Preparation Time (2)
A familiar?
"A familiar? You, the face-obsessed pervert fox?"
"That is so. If keeping this one at your side proves too great a burden, then this one shall simply become your familiar, Master."
The face-obsessed fox chattered away as if she were doing me some enormous favor by conceding her own grandeur, but I couldn't bring myself to answer her.
Offering to become my familiar was more than enough to warrant a reaction like that.
In Soul Academy, familiars were essentially a pet system. You tamed a particular beast and used it however you pleased.
As with every system that existed in the game, though, not just any creature could be tamed — the mightier the beast, the harder it became to subdue.
And lofty beings like the Lord of the Forest were flat-out impossible to take as familiars.
Why would a being that ruled an entire forest ever bow its head to some other creature?
I tried taming every single living thing in Soul Academy, so I can say this with certainty: the Lords of the Forest are the kind who would choose death over becoming a human's familiar.
The face-obsessed fox before me was no exception. As deranged as this pervert looked, she was still, at the end of the day, a being who stood as the master of an entire forest.
And that was the one offering, of her own accord, to become my familiar.
Right now she was snickering to herself and murmuring "Master" under her breath, but that decision had surely taken a great deal of deliberation.
...Surely it did? Right?
Anyone else and I'd believe it, but with that fox, I honestly can't be sure.
I don't know whether she's doing this purely because she wants to be my pet, or whether there's some deeper motive — but if the face-obsessed fox becomes my familiar, at least the burden of keeping her around would ease up.
Going by the Soul Academy lore I know, the contract process lets you pin down all sorts of conditions.
Signing a contract with a being stronger than me means I can't force much on her, but as long as I can put the brakes on her perversion, that's plenty.
It's not like refusing would actually make the fox leave, anyway. If she wants to snap a collar around her own throat, who am I to complain?
'Fine.'
"Fine. If you're that desperate to become somebody's pet, I'll get you a collar. Masochist fox."
"I am grateful, my Master. Here, I have prepared a collar for just this occa—"
Ignoring whatever the fox was saying, I stepped inside the room and picked up Grandpa.
'Grandfather. What kind of weird thing did that face-obsessed fox do?'
"Why do you presume guilt before the deed, child?"
'There's no way she didn't do something.'
What are the odds that a pervert who begs a girl younger than her to step on her hasn't done anything? Come on, Grandpa. Be honest. What did you do? I'm steeling my heart right now, so it's fine.
"Nothing. Astonishing as it may be."
'Liar.'
"It is true. I stake my honor upon it."
Huh?
He really did nothing?
Truly?
But a stuffy old noble and holy knight like Grandpa would never stake his honor to protect that pervert fox. Not in a million years.
Which means the face-obsessed fox really did behave herself. That's... actually kind of surprising.
"More importantly, girl. Will you seal the contract as a familiar?"
'Yes. I've been chosen, so I might as well. Can't have her running around without a leash, after all.'
Otherwise who knows what kind of antics she'd get up to. I want at least a bare minimum of safety measures in place.
'So, Grandfather — help me out. This sort of thing is your specialty, isn't it?'
Whether or not she fights for me is honestly beside the point.
Most threats, I'll carve through with my own strength, same as I always have.
So please prepare the contract in whatever direction minimizes that fox's perverted behavior as much as possible.
Since she's the one offering the contract, there's a limit to how much I can impose — which means we have to prepare it as airtight as we can!
"Understood. Wait a moment. I have had something in mind since you first spoke of this."
The instant he heard my requirements, Grandpa laid out the shape of the contract as smoothly as if he'd been preparing it in advance all along.
"First, let us focus on barring criminal conduct."
'Yes! That is exactly what I was hoping for!'
"I cannot say how far the contract will bind her, but to begin with..."
Everything he proposed was aimed at reducing my discomfort around the face-obsessed fox as much as possible.
Her fundamental nature was beyond saving, but anything resembling sexual harassment could surely be blocked.
That's my Grandpa for you! I never doubted you! I'll put off my tour of the academy's back-alley haunts until next time!
When I recited Grandpa's terms to the face-obsessed fox, her disappointment was plain to see.
"What manner of terms are these, my would-be Master? Cling to me at will — forbidden. Follow me in secret — forbidden. Even steal a glance — forbidden. Does this not erase the very reason this one came all this way?"
Is being told not to act like a pervert really that hard? Yeah. I guess for you, it might be.
'If it bothers you so much, feel free to get lost. I'm begging you.'
"No? Then leave. I could care less about losing a face-obsessed pervert fox like you. No — actually, I'd love it. I wouldn't have to listen to that disgusting voice anymore."
"Mmph... mmph..."
But the fox had no options left.
You proposed this familiar contract yourself! Endure it through hell and high water!
If you hate it, then disappear! Go back to the forest you came from!
Come to think of it, though, this is all pretty strange. Is my Charm stat really that high?
For the face-obsessed fox to be this obsessed, I'd have to have maxed out my Charm stat — and yet people's reactions toward me were never quite that favorable.
With looks that good, no matter how awful my other stats were, people's reactions should have been nothing but warm.
...Don't tell me my reputation is actually so much garbage that it's eating into my high Charm score?!
Is that it?!
As trashy as my reputation is, is it really that bad?!
"Very well. I accept."
Just as I was sinking into despair over this cruel realization, the fox reluctantly nodded.
She had decided that becoming a familiar, even with all those restrictions, beat leaving my side.
How much of that decision came down to the fact that she gets to call me her Master, I wonder.
"Then let us proceed with the contract."
With those words, the fox drew a talisman out from the folds of her chest.
"This is a talisman crafted from this one's own power. Hold it, and turn the terms of the contract over in your mind. And then..."
The contract ritual she described was nearly identical to the cutscene version from the game.
There was nothing new about it — and precisely because there was nothing new, I felt a little flutter of excitement. I was about to recreate one of the game's events in real life, after all.
That excitement sank without a trace in an instant, though. Unlike the game, with all its flashy effects, the real contract was boring as sin.
I held the talisman, did exactly as the fox instructed, and the talisman dissolved into light that soaked into my body. The end.
Mystical, sure — but knowing how spectacular the game's effects were, I couldn't help muttering, that's it?
Reality can be so disappointing sometimes.
As I stared wistfully at the spot where the talisman had vanished, a poof! sounded beside me and a cloud of smoke billowed up.
What? What now? An explosion? Did something go wrong during the contract?
So the boring effects had a reason after all!
"Just as I thought it would be."
When the smoke cleared, what emerged was the face-obsessed fox — transformed into a tiny little fox.
Sitting there on the floor, she turned her head to check out her new body, then looked back up.
"Fear not. The contract did not fail. It is merely that your power, Master, is not yet sufficient to manifest this one's true form. With time, it shall come, bit by bit..."
...Wow.
I never thought I'd say this about the face-obsessed fox.
And it wounds my pride to even be thinking it, but —
She's cute.
Those bright, gleaming eyes.
Those tiny little paws.
The fur that looks impossibly soft at a glance.
That swaying tail.
She looks exactly like a plush toy.
Fluffy. So fluffy!
"...Master?"
The fact that the face-obsessed fox is the one stuffed inside that adorable body is a major deal-breaker, but if I could just erase that one flaw, she'd be pretty great.
I've always loved animals! And an animal this tiny? Even better!
"Master?"
Watching her tilt her little head sent my mind drifting off for a moment. Remembering how I'd petted a friend's dog back home, I reached out and stroked her — and my hand filled with the warmest, softest feeling.
Kyaaaa. Yes. This is it.
Warmth and softness you could never feel through a monitor screen.
Maybe because the fox's actual body was well-groomed, looks-wise, her fur was absolutely plush.
Wasn't this basically top-grade fur? Like, premium-tier?
I was getting addicted to that one-of-a-kind feeling, hands still buried in her fur, when the fox hastily scrambled up and bolted to the far side of the room.
'Where are you going?!'
"Face-obsessed fox! Get back here!"
Where do you think you're going?! If you're my familiar, then act like one and quietly offer up that fur and warmth to your Master!
"W-wa... wait! Wait a moment! Th-that is... what is this?! Are you not far, far too close?!"
What is she even saying? Weren't you the one sticking yourself to me this whole time, and now I can't touch you?
You'll like it too! This is exactly what you wanted!
Why are you running off playing innocent now, of all times?!
Get back here! Chasing the soft fluff, I hunted the fox down — but she slipped out of my grasp with quick, darting movements, fleeing this way and that.
What the heck! Why is she so fast! My stats should be pretty impressive right now, so how is she faster?!
Is this what being the Lord of the Forest gets you?!
Knock, knock.
Right in the middle of my desperate pursuit, someone knocked on my door again.
Who is it now?! I'm busy!
If you're interrupting my precious happy time for something trivial, I will not forgive you!
"Uh — Miss? Is something the matter?"
The one greeting me as I yanked the door open with a scowl was Carl.
'What do you want?'
"What's that supposed to mean, huh? Wimp."
If there's no good reason for ruining my chase, there'll be no mercy. With exactly that sentiment, I glared daggers at Carl — who, gauging my mood, nonetheless pressed on.
"Ah, right. We heard from Alsaetin. He says he found what you asked him to look into."
Alsaetin?
...Then yeah, that is urgent.
Whew. Fine, then. The fox is my familiar now anyway — the fluff therapy can wait.
The Church of the Main God — the greatest religious power within Soul Academy — commands a scale that rivals most entire nations. Its influence exceeds them.
History is full of lands that were wiped from existence for the crime of displeasing the Church of the Main God. The reasons given to the public were, of course, rather different.
In subculture games like this, a faction wielding this kind of overwhelming power is rarely made up of good people through and through.
A place that preaches righteousness on the surface, commands an enormous following — and yet is rotten and twisted to its core, propped up by only a handful of genuinely decent souls.
That is the Church of the Main God.
When Grandpa warned me that revealing my apostleship would get me quietly buried, I didn't agree for nothing.
The Church of the Main God really is exactly that kind of place.
By now you've figured it out, haven't you? Phoebe's story must be endlessly dark, too.
"You've come."
The moment I pushed open the door of the back-alley tavern, Alsaetin greeted me with a face gone stiff.