Chapter 204
Chapter 204
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 204 – The Great Poet’s New SkinAuthor: Pitiful Xixi, 2024-05-22
The next day.
Friday morning.
The skyline was gradually dyed red by the bright dawn. As the sun rose, its light passed through the wooden railings of the balcony, scattering into fragments of light and shadow that danced across Lan Qi’s body. His shadow on the ground stretched long and slanted in the early morning glow.
A carefully designed rattan chair sat quietly on the balcony. On the nearby glass tea table lay a few books on magical engineering, their pages flipping lightly in the wind as if retracing Lan Qi’s reading from last night.
From the distant garden, the breeze carried by the sunlight brought with it the fragrance of flowers, brushing softly against Lan Qi’s face.
“Lan Qi, hurry up and make me a magic card, quick.”
The Great Poet, summoned out as usual, first picked up a watering can to tend to the flowers, then caught sight of Lan Qi, who was as always leisurely feeding birds on the ground. Without hesitation, she walked over and gave him two kicks.
“I know, I know… Yesterday I went and bought lots of materials and kept experimenting until dark. Everything’s ready now—just waiting to make them with you.”
Lan Qi, still drowsy, continued feeding his animal friends.
Since returning from the Shadow World, his days had been quite full.
On the first afternoon back, he went to see his father, and in the evening asked Talia to look after Huperion. The next day, he sparred with Adams and enlightened Phoenix. The third day, he dropped his “surprise” on Principal Loren.
Today was the last workday of the week. Lan Qi planned to finish feeding his animal companions, then make the new skin for the Great Poet. If he had time afterward, he would drop by the student council to see if there was anything that needed his help.
Of course, it seemed his home had gained another regular besides the Great Poet.
Boss Cat had been coming to Lan Qi’s house the past two days.
Last night, Lan Qi saw a small black cat jump onto the balcony. He opened the door to let it in.
The little black cat was still lazing about now, curled up on his sofa, unwilling to get up.
Meanwhile, the Great Poet, after a bit of watering, had disappeared from the balcony.
At some point, she had already run back into the living room.
“Why’s there a little kitty here?”
Standing by the sofa, the Great Poet picked up the black cat, cradling it like a baby, rocking it back and forth. It wasn’t clear whether she wanted to wake it up or lull it back to sleep.
“Meow…”
Boss Cat opened its drowsy eyes.
And the first thing it saw was a Tata with a sweet, radiant smile.
It jolted fully awake—what was this?! Tata smiling so happily?!
No—wait—that wasn’t Tata! That was a demon!
“Who are you, meow?!”
Boss Cat immediately leapt from her arms, tense and wary, putting distance between them.
Her eyes were too alluring, her body carried a unique floral fragrance—this was absolutely not Tata!
The Great Poet only stood there smiling, without the slightest intent of harming it.
“She’s my life-bound card. Be careful with her. Don’t be fooled by her being just a first-rank card—she’s the final boss.”
Lan Qi, still on the balcony, turned his head and explained.
He stood up, put away the bag of feed, walked leisurely back into the living room, set the bag on the cabinet, and headed toward the card-making workshop.
“She… how could she possibly be a summoned creature?”
Boss Cat circled this bright, lively “Tata,” looking her up and down in disbelief.
This was clearly a living demon.
Her every expression and the aura of life she gave off were things no summoned being could ever replicate.
“Great Poet, time to get to work.”
Lan Qi held the handle of the workshop door, pushed it open, and beckoned the Great Poet over.
“Work? What are you two doing?”
Boss Cat called out in confusion.
It knew Lan Qi’s remodeled storeroom was actually a workshop for making cards.
“Card-making, of course.”
The Great Poet answered cheerfully.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. What summoned creature can make cards, meow?!”
Boss Cat felt like she was treating it like a fool.
A magic card making magic cards? Utterly absurd.
“Hmph! If it weren’t for me being only first rank, the cards I make would absolutely be the best in the world!”
The Great Poet placed her hands on her hips, boasting proudly.
“Yeah, right—you little demon!”
Boss Cat had lived long enough, and never once heard of a summoned creature whose specialty was making cards.
But the Great Poet didn’t argue. She was confident—when she believed something to be true, she didn’t care whether others believed it or not.
“Bye-bye, little kitty. See you next time.”
She squatted down, flashed him a mischievous smile, then skipped off lightly toward Lan Qi’s workshop.
Even so, Boss Cat remained dumbstruck for several seconds, shaken by the sheer liveliness of the Great Poet.
It still couldn’t quite accept that she was a summoned being.
“You… you’re not doing anything behind Tata’s back with your summoned creature, are you, meow?!”
Boss Cat suddenly became very wary, glaring at Lan Qi as he was about to close the door.
It could tell this red-dressed, gray-haired summoned creature was a succubus! Her voice carried a soul-stirring charm, and combined with Tata’s beauty, hardly any man could resist her!
“What are you imagining…”
Lan Qi looked back at Boss Cat, puzzled.
If the Great Poet’s influence could sway him, then he would’ve long since fallen into slavery, his mind thoroughly manipulated by her words and songs.
She was inherently a dangerous card with master-devouring tendencies. To wield her power, the prerequisite was having a heart unshaken by her charms.
Once the Great Poet entered the workshop, Lan Qi closed the door.
But sensing Boss Cat’s suspicion, he left it slightly ajar, letting the cat peek inside if it wanted.
In the living room, Boss Cat felt Lan Qi was getting stranger and stranger, and that it had to keep a closer eye on him.
But at the same time, it didn’t dare step into the workshop—the guy’s card-making was way too terrifying.
So it crouched at the doorway, poking its head in to secretly watch.
It had to see what exactly the two of them were up to.
…
At the center of the card-making workshop was a worktable with a long sofa-like bench.
The Great Poet sat beside Lan Qi.
The two of them, fully focused on their work, looked like pianists preparing to play a duet.
The tabletop was covered in orderly clutter. Sheets of paper were neatly categorized and spread out, though worn from frequent flipping and notes. It was clear Lan Qi had prepared extensively.
“Great Poet, let’s start with a demon skin. If we disguise you as another kind of demon, what type do you want?”
Lan Qi asked.
Today, he planned to make her two skins for future use.
With [Transmutation: Demon] and [Transmutation: Human] as the foundations, there were currently two races to choose from.
Lan Qi decided to start with the simpler one.
Although her facial features couldn’t be completely changed, if possible, he wanted her overall appearance to be altered enough that in the Northern Continent she wouldn’t be immediately recognized by race, hair color, or clothing.
“Uh… a dragon demon, I guess.”
The Great Poet pressed a finger to her lips, thought for a moment, then answered.
“Why a dragon demon?”
Lan Qi was a little surprised. It was basically the opposite of her original form. And she didn’t strike him as someone obsessed with raw strength.
From what he knew, Talia herself wasn’t a succubus but one of the purest kinds of demons. For some unknown reason, though, when [Merciful Poem] produced the Great Poet, the race had been forcibly twisted into succubus.
“Don’t you think it’d look really cool?”
She grinned at him.
“…I see. And for hair and eye color, do you have any preferences?”
Lan Qi nodded—he more or less understood.
“For a demon skin, eye color doesn’t matter. As for hair… make it red.”
The Great Poet said decisively.
“Red?”
Lan Qi confirmed.
“Yeah. Red hair looks the best.”
She replied while finding some ink on the desk, showing him exactly what shade of red she meant.
And so, Lan Qi sketched out concepts while the Great Poet acted like a demanding client, tossing out revisions and suggestions at his side.