Seeing how calm Genichi remained, Demeter could tell he'd already grasped just how world-shattering Magic Catalogue was, along with the lethal risks hidden behind it. Only then did the tension in her face ease. A bright, slightly smug smile bloomed again.
"Not bad, not bad. Just what I'd expect from the ace this goddess picked up with her sharp eye!"
She reached out and gave his shoulder a hearty, approving pat. The force wasn't light. It rocked him slightly.
The tonal whiplash was impressive. She'd gone from solemn shock to chuunibyou self-praise in a blink, and Genichi's eye twitched faintly.
Still, he didn't say anything. He simply endured the overenthusiastic affirmation in silence.
This agriculture goddess really did have a mind that bounced around sometimes.
"But still," Demeter went on, leaning forward a little. "Even if your magic is basically insane and has limitless potential, it's still an empty shell right now, isn't it? No matter how amazing a Catalogue is, if there aren't any books inside, it can't do much."
She leaned a bit closer. Honey-colored hair fell like a curtain, carrying that pleasant scent. Her tone turned gently probing, as if guiding him along.
"How do you plan to fill it? Want me to help you find some basic spells? My Familia isn't good at combat magic, but I can dig up some little support spells, at least…"
She didn't get to finish.
Genichi had already raised a hand.
The motion was smooth and natural, his black eyes settling on his lifted fingers.
"Lumos."
The syllables were clear, shaped with an odd rhythm that didn't belong to this world.
In the next instant, a soft, steady, milky-white glow appeared out of thin air on the tip of his index finger, like a tiny star being lit.
The light was pure and stable. It illuminated Genichi's calm face and a small patch of the space around him. There was no violent surge of magic, as if he'd simply clicked on an invisible lamp.
Demeter's amber pupils shrank hard.
Her smile froze. She stared without blinking at the impossible little orb, something that violated common sense and yet sat there like it was the most natural thing in the world.
She hadn't expected this.
Right after she'd asked, Genichi had actually cast a spell.
He already had magic recorded?
When?
Did he not only awaken the Catalogue last night, but also record something along with it?
While Demeter stood there shocked and scrambling through possibilities, the orb on Genichi's finger quietly winked out, as if it had never existed.
Then his lips moved again. A few short syllables followed.
"Scourgify."
A gentle, invisible ripple spread out from him, like water rolling over stone. It brushed across Genichi, and then swept over Demeter as well.
In the next second, Demeter felt a faint coolness, like being dipped in the purest spring water and instantly dried.
She glanced down.
The nightgown she'd slept in, slightly wrinkled from a full night, was now perfectly smooth, spotless, as if freshly pressed.
Any fine dust that might've clung to her hair was gone. She looked and felt refreshed in an almost ridiculous way.
And Genichi's own clothes, which had been rumpled from sleep and struggling, were now neat and clean as well, not a speck of dust in sight.
Another unheard-of, unseen spell. Simple and direct in effect, yet clearly outside anything Demeter recognized.
Demeter went completely still, amber eyes glittering with disbelief.
She looked from her freshly pristine nightgown to Genichi's face, calm as if he'd done nothing more significant than straighten a book on a shelf. The shock inside her expanded in widening rings.
This boy hadn't merely awakened a conceptual, world-class magic like Magic Catalogue. At the very start, he'd already used it to record and master at least two different spells, with distinct functions, from some unfamiliar system.
How?
Where had these spells come from?
What exactly were the Catalogue's range and activation conditions?
Bottomless curiosity flared up in Demeter like a wildfire.
Genichi looked at her and spoke evenly. "It seems my guess wasn't wrong. The Catalogue's recording process appears to be directly tied to my own knowledge and understanding."
He left it at that. He didn't explain where the spells came from, or how the fragmented memories in his mind, drawn from countless worlds, had become the Catalogue's first "books."
Demeter drew a deep breath, forcing down the roiling waves of shock and the curiosity threatening to overflow.
She understood now. Genichi didn't need her to provide basic spells to fill his Catalogue.
He already held the first key to an endless vault of magic, and he clearly possessed a starting library far beyond anything she'd imagined.
After the first jolt of awe, a strange feeling rose in her.
A subtle disappointment, and an unhappy sense of being shut out.
As a god living in the Lower World, one of her greatest pleasures was watching mortals bloom, witnessing unknown possibilities take shape and grow.
Guiding, nurturing, and seeing a unique life unfold was part of what made the Lower World entertaining and meaningful.
And Genichi, without question, was the biggest unknown she'd ever encountered. The most staggering possibility.
Those monstrous skills. That conceptual magic.
Each one was a delicious mystery, irresistible to a god's desire to understand.
She'd thought she could be his guide, watching him dig out his potential step by step, learn spells, grow stronger, and enjoy the satisfaction of being part of the process, part of the miracle.
But Genichi was already moving in a near-independent way. Before she could truly step in, he'd shown a self-contained path of growth.
He didn't need her to teach him basic magic. And in the future, it was entirely possible that even an agriculture goddess like her would have only limited help to offer in the realm of magic.
That feeling of not being needed, for a goddess who'd just picked up a treasure and was ready to throw herself into it, was hard not to find a little deflating.
But that faint disappointment was quickly swallowed by something stronger and far purer.
Expectation.
Her amber eyes brightened again, glittering with excitement and a boundless longing for the unknown future.
She had no idea how far Genichi would go.
Would he become an unprecedented legend in Orario?
Would he reach the realm hinted at by "Ascension to Godhood"?
Or would he spark a change even the gods couldn't foresee?
The unknown made it more captivating.
The limitless possibility made it more worth anticipating.
As his goddess. As the first god to discover and accept this mystery, Demeter made a decision.
Even if Genichi didn't need hand-holding on the road of magic, she would not stand aside.
She would use every resource, every connection, every bit of wisdom she possessed to smooth his path, clear obstacles, provide shelter, and witness, and push, his climb toward a peak no one else could reach.
Not only out of pity for a child steeped in darkness, but also to satisfy her ultimate divine curiosity and her desire to raise something extraordinary.
She wanted to see with her own eyes what kind of tidal wave her ace would unleash on the chessboard of the Lower World.
"Good!"
Demeter planted her hands on her hips. A radiant grin spread across her face, brighter than the morning light outside the window.
"Since you already have your own 'library,' I won't fuss over that. But Genichi, remember, I'm your goddess. No matter what you need, you can come to me."
Her tone was sincere and firm, and the promise in her amber eyes was unquestionable.
"I'll do everything I can to help you grow. Because I really, really want to know what you'll become."
Genichi looked at the goddess in front of him, whose mood had shifted again, eyes burning like the rising sun. He was silent for a moment.
Then he gave a small nod.
"Yeah."
No excessive thanks. No empty politeness. Just a simple acknowledgment.
(End of Chapter)
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