Chapter 7

The next day, I showed up for afternoon classes at the magic school.

By the second half of the final year, there’s hardly any curriculum left. Attending at this point is almost just a commemorative act. As long as you’ve accumulated enough attendance days, skipping isn’t even an issue.

The students who already have job offers tend to sink into a sort of “sadness,” realizing their school life is almost over. You don’t really need to comfort them for looking so melancholic, though. Most of them are just thinking, “Look at me, looking all cool and brooding.”

In fact, for some reason, the people with job offers are usually the ones who show up to class most diligently.

On the other hand, people like me—the ones who didn’t have a job lined up until recently—usually hated coming here. It felt heavy. It made you feel like a dropout from society. I used to live a quiet, inconspicuous life in class, desperate to make sure no one noticed how miserable I was.

—Or at least, that was the case until today’s class.

The moment I stepped into the classroom, every single student’s eyes snapped toward me. I knew exactly why, so I managed to keep my composure.

Cerulia, the Succubus, was standing right behind me.

Well, of course we stood out. It would be a lie to say otherwise.

“Whoa! Franz, what’s with that familiar?!” “What happened to you?!” “Is that… Dark Magic?!”

I was pelted with a barrage of questions. I had expected this, but it was still a bit of a pain.

Originally, I had intended to leave Cerulia back at the company dorm. I knew that bringing her to school—even if it didn’t technically break any rules—would cause a scene. I told her as much this morning. But—

“It is a familiar’s duty to serve by her Master’s side! Please, let me stay with you!”

When someone pleads with that much passion, you can’t exactly say no. I could tell that if I kept refusing, Cerulia was going to cry. I don’t have the kind of cold-hearted mentality that allows me to be okay with making a girl cry. In the end, I had to give in.

“Fine, you can come with me, Cerulia.”

“Master, I shall follow you for the rest of my life!”

The moment I gave her the OK, I was pulled into a heated embrace. My face was completely smothered by her large chest. This boob-demon, I thought. For the start of a refreshing morning, she really does have a scandalous body…

—And that was how Cerulia ended up at school.

“Fellow students, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Cerulia, and I serve as Master Franz’s familiar. I look forward to your kind acquaintance.”

Because Cerulia answered them herself, the pressure of the interrogation let up slightly. In its place, however, was the weight of my classmates’ gazes directed at her body.

Yeah… a slender waist, a beautiful navel, the exquisite curve of her hips, and breasts that looked so perfectly elastic you’d think you’d never be able to pull away once you touched them. She looked like she was born to tempt men—well, she is a Succubus, so that’s exactly what she was born for.

And yet, her expression wasn’t heavy with the “working girl” style of makeup; it was refined and elegant, the kind of “pure girl” look that best suits a lady from a noble house.

Basically, what I’m saying is that she has the potential to make any type of man fall head-over-heels. If there’s anyone who couldn’t like Cerulia, they’d have to be a flat-chest fundamentalist.

“Dammit… I should have studied Dark Magic…”

“In White Magic, all we get are Guardians or White Golems…”

“Crap! To think he’d pull ahead of us in a place like this!”

The boys were practically weeping with grief.

I expected the girls to give me the cold shoulder, but it seemed they were all too busy staring at Cerulia’s chest.

“Wait, isn’t that… magically enhanced?”

“Maybe they’re used as weapons…”

“I surrender unconditionally…”

I don’t know the details, but apparently, girls have a “habit” of using breast size to establish a pecking order, and they seemed to be feeling a crushing sense of defeat.

As I tried to maintain my “business as usual” attitude in the increasingly awkward atmosphere, Cerulia whispered to me.

“Master, I see you hold true power in this class. Impressive.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m more like a social outcast here.”

At a magic school, if you have decent grades but aren’t part of the “normie” crowd, you don’t really have a place. Maybe it would be different if my grades were so high I could just ignore everyone, but they weren’t.

Still, everyone was certainly looking this way with pure envy. It felt like my hierarchy in the class had shifted drastically just because Cerulia was here.

“No, wait… he didn’t have a job offer, remember?” “That’s right… he’s on the side that’ll be unemployed after graduation…”

Those who didn’t want to fall below me were starting to mount a resistance. I was going to stay quiet, but Cerulia actually looked a bit miffed. Apparently, she couldn’t stand the idea of me being mocked.

“Master received a formal job offer yesterday. And his starting salary is quite high.”

“Wh-what…?”

“So he’s basically a god now…”

“It’s over.”

Wait, does a job offer make you a god? Godhood is way too cheap.

“No, wait… she’s a cute familiar, but if you do anything ‘adult’ with her, you die! You know, like in the stories!”

“That’s it! He’s just being teased with forbidden fruit!”

Well, I’ll admit I thought the same thing at first, but—

“Last night… I performed my first… night duties… for Master,” Cerulia whispered shyly, her face turning red.

“Since I am still an… inexperienced Succubus… I do not know if Master enjoyed himself… but I served him with all my heart…”

By the end, she was speaking through her hands, hiding her face.

“Cerulia, you don’t have to force yourself to say that if you’re embarrassed, okay? Given the subject matter…”

I was feeling pretty restless myself, remembering last night, but I had to focus on supporting her first.

“No, as a Succubus, that part isn’t embarrassing. It’s just that I’m still so unpracticed with the technique… There were so many parts I wasn’t satisfied with…”

Oh, so that’s what she meant.

“Either way, you don’t have to push yourself to talk about it.”

“But I cannot simply stand by while Master is looked down upon… for I am Master’s familiar…”

I gently patted Cerulia on the head.

“Yeah. Thank you, Cerulia.”

“Yes, Master…”

Seeing this, the boys turned pale.

“We’ve been completely defeated by Franz, haven’t we…”

“Let’s make a pact never to mock the unemployed ever again…”

Before I knew it, I had apparently become the biggest “normie” in the class.