Ch. 158: The Cat and the Wizard

Igni: What..do you mean by protect?

The cats eyes pierce Igni in response.

Celia: [I cannot say this loudly, so I need you to keep everything I say confidential.]

Igni: Then should we go into the back alley? Then there wont be anyone who..

Igni and his group were at the edge of a large street.

It is a place where people wont pay any attention, but it wont be possible to avoid all gazes from the passerby.

Celia: [No, I have created a simple barrier. The only ones that know that you are here are myself, and you three.]

As expected of the [Extreme] of [Life]. She was quite overly prepared.

Not being able to say this loudly means shes asking Igni to not spread this to the public.

Celia: First, Ill cut to the point. The Kingdom and the Empire have both received a declaration of war from the [Transgressors].

Igni: ........wh?!?!

Celia spoke plainly as if the contents were insignificant, but Igni was hit hard and froze in place.

Yoori also had his jaws drop as he stared at the black cat.

Sara tilted her head not comprehending the implications of Celias first statement.

Celia: [All the <Extremes> are now defending their respective states butI still have something to do and cannot return to the Empire just yet. Hence, I need you to protect the Imperial Capital until I return. All the Imperial Nobles will gather together for the Emperors birthday festival. For the [Transgressors], there is no greater opportunity than this.]

Igni: ......what about Grandpa?

Igni wondered what his grandfather, Lucas, was doing, and as he asked

Celia: [The <Extreme> of <Light> is currently working.]

Igni: What?! Grandpas working?!

Celia: [..........I see that both of us see Lucas very differently.]

Igni: (Wait, theres no way hes working. Im sure hes just hanging out with women even nowhe is my grandpa after all.)

But Igni kept these thoughts to himself as he continued to speak.

Igni: Leave protecting the Imperial Capital to me. I just have to protect it until you return, right? Celia?

Celia: [Yeah. I hope the precautions are all for nothing, but now that they have declared war, since they have taken no action up until now, I suspect that they were waiting for a very specific time. And right now, the biggest event is the Birthday Festival. Im almost certain that they were waiting for this.]

Igni: And though you know all this, you still cant come back?

Celia: [Thats right. Theres a job I must do. I need to remove the Vampires that are heading towards the Empire. Besides me, only the <Extreme> of <Earth> and <Light> can deal with them.]

Vampires are creatures that stand shoulder to shoulder with Dragons as the strongest creatures.

The most frightening aspect of facing one comes down to the fact that they use Spells very similar to the [Demon Kings] Undead Magic.

But since the Vampires use Spells, they cannot continue to produce infinite amounts of vampires like the [Demon King]. But those who have their blood sucked or receive their blood become Vampires.

Hence, they can rapidly increase and multiply in numbers.

Celia: [Hence, I cannot return just yet. This is also something I suspect the <Transgressors> have arranged.]

Igni: Why? For what purpose?

Celia: [They are a hedonistic bunch. Im sure that theres not a well thought out reason for their motives. Its most likely something like, We just thought that taking down a country would be fun. Thats all the reason they need to do something like this.]

Igni trembled slightly as he couldnt comprehend the logic or reasoning of the [Transgressors].

Igni: (Why? That wouldnt help you get Popular at all)

Celia: [Thats why they believe this country lacks a Magician. That is our opportunity.]

And Celia continued, not knowing what Igni was thinking at this time.

Igni: ........you want me to be the hidden trump card?

Celia: [Exactly that.]

Igni: ......okay, Ill do it.

Popularity Etiquette No. 5 Help any woman in trouble. If a woman asks for help, help her no matter what.

Celia: [Im sorry. As for the reward, we will discuss that later.]

The black cat stretched as it spoke.

Yoori: Oh, um, Ms. Celia?

Celia: [Hm? Oh, its Yoori. What is it?]

Sensing that the conversation was ending, Yoori spoke up to Celia. Though she told them to not use any honorifics, it was just like Yoori to address her with Ms..

Yoori: How are you doing this with a Spell? Is it an enslavement or servant summoning Spell?

Celia: [No, its nothing as complicated as that. I just copied my personality and what needed to be discussed and implanted it into the cats hippocampus.]

Yoori: ........huh?

Celia: [Since a cats vocal cords are not meant to speak human language, I also had to make adjustments using a Spell.]

Yoori: That..isnt very complicated.?]

Celia: [It is far simpler than trying to reanimate a fallen life. Much simpler.]

Yoori: ...........the comparison is completely absurd.

is what Yoori mumbled quietly under his breath, but Igni heard every word.

And Igni thought the same exact thing as Yoori.

Celia: [Hm? Whats wrong? Are you concerned about the cat? Dont be. I made sure that my memories and the cats will not mix. Otherwise, the cats memories will mix into mine. Thats why after my Spell is gone, the cat will return to normal.]

Igni: .......I, I see

Celia: [Now then, Ill head to the castle from here. I need to relay this message to Sebastian as well.]

Igni: Got it. Do you want me to escort you there?

Though she was a cat, Celia still was a girl.

Thats why Igni immediately offered to walk her back home.

Celia: [HA HA HA! Igni, youre as amusing as always.]

Igni: (For some reason, she laughed it off.)

Celia: [The main advantage of this body is that I can move around as I please. Do not worry, Igni.]

Igni: [Okay.]

Celia: [Well, until we meet again.]

With that, Celia jumped onto some construction materials piled up, and from there, hopped onto the roof of a building and disappeared.

Sara: The kitty was talking.

Igni: Yeah, it was someone we knew.

And it was Sara who spoke up first.

Among the three, only she didnt know Celia, so for her, she only saw a curiously strange, talking cat.

Sara: Ignis friend?

Igni: Huh? Yeah, I guess so?

Igni didnt know how to respond to the question. It was a very confusing relationship.

He couldnt tell Sara about the time Celia cut off his legs the last time he saw her.

Yoori: Sara, thats Alicias older sister.

Sara: Really? Igni: Thats right.

Sara: Okay.

And there was nothing more they could add as Sara nodded to both Igni and Yooris words.

Sara: If you knew her, I wanted to pet her.

Igni: The cat?

Sara: Yeah.

Though knowing the black cat was an [Extreme], the thought never crossed Igni or Yooris mind, but for Sara, it remained an obvious possibility.

Igni: Lets ask if you can pet her the next time we see her.

Sara: Okay!

Sara nodded in delight, and followed after Igni and Yoori on their way home.

And as the next day arrived

to the night of the Birthday Festival, they flew.