My Classmate Became My Familiar - Chapter 2.3
"Please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you!"
Chapter 2.3
After parting ways with Misa, we decided to go to the quest board.
It had now become necessary to check the quest board frequently to see if there were any good ones to start paying off the loan.
By the way, I wasn’t wearing my glasses at the moment.
Fujiwara had warned me that she would not allow me to wear them on a daily basis.
She would probably beat me to pulp up if I wore them outside of combat or emergencies. Damn it.
On the way to the bulletin board, Fujiwara, who was walking next to me, kept furrowing her brow in silence.
“Are you concerned about what Misa said? That there could be someone involved…”
Fujiwara shot a glance at me.
“Yes, as I’ve… said many times, I still can’t believe I made a mistake. I admit that the demon was tough, and I had a hard time with it, but I’m sure I could have dealt with it somehow. In fact, I hadn’t planned to summon such a strong demon in the first place. It’s why so many things are out of place.”
“Hmm. But you know, even if we find the cause, it doesn’t mean things can go back to normal, right?”
“You’re right. It may never be the same again. That’s why if I find out that someone was behind this, I will tear that person to pieces.”
“Hey, don’t give up. If you can’t get back to normal, it’ll be the end of the line for me too.”
Fujiwara did not respond.
She just furrowed her brows again and sank into a sea of thoughts.
The two of us walked in silence for a bit and reached the quest board.
There were unusually few students there, or rather, there was only one.
“Oh? Isn’t that Sota-kun and Fujiwara-san? You came here looking for a quest?”
It was the student council president. Her usual dignified expression faded, and she gave me a gentle smile. Compared to Ryoka, who was supposed to be a member of the same western faction, there was a big difference in how she treated us (mainly Fujiwara).
“Ah, yes. Is the president also looking for a quest? I’ve heard rumours that you’ve accumulated enough points to graduate.”
“You have good ears. But experience never hurts, does it?”
Huh, very sophisticated. If I were in your shoes, I’d probably be playing around already.
“You seem to be completing quests at a high rate as well. It’s great that you’re still coming back to check the board as usual.”
“Ashiya-kun took out a loan earlier, so he needs some points.”
You idiot.
At Fujiwara’s words, the president’s eyebrows slightly twitched.
“I’m not impressed. How many points worth of loans have you taken out?”
There it was. She’s angry.
She’s too fastidious, which is troublesome for me.
I glared at Fujiwara, but she was looking at the bulletin board with an indifferent expression. Damn it.
“Uh, you see, it’s just 30,000…”
“Just? Isn’t that too much? Do you have any way to pay it back?”
“No, that’s why I’m here, to look for the quests.”
“Hmm. If that’s the case, then maybe I can tag along so that you can earn money at once and pay it back. I’ll also give you both all the rewards. Now, a quest where you can earn 30,000 points at once will be… A-rank or higher. How about that?”
I hurriedly grabbed her wrist as she tried to reach for a high-ranked quest.
“It’s impossible! I could die! You know that sometimes overconfidence can kill! And I can’t afford to trouble you, president!”
“Are you being reserved with me? You don’t need to worry about it. I’d be more than happy to go with you, Sota-kun.”
“No, you don’t need to! We’ve only cleared up to D-rank so far! And one was even quite difficult. And yet, an A-rank is too much… Are you trying to kill me?”
In case you were wondering, our first quest was eventually revised and upgraded to a B-rank, but we can exclude that because it was impossible to accomplish in a regular way.
“Souta-kun, even though you’re paired with Fujiwara-san, how can a top-notch demon summoner say such things? I’m not impressed.”
It was too high of an evaluation of my abilities!
“You’re overestimating me! I’m a tiny fish! Seriously!”
“Don’t lower yourself. That’s called self-handicapping.”
Oh my goooood!
I couldn’t reason with her!!
She wouldn’t understand what it was like to be at the bottom because she thought things in terms of her own talents!
“No worries, really. If I earn 5,000 points a month, it won’t be a problem. I can take it easy!”
“Mmm. If you say so, I won’t force you… Such a shame…”
As the president lowered the corner of her eyebrows, looking sad, my heart hurt a little because she was being kind and thoughtful.
It hurts, but more than that, I am relieved that she has given up.
But then…
“Then, you can go on a C-rank quest with me!”
Ryouka, who had appeared before me, said as she thumped my back.
The unexpected shock startled me to the core.
“Whoa. When did you…?”
“I’ve been behind you this whole time. What’s with the fishy smell? If you were in need of points, you should have asked me for help. I’m always willing to go on a quest with you, Ashiya-kun. I’m sure you would be more comfortable with me than with an uptight woman like Mari-nee, right?”
“Ryouka? What do you mean by ‘an uptight woman’?”
“It was a joke, just a joke!”
Ryouka, in response to the president’s glare, panicked and gave an amiable smile.
“But don’t you think it’s a bit too much to have your senior go with you on your quest to pay off a loan? You see, I’m his rival and in the same year. It would be much easier for me than for Mari-nee. The best part is, the rank we can get is just about right, isn’t it?”
Your rival is Fujiwara. Don’t drag me into your fight.
The president regretfully nodded as if she had been convinced.
However, Fujiwara, who had been watching from the sidelines, intervened.
“Let alone the president, the idea of going on a quest with you is a joke.”
Rejected, Ryouka looked back at me…
“Hey Ashiya-kun, your familiar is being very reluctant. What is it, maybe she doesn’t want to go on a quest and have her master see her as inferior to me?”
“… Ha? Are you out of your mind? Who’s inferior to who?”
Ryoka pointed at Fujiwara with a big smile, then at herself.
The gesture must have struck Fujiwara’s chords. The smile slipped off her face.
Scary!
“It can’t be helped if you’re lousy enough to only clear D-rank quests!”
“Ryouka. I told you not to provoke Fujiwara-san like that.”
In response to the president’s warning, Ryouka raised her palm as if to say, “wait.”
“I didn’t mean to make fun of her. I was merely warning her out of the kindness of my heart that she would have a hard time in the future if she behaved like a sore loser. I’m on top, and she is below. Even an animal could understand the order of things. Else it would be too pitiful…”
It was then I heard a crack.
Fujiwara’s eyes changed colour at the blatant provocation. They went from black to crimson, and she took a fighting stance.
I felt as if my back would shatter from the magic power being sucked out of me through the supply circuit.
Fujiwara laughed, “Kufufu,” with a smile on his face and eyes that radiated black magic.
“Ashiya-kun. Why don’t you let this misunderstood woman know the reality?”
“No.”
I answered half-automatically.
“I still can’t. I can’t do a C-rank.”
Then the murderous gaze directed at Ryouka landed on me.
That kind of gaze shouldn’t be directed at me, your hypothetical ally.
My whole body instantly shuddered.
I couldn’t do it. But I was scared of her…
When I looked back at Ryoka, I saw that she was smiling in a cold sweat.
“Ha-ha-ha, did your wild instincts get the better of you? As expected of a barbarian.”
Stop provoking her even more. Do you not have brakes or something?
Please, if you’re going to crash, don’t drag us along with you.
I looked over at the president to ask for help, but she watched from the sidelines with eyes that seemed to imply that things couldn’t be helped.
She had given up.
“Hey Ashiya-kun, why can’t you? I’m not the kind of magician who would struggle with a mere C-rank, am I? Or do you think that a mere C-rank is too much for me?”
“No-no-no. You know, if you could fully master the power of that demoness, I think you’d be able to clear a mere C-rank with ease. I-I think you could have cleared it if you were like before too. But now, the situation is that my ability to use magic… is not up to par. So, this time, I would like to stay quiet.”
“I see. So, you mean that if I teach you how to use more magic power, you’ll reconsider, right, Ashiya-kun?”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Hurry up, Ryouka! Which quest do you want to go on?”
I chickened out. I was more afraid of Fujiwara than the quest right now.
“What? D-don’t ask me, Ah! I guess…”
Ryouka got startled when I directed the question at her, and she quickly ripped off a sheet of paper.
“I think this one would be great.”
Crosspoint Recovery.
Destroy a small foreign world contact point that has appeared in the first layer of the Forbidden Zone.
Difficulty level: C
Limit of people: Unlimited.
Reward: 100,000 yen + 20,000 points (excluding expenses)
Note: Many low-grade monsters are hiding in the first layer of the Forbidden Zone.
For details, please contact the Student Affairs Division.
I looked at the quest that Ryouka was holding and immediately knew it’d be a pain. With a C-rank quest, we wouldn’t have to do anything stupid like killing thought entities or magical beasts. The reward for this was also a jump, but this is also dangerous. It’d definitely be painful.
But,
“Fine with me. I’ve been thinking about going to the Forbidden Zone myself.”
Fujiwara was eager to go… and couldn’t say a word about me not wanting to…!