It was the next day and I was being flocked by people. Both boys and girls alike. They were impressed and were mostly questioning me about the Shadow Magic spell I used.
"Yo, Shoya."
Kuro said.
The whole crowd turned to her. They stared at her before dispersing. I was surprised. I thought they'd say something. Especially Nemurenume, who was asking me about the Shadow Gauntlet spell.
Though...
"They're not trying to hide their hostility."
I said.
Kuro sat behind/above me.
"It's not like they ever were."
"You sure that you're okay? Oh, and I'm not only talking about you fainting."
Kuro scoffed.
"Like you can talk? You fell as soon as the Student Council President ended the match. Let me guess, you were trying your best to hold on because you were scared that you would lose?"
"Well..."
"I always thought you two were friends but this is more than I expected."
A voice said.
It was Hikari, who was sitting next to me. She's usually quiet until we get into lesson so I don't notice her.
"It's because Shoya's overprotective."
"What?"
I growled.
I noticed something.
Kuro's gotten used to calling me by my name. Hearing her call me, Master now would be a little weird.
Ah, speaking of Master...
"We have Summoning Arts first, don't we?"
"Yeah, we do. However, apparently, Mr Umuzaki is on a vacation, so we have a new teacher."
Hikari said.
"Really, so who's our teacher?"
Kuro asked.
"It's going to be another amazing female Magus."
"By, 'another,' you're saying that she's on par or above Ms Pandora?"
Hikari nodded.
"It's going to be the Playwright Magus, Maria Frister."
The Playwright Magus? I've never heard of her.
Ai-nee entered.
"Alright, everyone, take your seats. We'll start off with the register before I speak a bit."
---
Homeroom ended and we went to the Summoning Arts classroom. The main room looked identical to Class 1-B but it had a second room which was more appropriate for practicals.
We haven't attempted to summon familiars yet, that'll be done in our second year.
"Is everyone here?"
Someone asked.
We were all surprised. The person was a... little girl.
That's what she looked like on the outside but her mana was no joke. Even its potency was incredible. Maybe on par with the Black Emperor's.
She was definitely under 5 feet.
The girl had blonde hair which extended into twin pigtails. She had a baby face with large blue eyes, though, she looks kind of scary now that she's squinting at us.
The girl wore a fur coat with a dress over it.
She placed the giant book, which she had in hand, on the lectern.
"I am Maria Frister. I'm the Playwright Magus and your temporary teacher."
Ms Frister was slightly taller than the lectern. I felt her eyes move onto me but they moved instantly.
Was she giving a cursory glance or...?
"I'll start with the register and then questions."
[She was looking directly at you.]
I heard the Black Emperor's, Altair's, voice in my head.
(Why?)
[Well, a couple of hosts ago, I met Maria Frister. My host was a bit of a pervert, so...]
(Stop. I kind of get the story.)
[Anyway, she shouldn't hold a grudge against you but me. Maria would be a good ally since she doesn't have a Singularity.]
"Shoya Sasaki."
"Here."
(She doesn't?)
[No, since she exchanged her Singularity for a powerful ability.]
(What ability?)
"Yes, Sasaki?"
"Huh?"
Before I noticed, my hand was in the air and Ms Frister seemed to be acknowledging it like I had a question.
I don't remember putting my hand up.
"Oh, uh, I didn't-"
"Please, don't be shy, ask away."
Maria Frister gave me a pale smile, which looked absolutely innocent on the face of a child.
[Her special technique is Puppet Mastery, thus her title, the Playwright Magus. Maria Frister can control anything with a string of mana. They say the way she controls people is like they're acting in a play.]
(Don't give me a cool explanation after she decides to control me.)
"Oh, uhm... Sorry if this is a bit rude, but I don't have too much knowledge of figures such as yourself so... How old are you?"
The mood seemed to become grim as I asked that question. Everyone looked at me like I asked an unspeakable question, which... I guess I did ask.
"Well, if we look at it... Huh. I'm younger than that harlot, Merlyn. I'm only 2701 years old."
What?
"Wait, Ms Frister, Lady Merlyn Pandora is over 2700 years old?"
Tatsuya asked.
"Yeah. It's not that strange. The Emperors are even older than us."
(Altair, how old ar--)
[Don't ask.]
Damn, he must be thousands of years older than Ms Frister.
"That doesn't matter anymore, let's get onto the lesson."
The small teacher said.
"I do not possess a Singularity. I have a special technique, that I use, called Puppet Mastery. If you experience weird actions of your body moving by itself, then, please don't fret. That would be me controlling you."
And Ms Frister gave everyone a heads-up.
Most people were shocked. I wasn't.
I mean, Altair did just give me an explanation.
"Today, we'll be doing theory. The first topic I'll teach will be all about contracts between a familiar and master."
The stylus floated behind her, as she flicked a finger, and she wrote on the board behind her without taking her eyes off of us.
"There are many paths which could lead to forming a contract but most contracts are formed in the same way."
The board showed these things:
- Mutual agreement on the contract
- Initiation
- Conditions
- Finalisation
"For the contract to be initiated, both parties must be in tip-top health. That's why an auto-healing process takes place. Even if you accept or initiate a contract when you're on the brink of death, you'll be healed within seconds. That's why I said that many different paths are taken to form a contract."
That's... isn't that kind of helpful?
I mean, the person has to be lucky in order to survive but still...
That's like a redemption ticket to life.