Vol. 6 Ch. 8: The Severed Rope

Nero, Monica's familiar, spent most of the day wandering around the academy grounds.

Naturally, Nero, an excellent familiar, wasn't simply lazing around, rolling about like a cat and basking in the sun. While secretly listening to lessons through the windows and studying humans, he kept a sharp eye out for suspicious people near the Second Prince.

Monica had warned him that outsiders would be coming and going today, so Nero was keeping a closer watch than usual on Felix's surroundings.

(...Well, that prince has a contracted spirit with him, so I doubt anything much is going to happen.)

Nero had a keen sense for magical power, and he had noticed that the white lizard was always in Felix's pocket. It was probably a high-ranking water spirit.

Come to think of it, the magic lesson he'd been secretly listening to lately had said something about how only advanced-level mages could form contracts with spirits...

(Then is that prince a mage?)

This was the sort of thing best asked of Monica. After all, she was one of the Seven Sages, the highest-ranking mages in the country. She certainly didn't look the part, but when it came to magical knowledge, there couldn't be many people who surpassed Monica.

As he thought that he would ask Monica to teach him about contracting with spirits sometime, something caught Nero's attention.

Nero twitched his whiskers and focused his attention...