Tamer Class

The next morning.

I received word that lessons would be resuming now that the restoration work in the residential district had a clear outlook, so I headed to the academy.

When I looked into “Mark’s House” before leaving, Mark was curled up and sleeping soundly.

I figured it would be cruel to wake him, so I left the forest without saying anything.

Professional contractors had moved into the residential district, and the repairs were progressing rapidly.

So I went around the outer edge of the district to avoid getting in the way.

There, several temporary tents had been set up, and students were working on something.

Akemi the alchemist had rented an entire tent for herself and was stirring a large pot.

When I tried to approach, a group of men from her entourage stepped in to block me.

But Akemi noticed and, with a single decisive, “Mm, it’s fine. Let him through,” the men grudgingly made way.

When I came closer and asked, “Alchemy?” she replied curtly, “Yes.”

“Hehe. A shop will be opening in the residential district soon, so I’m preparing for the grand opening right now.”

When it came to an alchemist’s business, there was only one thing it could be.

Beside the tent was a sign that read “Akemi’s Potion Shop,” decorated with a black-purple flower logo.

Before I knew it, Akemi extended her polished fingertips toward me and gently picked something off my coat shoulder.

“Animal fur.”

Mark’s, I thought.

“Mmhmm. Wait just a moment.”

Akemi whispered with a sultry breath, then dropped the pinched fur into a small pot simmering nearby.

Into that pot, she added a sweet potato root and a mushroom called “Haranoboridake.”

As she stirred, she murmured something under her breath like a spell—

…Pop! A puff of white smoke appeared.

Only a tiny amount of red liquid remained at the bottom of the pot, and Akemi carefully poured it into a small vial.

“Here. I’ll give this to you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s ‘Whirlwind-Voice Potion.’ If you drink it, your voice will ride the wind and carry farther. How far it carries depends on how powerful the roar of the beast used as an ingredient was… But even a single drop will let you whisper with someone at least fifty meters away. Though, of course, everyone within that fifty-meter radius will hear it too.”

“Depending on how you use it, that could be handy. How much?”

“Mmh—no charge. All the ingredients were things I got from you, after all. And not that I’m asking for anything in return, but… when my shop opens, come visit, okay?”

Akemi fluttered her long lashes and winked like pheromones were leaking out.

Feeling like I’d gotten a bonus, I accepted the potion gratefully.

After parting ways with Akemi, I headed for the school building.

This morning’s classes were electives.

As I walked through the main gate, thinking about what to take— the vice principal spotted me and flew over like a housefly.

“Leopin-kun! You will come with me, zansu! I shall escort you to the classroom for the lesson you ought to take, zansu!”

“The lesson I ought to take?”

“That’s right, zansu! Students of the Special Training Class are immature and too foolish to know which lessons suit them, zansu! Therefore, if a teacher assigns you a class, you are required to take it, zansu!”

“Huh. Is that so? If that’s the rule, I understand. What class is it?”

“That is still a secret, zansu! Follow me and you will see, zansu!”

He led me to an outdoor classroom on the edge of the school grounds.

With stables and animal pens nearby, I had a pretty good idea where this was going, but I kept quiet and followed.

The classroom was like a large tent, and the students were already seated.

Every student had a small animal on their desk, soothing and petting it.

I was made to sit in the very back corner.

After a while, an extremely sexy woman in flashy, dancer-like clothing flipped into the air, landed, and sprang onto the podium.

“Hiii~! I’m Domanna! I’m the instructor for the Tamer Department! I treat pets and students exactly the same! Good kids get cuddles, bad kids get the whip—so let’s get along, okay? Today, to see what you can do, we’re gonna do a biiig ‘Pet Battle’ right away!”

“Pet Battle”… having trained pets fight each other.

As a test of a Tamer’s ability, it was about as popular as a “Pet Race.”

Instructor Domanna continued, sweeping her gaze across the room.

“Sooo, is there anyone who forgot their pet, or doesn’t have one yet—one of those totally tragic kids?”

I raised my hand honestly. I did have one, but he was sleeping at home.

Since I was the only one with a raised hand, the whole class snickered.

After Domanna calmed everyone with a “Alright, alright,” she pointed straight at me.

“You’re Leopin-kun, right? If you don’t have a pet, I’ll lend you one with a big ta-daaah, just for today! But as punishment, after school you get ten good cracks of the whip—snap!”

Thinking I’d misheard, I repeated, “Huh?”

“I told you, didn’t I! I treat pets and students the same! Bad pets and bad students need a good snap-snap with the whip! But if you show me something amazing during class—ta-daaah—I’ll totally cancel the whipping!”

Right behind me, the vice principal clapped enthusiastically.

“Yes! Whips for failures! A splendid educational policy, zansu! Then for Leopin-kun, I shall lend you a pet I treasure dearly, zansu!”

This felt like things were going in a strange direction—more like it had been decided from the start.

The vice principal kicked a small tube-like object at his feet, as if he didn’t even want to touch it, sending it rolling over to me.

Inside was a small sewer rat.

Stuffed into the cramped tube, unable to move, it squeaked miserably.

“You should use that, zansu! Trash and a sewer rat—what a perfect match, zansu! Mwahahahahaha!”

I picked up the tube and, for now, pulled the rat out of what looked like a highly stressful container.

Use my Tamer skills to train the sewer rat…

But before that, I should raise my Charisma.

I activated the Jack-of-All-Trades skill, Dexterous Body.

I’d increase my Charisma to around a hundred, for now…

…Now that I look back, let me say this.

There was a reason I always ended up with lopsided stat distributions.

Dexterous Body was extremely tricky to rebalance, and if you let your guard down even a little, the numbers concentrated into a single parameter in an instant.

And right next to me, the vice principal kept cackling “Mwahahahaha!” like an idiot, which distracted me…

My Charisma broke past the limit again.

Top idol, once more…!

In the next moment, every pet in the classroom stared at me like I was their favorite food.

They tore free from their owners’ hands and surged toward me all at once—whoooosh!

In an instant, I became like “a tree bearing animals.”

Pets that had been glued to their owners and treated them like loyal servants— were suddenly stolen by me, and the students looked like their souls had been ripped out.

“Huh… eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!?!!”