"Who are you?" asked the girl intently. She was examining Asta's face. Behind her was an azure blue sky.
She seemed to be close to Asta's age. Underneath a black cloak, she wore a white blouse and a gray pleated skirt. She knelt down, inspecting and was astonished by his face.
Asta looked around, confused but alert. One moment he had been training with the Black Bulls, and the next he was lying on grassy ground with this strange girl looming over him. His hand instinctively reached to his hip where his grimoire pouch was securely fastened. At least he still had that.
"Where am I?" Asta asked, sitting up and taking in his surroundings.
A crowd of people in black cloaks were curiously examining him. In the distance, on an endlessly rich grassy plain, he saw a huge castle with stone walls. It reminded him of the royal palace in the Clover Kingdom, but the architecture was different.
"Louise, what were you thinking, calling a commoner with 'Summon Servant'?" someone asked, and everyone but the girl who was looking at Asta's face started to laugh.
"I... I just made a little mistake!" the girl in front of Asta shouted in a refined voice that carried like a bell.
"What mistake are you talking about? Nothing unusual happened."
"Of course! After all, she's Louise the Zero!" someone else said, and the crowd burst into laughter again.
It appeared the girl looking at Asta was named Louise.
"Mr. Colbert!" Louise shouted.
The crowd parted, revealing a middle-aged man. He carried a big wooden staff and was covered in a black robe. He approached with a curious expression, studying Asta.
"What is it that you want from me, Miss Vallière?"
"Please! Let me try the summoning one more time!"
Asta frowned, starting to piece together what was happening. "Summoning? Did you bring me here with magic?"
The middle-aged man - Colbert - looked at Asta with interest before turning back to Louise. "I cannot allow that, Miss Vallière."
"Why not?"
"It is strictly forbidden. When you are promoted to a second year student, you must summon a familiar, which is what you just did."
A familiar? Asta had heard of mages having animal companions, but nothing like this.
"Your elemental specialty is decided by the familiar that you summon. It enables you to advance to the appropriate courses for that element. You cannot change the familiar once you have summoned it because the 'Springtime Familiar Summoning' is a sacred rite. Whether you like it or not, you have no choice but to take him."
"But... I've never heard of having a commoner as a familiar!"
Everyone around laughed. Louise scowled at them, but the laughter did not stop.
Asta stood up, dusting himself off. Unlike most people who would panic in this situation, he seemed to accept his circumstances fairly quickly. "So I've been summoned to be your familiar? What exactly does that mean?"
"This is a tradition, Miss Vallière," Colbert continued, ignoring Asta's question. "I cannot allow any exceptions; he may be a commoner, but as long as he was summoned by you, he must be your familiar. Never in history has a human been summoned as a familiar, but the Springtime Familiar Summoning takes precedence over every rule. In other words, there is no other way around it; he must become your familiar."
