Chapter 77
The expression on the examiner’s face as he entered the reception room revealed exactly what Hans had done.
“Viscount Tyler, I apologize for the rush.”
“No, no… ugh. I’m the one who should apologize.”
“Pardon us. It seems the haste in bringing you here has caused some motion sickness.”
Hans bowed deeply as he explained the situation.
Viscount Tyler was guided by the Duke’s hand to sit on the sofa and handed a cup of tea.
“Drinking this should help you feel better.”
“Thank you.”
The Viscount took a long sip of the lukewarm tea and exhaled, calming his stomach. Once he felt somewhat stabilized, he stood and bowed to Marcel and the Duke and Duchess.
“I couldn’t greet you properly and showed an unpleasant sight.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Marcel replied with a smile. The Viscount let out a sigh of relief and sat back down.
He rummaged through the bag he had brought and took out a rectangular black plate, paper, and a pen.
“Who is to undergo the magical awakening assessment? Has the young Viscountess reawakened? Or is it Mademoiselle Lisette?”
Even without knowing that I was a beastkin, he looked at me without prejudice. There was no malice, but it seemed he had not considered that Eloise might awaken.
I wondered if it wasn’t even harder for an animal to awaken magically or for an awakened mage to reawaken.
“Viscount, unfortunately, it’s neither of them. It’s me.”
“Huh?”
When Eloise denied the Viscount’s suggestion and pointed at herself, he tilted his head in confusion.
The Viscount stared blankly at her from across the room.
“Your Grace’s mana circuits…”
“They were completely blocked, so I was deemed unable to awaken magic. But now, it’s all healed.”
As if to show it directly, Eloise reached out and placed her hand on the black plate.
The stone-like surface rippled, transforming into a thick, jelly-like substance, its color gradually fading.
Watching the change, Viscount Tyler quickly picked up his pen and began writing something on the paper.
The now-transparent jelly enveloped Eloise’s slender, white hand.
“W-Whoa!”
I stared at the jelly in awe.
Within the jelly, flames sprang to life, swirling, forming water droplets and soil.
Finally, sprouts emerged from the soil, giving the impression of a new world being born.
But it didn’t end there—the jelly’s elastic body shivered.
“W-What is… this?!”
The Viscount, observing the state inside the jelly, continued writing furiously, muttering incomprehensible words. Meanwhile, the jelly’s internal world began to darken, turning into a pitch-black night.
“It’s dark now.”
“It’s not over yet,” Eloise said.
As soon as she spoke, stars began twinkling one by one in the darkness, and the entire jelly glowed with white light.
The dazzling jelly suddenly collapsed smoothly, releasing Eloise’s hand.
Beneath her hand remained the black plate, now solid again as if nothing had happened.
“Amazing! Princess Monclair, to possess such power!”
Viscount Tyler’s eyes sparkled like a professor discovering a promising graduate student.
The Duke crossed his legs and shot the Viscount a disapproving look.
“Viscount Tyler, explain yourself.”
“Oh, my apologies. Cases like this only occurred with Princess Charly, the first Duchess of Monclair,” the Viscount said, adjusting his glasses. He scribbled one last note on the paper he had been writing on, then began speaking.
All eyes and ears in the reception room were on him.
“I will now announce the results of Eloise Monclair’s magical awakening assessment. Mana circuit openness is at 100%, and the probability of awakening in each element is as follows.”
Pausing briefly, the Duke sipped his tea impatiently.
“You have already manifested the fire element—100% fire, 95% air, 95% water, 97% earth, 96% wood. These probabilities mean that, should Your Grace wish, you could immediately use magic.”
“Oh my.”
The Duchess murmured in admiration.
The Viscount drew his pen across the paper once more.
“It’s not just the five elements. Light is at 99%, and dark at 98%. You should be able to wield all known magic.”
“……I see. Then, the mana limit?”
“There is none.”
“What do you mean, Viscount?”
The Duke leaned forward to question him, and the Viscount took a step back and replied seriously.
“As I said, unlike ordinary mages who have a predetermined amount of mana from birth, Your Grace will not run out. Normally, when mana is depleted, one consumes mana potions, like pouring water into a broken jar.”
The Viscount put down the clipboard, drew a rough human figure on the paper, and marked a star above the head.
I craned my neck to examine the drawing.
“Princess, like Princess Charly, the mana node at the crown of your head is open. This allows a continuous supply of mana from nature. Additionally, if you train diligently, you could even absorb mana from other people’s magic, just like the first Duke of Monclair.”
It seemed the first Duke of Monclair and Princess Charly were the same person; the Viscount’s distinction suggested the latter method was acquired after the princess became a duke.
After his explanation, a quiet stillness settled over the reception room.
No one dared to speak first.
Viscount Tyler, sensing the awkward tension, glanced around and met my gaze.
“Since we’re here, how about we assess Mademoiselle Lisette as well?”
“Me?”
“Yes. You never know—she is a special cat.”
At first, it seemed he said this just to break the stiff atmosphere, but his gaze gradually took on a strange intensity.
I alternated my gaze between the black plate beneath Eloise’s hand and my own paw.
“Go ahead. You never know, as the Viscount said,” Eloise said, pushing the black plate toward me.
Knowing I was a beastkin, he was probably curious about my magical attributes.
‘Well, whatever.’
Honestly, I was curious too, so I shut my eyes tightly and pressed my right paw onto the black plate.
Contrary to my expectations of hardness, it felt soft, then cold and slippery yet resilient as it enveloped my paw.
A sensation different from when Etienne’s mana covered me swept through my body.
It was like the time I got hit hard on the head in my past life and had a CT scan—the buzzing sound, the strange warmth coursing through me.
My right paw felt as if it were floating in lukewarm water.
“Oh!”
Hearing the Viscount’s exclamation, I opened my eyes slightly and looked at the jelly, or rather, the magical awakening reader.
Inside, a different landscape than when Eloise was assessed unfolded.
White flashes sparked, the blue flame from before ignited, forming white clouds.
The clouds poured rain like a waterfall and then vanished.
Saplings grew on the rippling surface, forming a dense forest.
The blue flame reignited, and the forest disappeared.
The transparent jelly soon returned to its original state.
“Hmm.”
The Viscount glanced down at his notes, turning his pen thoughtfully.
“Viscount, is Lisette’s result not good? It looks like she could acquire most elements,” the Duchess asked.
“Madam, it’s not that it’s bad—it’s too good, which worries me. Even accounting for Northern mana influence, this is not normal for an ordinary cat.”
Everyone in Monclair, including Marcel and Etienne, flinched at his words.
“That means—”
“She is close to a beastkin, but not entirely. If the Prince hadn’t sent her to Monclair, I would have had to report this at the academy…”
The Viscount mumbled unintentionally, then snapped to attention as he noticed the sharp gazes upon him.
“Oh! My apologies. I shouldn’t have said that. Let’s discuss Mademoiselle Lisette’s magical awakening results.”
He apologized hastily, but all eyes, except mine, remained piercing.
“Ahem. Mana circuit openness is 75%. Part of the central mana node is blocked, so mana flow isn’t entirely smooth.”
“It’s fixable, right?”
The Duchess, already familiar with pain, asked calmly, though her fingertips trembled slightly.
