"To be honest, I'm also just an ordinary person walking the path in pursuit of Transcendence. Before this, I even came close to dying in a foreign land."
Having grasped part of Transcendence's superficial meaning, Loulan honored his promise and verbally shared some of his insights with Lilia, even though he had only just thought of them.
"The meaning of Transcendence lies in an individual's breakthrough: turning the impossible into the possible, and what was possible into the impossible. It's a conceptual breakthrough. Do you understand?"
"Mm... I understand very well, but Teacher Loulan..."
"Let me stop you there. I'm only a friend passing on experience and ideas to you."
Loulan cut off Lilia's attempt to address him more intimately. He liked her gift and appreciated her attitude when asking for help, but that was as far as it went.
As everyone knew, women were the most troublesome creatures, especially beautiful women of status. It was impossible to imagine just how many suitors and problems lurked behind them.
Take Lilia and Vina. They had grown up in a mage academy, so they inevitably had classmates, right? Some of those classmates might be suitors, right? And among those suitors, there might be one or two brain-dead idiots, right?
One problem linked to another in an endless chain.
Loulan hated that kind of trouble. Rather than become emotionally entangled with complicated humans, he would prefer to capture and tame monster girls.
"O-okay, Loulan."
Lilia smiled awkwardly. She should have expected this after what Loulan had said in the Darkest Dungeon several days ago.
It wasn't that she lacked the charm of a beautiful young woman, that her conduct wasn't proper, or that her status couldn't attract anyone.
This was simply a man who felt no interest in humans, with "reclusive" now added to the list.
"Mm, good. Let's continue. If you want to become a transcendent life-form... Um, I don't know much about mages, but doesn't it basically come down to the elements and mana? Pardon my asking, but can you cast multiple spells? I mean using two or more spells at once."
Rubbing the little cutie in his hands, Loulan questioned Lilia, then tilted his head to glance at Vina, whose condition was even worse.
The girl had withdrawn into herself since arriving, as if she had suffered some devastating blow. Her eyes looked somewhat hollow.
【Is a Darkest Dungeon really that terrifying?】
Loulan wondered, but immediately shook his head inwardly.
【I suppose I've become a little arrogant and carried away. Without the filter, that place really is awful. Nothing puts more pressure on someone than monsters lurking everywhere in the dark.】
Recalling how disgusted he had been at first, Loulan suddenly felt incredibly arrogant. His earlier thought was nothing but smug judgment from someone standing safely on the sidelines.
This wouldn't do. He had to make himself genuinely powerful as quickly as possible instead of entrusting everything to his cheat.
Being impressive on the outside but hollow within was wrong. To forge good iron, the smith himself had to be strong. Only then could one plus one exceed two.
"N-no... Theoretically, casting multiple spells is impossible without scrolls or magical implements. Even chantless casting is still, in essence, casting one spell after another."
Lilia lowered her head. She placed both hands before her abdomen and circled her index fingers around each other.
Faced with her honest answer, Loulan silently rose and spoke.
"Then that's it. Remember the supernatural relic I obtained? Its supernatural ability allows a mage to cast multiple spells. Perhaps you can try following that path? In short, when you turn something theoretically impossible into something possible, you'll have set foot on the path of Transcendence. All right, I'm leaving. I'm hungry after talking for so long. By the way, what does this little one need to eat? I really like it. It's so soft~"
"I understand. Thank you, Loulan. A magic slime only needs to absorb the ambient mana and natural elements, so you don't have to feed it much. If you'd like, though, you can buy it some liquids occasionally, such as Mana Bottles and healing potions."
Lilia stood and gave Loulan a deep bow, then pulled Vina away first, leaving Loulan behind to think alone.
【Liquid? Ah! I have an idea!】
Purchase—Allure Brew!
Gold coins -500
Loulan bought a bottle of Allure Brew from 【Girl's Wonderhouse】 and took it out of the Camp Pouch.
It was a tiny test tube filled with pink potion, containing only 100 milliliters, while numerous heart-shaped bubbles burbled continuously from it.
One look was enough to tell that it wasn't a respectable potion.
"A bluish-purple slime. I really want to call you Squishy, but after thinking about it, I'll name you Lulu instead. Hahaha."
Standing in place, Loulan held Lulu in one hand and the Allure Brew in the other, laughing as he gave her a name.
【It's decided. Once I've saved enough star crystals, you'll be my first monster girl. For now, let's buy the ticket before boarding~】
With a thought, Loulan gently pulled the stopper from the Allure Brew with his teeth, then slowly dripped the pink liquid into Lulu's body.
After ripples like bubbles spread across her, roughly ten milliliters of Allure Brew seeped into the slime Lulu's body.
Not long afterward, the slime, which should have possessed no consciousness, began wriggling actively in Loulan's palm, begging for more Allure Brew as if acting spoiled.
【Does this count as successfully taming it? That was quick. Perhaps it's because it has no ferocity at all.】
Loulan put away the Allure Brew. This rare stuff cost five hundred gold coins for one tiny bottle, so he couldn't let the little thing drink all of it at once.
Ten milliliters a day was about right. It would also cultivate some dependency.
"Hehehe~"
Loulan stroked the slime Lulu in his hand while chuckling foolishly, then quietly headed toward a distant tavern under the library gatekeeper's confused gaze.
The sky was growing dark. It was time for him to eat.
...
Time flew by. Two days later.
With the arrival of the wolf demihuman Huian, Loulan, who had remained engrossed in the library's ocean of knowledge, finally left the Adventurers' Guild.
He first changed into luxurious clothes at Maven's mansion, then walked alongside Maven with Maven's younger sister on the other side. The three proceeded along the main road through the noble district toward Coldiron City's central quarter.
Many nobles living in Coldiron City had chosen to depart at this time, so Loulan occasionally spotted other aristocrats headed in the same direction.
If they encountered someone Maven knew, they would go over and chat before separating again to continue toward the earl's castle.
The nobles here seemed to understand the principle of "distance" deeply, and few chose to travel together.
"Well, Loulan, what do you think of the scenery here?"
"It's all right, but for me, the only advantage here is probably that it's cleaner and quieter than outside. I like this atmosphere, but I'm afraid I'm not good at socializing."
"All right. Then remember to stay close to me once the banquet begins. I'll introduce you to nobles on good terms with my family. Their commissions still haven't been claimed."
"Mm!"