The afternoon sun at St. Freya High School was a bit dazzling. The sunlight penetrated the transparent glass window, shining on a wooden chair not far from the window... and on a furry, dirty [Familiar] on the wooden chair.
"Squeak squeak?..." Awoken by the sunlight, the originally unconscious Treasure-stealing Raccoon Girl opened its eyes in a daze, seeming a bit confused... It remembered its home was underground... how could there be such a big sun?...
"Hmm?..." The Treasure-stealing Raccoon Girl shook its head and finally came to its senses. It stared wide-eyed at the unfamiliar surroundings before it: the wooden table, the neatly folded bedding, the tightly closed door, the light and shadows left by the sunlight on the wooden floor... all of this was all too familiar to it... This was a [Human's] room!
"...Escape... Squeak squeak?!" The Raccoon Girl subconsciously tried to stand up and run, but sat back down... The word 'escape' it had just shouted was swallowed back, and it let out a somewhat panicked cry... It had only been learning the human language for a few days and was far from proficient. In its nervousness, it squeaked out again.
"...?!" The Raccoon Girl stared wide-eyed at the ropes that were firmly tied around it on the chair. It struggled violently a few times but could only helplessly shake the chair a few times, making a 'thump-thump!~' sound as the chair legs collided with the floor.
"..." Unwilling to give up, the Raccoon Girl stretched its neck, trying to bite the thick rope tied around its small body, but unfortunately, with its three-heads-tall body, it couldn't reach... In fact, even if it could reach it, it would be quite difficult to bite through the rope with its teeth...
The commotion caused by the Raccoon Girl's struggle instead alerted a certain maid who had been waiting outside the room. The door made a "creak!~" sound, and a certain black-haired maid poked her head out and glanced at the Raccoon Girl in the room, who was staring back at her in a daze...
"..." In silence, their gazes met. The Raccoon Girl instinctively put on a pitiful expression that was enough to awaken the maternal instincts of any girl... however, it was useless... The next moment, Liv expressionlessly withdrew her gaze, turned around, and shouted to the main hall outside the door as if claiming credit.
"Master, that [Familiar] has woken up." Her tone was even somewhat malicious, tinged with schadenfreude...
"..." The human world is so scary... a certain Raccoon thought, closing its eyes and trembling. Even its attempt at acting cute had no effect... Of course, a certain Raccoon didn't know that a certain maid wasn't strictly human...
"Haha~ You're finally awake!" A harsh laugh echoed in the Raccoon Girl's ears. It hesitantly opened its eyes and found itself surrounded by a group of young humans...
...................
"Hey, little guy... what's your name?" Kiana leaned in with great interest towards the Familiar, who was tied to a chair with a look of despair, and said loudly, "My name is Kiana!"
"Squeak squeak!~" The Raccoon Girl looked at the 'fierce' face of the white-haired furball getting closer and closer... In its nervousness, it opened its mouth and let out a string of 'beast language'...
"Can't familiars understand human language?" Kiana glanced at the squeaking Raccoon Girl and turned around to ask Li Xuan.
"...Logically speaking... they should be able to, right?" Li Xuan scratched his head and said uncertainly. He didn't know much about other familiars, but his own little sister 'Yaoye' could speak without being taught...
"Kiana, be a little gentler, you're scaring it," Mei said, raising an eyebrow to remind Kiana.
"Yes, yes~ Mei~" Kiana wasn't afraid of Mei's feigned anger at all. Instead, she coquettishly gave Mei a hug and said with a playful smile.
"Ahem..." Perhaps because of Mei's reminder, the white-haired furball named Kiana put away her playful smile and, for once, put on a serious expression and said earnestly, "Are you... male or female?"
"Pfft! Ahem ahem..." Li Xuan choked on his saliva, his face flushing red as he bent over and coughed hard...
"...." Mei stared expressionlessly at Kiana's back, her faint gaze like that of an old woman at a market picking out which part of the pork is better.
"Ahem... I was just trying to liven things up," Kiana said, turning around with a fawning expression. Then, just as Mei was about to glare at her again, she quickly turned back and continued to speak with a serious expression to the bewildered Raccoon Girl.
"Next... I'll ask you questions, and you can answer by nodding or shaking your head."
"...." The Raccoon Girl was stunned for a moment. Under the impatient expression of the white-haired furball, it quickly nodded to show that it understood.
"It seems you can understand human speech..." Kiana teased, then said with a serious face, "Then... did you dig the hole in the sewer?"
"..." The Raccoon Girl nodded. That hole was the home it had made with its own hands, and it was quite nice to sleep in...
"Were the clothes in the cave that you used as a bed stolen by you?" Kiana asked with rare clarity of thought.
"..." (Nods) The Raccoon Girl once again admitted that it was its doing. It was quite cold underground, not to mention its cave was right next to the sewer. Without a few pieces of clothing to block the moisture and serve as a mattress, even a Familiar would feel uncomfortable sleeping.
"Mei! I've found the culprit, the little thief!" Kiana turned around and said excitedly, trying to take credit.
"...Mm, I know," Mei said, covering her forehead helplessly and nodding. They were so close to Kiana, how could they not have heard... Silly Kiana... Mei thought, and couldn't help but reveal a gentle smile at the corner of her mouth. Isn't a silly Kiana the Kiana she knows?
"Wait... you're so small, how did you dig such a big hole?!" Kiana suddenly said as a flash of inspiration struck her. How did this little creature manage to dig a big hole in the concrete wall of the sewer?
"..." The Raccoon Girl was stunned. It was in a dilemma... Should it nod or shake its head for this question?
"Kiana, you should just untie it," Li Xuan said, feeling a trace of pity in his heart as he looked at the Raccoon Girl's pitiful appearance.
"Oh~ alright..." Kiana casually pulled out the 'USP45' pistol from her waist and, without even blinking, aimed at the thick rope tying the Raccoon Girl and pulled the trigger.
"Bang bang!" With two gunshots, the rope binding the Raccoon Girl snapped... Even if Kiana's academic performance was poor, her combat skills were still among the best in the academy...
"...Ahem, alright, can you tell me how you dug through the sewer?" Kiana asked, trying her best to show a gentle smile to the terrified Raccoon Girl.... But the gun she was still holding and her smile, which was somewhat distorted from forcing it, only brought tons of mental damage to the certain Raccoon.
"This! I dug it with this!" The frightened Raccoon Girl spoke more fluently than ever before and shouted loudly.
"This?..." Kiana looked with a mixture of belief and doubt at the small shovel held high in the hands of the three-heads-tall Familiar Raccoon Girl and said... "This can dig through concrete?"
"Yes! It can!" the Raccoon Girl said, nodding its head obsequiously.
"Can it dig through metal?" Kiana asked.
"It can!" the Raccoon Girl said agreeably.
"...." At this moment, Kiana's intelligence seemed to have returned to her head. She suddenly remembered something that made her eyes light up. "Are you willing to be my Familiar?"
"...I am, willing!" The Raccoon Girl gritted its teeth and replied, looking at the pistol pointed at its head.
"By the way... Mei, don't we need to stop this?" Li Xuan said helplessly, looking at the scene of coercion. Kiana recruiting a Familiar like this was no different from using force...
"Well~ no need... I don't think Kiana will cause any trouble," Mei said with a gentle gaze.
But... not long after, they would once again regret the decision they made today... If they had stopped Kiana at this time... they wouldn't have caused a bunch of trouble, and St. Freya High School wouldn't have indirectly lost a hundred million...
Of course... there are no 'ifs' in life...
(End of this chapter)