#052
Thud.
Chezare set his cup down on the windowsill. Only three or four sips of coffee remained. As Catherine lifted her head, a gaze that had drawn even closer pierced straight through her. A faint purple gleam flickered in his eyes, rooting her in place.
"Strange."
It was Catherine who felt the unease. His eyes seemed to lick over her very core, delving into her innermost depths.
"No matter how much I think about it, Catherine, you... even to me, who's lived thousands of years, you're an utterly unfamiliar and irrational existence."
Only after Catherine took a step back did Chezare lean away. With an unresolved expression, he asked, "How did you enter the Abyss?"
No way—he'd figured it out from that one slip? His perceptiveness took her aback.
'From now on, I have to watch every word around Chezare.'
She'd called it a feeling of having her mind read, but to think he actually could.
Catherine answered as casually as possible. "I'm the one who wants to ask. How was I even able to go there?"
"Word like you've been to the Abyss..."
"...and if you go around saying that, the mana-crazed mages will dissect you, so be careful? Got it. I'll keep that in mind."
Really, the truly strange one was Chezare. He'd pointed out her oddity like he couldn't let it slide, yet all he offered was advice not to get caught.
She'd never thought of the peculiar as something to cherish, even if she liked the special. The roots were one thing, and getting dragged into the Abyss together this time was another.
Catherine didn't exactly welcome the fact that she was accumulating experiences that set her apart from others.
"But there's something even Chezare doesn't know about the world, huh."
"If there is, it's usually hard to interpret in a good way."
He stepped away from the window and descended the stairs ahead of her. Catherine stared at his back for a moment before following belatedly.
"Are you trying to scare me?"
He let out a small snort of laughter. "Scare? As if there's anything frightening about it?"
By the time they reached the drawing room, the fireplace and brazier were already lit. Even flames roaring without wood barely fazed her now.
"You're just a mere human at best. Now that you've contracted with me, no threat will ever touch your lifetime."
Chezare sat and immediately poured water from a teapot—its origin unknown, heated from who-knows-when—into a matching cup that had appeared from nowhere. Sitting across from him, Catherine replied, "You said it's hard to interpret positively. It won't turn out my constitution is some freak mutation that kills me young, right?"
"Even if you die, I'll bring you back. So that worry's pointless even in imagination. Actually, imagining it wastes time better spent on productive delusions. Like what job you'd have if reborn as an earthworm."
An earthworm needing a job? Or was this the moment to be touched by Chezare's concern?
With that, conversation ceased between them for a while. Only the patter of drizzling rain and the flicker of flames broke the silence sporadically.
Gazing blankly out the window at the sky, Catherine turned her head to find an old book in Chezare's hands. By now, nothing popping up beside him surprised her. Even an emperor materializing next to him would probably just elicit a shrug.
...Wait, but hadn't most of his questions gone unanswered properly?
"So, when do I start learning magic?"
His eyes slid from the book to her. "After the trip ends."
"Can I keep summoning Remor until then?"
"Since it's come up, let's try now."
"Now?"
In this little house? That massive whale?
Of course, when she summoned it, it came in a translucent form that caused no physical damage...
"Didn't you say you wanted to learn?"
If the house collapsed, Chezare would fix it anyway. Catherine nodded and intoned the demon's name.
"Remor"
⟨ Summoning Circle ⟩
A red magic circle etched itself on the floor. Smaller than the two she'd seen on the Lilith Ship.
Pong.
With a ridiculously cute sound effect, a fist-sized whale bubbled up from frothing foam.
「Hm?」
Why was it so tiny? Unable to hide her bewilderment, she heard Chezare, who'd been sitting silently, ask, "Did you adjust the size yourself?"
"N-no. Last time it was much bigger."
His long white fingers slowly stroked his clenched jaw. "How exactly did you summon it?"
How? Catherine floundered in confusion. She'd just called the name—how else was there to describe it?
"The reason roots matter for human mages is the differences in mana operation. Transfer roots especially... as I said, it's the first for a human, so explaining is tricky."
Catherine vaguely recalled learning that in magic studies. She remembered studying it, not the details. So she opted for honesty. "I just called it."
Then, a sudden memory of agony made her add, "Oh, right—it hurt like hell. Felt like my insides were twisting. Luckily it faded quick..."
A faint shadow of concern vanished from Chezare's eyes. With a brief nod, he called to Remor, who blinked motionless in place. "Remor."
「Yes, my lord.」
"What did Catherine's first summons feel like?"
「I naturally assumed it was you calling me, my lord.」
Humans gain mana access through demon contracts. But borrowed demon mana doesn't inherently carry the demon's traits when used by humans. The shared mana takes on unique properties based on the mage's root and operation method.
In other words, sensing Chezare's presence in Catherine's call was impossible. Their roots were different to begin with, weren't they?
"You can return now."
「Yes.」
At the king's command, the demon vanished. Chezare closed his book with a refreshed expression. "I suppose we can just accept it like this."
What?
"Miss Catherine is a magical genius."
"Pardon?"
Am I hearing things?
She pinned her nearly leaping butt to the chair. Chezare looked not just refreshed, but deeply satisfied.
"If you learn well, you could become the greatest mage in imperial history, unprecedented. With enough personal drive, you might even surpass Shagweed II."
"Me?"
He's talking about me, right? Greatest mage ever? Surpassing Shagweed II?
She could only gape in bewilderment.
"Summoning Remor with a true name alone is like wielding a knife without hands."
An apt analogy, but Catherine had never tried knife-handling sans hands, so it didn't quite click.
No matter her reaction, Chezare remained utterly serene. Serene, composed, pleased—even proud.
He nodded once more and murmured, "Humanity's greatest mage as my contractor... not bad at all."
That evening as the sun set, Chezare dropped Catherine at the hotel due to prior commitments and vanished. He hadn't seemed thrilled about it, so it was likely tied to the Lilith Ship incident.
Did he know Behemoth's contractor? Though it had zero direct link to her, Catherine couldn't fully dismiss her curiosity about them.
There were at most seven in the world, and among confirmed Great Demons, she and that person were it.
Even for someone like her who ignored others' business, the thought resurfaced now and then.
"Telescopes here, telescopes! See the fireworks up close!"
"Try Beaton Blue's fragrant floral cocktail!"
"Hey, fireworks sets! Cheapest around!"
Beaton Blue's bustling streets teemed far more than the Lilith Ship's deck had.
Finally extricating herself from the endless procession, Catherine caught her breath.
"Haa."
With the main fireworks inland, the port area felt relatively sparse. She climbed to the roof of a nearby commercial building and settled in.
Munching a cat-shaped candy bought from a street vendor while sea breeze cooled her, the stuffiness from the crowds eased a bit.
"Magical genius."
Me? The one who'd heard she had zero talent for magic studies until her ears blistered?
More baffling than joyful. Was Chezare lying?
'This spot should give a decent view of the fireworks.'
Being alone like this felt nice after so long. She was always more at ease solo than in company.
The full moon and bright streetlamps illuminated the city. Even clouds veiling the moon changed little.
Catherine passed time till the show admiring the alleys below. But at some point, a palpable presence emanated from the shadows between dark buildings.
One she couldn't ignore even turning away or closing her eyes—crystal clear.
Words failed to define it, but Catherine sensed it keenly.
The man was watching her. His form blurred, but that certainty stood firm.
All the world's energies seemed sucked toward him. Amid chaotic backdrop, only he sharpened into focus.
Even cloaked in darkness, she'd feel him.
'People like us... hard to believe, but we can kinda sense each other. Heart pounding like camaraderie?'
Sudden realization hit: this was the sensation Giovanni described.
The instinct letting kin recognize kin. Never felt before, it washed her in cool clarity.
She knew he sensed her too.
Slowly, clouds parted, moonlight revealing his face. Rose-red eyes fixed on her, vivid as if inches away.
"Percival."
Finally, the night's shadow veiling her lifted.
If not illusion, he wore a hollow smile. "So you're Behemoth's contractor."