Chapter 65: The Magic of Communication

“Hello.”

“Ah, student, you’ve been showing up every day lately. Another professor call, the one you refer to as the boss?”

I greeted the man at the front desk of the Magic Tower building, where I was headed to meet Presia.

He was a staff member who had replaced the previous one sometime during the first semester. Since I visited the Magic Tower often, I had exchanged greetings several times and had become quite familiar with his face.

I heard he wasn’t originally assigned to the desk, but somehow ended up doing these odd jobs.

“Haha, the professor has been calling for you often lately. Well, take care.”

“Yes, yes, you too, student.”

Normally, I would need to show my access card to enter, but the desk staff let me through without any verification.

Getting friendly with the staff had its perks, and this was one of those small conveniences.

As usual, I stood in front of Room 707, and without knocking, I walked in.

I had tried before, but just like the past few months, the room was dark as if it were midnight, regardless of the time.

At first, I would trip over items scattered on the floor, but now I was used to it and walked to the next room, where Presia was probably sleeping.

But for some reason, instead of lying on the couch to sleep, Presia was holding a doll and doing something.

It wasn’t the bear doll she usually used to do her errands. This time, it was a rabbit doll I had never seen before, one she must have gotten from somewhere.

Presia’s small finger moved delicately over the rabbit doll, sketching something, and the rabbit doll’s ears twitched.

As the glowing finger moved a few more times, the rabbit doll suddenly began to move on its own, slipping from Presia’s arms and falling to the floor.

Then, it sprang to its feet and, as if shaking off dust, dusted itself off with its tiny hands, then bowed in my direction as if offering a gentleman’s greeting.

Seeing it still, I gave the rabbit doll a slight curtsy, and the doll seemed pleased as it raised its head.

What kind of rabbit is this?

As I looked at the doll with a puzzled expression, Presia reached out and grabbed the rabbit’s ear.

I wasn’t sure if the doll could feel pain, but the rabbit seemed to struggle, as if in pain, and raised both its hands toward the ear that Presia was holding.

However, with its short arms, it could never reach Presia’s hand, and after a while, Presia placed the rabbit doll back on the couch, ending its suffering.

“Number 1. From now on, you’ll be responsible for training Number 2.”

When Presia spoke to the bear doll sitting quietly next to her, it raised its hand to its forehead as if saluting, as if it understood.

I had no idea how they communicated without speaking, but the bear doll approached the rabbit doll, which was holding its ear, and gestured, almost as if saying something.

After the bear doll’s hand and foot gestures stopped, the rabbit doll stood up and bowed its head. Its tiny hands were clasped behind its back.

Turning its head, the rabbit doll looked at Presia, who was nodding in satisfaction toward the bear doll.

… I hope my rank is still above that of the bear doll.

I remembered that the bear doll was around when I first came as Presia’s assistant, but still, I didn’t want to imagine being ranked lower than the bear doll.

“By the way, boss. Are their names really Number 1 and Number 2?”

“Yes.”

Presia nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Still, I felt that names like Number 1 and Number 2 were a bit too cold.

“Let’s give them proper names. Don’t you think they deserve better names?”

As I asked the two dolls, who were exchanging some tough discipline, the bear doll nodded its round head once, while the rabbit doll, which had been lying down, suddenly stood up and shook its head up and down several times.

When the bear doll gave a subtle signal, the rabbit doll finally stopped nodding and lowered its head again.

“Anyway! Since they said so, shall we come up with names for them?”

So, Presia and I began to brainstorm, putting our heads together to name the two dolls.

“…Sorry, guys.”

I spoke in a soft voice, directed at the two dolls, who were filled with anticipation.

“Well then, from now on, you’re going to be called ‘Gomtaengi’ and you, ‘Tokkaengi.'”

I had worried about Presia’s naming sense, but I had completely forgotten that I wasn’t in a position to judge.

In the first place, considering I named my cat “Meow,” there was no need to explain my own naming sense.

Looking at the two dolls, who seemed happy to have received names like Gomtaengi and Tokkaengi instead of Number 1 and Number 2, I felt a sharp pang in my conscience.

‘…But how do these two move? They seem almost alive.’

“It’s an application of Golem magic. Since their bodies are dolls, they lack combat power, but it’s not like combat power is necessary.”

The only golems I had known about were those enormous, massive ones made of stone that I had seen in the labyrinth before.

“Hmm. But the golems I saw in the labyrinth before moved so simply, while these seem to move as if they were alive. It’s really fascinating.”

“Normally, they’re just low-level spirits without will or consciousness, but I upgraded them once and gave them artificial bodies. You could say they’re both golems and spirits.”

This was starting to get into a more complicated and difficult area of understanding.

If I asked more, I felt like I’d just add more questions to the pile.

“There are many similar magic spells like this. One of them involves using animals as familiars. The diversity of magic is infinite.”

Hmm… Familiars, huh…

“Then, is there magic that allows communication with animals? I don’t need a grand master-servant magic like familiars, but it would be nice if we could simply communicate.”

Although I was just curious, Presia seemed to flinch so much that her shoulders jerked noticeably.

“…Wait a moment.”

Presia said, and then took an empty magic scroll, beginning to draw something on it.

“Here.”

In no time, she completed the scroll and handed it to me.

The scroll I received had a simple, yet distinctive drawing on it, like a constellation.

It must be Presia’s homemade magic circle.

“It’s a kind of contract magic scroll. It doesn’t have any special abilities, but it helps communication. Since Elysia wanted it and her magic skills aren’t the best, it’s not a master-servant relationship, but more like equal partners. This way, both parties can understand each other when they want to.”

“Oh… ”

“I designed it so that once you inject mana into the scroll, it’s easy to use. Try it when you meet the cat.”

“Got it. Thank you.”

By the time I came up with the names Gomtaengi and Tokkaengi, quite a bit of time had passed, so I took the scroll from Presia and headed back to the dorm.

But wait, did I say I was going to use it on the cat?

“Meow.”

“Hey, Meow, do you understand? If you use this, we’ll be able to talk and get even closer. So, can you not refuse?”

On my way back to the dorm, I happened to meet Meow.

I tried explaining the scroll to Meow, but I wonder if it understood.

Even though Meow is really good at understanding me, is this too much?

But as I hesitated, Meow placed its paw on my hand holding the magic scroll and tugged at it.

As expected! Our Meow must be a genius!

“Alright, let’s get started!”

I placed the scroll on the floor between Meow and me, and when I injected magic into it, light began to leak out of the scroll.

Meow placed one paw on the scroll, and I placed my palm on it as well, and the light that leaked out enveloped both of us.

That was it.

The light quickly faded away, and the scroll with the magic circle was now blank.

“Did it work?”

I’m unsure if it worked since I only heard a simple way of using it, but I feel a tickling sensation.

Just to check, I thought of Meow in my mind, and I felt a connection.

“Now, can I understand what Meow is saying?”

“Meow.”

But it still sounds like a cat’s meow. I don’t know what it’s trying to say.

Instead, I received something like its essential desires or deeply hidden thoughts.

“Hehe…”

To satisfy Meow’s desires, I raised my hand.

“Meow!”

It seems my intention reached Meow as it was startled and hastily broke the connection, but it was already too late—I had heard everything.

Smack!

After a long time, I gave Meow’s rear end a good smack and followed up with a slap to its cheek.