Reincarnated as a Familiar Volume 1 (Light Novel), page 2
The only other resident of the room stood between me and the door. It was a young redheaded girl, maybe 12 or 13 years old. Her hair was held up in a ponytail, and she was wearing some sort of formal looking school uniform. She stared at me for a few seconds with wide eyes, almost like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The shock wore off for her first, and she started jumping around.
“I did it! I did it! I can’t believe it worked,” she said, ” Ah, I was so worried that this was going to blow up in my face. I mean, there were so few references that I could even use. This is nuts!” The girl continued to ramble on about her apparent success until I finally interrupted her.
“Um. Excuse me, little girl. There’s a few questions that I’d like to ask you if you don’t mind.”
The girl snapped out of her reverie and snapped to attention like a soldier. “Oh, right. The ritual isn’t complete. Sorry about that. I just got so excited when I saw you standing there that I couldn’t contain myself. Let’s continue, shall we?”
The girl seemed to be acting a bit more formally now, so I decided to take advantage of her new mood and get her to answer my questions. “Well, before that, I have a few questions that I’d like you to answer if you don’t mind.”
“A test of wits is it? Alright, go ahead. I can handle anything you throw at me!”
“Wits? Um, yeah…sure. Anyway, here’s my first question. Why are you so friggin’ huge!?” It had been bothering me since I had gotten here, but everything was just way too big. The tables, the chairs, the room itself, even the girl standing in front of me was like a giant child.
“What kind of question is that!? Don’t you know you’re not supposed to ask a lady about her weight? What a rude familiar!”
“I’m not talking about your weight! I couldn’t care less about that. I’m talking about your height! Why are you so tall? In fact, why is everything in this room so big? Is this some kind of gag where you’ve got a hidden camera crew?”
“Huh? Well, I’m not even sure what that last thing you said meant, but I’m normal height, maybe even a bit short for my age. This room is normal-sized too.”
“Normal? You’re like six times my size. How is that normal? I should be a little bit taller than a young girl like you if anything.”
“Um. I’m not really sure what you mean. I think it would be more unusual for a cat type familiar to be that large. Especially an Astral Cat like yourself.”
Yep. That settles it. This girl is crazy. There’s no other explanation. Why else would she think that she could have a conversation with a cat? I lowered my head and brought my hand up to my brow like I always did when something stressful happened, and what I saw made my stomach drop. Instead of my hand, I was greeted by a cat’s paw covered in smooth silver fur. I stared at my paw in silence for a moment before proceeding to freak out. I attempted to spin around quickly to get a look at the rest of my body. This resulted in me immediately face planting as I tripped over my own four legs.
I quickly stood back up and began rubbing my throbbing nose as I tried to process what was happening. Okay. Calm down. There has to be an explanation for all of this. This crazy girl seems to have somewhat of an understanding of what’s going on. I’m not really sure I can trust her, but I don’t really have any other options right now. I looked up and found said girl now crouched down a few inches from my face with her head tilted to the side.
“You sure are a strange Astral Cat, you know that?”
Give me a break! You’d be acting strange too if you were transformed into a cat and just dropped into a room with some random giant girl. I have no idea what’s even going on here!
“Sorry, I’m just a little disoriented is all. I’d like to circle back to the “Astral Cat” thing in a second, but for now, let’s just start over. Could you explain to me what’s going on here…Sorry, what’s your name?” I asked as I tried my best to get my emotions under control.
The girl jumped up and puffed up her chest out proudly. “I thought you would never ask! My name is Lesti Vilia, heir to House Vilia and future master mage. You can just call me Lesti, though, seeing as we’ll be partners. How about you?”
“Oh, me? My name is…”
I tried to recall my own name, but for some odd reason, I was drawing blanks. I could remember almost everything about my life, even the faces of my family. However, I couldn’t remember any names, not even my own. It was almost like it had been erased from my memories entirely.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t seem to remember,” I said.
“Hmmm. Then as your summoner, I’ll have to give you a name,” the girl said as she stopped to think for a moment, “I got it! I’ll call you Astria. It’s a great name, isn’t it?”
“Astria, huh? Hey, wait. Are you just calling me that because I’m one of those Astral Cats you mentioned earlier?”
The girl glanced off to the side, avoiding meeting my gaze, as she replied, “N-no way! It’s definitely a super original name that only I could come up with.”
“Is that so? Well, it’ll do for now, I guess. Anyway, ummm…Lesti, was it? What is this place? Where are we?”
“We’re in the prestigious Alandrian Central Magic Academy, the premier academy for training up and coming mages within the Alandrian Alliance. To be more specific, we’re in one of the old experiment labs. It’s rarely used anymore.”
“Wait. So, people here can use magic? I mean, I guess that makes sense given,” I waved a paw generally towards my body and my surroundings, “Still, this is really hard to wrap my mind around. Although, maybe this is just because I hit my head so hard. Or I might be in shock. Does this sound like shock to you? I’ve only ever heard people in movies talk about someone being in shock. Do Astral Cats go into shock?”
“You truly are a strange one. I’ve never heard of a familiar who didn’t know about magic before, especially not an Astral Cat. I can show you if you like, though.”
“Really? Please do,” I said. I was still dubious that my surroundings and my newfound cat-form were real and not the symptom of hitting my head, but I had to admit that I was excited. At this point, my inner child had taken over, and my imagination was running wild with possibilities of what Lesti and this magical world could bring to me.
“Alright! Prepare to be blown away by my incredible skills,” Lesti said. She raised her hand in front of her, palm up, and began to chant, “Oh, fires of my burning soul, come forth and light the way forward. Dispel the darkness, guiding flames!” During the chant, I could sense a faint sort of energy gathering in Lesti’s palm. When her chant finished, a small ball of fire appeared in her hand. The flame wasn’t very large, about the size of a tennis ball and let off enough light that a person could see a few feet in front of them in the dark.
I frowned, peering up at the glowing orb. It wasn’t nearly as flashy as I had expected, but I had to admit it was more than I could create on my own. As excited as I was to see magic for the first time, I was also a little disappointed by the lackluster display. Hesitantly, I cleared my throat.
“So this is magic, huh? Seems very inconvenient to have to use such a long chant for such a small light.”
“Ugh…I’m not sure what you’re talking about. This is a brilliant example of the guiding flames spell. I-I’m just holding back to make sure I don’t catch anything on fire!”
“Is that so?” I get the feeling that’s a lie, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. “Anyway, if this is a magic school, then does that make you a student here?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m a second-year here at the school.”
“And what exactly is a student doing performing a summoning ritual in a musty old abandoned classroom like this? Shouldn’t there be a teacher here with you to make sure nothing goes wrong?”
“Ah! That’s right! The ritual isn’t complete yet. I almost forgot. We have to hurry!” she said as she ran over to a nearby desk and grabbed what looked like a small kitchen knife. She hurried back and took her place just inside the magic circle on the floor.
“Hey, wait a second! Aren’t you going to tell me what’s going on first!?”
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have much time. I promise that I’ll explain everything afterward.”
Lesti closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a moment, she opened her eyes and used the knife in her hand to prick her thumb. She held out her now bleeding hand and let the blood drip to the floor. As soon as the first drop hit the magic circle, I felt a wave of power take hold of me, and the circle began to glow faintly. It was like someone had turned the gravity up slightly just where I was standing. There was a sense of pressure that held me in place and prevented me from moving. I began to panic internally as Lesti started to speak.
“I, Lesti Vilia, do hereby swear my vow to you. I offer up my blood as a sacrifice so that I might borrow your power. In exchange, I promise to take care of you and keep you safe. I will show you a future that no one else in this world can or die trying! Grant me your power, Astria!”
Okay, this has gone far enough. What is she even talking about? She’ll show me a future no one else can? Tiny, magic fireball or not, she’s just a kid! As I railed against Lesti’s vow internally, the power in the circle reached a crescendo, and a symbol began to form on the back of her hand. It was a faint silver color and resembled the shape of a cat, except the form was somewhat ethereal, almost of if it were made of clouds.
Just then, the door to the room flew open, revealing a young woman who was probably just a little younger than myself. She wore a uniform similar to Lesti’s, but it was slightly more detailed and contained a mantle that wrapped snugly around her shoulders and ran down to her waist. She had straight, shoulder-length blond hair and a lean figure. A small glowing light floated just above her head out in the hallway, revealing her bright blue eyes, which were opened wide in shock.
“L-Lesti! W-What are you doing? This room is off-limits to students,” she stuttered.
“Oh, hi, Lani! I was just…ummm…performing some extracurricular activities?” Lesti replied with an innocent smile.
“P-please, don’t call me by that name. I’m your teacher, so you should call me Ms. Simon.”
For sure, lady. Definitely the most important thing here. Let’s worry about pleasantries and formalities when your student is in here summoning beings from another world in her down time.
“Aw, but Lani is so much cuter. Calling you by your family name just feels way too stiff. Besides, you don’t call me by my family name like you do that rest of the students.”
“T-that’s beside the point, Les..Ms. Vilia. I’m your teacher, and you should use my family name when addressing me!”
Wow, she actually corrected herself. Lesti has this lady wrapped around her finger.
As this conversation unfolded, the light from the magic circle had faded, and Lesti had begun to wrap her thumb in a bandage to stop the bleeding. The power that had held me in place was also gone, so I assumed the ritual had ended.
“At any rate, what were you doing in this old classroom? Students are forbidden from leaving their rooms at this hour. I hope you weren’t doing anything danger-”
As she spoke, Lani’s eyes scanned the room until they locked onto me, standing in the middle of the magic circle.
“A f-familiar!? Lesti, what have you done? This is a serious violation of the school rules! They could expel you for this! What would you have done if something had gone wrong and you had been hurt?”
“You worry too much. There’s no way that I could mess up such a simple spell, and since I succeeded, there’s no way the school will kick me out. They can’t afford to lose such a talented student after all,” Lesti said with a smug look on her face.
I couldn’t believe Lesti’s guts. This was, after all, the same girl who was just moments ago super excited and surprised that her summoning spell even worked. She even got so distracted that she nearly didn’t finish the ritual. I looked over at Lesti, who was nearly bursting with pride, and tossed a sympathetic glance over at Lani, who was looking more exasperated by the moment. Clearly this was not the first conversation like this for the two of them.
“It’s not going to be that simple,” Lani said, sighing. “Oh, I don’t know why I’m bothering. You aren’t going to listen to me anyway, are you? Come on, let’s go. I’ll be taking the both of you to see the headmistress.”
* * *
Lani led us down the dark, empty hallway. The only sound was the echo of our footsteps on the stone floor. I hadn’t been able to tell from inside the room, but it was the dead of night right now. The only lights came from the small magical orb that followed above Lani’s head and the light of the moon that filtered in from the windows along the hallway.
I got distracted by the sight of the beautiful night sky and tripped over my own feet again, drawing a strange look from both of my companions. Hey, don’t look at me like that. I’ve been walking upright on two legs for over twenty years. You can’t expect me to figure out how to walk with four legs in just a few minutes. I stopped for a minute to take a look around without wounding my pride any further.
The stars were much brighter and more numerous than back at home. The night sky was absolutely filled to bursting with them. It was a breathtaking sight you could only normally see if you went out into the countryside. Between that and the light from the moon, I was able to see the surrounding area quite clearly despite it being so late.
The building we were in appeared to be an annex of some sort. The windows that lined the hall looked out over a courtyard with two similar-sized simple stone buildings on either side. Across the courtyard, there was an absolutely massive building that I assumed was the main school building.
It had an overall simple design; the main building was square with a tower on each corner. The building was probably three or four stories tall, with each of the towers about twice as tall. The exterior was covered in intricate stonework and large windows that were very similar to pictures I had seen of old Gothic-style castles. The aesthetic gave the building a slightly imposing look.
I drew a deep breath, trying to wrap my mind around my new surroundings. I was an Astral Cat—whatever that was—and I was the familiar of a little girl in magic school. Slowly, so as to not cause myself to stumble on my four legs again, I shook my head. Life and my memories before meeting Lesti felt very blurry, and even though my new reality was quite different from my past as a…was it a schoolteacher? Even though my present surroundings felt strange and frightening, I couldn’t help feeling excited to learn more. With every step, this new reality felt more and more real than any fuzzy memory I still clung to.
Lani led us out of the annex building, and we headed across the large courtyard toward the main building. We passed through the first hallway and cut through another small courtyard in the center of the building, heading towards what appeared to be the front of the building. The large hallways were lined with classrooms. We eventually reached a room at the center of the second story of the front hall, which we entered.
The room was a rather spacious office. A neatly organized desk sat before a large window that looked out over the front lawn and gate of the school. From here, I could see for the first time that the school was inside a city of some sort. A tall brick wall surrounded the academy grounds. The office itself was lined with bookshelves on either side that contained large tomes. A couple of simple chairs were arranged before the desk.
“Wait here. I’m going to fetch the headmistress,” Lani said as she turned and left the room. Her footsteps echoed down the hall as she hurried off to find the headmistress.
“So, what do we do now? It sounds like you’re going to be in pretty big trouble,” I said.
Lesti shrugged and plopped down in one of the chairs. “We wait. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide that I had summoned a familiar on my own for very long, so this was bound to happen eventually. Better to get it out of the way now if you ask me.”
“I guess that’s true. The mark on your hand is a dead giveaway after all.”
All I got in response was a loud yawn. I guess the adrenaline is starting to wear off. It is pretty late, so it’s no surprise she’s tired. I’m feeling pretty exhausted myself. I need to keep myself busy, or I might fall asleep myself. Let’s take a look at these books, I guess.
I began walking around the room and looking at the different books that lined the shelves. The spines were covered in characters that definitely weren’t English, but somehow I could understand what they said. As my eyes glanced over them, the words just kind of popped into my head. Most of the books were covering various magic concepts, but a few seemed to be history books. One, in particular, caught my interest. Alandria: A History of the Alliance.
Alandria, huh? I’ve definitely never heard of any country like that on Earth. Am I on another world? Is that what happens when you die, they just zip you into another reality? Was that voice I heard then a god of some sort?
The sound of approaching footsteps cut my thoughts short. I returned to Lesti’s side as she stood up. The door swung open, and an older woman entered the room, followed by Lani and another male teacher. The old woman had long silver hair pulled up into a bun and sharp green eyes. She carried herself with an authority that shouldn’t be possible given the simple nightgown she was wearing.
The male teacher was a middle-aged man with short cut black hair with streaks of gray starting to show through. He had a strong muscular build that reminded me more of a warrior than a magic instructor. Each step he took carried a sense of weight and purpose the others lacked.
