“Gaaaaaaaaaarrrgh…”
“H-how dare you… To a noble such as me…” Louise stood up, trembling furiously all over.
Through the intense agony, Saito thought, This is no dream.Plus, this isn't Earth. It's an entirely different world.
“Please…”
“What?!”
“Send me back home…”
“That's impossible.”
“But why…?”
“Because you've been bound by a contract as my familiar; it doesn't matter if you come from the countryside or a completely different world like you've said. Once the bond is established, it can't be undone.”
“You gotta be kidding…”
“Look, I don't like this either! Why do I have to be stuck with a familiar like you?!”
“Well then, send me back.”
“Are you saying you're really from another world?” asked Louise, seemingly still perplexed.
“Yeah.” Saito nodded.
“Show me some proof.”
Still wincing at the pain, Saito stood up and opened his bag.
“What's that?”
“A notebook computer,” replied Saito.
The surface of the recently repaired notebook gleamed with reflected light.
“I've certainly never seen anything like this. What kind of magic artifact is it?”
“It's not magic. It's science.”
Saito pushed the power button, and the computer whirred to life.
“Uwah! What is that?!” Louise gave a surprised yelp as the screen flickered on.
“The notebook screen.”
“It's pretty… What element of magic does it use? Wind? Water?”
“Science.”
Louise stared at Saito blankly. Clearly she didn't get it. “So, what kind of element is this 'science'? Is it different from the four elemental powers?”
“Argh, that's enough! I told you, it's not magic!” Saito waved his hands around wildly.
Louise sat on the edge of her bed and dangled her feet. Then, shrugging, she said with a dispassionate look, “Hmm. But I don't really understand it…”
“Why? Is there anything like this in this world too?”
Louise pouted. “No, but…”
“Then just believe me! There's nothing to understand!”
Clutching her long hair, Louise just shook her head. “All right! I'll believe you!”
“Really?”
Crossing her arms and cocking her head, Louise gave an annoyed growl. “Only because you would've gone on about it if I didn't say so.”
“Well, it doesn't matter, as long as you've got it. Now, send me back.”
“I told you, it's impossible.”
“But why?!”
Louise's face was etched with discomfort as she answered Saito. “That's because there's no spell that can connect this world to your world.”
“Then how did I end up here?”
“I wish I knew!”
Saito and Louise glared at each other.
“Listen, I'm being completely honest when I say there's no such spell. Nobody's even heard of another world.”
“There obviously is one if I'm here!”
“'Summon Servant' is used to call living beings from within Halkeginia. Normally, only animals or magical beasts are summoned. This is actually the first instance that I've seen it work on a person.”
“Stop talking about it like you're not involved. In that case, cast that spell on me one more time.”
“Why?”
“It might return me to my world.”
Looking discernibly perplexed, Louise tilted her head to one side.
“…That won't work. 'Summon Servant' is a strictly one-way spell. No incantation of any kind exists to return a summoned familiar back to where it was brought from.”
“Whatever, just try it.”
“It's impossible. And I can't even cast it now.”
“What? Why?”
“…Using 'Summon Servant' again is…”
“Yeah?”
“…Completely ineffective unless the familiar you first summoned has died.”
“Say what?” Saito froze.
“Would you like to die?”
“Err… Guess I'll pass.” He hung his head. His eyes trailed down to the runes that had been inscribed on his left hand.
“Do you want to know what that is?”
“Yeah.”
“That's like a stamp that says you're my familiar.”
Louise stood up and crossed her arms. This close, she was actually quite cute. Slender and well-proportioned legs, thin ankles. Not very tall, at around 155 cm. Her eyes were like a curious kitten's, and her eyebrows traced a subtle line over them.
If Saito had met her through the message boards of a dating site, he would've hopped and leaped for joy. But alas, this wasn't Earth. No matter how much he wanted to go back, he couldn't. Saito choked up at this thought, and his shoulders sagged.
“…Yeah, all right. For now, I guess I'm really your familiar.”
“Come again?”
“What, you got a problem with that?”
“I see you're still not used to formal speech. It should be, 'Is there something you wish to address, master?'” corrected Louise, one finger raised as if lecturing. The gesture was cute, but the tone was quite strict.
“But, um, what exactly does a familiar do?” asked Saito. Of course, he had seen ravens and owls appear as familiars in anime involving magicians. But mostly they would just sit on their master's shoulder and do nothing particularly relevant.
“Firstly, a familiar is able to grant its master an enhancement in vision and hearing.”
“Like how?”
“That means what the familiar sees, the master can also see.”
“Oh.”
“But it seems that doesn't work with you. I can't see anything.”
“Yeah, but it's not like that matters,” Saito said off-handedly.
“Also, a familiar will retrieve items that its master desires. For instance, reagents.”
“Reagents?”
“They're catalysts used when casting certain spells. Something like sulfur, or moss…”
“Uh-huh…”
“But you won't ever find me stuff like that, will you? Considering you don't even know what kind of reagents there are.”
“Nope.”
Louise frowned irritably, but continued talking. “And this is most important of all… A familiar exists to protect its master! The task of protecting them from any and all enemies is a duty of the highest priority! But that might be a little bit problematic for you…”
“Since I'm human…”
“…A powerful magical beast would almost always defeat its enemies, but I don't think you could even beat a raven.”
“Shut up.”
“That's why I'm only making you do things I'm fairly sure you can do: laundry, cleaning, and other miscellaneous tasks.”
“That's offensive. Just you see, I'm sure I'll find a way to get back home!”
“Sure, sure. In fact, I'll be glad if you do. Because when you return to your world, I'll be able to summon a new familiar.”
“Why you…”
“Right then, all this talking has made me sleepy,” said Louise with a great yawn.
“Where do I sleep?”
Louise pointed to the floor.
“I'm not some dog or cat, you know.”
“But there's nowhere else. And there's only one bed.” She threw him a blanket.
She then brought her hand up to the top button of her blouse.
One by one, the buttons came undone.
Soon she was down to her underwear. Saito blushed. “Wh-wh-what are you doing?!”
Louise answered as if it was the most obvious thing. “I'm going to sleep, so I'm getting changed.”
“Do it somewhere else where I can't see you!”
“Why?”
“Because! It makes the situation awkward! Seriously!”
“It's not awkward at all.”