"Here. Just pour your mana into the parchment and say whatever feels right. There's no single 'proper' incantation for the summoning, and the pattern on the parchment will do the rest."
"Sure."
The teacher reminded while handing him the piece of parchment engraved with a mana circuit, and the bleached-blond-haired youth nodded at her, although a bit dismissively.
As he took place, he hesitated for a moment, looking at the parchment in his hand…
Wouldn't it be nice if he summoned a newborn fae, just like Fenri…?
"..."
But the next moment Rotsard's expression darkened.
Of course not… that wasn't how the story should go.
Nothing will show up, although there will be a mess, just like it's supposed to be.
He was even prepared to break off the connection, if one gets established properly, or even destroy the physical form of a fae if one actually showed up.
But, honestly, what was supposed to happen was just the thing that Saria was concerned about, and that's why the words that Rotsard picked were…
"I dare you to show up, you negligent trash!"
"!?"
Rotsard's incantation caused quite the stir amongst the other students and the teacher in charge of the safety of the ceremony.
But nothing could prepare them for what would happen next.
*WHOOOOOSH*
The parchment in Rotsard's hand flashed with a flame-like bluish white light and crumbled into ash-like particles, and the next moment a giant magic circle appeared next to him…
"A defol? Oh, Grand Fae help us…! !… a deofol is about to show up…!"
"WH-WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE!?"
"GYAAAAAAAAAA!"
Despite not having more than an inch of depth, the circle with a bluish-white rim was three times as high as the main building of the Royal Academy, taking up most of the training ground. Besides the rim having actual color, the inside of it had the surface of a cloudy ice, or rather like a frozen lake covered in frost… and causing actual panic.
Just imagining what kind of creature could come out of it seemed to horrify the students who did not even realize that since it shared the element with the one summoning it must have belonged to an actual fae.
"!!!"
"B-break the connection! Break it!"
After a moment, it looked like a massive dark shadow appeared on the other side of the frosted magic circle, as if a gigantic beast was lurking behind it, stirring up even more panic and even causing someone to scream frantically at the bleached-blond-haired youth.
That was it.
That's how things were supposed to be.
Now, to make everything just like it was in the story, Rotsard had to wait until the panic subsides, and people realize that, despite the imposing size of the gate, nothing would come through, cementing Rotsard as someone undeserving of faefolk's attention.
"S-something's coming!"
"RUN!"
"...huh...?"
But as others began shouting and flailing around even more instead of having the required realization, Rotsard furrowed his brows and leaned forward, to have a proper look at the surface of the gate created by his magic circle…
"...!?"
And his eyes widened in disbeleif, as the shadow lurking behind it grew darker as if the creature on the other side approached the gate from the other side…!
"Graug… grra-raurgh…agra… a… AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
*KA-THUMP*
"!!!"
And the next second, a gargling hoarse snort, changed into a pained snarl, and finally unlash itself into a deafening howl that caused an ice-cold shockwave that rattled the windows of all the Academy's buildings and even caused the entire great barrier to tremble and become dyed with the rainbow of colors that looked like spilled oil on the surface of water.
That…!
THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!
That…
THAT THING WAS MESSING WITH THE STORY! IT WAS MESSING UP THE WHOLE PLAN!
"SHUT UP! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR REGRET AND REMORSE!"
Without an ounce of hesitation, Rotsard snarled like a frenzied beast in response to the howl, and wildly swung his hand, ending up digging his fingers into the surface of the gate and…
*PSH-IIIIIING*
*PSHAAAH*
As he pulled his hand back, the entire gigantic gate got ripped apart into six horizontal parts before trembling like a cloud of steam and dissipating into thin air without any trace.
"..."
The silence that befell the training grounds was deafening.
"..."
Rotsard bit his lip, about to lose his mind in fury and annoyance.
That wasn't how it was supposed to be.
That wasn't…!
No… he had to calm down.
He MUST salvage the situation.
It still can be salvaged. Definitively.
He just… he just…
"!!!"
As his eyes started wondering around, Rotsard ended up making eye contact with a pale-faced Amelia Edemsworth, who flinched and cowered while protectively holding her contracted fae to her chest…
"...!"
And that was the sight that reminded Rotsard of his role.
Who was he?
A villain.
Trashy, third-rate villain.
That was the answer he was looking for. He just needed to play the part.
"Hmph! As if I wanted to make a contract with some trashy fae! They're nothing more than filth, they and deofols are of the same kind… What are you all looking at?"
He scoffed loudly, becoming the center of attention and then acting as if he got angry because of it.
"Don't think even for a second that this wasn't a real gate! It was! You all heard the howl! That was the voice of a fae that I REJECTED! Understood!? Nothing else!"
"...!"
Rotsard then snapped at his fellow students who didn't even say anything… well, until that point that is…
"...wait… what…?"
"...no way… he… he FAKED it?"
"Of course! You've seen the size of that gate!? No way that it was real!"
"What trash! And he even dares to threaten us!? Who does he think he is!?"
And just as if it was a work of a spell, his fellow students immediately picked up on the suggestion Rotsard planted within his declaration.
"SHUT UP! IT WAS REAL!"
To add a finishing touch, Rotsard snapped again, snarling towards the loudest students, and just as he wanted, the intensity of the murmurs increased several-fold.
The atmosphere changed from fear and disbelief into contempt and disbelief.
"...Student Vallhall, no fae summoned… I expected better of you."
"..."
The teacher in charge of the ceremony declared as she noted down the information before glancing up at Rotsard with a strict expression and shaking her head with disapproval.
"I'll go inform the headmaster about what just happened."
One of the teachers providing security, who coincidentally was one of the two advanced swordsmanship teachers, spoke up and rushed out without waiting for a response to his offer.
"...?"
Rotsard found it confusing why that teacher didn't tell him to follow, but since he had to get out of the training ground so the ceremony could continue, he left on his own anyway.
He wasn't supposed to be present for the future hero summoning and making a contract with a juvenile Great Fae of Light in the first place.