Chapter 1

Ah, it’s that dream again today.

He – Tatsuhiko Yamagata – was clearly aware that it was a dream.

I think it’s called a lucid dream, right? While thinking about such trivial matters, Tatsuhiko observed his usual dream as if it were someone else’s.

The place seemed to be some kind of basement. It wasn’t particularly large – about the size of a classroom – and the room was dimly lit. A woman was kneeling and praying fervently.

Everything was made of stone. The walls, the floor, and the ceiling. This was why Tatsuhiko speculated that it might be a basement.

The only light source was several flickering candles.

The woman appeared to be in her early twenties. She looked to be around the same age as Tatsuhiko, who had recently been a high school freshman – for the second time.

She had long, straight hair that reached below her waist.

Her hair, glowing a deep red in the candlelight, might actually be blonde. More specifically, it could be a platinum blonde.

Her eye color was indiscernible. Her eyes were closed, perhaps due to her concentration on her prayers.

She seemed to be of Western descent, though there was something subtly different from the Americans or British people Tatsuhiko knew. While he couldn’t pinpoint her exact ethnicity, it was clear that she was extremely beautiful.

Her nose was straight, and her jawline was sharp. The arrangement of her features was exquisite. It was a bit disappointing that she had her eyes closed.

Upon closer inspection, her delicate, petal-like lips were moving continuously. It seemed she was reciting something like a spell or a prayer in a language Tatsuhiko couldn’t understand.

A saint.

Suddenly, that word popped into Tatsuhiko’s mind.

Perhaps the image of the woman praying in the dream reminded him more of a religious figure than a magician, which led him to think of that word.

In the dream, the saint continued to pray fervently.

He woke up.

In a daze, Tatsuhiko stared at the familiar ceiling, thinking.

When did it start? When did he begin having this dream?

Recalling the image of the saint from the dream, Tatsuhiko thought for a while.

He had been having this dream for about a year. At first, it was once a month. But as he kept having the same dream repeatedly, he began to notice its abnormality.

Gradually, the intervals between the dreams became shorter.

From once a month, it became twice, then three times, and eventually once a week, then every three days. Now, he almost had the dream of the saint every day.

He had been having the dream of the saint every day for about ten days.

The keyword "ten days" made Tatsuhiko realize something.

"Ten days...? That’s the day I... lost Chico..."

Chico. She was the last and most beloved family member left to him.

About a year and a half ago, Tatsuhiko’s parents and sister died in a car accident.

On their way to a hot spring resort to celebrate Tatsuhiko’s successful admission to his desired high school, their car was hit by a drowsy driver in a large truck.

Tatsuhiko was also in the car. He alone miraculously survived, but the rest of his family died almost instantly.

The front of the large truck spread across the windshield. Tatsuhiko didn’t remember much after that, as he had lost consciousness for several days due to the accident.

With multiple fractures, Tatsuhiko was hospitalized for more than two months after regaining consciousness.

During those two months, his living environment changed completely.

Tatsuhiko, who had lost his parents and sister in the accident.

The funeral arrangements were handled by the neighbors, Tatsuhiko learned after he was discharged. The funeral expenses were paid from the insurance money later.

Fortunately, he received enough insurance money to live on until he turned 18. The lawyer who handled the case explained the details, but Tatsuhiko didn’t remember much.

Still, as a high school freshman and a minor, Tatsuhiko couldn’t manage the remaining insurance money.

The management of the insurance money was entrusted to his only relative, his paternal aunt.

Tatsuhiko remembered that his aunt was in her mid-30s and unmarried.

This was because she lived quite far from where Tatsuhiko and his family had lived, and they hardly had any close relationship. Moreover, she didn’t even attend the funeral, citing her busy work schedule.

Furthermore, she outright refused to take in Tatsuhiko and take care of him.

"I’ll be your guarantor and guardian, but let’s not interfere with each other. Or would you prefer to go to a facility?"

When his aunt said this directly, Tatsuhiko nodded without a word.

Thus, his aunt became his legal guardian on paper, and Tatsuhiko’s life as a single person began.

The school fees and living expenses were deposited into his account monthly. Whether this was due to his aunt’s diligence or a prearranged contract, he wasn’t sure.

Perhaps his aunt was pocketing part of the insurance money that should have been deposited.

Tatsuhiko sometimes thought about this, but he had no intention of investigating or confronting her.

He could have reported his aunt for neglecting her responsibilities as a guardian, but that would have led to his placement in a facility. Tatsuhiko preferred his current solitary life to that.

He sold the family home and moved to an apartment near his school.

The family home was too large for him to live alone, and the maintenance costs were significant. Most importantly, living alone in a house filled with memories of his deceased family was too painful for Tatsuhiko.

Despite his successful admission to his desired high school, Tatsuhiko’s high school life was far from smooth.

He spent the first few months of his new life in a hospital bed.

Even after being discharged, he faced a difficult rehabilitation process. By the time he completed his rehabilitation and returned to daily life, the first semester had ended, and summer vacation had begun.

Tatsuhiko, who had missed the entire first semester of his freshman year, naturally felt out of place when he returned to school in the second semester.

When he suddenly appeared in the second semester, his classmates, who had been informed of his misfortune, treated him as if he were a fragile object.

While he wasn’t bullied or mistreated, he felt uncomfortable and began to spend more time alone.

His grades suffered due to missing the entire first semester, and he fell behind his classmates.

His grades continued to decline, and he soon became one of the lowest performers in the class.

Still, Tatsuhiko continued to attend high school because his family had been so proud of his admission.

To honor their wishes, Tatsuhiko continued to attend high school.

However, his grades were poor, he had no club activities to focus on, and he had no close friends.

Eventually, he found himself attending school out of habit.

Even if it was out of habit, Tatsuhiko was able to keep moving forward because he had Chico, his last remaining family member.

Chico, who had stayed home during the fateful family trip, had not been in the accident.

Chico was waiting for him when he returned to the apartment.

This thought alone kept Tatsuhiko going.

But.

The time came for him to part with his beloved Chico.

Tatsuhiko and Chico had met over ten years ago. His parents had introduced him to Chico as a birthday gift when he was young.

Since then, Tatsuhiko and Chico had been inseparable.

He had taken care of Chico’s feeding when she was too young to eat on her own.

As Chico grew, they enjoyed ice cream together in the summer and huddled in a kotatsu in the winter.

In the spring, they went for walks together, and in the fall, they enjoyed the various harvests.

When Chico was sick, Tatsuhiko carried her to the vet. When Tatsuhiko had a cold, Chico would look at him with a worried expression.

Chico, Tatsuhiko’s beloved companion, was approaching the end of her life.

Chico passed away ten days ago, in Tatsuhiko’s arms, as if she were sleeping. Tatsuhiko still vividly remembered the sensation.

The warm, fluffy feeling of Chico’s body gradually turning cold.

Tatsuhiko cried silently all night in the empty apartment.

He cried and cried, and when morning came, he carried Chico’s cold body to a nearby riverbank and buried her there.

He placed a small grave marker and added some wildflowers.

He stood in front of the grave, praying for Chico’s soul.

He prayed for a long time, wishing he could continue praying forever, but he couldn’t.

It was the second spring of his high school life, or rather, his first real spring.

With poor grades and having missed the entire first semester, Tatsuhiko had been decided to repeat his first year early in the previous year. Therefore, he hadn’t attended school at all since the new class started.

The reason he didn’t go to school was partly due to his repeat year, but more so because he wanted to be with Chico, who was showing signs of old age.

He spent so much time with Chico that he rarely left his room.

Now that Chico had passed away, he made a decision. He decided to drop out of school.

With no close friends and having lost his emotional support, he had no attachment to his high school life.

When he returned to the apartment, he put on his school uniform for the first time in a long time and went to school.

He went directly to the staff room and silently handed his resignation to his homeroom teacher, whom he was meeting for the first time.

The teacher seemed to have expected this and tried to persuade him, but without much enthusiasm. Tatsuhiko’s high school life thus came to an abrupt end.

After that, he began having the dream of the saint every night.

Grieving over the loss of Chico, Tatsuhiko retreated to his room in the apartment.

During the day, he did nothing but stare at the empty birdcage where Chico used to be, and at night, he would go to bed and have the dream of the saint.

He repeated this routine for ten days.

He had lost all hope for life.

Sitting up in bed, Tatsuhiko picked up his mobile phone from the pillow and scrolled through the many photos of Chico.

"Chico... what should I do...? I can’t... I can’t go on without you..."

A question he had repeated many times over the past ten days.

Tatsuhiko stared at Chico’s innocent face in the small screen of his phone.

Her round eyes.

Her soft body covered in feathers that were almost silver-gray.

Among these, her head was a beautiful pure white.

A white-faced conure.

This was Chico, Tatsuhiko’s beloved and last remaining family member, who had been with him since he was a child.

‘Pet Saint’ (← Provisional Shortened Title) has begun.

I’ve been posting on this site for over two years, but I’ve finally ventured into reincarnation and otherworldly summoning.

Yeah, an idea just popped into my head!

But don’t worry, it’s not some random summoning or a whim of a god, or because I got hit by a truck (laughs). I did get hit by a truck, but it’s not directly related to the summoning.

Anyway, since I’ve started, I’m committed to seeing it through to the end, so I hope you’ll stick with me.

Thank you for your support.