~Chapter 10~
After packing a lot of food and sharing it with Siphon while patting my full belly, the thought of my familiar summon, the Familiar Spirit, suddenly came to mind.
‘Come to think of it, I should be able to summon the Familiar Spirit again soon, right?’
To resummon after the first contract, I needed magic power.
The amount required was much less than the initial contract, so by now it should be fully charged.
Since Siphon had just gone to clear the dishes, now was the perfect moment.
“Uroboros.”
When I called the name of my summon, a black glow appeared before my eyes.
‘I told you to come small, so you should come small, right?’
Sure enough, from within the black mist, a truly small figure emerged.
Among the Familiar Spirits, snakes were considered a decent type. And one biting its own tail — quite satisfying.
The black scales shimmered beautifully. Though, I think I saw a strange extra eye between them, but that must’ve been a dream.
Yeah, it should have been a dream.
“Kyuut?”
What appeared wasn’t a little snake but a tiny squirrel.
“…What are you?”
“Master! Kyuut!”
A chubby squirrel with black fur squeaked and lunged at me.
“I don’t know about rats like you. Where’s the snake?”
“It’s me! Kyuut!”
“Uroboros.”
I was sure I had given it such a cool name.
“Kyuut!”
The squirrel desperately jumped up, waving its tiny paws. A squirrel the size of a palm, no less.
“…Uroboros.”
“Kyuuk!”
“Oh, my snake.”
“That was an illusion! I wanted a flashy entrance…”
“Contract canceled.”
No need for a Familiar Spirit contract. I was really disappointed.
Could you really name a squirrel “Uroboros”?
“Kyuuuuung!”
“What did you say?”
“No! No!”
“No, I’m canceling. Contract canceled.”
Pop!
A cute sound rang out as the black squirrel transformed into an anthropomorphic form and clung to my leg.
Black curly hair thick as a mane, round ears twitching, and a fluffy black tail with white stripes drooping behind its small body.
A white-skinned, cute squirrel humanoid.
Tears welled up in its eyes.
“Waaah, nooo! Master, please accept me! I’ve always been canceled… hic, hic! I’ve never completed a contract… It’s been hundreds of years… I even made a snake…”
And I hated it even more.
“…You, go away.”
“I won’t bother you! I’ll do my best…”
Seeing its tearful face made me feel guilty.
Anyway, the contract was already done, and resummoning still takes time.
‘…I guess I have to give up on combat skills.’
A squirrel in battle — ha. That’s not even funny.
“Alright, I’m leaving. I’m going.”
“R-Really?”
“I don’t say things twice.”
The squirrel hopped up.
It reverted to a squirrel and climbed up my body, hopping onto my shoulder.
Black fur, red eyes — the colors weren’t bad.
“Uroboros, too much.”
But that name was too grand for a squirrel.
Though I couldn’t change the given name, I didn’t want to call it that.
I felt embarrassed.
“Bori. Ramju. Which one?”
“…Kyuung… I like Uroboros…”
“Bori, Ramju.”
Not Uroboros.
Naming a squirrel after a snake biting its tail? I must’ve been crazy. And I was dumb not to see through the illusion.
“Then… Boros…”
The squirrel shed tears of sorrow. I ignored it.
“Ros.”
“Kyuung…”
“Then KyuKyu.”
“No! I like Ros! Ro-Ros!”
It fluttered and shouted.
“Ros?”
“Kyu…”
The drooping tail squirrel — no, Familiar Spirit, Ros — agreed with the name.
“You are the second familiar.”
“Second? Have you already summoned a demon?”
“No, the first familiar is human.”
“A human…”
Kyu-gyut! The squirrel screamed oddly as if shocked.
“I lost to a human…”
Kyuuuu…
Now the air went out of it.
‘Is this really a Familiar Spirit?’
I hadn’t imagined such a bright and innocent Familiar Spirit existed.
And oddly, it looked unable to lie, like a demon would.
Its face showed every thought; unbelievable.
“But Master, your magic power is almost gone. Are you really the Demon King?”
And it had no tact either.
I reached out, grabbed the squirrel, and tossed it.
Kyu-uuut!
Flying, it landed steadily on the wall and scampered back to me.
Being a Familiar Spirit, it had decent agility.
“Miss, I’m going inside.”
“Okay.”
Ros hopped up onto my shoulder, looking toward the opening door.
“Time to get ready for bed…”
“The master’s familiar is that human?”
“Kyaa! The squirrel talks…”
Siphon, carrying blankets, dropped her jaw, trembling as she pointed at the squirrel.
“Yeah, that’s my first familiar. Siphon, this is the second familiar.”
Ros didn’t seem to like Siphon much.
Siphon looked startled but was trying not to show it.
“That ugly human is your familiar?!”
“What? What did you say? That dumb squirrel?”
Hmm, friendly.
‘Best friends in no time.’
I smirked while finishing my meat.
The next day, seeing the gold coins and snacks brought to me, I finalized my perfect revenge plan in my head.
For now, I would stick around this house like a parasite, sucking the blood of high nobles, and slowly work my way into the heart of the Duke’s family.
“Wow, I’ve never seen so much candy and gold coins!”
“Kyuut!”
A sturdy box filled a corner of my room.
Ros swam happily over the overflowing gold and jewels, and I too was swimming through a sea of star candies I’d never seen before.
Now I wouldn’t be hungry. When hungry, I’d come here and eat marshmallows, chocolate, candy, and cookies.
There were so many types of candy I didn’t even know about.
My favorite was star candy.
Crunching on it made my face relax completely.
‘Yeah, pleasing humans won’t be hard at all.’
I just had to use my cute face, act a little coquettish, cling to their legs, and smile brightly.
Crunch crunch.
While doing good deeds, regaining magic, and entering the center of the Duke’s family, the stage for my revenge would grow bigger.
Crunch crunch.
“Yum.”
Delicious!
While filling my belly enthusiastically, Siphon looked quite troubled and had a dark expression.
‘Ah, that star’s energy again.’
The forgotten memory came back, and I glanced over.
“Tell me, Siphon.”
“You said you had something to say.”
Siphon approached cautiously, kneeling to meet my eye level.
“I’m not sure if it’s true, but I contacted a friend just in case and heard some news about your family.”
Was it really necessary to get family news from a friend?
“Are your family relations bad?”
“Yes… I ran away without telling anyone.”
I nodded calmly at her words.
“Rio… so, my little brother was always weak from birth. Though he never collapsed before, recently he’s been fainting without reason. A little while ago, he collapsed near a stream and was found with his head submerged. It was almost a disaster…”
Siphon explained carefully. Each time she spoke of my brother, the dark star energy around her trembled.
I nodded.
“Yes, that’s it.”
“Is my brother going to die? What should I do? Should I keep him away from water?”
“Hmm…”
What should I do…
Looking at the star’s flow, the thing relentlessly following my brother was ‘death from misfortune.’
Once fate is set for a human, death follows continually.
So if I just avoid accidents disguised as misfortune, it should be fine.
“Lock him up.”
“Huh?”
“For just one day. Lock him in a dark room. Death disappears.”
“Does it have to be completely dark?”
“Yes. Darkness hides him. Death can’t find him.”
Simply avoiding water won’t make death run away. If this fails, there will be a next time.
In other words, death must be tricked.
The method is simple.
In a pitch-black room without any light, hold your breath, don’t make any noise, and make death think the person is already dead.
Luckily, death isn’t a conscious being, so once you know the trick, it’s easy to fool.
“Ah, understood. So just one day?”
“Yes. From start to finish of the day. No talking.”
“Yes, I’ll go tell them right after work today.”
“Good. And be healthy.”
I gave a thumbs-up, and Siphon blinked and opened her eyes wide.
“Will he get better?”
“Yes. Death disappears. So he becomes strong.”
I explained using simple words.
Those eyed by death from birth are naturally weak.
So if death is removed, health recovers.
“Thank you, thank you. I really hope that works. My little brother’s never been able to run around properly his whole life.”
I nodded silently.
I hope it goes well.
And I hope my own plans go smoothly too.
Time passed quickly with the squirrel around. Honestly, the name Ros was a waste on a squirrel. KyuKyu might fit better.
Yeah, let’s just call it KyuKyu.
I decided and flopped on the floor, recalling earlier events.
‘Father and grandfather didn’t seem to get along well.’
When I said I was going to see Father, he immediately frowned. I pretended to be sick, and he reluctantly gave me permission to go out.
‘So, tomorrow I have to visit the temple.’
I yawned and closed my eyes again. Maybe because I was a child, sleep came easily.
My vision quickly went dark.
