I Became the Familiar of a Chuunibyou Gloomy Girl

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t find out.”

“Hmm… well, it’s fine. I wasn’t expecting much anyway. Obviously, it wouldn’t be this easy to find out, right?”

Estelle’s words are quite harsh, and furthermore, they disrespect the other person. She doesn’t view the other person as an equal human being.

However, that’s not the case.

If one were to only listen to Estelle’s words, it might seem like she’s excessively criticizing a student who failed a mission, but that’s only if one doesn’t know Estelle’s personality at all.

From how she pretended to defend the student who summoned a rat during the Incarnation class while actually mocking them, one can understand Estelle’s personality very well.

Naturally, the student who acts as Estelle’s subordinate and accompanies her is also well aware of this fact.

“…Thank you. I shall take my leave now.”

The student gratefully accepts the lord’s favor.

The student, whose parents and grandparents have sworn loyalty to Estelle’s family, is momentarily dazed, unable to believe that Estelle has shown mercy, but soon manages to regain composure, bows their head in respect, and withdraws.

‘…What is going on?’

Since Estelle had already lost interest in the student, the student’s courtesy was completely useless.

With her mind full of thoughts about Ariel, Estelle makes conjecture after conjecture about what Ariel could have possibly done.

‘I’ve never heard that Incarnation requires incantation, and I’ve never heard of such an incantation method. Are there magical incantations that even I, a member of the Dain family, don’t know about?’

Estelle’s mind is burning.

If it had been a nameless student who did such a thing, Estelle would have just thought they were being foolish and quickly erased it from her mind.

But the person who did such a thing is none other than Ariel, the lady of the Cielnoir Count family, famous for being more proficient in dark magic than anyone else.

Compared to the Dain Ducal family that Estelle belongs to, its history is quite meager, but because its power is still somewhat strong, Estelle cannot take Ariel lightly.

‘If there really is a secret to Incarnation… ugh.’

Estelle thinks.

She thinks that it would have been good if she, like Ariel, had cheated in Incarnation.

Then she could have summoned an even more powerful and majestic familiar, gaining considerable prestige.

Caw—

“…Raven, I’m not blaming you.”

Estelle’s familiar, Raven, immediately notices what its master is thinking and makes a cry full of dissatisfaction, and hearing this, Estelle hurriedly strokes Raven to soothe it.

If Estelle did this to a person, it would clearly be mockery, but Estelle is genuinely kind to Raven, who is not a person.

Raven, who is also well aware of this fact, comfortably accepts Estelle’s caress.

“…Alright.”

Feeling the soft touch of Raven’s feathers, Estelle vows never to forgive Ariel.

How dare she use dishonest methods to tarnish Incarnation, the sacred ritual that evaluates students’ vessels?

‘To try to draw people’s attention by summoning a skeleton in Incarnation… foolish, too foolish.’

From the beginning, it makes no sense to summon an undead in Incarnation, which projects the summoner’s personality and potential.

If it were a slum dweller who hated the world, an undead might appear, but isn’t Ariel a princess who grew up in a wealthy count family, far from a slum?

For an undead to pop out of such a princess through Incarnation? There’s a limit to how much you can take people for fools.

As the lady of the Dain Ducal family, which takes great pride in magic, Estelle clearly recognizes Ariel as an enemy.

An enemy who disrupts the nobility’s traditions and the pride of magic.

Creeeeak—

Tap—

The sound of rusty hinges grating against each other rings out mercilessly, roughly scraping the ears, but the sound of the door closing is so small and quiet.

It feels as if she’s carefully closing the door so as not to startle family members at home with the door sound. It’s an action that reveals Ariel’s timid personality all too well.

That… honestly, isn’t it rather meaningless?

The hinges were so noisy, so what’s the point of closing the door quietly?

“Haaah…”

Thud—

After opening the door to her dormitory single room, Ariel walks forward sluggishly like a zombie and then collapses onto the bed.

Doing this without changing out of her outdoor clothes is obviously something that shouldn’t be done, but the situation is too frustrating to point that out now.

Rustle—

Whoop—

‘…What is all this?’

The floor of the room is full of garbage.

It’s certainly not as bad as the trash-filled rooms you’d see on TV, but it’s clear she lives without cleaning up. If my parents had seen me living like this, wouldn’t they have given me a sincere beating?

First, I should wake her up and tell her to clean—

“Today was tough too…”

‘—…’

At that moment, a sound full of relief and the regrets of the day echoes.

At the academy, that is, outside this dormitory, Ariel always mumbled timidly and only made small strange sounds, but now she’s not showing that side at all.

This room must be so comfortable that Ariel is acting and speaking in a manner she never shows at the academy.

From her tone and behavior, you can tell how comfortable, no, how relieved the current Ariel is.

…It seems she’s been enrolled in the academy for about a week, and during that week, she hasn’t cleaned once.

Because she’s too exhausted when she returns to her room.

“Uuuh…”

Now she’s even sleeping.

It hasn’t been long since the sun set, but if she sleeps now, won’t she wake up at dawn? Then she’ll be very tired during the day… ah, is that why her face looked so grim?

Snore snore—

Swish—

As I listen to Ariel’s breathing and lightly sweep the top of the furniture, the settled dust sticks to my fingers.

Dust doesn’t settle this much in just a week. Of course, since the floor is carpeted, it’s possible for this much dust to accumulate, but even so, this is excessive.

Is it because she doesn’t clean up the trash that so much dust has accumulated? Or is it because she keeps the door closed and doesn’t ventilate the room?

Well, it doesn’t really matter either way.

“I should clean up first.”

I open my mouth and speak, having forcibly held back for half a day.

Indeed, I can speak properly.

Since I only made “ah” sounds during the day, I was half-skeptical about whether I could really speak despite knowing it in my head, but experiencing it directly makes it certain.

Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now.

“First, I need a rag… maybe I’ll use this.”

I open the wardrobe and take out clothes to use as a dishcloth and mop.

It’s new clothes that have never been worn, but since Ariel keeps wearing the same clothes anyway, it probably won’t matter. What can you expect from Ariel, who hasn’t done laundry once and has barely changed clothes despite a week having passed since school started?

‘But wait, aren’t there maids or servants here? Isn’t she a noble?’

Judging by the reactions of those around her, Ariel is a noble. Despite this, she’s living in such a neglected state, which makes no sense according to my common sense.

I haven’t seen nobles at the academy accompanied by maids or servants, though.

That’s perfectly understandable. It’s a place of learning, so bringing maids or servants would be too complicated and could enable cheating.

But this is a dormitory, even if it’s within the academy.

Nobles may be called noble, but when it comes to daily life, they’re practically handicapped, so shouldn’t there be maids or servants at least limited to the dormitory?

Squeak—

‘Sigh, I don’t know.’

I should clean up first.

I wet the clothes in the bathroom and then wring them out to make a dishcloth.

Having become this body, I can’t sleep anyway, so I might as well pass the time with this.

Besides, cleaning isn’t a meaningless task, right? Sleeping in a place like this would make you sick—… ah.

‘First, I should lay her down properly.’

Thinking about her health as I look at Ariel, I see her sleeping soundly while sprawled face down on the bed.

If she sleeps in that position, dust and fibers will get into her mouth, and it’s bad for her health in many ways, so I should at least turn her over.

Slide—

“Ueeeh…”

As expected, when I turn Ariel’s body, she doesn’t disappoint.

The saliva filling Ariel’s mouth instinctively evokes a terrible sense of revulsion.

Ugh, disgusting.

If I wipe this saliva, I won’t be able to use it as a dishcloth. I’ll just use it as a mop—

“—…”

And at that moment, I see Ariel’s face for the first time.

I’ve seen Ariel’s face many times before, so the word “first” shouldn’t apply, but I can’t help but use the word “first.”

After all, it’s a face that can hardly be considered the same person.

‘…This is Ariel?’

Ariel’s previous appearance couldn’t be considered beautiful.

The long, drooping bangs, hunched back and neck, withdrawn posture, strange expression, and drab clothes mercilessly degraded Ariel’s appearance.

But not now, as she lies straight on the bed with her hair let down.

Her back and neck are straight, and her bangs extend to the sides and upward, not covering her face.

Her expression is also expressionless since she’s sleeping, so she’s not making an unpleasant face.

To be honest… she’s quite pretty. Very much so.

‘I can’t do much about her posture or expression… but I can at least do something about these bangs and clothes.’

Let me put some effort into this.