Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

  When Seiji finally returned to the real world after his [Visualization], it was already evening.

  He checked the time, and it was 9:00 P.M. It had taken him nine hours again.

  He had missed dinner, and his stomach was growling.

  Seiji opened up his system and inspected his stats. [Spiritual Power] had increased by 6 points, which was 1 more point than last time!

  'Was it due to my newfound experience?' Seiji rubbed his chin in contemplation.

  Taking into account his bonus stats, his [Spiritual Power] was now above 20 points, but nothing new had appeared.

  Seiji closed his system after he finished inspecting his stats, stretched, and left the room.

  When he arrived at the dining hall, he saw a luxurious lunchbox resting on the table with a note tucked underneath it.

  Seiji picked up the daintily written note and read it.

  For you, Haruta-san. Please enjoy and remember to be grateful for this meal. After you’re done eating, if it’s still not past 10:00 P.M., please visit Milady’s study. She has something she’d like to discuss with you.

  Seiji chuckled. "Thank you, Senpai."

  He then sat down, opened the lunchbox, and began eating.

  The lunchbox had a built-in heat-conserving function, so all the food inside was still hot and tasty.

  Seiji ate in silence.

  Suddenly, a petite figure slithered inside and stared at him with her heterochromia eyes.

  It was Rana.

  Seiji exchanged glances with her.

  "Would you… like to eat some as well?"

  The cat girl nodded.

  Seiji picked up a fried egg.

  The cat girl shook her head.

  Seiji put down the fried egg and offered her a juicy meat rib.

  The cat girl shook her head again.

  Seiji wondered what she wanted. Suddenly, he was struck by a bolt of inspiration as his gaze was drawn to the corner of the lunchbox’s third layer.

  He picked up a small dried fish.

  The cat girl’s cat ears began to tremble.

  'So, she likes to eat these… well, she is a cat girl after all.'

  He held out the salty dried fish to her.

  Rana opened her mouth and chomped down on the dried fish, chewing it with a joyous expression.

  So cute!

  Seiji felt a strange sense of enjoyment from tossing food to the cat girl.

  He was about to ask if she would like another when she turned around and left abruptly.

  Seiji suddenly felt slightly lonely and let out a deep sigh.

  'She really is as free-spirited as a cat,' he remarked inwardly. A short while later, the delicious food was finished.

  After dinner.

  Mai appeared just as Seiji was about to use the sink to wash out the lunchbox.

  "I’ll wash that for you," she said. "Go and talk to Milady—it’s already getting late."

  "Okay, sorry for troubling you." Seiji handed the lunchbox over to the maid. "What did the President want to discuss?"

  "I don’t know. I think it’s probably about what you need to watch out for during cultivation."

  "Ah." Seiji nodded and left.

  At Natsuya’s third-floor study.

  Seiji opened the door and walked into the room after knocking and receiving permission to enter.

  "You’ve arrived, Haruta-kun." Natsuya fixed her gaze on him. "How long did you Visualize for this time?"

  "Nine hours… plus about five or six minutes."

  "You didn’t stop at any time in between? You didn’t wake up at all?"

  "That’s right."

  Natsuya stared at Seiji’s face for a few minutes before letting out a wistful sigh.

  "You’re too amazing, Haruta-kun."

  Both her praise and a slight sense of disappointment at her inability to compare with Seiji was contained in this sentence of hers.

  Seiji scratched his face awkwardly, unsure how to respond to Natsuya.

  Natsuya took a deep breath to calm herself.

  "How do you currently feel? Do you feel particularly tired, dizzy, or anything like that?"

  "I think everything's fine—I'm just a little tired, that's all," Seiji said honestly.

  "Mmm… It seems that you have a naturally high affinity for ‘Visualization,’ which is also evidence of either your high Mana level or incredible imagination." Natsuya blinked. "But I still recommend that you stop for tonight; it’s better if you sleep like normal. No matter how high your affinity, good rest is still necessary."

  Seiji nodded.

  Since she was more knowledgeable than him regarding these matters, he decided to listen to her advice.

  "Also, you mentioned spells before… I thought it over, and I might as well teach you the basics."

  Spells! Seiji's ears pricked up.

  "As long as you became a temporary Spirit-branded Retainer, the spirits will aid you, enabling you to cast some spells naturally, which was why I didn’t intend to teach you anything originally.

  "But you brought it up by yourself, so I pondered on the issue, and I decided that there’s no harm in teaching you… Although I doubt that you’ll learn how to cast a spell in such a short time, it’s always better to begin learning as early as possible."

  Natsuya paused for a moment. "The spell I plan on teaching you is the most basic spell that almost every magic or Spiritual Ability user starts with—the 'Body-strengthening Technique.’"

  [Body-strengthening Technique]! Seiji’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.

  He had been wondering how he was going to ask to learn this particular spell, but now he was going to learn it without any trouble.

  "As the name suggests, it's a spell which strengthens your body’s attributes. This means that spellcasters almost always have strength far surpassing that of ordinary humans.

  "It’s one of the most basic and common spells, yet at the same time it's also profound and mystical. It’s not very difficult to grasp it, but to truly master it to a high degree of proficiency is an incredibly difficult task."

  Seiji nodded in understanding.

  To him, this situation bore resemblance to a fighting or action game. Everyone had the same controls, and everyone knew how to play games, but even if two people chose the same character, experts would defeat newbies instantly.

  "Here’s some information for you to look over. You could even call it a secret technique manual. Go ahead and take it, but take care not to let others see it," Natsuya said, handing Seiji a yellow-sleeved booklet.

  Seiji took the booklet and flipped through it. Various life-like pictures filled many of the pages, with explanations written below them.

  "It sure doesn’t seem like much of a secret technique manual. Shouldn't a so-called ‘secret technique manual’ be… more archaic, with classical words and a mysterious historical aura?"

  "I also have that type of edition—would you prefer it?" Natsuya's eyes flickered with amusement.

  "Oh, not really—I only spoke out of curiosity."

  If there was a modern edition, who would want to look at the archaic edition!?

  "Even if it doesn’t seem like a secret technique manual to you, its contents are unmistakably top secret, so please, don’t let anyone know about it," the president informed him in a serious tone.

  "I’ll be careful with it," Seiji promised solemnly.

  "Look it over tonight and tomorrow morning. I’ll begin teaching you after breakfast."

  A secret class taught to him by the scion herself? That sounded great!

  Seiji smiled happily. "Understood! Thank you, President Yoruhana!"

  After that, he left Natsuya’s study.

  Before going to his room to study the manual, he headed to Shika’s room to wish her a good night.

  He knocked on the door and entered after receiving permission.

  "Shika-chan, are you about to rest?"

  "Not yet…"

  "What are you up to?" Seiji glanced at her desk and saw a notebook with something written inside.

  A hint of red crept into Shika's cheeks.

  "I was thinking about… the stories I want to write together with Brother."

  "Oh, nice! Have you thought of any good ideas?" Seiji was quite interested in this topic.

  "Some… I don’t think any are very good…" Shika seemed shy as she looked at the notebook on the desk.

  "You’ve written them down? Can I look at them?" Seiji was filled with anticipation.

  What would this literature-loving girl use for her ideas? The more he thought about it, the more interested he became.

  "Mmm…" Shika’s answer was rather ambiguous.

  Seiji felt the urge to say ‘I’m so curious!’ because of the way she was acting.

  "It’s okay if I look at it, right?" he asked, walking over to her desk.

  Shika didn’t attempt to stop him.

  He picked up her notebook and began reading. Seiji was shocked to his core after he read the first page.