“But isn’t it way too long? Its body circumference is about the size of a human forearm, but the length looked well over 150cm.”
“Ah, that is indeed quite elongated. Unless the overall bulk is large…”
“Right?”
A student who had actually seen my Familiar roughly estimated Yor’s physical size.
After hearing that, no one could continue to insist, “Cats are naturally long.”
Even a third-year student who claimed to have raised cats couldn’t escape that logic.
“Are more and more people starting to doubt Yor’s species?”
To put it bluntly, my expectations were completely wrong.
Being people from a fantasy novel world, their creativity was excessively abundant.
“Ah! Could it be because Karvald Austri’s weapon is a whip…?!”
‘Why was that suddenly brought up?’
‘What possible connection was there between Yor’s body length and the fact that the vessel uses a whip?’
Anyone with a normal thought process would have had the same question as me.
But apparently, these people were not normal.
Not a single person found that sudden remark odd.
Instead, they swallowed their breath in horror, as if they had just realized a cruel truth.
-?!”
“Gasp..! Th-then…! The reason the Familiar was so elongated was to be wielded like a whip…”
“Good heavens! That’s so barbaric!!”
I agreed wholeheartedly.
It was truly a savage idea.
I made a big ‘X’ with my arms crossed and shook my head vigorously, hoping Yor wouldn’t tremble in fear from those words.
Yor let out a relieved sigh and lightly brushed the front of their body with one hand.
For a human, this would be akin to a chest-rubbing gesture.
“So that’s why that strange cat Familiar’s body was covered in scales like snake skin!
If it was just a fluffy ball of fur swinging around, it wouldn’t hurt even if it hit you!”
“The solid-looking horn on its head must be to increase attack power!”
“Then it swings by grabbing its tail? That’s why the tail fur was so especially thick!”
‘Was everyone insane?’ Seriously, they were spouting nonsense as if it were fact.
That was my first thought.
But the shock only lasted a moment.
Soon, a chilling sensation ran through me, making all my hair stand on end.
“So, there’s not the slightest difference between the Yor I see and the Yor everyone else sees…?”
I had just confirmed during my private training session that Sky-Blue Aether does not possess cognitive manipulation or illusion traits.
And it was also confirmed that people could clearly see Yor’s horns, the scales covering their body, and the elongated form.
“Even though this world can order Korean food by scholarly knowledge, and kimchi comes as a standard side dish, it’s a Western-based worldview after all. It’s understandable they don’t know what an Eastern dragon looks like. But cats do exist, don’t they?”
Yet people were utterly convinced Yor was a feline.
No matter how obvious it wasn’t a cat.
They forced absurd explanations to make it fit their beliefs.
“The fact that it can’t blink because it has no eyelids must be so it never loses sight of its target.”
“Even if it misses an attack by mistake, it can twist its body to hit the target anyway, right?”
“To be born with a transformed appearance by the owner’s necessity! That’s really terrifying!”
Anyone reading this would already know.
I was glad yet somewhat worried that Yor was born a dragon.
This vessel was already unstable, having not fully inherited the family’s Aether abilities.
And now the Familiar had been born as a species other than a feline or predatory beast.
I was anxious about how Hard Austri, the head of the Austri Ducal Family, would take it.
I worried that other students would question this vessel’s lineage and spread baseless rumors about Karvald’s origin.
“If they pitied Karvald and insisted Yor was a cat to protect him, I could understand that…”
But this vessel earned hostility rather than sympathy.
No one would manipulate public opinion for Karvald’s sake.
No, there was no need to analyze the situation this way at all.
The extras gathered in the lobby were plainly busy badmouthing Karvald.
None of them thought well of Karvald.
“In short, the fact that everyone is accepting Yor as a cat right now is an inexplicable domain!
And that’s precisely where the answer lies.
A Familiar of the Austri Ducal Family is born in the form of a feline or a predatory beast—this is one of the fundamental settings of this world.
That’s why the people here can’t doubt Yor’s species.
That’s the chilling part.
They cannot deviate even slightly from the framework created by the original author Senna.
What a terrifying coercion.
“Truly pitiful, having to endure that just because you were born as such a brat’s Familiar.”
***
When I realized the inconvenient, dark side of this world, fear gripped me as that line echoed.
Despite the words of pity, the voice was filled with delight.
“That Karvald kid…! I knew his character was rotten since last semester, but I never imagined it’d be this bad! How is it possible that such a brat still receives a Familiar Egg just because he’s a direct descendant of a ducal family?”
I was grateful to the owner of that taunting voice.
Had the conversation about Yor’s appearance continued, surely they would have sneered.
But at just the right moment, they changed the topic to the vessel itself.
‘How could I not be thankful?’
“Soon they might add a condition that you have to pass a personality test just to receive a Familiar Egg~?”
I stepped out from behind the pillar.
It was time to carry out my purpose.
“This is a disgrace to the Ducal Family. Not just the Austri Ducal Family, but other ducal families will think so too. It might even draw the wrath of the Imperial Family who protect Yggdrasil, the tree that bears the Familiar Eggs as fruit.”
The extra who was loudly gossiping happened to be sitting with his back to me.
So even as I approached with a blank expression, he continued to spew insults about Karvald without realizing it.
“He didn’t even properly inherit the noble family’s abilities, yet he looked down on others. From now on, maybe I’ll try to befriend that brat? Then after he’s kicked out of the family, he’ll come begging for help. That would be hilarious, don’t you think?”
As the lobby fell into a strange silence, only one voice remained.
Their face paled as they finally noticed my approach.
Yet they either failed to recognize me or thought I was just surprised by their bold words.
The extra’s insults only escalated.
“I heard Karvald only registered for combat-related subjects this semester? I guess he’s doing that to protect himself… Maybe his dad told him he’ll be kicked out right after graduation.”
“How interesting.”
“Yes, really interesting. Just thinking about how that arrogant jerk must be trembling with anxiety now… Heh heh heh!”
I almost said, “Oh!” out loud.
They didn’t notice when I subtly spoke to them, and their sneering laugh was so vile.
They were exactly like a character out of a novel.
To clarify, they were a one-time extra villain.
A very crude and lowly one.
Such lines usually belong to characters who work as mercenaries or are involved in various illegal activities.
‘But this guy?’
He was just an ordinary noble student.
And the setting was not a dark alley or basement, but the bright and cheerful academy dormitory lobby.
That was the unexpected element.
“Is it so enjoyable to imagine me desperately begging for help or trembling in fear?”
“Of course…”
“Of course? You really think that’s obvious?”
“……!!!”
Finally, they realized who they were talking to.
The extra stiffened their neck muscles, creaking as they turned their head to look up at me standing behind them.
Their face turned pale—beyond white, almost blue.
“Why are you so terrified? According to your guess, I’m supposed to be kicked out right after graduation and draw the Imperial Family’s wrath, right?”
“Th-that, well…”
“Is that so?”
“How strange. According to you, I should be the one trembling, yet why are you shaking so much?”
I placed one hand on my hip and stroked my chin with the other, expressing my puzzlement with a deliberately slow tone.
Terror spread across the extra’s face.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Weren’t you supposed to tell me to beg for help if I get kicked out, to watch me cower and plead?”
“……”
“Judging by your silence, you must not be sure about your guess. Or are you still afraid of the ‘Austri’ name behind mine?”
“……”
I saw the extra clench their teeth.
As if feeling shame, their previously pale face flushed slightly and regained some color.
To be so upset yet unable to even be angry.
“You’re just some nobody from a worthless family whose name I don’t even remember. No matter how jealous you are that I’m a direct descendant of a ducal family and received a Familiar Egg, should you really open your mouth so recklessly? You should know your limits. How dare you presume to guess the intentions of the Imperial Family and the Four Great Ducal Houses?”
“Th-that’s not entirely wrong…”
Perhaps angered by my insult about their origin, the extra timidly retorted.
“Do you really think so? I don’t know the intentions of the Imperial Family or other ducal families, but I know the intentions of the Austri Ducal Family head very well. After all, he’s my father.”
The possibility that this extra had any relationship with Hard Austri was effectively zero.
So it was only natural they couldn’t refute my words about knowing my own father better than they could.
Though I wasn’t Hard’s biological son, just a stranger inhabiting this body.
There was no way this extra could know that.
“My father would probably let me whip you here and now. He might even praise me. Since you insulted me, and even dared to mention the names of the Four Great Ducal Houses and the Imperial Family so disrespectfully.”
“…….”
I saw the extra’s Adam’s apple bob as they nervously swallowed saliva.
“And you wouldn’t even dare resist if I hit you. You’d just take it silently. Because you know that if you fight back and I get hurt, my father wouldn’t spare your family. Isn’t that right?”
Though I said those words, I had no real intention of hitting him.
But to the other party, it probably sounded like, “Prepare yourself, because I’m going to hit you now.”