“...Ah, seriously.”
I wasn’t expecting a specific reaction from Gray. But she stood frozen, her expression stiff—clearly overwhelmed.
“This is driving me crazy...”
Eventually, she forced out a nervous laugh.
“How did you do that...?”
“What do you mean.”
“What do I mean—what?!”
“Did I do well?”
“Oh, come on, what kind of dumbass question is that...”
Her eyes narrowed with a touch of mischief.
“How did you do that? You're not even from my family. You’ve never learned it. You totally shocked me just now...”
“Didn’t look like it.”
“I didn’t know what face to make... No, seriously, how did you do that on your first try?”
“I don’t know. I’d like to finish learning what’s left, though.”
“What’s left?”
“You said after the swarm of butterflies, there’s one more, right? Until that final one appears, [Embroidering] isn’t complete.”
“Yeah. But hold on. I need the laundry room.”
“The laundry room? Why?”
“Because I was so surprised I kind of had a little accident...”
Then she crossed her legs tightly.
With a cheeky grin.
Disgusting.
I hate unsanitary things.
“...That’s a filthy joke.”
I replied, grimacing.
Apparently, that just made it funnier to her.
Because I’m always so serious.
“Hm?”
Gray grinned, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
“Who said I was joking? I’m serious.”
“...Got it.”
“What? You don’t believe me? I’m soaked right now.”
“Stop.”
I scowled. She laughed even louder.
“...I’ll wait.”
“Okay, I’ll be back. Might take a while. Gotta wash them.”
This brat.
“Gray Habanero.”
“Kya-haha! Aww, sorry, sorry~♡”
“Cut the filthy jokes.”
“Okay! But do you know how funny your reaction is? You look completely flustered. So cute.”
“......”
“Alright, alright! Don’t get all serious on me. Okay? I’ll be right back~!”
So yeah... I’d just been toyed with by a brat.
Anyway. While Gray stepped out of the gym for a moment, I slipped into thought.
I turned my mind to the Habanero family.
That feline beastkin’s past—and the bizarre [Illusion] called 『Glass Butterfly』.
Normally, [Illusion] magic is the domain of magicians. The Habanero family’s illusion is a rare exception.
Here’s the origin story:
A long time ago—
There was a cat beastkin who lived close to humans. Once pampered as a house pet... until one day, they were abandoned.
But life continued for the abandoned cat. One day, while quietly surviving on their own,
A single fluttering blue butterfly appeared.
Driven by curiosity, the cat chased it into the forest. But the butterfly vanished. And the cat, disheartened, had to turn back.
That night, falling asleep in a cave—the cat dreamed it had become the butterfly.
Soaring freely through the dreamscape, it felt bliss. As a butterfly, the cat could become anything. Go anywhere.
A flower, a tree, a long-lost companion.
It could drift over rivers, perch atop trees, even glide over hellfire.
When the cat awoke, it began developing a supernatural art based on that vivid experience.
That became the Habanero family’s unique illusion technique:
『Glass Butterfly』
This illusion is vastly different from others—despite being [Illusion], it has no circuits, no formulas, no structured system.
It is conjured solely through imagery and mana.
The more vivid the mental image, the more perfect the illusion becomes.
But human memory is inherently vague. Even a detailed mental image is closer to pixel art than reality.
Try it: close your eyes and imagine an apple.
Fifteen percent of people can’t even form a picture. Among the rest, half can only conjure a vague shape. Around 40% can summon a clear image.
And only about 5% can recall something with photograph-level clarity.
Even that isn’t enough to control 『Glass Butterfly』.
To use it, the image in your mind must be even more concrete—as if the object or phenomenon were literally before your eyes.
It must exist—
Where nothing exists.
This is where creativity comes in.
Creativity is defined as the new linkage between unrelated elements.
And those elements are pulled from the drawer labeled “Memory.”
In other words—Gray possesses an exceptional memory.
So refined, she could probably count the individual strands of my bangs from the day we first met.
And she stacks those memories like books, building a towering archive.
That is the Habanero family’s hereditary ability:
Cat Tower Record
Unfortunately, I don’t possess that ability.
And yet, I managed to replicate the third form of 『Glass Butterfly』—[Embroidering]—to near perfection.
So perfectly that Gray was visibly shaken.
But... that wasn’t pure fact.
I still can’t actually use 『Glass Butterfly』.
The reason I could mimic [Embroidering] so perfectly—
Is because I forged 『Glass Butterfly』.
‘Just as expected.’
『World Forgery』 was capable of forging even 『Glass Butterfly』.
Because I reproduced a supernatural ability using another supernatural ability, the mana efficiency was abysmal—but it was, unmistakably, an almost perfect 『Glass Butterfly』.
‘Feels like stepping into a whole new field of study.’
Just like counterfeiting currency requires deep knowledge of the real thing—I had immersed myself in an entirely foreign illusion framework and elevated my understanding.
I was genuinely learning [Illusion] from Gray.
“Professor. I’m back.”
“Let’s continue.”
“Yep. But wait a sec—umm...”
Gray rummaged through her crossbody bag for a while.
“Huh? Where’d it go? I brought it for sure...”
“What are you looking for?”
“Well, since you didn’t believe me... I wanted to show you...”
“??”
Then she subtly pressed her legs together again—
Face full of mischief.
“...Hey, you.”
I have no idea what expression I made.
But it must’ve been funny.
Because Gray burst into laughter.
“Kya-ha-ha-ha!!”
That was a mistake. I should never have shown disgust toward her unsanitary jokes.
These damn cats always find new ways to toy with humans.
“So embarrassed?”
“......”
“Professor, you’re totally a kissless virgin loser, huh? What a scrub♡”
That’s enough.
“Class is over.”
“Wha—?”
As I stood up, Gray waved her hands in panic.
“Okay, okay! I’ll stop with the jokes...”
“......”
“Wait—are you really leaving? Seriously? I said I was kidding...!”
“......”
“N-No, come back! Please! Gray was wrong...! I’ll stop messing around...!”
***
“So... should we try the fourth form today?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Ha... That one took me three whole months...”
We returned to studying the fourth form of 『Glass Butterfly』: [Dreamtrace]. It involved transforming an already-created butterfly into another illusion form.
“Put simply, the butterfly itself becomes the material for a new illusion.”
You release a butterfly—
Then transmute it into an [Illusion].
“Just follow my lead...”
The strength of 『Glass Butterfly』 lay in the fact that it could not be understood through standard magical systems.
Just like a programming expert would never comprehend how a magic mirror works—only those who understood this supernatural system could wield it.
Neither assassins nor mages could decode 『Glass Butterfly』.
“Do the wings sparkle?”
“They do.”
“Good. I can’t see it that way—so that means it worked.”
It’s a bit like how Westerners perceive Hangul or Hanzi.
To someone raised on the Latin alphabet, encountering such fundamentally different symbols is baffling.
“『Glass Butterfly』 also has some physical resistance. If someone tries to destroy it—like this... did you see?”
“You turned it back into a butterfly.”
“Right! So that way it dodges the attack. If you alternate rapidly between illusion and butterfly form, it looks like it’s breaking up in real time to the viewer, but the sword passes through it. The illusion remains intact.”
The personal training was originally scheduled for three hours.
But as we got deeper into it, we both became absorbed. Gray and I dug even further into the intricacies of 『Glass Butterfly』.
“Huh? What are you doing, Professor?”
“...Hmm.”
“The butterflies are flying off.”
“They’re ignoring my commands.”
“Huh? That’s weird. All the others listened just fine.”
It was the first time in this body that I had ever been taught by someone.
But the reason I was enjoying it—
Wasn’t just because I learned quickly.
“Yeah, that’s it...”
“Now, watch the butterflies and imagine what you want to change them into. Mmhmm. A little more specific...”
“That’s it. Good job.”
“You’re really good, Professor...”
It was also because Gray was surprisingly kind.
“Yep yep. More this way...”
“Ah, that’s the one.”
“Nice work...”
⋮
Time passed. Midnight came.
We received several calls.
Gray was scolded by her dorm maid, Lucy, for staying out too late. I was scolded by Adele.
But we still hadn’t finished our lesson.
By around 4 a.m., from the spot where a butterfly had landed on the gym floor, mountains and meadows began to ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) unfold.
It resembled [Spatial Forgery].
It was the successful completion of 『Glass Butterfly』’s fourth form: [Dreamtrace].
“Does that mean I succeeded?”
“Oh, would you quit asking... You know full well already...”
Despite the irritable tone, Gray’s eyes had gone dazed and dreamy.
“You did great...”
“You too. You worked hard.”
“I didn’t think you’d get this far in a single day... Professor, are you sure you’re not part of the Habanero family?”
“Dante Habanero?”
“Exactly.”
Gray giggled without much energy. I couldn’t help but smirk too.
Afterward, she just stood there, staring blankly at the mountains, the fields, the butterflies I’d created.
For a long time.
......
It must’ve been the first time in ages she’d seen 『Glass Butterfly』— an art of her massacred lineage—bloom in the hands of another.
What she felt in that moment, I couldn’t say.
Eventually, she looked at me with a blank expression—
And asked me this:
“...So? What do you think, now that you’ve tried it??”
Casual words, tossed like a stone skipping across water.
But they carried intent. And I knew exactly what she wanted to hear.
“What do you mean.”
“...I mean, what do you think. About 『Glass Butterfly』.”
“What do I think?”
“Oh my god. You know what I mean, you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
“What am I doing?”
“......Just die.”
There was a flicker of disappointment behind her neutral face.
“...Well, I guess you already know a ton of great illusions. Forget it...”
“『Glass Butterfly』—what did I think of it?”
“No, you don’t have to answer—”
“I’ll give my answer over there.”
“...Where?”
“The laundry room.”
“...?”
Gray ducked her head—
Trying to hide the twitching smile tugging at her lips.
“Ugh, seriously... you’re like a f***ing grandpa. That’s not how you do it, you know? At least pretend you peed yourself or something...”
Time to cut the jokes.
“To speak plainly—I believe 『Glass Butterfly』 is a continent-level competitive [Illusion].”
“...Huh?”
“In a world where combatants grow ever more refined, an illusion with such a high resistance to analysis is immensely valuable. The Habanero founder created a system that reached level 9, didn’t they? If you reach that level, even a [Challenger] wouldn’t be able to see through you.”
“......”
“『Glass Butterfly』 is an exceptional ability. And you, too, still have ample potential to contribute to Hiaka’s pure illusion tradition.”
Gray rested her chin on her palm, covering half her mouth—
Then murmured softly while staring off into the distance.
“...Continent-level... exceptional, huh...?”
She turned her head away with a nonchalant air,
But her snaggletooth peeked out again.
“...That much, huh...?”
And just like that, her status window couldn’t hide it either:
┃ Affinity Increased: Gray [43] (▲13)
┃ Reward: Star Fragments × 13