Noah and Allen were very surprised to see the slime openly turning red and hissing at the two of them, but they were relieved only after seeing it become as gentle as a lamb and follow well with just one word from Nigel.

The two of them fervently promised to keep the secret about the dragon and to protect Nigel until they parted ways.

The dragon disguised as a slime, not to be outdone, loudly troubled Nigel’s mind, saying that it would protect her too.

And the true value of disguising the dragon as a slime was demonstrated in less than a week.

“…Is this really what hatched from that egg?”

Nubilus examined the slime here and there with suspicious eyes.

“Yes, I thought it was a divine beast too, but it turned out to be a slime.”

−Human! I am not a slime, but the most precious divine beast in the world, a dragon!

Nigel developed a new skill of being able to ignore the dragon’s voice and converse with others.

Nubilus couldn’t shake off his suspicions until the end, but those suspicions couldn’t overcome even the measurement result data confirming it was definitely a slime.

“To think I spent all my salary on mana stones for just a slime…”

Nigel watched as Nubilus walked away with a dejected face.

She felt a birdseed’s worth of guilt towards him, but considering all she had endured, she didn’t feel like clearing up the misunderstanding or apologizing.

−…Human, you won’t abandon me to that strange human again, right?

Especially since His Majesty the Dragon said he was dissatisfied being with Nubilus.

Nigel nodded to the slime sitting obediently on her palm and kneaded its squishy body.

Its small eyes rose up fiercely, but it didn’t prevent Nigel’s actions. It felt like taking care of a five-year-old child all day.

“Ah, Nigel! I got a good score on my assignment thanks to your advice!”

At that moment, a male student from the magic department winked at Nigel in the hallway.

“It was nothing.”

Nigel shrugged and replied.

It had all become a familiar daily routine now – Yenika and Noah sticking close to her side and glaring at the male student with a smile, her companion slime-cum-dragon asking inside her head why that human was closing only one eye, and Allen poking the slime from behind, causing it to throw a fit.

Fortunately, summer approached swiftly without the prophecy spreading to Sienia yet.

It seemed the temple was focusing more on Meriel than Sienia.

Although the Holy Maiden’s constellation had been empty for nearly 20 years, the temple’s power was still solid, as it was in charge of free medical care throughout the empire. However, that didn’t mean the temple was in a position to dictate to Meriel, who was of royal blood.

According to what Widrun relayed, if Meriel, the only legitimate heir to the Duke of Dien’s family, were to be the Holy Maiden, discussions were prolonged on how the temple would deal with the Duke of Dien’s family, who would lose their heir.

When Nigel casually asked Noah about Meriel’s recent situation, Noah dryly replied that Meriel’s face had turned as pale as a corpse.

Though Nigel felt sorry for Meriel, setting aside that uncomfortable feeling, it was ultimately a good thing for Nigel.

Late at night, Nigel sat around a table with Widrun and her companion dragon to discuss how to overcome the situation.

Since they couldn’t predict when and how the temple would visit Sienia again, no perfect strategy emerged, but gradually they got a grasp thanks to the dragon who could freely manipulate mana from birth.

The dragon would understand ten things when taught one, and although it showed signs of reluctance while boasting, it would immediately grab onto anything Nigel asked for.

And, there was also a slight change in Allen and Noah.

The two of them started overprotecting Nigel excessively, just as they had at the temple where they stayed during the trip.

If Nigel tried to go to the library alone, the two of them would follow like shadows.

Moreover, their promise to protect her seemed to be more sincere than Nigel had expected, as Allen and Noah would sit and whisper together whenever they had a chance, saying they were making plans to help Nigel.

When the two couldn’t follow Nigel due to strategy time or gender issues, they actively utilized Yenika.

It was a good thing for Yenika, who ended up spending a lot of time with Nigel one way or another.

Time filled with anxiety passed quickly, and soon it became full summer with just nine days left until the final exams.

“Nigel, are you listening? You definitely said you’d take me to Tillin if I get an average score on this final exam. You haven’t forgotten your promise, right?”

“Mmhmm.”

Despite Noah’s vigorous fanning, Nigel mumbled a reply to Allen, unable to gather her wits in the scorching sunlight. Meanwhile, she never let go of the vocabulary book in her hand.

At that moment, the communication stone inside Nigel’s white summer uniform dress buzzed.

A transparent color. It was Widrun’s.

“…I’ll be right back after taking this call for a moment.”

Nigel didn’t notice Allen and Noah exchanging glances as she abruptly stood up.

Entering an empty classroom right away, Nigel infused mana into the communication stone.

“…It seems the long adjustment between the Duke of Dien’s family and the temple has ended.”

−Yes, that’s right.

Widrun’s voice was darker than usual.

−The results for the young Duke of Dien will come out around tomorrow, so you too, Nigel, must be on your guard without letting down for a moment. Since they’ve finished adjusting with the royal family, getting permission from Sienia, which is under their jurisdiction, will be simpler than this.

“But the timing is tricky. Will the temple move at this point, with just about ten days left before the final exams and vacation?”

−They will certainly move. Their patience has already run out. So Nigel, I earnestly implore you not to let the dragon out of your sight and to stay together.

“…I understand.”

At his unwavering assertion, Nigel stared blankly at the slime repeatedly climbing to the top of the communication stone and falling off.

It was laughable that her fate depended on this innocent slime.

−So, please make a proper contract with the dragon.

“If that child allows it.”

Nigel’s eyes, which had curved gently, deepened.

The dragon was very favorable towards Nigel. Day by day, it showed beautiful and intricate magic to surprise Nigel, and enjoyed her reactions.

But the scope of that magic never included Nigel.

Even while getting excited about figuring out ways to protect Nigel, it couldn’t actually use that magic on her.

The magic worked on all of Nigel’s acquaintances like Widrun and Allen, but it didn’t work on Nigel.

The reason Nigel couldn’t reprimand the dragon for not using mana was because the dragon was the most perplexed.

The dragon stayed buried in Nigel’s bed all day and then answered that the reason its mana didn’t work seemed to be because they hadn’t made a contract.

Nigel asked how she could make a contract with the dragon, but this time too, the dragon couldn’t give any answer.

In other words, to summarize the situation, if Nigel didn’t quickly make a contract with the dragon, she would end up being dragged away by the temple as is.

After finishing the communication, Nigel poked the dragon in slime form that had climbed onto the communication stone.

The transparent body of the slime that fell from the top to the bottom turned red with anger, and it threw a fit. Then, meeting Nigel’s downcast eyes, the slime started to gauge the situation.

−Human… Did something happen?

“No, just… wondering how I can make a contract with you.”

−That… I don’t know either. I want to be of help to you, human, but even the great me can’t solve this. The human must realize the contract method on their own.

The slime, suddenly becoming gloomy with its whole body turning blue, jumped onto Nigel’s palm and curled up.

Right, what fault does this little one have? It’s my problem for not being able to make a contract when I’m supposed to be the protector.

Nigel let out a faint sigh and stroked the slime. After just a couple of strokes, the slime’s body turned transparent.

She searched through various documents to find ways to contract with divine beasts and even asked Lifne, but there was little information to be gained.

This was partly because contracts with divine beasts were rare, and even in the remaining records, all the contractors seemed to have easily fulfilled the contract conditions with divine beasts as if it were natural, with only descriptions of them making contracts.

Natural conditions, huh? Isn’t it enough that this furball chose me as its guardian and hatched?

Nigel furrowed her brow and looked down at the slime that had quickly fallen asleep in her palm.

Tomorrow’s a weekend, so I should study through the night and stop by the antiquarian bookshop for a bit.

At that moment, the door opened roughly.

Nigel turned around in surprise to see Allen and Noah slowly walking towards her.

Their faces were full of indecipherable schemes.

“…What’s wrong, what’s going on?”

The two said nothing and approached Nigel with anxious and stern expressions.

Instinctively sensing danger, Nigel put the slime in her dress pocket and stepped back.

But after taking a few steps back, she met a cold wall.

Nigel was now like a mouse trapped in a cage.

“Explain with your open mouth! Then I can either accept and follow, or curse and follow!”

Noah and Allen wavered for a moment at Nigel’s words. The two exchanged glances and then nodded at each other.

“Nigel… we trust you.”

Allen moistened his dry lips with his tongue and muttered meaningfully.

“Of course we trust you. So please just tell us. What’s going on, huh?”

The two said nothing and came right up to Nigel’s face.

“I’m sorry.”

With Noah’s faintly heard words, Nigel lost consciousness.