“Hello.”
“Oh, student. Lately, you’ve been stamping your attendance seal almost every day. Is the professor, whom you call boss, summoning you again?”
I greeted the man at the information desk as I entered the magic building to meet Presia.
Since he started working here sometime in the first semester, I’ve visited the magic building often enough to exchange greetings a few times and get to know his face fairly well.
I heard that he wasn’t originally hired for the information desk but somehow ended up doing this odd job.
“Haha, the professor has been calling me a lot lately. Then, thank you for your hard work.”
“Yes, yes. Student, you can go on in.”
Normally, I would need my pass verified to enter, but the information desk attendant let me through without any extra checks.
Getting to know the attendant turned out to be pretty convenient for these small things.
As usual, I stopped in front of room 707 and entered without knocking, something that had become second nature by now.
No matter the time of day, the room remained eerily dark as though it were the middle of the night. This had been the case for months.
The first few times, I accidentally tripped over scattered objects lying around on the floor, but now, I walked confidently toward the adjacent room where Presia usually slept.
However, instead of resting on the sofa, Presia was doing something with a doll in hand.
It wasn’t her usual helper, the bear doll, but a completely unfamiliar rabbit doll, seemingly retrieved from somewhere unknown.
Presia’s small finger traced lines on the surface of the rabbit doll, causing its long ears to perk up.
When her glowing finger moved a few more times, the rabbit doll suddenly detached from her embrace, plopped unceremoniously onto the floor, and then abruptly stood up. With tiny, dainty hands, it dusted itself off and bowed deeply toward me in a gentlemanly greeting.
Seeing it motionless, I bent my knees slightly and offered it an elegant curtsy. The rabbit doll seemed satisfied and lifted its head.
What kind of rabbit is this?
As I stared at it with a puzzled look, Presia reached out and grabbed the rabbit doll by its ear.
It wasn’t clear if the doll felt pain, but it flailed its hands as if trying to release its ear from her grip.
Its short arms were no match for Presia’s hold, and only when she gently placed it back on the sofa did its “suffering” come to an end.
“1st Unit. From now on, you’re responsible for 2nd Unit’s education.”
Presia turned to a bear doll that had been sitting quietly beside her. The bear doll saluted smartly by raising its paw near its eye as if acknowledging her words.
It wasn’t clear how they communicated without voices, but the bear doll then approached the rabbit doll grasping its ear and proceeded to make various gestures with its paws as if having a conversation.
After the bear doll finished its gestures, the rabbit doll stood up and bowed deeply. Its small hands were crossed behind its back.
Watching Presia nod contentedly toward the bear doll, I wondered if my rank was still higher than that of the bear.
When I first came as Presia’s assistant, the bear doll was already there, but I didn’t want to imagine being outranked by it.
“By the way, boss. Are their names really Unit 1 and Unit 2?”
“Uh-huh.” Presia nodded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Still, wasn’t it a bit too impersonal to label them Unit 1 and Unit 2?
“I think we should give them proper names. Wouldn’t you both like proper names?”
As I posed the question to the two dolls furiously exchanging signals, the bear doll gave a slow nod, and the rabbit doll, which had been lying down, jumped up and rapidly bobbed its head up and down.
When the bear doll gave it a look, the rabbit doll finally stopped nodding and went back to bowing.
…
“Well, anyway! Since they seem to approve, why don’t we come up with some names for them?”
With that, Presia and I leaned together, beginning to brainstorm names.
“…Sorry, guys.”
Addressing the two dolls, who had been brimming with anticipation, I hesitated with sheepishness in my voice.
“From now on, you’ll be known as Bear and Tokki.”
I had been worrying about Presia’s naming sense, but completely forgot that I had no room to criticize.
After all, when I named my friendly cat Meow, I didn’t think my naming was impressive either.
Looking at the two dolls gleefully accepting the names Bear and Tokki instead of Unit 1 and Unit 2, my conscience poked me uncomfortably.
“…Anyway, how do these two move? They look almost alive.”
“It’s an application of golem magic. Since they have puppet bodies, their combat abilities are lacking, but we don’t necessarily need that anyway.”
When I thought of golems, all I could recall were the colossal stone creatures I had seen in the labyrinth before.
“Hmm… but the golems I saw in the labyrinth moved rather simply. It’s fascinating how these dolls move as though they’re alive.”
“In truth, I’ve upgraded the normally unconscious and simple spirits that power these puppets into sentient beings, so consider them both golems and spirits.”
The magical world was becoming increasingly incomprehensible.
If I asked more, I feared my head would only fill with more questions.
“There are many variations of magic like this. Some even allow you to form a familiar bond with animals since magic has endless possibilities.”
Hmm… Familiars…
“By any chance, is there a magic that allows communication with animals? I don’t need the grandiose master-servant type magic of familiars, but it would be nice if we could understand each other.”
I only asked out of curiosity, but Presia visibly startled, her shoulders shaking.
“…Wait a moment.”
Presia grabbed an empty magic scroll and began drawing something on it.
“Here.”
In no time, she passed me the completed scroll. Upon looking, it had a drawing resembling a constellation, simple but with distinct features.
This was Presia’s signature custom magic circle.
“It’s a type of contract magic scroll. It doesn’t grant special abilities but helps to bridge communication. Since its user, Alicia, wants to keep it simple and doesn’t have the magical skill to maintain a master-servant relationship, it makes you both equal partners instead. You can sense each other only when desired.”
“Oh…”
“Since I’ve made it to activate with just mana infusion, you shouldn’t have trouble using it. Use it when you meet your cat.”
“Understood! Thank you.”
By the time I received the scroll, I realized quite some time had passed since we were naming Bear and Tokki.
With the scroll in hand, I bid farewell to Presia and returned to the dormitory.
Did I say I was going to use it with my cat?
*
“Mew.”
“Meow, you understand, right? If you use this, we can talk and become even closer friends. Please don’t refuse, okay?”
On my way back, I happened to meet Meow, and I enthusiastically explained the scroll to her, though it was questionable how much she understood.
Regardless of how intelligent Meow might be, I probably went a bit too far this time.
However, as I hesitated, Meow nudged the scroll held in my hand with her paw insistently.
Of course! Our Meow is a genius without a doubt!
“Alright, let’s begin!”
Placing the scroll on the ground between Meow and me, I infused it with mana, and the scroll began to glow.
As Meow placed one paw on the glowing scroll, and I followed suit with my hand, the light enveloped both of us.
And then, it was over.
The light quickly faded, leaving the scroll now blank with the magic circle vanished.
“Did it work?”
Having only received a simple explanation, I was uncertain if the magic properly connected, but I felt an itchy sensation.
Just in case, I thought about Meow, and I could sense our connection forming.
“So, can I now understand everything Meow is trying to say?”
“Meow.”
But her voice still came out as a cat’s cry. I had no clue what she was trying to say.
Instead, something primal—her concealed inner desires—was transmitted to me.
“Hmm…”
Understanding her desire, I lifted my hand.
“Meowww!”
Meow seemed startled by my revelation of her hidden desires and hurriedly disconnected the link.
Pang!
I hadn’t had the chance to pat her bottom for a while, so this time, I gave her bottom a firm pat and slapped one of her cheeks for good measure.
