Chapter 45: I’m a Ferret, Not a Cat!
“Dea… Dean Silver!”
The moment she spotted that snow-white creature, Ishta’s elegant twin tails instantly drooped.
Immediately afterward, Rast noticed that the presence of the psychometric beside him was visibly fading at a speed discernible to the naked eye.
Her figure seemed to have been smudged into the air itself, blending into the train carriage, becoming one with the surrounding environment.
The lights hanging from the ceiling swayed gently, yet not a single beam of light touched Ishta’s silhouette.
Just seconds ago, she had been standing not far from him, speaking face-to-face, but now he suddenly felt disoriented, as though she had never truly existed.
If not for Rast’s absolute control over the attic of his memories, even he might have instinctively overlooked Ishta’s existence after that moment of disorientation.
「Path of Concealment」
Once activated, this ability drastically reduced the user’s presence, allowing them to silently pass through bustling crowds without being noticed.
Rast immediately associated it with the ability from the first tier of the Hermit sequence in the 「The Fool’s Library」.
Having activated 「Path of Concealment」, Ishta—whose presence had become faint to the extreme—quietly retreated step by step toward the rear carriage.
However, just as her figure was about to vanish completely into the next carriage—
Rast saw that snow-white creature, looking like a large feline, curve its lips into a subtly malicious smile.
A silver moon surfaced within its ruby-like eyes.
In the next moment, with a faint spatial fluctuation, Ishta’s form abruptly froze, then vanished on the spot.
Inside the now-empty carriage, only a man and a beast remained, alongside the faint rumble of the moving train.
And after finishing all of this, the snow-white creature didn’t even spare a glance at the now-vanished Ishta.
The silver moon reflected in its pupils flickered and disappeared.
It rose from the seat gracefully, using those curious eyes to examine Rast with interest.
A third-tier Hermit, erased from existence without any resistance?
Rast stared at the languid, snow-white creature with its exceedingly graceful movements and sank into thought.
Throughout the cycles of Deep Blue Port, he had indeed encountered countless people, of varying personalities, ages, and genders…
To the point where no matter what kind of person he faced, Rast could always don the most appropriate mask and respond with the most fitting demeanor to achieve his goals.
Only, when it came to this creature in front of him—something between a fox and a cat—he truly lacked experience.
After all, the Iron Cross Plague couldn’t infect anything other than humans, so to Rast, who was focused solely on clearing Deep Blue Port, such beings held no particular research value.
His only understanding of cats and dogs in Deep Blue Port was limited to using pets as topics to strike up conversations with cat or dog lovers.
Rast looked at the snow-white creature with crimson eyes in front of him, thought for a moment, and finally came to a conclusion—
“Meow meow meow?”
“Meow your head! I’m a ferret, a ferret, got it?!”
“And besides, you’ve been hanging around that hellhole Deep Blue Port for centuries, and you still talk in that cutesy tone without feeling the slightest bit of shame or embarrassment?”
The snow-white creature immediately bristled, and Rast felt as if it had even broken out in goosebumps.
“I did indeed spend several centuries in Deep Blue Port, that’s true, but most of the useless memories in the loops have already been deleted by me.”
“To avoid sinking into despair and giving up hope of escaping Deep Blue Port, I hypnotized myself, permanently anchoring my mental state at the age of seventeen—”
“The point where hope and ideals burn the brightest, the age most unwilling to yield, unwilling to bow down… even in the face of countless setbacks, pain, and suffering, never giving up.”
Rast smiled and took a seat on the bench opposite the snow-white creature.
“If not for that, I’d probably be a lifeless old man lying in a sickbed day and night, just waiting for his soul to slowly decay and crumble… and would never have met Shiltina, let alone appeared in the real world and now, before your eyes.”
“Besides, I really don’t think there’s anything to be ashamed or embarrassed about in this.”
“As long as I can achieve my goals, I wouldn’t mind speaking like a child or an elderly man, even pretending to be a pitiful girl—I really don’t care.”
He opened the carriage’s mini fridge, took out a few bottles, and skillfully mixed a drink, placing it on the table.
“In any case—no matter what, thank you for your help, Dean Silver.”
“If not for you, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here free right now.”
“I added a mint flavor that cats tend to like inside—hope you enjoy it, Dean Silver.”
“You little…!”
The Dean Silver sat on the train bench, staring at the drink placed before it.
Apparently considering the creature’s small size, this guy even thoughtfully added a long straw into the cup.
It had a thousand complaints it wanted to spit out.
Like, I already said I’m a ferret, not a cat! And what’s with the stereotype that cats like mint? Catnip and mint aren’t even the same thing…
But looking at the inviting green color and the fresh scent wafting from the cup, the Dean Silver ultimately held back its urge to rant.
It reached out a small paw and grabbed the straw, taking a sip.
The flavor was genuinely nice, reminding it of undulating mountains, silent forests, and a little town nestled at the foot of the hills.
The Dean Silver quietly dragged the glass over to its side using its fluffy tail.
It narrowed its eyes and looked at Rast, who was watching it like one would a beloved pet: “I’ve been watching you ever since you left the Nightworld. From what I observed, Ishta didn’t tell you anything about this, or perhaps she wasn’t even authorized to know.”
“So, how did you know I helped you with the risk assessment at the academy?”
“Was it just because Ishta called me Dean Silver earlier?”
“Not quite.”
Rast also mixed a drink for himself.
He held a wine glass and sat across from the Dean Silver.
“At most, Ishta’s reaction only let me confirm that you’re the dean of the Magical Creatures Research Institute. After all, that expression she made—like a student caught talking behind the teacher’s back—was a bit too revealing.”
He raised the wine glass and gazed at the rapidly changing scenery outside the train window. “As for everything else—”
“I guessed.”