"...You said no one else has seen this before. Not even your husband, Mr Windsor, right?"

  Yuzuriha didn't know why but that sentence had popped up in her head.

  It was also accompanied by some snippets of information that could be useful in trying to convince her stubborn neighbor.

  "That's right"

  Grace said nothing after that, waiting for Yuzuriha to continue. With that, she had taken the bait. She also didn't sound as defensive as the first time she mentioned this, meaning she was curious now.

  'I don't know if I should be worried or not, but I'll just go along with it'

  Yuzuriha turned her face slightly toward where she heard Grace's voice again. And this time, she was going to appeal to something else other than interest since that one was a huge failure.

  This time, she was going for her curiosity in the matter.

  'I suppose mentioning her husband must have sparked something in her somehow. I'm not complaining'

  With a deep breath, she continued.

  "And you said…you think it's a Special or Mythical class Sacrament, right?"

  "Uh, I did. I believe it qualifies under both parameters. Other than that, what's going on here? Why are you talking like that Yor?"

  Yuzuriha let the silence hang for a moment, then added quietly.

  "From what I know, Sacraments are extraordinary items tied to the Testamentals. Unlike regular weapons or tools, these can't be forged. So the fact you made one despite that means what you've done is…"

  The more she spoke the more she felt excitement rising from her chest. Even her voice was beginning to rise a bit and her body jerked up in response.

  "...is incredible!"

  It truly was. For all the frustration and strangeness she encountered in this world, this was really interesting.

  From learning that magic is real, which is called astris in this world. To discovering the existence of other non-human races, other than your run of the mill animals or skin color of course.

  What were they again? Um, elves, demons , mermaids, and a bunch of others just waiting to be discovered!

  This world just continued to amaze her in intriguing ways.

  'Haru would definitely have loved this!'

  She thought about her son from her previous life for a little before shaking the thought off.

  Pulling her attention back to the situation, she waited on Grace's response. And according to the erratic noises she was making, she must have been in awe of something.

  Grace went quiet, then she chuckled softly.

  "Well now… that's probably the first complement Azure Ooze has gotten from anyone other than me. And probably the last. Stuff like this is forbidden you know"

  "Huh? Forbidden?"

  Yuzuriha raised an eyebrow.

  "Of course, it's the same as tinkering with Chaos. When it comes to Sacraments, most people don't even bother with that kind of thinking. They take one look at it and don't even consider how, but you…

  You're different. For someone your age you know better than most grown ups. You have a way of talking like you've seen a few things. Honestly, it's impressive. That means you really are smart"

  Oh crap.

  Yuzuriha swallowed hard, fearing that she might have revealed too much. But before she could express her panic, she felt warm fingers casually reaching to brush over her arms, trailing to her shoulder and then up to her cheeks.

  "Oh you're adorable, you know that?"

  Grace gave a little coo.

  "You remind me of someone I used to know. Someone from a long, long time ago. My little brother, Ernest. I don't know the last name he uses nowadays, but I know that he is a professor at Saint Sable College now and he's just as smart as you are"

  For a moment, her tone sounded reminiscent. But that wasn't what Yuzuriha wasn't focused on. She froze under the sudden fondling, unsure of how to react.

  Now that she had a grip on this body, she instinctively knew that it was used to physical boundaries being maintained. But Grace wasn't being creepy so it was probably fine.

  Then, the woman added something.

  "That said, I still can't allow you to touch Azure Ooze. If I did, I'd have to kill you before Marci kills me first"

  Request denied. Again.

  Hearing that being delivered in such a comforting and casual tone almost made Yuzuriha scream out in frustration.

  For the love of God, what would it take to convince this woman?!

  That is what she would have shouted at the top of her lungs, but she held herself together. Her voice, that is, her body on the hand didn't share the sentiment.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  As soon as Grace turned her down, Yuzuriha immediately pulled away from her fondling, aggressively so.

  Enough.

  "Aunt Grace I'm sorry but tell me….why are you doing this to yourself?"

  "Pardon?"

  "You say you've moved on. That you're retired. But look around you. You come here every day, I can feel it. You're still tinkering with the very stuff you said you left behind to be a teacher. Even then, you still made something no one else has, something that could change someone's life, my life!"

  Grace didn't reply, so Yuzuriha pushed on.

  "Aunt Grace, I know I'm asking a lot, and this might be risky, but please. Permit me. Just this once!"

  The way she wanted so badly to get this out of the way, Yuzuriha had even gone down to her knees and touched her forehead to the wooden floor as a final desperate plea.

  It was a bit extreme, but this wasn't the first time she had gone through such lengths to acquire what she wanted. In this scenario though, it was her assistant who wanted something.

  She wasn't clear on what that is, but based on her function and role, it must have been beneficial to Yuzuriha.

  And so, to satisfy her curiosity as well, this gesture was necessary to express her sincerity as well.

  There was a long beat of silence in the workshop.

  That was until Grace said something in an almost horrified tone.

  "T-that's the Godfather's–..."

  Yuzuriha raised her head a little.

  "Hm?"

  Grace cleared her throat.

  "Nothing. I know I've already said it but you're a smart one, you know that? The dangerous kind. You'd do well in Saint Sable after all"

  She took a deep breath then exhaled.

  "...Alright. You win. But you touch it for three seconds. That's it. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three, and you pull away. If I see any signs of something awful… I'm sealing it again. Understand Yor?"

  Grace's voice was a bit more stern as she said that. This was her putting on the teacher tone, the responsible adult.

  In response, Yuzuriha nodded quickly then prepared herself mentally.

  "Yes, ma'am"

  Now that she had Grace's approval… the difficult part began.

  She couldn't help but feel nervous at this. Her fingers twitched, arms slightly stiff as she realized she was about to willingly touch a substance that needed durable equipment to be changed daily because the thing ate through containers.

  Then there was the whole, comparing it to humanity's deadliest chemical and all. Her nervousness was fully warranted, but she couldn't back out now.

  There was a little doubt, questions about why she was doing this again but none of that mattered now. She had gone through all the trouble of convincing Grace. All of it would be wasted if she decided to back out.

  'And besides, Sawatari wouldn't do anything to harm me. Right?'

  Right?

  "Just follow my voice. Step left. Good. Now… just a bit forward. The container's about hip-height"

  Yuzuriha took careful steps as she followed Grace's guidance. It would have been quicker to just gently drag the blind girl there, but this works too.

  She followed her instructions till her thigh bumped into something cold and firm. It was the table.

  "Alright, prepare yourself"

  There was a hiss of the seal being undone which was followed by the sharp clinks of several metallic latches releasing.

  A cool mist escaped from the container. It hit her face first, brushing against her cheeks like morning fog and causing the strands of her hair to ruffle.

  Her nose flared up as a weird oceanic chemical smell invaded it. It was briny, acidic, and faintly metallic. Somehow, it smelled blue.

  That didn't even make sense or possible. But this is a strange world with magic and such, so smelling colors was probably a real thing too!

  Yuzuriha exhaled a cautious breath. This was the moment of truth.

  'Please don't do anything horrible to me'

  She pleaded internally as she slowly reached out her hand. The trembling in her fingers was becoming more clearer the closer she got. Even so, she still pushed through.

  The moment her skin brushed against the slime's surface, she felt a chill shot up her arm. With all the fear and nervousness, she instilled in herself, she almost pulled out immediately the instant she made contact.

  She swore she heard Grace yelp as well.

  However, it wasn't like what she imagined at all.

  'It's warm. At first I felt, or thought it was cold, but it's not like that at all. It almost feels like dipping into still lake water under the moonlight'

  The warmth in question wasn't external. Believe it or not, it bloomed inside her like her nerves were being wrapped in soft velvet.

  ?? Physical contact has been established. Now commencing….??

  The Manifestation's voice returned. Although Yuzuriha understood the first, after she said commencing, Sawatari spoke in a language she couldn't recognize and in speed she couldn't comprehend.

  It echoed in her skull like a chime heard underwater.

  'What…are you saying? Is this the appraisal?'

  As she recalled, Sawatari wanted physical contact with the Azure Ooze in order for a proper appraisal to be conducted. And by definition, appraisal is an act of assessing something or someone, but she wasn't getting any of that.

  Did the word 'appraisal' have a different meaning in this world or was she missing something?

  Nonetheless, Yuzuriha couldn't stress over that right now. Because the sensation of touching a slime—a real, bouncing, jelly like and strangely quivering slime was so much more awesome.

  Her lips curled up into a small childish grin.

  "Haha, this is amazing. This is amazing! It's moving too!"

  If she knew this was the emotion, she was going to feel then she would have discarded those doubts long before they surfaced in her mind.

  She had almost forgotten that she was supposed to pull her hand away.

  Fortunately, Grace's voice snapped her back into reality.

  "Yor! Time's up! Get your hand away right now!"

  She flinched and immediately yanked her hand back in a fright just as the reinforced seal reengaged with a hard click. The container hissed closed, and the temperature in the room returned to normal.

  "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Any weird feeling? I can't believe I just let you do that!"

  Grace's hands were already on her, checking her hand, her face, the rest of her body, but most importantly, the hand. Her high-pitched voice was filled with panic as she ran her fingers over Yuzuriha's skin.

  That was until she couldn't find any burns or abnormalities that she began to calm down.

  Yuzuriha couldn't answer her questions currently as her body was still buzzing from the sensation. She took heavy breaths as she tested if her hand was still functional.

  "I…I think I'm fine"

  The hand was working as it should be.

  "Just a little…"

  ?? Begin ??

  Before she could finish her words, that one word slipped into her mind. She couldn't explain it but Yuzuriha got a chill from it.

  Her eyes widened as something soft and wet forced its way into her mouth.

  "Mh—mmpfh?!"

  She choked violently. A slime like substance pushed down her throat in thick, writhing tendrils. At the same time, another stream forcefully slithered into both of her eyes.

  Grace screamed in horror as her body was hurled back away from Yuzuriha. Whatever that was, it probably threw her into a shelf because she briefly heard the sound of glass vials being knocked down.

  Yes, there was also the smell of herbs scattered across the floor.

  Yuzuriha staggered back, limbs flailing. She couldn't scream, breathe or even cry out for help.

  She dug her nails deep into her cheeks as she fell to her knees, deep enough to pierce through the flesh and draw out blood.

  And that's when it began.

  A searing pain tore through her chest then spread across her entire being.

  Every nerve felt like it was being peeled open and filled with fire. Her muscles seized and convulsed, spasming in a violent seizure.

  After it had fully entered her body, her face twisted into a silent cry, mouth open in agony and lungs locked in a vice grip.

  Her vision was nothing but blackness for a moment and then the next, she saw colors. Phantom shapes spiraling behind her eyes.

  At this point, the pain had already vanished. She no longer felt that searing heat in her chest. That pain was now replaced by a cold numbness spreading like fog through her veins.

  As her body slumped to the floor and rapidly losing consciousness, she heard one final word before fully passing out.

  ?? Success ??