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Magic Building 707. There lives a small wizard.

The owner of the laboratory is Frecia Gattina.

Although she is only 16 years old, making her quite young, she is a formidable talent recognized by the Emperor for her magical skills and has been appointed as the youngest professor at the Academy.

Frecia’s daily routine is rather ordinary.

She lies on the sofa of her lab and lodging, snoozing away until one of her assistants, Tokki, wakes her up, and only then does she get out of bed.

Of course, she doesn’t get up gracefully.

She always rolls around for a while, sometimes kicking Tokki, who wakes her, before finally getting up.

Originally, it was Gomtaengi who took her kicks, but ever since Tokki joined, all her kicks belong to Tokki now.

Finally awake, Frecia gets ready for the day with the help of Gomtaengi.

Washing her face, washing her hair, drying it, changing clothes, and so on.

Only after finishing all her preparations does she shake off the remnants of sleep.

The place she heads to is the classroom where her lessons are scheduled for the day.

It could be a major magic class, or it might be a basic class from another department.

Certainly, this wasn’t part of her schedule in the first semester, but she accepted the inconvenience of these classes solely because she wanted to see “her.”

“Alright, you do it this way.”

Due to the nature of the swordsmanship department, basic magic classes aren’t held very often—only a few hours a week. Thus, even if she’s going through the hassle, the time she gets to see “her” is quite limited.

Because of this, she stays next to “her” during every lesson, teaching magic almost as if it were a private tutoring session.

All the students in “her” class are aware that Frecia favors “her,” but they don’t really discuss it.

Part of the reason is that “she” is quite popular among the class, but it has more to do with Frecia’s own popularity among the students.

Even if a girl a few years younger stands in front of them teaching, the students just find Frecia cute.

With her small stature turned away from the students, she stretches her arms up to the blackboard, struggling and diligently writing down the lesson content, causing the students to unwittingly gaze at her with fond expressions.

There are no distinctions among male students, female students, departments, or grades.

Of course, there aren’t students who dislike her, but those who do find themselves obeying after a few hand gestures from her.

But even Frecia, who can usually handle everything, has one student she can’t manage at all.

“El. You do this like this.”

“U-uhm.”

“Selian? Shouldn’t mastering it come before teaching? A bit more practice…”

Pop!

Before Frecia could finish her sentence, a spark flew from Selian’s fingertips.

The very magic they had just practiced in the class.

“If you’ve got that down, then the next magic should be….”

“Is this enough?”

“Then the next one…”

“Like this?”

“The next one…”

…

…

Frecia keeps demanding more advanced spells from Selian, but Selian executes the next spells without a hint of hesitation.

Even though Elysia has become a heroine, Selian, once a top contender for a hero, is quite adept in magic.

Even as Frecia and Selian bicker right in the middle of the class, the rest of the class just watches with satisfied smiles.

Except for Elysia, who’s caught in between.

“Uh, um… Is this how it works?”

Thinking that finishing her assigned spell quickly might end the friendly quarrel, she barely raises a spark at her fingertip but…

“Excellent. Elysia is impressive.”

“Wow! Amazing, El! You’re doing that so easily, even though it’s your first time learning magic…”

Their excessive praises only drown Elysia’s feelings.

And, for the record, all the students merely look on with smiling faces at this scene.

*

After all classes are finished, it’s time for all students to head home.

So, does that mean Frecia’s day is done?

No. In fact, this time marks the most important moment for Frecia.

“Welcome.”

“Well then, excuse me, boss.”

At least three times a week, Frecia calls Elysia under the pretense of conducting experiments.

“Hello, Gomtaengi, Tokki!”

As soon as Elysia enters, Gomtaengi and Tokki whirl around her, welcoming her.

Of course, Frecia silently wishes to squeeze in between the two familiars circling Elysia, but with extreme patience, she holds back.

“Today, there’s no particular experiment, so just have some tea while you’re here.”

With Frecia’s words, Gomtaengi skillfully pours the tea.

Now, she even lifts the teacup to hand it to Elysia.

Slurp.

Following Elysia’s lead, Frecia brings the teacup to her lips, but her focus is more on Elysia than the tea.

“Oh? Have you changed the tea leaves?”

“Yeah. They just came in this time. Do you like it?”

“It’s very refreshing; it seems like it would go well with dessert.”

At Elysia’s words, Frecia secretly lowers her hand under the table, quickly sending signals to Tokki and Gomtaengi.

Responding to Frecia’s signal, Tokki dashes to the cupboard and sets out some fancy cookies on the table.

“…By the way, some cookies came as a gift last time; let’s try them together.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Even though she mentioned they were a gift for Elysia, Tokki had to stand in line for several hours outside a famous bakery to get those cookies.

“Wow! Boss, you should eat with us too. They’re really delicious.”

“Yeah, they are.”

Prompted by her, Frecia pops a cookie into her mouth.

Indeed, as she recommended, the already sweet cookie paired perfectly with the refreshing tea.

However, Frecia only ate one cookie and didn’t reach for any more.

She merely watched Elysia enjoy them.

“Oh, I’ve eaten too much, haven’t I? Hehehe…”

As Elysia excitedly reached for the plate of cookies, she finally noticed the last piece was left, and she hesitated.

“I-I’ve eaten quite a bit, so please, you have the last one, boss.”

Elysia handed the cookie she grabbed over to Frecia.

Usually, Frecia would have conceded the last piece to Elysia, but if it’s offered directly, then it’s a different story.

“Aww.”

Instead of reaching out her hand, Frecia opened her tiny mouth and made a sound.

If it had been any other girl, Elysia might have felt flustered or hesitated, but not when it comes to Frecia.

Elysia’s two fingers holding the cookie went right into Frecia’s mouth.

Nom.

Before Frecia could place the cookie on her tongue, she accidentally closed her mouth, causing her lips to naturally nibble on Elysia’s fingers, but instead of an unpleasant face, Frecia wore a wistful expression.

“S-sorry. If I had known you’d look so disappointed, I should have held back, but I ended up eating it all…”

Of course, Elysia’s misunderstanding of Frecia’s expression makes it even cuter.

“It’s okay. There’s still plenty left.”

For reference, when Tokki bought the cookies, Gomtaengi was also standing in line behind her.

“Later, I’ll pack some tea leaves and cookies for you to take home.”

“But…”

Originally, Elysia was supposed to receive her salary and allowances under the guise of magic experiments, but recently, instead of experiments, she’s been enjoying tea and receiving gifts.

Even amidst all this, Frecia’s kindness in ensuring Elysia’s salary is prompt makes Elysia feel guilty.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s part of a subordinate’s job to handle excess. I wouldn’t be able to eat it all anyway.”

“Yes…”

Leaving aside not being able to eat it all, Frecia originally gives everything she has to Elysia.

*

As seen so far, Frecia holds considerable affection for Elysia and spends quite a bit of time with her.

However, Frecia has been feeling more and more stressed as days go by.

It’s not because she wishes for a more developed relationship between them.

Sure, that thought exists, but it’s rather that she feels a lack of something that was originally hers.

Before the second semester began, during the end of the vacation, nights used to be a very cozy time for Frecia.

A sense of warmth not related to her nocturnal rhythm.

But with the start of the second semester, or more precisely, as Elysia moved into the four-person room, her coziness disappeared entirely.

“Mew…”

So now, when it becomes unbearable, Frecia takes on the form of a cat and leaves the room.

Today again, transformed into a cat, Frecia sits outside the window of Elysia’s room, watching her.

However, she can’t bring herself to go inside.

It’s because there’re other girls in the room along with her.

Of course, Frecia originally had no intention of ignoring the other girls and entering the room to jump on Elysia’s bed.

But,

“Ah! A cat!”

Creak!

The small red-haired girl, who noticed her even before Elysia did, is two years younger than Frecia.

The girl even shorter than herself is Anne.

Anne opened the window, trying to catch the Frecia in cat form.

Having previously tackled Frecia and smothered her face, Frecia quickly tried to escape, but…

-Heh. That cat looks strangely familiar. I know I’ve never seen it before…

Floating behind her, there’s a girl who wasn’t in the room with the other four. It’s Linne, a ghost who has recently been staying in Elysia’s room.

Caught off guard by Linne, Frecia couldn’t run away and ended up being pulled into the room by Anne.

“Mew!”

Elysia was looking at Frecia in Anne’s arms.

If Anne was going to hug her really tightly, then Frecia would rather be in Elysia’s embrace than Anne’s. So she tried to escape from Anne, but Anne wouldn’t let her go.

“Ehehe. Your name is Mew?”

When was the last time Frecia was treated like this?

Hanging on both of Anne’s hands, Frecia’s cat face clearly displayed a pout.

It was only because Elysia was in the same room that she was holding still; if Elysia hadn’t been there, she would have dashed out already.

Fortunately, no one seemed to realize Frecia’s true identity as a cat.

The only one who offered a quizzical look was Linne, who tilted her head at Frecia, but even she couldn’t see through Frecia’s spell.

“Well, you know…”

Anne, holding Frecia, spoke up.

Perhaps because of her heightened senses in cat form?

Even before any actual remarks have been made, Frecia couldn’t shake a feeling of anxiety.

“Is it a female or a male?”

As she said this, Anne looked down at Frecia in cat form, but the curled-up tail hindered Anne’s curiosity.

Of course, the cat form is a false guise.

But even if Frecia were wearing her actual clothes, there’s still no way she’d be free from embarrassment.

So the moment Anne’s hand moved toward her tail.

“Kyaaa!”

Frecia, who had been still until then, suddenly went wild and broke free from Anne’s arms, leaping out through the open window.

Anne hurriedly chased after her, but she was already long gone.

“Ugh…”

“I told you to keep it lighthearted. Now I’m worried I’m going to get hated by Mew because of Anne.”

Of course, that’d never happen.

*

“Huff, huff…”

After running for a long time, Frecia finally made it back to Magic Building 707.

Tokki and Gomtaengi, who had been waiting inside, handed a cup of water to the panting Frecia.

Gulp gulp.

Only after downing a cup of water did Frecia manage to calm down and collapse onto the sofa.

Dreaming of the day when she can sleep together with Elysia on the same bed once more…

By the way, it seems that on the next day, a special assignment was piled on Anne during the basic magic class.