The Author's POV

"So..."

Staring at me for a couple of seconds, recalling something, Smallsnake asked

"Anything on your end?"

As I was still thinking about Ryan and his little tricks, hearing Smallsnake's voice, I turned around and questioningly looked at him.

"My end?"

What was he on about?

Seeing that I didn't understand, Smallsnake elaborated

"Didn't you say that you wanted to recruit that girl called Ava?"

Clapping my hand in understanding, I exclaimed

"Ah! That"

Right, I almost forgot about that..

...well, rather than me forgetting about it...it was more like there wasn't an opportunity for me to interact with her yet. Especially considering the situation in the dorm complex.

Staring at Smallsnake, I vaguely said

"Unfortunately, an unfortunate situation arose"

...it was truly an unfortunate situation.

Who would've expected five annoying kids to take control of the dorm complex?

It completely threw me off and it sort of made it harder for me to approach her. Moreover, I also couldn't think of a way to approach her naturally. After all, she's was an extremely introverted individual...and we didn't share any topics in common making any interaction with her difficult.

Still, that didn't mean I didn't have anything planned...it's just that I didn't have enough time to execute my plans as I was quite busy this past week.

Noticing my reaction, Smallsnake curiously asked

"An unfortunate situation? what happened?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I waved my hand as I brushed past the topic and looked at him seriously

"Nothing much, it should be handled soon. In fact, I might need your help with that"

"My help?"

Taken aback, hearing about the fact that I would soon require his help, Smallsnake felt an ominous premonition

...Recalling his past experiences with me, every time a situation happened where I would be requiring his help, Smallsnake remembered always finding himself swamped with work.

Smiling, I nodded my head

"Yup"

Cautiously looking at me, Smallsnake weakly said

"Do I have any say in this?"

"Nope, moreover this is for the benefit of the group"

I wasn't lying.

...since I was planning on removing those five little bastards from the dorm, I needed all the help I could get.

Yes, I could do it without his help...but I wanted to squeeze as much as I possibly could from them. If not, then it would truly be a pity. After all, there was a lot to gain from this operation.

Staring at me, Smallsnake didn't say anything.

"..."

*sigh*

Thereafter, after a couple of seconds of silence, an extended sigh escaped from Smallsnakes mouth. Eventually, he nodded his head.

"Fine..."

What other choice did he have?

Since he was now working for me, Smallsnake could only comply.

However, before he fully agreed, pointing towards Angelica who was coldly sitting on the seat opposite to him, he said.

"...then what about her. If you want my help at least do something about her"

Hearing Smallsnake's remark, Angelica coldly snorted at him.

"Hmph, shut up you little twig"

Staring at Angelica, a bitter smile appeared on my face as I looked at Smallsnake.

"Ah...haven't really thought about it. Why does she want to go out anyways?"

Shaking his head, Smallsnake helplessly said as he raised his voice

"How would I know, ask her. I too want to know."

Turning my head towards Angelica, I repeated

"Angelica, why do you want to go out so much? Wouldn't you be safer here?"

Considering the fact that I had her core, she was in no state to go out.

...if she really went out in her current state, she could easily be identified as a demon. Going out in her present state was just like asking for her to be killed.

Frowning, Angelica coldly said.

"Why? Why must I be stuck here in this place with them? This Matriarch can do whatever she wants and-"

Shaking his head, Smallsnake interjected

"Because you're a demon"

Frowning, Angelica glared at Smallsnake and said

"What's the problem with that? Had I had my core with me, I wouldn't have had a problem moving around unobstructed in your territory"

"Yes...but right now you don't have your core so going out is just like asking for yourself to be killed!"

"Hpmh, what does it matter to you what I do, you stick-like human?"

"How many times did I tell you that that's not my name..."

Listening to Angelica and Smallsnake bickering, a frown appeared on my face.

What Angelica said wasn't wrong. If she was at full strength, she wouldn't have had a problem roaming around the streets unobstructed.

...but now that she was weakened, this no longer applied to her.

The reason why demons were able to enter the human domain so easily was because of their great camouflage techniques.

Unless they were trying to break into the Union or the central government, demons could pretty much go anywhere they pleased.

Well, either way, the human domain was so big. Even without the techniques, sneaking in wasn't something that hard to do.

Unless they wanted to sneak in places that were highly secured, demons could pretty much roam everywhere they pleased.

The same went with humans in the demon domain. As long as they weren't trying to enter a highly secured place, sneaking in with special techniques wasn't hard at all.

"Mhhh..."

After a moment of silence, thinking of something, turning his head in my direction, Smallsnake thought of something and carefully suggested

"Ren, since she can camouflage herself and move unnoticed why don't you let her follow you back in the academy? Since you have the core, as long as she sticks close to you, she can camouflage herself without any problem"

"What? Are you craz-"

Hearing Smallsnake's suggestion, I immediately tried to reject it. Why would I want to bring her back to the Lock with me? If she was caught I could get into serious trouble.

However, abruptly stopping myself mid-sentence, I placed my finger on my chin as I pondered. Thereafter, as I thought about the issue more calmly, a faint smile appeared on my lips.

Actually, this wasn't a bad idea.

With Angelica staying next to me, I would essentially have a <C+> ranked bodyguard with me at all times. Although I was generally safe in the Lock, what about in situations where I went out of the Lock? Wouldn't her aid potentially save me?

Glancing at Angelica who was coldly looking back at me, I squinted my eyes and carefully asked

"Angelica, how well can you camouflage yourself?"

...I couldn't get too excited yet.

I first needed to know the full extent of her abilities.

Snorting disdainfully as she stared at me, Angelica coldly said

"Hmph, this Matriarch can turn into anything she wants. Moreover, my technique also enables me to fully hide my aura from anyone...as long as someone doesn't directly inspect this one's body, they would never be able to find out about my true identity"

Surprised by her answer, I couldn't help but ask again as I tried to make sure I didn't hear wrongly.

"Angelica, you can turn into anything you want?"

With her arms crossed Angelica nodded her head

"Yes"

Thinking of something, suppressing my excitement, I quickly rummaged through my pocket.

"Here, turn into this"

Thereafter, taking out a phone from my pocket, I quickly typed something on my phone and showed Angelica a photo of a black cat. A common household pet.

Frowning, Angelica questioningly said

"A cat?"

Nodding my head, I excitedly said

"Yes, turn into this"

Pets weren't forbidden in the Lock, therefore, if Angelica disguised herself as a cat there shouldn't be any issues with me bringing her back into my dorm.

Thinking along those lines, I couldn't help but be excited.

This was perfect.

Had I known that she could've done this beforehand I would've asked her to do this long ago.

Not only would I now have a bodyguard of <C+> rank, but I could also make good use of her. Especially considering that I could use her for sneaking in and doing things that I was incapable of before...

Yes, the more I thought about it, the larger the smile on my face became. To make things even better, I now had a common topic to talk about with Ava...how perfect was that?

...this was like three birds with one stone!

Staring at the cat in the picture, a trace of disgust appeared on Angelica's face as she flatly refused

"I refuse"

As if cold water was poured on my head, raising my brow I asked

"Didn't you say you wanted to go out?"

"I did, but why must I turn myself into a cat?"

She was a proud Matriarch.

The fact that her core was taken away was already humiliating enough...and now he was asking her to be his pet? No way could she stand that!

"...you really won't change into a cat?"

"Hmph, no way"

Frowning, I stared at Angelica's eyes for a couple of seconds. Shortly after, shaking my head disappointedly, I put my phone away and said

"Oh well, suit yourself. Since you asked me to bring you out, this was the only method I could think of. If not you can just remain here and hang out with stick-like human"

Hearing the word stick-like human coming out from my mouth, Smallsnake who had remained quiet for quite a while, glared at me.

"Hey..."

Ignoring Smallsnake, I deeply stared at Angelica.

"Are you sure about your decision?"

Frowning, Angelica didn't answer immediately. Thinking back at what she had done for the past two weeks here, Angelica couldn't help but recall how she felt like a caged bird unable to get out...

She really hated that feeling...she felt like a prisoner that couldn't escape no matter how hard she tried. To make things worse, her strength continuously decreased with each passing day...she hated the feeling with all of her heart.

...but going as low as becoming his pet? Frowning hard, Angelica was currently facing a dilemma.

On one end, be trapped like a prisoner with no hopes of going out unless she wanted to die or on the other end be able to get her freedom back but in the process becoming a pet...

Clenching her fist underneath the desk, Angelica looked at me and carefully said

"...you won't make me do weird things right?"

Tilting my head, I repeated

"Weird things?"

"Like feed me cat food and degrade me by treating me like a real cat?"

Hearing her words, I instantly understood what her problem was.

...her pride.

I see...her reaction now made sense.

Her pride wouldn't allow for her to be treated like a common household animal. It was just too humiliating for her...Understanding this, I nodded my head and reassured her.

"ah, I understand. Sure, just tell me whatever you don't want me to do and I'll comply. Well, as long as it isn't too unreasonable"

Hearing my response, after a couple of seconds, biting her lips, Angelica reluctantly nodded her head

"...fine"

She had no choice.

If she wanted to go out she could only do so on my terms. After thinking about the pros and cons, she could only reluctantly accept my conditions.

"Great!"

Smiling brightly, I quickly turned on my phone and once again showed her the photo of the black cat and excitedly said.

"perfect, alright, now turn into a cat"

"Give me"

Snatching my phone from my hand, Angelica deeply stared at the picture of the cat. Thereafter, she closed her eyes.

Staring at Angelica who was about to turn into a cat, I couldn't help but secretly sigh in relief.

Fortunately, I had chosen a cat instead of another animal. Had it been a dog, high chance she would've never agreed.

-Fuuuuaaa!

Frowning slightly, channeling the mana inside of her body, a red hue shrouded Angelica's body. Subsequently, at a speed visible to the naked eye, her body shrunk. Thereafter, as Angelica's body became smaller, black fur suddenly started appearing all over her body accompanied by her eyes and structure changing alongside it.

...shortly after standing with four legs on the ground, a black cat appeared before me.

Opening her eyes revealing two yellow eyes with thin oval pupils, Angelica, who was now a black cat, coldly said

"...is this good enough?"

Staring at Angelica who was now a cat, I couldn't help but gape in amazement.

"Oh my god. This is...perfect!"

She looked no different from a black cat. Moreover, I felt no energy fluctuation coming from her. No matter how I tried, I couldn't tell the difference between her and a real cat.

The more I looked at her, the larger the smile on my face became.

...now this was what you called a game-changer.