Chapter 3

Maxi rushed over to Anette, who was staring at the cat with bleary eyes.

The girl cocked a dark brown eyebrow at Maxi. "Is this for today's experiment?"

"N-No! He's mine."

Aghast, Maxi hastily took Roy into her arms.

Anette's round face crumpled into a scowl. "Now look here, Max. Even if the senior mages are too busy with their Advancement Exams to supervise the workshop, it's still not an open invitation to bring your pet."

"P-Please let him be here just this once. My window latch got damaged… so I couldn't leave him alone in my room. He already snuck out this morning and made a mess of Miriam's work—"

"Miriam's?" Anette said abruptly.

Her eyes darted to the cat again, and a pleased smile spread across her sullen face. She ruffled Roy's head with a large, calloused hand and roared with laughter.

"I'm impressed, Max. How clever of you to use your familiar to meddle with the competition."