Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 638 A Day of Leisure (First Update)

The purpose of animal courtship behavior is reproduction. Male red-capped manatees display a "moonwalk"-like dance to attract females; bowerbirds decorate their nests with fruit; throat fan lizards display their brightly colored throat fans covered with scales; even Australian peacocks dance with their long legs. Male dancing flies present females with a glistening grain of sand, and even penguins, limited by their environment, choose smooth, pretty pebbles. All of this is about showcasing one's strengths or using gifts to please females. The underlying logic of many other animal behaviors is not fundamentally different from the courtship practices of modern human society.

In the distant past, hunting was the ultimate display of masculine strength and wisdom; only the strongest and most intelligent returned from the dark forest. Countless men, filled with delight, would say to the young lads eyeing their beautiful daughters: "Oh, dear John, if you wish to win my daughter's heart, go and bring back the fur of the most fearsome wolf! The fur must be spotless, without a single scratch—it's the finest pelt! No lice or fleas, no nuts hidden by squirrels—those lazy, fat bastards have forgotten where they hid their treasures."

Remember this, or I'll marry her off to the miller!

Then one fool after another died in the forest under the expectant gaze of the young girl, or was hanged by the lord.

The difference between the past and present, between lower life forms and humans, lies solely in the gifts and the means of display. Humans, despite years of evolution, still operate on the same behavioral logic ingrained in their genes, and even Salomon is no exception. In the eyes of this sorcerer, who received both classical and modern education, stockings, perfume, gold, and animal hides were the finest gifts. He planned to get a fur shawl for Bayonetta. A woman like her deserved a magnificent shawl to complement a black evening gown; the bearskin would be blacker than the night and smoother than silk. Athena had told him that, both in the past and present, beautiful furs were always something that could drive women mad, a sentiment Salomon wholeheartedly agreed with.

To obtain the perfect bear pelt, Salomon had to hunt in Avalon himself.

This gift will be his birthday present to Bayonetta a few months later.

"You'll have some too, I promise, I'll bring you some white mink pelts," Salomon promised Stephanie. "Doesn't that sound like a proper little lord of a knight's estate, my dear miller's daughter? Now, shall we have the next document?"

"A message from His Holiness." The secretary rolled her eyes and tossed the phone the sorcerer had thrown aside back to her. She knew many secrets that ordinary people would never know in their lifetime, and the existence of Kamar-Taj was one of them. "It's probably about the snacks in the fridge." Stephanie shrugged. "Next time, you don't need to go to the convenience store for something as small as this. Just a list, anyone can do it, you just need to deliver those things to Kamar-Taj. I'm serious, my lord, it's such a waste of time for you to always go to Clinton, that place where shootings happen all the time, to beat people up."

"You should know that Manhattan belongs to Kamar-Taj, right? I have the original title deed, and I'm the current owner of that title deed. There's no place in Manhattan I can't go." [Note 1]

"No one recognizes that land deed anymore, my lord."

"I don't care! I'll kill anyone who doesn't admit it!" Even as Salomon was about to throw a tantrum, Stephanie pressed play on the voicemail. Salomon, after listening to the message, couldn't help but roll his eyes several times. He had originally thought the Venerable One would want to talk to him. Serious topics included pressure to get married (and women other than the Witch), the Mind Stone, a quarter of the Reality Stone, alchemy, sacrifice, justice, and reason. Less serious topics included pressure to get married (and the Witch), snacks, dinners, and drinking. In between serious and less serious were training apprentices, beating people up, and reading.

But he didn't expect that the Venerable One would actually ask him to interrogate a woman who was not quite right in the head.

The incident began when the deacons of the New York Temple captured a madwoman who called herself the "Eye of Calamity." [Note 2] This woman knew no spells; her only way of casting magic was to plead with magical entities. For example, she would say, "Unknowable Lords of Spells, I call upon you to destroy that tire," or make meaningless and ridiculous sounds like "BIBIBO."

As is well known, there are many lesser-known magical entities in the outer dimensions. While their power may not match that of the Vishanti and other true gods, they offer a viable alternative for spellcasters unable to form contracts with powerful entities. Generally, weaker magical entities will actively develop their own groups of spellcasters. The most common method is for someone with some potential to have a dream, wake up, and learn magic. However, since truly talented individuals have already been chosen by powerful magical entities, those who receive these dreams are often less gifted potential spellcasters. Furthermore, the methods of imparting knowledge are often crude and simplistic, frequently leading to mental health issues for these unfortunate individuals.

The deacons captured her because she was trying to instill anti-human discrimination ideas into a rock, and they brought her back before the police arrived. Salomon strongly suspected that the Venerable One had given him this task so he could get some rest, because there was no funnier story than a mad, country-dwelling spellcaster. Kamar-Taj might even pay for a custom-made uniform for her from [Great Lorna's Tailor Shop], since this madwoman's destructive power was quite limited, and while the Venerable One was still around, those relatively weak magical entities couldn't possibly descend upon the Prime Material Plane.

Go have a chat and a drink; that's the task the Venerable One gave Salomon.

"Are you really not going to come on Jimmy Kimmel Live! with us, Salomon?" Tony Stark said. "Everyone's going to be on the late-night talk show except Romanoff and Banner, even that old man Rogers. He's trying to connect with ordinary people, so we'll all be on screen together... Okay, okay, I admit, I came to you because I couldn't get Thor. The Maximov siblings got invited too, and Vision is coming too. You know what joke Clint's got—miniature explosive arrows and padlocks! I guarantee it's hilarious! You should get yourself a joke ready, young man. Don't worry, I'll pay someone to polish it up."

"No..." Salomon said angrily, trying to hang up the phone.

"I hate this old-fashioned stuff. Do you still care about our argument on the carrier?" Stark muttered. "The captain and I don't care. Stark Industries' Avengers-themed body pillows appeased him. We just have an ideological clash. You want to be an outsider, but you also want to help others… Honestly, nobody blames you. We all understand you. After all, the magical world can't interfere with the real world. How long do you plan to keep your identity a secret? Do you really think anyone after Sokovia will be able to hide your magic? Stop kidding me. You should have stepped forward a long time ago and let them like you! I guarantee you'd gain a ton of fans!"

"No!" The sorcerer hung up the phone without hesitation and then blacklisted Tony Stark's number.

"Stephanie, connect me to Agent Victoria Hand's communications. I need to know the status of her mission!"

[Note 1] From "Black Cat" #2

[Note 2] From The Incredible Gwen Stranger #2

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)