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“A white cat with wings, huh? There are cat Familiars like black cats with bat wings, and even a yokai called Ye Xingzi¹, but I can’t think of any monsters that fit this description.”

After a light sparring session, where we neutralized each other’s magic bullets with equal force as a warm-up, I asked Mei Iroha, the chairwoman, if she knew anything about the creature that had hatched from Luke’s egg. She merely tilted her head in thought.

Despite me using my full power, chanting the spells, and boosting my fire-and-water composite Napalm with my trusty staff (capable of obliterating an ogre in one hit), Chairwoman Mei intercepted all my attacks using only her bare hands and the general fire magic spell ‘Fire’—without chanting. Normally, ‘Fire’ could only burn a goblin at most.

Furthermore, if any of my shots missed and were about to hit the ground, she would decompose and revert them to mana mid-air while still having the leisure to munch on the cookies I had brought as a gift. It’s unfathomable how vast the difference in our abilities is.

“Ashimi—ah, my elf friend—suggested that it might be a hatchling of an ancient dragon.”
“Hmm, can elves really tell, though? Dragons have so many mysterious aspects to their biology. They mate indiscriminately with other animals and humans, and it’s questionable whether they’re even oviparous. It’s all very suspicious.”

She lightly tilted her violet short hair and gave a wry smile.

“—? When I think of elves, I imagine elegant and knowledgeable Sages of the Forest.”

“Yeah, no way. Despite living long lives, they lack personal desires or curiosity, which leads to some drawbacks. They tend to cling to outdated knowledge, like ‘This is how it is!’ or ‘That must be the case!’ They’re surprisingly ignorant in some ways. A hundred years ago, they almost went extinct because they couldn’t adapt to changes. The Superempire even tried to designate them as an endangered species and protect them… though they were refused.”

The chairwoman looked somewhat distant.

“It was quite a hassle back then. Our leader even said, ‘The world is just smoke and mirrors anyway. It might be better to let nature take its course and allow them to go extinct.’ Some even suggested we should just put them out of their misery. Thankfully, the Fairy King was reasonable enough to talk things through. So, while there are some like your friend who engage with humans, as a race, they’re a declining lot stuck in a dead end of evolution. And, honestly, you, Jill, are much more beautiful than they are.”

I stared intently at the chairwoman, who looked no older than a teenager for someone who spoke of such an ancient time.

“I see… —Do you perhaps dislike elves?”

Chairwoman Mei averted her gaze for a moment.

“…Well, not really. I just had an unpleasant experience with someone who looked very much like an elf a long time ago, so I have a slight aversion to them. But that doesn’t mean I have any prejudice or see them through tinted glasses. I might have given you a weird impression, but that was just my personal opinion, so don’t take it too seriously. Mixing up individuals and entire races is misguided, and it usually ends up causing trouble.”

“That might be true…”

It seems there are some complicated backstories between the world’s greatest and most powerful magician, Chairwoman Mei, and the elves.

“Well, if I see that winged cat in person, I could probably identify its species with my appraisal skills…”

Chairwoman Mei trailed off, her face scrunching up in thought.

She realized that the academy rules strictly prohibit bringing familiars onto the premises without special permission for research or other purposes. This is one of the most prestigious royal academies, attended by children of many noble and influential families across the continent.

To prevent any accidents or incidents, students are only allowed to bring their uniforms and approved materials onto the grounds, and not even a single magical device without permission (although the space we’re using for our training is a private subspace overlooked as it’s used by the headmistress and professor-level instructors).

This rule was emphasized during the entrance orientation. However, according to the chairwoman, “The academy’s security isn’t so lax that it can be easily breached. It’s just a show for outsiders, and I didn’t make that rule anyway.”

“As it’s a familiar, we’ll need to get special permission if we want to bring it to the school premises.”
“Hmm, I’ll need to come up with a reasonable excuse as a special case… But considering it’s for an imperial royal, it might actually be a hassle. Some might start prying too much.”
“Indeed.”

I sighed involuntarily.

Special treatment often leads to discrimination, and if it comes to that, people will likely start speculating about the relationship between the academy and Luke—or rather, the Graviol Empire.

There are already some unsavory rumors because Luke and I live under the same roof. For me, it feels like staying in separate rooms in a large hotel, so there’s nothing to feel guilty about. But still, strange rumors (though I don’t know the specifics thanks to the efforts of Sir Daniel, Viola, Princess Liselotte, and others who have been skillfully shutting them down, I can pretty much guess) are circulating, and I worry it might damage Luke’s reputation and career because of me.

“By the way, isn’t that young prince currently cohabiting and running the café with you? Maybe I should check it out as a regular customer.”

Chairwoman Mei seemed quite eager, a smile spreading across her face.

As expected, there are indeed rumors flying around.

Despite our seemingly casual conversation, our sparring session didn’t let up. Chairwoman Mei remained stationary, while I moved around her, trying various spells and maneuvers, though it felt more like I was being toyed with.

“—It’s coexistence, not cohabitation. Besides, now that the egg has hatched, there’s no reason for Luke to stay at Letindüte anymore, so he might be changing his accommodation soon.”

I hadn’t considered this possibility until I voiced it, but it’s true. With the cause gone, there’s no longer a reason for Luke to stay at my place. He might even be packing his things right now.

“……”

For some reason, my focus wavered, and my control over my magic became sloppy.

I expected a reprimand, but the chairwoman just smiled mischievously—no, maliciously.

It was the kind of look you’d expect from someone gossiping with gleeful curiosity, much like a nosy neighbor.

“Oh, youth is wonderful. This is a quintessential memory of youth, the promise between a boy and a girl in love, a classic flag. This is why I can’t quit this job.”

That line of thinking is disappointing. Am I studying under the wrong person in the wrong place?

“We’re not in that kind of romantic relationship.”
“Oh, come on! There’s no way a young girl and a boy she’s not interested in can live together.”
“…While it’s true we have mutual affection, isn’t it too hasty to equate that with romantic feelings? We respect and honor each other as good neighbors—”
“Nope. Maybe for the girl, but boys that age don’t understand the concept of platonic relationships with girls. It’s definitely a love affair. Not ‘courtly love,’ but a full-blown romance.”

Chairwoman Mei cut me off and proudly declared her point with a self-satisfied expression.

In this context, “courtly love” refers to the poetic, noble, and high-minded love stories often depicted in courtly tales of knights and noblewomen. In contrast, “romance” indicates the more straightforward, passionate relationships between men and women.

Feeling irritated, I channeled all my mana into a barrage of attacks, but they were all effortlessly neutralized before reaching her smug face.

“Oh, by the way, speaking of events, there’s the upcoming field study, right? Have you decided on the groupings for that?”
“Sort of.”

She easily blocked my combined attacks of fire, water, and light magic with her full magical power, then gave me a stern critique, “Such straightforward attacks don’t have much effect, even with variations.” While I timed my next move, hoping to deploy my secret technique currently under development, I answered her question.

“I’m planning to team up with Luke, Daniel, Viola, and Liselotte.”

I had also invited Cestlavie, but he had prior commitments and had already joined the student council’s group.

1. Mab: Ye Xingzi (夜星子) is a youkai that hails from Qin Dynasty’s Night Tales (清『夜譚随録』) (good luck finding the book btw). Presumably (from the ONLY source I can find in the ENTIRE internet, shout out to huameizi.com), it is a cat youkai that enters children dreams and sucks children spirits.

   In the story, endless night cries from the child of a high ranking official made the family worried. They hired an exorcist who recognized that it is due to Ye Xingzi. The exorcist prepared a bow made of mulberry wood and an arrow made of peach wood which was tied to the child’s pinky with a string and waited all night. Right when the child started crying, a woman as tall as 22 cm appeared in the room. The exorcist shoots the apparition on the shoulder, but the Ye Xingzi managed to escape. When they followed the string, it led to the room of the concubine of the official’s grandfather that the family cherished as their own grandmother. When the exorcist instructed them to kill the creepy, motionless cat that the grandmother owned, the incident stopped happening and the grandmother died a few days later.

   Speaking of which, Ye Xingzi has been adapted to a short film by director Xi Wenting and won The Best Mystery Shot for Indie Short Fest October 2023 with the title “The Nightmare.”

   Wish I could watch it. Anyway, back to the story.