Hate me, Miss Witch!-Chapter 39 - 34 You are already a mature Shiny

Empire Capital, Black Lily District.

The Black Lily District belonged to Camelot’s newly emerging second-tier urban district. It wasn’t as quaint and rigid as the Upper City District, with its ancient, entrenched noble families, and its public safety, environment, and atmosphere were much better than those of the populous Downtown District.

Therefore, it was quite popular among some young nobles, merchants, and even adventurers of a certain status. In their hearts, the Black Lily District represented freedom, trendiness, indulgence, and enjoyment.

Before a unique manor, Lady Carol sized up the youth before her.

He wore elegant and refined clothing. Under his jet-black, tousled hair, his face was less sharp and angular, resembling that of an Elf—soft and handsome. His clear, deep black eyes were instantly memorable, like those of a protagonist from a wandering poet’s epic—in short, the kind that drew people in.

Mysterious, handsome, wealthy... he’s practically the spitting image of the Count of Monte Cristo, Lady Carol thought.

"If I were twenty years younger, I would undoubtedly have invited you for a social dance at an evening party..." Lady Carol expressed this thought with a sigh, looking at Shiayar.

She checked the property transfer contract in her hands once more, and upon confirming that everything was correct, she signed her name with satisfaction.

After completing all this, the noblewoman handed a set of keys to Shiayar and glanced at him and the blonde girl standing behind him.

She blinked, a smile involuntarily spreading across her lips.

"Then, this manor now belongs to you."

"I wish you both a happy marriage."

She turned and walked away with elegant steps, clearly mistaking Shiayar and Enola for a newlywed couple purchasing their matrimonial home.

「...」

Only after Lady Carol had walked some distance did Enola approach Shiayar’s side. freeweɓnøvel~com

"Who would’ve thought? Even here, you’d run into one of your book fans."

"Indeed, quite unexpected. Who would’ve thought the Count of Monte Cristo would be so popular among female readers? It seems like these kinds of satisfying stories really do appeal to everyone, regardless of age or gender."

"Moreover, if I’m not mistaken, the perfume Lady Carol was wearing and the earrings she adorned are likely from a shop we invested in. It seems our decision to focus key industrial developments in the Black Lily District was indeed a wise choice."

Shiayar walked into his newly purchased residence, taking out large and small packages from his Spatial Pocket.

Although the Ashes Cult’s attack on the academy had concluded—with only a few students injured and no fatalities, it could be considered a perfect resolution—the ravaged dormitory area was ultimately uninhabitable. Furthermore, as Shiayar had distinguished himself during the Ashes Cult incident and come to the attention of many influential groups, he genuinely needed a new residence; the academy dormitories were too public, with too many eyes and ears.

Thus, as soon as that incident ended, Enola had dragged Shiayar around to look at houses. After repeated inspections, they finally settled on this new residence in the Black Lily District.

It was also fortunate that Amaterasu had already been fully developed beforehand, plus Shiayar had managed to extract quite a profit from the Sovereign Rank Magma Giant. Otherwise, Shiayar really could not have afforded this manor, covering nearly 2,000 square meters and equipped with its own small Pet Beast training ground and meditation room. It turned out that the wealth accumulated by new capitalists over a few years was still incomparable to the deep-rooted wealth and resources of the old noble families, built over hundreds of years.

Enola took the items from Shiayar and began to arrange them in their new home. She rummaged through their moving bags, found a silver-white picture frame, and examined it for a moment. It was a magical portrait of Shiayar and Enola when they had first come to the Empire Capital. In the picture, they were just a young boy and girl, their features still unformed and tinged with the greenness of youth. Back then, the two were roughly the same height, but now Shiayar was a head taller than her.

"That distinguished lady was very elegant, wasn’t she... and she even gave that hint," Enola remarked nonchalantly, quietly placing the magical portrait frame on the bedside table in the bedroom.

"It’s a pity, but I think that kind of plot would only appear in my new work, ’Brave Abin’..."

"That kind of book would be banned by the authorities, wouldn’t it?"

"Exactly. But isn’t being listed as contraband the greatest acknowledgment of its artistic value?"

Shiayar moved the last sofa into place and looked at their newly renovated residence, nodding with satisfaction.

"All in all, this will be our new base from now on."

As he spoke, Shiayar took out a metal box from his Spatial Pocket. Opening it revealed a glass container inside, where a pure silver liquid flowed slowly in the bottle-like vessel.

"’Memory Recovery Mercury,’ a 5th Order, Element-related Extraordinary Material, also possessing extremely faint temporal properties."

"It’s said to have a special effect on ancient species, especially Pet Beasts of the Sacred Relic category, allowing for a degree of accelerated recovery of their former Rank and Authority."

"The exchange privileges for this aren’t open to outsiders. I asked Colonel Zieg to acquire it through the Military Department’s internal channels. It consumed all our accumulated merits with the Military Department, and we probably still owe him a sizable favor."

Shiayar weighed the glass bottle in his hand and then passed it to the blonde girl before him.

"Don’t refuse. I’ve already broken through to the 3-Ring, and our identities might have already been exposed to quite a few observant eyes. There will likely be no shortage of trouble ahead, so you must catch up as soon as possible."

"Remember the promise we made in Ceylon... to always be someone useful to me."

Enola took the glass bottle. She didn’t say much, merely looked at Shiayar and nodded.

"Give me two weeks."

「...」

Watching the blonde girl’s figure disappear into the meditation room, Shiayar also turned and went to the Pet Beast training ground, which took up a full half of the manor.

This training ground, constructed entirely of reinforced alloy, had several energy-storing Arrays inscribed within it, capable of withstanding the outbursts of Sovereign Rank Pet Beasts for a short period.

Flashes of gold and silver light shimmered as Shiayar summoned Shiny and Silver into the training area.

The little white ferret was still as noble and lazy as ever. Upon realizing it had been summoned, it merely glanced at its surroundings before burying its head back into its fluffy body, dozing off on Shiayar’s shoulder. As a Pet Beast specializing in Illusion Techniques, launching either ’Moon Reading’ or the newly acquired ’Amaterasu’ required a substantial amount of spiritual power. If one didn’t want to use the exorbitantly priced spiritual power supplements monopolized by Alchemy City, sleep was the best method to accelerate spiritual power recovery. So, apart from battles, Silver was usually either dozing on Shiayar’s shoulder or in the Soul Pact Space.

Shiny, however, was different from Silver, brimming with energy the moment it appeared.

"Shiny..." Shiayar looked at the little snub-nosed monkey before him, his tone earnest. "Silver has already completely digested our recent gains, perfecting Amaterasu, leaving no weaknesses in its offensive capabilities."

"But you’re different."

"Are you content with just being support forever? Just responsible for being a Storage Ring for Silver and me, and opening teleportation gates?"

"SQUEAK SQUEAK! (Of course not!)" Shiny’s eyes shone with determination.

Even though Silver was the leader it revered, it was often said that greatness wasn’t fated by birth. Who decreed that the second Soul Pact couldn’t become the primary Pet Beast? An Extraordinary Material that didn’t aspire to be the main Pet Beast wasn’t worthy of a great Beastmaster! When Silver had acquired that incredibly cool ability, Amaterasu, Heaven knew how envious Shiny had been.

"Good, that’s the spirit." Shiayar nodded with satisfaction. "Although we’ve used up the Skill Seeds, the development of your abilities like Rasengan, String of Magatama, and Dimensional Slash will have to wait a little longer."

"But strengthening your power isn’t limited to just leveling up skills."

"Before Ennie completes her breakthrough, we need to venture into an Echo of History again. Before that, we must fully assimilate our previous gains, shore up all possible weaknesses, and boost our combat capabilities to their maximum potential."

"So, during this period, I’ve drawn up an extremely rigorous training plan for you. Do you have the confidence to complete it?"

"SQUEAK SQUEAK! (I have confidence!)" Determination flickered in Shiny’s eyes.

It was a mature Pet Beast now; it was time to learn to grow stronger by leaving the comfort zone of just adding skill points.

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