Science/Magic

"Will it work?" Elwha asked curiously while looking at the necklace Bloed gave her.

"It should." Bloed nodded. "Don't worry. I will not cut corners now that I decided to help you."

"... Thank you." Elwha smiled softly. She could not help but stare at Bloed with a grateful expression. Soon, though, her heart started to beat faster and her face turned red, making her look away hurriedly.

"This stupid connection…" Elwha whispered to herself, making Bloed chuckle.

Yeah. The feelings caused by their connection were sometimes a bit embarrassing and troublesome.

In the end, Bloed decided to help Elwha.

In fact, even before he talked with Charise, he was already leaning towards helping her. Back then, however, he was displeased by the way the Goddess of Fate acted.

He felt the Goddess of Fate was forcing him to do something.

After he talked with Charise, though, his concerns reduced slightly.

He was still wary of the Goddess of Fate and her church, but at the very least, he thought he could trust them a little bit.

Plus, Charise promised him she would do everything in her power to help him while she was in the city.

It was a big promise, considering it came from the saintess of one of the most powerful religions in the world.

Now that Bloed had decided to help Elwha, the question was how he planned to go about it.

Going against the Church of Slaughter head-on was a definitive no. Bloed had seen a portion of the Church of Slaughter's strength, and he was no confident he could protect Elwha from their attacks.

He was not even sure if he could protect himself.

Fortunately, he did not need to. Right now, the Church of Slaughter should not know that Elwha was with them, and as long as the situation remained like that, it would be perfect.

Unfortunately, Elwha was a Princess, and her features were rather unique. Even her current disguise did not make the situation completely safe.

As long as she remained beside Bloed, there was a chance she would be recognized eventually.

Thus, Bloed decided to decrease that possibility to the minimum.

And the necklace was the tool he was going to use for that.

It was the same tool Liu Ying used to disguise her hair and eyes. However, Bloed modified it slightly.

"We can't change your appearance all of sudden. After all, Prince Calisto's bodyguards already saw you, and they will find it suspicious if your appearance changes all of sudden." Bloed explained. "Thus, this necklace will change your looks gradually instead."

"Gradually?"

"Yes. After one month, your appearance will seem similar but different from your original looks. In two months, you will be only slightly similar to your original appearance. And after three months, you will seem like a completely different person. Moreover, because the change is gradual, the people around you will not notice anything wrong."

"Oh? It sounds convenient."

"It is. As for your hair and eyes, changing their color at this point will be too obvious. But we can make your eyes slightly dimmer and your hair a bit darker. That way, even someone completely familiar with you will be unable to recognize you."

Elwha nodded in surprise.

"This thing is pretty convenient. I did not know you could create magic tools, Mr. Bloed."

"It's not a magic tool." Bloed shook his head softly. "The principles behind it are completely different. But thanks to that, nobody will be able to detect your disguise through mana fluctuations."

"Not a magic tool?" Elwha was surprised. Bloed, however, did not explain. He just taught her how to use the disguising device and let her familiarize herself with it.

After that, he left his laboratory and met with Regina and Liu Ying.

"So you decided to help her in the end, huh." Liu Ying said with a wry smile.

"Sorry about that. I know it can bring us a lot of trouble, but even so, I ended helping her."

"Don't worry about it. I wanted to help her anyway." Liu Ying shrugged, before suddenly staring at Bloed fixedly. "However, I feel a bit strange by the fact another woman is around you."

"Mm. The catgirl has not confirmed her relationship with you yet and there is already an elf princess around." Regina could not help but sigh in exasperation.

A wry smile appeared on Bloed's face.

"You know my relationship with Elwha is not like that."

"Perhaps not now, but we are not sure it will be the same after a few months, master."

"You are pretty good at charming girls, Bloed. I can already imagine Princess Elwha looking at you with a lovestruck expression."

Bloed could only smile wryly after he heard Regina and Liu Ying's words.

At that moment, Prince Calisto appeared followed by Aya and one of his bodyguards.

"Mr. Bloed, Miss Regina, Miss Liu Ying, you are here!"

"Were you searching for us?" Bloed asked.

"Yes." The lionkin prince nodded excitedly. "Look. This arrived just now!" The lionkin prince said while extending his hand and showing an invitation card he was holding.

"That is…"

"An invitation to the welcome ceremony three days later. I heard it's realized once every four months to welcome all the new students. We are lucky we will be able to take part in it just after we arrived."

Bloed, Regina, and Liu Ying looked at the lionkin prince with confused expressions. They could not understand why a welcome ceremony excited him so much,

Quickly, though, the bodyguard behind the prince explained the situation.

According to him, the welcome ceremony was a kind of festival that happened every three months, and through which the different clubs and classes tried to recruit new students.

Of course, the clubs and classes recruited students all the time, but during the welcome event they were allowed to put a show to attract new members

Moreover, there would be a speech from the headmistress plus some other interesting events. Even Bloed was interested after he heard about some of them.

"It's supposed to be one of the liveliest days in Academy City." The bodyguard explained with a smile. "In fact, many clubs prepare for this day during weeks."

Bloed raised an eyebrow, clearly interested. Liu Ying also seemed interested in such a lively festival.

Only Regina seemed indifferent to it, but it was normal considering she was rarely interested in something that was not related to Bloed.

Of them, Prince Calisto was clearly the most excited one. He was still a child, after all, so he could not help but be attracted to that kind of event.

However, something that happened right after that dampened his mood immediately.

With an urgent expression, one of his bodyguards approached him.

"Prince, people of [Beast Brotherhood] are here."