Practical Training Returns
The very next day after I resolved to learn about Outer Gods through the Necronomicon, I muttered, "Yeah, I'm giving up."
I gave up right away. The reason was...
"What are you giving up on?"
Lilith, currently curled up in my arms and gazing up at me with those adorable eyes, was the problem.
"Lilith, maybe we should put some distance between us—"
"No."
"...If we see each other too often, we might hit a rut—"
"No."
"......"
Of course she wouldn't! Thanks to this adorable Outer God who refused to even consider leaving my side, I couldn't read a single page. Me!
I had even considered temporarily abandoning Lilith in my room, but the moment I saw her nuzzling and nibbling at the front of my uniform—
"Nyaang~ Omnyomnyom..."
—I ended up hugging her even tighter instead. 'Ah... I'm so happy... This is healing...'
How could I have ever thought of abandoning such a cute creature? I must have been out of my mind. The Necronomicon could wait.
Raycard Elgin suddenly realized his hands were trembling. When he understood it was from tension, he let out a dry laugh. If any students had seen it, they would have been shocked—he rarely showed emotion on the surface. Yet right now, even he couldn't help it.
"Hoo..."
He took a deep breath and knocked on the door in front of him.
—Knock knock.
"Raycard Elgin here."
A voice came from beyond the door after a moment.
"Come in."
The door opened on its own. He stepped inside slowly and immediately bowed at the waist.
"It's been a while."
An unexpectedly youthful voice answered from across the room.
"Has it?"
"Yes. This is the first time since the start of the year."
"My apologies. I've been losing track of time lately... Please, have a seat."
Only then did Raycard raise his head for the first time since entering. He sat down on the guest chair with precise movements. Across from him sat a young man with golden hair. The man crossed his long legs and gestured, causing a cup of coffee to appear in front of Raycard.
"If I recall correctly, you only drank the strong stuff, right?"
"Yes. Thank you."
Out of courtesy, Raycard took a sip before setting the cup back down.
"So, what brings you here?"
"Are you aware of the disturbance that occurred at the academy yesterday?"
"Ah... You mean that loud boom? I thought a meteor had fallen or something."
The golden-haired man clapped his hands with an exclamation.
"Aha! So there was another reagent explosion in the alchemy department, I take it?"
"......Unfortunately, no."
"Oh, I see. Given that Professor Raycard came in person, it must be a magic department issue. Did some foolish professor cast a spell backwards again?"
"It was a student."
"......What?"
Raycard placed the small file that had been on his lap onto the desk. It floated up on its own and landed in the young man's hands. He began flipping through the pages slowly.
"......A familiar. How surprising."
Despite his words, the young man's expression didn't so much as twitch. His hand paused as he turned the pages.
"A light beam, a curse, and a protective barrier. So the boom was caused by the light beam?"
"Yes. The floor of the outdoor training ground cracked and the cross-section boiled over from its effects."
"Oho... For that place to crack. Quite the offensive power."
The young man stared at one page for a long moment.
"A cat, huh... What's its name?"
"The contractor student calls it Lilim."
At that moment, the young man's eyebrows twitched.
"....Lilim?"
Raycard barely managed to suppress the urge to leap from his seat at seeing emotion on the man's face for the first time. 'He showed emotion?!'
The young man before him looked youthful, but he had lived through countless ages—far beyond what could be called human. Raycard had heard that eons of time had worn away his emotions, yet he had just witnessed the opposite.
"The reason Professor Raycard brought this to me is..."
"It was on the magic department dean's orders."
"What decision did they make over there?"
"They were demanding we confiscate it immediately."
"Hmm..."
The young man stroked his sharp jawline before suddenly standing up.
"I'll postpone my answer. Tell the magic department to wait at least three days—up to a week."
"Understood."
"Anything else?"
"No."
Raycard rose and bowed to the young man.
"Then I'll take my leave. Headmaster."
"Yes. See you again."
Once Raycard had gone, the young man called the headmaster began wandering the room with leisurely steps.
"Lilim... Lilim... Lilim......"
He stopped in front of the window. Reflected in the glass, his eyes shone in completely different colors—one sapphire blue, the other ruby red. Both gleamed like jewels, creating a mysterious atmosphere. He narrowed his eyes slightly and muttered.
".....Lilith?"
After what the students had dubbed the "Nya Nya Death Beam Incident," I managed to avoid getting caught up in any further trouble for a while. The ones who used to harass me scattered the moment rumors about Lilith spread. Lewis still showed hostility toward me, but one hiss from Lilith sent him running with his tail between his legs. Thanks to that, I enjoyed the most peaceful days I'd had since entering the academy.
Then came the third day after the incident. It was the morning of the last day before the holiday.
Once again, I had breakfast with Lilith and headed to school together. The peaceful routine that had felt awkward at first became familiar within just three days. Now we were even playing around during class. I would gently stroke Lilith's glossy fur, or secretly place her on my lap to squish her soft cheeks. Lilith accepted all of it—seemed to enjoy my touch, even.
After spending the time twisting Lilith's tail this way and that, I sighed at my inability to focus on the lesson.
'...How am I supposed to concentrate with such a cute creature right in front of me?'
It was beyond my control.
"I want to pet Lilim too..."
Letia grumbled from the seat beside me, but there was nothing I could do. It wasn't just Letia—plenty of students had already approached me hoping to touch Lilith. But Lilith rejected every hand that reached for her, and anyone who tried to force it received an immediate Nya Nya Punch (with claws extended).
"Arthur, try to control your strength today."
"Huh?"
I gave her a puzzled look, and Letia explained.
"Next period is practical training."
"Ah."
The practical class we had twice a week had returned. Every gaze in the room turned toward Lilith, who had made such a flashy debut last time.
"Do you think we'll get to see it again? The Nya Nya Death Beam!"
"I had to leave early last time and missed it. Glad I get another chance~"
"Lilim is so cute~!"
Most of the reactions were positive, which was a relief. 'Of course our Lilith is adorable!' It was only natural she'd become popular.... '......Why does a corner of my heart feel prickly?'
It was a familiar feeling, but it vanished too quickly for me to identify. While I was tilting my head in confusion, Professor Raycard Elgin entered the training ground.
"You all know the practical exam is next week. Good results only come through effort. Make sure you're prepared. Let's begin with execution practice first."
Students began casting their preferred spells. Those using offensive magic summoned sand dummies for target practice, while support magic users assisted them. This practical session was meant for everyone to showcase their specialties.
......At least, it was supposed to be.
"Does that cat have any other abilities?"
"I've never seen a familiar before..."
"Me neither!"
"Show us the Nya Nya Death Beam!"
No... You guys should be practicing your own stuff...
Thanks to Professor Raycard's intervention, I finally managed to carve out some time for myself.
"Lili— Ahem... Lilim. Want to practice the curse first?"
"Aeoong!"
I summoned a sand dummy and pointed at it awkwardly.
"G-Go! Attack!"
".....Aeng?"
Lilith just looked up at me strangely.
"Why? You don't understand— Ah!"
I was the one who didn't understand. 'You idiot. Of course a curse only works on living things!'
I'd asked for something impossible from the start.
"Then how about the protective barrier?"
I looked around and approached a male student practicing offensive magic.
"Excuse me..."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"My familiar can create a protective barrier, so I wanted to test it. Could you help?"
The student glanced between me and Lilith before nodding readily.
"Sure. How strong do you want it?"
"Start weak and gradually increase the power, please."
"Okay~"
Having easily found a partner, I moved to where his sand dummy had been standing.
"Lilim, protective barrier!"
—Woom
At my call, a thin membrane formed in front of us.
"Ooh! So it has barrier abilities too?"
"After the Death Beam, now a barrier. Isn't that basically a tank?"
Hmm... Imagining a tank facing off against cat-form Lilith... 'All I can picture is something cute.'
Lilith smacking a tank with her Nya Nya Punch. Just thinking about it made me want to laugh.
"Here I go!"
Flames flickered in the male student's hand. Judging by the size, he was clearly holding back.
"Hyah!"
With his shout, a fireball flew toward us. If I'd been taking it directly, it would have been quite dangerous—but standing in front of me was an Outer God's barrier. The moment the fireball touched Lilith's barrier, it shattered into pieces.
"Oh! That's a pretty sturdy barrier!"
The student prepared an even hotter, denser-looking fireball.
"Here! Hryah!"
The fireball that came flying, visibly heating the air, looked threatening. But just like before—
"It blocked it again!"
"So it's not just strong on offense?"
The owner of the fireball grinned brightly.
"At this rate, it might even block my maximum output. Want to try?"
There was nothing to think about.
"Sounds good. Hit me with your strongest shot."
"Alright. Hup...!"
The student's face turned red enough that I could see it from a distance as he poured every ounce of strength into the spell. The resulting fireball was much larger and hotter than before.
"Here it comes!"
With his shout, the thrown fireball's scorching heat reached me. 'Whoa, this one really looks powerful—'
The barrier was engulfed in flames, blocking everything from view. Murmurs rose from the other students beyond.
"Is that okay?"
"That seemed way too strong..."
"Hang in there, kitty~!"
But soon the murmurs took on a different tone.
"Ah! The barrier's still there!"
"It blocked that? That's insane."
"That fireball was pretty strong, but it looks completely fine?"
Some heat had gotten through, but the moment Lilith snorted, even that was cut off. Thanks to her, I remained completely unscorched and smiled awkwardly.
"This actually works?"
With this barrier, I wouldn't be hurt by any attack at academy level. 'An Outer God's barrier... The performance is definitely reliable.'
Smiling, I patted Lilith's head as she pushed it toward me.
"As expected, Lilim is the best."
"Nyaa~"
Just as I was about to dispel the barrier—
"Want me to help test it too?"
"Ah! Me too, me too!"
"I'm non-attribute, so I should be helpful!"
Students suddenly lined up, eager to strike the barrier. I glanced at Lilith and received a relaxed look in return.
"....Then shall we give it a try?"
By the time execution practice ended, I had endured attacks from a total of six students. As expected, Lilith's barrier showed not a single scratch or even a tremor.
"That's enough execution practice. Now we'll move on to sparring. Pair up as you like."
At the professor's instruction, close friends gathered in small groups to choose partners. Letia hurried over to me as well.
"Arthur! With me—"
But then.
"Whoops. Sorry, but I've already claimed the Troll."
Lewis appeared out of nowhere and slung an arm around my shoulder. Then, in a voice too quiet for others to hear, he said,
"Just because you got yourself a cat, you think you can act up? I'll make you remember your place."
......What's with this guy..?
I should probably feed him one of Lilith's Nya Nya Punches.