Chapter 426: Chapter 426: Contact and Testing (Second Update)
Support me and be 30 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/Draco_
*****
"Master, we're heading out!"
The next morning, Syaoran and Meiling slung on their backpacks and set off after greeting George, going to meet up with Sakura and Tomoyo.
"Looks like the Dream card is supposed to appear today. By the current pace, they're almost done collecting all the Clow Cards. Maybe it's time to make early contact with Eriol Hiiragizawa," George thought to himself as he watched the two kids leave.
Out of the 53 Clow Cards, Sakura and Syaoran had already collected 47. Only six remained. By the time they finished, George would have studied almost every Clow Card.
But truth be told, even at his current level, fully comprehending the magical principles behind all 53 cards would take him at least a decade or more.
To speed things up, aside from gaining insights in other worlds, the only viable shortcut was seeking out Clow Reed's reincarnation—Eriol Hiiragizawa.
Eriol was the strongest magician in this world, and a reincarnation of a portion of Clow Reed's soul, inheriting most of his memories and magical legacy.
Before Clow Reed left this world for another, he split his soul—one part reincarnated as Fujitaka Kinomoto, who would go on to father Sakura; the other part became Eriol Hiiragizawa.
Though Eriol wasn't as powerful as Clow Reed himself, he had trained using the same memories and had thoroughly mastered the magic contained within all the Clow Cards.
If George could establish communication with Eriol, it would undoubtedly accelerate his understanding of the cards' magic.
That evening, after Syaoran and Meiling returned, they handed over the Create card and recounted their day's events.
Just as George had anticipated, they had captured the Dream card at Tokyo Tower. It was a powerful Clow Card capable of foreseeing the future through dreams.
With the Create card in hand, George once again immersed himself in deep magical research, a trance that lasted for three days.
"What? You're playing Sleeping Beauty?"
When Syaoran casually mentioned this at dinner, George froze for a moment in surprise.
As it turned out, there was a talent show at school that weekend. Syaoran's class was performing a stage play of Sleeping Beauty. The roles had been decided by drawing lots—Syaoran had drawn the role of Sleeping Beauty, and Sakura had drawn the prince.
"Why do I have to play the villain? I want to be Sleeping Beauty and let Syaoran play the prince!" Meiling grumbled from beside them, stabbing her food with chopsticks in protest.
She had drawn the role of the evil fairy—the antagonist of the story.
"There's no way that's happening," George thought silently as he looked at Meiling and shook his head inwardly.
Meiling had a crush on Syaoran, but they were paternal cousins. Cousins from the same paternal lineage were not allowed to marry.
If they had been maternal cousins, things might have been different. In traditional families like the Lis—who were long-established Taoist practitioners—marriages between distant maternal cousins were still sometimes accepted to preserve the bloodline.
But paternal cousins? Even the Li clan wouldn't allow that.
So, even without Sakura in the picture, Meiling could never end up with Syaoran.
Of course, George suspected Meiling's feelings for Syaoran might not be romantic love, but more of a sibling crush. She was still young and probably didn't fully understand her own emotions.
He chose not to spell it out.
Letting things unfold naturally was always the best approach. Forcing the issue could backfire and trigger rebellious behavior.
As the clan's ancestor, it was only right that he consider the younger generation's feelings.
Once he completely grasped the magic of all 53 Clow Cards, he planned to pass down his own meditation techniques, along with some refined Taoist spells and magical theories, to the Li family. A stronger Li clan would ultimately benefit him as well.
"Hmm, Master, will you come watch us perform?"
Syaoran asked somewhat helplessly.
The talent show required parents to attend. His mother was in Hong Kong and obviously couldn't make it, so the only one he could turn to was his ancestor.
George chuckled at the question and replied,
"Of course I'll come. I want to see how you, Sakura, and Meiling perform. I'll be there to cheer you on."
As he thought it over, he recalled that a Clow Card was also set to appear during this event—specifically, the Light card, one of the most powerful among them, symbolizing the power of light.
The Clow Cards are divided into Yin and Yang, Light and Dark.
Yang represents the sun, governed by the guardian beast Cerberus, who commands the Light card. Light, in turn, controls the elemental cards of Fire and Earth.
Yin represents the moon, overseen by the judge Yue, who governs the Dark card. Dark then controls the elements of Wind and Water.
If George could master the Light card, it would significantly enhance the power of his Fairy Law and Fairy Radiance spells, along with the light magic he had learned from the former guild master.
That, in turn, would give him a better chance of defeating Morgoth when he returned to Middle-earth.
Sunday Morning – Tomoeda Elementary School
Three figures appeared in an instant on the rooftop of the school building.
"You two go get changed and get ready. I'll take a stroll and join the audience in time to watch your performance."
George gently patted the heads of Syaoran and Meiling before clasping his hands behind his back and leisurely walking into the bustling school grounds.
While watching the show was part of the plan, his real purpose today was to meet one of the teachers—Kaho Mizuki.
Kaho Mizuki was a shrine maiden of the Tsukimine Shrine and possessed strong natural affinity with lunar magic. She had previously worked as a student-teacher at Toya Kinomoto's junior high school, where the two dated for a year before amicably breaking up.
After their separation, she went abroad to study in England, where she met and fell in love with Eriol Hiiragizawa.
She had recently returned to Japan to take a temporary teaching position at Tomoeda Elementary, primarily at Eriol's request to help guide Sakura through the Moon Trial.
Meeting Kaho Mizuki would allow George to establish contact with Eriol ahead of time—otherwise, he would have to wait at least another three or four months until Eriol arrived on his own.
"Where's your dad, Toya? Didn't he come?"
"He said he couldn't leave the excavation site. He was really disappointed but told me to make sure I took lots of pictures of Sakura's performance."
As George wandered through the school grounds, he happened to come across two tall, slender high school students walking toward him.
"The Moon Judge and Sakura's brother."
From their conversation—and the immense magical energy he sensed from both—George immediately guessed who they were.
Still, even though he had identified them, he didn't approach. There was no real need to.
After a short stroll around the school, he made his way toward the teacher's office area.
"Sir, are you lost? This is the teachers' office. If you're here for the performance, it's that way. It'll probably start in about an hour."
Inside the office, a long-haired female teacher was tidying up her desk when she noticed George standing there. She froze for a second, then smiled and stood up to greet him.
George smiled politely and replied,
"You must be the Mizuki-sensei that Syaoran mentioned. Such a strong lunar aura you have."
When Mizuki first arrived at the school, Syaoran had sensed that something was off about her. He'd remained on guard and even asked George to help investigate.
But George had already known who she was—and what she was here for—so he never acted.
(End of Chapter)