Villainess and the Stalker - Chapter 28 - Conrad's Worry
Chapter 28 : Conrad’s Worry
「The problem is which place to choose, huh.」
Conrad muttered while hitting his hands on the desk in my room.
「Yeah… We’ve got a few choices. Somewhere not far from the academy, but there’s still plenty of options. This fact alone shows just how splendid this academy is. They’ve covered almost all possible places to find demons or animals.」
「Though it’ll be troublesome if we take an extended leave, it seems we’ll be pardoned if it comes with a good reason. Well, it’s not like I’m gonna choose that option since I’m fine with the general one.」
Conrad and I were currently discussing which place to choose to catch Conrad’s summon beast.
Basically, for direct confrontation contracts, the contracted had to directly go before the one they wanted to turn into their summon beast in their own habitat. Then, they either had to subdue them with power or feed them with their favorite food.
And since the problem concerned wild demons or wild animals, whose habitats were all over the place, even just searching for them took quite a long time.
Naturally, there would be no end to the trouble if they tried to search during the summoning arts class, thus the students who chose direct confrontation had to submit their applications first.
But even that didn’t guarantee that the teacher themselves could assist them. This was only the case if they happened to be free at the moment.
Although it also depended on whether the said teacher wanted to volunteer during their free time, surprisingly, many were willing to take up the unpaid job. This was because the majority of the students were heirs with the potential to hold great power in the future, so this was a chance to curry favor.
Conrad’s house was a perfect example of this. They held the title of viscount, and though he might not inherit the rank, having a connection with a viscount house was good enough for them.
Sometimes commoners also applied for this method. Teachers couldn’t just reject them either since there was no knowing if they would turn out to be a future royal sorcerer.
That said, they had nothing to lose by showing some kindness to the students.
Naturally, they were still splendid teachers, even if the students knew about that matter. It didn’t mean that the teachers were coerced to do this kind of job; it was more like they did it because the other teachers were busy and they couldn’t just leave the students to their own devices.
I mean, it seemed that becoming a teacher at the royal academy itself wasn’t that popular a job. Well, I guess adults have their own circumstances.
The teachers that I met so far were zealous and full of motivation to do their job. Naturally, their abilities were the real deal too, so there was no complaint in that regard.
I kept wondering what I would do when I met a useless teacher in this academy, but… I guess I had no choice but to do my best at that time.
I mean… That case was truly beyond me.
「Come to think of it, what kind of demon are you aiming for, Conrad? I mean, we’re speaking about demons, so I know for sure that you’re not looking for common animals, like cats or dogs.」
Because it’s theoretically possible to call common animals with summoning sorcery.
That’s why there was no problem in summoning animals like dogs, cats, or rats.
But, those kinds of animals were also accompanied by their versatility in battle.
That’s why they were usually not chosen in normal situations.
They could be used to assist their summoners in battle by strengthening their base power with certain methods or sorcery.
Moreover, unlike with demons, it was possible for one summoner to make several contracts at once with animals.
But then, choosing demons as one’s summoned beast was still a better option.
They could stand alongside their summoner in battle, the majority of them had high intelligence, and they were battle-ready without any need for special preparation. These three factors alone made demons a more popular choice for summoned beasts.
That’s why I could say for sure that Conrad would choose demons as his summoned beast.
Conrad then spoke.
「Well, an aerial-type, I guess. Though I know that capturing it is really hard, don’t you think that they’re quite useful? I can use a surprise attack from the sky in battles, they’re useful for gathering information, and the fact that I can enjoy the scenery from the sky is also a plus.」
「I see, so you’re really going with that choice. Sure enough, they’re useful for information gathering.」
As expected of the self-proclaimed best information database in the academy.
I mean, he even managed to find my assigned room on the day of my transfer by relying on his own ears, eyes, and comprehension.
It makes me wonder how much more information he could gather if he had an aerial advantage…
But, things were not as simple as merely saying it.
I continued on.
「But then, that means you have to exclude the big one, right? The biggest problem is that the majority of those aerial demons will undergo evolution in the long run.」
「There’s that case too. Something like a small wyvern should be enough, but its combat capabilities aside, the main point is its usefulness for information gathering… Well that means I need a small one.」
「I see… How about we aim for making several summon beast contracts at once?」
「Eh? Isn’t that quite difficult? Or so I hear.」
Sure enough, making several summon beast contracts with many demons at once wasn’t that easy.
The character and ability of the contractor was the most important factor to decide the maximum number of summoned beasts that they could contract at once.
Even so…
「It’s not like there’s no loophole in that area.」
「… WHAT?」
「I won’t say that this method will work for sure, but this loophole is your highest chance.」
「U~hm… Well, fine then. Ryuu, let’s test your method. Even if it’s useless, I want to at least make a pact with a wyvern.」
「Uhm… Ah, that’s right.」
I suddenly recalled something.
「Is something the matter?」
Since Conrad seemed to be puzzled by my reaction, I elaborated.
「It’s nothing, I just remembered that I’ve yet to introduce my summon beast. Do you want to meet that child? It’ll play a central role when we’re looking for your summon beast, after all.」
「You… Have made a contract with summon beast.」
「Yeah, in my homeland. I made a pact with them during my tenth birthday, which was accompanied by a great ceremony. At that time, I was….」
「Hee, that’s interesting. In short, you’ve been able to use summoning circle since that age, right?」
「That was left to other people. All the contractor did was fill it with their mana, the matter of controlling the mana was left to the others. All the contractor needs to do is fill it with their mana and say their name.」
Well, that was the case for most people. In my case, I did all of those steps on my own.
「I see… Well, please let me see the child then. It might even become my reference.」