I Became the Familiar of a Chuunibyou Gloomy Girl

Bang—!

“…What is this?”

“Pfft…”

“Ah, ugh… no way…”

As the white mist dissipates inside the iron cage, a dejected scream echoes throughout.

Despite the loud sneering laughter, the dejected scream is not drowned out and is clearly heard by everyone.

“Ah… aah…”

Squeak— squeak squeak—!

“Hey, what’s the matter? The color is drab, it’s smaller than a foot, and it perfectly matches Lord Brain’s image, doesn’t it?”

This is the place where summoning magic practice lessons are conducted with the help of magical tools.

The students are using a special summoning magic called Incarnation, which allows them to project their unconsciousness while simultaneously materializing their potential abilities.

In other words, the summoned creature that appears through Incarnation shows the caster’s nature and limitations without any filter to the outside world.

Because of this, quite a few students have an aversion to this summoning magic, but since Incarnation has long held a position similar to a test of courage among students, running away brings more shame than summoning a pathetic familiar.

Above all, even though they’re borrowing the power of magical tools, this is the first magic that students practice after entering the magic academy, so it’s fair to say that almost no student runs away from this.

“Campbell, let’s stop this.”

“Who… Miss Estelle?”

“At least they showed up, right? It seems they had some idea of what would come out, and the fact that they still came here despite knowing that deserves some credit for courage. Of course… it’s still just a rat.”

“Hmph, I can’t tell if you’re defending or insulting them. Let’s just do one more, just one more.”

Campbell, unable to believe that none other than Estelle would defend such a thing, snickers after hearing Estelle’s follow-up comment.

Pretending to defend someone while cutting down their dignity is Estelle’s specialty, and as if to prove this, beside Estelle stands a crow with dark purple feathers.

Caw— Caaaw—

“Stop it, that’s not worth eating.”

Estelle smiles and stops the crow that’s trying to eat the rat.

Generally, familiars summoned through Incarnation are not created through contract magic or familiar creation, so strictly speaking, they are merely life forms with no connection to the summoner.

In other words, the familiar could immediately attack the summoner.

However, Estelle’s crow was different.

As if it had been waiting, the crow immediately requested a servant contract with Estelle right after being summoned, and Estelle, who was very pleased with this, immediately accepted the crow’s request.

“…Please stop. You’re disrupting the class.”

“Yes, yes. I understand. Please continue with the lesson.”

“…Next student.”

The magic teacher, experiencing significant disruption in the class due to the fact that the delinquent students are composed of nobles, barely succeeds in gaining control of the lesson.

Of course, strictly speaking, it’s not that the teacher has regained control.

It’s more like the delinquent students, having quickly lost interest in the rat familiar, deliberately gave control back to the teacher in order to find their next prey faster.

“Now, next is… huh?”

And soon, a feeling of bewilderment crosses the students’ faces.

The next student’s appearance is simply described as pitch black.

It’s not that the students are showcasing the specialty of white people walking around with white cloths over their heads.

From her black hair to her long bangs, shadowed face, black eyes, black cardigan, and the gloomy aura flowing around her body, she makes everyone who sees her for the first time feel that she is merely pitch black and drab.

“What’s that?”

“…That’s Ariel, the lady of the Cielnoir family.”

Unlike a moment ago, the delinquent students look at Ariel with genuinely hesitant eyes.

No matter how much they want to tease someone, it’s only fun if the target is somewhat normal, and humans instinctively avoid teasing someone who is clearly abnormal or too weak.

If a thug were to pick a fight with a hunched grandmother passing through an alley, wouldn’t that thug quickly receive a lesson from other senior thugs nearby? It’s similar to that.

The delinquent students who had been bullying and ostracizing weaker students purely for fun now ostracize Ariel out of pure physiological aversion.

Tremble tremble—

“…”

“She’s terribly scared.”

“It’s not like she’s going to die… really…”

As Ariel trembles and places her hand on the Incarnation magical tool, the students whisper back and forth.

Her appearance, which looks as if she’s putting her arm into a tiger’s mouth, is enough to make everyone watching feel dumbfounded.

Except for one person.

Twitch—

‘…Is she smiling?’

Estelle notices Ariel’s twitching lips.

Despite her long bangs and the deep shadows cast on her face, Estelle doesn’t miss Ariel’s smile.

At that point, Estelle realizes.

Ariel was trembling not because she was scared, but because she was anticipating what she would summon.

Mutter mutter—

‘An incantation…?’

Estelle begins to focus more intently as Ariel starts to say something.

Having been raised as the daughter of a duke, Estelle can read lips to some extent, and she doubts her eyes when she sees what Ariel is saying.

She’s chanting an incantation.

Despite the fact that Incarnation is a summoning magic using a magical tool and doesn’t require any incantation at all.

‘What did she just say? Darker than darkness? Deeper than the night? What… what kind of incantation is that? No, is it even an incantation in the first place? I’ve never heard such phrases—’

BOOM—!

“…What?”

Estelle’s thoughts vanish along with a huge explosion, and simultaneously, the students here are surprised.

Unlike a moment ago when the rat was summoned, the area is filled with black mist.

It’s common for the color of the mist to vary depending on the caster’s condition, but a completely black color is quite rare.

Of course, it’s not unheard of, so it’s not an impossible occurrence.

The students are not surprised because of the mist.

Clatter—

“S-skeleton…”

“…It’s an undead.”

It’s because of the familiar within that mist.

Incarnation is magic that summons the familiar most suitable to the caster’s personality and power.

What if that familiar is a magical beast, and additionally, an undead that instinctively hates all living beings?

Even if it’s just a lowly skeleton, it’s still an undead magical beast.

If it’s summoned through Incarnation, one can’t help but question the caster’s character.

Above all, Incarnation is not magic that summons familiars that obey commands.

Since it wouldn’t be strange if the skeleton attacked the iron cage with all its might right now, the students’ minds are filled with predictions about what will happen next.

“…?”

But soon the students fall into confusion.

The skeleton, which they clearly thought would rush towards the iron cage, is just standing quietly in the cage.

The skeleton, revealing all its gaunt bones like a scarecrow, just stands there vacantly, slowly scanning the scene through its eyeless sockets.

That gaze is so desolate that the students feel a illusion of being intimidated despite it being a weak skeleton.

Ariel feels the same way.

“Ugh, uh…?”

Despite having summoned it herself, despite having deeply desired this in her heart.

Ariel, who summoned the skeleton, feels confusion and slight fear.

It can’t be helped.

No matter how deep a middle schooler syndrome a girl might have, spouting strange words about blood and darkness, wouldn’t anyone be surprised if a real massacre unfolded before their eyes?

Ariel, who had been trembling with anticipation about what she would summon, is now simply trembling with fear, just as the other students had thought earlier.

Flash—

“Uh…?”

“What!?”

However, Ariel’s trembling doesn’t last long.

As a black beam of light flashes, the students here doubt their eyes.

The thread of magical power connecting the skeleton and Ariel plainly tells everyone around about what is happening.

“Ueh…?”

“…A servant contract?”

“With a skeleton…? No, it’s an undead, isn’t it?”

Familiars summoned through Incarnation can formally request a servant contract with the caster. Didn’t the crow just do the same with Estelle a moment ago?

However, if the requesting familiar is an undead magical beast, the story is different.

All undead magical beasts instinctively hate and try to kill living beings, so it’s impossible for them to first request a servant contract with a living summoner.

But since that impossible thing has just happened right before their eyes, the students and teacher feel as if they’re dreaming and remain dazed.

And looking at these people, the skeleton thinks.

‘What’s with these bastards.’