Perception Beyond Physical Reaction

—

“Hmm… you seem to be expecting something?”

“I… I…”

“My, my, the current Teacher Leah is just like a witch with a ‘passion burning within her heart.'”

“Stop using what you just learned.”

“Because Teacher Leah got angry at me yesterday. So, the reward and punishment cancelled each other out.”

Will said, shrugging.

“Th-Then why did you still kiss me?”

Leah said, pouting.

“Hmm…”

Will reached out and patted Leah’s head, specifically arranging her bangs back to how they were before he had lifted them. He especially ruffled her cat ear headband, then realized that the cat ears on the headband weren’t real—because he used to touch real beast girls’ ears every day, so he naturally knew it was fake fur.

“Because even though you didn’t do it yesterday, you still tried hard today, and you made up for yesterday’s mistake. That Teacher Leah is quite cute. This is a reward from another aspect.”

“You—”

Leah’s anger rose to her throat, but she really couldn’t get angry. It was… she who couldn’t leave Will, she who had accepted this condition, so she could only be teased by him like this. As long as she did better, Will would surely hand over the liquid obediently.

“Alright, alright, next we should think about Phase Two and that Primordial Text.”

Will didn’t continue to “delve into” this topic, but just turned around and invited Leah into the room.

But… Leah clutched her heart, feeling her heartbeat. It was strange. Her heartbeat wasn’t as “intense” as it used to be before her magic circuit depression, but it had quickened slightly, just enough to warm her body a little. These physical reactions were not as intense as before.

However… she looked at Will’s back. She still felt it, a trace of happiness.

…And, that long-lost feeling called “heart-pounding”?

—

Inside the room, Leah watched as Will showed her the calculations for the “ice mirror” reflection magic.

“Yes, the calculation result is this.”

For Phase Two, he chose to calculate the “maximum absorption capacity” of the reflective mirror that the Snow Woman generated. Specifically, he based it on the maximum value of current “reflection magic,” assumed the thickness of the mirror made of ice, and used it as a medium for the magic to calculate how much it could absorb while maintaining its state.

“Due to the location of the field and the castle, and the time from Phase One to Phase Two must be shorter than the chanting time of your strongest magic, the mirror ice actually has a medium-based limit.”

“Reflection magic also has a limit, which means…” Leah picked up the draft paper in surprise. It was densely written, but still had Will’s usual neatness, like writing answers on an exam paper, with each formula laid out neatly for easy reading.

“Yes. As long as your Radiant Silence is at a high enough power, you can definitely break through its reflection limit.”

“So Phase Two can be broken through. So that’s how it is. No wonder that witch wanted to hide this point. It’s too… too easy.” She looked at the value. As an experimentalist teacher, she had a good sense of her own maximum output. The number calculated now was something she could easily surpass if she were in good condition.

“If this isn’t a problem, I think we should move on to interpreting that book—”

“Mm.”

Leah nodded. Hearing Will’s arrangement, she had already thought about where and when to use that bottle of potion if Will only gave her one. As for Phase Three, she could only rely on that ancient magic for which she currently had no ideas.

Deciphering ancient magic and finally using it, when inspiration struck, it was often a matter of a day. When there was no inspiration, it was normal to ponder for two hundred years.

“Will, do you have any ideas?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I feel like this book is written quite like a love letter. The wording Melyn used is surprisingly romantic.”

“That doesn’t count as an idea at all!”

Leah then discovered. Compared to before, Will didn’t pretend at all. He was now this particularly, particularly shameless.

“To be honest, I have an idea.” He pondered for a moment.

“I really lack a romantic intuition. I’m clueless when it comes to interpreting the chants inside, but if it’s about deciphering the underlying logic of this magic…”

He looked at the book. The two erased characters “XX Cinder Extinction” were clearly the most crucial part of the entire book, which could indicate the structure of this magic. The author of the Primordial Text, for some unknown reason, had erased those two characters.

But, for Will… he probably didn’t need the “name.” Based on the final result the magic was intended to achieve, he could guess the process.

“It’s probably like this…”

Will found that he couldn’t explain it clearly with words, so he took out a pen and started drawing on the paper.

“Hmm… to understand magic and its creations in this way? This approach has never been seen before…”

“Right? But if so, the poetic prose and chants that form its magical part are still confusing.”

“If this approach is feasible…”

—

The third day.

Leah looked at the materials before her. She hadn’t slept all night. Following the approach Will had given, she had organized a feasible method for this set of magic, and a plan for the incantations.

“According to this… it might really be possible.”

Leah couldn’t say for sure if this set of magic could process the wax blocks, but she believed it had a certain feasibility against that ice castle.

“If that’s the case, we can do a preliminary experiment today.”

“A preliminary experiment… yawn, a term I haven’t heard in a long time.”

Will yawned. Like Leah, he hadn’t slept all night—in fact, he had tried to persuade Leah to rest many times. But for some reason, Leah seemed determined to get everything done today.

For her, who was like this… Will’s fingers reached for his ring. In his ring was the beaker with that “magical liquid.” He could totally take out a little bit right now and give her a “reward.”

—”It’s been two days since I’ve given her any ‘reward.’ It feels a bit like I’m keeping her hanging.”
—”From the perspective of ‘controlling’ her, a combination of reward and punishment, making her body react like Pavlov’s dog, is the optimal solution…”
—”But, from the perspective of… making her understand how to love me correctly…”

In Will’s vision, Leah was a bit blurry.

—”Letting her, like now, get rid of her physical reactions… and feel what love should be with her true heart…”

She seemed to be preparing for the “preliminary experiment” very seriously, not slacking off or turning back to ask for any so-called “reward.” She was completely immersed in it. His body was much better than before, but precisely because he hadn’t pulled an all-nighter for such a focused task in months, he now lacked tolerance for it. What’s more, in this bedless and somewhat cold cave, he had slept for three nights, and was truly exhausted.

“Hah…”

During one blink, Will slumped onto the table and drowsily fell asleep.

“…The idea for the preliminary experiment is also ready. I think you’re right, we do need the witch coins. Now I think we can use that tree from before…”

Leah turned her head and found that Will had already fallen asleep. His body was slumped on the table, revealing his very handsome side profile. His brown hair was a bit soft, hanging down on his forehead. His monocle had been knocked off by his arm, and it was resting against his arm as if it had fallen.

She had actually seen Will sleep often. Because back in the lab, he would occasionally pull an all-nighter with her and fall asleep on the table just like this.

“Speaking of which…” Leah looked at her palm. She was trembling slightly.

Then, she realized something. She had, without noticing, been researching magic all night. And… throughout the whole process, she didn’t feel “bored” or “annoyed.” Even though her magic circuits were silent, she seemed to be able to accept that silence and continue with her work. Even when she was carrying out “Will’s leftover quests,” every morning when she watched the dawn, she would always feel… she would feel the emotions that were once slightly dull to her, under the tide of her once tumultuous emotions.

For example… the joy of discovering something new, the happiness of Will forcing his eyes open to help her with her notes, the delight of him saying some witty remark just as he was about to fall asleep.

“So, besides the physical reactions driven by the magic circuits, there are so many other emotions?”

When she noticed, Leah had already reached out and brushed aside Will’s sideburns, tucking them behind his ear. Then, she gently kissed Will’s temple.

No intense emotions, no stimulating fluctuation of magic circuits, but after such a night, she could still feel… She liked him. Having him by her side like this, like before, completing experiments together, staying up all night together, discussing what magic should be…

She liked it very much. Even if her magic circuits didn’t react, even if her blood didn’t boil, even if her heartbeat was just ordinarily a little stronger. She still liked him very much.

As Leah pondered, she looked at the notebooks stacked next to the table where Will was sitting. Before his hand had fallen, he seemed to have been looking through them.

“…Notebooks I haven’t seen before.”

Leah leaned closer.

“I’m not peeking, just want to help him tidy up.”

She noticed that the notebook, like the Quest System, had a line of “quests” listed, but it didn’t say “quest” at the front, nor did it have rewards written like before.

“This is…”

She tilted her head to quickly understand the words written—

“…Have Teacher Leah defeat the Snow Woman and get the Snow Woman’s important item. As expected! This guy is just using me to get something.”

But then, she saw the next line.

“…Then, continue the quest…”

“To… get revenge on… Carver?”

—