Bonus Short Stories

How Sain Became a Sheep

This happened a few days before Sain set out for Jenifa Royal Magic Academy.

He was still at home in the Forth family’s house. A traveling merchant had arrived, requesting Sain’s help as the holy knight.

“Please, sir. Please use your powers as the holy knight to purify this creepy book.”

The merchant placed a book on the table in the guest room.

“This book has apparently been affected by some sort of dark magic that makes bad things happen to the holder. On top of that, whenever I try to throw the thing away, it just appears back in my hand the next morning. It’s just the creepiest thing. Thanks to it, I’ve been running into bandits, getting scammed, and all-around just having a terrible time. Please, sir. Help me.”

“This book has indeed been touched by some dark magic... Tell me something: How did you come by this book? Did you get it from another continent? I can’t seem to read the title...”

“You’re absolutely correct. I came by this book when I was in another continent. The title says, ‘An Introduction to Summoning Demons.’”

“...Oh? Summoning demons, you say?”

Something flashed in Sain’s eyes. He might have just happened upon a pearl of a book.

“Very well. I’ll help you with this. By the way... What are you, uh, planning to do with this book once it’s been purified?”

“I don’t want to touch a terrible book like this ever again, even if it is purified. If possible, I’d like to ask you to get rid of it for me—”

“Yes! Yessss! All right! In that case, you can leave it with me!” Sain yelled, pumping his fist in excitement.

The gesture earned him a wide-eyed stare from the traveler.

“Oh, and, uh...” Sain spun back toward the book. “Can you also translate what it says on those pages about demon summoning for me?”

“Well... I certainly can, but why?”

“I... I need to know! For the purification! It’s very important.”

“I-I see! Understood!”

After abusing his status as the holy knight to feign credibility, Sain purified the book and bid the traveler farewell. Then, he immediately attempted the demon summoning ritual. According to the traveler’s translation, by keeping a sheep nearby as a sacrifice and reciting a certain incantation, a demon could be summoned.

So, he went outside and flipped the book open in front of one of the sheep they kept in the yard.

“Onnulu bamessa, bandelu holudelu, namanu minumenomaa...!”

The eerie syllables, further accentuated by Sain’s extra ominous tone, echoed through the Forths’ yard. As soon as the final word passed his lips, his whole body began glowing purple.

Mm-hm-hm. I’ve done it. With this, a great demon shall be summoned before me— Hm? That’s weird. How come I’m the one glowing purple and not the sheep?

He began glowing brighter and brighter to the point where he was forced to close his eyes. When he opened them again, he noticed that his perspective had changed—literally. The sheep that he’d been looking down at was, for some reason, now at eye level. Feeling that something had gone wrong, he slowly shifted his gaze toward his own body. It was then that he realized...

What?! I’ve turned into a sheep?!

It made no sense. Why in the world was he currently wrapped in an adorable coat of wooly goodness?

“Master Sain? Where’d you run off to? It’s time for lunch.”

His personal attendant, Melia, came outside and toddled over. She stood over him, looking around. He desperately wiggled his stubby little legs, trying to catch her attention. She didn’t even glance in his direction.

Eventually, she noticed his clothes on the ground.

“Hm, clothes? Let’s see... Yep, these are Master Sain’s, which can only mean... Oh, please don’t tell me he’s running around stark naked...”

Of course I’m not!

As Melia’s expression grew grimmer and grimmer, Sain continued to baa his frustration, but to no avail.

An hour later, Sain reappeared in front of Melia.

Sans clothes, of course.

The Morning of a Personal Attendant Begins Early

This happened the morning after Sain arrived at Jenifa Royal Magic Academy.

Sain’s personal attendant, Melia, woke up in her dormitory room. She promptly slipped out of bed and washed her face at the sink, after which she threw open the curtains and looked out at the pale morning sky. With sunlight streaming into the room, she donned her attendant uniform with practiced deftness.

She let out a soft sigh. The next order of business was making Sain’s breakfast. Then, she had to go through her list of duties and—

That was when she realized she was no longer in the Forth household. This was the academy’s dormitory.

“...Well, would you look at that. Silly me.”

There was no need to cook breakfast because they’d decided that they’d eat in the school cafeteria. There was no need to go through her usual list of duties because they’d decided that they were going to center their lifestyle around the school. Therefore, there was also no need for her to get up this early.

She considered getting some more sleep, but undressing and dressing again seemed like a pain. Figuring she’d just stay awake, Melia spent a long while doing nothing in particular. She simply stared at the sky.

“I feel sort of... antsy.”

Normally, she’d already be rushing to and fro, doing all sorts of work for Sain. Now, with her usual rhythm broken, she couldn’t help but feel restless.

Should she prepare lunch? No, lunch was also going to be cafeteria food.

Should she go and wait in front of Sain’s room? No, it was far too early for that.

After mulling over her options, she decided to leave her room. She walked down the hallway to the adjacent room. She stopped in front of the door for a moment, then opened it and stepped in.

The adjacent room belonged to Sain, but she’d secretly asked the headmaster to give her a duplicate key.

“An attendant’s duties include periodically checking on her master, after all.”

With a lot of time on her hands and nothing to do with it, she decided to stand over Sain and watch him sleep.

“...He sure is quiet when he’s sleeping.”

Despite the fact that there was a person standing within arm’s reach, Sain continued to snooze peacefully. As Melia watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest and the tranquil expression on his face, she found that her restlessness had faded away, replaced by a matching placidity. The next thing she knew, she’d leaned over, and her face was inches from his.

Just then, one of the drawers beside the bed suddenly flashed, and a book appeared from inside. It flipped open by itself, and large words appeared across its outspread pages.

I’m watching you.

“...”

After a long silence, Melia responded with a tsk.

What a possessive goddess. It seemed like she intended to keep Sain all to herself, even when he was sleeping.

Melia reluctantly backed away from Sain. The book then snapped shut. Apparently, watching him sleep was fair game. So, Melia continued to watch. She remained in his room, quietly keeping him company until he began to stir.

Just before he woke up, she silently stepped out of his room and waited by the door.

After a noisy ruckus, he appeared before her in his jet-black outfit.

“Good morning, Master Sain.”

The Golden Princess is Raring to Go

This happened when Alicia Remia was in her sixth year of the Jenifa Royal Magic Academy’s primary division.

“Wow... What a mess,” Alicia muttered as she surveyed the scene.

In order to prevent nefarious individuals from getting in, Jenifa Royal Magic Academy was under the constant protection of a powerful barrier. There was, however, occasionally the rare intruder who was powerful enough to breach the barrier and gain entrance.

As it happened, this very thing had occurred a few days ago. Fortunately, the teachers had noticed right away and apprehended the intruder, but not before engaging in an intense battle. The corner of the schoolyard where Alicia currently stood was where they had crossed swords; the shrubbery was in ruins, and what little remained of the grass was patchy and uneven.

“Hey, what’s this? Are you scared, Alicia?”

“N-No, I’m not!”

Her classmate, Cisca, walked up beside her and smirked.

It was currently lunch break. At Alicia’s urging, they had both finished their lunches early so that they could come and survey the scene. Her reasoning was that it’d remind them to stay on their toes.

“You know, Cisca, I sometimes think that, someday, there’ll be a time when the students will have to fight too.”

“You mean against intruders?”

“Yeah. This time, we were lucky that the teachers got here fast enough, but there’s no guarantee that’ll happen every time, right? That’s why I think we students need to be ready to fight as well.”

“Fight, huh. How do you plan to do that with those lukewarm flames of yours?”

“Don’t call them lukewarm! I... I can at least scare the intruders! It’ll be a distraction!”

“A distraction, huh... Look, this isn’t all fun and games. You should keep your head out of serious stuff like this.”

“Wh-What do you mean ‘fun and games’?! Fine! I’ll show you I can handle serious stuff! Just watch me!”

“Uh, I wasn’t talking about you. I just meant there’s no need for students to get involved in something so dangerous...”

“You’d better not look away, because I’m going to take down that intruder so fast!”

Alas, Alicia was raring for a fight, and Cisca’s words had failed to reach her.

A year later, on the school grounds, Alicia ran into a mysterious man clad in all black. Her conversation with Cisca immediately resurfaced in her mind, and the fading embers in her heart were reignited into a passionate blaze.

She was ready to prove herself, and the man before her was the intruder she had been hoping for—she was sure of it.

“Flagus!”

“Wait, I didn’t—”

A bolt of fire shot from her hand, forcibly ending his monologue.