The garden.
This vast place, as though an entire forest had been transplanted here, made it impossible to even dare guess the full extent of the Rosenhart family’s power.
Sunlight pouring through the dense greenery passed through the leaves and shattered into emerald fragments.
“So you’re asking if I can help until that academy entrance ceremony? I don’t see why not. If it’s an exam that only happens once a year, it must be pretty important.”
At my indifferent agreement, Justia’s eyes grew damp.
“Thank you… truly, thank you. No matter what happens, I’ll send you back to Earth, Taesan. I promise on my name!”
Her desperate voice was packed tight with sincerity.
“By the way, what exactly is that academy?”
“It’s one of the paths to becoming a summoner. In a way, the most elite route? And the foremost among them is Eternoa Academy.”
“Hmm. So just because you summon something doesn’t mean you instantly become a summoner?”
At my question, Justia opened her eyes wide and waved her hands.
“Of course not. Summoning is only the beginning. Communing with your summoned beast, sharing mana, tactical operation, and above all, understanding a monster’s attributes and even its evolution… There’s a mountain of things to learn.”
Her explanation that followed was quite interesting.
Growing alongside a summoned beast, battling with it, building a stronger bond, and reaching the ultimate height as a summoner.
As I listened, I felt a sense of déjà vu.
I’d heard this setup somewhere before.
‘So basically… she’s asking me to help her get into the Seoul National University of the Pukitmon world. And I’m Pikachu.’
It felt as though the complicated mess of the situation had suddenly been sorted out.
I nodded with a bitter smile.
“Understood. Well, I should at least earn my keep. Then do I just have to fight there? I’m confident when it comes to fighting.”
“No… there aren’t any summoned beast battles in the entrance exam. First of all, the academy tests four things in total: the summoned beast’s strength, speed, and mana. Lastly, the summoner’s intellect.”
Justia counted them off on her fingers and continued explaining calmly.
An odd mix of anxiety and expectation lingered in her voice.
“The intellect portion is entirely my responsibility, so you don’t need to worry about that. The problem is… the other three.”
“I’m confident in strength and speed.”
I answered while lightly hopping in place.
The sensation of my body still floating up as lightly as a feather felt unfamiliar, but this unrealistic lightness was actually giving me confidence.
“The laws of physics here are a little… no, a lot lighter, but I’m not exactly unathletic. I’ll try to fully adapt to this feeling before the exam.”
At my answer, Justia gave a faint nod.
But the crease between her brows still showed no sign of smoothing out.
“That’s a relief, but… what should we do about mana?”
“Mana?”
When I asked back at the unfamiliar word, Justia gave an awkward smile, as though she was at a loss.
“Most summoned beasts are monsters from the Demon Realm. They’re born with a mana core in their hearts. Measuring the density and amount of mana they emit is one of the core parts of the exam….”
Her gaze swept over my ordinary body, which looked like it didn’t have a speck of mana in it.
“Even in ordinary humans, a very faint trace of mana normally flows through the blood vessels. As a kind of life force.”
Justia carefully took my wrist and checked my pulse.
“But there truly isn’t even a dust-sized trace of mana inside your body, Taesan. It’s like an empty vessel. You said there’s no such thing as mana at all in your dimension, right?”
“Yes. That kind of thing only sounded like something out of a novel.”
I smiled bitterly and shrugged.
A body with no mana flowing through it.
By this place’s standards, maybe I was no different from someone with a disability.
“Haa…. Even if we can somehow manage strength and speed, there’s no fooling a mana measuring device.”
Justia let out a deep sigh and lowered her head.
“Let’s just give up on it.”
“Pardon?”
My mouth, which had been about to ask back at her unexpected firmness, closed again.
Justia’s eyes looked much lighter, as though she had shaken off the worries from just moments ago.
“It’s only one of the four evaluation categories anyway. As long as I avoid choosing mana studies or applied magic as my major… we can just boldly abandon it.”
“Is that really okay? You said it’s an entrance exam.”
If anything, I was the one flustered by her overly cool change in attitude.
It was hard to believe this was the same person who had seemed as though the world was ending just moments ago.
“There’s no reason it wouldn’t be.”
Justia smiled brightly.
“They say summoned beasts are a fate bestowed by the heavens. No matter how lacking or inadequate they may be, in the end, you are the fate that descended upon me, Taesan. I have to accept it.”
When Justia showed me the back of her hand and pointed at me, a red light flashed.
It seemed like light was shining from my body as well.
I took the hand mirror she handed me and looked into it. On the nape of my neck, a pattern I had never seen before was glowing.
“Is this… the proof of that contract?”
When I traced the pattern with my fingertips, a tingling sensation like an electric current ran through my fingers and spread throughout my body.
“Yes. Now we’re bound together, unable to be separated. Even if you’re a summoned beast who can’t use mana, there’s nothing to be done about it.”
Justia’s voice seeped softly into my ear.
No, she was dressing it up with fancy words like fate and all, but….
In the end, wasn’t this no different from becoming a pet?
A grimy suspicion slowly rose within me that an undeniable master-servant relationship had been established.
But what could I do about it?
At least it was better than being kicked out of this mansion right now and dying in a ditch.
“Still, it’s a great relief. They say that when you first summon a summoned beast, it normally takes at least a full year just to completely tame it and establish communication. I’m glad I can talk to you, Taesan.”
At Justia’s relieved voice, I furrowed my brow and asked back.
“Then why did you summon me now? You said there’s only a week left until the entrance exam. That makes no sense, logically speaking.”
“Yes…? Ah, right. I have to explain from there, don’t I?”
Justia nodded with an expression that said she had only just realized it.
Her eyes wandered through the air for a moment.
“Under imperial law, if you’re not an adult, performing a summoning ritual itself is strictly forbidden.”
“Why?”
“Well… because that’s how it’s been decided…? Mm, now that you mention it. Why is that?”
Justia twisted the ends of her hair around her fingers, looking troubled.
It was as if someone who had taken breathing for granted all their life had suddenly been asked, “Why do you breathe?”
“It’s just… probably because it’s dangerous, so they tell you not to do it.”
At her carefree answer, I swallowed a hollow laugh.
The common sense of this world really was astonishingly flimsy.
Drrrrrk—
A heavy noise cut through the silence as it approached.
When I turned my head, I saw Yurika dragging over an enormous circular structure.
“Ah! It’s here!”
Justia’s eyes rounded, and she excitedly trotted over like a child.
The seriousness from just a moment ago had vanished without a trace from her back.
“Taesan, look at this! We can use this to do physical training together.”
The object she pointed to was an enormous exercise wheel.
Truly, it was nothing more and nothing less than a hamster wheel that had simply been made absurdly large.
“They say this is essential equipment for improving summoned beasts’ basic physical strength. Would you like to try getting on?”
“Uh…? Isn’t this just a cat wheel? Only a little—no, a lot bigger….”
At my reluctant reaction, Justia’s eyes sparkled.
“A pet wheel? How did you know? Do they use these in a place called Earth too?”
“…A cat wheel. They do use them. Cats do.”
“Yes! That’s right. Feline magical beasts love using pet wheels too. Cats are excellent summoned beasts, after all.”
“A pet wheel…?”
Justia nodded with a bright smile.
It was as though she was impressed that I was so knowledgeable about this world’s culture.
“…Don’t tell me you’re going to get on this too, Miss Justia?”
“Yes…? No?”
She blinked and asked back.
Her expression was filled with such pure confusion that I was at a loss for words.
“I’m pretty sure… you said we’d do it together….”
All the strength drained from my voice.
At the same time, I caught sight of the other maids carrying over a heavy machine.
It was a familiar shape.
No, there’s a treadmill right there.
“Yes! I’ll… Ah, there it comes.”
Justia pointed at the treadmill with a delighted expression.
Then she lovingly stroked the wheel—no, the giant pet wheel—and looked back at me.
“You’ll ride this, Taesan, and I’ll ride that. Perfect, right?”
Behind her innocent smile, the enormous exercise wheel cast an imposing shadow.
Perceptions rooted deep in the abyss of the unconscious were truly terrifying.
To her, it seemed I was nothing more and nothing less than a summoned beast who merely looked human on the outside.
“Um… Can’t I use the treadmill too?”
“Hm? Oh, but treadmills are exercise equipment for humans, and you, Taesan, should use the pet wheel… Oh my!”
Justia’s mouth snapped shut mid-sentence.
As if she had only then realized the contradiction in what she herself had said, her pupils shook like there was an earthquake.
“Ah…! I, um, that is…! I-I’m sorry! It just came out so naturally…!”
Her face turned bright red.
She covered her mouth with both hands and stamped her feet in distress, looking like a puppy that had accidentally stepped on its master’s foot.
“No, I really didn’t mean anything bad! It’s just… what I saw in the summoned beast guidebook left such a strong impression…! I’m truly sorry!”
“Haa… I understand. I understand, so please calm down.”
She kept bowing her head and apologizing so much that I was starting to feel sorry instead.
In the end, after many twists and turns, I stepped onto the treadmill, an invention that could be called one of civilization’s conveniences.
‘Phew….’
I carefully set my foot down.
Wondering if this machine from a lighter world might shatter under a single step, I moved with the caution of someone walking on thin ice.
Whirrr—
Fortunately, the machine made a smooth operating sound as it moved beneath my feet.
The familiar rhythm gradually eased my tension.
Then, from beside me, I heard a dull clatter, clatter.
When I turned my head, I saw Justia panting as she ran inside the pet wheel, which was far larger than her own body.
“Huff… I’m sorry… hup! I was… hup! Thoughtless…!”
Without even having time to wipe the beads of sweat forming on her forehead, she was turning the wheel as though atoning for her sins.