Chapter 160: Louise the Mocked

It was a crisp morning, with brilliant sunlight streaming into the room of an ancient, quaint tower. The sunlight of the Halkeginia continent was always so bright and warm; even in the freezing far north or atop snowy, ice-clad mountains, wherever the sun’s rays reached, one would never feel the cold.

Especially not across the vast grasslands where the Tristain Academy of Magic was located. Reflected by the green meadows, even with the sunrise just peeking over the horizon, the surroundings remained exceptionally bright.

"Mmm..." Half-asleep, Sikong Xu suddenly felt something wriggling against his chest, the sensation resembling that of holding a small animal.

"Since when did I keep a cat..." Sikong Xu forced his hazy eyes open, and his vision was immediately filled with a cascade of peach-pink hair.

"Hair?" Sikong Xu remained dazed for a moment, then, registering the softness in his arms, he immediately looked down into the bedding.

There was Louise, pressed entirely against Sikong Xu's chest, curled up like a little kitten. Her drowsy sleeping face looked utterly adorable.

"Hey, wake up, Louise. It's time to get up." Sikong Xu tried to rouse the sleeping girl.

Although Louise's magic performance was abyssal, she still had classes every day, and before class, she had to go to the grand dining hall for breakfast.

"Hn?" Louise twisted her cute little head in Sikong Xu's arms, and then slowly opened her eyes...

"Eep—You, you, you, who are you! What are you doing in my room?!"

"Oh please, my dear young lady, you were the one who summoned me just yesterday, how can you not recognize me today!" Sikong Xu said with a helpless sigh. This Louise really must have slept her wits away.

"Oh that's right... You're my familiar, summoned by me just yesterday." Louise's voice was soft, making Sikong Xu's heart itch.

"Hurry up and get my clothes. Letting you sleep in the bed yesterday was already the greatest benevolence your master could bestow upon you. A familiar should act like a familiar. Look, the wardrobe is right there. Go inside and get my clothes to help me dress."

Louise's words left Sikong Xu dumbfounded. This bargain master of his was taking herself far too seriously!

"If you want to change clothes, do it yourself. I'm a guy, aren't you worried I might do something?"

Hearing Sikong Xu's words, Louise showed no particular reaction; clearly, in her heart, she still regarded Sikong Xu as nothing more than a stray dog or cat.

"As an aristocrat, one does not dress oneself when there are servants around." With that, Louise glanced at Sikong Xu. Noticing that he remained unmoved, she continued, "If you don't obey me, I won't give you anything to eat!"

Louise's threat struck right at Sikong Xu's weak spot. When he transmigrated here, apart from a few health and mana potions in his dimensional inventory, he had possessed absolutely nothing—not even a change of clothes.

"Fine..." After a moment of internal struggle, Sikong Xu had no choice but to open the wardrobe, take out Louise's garments one by one, and meticulously help her put them on.

However, this provided Sikong Xu with quite the visual feast. Petite Louise might have lacked in the chest and hip departments, but she was, after all, a very cute girl. While helping her change, Sikong Xu inevitably experienced a physiological reaction or two.

"Done." After gently tying the black cloak around Louise's shoulders, Sikong Xu looked at her.

"Let's go. Time for breakfast." Glancing at Sikong Xu, Louise took the lead and stepped out of the room.

The cafeteria of the Tristain Academy of Magic consisted of only a single floor, but that floor was immense, easily capable of accommodating the academy's entire student body and faculty without any issues.

The interior decoration was also remarkably luxurious. Right down the center of the grand dining hall stood three very long rows of banquet tables, corresponding sequentially from left to right to the academy's first-, second-, and third-year students. Along the far sides of the hall stood numerous exquisitely carved stone sculptures, while overhead hung a massive cluster of crystal magic chandeliers.

"Whoa, your architecture here is truly spectacular, and even the food looks this lavish," Sikong Xu chuckled as he followed behind Louise, his stomach already growling with hunger.

However, ever since stepping out of the dormitory, Louise had kept a bitter expression, looking as though she desperately wanted to avoid speaking, likely due to the strange, curious glances the surrounding crowd kept casting her way.

After all, the familiars summoned by everyone else were phantom beasts or magical beasts of various kinds, whereas Louise had actually summoned a "human," an utter anomaly. It was no wonder people looked at her so strangely.

"Ha, look, look! It's the rumor-ridden master whose magic always fails, paired with her bizarre human familiar."

Just as Louise and Sikong Xu approached the tables, a girl with fiery red hair and a healthy wheat-toned complexion chuckled teasingly as she looked at Louise, while the yellow-curly-haired girl sitting beside her giggled along.

Their muffled laughter escaped Louise's notice, but Sikong Xu, possessing a foundation in martial arts, caught it clearly. He glanced in their direction, and their identities instantly clicked in his mind.

The girl with fiery red hair and wheat-colored skin was Kirche, known by the epithet "Kirche the Flamer." As for her full name, Sikong Xu decided it was far too long for him to bother remembering.

She possessed a figure that contrasted sharply with Louise's: tall, standing only a head and a half shorter than Sikong Xu.

Kirche's sparkling eyes and voluptuous chest were her most captivating traits. The second button of her shirt hung unfastened, leaving the generous expanse of her cleavage faintly visible. Paired with her sun-kissed skin, she exuded a raw, primal allure—a temptation maddening to behold.

Kirche was Louise's classmate, and their relationship was abyssal. Notably, she was an exchange student from Tristain's southern neighbor, Germania. Furthermore, their two families were mortal enemies—the kind of blood feud where, should war ever break out between their nations, their houses would inevitably clash on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the yellow-curly-haired girl was also Louise's classmate. Named Montmorency, she was a quintessential aristocrat radiating noble elegance. If one drew close to Montmorency, a delightful fragrance would immediately greet the senses—her self-crafted perfume, which had earned her the title "Montmorency of the Fragrance."

"Say, setting aside status for a moment, the familiar Louise summoned is actually quite dashing, don't you think? What do you reckon, Tabitha?" Amidst the lighthearted laughter, Kirche directed her question to a short blue-haired girl sitting on her other side.

The short blue-haired girl, addressed as Tabitha, wore red-framed glasses, and beside her rested a massive, segmented long magic wand.

This short-haired blue girl was somewhat taciturn, always quietly reading a book by herself. Even when others initiated conversation, she would merely offer a faint murmur in response—a textbook example of the silent, emotionally reserved maiden archetype.

"Mmm..." Tabitha glanced briefly at Sikong Xu before returning her gaze to the book she carried with her.

"Hey! What are you daydreaming for? Hurry up and pull out my chair! What a slow-witted familiar." Seeing Sikong Xu staring fixedly at Kirche not far away, Louise felt a twinge of annoyance and gave his shin a sharp kick.

Wincing in pain, Sikong Xu had no choice but to pull out the chair for Louise.

Then, just as he intended to take a seat himself, he suddenly noticed Louise staring unblinkingly at him while pointing a finger at the floor beneath his feet.

"Down there?" Sikong Xu looked down and spotted a pitiful-looking plate resting on the floor, topped with a piece of bread blackened beyond recognition. "You've got to be kidding..."

At that moment, Sikong Xu recalled that in the original setting, the food at the tables was strictly for nobility. Familiars weren't even permitted inside the cafeteria at all, which made Louise's meaning painfully clear.

"You're not seriously telling me to sit on the floor and eat, are you?!" Sikong Xu grew irritated.

Louise's face remained rigid. "Yes, exactly. Only aristocrats may sit here. Familiars are normally supposed to stay outside, but out of my special consideration for you, you've been upgraded to the cafeteria floor."

The exchange between the two once again provoked a round of amusement from the surrounding students.