Chapter 140 - Thoughts

After she was done training Sophinea, Azriel stopped by the data storage room on the way back to her room. The data that she picked out randomly made a tall pile above her height. Azriel floated them in the air with magic and carried them to her room. Marthi, who was waiting for her, was shocked.

“What is all this, master?” Marthi asked.

“Things that weren’t in Rhema’s study. The data about the Great War and the fall of the magic civilization and the data that have ‘dragon’ in their names or table of contents and— You should help me too, Marthi,” Azriel said.

“Pardon?” Marthi.

“You do know how to write letters, don’t you?” Azriel

“I know how to write, but…,” Marthi was at a loss, lifting up his bushy front paw. Azriel said as she sorted out books, documents, and scrolls. “You can turn into a person like Noir or Blanchet.”

“I, I apologize, master, but I have never tried it before,” Marthi replied.

“Haven’t you done it? Do you not know how to do it?” Azriel looked back at Marthi in surprise. The lion cub’s ears drooped. “Well, I have knowledge that was indoctrinated in me…”

“Then, let’s try it this time,” Azriel put down a scroll she was holding and dragged a chair. She settled down in front of the lion cub, who was sitting blankly on the bed, and said. “Well, try changing your form now.”

“I, I’ll practice it privately at another time. Please give me some time.”

“Isn’t it better to try together? We can also work it out together when something doesn’t go right.”

“Is that a command?” Marthi asked.

“No, it’s not. But… Do you not want to do it together? Why?”

“It’s…”

“It’s?”

Marthi covered his eyes with his paws. He rolled his body round and covered his front with his small wings. With his tail rounded as well, he became round like a ball and said in a tiny voice. “It’s embarrassing…”

“Huh? What is?”

“I can’t let you see me fail, master. I was made to be a perfect familiar spirit!”

Dumbfounded, Azriel dropped her jaw. “No person is, no, no familiar spirit is perfect from the beginning. It’s okay to make mistakes.”

Marthi, who stuck out his eyes through his front paws, cried very seriously. “No, I can’t live with such a slackened attitude, more so because your enemy is powerful.”

“My enemy? Who?”

“I’m talking about Rhema Reshith. I need to try harder to protect you from him.”

“W-wait, why is Rhema my enemy?”

“Master, you said that you learned magic from him and told me that he is a kind person, but I can’t trust him,” Marthi said in a stern manner. He straightened his body that was rolled in a circle and sat down. Azriel vacantly looked at the familiar spirit and asked. “Why do you think so?”

“Master, I can sense hostility towards you acutely because I’m your familiar spirit,” Marthi pointed outside the window with his wing. It was the direction of Sophinea’s room. “He wondered if he should kill you last night there. It was only a brief moment, but he definitely had a violent temper.”

“…”

In Sophinea’s room, Marthi suddenly became bigger and did not budge after blocking her from her front. As Azriel was touching around her mouth without saying anything, the familiar spirit added. “As a familiar spirit, your safety is my prior goal. Even if you don’t doubt him, I will consider him a potential enemy.”

“No, I know that.”

“Pardon?”

“I know that Rhema can kill me someday. I heard it directly from him.”

“…What did you hear?”

“He said that I’ll be killed in his hands if I become a wizard.”

Marthi blinked his eyes. Azriel explained in a calm tone, hoping that it would not sound too shocking. “Didn’t you hear it yesterday? He is trying to erase my memory and leave me because of the fear that he might end up killing me. It’s me, who’s refusing it. So, Rhema is not an enemy.”

“Why are you refusing it?”

“Because I want to know.”

“What do you want to know about, putting your life at risk?”

“The secrets that Rhema can’t say.”