Chapter 67

After that, Alienor picked several more fights with me.

On the second day, our instructor—an extremely short elderly woman who looked like a five-year-old—announced at the end of the lecture, “We shall have a mini-test, tee-hee-hee-hee.” Her voice sounded like she was about to perform a gruesome magical experiment, but it was just a standard sit-down written exam.

“Alright, Franz! Let us see which of us possesses more extensive and profound knowledge!”

“Ah, yeah… let’s both do our best…”

By now, I had naturally started speaking to her casually.

I won that contest quite normally as well.

Me: 95 points.

Alienor: 75 points.

“You! How are you so well-informed?!”

“I mean, most of the questions were about fairly basic knowledge, so I just solved them steadily…?”

Cerulia, who wasn’t a trainee, glanced over Alienor’s mistakes.

“This is a good test. Many parts require a firm grasp of the basics to solve. It is designed so that if one only has half-baked rote knowledge, they fail to apply it and get the answer wrong. Miss Alienor, let us learn surely and without haste.”

“S-shut up! Don’t act so high and mighty just because you’re Franz’s familiar!”

Just then, Alienor’s familiar—the blue crow Limric—cawed, “Idiot! Idiot!”

“Hey! Don’t you start squawking at a time like this!”

Limric simply turned his backside to her and looked away.

Wait, is she even being looked down on by her own familiar…?

For some reason, the afternoon of the second day was dedicated to sports.

Apparently, it was part of “recreational training.” In a way, I guess it feels like a proper corporate retreat.

The game involved drawing a line on the ground and hitting a palm-sized, squishy ball back and forth. You had to make it bounce once in your own court before hitting it into the opponent’s. The rules were incredibly simple: if it didn’t bounce in your court, or if it landed outside the opponent’s boundary, you were out. It’s called “Racketless Tennis.”

Needless to say, Alienor challenged me.

“Franz! This time for sure, I shall emerge victorious! My skills are such that my parents once told me, ‘You might become a professional tennis player in the future’!”

“I have a feeling that doesn’t have much to do with tennis skills…”

Still, the trope of “bad at studying but great at sports” is common, so she might actually be strong. I shouldn’t underestimate her.

“Take this! A low-bounce smash!”

Alienor took a firm stance and swung her right hand with great momentum.

And her hand sliced through thin air.

She missed completely!

And then she promptly fell over.

“Waaaaah! Ouch!”

I quietly looked away. She had tripped, and her underwear was visible.

“To stick so strictly to the classic blunders… that lady has quite the talent. And those are rather alluring undergarments. The fabric is high quality, too. That specific shade of black is quite hard to produce.”

Cerulia, is that really what you’re focusing on…?

“C-curse you, to humiliate me yet again…”

“That’s a real stretch! You took yourself out!”

After that, even though I didn’t play aggressively, Alienor kept making mistakes and defeating herself. In low-level matches, the one who messes up more usually loses. As long as I kept returning the ball to her side, she eventually fumbled…

The instructor, a Lizardman mage, announced the end: “The losers, please collect the balls before heading back.”

With slumped shoulders, Alienor went to pick up the scattered balls.

“Um… do you want some help…?”

When Alienor turned around, her face was half-tearing up.

“I refuse! I am of the proud Carlyle family of Morco Woods! I will not accept such pity!”

Again, Limric the crow, perched on a tree, cawed, “Idiot! Idiot!”

“I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong, but I can’t help feeling a bit guilty.”

During the evening’s free time, I was lounging on the bed in my room. Not just Cerulia, but Mary had come over too. Gathering in a friend’s room definitely gave off a school-trip vibe.

“Alienor, was it? You’ve been pestered by someone quite troublesome, Franz. I watched her briefly, but she’s honestly not that impressive.”

Mary, sitting on the edge of the bed, spoke ruthlessly. To be fair, it was more of an objective evaluation than a direct insult. Still, as the one being pestered, I was curious.

“Hey, why is she so competitive with me? My parents aren’t mages or anything, so it’s not like our families have some old blood feud.”

For some reason, Mary gave an awkward, wry smile.

“Ah… Franz, you probably haven’t noticed because you’re naturally like this, but having a succubus like Cerulia as a familiar at a new hire training session is a massive deal. It’s like walking around shouting, ‘I’m the once-in-fifty-years prodigy everyone’s waiting for!’”

“What?! Is it that big a deal?!”

I really didn’t understand the common sense of the black magic industry. After all, the seniors at my company are too incredible. Compared to Farphistanya-senpai, I can only see myself as a total novice.

“That is true…” Cerulia added. “Normally, to even attempt a familiar contract with a succubus, one would likely need twenty-five years of experience… Of course, it varies by individual, but it usually takes quite a long time.”

Since the explanation came from Cerulia herself, it was highly credible.

“So I’ve been unintentionally provoking her this whole time…? Did I do something bad?”

“It cannot be ‘bad.’ Having a familiar by your side is perfectly natural for a black mage. It would be weirder to be self-conscious and try to hide it,” Cerulia said immediately. She had a point. Besides, not bringing Cerulia along was never an option.

“Well, the bottom line is that it’s Alienor’s problem,” Mary concluded. “She has twice the pride of a normal person. Back in the countryside, she had no other black mages to compare herself to, so she came here believing she was some elite genius. Now, that high pride is causing her pain. That’s all there is to it.”

“I get it. I get it, but… if possible, I’d rather be friends than be hated.”

If I said that in front of Alienor, she’d probably never be friends with me for the rest of her life, but that’s how I truly felt.

“I mean, isn’t the point of this training to build lateral connections with peers? It’s not good to keep being treated as an enemy. I want us to at least be on terms where we can share information now and then.”

For some reason, Cerulia and Mary looked at each other.

“Master, you are positive to a fault. You are practically a saint.” Cerulia clung to me tightly.

“Seriously. For a company, you’re the ideal rookie.” Mary patted my head.

I don’t quite get it, but they seem impressed…