Chapter 124 Both parties feel they have gained
In accordance with the agreement with Koizumi Hongzi, Cheng Xiaoyu appeared in front of the Koizumi family's mansion located in the mountains at dusk and knocked on the door without delay.
The person who answered the door was a man with pointed ears, hunched back, gray hair, and dressed in a butler's uniform...
"Magic servants? Homunculi, cyborgs, or anthropomorphic golems?"
Cheng Xiaoyu recognized the housekeeper's true identity at a glance and was amazed.
"It's a truly ingenious structure. If properly maintained, it will operate for hundreds of years without a problem."
"Red magic is truly that powerful," the butler said, ushering Cheng Xiaoyu in. "Welcome! Master Hongzi has been waiting for you."
Led by the housekeeper, Cheng Xiaoyu walked through a long corridor and saw Koizumi Hongzi sitting on the sofa in the middle of the living room. There was a cup of fragrant black tea on the seat opposite her and an electronic scale on the other end of the coffee table.
Cheng Xiaoyu watched the butler respectfully report to Koizumi Hongzi that the task was completed and then leave to prepare refreshments. She pushed a magic crystal over as a deposit and praised him, "You guys did a great job creating the soul. Judging from their behavior, they are no doubt like real people."
Koizumi Hongzi was overjoyed. "Of course, it's been perfectly maintained by our successive generations of Red Magic heirs."
Cheng Xiaoyu felt the fluctuations of Koizumi Hongzi's magic power and said, "You have achieved such success at such a young age. This is not achieved by talent alone. You must have put in a lot of hard work every day."
If she remembered correctly, Koizumi Akako was only 17 years old. Even in the magical world she had visited, Koizumi Akako was very strong and talented.
"As expected of a lord-level demon, you have a keen eye," Koizumi Hongzi said. "So, what do you want me to investigate?"
Cheng Xiaoyu placed APTX4869, the formula she calculated and certified by Haibara Ai herself, and the disposable sauce package containing the blood of Haibara Ai and Akai Shuichi on the coffee table, and told Koizumi Hongzi about her discovery at Kudo's house without mentioning the names of the relevant people.
She also recounted the story of the winery's alliance with the zoo, and how the winery was trying to win over the curse master.
"...I see. No wonder you came to see me."
Koizumi Hongzi listened with a frown, and after reading the notebook provided by Cheng Xiaoyu, she realized that she had to help even if she was not paid.
The zoo organization knows the existence of witches, the winery is involved in witch knowledge and begins to win over curse masters.
If these two organizations unite, witches in the future may not be able to remain immune to the undercurrents they create.
"My test results are just as you suspected. Magic and science share many similarities. I even borrowed the chemistry lab's reagents and facilities after school to study magic. So it's not impossible for them to use scientific methods to develop elixirs of longevity and rejuvenation."
Koizumi Hongzi said this after using magic to test the medicine and blood brought by Cheng Xiaoyu.
"But I'm afraid I'll disappoint you regarding memory-erasing magic. While I do possess the ability to hypnotize a person with magical items, or to use potions combined with full-moon magic to force someone to submit to me, I don't have the magic to erase memories, and it's very likely that none of the witchcraft and magic systems I'm in have it."
If there really was a spell that could erase other people's memories, the witches would not have been haunted by this nightmare for so many years.
Otherwise, the witches would not have established the iron rule of "not using magic in places where ordinary people are crowded", would not have moved to the deep mountains and forests, and Koizumi Akako would not have asked Kuroba Kaito to help her hide the secret from Nakamori Aoko who accidentally broke in when she borrowed the school chemistry laboratory to do witchcraft research.
"It's okay." Cheng Xiaoyu had expected this. "Please teach me these spells that can hypnotize and control people."
She wrote one on the spot.
Koizumi Hongzi: "That's possible, but these spells have complicated steps, and some may require consideration of astronomical phenomena. You may not be able to learn them in a short time."
Cheng Xiaoyu: "It's okay, if you dare to teach me, I dare to learn it."
Koizumi Hongzi took Cheng Xiaoyu to her magic room. Under the flickering candlelight and the gaze of the red-eyed crow, Cheng Xiaoyu couldn't help but ask, "Why don't you turn on the lights?"
When she arrived, she couldn't see any lights from outside. After seeing the butler, she could understand why. This servant butler could see without light, so why would turning on the lights waste so much electricity?
But she was puzzled that there were no lights on in the magic operation room.
Perhaps a witch's physique can make the eyes less susceptible to disease, or perhaps it can enhance vision in the dark, but why not turn on the lights? There are clearly lights in the hallway and living room.
Koizumi Hongzi sighed, "I want to, too. But in the past, witches could only use candles when writing magic. The color of potions under candlelight is different from that under lamplight. So, in order to avoid color differences and accidents during experiments, witchcraft research can only be done with candles."
Who would want to light a candle when they can use electric light?
"Thankfully, our predecessors developed magic that allows us to see by candlelight without damaging our eyesight."
Cheng Xiaoyu: "Can you teach me this magic later?"
Koizumi Hongzi: "Yes, this magic is very simple, so I'll spare you the trouble. But for now, you should first learn the spells you mentioned above. This is not the magic system you are proficient in. Let me make it clear, whether you learn it or not, you must pay the 'remuneration' we agreed on."
"No problem, please start."
......
To Koizumi Hongzi's surprise, even when faced with magic that spanned multiple systems and worlds, Cheng Xiaoyu was able to get the hang of it very quickly.
Not only did she get started, she even wrote an improved version of the magic on the spot for Koizumi Akako as a reward. Afterwards, she borrowed Koizumi Akako's magic room and began to modify the original magic principles by adding new spell principles that seemed to belong to another magic system, and began to create her own magic.
And she actually succeeded in creating a magic that could erase one hour's memory.
Although it is impossible to create a magic that can accurately erase memories for a longer period of time due to lack of time, it is sufficient to clear the memory once every hour. If used well, more information can be obtained.
For example, give the enemy the illusion that "I haven't revealed that much information, so it doesn't matter if I say a little."
Koizumi Hongzi rarely praised others, but this time she was sincere in her praise: "What a profound magical attainment... You know more than one type of magic, right?"
Cheng Xiaoyu said modestly, "It's just that I've lived longer and been to more places, so I've seen more things."
Koizumi Hongzi carefully studied Cheng Xiaoyu's expression. "You really don't look like a demon, at least not like the demons of our world. The demons I've seen are all arrogant, especially the lord demons. They are obsessed with protecting the spells, souls, and territories of their subordinates. They are not as keen on learning as you are."
Most demons are not actually scholars. They prefer to fight and seize everything by force.
Cheng Xiaoyu: "I'm just lucky. I have the opportunity to study in more places."
Koizumi Hongzi couldn't understand it. In her imagination, witches and demons were all powerful and proud. "You have such great power and such a vast knowledge base. You have every reason to be proud."
Cheng Xiaoyu: "Confidence is a good thing, but overconfidence that leads to arrogance will only become a blindfold that leads to self-destruction. Humility is the key to progress. I believe that the clever Miss Hongzi also knows this, which is why she usually pretends to be an ordinary person when interacting with her classmates."
Cheng Xiaoyu would not show off his knowledge in front of other users of the magic system or belittle what others insist on, nor would he laugh at others' ignorance of magic. Such behavior is really tasteless.
Just as she would never deliberately destroy the worldview of other purely scientific people and take pleasure in it just because she is on the magic side, Cheng Xiaoyu no longer looks down on the high-level officials and curse masters in the old spell world and scolds them a lot, but she has never criticized the system of spell power itself and its application.
Everyone has their own areas of expertise. Cheng Xiaoyu disdains using one's own strengths to attack and mock others' weaknesses.
Even if it was her enemies, Cheng Xiaoyu would not usually mock or belittle them like this, because she would usually just scatter their ashes.
Koizumi Hongzi: "That... Of course, hahaha."
When she first arrived at Jiangda High School, she admitted that she was a little too proud of her identity as a witch.
At that time, she believed that witches were invincible, that witches were superior to ordinary people, and that they were beautiful and powerful and deserved everything.
Until she was defeated by Kaito Kid, until she was almost killed by the spider.
...Many things happened after that, which made Koizumi Hongzi realize that the ordinary people she had looked down upon before were actually no different from herself except that they could not use magic.
There are indeed some foolish people among them, but there are also smart and brave people among them.
After growing up through the two incidents, Koizumi Akako finally understood why her mother and grandmother, who were also heirs to the Red Magic, insisted on her going to an ordinary school, insisted on letting her learn to integrate into ordinary people, and even went so far as to install electricity in the old house and use modern devices such as televisions, computers, and mobile phones.
Cheng Xiaoyu put the prepared potion into her pocket, then she tore off a piece of hair that had drifted in front of her and placed it on the scale on the lab bench. It was exactly 15 grams. "The excess is my equipment fee. Please confirm if there are any problems. If there are, our account will be settled."
Koizumi Hongzi touched the strand of hair, confirming that it contained magical power. She picked up the tweezers on the table and carefully placed the strand of hair into the glass bottle. "No problem. If you want to do this kind of business again, please come back."
Cheng Xiaoyu smiled and said, "I will."
Koizumi Hongzi; Just some unimportant magic can be exchanged for the secondary derivative of the Great Demon, and also an improved magic, it’s a huge profit!
Cheng Xiaoyu: Just the magic and a few hairs produced in one step of the research process gave me the opportunity to leave work early. What a huge profit!
Both sides felt they had struck it rich.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
