Part 6 : Contract

Wait, why is there a young boy here...?

Where did that little puppy go?!

"Puppy... Where are you?!"

Feeling distraught, I looked around anxiously. But more importantly, who is this young boy?! Swiftly, I got out of my blanket, and 'accidentally' pushed the young boy to the floor.

THUD!

"Oww, that hurts..."

The boy held his head and slowly gazed towards me with tear-filled eyes. But in the next second, he bounced back ecstatically and bowed.

"Oh! You're awake! Thank you for helping me."

The young boy looked like he was 10, with silvery-white hair with blue and red mismatched eyes. He looks adorable with his thin body and ears... wait. Ears?

He had some kind of wolf or dog-like ears and... a tail? In the modern era, this could be called cosplay, but in this era... could that mean...

"...Are you that puppy...?"

Baffled, I eyed at him suspiciously.

"Yes, I am! I got hurt when I tried to run from my pursuers, but you saved me! I was almost..."

He seemed hesitant about continuing.

"Anyways, because of that, I desperately sought help." He said with a cute and pitiful smile that tugged at my heartstrings.

But sadly, I needed to probe more information about him before deciding to trust him.

"Then let's get straight to the point. Who or what are you? Why were you chased? where did you come from?" He scratched his head and awkwardly spoke.

"Well since I'd already made the early blood pact with you, I guess it should be fine to reveal everything."

"Wait, blood contract?"

Tilting my head sideways, I asked in confusion.

"Hm? Didn't you see it? That scarlet red mark on your hand."

A slightly larger finger pointed towards the direction of my hand.

"That signifies a beast's strength and the symbol of a pact. Since the color of the one in your hand is scarlet red, that means that I am..."

"A mythical beast?"

"Yep!"

Wagging his tail, the puppy boy answered ecstatically. Good thing I decided to read some books in my free time.

"..."

"Why did you choose me? We've just met."

The boy let out an awkward laugh as he tried to explain.

"Honestly, everything happened by chance. I was really at my wit's end last night, still fleeing from my pursuers. I saw the figure of a young girl from the window and not a trace of malevolence from the room. I planned to escape once you bandaged me, but who knew that my mana was completely exhausted. Helpless, I shrunk... but strangely, I felt calm."

"Okay..."

"Then back to the point, who are you?"

He hesitated a bit before answering.

"I... have no name. My mother died of labor when giving birth to me. I was just born, yet a lot of people were racing to capture me. Since I was born with a conscience, I ran and was chased almost every day without time to properly rest. I can transform and can speak the human tongue and think logically all because I am a mythical beast... but the hunters knew about my human appearance. I felt malice in the people chasing me, therefore I ran, stuck in the forest for a whole month."

Then he turned to me and smiled, tears pouring out of his mismatched eyes. "That is until I met you. The first person who I felt held no malice. Seeing a house near the forest, I took a gamble knocking on your window."

He proceeded to wipe the tears off his face while he explained to me that he hadn't been able to stay in the same place for days.

"...you must've been through a lot."

He said all that while crying. He must've been lonely since his mother was probably killed.

I reached my hand out to him and embraced him.

"There, you're no longer alone now, I understand. I will agree to your contract and will treat you well."

"Thank you..."

He stopped for a moment, then he cried, even more, clenching the back of my shirt tightly. So of course, I continued to embrace him.

After some time, he finally calmed down.

"So... does that mean that you came from Argus Grove, the grove near our house?"

"Yes. To be more precise the vast forest near the grove. But it was safer there."

No wonder he was relentlessly chased. That place is crawling with hunters and mercenaries.

The young boy tugged on my sleeves meekly.

"Err... can you please give me a name?"

Seeing his cute behavior, I couldn't help but feel my heart tighten.

"A name huh..."

What should I name him?

His hair looks like the fur of a grey wolf. Yet he is so cute!!! A fitting and simple name then popped up in my head.

"Grey! That's it, Grey shall be your new name!"

"Alright then, from now on, I will be called Grey.  By the blood of my ancestors, to live or to die, I shall follow my fate, follow my master... until death do us apart. I will follow her, the one bearing the name...-"

"Wait, master what is your name again?"

"Airene Annelise Roselle."

"Right, by the name of Airene Annelise Roselle. I shall forever serve Thee!"

SHING!

A flash of yellow light shone across the room. The scarlet red mark from before turned completely black.

"...it turned black."

"Of course it did, if it turned black, it means that you and I have agreed to the pact completely. And I have done the ritual. Before it was just temporary so I won't be sensed by those malice filled humans."

"Since now I have mastered with me, once I grow up, I will slaughter anything and anyone in mine and master's way!"

Grey declared, puffing his chest.

Oh boy, it must've been because of the people trying to poach him... he kind of sounds like an innocent yandere.

"Oh yea, master I've been wondering. How old are you again?"

"I'm 5."

"By human standards, our ages should be similar!" He gleefully said.

"Really?"

"Yep!"

It feels nice to see a child finally act like one... Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?

Hmmm...

..!

"Oh shit. The appointment!"

Before heading asking the maids for help to prepare me, I had to ask Grey to hide to not startle the maids.

Twisting the doorknob, I stuck my head out and saw my maid, Anna.

"Anna."

"Yes, milady. Is there anything you need?"

"What time is it?"

"It's 09.35 a.m, Miss."

"Then Anna, can you please help me get ready up? And ask the steward to prepare a carriage as well."

"Understood."

Anna then ordered some of the maids and butlers to do the things I'd asked to.

........

"Phew, finally all done."

I donned a light training outfit of this world, a mid sleeved crimson blouse with black trousers. Though this is supposedly menswear, I had asked to prepare a bunch of these since shirts and training pants did not exist here... and it didn't make sense for me to wear a dress to a grove/forest. I tied my hair to a foxtail with a red ribbon and prepared to leave.

Before we depart though, I have to go and introduce Grey to my parents first. I don't want to keep him in an unfavorable position.

[What is the matter, master?]

Grey? you can use telepathy?

[Yup.]

Okay, you can come out now.

WHOOOSH!

A guest of wind slammed me headfirst and the next thing I saw was Grey's beautiful eyes directly in front of mine.

"Uwaahh! Don't appear in front of my face!!! And were you upside down?!"

"Hehe, sorry master~"

Grey then corrected his posture and stopped floating to hug me, to which I gently removed his hands.

"Seems like you can teleport as well. Right, let's go greet my parents before we leave."

....

[CLANG!!!]

Anna witnessed at Grey's sudden appearance and dropped her jaw alongside the tray she was holding.

"Ummm, miss... who is that young boy? W-Where did he come from..?!"

She spoke, her face devoid of color. She seemed quite startled due to the sudden appearance of Grey.

I sighed and tried to calm the frightened girl down and introduce him to her.

"Anna, this is Grey. My new partner or contracted beast."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Anna."

Grey smiled brightly, his eyes crescents, with a smile that looked dashing and bright, highlighting his good looks.

How can this fake 10 years old have this kind of appearance?! As a girl, I've utterly lost. Just look at Anna blushing to a floating boy that randomly appeared!

I held my tears back, jealous. Leaving the flustered Anna behind, I dragged Grey by the hand.

"Okay, okay, Grey let's get going now."

Knock, knock

"Come in."

A butler opened the door for me and I went inside, ignoring the confused, wide-eyed butler.

"Good morning, mother, father. I have come to greet you before leaving."

"Oh, where to? And who might that young boy beside you be?"

Alarmed, my parents stared daggers into Grey.

"Errr, this is my contracted beast, his name is Grey."

My mother's expression turned into one of surprise.

"Contracted beast? In human form?!"

My parents looked at each other and sighed. Picking up a random beast by luck must be something unheard of.

"Now where did you find him?" Mother warily asked.

"He was injured last night so he came to my room." After some explaining, my parents gave me the okay and I left along with Grey.

This probably has something to do with the fact that they know about me being OP in magic. Well, Clayden did report it to them after all.

But as I left, I heard my mother mutter in a low voice...

"A mythical beast..."

I guess they must be amazed that their 5-year-old daughter who was spoiled was a prodigy and is somehow able to be contracted with a mythical beast. I know people would turn green with envy if their daughter was like that.

Bidding my farewells, I got on the carriage and rode to where Clayden and Andrew are, excited to meet this Grand Mage.

.....

But I would've never expected something like this to happen.

How Rosemary (Airene's mom) thought about Grey :

This child... first she suddenly lost her memories, then she became sensible and wanted to learn the magic she formerly despised. After testing her aptitude, she was called the prodigy of this generation.

Of course, this information musn't be leaked. It will just trouble this child even further. Aside from that, leave her for a night and she comes back with a contracted mythical beast?! And now she is even going to go to meet the Grand Sage!

If possible, I want to refrain from doubting my daughter, but all these changes are simply unfathomable. All aside from the fact that she is merely five years of age! To put it simply, I can't help but get a strange feeling that she isn't my daughter. But that shouldn't be possible, right?

Explanation about {Contracts}

The mark on your hand will differ by shape and color depending in the magical beast your contracted with. There are 5 ranks. You can also summon your beasts but they will mostly be temporary and random.

The order of rank goes as follow :

Highest to lowest

-Black

-Scarlet Red

-Dark Blue

-Dark Grey

-Yellow

(The seal shape will differ depending on what type of beast is contracted.)

You can never fake the seal since you be faced with divine punishment if you attempt it.

You can force a beast to contract with you but its power will be reduced significantly since its not willing to help you. But if it is willing and the contract is formed by trust and willingness, the beast's power will improve by a lot.

High ranked beasts have highest intellect and can take on a human form and age according to that human form. But once they reach a certain level, they will no longer be bound to these rules.

A beasts age is like follow :

1 month =12 human years

1 year = 15 human years

after 1 year, in the following years they will age by human years but can choose which appearence on which year they want to take (if high ranked) but if not, then the appearance will be random or they won't be able to transform at all.

An average beast can live up to 500 years of age (in human years) but the higher the rank, the longer the life.

Btw, humans in this world can live up to 200-500 years old :D