Chapter 197
Chapter 197: The Cat-Girl Modification Plan
"Excuse me."
"The Academy......what kind of place is it?"
Heni was momentarily taken aback.
The person standing before her had remarkably beautiful eyes—clear and luminous, like 2 green gemstones.
What a shame, though. Someone with such beautiful eyes...spoke in such a halting, stumbling way.
And the question they asked was strangely odd, somehow.
It gave the impression of beauty without intelligence.
A flicker of pity passed through Heni's eyes, though being the helpful sort she was, she began to explain:
"The Academy? It's roughly a place for teaching and nurturing people, I suppose."
"This is the Magic Academy. Anyone who wishes to study Magic can enroll here, provided they possess magical aptitude."
The person before her listened to Heni's explanation in silence for a moment.
Heni stood quietly, watching them.
"Did you come from outside the city?"
"Or perhaps......is this your first time in the Royal Capital?"
The hooded figure gave a dazed nod.
The flame of helpfulness in Heni's heart blazed up at once.
Looking at the person before her who couldn't even speak fluently, Heni asked with genuine concern:
"Why......have you come to the Royal Capital?"
"I want to......become stronger."
In her memory, ever since the Magical Creature Rift had been swallowed by that profound darkness, the image of a crow had been etched into her mind at every moment.
As though constantly reminding her, a vision of an extraordinarily bustling city would flash through her mind alongside it.
And so, following those fragmented and faint memories in her head, she had made her way here.
"I see. I understand."
Heni nodded, her expression shifting to one of comprehension.
"If you want to become a Mage, I can take you on a tour of the Academy first."
"By the way—what's your name?"
The mysterious figure before her slowly raised their head. Those luminous green serpentine eyes gradually widened, and a husky voice began to rise:
"I am......"
"Safirose."
***
Heni dragged her 2 aching legs and finally pushed open the gates of the Clavena estate.
Viktor had long since prepared a house for her near the Academy—for her to use so she wouldn't have to walk too far on her daily commute.
But Heni still preferred to come back here.
As for why...
"Professor!"
Heni pushed open the Study door, her voice ringing out with cheerful delight.
She stepped through the doorway and saw Viktor seated at the writing desk, a desk lamp glowing beside him.
That warm amber light filtered through the darkness and fell across the open pages of a book.
Viktor slowly turned the pages of the book in his hands, the soft shff shff of turning pages sounding from time to time.
Whenever Heni came to the Study and found Viktor, it was always to the sight of the Professor deep in a thick volume.
This never failed to fill her with a feeling of sincere admiration.
No wonder the Professor had become a 4th-Tier Mage at such a young age.
Even having already reached the 4th Tier, he still read constantly.
The knowledge stored in his mind must have accumulated to a truly staggering degree.
Though last time, receiving that indecent publication from Professor Viktor had caught her rather off guard—after thinking it over, Heni had decided it made perfect sense.
That novel had been written in Elvish. It was entirely possible that Professor Viktor had been reading it specifically to study the Elvish language.
This only further demonstrated Professor Viktor's broad thirst for knowledge—he had even dedicated considerable study to Elvish.
All things considered, she had found one reason after another to make sense of it all on Viktor's behalf.
Seeing Heni return, Viktor closed his book and set it steadily on the desk.
He switched off the desk lamp and snapped his fingers.
A white light, brighter than the lamp, filled the dim Study with illumination.
His gaze turned to Heni, calm and composed.
"You seem to be in a good mood today."
"Is something the matter?"
"It's not really anything in particular, really......"
Hearing Viktor's question, Heni fidgeted slightly and continued looking at him.
"It was so hot today, and I want to take a bath."
"It's just......Professor, could we......together......"
Bang!
The door slammed shut. In the blink of an eye, Heni was standing on the other side of it.
Sure enough, she had been thrown out of the Study.
A request like that was bold to begin with—being turned down was only to be expected.
But Heni was neither discouraged nor ready to give up.
Ever since she had come to terms with the fact that she was a Succubus, it had taken her a good few days before she finally accepted it with peace of mind.
That was largely thanks to Laiton.
The little crocodile had talked her through it, saying:
Demons were creatures that acted purely on instinct—deliberately following rules was far less fitting for them than following their own nature.
And so Heni had let go of her reservations.
Since these feelings of hers were a matter of instinct—why shouldn't she follow her instincts?
Besides, she genuinely liked Professor Viktor very much.
"......"
Before she realized it, Heni's thoughts had drifted back to that last time.
Also in Professor Viktor's Study.
The Professor had kissed her.
She leaned against the door frame outside the Study, fingertips brushing her lips.
Then, just as quickly, Heni pushed the thought aside and stopped dwelling on it. She began humming an aimless little tune and walked away from the Study.
***
Inside the Study, Viktor pressed his hand to his forehead in frustration, brow furrowed.
The Crow nearby was laughing without a shred of mercy.
"Look at what a coward you are."
"If you ask me, you might as well just give in already."
Viktor straightened himself in his seat and said, with measured calm:
"I've said it before."
"The time hasn't come yet."
He wasn't actually troubled by his relationship with Heni—what was actually bothering him was that after sending Heni away, it had only just occurred to him:
He had come looking for Heni in the first place because he had something to tell her.
But her little declaration had been so startling that he had completely forgotten about it.
A mere Succubus, and yet...
"She's getting bolder and bolder."
Having been derailed like this, he couldn't find it in himself to read anymore.
Viktor took a deep breath and sat up straight.
"Never mind—let me go take care of something else first."
Viktor sat in his chair as a deep, abyssal void gradually began to spin open in the floor beneath his feet, bursts of wind streaming out from within.
Weija stepped up onto his shoulder.
His entire body seemed to fragment like shards of broken glass, sinking into the void, and slowly vanished.
***
Atop the thick carpet covering the wooden floor sat an enormous leather armchair, and the whole room was drifting with the scent of tea.
Unlike the other maidservants, Xiangyilan wore a maid's uniform and frequently handled household chores around the estate.
But her standing within the Clavena household was not that of a maidservant—she was a Retainer who had come from the Clavena main family.
And so she had a large room entirely to herself.
Rumor had it that the reason this adorable Demi-human Cat-girl wore a maid's uniform was actually due to the particular tastes of Viktor, the head of the Clavena household.
On top of that, there were already whispers that Viktor had a preference for minors—a rumor that had practically spread through the entire Royal Capital.
This made the suspicion seem all the more like established truth.
Almost everyone who worked in the household knew about it, yet not a single one dared to bring it up.
And so, everyone had come to silently accept it as fact.
Everyone, that is, except Xiangyilan herself.
She was seated in her room, cradling a dense and complex Spellbook, diligently working through its contents and learning the characters within.
She stared at the pages, chewing her finger, brow scrunched, her tail rising instinctively and swaying behind her.
Even her ears were twitching in a steady rhythm.
As a Magic Apprentice, there was a great deal she didn't quite understand.
And right now, even reading through a Spellbook had already brought her to a wall.
And this was just an ordinary Introductory Selection for Magic Apprentices.
Could it really be that Demi-humans were truly unsuited to becoming Mages?
A creeping sense of anxiety and doubt had begun to stir within Xiangyilan's heart.
While she was absorbed in her studies, a deep and abyssal void suddenly lit up in the floor behind her.
A faint breeze swept upward toward the ceiling as Viktor emerged from within, coming to stand behind Xiangyilan.
Sensing someone's arrival, Xiangyilan startled and quickly set down the book in her hands.
But when she turned and saw Viktor, she broke into a look of pure, unbridled delight.
"Master!"
Viktor gave a measured nod in return.
"How are your studies going?"
"Umm......there are some parts that are a bit complicated, and I can never quite grasp them."
Viktor bent down, leaning in close beside her. Weija's single eye swept across the problem in the Spellbook.
It was an exceptionally simple foundational Magic question.
About as difficult as an ordinary arithmetic problem—what does 10 times 8 equal.
Looking at the Spellbook, having received the answer from Weija, he said with quiet composure:
"Here—because the patterns are linked."
"The 2 Runes need to be reacting with each other for the Magic Power to flow through properly."
Xiangyilan bowed her head, listening attentively to Viktor's explanation, then nodded in sudden understanding, as though a light had just switched on.
So that was it!
She completely understood now!
Then Viktor gently placed his hand on top of Xiangyilan's head.
He stroked her cat ears, and a soft, silky texture transmitted through his fingertips.
Xiangyilan blinked in mild surprise, then quickly settled into it, melting into the petting.
She squinted her eyes and let out a soft purr.
Following the touch, Viktor glanced at the level above Xiangyilan's head.
Lv7.
Not bad.
When they had first started, she had only been Level 5.
At this level, perhaps it was worth trying.
Viktor's voice began to rise.
"In a moment—don't resist."
Xiangyilan tilted her head in puzzlement, not yet aware of what was about to happen, and simply gave an obedient nod.
Then, all at once, a black Crow flew up before her face.
That single eye suddenly blazed with a burst of blue light.
The instant their gazes met, Xiangyilan felt a powerful wave of dizziness. Her mind crashed, her eyes rolled back, and she fell unconscious.
Viktor swept a hand through the air, and a white spell enveloped Xiangyilan, lifting her gently onto the bed.
At that moment, Weija flapped her wings and settled beside Xiangyilan, studying her body with a measured gaze, then gave a nod.
"Even an underage Demi-human's physical constitution far surpasses that of an ordinary human."
Viktor touched a point in the air with white Magic Power at his fingertip, and a Magical Creature material item was slowly drawn out from within the spatial inventory.
【Soul-Lurking Undead's Eyeball】
That eyeball, oozing green fluid, was now wrapped in a thread of Magic Power and suspended in midair.
Then Weija's voice rang out all at once.
Filled with incomparable pride and confidence, she raised her head high—as though about to announce something of tremendous consequence.
"Then now—it is I, the great Doctor Weija!"
"Who shall commence this momentous operation!"