"Is this milk for humans? Why does it taste so awful... Get me a cup of goat's milk instead, thank you!"
After the little elves in gray uniforms served Big Black Cat a cup of warm milk, it took only two licks before spitting twice and demanding goat's milk instead.
"Are you human?"
Professor Yao, seated behind his desk, finally raised his eyelids and glanced at the black cat. With pointed meaning, he said, "...He's much more polite than you, at least. He wouldn't complain about bad tea in someone's office... Perhaps that's the difference between the original body and its shadow?"
Big Black Cat sneered and ignored Old Yao's remark, continuing to direct the little elves to heat its goat's milk.
Unlike the overly familiar black cat, the young man in a green robe codenamed Forty-One behaved with perfect propriety. He sat upright beside the tea table, hands resting on his knees and eyes fixed straight ahead, as though meditating while awaiting the office owner's reception.
Old Yao continued dealing with the work on his desk, apparently in no hurry to acknowledge the two uninvited guests.
While waiting for the goat's milk to arrive, Big Black Cat swept its gaze over the tea table beside the sofa. Complex incantations faintly flowed beneath the red hardwood surface, lending it an air of mystery beneath its weighty solidity.
Several red fruits resembling plums sat in a red-lacquered fruit tray. A slender-necked vase beside them held a bouquet of red tulips and hibiscus flowers. Even the thick stack of folders was entirely bright red.
"A tedious distinction."
Big Black Cat scorned this intense "Jiuyou style" of the office, its gaze finally falling on a copy of First University's school newspaper lying in disorder on the tea table.
It noticed a brief news