The Sleeping Devil

"Professor, do you have any foods you don't like? We've prepared some snacks and sweets, so please help yourself to anything you'd like. Same goes for Licht."

"You have some unusual foods."

As we each began to eat our sweets, Licht picked up a sandwich he had served on his plate and took a bite. Julius, seeing this, hesitated slightly but nibbled on his chicken and egg sandwich. After widening his eyes for a moment, he continued chewing slowly, looking somewhat sleepy.

"Is it to your liking?"

"Yeah, I've never had it before, but I think it's delicious."

Julius, who I had thought was probably from a good family of nobles, puzzled me. Dishes made with vegetables like stew and sweets were brought into this world from my past life's memories, but sandwiches were something common in this world.

"What kind of meals do you usually have, Professor?"

"Bread and jerky."

"Just that...?"

"Yeah, occasionally I eat fruits, but jerky can be preserved, and it saves time for meals."

Is he a hermit? Or rather, the image of a calorie-conscious tech geek, replenishing nutrition with supplementary food bars came to my mind. While I was impressed that he had grown up so well with that diet, I couldn't help but worry about his nutrition. Licht nodded, saying that he also had a similar diet, but he was clearly malnourished.

"Father, how about inviting the professor to dine with us from now on?"

"Of course, that's fine. Since the tuition is for Sheriel's research, I was wondering if that would be enough."

Wait, I didn't hear about this. Did Marcel use the same conditions he proposed to me on Julius? In the end, I'm becoming the subject in exchange for compensation. But admittedly, that would be insufficient as compensation.

"Professor, in that case, starting tomorrow..."

"I am in this form, you know. I can't just intrude on another family's dinner."

"It's alright; I'm in this form too. There's no difference between white and black, right?"

"Haha... well, I guess."

For some reason, Julius made a restrained throat noise and showed a somewhat resigned expression. With Didier's encouragement, it was decided that starting tomorrow, I would have meals with Julius. I thought it might be nice to have Noah join us as well, but Noah's visits had become less frequent lately, and I hadn't seen him in weeks.

"In addition to meals, I would like Julius to accompany us on our trip from the New Year. Do you have the time?"

"Oh, right, you're going to search for spirits. I can't be out for extended periods, so it's a good idea to take Noah with you. If something happens, I can teleport over there."

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Everyone struggled to grasp it. Noah? I tilted my head, and Julius, perhaps sensing it, paused his meal and rose from his seat.

"I can swap positions with Noah, you know. I wonder where he is right now... Oh, he's in the forest. Let's switch for a bit."

As he murmured this, Julius's form became chaotic. Ah, I've seen this before.

When I looked closely, symbols resembling letters covered Julius like pillars, rising from the edges of the magic circle beneath his feet. Somehow, this scene seemed like it was scanning Julius, and I became curious about the mechanism behind teleportation magic. In an instant, Julius transformed into Noah.

"Hey, Father, Brother! There's no point in acting surprised, is there?"

"Mmm, you're right, it does look like that, but transformation magic doesn't exist as a Gift. Anyway..."

Noah, whom I hadn't seen in a while, hopped onto my lap without any particular surprise, leaving me flustered. Wait, if they switch places now, the teacher will end up on my lap...

But I couldn't bring myself to push the adorable Noah away, and I fretted as Julius returned to his original position.

"Professor! Weren't you supposed to switch places?"

"I left a teleportation coordinate before swapping. In essence, it allows us to move somewhat freely by swapping positions, but I can't be out for an extended period."

I see, teleportation seems quite systematic. I had thought that by simply thinking of a known location, you could instantly teleport, but it seems that specifying coordinates is necessary. Teleportation is an advanced magic, so I hadn't learned it yet.

While discussing teleportation, Didier, who rarely interjected, cautiously joined the conversation.

"Um, sorry to interrupt, but... Is that, by any chance, the cat?"

"Oh, Brother, you haven't met Noah before? This is Noah, my friend."

Noah seemed to understand words to some extent, as he opened his eyes slightly when we spoke and glanced briefly at Didier. Didier appeared puzzled, not as much as Mary but still confused, seemingly taken aback by the black creature.

"Uh, that's... isn't it a spirit?"

"Huh? No way."

I glanced at Julius to confirm, but he, too, tilted his head in confusion. Didier seemed to think that Noah wasn't a magical beast because of his unusual color. I had initially thought the same; however, my perception changed drastically due to Sergio's words.

"That creature is probably a spirit. It has weakened considerably compared to magical beasts; it's different."

"Father, do you think so too? I mean, Julius didn't notice?"

All eyes were once again on Julius. With a smile as perfectly composed as a painting, he now wore a more puzzled expression.

"Hmm, it's a spirit, huh? I didn't notice at all."

"Can that even happen!?"

Julius, who stared at Noah with an awed expression, seemed quite childlike and resembled an ordinary fifteen-year-old boy.

No, no, it's too late for that now. Didier was laughing uproariously, resting his forehead on the table and stomping his feet. It was the first time I had seen Didier laugh so much about something that didn't involve me.

Julius was talking to Noah, asking, "Since when have you been a spirit?" Hearing this, Didier laughed even harder. Sergio watched from the sidelines, Licht looked bewildered, and I... gave up thinking about it.

"Ju-Julius... Spare me, seriously... Why didn't you notice?"

"Well, I've been with him since I was a kid. I did feel a slight difference in presence, but I thought it was because we were in sync."

It seems that Julius had been synchronized with Noah, who couldn't roam freely as a child, and had been gazing at the outside world together. If they had been together for so long and he knew Noah before magical beasts, it's understandable that he didn't realize.

"Want to try contracting with Noah?"

"Is it okay? Noah has been protecting the teacher all this time, right? It feels like I'm taking something away from him."

"It's fine. I haven't contracted with him so far."

Prompted by Julius, I asked Noah. Since I didn't know how contracting worked, I simply said, "Will you contract with me?" But Noah just wagged his tail.

"Hmm, it seems like something's different. It's as if he thinks I'm not the one."

"Can the teacher communicate with Noah?"

"When we share thoughts, we can convey basic thoughts and emotions. He seems to like you because he scolded me that night when you were crying and told me to do something, but..."

So, the teacher came that night because of Noah's help. I thanked Noah by patting his head, and he curled up contentedly on my lap. While I wasn't disliked, I couldn't make a contract with Noah. In the end, it seemed like the trip was necessary.

"Teacher, aren't you going to contract with Noah? Um, I've been wondering about this, but why aren't you worried about petrification even though you have a lot of magical power?"

"Since Noah mostly took over the magical power for the Baptism Ceremony, I don't have as much spread."

I see, so that's how the teacher knew how to perform the Baptism Ceremony alone. Did Noah teach him?

As I gradually learned more about the teacher, new questions arose. Julius began to formulate a hypothesis as he gazed at Noah in thought.

"I see, perhaps during the Baptism Ceremony, I took almost all of Noah's magical power, so his power as a spirit has weakened?"

Spirits are supposed to naturally replenish their magical power in the Spirit Realm to keep it the same as humans. However, since Noah is in this world all the time, it seems he can't recover his magical power.

"Julius, why not try contracting with him anyway? If we figure out how the contract works, it'll be reassuring for Sheriel's time too."

"That's a good point. Noah, would you like to contract with me?"

Noah's twitching ears suddenly froze in Julius's direction, and then he jumped up and onto Julius's lap. Julius seemed to have heard something, or perhaps, as he mentioned earlier, he sensed Noah's emotions and responded by bringing his cheek close to Noah's mouth.

Just when it seemed like Noah had lightly kissed Julius's cheek, he leaped off his lap with a swish.

"Hmm? Does this mean the contract worked?"

There didn't seem to be any significant change, and we couldn't observe any magical circles or light from our end. However, Noah's presence seemed to have increased slightly, and his body underwent a tremendous transformation.

"A big kitty...!"

He transformed into a large black cat, more like a black panther with a robust skeletal structure and features. But was a black panther ever this large? This majestic form, larger than a horse, had an aura reminiscent of a spirit.

"Yes, it's definitely a spirit. It seems to have taken quite a bit of my magical power. And now, its thoughts are much clearer than before."

"You were able to contract with it. How did you do it?"

"I'm not sure, really. It seems like Noah did something. It appears we have to leave the contracting up to the spirits."

I see, so that's why the information on spirit contracts was vague. There didn't appear to be any particular ceremony, and humans didn't seem to have any specific role.

"Noah, take a break in the Spirit Realm for a bit. You've consumed too much of my magical power."

Noah responded with a sort of carnivorous growl and gradually transformed back into his original cat form. Then, he disappeared like mist.

"Oh, my magical power is returning. It seems the shared aspect is indeed real."

"The teacher is always researching magic through experiments and observations."

Impressed, I turned to everyone, and not just Licht. Sergio and Didier were also frozen. Their bodies were stiff, but their expressions were blank, devoid of any emotion.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, well, Sheriel seems fine... I was just exposed to a bit of magical power."

"But isn't the magical power itself the teacher's?"

"Judging by Noah's behavior, it seems that spirits exist with their magical power exposed."

It seemed that humans and spirits had different ways of holding magical power. Humans drew their magical power from a wellspring and transferred it to a vessel for use. In my case, the wellspring seemed to have expanded, and my vessel couldn't contain it, but spirits themselves were like natural wellsprings of magical power.

That's why Noah could change his body size from small to large. If Sergio and Didier were affected...

"Licht! Are you alright?"

Upon closer inspection, Licht had his eyes wide open but was unconscious.