I Became the Familiar of a Chuunibyou Gloomy Girl

Clatter— Clatter—

‘Ugh… so noisy…’

Ariel, who was sleeping soundly, wakes up at 1 AM in the middle of the night to the disruptive noise.

Of course, the noise isn’t the only reason.

Since Ariel collapsed and fell asleep right after returning from the academy, it’s about time for her to wake up if we consider her sleep cycle.

To put it metaphorically, it’s like waking up to the sound of roosters crowing in the early morning.

Naturally, since she didn’t sleep completely through, Ariel can’t help but feel stressed.

“What… what on earth—…huh?”

Ariel, who was about to timidly grumble about who could be making such noise in the middle of the night, immediately doubts her eyes.

The room is so clean.

It reminds her of a week ago, when she first moved into the dormitory.

The floor, which is made of cream-colored carpet befitting a noble’s room, provides a luxurious feel just by looking at it, and the marble walls, with all dust removed, emit a beautiful white color.

The trash that was overflowing on the floor has completely disappeared.

‘What is this? Did I come to the wrong room yesterday… ah.’

There are no servants in Ariel’s room. To be precise, there are none because Ariel, who dislikes being with others, chased them away.

Because of this, the room couldn’t possibly be this clean, so Ariel is confused and wonders if she might have come to the wrong room last night, but soon realizes that’s not the case.

The skeleton, moving fine even with the lights off, is holding a broom and dustpan.

That’s not all.

In one corner of the room, garbage bags are piled as if they’ll be taken out all at once later.

There are bags full of black threads, cans that had been eaten from and thrown away—all sorts of garbage.

This means only one thing.

‘…Now that I think about it, I just opened the door and went to sleep yesterday. The skeleton… couldn’t be dismissed since it’s not a magical creature.’

“Did you do this?”

Clatter—

“…?”

The skeleton, hearing Ariel’s question, hesitates for a moment before nodding its head.

Seeing this, Ariel feels something strange and tilts her head, but after a moment, she doesn’t pay much attention and loses interest.

After all, it’s quite common, no, extremely natural for an undead’s reaction to be delayed.

“Um… thank you…”

Ariel awkwardly expresses her gratitude to the skeleton.

It hardly seems like gratitude expressed to her own familiar. It’s clearly the level of courtesy shown to a superior.

“Ugh…!”

‘What, what am I doing… I…’

Ariel, belatedly realizing this fact, feels intense shame.

To speak like this even to her own familiar, of all people?

“Kuk…!”

Ariel clenches her molars.

And thinks.

At least with her familiar, she should speak freely.

Wouldn’t it be miserable to live a life where you’re intimidated even by your familiar?

Above all, isn’t the skeleton unable to speak?

Even if she were to say or do something quite embarrassing, it could never tell others. Moreover, as her familiar, it wouldn’t do anything harmful to its master.

‘…Alright.’

“Fu, fufufufu… thank you… my loyal servant…”

“What—”

Clatter—

“—uh, huh?”

And soon Ariel doubts her ears.

It seemed like the skeleton was trying to say something.

Not a simple cry, but literally a clear pronunciation of something.

Of course, it could be a misconception due to the human ear, like hearing a cat’s meow as “meow.”

“Gyaaaa…”

‘What should I do what should I do what should I do what should I do what should I do…’

But because the timing is too coincidental, and because the skeleton’s pronunciation fits this situation too well, Ariel shrinks instantly, feeling as if she’s being mocked by the skeleton.

The resolve to speak freely since it’s her familiar is long gone.

Despite the skeleton clearly being unable to make expressions, Ariel feels an illusion that the skeleton is looking at her with an extremely pathetic expression.

“U-um… I’m sorry—”

Clink—

“—Eeh?”

However, at that moment, Ariel once again doubts her eyes.

Ariel, who was about to apologize to the skeleton, sees the skeleton offering her a knight’s pledge—that is, kneeling on one knee and bowing its head—and freezes with a stupid sound.

Generally, if a skeleton were to make such a greeting, one would only be able to feel bewildered.

From the beginning, if a fleshless skeleton were to greet so elegantly, an ordinary person would feel disgusted rather than awe or solemnity.

“…Hmph.”

Ariel forms a faint smile at the corners of her mouth.

Well… because it’s cool.

Because she likes this situation so much.

Receiving a knight’s pledge from a skeleton?? If this isn’t cool, what is?

“Uhu… uhuhuh… ahem, hmhm…”

Tap—

“I accept your loyalty.”

With her twitching lips forcibly suppressed, Ariel places her hand on the skeleton’s jaw.

Since Ariel has seen how to respond to this greeting countless times, returning the greeting is nothing but easy.

To draw a comparison, it’s similar to a child who imitates their parents’ actions in playing house.

At this point, the option of being careful around the skeleton has disappeared from Ariel’s mind.

To Ariel, the skeleton is just a good pet that plays well with her. Like a dog or a cat.

“Pure white skeleton… I bestow upon thee the name Weiss. I hope you will continue to assist me like this… hmhm, anyway, since sleep has completely left me, I shall open the mado—”

Grab—

“—Kak…”

But Ariel’s sentiments don’t last long.

Ariel, who was about to sit at her desk and open the CoM (Community of Magic) magical tool to play games as she always had, is stopped by the skeleton—no, by Weiss—who grabbed the back of her neck.

“Why, what’s wrong…?? No, what troubles thee??”

Clatter—

“Bathroom…? What about the bathroom… Oh, you want me to wash? It’s fine, there are still 8 hours until school— kak, kuhak…”

Ariel’s words are naturally not allowed to finish properly.

Grabbed by the back of her neck by Weiss, Ariel is dragged to the bathroom. The floor is a soft carpet, so she won’t get hurt, but feeling pain and feeling degraded are completely separate matters.

“Wait, wait…!! A bit more slowly— huh…?”

Being dragged with her legs trailing, grabbed by the back of her neck, Ariel finally notices.

The clothes she’s wearing.

It’s not her uniform.

It’s pajamas.

Pajamas that she never wore because they were so flowy that they actually kept her awake.

She wouldn’t have changed into them herself, and there’s no one here except Weiss.

‘In other words, these pajamas I’m wearing… Weiss changed me into them.’

“You, you… what… what have you done— my hair…?”

Extremely flustered and shaking her head from side to side, Ariel also realizes at that moment that there’s no hair covering her face.

In Ariel’s mind, along with the black threads contained in the garbage bags, the faces of her “family” who looked at her like a bug flash by.

Oh, so noisy.

What’s wrong with this girl Ariel?

The first thing you should do after waking up is obviously wash yourself, right? But why does she try to sit at her desk and play games right away?

I thought she was going to study, so I looked again for a moment… ugh.

[I’ll wash well… no, I shall wash well.. so hurry and leave… le-leave, I said! Get out quickly!!]

[You want me to change into this… I understand. I shall change, so please turn around for a moment…]

And she gets embarrassed over strange things.

Honestly, I think showing a room like that or saying such things would be more embarrassing.

Hmm… or not?

Is it me who’s strange?

Somehow, since my body became like this, various emotions seem to have changed.

Logically, that is, according to my memories from when I was in a human body, what I did was definitely crazy… but somehow, I don’t feel that way now.

How should I put it?

Is it like seeing a cat, whether it’s dressed or not, as not much different? It’s roughly that feeling.

“Really… are you really sure…? My face… it…”

Clatter—

“Ah, I understand…”

Why does she keep making noise?

She’s only pretty.

She could just go like this, so why does she keep trying to cover her face? There’s a limit to being timid.

If she hates being the center of attention, doesn’t she know that being all wrapped up draws more attention?

Sigh.

“…!”

“…Who is that?”

“That skeleton… could it be…!”

“See, see… everyone is looking. Let’s go back and— ugh…”

When I block Ariel with my body as she tries to retreat and escape to the dormitory, her face changes very dynamically.

If an ordinary person made such an expression, it would feel quite bizarre… but with Ariel now, that feeling doesn’t come at all.

Isn’t there a saying that if the original is pretty, no matter how strange the act, it’s seen as a charming point? That’s exactly it.

Clatter—

“Le-let go… quickly…”

Ariel finally starts to sob a little.

No. Just go.