Lina had joined up with the Resistance, and while she was busy with her mission of delivering letters requesting support from various influential people all around the Nation, she did get some days off due to the recipients’ schedule conflicts and the like. In order to make the most of her free time, Lina went to an unfrequented, wide grassy field and thought of ways for her Familiar — and her Familiar’s Familiar — to relax.

“Rise, A-rise! House!”

Lina’s spell summoned out the A-Ranked Four-winged Dragon, Baladd the Ballad Dragon. Baladd proceeded to start casting the House spell as well.

“Rise, A-rise, Arise! House!”

Although Baladd’s drawing of the Spell Circle was relatively slow, she was surely getting better at it.

Lina happily nodded, satisfied with the progress of Baladd’s improvement.

“Whew, it’s so nice to be outside… Don’t you think so, Lina?”

“Sorry for the inconvenience, Konoha.”

“Don’t worry about it, Lina. Baladd’s size is bound to stand out — she can’t go outside unless at a discrete location like this, which just happens to extend to me as well.”

“Y-yes, I understand!”

“I still can’t get over the fact that Master Konoha is my Familiar now…”

“Now listen up — you’re my Master, Baladd, and that makes YOU my Master’s Master, Lina. At least try to act the part a little… Well, not that I can do all that much to help you two, though. Hahaha!”

“Don’t say that. Aren’t you supposed to be the one who has seen Sir Gaston in battle the most? Surely there are a lot of things you can do to help us.”

Lina clasped her hands together, seeming quite enthusiastic, prompting Konoha to crack a dry smile.

Konoha then heaved a sigh, then took another look at Lina and Baladd before saying,

“Well, Lina, you’re better off having the young man teach you. He’s the one that the old Master acknowledged, so I know for a fact that he’s good, at least. And as for my new Master… I supposed I can teach her a thing or two.”

Baladd pointed at herself.

“Huh?”

　◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Baladd! If you think you’re already strong enough to be Lina’s Familiar, well, think again! You’re way too slow to even start making the cut!”

“Eeeppp!?”

“Just because you’re A-Ranked doesn’t mean you can slack off! A good plan or two is more than enough to make that high rank of yours irrelevant! Lina isn’t gonna say this, so I’ll just say it — you can be replaced by pretty much anything!”

“NNNOOOOOO!?”

The special training was hellish — an even more ruthless version of the High-Order Muscle Tūs style.

Konoha swung a cane around, his face intimidating enough to even startle an Ogre.

“W-why is my training so much harder than everyone else’s!?”

“Because your body is way tougher than humans, that’s why! Maybe your brain is missing a few parts, but try using it for once! Make yourself useful enough to actually be the Familiar of the famous Silent Witch!”

Witnessing yet another demon instructor at work, Lina’s expression turned nervous… albeit only for a brief moment.

Baladd, despite feeling discouraged, pushed through Konoha’s training. Lina, seeing that, started to push her Familiar — and by extension, herself, to work harder.

“You’ve got to win this! Come on, Baladd!”

Such was the dynamic between this pair of Master and Familiar. Baladd, seeing Lina, accepted her encouragement and tried to imitate the serious face she was making.

“UKYAAAHHH! I won’t lose, Master Lina!”

The Master bolstered her Familiar’s growth, and in turn, the Familiar bolstered the growth of its Master — Such was what Konoha recognized by instinct, as a result of spending so much time with Gaston.

At any rate, even harder training awaited them down the line, as a Magic School was set to commence operation soon in T’oued, courtesy of the Resistance and ‘Head Professor’ Asley.

Lina, Baladd, and Konoa could hardly wait for it.