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“Hello.”

“Ah, student. You’ve been clocking in daily lately. Another call from the professor you call ‘boss’?”

Entering the Magic Building to meet Frecia.

I greeted the man at the reception desk.

He was a new staff member who had joined since the start of this semester, and since I visited the Magic Building often, I had become somewhat familiar with him after several greetings.

I heard he wasn’t originally in a reception role but ended up taking on this odd job.

“Haha, the professor seems to be calling you quite often these days. Well, good luck.”

“Yes, yes. You should go in too, student.”

Normally, I would need to show my access pass to enter, but the receptionist let me in without any verification.

Becoming friends with the staff allowed me to find certain conveniences in these minor details.

As usual, I stood in front of Room 707 and entered without any special knocking.

I tried, but just like the past few months, the room was dark as if it were midnight, regardless of the time.

At first, I would trip over the various items scattered across the floor, but now I entered the room next to Frecia’s where she was supposed to be sleeping with a familiar stride.

Yet, for some reason, instead of lying down, Frecia was holding a doll and doing something.

It wasn’t the bear plushie that usually helped her with various chores. It was a rabbit doll I had never seen before.

Frecia’s tiny finger moved playfully across the rabbit doll, making its ears perk up.

As her glowing finger moved a few more times, the rabbit doll suddenly began to move on its own, breaking free from Frecia’s grasp and falling flop onto the floor.

Then it stood up as if shaking off dust, used its tiny hands to brush itself off, and bowed towards me in a gentlemanly manner.

Remaining still, I bent my knee slightly to return the ‘lady’s’ greeting to the rabbit doll, and it seemed satisfied as it raised its head.

What kind of rabbit is this?

As I looked at the rabbit doll with curious eyes, Frecia reached out and grabbed the rabbit’s ears.

I wasn’t sure if the doll could feel pain, but the rabbit doll struggled as if it was in distress, raising its hands towards the ears that were being held.

However, its short arms could never reach Frecia’s hand, and only when she placed it back onto the sofa did the rabbit’s suffering come to an end.

“Number 1. From now on, you’ll be responsible for training Number 2.”

When Frecia spoke to the bear doll sitting quietly beside her, the bear doll saluted, raising its hand to its eyes as if it understood.

I wasn’t sure how they communicated without voices, but the bear doll approached the rabbit as if to say something, gesturing with its hands and feet.

After the bear’s gestures ended, the rabbit doll stood up and bumped its head on the floor, its tiny hands clasped behind its back.

Turning its head towards Frecia this time, it nodded at her with a satisfied expression.

…My rank should still be above the bear doll, right?

I remembered there was a bear doll back when I first came to assist Frecia, but I didn’t want to imagine being of lower rank than a bear.

“By the way, boss, are their names really just Number 1 and Number 2?”

“Yep.”

Frecia nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Still, isn’t it a bit too bleak to just go with Number 1 and Number 2?

“How about giving them proper names instead? Don’t they want proper names?”

I asked the two dolls, who were busy giving each other a hard time, and the bear doll nodded its round head, while the rabbit doll, which had been lying down, jumped up and nodded its head up and down repeatedly.

After the bear doll gave a signal, the rabbit doll finally stopped nodding and returned to its previous position.

…

“Anyway! Since they agree, let’s come up with some names for them!”

Thus, Frecia and I started brainstorming names for the two dolls.

*

“…Sorry, guys.”

I said in a whispering voice to the two dolls, who were filled with anticipation.

“From now on, you’ll be Gomtaengi and Tokki.”

I had worried about Frecia’s naming sense, but I had completely forgotten that I wasn’t in a position to judge.

After all, my naming sense doesn’t really need explanation, especially since I named my friendly cat ‘Meow.’

Looking at the two dolls, now happily named instead of Number 1 and Number 2, my conscience pricked at my heart.

“…But how do these two move? They seem almost alive.”

“It’s an application of Golem magic. Since they are dolls, their combat ability is lacking, but they don’t really need combat power.”

The only golems I was familiar with were the massive, formidable ones made of huge stones that I had seen back in the dungeon.

“Hmm. But the golems I saw in the dungeon moved so simply, while these two move as if they are alive, which is really fascinating.”

“Normally, they are the lowest-tier spirits with neither will nor consciousness that have been upgraded and given artificial bodies. You can think of them as both golems and spirits.”

I was delving into an increasingly difficult area to understand.

If I kept asking, I would probably just end up with more questions.

“There are many similar types of magic apart from this one. One of them is the magic that bonds animals as familiars. The variety of magic is infinite.”

Hmmm… familiars…

“Is there magic that allows communication with animals? I don’t need anything grand like a master-servant relationship; I just want to be able to talk to them.”

I asked out of curiosity, but for some reason, Frecia flinched, her shoulders rising dramatically.

“…Wait a moment.”

Frecia said, then brought over a blank magic scroll and started drawing something on it.

“Here.”

In an instant, she handed me the completed scroll.

When I looked at the scroll, it had a simple yet descriptive drawing as if it depicted a constellation.

It was probably Frecia’s homemade magic circle.

“It’s a kind of contract magic scroll. It doesn’t have any special powers, just magic that helps with mutual communication. It’s not a master-servant relationship since Elysia also has her own wishes, and her magic skills are lacking, so you can think of it as being equal partners. It means you can understand each other only when you both want to.”

“Whoa…”

“I designed it so you just need to inject your mana into the scroll, so it shouldn’t be difficult to use. Use it when you meet the cat.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

I had already spent a lot of time just coming up with the names Gomtaengi and Tokki, so as soon as I received the scroll, I parted ways with Frecia and headed back to the dormitory.

But did I really mention I was going to use it on the cat?

*

“Meow.”

“Hey, Meow, you know, right? If you use this, we can talk and become closer. So please don’t refuse.”

On my way back to the dormitory, I happened to encounter Meow.

I earnestly explained the scroll to Meow, but I was unsure if it understood.

Even if Meow was good at understanding me, was this a bit too much?

However, as I hesitated, Meow placed its paw on my hand holding the magic scroll and tugged at it.

See! My Meow is definitely a genius!

“Alright, let’s begin!”

As I placed the scroll on the ground between Meow and me, I injected my mana, causing light to begin shining from the scroll.

Meow placed one paw on the scroll while I put my palm on it, and the light enveloped both of us.

And that was it.

The light soon vanished, and the scroll that had the magic circle drawn on it turned blank.

“Did it work?”

Having only heard simple instructions, I was uncertain if it was successful, but I felt a ticklish connection.

I thought of Meow and felt the link between us.

“Now can I understand what Meow is saying?”

“Meow.”

But still, it just sounded like a cat’s cry. I couldn’t comprehend what it wanted to say.

Instead, I received a deep-seated desire, maybe even the hidden thoughts of Meow.

“Hehe…”

To fulfill Meow’s desires, I raised my hand.

“Meow!”

Seeing that my intentions were transmitted to Meow, it jarringly severed the connection in surprise, but by then, it was already too late.

Smack!

I gave Meow’s bottom a hearty tap and delivered a light slap to its cheek.