And at that very moment.
From the far end of the corridor came the sound of someone running in haste.
A moment later, another knock rang out from beyond the door.
This time, the voice was far stiffer and more tense than Mina’s.
“Lady Elysia. A message has arrived from the academy.”
Elysia’s expression hardened slightly.
“From the academy?”
“Yes. It is a letter in the name of the Starlight Council.”
With my nose still buried in my soup dish, I quietly lifted only my eyes.
……Right after we talked about it?
That’s way too fast.
The door opened, and a servant held out a silver envelope.
On the outside of the envelope, along with the crest of Exelia Academy,
there was a small seal shaped like starlight.
Elysia accepted the envelope and carefully opened it.
And the moment she read its contents, her eyebrows rose ever so slightly.
“Haku.”
‘What.’
“The Starlight Council says that next Monday,
they would like to conduct a brief confirmation procedure regarding Haku’s familiar contact regulations and safety rating.”
‘…….’
I slowly lifted my head from the dish.
So.
Because of my petting reservations, the student council had started moving, and now they were even going to check my safety rating.
After a brief silence, I muttered inwardly.
‘What did I even do?’
I meant it.
I still hadn’t done anything.
Richard was an exception, though.
And so I stared at the message from the Starlight Council.
The crest of Exelia Academy was stamped on the silver envelope.
A sword, a star, a cogwheel, and wings.
The crest that wove those four things into one had finally become somewhat familiar, but it still felt strangely burdensome.
I quietly looked at the letter Elysia had unfolded.
Its contents were more courteous than I had expected.
Next Monday, the Starlight Council wished to conduct a brief confirmation procedure regarding the condition of Haku, the registered familiar of Lady Valerion,
as well as the student contact regulations and safety rating.
The wording was polite.
But to put it simply, it meant this:
Too many students are flocking around, so we need to officially manage this fox.
……No matter how I thought about it, wasn’t this too much?
It hadn’t even been a full week since I entered the academy.
I had barely attended any proper classes, and I hadn’t even memorized the academy’s layout.
And yet the student council—no, this place called the Starlight Council—had already sent a letter with my name written on it.
In my previous life, I had never had my name called like this.
At most, it had been on an attendance sheet or a list of submitted assignments.
But after coming to this world, the moment I became a young fox,
rumors spread throughout the academy, a petting reservation system was created,
and the Starlight Council said they wanted to check my safety rating.
‘……You really never know what life will bring.’
No, fox life, I guess.
I tried to let out a small sigh, but only a light puff of air escaped my nose.
After reading the letter once more, Elysia asked carefully,
“Haku, are you okay?”
‘Rather than okay…… it does feel a little strange.’
“I think so too.
But if the Starlight Council is conducting a confirmation procedure,
I don’t think it’ll be easy to refuse.”
There was apology in Elysia’s voice.
I tilted my head slightly.
‘It’s not something you need to apologize for.’
“But it might make you uncomfortable, Haku.”
As she said that, Elysia lightly stroked the top of my head.
Her touch was careful, and warm as always.
I narrowed my eyes for a moment.
The Starlight Council.
Though it was called a student council, this academy’s student council was not an organization that merely prepared festivals or held meetings.
I had heard that it also managed, to some extent, disputes between faculties, club budgets, duel applications, safety rules related to familiars, and disciplinary matters.
If that was the case, perhaps this was actually a good thing.
I thought quietly.
‘If I get a chance to go directly to the Starlight Council, I should bring up what Richard did too.’
Richard.
The guy who mocked Elysia, targeted me, and even played tricks with magic during class.
On top of that, after school, in a place where no one was watching, he picked a fight with Elysia and me and even attacked us.
In the end, Elysia subdued him, and a few days ago, I glared him down.
But that didn’t mean it was something we should just let slide.
What he did wasn’t some simple prank.
He insulted the young lady of House Valerion, tried to attack a familiar during class, and even attempted private retaliation after school.
If the academy had rules, then naturally, it had to be confirmed.
Whether punishment would be carried out.
Or whether it would simply be covered up as a minor quarrel between noble students.
I needed to see that.
‘Elysia.’
“Mm?”
‘When we go to the Starlight Council, can we talk about Richard too?’
Elysia’s hand stopped.
She looked at me for a moment.
Her blue-gold eyes wavered quietly.
“Richard?”
‘Yeah. The thing where he fired magic at me during class, and the thing where he picked a fight with you after school.’
I’ll take the part where he tried to touch me to the grave.
If even that came out, things would become troublesome in all sorts of ways.
Elysia did not answer right away.
Her expression grew a little complicated.
Seeing that expression, I could roughly understand.
Elysia could certainly make an issue of it.
But at the same time, she was hesitating.
Family matters.
Face between noble students.
The gazes that might come if she needlessly made the matter bigger.
And the burden that it might seem as though she had failed to resolve it without help.
Those were probably the things passing through Elysia’s mind.
I slowly moved my tail.
‘I’m just saying we should confirm it. It’s not like you did anything wrong.’
Elysia drew in a small breath.
“……Yes. That’s right. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Those words sounded as though they were directed at me, and at the same time, at herself.
Mina, standing beside us, quietly nodded as well.
“My lady, Master Haku is right. That incident was a little too serious to simply let pass.”
Mina shouldn’t be able to hear my voice, so she must have guessed from Elysia’s answer and reaction, right?
Probably.
“Even you, Mina……”
“I am on your side, my lady.”
Mina smiled gently, but her gaze was surprisingly firm.
“And if the duchess were to find out, she would certainly not let it pass.”
Elysia’s shoulders stiffened ever so slightly.
I raised my head beside the soup dish.
If that incident went all the way up to House Valerion, it would become quite troublesome.
So it might actually be better to settle it within the academy.
Elysia seemed to understand that as well.
She folded the letter again and placed it back into the envelope.
“Alright. When we go to the Starlight Council, I’ll ask about that matter as well.”
‘Yeah. I’m not saying we should make a fuss and demand punishment.’
“I know. But at the very least, there should be a record.”
Elysia’s voice grew a little firmer.
At those words, I laughed softly to myself.
Good.
She was definitely growing in this regard.
If it had been Elysia when we first met, she might have swallowed it all alone.
She might have thought that she suffered such treatment because she herself was lacking.
But not now.
At the very least, the current Elysia had become able to say that what had happened to her was unjust.
That was a change as important as swordsmanship.
‘So we’re going to the Starlight Council on Monday.’
“Yes. The letter says to come to the Starlight Council meeting room on the third floor of the central main building after morning classes.”
‘The third floor of the central main building…….’
I tried to recall the academy map, but it still hadn’t fully settled in my head.
The Faculty of Magic Knights building, the cafeteria, the garden, and the Resonance Room of the Faculty of Special Familiars—I had a rough idea of those now.
But I had only passed by the central main building a few times.
“I’ll take you.”
‘Obviously. If I go alone, I’ll get lost.’
“Because you’re small, Haku.”
‘You don’t have to mention that I’m small.’
Elysia laughed softly.
Seeing that smile, the strange burden I had felt until a moment ago eased a little.
Right.
Whether it was the Starlight Council or whatever else, I could just go and see.
It wasn’t a problem that would disappear if I avoided it anyway.
For all I knew, my petting reservation chart might already be posted somewhere in the academy.
If I could also confirm the Richard matter while I was there, that wouldn’t be bad.
The problem was how the people of the Starlight Council would see me.
Would they see me as just a cute familiar?
As a dangerous special individual?
Or as a political variable related to House Valerion?
Well, whichever it was, it seemed like it would be troublesome.
I brought my nose back to the soup dish.
I should eat before it gets cold.
Thinking too much would only make me hungry.
At that moment, Mina asked cautiously,
“Master Haku, is the soup to your taste?”
I looked up at Mina for a moment, then nodded toward the dish.
“Oh my.”
Mina’s face brightened again.
“My lady, he just nodded. It really seems as though he understands.”
“Yes. Haku is smart.”
Elysia said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
I muttered inwardly.
‘It’s not that I’m smart. There’s a person inside.’
Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud.
I quietly licked the soup.
The warm flavor of chicken spread through my mouth.
If I had still been human, I might have found it a little bland,
but with my current tongue, it was just right.
The Starlight Council.
The Starlight Festival.
The Crown system.
Richard’s punishment.
And the strange popularity surrounding the familiar named Haku.
It was still only the first weekend, and yet it already seemed like next week would not pass quietly.
After cleaning the dish, I crawled up onto Elysia’s lap.
Elysia naturally gathered me into her arms.
“Sleepy?”
‘A little.’
“Then sleep for a bit. Let’s rest before Monday.”
Instead of answering, I lightly covered my face with my tail.
Right, let’s rest.
I could think about the Starlight Council or whatever on Monday.
But just before I closed my eyes, I added one more thought.
‘Richard, I’ll have to make sure we look into this properly this time.’
I could let it go if he messed with me.
But if he messed with Elysia, I had no intention of simply letting it pass.
And so the weekend passed, and Monday came.
The time for touching me, which had now become almost routine, passed as usual.
Even before morning classes began, several students lingered around Elysia,
and each time a break came, they approached carefully in their designated order, stroking my head or lightly running their hands down my back.
At first, that time had felt nothing but awkward,
but now, strangely enough, it felt like a fairly natural part of the day.
Of course, that did not mean I had gotten completely used to it.
‘……No matter how I think about it, this is a pretty strange school life.’
In my previous life, I had gone to an all-boys’ school and then to a university department packed with men.
And now, I was being petted by students at a noble academy.
Life really was impossible to predict.
No, I suppose I should call it fox life now.
“Haku, this is the last one.”
At Elysia’s words, the two first-year girls from the Faculty of Elemental Magic standing in front of me withdrew their hands with regretful expressions.
“He’s really soft……”
“It’s a shame I couldn’t touch his tail.”
I’m not planning to let anyone touch that yet.
I muttered only to myself and gave a small yawn.
At that, the students drew in small breaths, as if even that was adorable.
I wasn’t quite sure why they reacted like that,
but it seemed my current appearance had a way of clouding human judgment.
Elysia politely bowed her head to those students.
“We have morning classes now, so we’ll be going ahead.”
In Elysia’s arms, I quietly blinked my eyes.
Really, rumors spread far too quickly in a place like the academy.
And so, after morning classes ended and we even finished lunch,
we headed to the place where the Starlight Council was located.