Chapter 45
Pett rattled his broken jaw and shouted.
"A... a spiwit! How?! With a human!"
Finn fluttered upward and settled on Kaian's shoulder.
She crossed her legs and looked down at Pett.
"What is he saying? His pronunciation is as ugly as his face."
"I think he's asking how a human can be with a spirit."
"Yesh! Thash!"
Pett nodded eagerly at Kaian's helpful interpretation.
Finn snorted.
"Ha? I'm not just some spirit. I'm Finn."
She pointed at Kaian.
"And he's not just some human."
Finn proudly lifted her chin.
"He's a handsome human."
"Ugh..."
Realizing the creature before him truly was a spirit, Pett reached toward her in a daze.
Finn recoiled in horror and immediately moved to the top of Kaian's head.
Flutter!
"Hey, ugly human! Don't come closer. Just say hello from over there."
Finn folded her arms.
"My goodness. Lady was right. Humans really have no manners."
"Lady?"
"Yeah."
Finn pointed toward the pocket watch.
"That's the Artifact's name. Probably a nickname."
According to Finn, the Artifact called Lady was officially named [Arsene's Mask].
Arsene was supposedly the name of a legendary phantom thief.
Until now, Kaian had believed Arsene was nothing more than an absurd figure from children's stories.
Lady became furious when she heard that.
[Absurd?! How rude! Arsene was real! He was a real person!]
Of course, only Finn could hear Lady's shouting.
But Finn kindly imitated Lady's voice and relayed every complaint to Kaian.
According to Lady's testimony...
Arsene had been such an extraordinary thief that he once stole a wineglass from an emperor's bedroom.
Supposedly, the only things he had never managed to steal were women's hearts.
Or so the story went.
Maybe that's because he called his pocket watch "Lady"...?
Kaian decided to keep that thought to himself for Lady's sake.
He only offered a brief expression of sympathy.
"Anyway."
Kaian looked toward Pett.
"I've heard the whole explanation."
"This Artifact copies the appearance and mana wavelength of another person, right?"
"And all it needs is their blood."
"Ugh... no..."
The moment Finn first explained Lady's ability, Kaian had nearly shouted in joy.
This is insane! This is incredible!
I can finally leave Vernas Forest!
There was only one reason Kaian hadn't traveled to Valancia, Silvaris, or another continent.
He didn't want his enemies to discover that a descendant of House Valentin was still alive.
That's why I haven't even been able to visit Uncle.
But if he had an Artifact capable of changing both his appearance and his mana wavelength...
Everything changed.
So that's why Arsene became a legendary phantom thief.
It was all thanks to Lady!
Kaian struggled to contain his excitement.
He planned to use Lady as soon as possible.
Before that, however...
"First we need to remove the effect currently applied to you."
Kaian looked at Finn.
"Finn, what time did you say Marius was registered?"
"Five twenty."
The moment the exact time was spoken, Pett's expression became one of complete surrender.
Lady was an Artifact capable of imitating the appearance and mana wavelength of someone whose blood it absorbed.
To absorb blood, the user first needed to designate a time.
The crown could be rotated just like on an ordinary watch.
The red hour and minute hands moved when the user adjusted it.
The blue hour and minute hands automatically displayed the standard time of wherever the Artifact was located.
Kaian carefully operated Lady according to Finn's explanation.
"With the red hands set to the desired time..."
He pressed the crown twice.
Click!
The crown button separated.
A small tube capable of absorbing blood was attached inside.
Its diagonal tip was sharpened like a straw.
"You either place the tip directly into blood..."
Kaian examined it.
"...or stab it into the skin of the person you want to copy."
"Then the blood absorption is complete."
He reassembled the crown.
Click.
Then Kaian looked at himself in the mirror built into the inside of the cover.
His face was covered in a delighted smile.
"And after that, while looking into the mirror, you wind the watch forward one hour."
Kaian pointed dramatically at Pett sitting on the dirt.
"And tada!"
"Sewer Rat Pett turns into the wealthy merchant Marius."
He smiled.
"And to cancel the transformation..."
Finn suddenly tapped Kaian's cheek.
"Kaian."
She looked irritated.
"Lady says hurry up."
Finn covered one ear.
"She says listening to that skinny sewer rat cry is making her ears hurt."
Then she sighed.
"And I'm getting tired of listening to Lady nag me too."
"All right, all right."
Kaian laughed and turned toward Pett.
Then he cast a spell.
"[Restrict.]"
Green ropes of mana appeared in the air.
They instantly wrapped around Pett's arms and legs.
Whirl!
Kaian reflected Pett's face in the mirror.
Then he began turning the red hour hand backward from six twenty to five twenty.
Each time he wound the mechanism backward...
He heard the heartbeat of a stranger.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Whose heartbeat is that?
Marius?
Or Pett?
Finally, after winding the hands back an entire hour...
Kaian felt the mechanism lock into place.
Click.
The face reflected in the mirror began to blur.
At the same time, Pett's real face also blurred.
Shhhhh...
His features rippled chaotically, like water poured over a painting that hadn't yet dried.
Ripple.
Ripple.
Before long, the plump, wealthy-looking Marius vanished.
In his place appeared the filthy, miserable-looking Sewer Rat Pett.
Even his body changed.
He was no longer the well-built Marius.
His original thin frame had returned.
Now, only Marius's portrait remained inside Lady's mirror.
Marius smiled while stroking his mustache.
Tick-tock.
His appearance would remain forever preserved at the time of five twenty.
Kaian stared at Marius's portrait for a moment.
Then he closed Lady's cover.
