My Classmate Became My Familiar - V1 Epilogue

Epilogue

“Sophia was a unique individual, a variant among the demons.”

A few days later, after class on the same day, I had finally finished cleaning up the mess.

I went to the student council room with Fujiwara to sort out everything that had happened.

We probably should have talked with the president right away, but things had been so hectic for a while now that we haven’t had enough time.

There were only three of us in the room, Fujiwara, the president and I, and Fujiwara was sitting in a visitor’s chair, speaking casually.

“Sophia’s world was much more fantasy-oriented than this one. Naturally, there are many races superior to us, humans, but even in such a world, Sophia was outstanding. She was also born in a royal family, so she didn’t have anyone considered her equal, and she lived a lonely life for a long time.”

The president and I listened to Fujiwara’s story in silence.

It seems that Fujiwara got Sophia’s memories when she lost consciousness.

She said that because of this, she understood Sophia’s thoughts as if they were her own.

“But even for someone like her, she doesn’t have the power to interfere in the upper world. And since it was the first time she encountered an entity far more powerful than her, she fell in love with him, and that was you—Ashiya-kun. However, now that the love has turned into hatred, if that demoness were to remove the Mark of Obedience, she would surely come back to this world to kill you by any means necessary.”

“As expected of the most powerful psychopath in the world. It’s funny. Let’s just hope she doesn’t get her memory back.”

Fujiwara’s speculation brought me a great deal of despair, of course. There’s no way I’d feel safe if that monster was trying to kill me.

“Why the heck is that? Why do I have that power? Why such a thing…”

Fujiwara, Sophia, and even the president… talked and acted as if it was natural.

For some reason, they know things about me that I don’t know.

I was the only one who didn’t understand or accept it. If only one of the three of us had said that, I would have dismissed it as a lie and never believed it. But I didn’t trust myself enough to believe it under such circumstances.

In fact, I was able to analyze the grimoire that the president gave me, so I had no choice but to trust Fujiwara and the others.

“Don’t think too much into it right now. You will not be able to get the answer on your own anyway. Even if you manage to get to the roots of the mystery… you’ll probably forget all about it.”

“What do you mean I’ll forget? You mean like the dreams that I sometimes have?”

Fujiwara nodded, “Yes.”

“But there will come a day when you will regain those lost memories. I’ll make sure to get them back.”

“Ha…? What’s that, thank you?”

“Also, you may be mistaken. The power to access the upper world is, in the end, just knowledge. So at least for now, Ashiya-kun is just an average magician. But if you’re serious, you can probably acquire that power quickly. Unlike us.”

I couldn’t quite swallow the story, but she didn’t seem to be willing to tell me anything specific.

The president seemed to be of the same opinion and quietly watched our exchange without interrupting.

I squeezed all the air out of my lungs.

“I don’t understand, but does that mean I don’t have to do anything after all?”

“No way. You should train yourself to death while you still can.”

“What?”

“Have you forgotten about Sophia already? What will happen when that woman comes back to this world? Are you going to let her kill you? No, right? We’ll have to train, get stronger, and strike back. I think the odds of her coming back to this world are not so low.”

That’s what she said matter-of-factly.

That may be true.

“I don’t think I could beat that monster even if I were to be reborn a hundred times.”

“It’s not necessary for Ashiya-kun himself to become stronger. You can rely on your familiars since you are a summoner. That’s what I mean by training.”

Fujiwara pointed to her forehead.

What I saw was the mark, the proof of a familiar.

It got carved into her body from the very beginning. Even when she was reconstructed, it appeared without any effort on my part.

I never intended for it to be there. The Mark of Obedience was due to a contract with the soul, not the body, so it was understandable. I had hoped to be able to break the spell when I reconstructed her, but the reality was not so easy. It’s a pity.

The president agreed with Fujiwara.

“Regardless of whether or not you can beat that demon, there’s no doubt in my mind that Souta-kun needs to train. If anything, you’ve stood out too much in this case. It’s no exaggeration to say that you’ve caught a number of magicians’ attention. In order to protect yourself from anyone other than Sophia, you need at least some power.”

The president, who sat on the opposite side of the desk, leaned forward and placed her elbows on the desk as she moved her face closer to mine.

“In the past few days alone, you’ve been under a lot of scrutiny regarding the special magic circle, haven’t you?”

The question brought back a bitter memory. Recently, I got pressured by countless magicians to provide them with the knowledge for the magic circle. It had nothing to do with East, West, or Headquarters.

At any rate, even the magicians who weren’t supposed to be at the event were there.

“That magic could bring chaos to the world. That should go without saying. The power to summon gods awaits at the end of the development of that magic. No matter what type of magician you are, you would understand that the power hidden behind that magic is frightening after seeing it.”

The president crossed her arms and slumped back.

“It was shallow of me, though, to expose it to so many people, even though I had no choice… I was guilty of that, too.”

“I didn’t even think the magic circle would be out in the open as the grass blew away.”

“Hmm. We must have been in a big hurry to think that we could hide the magic circle with that disguise in the first place. Anyways, knowledge about it should not be publicly disclosed. If a magician with no morals were to summon a god, we have no idea how much evil would befall this world.”

“I don’t think you have the right to say anything about morality.”

Fujiwara muttered to herself. She must have been referring to the summoning test.

The president’s face scrunched up at the harsh remark.

“I’m sorry… I apologize for that. At that time, I really didn’t have much time to spare when I tampered with your grimoire.”

She slumped.

Fujiwara knew that the culprit who tampered with the grimoire was the president. It may have been a hunch, but as a result, Sophia found out the truth. It couldn’t be helped since they shared memories.

“I almost died. In fact, if Ashiya-kun hadn’t been there, I would have died.”

Fujiwara blamed the president without expression.

“Guh.” The accused president’s mouth tightened.

“I have no words to defend. I just want to say this… I swear, I didn’t mean to put your life in danger. I was just trying to get you to fail the test so that you would be in a different grade than Souta-kun… I know this is no excuse, but…”

“You altered the grimoire to summon such a dangerous demon, yet you say you didn’t intend to kill me? It’s the other way around. That’s a murder attempt. In the first place, how did you know how to summon such a high-ranking demon? Normally, someone can’t create a formula to summon something like that.”

“That’s what I don’t understand… I don’t know why I had the knowledge to do that.”

The president put her hand on her head and squeezed her hair.

Fujiwara turned her gloomy eyes to the president.

“Are you kidding me?”

“No, I’m not. It is true that I have tampered with Fujiwara-san’s grimoire with my own will, but that’s just about the formula for the Mark of Obedience and the grimoire to catch on fire. I didn’t play with the parts related to the demons… No, I didn’t intend to do that. And yet, I found myself tampering with it. I used the knowledge I couldn’t possibly have understood to rewrite it. I didn’t even question it until it got pointed out like this.”

The president’s excuse was incomprehensible. But it didn’t look like she was lying either.

Fujiwara wrinkled her brow and turned to me.

“What do you think?”

I shrugged, “What can I say?”

“But, as the president said, it sure seems strange that she knew to summon a demon like that. Even the top summoners can’t summon that thing…”

“That’s true, but what does it mean then?”

“I have no idea.”

We both shook our heads. We couldn’t figure it out.

She also felt that it was not a question whose answer we can find out just by thinking.

“It doesn’t change the fact that I did it anyway. You can do whatever you like with me, Fujiwara-san. I have no intention of resisting, whether it’s public or private.”

The school council president said with a look of resignation on her face.

She looked like a sinner waiting for the final judgment.

Fujiwara gazed at the president… and eventually let out a sigh.

“I’ll let you off the hook this time. You owe me one. You’ll have to pay me back one day.”

“Is that okay?”

The president asked, looking more surprised than relieved.

“Yeah, I didn’t forgive you for everything. I had assumed that you had forgotten everything from that time… Since you hadn’t, I had to apologize to you… I thought that if I could have done just that before, I might have been able to prevent all of this from happening. So that’s it. We were both at fault.”

“… I see. I’m sorry.”

The two exchanged glances as if they understood each other with a chuckle.

As for me? I was unable to comprehend the conversation.

It’s okay, though.

“Let’s get back to the topic at hand.”

The president coughed as if to bring us back to the topic.

“As for the special magic circle, I can’t let that go public. But even so, once the existence itself is known, it will be inevitable to pursue. There’s no doubt that a number of magicians will come to Souta-kun for the information. Some might even be presumptuous enough to resort to strong-arm tactics.”

“I hate it when I can’t deny it.”

“That’s why you have to gain strength. Not only for yourself but also to protect the world order.”

It’s a much bigger story than I thought.

But I couldn’t just laugh at it.

“No one will be leaving you unnoticed any longer. Don’t ever forget that. ”

I left the student council room and headed back to the dormitory with Fujiwara.

Along the way, we passed many students.

When they caught sight of me, they all averted their gazes and walked away quickly.

It is a different kind of contempt that has been directed at me for some time now.

… It was fear.

“You’re treated like a monster. How are you feeling?”

Fujiwara asks boringly.

“Needless to say, it sucks.”

I knew what I was getting into.

They knew that I had a monster-like female classmate and a high-ranking demon by my side. I was capable of using an unknown magic circle, as well as extracting human souls at will and reconstructing human bodies.

It’s natural for them to feel fear.

Moreover, they had treated such an incomprehensible person coldly with their own hands for a while now. Now, they would only feel fear.

The reason I originally resurrected Fujiwara in front of the public was that I had a devious plan to change the school’s view about me… But as it turned out, it seemed to have completely backfired. I regret it.

“I just wanted to live a peaceful life with few ups and downs.”

I complained.

“I was just involved. I didn’t do anything voluntarily. But things went downhill in an unwanted way… Now it’s like this. There’s no way to describe it other than it sucks.”

“That’s what life is all about. Give up on a peaceful future.”

She said it lightly.

That’s a total rejection of my values.

“Don’t be silly. It’s true that I’m in a shitty situation right now, a little unworthy of the attention, the recognition, the fear. I get it. But it’s not going to last, right? It’s not the right evaluation. I mean. If I work hard now, I’m sure I’ll be able to go back to my normal life. It’s the correct life. That’s why I’ll never give up.”

She looked at me like I was a fool when I said that.

“I am surprised. How stupid can you be?”

“If you’re only talking about subjectivity, everyone else is crazy because they have different brains compared to you.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“I know.”

Fujiwara let out a sigh.

“If that’s the case, you should be a bit more aware. I was reconsidering things due to you for helping me, and now you’re ruining it.”

“I’m sorry. But people don’t change that easily, do they?”

“… They do change. Easily.”

The sulky tone of her voice, combined with her resentful expression, made me feel somewhat alone.

What’s with you all of a sudden?

I was thinking about how to respond when she looked at me out of the corner of her eye.

“You’ve changed so much that you don’t even realize it.”

I didn’t mean it at all, but she assured me.

What has changed?

I didn’t know. At least I didn’t remember any change in my inner self since I met Fujiwara at this school. Well, whatever.

“Fujiwara never changes, does she? She’s always been so ambitious since the day we met. Aren’t you tired of living like that? You’re like a fish that only dies when it stops, like tuna or yellowtail.”

“Don’t be silly. I just have a reason why I need to get stronger as soon as possible.”

“What’s that?”

“… There is something I want to get back and someone I need to defeat to get it. However, that person is so strong that the current me can’t possibly defeat him. I can never give up, so I have to train myself even if I need to force myself to do it. That’s why I tried to summon the demon in the summoning test. And in your eyes, my struggling like that makes me seem ambitious, doesn’t it?”

“I see. By the way, is this thing you want to get back really that important?”

Fujiwara didn’t answer right away but gently put her hand on her chest as if to confirm the feeling inside her.

“… Yes. I’m sure it’s very important. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have worked so hard.”

“I see. Well then, I guess I have no choice. To be honest, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but good luck. I’m rooting for you.”

“You don’t have to tell me. Why don’t you do your best? Unless you want to die.”

She nailed me in a flowing manner.

I let out a sigh as hard as I could.

“I don’t want to die. I hate it. Oh, shit. So I’m gonna do it, then?”

“That’s what I mean.”

“Damn it. This whole thing is messing with my life plan.”

“Life plan? It wasn’t that big of a deal, was it? Besides, it seems that Ashiya-kun only sees this incident in a negative light, but I don’t think so. Because through the series of events, we were able to grow together. For example, look.”

Fujiwara held up her index finger with a snap.

A red flame lights up at the tip of her finger.

Of course, Fujiwara didn’t have a grimoire, nor did she cast any lengthy spells.

“That…”

Fujiwara smiled at me in surprise, like a child who had successfully pulled off a prank.

“I’m sure you can guess.”

Fujiwara waved her finger, and flame shot to the ground, scorching the cobblestones.

“It seems that by fusing with Sophia and reliving her memories, I could acquire a demon’s special skills. Ashiya-kun knows very well that this is the technique of activating magic without chanting and the offensive magic of explosive flame that Sophia was good at.”

“You’re not going to get away with this.”

“Of course. You have to take whatever you can get as sustenance.”

I could feel the ineffable strength in Fujiwara’s voice as if it were natural.

Her motivation is too high. That greedy way of life was too far from my ideal, but I could still genuinely respect her if she came this far.

“I mean, this power is yours as well.”

“What?”

“Why do you look so strange? You know, you and I are bonded with destiny, right?”

Fujiwara pointed to the mark on her forehead and said.

It’s a wedge that is too strong for us to break.

“My power is your power. I’m really unwilling, but I’m ready to fight for you. I will protect you. So you owe it to me to make me stronger in return. I’m sure that if you’re willing… I can be stronger than Sophia, stronger than ‘God’.”

Fujiwara tapped me on the shoulder.

“So, keep up the good work, okay? Ashiya-kun… No, Souta.”

“Ah, oh?”

I was surprised to hear my name called out of nowhere, and my reaction was unclear.

Fujiwara cleared her throat,

“Hmm.”

“You know what? Since we will be working together as partners, calling by our last names feels so distant. I believe we should build a relationship of trust in this kind of situation. So, Souta, from now on, call me by my first name, okay?”

She pointed her finger at me.

It was an unreasonable attitude, but I felt it was justified. There was no reason for me to refuse.

There might be a little embarrassment, but I will get used to it.

I nodded.

“All right, all right. It’s nice to meet you too. Um… Chikage.”

When I said that, Chikage smiled.

I didn’t know why I felt so nostalgic about that smile.

For a brief moment, the image of a young girl I had seen somewhere overlapped with her.

“What is it?”

I guess it was because I was staring too hard that she gave me a curious look.

I smiled and said, “It’s nothing.”

“It’s probably just my imagination.”

“Yeah?”

Chikage nodded her head curiously.

After all, maybe nothing much has been solved in this matter.

In fact, the number of things I don’t understand and the problems I need to solve appear to have increased.

However, I had a feeling that if I worked with her, I would eventually be able to solve all of those mysteries, which is impossible for me to do by myself.

It might be ridiculous, or maybe I’m being optimistic.

Well… At least for now, that’s good enough for me.

~End of Volume 01~

TLN: thank you for reading. Volume 1 ends here, there’re still vol 2,3&4. Tbh I’ve no idea if I’m able to continue this, whatever the case may be, it depends on the future. So now I’ll be taking a break from this series. Hope to see you in the future.