“As I suspected, long-ranged support is incredibly helpful, it is.” All of them approved of her abilities in succession. They all made valid points, but... I still didn’t feel good about exposing a twelve year old girl to such a dangerous environment... Hrmmm.
The girl in question intruded on my deep thoughts by staring at me at length with an anxious expression. Now see here, those puppy-dog eyes are against the rules! ...She couldn’t be doing this on purpose, could she?
“...I’ll be counting on your support from now on, Yumina.”
“Of course! Leave it to me, Touya!” Yumina wrapped herself around me with the biggest smile on her face. Whoa, hey, time out! Could you at least not do that while everyone’s watching?! Once I finally managed to pry Yumina off of me, we set about collecting the King Apes’ ears as proof that we’d fulfilled the request.
“But now that Yumina has joined the party, that makes four girls with me as the only boy here...” I let out a little sigh.
“Umm, is that a problem at all?” Linze tilted her head. The fact that she didn’t get what I meant was a problem in itself.
“It doesn’t look like you three have noticed at all, but we really stand out at the guild... and the harsh looks I get from the other adventurers really sting.”
“Hm? Why would that be happening, Touya-dono?”
“Well, I mean, if a guy’s surrounded by cute girls all the time, then there’s any number of people who’d get jealous. And come on, Elze and Linze, and Yae too, you’re all exceptionally good looking, you know?”
“What?!” “E-Excuse me?” “Whatever do you...?” Everyone froze up. What? Was it something I said? It’s true, though. If I were one of those guys at the guild and I saw some guy coming and going, always with some cute girls in tow, even I’d get pretty jealous.
“Wh-What are you even saying, Touya? I still don’t get your sense of humor. It’s mean to tease and call me cute like that...” Elze muttered, clearly flustered by my words.
“Huh? I was serious.”
“...” “...” “...” Why’s everyone turning bright red? Are they coming down with fevers or something? “A-Anyway, we should r-really be getting back now, d-d-don’t you think?!”
“W-We s-sure should, Sis!”
“L-Let us be on our way, i-indeed!” The three of them marched off, backtracking through the forest. ...What just happened?
I felt a gentle tugging on the sleeve of my coat.
“Touya, what about me? Am I cute?”
“Huh? Well, I mean, yeah. Of course you are.”
“Ehehe...” Yumina blushed, grinned, and wrapped her arms around me. Please stop doing that, this is bad for my heart! Eventually we made it back to the wagon. I cast [Gate], and we were back in Reflet in the blink of an eye.
So, how about that Summoning magic, eh...? My first exposure to it had been that man summoning swarms of Lizardmen, which gave me a fairly bad impression of Dark-type spells. For that reason, I hadn’t tried dabbling in it at all. But since I learned that there were animals like Yumina’s wolves among the creatures that could be contracted, I decided that it might not be a bad idea to try contracting myself with a single monster just to test the waters a little. I should have Yumina teach me more about it later.
◇ ◇ ◇
“The first thing to do when handling the Summoning spells unique to Dark-type magic is to draw a magic circle and then summon a creature. The creature you summon is completely random, though some say that it’s influenced by the caster’s magic or that it reflects the caster themselves. That’s all just speculation though, so we don’t really know for sure why people end up with the contracted beasts that they do.” Out in the back garden of the Silver Moon, Yumina drew a large magic circle while explaining how Dark-type magic worked. She held a book in one hand and a piece of chalk in the other as she carved out a magic circle filled that was with complex patterns. The chalk supposedly had fragments of spellstone put into it during the manufacturing process.
“The hard part is forming the contract itself. In order to successfully contract with the creature you’ve summoned, you need to pass a sort of test first. These tests come in all forms, from the incredibly simple to the nigh-impossible depending on the strength of the creature itself. The test I had to pass to contract with my Silver Wolves was to feed them until their stomachs were full.” Yumina finished drawing the magic circle, then went over and patted the head of the Silver Wolf she had summoned a little while ago. It was the wolf with the cross mark on its head that I’d seen before out in the forest. Apparently this was the first of the wolves she had formed a contract with. The other wolves she had summoned were its subordinates. Incidentally, his name was Silva. Please, someone in this world, put more thought into naming things, I pleaded internally.
If you contracted with a powerful creature, apparently you could summon a number of others to work as the primary beast’s subordinates. That Lizardman summoner who attacked Sue had probably similarly contracted with a strong Lizardman that acted as the head of that group of them he kept bringing forth.
“If you fail to meet the conditions of the contract, then the creature you summoned will vanish. After that, it’ll never appear before you again. You only get one chance to meet the conditions of their contract.” Right then. So I had to make the most of our encounter and try my best to fulfill the conditions... Hang on a second.
“This isn’t dangerous or anything, right? Like, the thing I summon won’t suddenly attack me or anything, will it?”
“Without a contract to bind them to this world, the summoned beasts cannot exist outside of the bounds of the magic circle. Long range attacks will also be absorbed by the magic circle’s barrier, so it’s perfectly safe. The one exception is if the summoner themselves steps foot within the magic circle. The conditions for some creatures can sometimes be along the lines of fight and prove your strength, after all.”
Yeeeah, that sounded a bit violent for my tastes. Well, if I ended up summoning a creature like that and judged that I had no chance of winning against it, I supposed I could always just politely decline and let it return back to whence it came. It may have seemed like a waste, but that was my decision.
“The summoned beast I end up with won’t be decided solely on my magical prowess or anything, yeah?”
“That’s right. There are many stories of complete beginners summoning incredibly powerful creatures on their first attempt.” Which meant there was a chance for me, too. Although in the end it was still essentially a raffle...
“Alright, guess I’ll give it my best shot, then.” I stood in front of the magic circle and clapped my hands together to get myself fired up a bit. Then, I focused all of my Darkness together and directed the flow of my magic into the center of the magic circle. A black fog slowly built up within the bounds of the magic circle until it completely filled the space, when suddenly an absolutely explosive burst of magical energy emerged from within.
“...Art thou the one who summoned me?” The dark fog dispersed before my eyes to reveal a single large, white tiger. Was that tiger the source of that voice? Its eyes were sharp and discerning, giving off an incredibly intimidating aura. It also seemed to have exceptionally sharp fangs and claws. Great. I’d gone and done it again. I’d summoned something utterly ridiculous with my God-cursed magic... I could feel the tiger’s magical energy emanating like waves coursing through the very air itself. This wasn’t your zoo-variety tiger, that much was for sure.
“This aura, that white visage... It can’t be... the White Monarch...?!”
“Hoh. You know of me?” Behind me, Yumina was cowering on the ground, hugging her wolf for comfort as the tiger stared her down. The wolf, Silva, had also assumed a completely submissive position, lowering his ears and curling up his tail out of fear. Well, being glared at so intently by a tiger would’ve made anyone cower in fear. Hey, hold up a second. There was a Japanese saying that went like this! “A tiger in front and a wolf at th
e rear.” This was the very picture of that situation! Well, not really, since the meaning behind that saying was closer to “Stuck between a rock and a hard place.” The more you know.
“Please try not to look at them so intensely. You’re frightening them.”
“...You are awfully calm given the circumstances. To think you’re still standing after taking the brunt of my magic-laden gaze... How very intriguing.”
“Well, I mean, I was a little surprised at first. I’m used to that kind of thing by this point, I guess, so it doesn’t really affect me much anymore. Anyhow, Yumina. What’s this White Monarch thing you mentioned?” Yumina looked in my direction and tried to answer, but her voice kept shaking... She couldn’t even speak properly! It probably had to do with the immense aura of fear that the white tiger was continuously exuding.
“Look, could you stop with that for a second? I can’t even get a proper conversation out of the poor girl. I can’t say that intimidating people weaker than you is a particularly praiseworthy thing, you know?”
“...Very well.” I voiced protest to the white tiger, and the oppressive air melted away in an instant. Well, would you look at that. Looks like it’s a pretty reasonable tiger after all.
“Alright, then. Yumina, what exactly is this White Monarch thing all about?”
“Of all the monsters... that can be summoned through Dark magic... it’s one of the four strongest, most sacred of beasts... It’s the Guardian of the West and the Main Streets of the cities, the Ruler of all beasts... Really, it’s not even a monster at all; it’s a Heavenly Beast...” Still shaking in her boots, Yumina awkwardly tried to answer my question. A Heavenly Beast, huh? It’d be pretty interesting if it were one of God’s pets or something.
“Alright, so how might I go about getting contracted with you?”
“...You wish to form a contract with me? Are you even aware of how nonsensical your words must seem to your comrades at this moment?”
“Well, I figure it’s at least worth a shot. If I can’t fulfill your request, then I’ll obediently give up on the idea.”
“Hmm...” The tiger stared at me intently, twitched its nose a little, and inclined its head.
“How curious... I feel a rather strange power about you. The protection of the spirits...? No, something far greater than that... What is this curious power?” The protection of the spirits? Sorry, bud, but I don’t really have any ghosts that I’m on particularly good terms with.
“...Very well. I’d like to see a display of the quality and quantity of your magical energy. You claim to want to contract yourself with a Heavenly Beast, after all. If your magic is half-hearted, then this whole negotiation will fall through without a moment’s consideration.”
“You want to gauge my magic?”
“That is correct. Place your hand upon me and pour as much of your magic into me as you possibly can. Keep going until you can barely force another ounce of it out of you. If you have even the minimum amount required to satisfy me, then I will consider forming a contract with you.” I could almost see the tiger laughing to itself. It’d consider it? Meaning this wasn’t even the main test itself, just a warm-up?
Still, the tiger had come up with a dangerous warm-up exercise. It wanted me to channel all of my magic? So in video game terms, it wanted me to reduce myself to 0 MP? I wouldn’t be able to use any magic at all for a while after that. No, wait, it said until I could barely force another ounce, meaning I could keep 1 MP in reserve just in case.
No, hang on a second. Was magic even a thing that decreased as you made use of it...? I’d never felt anything like that in all my time casting spells. I recalled Linze saying that I had an abnormally large amount of magical energy. Was that why I had never felt it before?
Putting that aside, I walked into the bounds of the magic circle and placed my hand on the tiger’s head. Oooh, who’s a fuzzy-wuzzy widdle kitty-cat?
“So you just want me to flow as much of my magic as possible straight into you, yeah?”
“Correct. Just channel all of your magic directly into me. I’ll be the judge of it. And I will say this in advance: If you run out of magic and collapse during the examination, the contract will be off the table.” Hmm... I wasn’t exactly desperate to form a contract with it or anything. If I started to feel ill during the whole exam, I decided I’d just give up on it. I didn’t exactly feel like pushing myself to the brink of collapse over something like this.
“Alright, I’m going for it. Brace yourself.” I directed all of my magical reserves toward the palm of my hand and began gradually channeling it into the tiger. Good, I’m not feeling any negative effects from it so far.
“Hrm... This is... What?! What is with the ridiculous clarity of this magical energy...?!” The tiger seemed to be commenting on my magic. Come to think of it, Linze had said something similar once before. Well, whatever. Things seemed to be going well, so I decided it was fine to go a bit further. I opened the floodgates of my mind and sent a massive burst of magic straight into the tiger.
“Hrnnn!!! Wh-What is this?!” Hmm... didn’t feel like my magic had decreased much at all. Did I need to pile on some more before I started to feel any negative effects? I fired up my mental garden hose and set it to full blast.
“Hrg... th-this is... W-Wait a moment—!” Yeah, still nothing. I resorted to the Broken Faucet method.
“P-Please... wai... A-Any more and... aahhh...!” Time for my last resort. I removed my limiter and blasted as much magical energy as I could muster straight into the tiger... Oh, I think I’m starting to feel it a bit. I’m getting a little bit worn out now. So this is a taste of what it feels like to be running low on magic.
“... P-Please, I beg of... stop...!”
“Touya!” I snapped to my senses when I heard Yumina’s voice and took a look at the tiger in front of me. Its body was convulsing and foam was coming from its mouth. Its eyes were rolled back and it seemed that the only reason it was still standing was because it was being forcefully held up due to being unable to remove its head from my palm.
I panicked and immediately cut off the flow of magic I had been pouring out. The moment I removed my hand, the tiger’s body shook violently as it collapsed down onto the ground.
“...Huh?” Had I done something wrong? Should I try using Healing magic on it? The big cat was twitching on the ground... its tongue was hanging out and everything.
“Come forth, Light! Soothing Comfort: [Cure Heal]!” I instinctively cast a Healing spell on it. When I did that, the tiger’s eyes reverted to normal and it rose unsteadily back to its feet before approaching me.
“...I would just like to ask one thing. That magical energy you were channeling into me... you still had a little room to spare at the end, didn’t you?”
“Huh? No, I was doing fine. Honestly, it hardly feels like my magical reserves have depleted at all... No, wait. Kind of feels like it’s already filled itself back up.”
“Wha...?!” The tiger was speechless. I see. So that’s it! The reason I’ve never felt my magic being consumed by my spells until now is because it was passively recovering itself at absurd speeds! That’s one mystery solved.
“So yeah, about the conditions for the contract...”
“...Might you grace me with your name?”
“Hmm? Mochizuki Touya. Oh right, Touya’s my given name.” I threw a curious glance at the tiger, who’d suddenly become so humble, and it bowed down before me.
“Master Mochizuki Touya. By my judgment, there are none I have ever crossed paths with more suitable for the role of my master than you. I would be honored if you were to form a Master-Servant pact with me.” Aww yeah, White Tiger joined the party!
“So, uh, what are the conditions for the contract?”
“Please, bestow a name upon me. That shall be the proof that seals the contract. It will also serve as a bond that allows me to exist freely in this realm.”
“A name, huh...? Hmmm...” A tiger. A white tiger... L
et’s see here...
“Kohaku. What do you think of Kohaku as a name?”
“Kohaku?”
“It’s a name from my homeland. It means Amber, and it’s written like this...” I drew the characters for Kohaku on the ground in Japanese, as 琥珀.
“The character on the left is taken from the word for tiger, and the one on the right is taken from white. The little characters stuck to the left side of each of them both mean king. Put it all together and, in my language, it reads as Kohaku. What do you think?”
“The White Tiger who stands by the king’s side. Truly, there could be no other name more suitable for me. My gratitude to you. Henceforth, please do call me by the name Kohaku.” The contract was sealed. Kohaku stepped slowly out of the bounds of the magic circle and into our realm.
“...Touya, that was incredible...! You actually managed to form a contract with the White Monarch...!”
“Young lady, I am the White Monarch no longer. Please, call me Kohaku.”
“Umm, of course... Kohaku.” The White Monarch — now named Kohaku — corrected the stunned Yumina. Behind Yumina, Silva the Silver Wolf still cowered in fear at Kohaku’s gaze. Panicking, it retreated into Yumina’s shadow and disappeared.
“Master, I do have but one humble request.”
“What’s up?”
“I would like to request that I remain in this realm permanently.”
“Hmm? How would that work?”
“Under normal circumstances, a summoned being can only remain in this realm for as long as the summoner’s magic will permit. We consume our master’s magic simply by materializing in this realm. Once our master’s magical energy runs out, we fade back into the other side. This is the normal way of things. However, ever since our contract was formed and I set foot in this world, I’ve felt that your magical energy has hardly depleted in the slightest. That being the case, I should like to humbly request your permission to remain in this realm indefinitely.”
Yeah, I think I know why that is. In short, my magical energy is recharging so fast that it’s even counteracting the normally massive amount of magic required to keep a Heavenly Beast in this realm. Well, I see no problem keeping Kohaku materialized as long as it doesn’t cause any problems, but...
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 1 Page 18
