Chapter 13
Chapter 13
We, Are Calamity
Ling Xi was stunned. Inside?
Inside what?
Inside the shoes?
How was she supposed to wipe that?
Her gaze fell on Scarlet Moon’s moving foot, and a thought that made her spine turn cold surfaced in her mind.
What she meant by inside…
Could it be…
The socks?
[Scarlet Moon felt pleased by your embarrassment, Fate Points +2]
[Current Fate Points: 15]
The system notification sounded especially harsh at this moment.
“What’s wrong?”
Scarlet Moon’s toes stretched a little farther forward.
The black tip of her sock was almost touching Ling Xi’s nose.
“What I meant was, it seems the socks also got stained with dust from the top of the tower.”
“Aren’t you going to help me clean them too?”
Her voice carried pure curiosity, as if she were asking something perfectly natural.
Ling Xi’s breathing stopped.
With her hand?
To wipe the socks she was wearing?
“Or is it that…”
Scarlet Moon’s voice paused.
The tip of that foot lifted lightly and rested against Ling Xi’s chin, forcing her to raise her head.
“What are you thinking about again? That cloth just wiped the shoes. Go get a clean one!”
“Or do you want to clean them in a more special way?”
“No! I don’t! I’ll go get it right away!” Ling Xi said in a panic.
Her body reacted faster than her mind.
Ling Xi scrambled to her feet with both hands and feet, rushed into the storage room, and pulled out another clean soft cloth.
She knelt down properly again and lowered her head.
Why did this process feel so familiar?
The white cloth in her hand carefully touched that layer of black fabric.
A peculiar smell drifted into her nose.
There was the familiar fragrance from her body, the leather scent of the little shoes, and mixed into it was the warm, sweaty smell that belonged to skin.
Even through the fabric, her fingertips could feel the bony outline of the other girl’s ankle.
Damn it, she had to divert her attention. She could not let herself be brainwashed by her.
In her mind, she began reciting Chapter One, Section One of Foundations of Magic Studies.
Magic factors were a kind of…
“Focus a little.”
Scarlet Moon’s voice fell from above her head.
That foot without a shoe lightly came to rest on Ling Xi’s shoulder.
But that action instantly shattered the firewall she had finally managed to build up in her mind.
[Scarlet Moon felt pleased by your obedience, Fate Points +3]
[Current Fate Points: 18]
She really could not go on living like this.
The soft cloth in her hand finally finished wiping that black sock clean.
Not a single corner was missed, from the ankle to the toes.
Damn it, why was she being so serious about this?
This was completely outside the scope of the labor contract.
“It’s done.”
Ling Xi put down the cloth and prepared to stand up.
“Did I say you could get up?”
Scarlet Moon’s voice was very soft, but the foot resting on her shoulder applied a little more pressure.
An irresistible force pressed Ling Xi’s body back down again.
She could only maintain the posture of kneeling on one knee.
That foot was not heavy, yet it pressed down so much that even Ling Xi’s breathing grew rapid.
Scarlet Moon leaned forward slightly, her blood-red eyes reflecting the candlelight.
“Raise your head.”
She lightly lifted Ling Xi’s chin with her toes.
Ling Xi was forced to tilt up her face. The moment her gaze crashed into those eyes, she instantly forgot how to breathe.
Scarlet Moon smiled, her voice low. “Your face is so red. Were you thinking about something you shouldn’t have been thinking about?”
“…No.” Ling Xi’s voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.
“Liar.”
Scarlet Moon’s toes slid, moving from her chin to the corner of her lips, gently pressing over it. “It’s hot even here.”
Ling Xi’s whole body stiffened, her fingertips digging tightly into the carpet.
[Scarlet Moon felt extreme pleasure from your sense of shame, Fate Points +5]
[Current Fate Points: 23]
Scarlet Moon suddenly withdrew her foot, bent down, and moved close, the tip of her nose almost touching Ling Xi’s face.
“Do you know?” she said softly. “The way you look right now is really cute.”
“Because… you get scared, you blush, and you secretly bite your lip.”
Her fingertip fell on Ling Xi’s lower lip and pressed lightly, forcing her to loosen the teeth that had already bitten it pale.
“Don’t bite.”
Her tone sounded like coaxing, and also like a command.
Ling Xi’s eyes suddenly felt a little hot.
She did not know what was wrong with her. She was clearly scared to death, yet at the same time it felt as though something had filled her chest, swelling there until it ached.
Scarlet Moon looked at her, and the trace of teasing in her eyes suddenly faded a little.
“Are you crying?”
“…No.” Ling Xi turned her face away, her voice trembling.
Scarlet Moon laughed so hard that her shoulders shook. “I was teasing you. Watching you bristle is so fun.”
“Miss!!”
“Use a different form of address!”
“In your dreams!”
The two words were squeezed out through clenched teeth.
“In your dreams?”
“Sit properly.”
“Come to think of it, you seemed very surprised by the power of that fireball?”
The topic changed very quickly.
Ling Xi’s body was still stiff, and she could only force out a single syllable from her throat.
“Mm…”
“You thought it was strong?”
What kind of nonsense question was that? It had practically made a mushroom cloud, okay.
Ling Xi complained inwardly, but she did not dare say it out loud.
“That was only a spell that had barely touched the threshold of the fourth tier.”
Fourth tier?
Was this some new unit of measurement?
Ling Xi did not remember any such setting.
“Judging from your expression, you don’t know anything at all.”
Scarlet Moon adjusted her posture a little, letting Ling Xi lean more comfortably against her.
“Since you’re going to be my exclusive toy, it’s still necessary for you to understand this common knowledge.”
“The supernatural power in this world can be divided from weak to strong into the first through ninth tiers.”
“The first to third tiers are apprentices. Being able to rub together a small flame, or let a blade carry a little battle aura, counted as having entered the basics.
Most ordinary soldiers in the army were at this level.”
She paused for a moment, as if giving Ling Xi time to digest it.
Ling Xi’s mind was racing.
So that fireball just now, the one that blasted flat an entire stretch of forest, had only been at the level of the fourth tier?
“The fourth to sixth tiers are elites. They are the backbone of the army, the kingdom’s knights, or mages in the magic tower who have their own independent research rooms.
A sixth-tier mage, going all out, would have no problem destroying a small town.”
“As for the seventh to ninth tiers…”
“That is the domain of legends. Every one of them is a walking strategic weapon.
Their names are written into epics, and their power is enough to change the landscape and overturn dynasties.”
“Existences at the ninth tier are called demigods.”
That word stirred Ling Xi.
As long as she worked hard, perhaps one day, she could also…
“Then, Miss…”
Ling Xi’s voice was a little dry. “Are… are you at the ninth tier?”
Scarlet Moon did not answer immediately.
She merely laughed softly.
“Ninth tier?”
She leaned close to Ling Xi’s ear, her voice so light it was like whispering a secret.
“My little maid, you seem to have gotten one thing wrong.”
“Tiers are a measuring stick created by mortals to gauge the gap between one another.”
“But we…”
The arm around Ling Xi’s waist tightened again.
“Are existences that create the rules, and define the measuring stick.”
“We are calamity.”