The Golden-Haired Summoner - Ch. 6

Three years later.

A full three years.

Unbelievably, I was still stuck in this endless cycle of studying.

At the age of ten, I was still trapped in this damned academy, and my attempt to cut back on studying had only resulted in three years of dreadful one-on-one tutoring.

Being the sole student in the Spirit Studies Department meant I was receiving all the attention, an ideal condition for intensive management.

And Master Yael Roenin turned out to be a meticulous and enthusiastic teacher, eager to teach me as much as possible.

My cheeks, filled with frustration, felt like they were about to burst.

“I hate studying theory!”

“Miss Geenie, getting angry is not good for your body or mind. Calm yourself. Take a deep breath, and…”

“Why? You said you’d teach me how to form contracts, so why is it all theory again? You’re a liar!”

Although I had initially thought Master Yael was gentle and laid-back, he had spent the past three years teaching me nothing but theory.

From “What are spirits?” to the flow of mana, how it accumulates in the human body, and how it manifests as power in the material world, he had thoroughly explained every detail. He even delved into the history of spirits, their unique characteristics, the conduct required of a Spirit Summoner, and why it was so important—constantly!

“I did intend to. However, Miss Geenie, it’s still too early for you. Everything must follow its proper order.”

With the insight I gained from spending over ten years in my previous life studying mostly useless theory in primary and secondary school, I could confidently say all this theory wasn’t particularly useful for forming a contract with spirits.

Studying seemed to be the same no matter where you were.

This year, I’d hoped to finally form a contract with a spirit and be freed from this dreadful theory. But even that was proving difficult.

Yes, it was all my misjudgment.

I had underestimated Spirit Summoning.

“You said you’d teach me next week at least ten times!”

“To be exact, six times.”

“Same difference! I don’t care! Just teach me already! Teach me!”

For me to plead for teaching with such enthusiasm was a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Even when I begged, threatened, and sometimes pleaded while clinging to his leg, Master Yael’s response was always the same: “No.”

Contrary to his mild appearance, Master Yael Roenin, a mid-level Wind Spirit Summoner, was a rather stubborn individual.

He wasn’t as easy to deal with as I had initially thought, which made me sulk.

Despite my adorable exterior as a cute little girl, he managed to effortlessly dodge my tearful, ultimate attack.

“You said you’d teach me today! You’re awful, Master! You’re a troll’s butt!”

Since my demands weren’t being met, I was ready to lie down on the classroom floor in protest.

I must emphasize that I was only ten years old.

“Sigh. Miss Geenie? I did say I’d teach you how to form a contract with spirits, but only if you attended all your lessons diligently for the week.

It’s just one week… only five days of lessons in total. And yet, you skipped three of them. How does that even make sense?”

Master Yael slammed the thick book in his hand shut with a loud ‘thud’ and looked at me, clearly gearing up to scold me.

I sharply turned my head away from him.

“Ugh! You keep saying the same thing every day!”

“Miss Geenie! You can’t just say ‘ugh!’ like that! Maintain your dignity as a Spirit Summoner and a noble!”

“What do you expect from a kid?”

“At ten years old, you could already be engaged! Why can’t you be more proper?”

“Being proper doesn’t fill your stomach. You sound like you’re from the Dark Ages. Well, I guess this place ‘is’ from the Dark Ages…”

As I deliberately muttered rebelliously, Master Yael clutched the back of his neck.

Since becoming my teacher, his temperament had worsened. Of course, I was convinced it wasn’t my fault.

“Why are you becoming more unruly by the day? You weren’t like this at first, Miss Geenie. You’ve changed!”

“Well, I didn’t know it’d be this hard back then. And you’ve changed too, Master. You were so patient in the beginning.”

“…Miss Geenie, at first, you smiled like an angel, but now…”

“What? Do I look like a devil now? Thanks for the compliment! I like devils more than angels anyway.”

“Goodness. How can you say something so horrifying! If the priests heard you, you’d be in trouble! This is exactly why all the other teachers ran away, leaving only me!”

Master Yael’s tone reminded me of someone threatening to move back to their hometown as he lamented his situation.

As the sole teacher in the Spirit Studies Department, he had become my exclusive instructor.

It seemed he had only just realized why he’d been hired at the Royal Drike Academy at such an unprecedented pace.

No other teacher wanted to take me on.

I wasn’t the most notorious troublemaker, but I was one of the hardest students to handle.

In a way, Master Yael had been duped. Being naïve always comes at a price.

“You were the one who said you wanted to learn Spirit Summoning, Miss Geenie! Shouldn’t you at least put some effort into your lessons? I’ll admit you’re diligent when it comes to mana training, but you barely pay attention in the other lessons!”

“Because mana training only requires sitting and meditating…”

“Miss Geenie! Mana alone isn’t enough to summon a spirit! It requires strong mental fortitude, as well as a solid understanding of Spirit Magic theory, the nature of spirits, and even ancient spirit history…”

“Ugh.”

Master Yael’s lessons weren’t just boring; they were so basic that they felt completely out of place for someone with my mental age.

For someone as intelligent as me—capable of understanding even university-level lectures—it was like being stuck in middle school classes.

I knew my own capabilities well.

I was someone who had survived among the infants and toddlers at the Royal Academy, a prodigy of sorts.

Not a genius, but smarter than average.

So, when I asked him to skip all this and teach me how to form a contract, Master Yael reacted as if I’d committed a grave offense.

“Miss Geenie, you’re underestimating contracts. Teaching you how to form one doesn’t guarantee you’ll succeed. It’s just teaching the method. If the summoner’s heart, mental strength, and compatibility don’t align with the spirit, it won’t come forth, even if you call it.”

As usual, I shut my ears to Master Yael’s increasingly long-winded scolding and started contemplating alternative methods.

Since he didn’t seem inclined to teach me, the only solution was to figure it out on my own.

“Spirits, you see, are pure manifestations of nature itself, as if nature had gained consciousness. They’re not entities that can be easily swayed by human will. To deal with them requires a strong affinity and mental strength…”

“Hold on a second.”

“Yes?”

I muted Master Yael’s voice in my mind to focus on brainstorming.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, I recalled the day I first decided to become a Spirit Summoner. The title of the book I saw that day was ‘”Super Simple Spirit Contracting Method.”‘

And in that book, it was written that forming a contract with a spirit was easy and straightforward.

Just like the title said!

“Master! What are the required materials for forming a spirit contract again?”

“What?”

“Fairy dust and… oh, right, the contract circle! That’s the most important thing, isn’t it? What’s the critical part of drawing a contract circle? What was it again?”

“That? I believe we covered that about two weeks ago in class.”

Did we?

I couldn’t remember.

Was it taught when I wasn’t there?

Oh, wait. I’m the only student in the Spirit Studies Department.

And I’m supposed to be good at handling things on my own!