Virgo

"—Heed my call and pass through the gate. Open, Gate of Virgo!"

"Did you call for me, Master?"

With a powerful gust of wind, an unusually tall figure appeared before Aibo.

She was a tall woman nearly six feet three inches in height, dressed in a maid uniform. Her long pink hair was swept into a side ponytail that draped over her chest with the mature charm of a married woman. With her full, moonlike curves, graceful figure, gentle temperament, and maternal air, she was practically the ideal perfect woman!

"You're... a Celestial Spirit?"

"Yes, Master. Virgo, the Celestial Spirit of Virgo, is at your service."

The moment Aibo returned home, he began the summoning ritual. It was his first time summoning one of the Zodiac Celestial Spirits, and he had not expected her to be humanoid—or this beautiful.

"Miss Virgo, I have to say, you've truly amazed me."

"I am a Celestial Spirit loyal to my Master. I generally work in the form my Master desires, and serving my Master is my highest priority."

"Ah, I see! Did you sense it through soul magic? Or does the magical connection itself transmit information? Celestial Spirit Magic really is... Sorry, I got sidetracked. Let's form the contract now. Do you have any requirements regarding the duration of your summons?"

"I can serve Master at any time."

"Is this the spirit of a maid? You're incredibly dedicated. Then do you have any other requirements for the contract?"

"Master's magic power is exceptionally abundant. I hope to remain by Master's side for a longer time."

"Uh... I can meet that request. I'll do my best to let you stay in the human world. Then the contract is formed."

"I look forward to serving you, Master."

Virgo maintained a proper smile throughout, though Aibo felt there was little emotion in it. Her inner voice was completely empty.

It was the first time Aibo had encountered such a situation. Even with the Celestial Spirits from before that could not speak, he had been able to hear their thoughts through Telepathy Magic. Yet he could hear nothing at all from Virgo standing before him.

Serving my Master is my highest priority. So she was a Celestial Spirit lacking a sense of self?

From the perspective of Celestial Spirit Magic, she would probably be an extremely useful tool.

"From now on, we're partners. I don't really like being called 'Master.' Can you change it?"

"Your Majesty?"

"I'm not an emperor! Change it!"

"Young Master?"

"I'm an orphan. I don't like it. Change it again."

"Sir?"

"Too old. Change it."

"...Please instruct me, Master."

Aibo's lips curved upward. He took Virgo's hand, only to find that even when he tilted his head back, he could not clearly see her face.

"Virgo, you look like my mother. Can I call you Mom? In exchange, you can call me Dad."

"..."

Aibo clearly felt Virgo's body stiffen. At last, he could hear something.

[This Master is a child... So this is what human children are like...]

"Alright, Dad."

"..."

This time, Aibo fell silent. It seemed he had misunderstood. Virgo was not suppressing her inner voice, nor was she resistant to mind reading. She was simply a little expressionless and detached.

Aibo instantly lost interest and waved his hand.

"Forget it, forget it. I was joking. Call me whatever you want. Anything is fine."

Virgo tilted her head and replied, "Alright, Little Master."

"...?"

Aibo felt the frustration of dropping a stone on his own foot, but since he had already said it, he did not care much.

"Can you tell me what abilities you have?"

The previous Celestial Spirits had not been intelligent enough to assist Aibo's research into Celestial Spirit Magic, but Virgo's arrival gave him hope. Perhaps his research into summoning magic could make a new breakthrough.

"Certainly. I am an elemental-control Celestial Spirit. I specialize in earth-element magic and have some skill in hand-to-hand combat."

"Uh, anything else?"

"I am an all-purpose maid, skilled in every household chore. I know every skill a maid should know."

"?"

"..."

"Uh, uh... Forget that for now. Let's go outside and test your strength."

Aibo took Virgo outside with teleportation and watched as she casually burrowed seven or eight holes into the ground in an instant.

Aibo fell into thought.

"Is that... your only ability?"

Seemingly seeing that her Little Master was dissatisfied, Virgo bowed and explained, "Little Master, the strength of us Celestial Spirits is preset. We unlock different levels of power according to the strength of our Master's magic power."

"In other words, your strength has different tiers? Which tier are you at now?"

"Beginner. Although Little Master's magic power is abundant, it can only extend my summoning duration. It is not yet enough to unlock a Celestial Spirit's intermediate strength."

"Beginner, intermediate, advanced? So you have three levels of strength?"

"Generally speaking, yes."

Aibo glanced at his blue bar.

[Magic Power: 650/691]

After raising Meditation to LV3 some time ago, his magic power had begun growing much faster. If he meditated at full effort every day, he could increase his maximum magic power by nearly ten points.

His total magic power would probably break through the 1,000 mark in another two months.

By now, Aibo could also roughly sense the strength of other people's magic power, and he had some guesses about the standards Virgo mentioned.

He estimated that reaching 1,000 and 10,000 magic power respectively was the threshold separating the "beginner, intermediate, and advanced" levels Virgo had mentioned.

Aibo had grounds for this deduction.

Anything below 1,000 magic power belonged to the fodder tier.

The elite mages in the guild all had more than 1,000 magic power. Even Erza did by now.

Everyone said Laxus was about to advance to S-Class, and his magic power was around 10,000. So 10,000 magic power was probably the threshold for an S-Class mage.

As for Gildarts and the Guild Master... Aibo had no way of gauging their magic power. It was probably an utterly terrifying number.

Then he would wait a few months until his magic power broke past 1,000 and see whether he could unlock Virgo's intermediate strength.

"I think I understand... Oh, right. You can change your form too, can't you? Is that Transformation Magic, or an ability of Celestial Spirits?"

"This is part of Virgo's ability. I do not have a fixed form. What I become depends entirely on what Master is thinking when summoning me for the first time..."

"Then can you change into something else?"

"This... should theoretically be possible, but I have never tried it before. After all, every time I was summoned, I had the form Master found most ideal..."

"No, I want to try it! Change into another form and let me see!"

"..."

Virgo nodded.

"Then please summon me again, Little Master."

Aibo decisively sent Virgo back.

"—Open, Gate of Virgo! Virgo!"

"Did you call for me, Little Master?"

"Eh, eh, eh?!"

Aibo's eyes widened abruptly. That six-foot-tall, long-legged, busty mature beauty from before was gone.

In her place stood a petite twin-tailed little-girl maid, only slightly taller than himself.

Wait!?

No! Don't shock me!

Aibo shuddered in fright and immediately sent Virgo back again.

He took a deep breath and thought once more about the girl characters he liked.

"—Open, Gate of Virgo! Virgo!"

"...Did you call for me, Little Master?"

This time, it was finally right. The Virgo who appeared had become a cute, expressionless maid girl with short pink hair. It was just that the way Virgo looked at him seemed somewhat meaningful.

It had to be an illusion. Aibo felt that the little-girl Virgo from before had surely been only an accident.

Aibo said excitedly, "This ability is amazing, Virgo! You really are an all-purpose maid!"

"...As long as you're happy, my Little Master."