As I rested curled up in a ball on top of Elysia’s head, passing students began to stop and stare, one by one.
At first, it was just furtive glances.
But soon, those gazes shifted to blatant interest.
“…Did you see that?”
“A fox?”
“It’s silver, but there’s a pinkish hue to it.”
“Is it Lady Valerion’s familiar?”
“It’s sitting on her head?”
I half-closed my eyes and played dumb.
‘I don’t know anything. I’m just an ordinary baby fox.’
Of course, there was no way that would work.
The Academy was a place with far more eyes than I had expected.
Students walking down the hallway, students leaning against the windows,
even students moving about with their familiars—all without exception looked up at Elysia’s head.
Or more precisely, at me.
“How cute…”
“I didn’t know familiars could be so docile.”
“Wait, why is a familiar on its master’s head?”
I flattened my ears slightly.
But Elysia was surprisingly composed.
Even as gazes poured down on her, she didn’t falter in her step.
The sword at her waist swayed gently with the movement of her body, and her posture was straight and neat.
If one ignored the baby fox perched on top of her head.
“Haku, are you alright?”
Elysia asked in a quiet voice.
Instead of answering, I softly wagged the tip of my tail.
“Squeak.”
I’m fine.
Probably.
To be honest, I wasn’t entirely fine.
Too many people were looking at me.
But it was still better than hiding inside a bag and getting caught by spirits.
At least right now, I had a familiar tag hanging around my neck.
I pressed the small metal plate hanging from my neck with my front paw.
‘I’m an official familiar. I’m a lawful ball of fur.’
While I was convincing myself of that, Elysia had already left the Special Familiar Department building and was moving toward the Magic Knight Department building.
I couldn’t tell exactly when we had moved.
However, judging by the faint magical reaction that had brushed past me moments ago, she had probably used a short-range Gate.
‘A Gate… was it?’
I belatedly came to my senses and looked around.
The atmosphere in the air had changed somewhat.
Students wearing swords were visible here and there, and some bowed their heads or lightly greeted Elysia.
“Good morning, Lady Valerion.”
“Good morning.”
Elysia calmly accepted their greetings.
However, most of the greetings broke off midway.
Because their gazes naturally rose to the top of her head.
“Um… the child on your head?”
“A child I began taking care of today. His name is Haku.”
“Haku…”
That student looked at me and muttered blankly for a moment.
I raised my head with as much dignity as I could muster.
But dignity wouldn’t come from the body of a small, round baby fox.
The corners of the other student’s mouth subtly loosened.
“It’s cute.”
‘I know.’
No, I didn’t want to know.
Elysia smiled briefly before walking again.
And before long, we arrived in front of a classroom.
A sign reading “Magic Knight Department, 1st Year, Class A” hung above the door.
‘A classroom, huh.’
I tensed up a little.
If it was this bad in the hallway, I could roughly imagine what it would be like inside the classroom.
Elysia opened the door.
Creak.
In that instant, the noise inside the classroom stopped, if only for a moment.
Several students looked this way at the same time.
At first, they looked at Elysia.
And the next moment.
Their gazes all shot upward.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Silence.
It was different from the gazes in the hallway earlier.
In the hallway, the passing students had only shown curiosity,
but here, her classmates reacted far more blatantly.
Naturally.
Because Elysia had entered the classroom with a silver-pink baby fox perched on her head.
“A fox?”
Someone muttered.
As if those words were a signal, the classroom instantly began to buzz.
“There’s a fox on Lady Valerion’s head.”
“I see it too.”
“Is it a familiar?”
“When did she contract it?”
“Wait, why is a contracted familiar sleeping on her head?”
I half-opened my eyes and looked around the classroom.
Most of the students looked like nobles or knight candidates.
Neat uniforms, swords at their waists, each with a different family crest.
Some were not human.
There were students with wolf ears and students with short horns.
And all of them were looking at me.
‘This is burdensome.’
I slowly curled my body tighter into Elysia’s hair.
Then, a small exclamation burst from the back of the classroom.
“It moved.”
“So cute…”
‘Don’t react.’
Elysia wasn’t greatly perturbed by such gazes.
She walked to her seat.
Second row from the window.
Neither front nor back, a seat that was moderately inconspicuous yet good for focusing on class.
When Elysia sat in her chair, I lost my balance slightly.
“Eep.”
Elysia immediately raised her hand to support my body.
“Are you alright?”
“Squeak…”
I’m fine.
I just got a little shaken.
She moved her hand as if to set me down on the desk.
But I quickly grabbed her hair with my front paws.
‘No. If I get down here, I’ll be surrounded.’
Elysia paused for a moment upon seeing my action.
“Do you like it up there?”
I gently wagged my tail.
“Squeak.”
Elysia smiled softly.
“Got it. Then stay there.”
In that moment, the commotion in the classroom grew even louder.
“Did it just answer her?”
“It seems to understand?”
“I guess it’s a smart familiar.”
“If Lady Valerion brought it, it can’t be an ordinary familiar.”
Inwardly, I wanted to bring my front paws to my face.
‘I do understand what you’re saying. Since things have come to this, should I have just gotten down and laid on the floor?’
Then, the girl sitting next to her cautiously leaned over.
A student with light brown hair and round glasses.
“Lady Elysia.”
“Yes?”
“That child… may I touch it?”
My ears shot straight up.
No.
Absolutely not.
After being examined all morning and tormented by spirits,
and now receiving the attention of all the students on top of that, if I got petted here too, my current mental strength wouldn’t be able to endure it.
Elysia looked up at me for a moment.
“Haku is still afraid of strangers.”
Well done.
Very well done, Elysia.
“Ah… I see. Sorry.”
The girl withdrew immediately, though she looked disappointed.
I nodded slightly from atop Elysia’s head.
‘A wise decision.’
But then, another voice came from the back of the classroom.
“Isn’t the familiar not afraid of people, but choosing who to interact with?”
It was a slightly mocking voice.
I twitched my ears.
The back of the classroom.
A male student with blonde hair, wearing a uniform adorned with fancy decorations, was leaning back in his chair.
His attitude was relaxed, but a peculiar pride lurked in his eyes.
Elysia turned to look that way.
“Richard.”
Richard?
I naturally looked at the student named Richard.
An arrogant blonde man.
You could tell just from his tone and expression.
He was a troublesome type.
Richard looked at me and curled up the corner of his mouth.
“A rare coat color. A new familiar brought in by House Valerion?”
“I met it on the street yesterday. Registration was completed today.”
“On the street?”
He let out a short laugh.
“So the daughter of Duke Valerion picked up a stray beast and made it her familiar. Quite romantic.”
The atmosphere in the classroom stiffened slightly.
Elysia’s expression didn’t change much.
But I could feel it.
The flow of her aura inside her had momentarily become disturbed.
A sensation like a massive torrent of water crashing against a narrow channel.
Displeasure, pride, and the will to suppress them.
‘Well, well.’
I narrowed my eyes.
Richard’s words weren’t openly insulting.
But they were sufficiently sarcastic.
To Elysia, and to me as well.
I slowly raised my body from atop Elysia’s head.
Several students held their breath.
Richard looked at me too.
“What?”
I stared at him.
And, pretending to be as nonchalant as possible, let out a small yawn.
“Hahm.”
In truth, it was a real yawn.
I was tired.
But the atmosphere in the classroom shifted strangely.
“Did it just… mock him?”
“It yawned at Lord Richard.”
“Is it ignoring him?”
‘No.’
I was just really sleepy.
But it was already too late.
Richard’s eyebrow twitched.
“That familiar is quite insolent.”
Elysia’s hand quietly rose.
She held me as if gently wrapping around my body.
“Haku is still a young child.”
Her voice was calm.
But it was slightly lower than before.
“Mind your words.”
The classroom grew quiet.
I looked down at Elysia.
She wasn’t angry.
She hadn’t raised her voice.
As though she could overlook words directed at herself, but wouldn’t let slide words directed at the small life she had brought with her.
Richard looked at Elysia for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders.
“Alright. It was just a joke.”
A joke.
Such a convenient word.
I looked at him and curled my body up again.
‘Like hell it was a joke. Anyone could see from his expression that it definitely wasn’t.’
Of course, as a baby fox, there wasn’t much I could do right now.
No, actually, if I tried, there were things I could do.
Fox fire, for instance.
But I couldn’t blow up the classroom.
If I did, it was obvious that Elysia would be harmed too.
Moreover, I was currently unable to properly control my strength.
If I needlessly intervened and caused an accident, Elysia would be put in a difficult position.
After looking at Richard once more, I quietly buried my chin atop Elysia’s head.
‘I endure. I’ll endure for now.’
For now.