That night, in the lord’s manor’s grand bathhouse.
Cecilia sat in the enormous bath, letting the water cover her shoulders. “Dorothy really said that?!”
M
“That’s right, I’m not mistaken.” Rita nodded with absolute certainty, confirming again and again that she hadn’t misquoted.
Cecilia hugged her arms around herself, tapping her little head with bent fingers, as if lost deep in thought.
After a long time, Cecilia stood up from the water, then plopped herself down right onto Rita’s lap, leaning her back against Rita’s chest as she continued to ponder.
Cecilia’s body was so light—Rita had long known this—but having her sit directly in her lap was a first.
And they were pressed together, skin to skin!
If it weren’t for the fact that Cecilia clearly had more on her mind right now, Rita would have surely blushed.
Sigh, the shame of a dream demon.
Still, it was understandable why Cecilia would choose a place like this. She and Rita had bathed together plenty of times before, so even if they entered the public bath together, no one would be suspicious.
So did Cecilia always ask Rita to bathe with her so that one day, like now, they could talk about things in the bathhouse without worrying about being watched? Or was it just a spur-of-the-moment request for help?
Rita didn’t know, but she felt she ought to say something.
As Rita opened her mouth, it was as if the sound of her breath reminded Cecilia, who spoke up first.
“No talking, I’m thinking.”
“……”
Rita had barely responded before she felt Cecilia pinch her thigh, and quickly sealed her lips tight.
Cecilia pondered for a while longer, occasionally patting Rita’s head, then rubbing her petite back against Rita’s treasure chest to sit more securely, so much so that Rita couldn’t tell if Cecilia was truly thinking or just teasing her.
After a long silence, Cecilia bit her lip and finally spoke a few words.
“I made a miscalculation.”
It was the first time Rita had heard Cecilia sound so dejected, but since Cecilia had forbidden her from speaking, she didn’t know if she should comfort her or ask for more details.
“Rita, I made a miscalculation.” Cecilia crawled off Rita’s knees, then straddled Rita’s thighs, wrapped her arms around Rita’s neck, and began butting her head against Rita’s treasure chest again and again, making the hot water splash noisily.
Was this… acting spoiled?
Rita couldn’t see Cecilia’s expression, but after four or five headbutts, Cecilia finally let go, exhaling a long breath from her chest.
“Dorothy didn’t fall for it. She’s pretending to know nothing at all. Even though I can’t believe she’s truly innocent—the odds are next to none—she hasn’t made any mistakes so far. Just reasoning alone isn’t enough to convict her.”
“I thought her personally retrieving the record stone meant she had no other choice, so if we pressed her, she’d slip up even more. But it seems I was too hasty, and now I’ve only startled her.”
Cecilia spoke to herself for a while, then turned to Rita, sounding confused.
“Rita?”
“Lady Cecilia, may I speak now?”
Cecilia looked exasperated. “Of course you can.”
“Then what should I say?”
Cecilia rolled her eyes at Rita. “Nothing. Just dry me off—we should get out.”
No, Rita still couldn’t set her mind at ease.
Just thinking about Dorothy possibly having that record stone made Rita restless all over.
If Dorothy really was in league with the demons, maybe they could still negotiate. But looking at Dorothy’s usual haughty manner, nose stuck up to the sky, Rita figured there was little hope of getting along.
That sea monster before had been burned alive by Dorothy; the fat old woman had probably been her ally, and had died miserably in the tunnels; and the only one left, Sumily, was now dead as well. It seemed that teaming up with Dorothy meant watching your back for a betrayal—and a bad end.
In any case, Rita needed a way to get that record stone back.
But if it was hidden, it was surely in Dorothy’s quarters—or else she carried it on her. Without careful surveillance, acting rashly would only backfire.
Well then, since it wasn’t too late, and the curfew in Solus City had been lifted, she could go and make some inquiries.
But this so-called ‘inquiries’… who else could she go to?
She’d better go visit Promy first.
Under the cover of night, Rita changed clothes and made her way to Promy’s residence. When Promy saw it was her, she welcomed Rita inside at once.
After entering, Rita sat on the sofa. Promy called a servant to bring a bottle of light wine and several plates of fruit—her hospitality was impeccable.
After a few words of small talk, Rita got to the point.
“Promy, when did your record stone disappear?”
“When I woke up, it was already gone.”
“I mean, when did its mark disappear?”
“That was also after I woke up—actually, it was the second time I woke up…”
Everything matched Cecilia’s analysis perfectly. Rita asked a few more questions—whether Promy had run into danger in the days after returning, or noticed anything new—and Promy answered each one.
When Rita was done, it was Promy’s turn to ask. “Rita, what’s got you so curious about all this, all of a sudden?”
Rita recounted her and Cecilia’s analysis, though she didn’t say that the person they suspected was Dorothy. Whether Promy figured it out herself was none of Rita’s concern.
“So, I think it’s either someone trying to erase evidence, or someone wanting to know what happened to us—and the pink-haired dream demon is the likeliest culprit.” Rita made up an answer, and Promy nodded along repeatedly.
Actually, this didn’t help Rita much. She had another reason for coming to Promy.
“Your Tracking Magic—is that a magic scroll too?”
“No, I can cast that myself.” Promy shook her head.
“You’re a magister too?” Rita asked.
“Not everyone who can use magic is a magister. Plenty of people can use magic—like me, or the church’s nuns. If you have some talent and know the theory, anyone can do it.”
Promy opened her palm as if to demonstrate; a swirl of gray wind spun in her hand, then vanished.
“A true magister not only uses magic, but masters the theory and construction behind it. They can improve and refine spells, even invent entirely new ones if needed.”
Got it—it’s like the difference between research and application jobs, only a magister is much more powerful than a regular spellcaster.
Rita asked a few more details and found the answer wasn’t complicated.
Most people have some sensitivity to magic, just to varying degrees. Marking Magic is basically a way to make the magical signature on something stronger, so its owner can find it.
Rita was worried that someone else might have used Marking Magic on one of her belongings, to track her down. After all, how Valfis had found her before was still a mystery.
Promy’s answer was that there’s no real way to stop it—using marks for tracking had been common in every era, and everyone, not just Rita, found it troublesome.
But Promy was generous enough to teach Rita Marking Magic, and when Rita tried it, she found that her magical talent was surprisingly high—just a few attempts and she could more or less manage it.
Valfis had been right—a dream demon really was naturally talented at magic. Simple things like this could be picked up in no time.
Rita’s learning speed surprised Promy, but aside from a few words of praise, she didn’t make much of it.
Tracking Magic, at its core, is like sticking a little colored light onto whatever you want to find—only you can see it, but if someone else looks closely, they might spot it too.
If the colored light is too small, you can’t see it; too big, and everyone sees it. Controlling the mark so it’s hidden yet still traceable is the real challenge.
Using this to track Dorothy—sneaking into her room while she’s out to place a mark—wasn’t very feasible. Dorothy would probably notice the moment the mark was set.
That won’t work. Time to try Plan B!
“So, do you know any other spells?” Rita asked.
“Other than the wind magic I’m good at, nothing especially useful,” Promy replied.
“Like… Familiar Magic, can you use that?” Rita pressed.
If she could send a couple familiars to tail Dorothy, wouldn’t that work? No matter what, she had to search Dorothy’s room!
“Of course not. Using Familiar Magic isn’t easy. Whether it’s a pure elemental being or forging something into a familiar, it takes tremendous magical control, and you need to supply enough mana for them to act on their own.”
Promy shook her head. “Ordinary Marking Magic I can teach you because it’s simple. But Familiar Magic, even if someone knew it, they’d never teach it easily—most of those are closely guarded secrets.”
After bidding Promy farewell, Rita trudged back home, thoroughly dispirited.
Both her ideas were too naïve. But even racking her brain, she couldn’t come up with anything better!
It was such a pity—she couldn’t scatter familiars all over the city like a Holy Grail War master. Otherwise, she’d have her chance for sure.
Wait, hold on, that’s not right.
If she wanted to keep an eye on Dorothy’s movements, she might not need familiars at all—she already had an ability that could do just that.