Floating Stone (3)

TL/ED: Lolz

Ian's residence.

Danya, left alone, blinked her eyes.

"...?"

She stared blankly at the elixir in her hand.

Regardless of the type, elixirs were precious.

Danya knew well that elixirs and potions were among the sources of income for the Catsnesia tribe.

Even herbs like mountain ginseng were astronomically priced.

However, the elixir Ian handed her was different.

Just gripping it, she could feel a remarkably pure energy. If absorbed properly, it would undoubtedly lead to significant results.

"This is so valuable..."

Ian tossed it as if handing over a candy and disappeared.

Without asking for anything in return.

Danya swallowed her saliva.

'Indeed, Ian is different from ordinary humans.’

Beastmen always lived with caution, avoiding being tamed by humans.

— Trusting humans is like putting a noose around your own neck and handing the reins to the other person.

Danya, too, had been educated that way since childhood.

Instinctively ingrained wariness.

It seemed to loosen in Ian, unlike anyone else.

"Ah..."

Swish.

Danya shook her head.

“Ian is a colleague, let's not have strange thoughts."

By the way, when she tilted her head, she felt that the scent in this room was too provocative for a beastman like Danya.

Beastmen desires were different from those of humans, who maintained a stable libido.

These days, Danya was particularly vulnerable.

The scent of the room owner filled the room relentlessly, tormenting her.

Sniff.

Danya's eyes landed on Ian's bed.

A somewhat haphazardly placed blanket and pillow.

“I-Is he trying to tidy this up?"

Danya cautiously grabbed the end of the blanket.

The moment she pulled the blanket once, an irresistible atmosphere was felt.

— Oops.

"Ugh."

This was cheating.

It felt like her mind was melting gently.

Why did that mischievous Ian have to flirt like this on a day like today?

She wanted to roll around here right away.

... Thoughts like these filled her head.

Danya sensed it.

This was dangerous.

"I-I should leave for now!"

Suppressing her instincts, Danya rushed out of the front door. A

nd almost collided with someone.

"Eek!"

"Nyah!"

A fresh scream.

Between blonde and white hair, she looked like a noble young lady sensitive to trends even at a glance.

Even her somewhat small chest was elegantly accentuated by the clothes.

A woman with such a good style stood with a slightly awkward posture as if she was about to knock on the door.

'Why is a woman like her visiting Ian?'

Danya had such a question.

But soon, she shook her head, thinking it couldn't be true.

Because, there shouldn't be any woman visiting Ian other than herself.

"I'm not sure who you're looking for, but it seems like you've come to the wrong place."

"Um, is this Student Ian Blackangers' residence?"

"...Nyah?"

Danya covered her mouth, making a strange noise.

The reason for her embarrassment was simple.

'No, why would a woman like her come to Ian's home?'

She knew Ian didn't have any friends, except for herself.

In fact, the other party seemed to think the same.

'Who is this cat doing coming out of Ian's room?'

Silvia Laurent murmured to herself.

This morning, Silvia happened to receive a rare dessert from an old regular customer.

It felt a bit awkward to eat it alone, and Ian, who liked tea, came to mind, so she used that as an excuse to visit Ian's home.

‘You’ve never eaten anything like this, have you? I was going to play around and tease him with this unusual thing...'

Now, a strange cat came out of Ian's home.

Moreover, it behaved as if it were the host.

For some reason, her insides were boiling.

'Maybe a hidden girlfriend?'

Silvia immediately shook her head.

There's no way Ian would have something like that.

Better a playboy than that.

Silvia's gaze narrowed.

“And who are you? As far as I know, Ian doesn't have any friends. What's your relationship with Ian?"

"...Uh."

Danya was speechless.

What kind of relationship did she have with Ian?

Friends?

Or had they sworn trust in each other?

After hesitating for a moment, Danya spoke.

"W-We're... colleagues."

"What does being colleagues have to do with being in his home?"

"Well, Ian invited me!"

Silvia's gaze became even colder at Danya's response.

"So, you just blindly followed him because Ian invited you? Do you even know what kind of reputation Ian has?"

"I know! There are plenty of rumors about him being lecherous! Do you even know what kind of person Ian is?"

“Hah? Of course, I know him well. How thoroughly did you investigate? Rumors that he confesses to any woman he sees are just the basics..."

The exchange of unfavorable rumors about Ian continued for a while.

Silvia made a move.

"Why does someone who knows him so well come out from there? Aren't you his Gold Digger or something?"

"G-Gold Digger? W-What are you talking about!"

Silvia confidently extended her chest.

“I am Silvia Laurent. You've heard of Laurent, right?"

"...!"

Danya was somewhat surprised.

She knew about her, the elite.

Thanks to that, her suspicions deepened.

"Why is a woman like you coming to Ian's home? What's your relationship with him?"

Silvia avoided eye contact for a moment.

Defining the relationship between Ian and herself in one word was difficult.

"We are... business partners! Yes, we are business partners!"

“Huh? You look more like a swindler. What's in that bag anyway?"

"I have a debt to repay to Ian. Since some good items came in, I thought I'd take them for once."

"Why don't you just give those things to him at school? Why bother coming all the way to his home?"

"B-Because it's urgent! I had no choice but to come!"

"Is that an excuse to sneak into his room? Besides, you could have asked your subordinates to do it."

Ashamed, Silvia avoided eye contact.

Then she mumbled as if passing by.

“Can I say that Mr. Ian has done so much for me that I have to bring it myself like this?”

“…?”

“I owe a lot to Ian. He has helped me so much that I can't easily repay him. So, I'm gradually paying back what I owe."

Danya wasn't very observant, but she could read Silvia's intention right away.

Silvia was subtly showing off that Ian had taken good care of her.

Danya's eyebrows raised.

'Humph! Ian has taken good care of me too!'

For some reason, she felt a strong desire to beat this woman.

How could she win?

Danya, lost in thought for a moment, came up with an idea.

"...So, instead of giving him desserts, Ian would probably appreciate a new blanket for his bed, right?"

"What? Why?"

"Oh~ You didn't know?"

Looking at the surprised Silvia, Danya smiled like a fox.

"Ian's bed has a very old blanket. Next time, get him a blanket. I'm sure Ian would love that."

Silvia's eyebrows trembled.

'Hu! A hundred years too soon, human!'

Danya's smile curled up slightly.

◆

Meanwhile, in Christina's laboratory.

Looking at the sample Ian brought while floating, Christina exclaimed.

"I, I'm sure I dropped it just a day ago. How did you improve it so quickly?!"

"Why are you suddenly using polite language?"

"I use polite language only with people smarter than me!"

Politeness only with smart people.

Quite a unique concept.

Christina seemed to be the slightly smarter type among the researchers.

"The samples I made and the colors and properties are different. How on earth did you make this? Ah, it's difficult to just tell me, isn't it?"

Christina's complexion began to darken on its own.

It seemed that she thought Ian might demand something from her.

"If you've improved it to this extent, it's almost like making something new. It's on a completely different level than the pebbles made by a water flea like me."

Now completely gloomy, Christina sighed lightly, and Ian grabbed one of her samples.

"Can I try this?"

"Huh? Y-Yes. Anyway, it's just a piece of stone made by a water flea. Feel free to use it."

"Stop talking nonsense and watch closely."

Ian rolled up his sleeves and sat at the workbench.

First, he carefully cut off a piece of the stone fragment.

Then, he extracted several metal components from around.

'The difference between what she made and the stone fragment in my room must be this.'

Ian had used various metal components in his experiments with mobility. There was a possibility that the fragment dropped by Christina had deformed due to that.

Focusing on that, he utilized Extraction and Transformation.

Christina, watching from the side, widened her eyes.

"T-This is unbelievable. What kind of ability is this? Being able to freely manipulate metal like that."

"Shh."

"Hmm!"

The materials currently being handled are of high grade.

To extract and utilize even minute amounts, full concentration is required.

After completing the processing of the prototype,

"... Finished."

As Ian sighed, Christina, who had been holding her breath, lit up with excitement.

"T-This is unbelievable. With such a perfect ability, Ian is undoubtedly a natural talent for alchemy. You should pursue alchemy! With me!"

"Rather, shouldn't we check this first?"

Ian presented ten types of stone fragments.

The prototypes were adjusted in proportions to reflect the situation in the accommodation.

"Yes, yes!"

Christina carefully placed them on the workbench, treating them like precious gems.

Her eyes, which seemed lifeless like rotten pollack, suddenly shone a boundless blue for a moment.

In that moment, her careful and delicate appearance reminded Ian of someone.

Chris Sierra.

A genius alchemist whose name became more prominent as the story progressed.

The reason information about her surfaced late was twofold.

One, because he knew her as Chris not Christina.

The other was that there was no such levitation stone in her research results.

'Perhaps she completely failed to levitate it.'

On the other hand, the prototype touched by Ian was perfectly levitating.

"!!!"

Her eyes filled with astonishment.

Three out of ten were levitating, and one was almost perfectly suspended in mid-air.

"It's... it's levitating."

"Yes, it is."

"Ahaha... It's levitating. It's really levitating..."

To be honest, Ian thought Christina would be a bit happier.

Touching the prototype directly in front of her was practically the same as revealing the recipe to her.

However, her expression was quite complex.

Fluctuating between happiness, sulking, and then cautiously throwing a question.

"If it's not too much trouble, may I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why did you share this with me? If it's already completed to this extent, you could have even threatened me to reveal the recipe."

If someone solves a field of research one has been working on for thousands of attempts, it is only natural for one's pride to take a hit.

Using this opportunity to cunningly extract the recipe from her could also be a way.

'But that's not it.'

Ian shook his head.

"I'm only interested in utilizing this. You might be more interested in creating a better levitation stone."

Above all, this 'levitation stone' was different in nature from ordinary minerals. There was potential for improvement in performance according to research.

And Ian planned to develop mobility using this levitation stone.

In other words, Christina was a magic engineer who could upgrade abilities.

If he could nurture a legendary magic engineer, discovering a recipe by chance was nothing.

Ian believed in her skills.

Her failure to develop the levitation stone was simply because something was missing.

Therefore, Ian intended to be the catalyst for her.

"So, let's collaborate. I'll help with anything you need."

"...Yes."

Tears welled up in Christina's eyes.

"I'll work hard."

The first step of the rank assessment was just a day away.

Her support would undoubtedly be invaluable.

Ian extended his hand, and Christina grasped it with both hands.

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