Chapter 18 Rachel

"Why... a cat..."

Not minding Rachel, who was so confused that her eyes were spinning, the cat, Black, stretched his body and yawned.

Rachel stared at Black. Black stared at her as well with his big and round black eyes, the same color with his body.

C-cute.

How can there's something this cute in this world?

Huh? Is cat always this cute?

Rachel was more of a dog person. Naturally, her former spirit was a dog. She felt soothed when looking at the dog running like it was chasing the sky and waving its tail.

But a cat had a different type of cuteness.

Black was staring at her until a while ago. But now he turned his head from her as if he had gotten bored of her. And yet, he sat obediently on her knees.

His tail stretched up to a straight line, then it slowly swayed.

Those small gestures had an unspeakable charm.

Rachel writhed in agony. How can I express this feeling!

Theodore slightly tilted his head. "Anyway, this spirit is strange. He has been staying by your side since I came here last time."

"By my side?"

"That's right. He laid down next to Miss Rachel and peeked into your sleeping face."

"Oh my!"

Just imagining that cute scene made Rachel almost squeal in excitement. But then she wondered, when did this lovely cat start to follow me around?

"But why is the spirit here?"

"Yes, good question."

"After all, spirits should only appear in the spirit summoning ceremony."

"It’s usually like that."

"And human won't be able to see spirits other than the Spirit King until they make a contract with the contractor."

"Yep."

"Then, how could Lord Theodore see this cat?"

Rachel tilted her head slightly, going straight to the point after building the flow of the conversation.

Not looking bothered at all, Theodore put his hands on his chin and grinned. "You noticed it?"

"Anyone will notice that!"

"Well, I guess I can tell you," Theodore muttered, scratching his head. "I don't want everyone to know about this. But I can see spirits and other people's auras."

Can he see spirits?

The amount of magic power greatly affected whether one could see spirit. Even in the magic academy, only five students in a grade could see them. In short, most people couldn't contract with spirits.

Also, it's almost impossible to see spirits who hadn't contracted with humans.

If a spirit recognized a person as their contractor, then only the contractor could see their appearance. And by giving it a name, the spirit was connected to the world of spirits and humans, making others able to see it then.

But then, the former Saint was said to be able to see spirits other than the contracted ones after receiving the blessing of the Spirit King.

Rachel looked at Theodore and Black in wonder. That made Theodore raised the corner of his mouth. Then he added, "I have the bloodline of the previous Saint. I guess it's a genetic throwback."

"Genetic throwback?"

Rachel widened her eyes at the unexpected statement. But what he said might be possible. The former Saint married a member of the royal family. And many generations ago, the member of Marquis Camus family married the Princess.

"I see."

"Yeah. I heard that there are only two people in the last three hundred years who have this kind of power."

"Only two people! That's really amazing, right?"

Theodore casually talked as if it was not a big deal, but everything that he said was very incredible. Rachel kept getting surprised that her head was getting dizzy.

Rachel felt even more ridiculous than she ever thought she was exceptional with her abundant magic power.

The man in front of her was the real remarkable person. He didn't show off his power like her.

Amazing, amazing!

That's why everyone said that Theodore was the best magician in the country, even surpassing Marquis Camus. A surge of respect for the man swelled inside Rachel.

"Hmm. But I've never seen someone contracting a spirit outside the summoning ceremony."

Rachel also had no idea how to meet a spirit other than in the summoning ceremony. Spirits never left their residing forest. Most spirits came out of the forest for the first time in the summoning ceremony.

This black cat...

Why does it come to me?

Most of the spirits prefer contractors with high quality and abundant magic power. And I don't have any magic power now.

"Also, uncontracted spirits will look a bit blurry for me, but I can see that cat clearly now. It's a low-ranking spirit of darkness."

What? What did Lord Theodore say? Darkness?

No, no way.

Rachel inadvertently looked at Black again. Black looked up at her with his big eyes, his expression deadpan as if saying, "You just noticed that?" Maybe. Or maybe not.

"Eh, darkness?"

I also thought that the spirit of darkness only exists in the fairy tale. It's created with the hypothesis that there should be darkness since there's light. Not to say, the books in the Division of Magic with that topic are all fictions."

Theodore stood and crouched next to Rachel. He stared at Black.

Then he put his hand on Black's body. When he stroked the cat's body with a gentle expression, Black happily brought his body closer to the man’s hand. Then he squinted his eyes and purred.

After that, Black showed its stomach and mewled. His pose was telling Theodore to stroke him more.

They get along a bit too fast, don't they!? Hey Black, you are my contract spirit, right? You're not mistaking me with Theodore, right!?

"I have the constitution makes the spirits like me."

"Ahh. Somehow, I'm not surprised anymore."

"But I don't know what to do. It's also the first time I meet the spirit of darkness."

Rachel couldn't see that at all. Theodore's eyes were sparkling like a child looking at his new toy.

When Theodore stopped stroking Black and returned to his seat, Black woke up in dissatisfaction.

Rachel timidly reached out to Black, stroking him gently.

Wow, its fur is silky. How comfortable...

Unhappy with Rachel's stroke, Black twisted his body and pushed his forefoot to her hand. Then he curled on her lap again and closed his eyes.

Ehhh...

You were so comfortable with Theodore just now, so why...

Theodore laughed at Rachel, who got depressed.

"But why did he come to me?"

"I'm clueless too. There's only little to none that's known about a spirit of darkness."

"I guess so."

"But you're lucky, Miss Rachel."

"Eh?"

"Even if that cat is a low-ranking spirit, you contracted with it. That means you can borrow its power."

"Huh?"

"He'll lend you its magic power, won't he?"

Rachel was so surprised by so many things that she completely forgot about the benefits of contracting with a spirit.

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