"Excuse me."
"The academy… what kind of place… is it?"
Henny froze for a moment.
The person in front of her had very beautiful eyes, like two emeralds, clear and shining.
'What a pity, though, that someone with such beautiful eyes... spoke so haltingly.'
And the question she asked was also rather strange.
It gave off a kind of beauty without intelligence.
A trace of regret appeared in Henny's eyes, but since she was happy to help, she began explaining, "The academy? It's probably a place that teaches and educates people."
"This is the Magic Academy. If you want to learn magic, as long as you have magical talent, you can apply for enrollment."
The person in front of her listened to Henny's explanation and fell silent for a moment.
Henny simply stood there quietly, looking at her.
"Did you come from outside?"
"Or… is this your first time in the royal capital?"
The hooded person nodded blankly.
The helpful part of Henny's heart suddenly flared up.
Looking at someone who could barely speak fluently, Henny couldn't help but ask kindly, "Then… why did you come to the royal capital?"
"I want… to become stronger."
In her memories, ever since the monster rift had been shrouded in that deep darkness, the image of a crow had been imprinted in her mind at all times.
As if constantly reminding her, an extremely prosperous city would appear in her thoughts along with it.
So, following those fragmented and faint memories in her mind, she came here.
"I see. I understand now."
Henny nodded, showing an expression of sudden understanding.
"If you want to become a mage, I can first take you around the academy."
"By the way, what's your name?"
The mysterious person in front of her slowly raised her head. Those clear green, snake-like pupils gradually expanded, and a hoarse voice slowly sounded, "I am…"
"Safiroth."
———
Dragging her two sore legs, Henny finally pushed open the doors of the Clavenna estate.
Although 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 during work, Henny still preferred to come back here.
As for why…
"Professor!"
Henny pushed open the study door, her cheerful voice ringing out.
She walked through the doorway and saw Viktor sitting at his desk, a desk lamp lit.
That warm yellow light pierced the darkness and spilled over the pages of the book.
Viktor slowly turned the pages in his hands, the soft "shua shua" sound of paper turning occasionally echoing.
Whenever Henny came to the study and saw Viktor, she would always see the professor holding a thick book and reading.
This always made Henny feel a sense of heartfelt admiration.
No wonder the professor could become a fourth-tier mage at such a young age.
Even after becoming a fourth-tier mage, he still read books frequently.
The knowledge in his mind must have reached an astonishing level.
Although last time, getting that obscene book from Professor Viktor had surprised her quite a bit, after thinking about it, Henny felt it was very reasonable.
That novel was written in Elvish. Maybe Professor Viktor was reading it to learn the Elvish language.
That also proved how broadly learned Professor Viktor was, even highly knowledgeable in Elvish.
In short, she had found all kinds of reasons for Viktor.
Seeing Henny return, Viktor closed the book and placed it steadily on the desk.
He turned off the desk lamp and snapped his fingers.
A white light brighter than the lamp illuminated the dim study.
His gaze calmly turned toward Henny.
"Looks like you're in a good mood today."
"Is something the matter?"
"Well, it's not really anything…"
Hearing Viktor's question, Henny acted a bit shy and continued looking at him.
"It's really hot today, and I want to take a bath."
"It's just… Professor, could we maybe go together…"
———
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
In the blink of an eye, Henny was standing outside the door.
Sure enough, she had been kicked out of the study.
That kind of request was already quite bold, so being rejected was only natural.
But Henny wasn't discouraged, nor did she give up.
Ever since she realized that her race was a succubus, it took Henny several days to finally accept it calmly.
That was all thanks to Leighton's help.
The little crocodile had talked her through it, saying, Demons were creatures that acted on instinct. Deliberately following rules was worse than simply following one's instincts.
So Henny saw the light.
Since this kind of thought was an instinct, why shouldn't she follow her instincts?
Besides, she truly liked Professor Viktor.
"..."
Without realizing it, Henny thought of last time.
It was also in Professor Viktor's study.
Leaning against the door outside the study, she touched her lips.
Soon, Henny changed her thoughts and stopped thinking so much. Humming an off-key tune, she left the study door.
———
Inside the study, Viktor was rubbing his forehead in distress, his brows tightly furrowed.
Beside him, the crow was laughing mercilessly.
"Look at how cowardly you are."
"If you ask me, you might as well give in to her already."
Viktor straightened up again and spoke calmly.
"I said it already."
"It's not time yet."
What troubled him wasn't his relationship with Henny, but the fact that after chasing her out, he suddenly remembered, he had originally wanted to talk to Henny about something.
But because her words were too shocking, he forgot about it completely.
'Just a mere succubus, really…'
"She's getting bolder and bolder."
After that, he had no mood to read anymore.
Viktor took a deep breath and sat up straight.
"Forget it. I'll go take care of the other matter first."
As Viktor sat in the chair, a deep black vortex slowly spun beneath his feet, gusts of wind bursting out from it.
Vega also stood on his shoulder.
Their bodies seemed to shatter into fragments as they sank into the black vortex, slowly disappearing.
———
On the wooden floor covered by thick carpets stood a huge leather chair. The entire room was filled with the fragrance of tea.
Different from the other maids, although Vanilla wore a maid outfit and often did household chores around the estate, her status in the Clavenna household was not that of a maid, but that of a retainer sent from the Clavenna main family.
Therefore, she had a large room all to herself.
There were rumors that the reason this cute demi-human catgirl wore a maid outfit was actually because of the Clavenna family head Viktor's special tastes.
Along with rumors that Viktor liked minors, this had already spread throughout the entire royal capital.
As a result, this suspicion seemed to have become the truth.
Almost all the servants working in the estate knew about it, but not a single one dared to discuss it.
Thus, everyone tacitly believed this explanation.
Except for Vanilla herself, who knew nothing about it.
She was sitting in her room, holding a complicated and obscure magic book, earnestly studying and trying to recognize the words.
As she read, she bit her finger, squeezed her brows together, and her tail unconsciously stood up and swayed.
Even her ears twitched rhythmically.
As a magic apprentice, there were many things she didn't understand.
And now, while reading magic books, she had already run into difficulties.
This was only an ordinary Selected Introduction for Magic Apprentices.
Could it be that demi-humans really weren't suited to becoming mages?
A bit more anxiety and doubt crept into Vanilla's heart.
While she was concentrating on her studies, a deep black vortex suddenly lit up on the floor behind her.
A faint breeze immediately swept toward the ceiling, and Viktor emerged from it, standing behind Vanilla.
Sensing someone's arrival, Vanilla was startled and quickly put down the book in her hands.
But when she turned around and saw Viktor, she suddenly became extremely delighted.
"Master!"
Viktor nodded lightly in response.
"How is your studying going?"
"Um… there are some complicated parts that I still don't really understand."
Viktor bent down and leaned closer to her. Vega's single eye also scanned the questions in the magic book.
This was an especially simple basic magic problem.
Its difficulty was equivalent to a basic arithmetic question like what is 10 times 8.
Looking at the magic book and getting the answer from Vega, he said calmly, "Here, because there's a linkage between the patterns."
"Only when the two runes react with each other can the magic power be properly channeled."
Vanilla lowered her head and listened carefully to Viktor's explanation, then nodded as if suddenly enlightened.
'So that's how it is!'
She completely understood now.
After that, Viktor gently placed his hand on top of Vanilla's head.
As he stroked her cat ears, a soft sensation came through his fingertips.
Vanilla froze for a moment, then quickly relaxed and enjoyed the petting.
She narrowed her eyes and let out a purring sound.
Following that touch, Viktor saw Vanilla's level above her head.
[Lv7]
'Not bad.'
At the beginning, she had only been level five.
At this level, perhaps it was time to try.
Viktor's voice slowly sounded.
"Later, don't resist."
Vanilla was a little confused and hadn't realized what was about to happen, but she obediently nodded.
Suddenly, a black crow flew in front of her.
That single eye suddenly lit up with a burst of blue light.
The moment she met its gaze, Vanilla felt an intense dizziness. Her mind instantly shut down, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
Viktor waved his hand, and a white magic wrapped around Vanilla, placing her onto the bed.
At this time, Vega flapped his wings and stood beside Vanilla, examining her body and nodding.
"Even an underage demi-human has a physique far superior to that of an ordinary human."
Viktor tapped the air with white magic at his fingertips, and a monster item was slowly pulled out of space.
[Eye of the Hidden Demon Corpse]
That eyeball, still dripping with green blood, was now wrapped in magic and floating in midair.
Then Vega's voice suddenly rang out.
Filled with incomparable pride and confidence, it raised its head as if announcing something momentous.
"Then now, let me, the great Doctor Vega!"
"Begin this operation of extraordinary significance!"