Chapitre 3: Chapter 3: The Black Cat
When Li Xiang opened his eyes again, he found himself basking in warm sunlight. The sensation of fur on his body, smooth and glossy, was unmistakable. With a lazy demeanor, he walked along a high white balcony, his sapphire-blue eyes occasionally glancing at the busy streets below.
Someone paused and waved at him.
He ignored them, leaping effortlessly onto another balcony.
After wandering for a few minutes, he found a sunny spot and curled up, licking his soft, chubby paws.
The next moment, he arched his back and let out a sharp cry, sensing an overwhelming, malevolent presence approaching him.
He stayed on high alert for half a minute.
The strange feeling disappeared.
Li Xiang relaxed his body and rested for a while longer before hopping down from the balcony, ready to scavenge for food in the garbage.
He darted quickly across the road.
A few seconds later, sticky red liquid splattered everywhere, his entire body crushed into a bloody mess.
"Ah!"
The sensation was so real that Li Xiang jolted awake in bed, gasping for breath, the pain tearing through him from his throat to his entire body.
"What the hell just happened?"
He got up and walked to the table, sitting down as he gulped down water.
The cold touch of the water reminded him that it had all been a nightmare.
"Irigal, did anything happen while I was asleep?"
Li Xiang, still shaken, rubbed his forehead. Something was definitely wrong with that dream. With his knowledge of the Type-Moon world, he knew that magi had plenty of sinister methods.
[What's wrong, Master? I was asleep.]
"?"
[Hold on, I'll pull up the system logs.]
Li Xiang barely resisted the urge to throttle something as he looked at the records.
---
2:33 AM: Detected a surge of malevolent magical energy. Please be cautious, Master.
---
"You're one irresponsible system, aren't you?" Li Xiang snapped, waiting for a moment, but when Irigal didn't respond, he shouted, "Get out here! Stop playing dead!"
[Dear Master, your adorable Irigal is going back to sleep now. Please do not disturb.]
"?"
Li Xiang called out several more times, but each time he received the same automated response.
"You stupid system!"
Li Xiang slammed his fist on the table, seething with anger.
It was now six o'clock in the morning. Unable to go back to sleep, he opened *Introduction to the Twelve Departments of the Clock Tower* and began reading.
The cool autumn breeze mixed with sunlight flowed into the room, and it wasn't until then that he looked up to see the clear blue sky.
Before long, there was a knock at the door.
"Who are you?"
A man in a tight suit adjusted his glasses and smiled, "Larkin Nick, a professor from the Department of Law and Politics. I'm here to help you with your enrollment procedures."
The senior who guided Li Xiang yesterday mentioned that a professor from the Department of Astromancy would handle his enrollment, so Li Xiang wasn't sure what had changed. Nevertheless, he respectfully greeted Larkin, "Thank you, Professor Larkin."
"Follow me."
Five minutes later, Li Xiang followed Larkin into an office.
As the scent of black tea filled the air, Larkin asked, "Li Xiang, have you decided which department you want to join?"
"The Department of Modern Magecraft." Li Xiang replied without hesitation.
Larkin was a bit surprised. The Department of Modern Magecraft wasn't well-regarded among the traditional mage families at the Clock Tower. It was a department that gathered magical techniques developed over the last century—broad yet shallow—designed for general use, rather than deep, specialized study.
It wasn't respected, seen by many Lords as a tool to drive the Clock Tower's economy. Before Waver Velvet took over, no Lord wanted to be the department head. The department's building was the smallest of the twelve, so much so that it was often mistaken for an annex of some university.
Without asking why, Larkin continued, "Typically, when magi join the Clock Tower, they first spend five years in the Department of General Fundamentals, where they study shared magical principles, sensory magic, contagion magic, leylines, and Thaumaturgy Foundations. Only then do they move on to the specialized departments. Given your unique circumstances, the Clock Tower has decided to assign a personal tutor to guide you. Since you've chosen the Department of Modern Magecraft, I assume you've read *Introduction to the Twelve Departments of the Clock Tower* and selected a tutor."
"I choose Lord El-Melloi II."
"Just a moment."
Larkin pulled out a black folder from a drawer, flipped to the most recent page, and wrote something with a pen before handing a letter to Li Xiang. "This is a letter of introduction."
As Li Xiang read the letter, Larkin turned to pick up an old-fashioned rotary phone.
"Hello, Krische, could you come over? There's a new student for the Department of Modern Magecraft... Why is there a new student? That's not for you to worry about."
After hanging up, Larkin waited for Li Xiang to finish reading before saying, "Wait here for a moment. Krische, the dormitory administrator for the Department of Modern Magecraft, will take you to meet Lord El-Melloi II. Since it's still morning, he should be at his rented apartment on Druitt Street."
Li Xiang didn't have to wait long before there was a knock at the door.
He immediately stood up, bade Larkin farewell, and left the office with Krische.
Krische was very talkative, and as they walked from the Law and Politics building, across London Bridge, and under the brick arches leading to Druitt Street, he kept chatting non-stop.
By the time Li Xiang snapped out of his thoughts, the bustling crowd had disappeared, and an old apartment building stood before him.
Creeping ivy and wild grass obscured the cracked, reddish-brown brick walls. A chimney, surrounded by crumbling tiles, swayed precariously, giving the whole place an air of decay and imminent collapse.
No wonder he's the Lord of Debts.
Krische stopped talking and opened the front door.
Through the haze of smoke, Li Xiang saw Waver Velvet lounging on a sofa.
His long black hair, which fell past his waist, was unmistakable, as was the familiar red-and-black coat. Here, in Chaldea, he had often seen this very figure burning the midnight oil—Professor Waver, also known as Zhuge Liang.
Hearing the door, Waver sat up, glanced at Krische, and took a slow, deep drag on his cigar.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Lord, a new student has joined the Department of Modern Magecraft."
"Why did you bring him here?"
Waver picked up a teacup from the coffee table and took a sip. "Just have him attend the regular classes."
"He's different," Krische stepped forward.
Waver took the letter from him, and his face immediately darkened. "Are you kidding me? Damn those troublesome nobles!"
His outburst made Krische too nervous to speak.
"Wait outside."
Waver downed the rest of his tea and crushed the letter into a ball.
"Now, let's talk about your problem."
Waver's sharp gaze bore into Li Xiang. "For the heads of the Astromancy and Law and Politics departments—Animusphere and Barthomeloi, respectively—to open doors for you, your background must be quite significant. So why choose the Department of Modern Magecraft, a department full of commoner magi?"
Wait a second, Li Xiang's head was filled with question marks. Had he suddenly become someone with a powerful background? Was there some kind of misunderstanding here?
How should he answer?
A headache was coming on.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone