episode_0145

As soon as I heard Agnes attempting to slander me as a crazy woman from our first meeting, a dozen or so curses that could have been directed at her popped into my head in an instant.

Arrogant woman, excessive self-consciousness, falsehood, attention-seeker, obsession, lack of social skills, loser, 145cm, A-cup.

There were plenty of other nasty words that could have come out of my mouth to describe her, but fortunately, the curses that came to mind did not spill out towards Agnes in front of me.

Approaching her was solely to build a relationship with her, not to engage in childish arguments or exchange blows with fists.

It was best to just pretend not to have heard well at times like this, even for the sake of natural relationship improvement.

“…What? I’m sorry, Blaze. I didn’t hear you properly just now…”

“The crazy woman who used Mana Blast in the evaluation match.”

…Even if I pretended not to hear, she’s still a pain.

Well, it was inevitable to be misunderstood. Knowing that the method I used back then in the evaluation match was the only way I could defeat Luke, only Ethan and I knew that.

It wasn’t too strange for other ordinary students to misunderstand my intentions, not wanting to quickly determine the outcome using magic arrows but rather using a large-scale technique like Mana Blast.

Still, I thought Agnes, who called herself the next Red Tower Master, would understand why I won using that method, but it seems she’s not at that level yet.

“…I thought that if you were the next Red Tower Master, you would have understood why I won using that method, but it seems you’re not at that level yet.”

“What?”

…Ah, it’s just a thought in my head.

But well, it didn’t really matter even if she found out. What could she do if she heard and got upset?

After all, it was Agnes who started the argument between us in the first place, and I have a personality where I need to create a reason if someone does something stupid to me for no reason.

“You, what did you just say?”

“Did you expect a good response after spitting out the curse ‘crazy woman’ on someone’s face on your first meeting? Yes, I am Ethan’s maid, but I’m not your maid. There’s no need for me to show respect to you, Blaze.”

“….”

“You recognized that I used Mana Blast, but you don’t know the reason behind it, so it seems you’re not as great as you think as the Magic Department’s chief.”

“Uh, uh….”

Agnes glared at me as if she were angry at my response, but she couldn’t say anything in return.

She seemed to be pondering over the meaning of my words, as it was Agnes’s characteristic to dig through books all night to find out about ‘things she doesn’t know,’ so she would probably be bothered by the meaningless words I just said for a while.

Of course, I wouldn’t teach her the reason why I didn’t have a decisive move other than Mana Blast. Revealing that reason would be the same as exposing my weakness.

“…Hmph. You probably used that large-scale magic because you didn’t like that girl from the Technology Department who picked a fight with you. There must have been a reason, right?”

“Well, think whatever you want.”

“…If you dare to challenge me, you’ll end up being defeated miserably like this. It was probably a lesson for you. Obvious.”

“For someone who is supposed to be the chief of the Magic Department, your thoughts don’t seem to go beyond the level of an ordinary student.”

“…Uh uh uh!”

Agnes, who pretends to know everything while subtly poking at possible answers, had a decent reaction when I gently scratched her.

Ugh~. It’s useless to glare at me like that~. I’ll never tell you~.

It might seem foolish to pick a fight with Agnes, who overwhelms with her dominant power by designating the same department as the runner-up in every final evaluation, but I had my own reasons to believe in myself.

As indicated by her middle name, Agnes was a branch descendant of the Elizabeth family, a magical family known for their exceptional lineage selection from numerous branches to continue the Elizabeth family’s legacy, making them truly obsessed with magic.

Even if one’s magical abilities were lacking, they would be eliminated from the successor candidates without exception, despite being from the main family, due to the obsession with magic in the branch of the Elizabeth family. Agnes was one of the children with the most outstanding talent among the competitors of the same age.

By picking a fight with me, it meant that she couldn’t directly harm me. …At least until the final evaluation before the next semester.

I’ll handle the next year’s final evaluation on my own.

“That girl seems subtly similar to you~. I have a feeling that you and Lillith will get along well!”

“You’re being harsh.”

Meanwhile, Sally, who was watching our argument with Agnes and subtly glancing towards her, muttered suspiciously in this manner.

Feeling a bit upset by her words, I retorted with a hint of annoyance towards Sally.

“You think we’re similar in personality? Then are you going to forget the month we spent together and cling to that girl now?”

“No~! Lillith’s magic power seems much more appealing! For some reason, that girl’s magic power seems quite lacking!”

“Well, if that’s how you feel.”

Although it was ultimately a declaration that she would continue to use me as a magic shuttle, it was still a response that I found somewhat pleasing, so I wasn’t too upset.

It was annoying and troublesome to deal with her every day, but she was a guy with a sense of loyalty in her own way.

“Jung…ling?”

Meanwhile, Agnes, who was observing the conversation between Sally and me, quietly muttered a word with a distracted voice.

As Sally noticed Agnes’s reaction, she approached her and started talking to her.

“What! Have you never seen a spirit before in your life?”

“W-wait… Are you saying a high-ranking spirit…?”

“Hmm~? You’re the type of human who can hear me too? I had a feeling that you would be sensitive to magic from your magic power!”

“H-how?! Contracting with a high-ranking spirit is impossible at the level of a first-year… Even I have only reached the theoretical intermediate spirit level…”

“Sorry for interrupting your conversation, but Sally and I don’t have a contract relationship.”

“We don’t have any contract relationship with her? Please don’t make any strange misunderstandings!”

“W-well…?”

As Agnes mentioned, it was difficult to contract with a high-ranking spirit at the current level. You had to raise it to at least level 20 to be able to contract stably. And if you were going to contract formally, you wouldn’t contract with such a noisy spirit but with a more obedient one.

Sally just followed me from the Grindstone because she thought my magic was delicious, there was no special bond between her and me.

Agnes, on the other hand, seemed even more surprised and flustered by the fact that she hadn’t made a contract.

“I-I haven’t even made a contract, and a high-ranking spirit is following me…? That’s absurd… It’s a lie…”

“…?”

“I-I tried to contract with a lower spirit for a month in the Spirit Forest during the summer break, why is that crazy girl the only one…?”

After hearing the story briefly, it seemed that Agnes had visited the Spirit Forest during this summer break.

Well, it wasn’t that strange since it was a place that almost every high-level mage visited at least once in their lifetime. Mages and spirits had a good synergy for cooperative attacks, and most importantly, they had a mutually beneficial relationship where they could help each other out.

When using magic that was difficult to handle alone, one could receive assistance from a spirit to activate it. And for the spirit, it was a relationship where they could constantly receive the delicious mana of a high-level mage.

It was truly a mutually beneficial relationship that allowed for the possibility of forming a contract and working together.

Of course, in my case, I wasn’t trying to use a spirit to use high-level magic, but rather, the primary goal was the ‘+2 Luck’ option attached to the ‘Protection of the Fire Spirit.’

“This is ridiculous… Why am I the only one without a spirit? I’m the most desperate, why do others have one but not me…”

“….”

“And a high-level Fire Spirit…? And it even follows a person without a contract…? Why her…?”

On the other hand, Agnes, who had been muttering to herself like she had lost her mind since seeing Sally with me, was puzzled by her reaction. As someone who had played at the Luminaire Academy before, I understood it well.

Agnes had extremely low affinity with spirits, so even with her overflowing mana pool, she had struggled to form a spirit contract for a long time. It wasn’t until around the time she graduated from the academy that she finally started forming contracts with lesser spirits.

Despite her desire to form contracts with spirits, the spirits were not very receptive to forming contracts with Agnes.

It seemed that affinity with spirits was a trait that was heavily influenced by the ‘Charm’ stat. Among the heroines, Agnes was one of the characters with an extremely low Charm stat.

Of course, the ‘Charm’ stat didn’t simply refer to a character’s appearance, so it didn’t mean that Agnes was ugly or anything like that.

However, if Agnes, who was short, small-chested, and not particularly pleasant in personality, had a high Charm stat, it would have been a bit strange.

In any case, the only impact the Charm stat had in practical terms was on the success rate of auxiliary magic spells, so while Agnes mainly dealt with offensive magic, she may have had some ability in terms of mana, but…

At least in terms of ‘spirit contracts,’ it was a moment that clearly showed me to be much more competent.

“Are you jealous?”

“W-What….”

“Actually, I didn’t originally plan to take any courses related to spirits this semester. I didn’t visit places like the Spirit Forest with the intention of forming a spirit contract, and I haven’t even learned the language of lesser spirits.”

“….”

“However, I thought it was necessary to learn a bit to get closer to Sally. Even though this relationship wasn’t something I wanted, it seemed like Sally and I were destined to be together for a while.”

“G-Grrr….”

Agnes, who expressed her unjust anger at my shameless remarks, was seething with rage.

If she hadn’t resorted to slander and called me a madman from our first meeting, I would have been willing to teach her how to get closer to spirits. But now that the strategy to become friends had already failed, there was no need to teach her anymore.

…How would I deal with that crazy woman who was seething with venom at the end-of-semester evaluation next year?

That was something future me would have to handle, it wasn’t something I needed to worry about right now.