Just then, the classroom’s front door opened.
“Take your seats.”
A low, heavy voice rang out.
A middle-aged knight who appeared to be the professor in charge entered.
Broad shoulders, a neat uniform, a sword at his waist.
He swept his gaze over the classroom once, then stopped above Elysia’s head.
To be precise, he was looking at me.
“...Valerion.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“What is that on top of your head?”
My ears twitched.
Elysia answered calmly.
“He is a familiar who completed his registration today. His name is Haku.”
The professor looked at me for a moment.
I put on the meekest face I could.
“Kiiing.”
The professor’s expression softened by the slightest degree, then soon turned stern again.
“See that it does not disrupt class.”
“Yes.”
“And don’t let it fall off your head.”
“Yes.”
I muttered inwardly.
‘I don’t want to fall off either.’
The professor asked no more and headed to the podium.
And so, class began.
But I knew.
The students’ concentration inside the classroom had already been half stolen by me.
Students pretending to look at the blackboard while sneaking glances at me.
Students secretly drawing me while taking notes.
Students trying to read the name engraved on my familiar tag.
And even students like Rihart, who looked at me with displeasure.
I quietly closed my eyes atop Elysia’s head.
But Elysia’s head was unexpectedly comfortable.
It was warm and stable.
And above all else.
I could feel the tangled flow of her aura even better up close.
Very carefully, only enough not to be noticed, I settled my mystic power down.
A silvery-pink energy faintly swirled beneath the tips of my fur.
That energy seeped into Elysia’s body in an extremely thin stream.
Elysia’s breathing grew a little more comfortable.
As if she sensed something strange, she blinked for a moment, but soon looked back at the blackboard.
With my eyes closed, I thought quietly.
‘For today, this much is enough.’
Without anyone noticing.
Little by little.
Let’s try to untangle this child’s knotted flow.
The moment I made up my mind, the tip of my tail swayed slightly atop Elysia’s blond hair.
And one student at the back of the classroom who saw it murmured softly.
“...Its tail moved.”
“So cute.”
With my eyes closed, I gave up on everything.
‘Fine. I suppose I’ll have to get used to this too.’
If I was going to accompany Elysia from now on, this would become part of daily life as well.
I rested quietly, curled up on top of Elysia’s head.
The class was more serious than I had expected.
The professor drew the basic structure of tactical formations on the blackboard as he explained, and most of the students took notes with serious expressions.
As expected of a department filled with those who wielded swords, rather than a simple theory class, the content was closer to what decisions one should make on an actual battlefield.
It wasn’t bad.
At least, it wasn’t bad to listen to quietly.
‘He teaches more properly than I expected.’
I listened to the professor’s explanation with my eyes half closed.
Elysia was focused as well.
Her hand moved at a steady pace as she wrote in her notebook, and her breathing was more stable than before.
Perhaps the bit of mystic power I had slipped into her earlier had worked,
because the flow of aura that had been colliding roughly inside her seemed to have softened ever so slightly.
That was enough.
Today, I would just behave myself.
It was right when I thought that.
Tap.
Something hit my side.
“...?”
I slowly opened my eyes.
A small white fragment rolled down Elysia’s shoulder and fell below. It was a piece of eraser.
‘What was that?’
At first, I thought it was an accident.
Someone might have been taking notes and flicked it by mistake.
A classroom was, by nature, a place full of small noises and movements like that.
But I could feel a gaze from behind me.
I turned my head ever so slightly.
At the back of the classroom.
Rihart was looking at me with his arms crossed.
A faint smile hung at the corner of his mouth.
‘Was it that guy?’
I looked forward again.
There was nothing to gain from reacting for no reason.
Right now, I was Elysia’s familiar, and a baby fox who had not even been officially registered for a full day.
If I caused a commotion here, the one who would be troubled was Elysia.
‘Hold it in.’
I closed my eyes again.
Tap.
This time, it was near my ear.
A small piece of eraser brushed past the tip of my ear.
My ear twitched reflexively.
From the back of the classroom, I sensed someone stifling a small laugh.
‘...Hold it in.’
I put strength into my front paws.
In truth, there was no need to endure it.
I could make only the fingers that threw the eraser pieces stiffen slightly,
or I could kindle a tiny foxfire and burn only the eraser.
But both would be a problem.
Especially the second one. I absolutely must not do that.
‘A baby fox that lit a suspicious flame in the classroom on its first day at the academy.’
Just thinking about it made my head hurt.
At that moment, the professor’s gaze swept this way from the podium.
The professor had seen it.
He had definitely seen it.
He had seen Rihart flick the eraser piece with his fingertip, and he had seen it fly toward me.
But he only furrowed his brows for a moment before turning his gaze back to the blackboard.
“The most important thing in a basic formation is maintaining the front line.
No matter how outstanding an individual’s martial strength may be, if the front line collapses, the rear is exposed as it is.”
The class continued.
‘He’s letting it pass?’
I looked at the professor’s back.
He probably did not want to interrupt the class. Perhaps he considered it a trivial prank between noble students.
Or perhaps he did not want to get pointlessly involved in an issue between Valerion and another noble house.
I could understand it.
But I did not like it.
Wondering whether he would throw more, I looked back.
This time, it flew precisely toward my forehead.
I opened my eyes.
The incoming piece of eraser seemed to move slowly.
I could have dodged it.
Of course, I did not.
The small piece lightly struck my forehead and fell downward.
“...”
The air in the classroom changed ever so slightly.
Several students held their breath, and a student sitting nearby stopped the hand that had been taking notes.
I tried to turn my head slowly.
I was only going to glare a little.
Just a little.
Like a baby fox.
But before I could move, Elysia reacted first.
Tak.
Her pen was set down on the desk.
The sound was not loud.
Yet strangely enough, that small sound rang clearly through the classroom.
Elysia slowly turned her head.
“Rihart.”
Her voice was calm.
But it was different from before.
Low and firm.
Rihart shrugged.
“What is it?”
“You’re the one who just threw that at Haku, aren’t you?”
“Threw? It just slipped from my hand by mistake.”
“Three times?”
The classroom fell silent.
The smile hanging at the corner of Rihart’s mouth faded a little.
“You’re being far too sensitive over one baby fox, Valerion.”
At those words, Elysia’s gaze turned cold by the slightest degree.
I remained still atop her head.
This was not my turn to step forward.
“Haku is my familiar.”
Elysia said.
“And he is a child under my protection.”
“So the great Lady Valerion intends to stop class over one fox she picked up off the street?”
The end of Rihart’s words tilted upward slightly.
It was a sneer.
At that moment, Elysia’s aura shook violently from within.
It did not show outwardly.
Her posture did not falter, nor did her voice rise.
But being close to her, I could tell.
She was angry.
Not because she herself had been insulted, but because the one she had decided to protect had been treated lightly.
‘...’
I blinked quietly.
Until a moment ago, Elysia had felt like a frustrating child.
A child who possessed much, yet could not properly use it.
But at least in this moment, she was not.
She did not run away.
Nor did she back down.
Elysia quietly looked at Rihart.
“Apologize.”
The air in the classroom froze.
Rihart’s eyebrows twitched.
“What did you say?”
“I told you to apologize to Haku.”
“...Valerion. Are you telling me to apologize to a baby fox right now?”
“You harassed Haku first.”
That was when it happened.
“That’s enough.”
The professor’s voice rang out from the podium.
The heavy voice pressed down on the classroom.
Elysia and Rihart’s gazes turned to the professor at the same time.
The professor put down his chalk and looked at the two of them.
“We are in the middle of class.”
“I apologize, Professor.”
Elysia bowed her head first.
But her gaze did not retreat.
Rihart also straightened himself reluctantly.
“I was merely—”
“Rihart.”
The professor cut him off.
“You were in the wrong first.”
The classroom fell silent again.
Rihart’s face stiffened.
The professor continued calmly.
“If the familiar disrupted the class, then that would be a matter for me to caution Valerion about.
But you throwing objects during class is a separate issue.”
“...It was a joke.”
“If the other party finds it unpleasant, then it is not a joke.”
The professor’s gaze rested on me for a moment.
I meekly folded my ears.
“Kiiing.”
For now, I decided to look like a victim.
In truth, I was a victim.
The professor’s expression wavered ever so slightly. However, he soon returned to his stern face.
“Rihart. Apologize to Valerion’s familiar. And do not engage in any unnecessary behavior for the remainder of class.”
Displeasure flashed across Rihart’s face.
I could tell that, as a noble, his pride was strong.
Being told to apologize in front of the other students, and to a baby fox at that, it was understandable that his insides would twist.
But the professor’s words were an order.
During class, the professor was the one who held authority in this classroom.
Rihart remained silent for a moment, then eventually looked at me.
“...My apologies.”
His voice did not sound sorry at all.
I stared at him.
Then I deliberately blinked slowly.
‘Lacking in sincerity.’
But if I demanded more here, it really would become a bigger matter.
Not that I could speak in the first place.
I gave a small nod.
“Kiiing.”
I will accept it.
Just this once.
Seeing my reaction, several students stirred softly.
“It really seems like it understands...”
“Did it just forgive him?”
“Lady Valerion’s familiar is smarter than I thought.”
I curled up again atop Elysia’s head.
Elysia looked forward without saying anything.
But her hand rose ever so slightly and stroked my back once.
It was a careful touch.
It seemed like an apology on her behalf, and also like she was asking if I was all right.
I lightly touched the back of her hand with the tip of my tail.
I’m fine.
At least for now.