Chapter Forty-Two: Very Well, Let Us Begin

The next morning, when Louis got up to wash, he was surprised to find that the two lazy girls had actually made breakfast today!

As soon as Louis appeared, the sisters raised their voices and began to discuss their culinary skills with great flourish.

Louis had nearly forgotten about this, but hearing them talk about cooking reminded him that making breakfast was something he’d specifically written into the agreement with Oxylis.

“Hmph, Louis, my sister’s recently taken a liking to cooking. Lucky you.” Helen said this while stealing a careful glance at Louis, her tone betraying a hint of guilty self-deception.

Oxylis, clutching a copy of “The Yordle People’s Culinary Guide,” hid her face behind the book, furtively watching Louis’s expression—if he still remembered what happened last night, she’d never be able to show her face again!

“Oh.” Louis responded blandly and sat down to eat.

Seeing Louis’s blank, unsuspecting look, the two sisters both let out a sigh of relief.

“Um, teacher…”

Noticing that Louis seemed about to ask something, the sisters tensed up all over, staring at him nervously.

“Never mind, I seem to have forgotten,” Louis shook his head.

Helen couldn’t hold back any longer and blurted, “L-Louis, what did you forget? Was it… did you have that dream again last night?”

“Ah, I think I did have a strange dream,” Louis said, glancing up at Oxylis.

Oxylis quickly buried her face deeper into her book.

“D-did you sleepwalk or anything? I mean, like, suddenly found yourself—(‘ahem, ahem’).” Helen’s words were abruptly cut off by Oxylis.

Why bring that up! Do you have to remind Louis that he’s learned Apparition? I barely managed to hypnotize him last night—what if he remembers and wants to show off? What would you do then?!

Feeling her sister pinch her hard, Helen realized her mistake and sullenly resumed eating.

“Dreaming? Yes, I think so, but I can’t recall.” Louis said quietly, spearing a piece of bacon and putting it in his mouth.

That simple “can’t recall” filled Helen and Oxylis with a secret joy—seems the hypnosis charm worked! Today’s the last day! Foolish Louis is doomed!

Helen beamed with triumph, growing cocky. Oxylis crossed her legs, her slipper swinging. The way they exchanged smug glances suggested they were ready to implement Plan A, having forgotten the pain of their previous failures.

Louis ignored all this. After finishing breakfast, he went back to his room to don his coat, then headed to the door and began putting on his shoes, looking as if he were about to go out.

“Hey? Today’s Saturday, little Louis, where are you going? It’s a day off,” Oxylis said with a sweet smile. “Don’t come home too late—Helen still has to demonstrate Apparition this afternoon.”

Helen hadn’t yet learned the spell, but Oxylis intended to cheat. She was anxious to wrap this up before anything went wrong and wanted to settle it while it was still daylight.

“Ah, just a quick trip to handle something,” Louis replied, and left.

Before long, Louis returned.

“Oh, little Louis, back so soon?” Oxylis was in high spirits, having just conspired with Helen about their cheating plan.

She admired her freshly manicured nails and said with a bright smile, “Helen can hardly wait—let’s get started.”

Helen puffed out her chest, full of confidence—with her sister’s artifact, nothing could go wrong.

“All right,” Louis replied, sitting in a chair.

He then pulled a washbasin and a label from his extension bag and began writing on the label.

Seeing the basin, the sisters were dumbfounded. Nervously, they got up and peered over Louis’s shoulder, just in time to see him writing on the label: “For the exclusive use of Oxylis and Helen (Foot Basin).”

Louis then affixed the label to the basin.

He proceeded to take off his socks. Looking at Helen and Oxylis, he said, “Let’s begin.”

Oxylis: “……”

Helen: “……”

“S-Sir Louis, I mean, uh…” Oxylis staggered to her feet, dizzy and flustered. She stopped swinging her slipper, no longer called him “little Louis,” and paid no attention to her nails—her mind was consumed with last night’s events.

Evidently, Oxylis couldn’t accept it and was too mortified to face him. Picking up her bag, she said, “I have something to do—need to go to the library… laboratory.”

Before leaving, Oxylis gave Helen a determined look, raised her fist in encouragement, and said, “Good luck, Helen. I’ll be back in a few days… wait for me.”

With that, Oxylis Disapparated.

It seemed the sisters had switched to Plan B.

Louis turned to Helen, who had been so eager a moment ago.

“Mmm… ah… uh…” Helen’s face twisted in despair, on the verge of tears.

Sister, how could you abandon me like this!

You won’t escape for long yourself!

What made it worse was that, as soon as her sister left, Louis revealed his wolfish grin and looked at Helen menacingly.

“Helen, you’ve been quite lively these past two days. How’s that joke book coming along?”

“Woo… Louis, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have teased you. Please don’t make me wash them—otherwise, I’ll never talk to you again. Your feet are too stinky (‘Hmm?’)… Please, I’ll do anything else!”

Louis shot her a glance, put on his coat, and headed out: “I’ll deal with you tonight.”

He had an appointment with a goblin that afternoon. Only two goblins remained, and yesterday, Beriliff had called to say that his friend had encountered a very strange event—he’d be going on a business trip to the Muggle world!

But temp workers weren’t allowed to visit the Muggle world, so Louis asked Beriliff to send a letter of commendation to the Ministry of Magic to resolve the temp status.

Beriliff agreed and promised a small gift to cover expenses for Louis and Helen’s trip. It seemed Muggles used paper money, and the Ministry now forbade exchanging wizard currency for Muggle money.

According to the schedule, one goblin cursed by the Old God was available this week, the other next week. Once these cases were handled, Louis’s temp status would likely be converted.

He’d heard the Muggle world was full of classic cars and biplanes. Apparently, after the start of this school year, there would be some kind of Wizard World Cup and all the colleges would attend. Louis intended to join—he hadn’t yet purchased a magic carpet or broomstick, but thought cars and planes would do just as well.

He wondered how much extra money he could earn on this trip and what biplanes and classic cars would cost, but as long as he had enough spells, even a brick could fly.

Sharp turns wouldn’t be a problem either.

Louis was full of anticipation.

[This little daredevil, so adept at courting disaster, still didn’t know that the dispute between the Magical Council and the Witch Queen was precisely because the Ministry favored isolationist conservatism, while the Witch Queen advocated openness to the Muggle world.]

[This year’s Wizard Cup was bound to unleash chaos, and perhaps, the Witch Queen might even take Louis as a disciple.]

[The world was already tilting toward the unknown…]

…

When Louis came home for dinner that evening, he found that Helen had already prepared the meal—by ordering in advance.

It seemed that the moment the basin appeared, the sisters had become utterly obedient.

Oxylis hid in the laboratory all day and didn’t dare come home, and Helen—once the most mischievous—now acted the part of a pitiful kitten.

She began to curry favor with Louis, even going so far as to prepare a fine dinner, hoping that the bookish Louis would show some mercy—after all, one must always leave some room for negotiation!

Clearly, she was thinking too much.

After dinner, seeing the six pairs of smelly socks Louis tossed into the basin, Helen was on the verge of tears—the guy had saved them up for seven days. Yesterday’s was only one of the lot.

She looked toward the sofa in the lounge for help, but alas, it was empty.

Her sister, that scoundrel, still hadn’t come home.

She’d abandoned Helen!

What was she to do? That villain Louis was finally, finally going to lay hands on the poor little kitten… sob, sob…

“Please, Louis, let me do something else—I’ll do anything…” Helen pleaded, wiping away tears.

“That depends on your performance,” Louis replied, setting his toothbrush and cup on the cabinet, wiping his mouth, and hanging his towel over his shoulder as he left the washroom.

Then, under Helen’s gaze, he began to Apparate step by step from the far left of the lounge to the far right, and then back again. Soon, he was moving so quickly that a row of afterimages appeared across the lounge.

Helen stared in disbelief.

That liar! He’d already mastered Apparition—and used it better than her sister!

Seeing Helen’s dumbfounded face, Louis chuckled softly. He was ready to gradually lift his “seal.”

Otherwise, how could he remind Oxylis to take the dueling class seriously? Winning effortlessly was pointless.

How else could he fairly defeat her, earn an official professorship, and compete in the Wizard Cup?

The wizards of Sacred Icon Tree Academy were utterly hopeless—foolish, even!

He truly couldn’t bear to watch any longer. Louis VI was destined to become one of the “Outstanding New Generation,” and it was time to give those underachievers a proper lesson.

He’d already bought the iron ruler.

[From this day forth, the one capable of standing against the “Mysterious One” would begin to reveal his true strength…]

[The Dark Lord might start to worry—though this outstanding newcomer was the Mysterious One’s arch-enemy, if he were to join forces with the young Yordle enrolling this year… they might even become master and apprentice! That would be truly troublesome.]

[What of his own revolutionary path, then?]

[Perhaps recruiting the rising “Faceless Black Star” would be a wise move—they might well become master and disciple…]

[It seemed the future course of this world was becoming more and more unpredictable…]