The magic cards I made are absolutely flawless!

Two weeks have passed since I returned to the real world from the world of the shadows, from the "Secret Tale of the Decay of the Holy Rites".

The short winter break is coming to an end, and there are only a few days left before school starts.

During this period, Chloeux has been in charge of managing the affairs of the Happy Group.

Kaixin Group is currently in its initial stage.

Despite the many talented individuals introduced to them by Lord Lampard of Tristine City.

However, a leader who can oversee the organization is still needed.

Therefore, Chloe is naturally the most suitable person among the three members of the Beautiful Minds trio.

After all, he is both the major shareholder and the CEO.

Chloeux will not need to choose any compulsory courses next semester, as he already learned them when he was in the third year.

He also has enough credits for elective courses.

So Chloeux was quite idle.

He only needs to complete the Shadow World once to graduate smoothly.

Chloeux plans to stay and teach after graduation.

Therefore, graduating smoothly is especially important to him.

However, for at least the next six months, Kroix can focus on being his boss.

Once they successfully bring back Morion, this business prodigy, to serve as the CEO of Happy Group, Chloeux can finally relax and be a hands-off boss.

Cornelia had the most free time during these two weeks.

However, it was different from when she first arrived at Hervenlitt Academy.

Even without study assignments or Dekan acting as her translator, she can now communicate smoothly with others.

Aside from a slight stutter when speaking Nortonian.

She now has her own cat—the cat teacher (although it's shared with Dekan).

He also has a good friend, Flora, who is around the same age and shares the same interests.

Cornelia now often takes Cat Teacher to the Happy Group base to watch Flora's idol training routine.

Then, after Flora finished her work, they went to play together.

Flora seems to have boundless energy.

If there's still time after practicing the dance, I'll definitely spend time with Cornelia exploring this "royal capital where there are always new discoveries to be made."

After all, the Kingdom of Norton is a powerful nation with considerable overall strength.

The historic capital city of Hevenlit has many places worth exploring.

However, Cornelia is a little worried about Dekan lately.

According to Teacher Cat, Dekan hasn't left his dorm room for two weeks.

There's a feeling of being so engrossed in something that you forget to eat and sleep.

If Cornelia hadn't often spent time with Nyanko-sensei, she wouldn't have known about Dekan's current state—

He locks himself in the card-making workshop in his dormitory all day.

Even the workshop door was protected by a barrier placed by Dekan.

Dekan has never done this when developing any card.

Cornelia knew that Dekan was focused on making the card, so she didn't bother him.

Only Teacher Cat will have contact with Dekan.

Its daily task is now to buy Dekan's lunch and dinner and then place them at the workshop entrance.

Cornelia found it quite strange.

It feels like a pet is taking care of its owner.

However, she quickly dismissed the idea.

If the cat teacher finds out that Dekan and Cornelia both treat it like a house cat, it will be very angry.

After returning to school with Flora.

Cornelia just said goodbye to Flora.

Then, carrying the cat teacher, they headed towards the Knights Academy's dormitory.

"Time to buy dinner for that kid, meow."

“I’ll go too. Dekan said I can get the Blood Detective Book back today.”

After leaving the Shadow World, Dekan borrowed Cornelia's murder book, saying he would return it to her in two weeks at most.

It seems that Dekan needs to research the "Blood Detective Book" to create new cards.

“Okay, let me think about what Dekan wants for dinner tonight… This guy is really strange, his preferences for lunch and dinner are completely different. If he didn’t only need one meal, I’d suspect there are two people living in the workshop…”

The cat teacher raised its front paws and covered its head, seemingly quite unwilling to remember Dekan's orders every time.

"I... I remember it the same way."

Cornelia often ate with Dekan, so she also noticed that Dekan's food preferences were strange.

However, Cornelia didn't care.

On the contrary, I would occasionally try to guess what kind of meal Dekan would like that day.

As the two chatted, Cornelia bought dinner for Dekan and carried the cat to Dekan's dormitory.

I gently pushed open his door.

The living room looked as tidy as ever.

Although Dekan hasn't left the house, it's clear he's not despondent.

If it weren't for the sliver of light peeking through the crack in the card-making workshop's door, Cornelia would have had the illusion that Dekan had been away from the dormitory for several days.

Cornelia walked to the door of the card-making workshop, hesitated for a moment, and then knocked on the door.

However, before she could speak, Dekan in the workshop seemed to know who had arrived.

He immediately put down his work, strode over, and opened the door.

The door opened, and Dekan looked somewhat tired.

And behind Dekan.

The once tidy workshop is now covered with various blueprints pinned to the walls with thumbtacks.

The workbench was also piled high with various materials and broken, failed product cards.

When Dekan saw Cornelia, a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes, and a smile quickly spread across his face.

"Cornelia, I'm sorry, I was planning to have Cat Teacher bring you the [Blood Detective Book] tonight."

"No, it's okay. Are you hungry?"

Cornelia quickly handed Dekan's dinner forward.

Dekan smiled contentedly and accepted the dinner.

So they all went to the living room.

Dekan was eating dinner, with Cornelia sitting on the other side of the sofa with him.

"How's the production of the new cards going?"

"At the latest, I should be able to try making the finished product by tomorrow."

"Are you really going to make that weird thing you told me about last time, meow?!"

Teacher Cat originally thought it would take Dekan a long time to finish.

Last time at the Tristan Magic Academy, Ice Princess told him that there were some people in the Dekan Kingdom Federation who wanted to target him.

Dekan immediately declared that he would not accept this injustice and that once he reached the fourth rank, he would settle accounts with those in the Kingdom Federation who had persecuted him.

The overly curious cat teacher begged Dekan to reveal his plan to him.

The plan Dekan heard was simple—

Dekan is preparing to create a new card that will make his enemies happy every day.

This is what Dekan called "a masterpiece".

Teacher Cat initially thought it would take Dekan a long time to make this underworld card.

I didn't expect it to be almost finished.

"Dekan, wasn't the process of making that card dangerous, meow?"

After all, Dekan wanted to create an outrageous card, and if the creation process failed and the card exploded, the explosion could very well blow up Dekan's dormitory.

Teacher Cat has heard that when Dekan was creating [Blood Purification], he almost turned a card that was about to explode into a bomb.

"I'm afraid you'll be scared if you go home with Cornelia tonight."

“Dekan…”

Cornelia heard Dekan and the cat teacher's conversation and tugged at Dekan's sleeve with some concern.

However, Dekan simply smiled easily.

"Don't worry, I asked Chloex to set up a protective barrier for the workshop beforehand. Even if the card explodes, it won't hurt the neighbors. And I will wear a safety helmet properly."

Dekan's helmet is naturally the [Crown of Thorns], which has a built-in health-locking effect.

The card he's going to make this time is indeed quite dangerous.

If it really explodes, although it won't kill you, the triple pain from the [Crown of Thorns] will knock Dekan unconscious.

We can only wait for Chloe to come and rescue him tomorrow morning.

"Okay, see you tomorrow, good luck!"

Cornelia knew that Dekan was busy, so she didn't linger. She picked up Teacher Cat and said goodbye to Dekan.