Chapter 228 – The Tale of Ciel’s Social Death

Most beastkin taboos were developed to enhance the characteristics of their respective races.
This was also the case for the catkins' Wind Hunter taboo.

Wind Hunter enhanced the user's sense of hearing, smell, and vision to the extremes.
It also sharpened and strengthened the user's claws, increased the user's bite strength, and improved the agility of the user's limbs to an extraordinary extent.
Simply put, it was a taboo that turned the user into a powerful hunter.

Although most people had come to equate cats with household pets, it didn't change the fact that cats were natural hunters.
Even small cats would have a habit of hunting creatures smaller than themselves.
Meanwhile, Wind Hunter enhanced a cat's abilities to the extreme, and it was a taboo developed by a catkin thousands of years ago.

Wind Hunter's use wasn't limited to just catkins.
Other races could also use the taboo and enjoy the full extent of its effects.
The only problem was that other races would suffer relatively harmless side effects.
At the very least, Alice still found these side effects acceptable.

Standing in the backyard of Ciel's house, Alice closed her eyes and moved the mana in her body.
Alice wasn't wielding the Hero's Sword or a pair of panties right now, so she naturally couldn't fully exhibit the power of Wind Hunter.

However, that wasn't important.
Even if she used significantly less mana, so long as she managed to unleash even a small portion of the taboo's power, she would have successfully learned the taboo.
When she needed to put the taboo to actual use in the future, she could simply wield the Hero's Sword or a pair of panties.

As Alice manipulated her mana to modify her body according to the description in Wind Hunter, she gradually felt her senses sharpening.

With her original strength, Alice could already sense the movement of even a blade of grass nearby her.
Now, she managed to hear even a conversation that was taking place far away.
Moreover, based on the changes in the airflow around her, she determined that this conversation was taking place between two female catkins standing at the door of the house across the street from Ciel's house.
Setting aside the distance, there was an entire house separating them.
Yet, she could still hear the two housewives' conversation as if they were speaking next to her.

“My senses have really been improved to a significant extent.
My nails seem to have grown longer and sharper,” Alice muttered as she opened her eyes and looked at her fingernails.
In addition to becoming longer, thinner, and sharper, they also had mana coursing through them.
She did not doubt that if she were to claw at someone's head with these nails, her nails would slice through the person's head like a piece of tofu.

Unfortunately, since the nails were a part of her body, even when Alice grabbed her left hand's fingernails with her right hand, her right hand did not recognize them as weapons.
So, she couldn't determine how much destructive power her new claws possessed.

In addition to her fingernails, the taboo's other side effects had also started to show.

“Wow, you really grew a pair of ears and a tail.”

Ciel, who was sitting on a chair in the backyard, grew a little excited when she saw Alice growing out a pair of cat ears and a cat tail.
Though, whether Ciel was excited because she found Alice's current appearance interesting or because Alice started to look more like her was something only Ciel herself would know.

Afterward, Ciel got out of her seat and walked over to Alice.
Then, she gently pinched Alice's cat ears, her action causing Alice to shudder slightly.
This showed that the cat ears Alice grew were rather sensitive.

“It's a pity they're blonde.
Maybe it's because your hair is blonde,” Ciel muttered in disappointment.

After Ciel was done pinching Alice's cat ears, she curiously looked at Alice's temples and found that Alice's human ears remained there.
This piqued her curiosity as she asked, “Doesn't this mean you have four ears now? Don't you feel awkward?”

Catkins only had cat ears on top of their heads.
They didn't have human ears on the side of their heads.
However, Alice retained her human ears even after growing out a pair of cat ears due to Wind Hunter's side effects.
So, Ciel found this situation very strange.

“It feels like I'm listening to a stereo, but it's not a problem,” Alice helplessly said as she lifted her hand and tried touching the cat ears on her head.

Wind Hunter had indeed enhanced her sense of hearing.
However, all of that enhanced hearing power was concentrated on her cat ears.
Thinking about it now, it was most likely because this hearing enhancement only worked on cat ears that this taboo had grown her a pair of cat ears.

Alice had placed Andusia on the backyard table, so Andusia also got to see the sight of Alice growing out a pair of cat ears and a cat tail.
However, unlike Ciel, Andusia remained relatively calm when she saw the side effects of Wind Hunter since, she, too, had learned and used the taboo before.

“All in all, this taboo is quite useful.
It will be especially handy when I'm fighting in narrow and complex terrain,” Alice said.
When she noticed Ciel reaching for her tail, she quickly canceled the taboo, keeping her cat ears and tail away.
Then, she slapped away Ciel's disobedient hand.

“Mhm…
You're right.”

Ciel let out a soft moan, a blush appearing on her face as she retracted her hand.

Ciel's mother was a relatively ordinary catkin.
At the very least, she felt that she was quite ordinary.
Or, maybe she was a little more fortunate than other housewives since her daughter was a high achiever.

The March Royal School of Magic might not seem impressive for Alice since she had managed to enroll in the academy after saying only a few words to Catherine.
However, for most people, the March Academy was the most prestigious academy in the Gryffin Kingdom, and its entry requirement was just as great.
Hence, the fact that Ciel had managed to get into the academy proved that she was incredibly talented.

Because of Ciel's accomplishment, everyone in Elkite would always sing praises of her intelligence whenever they talked about her.
In addition, Ciel maintained a good interpersonal relationship with the people in town, so everyone earnestly hoped and believed that she would become an outstanding person in the future.

Ciel's mother thought so, too, so she was very happy to see Ciel bring a friend from the academy home.
After all, this showed that Ciel was doing well among humans and wasn't being bullied or ignored.
It was especially true when this friend was the Gryffin Princess, who had been a trending topic in the kingdom recently.
This discovery made Ciel's mother feel very happy.

Ciel's mother had previously seen Ciel and Alice going into the backyard.
Although she didn't know what they were up to, she guessed that they should be chatting since there was a table and some chairs in the backyard to rest in.

So, Ciel's mother decided to prepare some cold fruit juices and send them over to the two girls.
Although there was a parasol in the backyard, it wouldn't hurt to have a cold drink on this warm summer day.

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With such thoughts in mind, Ciel's mother prepped two glasses of fruit juices and brought them to the backyard.
Then…the smile on her face froze when she saw the daughter she was so proud of huddled around Alice's feet, rubbing her face against Alice's white stockings while wearing a euphoric expression.