Volume 6, Chapter 49 – Twice the Charm

“Hey, are you crazy?!”

Rather than Fia’s words, Nola was more focused on Fia’s action of grabbing the Red Element Stone in her palm. Elves weren’t like Fire Cats with the ability to absorb the heat of flames. Even for a Fire Cat, grabbing a Red Element Stone directly would result in the most direct burns.

She subconsciously grabbed Fia’s slender wrist, trying to pull Fia’s hand back. However, she quickly noticed the anomaly. If Fia had been burned, her expression wouldn’t be as natural as it was now. She looked at Fia’s hand hesitantly.

“…Don’t you think this is hot?”

“Is that your concern? But I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.” Flustered by Nola’s fuss, Fia withdrew her hand from the Red Element Stone, showing her tender and smooth elf palm to Nola. “See? Nothing at all. I’m naturally good with fire. Even if a Moon Dragon breathes fire on me, I’ll only feel warm.”

Only a temperature at the level of an orbital bombardment would make her feel scalding, but even that couldn’t really cause burns.

“Naturally good with fire… Don’t tell me your talent includes fire immunity magic?”

“Pretty much.”

“Ugh, compared to me, you should be the one called Fire Cat. No, Fire Elf.”

Nola was speechless at first, then clicked her tongue unwillingly. Fire Cats were famous among beastmen for their ability to manipulate flames. Now an elf appeared who was not only better at using fire than her but also possessed the talent of fire immunity. It was exceptionally discouraging. The gap in talent felt more unreachable than lack of effort.

Fia curled her lips in amusement, her index finger twirling a strand of black hair.

“You’d have to dye your hair orange-red like yours first. How about my previous proposal? Try my flames.”

“Try then try. But don’t expect me to give a good review. Ying tried to make me taste hers like you before, and the taste was more bitter than the root of bitter herbs. It simply refreshed my understanding of bitterness.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just tell the truth.”

“You’d better hope I lie.”

As Nola’s voice fell, a candle-like flame appeared at the tip of Fia’s index finger. Nola curled her lips in disdain.

“Too small.”

“Want it bigger? I was worried that if it tasted bad, Nola would force herself to eat something she disliked for my sake.”

“You are not Claire. I wouldn’t go to that extent for you.”

So dishonest.

Fia sighed secretly in her heart. If Nola really hated her, she wouldn’t have agreed to her request to try the flames. After all, in Nola’s mind, flames released by magic were unpleasant things.

To satisfy Nola, Fia turned the flickering flame that seemed ready to go out at any time into the size of a fireball. The blazing spherical flame, accompanied by high heat and the whoosh of accelerated air flow, contained energy that made one subconsciously want to avoid it.

“As expected of a magic caster who easily solved an eighth-rank undead. Even the fireball is much larger than others’. I can feel the rich magic power inside.”

While praising verbally, Nola’s eyes were also fixed on the interior of the fireball. Just as Fia thought, she didn’t actually expect Fia’s flames to be delicious before. Since Fia proposed it, she just went along to satisfy Fia’s small wish. This feeling was very close to temporarily looking after a neighbor’s little sister—because she was cute, as long as the request wasn’t too troublesome, she couldn’t help but satisfy it.

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But now the fireball Fia displayed made her expectant. The more sufficient the magic power in the flame, the more delicious it tasted. The fireball in front of her looked rich in magic power, so the taste shouldn’t be too bad. For a moment, Nola felt like a diner tasting cuisine, full of anticipation for fresh ingredients.

She chanted a spell. White flames rose from her fiery red cat ears, and her right hand extended flat over the orange-red fireball. Because the distance was too close and the flame temperature too high, she had to stand up to avoid burning her palm. Then, she used the Fire Cat Tribe’s innate magic as she did just now.

The room was extremely quiet. Except for the fireball shaking slightly at the beginning as if blown by a breeze, there was no other change. It seemed Nola hadn’t activated her magic at all.

Fia waited for two or three seconds, looking up at Nola curiously.

“How does it taste?”

Nola’s expression was exceptionally subtle, with a hint of self-doubt.

“Rather than how it tastes… my magic failed.”

“Failed?”

Fia blinked in confusion. Comparing carefully with the previous Red Element Stone, the magic Nola displayed before and now was indeed different. Before, the flame on the Red Element Stone rose straight up as if sucked by Nola’s palm, but now the flame on her hand only shook slightly at the beginning.

“How is that possible? Such a situation has never occurred… Is it because I’m in estrus that I can’t even control magic?”

Muttering to herself, Nola re-injected magic power into the Red Element Stone on the table and activated her innate magic to absorb the flame. The fact was that the flame rose toward her palm again. She hadn’t lost the ability to use innate magic due to entering the period.

Then the problem lay with Fia.

She looked at Fia suspiciously.

“You aren’t teasing me, putting something that isn’t a fireball in front of me, are you?”

“No, I wouldn’t make that kind of joke. Probably my magic is too stable, and Nola’s innate magic is treated as ‘attacking my magic with magic’, so Nola’s magic failed to activate.”

Just like her magic power was too abundant for any detection magic to work on her, Nola’s process of absorbing flame heat was similar to [Plunder], and [Plunder] couldn’t take away overly stable and powerful magic power, so the magic naturally failed.

“Magic so stable that I can’t even absorb it when you release it for me? Is the gap between you and me this big? I’m a seventh-rank Holy Son, after all!”

Probably.

Asking further would take forever. Fia simply lowered the flame’s power and slowly relaxed her mental control over the flame. In an instant, the flame breaking free from Fia’s restraint expanded with a poof . Fia hurriedly called out to Nola.

“Nola, now!”

Because she was already in the state of activating innate magic, Nola followed Fia’s command, placing both hands over the flame. This time her magic finally activated successfully. The expanding flames rushed toward her together. Before the flames reached her, the high temperature dropped rapidly. As if absorbed by Nola’s hands, the flames surged into Nola’s palms in a cone shape until they completely disappeared.

“How was it?”

Fia leaned forward slightly, her ruby-like eyes wide open, like a child expecting praise from her mother.

However, Nola just stared blankly. She looked at her lustrous hands with a dazed face. It wasn’t until she discovered Fia’s face leaning close behind these hands that she jolted violently. An imperceptible blush appeared on her cheeks, and she looked away at the ground to the side.

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“Not very good.”

“Even my flames won’t do? Do flames released through magic have innate defects…”

Fia withdrew her leaning body and sighed with regret. This made Nola feel guilty. In fact, the taste of Fia’s flames was quite delicious, even surpassing the fire produced by burning high-concentration magic ore. Nola found it hard to describe the taste of this flame with a simple word—sweet and fragrant, magnificent but not too intense. It didn’t even feel like fire, but more like the winter sun, causing a warm laziness to rise in her chest, as if every cell in her body were groaning for this comfort.

Precisely because of this, she couldn’t control her wandering mind just now. Her thoughts were all on the warmth circulating in her body. This warmth gave such a sense of security that it reminded her of the nostalgia and joy when Claire patted her head and praised her when she lived with Claire in the past. Yes, it was that warmth and happiness of being stroked. The warmth spread from her heart to her whole body, wrapping her gently.

However, due to the resistance in her heart, she couldn’t frankly praise Fia’s flames as delicious, reminding her of the peace of mind Claire brought her in childhood. So she forcibly tightened her expression and answered “Not very good.”

Fia’s serious thinking expression now truly made her conscience uneasy.

I am truly a collection of contradictions.

Nola cursed secretly in her heart but felt helpless.

Ultimately, it was all because Fia was too good. If she hadn’t kept sticking to her, she would have seriously treated Fia as a powerful opponent, clearly separating public and private matters. Mixed up like now, she couldn’t hate or love properly, caught in a dilemma.

While Nola blamed herself, Fia was still pinching her chin in thought.

“Maybe it’s a problem with the person. Nola dislikes me, so she thinks the taste is bad. If it were Claire, she might find it delicious. But Claire’s magic power should be inferior to mine… What is the standard for taste here? My magic’s magic power concentration is definitely higher than magic ore.”

No, actually your flames are much more delicious than magic ore.

Guilt prevented Nola from ignoring it. She stopped Fia’s meaningless thinking and led the topic in another direction. Sitting up straight, she feigned coldness.

“Amazing that you can say I dislike you right to my face. You came back from Tsukuyomi’s side, right? Didn’t Tsukuyomi treat you well? Your clothes look very tidy.”

“Miss Tsukuyomi certainly treated me well, but what does this have to do with clothes?”

Sitting beside Nola, Fia tilted her head.

Nola raised her eyebrows, her face full of surprise.

“Do you really not understand or are you pretending? To be honest, I won’t laugh at you even if you say it. Anyway, you must have done it with those ambiguous friends of yours long ago. We beastmen aren’t as particular—or should I say secretive—as you elves.”

“No, no, no, I don’t understand what Nola is saying at all. Miss Tsukuyomi just invited me to watch the Charm Cat dance, then enjoy their cuisine and fruit wine. Finally, like you absorbing the nutrition of flames, she asked if I could share some energy with her. Nothing special happened. And what do you mean by ‘must have done it with ambiguous friends’? I think Nola has a deep misunderstanding of me. I don’t mess around like you beastmen; I don’t have the promiscuous relationships you imagine.”

After a long string of explanations, Fia frowned again, her face full of unhappiness.

“Unbelievable. Why would you think of me as that kind of person? Nola must be judging a gentleman with a villain’s heart. Being like that yourself, you think I am too. I thought you were a decent person; didn’t expect you to be such a fire cat. Tell me honestly, how many times have you secretly sought Charm Cats to solve physiological problems?”

“You’re the one seeking Charm Cats to solve physiological problems! I am single-minded toward Claire!”

“Then why would you think I’m so casual?”

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“This—”

This is because the general environment of beastmen is like this. Saying this sentence would be shaming her own people, so Nola changed the focus. She relaxed her shoulders slightly, moved her gaze away from Fia’s face, and pretended to say inadvertently.

“The way those girls around you look at you isn’t right. That is clearly the look of seeing someone they like. As long as you nod, they would obediently strip naked and climb into bed. Isn’t this deliberately leading me to think in that direction?”

“Ugh.”

This time, it was Fia’s turn to be speechless. Nola was indeed right; both Liti and Tilulu met the conditions she mentioned.

However, losing the argument like this would be losing face. She closed her eyes, puffed out her chest, and snorted unceremoniously.

“I’m not interested in children.” Fia opened one eye, glancing at Nola. To regain the initiative, she spoke exceptionally boldly. “Someone your age is more like it. Small waist, well-developed, and most importantly, beautiful—except for the foul personality.”

Whether from shyness or anger, Nola’s face flushed instantly. She argued loudly.

“You… you’re the foul one! And what do you mean by someone my age? Let me state first: even if you take a fancy to me, I can’t possibly agree. In the first place, this is absurd in itself. The joke has gone too far.”

The attack was effective.

Nola’s blushing and heart-pounding reaction made Fia secretly delighted. She pursued with a serious face.

“Is there no possibility for us? Even though I still think Nola is a nice cat.”

“You bastard. I’ve wanted to say this since before: don’t confuse fire cats with house cats.”

After the initial fluster, Nola more or less realized Fia was joking. She stood up, put the iron plate and Red Element Stone on the table into her storage item, her tone gradually calming.

“You said just now that Tsukuyomi invited you to taste the Charm Cat Tribe’s dance and cuisine. Usually, the next step is to follow the alcohol’s effect to the bed. This allows the Charm Cats to absorb energy while letting you, the guest, enjoy yourself. That’s why I asked why your clothes weren’t messy at all. From your tone, it didn’t develop to that final step.”

“Tsukuyomi didn’t talk about those things with me, though absorbing energy did happen. Ah, speaking of which, Tsukuyomi even praised me, saying my taste is more delicious than yours, Nola. I guess Charm Cats and Fire Cats are no different in this regard; the higher the magic power concentration, the more delicious. Strange… even though Tsukuyomi said I was very good, why is it not okay with Nola? Maybe Charm Cats and Fire Cats can’t be simply compared…”

Hearing Fia’s words, Nola raised her eyebrows and suddenly stood in front of Fia, her movement even stirring up a cold breeze. As if interrogating about an extremely important matter, she leaned down, her hands tightly gripping Fia’s shoulders, her eyes full of wavering and disbelief.

“Tsukuyomi said your energy is better than mine?”

“Why do you have an expression like you want to eat someone?” Nola’s aggressive gaze made Fia feel guilty. She turned her eyes away, pretending to be relaxed. “Not just Tsukuyomi, other Charm Cats present said so too. A large group of people swarmed over and squeezed me in the middle. If your Cold Night nights weren’t so cold, I would have sweated from the heat.”

This was, of course, Fia’s simplified version of events. In reality, after hearing Tsukuyomi’s praise, the other Charm Cats stared at Fia with green light in their eyes, like starving ghosts smelling meat soup. It wasn’t until Tsukuyomi fainted with swirling mosquito-coil eyes as if drunk that these Charm Cats tremblingly asked Fia if they could absorb some energy from her to fill their stomachs.

Because Fia didn’t think absorbing energy was anything special—Charm Cats absorbing energy was a type of mental attack, so Fia naturally couldn’t feel it—she agreed to those Charm Cats’ blushing requests.

As a result, the hall upstairs fell into chaos. If Fia had to describe it, it was like super-concentrated catnip being sprinkled in a cat shelter. A large group of cats with glazed eyes hugged or leaned on each other, sometimes extending warm tongues to lick their companions’ cheeks, nibbling on their ears, or even rolling slowly on the ground breathing hot air, looking drunk and unconscious.

Because the situation gradually spiraled out of control later on, the Charm Cats started saying the room was too hot, taking off their clothes one by one and clinging to Fia. Fia, the instigator, naturally felt things were going bad and hurriedly fled amidst the chaos. Before leaving, to prevent the Charm Cats from being taken advantage of, she thoughtfully closed the door tight and instructed the female guards on the floor not to let anyone enter that floor.

What Fia didn’t know was that this was the result of Charm Cats eating overly delicious energy and then uncontrollably eating too much. The fact was that only Fia could achieve this extent. If it were anyone else, even Nola, having energy absorbed by dozens of Charm Cats including Tsukuyomi would mean lying in bed for half a year in extreme pain, even if they didn’t turn into a dried corpse on the spot.

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“I don’t believe it. Such a thing won’t happen.” Nola’s tone was decisive. “Dozens of Charm Cats absorbing your energy, and even Tsukuyomi saying you are stronger than me? Impossible. I conquered Tsukuyomi with perseverance back then to make the Charm Cats obediently submit to the Fire Cat Tribe. If you are stronger than me, wouldn’t they worship you as king? Besides, energy isn’t magic power. Satisfying dozens of Charm Cats simultaneously—even Half-Dragons and Stellacryst Beasts don’t have that much energy.”

What Nola found even more unacceptable was that Fia not only stole Claire but also stole Tsukuyomi and even the entire Charm Cat Tribe right under her nose. Like a wife praising someone else’s husband and eloping with him—and it even happened twice!

This feeling of having what originally belonged to her stolen by someone else made her grit her teeth. But she was embarrassed to say this was the main reason she didn’t want to believe it; saying it would make her seem petty. So she used race as an excuse.

Unaware of this, Fia waved her hands repeatedly in front of herself to advise.

“W-Wait, I don’t think Tsukuyomi has any intention of making the Charm Cat Tribe rebel. You don’t need to be so anxious.”

However, Nola didn’t listen at all.

“I’m going to find Tsukuyomi.”

“Don’t go find her. No, I mean you’d better not disturb her. Calm down; Tsukuyomi definitely has no intention of breaking away from your rule.”

Fia grabbed Nola, who was about to leave the room. That hall must be chaotic beyond sight right now—calling it a hellish picture scroll wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Nola would only be harassed by Charm Cats if she went.

Fia couldn’t help but imagine a group of Charm Cats lying on top of each other forming a mountain of meat, like a meatball extending tentacles.

“No, I must confirm it.”

“Ugh… then don’t regret it.”

Seeing Nola so determined, Fia couldn’t hold her back anymore. She released Nola, but Nola grabbed Fia’s hand backhand, her gaze burning.

“You come with me too.”

“Huh? Go by yourself if you want to go; don’t drag me down with you.”

“Only a face-to-face confrontation is convincing.”

“No, I’m not going—hey, too close! I’m going to sue you for sexual harassment! I’m going to tell Claire!”

Because of Fia’s strong refusal, Nola simply pulled Fia over and pushed Fia’s shoulders from behind to make her move forward. Even though Fia brought up Claire, Nola still kept a cold face.

This guy cares way too much about her rule.

She won’t shed tears until she sees the coffin. I’ll just hide with the [Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea] then and let this stupid cat have a headache alone.

Cursing Nola in her heart, Fia was ultimately dragged by Nola toward the third floor.