Another Week Later

Another week passed since that day.

The second semester of the first year at Luminor Academy was approaching its end.

Most of the classes for the second semester would conclude the following week, and only the final hunting festival, which involved almost the entire Combat Department, would remain after that.

If there were any tasks to be completed before the semester's end, it was imperative to finish them within this week.

And right now, I had two major problems that needed to be addressed.

One was figuring out how to win a bout against Harold in his Magic Swordsmanship class next week.

The other was to ensure Agnes bonded with a low-level spirit before the semester's Spirit Affinity course ended.

Both issues, if not resolved promptly, could cause trouble in my future relationships. One involved Harold, and the other involved Agnes.

'I guess I should start with what's most pressing right now.'

The event where I needed to hand Agnes a newly born spirit and help her form a contract with it.

I hadn't pursued the Agnes route specifically, but I had a general understanding of the strategy.

The theory was done. It was time to move on to the practical part of forming the contract.

Spirit Contract Training

After the usual class on communicating with spirits, the empty classroom was left behind.

Agnes and I were training diligently in a voluntary supplementary lesson to help her form a contract with a spirit.

"You remember, right, Miss Blaze? Take slow breaths in, refine them, and then exhale."

"Shhhh, hoo.... Shhhh, hoo..."

"How is she doing, Sally, Say?"

'Hmm~! Compared to the beginning, she's quite good now? If you’re not paying close attention, you might not even notice.'

'...Agnes, right now, no strange smell.'

A strange smell, she says...

While helping Agnes with her spirit contract training, I tried correcting Say's peculiar choice of words, which were proving difficult to change.

"Hold on, Say. I told you not to use expressions like that. Telling a girl her mana smells weird can easily hurt her..."

"...It's fine if those kids say it, so mind your own business."

"Your concentration is disrupted, Miss Blaze."

"...Who do you think is to blame for that?"

If only I could correct her habit of blaming others whenever things go awry.

Still, at least the plan to get her bonded with a low-level spirit was progressing smoothly. At least up to this point.

To get a newly born spirit to bond with Agnes, we needed to suppress the unpleasant smell her mana emitted.

Even if young spirits didn’t have a concept of the taste of mana, there would always be certain smells they instinctively wanted to avoid.

The only way for Agnes to form a contract with such spirits was to conceal that smell and approach them.

Agnes needed to build more patience for this to work. She also needed to control her temper for now, which flared up at the slightest provocation, like a typical fire mage.

"As I mentioned, unless you curb that fiery temper, you won't succeed in real-life contracts..."

"...Rosewood, just to be clear."

"Yes, Miss Blaze."

"...The only reason I’m putting up with your arrogance is that I need your help with the spirit contract."

"Is that so? I’m surprised you claim to have tolerated my attitude during these supplementary lessons, given the usual level of your temper."

"...If I can't form a contract by the end of this semester, you're dead meat."

If that happens, I'm definitely in trouble.

The most likely outcome would be Agnes challenging me in the first-semester evaluations next year.

In a duel between mages, the skill gap between Agnes and me was significant.

Being a competent character, she'd quickly realize that I relied solely on Mana Blast.

This would likely result in a duel where she'd torment me with fire magic, mocking me for the entire duration of the evaluation.

The thought of that future loomed so vividly that I could imagine myself pleading for death just to trigger the resurrection spell.

'I must ensure this succeeds to avoid that future.'

Agnes was the only one in the Spirit Affinity course who hadn’t formed a contract yet.

If she didn’t manage to form a contract this semester, the blow to her grades and pride would lead to retribution worse than I imagined.

And to prevent that, I’d been preparing Agnes for a spirit contract throughout the semester.

"Don't worry, Miss Blaze."

"What?"

"The time has come for you to finally form a spirit contract."

"...Huh, really?!"

"Please meet me at the Black Forest north of the academy the night after tomorrow."

"The night after tomorrow...?"

"Yes, that will be the only day for Miss Blaze to form a spirit contract."

"...Can you take responsibility for saying that?"

"Of course, Miss Blaze."

In my past life, I spent over 2,000 hours playing Luminor Academy.

Having seen the ending 24 times, there was no way I would forget the date of such a major event.

Two Days Later, at the Black Forest Entrance

For various reasons, I arrived at the Black Forest later than planned.

Agnes, who had seemingly been waiting for quite some time, frowned slightly as she saw me.

"You're early, Miss Blaze."

"...You're late."

"Arriving early won’t solve anything. Entering the forest at the appointed time is what's crucial."

"Then why didn't you tell me the exact time?"

"There's nothing wrong with being prepared ahead of time, is there?"

"Damn you...!"

If only she could fix that temper of hers.

I hoped she wouldn't mess up the contract by losing her cool and then blame me for it.

Anyway, since I didn’t sneak out of the dorms at this late hour to mess with Blaze, I was determined to help her successfully form her spirit contract.

And I dreaded the potential consequences of failure.

"By the way, how did someone like you manage to come out at this hour?"

"Pardon?"

"Did your fiancé allow you to wander out here alone this late at night? Are you two not on good terms?"

"...I'm not sure what you're implying, Miss Blaze. Young Master Ethan and I are only in a relationship due to certain circumstances; we aren't engaged."

"I saw you two practically making out by the lakeside."

"That was part of a life-saving resuscitation..."

"Enough already. Just tell me how to form the contract. If I fail today, you’re dead meat."

Her personality, seriously...

Ugh, whatever. Once this semester ends, I won't have to deal with her anymore, so I'll just bear with it.

Better to proceed with helping Agnes with the spirit contract rather than dragging this out with pointless arguments.

First, I explained to her why she could form a spirit contract today.

"First, let me explain how you'll be able to form a spirit contract, Miss Blaze."

"...Okay."

"For that, you need to understand what today is. Do you have any guesses?"

"...Guessing what today is? How would I know?"

"Really? I thought someone as knowledgeable as Miss Blaze would know. But it seems I’ll have to explain..."

"The night of the largest full moon. The 55th anniversary of the great mage Heinz Stan's passing. The once-in-a-century planetary alignment. The original publication date of Volume 1 of Viz's Basics of Fireball."

Wow, she knew it all.

Her knowledge of magical dates was almost like an encyclopedia.

"I didn’t expect you to know."

"...How does Heinz Stan’s 55th anniversary relate to my spirit contract...?"

"The once-in-a-century planetary alignment is your condition for forming a spirit contract."

"......"

"Not the 55th anniversary of the great mage Heinz Stan’s passing."

"...I knew that."

Ignoring Agnes' stubborn reply, I explained to her about the magical currents that occurred with the planetary alignment.

The night when the full moon coincided with the planetary alignment.

A day when the world’s mana surged, causing all sorts of magical phenomena.

"Yeah, I know. On full moon nights, strange phenomena occur due to mana. Monsters get more aggressive."

"The full moon is a form of planetary alignment. Technically, the moon is a satellite, not a planet, but the effects are nearly identical, so you don’t need to worry about that."

"...Satellite? What's that?"

"It's better to focus on today being the planetary alignment. If not today, the next opportunity for you to form a spirit contract will be in about 100 years."

"...Okay. I won’t fuss, so get to the point."

"The key is the magical phenomena. Among them, the birth of spirits is included."

"...How do you know...never mind, continue."

"These newly born spirits are the only ones you can currently contract with."

"Newly born spirits...what?"

She tilted her head in confusion, not fully grasping my words.

So I explained the principle of spirit contracts once more for clarity.

"Noble families often hire wet nurses for infants, correct?"

"Yes."

"One reason it’s hard to let a wet nurse go is that the baby becomes accustomed to the taste of her milk."

"......Yes."

"So what you need to do tonight is to let these newly born spirits taste your mana first. Once they get used to it, they will find your mana more appealing than others."

"...Ah, oh!"

"Looks like you understand now."

She seemed to grasp why I had brought her to the Black Forest on this dangerous night.

Now, it was time to finally reap the benefits of all the efforts she and I had put in so far.