"Neodymium!? This is it! This is the material for black magic? Fuel? Isn’t it something like that?"
"…!"

Neodymium. This substance appeared consistently across various texts. Did it show up in the book Yulia had?

"Neodymium? Let me see it."
"Ah…"

Yulia sighed with a look of despair. She held the book for a moment, shaking her head, but eventually, when I reached for it, she reluctantly handed it over. Yulia shot a resentful glance at Charlotte.

'Are they seeing Neodymium as a key component for black magic here too?'

If this substance is mentioned in so many different texts, it was only natural that suspicion would turn into certainty. First, I needed to get my hands on Neodymium to start any experiments or anything else. But the problem was that Neodymium was an extremely rare mineral.

The amount of pure, refined Neodymium available worldwide could fit in the palm of your hand. About 90% of it was made from a single chunk that had gone missing ever since it entered the black market decades ago.

'I need to start by finding that Neodymium chunk.'

It was just a rare, inconsequential mineral. It couldn’t be used as a tool because it was too fragile and soft. It had no beauty or luster, so it had no value as a gemstone.

So the purchasing cost wouldn’t be too high, but the real challenge was figuring out how to find Neodymium. I couldn’t just put out an ad saying, "Buying Neodymium!" in the newspaper.

If I did that, I’d be immediately branded a black magician and get stoned to death.

I needed to search quietly. This seemed to be quite a difficult task.

"Good job, Yulia. You found it well."
"But I found it…!"

Charlotte looked at me with a slightly unjust expression, and Yulia's face hardened. Did she think she could hide it after finding it?

"T-that’s dangerous! Everyone who researched Neodymium met a horrible end! …"
"Horrible end? How so?"
"They all went insane or turned to crime and died…."
"…"

As my gaze fell upon her, Yulia broke out in a cold sweat and trailed off. Surprisingly, it seemed that she genuinely worried about me.

[The evil god 'Carly' is shedding tears, praising our necromancer’s profound devotion.]

I felt a bit touched. However, Yulia didn’t need to worry.

Because I had already personally experienced the reasons why previous researchers died.

'What could it be? Obviously, it’s the antics of those mischievous evil gods.'

Evil gods are always involved in black magic research. Carly had already proven that when she guided me toward researching black magic. And evil gods tend to meddle heavily with the humans they attach to.

"Do this, don’t do that," they cause chaos at any moment. The former researchers likely had no idea what the evil gods wanted, nor did they realize that evil gods were even attached to them.

As they diligently stacked the evil gods' dislike stacks, their wrath would erupt, leading to their deaths.

'But that won’t happen to me.'

However, that didn’t apply to me. Thanks to my special ability, I could perceive the psychology of the evil gods attached to me in real time.

Moreover, I had a passive ability to be loved by all evil gods. Because of that, I had always been forgiven for refusing Carly’s requests.

I didn’t know if the evil gods would stick around more as I continued researching black magic. But even if they did, I could handle it.

It didn’t seem like Carly would allow other evil gods to approach me.

The threat that Yulia was worried about wouldn’t apply to me.

"Thanks for worrying about me. But I’m okay, so you don’t need to stress over it."
"…!"

I gently placed my hand on Yulia’s head and whispered. I had felt it when I played with her hair while she was sleeping; her hair was incredibly soft.

I had the urge to stick it in my mouth.

"Huh? Huh!? When did I worry about you, Aslan…!?"
"…"

Yulia quickly brushed my hand away, trying to act nonchalant.

You just said that you were worried I’d meet a terrible end!

"T-that was just something I said! I was just trying to prevent you from destroying the world with black magic, so I tried to downplay it!"
"BZZZT! That’s a lie!"
"…!?"

Charlotte, donning glasses she somehow found, spoke up. Upon closer inspection, one of her pupils had turned green.

What’s going on there?

"The spirit's eyes say you’re lying! There wasn’t any sincerity in what Yulia just said!"
"What? What!? Where’s the spirit’s eyes…!?"
"I borrowed them from Dungy! So Yulia is really worried about the uncle! Successful lie detection! Ahem!"

"…!"

We all knew the truth, but Charlotte insisted on driving the point home by using the spirit’s eyes. Yulia’s face flushed bright red.

"Ugh! Charlotte, you’re the worst!!!"
"Ah!? What!?"

Unable to contain herself, Yulia lunged at Charlotte.

What was she planning to do? It seemed like she didn’t even consider how she would handle her.

Charlotte, who lived a life of indoor training, was not someone you could catch that easily.

As Charlotte leaped lightly over the desk and climbed onto the bookshelf, mocking Yulia, suddenly—

[Ugh! Get my eyes back, you little brat!!!]

A desperate scream from Dungy echoed from afar.

…Borrowed, huh.

The small commotion that had happened during the black magic research.

"Charlotte. Come down here. I’ll help you escape."
"Really!? Hup!"
"Now. Return the eyes, Dungy."
"Uncle!? I trusted you!!!"

This incident ended with me capturing Charlotte.

With a pouty, sulky face, Dungy walked over.

The moment Dungy held out its little arm in front of Charlotte, a brilliant light began to be pulled from Charlotte’s eyes.

[I just lent it to you because you said you wanted to experience it. And now you’re running away. What a cruel little brat who doesn’t even understand kindness.]
"Ugh! This feels weird…!"

It was a bizarre sight as the light was drawn back into Dungy’s eyes.

Was this the spirit's eyes?

The eyes that could see through human emotions?

"So, this is the spirit's eye that has been passed down to the imperial family?"
[That’s indeed a spirit’s eye, but it’s vastly different from mine. With this eye, you can only discern emotions by color, but the Emperor’s eyes can see much more. The owner of those eyes is the spirit king, so that’s only natural.]

Sure.

I hadn’t thought about it while being bothered by Dungy. But when I was stared at by the Emperor, it felt like my eyes might pop out and I would die from sheer fright.

It seemed there was a distinction in the quality of spirit’s eyes.

'Maybe I should steal Dungy’s eyes if need be.'

The Emperor also has a spirit’s eye, and Irene has Laura’s eye, but I have nothing.

If I ever needed it, should I just take Dungy’s eyes?

No, it’d be more accurate to say I would forcibly borrow them.

Not knowing how I read its gaze, Dungy backed away, sniffing.

"I’ll end today’s research here. The library has become a mess."
"Ah…"

Looking around, I saw Yulia and Charlotte sighing.

Thanks to them running around, chairs had toppled over and piles of books were scattered everywhere—it was utter chaos.

Of course, it wasn’t solely their fault, as I hadn’t organized the books properly in the first place.

After sending the kids and Dungy away, I was alone, tidying up the library.

"What’s this? Uncle, why are you cleaning up by yourself?"
"…"

Creak.

Charlotte’s playful face appeared through the open doorway.

"You said it was okay because the maids would take care of it."
"If the maids start handling it, I won’t be able to find anything. So, I’m just tidying it up myself."
"You should have said that earlier! I want to help too!"
"No need. I’ve already cleaned up."
"Ugh…"

Charlotte drooped her shoulders in disappointment.

I shoved the disorganized pile of books behind the bookshelf to hide them and pretended to finish tidying up.

I had done this on purpose to clean up alone. If Charlotte started touching things, they’d likely end up in even more disarray than before.

"Oh, by the way! Uncle! Can you help me put on my armor? It just arrived today, and I have no idea how to wear it! Hehe."
"Ask Silvia for that."
"The knight sister is way too busy! She’s not even thinking about coming out of the training ground. I wanted to train with her too…"

Charlotte stomped her feet in frustration.

For the time being, both Charlotte and Yulia were banned from entering the training ground. They had claimed it was for their safety, as outsiders could pose a risk to the ongoing training program.

But the truth was that they were scared of running into Yulia.

I didn’t want to experience Yulia’s fury after she had been scolded by Silvia.

"So, Uncle, you have to help me get dressed!"
"…"

Charlotte said this with a bright smile.

She was indeed talking about her armor, right?

With the way she kept talking like that, it was likely to lead to misunderstandings.

…Just like the maids whispering behind the door over there.