The second day since I started attending the academy.
Just like yesterday, I was curled up on top of Elysia’s head.
There was, however, one thing different from yesterday.
Now, even without going “kiing,”
I could convey very brief thoughts to Elysia.
Of course, it wasn’t a perfect conversation.
If I thought strongly enough, the meaning would surface on Elysia’s end.
But even that much was convenient enough.
At the very least, I no longer had to express myself every time by wagging my tail or moving my ears.
‘Elysia.’
I thought cautiously.
Elysia stopped walking down the hallway and blinked slightly.
“Mm?”
She answered at once in a small voice.
The students around us glanced over, but Elysia, as if used to it, didn’t pay them much mind.
‘Does this academy have clubs or things like that?’
“Clubs?”
Elysia thought for a moment, then nodded.
“They do. Quite a lot of them.”
‘So they do.’
“There’s a swordsmanship club, a magic research society, a social ball preparation committee, a familiar exchange society,
a magitech crafting class, and an accessory-making society……
There are many you can join regardless of department, too.”
It was more serious than I expected.
Befitting the name of an academy, it seemed that extracurricular activities were fairly well established.
From atop Elysia’s head, I moved my ears slightly.
‘Have you joined any?’
Elysia’s steps slowed ever so slightly.
“I…… haven’t.”
‘Why?’
“Because of sword practice.”
It was a short answer.
But the feelings contained in it were not short at all.
Through the thread of resonance, I could feel Elysia’s mood very faintly.
A familiar sense of responsibility.
Impatience.
And a slight bitterness.
“After classes ended, I usually went to the training grounds.
I didn’t have time to join a club, and I didn’t really feel like it either.”
‘You just kept practicing the sword by yourself?’
“Yeah.”
Elysia spoke calmly.
But I could tell that calmness wasn’t true peace.
The young lady of a ducal house who received countless expectations.
But her sword did not produce results equal to those expectations.
So she practiced more.
Pushed herself harder.
And yet her body still didn’t improve as much as she wanted.
‘I see.’
I fell silent for a moment.
I recalled Elysia’s sword from yesterday.
She had talent.
She definitely did.
If anything, she had too much of it.
It was only that her power had failed to find its proper path and was colliding within her body.
I thought quietly.
‘From now on, I’ll help you like I did yesterday.’
Elysia came to a stop.
Right in the middle of the hallway.
She slowly lifted her eyes, looking slightly upward as if conscious of me, whom she couldn’t see.
“So…… it really was you helping me yesterday, Haku.”
There was more relief than surprise in her voice.
I laid my ears back slightly.
‘I wasn’t trying to hide it.’
That was a lie.
I had tried to hide it a little.
But Elysia didn’t bother digging into that part.
She only smiled very faintly.
“I see.”
‘Was it needless meddling?’
Elysia’s answer came back quickly.
“Not at all.”
She spoke in a slightly firmer voice.
“I’m grateful, actually.”
‘Really?’
“Yeah. Yesterday was the first time I felt it. Where my sword should be going.”
Elysia lightly clenched and unclenched her hand.
“By myself, it felt like I was just pounding against a wall that wouldn’t move.
But yesterday…… even if only for a moment, I saw a path.”
I quietly sensed her emotions.
Those words were not fabricated.
There was fear, but greater than that was anticipation.
The hope that she might be able to move forward.
I flicked the tip of my tail slightly.
‘Then that’s enough.’
Elysia’s expression softened a little.
A few students watching us from nearby tilted their heads.
“Who is Lady Valerion talking to?”
“Isn’t she talking to her familiar?”
“Could they really be having a conversation?”
‘Ah.’
Only then did I become conscious of the gazes around us.
This was a little troublesome.
It was convenient that Elysia could understand my words to some extent.
But if that became openly obvious, the rumors would grow again.
‘Elysia.’
“Mm.”
‘Are you going to let people know you can talk to me?’
Elysia thought for a moment.
“Would it be better to hide it?”
‘No, yesterday the professor said that if resonance is high, conversation is possible.
So it probably isn’t completely strange.’
“That’s true.”
‘Still, it would be annoying if word spread that I can talk to you.’
“Then should we talk in our heads?”
I carefully felt the thread of resonance.
I could convey brief thoughts like this well enough.
If I concentrated a little, something closer to intent than words came back from Elysia’s side, too.
It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t impossible.
‘It does seem possible to talk inwardly even now.’
Elysia nodded.
“Then let’s just do that.”
‘Are you sure?’
“Yeah. The professor said yesterday that conversation is possible if resonance is high.
If anyone asks, we can say that our resonance deepened, so I can understand your intentions a little.”
‘Good. Then let’s do that.’
I thought for a moment, then continued.
‘And tell them one thing.’
Elysia blinked slightly.
“What?”
I looked at the students passing through the hallway.
Since yesterday, the students had been looking at me nonstop.
Faces that wanted to touch me but were holding back.
Faces that wanted to approach but were waiting for Elysia’s permission.
At first, it had felt burdensome.
It wasn’t that it didn’t feel burdensome now.
But when I thought about it, continuing to forbid them might draw even more attention.
If I allowed it in moderation, the atmosphere might actually relax.
Of course, conditions were necessary.
A lot of them.
‘Tell the students. They may touch me.’
Elysia flinched.
“Really?”
‘Yeah. But touching me roughly is forbidden.
Pulling my tail is forbidden.
Touching my ears too hard is forbidden.
Suddenly lifting me is forbidden.’
“That’s only natural.”
‘And Elysia comes first.’
“Me?”
‘Yeah. You decide who’s allowed to touch me and who isn’t.
If I dislike someone, refuse them for me. Even if I say it’s fine, if they look dangerous to you, stop them.’
Elysia quietly listened to me.
Her emotions wavered a little.
Surprise.
Joy.
And responsibility.
“Haku…… you trust me?”
For a moment, I couldn’t answer.
Trust.
That word was heavier than I expected.
But when I thought back on yesterday, the answer wasn’t difficult.
When I was being bothered, Elysia had drawn a line for me.
She tried to protect me, and she didn’t try to force me to do things I disliked.
The bath was a bit of an exception, though.
Let’s not think about that.
‘Yeah.’
I thought quietly.
‘I trust you.’
Elysia’s steps stopped again.
Through the thread of resonance, her emotions came through clearly.
It was a very warm feeling.
Elysia quietly inhaled, then slowly exhaled.
“Okay.”
She spoke softly.
“I’ll convey it properly.”
And a short while later.
When we entered the classroom, as expected, the students’ gazes gathered all at once.
“Good morning, Lady Valerion.”
“Good morning.”
The greetings were directed at Elysia, but most of their eyes were on me.
I was curled up obediently on top of her head.
There were more gazes than yesterday.
It seemed yesterday’s rumors had probably spread through the entire class.
The little fox that stayed calm even after being hit by an eraser.
The suspicious little fox in front of whose eyes magic had vanished.
The familiar who recorded a resonance rate of 86.
And the being who had been on Elysia’s head when she defeated Richard.
‘I’ve become completely famous.’
I sighed inwardly.
Before sitting down at her seat, Elysia looked around the classroom once.
Then she spoke quietly.
“Everyone.”
The students’ gazes gathered.
It seemed it was rare for Elysia to address them like this first.
The classroom quickly fell silent.
“There is something I’d like to say about Haku.”
At that moment, several students’ eyes sparkled.
I laid my ears back slightly.
This was burdensome.
But it was something I had already decided.
Elysia continued calmly.
“Haku is a little wary of strangers,
but from now on, only when I give permission, it will be all right to touch him.”
The classroom froze for a moment.
And then.
“Really?”
“We can touch him?”
“Haku?”
“Lady Valerion, is that true?”
A commotion erupted in an instant.
I curled myself up a little tighter.
‘Their reaction is bigger than I expected.’
Elysia did not panic and slightly raised her hand to calm the students.
“However, there are conditions.”
At that one sentence, the students grew quiet again.
“You must not touch him if Haku dislikes it. You must not suddenly lift him,
pull his ears or tail, or touch him too much.
If I say no, you must step back immediately.”
A female student with light brown hair and round glasses clasped her hands together.
“Then…… if Haku is okay with it, is it all right to gently stroke him?”
Elysia sent her gaze slightly upward as if looking up at me.
I wagged my tail once.
‘That’s fine.’
She was the student who had politely stepped back yesterday too.
Elysia nodded.
“Yes. If it’s gentle, that’s fine.”
At that moment, the bespectacled girl’s face lit up.
“Thank you!”
‘No, is this really something to be that thankful for?’
I felt a little burdened.
After sitting down, Elysia carefully lifted me off her head and placed me on the desk.
I sat on top of the desk.
In an instant, the students’ gazes drew closer.
‘Is this a zoo?’
No, I was the one who had allowed it.
The girl with glasses approached cautiously.
“Haku, may I touch you?”
I stared at her.
Then I cried softly.
It’s fine.
Elysia added,
“Please extend your hand slowly. So Haku can smell you first.”
“Yes.”
The girl held out her hand with a nervous expression.
I brought my nose close to her fingertips.
The scent of perfume wasn’t strong.
Paper and ink, and a slight herbal scent.
Not bad.
I nodded my head slightly.
The girl’s hand touched the top of my head very carefully.
Lightly.
Truly lightly.
“……!”
Her face filled with emotion.
“So soft……”
As if those words were a signal, the students around us swallowed their breaths.
“Really?”
“How soft?”
“Me too……”
“Shouldn’t we line up?”
‘Line up?’
I perked up my ears.
Elysia seemed flustered as well, but soon spoke calmly.
“Only one person at a time. And if Haku gets tired, we’ll stop immediately.”
“Yes!”
The students’ answer came far too quickly.
I muttered inwardly.
‘Is this really right?’
But strangely enough, the atmosphere wasn’t bad.
Until yesterday, the gazes directed at me had been mixed with curiosity, suspicion, and distance.
But now, it was a little different.
The students were not afraid of me.
Nor did they see me only as some strange being.
They were simply trying to accept me as Elysia’s familiar, and as a slightly special and cute little fox.
That wasn’t bad.
At the very least, it might become an opportunity for Elysia to blend into the class more naturally.
As I accepted the first student’s touch, I half-closed my eyes.
‘Good. This much is fine.’
Elysia’s emotions came through faintly.
Gratitude.
And a little enjoyment.
I moved the tip of my tail and tapped the back of her hand.
‘But remember.’
Elysia tilted her head very slightly.
‘Elysia comes first.’
As if that meaning had reached her, the tips of Elysia’s ears turned slightly red.
“……Yeah.”
She answered in a small voice.
“I understand.”
I curled up again.
It seemed today wouldn’t pass quietly either.
But it was a little different from yesterday.
Yesterday, I had been swept along.
Today, I had decided.
That difference was bigger than I expected.