"Hey, Louise the Zero is going to duel with Beiye the Wild!"

This news spread across the entire academy almost in an instant. After all, it was breakfast time, naturally the time when the most people were around, so it was only logical for such news to spread. In fact, by the time Louise and Beiye arrived at the dueling site, the area was already packed with people pressing in from all directions.

"There sure are a lot of people."

Looking at the crowded scene around her, Louise was quite surprised. At this moment, the voluptuous woman from before approached her.

"Of course, everyone’s very curious about your familiar. After all, it’s unprecedented for someone to summon a human as a familiar. Honestly, if we hadn’t seen it with our own eyes yesterday, we wouldn’t have believed it either."

"Hmph! Just a bunch of foolish idiots."

Hearing the woman’s words, Louise showed an annoyed expression. Everything had happened so suddenly that she hadn’t had much time to think. Upon reflecting, it was indeed the case. Though Beiye’s words sounded angry, if she weren’t personally involved, hearing someone summon a human as a familiar during a summoning class, she’d probably think, "What kind of joke is this?"

"But is that kid really okay?"

"I didn’t expect you to care about my familiar."

Louise looked unexpectedly at the voluptuous woman. It was known that their relationship wasn’t particularly good. The Valyriel family and this woman’s family had almost an era-long grudge, and although they weren’t yet at that point, they’d always found each other annoying.

"Of course, you don’t know what kind of creature Beiye summoned..."

"Come forth, my familiar, Buff!"

Before the woman could finish her sentence, Beiye shouted loudly, and flames suddenly erupted, revealing a demon creature with bat-like wings and a lion-like appearance. Its tail, like a scorpion’s, was raised high, with sharp spikes visibly protruding. It appeared very fierce, prompting exclamations from the surrounding crowd.

Seeing this, Louise’s expression changed immediately.

"This, this is a Scorpion Lion?!"

"That’s right, this is what Beiye summoned. If not for you, he’d have been the center of attention yesterday."

"Grr..."

Upon hearing this, Louise angrily tightened her grip on her magic wand. Although she had never seen how fearsome the Scorpion Lion was, she had read records about this demon beast in books. Being able to summon a Scorpion Lion and form a contract to make it a familiar was indeed something to be proud of. If she could have summoned such a creature, she’d undoubtedly feel very proud.

But unfortunately, a Scorpion Lion is still a demon beast. It’s not unusual for a demon beast to appear in a summoning ritual.

Whereas a human is entirely different.

"Let’s go, SABER!"

Even so, Louise had no intention of giving up. She said this, then firmly clutched her magic wand and stepped forward. The red ponytail followed beside Louise, looking bored as she glanced at the Scorpion Lion across from them.

"Oh my, dare to show up, Louise the Zero?"

Seeing Louise step forward, Beiye started mocking her.

"There’s still time. If you admit to cheating, then I’ll let you off. Otherwise, once the fight starts, I can’t guarantee the safety of that little girl beside you."

"Grr..."

"Yeah, Louise, are you really going to let such a small child face a Scorpion Lion?"

"Beiye, you’re going too far."

At this moment, others started to speak up, persuading both sides to back down. Although the Scorpion Lion Beiye summoned was only a juvenile, it couldn’t be helped that the red ponytail looked even smaller, and comparing the two, it was like putting a young girl up to be devoured by the demon beast in a heroic story.

Everyone could imagine the scene of the small girl being pounced and ripped apart by the demon beast; no one wanted to see that happen.

"I’ve already decided. I didn’t cheat. I believe my familiar won’t lose to yours!"

Initially, Louise had been a bit hesitant, but after hearing Beiye’s mocking words, she immediately made a decision. What a joke! The summoning technique she successfully performed yesterday was the most successful magic she’d done since childhood, and this guy actually said she cheated?!

Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable! My familiar was summoned fair and square, so it will undoubtedly win!

With that thought, Louise glanced at the red ponytail.

"SABER, it’s up to you."

"No problem."

The red ponytail nodded and walked forward, and seeing this, the crowd became even more excited. In contrast, Beiye was feeling a bit awkward since he had initially believed that Louise must have used some cheating trick to summon her familiar, which is why he confidently challenged her in the first place. As Beiye saw it, as long as he summoned the Scorpion Lion, they would surely shiver and surrender of their own accord.

But... the plot wasn’t going as he expected!

What now?

If he didn’t fight, his family’s honor and reputation would be ruined!

But... fight?

What’s the point of winning? Bullying a little girl with a Scorpion Lion would bring the same shame upon him if it got out!

And what if he lost?

Losing would be even worse!

It was only now that Beiye realized he was in a dilemma...

In the end, Beiye made a decision!

Fight!

Even if winning brought no honor, it would still prove that Louise the Zero did indeed cheat! If he backed down here, who knows what might happen?

"Go, my Buff! Show them what you’re made of!"

"Roar——!!"

Accompanied by Beiye’s command, the Scorpion Lion let out a roar and charged at the red ponytail. Seeing this, many people screamed, and quite a few girls instinctively covered their eyes and turned away, unable to bear watching what might happen next.

Even Louise shuddered as the Scorpion Lion pounced, for the creature, even as a juvenile, carried considerable overwhelming presence as a formidable demon beast.

However, even so, Louise did not turn away but instead clasped her hands tightly, staring intently at the petite figure in front of her.

The Scorpion Lion moved swiftly and in a blink of an eye, it was bearing down on the red ponytail, opening its mouth with a roar. Yet at that moment, the red ponytail made no move.

Was she scared stiff?

Just as everyone thought that, they saw the red ponytail raise her fist against the Scorpion Lion.

Then......

"Boom!!"

Accompanied by a low explosion, a whoosh of dust and a shockwave swept over, causing everyone to squint. But when the dust settled, the scene before them left everyone stunned. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The scenario of the girl being pounced on by the Scorpion Lion they imagined hadn’t materialized. Instead, the Scorpion Lion’s head was lodged deep in a pit, while the red ponytail stood in place, clapping her hands.

"A mere demon beast, daring to act ferocious in front of me, looks like you’re tired of living."

With the red ponytail’s words, the Scorpion Lion’s body began to emit light, eventually dissolving into light points and vanishing into the air.

"Buff! Buff---!!"

Seeing this scene, Beiye almost cried out in grief, while Red Ponytail just scoffed.

"Don’t worry, I didn’t kill it. It’s just too injured and went back to its nest to recuperate."

"How could this have happened...?"

Hearing Red Ponytail’s words, Beiye’s knees weakened, and he fell to the ground. At this moment, others began to speak in surprise.

"Hey, did you see that?"

"I saw it... that kid managed to slam the Scorpion Lion’s head into the ground with just one punch!"

"Even stone golems don’t have that much strength! Is she really human?"

"No, wasn’t it said she was summoned as a Familiar Spirit by Louise the Zero?"

"Ah, that explains it. There’s no way she’s human!"

"But she doesn’t look like an Elf either..."

Now, no one doubted whether Red Ponytail was a Familiar Spirit, since the ability to crush a charging Scorpion Lion into the ground with bare hands, making it severely wounded in one blow, was clearly not something an ordinary human could do. Especially considering Red Ponytail’s small and delicate appearance, it added to the irony.

"Alright, Master, problem solved, let’s go."

Clapping her hands, Red Ponytail walked back to Louise’s side and said, while Louise was stunned for a moment and then forcefully nodded.

"Yes, let’s go!"

After saying this, Louise lifted her Magic Wand again, pointing at Beiye.

"Remember, this is the punishment for insulting the honor of the Elival Family! There won’t be a next time!"

After uttering these words, Louise cheerfully turned and left with Red Ponytail, leaving Beiye sitting there absent-mindedly. Watching this scene, the others didn’t know what to say.

For many people, this morning’s episode was just an unexpected interlude. Soon, they returned to their routine daily life. Facing Red Ponytail, who had demonstrated her power, Louise was clearly quite proud. Furthermore, she began to work hard, attempting to display the behavior befitting a master who matched Red Ponytail.

However...

"Boom!!!"

"I see now; this is the reason you’re called Louise the Zero, I understand."

Looking at the alchemy apparatus exploding once again, with Louise covered in pitch black and tattered clothes, Red Ponytail nodded. She hadn’t previously paid much attention to the animations, but now she finally understood why Louise earned such a nickname.

From the first class of the day to returning to the dorm to do homework, Louise had caused a total of thirty-five explosions, with zero successes.

No wonder she’s called Louise the Zero.

"...Hmph, laugh if you want."

Hearing Red Ponytail’s words, Louise’s face turned as dark as could be—after all, it was already smoked black.

"No... there’s nothing funny about it, but why, Master, do you always fail in releasing magic? Have you tried finding the reason?"

"Of course I have!"

Hearing Red Ponytail’s inquiry, Louise shouted like venting.

"I have been trying hard all the time! I originally thought it was because I wasn’t familiar with the Spell Text or I had issues with my Magic Power manipulation, so I worked hard studying! However, no matter how much I learn, no matter what kind of magic I try, it always fails! I’ve never succeeded!"

"Hmm..."

Upon hearing this, Red Ponytail nodded.

"You’ve tried all kinds of magic and all have failed?"

"Yes, whether it’s wind, water, fire, earth, or alchemy-related magic, I’ve never succeeded. I can’t even use basic door-sealing magecraft properly! Whatever type of magic, to me, it’s just failure, failure, and failure!"

"Then there’s only one conclusion."

Red Ponytail raised a finger, and hearing Red Ponytail’s words, Louise also lifted her head to look at her.

"It means these types of magic aren’t suitable for you; you haven’t found the magic that suits you yet."

"Huh?"

Upon hearing this, Louise raised her eyebrows in annoyance.

"Did you not listen to me? I’ve tried all types of magic!"

"Yes, but still didn’t find the right one, which means the magic suitable for you is not among these, and the magic you’ve studied isn’t everything either."

"This..."

"Think about it from another angle, even if you were really dumb, dumb to an extreme, but if you cast a spell one hundred times, one thousand times, ten thousand times, there should be a time when it succeeds, yet you failed every time. In a way, that’s quite an outstanding talent."

"What are you, mocking me?"

Hearing this, Louise glared at Red Ponytail in dissatisfaction, while Red Ponytail chuckled.

"Of course not, what I mean is... Master, your talent must be very rare."

"Why do you say that?"

"It’s simple, because your magic always ends in an explosion, right."

"Hmm..."

"But you do possess Magic Power because someone without Magic Power wouldn’t be able to cast any magic."

"That’s what you say, but if there’s really such a magic system, I don’t know it!"

"I don’t know either, but fortunately, after a day’s observation, I’ve almost figured out the nature of Master’s Magic Power, and coincidentally, I have a corresponding learning method... Master, do you want to try it?"

"Really?!"

Hearing this, Louise’s eyes lit up, and she rushed to Red Ponytail’s side.

"What method is it, Saber?"

"Heh heh..."

Facing Louise’s question, Red Ponytail laughed softly, looking at Louise with a proud expression.

"Do you know about Psionic, Master?"

"Psi...onic?"

"That’s right, in my world, there’s a profession called Sanctuary Warriors who manipulate Psionic to battle, and Master, your power’s nature is very similar to Psionic, maybe we can give it a try?"