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“You know him too, senior? This is Han Kang-yoon, who was recently promoted to the same class.”
Arietta, who met my gaze, avoided it with a slightly flustered expression. Then she fixed it and greeted me.
“. . .Hello.”
“Long time no see.”
“It hasn’t been that long. I saw you the other day.”
When I looked at her with a puzzled expression, Arietta added a word in her characteristically expressionless face.
“. . .In the library.”
I didn’t remember it well, but it seemed like we had passed each other at some point. I nodded slightly and asked Adrian for a detailed explanation.
“So, what’s the request?”
“This is a senior I’ve known for a long time, and she’s recently become interested in shikigami sorcery. Since it’s your specialty, I’d like you to help her.”
At those words, I looked at Arietta with a sudden thought.
Well, the only reason Arietta could have become interested in shikigami sorcery recently was because of her fight with me.
Judging from the fact that she didn’t use shikigami when she appeared as a boss in the original story, it was almost certain.
“. . .You can’t?”
“That’s not it. I’ve received something from that friend too.”
In any case, it wasn’t impossible since it was my specialty. I decided to grant Arietta’s request as payment for Adrian tutoring me.
“So, why did you suddenly become interested?”
“After I saw your shikigami the other day. . . . . . .”
“You thought they’d be useful, I suppose.”
“. . .No, because they’re cute.”
At those words, I looked at her with a slightly bewildered expression. To be honest, it was an answer I hadn’t expected at all.
「𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙮?」
Her appearance and characteristics were almost identical to the boss character Arietta that I knew, but other than that, she was quite different.
I couldn’t even guess what she had gone through to become like that, when she had such a gentle personality.
“. . .You can’t?”
Arietta asked me regretfully, her silver hair shimmering in the sunlight.
I nodded for now and accepted the request.
“I’ll help you as much as I can.”
And so, a strange relationship was established where I taught the original mid-boss character shikigami sorcery and learned common sense from the original comic relief character.
Arietta was basically very talented in many ways, so it wasn’t difficult to teach her.
However, she still seemed to think of shikigami as something like a pet dog or cat that you raise at home, not a weapon for actual combat.
“If it’s that kind of fighting style, I’m sure this would suit you better.”
“No. It’s too much. I like cute things like junior’s fox.”
“. . . . . . .”
She wouldn’t listen to me at all, so I had no choice. In the end, I gave up and accepted her request, deciding to help her create a suitable lower-grade shikigami.
“Then let’s choose one of these three. Do you have a medium prepared?”
“Yep. Here.”
Clatter.
What Arietta handed me was an earring with a very strange aura.
I felt something was strange, so I appraised it, and as expected, it wasn’t an ordinary item.
Ding!
【Phoenix Feather Earring】
▶An earring made from a phoenix feather. It contains an aura that burns away evil. Increases the power of magic used by the wearer.
This was enough to be called a magic item, though it was just below that level. I looked at Arietta with a dumbfounded expression.
“You want to use this as a medium? Just to make a cute shikigami?”
“. . .Can’t I?”
“Yes. I can’t because I feel bad for it.”
It was like making ramen with a diamond pot.
Arietta stared at me with her characteristically sly eyes, but I couldn’t do it. This was something that I, as a player, couldn’t compromise on.
Then, an idea suddenly came to me, and I looked closely at Arietta’s face.
It wasn’t in the original plan, but Arietta, who had reached the peak as a graduating student, was definitely worth using.
“Then, would you help me with this presentation?”
“Presentation? Why?”
“There’s something I want to get. If you help me get it, I’ll make you a higher-grade shikigami.”
Arietta was silent for a moment, then tilted her head slightly and asked me.
“Will it be cute?”
“Yes. And it’s strong too, so you’ll probably like it.”
“Then I’ll do it.”
I nodded, feeling an indescribable emotion at her not even hesitating.
There were a total of 2 weeks left until the presentation.
If I gathered this many cards in my hand, I would definitely be able to get satisfactory results.
And so, my preparations for the presentation began, with an unexpected ally.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
𝔞𝐰𝐞𝐛𝘴ᴛ𝚘ʀ𝐢𝚎ṡ.ᴄȯ̇ṁ
“I understand. I’ll pass on everything you’ve told me to the Ancestor.”
『Thank you.』
After my promise with Arietta, I received a call from Cheong So-ha, an elder of the Cheong family, one evening as I was going through my busy days.
The contents were about the warlock Hektel.
Hektel, who went to meet Cheong So-ha in person as I told him to, seemed to have had a slight conflict with her and left for now.
「. . .𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝.」
However, Hektel was also an overwhelmingly powerful person, and he seemed to have managed to escape safely even while facing Cheong So-ha.
「𝙃𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚.」
Hektel had promised that he would come find me again once things were settled with Cheong So-ha in the previous battle.
Since he wasn’t the type to care about anyone’s feelings, there was a high chance that he would actually appear before me in the near future.
「𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙠𝙩𝙚𝙡’𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨.」
He was a very good opponent for me in terms of compatibility, but I couldn’t win in my current state.
「𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙮.」
For that reason, the results of this presentation became even more important.
The hero of the 1st Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, and now a former exorcist who has retired and is focusing on studying magic and raising disciples, the former special-grade exorcist, Myung-yul.
And Hwang Jin-chul, who is famous in both Korea’s industrial and magic communities and is called a big shot in the industry.
First, I had to get those two on my side.