Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Familiar
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Familiar.
A term referring to beings that mages employ like their own limbs. Originally, they were used to assist with magic or compensate for a mage's weakness in close combat.
But lately, they've just been exploited for mages' vanity or for showing off.
"Astal, are you sure a mere Green Slime will be enough? When we go to the Magic Tower, you might be mocked..."
"Why do you think that?"
"We know this one's circumstances and how it helped us, so we know it's not ordinary... but others won't."
Anima, who was well aware of this point, spoke to me with a worried tone.
A Green Slime is a being so weak and insignificant that even a young child could drive one off with a stick.
To that extent, a mage's familiar is a being that can represent them.
Anima, who contracts with Spirit Kings—considered the most powerful and majestic among spirits—might have received a lot of envy and jealousy from those around her.
Because of this, she was worried about the reputation I might face and the troubles I might encounter in advance.
"Who would dare say anything about the familiar of the mage who defeated the Demon King Ergothum being a Green Slime?"
But ultimately, people's reputations change as easily as flipping a palm.
I spoke while scraping together as many fragments of the fake Victoria from the ground as I could.
No matter how much those arrogant folks might point fingers at my familiar, this one also represented my guilt for failing to protect Victoria.
"That's also why I haven't used a familiar until now. It's just pathetic how mages divide and compare grades based on such things."
I smiled bitterly, looking at the dirt grit under my fingernails as I spoke.
I don't know how much pain the fake Victoria, fragmented almost beyond recognition, had to endure or how much she wanted to scream.
Sympathizing or making assumptions about pain one hasn't personally experienced can be hurtful to that person.
"...It seems it would be best to hurry with summoning the familiar, as you said, Lord Astal."
Taryon spoke while scraping together the pieces of the fake Victoria that had scattered from the explosion.
Come to think of it, I heard that elves and druids believe life circulates infinitely, merely changing its form.
Taryon was diligently scraping together the slime-like substance more than anyone else and placing it at my feet.
"If souls truly exist and there is a world after death, shouldn't we go and save her quickly?"
"Even if it was a short time, we wouldn't have been able to track Memoriam without her."
"...Besides, even we would have made the same choice."
The other comrades also chimed in, each picking up fragments of the slime that was the fake Victoria.
Even if she was a clone created by our enemy Memoriam, she sacrificed herself and died for us like a human being would.
"This should be enough to summon as a familiar. With luck, the soul that inhabited the fake Victoria might actually find its way here."
"Though there's no immediate way to confirm it."
Even if the fake Victoria is revived as my familiar, she will likely be in a state where all her memories and knowledge from when she was human are completely gone.
If the opportunity arises, I can find a good person to entrust her to and let her learn language and knowledge as a human again.
"...Somehow, I think this one might really be able to live mingled with humans."
I smiled bitterly as I shed blood onto the gathered mass of green slime.
In the end, it wasn't Memoriam, who showed such fanatical obsession with humans, but the fake Victoria here who proved her humanity by walking her own path.
Perhaps, ultimately, what's important about a person is not the memories they hold, but the nature hidden within.
"Sanguis, Pactum, Familiarius."
I began reciting the incantation while inscribing the ritual with blood using my finger. Since a familiar is closer to a spirit, I had to use slightly different words than for magic.
"...I was going to help if you didn't know it."
"What mage wouldn't know a spell related to familiars?"
A contract sealed with the blood of the one summoning the familiar. Using that, one could establish a master-servant relationship with spirits, creatures, or even demons.
"I used to think I wanted to summon a dragon as a familiar and ride it."
Actually, if I were to summon a familiar, I had thought about taming a dragon. Dragons were always objects of admiration for mages.
"...You're a beast."
"This is perverted."
"I wasn't thinking of Victoria when I said that! Everyone vaguely imagines it when they're young, right? Like being a dragon knight."
I protested to my comrades, who were looking at me with contemptuous eyes.
That vague thought changed after I met Victoria.
After hearing the story of how her mother, a Gold Dragon, had to give up her power to live in the human world.
At first, I couldn't understand what love was that made her willing to leave the closed-off dragon society without hesitation.
But now, I think I can understand.
I glanced sideways at Victoria, who was covering her mouth with her hand, intently watching the situation unfolding.
"...Lord Astal, would it be permissible for me to offer a prayer to another god?"
"To whom?"
"The god of the underworld, Lord Thanatos... He might heed our wish."
Victoria was suggesting another god, asking for my opinion. He was a being of lower rank than the eleven gods worshiped on the continent.
It was a choice the Victoria who originally served the Heavenly God Lumina wouldn't have made.
"If souls truly exist, we have nothing to lose, right?"
Determination and resolve were evident in Victoria's current gaze. Perhaps talking with the fake had influenced her memories.
"Do as you wish. I think I should work hard myself rather than rely on a god."
At my words, Victoria nodded, then knelt and began offering a prayer to another being.
"...By the contract sealed in blood, manifest here. My familiar."
Thus, I completed the entire ritual drawn in blood, and soon the green slime began to coalesce and writhe.
*Fsssh—*
The familiar summoned from the fragments of the fake Victoria made a sound like smoke billowing forth, taking on the appearance of a small fluid-like form.
"Did it... succeed?"
"I don't know yet. There's a high probability it has lost even the memories from its time as the fake Victoria and the feelings it held then."
I wanted to at least call it a success as I watched the iridescent core moving around inside the green slime.
The core, with a color similar to Idea's, couldn't possibly be Memoriam's.
"...Still, it won't fall prey to Memoriam's commands or tricks anymore."
Since I couldn't yet confirm if the fake Victoria's soul had truly entered, I couldn't bring up hopeful talk.
"With this, we've done our best... right? If she really has returned, we could treat her like a little sister this time..."
Victoria said, poking at the familiar in my hand with her finger like a prod. Normally, a slime's body is acidic, so it could have been dangerous.
"Strangely, it's not attacking. Could memories remain? No. I checked the Legacy Magic just in case, but nothing's unusual..."
My familiar, as if recognizing Victoria, tightly grasped her finger and wouldn't let go.
"...Doesn't this mean it succeeded? It wouldn't have needed to give me the memories it personally owned, not the memories from my past year."
"For example?"
"Like the memory of confiding in me... or talking with you, Lord Astal, before entering the Legacy Magic. Since I shared those, there was no reason to give them separately."
Victoria's reasoning made me think it could be possible. My familiar now, however weak, is a Green Slime.
I haven't yet given it orders as its master or told it who not to harm, so it should be showing hostility toward surrounding creatures, but...
"Wow, it's so cute! Does this mean the soul really returned?"
"Don't let your guard down yet. It might try to swallow us like Memoriam... Ah, but it's too small and weak for that."
"If we have it draw a picture later, we might be able to confirm it faster."
It was showing an unusually friendly demeanor toward me and my comrades.
Watching the familiar perform tricks on my comrades' hands or wriggling its body coquettishly, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.
Maybe the fake Victoria's soul really did enter.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The next task was to restore Victoria's memories to their original state. To transfer the memories stored in the Legacy Magic, it had to be done in a sequence similar to the reverse order of when the incident first occurred.
"...First, I'll put you to sleep with a sleep spell, then extract the memories from the ultra-compressed Legacy Magic and drop them onto your forehead."
"Is there no other method?"
"Well, there is a method of embedding the compressed Legacy Magic into a ring and wearing it... but if you accidentally take it off, you'd act like you have a split personality."
I made a displeased expression at the thought of the latter. Dealing with Victoria, who had lost her memories this time, had been mentally taxing.
"I would never take it off, but there's always the possibility my wrist gets severed."
Victoria nodded, then leaned her head on my lap and closed her eyes.
"When you open your eyes, everything will be over. Don't worry too much."
I whispered softly to the sleeping Victoria and began slowly transferring the memories contained within the Legacy Magic.