It took Orion ten minutes to come to terms with the fact that his summon, a cat, had turned into a human.
Well, specifically, a cat woman.
What he couldn't come to terms with though, was the fact that she was so clingy.
"Hehehe master."
Orion's face was completely red as he walked through the Duke Don's market, headed for the Ashbourne mansion.
Eyes were on him for a while, but the commoners knew not to judge a noble, even one that was considered a failure.
Besides, this wasn't the first time the failure of a noble was seen walking around with a hooker.
Ever since he became an adult, yes, in this world, fifteen year olds were full adults, he had either been wasting the majority of his time in bars, drinking away or in the red light district.
Orion let out a sigh, his reputation was below dirt level at this point, something he'd have to fix if he wanted to fulfill his dream of an easy life, but for now, he had bigger issues.
Namely, Luna.
He realized that she could switch from human to cat forms, but she had refused to do so, preferring to cling to him instead.
Well, he could simply order her to transform back, but based on the memories in his head, if a summon beast refused an order, especially if that order posed no risk to their lives, they'd experience unimaginable pain.
In other words, a contract was basically a slave pact....
But that was only limited to weaker beasts though, stronger ones could even end the contract on a whim.
Orion glanced sideways at her.
She was practically glued to his arm, her body pressed against his as she walked beside him without a care in the world.
Her tail swayed happily behind her, occasionally wrapping around his wrist before loosening.
"Hehehe… Master smells nice."
"…Stop sniffing me."
"I can't."
Orion's eye twitched at her answer,
Yeah, this was going to be a problem.
A big one.
He let out a quiet sigh, trying his best to ignore the stares they were getting as they moved through the market.
They continued walking forward a while, and soon enough, the towering gates of the Ashbourne estate came into view.
It was massive, imposing and very clearly a symbol of power.
The guards stationed at the entrance immediately stiffened when they saw him.
Or rather,
When they saw who he was, a flicker of disdain passed through one of their eyes before it was quickly hidden.
"Young Master Orion."
The greeting came out respectful, but it was obviously an empty one, but Orion couldn't be bothered with that right now.
So, he simply nodded and continued walking forward.
The mansion was soon in his sights, a large show of power made of white stones and gold roofs.
The Ashbourne insignia, a black dragon coiled against an entire planet, was printedon multiple banners hanging on the building.
But that, wasn't Orion's destination, after all, he had been banned from the main estate since he failed to awaken.
Instead, he turned to the side of the same large compound, where an even modest mansion stood.
Calling it a mansion was a stretch, since it looked no bigger than a modern home.
"I don't like this place," as she looked towards the mansion they were headed to.
"Yeah?" Orion replied flatly, "get in line."
Even the previous Orion hated this place, and from the looks of it the current one did too.
How couldn't he?
This place didn't look like somewhere he could live comfortably, one bit.. but for now, he had no choice.
They were just about to reach the entrance when,
"Well, well… if it isn't my dear little brother,"
Orion stopped.
Orion's body immediately stopped without his delibrate command, and slowly, he turned back.
Standing behind them was a black haired, blue eyes young man, dressed in a noble attire.
Compared to the current Orion, this man looked a lot more attractive, but that could be blamed at the fact that he was wearing clothes fitting for the son of a Grand Duke.
"What's this?" The man muttered, looking at Orion with a smile, "you finally returned and you didn't even try to greet your older brother?"
Yes, the man standing before him, Seth Ashbourne, was Orion's older brother.
But don't let his smile fool you, after all, he felt nothing but disdain for his 'younger brother'.
After all, Orion was the Ashbournes biggest shame, especially when put beside his siblings.
The Ashbournes were a family known for producing geniuses. Geniuses who stood at the peak of their generation, monsters who tamed powerful beasts and carved their names into the empire.
And then there was Orion.
A stain.
A failure who couldn't even summon a rat.
Naturally, someone like Seth had taken it upon himself to "manage" that stain.
Which, in reality, just meant bullying Orion, but it wasn't as if anyone cared anyway. He could've died in that alleyway and they wouldn't bother recovering his corpse.
Seth continued looking at Orion with a smile still on his face before turning to his side and finally setting his eyes on Luna who was still clinging to Orion.
"Oh? You finally managed to get yourself a woman?" he chuckled lightly as he looked at Luna, "I thought even the ones in the red light district had standards."
"Maybe I could have a go at her?" Seth started as he stepped closer to them, "after all, she doesn't look that bad."
Orion finally regained control of his body and he immediately placed himself between Seth and Luna.
"She's not a hooker," he said in a cold tone.
"Wow," Seth let out a chuckle as he gently placed a hand on Orion's shoulder, "I guess even a failure is capable of growing balls."
His aura suddenly changed and as if a switch had been flipped, the smile on his face immediately disappeared.
"I'll just have to reeducate you."
He pressed harder on Orion's shoulder, forcing him to kneel, but just before his knee could reach the ground, a soft voice interrupted.
"Get your hand off my master."
Seth let out a chuckle as he looked at Luna for a second before asking, "and what do you intend to—"
His words were suddenly cut off by a scream that originated from his very own mouth.
"ARRGGH!"