Mr. Kai’s long, black hair cascaded down to his waist.
It was an unusually glossy, jet-black color.
It wasn’t the typical black that reflected a bit of light, which could even remind one of a lightless night.
"Don’t be nervous, Lord Salvatore."
Mr. Kai’s voice was unusually gentle. "If I had any hostility towards you, I wouldn’t have brought you here."
"...Was it you who led me in?"
Salvatore suddenly realized. "No wonder..."
Although his intuition was fairly accurate.
Even with good luck, one wouldn’t just happen to walk up to their target without any information.
"Is it ’Intuition Rewrite’?"
Salvatore immediately recognized the spell.
It was a silver-tier spell from the School of Prophets—an uncommon disruptive spell within the school. However, it wasn’t purely a disruptive spell... Its effect was to make the target’s intuition "as the caster wishes."
For example, suddenly making the other person "intuitively think this person is an enemy," or "intuitively feel this person is easy to get along with," or "intuitively think this attack should not be dodged," and so forth.
Because it didn’t require touch to take effect and had no special effects when it did. Although the effect was not coercive, merely making the subject "instinctively think so," if guided properly, it might achieve some unexpectedly good results.
"Yes," Mr. Kai nodded lightly, "I used this spell to bring you in.
"That way, I could avoid alarming the people around."
"...You really do have bad intentions, don’t you?"
Salvatore squinted his eyes, reaching into his robe and grasping the potion he made: "The profession of a Name Sculptor has already opposed the School of Prophets... How then did you use this spell?"
Although Salvatore himself knew it was just a bluff—since after he switched to being an alchemist, his combat ability had, if anything, decreased.
Even with a potion, he might not be able to defeat this gold-tier Wizard.
Mr. Kai looked at him amusedly: "Don’t be nervous, Lord Salvatore.
"If I truly had any hostility towards you..."
As he spoke, he casually took a mask from beside him and placed it over his own.
Like fish scales being peeled off one by one, pieces the size of a child’s fist flaked and flipped over on his body—in the blink of an eye, Mr. Kai had transformed into Salvatore’s appearance.
The "other" Salvatore was suddenly startled, his eyes widened in astonishment.
Salvatore was also instantly shocked.
Like a cat that had its fur exploded, he looked at Mr. Kai in horror.
In that instant, even Salvatore himself thought he was looking in a mirror.
"...Then you won’t possibly be able to walk out of here."
Mr. Kai spoke leisurely: "Of course, maybe another ’Salvatore’ will walk out from here, but it won’t be you."
Salvatore clicked his tongue.
Though it was a threatening remark.
But at this point, Salvatore could understand that the other party indeed had no ill intent.
Although it may sound strange... When someone capable of easily hammering himself to death displays a method "to easily destroy the body and erase traces," one could actually believe there was no ill intention from the other party.
"I also understand your thinking... You see me as someone else’s ’other self,’ right?"
Mr. Kai spoke in a gentle and mild tone like a very patient teacher as he softly explained, "Let me put it this way, Salvatore. When you see these blank masks, what’s your first thought?"
He looked towards the blood-red smiling face, slightly furrowing his brow as he gazed at the blank masks hanging in the deep red curtains surrounding him: "If I had to say... it would probably be ’eerie.’"
"Then, why do you think that way?"
Before Salvatore could reply, Mr. Kai answered softly, "Is it because of my mask? It’s like a clown’s... right?"
That was indeed what Salvatore was thinking.
Yet, he felt it was somewhat impolite, so he didn’t voice it out.
"It’s normal. This is also a form of preconception, which I prefer to call ’afterimage.’"
Mr. Kai led Salvatore deeper into the room.
Along the way, he casually said, "Just as when you stare at the sun, and then you look at a blank space, the afterimage of the sun remains in your eyes.
"When you particularly focus on someone, the shadow of that person fills your mind when you see strangers. Similarly, when people look at blank masks, different images appear in their minds.
"Maybe it’s the mask of a hero, or perhaps an antique of bronze material, it might also be a comical mask, or even a mask painted as an animal. A blank mask, like a ’blank name,’ is filled with possibilities.
"And this, too, is a form of primitive similitude—although it’s not that similar, it’s much older than modern similitude. Ancient priests would apply eyeshadow or wear stone masks during public ceremonies to look more like deities and enhance the effect of the ritual.
"Even if people have never seen a deity, when they think of one, they automatically associate it with the priest."
At this point, Mr. Kai spoke with implicit meaning: "And when you saw Professor Wolf and Vatore, you thought of me... which is also quite reasonable. Just as you instinctively suspect the first person you see after losing something—
"It’s not because you think he’s most likely to have acted, but because at the moment you see his face, the blurry ’suspect’ in your mind gets confirmed."
"...I haven’t even said what I saw."
Salvatore felt even more puzzled.
His eyebrows knit tightly: "How would you know what I saw?"
"Because I see not the past, but the future."
Mr. Kai answered, "Just as you mentioned... Alchemists need to oppose the School of Prophets, which also means that Alchemists cannot use Prophet spell.
"But that’s not absolute—just like the Elves’ wind dancers can’t learn spells, yet when they use their magic power, they can achieve effects equivalent to casting spells..."
He said this while leading Salvatore to the basement.
Although Salvatore felt uneasy, he still followed behind.
Looking back at Salvatore, Mr. Kai couldn’t help but let out a laugh: "You really are brave to follow along."
"...Because after calming down, I carefully reviewed my own thoughts and realized you indeed had no ill intentions."
Salvatore pursed his lips: "I’m sorry about before... You’re right, it was indeed just an ’afterimage.’ I wasn’t sure you were another identity of Professor Wolf, but then, seeing you, I ’confirmed’ it immediately."
"Hearing that you realized this so quickly truly comforts me."
In the deserted place, Mr. Kai spoke softly, "But you also guessed one thing right..."
Under the faint candlelight, Mr. Kai opened his own mask and casually placed it on the table next to him.
Salvatore saw it very clearly.
—There was nothing inside.