Chapter 24

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It took some more time to calm Arwen down.

Reasonably speaking, this wasn’t some remote village but the heart of the empire, the capital, and even within the capital, it was the Imperial Palace with the tightest security. If one thoughtlessly snuck in and hid, they couldn’t continue hiding indefinitely.

Even Rudrick, aside from the information he already knew about the regressors, could glimpse a kind of deep abyss the moment he faced Arwen.

If she were an ordinary vampire, she wouldn’t have been able to sneak into the Imperial Palace in the first place, but the fact that she wasn’t an ordinary being was something that could be intuitively sensed upon encountering her, a kind of survival instinct.

Naturally, Rudrick wasn’t the only skilled individual in the Imperial Palace, so it was the easiest and quickest solution for Arwen to transform into a cat and pretend to be Rudrick’s pet, which even Arwen agreed with.

The problem was that Arwen’s main point was not that she felt averse to pretending to be a “pet,” but that transforming and sticking together like that was essentially no different from living together.

Nevertheless, in the end…

“No, think about it. Are you going to keep going around saying, ‘Hey, I’m a vampire, you know? I’m super dangerous, you know? I’m secretly hiding in the Imperial Palace!’ like that?”

“Even if that’s the case, living together is…”

“Then, Arwen, do you want to leave the Imperial Palace again?”

“T-that, I don’t want to do.”

“Then what do you want to do?”

“…”

Rudrick, who had been repeating the same words like a parrot, seemed frustrated and even dropped the ambiguous honorifics he had been using. When he raised his voice, Arwen finally surrendered.

“…I understand. Yes, there’s no other way but to follow your suggestion.”

“Why can’t you understand such a simple thing till the end?”

“I didn’t fail to understand. It’s just that I was worried about you…”

Arwen trailed off, swallowing the rest of her words.

She had always known that, unlike ordinary men, his behavior was easygoing, and unlike typical noble scions, he had an open-minded way of thinking.

So, instead of despising her as a filthy bloodsucker, he had scolded her, asking why she was acting as if she were shouldering the burden of the entire world alone, and then offered his own blood.

It was a strange feeling to hear such words from a boy who had barely lived a tenth of her life, but wasn’t that what had drawn her to him in the first place?

However…

‘…He’s quite bold. Are all young people these days like this?’ she thought.

As times changed, thoughts naturally became more open-minded. For Arwen, who still held the mindset of centuries ago, Rudrick’s proposal was not something she could easily accept or simply tolerate.

Even though she had already reached the conclusion in her mind that Rudrick’s suggestion was the most rational, the reason she had kept resisting until the end was because of that.

Since there was no other viable alternative, she had agreed, but Arwen inwardly resolved.

Based on her past experiences, Rudrick’s unconscious actions often appeared as temptations in the eyes of others.

So, no matter what situation she faced, she would not be flustered and would calmly maintain her dignity as a True Ancestor.

She had definitely made that resolution, but…

“Then, Arwen, try transforming into a cat,” Rudrick said.

“…Huh?”

“I think a cat would be better. Or a dog?”

The moment she met his innocent and guileless eyes, Arwen stiffened.

“…Are you telling me to transform right here and now?”

“When I came in, I was alone, but we can’t leave as two people. The exit leads directly to our mentor’s research lab.”

“That may be so, but…”

“Cat.”

“…Ugh.”

The concept of pets was naturally much rarer in Rudrick’s current life compared to his previous one. It was mostly limited to high-ranking nobles who kept unusual animals as a personal hobby to show off their wealth, similar to the royalty of the Middle East in his previous life. For ordinary commoners, the concept of livestock was much more prevalent than pets.

For various practical reasons, Rudrick had been unable to keep pets in both his previous and current life.

In such a situation, this event had occurred at an opportune moment. Since she would have to continue transforming into an animal and staying with him anyway, it was an innocent request, asking if she could transform once in advance.

The problem was that from Arwen’s perspective, who had to accept the request, it was too sudden, without giving her time to mentally prepare herself.

Poof!

With a feeble transformation sound, like air escaping, a veil of light enveloped Arwen’s body as she blushed.

The shimmering light flashed briefly, and beyond the light that obscured Arwen’s body, her form rapidly shrank.

Soon, as the light completely dissipated…

“Wow, you look cute,” Rudrick remarked.

“C-c-cute, you say…!”

In Arwen’s place stood a cat with silver fur, resembling her hair color.

A silver-furred cat that appeared aloof and prickly at first glance. Its amethyst-colored eyes sparkled like the literal meaning of the word “cat’s eye stone.”

Rudrick’s unintentional murmur caused Arwen to jump up in surprise, which was merely an additional element.

“Oops,” Rudrick said as he picked up the cat, or more precisely, the cat that Arwen had transformed into. Without much thought, he stroked its fur and muttered, “This is amazing. It doesn’t feel like a transformation but like a real cat.”

“…My transformation magic wouldn’t be so sloppy. More importantly, I’d appreciate it if you put me down,” Arwen replied.

“Are you uncomfortable? I’ve heard there’s a way to hold a cat to make it comfortable, but I can’t quite remember,” Rudrick said.

“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable, but…”

Arwen, who had suddenly been trapped between Rudrick’s arms, grumbled.

Although it was fascinating to hear a cat speak human language with its vocal cords, Rudrick assumed it was due to magic and brushed it off, enjoying the soft and fluffy texture.

Of course, for Arwen, who was the subject of his attention, it was an eerie feeling.

Fortunately for Arwen, who was caught in a situation where she could neither do this nor that, the sound of footsteps echoed from beyond the dim passage.

“Our mentor is coming,” Rudrick said.

“…From now on, I’ll keep my mouth shut,” Arwen replied.

“Okay.”

As soon as Rudrick released Arwen and stood up, Lorenzo emerged from the passage.

“The chill is quite strong. Rudrick, it seems you used some kind of ice magic… Is that a cat?” Lorenzo asked.

“It came in through that passage,” Rudrick explained.

“I don’t recall seeing a cat like that inside the Imperial Palace… It seems the space distortion magic has been breached. I’ll have to repair the magic circle later,” Lorenzo muttered, tilting his head as he saw Arwen calmly pretending to be a cat, but then concluded that there was a flaw in the magic circle and shook his head.

“It seems to be a cat that entered from the Imperial Palace’s garden. I’ll release it back outside,” Lorenzo said.

“It doesn’t seem to be used to human touch… It’s cute, so I’d like to keep it,” Rudrick replied.

“You mean it, Rudrick? Hmm… Well, I don’t mind. Alright,” Lorenzo nodded.

Lorenzo, who was disinterested in anything outside of his own interests, or more precisely, anything other than magic, agreed.

There was no particular issue with his newly acquired disciple wanting to keep a stray cat he had picked up somewhere.

Quickly losing interest in Arwen, Lorenzo casually asked, “How was it? The experience of using magic at full power.”

“…To be honest, I’m a bit dazed. I’ve always used it while controlling the power to avoid excessive explosiveness. And I had no reason to specifically choose only attack magic to learn,” Rudrick replied.

“Remember this sensation. Magic is not about being biased towards any one direction, but when you have mastered various types of magic, only then can you claim to have reached the pinnacle and call yourself a grand mage,” Lorenzo added, raising his staff and elegantly drawing a magic circle in the air.

“I have made a request to Her Highness the Princess. She positively considered the proposal of accompanying the Imperial Knights on their regular magical beast extermination. I suggested that it would be best for you to gain proper practical experience in the North, but she vehemently opposed that idea,” Lorenzo said.

“…Ah. There’s a reason for that,” Rudrick clicked his tongue.

The reason was obvious. If he were to go to the North for training, he would inevitably have to be away from Elena and closer to Eileen.

It was clear as day that Elena would oppose it, saying she would rather die than see Rudrick setting the table for her rival.

Even as they conversed, the mana emanating from Lorenzo’s staff drew a pentagram in the air.

The pentagram had long been believed to possess the power to ward off evil, and it had been consistently used as a kind of basic magical symbol.

The foundation of all magic circles was based on the pentagram theory, and as if to support that, when Lorenzo infused a bit more mana into the basic pentagram, countless magic circles were engraved on top of it, overlapping each other.

And immediately after…

Arwen, who had been observing from a distance, shivered her fur, and Rudrick realized the anomaly at almost the same time.

“…What is this?” Rudrick asked.

“It’s not that I’ve been having you and Sylphia focus on alchemy research for no reason. Didn’t I tell you before? The ultimate purpose of magic lies in the pursuit of truth and glimpsing the world beyond the origin,” Lorenzo replied.

Lorenzo Tonali.

Although he had not reached the realm of a grand mage, the title of Imperial Court Mage was not just an empty one.

As if to prove that fact, the empty space was slowly being painted over with a single color.

Like an artist painting on a blank white canvas to complete a picture, Lorenzo was an artist who painted the empty space with the colors of magic to create the desired space.

It was indescribable. It was indefinable.

In a novel Rudrick had read in his previous life, there was a passage describing how the world appeared to melt away when one took a certain drug, making the moon look as if it were dissolving.

And Rudrick wondered if what he was seeing now was the same vision as when one took that drug.

A world distorted in full color.

A world where the colors that constituted objects melted away like paint flowing on a canvas.

In that bizarre landscape that was difficult to describe in words, Lorenzo proudly declared, “This is the result of my lifelong research.”

“…It’s a passageway,” Rudrick said.

Although he had no particular expertise in spatial magic, his innate talent and insight allowed him to easily discern Lorenzo’s magic.

In response to Rudrick’s answer, Lorenzo smiled as if he had expected him to figure it out.

“A passageway to the world beyond the origin. You are correct, Rudrick. Although it is still incomplete, my goal is to complete it by dedicating the rest of my life to it,” Lorenzo said.

With a somewhat wistful gaze, Lorenzo looked around and then raised his staff, canceling the magic circle.

Naturally, the surrounding scenery returned to the secret space in Lorenzo’s research lab, and Lorenzo’s eyes firmly fixed on Rudrick.

“If I am unable to complete this before I die, I want you and Sylphia to finish it for me,” Lorenzo said.

“…This magic?” Rudrick asked.

“That’s right,” Lorenzo confirmed.

As soon as Lorenzo finished speaking, Arwen, who had transformed into a cat, frowned.

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