Chapter 53: Chapter 53

After some thought and some advice from my second sister, I was able to settle on a name for this little one.

Originally, I wanted to name him after the dog that had been with me in the barracks for quite some time in my previous life, but my sister was adamantly against it.

⸢What do you mean, ‘Happy’?! Who gives names like that these days?!⸣

What was wrong with Happy? It was nice to say and had good connotations.

Anyway, thanks to Clare’s strong opposition, the name Happy was rejected. Eventually, I was able to decide on a name with Ernest’s advice.

Karnas.

“What do you think?”

⸢It sounds good. What does it mean?⸣

“Mystery.”

⸢That’s perfect. Ask him if he likes it.⸣

I asked him, “Karnas. What do you think? That’s your name.”

“Kikreuk!”

From the way he was flapping his wings, I guessed that he liked it.

Anyway, I fell asleep soon after that, and when I woke up the next morning, I took a quick shower and got ready with Karnas—both because he was still too young to be left behind, and because I couldn’t leave him behind and expect there to be no trouble.

Since I wasn’t planning on hiding him, I thought it might be a good idea to just bring him with me from a young age.

“Kikreuk! Kikreuk!”

“Are you that happy to go out?”

“Kikreuk!”

Should I take him for a walk periodically? Since he was a complete mystery, I had no choice but to figure out how to care for him little by little.

Still, he was pretty quick on the uptake. As soon as I started seeing other students around, he hid in my arms.

“Kikreuk.”

The sight of him looking up at me from my arms was so cute that I burst out laughing.

Like that, I headed to the lecture hall where the first-year classes from the Summoning Department were held with Karnas.

The name of the lecture hall was Bermudez Hall, named after the famous scholar Bermudez.

However, my second sister was waiting in front of the hall.

“Dane.”

“Sister?”

Clare’s eyes looked very puffy, as if she hadn’t slept at all lastnight.

“What happened?”

“I was doing experiments and writing papers last night. Since I couldn’t sleep anyway, I came to observe your class.”

“I am not a child.”

“Yes, you are. You’re fourteen.”

Oh right, I was fourteen.

I’d been living this new life for fourteen years, so I should be used to it, but sometimes I forgot that I was still a fourteen-year-old.

“By the way, did he really break through the dormitory barrier?” she asked.

“Yeah. somehow?” I replied.

“Our youngest is really… you’re not hurt anywhere, right?”

“Of course not.”

When I smiled brightly, Clare asked with a relieved expression on her face, “Oh, what about Karnas?”

“Here.”

When I pointed to my chest, Karnas stuck his face out. Then, as soon as he saw my second sister, he cried out as if he were happy to see her.

“Kikreuk!”

“Oh my, you’re so cute.”

Clare came over with an enchanted expression and tickled Karnas’ chin. Then, Karnas closed his eyes gently and sagged as if surrendering his body to my sister’s touch.

“Kkireuuuk…”

What a truly blissful expression. It wasn’t like he was some kind of dog.

“But Dane, can you really take him with you?”

“Of course, why couldn’t I?”

“I’m just worried someone might covet him. Familiar eggs are incredibly valuable.”

It was said that if a Familiar’s Egg was confirmed to be real, it would be traded for an enormous price. I think it was enough to buy several mansions?

But if it was a hatched familiar? There was no way to calculate how valuable that would be.

“Dane, are you sure you’ll be alright?”

Well. Even so, I had no intention of selling the little one to someone or having him stolen. I hatched him with my magic.

I wondered if this was what it felt like to have a child. Of course, if you think about it, there were ruthless parents who sold their children to the battlefield as child soldiers for money, so it depended on the parents.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll take good care of him,” I stated.

“Kikreuk!” Karnas cried loudly, as if he liked that.

My sister smiled helplessly and said, “Yes. I’m sure you can do it. And if anyone bothers you…”

I think I knew what would happen next without even hearing it. Not only my sisters, but my whole family would come forward. That was how my family was.

So I wasn’t worried.

“Oh, he’s still young and might get stressed, so I’m going to take him around like this until he grows up.”

“Good idea. Until then, try not to reveal him. Alright?”

She was worried about me, but it was also for Karnas. I nodded.

“Alright, I understand. I’ll go now.”

“Yes. Go and do well. And if possible… I hope Professor Temeric doesn’t find fault with you.”

I guess he wasn’t a very nice person.

“He gives a lot of work anyway.”

For some reason, I felt regret coming from my sister.

“Oh, right. Dane.”

“Yes?”

“You said you received that ancient magic and the egg reacted.”

“Yes?”

“It may even have an effect when you summon. So, if you ever do use it, you should be careful. Summons are extremely sensitive to their summoner’s magic power.”

It was sweet advice from my second sister. I hadn’t tried summoning even once since my circle was formed with ancient magic.

“Of course, if you control it well, more might be possible. I need to look into it a bit more, though, since it’s a different kind of magic from other people.”

I smiled at that.

I could do more.

That meant…

“I’m going to go now. If anything happens, call me, alright?”

“Yes. I will.”

She must be busy, so how could I do that? I wasn’t a child. But I supposed she’d feel reassured if I at least said something like that.

I finally entered Bermudez Hall, leaving my second sister behind.

“Isn’t that Dane Sogres?”

“Wow. This is my first time seeing him. His hair color is amazing.”

“He’s so handsome…”

“Should I try to persuade him to join our club?”

“He’s an Autonomous student, right? So does that mean he’s taking our department’s classes?”

Amidst the sounds I heard, I went into the classroom where the lecture was to be held. That morning’s class was ‘Summoning Theory 1’, taught by Professor Temeric Spiano.

Just hearing the name alone gave off the feeling it was a class for beginners. I was sure there were quite a few things I learned from my second sister, but the academy lectures were still a different story.

As I was taking out my writing utensils, I suddenly felt someone staring at me and raised my head.

However, no one was staring at me too much.

Was I mistaken?

‘D-did I make a mistake?’

Digron Tyren.

The eldest son of Count Tyren, who was now barely considered a noble of the capital.

Digron, a third-year student in the Summoning Department who had his summons stolen by Dane a few years ago, calmed his heart that had suddenly sunk.

‘Damn, he actually came to class!’

Digron wanted to cry. He had heard that Dane was admitted to the academy. He also knew that he was an Autonomous student, and that one of the three subjects he passed during the entrance exam was Summoning, so he knew that they would meet someday…

Who would have thought they would meet in the class that he had failed in his first year and had to retake?

‘Should I cancel the class now? No, if I cancel this time, the professor will kill me…’

Digron’s hands were trembling.

The memory of that day was still vivid. He was just trying to give him a little scolding, but he ended up getting scolded—and without even being able to mount a proper counterattack! Even his summons was taken away.

It didn’t end there.

‘From that day on, my father…’

After being driven out of the castle by Count Sogres, rumors spread rapidly, and Count Tyren completely disappeared from the eyes of the capital’s nobles. To be exact, it could be said that he fell out of favor with Duke Thermion, who was present at the time.

Although they had somehow managed to maintain the title of ‘capital noble’, the reputation of House Tyren was now at rock bottom, making their title of count seem meaningless. It was to the extent that when his father attended the Imperial Noble Council led by Duke Thermion, no one spoke to him.

Naturally… Digron, who was the cause of the incident, also had to endure gloomy days. It was natural that his friends didn’t talk to him, and Count Tyren often got drunk and swore at him.

Of course, this was all his own doing. Count Tyren might have been the one who made things big, but it was Digron who caused it.

Anyway, for this reason, Digron was now desperately avoiding Dane’s gaze while peeking at him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

‘What should I do?’

Digron, who entered the academy with talent, was able to forget the nightmare and trauma of that day for a while, but that was no longer the case.

As Digron bit his nails, one of the seniors next to him tilted his head.

“What’s wrong, Digron? Are you nervous because you’re retaking the class?”

“Ha. Haha. Th-that’s right, senior.”

“What’s the big deal about retaking a class? Everyone has to do it at least once. You already know everything. As for the freshmen, just ignore them. All you have to do is get a good grade.”

“Yes, yes.”

The senior treated Digron quite gently.

By the way, Digron’s image within the Summoning Department wasn’t that bad. He was quite talented, and even though he was only a third year student, he could already summon fourth-rank summons without difficulty.

Digron was already able to summon Gendpu, a 5th-rank summons, seven years ago.

In that sense, unlike how he was treated outside of the academy, he was quite well-received there. He didn’t even cause any trouble and was very well-behaved.

“Hey, do you see that boy over there?”

“Who?”

Digron turned his head and was startled. The senior was pointing at Dane.

“Him, Dane Sogres. He chose the Summoning Department and passed when he took the Autonomous major exam this time.”

“…”

“Isn’t he amazing? He’s from House Sogres, and his older sister is Clare Sogres. I heard he’s incredibly talented, too. Wow, a life like that would be worth living.”

How could he not know? The problem was that he knew too much. The senior seemed unaware of how House Tyren ended up in such a state.

“He won’t change his major later, right? I really respect Senior Clare. Ha! If he were in the Summoning Department, I would have treated him really well. Don’t you think so?”

“Th-that’s right.”

The senior tilted his head and asked, “Why are you sweating so much? Are you sick?”

“N-no. I need to go to the bathroom…”

Drrrrk.

Just then, the door opened and Professor Temeric Spiano, the professor of the Summoning Department, walked in. Digron held back his tears and sat back down.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Temeric Spiano, Professor of the Summoning Department at the Imperial Academy.”

The lecture started without any time to spare. He had a very heavy voice.

“Maybe it’s because this is a morning class, but everyone’s eyes are really bad. By the way, anyone who falls asleep in my class will get a warning the first time, and if they fall asleep a second time, they’ll have to leave the class and be penalized. Make sure to remember this.”

The freshmen were shocked by the rules.

Professor Temeric smiled at their reaction, then tilted his head at the strange feeling he suddenly felt. A strange yet mysterious energy caught his attention and then disappeared.

‘Was I mistaken?’

Instead of pursuing the feeling, Professor Temeric continued speaking.

“This class, ‘Summoning Theory 1’, will teach you the theoretical aspects of Summoning from the basics. The students here, freshmen of the Summoning Department, will take their first steps as summoners by learning these theories. That’s why the class in which you learn the basics is extremely important. When you move on from the fourth or fifth year, you will take a regular exam to become a full-fledged summoner, and if you don’t have this theory to back it up, you can’t guarantee that you will pass the written exam.”

The content was brutal. By the way, the regular exam to select summoners was known to be difficult. Above all, it was a competence test.

That is, if you fell short, you would be eliminated without a fight, no matter who you were.

“Of course, there is a special selection test where you only need to prove a few qualifications… but they are not easy exams.”

At those words, one freshman raised his hand.

“Professor, I’m Dean Vitrone, a freshman in the Summoning Department. I have a question.”

“Continue.”

“What kind of qualifications does this ‘special selection test’ look for?”

Professor Temeric walked straight to the blackboard and wrote a few things down.

“It is as follows. First, you have to summon a 5th-rank or higher summons with the blank sign provided at the testing center.”

The students murmured. Most of the people there were unsure whether they could even summon a 7th-rank summons, which was the lowest, even if they had a mark, let alone a 5th-rank summons.

“Second, you have to maintain the summons for more than thirty minutes.”

“…”

The murmurs soon died down. After all, the conditions were ridiculous.

Thirty minutes.

Students learning the summoning technique for the first time could barely last maintaining their summons for five minutes. But thirty minutes?

However, the highlight was the third condition.

“Third, you have to subjectively have the talent to pass the special selection.”

The third one was the key.

Subjective conditions.

“This means that special selection candidates can be disqualified even if they meet the two conditions above.”

“So, what exactly is that subjective condition?”

Professor Temeric shrugged when asked.

“Whatever it is, they would have to grab attention. That’s what it means to be a special case.”

It was ridiculous. However, unlike the freshmen, the second year students and above of the Summoning Department who already knew of its infamy were nodding their heads.

Ultimately, this meant that only truly special students could pass.

“Do you understand now why it’s called ‘special selection’?”

“…”

“And one more thing.”

It was a mountain beyond a mountain.

“You must receive at least two recommendations from authorities related to Summoning to be eligible to apply for special selection.”

The test was difficult, and so was the recommendation.

In short, they were being told not to even dream of it. It seemed like it meant that they just shouldn’t apply and wait quietly for the regular exam.

Professor Temeric looked at the confused freshmen when his eyes suddenly met a student’s.

Dane Sogres.

His eyes were fixed on him.

‘Hmm. Those ridiculous words.’

Professor Temeric had heard from the dean, Professor Delphineso, about what happened during the Autonomous Major test—how he had successfully created a link with Eterarch, a 4th-rank summons personally summoned by Professor Delphineso.

‘No, of course that doesn’t make sense.’

It was absolutely impossible to accept such a story with common sense. Professor Delphineso’s authority was well-known, but in reality, Professor Temeric was the type who didn’t believe stories at face value unless he had seen them with his own eyes.

One never knew. Professor Delphineso might have colluded with Count Sogres somehow and passed his child with a made-up story.

For Professor Temeric, who had remained in second place for over ten years and couldn’t even dream of becoming the dean because of Professor Delphineso, this was a strangely reasonable doubt.

‘I guess I’ll have to check.’

If the story wasn’t true, he could use this to find fault and apply subtle pressure on Professor Delphineso.

“Anyway, the first step to passing the regular exam, which is the primary goal, will begin in this lecture, so I hope you will follow along well.” Professor Temeric added, “Well, passing theory will be easy for those capable of summoning, but of course, there wouldn’t be any freshmen who can do that. Right?”

It was quiet.

There was no way a freshman could use summoning magic. None of the freshmen there had taken a test to see if they could use ‘summoning’, they had only gone through theory and affinity tests.

That was, if you majored in the ‘Summoning Department.’

“Is there anyone who can do it? Though, I doubt it.”

Then someone raised their hand.

“I can.”

Everyone’s attention was focused on the freshman who raised his hand.

A silver-haired freshman.

The youngest son of Count Sogres.

It was Dane Sogres.