Danya’s lodging.
As Ian emerged from inside, Silvia’s eyes trembled slightly.
“Ian, why are you… coming out from there?”
A whirlwind of thoughts swirled through Silvia’s mind.
Were they together?
Could they have been together since last night?
Or are they… living together?
Silvia felt so dizzy that her vision spun.
She couldn’t understand why she was feeling this way.
“Are you okay, Silvia?”
Ian’s concerned gaze rested on her, snapping her back to reality.
It was then that Silvia finally understood the feelings bubbling inside her.
She was jealous and angry—jealous of Danya for monopolizing Ian’s gaze.
Silvia shook her head, trying to dismiss her emotions.
If she stayed silent, Ian would surely notice something was off.
“I-I’m fine. Just a bit dizzy.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes. More importantly…”
Silvia abruptly shoved a paper bag into Ian’s hands.
She was behaving oddly and wanted to escape the situation as quickly as possible.
“This, this is dessert. It’s from an old shop run by a Saint of Holy Constantine. I brought it to share with Danya. You and Danya should enjoy it together. I’ll be going now.”
And with that, she hurriedly dumped her lines, thrust the bag into Ian’s arms, and spun on her heels.
Her plan was to lock herself in her office and drown herself in work.
She felt so embarrassed about her behavior.
Just as she was about to leave, however—
“Silvia.”
Someone grabbed her wrist.
It was Ian, of course.
“I need your help.”
Help?
If Ian needed help, Silvia was ready to assist, no matter what.
But help… in this situation?
‘Miss Danya must be inside.’
From what she knew, there was only one reason a man and a woman would share lodging.
And Silvia had already suspected that Ian and Danya might have crossed that line.
What kind of help could he possibly need?
Her mind raced with images, and her face turned crimson.
Ever since spending a night with Ian, her thoughts had been filled with such things.
“I… I can’t do that!”
“No, Silvia, you can. In fact, I need you specifically.”
“Wh-What does that even mean?”
I can do it, and I’m necessary?
What kind of scenario is this?
Silvia, her face burning, quickly looked down.
For a moment, she struggled with herself before finally lifting her head to nod.
“I-I’ll try my best.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Silvia followed Ian into the lodging. Inside, the space was filled with Danya’s scent.
Jealousy surged.
But at the same time, an odd sense of competitiveness flared up inside her.
For some reason, her body felt warm, and she unbuttoned her outer coat.
‘Can I really do this?’
Gulp.
She gulped nervously, only to hear a woman’s voice.
“Oh? Sister Silvia?”
“…Elena?”
Silvia turned, startled, to see Elena.
Two women, she could understand. But three?
— Pshu-shu!
Silvia collapsed and laid down on the sofa.
◆
“Silvia, are you okay?”
Silvia suddenly slumped onto the sofa.
I placed a hand on her forehead—it was burning hot.
I soaked a towel in cold water and placed it on her head.
“Ah!” With a short gasp, Silvia shivered and looked up at me.
“Are you feeling sick?”
“No, just… a little dizzy.”
“Have you been overworking yourself? Take it easy.”
“I don’t think that’s it…”
Silvia averted her gaze briefly, then muttered softly.
“Ian, about earlier… when you asked for help, what exactly do you need?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, really—”
“No, I’ll do it. Just tell me what you need.”
Silvia’s response was firm and resolute.
The cold towel must have worked; her fever had subsided.
If she was back to normal, then asking for her help seemed like the right decision.
I recalled one of her abilities.
“Can you use Light of Search?”
“Light of… se…?”
I corrected her pronunciation.
“Light of Search. Danya has disappeared. I need to track her.”
“Oh, I see… That’s why you need my help.”
“Exactly.”
Silvia lowered her head again, her earlobes visibly turning red. Her clenched fists fidgeted slightly.
After a moment, she stood up and asked.
“Where should I cast the spell?”
Calm and composed—Silvia had returned to her usual self. I led her to the kitchen.
Though everything seemed ordinary, two things stood out as suspicious in Danya’s home.
The first was the unfinished meal.
“Danya never leaves food behind! She devours every last bite!”
Elena painted a picture of Danya as an insatiable eater.
It wasn’t entirely wrong, but she was missing the point.
Danya wasn’t just gluttonous—she believed that leaving food was a sin against nature.
So for her to leave a meal unfinished…
“Leaving half her meal untouched suggests something happened while she was eating. And if she didn’t return to finish it…”
“Didn’t return to finish it…?”
“Then something significant enough to break her personal rule must have occurred. It’s the most compelling evidence linked to her disappearance.”
Elena gasped dramatically.
“Amazing, Brother Ian!”
Not at all. Anyone could deduce this.
“Silvia, use your magic to track Danya’s movements from this plate.”
Silvia nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating.
—Whoosh!
A radiant light spread across the table, enveloping the scene.
Light of Search reveals traces left by the target.
As the glow faded—
“Oh! Something’s sparkling over there!”
Just like an item dropped in a game, several long objects around the table glimmered white.
Is this… fur?
“I tracked Danya’s tail fur, focusing on the timeframe when she was eating.”
A good decision. Danya was known for leaving her tail fur all over the place.
Every time we washed the bedding, it was filled with her tail fur.
But more importantly—
“Hmm…”
The long, white strands of fur belonging to Danya gleamed under the light.
Silvia pointed a finger in one direction.
“It seems she moved this way during her meal.”
The trail led from the table toward the bedroom.
Elena darted into the room like lightning and soon called out.
“Over here!”
She waved from one corner of the bed, where a cluster of glowing white fur lay.
I crouched down and examined the fur closely.
Soft, long, and pink—undoubtedly Danya’s.
The problem was the other fur near it.
“What’s with these orange strands?”
They were a mix of yellow and orange, resembling the distinct fur of a ‘cheese cat’.
The fur wasn’t long—clearly from a small-bodied cat.
The black cat perched on Elena’s head sniffed at the strands with keen interest.
“Wait a moment.”
Silvia cast her search magic again.
Soon, the orange fur began to glow brightly.
The trail of these fur strands began right here.
“…No way.”
A bad feeling crept over me.
Following the glowing orange fur, I raised my head.
The fur, starting from this spot, led directly to the wide-open window.
I stared at it in stunned disbelief, my mind grasping at straws.
I called out to Silvia.
“…Silvia, is it possible to track footprints too?”
“Footprints? You mean here?”
I pointed to the small cat paw prints near the orange fur cluster.
—Flash!
Silvia cast her search magic once more.
The tiny cat paw prints began to glow white, starting from the orange-and-pink fur pile and leading straight out the window.
The conclusion was simple.
Elena exclaimed.
“…It looks like Sister Danya has turned into a cat!”
Though the idea was shocking, I couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
“So, she went out through the window!”
What in the world could have caused this?
Dozens of possibilities raced through my mind, only to be discarded.
‘The why isn’t important right now.’
Finding Danya is the priority.
At that moment—
“…Oh no!”
Silvia’s face turned pale as she pulled out her Kirtos device.
“L-Look at this, Ian!”
She showed me the student council’s announcement board.
————
[Lichten Academy Emergency Notice]
- Due to the recent surge in the campus’s cat population, starting today, all cats found on school grounds will be captured and removed.
<Lichten Academy Student Council President: May Yun>
————
Without hesitation, I bolted from the lodging and sprinted toward the student council building.
◆
I arrived at the student council building like a gust of wind.
Guided by Suya, I headed straight to the student council executive meeting room.
—Bang!
I burst through the doors without even knocking.
Inside, a number of student council executives were gathered.
The atmosphere of the room shifted as the unexpected intruder appeared.
– What’s this? Isn’t that Ian Blackangers?
– I heard he’d gotten better lately. Guess he’s having another episode.
Their remarks didn’t matter to me in the slightest.
I marched straight to Vice-President Iris seated at the head of the table.
Adjusting her glasses, she looked up at me.
“What is it, Ian Blackangers? We’re in the middle of a meeting.”
I handed her the printed ‘cat capture notice’ from the board.
“Rescind this notice. Immediately.”
This wasn’t the time for polite words.
