The Sleeping Devil

The room was littered with white feathers, cotton spilling out from torn sheets on the bed. The curtains were ripped, and the cushions on the long chair lay in a pitiful state.

"Ciel! Where are you!"

There was a rustling on the bed, and through the tattered sheets, Ciel poked her head out with a small chirp.

"Ciel... Were you lonely being left here? Bored? But you shouldn't do this."

"Gee?"

Ciel tilted her head without any trace of remorse and wobbled over with some cotton on her head. Ah, she's so cute, I'll forgive her. I'll take care of the repairs for the room.

I scolded Ciel, but it seemed like it didn't quite get through to her. Seems like she has a policy of not listening to inconvenient things. Suddenly, I felt a familiar presence and turned around to find Noah sitting by the window.

"Gyyy!"

Suddenly panicked, Ciel started running around and ended up diving into the cotton on the bed, bumping into furniture on the way. Could this mess be because she got scared of Noah...?

I've never heard of a dragon being afraid of a cat before.

"Ciel, did Noah startle you? You were even facing a big black dragon just a while ago. It's alright, come out."

"Lady Sheriel, Noah is a spirit, superior to the dragon species."

With Mary's explanation, I finally understood. Despite Noah looking like a cat, he was a spirit. Maybe because Ciel was still young, she might have perceived Noah as an unknown higher being rather than a mere cat.

"Noah, she's a baby dragon. Can you get along with her?"

Noah responded with a soft sound and gazed towards where Ciel was hiding. He showed no signs of aggression, so it should be alright. I coaxed Ciel while pulling her out from among the cotton.

"Ciel, come on out. It's not scary; it's a kind cat."

"Gee..."

Ciel had curled her tail and kept her wings tightly closed while trembling. I lifted her up, placing her on my lap, and began stroking her head. Gradually, her trembling subsided. Looking up with damp eyes, she seemed a bit pitiful.

"I'm sorry. I should have introduced you earlier. Look, Noah's here. Let's greet him, okay?"

Ciel reached out to me for comfort but kept her head facing Noah, not moving an inch. Slowly approaching, Noah finally stopped in front of Ciel, their noses touching. Ciel blinked rapidly and chirped, and Noah responded with a soft "Naa."

Ciel gradually turned to face Noah, spreading her wings and bowing her head. Was that some kind of dragon greeting?

"Can dragons and spirits communicate?"

"It seems they somehow understand each other."

Just as I felt relieved that they were getting along, Noah suddenly smacked Ciel sideways. With a graceful cat punch, Ciel tumbled off my lap, and I watched as Noah curled up on my knees.

"Don't be mean!"

Ignoring Ciel, Noah, with a smug face, continued grooming himself, completely ignoring her. Perhaps he wanted to establish the hierarchy from the start. Since I had a request for Noah, I gently picked him up and set him down.

"Noah, could you call Professor Julius again?"

Noah blinked a couple of times, and soon, Julius replaced him.

"Is something the matter? There's no class scheduled for today."

"I apologize for the frequent interruptions. I'd like to connect Klayla and the castle through the teleportation gate. Could you assist with that? It's unrelated to classes, so I'll prepare a separate reward for you."

Julius crossed his arms, seemingly contemplating something.

"Alright. But keep my involvement in this matter confidential, okay?"

"Yes, if that's acceptable for you..."

"As for the reward, how about you helping me with something?"

"Is that alright?"

I'd be more than happy to receive Julius's help. I could assist with odd jobs or provide magical support; I was willing to serve as his guinea pig for magical experiments if needed. I had already incurred a debt that couldn't be repaid through ordinary work.

"Let me go ask Sergio about it. We can't directly link it to the castle, after all."

Julius waved his hand as he left through the door. I wondered if it was okay for him to wander around the mansion without knowing Count Claira. Perhaps Noah was guiding him back. As I caressed Ciel on my lap, my mind began to drift.

Maybe it was because I had woken up early again today, but I felt myself nodding off atop the worn-out bed, rowing an imaginary boat. By the time Mary called out to me, I had already finished packing.

"Seems like it's time to depart."

I stood up promptly, still holding onto Ciel, and descended downstairs. Noah had disappeared, but I anticipated he would return when it was time to board the carriage again.

Other servants seemed to have been preparing since morning as everything was already set. We lined up, exchanged greetings with the noble families of Claira seeing us off.

"Count Claira, I appreciate all your help. Please continue to support us."

The Count knelt down and raised one hand. When I extended mine, he gently held it and pressed his forehead against it.

"For saving my family... for saving the town, I express my heartfelt gratitude. I will never forget this kindness and surely wish to repay it throughout my life."

"From now on, the Count will be the one saving the town. Sarah and Kyle, I leave them in your care."

Bidden farewell by everyone in the mansion, we departed from Klayla. Despite having stayed only one night, it felt like a prolonged visit, perhaps due to the numerous encounters.

"Father, was the transfer gate set up? I'm sorry for leaving it all to you."

"No problem at all. Julius did it perfectly."

Sergio seemed pleased that an excellent transfer gate, capable of transporting the horse-drawn carriage, had been created.

"By the way, why isn't there a transfer gate in the northern region? Even though your grandfather is there."

"Because it's the border with other territories, if invaded, they could attack the castle immediately."

Is there really such a reckless territory that would attempt to invade Beriard?

As Noah, who was on my lap, seemed to be about to get down, he swapped positions with Julius. Is there any truth to the saying, 'Speak of the devil'?

"Teacher, thank you for setting up the transfer gate."

"Oh, it's just a simple one. More importantly, could you tell me how the deciphering of the magic array went?"

Come to think of it, I had completely forgotten amidst the commotion. I understood the meaning of about twenty percent of the symbols, but the rest was a complete mystery. Since they weren't arranged as a coherent text, I couldn't figure out the reading rules. I conveyed to Julius that further deciphering might be difficult. Then, he pulled out a large cylindrical paper from a spatial hole that appeared abruptly.

"Teacher, what's that?"

"It's the transfer gate's magic array. Since it's a divine grade, it should contain more information than what's in the magic books."

The paper, which opened crisply, was covered with intricate geometric patterns. It was simpler than the baptismal magic array but shared most of the symbols with other magic arrays. Ah, perhaps the baptismal magic array falls into a highly specialized category within magic.

"It's amazing, did you perfectly transcribe this?"

"You and Didier could probably do it too. If the pattern is well ingrained in your mind, it's not that difficult."

As I observed Didier, he was thoroughly examining every detail. Julius seemed capable of memorizing it just as well as Didier. I, on the other hand, struggled with subjects like languages and history unless I truly comprehended them, and as for the magic arrays, I merely reproduced what was stored. It felt a bit different to me.

Their extraordinary abilities were truly vexing. Isn't this kind of cheat what makes reincarnation so appealing?

"Wow, it's quite complex. I could probably transcribe it, but activating a magic array of this scale seems impossible."

"Don't you just have to channel magic power through it?"

"It's not that simple; that's why it's divine grade. So, what do you want from Sheriel, Julius?"

Julius put on a composed smile. I wasn't particularly fond of this emotionless smile.

"I want to modify a magic array."

"Oh, is that what you want my help with?"

Instead of answering, he deepened his smile. If it's not something bad, then it should be fine...

Ciel occupied my lap, Noah occupied Julius's lap, and both of them began to curl up and breathe gently.

"So, how are you decoding it?"

"It's similar to linguistics. You extract common symbols. I managed to identify the symbols for attributes or rather the gods in the baptismal magic array. I intended to start from there, but since I don't know the reading sequence, I haven't made much progress."

"I see. Let's compare the baptismal magic and a simple water-producing magic."

He smoothly stored the paper and retrieved another small piece. Julius proceeded to draw two arrays.

One was a simple water magic array, and the other was an array where three different circles overlapped.

"Ah, that's easy to understand. For purification, there's the attribute of fire, and this one doesn't seem to have any attribute. Oh, I get it! This one removes water."

Comparing similar spells was the way to go. I had been too reliant on my own brain, boosted by heightened abilities. I categorized other magic arrays that functioned similarly and swiftly picked out the differences. It was like solving a puzzle, quite enjoyable.

Once all the data was gathered, I began to see things I couldn't see before. It's like an optical illusion, where even though it's the same pattern, faintly different lines start to emerge.

"Professor, could you show me the magic circle of the teleportation gate from earlier?"

The large paper was unfolded again, displaying the same geometric pattern as before, but it still looked different. The lines connecting one circle to another began to indicate various rules and meanings.

"Before the Emperor God, the words of the sky are received, I pray to the sky god, show us the unique technique for our sake, the cup that came from the blue sky, encircles and connects us, transporting us--"

"Wait, Sheriel!"

Suddenly, Julius's hand covered my mouth, halting me from reading further. I removed his hand and saw everyone looking at me with a sense of urgency. What was it? It wasn't supposed to be some forbidden spell or something.

"Why a sacred hymn?"

"A sacred hymn? It looks similar. Huh? Is this a sacred hymn?"

"What? Weren't you just chanting a sacred hymn?"

"No? I was reading the magic circle."

...

For a moment, only the rattling sound of the carriage was heard, and everyone froze. The atmosphere felt suffocating, but Julius broke the silence.

"Wait, why did reading the magic circle turn into a sacred hymn?"

"Why, I wonder? I could have used modern language, but there are words that don't exist in modern language, so the archaic language felt more suitable. However, there might be words even in the ancient language that I don't know, so maybe sacred hymns are the oldest language."

"Wait, we're not discussing languages. No, are we talking about language?"

Seeing Julius so flustered was a first. I suddenly understood the feeling of finding amusement in someone else's turmoil, similar to Didier, and quickly tried to regain composure. Bad taste, no, absolutely not!

However, Didier, just like Julius, remained extremely agitated, muttering something with his arms folded.

"...No, no, this won't do. This is going a bit too far."

"Big brother, what's wrong?"

Didier glanced at Julius once, and the two seemed to confirm something. Once again, I was left out, while even Sergio seemed to have retreated, absentmindedly gazing outside.

"For god-tier magic, there shouldn't be any sacred hymns to generate the magic circle. But just now, as Sheriel started chanting a sacred hymn, a part of the magic circle started to form. That means..."

"Ah, perhaps sacred hymns aren't the key to generating the magic circle but the actual magic circle itself. However, it's impossible for the manifestation to occur before the chant finishes."

Hmm? I thought that was how it worked while deciphering it..."