After listening to Councilman Macht's answer and combining it with the information he had previously obtained, Klein preliminarily concluded that the mouse at the suburban manor was likely the Thief demigod who had once been by Hailun's side. As for why it had gone mad and bitten Hailun, that was still unknown.
He nodded slightly, traced four circles clockwise over his chest, and said:
"May the Goddess protect her."
Then, bypassing the host, he entered the hall to await the start of the evening ball.
............
In a bedroom on the third floor, Hailun was sitting listlessly in an armchair, her legs drawn in.
Her left hand was wrapped in thick bandages with no blood seeping through. Her expression was gloomy, devoid of her usual arrogance.
After being bitten by her teacher, who had transformed into a rat, at the suburban manor, she had been in a similar state ever since, feeling muddled and not fully lucid—as if she had been bitten not in the hand but in the heart.
For Hailun, though her pride had been cultivated from a young age through education, learning talent above average, pretty good looks, a high-society family, and thoughts more mature than her peers, this mindset had actually remained within normal bounds before she came into contact with supernatural forces. It didn't make her feel completely different from others or inherently superior to ordinary people.
Therefore, her teacher—who had been the pillar of her pride, the symbol of her adventure, and the source of her power—suddenly became like a real rat, not only slurring his speech but also biting her without reason. This dealt her an enormous blow and made her involuntarily doubt whether supernatural powers represented transcendence over mortals or a descent into monstrosity.
Amidst the turmoil of her thoughts, Hailun unconsciously tucked a lock of her dark green hair behind her ear, irritated by the melodious music drifting up from below.
Just then, she heard the creak of a door opening and turned her head somewhat sluggishly to look.
What entered was a gray mouse with sleek, shiny fur, its eyes darker than its kin, almost dark red.
"Hailun," the mouse said in a low voice.
Hailun was first startled, then delighted, and quickly stood up, blurting out:
"Teacher, are you... are you better?"
But as soon as she spoke, she suddenly saw more gray mice crawling out from the corners of the bedroom, the balcony entrance, and under the bed. All had dark red eyes and could only squeak.
Startled, Hailun took a step back, tripped over the edge of the armchair, swayed, and nearly fell, barely managing to regain her balance.
By then, all the red-eyed mice had vanished, and the door was still tightly closed, never opened.
Everything seemed like just an illusion or a nightmare born from anxiety.
After a moment of silence, Hailun pursed her lips and let out a sigh.
She sat back down, raised a hand, and pinched her temples.
As she did so, she frowned slightly, feeling that the recent events had been too hazy, too unreal.
Shifting her dark brown eyes, she pulled out the necklace she wore and held it in her palm.
The necklace consisted of seven translucent emerald-green stones, surrounded by a ring of tiny diamonds, all evenly spaced.
At that moment, one of the stones began to glow, emitting an emerald light that illuminated Hailun's face, making it appear very moist, and highlighting strange and mysterious symbols in her eyes.
All the previous scenes resurfaced in the mind of the dark green-haired young lady, gradually becoming clear from a blurred, dreamlike state.
Reviewing them one by one, Hailun caught subtle clues and confirmed that it had not been a dream or a momentary hallucination but an illusion that had lasted nearly ten seconds.
"Decryption Scholar!"
"This..." Hailun's dark brown eyes flew open, and she unconsciously murmured a word full of fear.
She abruptly stood up, quickly glancing around, but found nothing.
But the more this happened, the more panicked she became, because she didn't know what would happen next or what the creator of the illusion wanted.
The only thing she was certain of was that the other party far surpassed her in level and power in the supernatural realm.
This shattered the last remnants of her pride.
Several minutes passed, and the bedroom remained quiet. From below, a cheerful melody continued, vividly evoking lively dance steps.
Hailun finally calmed down, feeling that nothing further would happen.
Then she had the spare energy and mind to think about what the secretive creator of the illusion was after.
As various thoughts came and went, Hailun suddenly had a guess:
That person came for my teacher!
He confirmed the teacher's current state through the illusion!
Is he the teacher's friend or enemy? He's probably already gone to find him. What should I do? He shouldn't know where the teacher is hiding... No, all the neighbors know that I was bitten by a mad mouse at the suburban manor... Hailun's heart was in turmoil, and her hand gripping the necklace tightened even more.