Fran had finished telling the story of what happened to her, but there was something important she left unsaid.
Or rather, how could she not mention the most important thing?
『Don’t you want to talk about evolution?』
（I’ll do it now and surprise her.）
『I see.』
（Nn!）
We are currently still using the Evolution Cloaking skill. It’s also supposed to help mask signs of our presence, but I don’t know how effective it actually is.
A beastman can normally tell if another beastman has evolved just by looking at them.
That’s why I had the thought that evolved beastmen emit some kind of substance or force that other beastmen can sense.
I don’t know if the antidemons can sniff it out too, but I’ve been keeping Evolution Cloaking active just in case, even if it only helps slightly.
Even after meeting Nadia, I have not deactivated it yet.
Because of this, Nadia was unaware of Fran’s evolution.
Fran had been keeping quiet so far in order to surprise Nadia. It was rare to see Fran show this much childishness to someone other than me.
Just goes to show how close she is to Nadia.
To be honest, I think this might be a little too extreme to be called a prank……
「Actually, I still have another secret.」
「Huh, another secret? It can’t be bigger than the one about Master being a failed divine sword, right?」
「It’s as big of a secret that one.」
『Nah, as much as it pains me to say it, I think you’ll be even more surprised by this one.』
Not much can beat me when it comes to containing national-security level secrets, but evolution will be a much bigger surprise to any black cat.
『I’m sure you’ll scream in surprise.』
「That’s right.」
「R-Really?」
Nadia’s face contorted slightly.
It wasn’t the nervousness of hearing important information. She must be feeling some kind of pressure to give a big reaction.
Her line of thinking was obvious, “If I don’t react properly, Fran might get disappointed.” Kinda my fault there, sorry.
Well, there will be no need to put on a false reaction anyway.
「Master.」
『Got it.』
Then, just as I canceled the Evolution Cloaking, Nadia stood up with a tremendous force, making the bed creak loudly.
「……!」
She was left speechless.
「……! !」
She stared at Fran with her eyes open to the limit, her mouth continuously moving like a goldfish panting from lack of oxygen.
「……Ah!」
「Black cats can evolve.」
「Oh…… Oh my god!」
Nadia shouted, ruffling her own hair. Her dizzy steps as she walked towards Fran were so unsteady that it made me feel a bit sorry for her.
「You’ve really…… evolved……」
「Nn.」
「Ha… Haha……」
Nadia collapsed to her knees in front of Fran. She slowly reached out and cupped Fran’s cheeks between her hands. Their eyes were on the same level.
Then she cried again.
「Oh……」
The tears flowed silently but steadily.
「So we weren’t failures then?」
「Nn! Of course not.」
Nadia was in tears for a while, but after a few minutes she stood up excitedly.
「Hahahaha! That was great! Amazing! You sure got me good!」
「Hehe.」
「How did you evolve?」
「Killing fiends.」
『You have to give her a bit more than that.』
On behalf of Fran, I told Nadia the conditions for black cats to evolve. Nadia’s feelings were mixed.
「So that would be impossible as long as I’m in Gordicia?」
「Nn.」
Nadia was born and raised on the continent of Gordicia, so she had never seen a fiend in person.
Not even a mere goblin.
「I have to go to another continent……?」
Nadia let out a confused mutter. At her age, it must take a lot of courage to venture outside the continent she called home. She would have to weigh that against evolution, the goal of every member of her race.
「And how is it that I couldn’t tell you were evolved until just now?」
「Because of Master.」
『I have a skill that allows me to hide her evolution.』
「A skill like that exists? It’s like you were made to be Fran’s sword.」
To tell you the truth, I only got this skill after Fran evolved, but I can however agree that I am the perfect sword for Fran.
「But that’s not all. I evolved because of Master.」
「Is that so?」
「Nn. It’s also thanks to the Master that I know what it takes to evolve.」
When Fran nodded her head, Nadia suddenly turned serious. She was staring at me.
Then Nadia bowed her head deeply.
「Master-dono, on behalf of all the black cats of the world, I must thank you.」
『H-Hey, raise your head. You don’t need to bow to me.』
「Fufufu. Sorry, but I truly mean it. The other black cats don’t even know who you are, right? So I’m the one who has to thank you on their behalf.」
