Tale of Discovery

Chapter 121: Lost Prince ; Information

I take this moment to run a quick examination of everyone nearby. Once I'm sure that no one is carrying any obvious weaponry, I let Siesta down.

What's strange is that everyone seems to be looking at me strangely. It's making me feel uncomfortable.

Convinced that it has something to do with my appearance, I make use of Clairvoyance to check myself out.

Upon doing so, I make note of several changes. My skin has gotten relatively smoother while my eyes no longer look unnatural as they're now blue instead of red.

The sclera of my eyes is back to being white.

As for my hair, it has become paler now with a much more silky feel to it.

From the looks of it, this appearance belongs to that of someone these guys knew.

Still, their reaction is a little too unnatural. I mean, sure, I popped out of some hole and flew into the sky before crashing into the ground, but that shouldn't be much in a magic-infested world.

There is also the possibility of the one I've taken over being someone important.

This raises another question: Why have I not received the memories of this guy yet?

Last time, I immediately received Yu Otosaka's memories without any issues, but it doesn't seem like something similar will happen this time.

So, what's the best thing to do in such a situation?

Raising my right arm, I place my hand on my head before feigning confusion and asking with a baffled expression,

"Who am I? Where are we? Who are you all?!"

Toward the end of my words, I step back while looking at everyone while acting anxious.

"Is that the Crown Prince of Albion" I suddenly hear a man mutter.

I use Clairvoyance to check him out without moving my eyes.

A bald man with circular glasses. His eyes are sky-blue while his face is a little worn out.

Based on his appearance, he seems like he's in his early forties, making him the oldest person here, excluding myself.

I continue to act confused as I look around at everyone's face before setting my eyes on him.

Then, I inquire,

"Who are you guys?"

Psychologically, when someone's gaze is focused on you when they ask a general question, you will subconsciously reply.

And that's exactly what occurs in this case as the man introduces himself,

"Hello. My name is Jean Colbert and I am a professor at the Tristain Academy of Magic."

While showing relief from his words, I begin explaining my 'circumstances' before they can think of anything,

"Do you know who I am? All I know is that I was suddenly in some dark space and this girl was with me."

Pointing at Siesta, I continue to act befuddled while explaining,

"The next I know is that both of us are in the sky, falling to our deaths. So, I subconsciously held her to hopefully take the damage and let her survive, somehow.

"Thankfully, we manage to survive by some miracle."

This man seems to be the type to think through things, so I've given him various 'hints' in my 'explanation'.

First, the part about me subconsciously holding Siesta will give them the idea of me not being 'heroic-spirited'. This will be especially effective if the previous owner of the identity I'm holding was such a person.

Second, that very same statement gives off naivety. So, even if they consider me a threat, it won't be much.

Them, treating me as a naive person will allow me to trick them much more easily by giving off more 'hints'.

Now, is this necessary? Definitely.

The best thing to do is to look for information when arriving in a new place. Hopefully, these people are kind and will be willing to help a 'lost' person, which is basically giving me information and someplace to stay without much effort on my part.

Besides, this should be a magic academy based on how the man introduced himself and the way everyone is dressed, so there is no better place to investigate the powers of this world than here.

"You don't remember who you are?" the bald man, Jean, asks me.

In response to his words, I put on a despondent expression before slowly nodding my head.

Perhaps, finding this situation complicated, Jean places his hand on his chin as he begins to think of something.

So, meanwhile, he does that, I take this chance to closely observe everyone present.

After doing so, I've come to a definite conclusion: these guys are either nobles or related to them.

They have the very same aura to them that the nobles in the Rift have.

"Hey," a girl's voice abruptly resounds.

Turning to face the source of the voice, I see the pink-haired girl with an excited yet confused look on her face facing me while standing on her feet.

"Are you my familiar?"

Upon hearing her words, everyone around seems to either facepalm or fall to the ground.

It seems like I'm not the only one who finds her question absurd.

"What are you talking about?" I say while acting as confused as possible.

The girl then positions herself before pridefully stating,

"You came out of the summoning circle I created, right? So you're my familiar."

Holding back my laughter, I say with amusement while pointing at Siesta,

"She got out of the circle too. Does that make her your familiar too?"

As if finding my words offensive, the girl exclaims,

"No! She's just a plebeian maid that got caught up in the summoning."

Hearing her words and the prideful way she utters them, I'm convinced that this girl is nothing more than spoiled brat of some noble family.

For some reason, she kind of reminds me of Rias.

"What is a familiar?" I ask while feigning curiosity.

Of course, being the owner of a familiar myself, I know what familiar is. Despite that, I need to be sure that the concept is similar to the one in the Rift.

"A familiar is a being whose sole purpose is serving its master in all kinds of ways," the girl begins explaining.

"There are all kinds of familiars, but I've never seen such a familiar"

Toward the end of her words, she says murmurs them slowly so that only she can hear them. Well, enhanced hearing helps me with this issue.

It seems like a humanoid familiar is a rare thing. Not that I am planning to become one.

{Father may undergo the ritual.}

Huh? No way. I won't become the pet of some brat.

{There is no problem. Father's Code will filter out the useless parts of the connection and will only bring benefits for Father.}

What benefits, exactly?

{Usually, when a contract is formed, there are a set of rules that take place. Father's Code will be able to 'overwrite' certain parts of these rules and changing them according to Father's will.}

{For further information, Father could try undergoing the ritual.}

That's an interesting concept.

"Wait," Jean suddenly exclaims, "Do you not know who he is?"

Finding his words confusing, the girl seems to find his words confusing as she scrutinizes me from head to toe before uttering a simple,

"No."

I have a feeling that Jean really wants to roll his eyes as he straightens his posture before saying respectfully,

"He is the Crown Prince of Albion, Prince Wales Tudor."

As if their suspicions just got confirmed, several students let out gasps of shock while murmuring among themselves.

"Hold on," I say while acting befuddled once more, "I am a prince?"

Jean nods his head before stating,

"I'm almost certain you are. I don't know why you are here, but it seems to be related to the reason you lost your memories."

I suddenly widen my eyes as if I've been enlightened before saying,

"What if I really was summoned here as familiar?"

Thankfully, my act of ignorance doesn't go to waste as Jean releases a tired sigh.

"I'm willing to see if it's true or not. Is there a way to check it?" I say casually.

"You have to kiss!" some guy suddenly shouts.

As if starting a chain reaction, the students begin to cheer the girl whose name is Louise on to kiss me.

Seriously? Kissing is the way to form a contract with familiars? Hold on... That's the way my contract forming works. Is this how it is generally? At least, mine isn't on the lips.

Seeing how the girl is blushing, I form two hypotheses. She either has never had close contact with a male, or the kiss is on the lips.

There is also the possibility of modesty being a lot more important in this world, but I highly doubt that's the case.

"Is it on the lips?" I directly ask Jean who is near me.

"Yes," he replies in a manner that shows it's hard for him to take in what's about to happen.

Well, he doesn't need to worry, as the contract will 'fail'.

While acting reserved by scratching the back of my head and looking away, I slowly walk closer to Louise.

Seeing the expectation in her eyes makes me feel like I'm a criminal or something for going through with what I have in mind.

Once I'm close enough, I stand in front of her and directly look into her pink eyes.

Everyone present becomes silent as they all gawk at the two of us.

Siesta, in particular, has quite the odd look on her face. Speaking of which, I'm surprised that no one has attempted to get information out of her.

Do they look down on her so much just because she's a maid that extorting information out of her doesn't even cross their minds? How sad.

Focusing back on the matter at hand, I see that Louise has closed her eyes and puckered her lips a little.

I'm not a fan of making out with a girl in public, but I guess this is necessary.

Having resolved my feelings, I move my head closer to hers and kiss her soft lips.

As I suspected, the way she reacts to the kiss indicates that she has no experience at all.

Finding this to be the perfect opportunity to collect more info about the world, I slide my tongue into her mouth before channeling my energy into her.

------

Name: Louise de La Vallire

Age: 17

Race: Human

Str: 10 (11) | Agi: 11 (11) | Dex: 12 (11)

Int: 13 (11) | Def: 9 (11) | Vit: 11 (11)

------

It seems like the average parameters for this world is 11.

This girl she's 'normal', I assume? As I have never had the chance to examine someone 'normal', I'm not used to the way the parameters are displayed right now.

Still, this should be my ability, Analyze that I had discovered when training Akeno.

I reckon that it was also in a 'sealed' state as it wasn't displayed on my status board.

Just now, I had the feeling that I will be able to use something to my advantage, so I did it.

The feeling was an unusual one doing something you don't know, knowing it would do something.

In any case, I've gotten what I wanted from her. So, where is the contract?

{Father doesn't need to worry about that. I've already rewritten what could be rewritten for Father's benefit.}

Before I can share my thoughts regarding her actions, AI's voice resounds within my head.

{Acquired: Gandalfr.}

{Request for submission denied.}

{Establishing equal connection.}

I understand what the first two are sort of. The first one should be either a power or some sort of equipment.

The second one is the most important part of what we just did.

What is the third one?

{This establishes a link with the entity Father just performed the contract with. It allows Father to telepathically converse with the entity and burrow this Platform's specific energy for powers related to it.}

From what I understood of what you just said, this means that I will be able to use the magic these guys are using, right?

{Affirmative.}

I want to take this chance to examine what the ability or equipment I got is, but unable to do so as Louise takes a step back from me and eagerly stares at me.

{Cosmetic Rune acquired. Does Father wish to display it?}

What's that?

{It serves as the proof of a contract having been formed.}

I see. In that case, don't display it.

{Affirmative.}

Several seconds pass with no particular change occurring.

With each passing moment, Louise's expression worsens as tears form at the corner of her eyes before slowly rolling down her cheeks.