The Reincarnated Villainous Young Master's Guide to HappinessCh21 - Delphinium

Edited by: bafflinghaze


“Emotions, Odum! You need more emotions!” MPnzrG

Neo stared at his Professor blankly.

Why was this his life?

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From across the room, Tybalt raised his hand.

“Erm… Professor, I thought today was the table read. Is all of this really necessary…?” His words gradually trailed off when Rickman gave him the stink-eye, looking both unimpressed and exasperated at the same time. AIheiG

“Erm, never mind.”

Rickman crossed his arms. “There are no such things in life as a ‘table-read’, Phelan. All of you must imagine every rehearsal as a real performance. Reality does not conform to your time and all mistakes will become a part of the show. Must I remind you again of what happened to your lovely,” he sneered, “Professor Dogstar’s class when they performed the show last year?”

The rest of the class quickly chorused, “Yes, Professor.”

Neo internally rolled his eyes.

1j58TX

Everyone in the Academy was fully aware of the aggressive rivalry between Professor Rickman and Professor Dogstar. The two teachers have been at each other’s throats for a near two decades, trying to outdo one another in the most inane fashion.

Neo honestly thought they should just kiss already.

Dogstar’s class already did the Tragedy of Ohmlet the year before since he was the headteacher for the current Third Year Senior students. On the other hand, Rickman was put in charge of… them.

Their class might not be the best, seeing as he was in it, along with Finneas, Tybalt, and Royce, but he remembered they did a pretty great rendition of the play. nh5rPV

It was actually far better than Aurelion’s second year. Now, that show was a total disaster. He didn’t even do anything and the stage mysteriously combusted for no reason. It was honestly the funniest thing he’d ever seen.

It was tradition for the Senior students to perform The Tragedy of Ohmlet in their second year. The professors were allowed to add creative liberties to the script, but the play must be performed, like a rite of passage of sorts.

Neo would have enjoyed participating… if he wasn’t playing Lady Rose.

“… Frederick, your hand is very sweaty. Can you let go of me?” 5xBPGg

Frederick Meyers, his co-star, dropped his hands and nervously wiped his own on his pants.

“S-sorry…”

Neo pursed his lips.

They were in front of the class for the read-through. Professor Rickman wanted them to get used to a “captive audience”, which raised many concerns. The students didn’t know if Rickman knew what the word meant—and if he did, could they consider it as a joke? Or did he mean it literally…? 47gtwd

Neo shot a look at his friends, silently asking for help.

He received a thumbs-up from Tybalt and a scowl from Finneas.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Royce wasn’t paying attention as he was too busy reading through his lines for his next scene.

“… How dare you, you foolish swine… you… you three-inch… fool? Wait, is the Nurse a woman?!” 3EitF4

Yeah, Neo didn’t think Royce would be playing the Nurse, either. In their last life, Lady Lettuse played the role, but this time around, she was able to pass it off to Royce due to his absences and happily went into behind-the-scenes technician work.

Professor Rickman sighed very, very deeply. He rubbed the wrinkles between his brows and stared them down like a hawk.

“Push your tables to the side, we will practice the mass deaths scene. This is the easiest part of the show, so don’t mess it up.

“Yes, Professor~” the students chorused. QSjegU

Once the final bell rang to dismiss the students, Neo parted from his friends and left for the Magic Tower.

Aurelion managed to get him an appointment on a weekday. The weekends were usually booked, according to him.

Nonetheless, Neo didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. The Magic Tower were experts at charms and talisman crafting. Compared to his meager skills, they were far more experienced and knowledgeable. KwhSPm

“Wait here,” he instructed the carriage driver once they arrived at the gates of the Magic Tower.

Neo approached the gates and saw two stone lions on each side of the door, their eyes glowing a faint blue.

The lions opened their maws in sync. “Identification,” they growled.

Neo took out a piece of metal given to him by Aurelion the day before and displayed it in front of the lions. The lions scanned it in unison. UPd2JD

The gate swung open.

Enter.”

Pherb Dagon wasn’t a nosy man by any means. eEZund

As the Heir of the Dagon Viscount Family and the sole apprentice to the Grand Wizard, he was far too busy to pay any attention to the social gossip of the aristocracy.

To be fair, it was not every day that some pale kid dressed in a school uniform could gain access to the Tower.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

The kid walked inside with a graceful stride and stood in line at the makeshift cafe located by the corner of the Grand Hall. He held a sort of confidence most children his age would envy; coming to these unfamiliar parts usually meant a lot of fidgeting and awkward body posture.

Pherb had never seen this kid before. With ink-black hair and red vermillion eyes, the kid looked oddly familiar, but he couldn’t figure out why. ht8lNP

The boy ordered his drink and sat down at a nearby table.

His presence disrupted many of the inhabitants wandering through the Great Hall and drew a multitude of eyes when they noticed his calm composure. There was no obvious discomfort despite being in a room full of magicians.

Pherb discreetly observed him for any clues to his identity.

The boy was obviously not a magician, he wore the Noble Academy uniform. Pherb deduced he was likely a noble child, perhaps seeking the aid of one of the magicians in the Tower. The thought wasn’t farfetched. The boy had a posture similar to his own. It was a posture many in the higher nobility retained throughout their childhood. J 3EVk

A waitress came by and set down the drink he ordered.

The kid reached into his bag and brought out a piece of parchment. With his drink at his elbow and a pen in his hand, he suddenly didn’t look like the standard noble child.

For some reason, Pherb could feel a spark of devastation at the boy’s fingertips as he traced whatever was printed on the parchment with a fluid motion of his hand.

The spark was alive, and it channeled gently, almost deceptively tender, into the piece of parchment. S15b64

Pherb’s eyes widened at the blatant display of raw enchantment. Many around him who also decided to take a peek now stared shamelessly in the kid’s direction.

It was natural to watch someone perform magical feats in the Tower, the magician in all of them forever curious to know what the strands of mana were capable of becoming under the guidance of their wielder.

Pherb was about to stand from his seat, about to approach the kid, to ask him where he learned to cast such intricate charmwork when a commotion suddenly arose near the entrance of the Great Hall.

He looked over to see what the disturbance was all about. A man wearing purple robes from the senior charm department walked into the room. AM3iOR

And headed straight for the boy.

What a rare sight!

It was uncommon for those in the charm department to leave their floor. The magicians there worked nonstop, caring little for the time of day as long as they were able to make breakthroughs in their research.

The administration staff and the Health Department gave up on them years ago! hf46x2

“Nazareth Odum?” the man asked, his voice loud enough for Pherb to hear.

The boy looked up and finally noticed the charm magician standing in front of his table.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Nazareth…

Where had Pherb heard that name before? HB9iMd

The boy nodded wordlessly and brought out a large folder from the school bag he carried. He placed the parchment into it and brought it to his chest.

There was a silent exchange between him and the man before they made their way out of the Great Hall, leaving a strange silence in their wake.

In his last life as Nazareth, Neo was never interested in the Magic Tower. It was about as appealing to him as a government structure and he assumed it was a bureaucratic institution built high into the sky. In all honesty, though, the Tower was basically a skyscraper made from quarry stones and the semi-equivalent of a Macroware building. LSWdlH

The Charm Department was the most beautiful place he’d ever walked into. Chaos reigned as magical engineers ran to and fro like mice on steroids. The frenzied energy of stress and exhaustion could be felt from miles away, yet no one was willing to stop whatever it was they were doing.

“We’ve got a runner!” a woman dressed in lilac yelled.

Something pink squealed as it flew past Neo’s head.

A bunch of people dressed in different shades of purple began to chase after it. QWU7qJ

“… Is that a flying pig?” Neo couldn’t help but ask.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

His guide, Perseus, Neo learned, smiled with some anxiety clear on his face. “We’ve been researching a flight charm for the horses at the palace. It, er, was meant to give horses wings, but uh, administrative staff got the wrong memo and bought pigs with the allocated money…” He trailed off rather awkwardly.

Neo had no answer to the explanation and could only nod slowly to show his understanding.

“We’re hoping the wing charms will work on horses, but it might take a while to get some. We still have a few hundred pigs leftover.” Perseus coughed. “The department head is this way.” vkwxMh

Neo was led to the very center of all the pandemonium.

On a raised platform, a young, sable-haired man stood in front of a light projection made with mana crystals. He wore rich purple robes with gold-threaded embroidery to further establish his position as the head of charms.

“Sir,” Perseus greeted, almost worshipfully.

The man’s eyes, a shade of blue reminding Neo of Delphiniums, remained fixed on the screen. nw4caA

The department head made no move to show he was aware of their presence.

The man moved his hand and dragged something across the projection, clicking his tongue when the screen turned red. He took out a brush and a piece of parchment and quickly drew a few symbols. Murmuring under his breath, the symbols began to glow and he stuck it onto the projection.

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A strand of code danced across the screen before disappearing. The screen turned a soft shade of blue and the talisman slowly fell off and landed on the ground before disintegrating into dust.

The man took a deep breath. “What is it, Perseus?” he asked after a few seconds. gl8WA1

“Your five o’clock appointment, Sir.”

The man paused, and then fully turned around to face them.

Neo watched as he looked him up and down with a raised eyebrow before settling on staring at him. The way he looked at Neo was like how someone looked at food that just arrived at their table…that no one ordered.

After a long and awkward silence, Neo brought out the talisman he drew while he was waiting for Perseus. JLiKD1

The head looked at him curiously before his eyes widened.

“Nazareth Odum?”

Neo nodded.

The man’s eyes flickered to the folder in his hands, “Is this…?” 97kS4l

“Yes.”

He hummed. “Have you figured it out?”

“I wouldn’t need help if I did.”

They stared at each other. gl2BI

“Perseus, tea. We will be in my office.”

Perseus smiled beatifically, “Yes, Sir!”

Rowan Quill, though he preferred to go by Quill, wasn’t made the Head of the Charm Department due to sheer luck. d7mQrS

He knew he was young, but so was Pherbian Dagon, who, despite his age, was currently being groomed as the next Grand Wizard of the Tower.

Their complexions were hardly relevant compared to what they had to offer.

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Five years ago, his predecessor blew herself to bits in a laboratory accident and he was made her successor minutes later with barely any support to back him. He was chosen from a wide range of potential candidates, the best of the best, so to speak.

Quill loved his job, he really did. He could do it for the rest of his life if he chose to. Charms spoke to him in ways no one’s ever been able to. He was practically married to his career, according to Pherbian, and he was absolutely fine with that. Skill-wise, there were no obstacles in his way. He knew his abilities were beyond those within his department. It was the reason why he was entrusted as the Head of Charms in the first place. s21BrN

Quill had no rival in skill… but he did have to put up with the power struggles and bureaucratic bullshit happening on a daily basis since his appointment.

In all honesty, he was aware of why so many objected to him being the next Head.

For one, he was young. Being twenty-four at the time meant he was younger than over half of his department… by decades.

As for the second, he’d been plucked from a poor orphanage in the middle of a desert at the age of two for his magical affinity, making him one of the few high-ranking lowborns in the Tower. DgdzVT

Although the Empire sponsored children with magic, it didn’t mean classist discrimination disappeared in the Tower. The Magic Tower appeared fair and generous, but only those living in its walls knew there was still a hierarchy that placed the nobles at the top and the lowborns at the bottom.

In the first three months of promotion, those from noble backgrounds tried to eliminate him by any means possible. Assassination attempts were common. Those who were smarter tried to make a grab for his position by framing him for all kinds of ridiculous crimes. He was promoted and demoted on and off for an entire year before he finally purged the most useless of his enemies from his department.

One could say Quill’s first year as Head was entirely disastrous. The nobles fought and tried to topple his authorities on a daily basis, there was in-fighting and harassment between lowborns and highborns almost every single day, and each week, he was called in by HR to prove he was not “kidnapping children from the streets and turning them into rats, Alaina!”

Eventually, when the power shift stabilized—slightly—, Quill was left with fairly capable people who were still dumb enough to try and kill him, which was far better than the waste of time he experienced being constantly removed from his position on a Sunday and being reinstated by Wednesday. AU8wpf

He was at his wit’s end and fatigued by the stress of his position. The paperwork increased with every complaint his colleagues had regarding the poor behavior in his department, and tension was thicker than stone and as high as the tower.

The desire the quit after the third year was stronger than ever—

—Until the second son of the Odum Ducal became his sponsor.

With just a few words and a few million pounds of gold, the department suddenly became the most harmonious place in the world. I6v7yf

Quill didn’t know how he did it.

(Well, he did. He saw some people go missing, only to be replaced by even more competent and talented people, so he didn’t ask questions.)

The touch of a Duke’s Household certainly held weight, but he didn’t think it would be so heavy even to the aloof and lofty Magic Tower. The divide between his colleagues soon shrunk to nothing and those who refused to change their views were kicked out of the Tower faster than the time it took for him to brew a cup of his morning tea.

Which was pretty fast. v9Rsmi

Everyone soon joined hands to better the world with their research, and although there were some discreet and underhanded tricks every once in a blue moon, the department was peaceful on most days.

Quill owed it to the second son, who he only ever communicated with through letters. They never met in person but he thought it was fine the way things were. His career was flourishing like never before.

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—That was until the heir of the Odum House sent him a short letter asking him to prepare for his older brother’s visit.

So much for a promising career in charm work… kCS5Df

Nazareth Odum.

The bastard son of the Odum House, Scummy Troublemaker of the Aristocracy, and a madman.

He had no business being interested in the Charm Department, but his sponsor insisted he meet with him.

From what Quill’d heard from his noble colleagues, the kid was mentally unstable and may or may not be the reason why some nobles dropped dead unexpectedly or disappeared in broad daylight. gUkmBO

(Was it, like, a thing? For the Odum family to just, you know, make people disappear? Was that, like an Odum thing? Or a noble thing? Like, what the hell?)

So this was what his mentor meant when she said bureaucracy could sometimes mean being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Only Quill felt like he was simultaneously freezing to death and being burned alive.

Everyone knew the terrible rivalry between the two Odum sons. It’d become more violent in recent years. Quill tried to keep up with the current gossip as best as he could. His experience with bureaucracy made him extra paranoid with highborn rivalry. GLmnc

He heard about the kidnapping attempt of the second son. Some Tutu guy managed to snag his sponsor, and it involved the first son—but in a good way?

So the brothers made up?

He sent a letter to the eldest son and received a reply not even a day later.

‘Assistance needed.’ po1l6g

Attached to the piece of paper with the two words were talismans.

Quill wouldn’t have bothered looking into it further, believing it was only a noble’s whim when he realized what he was looking at.

The infamous Thrall Mark.

A few years ago, someone created it in the underworld. Quill and his predecessor were a part of the investigation. There was a sudden surge in human trafficking and even after rescuing the victims, it was impossible to break them from the marks’ enchantment. U7lhHI

Quill named it the Thrall Mark for its controlling nature on the victims. To this day, the victims remained in the hidden wards of the Healing Institution.

It was quite a coincidence that the eldest Odum knew a thing or two about it.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

The Slave Emblem.

Quill liked to believe he was capable of dealing with all sorts of spontaneous scenarios, what with being alive for more than twenty years and surviving a great multitude of assassination attempts for the last five. He’d experienced all types of headaches and stressors and was prepared for many unprecedented events. dPdsi4

However—

There was only so much his mentors and his predecessor were able to drill into his head before they either blew themselves into pieces or disappeared upon retirement.

Did his mentors ever have to prepare for the most suspected homicidal maniac child to one day waltz into the Charm Department with the Thrall Mark Talisman—The Slave Emblem (and by the gods, what an unoriginal name)—being presented to them in full display?

Now here the two of them sat, in his private office, with a large folder between them. jGKanX

Its content might as well have the ability to make or break a nation.

If Quill had any doubts about the exaggerated rumors regarding Nazareth Odum, he thought he could fully believe them now.

The kid was dangerous, in more ways than one.

He peered down at the array of symbols the kid scrawled across the parchment. Compared to the Slave Emblem, this talisman was even more complex. Funnily enough, he saw bits and pieces of the emblem in some places of the antidote. The marks were small, but there. pzwi3t

“I see you favor the Natheius Configuration. It’s neutral mana, but if you’re trying to hide the existence of Fire Hemlock and Leopard’s Bane, it’s not going to work.” Quill traced the parchment and frowned when he saw black residue on his fingertips. “This is all poison. Are you trying to kill someone?”

The kid stared at the parchment for a second or two before his head moved to meet his gaze. “The other talisman calls for ingredients on the other end of the Toxicata spectrum. Counteracting them is difficult, but I’ve seen some results.”

Quill clicked his tongue. “Results aren’t absolute, never mind some results. Why continue to research if there are results in cleaning charms and the like? There is always room for improvement.” He took another scan of the parchment and couldn’t help his fascination with the kid’s work. “Although,” he relented, “I am impressed with what you have so far.”

“Is there a way to make it better?” 8ufTHh

“That depends.” Quill gave the boy a pointed look. “Do you have a willing participant for the trials?”

There was a long pause. Depending on the kid’s answer, Quill was fully prepared to back out.

It took a few seconds more, but “… That would be me.”

Quill didn’t expect that. H3J47W

He asked for details, but the kid remained stubborn.

“I meet the requirements,” was all the information he was going to get.

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Quill eventually stopped prying.

“We should start with all your mistakes,” he began. “You put too much confidence in the Natheius Configuration. You are astonishingly good at applying it, and I do see why you took advantage of its flexibility, but it would have been easier to use Common Configurations for the conjoining lines and Tharka Runes for the glyphs.” NM3Rqt

It took the kid a few moments to process his words. He furrowed his brow and, with the confidence seen in both his sponsor and his sponsor’s family, he admitted, “I never learned the Common Configuration method.”

Ah yes. He should have expected nothing less from an Odum.

Quill almost couldn’t keep a straight face. He was utterly baffled by the admission.

“Can I presume you learned calculus before arithmetics?” ydL7ro

The kid snorted. “I can read Common, but I can’t apply it. One of my ancestors only used Natheius, so there were only Natheius Configuration books in the archives.”

Quill felt an oncoming headache. “Alright. We can sort things out one by one.”

“Sounds good.”

“You use too many runes. No one has taught you shortcuts?” LFd l1

“I’m self-taught.”

Quill blinked. Slowly. Again, it was very difficult to keep a straight face.

“I’m impressed you’ve gotten so far in your research.”

The kid shrugs. “I have some background knowledge in toxicology and medicine.” plmy1u

“Isn’t that the truth,” Quill could only say.

He pointed at a spot on the parchment. “Right here, the classification is off. Beta, Gamma, Delta, if you intended to invert the colors, you should have replaced Beta with Theta. It works better that way.”

“The color applied here is intended to fully erase the traces of the marking. Theta would have ended in remnants,” The kid argued.

Quill needed to pause. He glanced at the parchment again. “You’re right, but if you keep Beta, it locks the enchantment in place. You would get no progress if the magic doesn’t transfer from the talisman to the skin.” cvHu3U

The boy tilted his head. “Are there any other classifications we can use?”

Quill waved his hand and summoned the needed textbooks to his desk.

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He cracked open the Code Book of Classifications.

“Your base might need some work as well. For both the brewing and the stenciling. Let’s first rearrange everything on the talisman and then we can talk about everything you’ve added to the enchantment.” YoAieN

They got to work.

An hour later, the door swung open.

Perseus walked in with a tea tray and placed it on the table in front of them before taking his leave. 7rdW U

Quill took the single teacup from the tea tray and gave a pointed sip.

“Do I get one?” Neo asked.

“No. The circuit tetragram needs more ink.”

Neo narrowed his eyes but conceded. He dipped his pen into the inkpot and viciously traced the circuits. 8CyYMX

He’d been at the circuits for fifteen minutes. Around the office were scattered balls of parchment and paper. Quill, apparently, didn’t like his penmanship.

“How did you even draw the talisman?”

“I have a Capable Servant with good handwriting.”

“…” MJ1boC

Quill also disliked his reliance on Rainier.

It took a few minutes longer, but Neo eventually made a relatively good outline of the circuits.

“Can we try the Cepheus Model on the base components?” he asked without looking up.

There was no answer from beside him. ATIwR0

“Quill?”

Neo turned and saw there was no one beside him.

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Instead, “Perseus, you gave me Earl Grey!”

His gaze slowly went down until he made eye contact with a sable-furred Maine Coon sitting awkwardly where Quill once sat. 8bEDK6

Neo scrambled away.

C-C-C-CAT…!!

His mind helpfully informed him.

Detailed flashbacks flickered in his mind. During his childhood in the streets, he fought for scraps with strays. His most frequent opponents were the alley cats. Those monsters always traveled in groups, hunting and harassing the other kids and stealing what little morsel they could get their hands on. It was easier to fight against a violently drunk man than to go against a pack of cats. zHmngA

Even after living in the modern world for several decades, Neo was still terrified of cats.

While he internally panicked and took shelter behind a table, the cat opened its mouth.

“It’s me,” Quill’s voice echoed out.

Neo blinked. lt4 8d

Was the cat pretending to be a man, or was he a man pretending to be a cat?

Were there even charms capable of such illogical transfigurations?!

He desperately needed a professional to explain this.

“…” DLkBQs

Professor Rickman!!!

“… How…?”

Perseus suddenly rushed into the room with another teapot, “Wait! Don’t drink that—oh.”

The cat blinked at the other. “I’ve noticed.” n3LvZO

“Sir!”

“You mixed up the teas… again.”

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“I’m so sorry, Sir!”

“Don’t do it next time.” YwVsq4

“Yes, Sir!”

The cat sighed.

Neo continued to stare at it in confusion. “Quill?”

Quill(?) licked his paw and began to groom himself like a real cat. “I’m allergic to citrus.” O3xDaf

Neo was dumbfounded. “This is your allergic reaction?”

A silence followed.

“… Yes.”

“Oh… um… I’m so sorry about that.” AMHiPI

Neo wasn’t.

Not really.

Not after Quill spent the last hour roasting him for his penmanship.

“…” YXosUc

Quill wasn’t always a man who could sometimes turn into a cat when he ate citrus.

He was, by all accounts, a man.

That was, until three years ago. OIKidn

It was a day like any other.

Avoid the daily assassination attempt, squabble with the less-than-loyal magicians in the Charms Department, send a few threatening letters to the administration staff and human resources regarding the ill-treatment of lowborn magicians, and continue to research his latest charm experiment.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

This was a time before he promoted Perseus to his second-in-command. Of all Charm Heads in the history of the Magic Tower, Quill went the longest without a second. He didn’t trust the highborn nobles in his department, and none of the lowborns dared to covet the position.

In the end, Quill set a rotation for the lowborn in the department as pseudo-assistants and allowed the nobles to stew in anger at the lost opportunity. iJQyku

See what happens when you try to mess with him?

That was his first mistake.

Quill was so set on going against the nobles, that he hadn’t realized there would be possibilities of treachery among the lowborns.

On that day, he ordered his weekly assistant to bring him tea. 2FYE3e

And was promptly turned into a cat after taking the first sip.

As it turned out, the idiot planned to turn him into an animal, but he mistook the experimental Cat Potion for the also experimental Rat Potion.

Quill was thoroughly irked once he realized he turned into a ball of fur and whiskers and naturally reacted in a way befitting of his station.

He scratched that son of a bitch in the face and crippled him. qQ9jYM

Good luck trying to make a talisman with three fingers, you asshole!

Also, could the man not read?!

How the hell did a guy like him get into the Magic Tower?! He mixed up the Rat Potion with the Cat Potion!

He still, to this day, couldn’t get over this fact. QjBK6w

Not that Quill wasn’t grateful he hadn’t been turned into a rat, it would not have ended well for anyone involved if he was turned into a rat.

As it turned out, his “assailant” planned to make him into his own lab rat. First of all, not only was this unethical, but a very poor plan.

Quill kept eighty-four—now eighty-five for drink detection—charms in place throughout his office. The man wouldn’t have gotten far if his entire strategy was to turn him into a rodent in his own territory and take off with him.

The charms would have alerted everyone in the Tower. BSE4Rq

Which it did.

The man was arrested and Quill needed to be poked and prodded until someone (Pherbian, actually) was able to turn him back.

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Unfortunately, since the potion was experimental and would likely take ten more years to refine, Quill could no longer eat citrus lest he wanted to turn into a cat.

“The effects wear off after a few hours… why are you sitting over there?” FI6zgA

Neo sat on a stool across the room from Quill.

“I don’t like cats,” he admitted bluntly.

He was not ashamed to admit this.

Not to mention, Quill didn’t look like those skinny back alley cats in the streets. Maine Coons were typically twenty-five pounds and forty inches in length. Quill looked even bigger than the average Maine Coon. s31aHw

The man eyed him a moment longer but didn’t push for more information, “Seeing as I don’t own a pair of opposable thumbs for the time being, I believe this meeting will have to end early. Shall we schedule another one next week?”

“Please do.”

“Why the fuck haven’t you been eating?” LpgkWK

Pherb received this lovely greeting and brought out his hands to accept the heavy basket containing his evening meal. There was an overly cheerful note with his father’s handwriting stuck on top of it.

“I was busy.”

Finneas scowled at his older brother, “You look like shit. Finish this and fucking go to sleep, already.”

Pherb blinked. And answered his brother’s insult with a raised middle finger. 0WI1wR

“Oh, fuck you, too!” The younger Dagon stormed off.

Pherb huffed.

He read the cringey letter written by his father and found himself smiling somewhat.

“Teacher.” He turned to the Grand Wizard, who’d been tuning out his and his brother’s interaction. “I’m going to take a break.” XT0HLb

The man raised his head and made a shooing motion.

“Two days off.”

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He sighed. “Yes, Sir.”

K29ByT

Step 21: Get in contact with a magic person. Magic person can help you because talent doesn’t equal experience. Magic person can also turn into a cat. If you are allergic to cats or have Ailurophobia… it technically doesn’t count. Because the cat is a magic person.


The author has something to say:  

Macroware is Microsoft. 

“So much for my promising career in Espionage.” Q, from the movie: Skyfall ICw1m2

“My complexion is hardly relevant.” Q, from the movie: Skyfall

Thank you, Ash_Galaxy for all the amazing fanarts. You are the reason why Quill exists. 

GSqcCx

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26 comments

  1. Thank you for the chapter!

    Good to see more work being done on the Slave Seal. I hate that thing and really want to slap Neo everytime it comes up ugh. I mean I like him but still that thing is just beyond horrible.

  2. i am obsessed with the way you blended magic and technology- it’s so intriguing!!

    thanks for the chapter!

  3. Thanks for the update! I hope they can find something that can erase the Slave Emblem soon!

  4. LOL is Professor Dogstar Sirius? And if Rickman is Snape… haha.

    Indeed, Neo, magic people can indeed help you with your project… because they’re magic and know lots. It’s good that he’s reaching out for help.

    Thanks for the chapter!

  5. Thanks for the chapter! 😂🤣😂 That was hilarious! I don’t know what’s funnier, the casual incompetents are trying to kill me attitude, the citrus allergy, the fear of cats…