"Anyway, how much authority do I have now?" Zach quickly changed the subject before Yanael could press him further.
Yanael's eyes narrowed, and she gave Zach a long tense look before relaxing.
"Authority is not something that can be easily quantified. But you don't have much, Master."
"Even when I'm already level four?"
"I'm afraid so, Master." Yanael nodded regretfully.
"...But it's still more than when I was level one, right?"
"Yes."
"So, you can tell me at least something that you couldn't tell me before?"
"What do you wish to know, Master?"
"What do I need to do to help you evolve?"
"..." Yanael was silent and had a blank expression on her face after Zach's question.
"...Yanael?"
"My apologies, Master. Your words made me remember something."
"What?" Zach tilted his head curiously. Yanael's voice had been surprisingly deep and filled with emotion. Zach didn't know what kind of emotion, but it didn't seem like she had recalled any happy memories.
"...I don't know. It was just a flash, and it disappeared instantly."
"I see. Well, it was probably nothing important." Zach could tell it had affected Yanael, so he tried to comfort her.
"I'm sure it is so, Master. As for your question…" Yanael paused.
"Yes…?"
"I have no idea."
"What?"
"I have no idea, Master."
"No, I didn't want you to add formality. I asked for clarification. What do you mean you don't know? Is it different from how you can't tell me since my authority's lacking?"
Yanael nodded.
"If I may be so rude, Master, evolving is not as simple a matter as you appear to think it is. It is more than simply growing stronger or reaching another rank. Reaching a new rank is merely a side effect of evolution."
"Okay. So what does evolving mean and why don't you know how to do it? I don't mean to blame you or anything. I'm just curious as to why you don't know it when you know other things that you can't tell me."
Yanael gracefully and patiently nodded with her hands overlapping in front of her.
"Due to your weak authority, Master, I can't tell you much in terms of what evolution is when it comes to familiars. But are you familiar with the theory of evolution?"
Zach frowned.
"No."
Yanael hesitated.
"I can't say much about this, either, but it's the theory that life, all life, comes from the same source. Over countless years, that life has grown, diverged, spread, and adapted to its surroundings. Birds in one place are different from birds in another place despite having common ancestors from a third place due to living in different environments with different needs of survival and struggles."
"..."
Yanael and Zach were quiet. Zach needed to think, and Yanael didn't want to disturb him. Nora also didn't make a sound as she put down a tray with tea and snacks in front of Zach.
Zach mulled over Yanael's words and the theory of evolution for a while. Eventually, he hesitantly opened his mouth.
"...What about humans?" He didn't fully understand the theory of evolution. He even doubted it. He wouldn't have believed it at all if it hadn't been Yanael who told him about it.
"Do you mean if humans are products of evolution or are you asking what humans come from?"
"...Both." Zach hadn't really thought that humans came from something else. Weren't humans humans? What else was there?
"There are few beings unaffected by evolution. Humans are not part of those beings.
"If it helps, think of evolution as an equation of time, life, and environment. Life can also mean change. Only existences untouched by all three are immune to the effects of evolution. Of course, there are strange powers in the world that can have unpredictable influences, but that's another matter."
"And human evolution?"
"Primates. More than that, I can't say. Even that gave me a headache, Master. I ask that you don't pry for more details."
Zach nodded slowly.
"Wait! Primates? You mean monkeys?! Humans are monkeys?!"
Yanael gently began shaking her head before simply looking at the floor and avoiding Zach's gaze. Before Zach could question further, Nora slapped the back of his head.
"Relax, idiot. Monkeys and primates are different things. Stop torturing Yanael and focus on your original question. This is getting interesting."
Zach's eyes shot wide open and he turned to glare at Nora while holding the back of his head. His gaze softened as he realized something. He looked between Nora and Yanael.
"Wait a moment! How come you can tell her all this when she isn't a summoner? Shouldn't that mean that she doesn't have any authority?" Zach looked at Nora as if asking her if she had secretly become a summoner and leveled up while he was on the field trip.
Nora just shrugged and didn't say anything. She didn't know.
Zach turned to Yanael.
"I…I don't know."
Zach looked between the shrugging Nora and the slumping Yanael several times before sighing.
"Fine. Whatever. Let's get back on topic. Evolution or whatever. You don't know how to evolve since you don't know how to finish that equation you mentioned, right?"
Yanael's eyes widened in surprise. She wouldn't have used that way to explain it, but it was exactly it.
"T-that's right. A familiar's evolution substitutes the different variables for materials to facilitate the process." She nodded.
"Mm." Zach hummed in deep thought as he leaned back in his chair after grabbing a cup of tea.
He understood why Yanael didn't know how to evolve. It wasn't just a matter of solving a strange equation or finding the right materials.
If it was related to the theory of evolution, it was much more complex.
According to Yanael, humans were related to primates. He wasn't sure how or why, but he didn't doubt Yanael. It made sense, after all.
Just at a glance, it made a lot of sense. Both humans and apes looked similar. There were differences like posture, facial and skeletal structure. But the differences weren't as great as those between humans and spiders. Some humans even looked like apes with broad faces, long arms, and proportionally shorter legs.
The problem was transforming any ape into a human. That was what the evolution of familiars was about. If Zach had to guess, they probably had the help of the mysteries of summoning, such as the interface.
But Zach had no idea how to go about making an ape evolve. It was the same for Yanael.
In the first place, what were angels even related to?
Humans? Birds? Something else? What was the next step?
Too many questions. Too little sleep.