Chapter 96: In Another World, Just Became a Familiar
Louise was the center of attention, not because she was exceptional, but quite the opposite—because she was so weak. Everyone around her watched, waiting to ridicule her.
In the world of Tristain, only nobles could use magic and possess magical power.
This means that the young boys and girls currently at Tristain Academy of Magic were all of noble birth.
In this world, the fact that nobles can use magic is considered common knowledge.
However, there was one absolute exception at Tristain Academy, and that was Louise, who was currently attempting to summon her familiar under the watchful eyes of many.
As for her status, Louise was the third daughter of Duke Vallière, a family that ranked among the highest nobility in the entire Kingdom of Tristain.
However, despite her noble background, Louise had a consistent record of zero success with magic.
This is why she was mockingly referred to as "Louise the Zero" by everyone at the academy.
Summoning a familiar was also a form of magic, so all the students present were extremely curious to see if Louise's familiar summoning would end in failure and an explosion, just like all her other magic attempts.
As she finished chanting the spell, Louise successfully opened a portal that looked like a mirror.
Upon seeing this portal, Louise breathed a sigh of relief.
At least it didn't explode like before. Now, as long as a familiar responded to her summons, she could finally break the curse of being "Louise the Zero."
A few minutes later...
"Hahaha! As expected of Louise the Zero—look at what she summoned!
We summon familiars, but she summoned an ordinary human without any magic power."
Louise's summoning had indeed succeeded, and a familiar had responded to her call.
However, to everyone's surprise, the one who answered her summons was a plain-looking boy with black hair.
"Louise, don't be discouraged. At least this time your magic worked, right?
Since he responded to your familiar summoning, he's now your familiar. Go ahead and form the contract."
Amid the mocking laughter from the crowd, a girl with violet shoulder-length hair, whose beauty was comparable to Louise's, stepped forward to comfort her.
"Princess Henrietta, I've really let you down..." Louise, feeling both fearful and overwhelmed, knelt on one knee before Henrietta. Despite her unwillingness, Louise slowly approached the bewildered boy who had been summoned.
To form the contract with a familiar, all she had to do was kiss him.
As the delicate, doll-like girl moved closer with her lips, what would you do if you were in that situation?
Embracing the mindset of "take advantage when you can," the boy, Hiraga Saito, who had been summoned from another world, naturally seized the opportunity!
"Princess Henrietta, since you happen to be here at Tristain Academy today, and since we're performing the familiar summoning ceremony, why don't you join us as well?"
The violet-haired girl was named Henrietta de Tristain.
Given her last name, it's clear that she was royalty, the princess of this kingdom.
Louise was the third daughter of a duke, while Henrietta was a princess. Because they were close in age, they had been friends since childhood.
Henrietta wasn't a student at the magic academy; she was only here as a guest to observe.
However, because she was the same age as the students here and had yet to perform a familiar summoning herself, the surrounding students began urging her to join in.
"A royal familiar summoning ceremony should be conducted more formally. How can I..."
"It's alright, Louise. We're best friends, aren't we? I'd love to summon my familiar on the same day as you.
And since everyone seems so eager to see my summoning, I'll oblige them."
Although Louise felt that the others were being rude, Princess Henrietta displayed a gracious attitude and, imitating Louise's earlier actions, began chanting the summoning spell for her familiar.
"I am Henrietta de Tristain. Respond to my call, appear before me, and form a contract with me as my familiar!"
With the same chant and the same special effects, after Henrietta finished her spell, a portal appeared before her, just like the one Louise had summoned.
As the portal's light faded, the outline of a figure slowly became clear before everyone's eyes.
"No way, not only Louise the Zero, but now Princess Henrietta also summoned a commoner..."
Seeing the boy who appeared before Henrietta, all the students of Tristain Academy of Magic were stunned.
It wasn't entirely unexpected for Louise to summon a commoner—after all, she was known as "Louise the Zero."
But for Princess Henrietta, the only heir to the throne of Tristain, to summon a mere commoner...
Though Princess Henrietta wasn't a student at the magic academy, she had received private tutoring from the court's royal magicians. Her magical abilities surpassed most of her peers, and she could already use "Triangle" level magic at her age!
They had imagined that Princess Henrietta might summon a dragon or some other rare and powerful creature, but for her to summon an ordinary human... they hadn't seen that coming.
Naturally, the boy Henrietta summoned was none other than Wood, who had been through the Multi-World Life Simulation.
Looking at the group of elegantly dressed youths before him, Wood also glanced down at his own hands, clenching them slightly as he felt the strength within him.
In the world of pirates, Wood's height had been nearly two meters, but now, he noticed his perspective was much lower, and his age seemed to have regressed to around sixteen or seventeen.
"Um... are you the familiar who responded to my summons? What's your name?"
"Wood," he instinctively replied to the question of the beautiful, well-dressed girl standing before him.
In the next moment, this stunning girl brought her delicate face close to his.
"Wood? My name is Henrietta. Please take care of me from now on."
In a brief moment of bewilderment, Wood found himself being kissed! And just as he marveled at how bold the girls in this other world were, a searing pain erupted in his chest. A glowing symbol, like a tattoo, appeared on his chest, marking the contract with his new master.