After getting over their shock and awe at the library, which fit inside a building smaller than it, Zach and Anerias walked up to the empty front desk. No, it wasn't empty.
"A fairy?"
Zach tilted his head slightly as a tiny human-like figure as tall as his outstretched hand with translucent green wings and pointy ears appeared on the desk. However, as Zach spoke, she stomped her foot and glared at Zach while angrily pointing at a sign next to her.
"A pixie. Ok. My bad."
'What's the difference anyway?'
Zach put the matter of the pixie's identity to rest.
"We're here for books about variant angels, Blackfire Hounds, and any relation between the two."
The pixie nodded and pointed Zach and Anerias toward the tables just next to the desk, indicating for them to sit down. While they did that, she flew away. Zach and Anerias sat awkwardly in silence for a couple of minutes before the pixie returned with two stacks of books and one lone book hovering behind her.
One stack ended up in front of Anerias, the other in between the two, and the lone book landed in front of Zach.
Zach looked at the book.
'Records of angel and angelic variants.'
It was thinner than his finger and wasn't much bigger than the pixie. Zach didn't have high hopes. Yet, he was still let down when he opened the book. The pages were thick and empty, save for two entries.
One discussed the existence of fallen angels and whether they were variants of angels or separate existences. The other entry was a brief record of an existence with a fiery red halo and wings of fire instead of feathers. There wasn't even as much as a name, only the acceptance of the being as an angel variant.
"Well, that's disappointing."
Zach closed the book again. Angels were rare, variants were rarer, angel variants would be very rare. Zach knew that much already. But the information available in the Academy's library was disappointingly little. It was to the point he couldn't believe it.
He glanced at Anerias.
"Did you find anything promising?"
Anerias slowly shook his head while flipping another page in the picture book.
"...Not yet. Only a bunch of illustrations and theories so far."
"Well, I lost motivation, so I'm doing something else. Good luck and let me know what you find. See ya."
"Mmhm, sure."
Anerias didn't even look up as Zach returned the book and left the library. Since the library didn't have anything useful, Zach decided to ask the source closest to his angel instead.
After returning to his suite, where Nora waited with a tray of refreshments, two cups of tea, and a suppressed grin, Zach turned to Yanael.
"Can you tell me what the deal with that dog is?"
"If you are referring to Anerias Corom's Blackfire Hound, then yes, I can, Master. The Blackfire Hound is a distant descendant of one of the prominent beings of Hell. I, on the other hand, am a prominent being whose origin is linked to Heaven. Heaven and Hell are, for the sake of conciseness and limited authority, against each other."
Zach nodded in understanding.
"So, it's like an underling of one gang seeing the executive of a rival gang on the street. There's some tension due to the rivalry, but the difference in position and the fact that you're both not acting on the gang's orders make it difficult for anything to happen."
Yanael's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Zach. It wasn't because she was surprised that he understood. She was taken aback by the explanation.
"...I am not quite familiar with gangs, and while I would never put them on the same level as Heaven or Hell, that could be an apt comparison."
Zach sipped his tea as he looked at Yanael.
"Does fighting or killing beings from Hell do anything for you? Training or growth-wise, I mean?"
"...I can only say that I am not overly concerned about other beings or their origins." Yanael tilted her head slightly forward as if to apologize.
Zach squinted.
Not caring about other beings meant she cared about some being or beings.
'Me?'
Zach paid thorough attention to Yanael's wording. Since there was a limit to what she could say, he had to get as much as possible from how she said it. And Yanael's top and only priority being him made sense, given the fact that she was a maid.
'But why did she look at the dog like that?'
Or, the being Yanael thought of while speaking was the Blackfire Hound. Rather than beings of Hell, the Blackfire Hound was special.
Zach was skeptical. But he also couldn't explain why Yanael cared about the dog in the first place if she wasn't concerned about other beings, regardless of where they came from.
'Well, whatever.'
Zach shrugged and leaned back in his chair, indulging in the refreshments Nora had prepared. As he did so, he briefly acknowledged how great of an advantage it was to have a familiar that could converse.
While Anerias was stuck flipping through stacks of books for a single clue, Zach could just ask Yanael, and she would answer. It wouldn't work if he asked something she didn't know. But Zach had a feeling that Yanael knew a lot, maybe even enough to fill up a library.
The only problem was his low authority, which limited how much of that information she could tell him.
'Maybe I should have stayed at the library, after all.'
The library didn't have much information about angel variants, but it should have at least some information about how to level up.
Since his level was related to his identity as a summoner, his summoning should be related to his level. But he had already summoned an S-rank familiar. What more did he have to do? Summon another one? Could he even summon another one at level one? Why would he want another when he already had Yanael?
One angelic battle maid was already more than one man could possibly ask for, even if they saved the world in a previous life. Just looking at Yanael was enough for Zach to feel content, happy, at peace, and satisfied with life, despite all the incidents during his childhood.
"Do you want some tea, Yanael?"