‘…This feels like it’s going to become a hassle.’
I had that premonition.
And strangely enough, that premonition felt far more accurate than the Seonghwi Festival merch.
Elysia quietly stroked my back.
“Haku.”
I lifted my head.
She looked a little worried.
“Are you okay?”
I stared for a moment at the end of the corridor where Iris had disappeared, then slowly nodded.
I was okay.
For now.
But things were definitely different from before.
This academy did not only have students who saw me as cute.
There were people who wanted to protect me.
People who wanted to institutionalize me.
And now, someone who wanted to understand me had appeared.
The problem was that this understanding
might be the path that came closest to what I wanted to hide.
I let out a small sigh.
Hearing my cry, Elysia smiled faintly.
“Let’s go back. Let’s not get caught up in anything complicated anymore today.”
At those words, I nodded with all my heart.
But the small light spirit by the corridor window curled itself into a ball in midair once more as we passed by.
As if quietly bowing its head.
I pretended not to see it.
Elysia probably hadn’t seen it either.
But Iris would have.
She certainly would have seen it.
And she would have remembered it.
For some reason, that fact lingered in my mind for a long time.
Though we said that, complicated matters ended up following us more easily than expected.
We left the corridor with the bulletin board and walked toward the Magic Knight Faculty building.
Elysia was holding me as usual, but her steps were a little slow.
It seemed what Iris had said a moment ago was bothering her.
The same was true for me.
The spirits do not fear Haku.
Rather, they seem to treat him as though they are facing an ancient being.
Those words were not easy to brush aside.
Until now, I had thought of the spirits’ reactions to me as nothing more than something strange.
This world itself was unfamiliar, and so was my body.
But Iris Asteria had seen those reactions and clearly read meaning from them.
That was the problem.
‘An unclassifiable power, huh…’
In Elysia’s arms, I folded my front paws slightly.
To be precise, I didn’t know what my power was either.
It was different from mana.
It was different from aura too.
It was simply a power that bloomed like moonlight from deep inside me.
It had loosened Elysia’s tangled aura a little,
disrupted the weave of the small spell Reinhardt had fired,
and made the spirits treat me strangely.
Demonic power.
I had no idea how the people of this world would accept it.
“Haku.”
Elysia quietly called my name.
I lifted my head.
“Are you bothered by what Iris said earlier?”
After hesitating for a moment, I nodded.
It bothered me.
A lot.
Elysia slowly stroked my back.
“Don’t worry. If you don’t want it, I won’t accept any request to observe you.”
I looked at Elysia.
I was grateful for those words.
But at the same time, I didn’t think this was a problem that would be solved by avoiding it unconditionally.
Iris had already seen something.
The spirits’ reactions.
A flow that was not mana.
The relationship between Elysia’s aura and me.
There was no way her questions would disappear just because we avoided her.
If anything, the more we tried to hide it, the deeper she might dig.
‘In that case, it might be better to show her a moderate amount instead…’
The problem was that even I didn’t know where that “moderate amount” ended.
I let out a small sigh.
“Kyawng…”
Hearing my cry, Elysia smiled a little bitterly.
“I feel the same way.”
When we arrived at the classroom,
several students already knew that Iris had spoken to us.
Rumors spread frighteningly fast at the academy.
Especially rumors related to Haku, which spread at an oddly rapid pace.
“I heard Iris Asteria showed interest in Haku.”
“Lady Asteria herself?”
“Then is it because Haku really is a rare familiar?”
“Or is there something magical about him?”
The students did not openly approach and ask.
Perhaps thanks to the Seonghwi Council notice and the contact regulations, everyone seemed to be trying to keep a proper distance these days.
But there was nothing to be done about their gazes.
Eyes full of curiosity.
Eyes full of concern.
And, ever so slightly, eyes full of expectation.
I sat on the small cushion placed on Elysia’s desk and watched the students’ reactions.
‘So now, on top of being a mascot, I’m going to be rumored to be a research subject too?’
Just where was my life in another world headed?
Once class began, the classroom finally grew quiet.
However, Elysia seemed a little less focused than usual.
Even while the professor was explaining the basic balance of aura flow, she occasionally looked down at me.
I lightly wagged my tail to say that I was fine.
I was fine.
For now.
Honestly, rather than Iris herself being frightening,
what burdened me was the fact that she saw the strange things around me far too accurately.
An opponent with blatant hostility, like Reinhardt, was simpler.
I could avoid them, block them, or, if necessary, subdue them.
But Iris was different.
Even the way she approached was different.
She did not try to touch me by force.
She did not cast magic on me either.
She politely asked for permission.
And yet she did not miss the core of the matter.
‘…She really is the troublesome type.’
It was around the time morning classes were coming to an end.
The classroom door opened carefully, and Mariette Klein, the secretary of the Seonghwi Council, appeared.
Her eyes behind her round glasses swiftly scanned the classroom, then soon found Elysia and me.
“Excuse me. Lady Vallerion.”
When the professor nodded, Mariette carefully approached.
In her hand was a thin envelope.
“This is an official request delivered through the Seonghwi Council.”
Elysia accepted the envelope.
My ears perked up at once.
No way.
Mariette glanced at me, then smiled very faintly.
“It is a request to observe Haku submitted by Lady Asteria.
No contact, no measurement magic, and records are to be written only in a limited capacity with the Seonghwi Council and the Special Familiar Studies Faculty present.
The location is the Special Familiar Studies Faculty’s spirit greenhouse. The time is fifteen minutes after school today.”
Fast.
Too fast.
‘What is with that girl’s initiative?’
How long had it even been since we parted earlier, and an official request had already arrived?
Elysia seemed to be thinking the same thing, because for a moment she looked speechless.
Mariette took out a pen and added,
“Of course, you may refuse. President Cecilia also said that Haku’s burden is to be made the top priority.”
As she said that, she stared intently at me.
No, why are you taking out a pen?
If I react now, you’re going to record it again, aren’t you?
I deliberately gave no reaction.
I sat still and pretended to be an ordinary fox.
Looking slightly disappointed, Mariette lowered the tip of her pen.
After reading the request, Elysia looked at me.
“Haku, what do you want to do?”
Several students in the classroom held their breath.
I thought for a moment.
The spirit greenhouse.
The Special Familiar Studies Faculty present.
No contact.
No measurement magic.
Fifteen minutes.
Looking only at the conditions, it wasn’t bad.
And to be honest, I was a little curious too.
About what Iris could see.
About how the spirits treated me.
About how my power appeared in the eyes of this world’s mages.
I slowly nodded.
Elysia immediately confirmed it.
“That means you’re okay with it?”
I nodded once more.
Mariette’s eyes sparkled.
Her pen moved.
“Haku nodded after confirming the conditions of the request. Presumed affirmative intent…”
‘Don’t write that down.’
I folded my ears slightly.
Mariette was about to write down even that reaction, but after receiving Elysia’s gaze, she quietly stopped her pen.
“Then after school, Representative Selena will guide you in front of the spirit greenhouse.”
After saying that, Mariette bowed again and left the classroom.
As soon as she disappeared, the classroom began to stir quietly once more.
“Haku is going to the spirit greenhouse?”
“Lady Asteria is going to observe him herself?”
“Is some incredible research about to begin?”
No, it’s not like that.
Please don’t make this grandiose.
But as always, my wishes were of little use.
When school ended, I was held in Elysia’s arms as we headed toward the Special Familiar Studies Faculty building.
The Special Familiar Studies Faculty had a slightly different atmosphere from the other faculty buildings.
If the Magic Knight Faculty was a place that smelled of solid stone and iron,
this place was mixed with the scent of soft earth and grass,
and a faint flow of mana.
Here and there in the corridors were small footholds for familiars and low doors, and nameless plants were placed by the windows.
From time to time, students passed by with small familiars sitting on their shoulders or arms.
Some of those familiars stopped walking the moment they saw me.
A small bird-like familiar lowered its head,
and an insect-type familiar with wings as transparent as glass marbles spun once in the air before giving way.
Elysia seemed not to have seen that reaction, but I did.
And probably.
“As expected.”
Iris, who was waiting in front of the spirit greenhouse, saw it too.
She was standing there with the same calm expression as before.
Beside her was Selena Mork.
Selena, who wore a dark green ribbon, smiled gently when she saw us.
“Thank you for coming, Lady Vallerion. And Haku.”
I nodded slightly.
Seeing that, Selena narrowed her eyes.
“It’s fascinating every time I see it.”
I wished she wouldn’t say things like that.
Iris bowed to Elysia first.
“Thank you for accepting my request.”
“Haku only said he was okay with it.”
Elysia’s answer was gentle, but the line she drew was clear.
At those words, Iris looked at me for the briefest moment.
“I see.”
Without saying anything more, she opened the greenhouse door.