The new year has begun.
The New Year festival, which began with the start of the new year, continued for two more days.
We decided to spend the rest of our vacation having fun.
Lily and I wandered around the festival streets enjoying various foods, attractions, and everything else.
When we thought there was nothing left to enjoy, the festival was concluding.
After that, we spent the rest of our vacation locked away in the room, not going anywhere.
We started the morning with a kiss, spent time casually chatting, and filled our stomachs with a variety of meals.
There was no luxury like this.
Luxury wasn’t necessarily about spending money.
Truly enjoying every moment, making each day as happy as possible, that was the real luxury.
Happy times passed in the blink of an eye, and finally, today.
“Get up, Arthur~”
Lily’s hand was shaking my upper body.
“Ugh…”
The desire not to leave a warm embrace must be a human instinct since infancy.
“Can I sleep a little longer?”
I didn’t just get up; instead, I burrowed deeper into her arms.
At that moment, my lips were briefly covered, cutting off my breath.
Peck.
“Nope. We have to head back to school today!”
School…
Was I really about to leave this warmth and spend hours in the freezing cold outside?
“…Ugh, I don’t wanna…”
“…Can’t help it. Do you like my embrace this much?”
The sound of the blanket rustling could be heard, followed by Lily’s voice near my ear.
“If you don’t get up, I might… take advantage of you right here?”
“…!!!!!!!”
Startled, I quickly broke away from Lily’s embrace and scrambled back to the corner of the bed.
Lily looked at me with a seductive smile.
“Goodness, is it really that shocking?”
“Lily, please… please don’t joke like that.”
“It was definitely effective, wasn’t it?”
“……”
Indeed, I was wide awake instantly.
“Breakfast is old-style. Let’s eat and go quickly.”
“…Yes.”
While nibbling on the old-style meat, I suddenly asked Lily.
“By the way, can you cast that magic again that we experienced at Dreamland?”
“Hmm? What kind of magic?”
“That… the magic where we could converse through our thoughts. If you’re in cat form, we can’t talk because of others’ stares.”
“Oh, I see. It was a tough magic to cast outside of dreams before, but now it seems possible.”
Lily threw a subtle glance at me and gently pressed her glossy lips as she spoke.
“Thanks to someone filling up my life force thoroughly.”
“Pft!”
I sneezed and drank the nearby honey drink to calm my coughing.
“Lily, please…”
“Ho ho, alright.”
After such a chilling breakfast, we prepared to go out.
As I was tidying my school uniform, Lily approached.
“Arthur, wait a moment.”
Lily placed her hands on my cheeks and pressed her forehead against mine. A warm sensation began to spread throughout my body from my forehead.
<Telepathic magic. Can you hear me clearly?>
Lily’s voice reverberated in my mind.
<I haven’t experienced this in a while. Feels good.>
<Are you dizzy at all?>
Not at all.
<Let me know if it gets uncomfortable at any point.>
Of course.
Before we left the room, Lily kissed me gently to boost my morale and transformed into a cat.
Then, cradling the transformed Lily in my arms, I opened the door and stepped outside.
—
A new year and a new semester had begun.
From third grade onward, students were categorized as upperclassmen, and the courses became more specialized.
According to the letter that arrived at the dormitory entrance the night before school started, my specialty was summoning magic.
Well, considering I can only fight through Lily, it makes sense why that decision was made.
To attend the summoning class, I had to head to a classroom located a bit far from the dormitory.
Since I still had some time, I was walking slowly.
“Look at that guy…”
“Isn’t it?”
“Meow meow death beam…”
“Cute cat…”
People’s gazes made me uncomfortable.
Especially the men looked at me as if I were their enemy.
‘What’s going on? Did I do something wrong?’
Even before meeting Lily, I wasn’t bullied this much.
After pondering it for a moment, several answers came to mind.
‘The knight! The knight I interviewed has become famous now!’
If word of the engagement had spread at the end of the interview, it made sense why the men were glaring.
Moreover,
‘Someone might have seen us dating during the festival.’
Since I deliberately cast the recognition hindrance spell weakly, it wouldn’t be strange if someone had noticed us.
Rumors spread quickly.
This many people might have known already.
‘…Still, it’s kind of uncomfortable.’
I could never get used to the gazes.
<Telepathic magic to dull recognition. Should I cast it?>
The suggestion came from Lily as she poked her head out from my arms.
<No. Let’s try not to use that magic in school.>
While it’s convenient when we’re dating, it gets awkward in other situations.
If someone is looking for me and I’m using the recognition hindrance spell, it wouldn’t be good, would it?
Ultimately, tolerating people’s gazes was something I had to accept.
‘Granted, I expected this ever since I gave the interview…’
Though I didn’t expect it to be this bad, at least no one was directly speaking to me—
“Arthur!”
‘…Huh?’
Turning my head at the voice from behind, a familiar face caught my eye.
“Long time no see, Reeti.”
“Long time! Is this real?”
Reeti had brought a newspaper.
Not the daily, pocket-sized ones from the previous times but a weekly edition.
There, prominently displayed, was a picture of me with Lily alongside the content of my interview.
“Engaged? Last time I checked, you weren’t even dating her yet! Suddenly you’re engaged? Lies!”
At Reeti’s words, I scratched my cheek.
“…It’s true.”
Now that you mention it, we did progress pretty quickly.
“…It’s true?”
“Yeah, it is.”
Reeti pointed at Lily’s picture on the newspaper.
“Is this person your fiancée?”
“…Yeah.”
Huh, the men’s glares seem to grow sharper. Must be my imagination, right?
Reeti, after hearing my answer, looked as though her soul had left her body, with a dazed expression on her face.
Trying to wave my hand in front of her eyes, I tilted my head.
‘Why is she reacting like this?’
Is it time to take her to the infirmary? I seriously considered it until…
<Telepathic magic. Time.>
“Aah, we’re gonna be late. See you later, Reeti.”
Realizing this thanks to Lily’s reminder, I quickly bid farewell to Reeti and hurried along.
<Hmm, I wonder why Reeti was like that? She suddenly froze like a stone?>
<...>
When I received no reply, I looked directly at Lily.
It was hard to explain… but she wore a rather complicated expression as she looked up at me.
<...Well, ignorance might be bliss, I guess.>
What exactly is going on there..?
—
Arriving at the classroom while enduring people’s stares.
Stepping inside, I saw a rather small number of people sitting in their seats.
‘Unsurprisingly, there aren’t many people specializing in summoning magic compared to general magic.’
Magic requires talent.
The path of a magician begins with talent, and talent plays a significant role in advancing along that path.
A prime example of that is me.
With a mana level of zero, I can’t use magic.
Not only discussing magical prowess, but I can’t even start.
And among all the branches of magic, summoning magic is especially reliant on talent.
It’s an area that not only demands innate mana but also requires another rare talent called affinities—thus making it virtually a 90% talent-heavy field.
And so, naturally, summoners are far rarer compared to general magicians.
I settled into a corner seat carefully and placed Lily on my desk.
Yawning widely, revealing her red mouth, Lily curled herself up on the desk.
<Telepathic magic. Lately, you've been yawning a lot. Did you not sleep well?>
Lily twitched.
<Uh-um, no, I've been sleeping just fine.>
It’s obviously a lie.
<...Really? I get worried if you're tired and hurt yourself.>
<What's an outsider like you worrying about? Don’t worry. I'll be fine even if I don't sleep for a lifetime.>
That might be true, but…
‘…No matter how I think about it, you seem to be doing something different at night.’
I became suspicious as to why she was so tired.
I should make like I’m sleeping and monitor her one of these days.
Lost in thought as I was, the classroom door opened with a creak.
Somebody entered.
Dressed in the same uniform Lily wore a few days ago, a face lined with deep wrinkles appeared. Someone in their middle age, heading toward old age, I presumed.
This was the professor, a 4th-grade Summoner named Rosa.
“I’m Rosa. I’ll be the one teaching you about summoning magic. Nice to meet you.”
As the professor greeted everyone, students applauded.
Amidst the sound of clapping, voices of the students could be heard.
“4th-grade magician? In summoning magic too?”
“Amazing…”
A 4th-grade magician is employable at the national level.
The publicly recognized magician grade system from 9 to 1 acts as the second identity for citizens in the Magic Empire.
Upon graduating from the academy, you immediately become a 9th-grade magician, and through various tests and achievements, you can advance to higher rankings.
The highest rank, 1st grade, is commonly known as “Arch Mage.” The principal is a good example.
Above 5th-grade, even commoners receive noble status.
And she’s a 4th-grade magician…
In the particularly rigorous summoning realm, too!
‘She truly is remarkable…’
There was a reason she taught at the Huang Academy.
She was more than qualified to teach students.
With a benevolent smile, the professor started writing on the chalkboard.
-Learning Goals
was clearly written. Underneath it, various sub-items were listed.
The professor quickly finished writing and turned to face the students.
“You’ll be learning summoning magic here. Everyone in this classroom has their own summoned creature already, correct? Since you all already know the basics, let’s start with something slightly difficult.”
The professor pointed at one of the sub-items under their goals.
“So, this is your midterm assignment.”
The students murmured in surprise after reading the assignment.
Apparently, it was quite a challenging target.
Yet…
“Huh?”
Lily and I looked at each other after reading the learning goal.
On the board was clearly written,
-Communicate with your summon mentally.
…Really?
