Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3324: Chapter 3325: Fluffy Cat Ears

Accompanied by Little Red’s joyful exclamation, the log-in device style she molded from the Nightmare Illusion air mass finally appeared before Angel.

As expected, what Little Red molded was a pair of cat ears.

In the image presented by the Nightmare Illusion, these cat ears looked very similar to Angel’s, also being petite and red.

However, unlike the sleek cat ears on Angel’s head, the ones Little Red molded had fur that wasn’t quite sleek but rather an inch of fluffy blood-red plush, looking from afar like a fluffed-up red sea urchin.

Additionally, Little Red’s cat ears were more petite, but the tips had a ten-centimeter-long tuft of stray hair.

”Is this the cat ear log-in device you envisioned?” Angel looked at the cat ears, feeling a sense of familiarity, somewhat like smaller lynx ears.

Little Red nodded obediently: ”Yes, I like these cat ears. ’It’ should like them too.”

As long as ’it’ likes them, Little Red feels it’s like keeping ’it’ company, perhaps making ’it’ feel less lonely.

Angel: ”...Why do you think ’it’ would like them?”

Could it be that Little Red could not only decipher information but also infer from existing information? Otherwise, why was Little Red so sure ’it’ would like it?

Faced with Angel’s inquiry, Little Red’s answer wasn’t that complicated.

Little Red just tilted her head, blinking her eyes, said: ”Because I like it.”

Initially, Angel didn’t understand Little Red’s meaning, but after further questioning, he realized her logic, in Little Red’s view, ’liking’ is interconnected.

Little Red felt that since she liked it, then ’it’ should like it too.

Angel originally thought Little Red might give a more substantial reason; the result was just such a simple reason.

Because she likes it, everyone else should like it too. This is evidently too self-centered; on a shallow level, it’s confidence; on a deeper level, it’s narcissism. However, coming from Little Red, it’s neither confidence nor narcissism but... innocence.

Innocent to the extent of being unworldly, thus able to utter such naive words.

Angel surely couldn’t agree with this reason, yet in the face of Little Red’s delight, he instinctively didn’t want to disappoint her and played along, saying: ”I also believe ’it’ will definitely like it.”

Then, amidst Little Red’s radiant smile, he picked up the previous red fox ear hairpin. Before everyone’s eyes, he constructed an alchemy model in the Mind Space.

Sparks flickered, rapidly turning in Angel’s palm.

Alchemy Flame can not only forge iron and melt steel, but it can also quickly transmute the form of matter.

This time, Angel didn’t need to melt. Just restructuring the red fox ear hairpin with the Alchemy Flame was enough. And the core of the log-in device needed no modification.

Thus, overall, the difficulty of re-forging was not high.

Moreover, the red fox ear hairpin and the cat ear hairpin, purely from appearance, didn’t differ much. Even the fur color was the same, hence Angel needed to change very little, making the refining quite simple.

So simple that even a regular alchemy apprentice could easily reshape it.

Even under everyone’s watchful gazes, Angel’s performance remained unaffected, smoothly converting the red fox ear hairpin into a fluffy cat ear hairpin in less than thirty seconds.

Once refined, Angel picked it up and compared it with the ear molded by Little Red in the Nightmare Illusion air mass, ensuring not a fraction of difference before putting away the Nightmare Illusion and handing the newly refined fluffy cat ear hairpin to Little Red.

”Take a look and see if this fits?”

Little Red had been watching Angel all along, having already seen the new hairpin. Faced with Angel’s inquiry, she naturally nodded without hesitation: ”It’s very pretty!”

Little Red excitedly accepted the new hairpin and, in front of everyone, directly put it on her head. —Of course, she was just wearing it, without activating the log-in device.

After putting on the hairpin, Little Red ran to the mirror to admire her new accessory.

And Angel happened to stand beside Little Red, one tall, one short, both sporting the same style of red cat ears, though one was substantial and the other illusory, in the mirror, there was no visible discrepancy. It was as if, a pair of cat-eared father and daughter or siblings, extremely harmonious.

Little Red twirled in front of the mirror, posing cutely, showing off for quite a while. Until the dog deacon beside couldn’t bear watching any longer, coughing to remind Little Red ”enough,” she leisurely returned to her seat.

Yet, even after sitting, she occasionally turned to look at the mirror, seemingly very satisfied with her new look.

After Little Red felt she had showcased enough, she suddenly thought of something, looking up at Angel.

”Cat brother, could you crouch down?”

Though Angel didn’t understand why she wanted him to crouch down, seeing Little Red clutching his pant leg, looking up eagerly at him, he softened and compliantly crouched down.

Once Angel’s ”height” matched hers, Little Red revealed the reason for asking him to crouch.

Little Red, happily shouting, spread her arms, and leaped into Angel’s embrace.

”Thank you, cat brother, I really like it! Really, really like it!”

Angel was stunned for a moment, until Little Red rubbed her neckline against him, her joyous emotions transmitted over, he then gently smiled and politely returned her hug.

Before long, Little Red voluntarily released her hug, looking up toward Angel’s head, seemingly observing something.

A few seconds later, Little Red’s expectant gaze abruptly transformed into joy: ”Indeed, ’it’ likes it too!”

Angel: ”Huh?”

’It’ likes it or not, how can that be seen?

While Angel was puzzled, Sipolov beside them surprisingly pointed at Angel’s head, his eyes also showing clear astonishment, as though seeing something.

Not just Sipolov, the dog deacon, Luigi, even Laplace, all looked at Angel’s head, long sidelong glances.

Seeing this bizarre scene, Angel’s heart skipped a beat.

Could it be, the cat ears granted by the witch’s blessing magic malfunctioned?

Angel dared not linger, immediately extending a spirit tentacle to observe his head’s cat ears from a third-party perspective.

Upon seeing the cat ears’ appearance, he stood frozen for a few seconds.

They... really changed.

Previously, the fur on the cat ears was sleek and smooth. Though they appeared tidy, they lacked personality and seemed somewhat dull.

Now, the fur on the cat ears, much like the fur on Little Red’s hairpin, was completely puffed up.

This puffing didn’t indicate chaos; instead, it offered a fluffiness. Moreover, with a slight sheen, it looked alive as if it had come to life.

Seeing this, Angel was also a bit astonished.

Supposedly, the cat ears on his head are a byproduct of the witch’s blessing magic, or rather a ”side-effect,” inherently illusory, intangible by hand, and absolutely unchangeable in form.

But at this moment, because of a single hug from Little Red, it has become fluffy and shiny.

This is simply unbelievable.

Even Luigi couldn’t help but mutter softly, ”This is too magical...”

Though the change isn’t big, if you think carefully, you will find it full of mystery.

It’s like a two-dimensional character on a paper, with a wave of the hand, transforming the hairstyle of a three-dimensional person. This analogy might be a bit inappropriate, but Luigi was thinking all about this—a change that crosses dimensions.

With Luigi muttering about magic, in contrast, Laplace focused more on whether this event has any impact on Angel...

The transformation of the cat ears signifies that a new ”variable” has emerged. The unknown may fill people with anticipation, but it could also bring disaster.

No one can be certain whether this change is good or bad.

Laplace certainly hopes that after coming to Dog House, Angel won’t be surrounded by unknown dangers.

”Do you feel any changes in your body now?” Laplace asked in the Mind Ribbon.

Angel had just returned to his senses from the shock when he heard Laplace’s question. He carefully perceived the changes in his body and finally confirmed—

”There’s no change.”

Or rather, the body in the Material Realm itself hasn’t undergone any changes.

Luigi also returned to reality from his reflections. He heard Laplace’s question and understood her concerns. Fortunately, the answer Angel gave seemed normal: ”No changes mean there should be no problem.”

Laplace: ”You can’t say that. As long as there is a change, there will definitely be a chain reaction, only this chain reaction may not necessarily happen to you, or not necessarily happen at present.”

Even a butterfly’s flap can cause a storm in the distant horizon.

Similarly, since it’s already changed, there will certainly be new influences. But these influences perhaps do not happen here, nor at this time, but rather in the ”unknown.”

”Unknown” is the most uncontrollable variable.

If Angel could check out the current changes, perhaps Laplace would be relieved. But the fact that there are no changes on him makes Laplace more concerned.

Luigi thought for a moment, speculating: ”Angel received the evil sorcerer’s blessing on food. Could it be that the changes in the cat ears will also influence the changes during his food making?”

This speculation isn’t unfounded since the original form of the cat ears was a demihuman specializing in cake making. The changes in the cat ears indeed have a high probability of affecting food crafting.

Even Laplace thinks this probability is the highest. However, if it indeed reflects in food changes, is it more likely that food creation will mutate? Or perhaps greater culinary disturbances might occur?

Angel hesitated a bit: ”Why don’t I make a Magic Bread now and see?”

Laplace and Luigi simultaneously called him to stop: ”Better not.”

It’s not about worrying Angel might experience mutations as before, but if the ”unknown variable” truly reflects in food crafting, no one knows what the final outcome will be.

It could get better, but it could also get worse.

For safety reasons, if Angel wants to try crafting food, it’s better to choose a more secluded and secure place.

And the place that meets these conditions is undoubtedly the Heart Space.

”If you really want to try, let’s wait until we’re back in the Heart Space,” Laplace suggested.

Angel thought about it and agreed with Laplace’s suggestion; now indeed is not quite suitable.

Moreover, all sorts of guesses they have at the moment are somewhat floating, and they haven’t even asked the key person.

Perhaps there’s no need to try; directly asking the initiator of this change—Little Red—might solve the puzzle.

...

Since Angel and the others had been conversing in the Mind Ribbon, others did not know what they were discussing.

So, to make Little Red understand, Angel briefly explained the origin of the cat ears.

Subsequently, he posed the key question to Little Red.

”Did you know about the change from the start? What impact will its change bring?”

Upon hearing, Little Red shook her head: ”No, I don’t know. However, isn’t this a good thing? ’It’ likes it.”

In Little Red’s perception, being liked by ’it’ means it’s not a bad thing.

This logic of a child is more simplistic and pure, but the place they are in is not a simple world, so others cannot agree with Little Red’s words.

However, compared to the absolute clarity of outsiders, Angel, who is also involved, actually agrees more with Little Red’s words.

Because Little Red had always shown a hope that ’it’ would not be lonely and that ’it’ would find companionship, she gave up on the red fox ears and chose the cat ears.

Facts prove that this approach by Little Red truly affected ’it’.

Although Little Red herself couldn’t explain the reasons, often words spoken subconsciously or actions taken unknowingly are possibly a pull from fate.

Therefore, Angel might not believe the world is overly simple, but as an involved party, he is willing at this moment to believe that fate is pushing behind the scenes.

Getting ’it’s’ fondness, perhaps, is not the bad thing they imagined.

Maybe the change in the cat ears will trigger unknown ripples, but based on current conditions, these ripples may not be a bad thing.

As Angel thought this, Little Red continued: ”Regarding what impacts? I also don’t know. But, I can smell the change in the scent of cat brother’s ears.”

Little Red’s words instantly drew everyone’s attention.

They don’t believe Little Red’s previous simplistic words, but they do believe in Little Red’s magical ability to analyze scents.

Previously, Little Red analyzed and discovered that the cat ears contain two types of information: the smell of cake and loneliness.

Now, with the change in the cat ears, its information naturally got updated.

Perhaps through the changes in cat ear information, we can judge whether the ”unknown variable” is positively or negatively affecting Angel?

Under everyone’s gaze, Little Red seriously observed the fluffy cat ears atop Angel’s head. After a long while, she slowly spoke: ”The smell of loneliness has become very faint.”

The disappearance of the scent of loneliness explains why Little Red previously said ’it’ must like it.

Luigi: ”Besides that?”

Little Red: ”Apart from the disappearance of the loneliness smell, the cake aroma has also changed. It has become much more... delicious.”