"Not asking for much."
"Just casually."
He had a completely justified expression on his face, as if Oil of the Moon was some kind of commonly found Golden Dragon Fish oil, leaving Aoko dumbfounded.
This guy still hasn't given up on the idea of making Oil of the Moon his familiar!
And does he think Oil of the Moon is some street-side junk?
"..."
Even Alice looked at him in stunned silence, clearly unsure of how to respond.
"No."
She frowned delicately, speaking with a cold tone.
"Isn't it your familiar? How can you not have it?"
Eiji raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it.
"...It was passed down to me by my mother before she died. It's the only one."
Perhaps speechless at Eiji's lack of magical common sense, Alice rubbed her forehead in frustration.
"A familiar like that is impossible to recreate with modern magic… at least I can't do it right now."
After all, it's tied to the First Magic, and its style points are off the charts.
In terms of mystery, Oil of the Moon was undeniably the finest among Alice's collection—possibly even surpassing the Rose Hound.
But now Oil of the Moon was gone.
Sliced apart by Eiji in one blow.
It was well and truly dead. Familiars are a kind of life; if they are killed, they die. There's no resurrection.
"…So I just caused Oil of the Moon's extinction?"
Eiji looked stunned.
"Yeah, didn't you know?"
Aoko commented naturally from the side.
So in the end, Alice ended up losing out big-time—killing a chicken and losing the rice, as the saying goes.
"You didn't tell me! I thought it could be recreated, so I went all out to destroy it!"
Eiji looked utterly devastated.
If he'd known Oil of the Moon was an irreplaceable familiar, he'd never have killed it so readily! He would've at least tried to charm it first!
"I'm honestly surprised you really wanted to control Oil of the Moon."
Alice looked at him like he was a walking joke, her face showing a cold sneer.
"With your magical energy, there's no way you could maintain a familiar of that level. Didn't the person who taught you magecraft tell you even that much?"
"What do you mean?"
Eiji frowned, not bothering to mind the thorns in her words.
"Maintaining a familiar comes with a cost."
Since Alice had no intention of explaining further, Aoko stepped in to give him a quick primer.
"It's like raising an animal—you have to feed it. For familiars, that 'food' is magical energy. The stronger the familiar, the more magic it needs. A magus without enough magical power simply can't maintain a high-grade familiar."
If the familiar isn't satisfied and doesn't get enough energy from its master, it might start attacking humans to feed—just like hunting in the wild.
So only powerful magi can maintain powerful familiars.
That's the fundamental rule of familiar magecraft.
Looking at Eiji's current magical reserves… raising a few cats, dogs, or birds should be within reason.
"So you're saying I was never capable of having a high-level familiar like Oil of the Moon to begin with?"
Eiji suddenly understood.
That's fine then.
If he'd killed Oil of the Moon when he could have had it, he'd regret it forever. But if he was never going to be able to own it in the first place, then it balances out!
He immediately perked up again.
"Why didn't you tell me that before?"
"I gave you the premise before, now I'm telling you the condition. They're not the same thing."
Aoko rolled her eyes.
Now he's blaming her?
"Enough joking around."
Alice clearly didn't care what Eiji thought and turned to leave.
"Hold on, we still haven't talked about compensation!"
Eiji's face turned serious.
He's always the one scamming others—never the other way around!
"What else do you want?"
Alice's frozen expression began to show faint signs of impatience.
"Teach me magectaft!"
"…What?"
"I said, teach me magecraft!"
Eiji stared at her with eyes full of determination.
"Your level of magecraft should be pretty high, right? At least higher than Aoko's? Then teach me—not anything too deep, just the basics!"
Heaven bear witness.
Eiji had always wanted a powerful magical attack. His current abilities leaned too much into close combat. While strong, they had clear weaknesses. Powerful magecraft could make up for those flaws.
A man needs dreams!
Aoko: "..."
Okay sure, I know I'm weak, but do you have to say it right in front of me?
"Alice, I think if you don't agree, he's just going to keep bothering you."
Aoko subconsciously rubbed her butt and said with conviction.
She'd been smacked ten-plus times earlier, and no amount of cursing had stopped him. He was dead set on getting intel out of her. In some ways, he was incredibly stubborn—once he locked onto something, no amount of talk would dissuade him.
Just sign a self-binding magical contract and the situation would be eased.
That kind of document is commonly used by magi to form contracts. Breaking it comes with a heavy price, so it's deeply trusted in the magecraft community.
"…If I teach you, this matter's settled?"
"No problem!"
"Half an hour a day at most."
"Deal!"
"…Fine."
Alice already felt a twinge of regret.
He agreed so readily, she figured she probably could've said "ten minutes" and still closed the deal.
"After school tomorrow, you and Aoko come to Kuonji Manor."
With that, Alice ignored the two behind her, turned silently, and disappeared into the night like a ghost.
"She actually let you into her house."
Aoko clicked her tongue in surprise, casting Eiji a strange look.
"Guess she really was fed up with you."
What does that mean?
Eiji looked puzzled, but Aoko didn't bother to explain.
"Anyway, this matter's finally done with. Time to go home and get some sleep!"
Aoko stretched lazily, her face full of relief.
Tomorrow this guy would be learning magic alongside her under Alice.
As a seasoned veteran with two years of experience, no way this rookie could compare. She was already looking forward to mocking him!
With mischievous thoughts brewing in her mind, Aoko smiled sweetly and parted ways with Eiji.
"Oh right, that head…"
Aoko quickly doubled back, picked up the remaining head of the doll, and stuffed it into her coat. From a distance, it looked like a pregnant woman taking a walk at night.
Under the night sky—
Eiji walked up to the amusement park fence, paused in thought, then grabbed the bars and gave them a hard tug.
With a painful groan, the bars were easily bent open into a small hole just big enough to crawl through.
"Now that's more like it!"
Eiji climbed over the wall and left with satisfaction.
***
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