Leo sat by the window, resting his chin on his hand and looking out at the scenery outside.
Beautiful city scenery.
The scenery seemed to symbolize peace.
Despite being in the middle of the desert, there is an overflowing vitality.
It was a stark contrast to 5,000 years ago.
'At that time, this place was the territory of the Lord of the Dead.'
Before the great heroes set out on their final journey.
The land where the Lord of the Dead's legions were driven out.
It was a new experience for Leo, as it was one of the most vivid memories of his past life.
"I'm going to teach you how to become a perfect cat master from now on!"
"...."
Chelsea narrowed her eyes as she watched Ar raise his voice in a proud manner.
"I'm not trying to be a perfect cat person. I just need to calm the tail that moves around so wildly."
"Black Rabbit! The student's attitude is extremely bad. We can't continue class like this!"
Ar, who saw Chelsea vomiting right away, did not hesitate and spoke up.
"Chelsea, listen a little longer."
Chelsea reluctantly nodded at Leo's words.
Ar saw that reaction and became even more arrogant.
"Ahem! It's not easy to handle a tail."
With those words, Ar's tail peeked out.
Ar, who was freely making circles, squares, hearts, and stars with his tail, soon lifted a nearby water bottle.
Arga, holding the water bottle he had brought with him by the tail, cleared his throat.
Chelsea asked Leo with a look of both surprise and bewilderment as she watched Ar scratching her back with his tail.
"Brother Leo, can all the water creatures move their tails like that?"
"No way, Aron couldn't move like that either."
At that point, it's like a third hand.
"I've been able to do this for a while now. It's my own special trick, you could say."
Arga puffed out his chest.
Leo said, looking at Ar, who had a very proud expression on his face.
"Instead of practicing such useless things, I'd rather spend more time training."
"Who's to blame for all this! Black Rabbit! It's because you keep pulling my tail!"
Arga got angry at Leo's old-fashioned remark.
Leo's lips curled up in response.
"So, now I can't catch your tail?"
"Huh, of course! I can no longer tolerate the rudeness of grabbing a lady's tail… Huh?!"
Arga, who had been speaking as if it was absurd, screamed.
The tail was dodging Leo's touch, but it wasn't long before it was caught.
"It was a waste of effort."
"Ugh! Let go."
Ar took his tail out of Leo's hand with an indignant expression.
Chelsea, who was watching the scene, asked curiously.
"Come to think of it, Ar. You've always hated being followed around by Leo. Is there a reason for that?"
"My tail is more sensitive than other water creatures."
Arga glared at Leo, carefully stroking the rescued tail.
"Besides, obediently giving up your tail also means that you are willing to submit to the other person."
"Did you mean that?"
"It's like an old, almost forgotten etiquette. Of course, as the heir to the prestigious Tune family, I pay attention."
"Come to think of it, Tune is one of the most prestigious families."
"What kind of rude thing is that? Black Rabbit."
"I was so excited that I forgot that she was a precious girl."
As soon as he finished speaking, Arga clenched his jaw and raised his fingernails.
He tried to scratch Leo, but was restrained by his wrists being grabbed. He then swung his feet fiercely, but that attack was also ineffective.
Finally, he tried to bite my hand, but even that was thwarted.
Finally, Arga, who was crouching in the corner of the room, turned his body towards the wall.
"Are you upset?"
Even when Leo asked, Ar didn't even look at him or answer.
Leo, who had been watching the scene silently, slowly reached out his hand.
Then Arga ran up to me, grabbed my hand, and bit it.
Ar, who had been venting his anger on Leo's hand, stopped retaliating as soon as Leo's hand stroked his head.
There was only a light tooth mark on the bitten area.
After a while, Ar rubbed his head against Leo's hand and made a grunting sound.
Chelsea looked dumbfounded at the sight.
'Submissive and all, isn't it just a pet cat?'
Ar, who had no idea that Chelsea was thinking such things, soon felt relieved and stood in front of Chelsea again.
"Anyway! You don't need to move it as skillfully as I do, but a tail is a very familiar organ to all water creatures. But Chelsea, you're not one of them, are you?"
"Because it didn't exist."
"That's right. Since Suin was born with a tail, he doesn't need to learn how to control it. Naturally, he doesn't know how to teach it either. Therefore, for now, the best thing to do is get used to Suin's body."
"Hmm!"
"The most urgent thing right now is the tail, but other senses are probably different too, right? Like ears, for example."
Ar perked up his ears.
"You'll need to familiarize yourself with all the senses of the Suin. Especially if you plan on challenging the Colosseum. Simple magic might be fine, but complex magic isn't. Especially since you're a battle mage."
It is the fate of a battle mage to have to use high-difficulty magic even while moving breathlessly in close combat.
Besides, Chelsea's specialty is high-speed spears.
Use of high-level magic and high-speed casting during close combat.
Both are powerful yet dangerous abilities that can be called double-edged swords for wizards.
As such, if there is even the slightest sense of alienation, the fighting power will decrease drastically.
'They say that small things are surprisingly fearless.'
Ar, recalling Chelsea's fighting style, stuck out his tongue inwardly.
'Well, he's the wizard chosen by the Black Rabbit.'
Arga looked at Leo once and continued speaking.
"Therefore, you need to become a cat person."
"...Now that I hear it, that's true."
Chelsea was convinced after hearing Ar's explanation.
"So? How do I become like a cat person?"
"It's simple. Just imitate the cat."
"Imitate the cat?"
"For example, grooming."
"Grooming?"
Chelsea's face fell.
Then, after hesitating for a moment, he clenched his fist and rubbed it as if he was combing his hair.
"Like this?"
"You have to lick your hands with your tongue."
"You want me to spit on your tongue?!"
Chelsea were shocked.
"Yeah, our tongue is a little different from the human tongue."
Arga stuck out his tongue.
"Just licking your hand doesn't leave much saliva. The saliva composition is also slightly different, so it's cleaner. Since you became a cat person through polymorphism, you should be the same."
"Oh, even so! I am a direct descendant of L'Wallin!"
"I know you're a human noble. I also know that grooming seems rude to a human noble. But it's just like a cat's instinct."
Arga persuaded with a serious face.
"And now you are a cat person."
Chelsea, who had been struggling with those words for a while, soon closed her eyes tightly, licked the back of her hand with her tongue, and rubbed it on her hair.
"Yeah. You're good. You really are like a cat."
"Are you sure you're doing it right? Show me a demonstration."
"Cat Suin doesn't groom himself."
"...."
"You really are."
Chelsea, with a vicious expression on her face, ran towards Ar, who was clapping his hands in admiration.
Arga chuckled as he watched Chelsea clench her jaw and raise her fingernails.
"I'm going to scratch you! You stupid cat!"
"As expected, getting angry is the best way to bring out your instincts! We're truly like our own kind!"
The room quickly became a mess as the two people ran around.
After the commotion died down, Ar cleaned up the room and taught Chelsea how to get used to Suin's body.
After a long time, Leo looked out the window.
Before I knew it, the sun was setting.
At that time, Arga, who was teaching, clapped his hands.
"Oh! While we're at it, how about Chelsea staying at our place?"
"Who do you share the room with?"
"Me, Dion, Borman, and Driana."
Chelsea slyly dismissed Ar's words about sharing a dorm.
"Okay. It could be a nuisance."
"We're just friends, so what's the big deal?"
"Since Leo said he would help me train, I'll train with him."
"Are you going to do this all night?"
"That's not it, but...."
Chelsea's subtle avoidance of the question seemed to indicate that she wanted to share a room with Leo.
It wasn't like there was any particularly sinister intention or anything.
Just being in the same space with the person I liked gave me a strange thrill.
But Ar's face became serious.
"Chelsea."
"why?"
"Are you thinking of attacking the black rabbit at night?"
Chelsea screamed with a bright red face at the sudden noise.
"What nonsense is that!"
"No. That would be a big problem."
"There's no way I would think such absurd thoughts!"
"It's not a matter of thinking. It's a matter of impulse."
"So why do I feel that urge?"
"It could be the heat."
"...what?"
Chelsea was momentarily speechless at Ar's unexpected answer.
"Ah! It's not what you think. It's not like a horse is in heat, losing its reason like an animal and becoming indiscriminate towards anyone. It's just that your feelings for the person you like grow stronger."
"Well, then it's nothing!"
"Yeah. It's nothing special, but sometimes, Soo-in gets swept up in impulse. And more than anything, Chelsea, you're awkward as a Soo-in."
Arga said, looking at Leo who was speaking with concern.
"So you don't know, I'll really lose my mind at night and attack the black rabbit."
"Leo, no! I don't have any such thoughts or impulses!"
Chelsea said with a bright red face.
Leo burst out laughing at that reaction.
"I know. You don't have any particularly strange intentions."
"huh!"
"Still, stay at Arne's place. We had no choice but to share a room, but now that you have a room, there's no need to do that."
Chelsea couldn't help but nod at Leo's words.
"It's decided! Then you'll switch rooms with me."
"What? Why are we changing rooms?"
"My room is also a double room."
Arga said shamelessly.
"Black Rabbit, come play with me all night long!"
At those words, Leo grabbed Arwa and Chelsea by the back of their necks.
And then he opened the door and threw it outside.
Ar, who was kicked out of the room, clicked his tongue.
***
Seobuk- Seobuk-
Deep night.
The sound of feet crunching on the desert sand echoed quietly.
Seobuk-
The city shining brightly in the distance.
Aquamarine.
Aquamarine is not the most prosperous of the cities of the water people.
However, it was the most beautiful city among the Suin cities and was nicknamed the Jewel of the Desert.
Long ago, at the end of the barbaric era, a place with a painful history of being the most terrible and bloody city.
"It will be soon."
Looking at such an aquamarine, Artkan, the Grand Duke of Jangsong, showed his scorn.
"All the water in the city boils away and evaporates, and blood rains down, restoring its former appearance."
[Not just the city.]
Artkan heard the voice of his master from a far away place in his head.
[Soon the world will burn, just as it did 5,000 years ago.]
Artkan laughed at the Commander's words.
"For that, I will bring back the old legion."