Ch.32Familiar (2)

The blue-haired girl looked at Ruide nervously and asked.

“Are, are you going to make a contract with me now?”

“I never said that.”

Ruide coldly turned his back on her.

His annoyance radar had just gone off at maximum level.

He had no desire to get entangled in something like a contract.

“Get out of my fox. I’ll believe that you’ve been purified safely, so I won’t harm you.”

“L-liar! You said you’d take responsibility for me for life!”

“…When did I say that?”

“Y-you took my purity and now you say such things…!”

“You’re saying something really dangerous!”

“Waaaaaah! Please make a contract with me! Please!”

The blue-haired girl wailed as she grabbed onto Ruide’s pant leg.

“If I miss this chance, I’ll have to spend hundreds of years in that lonely, gloomy, dark, and dreary space again! Don’t you feel sorry for me? You heartless person!”

“The world is so vast. Someone else will take responsibility for you. I don’t want to.”

Ruide tried to ignore her and leave as she clung to him desperately.

‘Why is this little girl so strong…?’

But since he was also in a 12-year-old body, he couldn’t move.

“I’m a useful spirit! I can really do well! I can eliminate half of humanity, and I can use healing magic too!”

“…There’s something strange in the middle of what you just said.”

“I can do anything diligently! I’m still an active spirit, so use me however you want! P-please make a contract with me!”

Ruide spoke with a face that said he was truly annoyed to death.

“Why don’t you contract with Hersy?”

“But Ruide looks so delicious!”

Ruide stared at the spirit with dead eyes.

“I’m reporting you.”

The spirit broke into a cold sweat and said:

“I meant m-mana… mana, th-that’s what I meant.”

Hersy, who had been deep in thought, finally spoke up.

“What about a familiar?”

“A familiar?”

“A familiar contract is a master-servant relationship. You can easily break it at will, right? I don’t know what a spirit contract is… but I think this would be better.”

Ruide gave the spirit a sidelong glance.

“Would that work for you?”

The spirit nodded with teary eyes.

Though he knew this spirit was at least 500 years old, she looked like such a pure young girl that he couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for her.

“A familiar, huh. I hadn’t planned on making one yet.”

Ruide was surprisingly cautious. A familiar was like a pet in modern terms.

But given his tendency to feel bothered easily, he hadn’t made any yet for fear he might end up neglecting it.

‘This seems fine. It’s a perfect master-servant relationship.’

Ruide asked to confirm:

“All I need is mana, right?”

A typical familiar contract works as follows:

1. Party A provides Party B with a certain amount of magical power.

2. In return for receiving magical power, Party B promises absolute obedience to Party A.

3. Party B cannot betray Party A by any means.

A magic circle containing these terms appeared floating in the air.

The spirit looked at the magic circle with sparkling eyes and said energetically:

“You need spirit affinity, not magical power!”

“…Really?”

“But you also need magical power! Spirits can convert magical power into spirit power!”

Ruide sighed and added “spirit affinity” to the contract terms.

“Do I even have spirit affinity?”

“H-yes.”

‘What was that lecherous smile just before answering??’

Ruide felt extremely uneasy.

But since he had already drawn the magic circle, and she would probably keep clinging to him crying, he reluctantly decided to form a familiar contract.

After all, this was something he could break if necessary.

“I, Ruide Christopher Windsor.”

Ruide looked at the spirit. The spirit spoke in a clear voice.

“Great Spirit —.”

The part where she said her name was inaudible. It was a language he’d never heard before.

“…propose a familiar contract.”

“The Great Star Spirit — accepts Ruide Christopher Windsor’s contract proposal!”

As she shouted energetically, the familiar magic circle rotated, emitting a blue light.

“…Huh.”

Ruide touched near his heart with a blank expression.

Just now, about half of his mana had instantly drained away.

It was the first time a single spell had taken so much from him.

The cause was obviously the self-proclaimed Great Spirit.

Ruide confirmed that a soul thread connected him to the spirit, but he couldn’t help being shocked.

Just as gravity is proportional to mass.

Strength is proportional to magical power.

‘…Was she really that useful?’

It was a level of strength that was on a completely different dimension from what Ruide had imagined.

“Yes!”

The Great Spirit clenched her small fist and raised it toward the sky as if she had never been crying.

In that state, a light so strong it blocked his vision enveloped her body, and when he opened his eyes again, she had returned to her fox form.

“……”

And Ruide could now understand why this spirit had hidden her name.

She was a fox.

But she had 9 tails.

“…Nine-tailed Fox?”

Upon hearing the name, the spirit froze for a moment, then clapped her paws in her fox form.

[Ah! Thank you for the pretty name. From now on, my name is Miho!]

‘I don’t think I gave her that name…?’

…Ruide couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been tricked somehow.

**

Ruide returned home after finishing his daily routine.

“See you tomorrow!”

“Yeah.”

He wanted to sleep at Dellin’s Lake as usual, but he couldn’t.

That was because Irene was visiting today.

Ruide thought of Irene and warned Miho.

“Don’t speak in front of my sister. Not if you don’t want to be annihilated.”

[Okay!]

“…Did you understand?”

The fox walking beside him looked up at Ruide and nodded.

[One tail only, transform into human form only at Dellin’s Lake, and try not to speak when with people other than Hersy. Right?]

Listing them all out, he realized he’d given quite a lot of instructions.

Ruide stepped onto the lawn of the mansion.

Sometimes he couldn’t believe that this mansion, which looked like something out of a drama, was his property, but it was also true that the excitement was gradually fading as he got used to it.

Ruide suddenly thought of Irene. Though he went around calling her crazy, he didn’t particularly dislike her.

It was true that he felt strange emotions because he couldn’t understand her true intentions, but originally, there wasn’t a single person in the Windsor family he disliked.

Especially Irene, who despite being a meritocrat, was very gentle toward him.

But there was an uncomfortable situation. That was when Amelia and Irene met.

“Succession… I wonder if Sister Ame wants it.”

Possession in a novel.

He knew the major future events, but novels tend to develop narratives centered around the protagonist.

As a result, he didn’t know much about the Windsor family. They rarely appeared in the story except for “the lazy Ruide.”

Ruide always wondered if something unfortunate had happened to the Windsor family.

What he vaguely knew was that Amelia had stated she had no interest in succession at all—

But perhaps due to her very diligent personality, her actions didn’t seem to match her words.

And it seemed like Irene didn’t like that.

Ruide entered the mansion.

“Welcome home, young master. …What’s that?”

“A pet fox.”

“…What a very cute fox. I should have brought one earlier.”

“I really should have.”

Ruide looked at the fox with mixed feelings as it brightened its eyes while looking around.

“Where are my sisters?”

“They are in their respective rooms. They will probably come out soon after getting ready.”

“Are they leaving?”

“Yes. Lady Irene said she couldn’t stay long.”

No sooner had Sherry finished speaking than Irene appeared.

As always, she was dressed in a neat uniform.

It was something he always thought about, but Irene’s uniform design was very progressive. It closely resembled modern formal wear.

A white blouse, long pants, and a black coat.

Nobles typically wore flowing garments, but Irene’s clothes had no decorations at all.

Thanks to that, Ruide was also able to avoid wearing the tacky medieval noble clothes by using the cheat key of “I want to wear clothes similar to my big sister.”

“Rui, you’re always out this late at night.”

“The sun hasn’t even set yet.”

Irene stared at Ruide as she came down the stairs.

“What a troublesome little brother.”

Irene bent down and stroked Ruide’s head.

“A troublesome little brother who’s out this late at night, and his sister doesn’t even come to meet him.”

“I’m telling you, it’s still afternoon.”

Irene smiled brightly.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already scolded Ria.”

“…Are you listening to me?”

Ruide was dumbfounded.

Irene nodded with a smile.

“Yes.”

“Just hearing isn’t the same as listening.”

Irene opened her mouth slightly in admiration.

“Ruide is so smart.”

“……”

Ruide was at a loss for words.

Just then, Amelia was coming down in comfortable clothes.

Judging by her subtly stiff expression, it seemed Irene had indeed said something to her.

Ruide thought that the role of the youngest was to prevent family discord.

“Sister Ame is doing well.”

“Hmm?”

“If you scolded Sister Ame because of me, there was no need. Honestly, if I had come with big sister, I would have gone back to the North long ago.”

If Irene had been there instead of Amelia for the Justin incident, no one would have been able to find him the next day.

“Is that so?”

Amelia, who had been looking down at the floor glumly, raised her head upon hearing Ruide’s words.

Her eyes showed that she was very touched. Irene straightened up from her crouched position and approached Amelia.

“It seems I was mistaken.”

“…N-no. It’s true that I was wrong.”

“Since Rui is satisfied, I won’t say much. But remember the last advice I gave you.”

“…Of course.”

“Good.”

Irene gently stroked Amelia’s head, then walked back to Ruide.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Well done.”

Irene said quietly.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“Can’t you stay a little longer?”

“I’d like to stay longer since it’s been a while… but I have things to do. Come visit during the break.”

“Alright.”

Ruide waved his hand readily. Amelia also bowed.

Irene walked slowly toward the main entrance.

“Ah, I almost forgot this.”

Irene took something out from inside her coat. It was an envelope. She handed it to Ruide.

“What’s this?”

“It’s an apology letter from Prince Damon.”

Ruide looked at the letter with a salty expression. The black envelope was stamped with the red imperial seal.

‘This looks like the most useless thing in the world.’

“I heard that as an apology for ruining the briefing, His Majesty will grant one wish.”

Ruide’s eyes widened.

‘This was the most valuable thing in the world.’

“There are things in the imperial treasury that cannot be bought with money…”

Irene gave him a little tip and smiled brightly.