Chapter 8: Is There a Lack of a Family Tutor?
Guren took a step backward, meeting Gojo Satoru's pale blue eyes that seemed to contain a sea of stars. Those eyes were agile and spirited, where was there any appearance of being charmed?
"You just now... weren't controlled at all?"
Gojo Satoru's tone was as if discussing today's weather: "Of course it was a joke~ Ah le le, you didn't take it seriously, right?"
"Miss Guren is truly quite simple."
To tell the truth, people who wouldn't be knocked down by a charm magic potion were plenty. Not to mention the cousins Kudo Shinichi and Kuroba Kaito, just the big villain Gin alone couldn't possibly be confused.
"Imagine the appearance of the model worker being captured by the witch..."
Uh, the picture is too beautiful, dare not look.
Gojo Satoru's matter-of-fact innocent expression left Guren speechless for a moment, a strong sense of frustration welling up in her heart. She had traversed the magic world for many years, relying on charm magic and peerless beauty, when had she ever suffered this kind of teasing?
However, she didn't feel too surprised either. This man was called "the person who shakes the balance of the world" by the prediction. If he fell into a trap so easily, that would be truly strange.
In fact, she hadn't expected before either that the other party would wipe out the food gifted by the witch without any misgivings. Looking at it now, instead of saying it was a lack of vigilance, it was better to say he had absolute certainty, which was why he could be so relaxed and comfortable in another ability user's territory.
Thinking up to here, Guren didn't know what she thought of, and a layer of frost suddenly covered her beautiful face.
"It seems ordinary magic is ineffective against you." Her voice was cold: "Then, I'm going to start being serious."
She raised her magic wand abruptly, the tip of the wand pointing straight at Gojo Satoru's brow. Magic power condensed into a visible crimson halo in the air, distorting space like a burning flame.
Looking at Guren who entered a combat posture, a heart-felt doubt appeared on Gojo Satoru's face: "Miss Guren, what are you doing? From entering the door until now, I haven't shown any malice, you see?"
At the same time, he didn't forget to use both eyes to observe the flow trajectory of the other's magic power. Although cursed energy and magic power were not the same system, the Six Eyes after being enhanced by the system also seemed able to see through the flow of magic power, and even precisely judge the power of magic. If Guren was allowed to release the spell successfully, it could at least destroy a big hole out of this castle.
"But, if it's only this level, it still can't cause any harm to me."
Guren gripped her magic wand tightly, staring at him with alertness: "I was trying to use magic to control you just now, to make you my captive. Mr. Gojo, could it be that you will turn a blind eye to such a provocation?"
Gojo Satoru shrugged his shoulders, replying entirely without caring: "Miss Guren, have you ever seen an adult fly into a rage and insist on beating back just because a child splashed a water gun at him?"
He said this casually, but the meaning within was more than obvious—in his eyes, Guren's action just now was like a child's play, completely not worth his anger. This kind of near-contemptuous attitude made the proud Guren feel even more angry than a direct attack.
"You...!"
Guren pressed down the urge to release magic immediately, taking a deep breath, and saying all the words buried in her stomach out: "Are you really here just for that so-called 'soul magic'? I'm afraid it's not that simple, right? Our Red Magic lineage has a long inheritance, are you not tempted at all by other powerful magic spells?"
"Hmm? What does this mean?"
Gojo Satoru felt he and Guren seemed to be talking past each other, spreading his hands helplessly: "I don't know what exactly you misunderstood, but my coming here does not have any intention of taking by force. I just need to solve a technical problem, and intuition tells me your magic might provide help, that's all."
Meeting the woman's still doubtful eyes, he added: "Look, if I really wanted to rob something, why would I waste words with you here for so long, and even eat your cake and drink your chocolate milk?"
"Ah, but that taste was indeed good, thanks for the hospitality~"
Looking at Gojo Satoru's open and aboveboard appearance, Guren also calmed down gradually. Indeed, with the other's unmeasurable strength, if he really had malice, he would have attacked long ago. Could it be... it was truly her own preconceived notion that misunderstood him?
She hesitated for a bit, the light of the magic wand in her hand dimming a fraction, but she didn't put it down: "You... really didn't come to rob the grimoire handed down through generations of our Red Magic?"
"Grimoire?" Gojo Satoru asked back inexplicably: "What do I want that thing for? I am not a magician."
Seeing his face filled with an expression of "do you want to listen to what you are saying," Guren finally realized that she might have truly made a big blunder.
"Actually..." She let out a sigh, trying to explain the source of her vigilance: "Since the Six Eyes appeared in the world again, a hundred years have passed. Current ability users only know that a person possessing the Six Eyes is extremely powerful, but to what extent this pair of eyes can achieve, no one knows the true answer. And among them, the most widely spread guess is that the Six Eyes possesses the power of 'omnipotent imitation'..."
"That is to say, the Six Eyes can copy all abilities it sees and master them in an extremely short time—including the magic seen on a grimoire."
"Therefore, I had to guard against it."
If it was truly as she thought, the two would definitely fall out in the end. It was better to use charm magic to strike first just in case. As for escaping directly or the like, she disdained to do that.
Hearing this, Gojo Satoru's mouth twitched.
"No, where did this rumor come from? Set foot on the wrong studio stage, hey! One-key copy, isn't that the Sharingan of the Uchiha family next door?"
"In fact, you thought too much." Gojo Satoru was also too lazy to fabricate wildly, admitting directly: "The Six Eyes does not have that kind of ability."
"Now, the misunderstanding should be cleared up, right? I am sincerely seeking cooperation, Miss Guren."
Guren stared into his eyes, trying to find a trace of hypocrisy or calculation from within, but those pale blue eyes were amazingly clear, as if able to reflect the truest thoughts in a person's heart. She lowered her magic wand slowly, the magic power fluctuations around her body also settling down gradually, and the explosive atmosphere between the two eased up along with it.
"...Truly strange." She said finally, the hostility in her tone already faded: "If it were anyone else, they would have taken the opportunity to propose even more excessive demands long ago."
Gojo Satoru said with a grin: "After all, I am a great good person."
Guren: "..."
A trace of apology appeared on her face: "It seems it was indeed I who misunderstood Mr. Gojo. Very sorry, it was I who was too sensitive... after all, the Red Magic lineage has lived in seclusion for a long time, and suddenly being sought out by a powerful person like you, it's unavoidable to think too much."
Gojo Satoru noticed that she added a respectful title compared to before.
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter~ It's good that things are cleared up." Gojo Satoru waved his hand generously: "Then, regarding that method to give puppets awareness..."
Guren nodded: "Since it's a misunderstanding, and Mr. Gojo is so frank, I have to show something as well. As an apology, I will directly give you the thing that can help you, so as to form a good relationship."
After the misunderstanding cleared up, Guren's attitude was clearly much more polite. She indicated Gojo Satoru to wait a moment, while she turned and walked toward a secret room in the deep part of the castle.
Taking advantage of the gap when Guren left, Gojo Satoru sized up the oil paintings hanging on the walls around the hall out of boredom. Those oil paintings all seemed to be portraits of figures, the style very ancient. The people in the paintings wore different types of mage robes, presumably the past successors of the Red Magic lineage.
However, in that neat row of portraits, one position was exceptionally conspicuous—there was only an empty, pitch-black picture frame there, as if the original portrait had been forcefully taken away by someone.
Just then, Guren walked back holding an exquisite box. She saw Gojo Satoru's gaze staying on that empty picture frame, her eyes dimming slightly.
"Are you curious about that empty spot?" Guren didn't conceal anything, telling him straight out: "What originally hung there was the portrait of the successor from two generations ago who was given high expectations. Unfortunately... he failed to resist the temptation of taboo magic, falling into a black magician who killed people like grass, and was finally removed from the family, with his portrait removed as well."
"Black magician? Is it the kind of fellow similar to a curse user?" Gojo Satoru didn't ask much, his attention quickly drawn over by the box in Guren's hand.
Guren opened the wooden box. Inside was lined with soft black velvet, neatly arranging ten palm-sized talismans blinking with faint silver light, with complex magic lines carved on the talismans.
"This is the 'Life Talisman'." Guren introduced: "The talisman contains life energy similar to the soul of a deceased person, which can give specific non-living things an awareness like a human's, allowing them to move autonomously and communicate with other people."
Gojo Satoru picked up a talisman to feel it carefully, and indeed perceived a special energy fluctuation inside.
"Sounds like it should be a very precious thing, right? Miss Guren giving ten pieces at one go is truly generous."
Guren shook her head, explaining: "In fact, although it sounds miraculous, for us magicians, making this kind of talisman belongs to the type that takes effort but yields no appreciation."
"Because the 'life' it gives is very fragile, just like a piece of paper, unable to be used for battle, and unable to let the creation possess special abilities. Even if used on a well-made puppet, it can be seen through at a single glance that it is not a real person. Not only that, the materials needed to make the talisman are also exceptionally precious... so, I usually just use them on decorations like that magic mirror to let them talk with me and relieve boredom."
In this way, there was indeed nothing special about it. However, adding his own cursed energy as the core of the puppet, paired with the perfect mimicry puppet produced by the system as a carrier, the born "life" should be much more powerful than what Guren said.
"So that's how it is." Gojo Satoru thought for a bit, opening his mouth to ask: "Can other people refine this kind of talisman? Like me?"
"Regrettably, Mr. Gojo. As far as I know, the method to refine the Life Talisman is only known to mages of the Red Magic lineage. Due to bloodline and inheritance restrictions, it cannot be taught to outsiders. This is an iron rule of us Red Magicians, and I can do nothing about it either."
Although she was quite curious about what specific things Gojo Satoru wanted these "not of big use" talismans to do, she sensibly didn't ask much, just pushing the wooden box toward Gojo Satoru: "These ten talismans, please accept them."
However, Gojo Satoru didn't take the wooden box immediately.
"Well... I am a person who always likes fair trade. Since you helped me, I must also pay a corresponding price."
Guren froze for a moment, not expecting the other party would refuse a gift delivered to the door. She blinked her eyes: "Mr. Gojo is truly interesting. Then what do you want to use to exchange?"
Gojo Satoru rubbed his chin, as if suddenly thinking of some good idea, tossing out a proposal that caught Guren completely off guard.
"Miss Guren, does your family lack a family tutor?"
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50 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter