a reason behind everything I did! This legend is a ridiculous lie!”

“No, Junior, the legend wasn’t an exaggeration. I made all that up just now~”

“Senpai!!”

Mai couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

Seiji’s cheeks kept twitching nonstop as he watched her laugh.

“Senpai, aren’t you also called… something like the ‘Smiling Executioner?’”

Mai’s expression froze over. “Er…”

‘Oh, nice! So she minds this nickname!’

Seiji felt he had discovered a chance to counterattack.

“Ah, I was really startled when I heard my friend telling me about it. Houjou-senpai who appeared so gentle on the surface actually had such a scary nickname~”

Seiji pretended to be gossipy and did his best to talk in an exaggerated tone.

The corner of Mai’s mouth was beginning to twitch.

“According to the legend, you did something truly frightening last year, to the extent where not a single high school third-year student dared to even speak of it again. In my ears, it sounded like an atrocious disaster; one which people wouldn’t even want to ever recall again.”

Mai’s eyebrows were beginning to tick up and down.

“Junior…”

“My friend even said that her legendary club captain, who is reputed to be utterly fearless and was unafraid of debating against the entire school morals committee, stated that the only person in the entire school she feared was Houjou-senpai! The reason was due to Senpai’s magnificent accomplishment which still remains a mystery to me! I’m actually quite curious about what it was~”

Seiji’s voice grew increasingly energetic as he recounted the story.

“Junior…” A dark and chilly voice sounded from beside him.

“Senpai, you…” Seiji turned to look at her and instantly froze solid.

Mai was now standing there while still smiling. However, the chilly aura emanating from her made this maid seem like Hell’s own messenger.

“Would you like to try dying?” she asked him in a gentle voice.

Seiji was rendered speechless by this.

‘Hey, don’t just steal a line from Hell Girl like that!’

Even while breaking out into a cold sweat, he was unable to stop himself from inwardly commenting on the situation.

After a few seconds of silence.

“Er… Cough, my apologies, I wouldn’t want to try.” Seiji retracted his exaggerated expression and tone of voice.

“Then shut up.” Mai’s smile seemed harmless and gentle.

“Yes…”

The atmosphere seemed rather awkward now.

Seiji turned to go to his own room when they reached the second floor.

“Haruta-san.”

“Oh, is there something else, Houjou-senpai?”

“If you need any assistance, or want anything at all, just let me know.” Mai continued smiling at him. “I might not be of much assistance, but I’ll help you as much as I can in my capacity as a maid.”

Seiji’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Then he smiled sincerely. “Thank you so much for the offer.”

‘I’ve received your heartfelt message.’

He sincerely gave her his thanks.

Mai blinked at this before turning around and leaving.

As he watched her figure walk down the corridor, Seiji suddenly recalled something.

“That’s right, Senpai, about something I want…”

“Hmm?” Mai stopped in her tracks and turned around again.

“Spirit Image… you should know what it is, right?” Seiji inquired in a serious manner. “If there are any here, I’d like to borrow one. Is that alright?”

Mai remained silent for a moment.

“I know what they are… and we do have them here,” she said haltingly after a moment of consideration. “You want to… begin cultivating?”

Seiji nodded.

“I don’t feel like you’re an ordinary person, but I don’t feel either that you’re…” Mai inspected him from head to toe. “Do you know how to begin cultivating?”

“Yes, it’s called ‘Visualization,’ right?”

“‘Visualization’ is correct, but ‘Visualization’ is separated into many different types and methods. Do you know what to do specifically?”

Seiji furrowed his brows at this.

He didn’t know, but thanks to his system, all he would have to do was obtain a Spirit Image and choose the [Visualization] option in his system under [Spiritual Power Increase]. That was all he had to do.

“I… know.”

Mai kept her gaze fixed on him. “Your answer doesn’t sound very definite.”

“I really do know… well, it counts as knowing,” Seiji told her honestly. “As long as I have a Spirit Image, I’ll be able to cultivate… I’m sure of this.”

Mai stared at Seiji’s face for a long while.

“Cultivating is neither safe nor easy. If you attempt it by yourself, it’s actually quite risky. Did you know that?”

“I didn’t… but I believe that I’ll be fine.” Thanks to his system, he was unconcerned about such a thing.

“Just where does your self-confidence stem from?”

Seiji smiled mysteriously. “Senpai, didn’t you just say that everyone has their secrets?”

“I’m somewhat regretting saying that now.” Mai sighed. “Right now I’d really like to know what you’re hiding.”

Seiji merely continued to smile mysteriously in response.

After another period of silence, the maid finally spoke up again.

“The Spirit Image isn’t something portable that I can bring to you… put away your contract in your room and then follow me.”

“Thanks!”

Seiji hurriedly put his book contract on the desk in his room before following Mai.

Mai took him to a room in the left corner of the first floor.

It was a narrow storeroom filled with various wares.

Seiji felt that this didn’t seem like the right type of place to store such an item, but noticed that Mai walked to the right side of the room, placed her palm against the wall, and said something in a low voice.

*Click!* There was the sound of some mechanism activating.

Seiji then witnessed the floorboard in the center of the room soundlessly slide away to reveal a hidden set of stairs leading downwards.

“This place… had a basement?”

He suddenly felt like he was about to explore a secret base!

“Go downstairs.” Mai indicated for him to go ahead of her.

Seiji began walking down the steps. It got darker and darker as he continued descending, but there were lanterns on the walls that illuminated the passageway with their orange-yellow flickering lights.

Seiji entered a corridor upon reaching the bottom.

The moment that Seiji entered the corridor, every light in it automatically turned on, revealing various spell formations on the left side, and several thick wooden doors embedded in the right wall.

Mai came down and walked past him, heading for the wooden door closest to the staircase.

Once again, she pressed her palm against the door and murmured something in an inaudible voice.

The wooden door opened soundlessly.

Mai entered with Seiji following after her.

‘This is… a forest!?’

Seiji was stunned.

This didn’t seem like any type of secret base that he ever could have imagined. Tall, leafy trees stretched out endlessly, lanterns hanging from every branch. The air was filled with tiny flying lights… fireflies were everywhere!

He was currently standing in a small clearing in the forest, which was where they entered this room.

When he lifted his head, he saw the deep and beautiful night sky, embedded with countless shining stars.

There was a peaceful aura about this entire place thanks to the lanterns’ and the fireflies’ illumination.

There were also some insects chirping melodiously from somewhere that couldn’t be seen.

All of this gave this space a wondrous feeling to it.

Mai stood in the middle of the small clearing.

There was a stone pillar before her with a gigantic brush art painting hanging from it.

“This,” she said to Seiji, “is a Spirit Image.”