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Though it was daytime, the sky outside the window was covered in dark, overlapping clouds, making it exceptionally gloomy, as if one's soul were being buried in dust.
Every corner of Misaki City was covered in a pristine white snow.
The sky was rather gloomy, but it didn't bring any gloom to the people in the city. Instead, it was filled with a thick festive atmosphere.
The reason was that today was Christmas.
The hustle and bustle of the city, even from a great distance, made a certain beast's ears prick up.
The golden wolf, who had just finished lunch and was in a state of midday nap, let out a big yawn, opened its dazed vertical pupils, a look of boredom on its wolfish face, and curled up, lazily lying on the wooden floor.
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"So boring..."
The golden wolf said, yawning again. It shifted, found the most comfortable position, wagged its golden wolf tail, and said, its eyes sleepy.
Its name was now Lugh Beowulf. It was a golden wolf from the age of myths, worshipped as a forest god, a natural-born Phantasmal Species.
Lugh represented the Celtic Sun God, Lugh, a testament to its origin in mythology.
Beo thought that great hero probably wasn't even enough for it to sink its teeth into. But it didn't hate the name, so it let its poop-scooper call it that.
The window creaked and groaned.
It was the mournful cry of being blown by the strong wind. Beo was already used to such a piercing sound. After all, it had been living here for over a week.
This was the old school building of Misaki High. Since it was an old school building, it meant it had been abandoned for a long time. The long period of neglect had long since made this building overwhelmed, and it wouldn't be strange if it collapsed at any moment.
Ting ting.
All sorts of knocking sounds, hissing sounds, and the aura of surging magical power reached Beo's mind.
"A creature with no sense of security is pitiful." Hearing the knocking sounds, Beo overturned its conclusion that the house would collapse at any moment.
A Phantasmal Species was a species favored by the world, and it was born with a large amount of mysterious knowledge.
Beo knew that Miss Touko was making all sorts of magical traps in the old school building, turning the entire old school building into her magical workshop.
After being made into a magical workshop, the building would be strengthened by magical power, and the old school building would naturally avoid a future of collapse.
And a magical workshop could also enhance a magus's strength by several times, greatly increasing their safety.
However, the so-called magical workshop, in Beo's view, was just a matter of a single claw. To make traps all day and maintain a magical workshop to increase the defense of that one claw... in Beo's view, mages lived a bitter life.
A Phantasmal Species, born at its peak, couldn't understand the thinking of the weak.
Creak—!
The dilapidated teacher's door was pushed open, and Touko, who had just set up a trap, walked in. Behind her, a puppet with Aoko's appearance was slowly merging into the wall. It was clear what the specific purpose of the trap Touko had just set was.
At the same time the door was opened, Beo's nose twitched. Smelling the familiar scent, it lifted its head and looked at the approaching Touko. "...Miss Touko."
"How was lunch, Beo?" Touko pushed up her glasses, her voice gentle.
"Ah, the steak was delicious," Beo said, lying lazily on the ground, smacking its lips.
The initial reason Beo had followed Touko, besides the fun of the taste, was that she could bring it good food and fun things.
The relationship between the two was just that strange.
However, while it was being treated as an experimental material, Beo didn't rise up in rebellion. Because Touko, who knew the difference in their strength, had never shown any intention of putting it on the experimental table.
And last night, while Beo's heart was wounded, Touko had taken the opportunity to trick it out of several jars of Phantasmal Species blood. Because of this, the two, who should have had a more harmonious relationship, had returned to their original relationship.
And for Touko, her goal was just to safely obtain Beo's blood and to have it act as a shield. As long as she achieved her goal, the process didn't matter.
So, for losing the opportunity to permanently subdue a Phantasmal Species, Touko actually had an indifferent attitude.
"Miss Touko, if that hedgehog comes to our door today, can I eat it?" Beo wagged its tail, patting the floor, and looked at the scorched fur on its neck, its voice filled with a pout.
Last night, after being injured by Aoko and feeling pain for the first time, Beo's impression of her had greatly changed.
When the topic involved Aoko, Touko's face stiffened slightly. She sighed and took off her glasses. With the removal of her glasses, her style suddenly changed, and her tone instantly went from gentle to cold. "As you wish. I won't stop you this time."
Beo jumped up with excitement, and even chased its own tail for a few circles, looking eager, as if it were about to rush out of the old school building at any moment.
"But you must wait until after I've seen the Aozaki family's magic," Touko said in a low whisper, pouring a bucket of cold water on Beo.
Beo froze for a moment, and with a thud, its four limbs went stiff and it fell to the ground, pretending to be a solid object.
"Don't I have to wait then?"
Then, Beo paused for a moment and said, its tone strange, "Miss Touko, while I also want to see magic, but that hedgehog, does she really know magic?"
For the golden wolf, from birth, the mysterious knowledge recorded in its mind had been telling it about the dangers of magic. It had naturally become curious about magic. But after last night's battle, Aoko had broken through its defense.
To not even use magic in a life-or-death situation last night, it was no wonder Beo suspected that Aoko didn't know magic at all.
"We'll know by tonight," Touko said, lighting a cigarette and looking at the gloomy sky outside the window, her tone exceptionally complicated.
Night gradually covered the sky.
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