Chapter Thirty-Three: Schrödinger's Cat

After a secretive conversation with Katherine, Andy learned that the Viscountess had been strangled in her room by a group of maids who took advantage of the chaos, all because she had always treated them with extreme harshness. How Katherine came by this information, she did not reveal, and Andy did not press her further.

Katherine also divulged to Andy some details about Viscount Colin’s personal life and hidden habits. If not for knowing that Katherine had grown up in the Wizard’s Tower, Andy would almost have suspected that she was Colin’s illegitimate daughter. The intelligence she provided was so thorough that only someone intimately familiar with the Viscount could know such things. Andy was convinced that Katherine must have interrogated the Viscountess while he was asleep.

With this wealth of information, Andy felt he could just about manage to convincingly impersonate Viscount Colin. As he was acquainting himself with these details in preparation for the coming day, Jera proposed a different plan.

Jera pointed out that the City Lord’s Mansion had lost almost all of its top combatants. In tomorrow’s negotiations with the Divine Wind Cavalry, their side would need a high-level powerhouse present, so that “Colin of Xibei” would have enough authority to bargain with the other side. And, as far as high-level power went, no one was better suited than Andy, who could even contend with a Grand Knight.

As for who should impersonate Viscount Colin, Jera suggested that Bill would be the better choice.

There was one thing Jera did not voice: in her estimation, Bill was far more suitable than Andy. Andy’s temperament was too distinctive, especially that air of being utterly out of place with the rest of the world—a quality almost impossible to disguise. Bill, though not exactly reliable in appearance, at least had a certain adaptability.

“What, me?” Bill exclaimed in disbelief.

“Yes, yes, you. If Jera hadn’t pointed it out, I wouldn’t have noticed—you really do have a certain noble air about you. Sitting there, you’re practically a born aristocrat,” Andy said, relieved to be spared the role of Colin, and readily casting aside all dignity to shift responsibility.

“I can’t do it. I’ll never pull it off. I have no experience with deception or sneaking around,” Bill protested, his cheeks flushing slightly.

“You can learn! I can give you an hour’s crash course and guarantee you’ll be a perfect Viscount Colin,” Andy pressed, displaying the persuasive skills he’d once used selling exam prep books. But Bill remained adamant.

Andy was just about to try a more forceful approach when Bill suddenly agreed—simply because Jera said, “Bill, I believe in you. Good luck!”

When Bill used the Mask to assume Viscount Colin’s appearance, Andy nearly burst out laughing. With Colin’s face, Bill slouched crookedly in the gilded armchair, one leg twitching incessantly.

After his laughter subsided, Andy began correcting Bill’s expressions, movements, posture, and tone, using the details Katherine had described. Perhaps Bill truly was adaptable, or perhaps he simply had a knack for picking up anything unconventional, but in less than an hour, he was imitating Viscount Colin with uncanny accuracy.

Bill went out to direct the City Lord’s guards in clearing up the aftermath at Colin Castle, arranged for reinforcements to support the inner city garrison, rescinded the wanted status of Andy and the others, and sent people to the Wizard’s Tower to inquire about Stein.

With Jera’s guidance, he managed everything methodically, and not a single guard detected any discrepancy. Andy could still sense something off about Bill’s performance, though he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. It was Jera who enlightened him—it was the aura, the presence of authority that comes from long years of noble life, something not easily imitated.

Bill’s impersonation was passable, and Andy believed they would likely get through tomorrow without trouble. So he spoke kindly to Bill, offering a few words of comfort, and let the issue of presence go.

He left Bill in Colin’s study to continue practicing, then returned to the room Bill had arranged for him and began his evening meditation.

After Andy left, Bill reached into his shirt and channeled his mental energy into the necklace, struggling for quite a while before finally summoning Diga.

Something seemed to have rattled Diga, for his manner was much more concise than before. He no longer urged Bill to seize the magic mirror, but instead warned him repeatedly to stay as far away from Andy as possible, to avoid any contact if he could.

Bill was curious about Diga’s change of attitude, but no matter how he pressed, Diga would not explain. When Bill asked about the mirror, Diga replied that its aura was very similar to that of a supreme relic from the ancient Arcane Empire—a certain “Endless Stele of Secrets.” Of course, the mirror’s aura was but a fraction of that relic’s, which was why Diga wanted to study it. Again he warned Bill not to let the mirror become a source of conflict between him and Andy.

If Bill wished to research such things, Diga said, he should wait until he was stronger; then, Diga would guide him along the path of the planes, back to the Arcane Empire, to witness the true “Endless Stele of Secrets.”

Sensing Bill’s dismissive tone toward Andy, Diga grew even more serious, cautioning him once again not to provoke Andy and to keep as great a distance as possible.

Diga was genuinely frightened—this happened when he sensed Katherine in Andy’s possession. As an accomplished alchemist, Diga was well-read and knowledgeable, but even he could scarcely believe his senses when he detected Katherine’s aura.

It was a Nether Cat, ranked among the top few on the list of ultimate pets for arcanists. The Nether Cat devours all negative energies, exists as a spirit, and is the bane of curses and poisons. An arcanist with a Nether Cat need only defeat their foes in direct combat, without worrying about most underhanded tricks.

Diga was terrified for two reasons: first, the Nether Cat was the nemesis of his own spiritual form; second, he knew how difficult and cruel it was to create one. It required extracting a young girl’s soul alive, tormenting it endlessly, then sealing it into a cat’s body. Because human souls do not naturally fit feline bodies, such a seal rarely succeeds—even after thousands of attempts, one might succeed only once. And even then, the rejection between soul and body is hard to resolve, demanding vast resources to culture and adjust before the Nether Cat can truly serve as a wizard’s familiar.

Diga understood that any arcanist capable of creating a Nether Cat must possess profound knowledge of “quantum” arcana—knowledge so rare that, even as a member of the Imperial Royal Alchemists’ Association, he himself had never had access to it.

In all history, Diga knew of only one arcanist, Schrödinger, who had successfully raised a Nether Cat—and in the end, Schrödinger was devoured by his own creation. Thus, the Nether Cat was also known as Schrödinger’s Cat.

For this reason, seeing Andy with a Nether Cat convinced Diga that he must be backed by a formidable power, and likely not one with a good reputation. Moreover, Andy’s Nether Cat seemed perfectly obedient, with no sign of backlash, leading Diga to suspect that Andy had ways to manipulate or enslave souls. Considering his own current spiritual state, Diga could not help but feel a chill run through him.

Bill, oblivious to Diga’s complex fears, was preoccupied with Jera’s comment that he lacked a noble presence. When his questions to Diga went unanswered for some time, Bill grew impatient and pressed him again.

Irritated by Bill’s persistence, Diga finally taught him a new arcane spell: First-Level Arcana, “Aura of Intimidation.” Though called an arcana, Bill found the process of learning it little different from learning sorcery, and soon he had mastered this new spell.

The basic principle of “Aura of Intimidation” is to visualize a mighty being, thus acquiring a trace of that being’s aura to awe adversaries. This spell is typically used in the wild to ward off beasts, as it has no real effect on intelligent beings—aside from putting on airs, of course.

Bill began to visualize all the powerful figures he had encountered: Edward, Andy, Schmidt, Stein, and finally settled on the image of Diga he had “seen” the first time he channeled mental energy into the necklace.

Suddenly, an overwhelming aura of a peerless master erupted from Viscount Colin’s study, soaring into the heavens…