Chapter 42
Why me?!
After a crisp snap of his fingers, Ning Zhixia, arms crossed, sulkily watched his kitchen being restored.
The biggest advantage of having Audrow around was that he never had to worry about the consequences of the non-humans’ antics, so he magnanimously forgave him for the stereotype.
“Wonderful.” Qu Banqing carefully touched his beloved bone china tableware, suppressing his laughter. “It’s the first time I’ve seen someone pay rent with home repairs.”
Maureen covered her mouth in surprise: “So the rent here is quite expensive!”
Ning Zhixia turned around, his arms still crossed, and snorted—You have the nerve to say that!
“Sorry, sorry, I got a little carried away…” Maureen tapped her wand, and the door opened instantly. She turned and smiled, inviting Ning Zhixia, “Are you interested in participating in my enchanted nail polish experiment now?”
As she spoke, her gaze flicked past the young man’s shoulder to the figure behind him. Fortunately, Audrow’s expression was calm, and he didn’t seem to object.
Ning Zhixia rubbed his hands, slightly tempted, took a few steps, then seemed to remember something and turned to look at Audrow.
“Go ahead, but be mindful of the time.”
With a gentle reminder, Ning Zhixia happily followed Maureen towards the white light at the door—
“Wow!”
Ning Zhixia hadn’t expected to emerge from a delicate magic dollhouse. The sight of magic books floating and flipping in mid-air made him gasp in amazement.
After all, seeing a scene straight out of a movie was hard to ignore.
The season in the Sigrid Continent was different from his world. The trees outside the window were covered in frost, a blanket of white as far as the eye could see. A warm fire crackled in the fireplace, the occasional popping sound of burning wood.
A gray-haired boy, hearing the noise, came over with a teapot and poured a cup of hot tea. His dark eyes studied the unfamiliar young man, and with Maureen’s chuckle, he carefully offered the cup, stammering, “Hello, p-please have some tea!”
“Thank you.” Ning Zhixia took the cup, blew on it, and noticed the tail wagging by the boy’s feet.
He paused, took a few steps back, and in the flickering firelight, saw the pointy, triangular ears on the boy’s head.
“His name is Pipi, he’s my familiar, bound to me by a master-servant contract.”
The boy was about seven or eight years old, just the right height, his soft, fluffy head easily reachable with a raised hand. Maureen ruffled his hair and said with a smile, “Although he has monster blood, he’s very sweet and wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
“Yes, wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
Pipi closed his eyes contentedly, repeating his master’s words, his soft ears flattened against his head, looking as docile as a large-eared rabbit.
“Hello, Pipi.” Ning Zhixia took out a piece of candy from his pocket and gave it to him, sighing inwardly with a twinge of envy. He didn’t have a sweet, obedient familiar, only a few cat overlords!
Pipi knew they had business to discuss, so he happily took the candy and went back to reading by the fireplace. Ning Zhixia’s gaze followed him, and he heard the clinking of glass bottles.
“No matter how much you look at him, he won’t go with you, and your house is already occupied…” Maureen muttered, then, seeing the young man’s puzzled look, shook the small bottles in her hand excitedly, “Come, come, look at the enchanted nail polish I made!”
The clear nail polish in the bottles was extracted from magical plants. According to Maureen, all you had to do was apply it to a crystal, which acted as a medium, and then chant an enchantment spell to store the desired spell.
“To use it, you just need to chant a short release spell.” Maureen explained casually, “No need for long incantations, even an idiot can learn these short spells, very convenient for ordinary people.”
Ning Zhixia immediately understood what she meant. In actual combat, shouting a long list of praises to the God of Light was less efficient than uttering a single word.
For example, a touch of the fingertip, and a “sleep” spell… oh, instant casting, anytime, anywhere!
As Ning Zhixia’s imagination ran wild, a question suddenly occurred to him.
“If that’s the case…” Ning Zhixia asked, puzzled, “Then wouldn’t it be enough to just carry a crystal coated with the potion?”
“But even a small magic crystal is too expensive, and it’s easily damaged, so it can only be used once.” Maureen helplessly showed him the candelabra on her nail, which no longer glowed. “We need to find another way.”
Ning Zhixia’s face paled, and he interrupted in a trembling voice, “You said the crystals are expensive?”
Maureen knew what he was thinking and chuckled: “Of course, you only have a chance of getting them from high-level monsters. The citrine I used for the manicure is worth thousands of gold coins.”
Ning Zhixia looked at his hand incredulously. Wow, he had really smashed something valuable!
He couldn’t remember if he had thrown the crystal shards in the trash. Dejected, he slumped into the armchair, his hands covering his face, and muttered, “We do need another medium. How about painting patterns with the nail polish? Would that work?”
“Yes, and theoretically, after casting the spell, as long as you replenish the magic power, it can be reused.”
Maureen hadn’t expected him to have the same idea. She quickly presented a gilded box filled with small bottles. “So I refined other colors of nail polish, and I need your help… to design patterns that can be integrated with magic circles.”
She had tried using paper and pen, but she wasn’t a skilled artist, and after spending half a day, she had only wasted paper without drawing a single complete magic circle.
“Is that so… let me see!”
The room was filled with strange objects he had never seen before, and Ning Zhixia had long been eyeing those thick magic books.
He flipped through a few pages and found that the magic circles here, besides being composed of star runes and halos, also included many floral and animal patterns. He asked, puzzled, “What kind of magic are these?”
“Some are summoning spells and attack spells.” Pipi wagged his tail and explained, coming closer.
“Then let’s paint these!” Ning Zhixia quickly had an idea, happily returned to the shop to get his toolbox, and eagerly started making samples.
Maureen hadn’t expected him to be so efficient, not even asking for payment, and quickly placed the refined nail polishes in front of him, offering them for his use.
Ning Zhixia couldn’t wait to see the enchantment effect, so after applying a clear base coat and curing it, he used builder gel to create a smooth surface on one nail and applied different colored opal flakes, and on another nail, he applied a cat eye polish in a shade reminiscent of a salt lake, creating a dreamy, mirror-like surface even without a magnet.
With the canvas prepared, it was time to paint. However, the magic nail polish came in limited colors, similar to liquid acrylic paint.
Ning Zhixia experimented on a mixing palette, then went back to the shop and returned with a dip pen.
The dip pen’s nib was similar to a fountain pen, allowing for varying line thicknesses depending on the pressure. Combined with Maureen’s nail polish, it was easier to control than a striping brush, as every stroke was crucial for the successful casting of the spell.
Maureen, worried that the lighting wasn’t bright enough, waved her wand, and several small glowing bottles, flapping their translucent crystal wings, hovered around the young man.
Ning Zhixia dipped his pen in black polish and carefully drew on the nail under the bright light.
Soon, a clean, clear thorny rose appeared on the opal-based nail. He quickly added crosshatched lines around it, like a stained-glass window, then outlined the nail with thicker lines.
The fine opal flakes enhanced the light refraction, creating a kaleidoscope of colors that filled the thorny rose, making the entire nail look like sunlight streaming through a stained-glass window, casting colorful shadows on the wall.
On the other cat eye-based nail, he outlined an arched window, painted a black panther silhouette slightly to the left of the center, then, with a delicate touch, wrote a spell word beneath the window, copying it from the magic book.
Every line was smooth and even, not a single stroke out of place. Ning Zhixia thought that if this worked, he could create stencils and try scraping the polish like a scratch-off lottery ticket, since this meticulous painting was straining his eyes and hand.
Time passed as he was lost in his thoughts, various unfamiliar tools being manipulated in his hands, the magic textbook filled with notes discarded on the carpet.
At some point, Pipi, his hands behind his back, had inched closer to the table, tilting his head and watching in confusion.
Ning Zhixia glanced at him, put down his pen, rummaged through his pocket, and gave the beast-eared boy a candy: “Here, eat!”
“Thank you…”
Pipi shyly took the candy and sat down beside him. Soon, Ning Zhixia heard the rustling of the candy wrapper.
As the boy crunched on the candy with his sharp teeth, Ning Zhixia finished applying the top coat and drew another design on parchment for Maureen.
“You’re done already? That was faster than I expected!”
Maureen took the two nail tips from Ning Zhixia as if they were precious jewels, wrapping them in a velvet cloth, then noticed the complete design on the parchment and exclaimed in delight, “It seems doing business with you was a brilliant idea.”
Oh! Business! Making money!
Ning Zhixia turned to Maureen, intrigued: “Tell me, tell me!”
“It’s simple. If the enchanted manicure is successful, I plan to sell these magic polishes, oh, and…” Maureen showed him the design, smiling happily, “Now we have another product, design templates!”
Ning Zhixia pointed at the design and asked curiously, “How do you plan to sell them?”
“The monthly magic journal might give me a column to publish the designs. Trust me, the increased sales will definitely justify a considerable share of the profits with the publisher.” Maureen, full of confidence, described her business plan to the dumbfounded young man.
Ning Zhixia couldn’t help but applaud: “You’re a money-making genius.”
“There’s no other way, magic is expensive.” Maureen shrugged and assured Ning Zhixia that he would receive his due share of the profits.
As the sole partner providing the technical expertise, Ning Zhixia was thrilled, but he still reminded the rising star of profiteering, “Only if this thing actually works.”
“…You’re right.” Maureen held the velvet cloth and decided to test it later, because it was Pipi’s snack time.
She stood up and went to the kitchen. A delicate silver teapot floated over, and Pipi, standing on tiptoe, grabbed it and started boiling water to make tea for the guest.
Ning Zhixia flexed his wrists, his gaze shifting to the boy’s soft, large ears. He glanced towards the kitchen and quickly reached out to pinch them.
“Ouch!”
Pipi immediately covered his ears, then, realizing it was Ning Zhixia, slowly lowered his hands, blinked, and asked softly, “Do you like my ears?”
The gray fur was a bit coarse, different from the fox cubs’, but still nice to touch.
Ning Zhixia nodded honestly: “I do!”
“Hee hee…” Pipi scratched his face, a shy smile appearing on his lips. “No one has ever said that besides Master and Mom…”
Ning Zhixia paused and asked softly, “Because you’re a half-beast?”
“Yes.” Pipi poured him a cup of tea, sat down properly, poured himself a cup, and sipped it politely, but after every few sips, he would stick out his tongue like a puppy and lap up the water.
Half-beasts were born from the union of monsters and humans, both races considering them inferior. Pipi said softly that he was usually well-behaved, but during the full moon, he couldn’t help but cause trouble, often destroying chicken coops and scaring sheep, so he wasn’t very popular.
“But Master is the most powerful witch… on the continent… one of them.” Pipi added the last few words vaguely, then continued, “She teaches me magic and helps me clean up the mess after the full moon, so the villagers haven’t chased me away yet.”
Ning Zhixia pinched his soft cheek and changed the subject: “How did you and Maureen meet?”
“Oh, a long time ago… Mom was kidnapped by a monster, then she escaped with me to the neighboring town, but I eat a lot, and Mom couldn’t afford to raise me, so I went to the magic association here, hoping to find a magician who needed an apprentice or a familiar…”
Pipi seemed to enjoy this memory, his earlier dejection gone. “There were so many people applying that day! But Master chose me at a glance!”
Ning Zhixia cupped his face and said encouragingly, “Wow!”
Pipi’s ears perked up, and he proudly told his new human friend the story of how he became a familiar. Hearing familiar footsteps, his eyes lit up as he looked at Maureen coming out of the kitchen, “Right, right?”
“Of course, because Pipi is special.”
Ning Zhixia followed his gaze, and a fragrant cream cake floated to the table.
Maureen waved her wand, and a knife cut the cake into delicate slices, placing them on gilded plates, smiling as she echoed the story that Pipi never tired of telling.
Pipi blushed slightly and burrowed into Ning Zhixia’s arms, peeking at Maureen from the corner of his eye.
The soft, fluffy ears were right in front of him, and Ning Zhixia took the opportunity to gently rub them between his thumb and forefinger, his skillful movements making Pipi tilt his head and purr like a small engine.
Just then, a light screen appeared not far away, a chilling aura filling the room.
“Audrow?”
Seeing him, Ning Zhixia’s first thought was that it was time to return to his plane, but he checked the timer on his phone and found he still had some time.
So he asked in surprise, “What are you doing here?”
Audrow paused, his light-colored eyes narrowing slightly as he glanced at the young man’s fingers, almost buried in the fur, imagining how enthusiastically he had been petting the boy.
“The aroma of freshly baked cake always travels far, attracting those who crave its sweetness…”
Maureen’s gaze casually swept over the cream-covered young man, and she asked with a playful smile, “So you’re here for the cake, right?”
“Yes.” Audrow sat down with an indifferent expression, and a slice of cake with a berry on top floated towards his plate.
Maureen, holding her teacup, couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Then you’ve come to the right place, Maureen’s cakes are amazing!” Ning Zhixia, seeing that he wasn’t here to rush him back, immediately cheered up, muttering that he would take a piece for Qu Banqing later, and went to pour tea.
Such trivial tasks could be done with a wave of a wand or a snap of fingers, but neither of the adults seemed inclined to do so.
Audrow glanced at the young man’s busy figure, then reached up to touch the area behind his ear and hair.
As if remembering something, his lips pressed into a thin line, and amidst Maureen’s suppressed laughter, he flicked Pipi’s soft ear.
Hey!
Pipi looked at the cold-faced young man with a slightly aggrieved expression, covered his ears, and kicked the innocent table leg.
His intuition told him—
This adult was mean!
