“Ugh, but how am I ever going to learn magic?”

I wanted to learn magic, too.

And I was studying harder than anyone else.

Yet, I still couldn’t use magic.

Why couldn’t I use magic? That was something I wanted to know more than anything.

Thinking about studying magic again today, I headed to the study.

Going to the study, scouring books, and absorbing knowledge about magic was my daily routine.

Both of my parents were excellent magicians, so the study had a massive amount of spellbooks.

I had already read most of the books in there.

But, I still couldn’t use magic, so it was pointless.

“This might be the last time I’m allowed to come here.”

I would probably be kicked out of the house soon.

If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to come to this study anymore. I looked around the study with a heavy heart.

“Wait, there’s a book here?”

As I was looking around, I found a book tucked away in the back of the bookshelf.

Intrigued, I picked it up.

The cover and spine were pitch black.

Was it just an illusion that the book was emitting a sinister aura?

The title was ‘Goetia’.

There was still a book I hadn’t read.

I thought I had read almost all the books in this study, but I had never seen a book like this before.

I thought I’d take a look since I was already here. I flipped through the pages.

“Summoning a demon?!”

I exclaimed involuntarily.

Yes, this spellbook detailed the method for summoning 72 demons.

Normally, magicians summoned spirit bodies, like spirits or angels.

But I had heard about it before.

There was a terrifying magic that involved summoning demons.

But, demon summoning was forbidden magic, so you were never supposed to use it.

Let’s just try it.

There was no way someone like me, who couldn’t even use normal magic, would be able to summon a demon.

So, it was just a trial run.

I flipped through the spellbook.

I was wondering which demon to summon.

There were some terrifying demons, and if I summoned one of them, I might face horrible consequences.

“This one doesn’t seem that scary.”

I said, looking at a certain page.

Alright, time to put it into practice.

Then, I returned to my room and began preparing.

All I had to do was draw the magical circle on paper, as instructed in the spellbook.

First, it had to be a large magical circle, so I had to join together several pieces of paper.

Then, I needed to draw the magical circle in rooster blood, so I got the rooster that the cook was planning to use from him.

It wasn’t unusual to use rooster blood in magic, so he was happy to lend it to me.

And so, I drew the magical circle on the paper using rooster blood.

Once it was done, I closed my eyes.

The teacher said to listen for the voice of the spirit, but in this case, should I be listening for the demon’s voice?

Then, in the next instant.

The spellbook emitted a dark, black light.

And an eerie, groaning sound came from the book.

Ah, that’s what it means to listen for a voice.

I was moved by the unfamiliar feeling.

Then, I chanted the spell.

“--I command thee in the name of Norman. Appear like a whirlwind, and show your form within the magical circle. Come here from anywhere in the world, and answer all my questions with reason. And appear in a peaceful form, without delay, and make my wish a reality. I summon thee. In the name by which all things obey, the name at which the four great spirits all overturn, and the wind trembles, the sea flees, fire is extinguished, and the earth is shaken, and all spirits of heaven and earth and hell tremble, I command thee. Come forth -- the 50th, Furcas!”

It was a long spell.

As soon as I finished saying it, the magical circle shone brightly.

D-Did it work?

The brilliance was so blinding that I instinctively covered my eyes with my arm.

Then, I opened my eyes when the light faded.

“Is this a demon?”

There was a reason I asked in a questioning tone.

Because the demon standing before me was completely different from the image of a terrifying demon I had in mind.

Firstly, it was an old man with a white beard and white hair.

Well, it did say in the spellbook that he looked like an old man, so that was fine.

In fact, the reason I decided to summon Furcas was because if he looked like an old man, he wouldn’t be that scary.

But, the old man was so frail he looked like he was about to die. It was definitely unexpected.

And the old man was snoring, “Gubi, gubi,” while asleep.

Next to him was a frail little pony, who looked like he was about to die as well.

The horse was also asleep, naturally.

The only other thing there was a rusty spear. Was that the old man’s weapon?

Well, let’s try waking him up.

Thinking this, I shook the old man’s shoulder, saying, “Wake up.”

But the old man only moved his nostrils bigger and smaller, and didn’t show any signs of waking up.

Should I just wait until he wakes up?

Deciding that, I waited for several hours. But, I was defeated by the drowsiness that came upon me, and I fell asleep before I realized it.

This was the story of my first time summoning a demon.