[Academic Life is Not For Thee]

After Louise had begrudgingly stopped trying to swap spit with her male familiar, the two were well on their way to... somewhere, Ordell supposed. He didn't really bother to ask, he was far too busy teasing his cute master that never failed to blush profusely at his comments.

"So uh, where are we going again?"

"The dining hall. We'll be lucky if there's still some food left..."

As Louise's voice trailed off a pink hue appeared on her cheeks, and Ordell immediately understood the implications. They did get a little busy in the morning so Louise would be lucky if there still was a breakfast left for her to eat, if not, then Ordell could try cooking up something... yeah probably not the best idea. For some reason, the man doesn't trust his skills in the kitchen despite never actually being there in the first place... actually, that's probably the reason.

The two quickly arrived at the entrance of what was quickly assumed to be the dining hall, which was unsurprisingly already packed with students. Ordell spotted a few familiar faces, and by few, I mean one because that's how many people he knew, excluding his master of course. That person of course was Kirche who almost looked like she was looking for them. The red-haired beauty gave them a passing wave, one that Louise grew annoyed at because she thought the girl was taunting her.

Ordell could immediately tell that just about 90% of everyone's attention was on him and his master. He could very easily tell that Louise was proud of herself, evident by the extra kick in her step as she soaked in all of the attention like a sponge.

'Note to self: Master likes praises.'

Ordell being the gentleman that he is moved one of the large wooden chairs back, offering his master a place to sit. One which she gladly took, shooting smug looks in every direction to show off her familiar and therefore herself. Ordell smirked as he watched his master dig into her food, standing close to her side and just a little bit behind her.

The stares did not stop but Ordell hardly paid them any mind, rather, he quickly scanned the nobles sitting behind the three really long tables and came to one conclusion...

'Everyone here... is incredibly weak.'

Ordell's red eyes darted across the room from person to person, lingering for less than a tenth of a second on each person. None were particularly exceptional. The way that Ordell saw them was not as people, but as sparks of various flame-like energy in a grey environment. Each is a different colour and slightly different texture. The ones greatly affiliated with the earth element had a dirt brown, sometimes dark grey or even dark golden colour to their "inner flames". One of the stronger examples appeared to be a blonde, very suavé guy that may or may not have been trying just a little too hard.

Students strongly affiliated with fire had red, yellow, and sometimes orange souls that burned brighter than most, and Kirche appeared to be one of the strongest fire-based mages. The nobles proficient in wind-based magic had less bright souls but instead had slightly larger ones, the "fires" having a light blue, sometimes even partially transparent colour. The strongest practitioner appeared to be a stoic blue-haired beauty of a girl. Such a cutie that one is. The list went on and on, however, none of the students or even teachers stood out more than Ordell's own master.

Louise's inner flame, her soul fire, was... white. It burned brighter than the rest but had a strangely eerie jet-black centre shaped like a perfect sphere. Truly, the master that had forced the infinity itself to bring forth Ordell from his nonexistence was an exceptional specimen.

"Hey, Ordell?" the man was brought back from his musings when his master called his name.

"Yes?"

"Aren't you hungry?" Ordell blinked once when he realised that he hasn't eaten anything in the past two days, but only laughed it off.

"No, not at all master. I don't need to eat much," Louise hummed in response, having come to know another interesting fact about her already exceptional familiar.

'It's like Ordell doesn't need much of anything at all... Well, good! That means he's more reliable!'

Quite the leap she made there but Louise was not necessarily wrong, Ordell looked and most certainly was a reliable person... when it came to anything but cooking. It took him one glance at the food the staff had made and he knew his food wouldn't count as much as mud in face of such delicacies.

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Breakfast soon enough, this meant that Louise and Ordell had pretty much most of the day to themselves. Well, not really to themselves as Louise insisted on getting Ordell at least some form of dessert. The summoned male appreciated the thought and accepted on the spot, and now, the two were walking through the courtyard of the extensive school complex where many chairs and tables have been laid out. Most if not all second-year students were here, familiarising themselves with their... familiars. That's a sentence.

Once again, Ordell moved the chair for Louise behind one of the vacant white tables. The pinkette gracefully accepted and sat down. But Ordell remained standing.

"Ordell, you can sit down you know?"

"Ah, right... Well, at least let me get you some tea or something?"

"We can just wait for one of the servants to bring it... but okay," Louise huffed on the inside, she felt a little pathetic that she couldn't refuse such a simple request from her familiar... but he did gain a few brownie points with her for his gentlemanly side.

So Ordell had swiftly scurried away from his master's side, looking for what one of those servants Louise had mentioned. It wasn't hard to find one, and only one. It was a woman, quite young and very well endowed. Not as well as Kirche but the competition was still there. She had short black hair and light blue eyes. Basic height but very beautiful for something Louise described as a "mere servant". She was also dressed in a maid suit which, if Ordell had anything to say, looked very nice on her.

The girl was pushing a cart of food, desserts and tea around, serving anyone and everyone that asked for anything. Ordell waited for the girl to serve another student before he approached her.

"Hello~!"

"Oh! H-Hello! What can I do for you?" it was obvious the girl wasn't expecting anyone to approach her, so she was a little startled.

"Ah, yes, well... my master would like some tea so I came over to get some for her," the girl blinked at the man's words before her eyes widened in realisation.

'Red eyes, red horns, a large white coat...'

"Are you perhaps the familiar that Miss Valliére summoned?" the man kept his signature smile, not surprised that even a maid knew who he was.

According to Louise and a few rumours he heard when they passed by some students, a lot of people were talking about the event, "Yes, that would be me. My name is Ordell, and you are, pretty miss?"

The man did a mock bow, placing one hand onto his chest and slightly bending forward. It seemed to do the trick as the maid blushed quite noticeably at his words.

"A-Ah! My name is Siesta, it's very nice to meet you!" Ordell chuckled lightly when the girl stumbled to return his bow, such a treasure.

"So may I have some tea for my master?"

"Certainly! What kind would you like?"

Ordell seemed to pause on that last question. He... didn't know. He thought there was just "tea" as in leaf juice, not that there were many variables. I mean, now that he thought back to it, of course, there had to be some manner of variation. But he knew none of them!

"Um... perhaps something a cute girl that barely reaches your bust would like?" Siesta giggled at Ordell's words, not even registering the fact that he just mentioned her boobs.

She turned to her cart and reached for one of the kettles, "Perhaps something hot and sweet?"

"Yes, that would be lovely... I think," Siesta happily poured Ordell two cups of tea.

"And a dessert would be great too, two desserts actually," Ordell brought up his hand, showing two fingers in the image of a V to the maid.

"Hmm, well, I know Miss Valliére likes cookberry pie. Would you like some as well?" the maid held up two plates, each with an almost identical dessert on them.

"Yes, thank you kindly."

The maid couldn't help but blink when Ordell obstructed the plates and the cups from her view for just a second. Then, when he moved his hand away... they vanished. She looked at his figure, but he couldn't have been holding or hiding them unless he shoved them in his pocket.

"You can do magic?!"

"Is that not normal for a familiar?" Ordell's smirk slightly widened, growing a little smug as he tilted his head to the side and placed his hands in his coat's pockets.

"Not at all! Most familiars are usually normal animals from the wild with an occasional magical beast, but I've never seen magic like that!" Ordell chuckled at the maid's energetic nature, she was quickly growing on him, he wanted to pat her on the head already.

"Well, what can I say? I am... very special," he added an extra wink for that extra measure, Siesta liked it so that's all that matters, "Ah, but I best head back to my master before she gets lonely. See you soon, pretty miss~"

Ordell turned to walk away and waved back at Siesta over his shoulder, taking one last look at the flustered girl as she timidly waved back before he was well on his way back to his master. He just hoped Louise likes the tea, whatever it is.

...

...

...

"Siesta is such a cutie~"