The principal’s office wasn’t arranged in the strict, formal manner one might expect; on the contrary, it was brimming with childlike delight.
Everywhere you looked, there were bunny plushies in all shapes and sizes.
The bookshelves, aside from being crammed with hefty tomes on magic, also had plenty of comics and novels stuffed between them.
The air was saturated with the sweet scent of candy.
“Make yourself at home, make yourself at home! Treat this place as if it were your own!”
Headmistress Krolova trotted cheerfully over to a desk that was far too large for her, her little legs moving briskly.
She clambered with some difficulty onto a principal’s chair whose legs had been specially extended, all while tightly hugging her gray bunny plush, “Miss Dusk.”
Her feet, dangling well above the ground, swung back and forth as she smiled at the slightly stiff pair of sisters.
It was clear that Ophelia wasn’t here for the first time.
Wearing an impassive expression, she chose a relatively clean single sofa, free from the plushies’ occupation, and sat down with her back straight, completely at odds with the relaxed atmosphere.
Camilla, having visited this room plenty of times in the game, carefully avoided a bunny-shaped floor cushion that was dozing off and sat next to her sister.
The plush sofa nearly swallowed her whole as she sank into it.
“Would you like something to drink? Is black tea all right?”
Krolova called out with enthusiasm.
Once both sisters nodded, a floating tray flew out from the cabinet nearby, bearing a delicate teapot and cups, and landed stably on the coffee table.
The teapot tilted on its own, pouring out a floral-scented brew for all three.
“Thank you.”
Ophelia picked up her cup, giving a slight nod, her movements elegant and proper, like she was performing a demonstration of etiquette.
Camilla also thanked her, cradling the warm cup and sipping carefully.
The taste was unexpectedly wonderful—a mellow floral aroma tinged with subtle sweetness.
“No need to be shy, have some snacks!”
With another snap of Krolova’s fingers, a tray of adorable, enticingly fragrant cookies appeared on the tray—all shaped like bunnies.
“Go on, try them! One of my disciples baked them!”
Unable to refuse, Camilla picked up a bunny cookie and took a crunchy bite.
Sweet and crisp—it really was delicious.
Though Ophelia kept her face stern, she too silently picked up a cookie… and then polished it off with astonishing speed, all while maintaining her usual poise.
As they enjoyed tea and treats, Krolova’s big green eyes kept curiously circling Camilla, making her feel a little uneasy.
“All right, let’s get started, little Camilla~”
Krolova brushed off the cookie crumbs from her hands and kicked her little legs, getting to the “main business.”
The so-called “test” was little more than child’s play.
Krolova casually tossed out a few basic questions about magic theory.
Camilla, intending to slack off, deliberately mixed up her answers, even reciting the Fireball Spell incantation as if it were the Waterball Spell.
Yet Krolova only listened with a beaming smile, occasionally nodding, and made some random marks on the test form.
“Mmm, not bad, not bad! Your theoretical foundation is… unique, but your magical sensitivity is sharp! All right, you’ve passed!”
Krolova clapped her hands, announcing the result.
“Wait, Headmistress, are you sure you’re in your right mind?”
Camilla couldn’t help retorting.
“I got the most basic incantations wrong! Admitting me to the academy is an insult to knowledge!”
Krolova blinked her green eyes innocently, hugging “Miss Dusk” and rubbing her face against the plushie’s ear.
“Oh, the test is just a formality—don’t take it so seriously. The main reason is that Ophelia praised you to the skies, said you’re brilliant, incredibly perceptive, gentle and kind… I was so curious, I wanted to meet you in person. And now that I have, you really are interesting!”
She looked at Camilla as though she were inspecting a fascinating new toy.
“But I really am hopeless at magic!”
Camilla kept putting herself down, grasping for one last hope of escaping enrollment.
She even held her breath, making her face turn slightly pale.
“I’m totally average, my comprehension is terrible, my mental strength is weak—I can barely manage the Illumination Spell, and nothing else! Admitting me will just drag down the academy’s average and trouble the Professors!”
“Don’t talk about yourself that way,”
Krolova shook “Miss Dusk’s” paw, her tone light.
“Even if your magical path doesn’t go far, you’ve still got powerful family to lean on, don’t you? Like this very, very ‘concerned’ big sister of yours~”
She shot a teasing glance at Ophelia.
The latter’s ears turned faintly red, but she kept her outward composure.
Hearing this, Camilla’s face fell as though she’d lost her last hope; even the tea in her hand lost its flavor.
The Headmistress and her sister are totally in cahoots!
They’re determined to tie me to this academy!
Perhaps misunderstanding her little sister’s intent, Ophelia set her teacup down, stood, and walked over to Camilla’s side, gently patting her on the head, her voice softening a bit.
“Don’t worry, Camilla. I know you’re not keen on learning all these complicated things, so I recommended you to become a Summoner.”
“Summoner?”
Camilla blinked in surprise, then blurted out without hesitation.
“I wouldn’t be a useless Summoner even if you paid me!”
In the game, Summoner was the most locked-down profession in the early stages.
After all, Summoned Beasts could just focus on fighting, but Summoners had to handle battle commands, rear and train their creatures, handle breeding…
Even if they became strong later, they still couldn’t match the godlike Magic Swordsman.
That was the overpowered class from start to finish—and the one she’d used to reach the true ending.
If there was one advantage, it was that Summoners didn’t have to set foot on the battlefield themselves once they had a Summoned Beast—perfect for someone as pain-averse as Camilla.
Ophelia was left speechless by Camilla’s assessment of Summoners.
Krolova, however—being the continent’s only Legendary Summoner—took offense.
“Uu, little Camilla, are you insulting me?”
Krolova leapt from her chair, puffed-up with mock indignation, and pounced on Camilla, vigorously pinching her baby-chubby cheeks.
The tiny body erupted with a shocking strength—even Ophelia at full force couldn’t peel her off.
“Guh… S-sorry, Headmistress…”
Camilla, nearly in tears from the pain, begged for mercy, but a couple of words were hardly enough to pacify Krolova.
“Hmph! So you look down on Summoners, do you? Well, I’ll make you become one just to spite you!”
Krolova let Camilla go, then rummaged through a cabinet piled with plushies and oddities, muttering to herself.
“I remember putting it away last time I cleaned the storage… Ah-ha! Found it!”
A moment later, she came running back with a violet crystal the size of a pigeon’s egg, its surface smooth and warm, faintly radiating a strange energy.
“Look! This is a Resonance Star Core—the highest grade Summoner’s auxiliary crystal! It amplifies the user’s spiritual waves and helps them summon the Summoned Beast most in tune with their innermost wishes! Here, use this!”
Without further ado, Krolova, her hands full of plushies, eagerly used her feet—shod in little leather shoes—to quickly and precisely draw on the floor.
Silvery lines of magical energy streamed from her toes, instantly forming a complex Summoning Circle that shimmered with gentle light.
“Come, come, try it right now! Let me see what kind of interesting partner little Camilla can summon!”
Krolova stepped back two paces, her green eyes shining with excitement as if she were about to witness a fantastic show.
Under her inescapable gaze, Camilla had no choice but to steel herself, clutching the Resonance Star Core—whose pulse seemed to echo her own—and step into the center of the Summoning Circle.
Fine, if this is fate, then there’s no running from it. I’ll just summon something random and get it over with.
Best if it’s so weak the academy wants to send me back—like a decorative sprite or some carrot-chomping ordinary rabbit?
In the game, the Summoning Circle was like a gacha pool—what you summoned was basically random. The Resonance Star Core helped players target specific types of Summoned Beasts; it was a rare item usually acquired mid-game.
Just thinking of all the days spent grinding for Resonance Star Cores in “Echo Valley” made Camilla’s liver ache.
Who knows if the Resonance Star Core works the same way in this world…
She took a deep breath, following the faint, clear guidance emanating from the crystal.
Focusing hard, she channeled her meager magic and cautiously poured it into the circle beneath her feet.
Buzz—
The Summoning Circle flared silver, energy ripples spreading like water.
After ten seconds, the light peaked, then ebbed away like the tide.
At the center of the circle, as the lingering glow faded, there appeared a…
Slime.
About the size of a washbasin, translucent pale blue all over, the Slime’s jelly-like body wobbled as it looked around.
“Puchi?”
The Slime let out a soft, harmless, even slightly dopey sound, as if curiously inspecting this new world.
A dead silence fell over the office.