CH 27

Chapter27 - Summoning

The next morning…

Fran woke up with a look of regret.

Even though the servants woke her up, she did not budge.

Hence, Lou and Adelaide started breakfast first.

“What’s wrong?”

Adelaide laughed and asked her beloved daughter, who was sulking.

Beside Fran, Lou slowly ate his meal as if nothing had happened.

“…I just wished I had woken up a little earlier and discussed magic with Lou.”

Her beloved daughter was pouting, but just as she had suspected, not for any significant reason.

Adelaide chuckled and asked Fran.

“How’s your class preparation going? Do you think Lou will perform well?”

When her mother asked, Fran raised her voice in reply.

“Listen to this, Mother!”

“What’s wrong? Why are you shouting all of a sudden?”

“You know what? Lou is amazing! He’s memorized all the textbooks, every page of them! In fact, he’s memorized all the magic techniques!”

Fran let out a big sigh as she said this.

Adelaide, as expected, was astonished.

Lou…you’re such a prodigious kid…

But…of course…

You’ve been nominated to be the next Sowell…

Adelaide forced herself to accept it, too.

She wanted to ask Lou as well.

“By the way, which subject would you like to teach your students, Lou?”

Lou tilted his head upon hearing Adelaide’s question.

For some reason, he looked at a loss for an answer.

“What’s wrong?”

Adelaide asked without thinking, to which Lou answered with the same calm expression.

“Nothing… Anything is fine with me.”

Anything is fine?

What answer is that?

The only drawback is that you are not very assertive?

The thought amused Adelaide.

Fran interjected here and there.

“You are definitely the right person to teach magic attack techniques! You’re probably also great at magic defense, aren’t you, Lou?”

Lou smiled calmly and did not answer.

He did not confirm or deny Fran’s question.

Adelaide also followed her beloved daughter’s words.

“At present, I’m looking for personnel in the specialized areas of magical attack and advanced-level summoning techniques. What do you think? Can you teach them, Lou?”

“Oh, that’s fine, I can teach both!”

“That being the case, then is there a department you’re not good at?”

Adelaide laughed mischievously, while Fran was shaking Lou’s hand, begging him to teach her.

“Umm…It’s not that I can’t do divination, but…just a little…”

The moment Lou answered.

Fran surprisingly burst into laughter.

She probably imagined Lou with the appearance of a dubious fortune teller.

“Come on, Fran, we’re eating.”

“Ahahaha, I’m sorry, Mother.”

“Tsk, laughing out loud while eating is unbecoming of a lady.”

Adelaide laughed as well while scolding her daughter.

Lou was also smiling, but he didn’t exude an air of sincerely disliking fortune telling.

“Let’s talk about the department later.”

With Adelaide’s words, the topic was put on hold after breakfast.

***

After breakfast, they decided to have another consultation about the specialized department that Lou would teach.

The three moved to Adelaide’s lab because of the possibility of a complicated conversation.

Fran made a pot of tea, and the three started talking again.

It was Adelaide who spoke up first.

“In terms of the specialization Lou teaches, let’s make it…magic attack and advanced-level summoning techniques.”

It seemed that Adelaide had already decided to take charge of Lou.

“Yeah, that’s fine with me.”

Now that Lou had agreed, the next thing to discuss was Lou’s magic attributes, which would be announced, of course.

Adelaide did not forget to remind him.

“Lou, you have to hide that you’re an all-rounder who’s capable of using all magical attributes.”

“Certainly! We’ll have to hide it tight.”

Fran was in complete agreement with her mother.

If Lou’s secret of being an all-rounder who used all attributes of magic was exposed, the royal family would definitely come to recruit him.

She was certain of it.

Adelaide asked in passing.

“Well then, Lou, let’s determine your attributes. We’ll determine your aptitude and semi-aptitude. Do you have any preferences?”

“…………”

When Adelaide questioned, Lou didn’t answer right away.

He had a troubled look on his face that Fran had never seen before.

Seeing the expression on Lou’s face, Fran chuckled.

She was a little amused to think that Lou could make such an expression sometimes.

“Shall I choose for you then?”

Adelaide offered him an option, and Lou opened his mouth with a serious look in his eyes.

“No, I don’t want Adelaide-san to choose for me in case something happens to you.”

“What? In case?”

That wasn’t the only thing there was to it.

If someone else were to choose Lou’s attributes and so on and things were performed poorly…Lou said it would incur the spirits’ resentment.

It might seem trivial and not common sense, but it seemed that the values of spirits were different from those of humans.

“I’d be troubled.”

“I’ll decide for myself.”

Adelaide smiled bitterly when Lou declared so after thinking for a while.

And he asked about the situation of the teachers at the school.

According to Fran and Adelaide…

The most common aptitude for teachers was the water attribute, followed by earth, wind, and fire.

Kelturi, by the way, was earth and water, just like the Arlvs.

After hearing about these circumstances, Lou eventually decided to…

Make the fire attribute as his aptitude and wind as his semi-aptitude.

In other words, he chose the same attribute as Adelaide and Fran.

Lou said with a calm expression.

“That way, if anything should happen, I’ll have more flexibility.”

“So it’s settled, your magical aptitude. Next is Advanced Summoning…Lou, is there a target you can summon?”

“Yes!”

According to Lou…

In addition to the spirits, he had several other summoning targets that he could call upon at will.

When Fran heard this, she tilted her head.

“Hey, Lou…just to be sure, your summoning target is a familiar spirit, right?”

At the Valentine Magical Girls Academy, the new second year students had a class on summoning familiars.

First, they would summon a low-level demon to observe their aptitudes.

If someone had a talent as a summoner, he must master how to handle high-level demons.

Conversely, if someone had no talent…

It would be impossible to control a high-level demon. On the other hand, he would have a fear of being dominated.

So, it was normal that they were not allowed to use summoning magic.

What was a low-level demon?

It was an astral, a mind body with a low-level self-awareness that existed in the spirit world, or the residue of small animal spirits that once existed in the real world.

Many small animals were said to be cats, dogs, and birds, and there was not much they could do even if they were used for their intelligence.

At best, they’d be scouts, messengers, or run simple errands.

They were what they called “Familiars”.

“Hey, hey! So, what kind of monster can you summon, Lou?”

Fran asked curiously.

But Lou shook his head.

He smiled wryly and replied, “They’re not Familiars.”

In fact…

Lou received blessings from beings that would raise eyebrows from Adelaide and Fran, and conversely, he used them.

It was Lou’s basic principle not to reject anyone who came.

So long as a person was kind and devoted to the spirits without betraying them, there was no reason for the spirits to turn evil.

However, if you hide too much from them, they’d be suspicious.

Lou answered the question hushedly.

“Let’s see, so far, there’s three…”

“Three? That’s amazing. Tell me, what are they?”

Fran inclined her head, but she and Adelaide stuttered at the name of the summoning target that came out of Lou’s mouth next.

“Yeeaaah! Ce-Cerberus?! Isn’t that a legendary demon? Does it really exist?” 

“Yeah, they do, actually.”

“A-A-And a Gryphon!?”

“Yeah, it’s kinda bigger…but it’s a Gryphon.”

“Oh my God! A Cerberus and a Gryphon…I’m pretty sure…they’re not Familiars.”

Adelaide uttered a strained laugh, along with the awed Fran.

She should have been surprised, she couldn’t help but laugh at how out of the ordinary Lou was.

There was another reason for Adelaide’s laughter.

If such nonstandard Familiars were summoned in the royal capital…

The city would be in an uproar, but it would not end there.

Without knowledge of the circumstances, she was sure that the Royal Army, led by the Royal Knights, would be sent out to subdue them.

“L-Lou, what the one left? Is it something lovelier?”

Fran asked cautiously.

Lou, on the other hand, seconded…

“Hmm, she’s cute…”

Lou crossed his arm, looking a bit troubled…

The two ladies listening to him were surprised by his hesitation.

“In fact… she’s an anathema to humans. I’ll reveal it to you if you both allow it.”

“Eh? A-An anathema? No way! Don’t tell me it’s a fiend, is it?”

“Close to it, perhaps.”

Adelaide was in a pinch.

She wondered if Lou also practiced dark magic and necromancy.

So she timidly asked…

As expected, Lou looked troubled and nodded slowly.

Sighing loudly, Adelaide could only force a laugh again…

It was easy for her to fathom what that grotesque being might be.

Well, that was a given…

Just then…

“I don’t mind, because I believe in you, Lou. Just tell me!”

Fran declared out of the blue.

“I’m sure it’s a good being…since you trust in it and use it.”

“All right. If you say so.”

Lou looked askance at Adelaide.

Adelaide nodded in silence.

Lou took a breath and said at once, “I’m using a  succubus, and it’s a succubus close to a vampire.

“The one I’m using…She’s a succubus, a vampire-like succubus.”

“Eeehhh! A succubus and a vampire?”

As expected, Fran sputtered.

She couldn’t hide her shock, even after so much preamble from Lou.

Wasn’t a succubus and a vampire scarier demon comparable to a fiend?

How, how could Lou?

“I’ll guarantee both of your safety. I’ll summon her here and now.”

What?

Now?

You’re summoning her in this room?

What should I do?

I’m scared!

B-But…

I’ve decided to trust Lou!

Fran bit her lip and clenched her fists tightly.

Adelaide closed her eyes beside her.

Lou looked at them, nodded, and began to chant a summoning magic kotodama.

It was similar to the one he chanted yesterday.

Of course, Fran and Adelaide had no way of knowing this…

“O gates of the spirit world that connect the world of the living and the dead, unlock the key at my behest, and open with all thy splendor! May those I call pass through the realm of the dead and come to me! Thou whose divine works was once called the Bright Star of Dawn, who served as God’s chief apostle, and who had fallen on this land. I have received thy divine protection and mastered thy divine works. Now open, gates to the spirit world!”

The floor of the lab glowed brightly.

Then…the succubus that Lou summoned finally appeared.

Meanwhile…

When Adelaide heard Lou’s chanting, there was a passage that bothered her.

And that was, “the divine protection of a being that was once called the Bright Star of Dawn and had fallen to the earth.”

If that was true, then this kid…

Then Lou had the divine protection of the dreaded Great Demon King.

The Great Demon King’s apostle?!

No way!

Adelaide’s thoughts were broken by a demon girl who materialized in front of the three of them.

“My name is Moral…Lou-sama’s subordinate, one who can travel between the present world and the underworld…”

The girl who appeared by Lou’s summoning introduced herself solemnly.