Two people came across two fruit trees.
One tree bore five fruits. The other bore four.
One person pointed to the tree with five fruits.
"This one has more," He said.
"This one has fewer," He said.
"The one with more is mine," He declared. "The one with fewer is yours."
The other person said this approach was wrong.
Keeping the lesser share for oneself and giving the greater share to others—that was the right way.
Thus, what is good is called virtue; what is not good is called evil.
"Hey! Time to wake up!" A fervent shout rang in his ears.
On the bedside table, within the brass bottle, the petite demon girl sat hugging her knees, floating silently, her pale blue hair drifting behind her.
Lucius climbed out of bed, rubbing his sleepy eyes, momentarily lost in thought.
"Hurry up a bit. Aren't we solving the magic problem today?" The loli demon closed one eye, her tone full of urgency. "Get it done quickly—huh? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Nothing." Lucius shook his head, retracting his gaze.
He had dreamed of something strange.
Before this, he rarely dreamed when he slept. This meant the contents of this dream likely had something to do with the demon or the sealed bottle.
He had made plenty of private guesses about this demon's identity.
His gaze drifted to the engravings on the brass bottle's surface.
A storm demon with hundreds of dragon heads roared, its hundred arms raising divine thunder, causing gods to flee in terror, transforming into various birds and beasts.
A three-headed demonic dragon howled to the heavens, battling a sword-wielding celestial god.
A seven-headed "beast" with ten horns on its head, crowned with an otherworldly diadem...
Clearly, these mythical monsters depicted in the engravings were somehow connected to the loli demon sealed within the bottle.
But such matters felt a bit distant to him.
After all, he was still just a mortal without even a trace of magic.
Besides, in his moral view, as long as she could give him what he wanted, he didn't care who or what she was.
So, he decided to put those thoughts aside for now.
Perhaps these were issues he'd have to face in the future, but not yet.
"Nothing, huh?" The loli demon raised an eyebrow, noncommittal. "In that case, stop wasting time and solve the magic problem already."
"You know, the money you have won't cover tonight's inn bill," She added, her delicate face breaking into an unmasked, mocking smile. "A pilgrim on the path to power… sleeping on the streets of Rome because he can't pay for a room—that'd be hilarious, wouldn't it?"
Because he had crossed over unprepared, Lucius had found himself in dire straits.
Fortunately, using his barely-passed language skills, he had managed to sell a trinket he brought with him, avoiding the fate of homelessness right after arriving.
Even so, the money he'd scraped together was nearly gone.
If he could successfully gain magic and, under the demon's guidance, master something like a suggestion spell, he might avoid looking too pathetic tonight.
Otherwise, he'd probably have to resort to washing dishes.
"If it weren't for you, you useless demon, would I be in this mess?" Lucius sneered, not holding back.
To walk the path to power, shouldn't she first help him gain supernatural abilities?
Yet this pathetic demon couldn't even manage that.
As for why…
Since her creation, she had never lacked magic. A single breath could stir a storm of magical energy, a mere thought could draw power from endless malice.
How could a being like that possibly know how to cultivate magic from nothing?
Lucius knew deep down that this was partly his fault.
After all, he was just a mortal.
If he had even the slightest foundation in supernatural power, the demon could probably propel him to greatness in one step.
But knowing that didn't mean he'd let her off the hook.
Besides, having crossed into a strange world, it wasn't so bad to have someone—or something—to bicker with constantly.
Though he seemed aloof, Lucius actually enjoyed lively company.
He sometimes wondered how other dimension travelers endured the loneliness of being alone in a foreign world.
And this demon, perhaps due to her long isolation, had practically been forced into becoming a chatterbox.
Trading barbs with her, in a way, dulled the loneliness of his crossing.
"The way I generate magic? You can't use it," The demon said, sitting cross-legged in midair, her bare little feet dangling casually.
"You don't want to apprentice under someone else."
"I told you I could try preparing a standard method from this world's mystical side to generate magic, but you weren't satisfied."
If it were her own method of generating magic, that'd be fine. At her level of power, even a scrap of her strength would be valuable.
But using this world's methods? Even a prodigy would need years to build a decent foundation of magic.
Considering Lucius was nearly an adult with a fully developed body… he might toil for years and still achieve nothing.
Moreover, in this world, there were those fortunate few who became Campione by slaying gods, ascending to greatness in a single leap.
While Lucius wouldn't risk a near-certain death for such a slim chance, with those examples before him, he had no interest in slowly grinding his way to strength.
The loli demon, enraged, shot to her feet.
"Picky about this, picky about that—what's with your lofty ambitions, you fool!"
Why rush cultivation?
Take it slow, ideally until you're old with nothing to show for it. Then you'd die sooner, and I'd be free faster!
She thought smugly.
Lucius, naturally, fired back.
"If I don't aim high, what good are you?"
Damn.
That actually made sense.
The demon fell into deep thought.
And shamelessly so.
So… there was only one option left.
During their exchange, Lucius grabbed the sealed bottle with one hand and pushed open the door.
Destination: The Rome Museum.
***
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