“We should return this familiar,” Professor Whipp said. “I doubt it’d be of any use.”
Yet, the slime maintained eye contact with me, almost glaring at me with exasperation. I didn’t have the courage to tell it to leave at this point, especially since I locked eyes with it.
“Um, I’d like to make this guy my familiar,” I said.
“Ooh?” Professor Whipp asked. “Why would you want to do that?”
“It heeded my call. I don’t know; I guess I’m feeling attached to it, and it’s adorable.”
I felt like this was oddly fated to be, and since it answered my summons, we would wade through life together. I passionately explained my logic to Professor Whipp, and she chuckled.
“Hee hee, if you’re willing to go that far, be my guest,” she said, granting me permission to keep it.
And so, this slime became my familiar.
“Um, I’ll call it Gem,” I said.
My slime’s eyes glimmered for a moment. It apparently took a liking to its name, and it nodded proudly, agreeing to form a contract with me. When I told it to return, my familiar refused to be stored away and sat there. Can it not understand my words? When I politely told it that it was in the way of others, Gem glued itself thinly against the wall grumpily. Did it not like being told that it was in the way? I still had a long way to go before I could understand the heart of a slime.
It was now Ehr’s turn to summon his familiar.
“Come on out! Summon!” he shouted.
A lizard appeared from the magic circle. A crimson line ran across its body, and its eyes were round and adorable.
“Nice! Thanks for heeding my call!” Ehr said. “Your name will be Lizard from now on!”
The familiar formed a contract with Ehr without issue. Now, everyone had their own familiar. Only Prince Rena and Alice summoned familiars that weren’t magical creatures, barring me, who summoned a monster. Everyone else had a magical creature to call their own.
“You’ll be with your familiar for three years,” Professor Whipp said. “I advise you to get along with them.”
And with that, homeroom was over. Some stayed in the classroom, chatting away while showing off their familiar, while others left and headed back to the dorms.
“Misha, what’ll you do?” Ehr asked. He was heading to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat.
“I’ve got some work to do,” I replied.
“Got it. See you tomorrow, then?”
“Yes, I’ll see you then.”
As everyone returned to their dorms and left the room, Gem, the slime that I summoned, remained glued to the wall.
“Gem, let’s head back,” I said.
Gem didn’t respond, its eyes still perked up grumpily as it made its displeasure apparent. Ugh, now isn’t the time for me to be dawdling… I had to bring my belongings from the hotel to my new abode, take care of the plants in the greenhouse, and make dinner.
“I’m sorry that I said that you were in the way,” I apologized. “I didn’t mean it.”
I gave a heartfelt apology, but Gem puffed out its cheeks in a show that it was still upset. What am I supposed to do? What was clear was that I didn’t have time to test stuff out and earn its approval. I decided to use force and gently peeled Gem away from the wall. It slipped between my fingers and onto the classroom floor. Okay, now I can go home, right? My familiar suddenly puffed up larger than an exercise ball before crystallizing, hardening before my eyes.
“Huh?!” I gasped. “What the… What’s going on?!”
As I panicked, Professor Whipp came over to me.
“Oh, this is a surprise,” she said. “Your little familiar isn’t a normal slime after all.”
“Wh-What is it?” I asked.
“A jewel slime. It’s quite rare, you know, and it’s a high-ranking spirit.”
“Then Gem isn’t a slime but a spirit?”
“Precisely. I think it’s been about five years since a spirit was last summoned in this school.”
One or two students per grade always managed to summon a mythical beast or fairy, but spirits were far scarcer. My familiar was very rare, it seemed.
“This is actually my first time seeing a jewel slime, too,” Professor Whipp said.
She stared at Gem, who stared defiantly right back. My familiar seems open with its emotions at least.
“Um, Professor Whipp, do you know anything about jewel slimes? I’d love to know more,” I said.
“I know a little,” she revealed.
Jewel slimes, as mentioned, were rare spirits with a high rank. They came in all sorts of elements, including blaze, ice, storm, lightning, earth, dark, and light. This type of spirit was known for taking on all sorts of shapes, like slimes, but it technically wasn’t a slime at all.
“The name, jewel slime, comes from them looking like slimes while emitting a beautiful, bright glow,” Professor Whipp said languidly. “Or so I’ve heard.”
Its scientific name was limus opalus, or rainbow false slime. I recalled being enamored by Gem the first time I saw its beautiful glow, which was why I named it “Gem,” an ancient word meaning “pretty jewel.”
“But the jewel slimes I’ve seen in books were much, much smaller,” Professor Whipp added.
Any jewel slimes that had been discovered were fist-sized at most and were preciously protected. She’d never seen one the size of Gem before.
“I wonder why a spirit so rare and precious heeded my call,” I muttered.
“Only your familiar has the answer to that,” Professor Whipp replied. She assured me this wasn’t just pure, dumb luck—there was some sort of intent behind it. “If you’d taken my advice and tossed this child away, it would’ve been awful, don’t you agree?”
“I planned on getting along with my familiar even if it was only a regular slime,” I said firmly.
When Gem heard my words, its body glimmered like a dazzling jewel, its glow indescribably breathtaking.
“I think it’s happy to hear what you said,” Professor Whipp remarked.
“I hope so,” I replied.
At least it seems happy now. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Professor Whipp, I’d like to head back to the hotel and gather my things,” I said. “I’ll take care of the plants after that, if that’s okay.”
“Oh? You can let the hotel take care of things and deliver everything to you,” she suggested. “I’ll call them and save you that trouble. Can you work on the plants instead?”
“Sure, okay.” I handed her the hotel key; its job was done. “I’d like to thank you. I spent my days in comfort.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Professor Whipp took my key and strolled out of the classroom. I realized that while we were talking, all of my classmates had left. The empty room felt spacious without the students. Reminds me of my past life when I was all alone at work, working overtime until the middle of the night.
I shook my head. I’m not in Japan anymore. This is the magic school of my dreams, and I have to live this life to its fullest.
“Now then, Gem, let’s head home,” I said.
My familiar stopped glowing, but it refused to budge an inch. I left the room and told it that I’d leave it behind, but Gem still remained put.
“Wh-Why?!” I gasped with exasperation.
I couldn’t read the expression of a spirit, but I certainly didn’t have any more time to spare. I had a mountain of work waiting for me, and I proceeded to roll Gem on the floor like a ball as I slowly walked along.
“Y-You’re heavier than you look!” I huffed, exhausted.
It feels like I’m rolling a chunk of rock around to build a pyramid or something! Gem was hefty in my hands. Luckily, I had some power in my arms, thanks to the many years I spent shoveling snow at home, and it wasn’t much trouble. As I got the hang of it, I heard students giggle when I walked past them in the halls. Surely, they thought I was being toyed with by my familiar, and today, I couldn’t deny those claims. I’ll let you guys laugh at me for now. After a bit of huffing and puffing, I managed to roll Gem into the Garden Plant and stopped it in front of the one-story cabin that doubled as the caretaker building.
“This is where we’ll be living, Gem,” I said.
My familiar, perhaps curious, glanced around. It stretched its appendages out and touched the walls, occasionally tapping them like it was trying to check the material of this building.
“I’ll be taking care of some plants and herbs,” I said. “I want you to just stay here, okay?”
Since we formed a contract, I doubted that Gem would try to run away. I headed into the cabin first—I was told a set of work clothes was prepared for me inside, and I needed to get changed. The floors and wallpaper were completely new, and the scent of a freshly built building hit my nose.
“Wow!” I gasped.
The sunlight gently trickled in through a large window, and the room had a brick fireplace. The tables and chairs were wooden, the beautiful grains accentuated in the craftsmanship, and the floor was lined with a fluffy rug. I did a quick tour and found the bedroom, kitchen, and baths. They were clean and new, as far as I could tell.
Professor Whipp, true to her word, had a dress for work prepared. It went down to my ankles and was easy to move around in. I also had an apron to protect the front of my dress and rain boots that had a water-repellent spell cast on them. I changed out of my mantle and school uniform and into the work clothes before I undid my hair and tied it into a ponytail. I fitted my hands with gloves and walked outside, where I spotted Gem still there in a daze, gazing at the garden.