"I'm not asking for much."
He wore an expression of utter entitlement as he spoke and it was as if Moon Oil were a bottle of ordinary cooking oil. Aoko was dumbfounded.
This guy still hadn't given up on the idea of making Moon Oil his familiar.
Does he think Moon Oil is roadside merchandise?
"..."
Even Alice looked stunned and was at a loss for words for a moment.
"No." She frowned and said coldly.
"It wasn't your familiar to begin with, how could you have it?" Ryoji raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing her.
"That was passed down to me before my mother died. It was the only one." Exasperated by Ryoji's lack of Magecraft common sense, Kuonji Alice pressed her fingertips to her forehead.
"A Familiar like that is impossible to reproduce with modern Magecraft...at least not by me right now."
After all, it's linked to First Law practices, which are very high-tier and rare.
In terms of mystery, Moon Oil was indisputably the crown jewel of Alice's collection, surpassing even the Rose Hound.
But now, the Moon Oil was gone.
Ryoji had cut it to pieces.
A Familiar is a living being. If it's killed, it dies, there's no resurrection. There's no resurrection.
"...So I eradicated Moon Oil?" Ryoji looked dazed.
"You didn't know?" Aozaki Aoko's comment from the sidelines sounded as if it were obvious.
Alice had basically tried to kill a chicken and ended up worse off, what a total loss.
"You didn't tell me! I thought it could be remade, so I didn't hold back when I struck!" Ryoji was utterly despairing.
If he had known that the Moon Oil could never be reproduced, he wouldn't have been so decisive. At least he could have tried charming it first.
"I'm surprised. You actually wanted to control Moon Oil?" Alice's face showed faint, cold amusement as if she were looking at a joke.
"With your magic power, you simply can't summon a familiar of that level. Didn't your Magecraft teacher tell you this basic fact?"
"What do you mean?" Ryoji frowned and asked, unperturbed by the barb in her tone.
"Raising a familiar requires payment." Alice had no intention of explaining further, so Aoko Aozaki chipped in to educate him.
"Just like feeding an animal, raising a Familiar requires Magic Power. The stronger the Familiar, the more Magic Power it demands. A Magecraft user with too little Magic Power simply can't maintain a high-level Familiar."
If a Familiar isn't satisfied, if it can't get enough energy from its Magecraft master, it might attack humans to feed. It gets energy by consuming people, just like a wild predator.
Therefore, only powerful Magecraft users can keep powerful Familiars.
That's the rule of Familiar Magecraft. Judging by Ryoji's current magic power, keeping a few cats, dogs, or birds as familiars should be no problem.
"So that means it was impossible for me to own a high-level Familiar like Moon Oil from the start?" Ryoji suddenly understood.
Well, then, no harm done.
If he had killed Moon Oil when it was possible to acquire her, he would have regretted it forever. But if owning it was impossible from the beginning, then things were balanced!
He immediately perked up.
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
What I told you before was the premise. This is the requirement. They're not the same thing."
Aozaki Aoko rolled her eyes.
Now she was being blamed.
"Enough joking around." Alice ignored Ryoji's schemes and turned to leave.
"Wait! We still haven't settled on the compensation!" Ryoji's face hardened instantly.
"I'm always the one who fools others, never the one who gets fooled! What else do you want?" A trace of impatience appeared on Alice's icy expression.
"Teach me Magecraft!"
"...What?"
"I said, teach me Magecraft!"
Ryoji stared at Alice with blazing intensity.
"Your Magecraft must be pretty strong, right?" At least it's stronger than Aoko's, I'd say. Just teach me the basics of Magecraft. It doesn't need to be too deep."
Heavens have mercy.
Ryoji had always wanted a powerful magical attack. His current power leaned almost entirely toward melee. Sure, he was strong, but his weaknesses were obvious. Strong Magecraft could cover those gaps.
People should have dreams!
Aozaki Aoko: "..."
'I know I'm weak. Fine, but can't you say this stuff in front of me?'
"Alice, if you don't agree, he'll just keep bothering you." Aoko instinctively rubbed her backside and spoke with confidence.
After taking a dozen spankings, no amount of scolding fazed Ryoji. He was determined to extract information from her. He was very persistent, once he made up his mind, no amount of argument could sway him.
As long as they signed a self-binding document, things between them could be smoothed over.
Such a document is a Magecraft contract, and breaking it has severe consequences, so Magecraft users trust it implicitly.
"...So if I teach you, this matter is settled?"
"No problem!"
"Maximum of half an hour a day."
"Fine!"
"...Understood."
Alice regretted it a little.
He agreed so easily that if she had said ten minutes, he probably would have accepted that too.
"After school tomorrow, you and Aoko come to the Kuonji residence."
After saying this, Alice ignored the two behind her, turned silently, and disappeared into the night like a ghost.
"Wow... She actually let you into the house."
Aoko couldn't help but click her tongue in surprise and cast a weird glance at Ryoji.
"Looks like she really couldn't stand your nagging anymore."
What do you mean by that?
Ryoji was puzzled, but Aoko had no intention of explaining.
"Well, this matter is finally over. Let's get some sleep!" Aozaki Aoko stretched lazily, her face relaxed as she spoke.
Tomorrow, she would teach this guy Magecraft at Alice's place. As a rookie, he couldn't possibly match her; she had two years of experience! She'd be sure to mock him thoroughly.
Aoko schemed in her mind, smiling beautifully, before parting ways with Ryoji.
"Oh, and that head..."
Aoko hurried back, scooped up the remaining puppet skull, and carried it with her. From a distance, she looked like a pregnant woman taking a nighttime stroll.
Under the night sky...
Ryoji walked to the fence of the amusement park, paused to think for a moment, and then grabbed the bars. He tore at them with all his strength.
The fence let out a pained creak and yielded easily, leaving a barely passable hole.
"Now that's more like it!"
Ryoji climbed over the wall and walked off confidently.
(End of chapter.)
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395