Wade pushed open the dormitory door with the 'ordinary' cat in his arms.
Since it was already nine in the evening, everyone in the dorm was present.
"What is that thing?" Tom frowned.
The kneazle had curled up into a ball, hiding in Wade's arms, so from a distance, all Tom could see was a fuzzy lump.
"Thing? How can you say that, Tom?"
Wade lifted the kneazle up and showed it to everyone.
"Picked up a cat, folks. It wanted to come home with me, so I brought it back."
The kneazle lazily glanced around at everyone in the dormitory, "Meow..?? Humph!" then turned its head away disdainfully.
Not one of these guys was as impressive as its owner!
"Khisss!!"
Suddenly, the kneazle leapt from Wade's arms, fur bristling, and hissed in Tom's direction!
"What the..?"
Wade was a little surprised. Could it be that these two Toms were going to fight the moment they met?
Tom also looked at the cat in astonishment.
Tom didn't quite understand why the creature seemed so hostile toward him.
Suddenly, on the bedside table next to him, Nagini lifted her head.
"Hiss hiss hiss... (That's a kneazle)," she said.
Only then did Tom realize—the kneazle wasn't hostile toward him but toward Nagini...
Wait, a kneazle?!
Tom sharply turned to look at Wade. Was this guy out of his mind?
Bringing a kneazle back to the dorm? That thing was notoriously aggressive!
It completely violated the Ministry of Magic's... Sigh… Tom let out a breath.
A guy like Wade following laws and regulations? Now that would be strange.
Well, he couldn't really say anything—he, Tom, certainly wasn't any law-abiding goody-two-shoes either...
"Relax, Tom. She's not an enemy. Her name is Nagini, and she won't hurt us." Wade crouched down and gently petted "Tom" on the head.
The real Tom across from them had a puzzled expression—how did that guy know he'd just tensed up?
With Wade's calming pats, "Tom" the kneazle finally relaxed again.
Wade brought the cat over to his bed, then used Transfiguration to turn a pile of snack wrappers and other trash he hadn't gotten around to throwing out into a warm and cozy little nest.
"Come on, Tom, have some dried fish," Wade said with a smile.
"I don't eat fish—" Tom started to reply reflexively, then immediately sensed something was off.
He stared wide-eyed as Wade fed the cat a piece of dried fish.
"Wait a minute... you didn't name that cat Tom, did you?!"
"Yup. He's called Tom, and you're also called Tom. So you two better get along from now on," Wade said with a grin.
"I..." Tom had a lot of curse words on the tip of his tongue, but none of them dared leave his mouth. He just screamed internally.
What the fuck! What the fuck! What the fuck!!!!!!!!!????????
I'm supposed to GET ALONG!!!?
BUT what can I even doooooO!!!!???
If that thing wasn't a kneazle—strong as hell—and if it weren't Wade's damn pet...
He'd have hung it from the ceiling tonight!
"Hey! This cat's actually pretty smart!" Henry exclaimed in surprise.
They had no idea it was a kneazle—only that, under Wade's so-called "persuasion," it had completely dropped its aggressive stance.
Naturally, they just thought it was an absurdly smart cat.
"Yeah! It's so clever! Where did you even find it?" asked Alphard, who then opened his cabinet and dumped a pile of snacks in front of the kneazle.
The kneazle, happy to accept this offering from its new "servant," made no fuss at all.
It curled up comfortably in its newly conjured nest, nibbling away at the tribute with obvious delight.
"This evening, I was walking along the edge of the Black Lake when I ran into it. What could I do? It insisted on coming home with me!!" Wade said cheerfully.
Meanwhile, Tom stood off to the side, speechless as he watched the others fawning over the cat.
Seriously? Was this really the focus?
Wasn't the real issue the fact that this bastard Wade had named the damn cat Tom, exactly the same as him?
Was no one going to speak up for him?
Does having a common name mean you have no basic rights at all?!
…
In the dream realm.
Wade had just finished explaining today's research and ideas to the Senior.
She stayed silent for a long while before finally saying, "I never thought about what might happen if the emotional proportions inside the 'residue' were adjusted… And the fact that you've managed to study it to this extent truly surprises me."
"Looking at it now, the situation isn't too bad. After adjustment, while the negative effects of the 'residue' won't disappear immediately, the influence of positive emotions on a person is far less than that of negative ones," Wade said with a smile.
"But…" Wade frowned again, troubled. "This is just research into modifying existing 'residue.' As for the residue inside your body… although I have some ideas now, with my current abilities, I still can't do anything about it."
Senior smiled. "The fact that you've been able to improve this power is already remarkable. I remember you once said you wanted to make something similar to my cloak, something that could store the residue inside me."
"Yeah… Now I'm sure of one thing—using my current ancient magic, I can't do it. So I'll probably need to rely on alchemy. From what I know, goblin metal can be used as a material. It's just… I don't know much about alchemy, especially the kind the goblins are good at," Wade said, a bit helplessly.
He might be able to learn the basics of alchemy quickly with his strong aptitude, but goblin metal was, after all, a creation of the goblins—a sort of trade secret.
But with the alchemy of human wizards, trying to recreate something like goblin metal would take far too long—Senior couldn't afford to wait that long.
Suddenly, Senior smiled again. "Actually, I should be capable of doing it."
"You can do it?" Wade was instantly enlightened. "Right… of course!"
Though he himself couldn't, Senior's knowledge was leagues above his. It wouldn't be surprising at all if she could manage it.
The senior smiled again. "And as for the goblin metal—our opportunity has arrived."
"What opportunity?"
"These past few days, while drifting around the Forbidden Forest out of boredom, I noticed new goblins had arrived. And judging by how they're addressed, the one leading them is a very skilled goblin smith…"
Wade's interest was immediately piqued.
"A goblin smith? Isn't this just like falling asleep and someone handing me a pillow?"
Wade was delighted. Creating alchemical tools out of goblin metal was, of course, what goblin smiths did best.
"Give me the location, and I'll go capture him tomorrow night. Then I'll use something like the Imperius Curse to control him and make him craft things for me… Though it might still take me a while to fully grasp their techniques…"
Senior shook her head. "You just need to bring him back—leave the rest to me."
"Er… right…" Wade sighed helplessly.
"Don't be like that… Trust me. I can't just stand by and watch you work so hard for me while I do nothing," Senior said. "I have nothing better to do these days anyway… Besides, I've coexisted with the 'residue' for nearly a century. I believe no one in this world knows it better than I do. And thanks to your reminder, I've come up with many ideas for experiments as well…"
Wade replied guiltily, "You're right. I've been too arrogant. No matter what it is, I always feel like I can solve it on my own. I… I've been too proud…"
"Hey~ Why are you saying such things? In truth, it's not arrogance—you really are capable. It's just that you haven't fully matured yet, so you need more time. Wade, don't be so anxious. You're only eleven years old. Don't put so much pressure on yourself. And… don't underestimate me either. Even though I've been trapped for so many years, my consciousness has wandered to many places. I've even entered the dreams of many powerful wizards and learned all sorts of things…"
Before meeting Wade, Senior had been trying to save herself. So in all those years of drifting in spirit form, using nightmare magic to enter dreams, she had learned countless kinds of knowledge…
It was just that, as the saying goes, "the onlooker sees clearly." Until today, it wasn't until Wade's research that she realized— the ratio of emotions in the "residue" could actually be adjusted.
This insight gave her a huge burst of inspiration!
Moreover, when it came to sensing and controlling the emotional forces within the "residue," her pure consciousness was far more sensitive than Wade's.
_________
o(*￣▽￣*)ブSupport and read two weeks ahead of WN at-
Patreon/Captain69