Chapter 95: A sudden visit II
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"I can handle many things," he said.
Elena stared at him.
"You cannot handle women," Elena said.
Sekhmet’s mouth opened. Then closed.
Elena’s tone remained simple.
"You survived purgatory," Elena said. "That does not mean you understand girls."
Sekhmet felt insulted. He also felt she was right, which was worse.
An hour passed.
Sekhmet returned to the library briefly, but his focus was not as sharp. His mind kept drifting toward the hallway where Lily had taken Bat Bat.
He tried to read supplier lists again. He tried to write auction plans. But he kept imagining Bat Bat asking Lily about jam and Lily teaching Bat Bat how to braid hair.
He did not know why that image felt more dangerous than fighting an orc.
Then, inside his mind, a system notification chimed quietly.
[Ding! System notification- Bat Bat Mental Knowledge: increased.
Current Mental Knowledge: 20%]
Sekhmet froze. His fingers stopped on the page. "What," he thought sharply.
"She had jumped from thirteen to twenty in one hour. That was seven percent."
Elena had only gained her three percent after a full hour of teaching war.
Lily had gained seven percent after a private conversation.
Sekhmet stared at the page without seeing the words. Then he exhaled slowly.
"So Lily is more dangerous than Elena," he thought.
That was not an insult. That was respect.
He leaned back in the chair, eyes narrowing as his mind considered the implications.
If Bat Bat’s growth depended on knowledge, and if Lily could raise it faster than Elena, then Lily might become essential to Bat Bat’s evolution. That meant Lily would become tied to Bat Bat future whether he wanted it or not.
Sekhmet sighed.
The Null always did this. It connected things. It forced relationships. It turned simple decisions into permanent threads.
He closed the ledger, stood up, and walked toward the library doorway again, as if going to check on them.
But he stopped. He forced himself to breathe. He did not need to run after them like a nervous man.
Bat Bat was safe. Lily was not cruel.
Elena was watching the house like a hawk.
Sekhmet returned to the table and stared at the scroll cabinet’s direction for a moment.
There were still questions. There were still secrets. There were still hidden roots under Dawn House, deep and old.bBut for now, he had learned one practical truth.
Bat Bat was growing. And she was growing fast.
Tick... tick... tick...
The library clock was an old thing —older than most of the furniture— its sound soft and stubborn, like it refused to let time become meaningless even in a realm where time liked to mock mortals. Sekhmet sat at the table with one hand resting on an open ledger, but his mind had drifted far from numbers.
Seven percent.
That was what kept echoing in his head.
Elena had battled Bat Bat for a full hour and earned three percent. Lily had taken Bat Bat away for "girl talk" and returned him a silent system chime that said: twenty percent.
Sekhmet stared at the words on the page without reading them.
He did not understand women. He did not understand girl talk. He did not understand why a tiny bat with the mind of a naughty child could evolve faster from a conversation than from discipline.
But he understood the results. And the results, in Null, were more honest than most people.
Sekhmet closed the ledger slowly and ran a hand over his face. The exhaustion he felt was not physical. It was the exhaustion of someone who had fought monsters in the wild, survived chains for three weeks, gained divine power in a single night, and yet now felt threatened by something as simple as a girl taking his bat to another room.
He exhaled and stood.
His footsteps were quiet on the polished floor as he moved toward the library doors. The moment he opened them, the mansion’s daytime life rushed back in, not loud, but alive. Servants whispered. Clothes rustled. Plates clinked faintly from the dining area. A corridor breeze carried the smell of cooked spices and warm bread.
Sekhmet walked into the hall.
And he stopped immediately.
Because Lily was there.
Not alone.
She was sitting on a cushioned bench in the main hall as if she had declared it her territory. Her legs were crossed, posture elegant, expression calm, and her eyes were fixed on Bat Bat like a teacher watching a troublesome student.
Bat Bat, in human form, stood on the bench beside her — six inches tall, arms crossed, wings tucked, face full of stubborn pride.
Elena stood in front of them like a judge.
The young servant girls hovered at a distance, pretending to dust statues that were already clean, their eyes glittering with curiosity and jealousy.
Sekhmet’s gaze moved between the three figures.
Lily spoke first when she noticed him.
"There you are," she said, voice calm but with the hidden edge of someone who believed she had the moral high ground. "I was about to go hunt you down."
Sekhmet’s eyebrow lifted slightly.
"Why," he asked.
Lily pointed at Bat Bat.
"Because," Lily said, "your summon is a menace."
Bat Bat gasped dramatically.
"I am not menace," Bat Bat protested. "I am Bat Bat."
Lily’s eyes narrowed.
"That is exactly why you are a menace," Lily replied.
Bat Bat opened her mouth to argue.
Elena lifted one hand.
Bat Bat immediately closed her mouth.
Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed slightly as he watched that.
So Elena had managed to install fear in Bat Bat’s tiny soul. That was progress.
Sekhmet stepped forward slowly.
"What happened," he asked, keeping his tone steady.
Lily lifted her chin.
"I taught her," she said proudly.
Sekhmet stared.
"You taught her for one hour," he corrected.
Lily waved a hand.
"That one hour was more productive than your entire existence as a teacher," she said.
Sekhmet’s eyes twitched.
Elena’s expression remained calm, but Sekhmet could see a faint shadow in her gaze — she did not enjoy being outperformed.