Amidst the swirling incense and clear candlelight, in a mysteriously and intricately decorated room, the black cat on the high stool gazed at the slowly awakening girl in the armchair, and continued to speak seriously.
"Sallia, tell me honestly, did you encounter any danger in the Dream Realm?"
Listening to the black cat, Sallia composed herself. After shaking off the initial haziness of waking up, she spoke.
"Yes, yes, Grandpa, I encountered people from the Black Dream Hunt. They were chasing me! I almost didn't get away..."
"Black Dream Hunt? Hmph, those lowly scum again, despicable traitors... They don't have much ability, yet they're everywhere like a swarm of flies..." The black cat snorted coldly, then spoke with disdain, before looking back at Sallia and continuing seriously.
"You ran into those traitors, but your reaction doesn't seem like your Mimicry was destroyed. How did you escape? Logically speaking, your current Mimicry shouldn't be able to escape from them."
"Uh... well, I really did encounter something in the Dream Realm just now. Grandpa, let me tell you, everything I'm about to say is absolutely true! You must believe me!"
Sallia's words were a little agitated. Looking at Sallia like this, the black cat showed a hint of confusion. Then, Sallia recounted her experiences in the Dream Realm. As he listened to Sallia's narration, the black cat's eyes widened.
"What? You said a dragon? You encountered a dragon-shaped Mimicry in the Dream Realm!? You didn't just run into an Image Entity, did you?"
The black cat said incredulously, while Sallia nodded affirmatively, clenching her fists as she continued to speak.
"I'm certain, Grandpa! That was definitely not an Image Entity! That dragon dealt with those Hunter Group members in just two or three moves; it absolutely couldn't have been an Image Entity! And he even personally admitted to being a Mimicry!"
After hearing Sallia's words, the black cat fell silent for a moment. His expression became solemn, and he sat on the high stool without a word, seemingly lost in thought.
"A dragon... Dragon Mimicry... That shouldn't be... How could a Dragon Mimicry appear in the forest... That shouldn't be..."
The black cat muttered to himself, while Sallia asked curiously.
"Grandpa, aren't you already very powerful just by mimicking lions and tigers? Now a dragon has appeared, do you think it might be a high-ranking member of one of those Great Secret Societies...?"
"Those so-called high-ranking members? Hmph... Although many of them are fundamentally messed up and no longer human-shaped, they are still basically mortals..."
Listening to Sallia's words, the black cat couldn't help but let out a cold laugh, then continued.
"And now, among mortals, there are almost none who can mimic ancient mythical creatures. Even those so-called high-ranking members are the same. To be able to master the Mimicry Incantation of a mythical creature, one must bear mythical-level Mental Poison. An existence capable of doing this can no longer be called a mortal. Do you understand, Sallia...?"
The black cat spoke sternly to Sallia, who was stunned. After taking a moment to recover, she murmured to herself... "Can't be called a mortal... Is, is it that terrifying? Good, good thing I didn't provoke him... Perhaps I even pleased him! I, I proactively gave him a small secret transmission that I had painstakingly found tonight. Grandpa, do you think he'll be happy about that!"
Sallia grew more and more excited as she spoke, and the black cat, hearing her words, was slightly startled, then his fur bristled.
"What! You said you proactively gave him the secret transmission you collected? Are you crazy, meow!?" The black cat stood on the stool, his fur standing on end, his expression full of anger.
"I haven't even taught you the correct way to transfer secret transmissions in the Dream Realm! Giving it to someone like that will leave a mental imprint?! An existence like that could directly use such a tiny imprint as a medium! You might now be completely under his control! He could take your life with a flick of a finger, do you understand?!"
The black cat directly yelled at Sallia. Being suddenly scolded so fiercely by the black cat, Sallia felt a surge of grievance and discomfort, and her mouth immediately drooped.
"But, but... that dragon didn't seem like a bad person? He looked very friendly, he shouldn't hurt me, right? And I was also following your teachings, Grandpa, to know how to repay kindness..."
"Friendly? Friendly my ass?! The moral values I taught you before were for mundane life! Who told you to apply them to the Hidden World?! Do not bring any concepts of good and evil or morality into the Hidden World! Always be careful and cautious! Never trust anyone! Didn't you remember?!"
The black cat continued to scold her sternly. Listening to the black cat's criticism, Sallia's voice became somewhat choked, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"I, I remember now... Grandpa... It's my fault... Will I be killed immediately...?"
Seeing Sallia in this state, the black cat felt a moment of pity, and then softened his tone.
"Forget it, I might have exaggerated the impact a little. Since that existence has reached such a level, how could he care about a small fry like you? Since you're still completely unharmed, he probably didn't take your little imprint seriously. I just used it as an excuse to make you remember, just be more careful in the future..."
"Really? That's great, Grandpa!"
Upon hearing the black cat's words, Sallia immediately beamed with joy, happily lifting the black cat from the stool and spinning him around.
"Put, put me down, you girl! Don't lift me like that! Stop spinning, meow~"
Hearing the black cat's somewhat panicked words, Sallia immediately put the black cat down on the ground. Then the black cat immediately commanded sternly.
"Go to sleep quickly! Tomorrow, continue to work hard for me. You need to quickly accumulate spirituality and advance again, so you can have the capital to resist stronger Mental Poison, and I can teach you stronger Mimicry Incantations. If you don't want to be chased by those traitors next time, be serious!"
"Y-yes, Grandpa!"
...Daytime in Egwent, late morning.
At noon, Dorothy, who had slept in, slowly awoke in bed, then squinted her eyes and groggily climbed out of bed.
Due to the mental exhaustion from last night, she had slept very late, and even now hadn't fully recovered. The reason she woke up now was purely because she was hungry.
'I'll just find something to eat and then go back to sleep... This Mimicry Dream Realm is really exhausting, I'll go again after a few days...'
Thinking this, Dorothy, dressed in white pajamas, put on her slippers, unlocked and opened her room door. Then she was surprised to see Gregory sitting on the sofa in the living room, holding several documents.
"Good afternoon, Dorothy. Sleeping in isn't a good habit, you'll have to change it from now on."
Looking at Dorothy, whose hair was disheveled and face was bewildered, Gregory said with a smile. Dorothy, seeing the scene before her, asked in confusion.
"Gregory? Aren't you working today?"
"No, I took a short leave. I'm not working today and tomorrow morning. Today I'll prepare some materials and tools for you, and tomorrow I'll take you to register for school. I told you about this before, did you forget?"
"Huh? School?"
Dorothy, who had been studying forbidden knowledge all night, heard her older brother utter this familiar yet strange term, and couldn't help but feel as if an age had passed.