981 Hazels Decision (1/2)

After hearing Macht's reply, and combining what he knew, Klein guessed that the rat in the manor was likely the Marauder demigod which had been by Hazel's side. As for why it went rabid and bit Hazel, he was unsure.

He nodded slightly and tapped his chest four times in a clockwise fashion.

”May the Goddess bless her.”

After saying that, he walked past the host, entered the hall, and waited for the ball tonight to begin.

…

In a particular bedroom on the third story, Hazel was sitting on a reclining chair feeling dispirited, her feet curled up.

Her left hand was wrapped in thick bandages, but there weren't any more signs of blood. Her expression was heavy, nothing like her usual arrogance.

In the manor, her teacher, that was in the form of a rat, had suddenly bitten her. This resulted in her being stuck in a similar state, her entire being turbid and muddled. It was as though it wasn't her hand that was bitten but her heart.

To Hazel, although her arrogance stemmed from her upbringing, with her ability to absorb new information exceeding that of the average person's, her outstanding looks, her family's standing in high society, and her maturity compared to her peers, those feelings were still within normal boundaries before she gained extraordinary powers. None of the aforementioned traits made her feel that she was different from others or that she was fundamentally superior to ordinary people.

Therefore, with her teacher, who maintained her sense of arrogance while being a representation of her fortuitous encounter and the source of her strength, suddenly becoming a real rat—to the point of not being able to speak clearly and even bite her without any reason—it left a deep impact on her. She began to question if supernatural powers represented being extraordinary or a monster.

Amidst her thoughts, Hazel subconsciously pulled her black-green hair to the back of her ear and felt frustrated with the melody that came from downstairs.

At this moment, she heard the creaking sound of the door as she turned her head in hesitation.

Walking in was a gray rat with slick fur. Its eyes were deeper than its kind, closer to dark red.

”Hazel,” the rat said in a deep voice.

Hazel was first taken aback before she reeled in delight. She hurriedly stood up and blurted, ”Teacher, y-you've recovered?”

Just as she said that, she saw gray rats crawling out from the corner of her bedroom, balcony, and bed. All of them had dark red eyes but could only produce squeaking sounds.

Hazel took a step back in shock, overturning the reclining chair. Her body staggered, almost to the point of collapsing. It took her a great deal of effort to recover her balance.

At this moment, she discovered that the red-eyed rats had vanished. The door had been shut tightly, having never opened.

Everything that had happened was a hallucination or a nightmare that stemmed from the worries inside her!

After a moment of silence, Hazel pursed her lips and sighed.

She sat back down, raising her hand to her temples.

As she massaged her temples, she frowned slightly. She had a nagging feeling that what had happened was too surreal.

Her dark brown eyes darted about slightly as Hazel removed the necklace she wore around her neck, clenching it in her palm.

The necklace's seven green gems were equidistant from each other. Embedded around them were tiny diamonds.

At this moment, one of the gems lit up slowly, emitting a green glow, giving her face a sheen and filling her eyes with mysterious symbols.

The scenes from before surfaces in the girl's mind as her blurry dream-like state gradually turned clear.

While observing the scenes, Hazel sensed something amiss. She confirmed that she hadn't been dreaming, nor was it a short hallucination from having her mind go adrift. Instead, she had been thrown into an illusion for nearly ten seconds.

Cryptologist!

This… Hazel's dark brown eyes widened as she muttered a word filled with horror.

She jumped to her feet and looked around anxiously but failed to discover anything.

But the more she looked, the more terrified she became. She had no idea what she would encounter next, nor did she understand what the person who created the dream was up to!

The only thing she was certain of was that the other party's level and strength in the supernatural domain far exceeded hers!

This shattered what little pride she had left.

After a few minutes, the entire bedroom remained silent. The brisk melody from downstairs instantly connected oneself to the current dance steps.

Hazel finally composed herself, believing that nothing would happen next.

Only then did she have the mood or energy to consider the motives of the person who secretly cast the illusion.

As various thoughts surfaced in her mind, Hazel suddenly came up with a theory:

The person from before was here for her teacher!

Through the illusion, the person had confirmed her teacher's current situation!