Pale Mask didn’t know what to say.
She couldn’t tell where that mask was looking, but Tunzuo could feel Nya on the floor staring at her with unabashed, prying eyes.
Pale Mask turned her head to look at Yuge, who stood beside her with his head lowered, not daring to meet her gaze.
In a calm tone, she issued a dangerous question.
That eerie, mischievous smile on her face gave the witch no clue as to her true emotions.
Tunzuo let out a breath, slowly raised her hand, pointed at Pale Mask lying on the floor, and silently stared at that face enthusiastically greeting her.
“Yuge, you’d better explain this to me.”
Shaking his head with an extremely faint sigh, Yuge looked up at Tunzuo.
His voice carried a rare mix of embarrassment and self-blame.
“A thousand apologies, Young Master. This time it’s my fault. I didn’t keep a close watch on the Spirit World’s gate, and the most disobedient one in our family slipped out in the chaos.”
First, he glanced at the troublesome colleague sprawled on the ground and spoke with a grimace.
“Who’s the most disobedient?!”
Nya, lying on the floor, let out a dissatisfied snort.
The smile on her mask twisted slightly, making it look a bit ferocious, but the voice that reached Tunzuo carried a hint of playful coquettishness.
“Yuge, don’t you go spouting nonsense! Where am I even disobedient? I just like to play! Is playing a crime? Besides, I’m the one who listens to the Young Master the most, right, Young Master~”
As she said this, Nya rolled around on the floor, seemingly trying to attract Tunzuo’s attention.
Her tone turned soft and cutesy as she whined to Tunzuo.
“Young Master~ The floor is so cold and hard, and I just crossed dimensions, so my body is still very weak. Can you please pick me up~? If I keep lying here, I’ll get damp and moldy~.”
Nya’s exaggerated voice gave Tunzuo goosebumps and made her extremely uncomfortable.
She looked at Yuge with a gaze full of disgust, clearly asking:
Can I return this thing? Do you have a no-questions-asked return policy within seven days?
“Ahem.”
To salvage the image of the Cthulhu Mythos familiars in Tunzuo’s mind, Yuge cleared his throat.
The ghostly flames in his eye sockets flickered uncertainly.
After a moment of silence, he finally turned sideways and made a “please” gesture toward Tunzuo, indicating they should talk privately.
After all, some things weren’t suitable to discuss in this room, especially in front of that fraudster.
Tunzuo nodded knowingly, turned, and followed Yuge toward the door.
Seeing that Yuge was about to lead Tunzuo away, leaving her alone in the room as a mask, Nya, lying on the floor, instantly freaked out.
She began cursing at Yuge’s retreating back.
“Yuge! You disloyal dead bubble! You’re using this to settle a personal score! Young Master! Young Master, don’t listen to him! He just wants to kidnap you and brainwash you! I’m very well-behaved and honest! Don’t go——!”
But Tunzuo and Yuge turned a deaf ear to the shouts behind them.
After exchanging a brief glance, they walked straight out of the room.
Amid Nya’s pitiful wails, Tunzuo ruthlessly closed the door.
With a “bang,” the noisy ruckus was sealed inside the room, and the world fell silent again.
As soon as she stepped out, Tunzuo met three pairs of eyes coming from the living room.
Olivia, Sally, and Huli all stared at Tunzuo in unison.
The huge, chaotic fluctuation of magical energy that had just erupted from Tunzuo’s room couldn’t have escaped the notice of the three witches in the dorm.
Olivia had already half stood up from the sofa, her bright golden pupils filled with vigilance and agitation.
Tunzuo’s pale face made her uneasy, as if she would pounce at the slightest sign of trouble.
Tunzuo casually waved at the living room, signaling Olivia that she was fine.
‘Don’t worry.’
Seeing this, the wariness in Olivia’s eyes slowly faded, and she sat back down on the sofa.
But she didn’t turn away; her contemplative gaze lingered on Tunzuo’s door.
After calming the restless Olivia, Tunzuo followed Yuge through the corridor to a quiet corner of the dorm.
After confirming that no one could overhear them, Yuge spoke again to apologize to Tunzuo.
“Young Master, I apologize for my dereliction of duty. It was my negligence that allowed that troublemaker Nya to take advantage and replace True Numbra’s position, slipping out of the Spirit World.”
Tunzuo leaned against the wall, sighed, and waved her hand to signal Yuge to stop with the meaningless platitudes.
“It’s already done. Stop with the useless talk. Think about what to do now. What’s the story with that Nyarlathotep? And what about my music teacher? I can’t just summon True Numbra again, can I? I’ve almost drained my mana reserves. If I summon again, I won’t be able to handle it.”
Yuge naturally understood the situation Tunzuo described.
With no other choice, Yuge organized his thoughts, combined Nya’s personality and habits, and first explained the matters concerning Nya to Tunzuo.
He believed this was the most important thing to address right now.
“Young Master, Nya has already signed a familiar contract with you, and that cannot be changed. As one of the Three Pillars, Nya’s authority and power are very beneficial to you, but… you must watch her at all times. It’s best not to let Nya out of your sight for even a second. Otherwise… who knows what that bastard might do.”
This was the first time Tunzuo had seen Yuge show such strong emotion since being summoned, even cursing.
This piqued Tunzuo’s curiosity.
“What? Could that Nya harm me?”
To Tunzuo’s question, Yuge shook his head and said firmly:
“No. Nya’s loyalty to you, Young Master, is unique. If any creature dares to encroach on your interests, Nya would definitely be the first to rush out and tear them apart. But that guy, how should I put it, um, she’s quite…”
Yuge faltered for a long time.
The ghostly flames in his eye sockets seemed to tie themselves in knots from hesitation.
After a long pause, he barely managed to spit out a relatively nice word.
“…Tough.”
“What? Tough?”
Yuge’s answer left Tunzuo completely confused, scratching his head.
In response, Yuge spread his hands and explained helplessly:
“Young Master, Nya has no bottom line in her actions, and she can be very extreme at times. Her actions are purely for enjoyment and chaos. Nya always centers on you, Young Master, that’s true, but she doesn’t care about any other living beings.”
“In other words, if Nya thinks harming or eliminating the beings you care about, Young Master, would be beneficial to you, she will absolutely do it. Even if you strictly forbid it, Nya will do it secretly, and she might even disguise herself as you.”
“That’s why I need you, Young Master, to keep an eye on Nya at all times. If I had to find a suitable analogy, Nya is like… your minister.”
After listening to Yuge’s explanation, Tunzuo rubbed her temples in frustration.
In the end, wasn’t this just a pure, oversized problem child?
Having no choice, and wanting to get a clear picture, Tunzuo directly asked:
“In a nutshell, just how bad is Nya’s personality?”
Tunzuo’s question plunged Yuge into a long silence.
He seemed to be choosing his words, or perhaps recalling certain painful memories.
After a long while, Yuge finally spoke, his voice low:
“Back in the day… Nya was as close as a sibling to Her Excellency Antuxi, even calling each other sisters.”
Hearing this, Tunzuo’s mouth instantly turned down, and she raised her hand to signal Yuge to stop.
She already understood Nya’s personality.
If she could collude and conspire with that bad mommy of hers, what good could she be?
Since Tunzuo’s current mana consumption limit was already filled by Yuge and Nya, forcibly summoning True Numbra now would put Tunzuo’s mana in a dangerous deficit, possibly even damaging her foundation.
That definitely didn’t align with Yuge’s usual principles.
So Yuge could only suggest awkwardly:
“I’m sorry, Young Master. I’m afraid your music teacher will have to be Nya. After all, she has countless avatars and is proficient in all the arts in the universe. Teaching a musical instrument wouldn’t be a problem. But if you absolutely don’t want to, Young Master, then we’ll have to ask Miss Olivia.”
After hearing Yuge’s words, Tunzuo covered her face with her hands in speechlessness.
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have done it!
I chose to summon True Numbra specifically to avoid being tortured by that perverted dragon Olivia.
Now not only did I fail to escape, but I’ve also ended up with a problem child on my hands.
What is this!
Tunzuo looked up and glared angrily at Yuge, the instigator.
“Yuge, you’re responsible! If Nya causes trouble in the future, I’ll hold you accountable!”
Yuge had nothing to say to that, so he simply bowed his head and accepted Tunzuo’s scolding, planning to make amends later.
After some discussion, Tunzuo decided to go back to her room first and deal with Nya’s issues.
But just as Tunzuo’s hand touched the doorknob, she faintly heard a sound from inside the room—
A very light rolling noise, like a wheel rolling across the floor.
“You abandoned me, left me as a mask in this cold room to fend for myself…”
As soon as she entered, Tunzuo heard Nya’s voice, thick with tears.
Tunzuo narrowed her eyes, then abruptly pushed open the door.
“Boo-hoo-hoo, Young Master, you’re finally back! I thought——”
If Nya were in the same spot she had been in initially, Tunzuo might have felt some sympathy.
But now, Tunzuo just watched coldly as Nya, full of mischief, lay on the floor.
Tunzuo walked up to Nya, looking down at that pale mask from above.
She didn’t bend down. Instead, she crossed her arms and spoke sternly.
“I’ll pick you up if you want. But since you came uninvited, some rules need to be set. Listen carefully; I’ll only say this once.”
Hearing this, the pale mask lying on the floor instantly fell silent.
The smiling expression on the mask seemed to become a bit more focused.
“First, regarding music lessons: You can guide me, but only in a way I can accept. You can only teach normal music theory. Understand?”
Tunzuo raised her first finger.
“Second, you are not allowed to transform into other witches’ forms without permission, especially not into me, Olivia, Sally, or Huli to play pranks. You can only exist as a mask or in a harmless form I approve of. If I catch you turning into me to do bad things, go back to the Spirit World!”
Tunzuo raised her second finger.
“Third, and most importantly.”
Tunzuo leaned down, staring into the smile on the pale mask, and said word by word:
“Don’t hurt my friends. Olivia, Sally, Huli, and the other witches I know—they’re all my companions. You can be displeased with them, you can complain, but you absolutely cannot hurt them, and you are not allowed to pull any tricks behind their backs. If you so much as lay a finger on them, I won’t hesitate to ask my bad mommy to seal you up again!”
After saying this, Tunzuo straightened up and stared coldly at the pale mask on the floor.
“Those three points: if you agree, I’ll pick you up. If not, you can keep lying there. The floor is pretty cool anyway.”
Faced with Tunzuo’s conditions, Nya didn’t hesitate at all.
She giggled, her voice crisp and refreshing, as if the serious atmosphere had never existed.
“No problem! I agree to all of them! Don’t worry, Young Master, I’m the most rule-abiding familiar! Isn’t it just teaching musical instruments? I’m the origin of all change; teaching an instrument is a waste of my talent~ And as for doing bad things or hurting friends, how could I bear to? I love the Young Master’s friends the most~”
Seeing Nya agree so readily, Tunzuo couldn’t help but feel a little doubtful.
But after thinking it over, she felt there was no reason to keep stalling.
So Tunzuo nodded, bent down, and picked up the pale mask from the floor.
But what Tunzuo didn’t know was that Nya’s promises were probably the cheapest things in the entire universe.
The moment Tunzuo picked her up, the pale mask eagerly began to change.
Several extremely thin, almost transparent tentacles extended from the edges of the mask, nimbly wrapping around Tunzuo’s bangs and gently covering half of her face.
Tunzuo reached up and touched the grinning pale mask on her face.
She felt no weight, and her vision wasn’t obstructed at all.
It was as if the pale mask and tentacles didn’t exist at all, becoming a complete part of her body.
But Nya’s silly, mischievous laughter echoed clearly in Tunzuo’s ears.
“Hehehe, got you, Young Master~”
Faced with Nya’s clingy persistence, Tunzuo could only shake her head helplessly.
With a pale mask on her face that she couldn’t shake off no matter what, she pushed the door and walked out of the room.