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Page 165
Ling also reached out and scratched Beo's chin from below, making him let out a comfortable groan. "I'm just guessing. Ordinary werewolves aside, Beo should be able to sense your identity. Since that's the case, he naturally has a good impression of you. If no one shows hostility, he won't attack people randomly. Even if it's Touko-nee—well, even if it's Aozaki Touko's order, he'll act according to his own heart, since the contract between Aozaki Touko and him can't restrain him at all."
“Yes, I have a good feeling about this woman, so I won’t hurt her. But my warning just now was genuine, after all, I only found out her identity after I turned back into a werewolf.” Enjoying the caresses, Beo narrowed his eyes. Although he was in wolf form, he could still speak human language, which made Ilya, who had retreated to a distance, envious.
"But what's wrong with you? It's normal that this fantasy creature doesn't attack me, but why is it so compliant and lets you touch it?" Olga was enjoying the feel of Beo's golden fur, almost becoming addicted to it. This was the first time in her life that she had ever seen a real legendary golden wolf, on par with a dragon.
Over at Chaldea, after hearing Ling and Olga mention the term "Phantom Species" twice, Waver, finally realizing he had misjudged the situation, looked at Orange again, "That golden wolf is actually a Phantasm?"
Orange nodded proudly, smiling as she watched Beo's beautiful figure on the screen. "That's right, Beo isn't a high-level mythical beast, but a true fantasy species. Well, you might not know this, but in the standards for werewolves, there's no such thing as golden fur."
The magicians present looked at Orange with admiration. After all, Orange was a legendary fantasy creature, and to be able to take such a thing as a familiar was simply a miracle.
Under the admiring gazes of the crowd, Orange took another drag of his cigarette, blew out a smoke ring, and continued his explanation.
"In werewolf society, silver is the highest bloodline. Silver werewolves become the leaders of the pack, their status surpassing that of magical beasts. Above them, golden werewolves are beings whose intelligence is beyond human comprehension. I have a friend who possesses an artificially created ultimate mystery, while werewolves are a mystery born from nature, a miracle created after thousands or tens of thousands of years of life activities. This mystery must be at least three thousand years old."
"Back then, my friend who possessed the ultimate, mysterious, artificially created magic was defeated twice by Beo. Human magicians, no, any magician born from the current foundation of magic, theoretically cannot create magic that can defeat werewolves. Ancient monsters over two thousand years old have been the natural enemies of magicians since the Western calendar. If it is a pure magical confrontation, the attack will pass through, and magic will be completely ineffective in this situation."
Upon hearing Orange's explanation, all the magicians in the control room couldn't help but shudder. Fatty Goldef stared at the golden wolf on the screen with a pale face, and took a few steps away from Aozaki Orange. Previously, because they had been riding in the same helicopter, Goldef Mujik had made many gentlemanly invitations to Aozaki Orange, but now it seemed that he was just courting death!
"I guess that golden wolf is no longer with you, is it?" Weber suddenly said.
Orange's smile froze. She glared at Webber in annoyance before revealing a dejected expression. "Ah, yes, yes, that heartless little bastard has left me! As expected of Detective El-Melloi II, how did you guess that?"
Hearing Orange admit it so readily, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Weber took out a simple ashtray, flicked off his cigarette ash, and then handed the ashtray to Orange. Orange raised an eyebrow and flicked off the ash from his cigarette as well.
"That Servant said that it was impossible to defeat you with short hair. So, can I assume that you with long hair are not as threatening as you with short hair? And hair is a powerful reservoir of magical energy for a magician. What did you do with your short hair? Combined with the Servant's mention of a contract, the answer is self-evident—you used your long hair, which you've been growing for a long time, to make a contract with this golden wolf."
"Brilliant reasoning!" Orange couldn't help but applaud, while at the same time, Ling and the others started talking about new things.
Ling crouched down, wrapped her arms around Beo's neck, buried her face in his body, and smelled the same scent as the warm, sun-dried blankets. A slight smile curved her lips. "You should ask Beo that question~"
Instead of disliking Ling's actions, Beo leaned closer to him. However, He also heard Olga and Ling's conversation: "Because this person has several very pleasant smells."
"Smells nice?" Olga paused for a moment, then her face turned a little red as if she remembered something. She admitted that Ling smelled nice, but that was the only kind of mint she knew.
"Hmm, it has your scent, the scent of several of my kind, and the scent of places I long for." Beo's mental age is consistent with his appearance when he took human form. Although he is very knowledgeable, his ability to express himself clearly still needs improvement.
"Ling, what's going on?" Olga didn't understand, so she asked Ling, who seemed to know everything in her mind.
“It’s easy to understand. I smell like you, Olga.” Ling lifted his head from Beo’s fur, the fluffy feeling making him love it. Although he was a cat lover, it didn’t mean he couldn’t be a dog lover. Well, strictly speaking, Beo was a wolf, and a fantasy species at that, completely different from ordinary creatures. Besides, whether Fou should be classified as a cat or a dog was still a question. As a mature adult, he certainly didn’t need to make any choices!
However, Olga was not calm after hearing Ling's first explanation. She knew that Chaldea was monitoring this place, and Ling's sudden words made her feel extremely ashamed!
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Olga pretended not to understand Ling's words and moved away from Ling a little bit—about two centimeters away—as if she were a thief.
"The taste of the same kind is a bit hard to say, but I'm sure Fou is one of them." Hearing Ling mention the name Fou, Beo turned his head and asked urgently, "Who is that? Who is that?"
“Fou is an adorable white pet. She is much younger than you. After all, you are about to enter adolescence, while she is still a child. Well, I guess she is a child. You are a wolf, and Fou should be a cat, although I think she looks more like a puppy.” Ling said affectionately while stroking Beo’s fur.
Back in Chaldea, Fou heard Ling mention her to Beo, and proudly called out "Four! Fou!" twice. Unfortunately, Ling couldn't hear her. Meanwhile, Ling's mention and Fou's actions in Chaldea attracted a lot of attention.
Even Ad, whom Grey was holding, exclaimed in surprise, "Huh, that kid actually knew this demon cat was a fantasy species? He seems to be quite something!"
"Chaldea can even raise fantasy species. It's really not a simple place." Waver was quite surprised when he heard that Fou was also a fantasy species. After all, Fou couldn't compare to the Golden Wolf in the transmogrification from any angle. But since that Servant said so, it wasn't surprising that this little animal he didn't recognize, who he didn't know was a cat or a dog, was a fantasy species.
Furthermore, Yad has given a new clue, namely the "demon cat." Considering Yad's identity, it shouldn't be too difficult to guess what Fufu's true identity is.
The Chaldea staff, however, looked bewildered. As Chaldea's mascot, Fou is a very mysterious figure. Apart from two or three people, Fou doesn't get close to anyone else. But her adorable figure, which appears everywhere in the mansion, makes it impossible for anyone who sees her to look away. Therefore, Fou is very popular in Chaldea.
But now, when Ling tells them that this cute little creature is a fantasy species, they all look at Mashu's shoulder at once. This action startles Fou, so she also shrinks back into Mashu's arms and buries her face in Mashu's developing little chest.
This adorable gesture brought a sense of healing, and whether it was a fantasy species or not became irrelevant in the face of cuteness.
Gordelf Mujik hesitated for a moment, then walked up to Mashu, his massive body looming over her. He asked the bewildered Mashu with a friendly smile, "Um, little sister. Are you selling this pet?"
However, a chill ran down his spine the moment he finished speaking. His innate survival instinct made him immediately return to his original position, saying as he went, "I was just joking! Seriously! Do you Chaldeans have absolutely no sense of humor?!"
Rafe watched Goldef Mujik's actions, snorted, and looked away, thinking to himself: I thought he was going to do something to Mashu, but it turns out he was just trying to be funny.
Although Gordelf Mujik had left Mashu's side, his gaze was still deeply drawn to Fou. Koyanskaya also turned to look at Fou, a flash of disgust in her eyes. As a fellow "human evil" who believed in the law of the jungle, she couldn't bully Fou now, which made her very uncomfortable.
However, this trip to Chaldea was not without its gains. At least she discovered a new being, namely [Ling]. Now Koyanskaya has focused all her attention on this person, and she is absolutely certain that this Ling is a completely different being from [Ji Ling] whom she knows.
Putting aside appearance and temperament, just in terms of personality, this Ling is a thousand times better than Ji Ling, who thinks she is the only one in the world. Although Ji Ling also knows a lot of things, she could not possibly know Fu Fu's, nor would she patiently explain things to others like this.
Koyanskaya looked at Ling, who was speaking eloquently on the screen, with the eyes of someone looking at a rare item, and felt a surge of excitement in her heart.
On the screen, Ling had already stood up again, but he was only doing so to make it easier to groom the fur on the back of the golden wolf. "As for the taste you long for, it probably refers to the inner side of the planet, that is, the inner sea of the star."
At this point, Ling looked at Beo with a bit of a laugh, "Hey, Beo, you should have gone there a long time ago. But think back to your situation at the beginning, if you hadn't met Sister Orange, you wouldn't even know about the Star Inner Sea, right?"
"Wait, wait, wait! The Sea Within the Stars!? How come you have the aura of the Sea Within the Stars on you?!" Olga's question was not only of curiosity to her, but also drew the attention of the Chaldea people on another timeline.
“What’s so strange about that? Before being summoned by Chaldea through the Farthest Tower by Merry, I spent a very, very long time in the Inner Sea of Stars, longer than my entire life.” Ling chuckled softly, her tone extremely gentle.
"What kind of place is that?" Beo looked at Ling curiously. He knew that one day he would enter that place, while Ling was the one who left it. In order to have a concept of where he would be in the future, he asked curiously.
In order to answer Beo's question, Listen decided to first explain to Him the concepts of the outer side of the star, the inner side of the star, and the outer side of the star.
“Hey Beo, although you studied with Sister Orange at the Clock Tower for a year, you probably didn’t come into contact with this kind of knowledge during that year.”
"Huh? How do you know about this? Do you know Orange?" Beo asked in a pleasant voice.
At the same time, Chaldea also looked curiously at Aozaki Touko, but Touko ignored these probing gazes, her deep eyes revealing something she was thinking.
"Yeah, I was doing just fine, but that Orange guy dragged me away and made me run all over the world. Although fighting those magicians was fun, she wouldn't let me eat people. Thinking about it now, it still feels a bit boring." Beo, who now has the face of a wolf, still showed a very human expression, and his complaining look was so vivid.
"But if Orange Sister hadn't pulled you away from the Clock Tower, you wouldn't have been able to experience the taste of defeat, right? Whether it's Magic Blue or Shizuki Kusajuro, without Orange Sister's guidance, you wouldn't have been able to experience these things at all, would you?"
Beo squatted on the ground, looking at Ling with her beautiful emerald eyes, her gaze full of curiosity. "Huh, how do you know those things? Were you hiding somewhere at the time? No, I didn't smell your scent at all."
Chapter 390 Golden Wolf (Part 2)
"Of course I haven't smelled it. This is the first time we've met. As for the story of the Night of the Wizard, I only know about it." Ling looked at Beo, who had squatted down and was now at eye level with him, and felt a little discouraged about his current height.
"But judging from your tone, you and Orange are quite familiar with each other." Beo wasn't stupid. As a fantasy species, he could be considered the most perfect life form on the planet, so his intelligence was comparable to that of the most intelligent humans.
"This is a complicated issue, so let's not talk about it." Ling waved her hand and glanced at the full moon above. "But the moonlight is really beautiful tonight. If I had fought you under such a moon, even that mysterious savage probably wouldn't have been able to hurt your heart."
"Savage? Ah, you mean Kusajuro? Indeed, Orange's sister and the witch whose stomach I tore open also call him that. But Kusajuro is very powerful, you can't underestimate him!" Beo seemed a little dissatisfied with Ling's underestimation of Shizuki Kusajuro. He trembled, making the area that Ling had just combed become messy again. Then he looked at Ling expectantly, as if as punishment, he wanted Ling to comb it again.
"Alright, alright. After all, he's the only one I can recall who fought a Phantasm with the body of an ordinary person." Ling continued her previous actions nonchalantly. "By the way, Beo, were you born under this kind of moonlight?"
"I don't know, I forgot." Beo let out a soft, comfortable hum, not responding much to Ling's question.
"Is that so? But that makes sense. Your childhood wasn't exactly a pleasant memory for you."
"Ling, do you know how Fantasy Species are born?" Olga looked at her servant in shock. The more she spent with Ling, the more she realized how unfathomable Ling was. After all, even as the Star Priestess herself, she did not know how Fantasy Species were born. It was the planet's greatest secret, much like the origin and weakness of a magician's family lineage.
On the Chaldean side, everyone listened quietly, but Da Vinci looked worried. The investigation team had discovered Ling's unique characteristics, and his return would surely cause a huge uproar.
"I don't know, but I do know how Beo was born." Feeling the warmth of the spring sun, as if infected by the temperature, Ling couldn't help but squint her eyes and reveal an extremely gentle expression.
"Beowulf's original name was Ruger. Orange Sister gave him the suffix Beowulf after she bought him."
"Buy it?" Olga repeated the word, full of doubt.
Ling nodded, and said in a tone that was both amused and exasperated, "Yes, it was indeed bought, and it didn't cost much. But, Beo, is it alright if I continue?"
Beo shook his head and replied in a calm voice, "It's alright, I also want to hear if what you know is correct. But as the price for revealing my past, you have to tell me about your past later, and also about that place that keeps calling me!"
"—Okay, then I'll tell you about the Inner Sea of the Stars and my time there in a bit." Ling paused slightly while stroking Beo's hand, then continued as if nothing had happened.
On the Chaldea side, when they heard Ling say with such certainty that the fantasy creature was bought by Aozaki Touko, they all looked at Touko with envious, jealous, and hateful eyes.
"What? I just got lucky, is that so wrong?" Orange raised an eyebrow and glanced at everyone. "Now that Beo has left me, even if you're all looking at me like this, I can't sell Him to you. Now, listen to my story!"
Orange's gaze held a sharp edge, causing those who were swept over by her to unconsciously look away.
"Beo is probably the last pure fantasy species living on the surface of the stars in modern times. As you can see, He is a golden werewolf, a spirit of nature. One day in the eighteenth century, He fell into the werewolf world as Shizuku, that is, the [Star Drop]."
Ling slowly began to recount, "Beo's hometown is in a primeval forest on the European continent. Even now, it remains a remote and untouched place. It is a quiet world undisturbed by humans, where werewolves live a leisurely and carefree life. Suddenly one day, He appeared in the forest, with golden fur just like the ancestor of werewolves. He was discovered by the werewolves in a cave far from the village. When they found Him, He was fast asleep, as if He had always been sleeping there."
Whether it was because Ling mentioned that time or not, Beo couldn't help but squint his eyes and slowly lower his body.
"The news of the new companion's arrival immediately caused a sensation throughout the werewolf village. With the passage of time and the changing era, the werewolves' fertility had been steadily declining over the past two thousand years since entering civilized society. For a tribe to produce a new life within ten years was a cause for celebration. Especially since he had no gray or white fur, only the pure gold color bestowed upon him by the forest god, it's easy to understand why his appearance brought new hope to the entire village. This was a tribe in constant decline, an era that demanded change, and the little wolf, shining with dazzling light, temporarily made the werewolves forget their fundamental problems."
"In the werewolf's homeland, Lugh means sun, so it was named after the sun. On a side note, I think that werewolf village should be near Ireland, because in Celtic mythology, the god of light and sun is named Lugh.mac.Ethlenn, and Wang Jiang's father is this god."
"Who is Wang Jiang?" Beo reopened his eyes, looking at Ling with innocent curiosity.
"Cú Chulainn, the Son of Light of Ireland, is a pitiful fellow. If things had progressed normally according to the original world line, if Beo hadn't returned to the Inner Sea after eleven years, you should have been able to meet him in Fuyuki City. However, although he is the son of the sun god, most of the things he possesses have nothing to do with his father. Even though his father is the best father among all the gods in mythology."
Ling smiled and said, "This is not just idle talk. After all, according to mythology, Cú Chulainn's father, the god Ruge, gave his son many incredible things. Without those things, Cú Chulainn's achievements would not have been so great."
In the Fifth Holy Grail War, when Wang was summoned, his Noble Phantasm was only a pathetic magic spear. If he had been summoned as a true Berserker, with his unending blessing, dust-slaying warhorse, sun chariot, and six-circle massacre mental state, even Gilgamesh would have had a hard time killing him. In fact, without using the Chains of Heaven, Wang might have been able to kill him.
However, at that time, the first to die would probably be the residents of Fuyuki City or his Master. After all, Wang-chan under the Six Circles Massacre was truly ruthless and a complete berserker.
"Let's stop with the digression for now and get back to you." Ling shook his head, putting aside his fantasies. The topic ahead was a bit depressing, so he stroked Beo even more gently.
"But as time went by, the werewolves' attitude gradually changed from joy to disappointment. This little golden werewolf, ever since he was discovered as an incredible miracle, had not changed in appearance. He had not grown up for decades. He neither aged nor died, so he could not gain the werewolves' favor. And he could not find his mother in the village. During this time, no werewolf in the village could understand him."
"Gradually, the werewolves finally discovered that Beo was a spirit born of nature. Although he was born in the form of a werewolf, he was actually a completely different creature from them. He was named Rug by the werewolves because they believed he would bring salvation to the village, but in the end, he did not bring any salvation, and the werewolf village continued to decline."
"At that time, Beo finally realized that he was different from his companions. He was a fantasy species. From the moment he was born, he was perfect. Therefore, he did not need offspring, so his gender was uncertain."
"Huh?" Olga exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this.
"What are you 'huh' about?" Ling glared at Olga, annoyed. After all, she had just gotten into the mood and was speaking with such emotion, but now she had ruined the atmosphere.
“This golden wolf, um, I mean, Beo doesn’t actually have a gender?” Olga looked the beautiful beast up and down beside her, her eyes involuntarily glancing towards a certain place, while Beo, noticing her gaze, did not react.
"Fantasy species are synonymous with 'perfection.' Their bodies, which are materialized from souls, can change into any shape. If they find a suitable partner, they can even change their gender. Unless they do it intentionally, they are genderless normally."
"A body made of materialized soul, isn't that the same as a Servant?" Olga thought of how the Servant's body was also made of materialized soul, and her eyes couldn't help but look at Ling's face.
Upon hearing the term "materialization of the soul," Irisviel exclaimed in surprise.
“Aside from a few special cases, or the special fantasies that humans have imposed on them, all Heroic Spirits have genders.” Ling raised an eyebrow, not expecting Olga to ask this question, and even looking at him fearlessly.
"As for special cases, you've already seen them, haven't you?" Ling looked at Olga, whose face suddenly turned red, with a half-smile. Sure enough, Olga misunderstood after hearing these words.
"Is it possible that you are—Is my charm really that great? That it would make you—Will you revert to—" Olga clearly thought of something strange, and she stammered, her eyes darting around.
"—Sometimes I think Olga, you're quite narcissistic, and you don't need to doubt my gender at all. Whether you've experienced it yourself or in my memory, I've been a man since birth!" Ling chopped her forehead with a chop, then kept tapping it.
Back in Chaldea, the staff in the central management office were whispering amongst themselves in small groups.
“It’s happening again, it’s happening again—” a male member said to the female member next to him.
"Yes, this sweet and sour romantic comedy... Ling's method is to play hard to get, constantly teasing Director Olga with this ambiguous attitude. It seems the director is really completely under his thumb." The female member said with a teasing expression.
"Huh, is that your view? But I think Ling is playing with fire. My ex-boyfriend was like that, he liked to tease people, and he got more and more outrageous, so I broke up with him in the end. At the time, he looked at me in disbelief and asked me what he had done wrong." A plump woman next to him spoke as if she had been through it all.
"Huh, is that so?" The woman from before looked puzzled.
"Judging from your appearance, you've never been in a relationship. Ling's behavior is a major taboo," the voluptuous woman said, narrowing her eyes and explaining persuasively, "Love is something that can't withstand testing. If Ling continues like this, the proud director will definitely explode eventually..."
Everyone around, men and women alike, pricked up their ears to listen to this person's analysis of love, while the investigation team—
As a clergyman, Father Dawn held a prudent attitude towards love.
Grey held the ashtray, gazing at the teacher's retreating figure with her clear eyes.
Weber sensed his disciple's gaze, so he dared not turn around and pretended to be serious despite his stomach pain.
Koyanskaya wore an incredibly strange expression, seemingly both smug and mocking.
Goldef stared at Olga in shock, unable to comprehend how the head of the prestigious Animusfia family could fall in love with his servant.
Orange turned to look at Da Vinci, and asked with a hint of surprise, "Your director and that servant actually have that kind of relationship?"
Da Vinci smiled and nodded. "Young people have their own plans, and it's already quite an achievement that they've stumbled and fallen their way to this point. We have no intention of stopping them; we should just watch over them with blessings."
"—It seems your Chaldea is much more interesting than I imagined." Orange had finished her cigarette, so she took the ashtray from Gray's hand and stubbed it out.
Handing the simple ashtray to Waver, Orange looked at Ling and Olga and said earnestly, "Undeniably, Director Olga and that Heroic Spirit who seems to know me are quite interesting, but I don't have high hopes for them."
After stating this conclusion, Orange didn't continue. Da Vinci understood what she meant. The identities of Ling and Olga were a big problem. But then, her worry about their relationship vanished, and she even felt a strong urge to rush into another timeline and beat Ling up.
Because Ling explained to Olga the so-called special case he had mentioned earlier.
Chapter 391 The Magician Assassin's Negotiation Tactics (Part 1)
"The special case I'm referring to is Leonardo da Vinci. Her body is the product of the materialization of her soul. The reason I call it a special case is because, just as she called her body the 'perfect body,' her gender is a mystery. No one knows what her primary sexual characteristics are until she takes them off. It might be that she has none at all, or it might be that she has both."
At this point, Ling revealed a strange smile. He knew that Chaldea was probably watching, so he deliberately continued, "Hey Olga, when we get back, let's secretly ask Dr. Roman. Maybe he knows the answer to this Schrödinger's riddle."
Upon hearing these words, the atmosphere in the Chaldea control room became eerie.
—Why did Leonardo da Vinci not ask Dr. Roman below?
The question seemed to hover visibly above the control room. Sensing the tense atmosphere, Dr. Roman stood up and loudly protested, "I don't know anything! There's nothing between Leonardo and me!"