Chapter 12: A Contract Most Bizarre

“Could it be… it actually succeeded?!”The Dean’s lips twitched, and a nervous tremor ran through the corner of his eye.

His current state of mind was more bewildered than if he had witnessed a dragon threading a needle.

According to his original calculations,

Su Liyue, a once-in-a-century all-elemental genius with such high elemental affinity, was destined to summon a top-tier familiar.

While the academy stipulated only one summoning per person, this situation was exceptionally unique; a human familiar was unheard of, making an exception entirely justifiable.

Most crucially, who in the entire academy was unaware of Su Liyue’s profound aversion to males? Especially towards Ye Xingchen, that alchemy-crazed delinquent who perpetually blew up labs.

He had fully expected Su Liyue, given her disinclination to associate with any male, to outright refuse on the spot.

Then, as the Dean, he would have provided a graceful way out, allowing him to legitimately grant her a second summoning, thereby preserving the academy’s reputation and offering the gifted student a face-saving solution.

But man’s schemes are no match for heaven’s will; who could have foreseen her completely defying expectations?

“These youngsters today…”

Gazing at the contract marks shimmering on their wrists, the Dean felt his entire understanding of magic shatter, yet he found himself utterly speechless.

The very girl who would readily employ ice magic to repel any male who dared approach her was now willingly accepting a boy as her familiar?!

And this boy was none other than the academy’s universally acknowledged underachiever.

What an outrageous pairing! A top student matched with an academic slacker?

The sports field had already devolved into utter chaos.

“This is absolutely the most preposterous summoning ritual I’ve ever witnessed!”

“Did you see Mu Wanqing’s expression? It was terrifying…”

“By the way, can a familiar contract be undone?”

“Our campus belle Su is actually with that alchemy maniac—”

“What happened to her hating boys?”

“What kind of familiar is this? A boyfriend-beast?”

Dean Yu Qinglan felt his blood pressure surging; he urgently needed to ponder several existential questions.

How would he explain this to the school board? Should a disclaimer about potentially summoning classmates be added to this year’s admissions brochure? Was it too late to apply for retirement right now?

Most critically, the Dean tremblingly pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat from his brow, his mind already racing to devise a way to explain this bizarre ‘marriage’ to both sets of parents, for in the magical world, a familiar contract was, in some respects, even more binding than a marriage vow.

Meanwhile, the parties involved, Ye Xingchen and Su Liyue, appeared considerably calmer.

After all, Ye Xingchen had agreed because he had long since realized that this low-level contract was virtually meaningless to him as a cultivator.

Not only that, but he could, in fact, use the familiar contract to provide a locational safety net for his female counterpart, Su Liyue.

His own transmigration to this world was already astonishing enough; if Su Liyue were to experience it again without a fixed coordinate, the consequences were almost too dire for him to imagine.

This familiar contract, however, perfectly resolved that issue.

Regardless of their locations, both parties could instantly sense each other and appear before the other, and the contract itself transcended the limitations of space and time.

Therefore, signing this familiar contract was clearly essential for the safety of his female self, Su Liyue.

After all, she possessed half of his soul, and if anything untoward were to happen, Ye Xingchen couldn’t predict the potential repercussions.

At this thought, he couldn’t help but recall the solemn entrustment from both sets of parents upon his enrollment.

Su Liyue’s father’s innate sword, capable of unsheathing at any moment, still sent a shiver down his spine when he remembered it.

The words Madam Su had uttered while patting his shoulder – ‘Liyue is in your care’ – now seemed to carry an immeasurable weight.

If any genuine trouble were to arise, he truly wouldn’t know how to explain it to his own parents.

Meanwhile, in the alternate dimension, Qizai secretly carved a small inscription in a corner.

[Sword Arts for Guaranteeing a Son (Additional Fee Applies) and Its Womanizing Master.]

Below it, they had drawn a crooked arrow piercing a heart.

***

In the audience, Mu Wanqing was already on the verge of a rampage.

The ice crystal staff in her hand emitted a strained cracking sound, while the hamster baby in its Spirit Ball held up a newly made tiny flag.

[Betrayal of a Best Friend]

The flag was only halfway raised when both the hamster and the flag were frozen solid into an ice sculpture.

The tiny creature remained in its flag-waving posture, its black beady eyes filled with an expression of utter despair.

“It’s over! We’re utterly barbecued now!”

Ye Xingchen belatedly realized the gravity of the situation.

He had been so preoccupied with Su Liyue’s safety that he had completely overlooked two critical issues.

Namely, Mu Wanqing’s gaze was now fixed on him as if he were already a corpse, and Su Liyue’s carefully crafted persona of detesting men was crumbling amidst the audience.

While he and his female counterpart, Su Liyue, were indeed betrothed, that was a fact known only to him and their families.

This current action was tantamount to indirectly exposing his relationship with Su Liyue.

Truly, even the wisest may falter (TL Note: A Chinese idiom, ‘zhì zhě qiān lǜ, bì yǒu yī shī,’ meaning ‘even a wise man makes a mistake in a thousand deliberations’); ultimately, he had failed to consider everything thoroughly.

He watched helplessly as several girls pointed and whispered about Su Liyue:

“So, Chief Su and Ye Xingchen have been… no wonder she’s usually so icy towards everyone…”

Even more dreadfully, one student had already pulled out a memory crystal and begun recording.

“Silence!” Dean Yu Qinglan’s reprimand echoed for what felt like the nth time.

“Since the contract has been established, it proves that human familiars are theoretically feasible! Today, all of you have jointly witnessed a major breakthrough in the history of magic!”

A sparse, hesitant applause immediately broke out below the stage, most students still reeling from the shocking gossip that Su Liyue apparently already had a beloved.

With a sudden crack, Mu Wanqing nearly crushed the crystal at the tip of her staff, and the scattering ice shards arranged themselves into a menacing character for ‘death’ at Ye Xingchen’s feet.

The hamster baby in its Spirit Ball had somehow defrosted, and was now holding up another newly made tiny flag: [Public Execution in Progress].

Dean Yu Qinglan cleared his throat with two heavy coughs, signaling for everyone to quiet down, then tapped his staff against the ground, producing a crisp sound:

“Esteemed students, I can appreciate your current… ah, enthusiasm. However, please do not forget that today marks the most crucial familiar summoning ceremony here at Starfall Academy.”

Dean Yu Qinglan subtly wiped his sweaty back, feigning composure.

He thought to himself that he had guided countless batches of students, but this particular cohort was the most preposterous yet—so outrageous, in fact, that he suspected they were specifically sent to test the limits of his cardiac endurance.

First, there was the attribute-less academic slacker Ye Xingchen summoning an innate sword that resembled an alchemical product.

Now, the all-elemental genius Su Liyue had summoned a classmate as a familiar?

What if the next student summoned some absurd entity he couldn’t even fathom?

“To avoid delaying the esteemed faculty and students from enjoying their lunch…”

He glanced at the crystal clock in the bell tower; its hands were indeed nearing the midday mealtime.

“Let us now have the next student prepare themselves.”

As he spoke, the Dean’s eyes involuntarily fixated on Mu Wanqing, who was next in line, his gaze practically screaming, ‘Just summon a normal familiar, please!’

His hand, hidden within his sleeve, was already contemplating whether to preemptively draft a written report for the board of directors.

Seeing that the next up was the ice-elemental genius, Mu Wanqing, the students in the audience immediately stirred into a fresh commotion:

“Oh my heavens, it’s the Ice Goddess Mu Wanqing’s turn…”

“What do you think she’ll summon?”

“I’ll bet ten silver coins it’s a furious water elemental familiar!”

“Shh! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Didn’t you see her glare over here!?”