Richard’s gaze fell back upon the silver ring.
He had bought the ring and only scanned it once with his Spiritual Vision, never studying it in depth. He never expected it to have such value.
"Put the ring on the windowsill."
The black cat leaped from the desk back to the windowsill.
Richard walked over and placed the silver ring in the middle of the windowsill.
The ring was next to the white porcelain cup.
A third of the milk in the cup had been licked away, leaving the other two-thirds at the bottom.
The black cat lowered its head.
It stuck out its tongue, the tip glistening a moist red under the light.
Its tongue touched the face of the silver ring.
In that instant, Richard saw a silver light flash across the ring’s face.
It seeped out from within the ring, traced the cross and circle on its face, and finally came to rest at the center of the circle before fading.
The ring looked no different than before.
"Done."
The black cat straightened up, retracting its tongue.
Richard’s Spiritual Vision was fixed on the ring.
The Ether structure of the ring itself hadn’t changed.
But the layer of "Ether Echo" surrounding the ring had been suppressed by half.
"If you wear this ring now, it will form a layer of ’Disguise’ around you."
The black cat continued speaking.
"Those of the Middle-Low Tiers will be able to sense you have circuits, but they won’t be able to sense your specific Tier."
"When a High Tier individual scans you, they will naturally overlook you."
"It’s not absolute."
She clarified.
"If someone of a High Tier actively targets you, the Disguise will be pierced."
"But it’s effective against casual scans."
"It’s also effective against the kind of gaze extended through a channel, like the one from ’Mother Who Eats Shadows’."
"This should buy you several years, at least."
Richard’s throat bobbed.
"This level of protection..."
He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts to form the question.
"What must I pay as the price?"
"There’s no price for now." The black cat licked its paw.
"This is an investment. I’m interested in the ’very few’."
"In my entire life, I’ve met a dozen or so of these ’very few,’ and only two of them truly burned into something else."
"Whether you can become the third, I don’t know."
"But since I’ve decided to bet on you, I’ll give you a little something extra while you’re at your weakest."
"When you reach a high station later on, we’ll settle the score then."
"This is how I do business."
Richard’s fingers paused on the edge of the table for a moment.
He recalled what Old Big had said about Lady Mary’s "casting a wide net."
She accepted all comers, arranging a path for each student according to their characteristics and level.
What Old Big had spoken of was "casting a wide net" on a teaching level.
What Richard was hearing now was "casting a wide net" on another level entirely.
Lady Mary was placing bets all across the Imperial territories, leaving small, different investments with group after group of "newly ignited" youths.
Most of them would be extinguished within a few years, and those investments would be written off as losses.
A few would grow into ordinary torches and would repay the favor according to the Guild’s rules.
And a very few would grow into something else. At that point, Lady Mary’s small investment from all those years ago would be repaid in the manner she desired.
His maternal grandfather once said that the graduation rate for Lady Mary’s disciples was less than ten percent.
Richard now felt that the ten percent who "graduated" were probably just the most visible of the seeds Lady Mary had sown by casting her wide net.
The remaining seeds likely held other possibilities.
Richard stood up from his chair.
He gave a slight bow to the black cat at the other end of the desk.
"Thank you, ma’am."
"You’re welcome."
The black cat went back to lapping up its milk.
"Hutton will probably sense that there’s something on this silver ring."
"He’ll probably know it was my handiwork."
"He might ask you about it. Just tell him the truth."
Richard nodded.
"Also..."
The black cat looked back, the light in its golden eyes growing profound.
"After you sign on, although MacNeil will be your guide, I will personally arrange your first assignment."
The black cat leaped up from the windowsill, its body squeezing through the finger-width gap in the window.
Richard walked to the window and looked down.
On the street outside Waste Rock Lane, the snow was still falling.
The space under the streetlamp was empty, and there were no footprints in the snow.
Only the white porcelain cup remained on the windowsill, the milk inside licked completely clean at some point.

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