Saint of Zero [ZnT/FSN]

[Satire Swift]

​

The Gandalfr is the Shield of God, meant to protect their summoner from harm. Through faith and blade, here was a man that protected the weak from those that would inflict suffering and despair, and his life ended with no regrets. Though Louise did not mean to summon a Guardian Knight, there were few greater she could have asked for.

=====SoZ=====​

The sun was setting. From his view point on top of the walls of the city of Nicomedia, Georgius was given a sublime view of the city in the fading light. Shadows elongated from buildings and columns, casting a rather solemn tone over everything they touched. It was clear that with this day, things would be coming to an end.

His own life among them.

"And so, for the crime of Blasphemy against the gods and his own confession of belonging to the heretical cult known as Christianity, Tribune Georgius de Lydda is to be executed." The official orator stood a short distance away from him, speaking down toward the rather sizable crowd that had gathered for the event. "As per orders of Emperor Diocletian, this punishment shall be carried out in the manner befitting of all soldiers that commit treason: decapitation by soldier of fellow rank."

From his position on his knees, Georgius tried to turn his head to see which of his fellow Tribunes was to do the deed, but the manacles binding him as well as the massive pain from his wounds barely allowed him to twitch. The orator had left it unsaid that that such traitors were also tortured for several days before they were allowed to die. He had been subjected to beatings, lashings, branding with hot irons, even laceration on a wheel of swords. The final punishment was that he was dragged through the streets of Nicomedia to the top of the wall that would be his final destination. Needless to say, his body was a torn and bloody mess, so much so that some in the crowd below had trouble looking at him. Even if he was spared the sword, Georgius would most assuredly die of his wounds or infection not long after. All that was left was finishing the inevitable.

The sound of heavy boots came from the other side of him, and a hand came down to grip his jaw. Georgius found his head being painfully turned to view the armored form of Helous. Ah, of course it would be you, he thought as he looked up at the man he considered his friend. Fellow imperial guard of the emperor, Helous was among those that he truly trusted and respected.

The fellow Tribune looked at him with a mixture of emotions, regret and frustration most prominent among them. "Why?" he asked in a low tone. "Why did you have to do this? Diocletian offered you land, money, and slaves if you would just have followed his edicts. He pleaded with you to do so. I pleaded with you to do so!" His friend all but shouted. "So why?! Why have you chosen death?!"

Georgius made several strangled noises from his ruined throat before he managed to croak out the words "Because… it wasn't right. Diocletian can't… punish Christians for th-their faith." He let of a wheeze that might have been a laugh. "And I w-will not sacrifice to gods that… I do not believe in."

Helous's mouth twisted at that. "Is it truly worth it? This God and Savior of yours? Do you truly think that it is worth your life?"

Georgius managed to rasp back "…yes."

The other Tribune's shoulders slumped in defeat, and his grip on the doomed man's jaw released, causing it to hang back down. "May you find respite from this madness in Elysium, my friend." He said as the ringing of steel being drawn from a scabbard caused the crowd below to go quiet. "Is there anything else you would ask of this man before he sends you to your final rest?"

There was a pause before Georgius replied "Do you have it? That which I asked of you to get?"

There was another pause. Helous knew what of what Georgius spoke, as he had been asked by the other man to retrieve it for him a few days prior. "Yes. Why?"

"I would like it with me for when I met my Lord."

There was a heavy sigh. "For you, I shall do this." There was some rustling and a moment later something was place over his head and around his neck. It was a simple leather cord, upon the end of which was a simple wooden cross with the bottom line longer than the others. It was in the shape of a crucifix, to be precise. Georgius had found it interesting that those of his faith had adopted the thing which had killed their savior as their symbol, though it was becoming more widespread in recent years. This one in particular was important to him as it was made by a young woman and given to him as a present.

Looking at the small piece of wood dangling from his neck, his mind thought back to the day he met her. A beautiful woman, standing on the edge of a lake. Her bridle gown following around her in the breeze. Her words telling him to leave while her eyes begged him to save her.

A feeling of peace came to him. Thank you Sadra, he prayed.

"Are you ready?" Helous asked.

"I am."

Georgius watched the shadow of the blade move as his friend raised it above his head. "Forgive me." Helous said, and the blade came swinging down.

In that instant, Georgius gave a small smile and said "Always."

--------------------​

The sun was setting. From her position at her desk, Louise Françoise de la Vallière could see the shadows being cast by the various books stacked on her desk getting longer. In a way, it reminded her of a sundial.

Namely in the way how it made her realize that time was running out.

The young pink haired woman turned and glared at the sight of the setting sun through the glass balcony doors of her room, as if she could will it to halt it's progress with shear force of will alone. She needed more time, Founder damn it. The Springtime Summoning Ritual was tomorrow and she needed to be ready. The rules of the Tristain Academy of Magic were very clear on this point. All second year students are to summon their familiar at the ritual, the animal or magical beast that would reflect the mage's power and be their life long companion. Failure to do so would result in expulsion. Louise had been studying the ritual intensely in hopes of getting it right.

It wasn't that she was clumsy or forgetful. In fact, when it came to study and academic work, there were few other students that could best her. She knew all the magic formula by heart, memorized dozens of spells and their potential uses and knew process by which new spells could be studied and created. Ostensibly, she should be the most skilled mage at the Academy. There was only one problem.

Louise had never once cast a spell successfully. They all just sort of exploded.

The 17 year old shook her head, trying to rid herself of such thoughts. I will summon my familiar tomorrow, she though instantly. It will be a grand and powerful familiar, like a dragon, or a manticore.

She decided to take a small break for the moment, and walked out through the balcony doors near her bed to get a better view of the setting sun and the Academy. Whatever her… issues with magic might be, the Vallière family was very powerful and influential in the country of Tristain, and thus Louise was granted a room much nicer than most students. Her balcony was about 3 stories up, and gave her a good view of the other towers. The tower she was in along with four more made up a pentagram that was joined by the outer walls, all surrounding the larger central tower.

Looking on as the towers stood tall against the fading light, Louise felt an odd pang of loneliness. She wished her sister Cattleya were her. She always knew how to cheer Louise up when she was down. Of course, if she failed tomorrow, she would end up seeing a lot more of her when she had to go home. As well as her mother…

A shiver ran up the mage's spine and she forced the thought of how her mother would react if she failed out of her mind as hard as she could. Her mother would not tolerate such weakness from her. So she would succeed. That was all there was to it.

A knock on her bedroom door took her out of her thoughts, as did the voice that accompanied it. "Housekeeping, milady."

"Yes, yes, come in." At the young noble's response, the door opened and a maid not much older than Louise entered the room, dressed in the typical black and white dress of her profession. Her short black hair marked her of common stock, and as such Louise paid her no mind as she set about the room doing her duties. She most certainly did not feel mild irritation when the maid took the liberty of lighting the lamps in her room. It wasn't like it was a painful reminder that most mages could do it themselves with the slightest bit of effort.

Louise set about dutifully ignoring her and returned to her studies. In fact, she would not have said one more word to the other woman if not a small bit of clumsiness. The maid had bent down to pick up some laundry on the floor, but when she rose she was near the knobs for the dresser. She passed a little too close to it and something on her neck caught before there was a soft snapping noise. "Ahh!" the maid exclaimed with dismay. "Oh drat! I'll have to get another cord."

Louise turned around from her desk, not really wanting to go over the details of the summoning ritual for what must have been the fiftieth time that night. She was greeted by the sight of the maid looking between her laundry laden arms and a spot on the floor. "And just what are you standing around for?" She asked, some of the irritation from before leaking into her voice.

"Ahh!" The maid said in surprise as she looked at the noble, now clearly nervous to be under the other woman's gaze. "I-I'm sorry milady. It's just t-that…" She looked down at the floor again. "The cord on my pendant broke, and I can't…"

Louise looked at her for a moment longer before giving a sigh and standing up, walking over to the spot the maid was looking at. It was beneath her to do so, but her mother had advised that it was wise to be magnanimous to the common people when it cost you very little to do so. She reached down and picked the item off the floor and looked at it in mild confusion. "This is a pendant? It's barely even a piece of driftwood." The object in question, at the end of a broken leather cord, was a piece of very old wood. It was in the shape of a cross, though the bottom prong was longer than the other 3. Louise could also tell that there was a slight reddish hue on some of it, though what it was she could not say. "I must say, I would have though even commoners could afford something of better craft than this."

The maid looked somewhat embarrassed by this statement, but still said "It was a gift from my grandfather. It was something he had gotten back in his homeland, and said that it had to do with his religion. I-I've always considered it something of a good luck charm."

Louise frowned at this. "Well, this certainly doesn't look like anything out of Founderism." Her eyes narrowed. "Are you saying that your grandfather was a heathen?"

"Oh no no no!" The maid insisted, her voice now fearful. "He believed in God! In fact, he was one of the few in his home country that did! It's just that it was a little… different."

"What nonsense is that? Founderism is Founderism."

"Yes, but-"

"Enough." Louise said firmly as she put the piece of wood on top of the cloths the other woman was carrying. "I don't need to hear anymore of your grandfather's mistaken beliefs. I have wasted enough of my time talking to you already. Leave me, for I have studying to do."

The maid nervously nodded and quickly scurried out of the room, leaving the mage to her studies, wondering just how long she would have to study before she felt confident about tomorrows summoning.

--------------------​

The answer was all night. Well, not exactly. That would implied that she felt at all good about things, and given how the following morning she was exhausted and pushing around her breakfast without eating it, Louise could definitely say that was not the case.

"Well, aren't you looking grumpy this morning?" A voice sing-songed from her left. "Then again, I wouldn't be happy if I were you either."

Louise's head whipped to the side, her exhaustion being replace with a rather familiar sense of irritation. "And just what do you mean by that, Zerbst?"

Kirche Augusta von Zerbst flipped back her long red hair as she stared down at Louise with a smirk. "Oh? Well, I would imagine that today is your last day here. After all, you have to summon a familiar to remain in this school, and no one expects Louise the Zero to manage a successful spell now of all times."

The pinkette's fists clenched as she stared back at the other woman in anger. Oh, how she hated Kirche! And how she hated that stupid nickname! "For your information, I will be summoning a familiar today, Zebrst! And it will be a much better one than anything you could summon. So stop looking down at me!"

The much taller woman gave a small laugh. "That will be somewhat difficult seeing as how you're still rather… underdeveloped." Kirche folded her arms under her rather impressive chest. "In more ways than one I should think. Is it any wonder why men from this country keep coming to me?"

Louise's indignation grew at that statement. Kirche wasn't just talking about her own physic (which did not matter in the slightest. Who cares if she had tan skin, wide hips and giant breasts? Louise just hadn't hit her growth spurt yet, damn it!), but of the rivalry that existed between their two families. The fact that the Germanian Zerbsts had once stolen a Vallière groom to be was a particular point of contention.

The pink haired mage was about to launch into a tirade about the wanton woman's lack of morals and lavasiousness when she was interrupted by a soft voice. "Breakfast."

Louise blinked and turned her attention to the girl that always seemed to be perpetually at the red head's side. Tabitha, like Kirche and Louise, was also a second year at the Academy, and she had short blue hair along with a frame that was not much bigger that Louise's. It always seemed odd that those two were friends. Kirche was loud, attention grabbing, and prone to being rather flighty at times. Tabitha on the other hand was so quite and introverted that Louise hadn't even noticed her. Founder, the blue haired girl hadn't even bothered to look up from her book!

Kirche looked at the bluette for a moment before giving a sigh. "I suppose you're right. Today is not a day to skip a meal." She turned back to Louise. "It looks like well have to cut this short, but don't worry," she said with a smirk. "I'm sure that the summoning will be… explosively successful." The woman tittered as she and her companion wandered off to find their own seats in the dinning hall.

Louise clenched her teeth and took deep breaths, resisting the urge to show the infuriating woman just how 'explosive' things could get. Thankfully, her noble training kept her from having such a vulgar outburst, and she managed to calm down, though her mood had become even worse.

"U-umm, Milady? Could I-"

"Not! Now!" Louise yelled as she spun on whoever was trying to speak to her. She guessed she hadn't calmed down as much as she thought.

The mage was somewhat surprised to find herself facing the maid she had spoken to last night, though she wasn't for long. "Eep!" The maid exclaimed at Louise's reaction. "N-never mind!" With that, the dark haired woman scurried away.

Louise stared after her for a moment, feeling somewhat confused. What was that about? Did she look distressed about something? She pondered this for a moment longer before she remembered that she had more important things on her mind.

Before she knew it, Louise found herself in one of the courtyards of the Academy with the rest of the second year students, standing in front of a summoning circle. The teacher overseeing the group was one Professor Colbert, a somewhat absentminded man, both balding and bespectacled. Every bit of his tall frame seemed to be made for academia.

"Is everyone here?" he asked, looking over the assorted adolescents. "Good. We shall now conduct the Springtime Summoning Ritual. Each of you shall in turn summon your familiar, and then proceed to cast the Contract Familiar spell on them."

"Uh, what if we don't like the one we summoned?" asked a boy in the back of the crowd. "Could we try again?"

"Absolutely not." Colbert replied firmly, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "Summoning a familiar is a sacred right that one does not simply do over. Beside, the familiar you summon will reflect your elemental alignment, as well as being suited to you personally."

"So, what creature is most like an explosion?" Kirche asked as she shot a smug glance over at Louise. The rest of the teens present snickered at this, as pretty much everyone at the Academy was aware of her problems with magic. Louise kept silent, her fists clenched and her head bowed with frustration.

Colbert quickly reined the group in and the summonings were underway. There were a rather large number of different creatures summoned. Many students summoned normal animals such as frogs, owls and snakes. The more promising students managed to summon magical beasts to be their companions, like the boy that summoned a bugbear (although why a weird floating eyeball was called a bugbear eluded her), or that foppish blond who summoned a giant mole, or Kirche who had managed to summon a fire salamander.

Tabitha summoned a young dragon. An actual dragon! Granted, Louise had a hard time getting truly mad about it as the blue haired girl was probably one of the most skilled mages in their group (at both theoretical and practical work), but still!

Finally, after everyone else had finished it was her turn. Louise put on a face of confidence and moved up to the circle. She tried to ignore how a lot of the students started to nervously back up in response, expecting the inevitable blast. As she stood at the edge of the summoning circle, she pulled the clasp of her cloak away from her neck a little, trying to get some more air.

She was surprised when she noticed something small tumble out of the folds of her cloak and land on the ground. Distracted, she bent down and picked it up, and was even more surprised to find that it was that driftwood pendant that the maid had dropped last night. What? How did that get there? Then she thought back to breakfast when the maid had looked upset and was trying to talk to her. Did she honestly lose it while washing my clothes? What a clumsy maid. Looking at the lopsided cross shape, Louise remembered that the other woman had said that she considered the pendent a good luck charm.

As she was wondering whether or not holding the thing for luck counted as heresy, Professor Colbert gently nudged the young woman with his staff. "Louise, the summoning ritual?"

Louise gave a start. "Y-yes professor!" she said, taking one last glance at the pendant before closing it in her left fist. Who am I kidding? She thought to herself. I'll take any chance I can get, not matter how unlikely. The mage pulled out her wand with her right hand.

She would not fail.

She could not fail.

And so, Louise Françoise de la Vallière began to chant.

--------------------​

How long had it been since he had come to this place? It was hard to say. At least a millennia or two, he should think. This realm, this Throne of Heroes, was removed from the world he once knew, so much that time had no real meaning there. His only real connection to that world was the few rare times that he could hear the calls of those who needed him, and he sent his wisdom and guidance to them in response.

That is why his soul had come here, he supposed. All of the heroes of mankind were gathered in this realm, to be called upon if needed once again. But what was sent forth were merely images, hollow echoes of what they were so that a task could be fulfilled. There was an exception though. Someone had made a ritual, a grand battle into which heroes would truly be summoned to do battle for a single wish. This Holy Grail War (a name which he found distasteful for a number of reasons) was known to all heroes in the Throne, and many eagerly awaited their chance to be summoned, to fix something which they had not been able to in life.

It was hard to say how he felt about it. He could not say that he particularly cared for combat, but whenever the time came for 'Servants' as they were called to be summoned, he would always feel anticipation. And when he wasn't chosen, he would feel a little disappointed. It was particularly upsetting when he was sure to be summoned the last time it happened, but the hero Achilles was picked instead. The thing was, he wasn't even sure why he felt the way he did. What would he wish for if he had the chance?

Well, he knew, but was certain it would not be allowed. All he wanted was to be allowed his final rest, to join his Lord God and Savoir in heaven. Perhaps the Throne knew this, and thus would not send him. Such as it, the fact that he could still help people, if only rarely and indirectly, was the only thing that made the sort of half sleep that had become his existence bearable.

I beg of you…

His musing ended when he heard a voice calling out to him. Ah, it seemed there was another that needed his aid.

My servant that exists somewhere in this universe…

He felt mild surprise. That was different. Most usually invoke his name to ask for guidance, but this sounded more like…

A summoning.

My divine, beautiful, and powerful servant…

There was no mistaking it now, the voice was growing stronger. It was young, female, and filled with desperate need. He did not know how, but this person was trying to summon him fully. He did not feel the touch of the Grail in this call, just a simple connection, and a resonance with something within himself.

I wish and desire from the bottom of my heart…

The moment of shock passed. Questions of how and why were irrelevant. This person was calling to him. She needed his help.

He would do as he had always done.

Heed my call and answer my guidance!

He reached forth.

--------------------​

Ostensibly, nothing happened.

The crowd behind the pink haired girl relaxed when there was no massive explosion. It was somewhat surprising actually, as before anytime the girl had ever tried to cast a spell, a concussive blast would result. This time though, there was nothing, and the girl was left pointing her wand at the circle.

"Ha!" someone from the crowd jeered. "So Louise the Zero couldn't even make an explosion this time? That's even more pathetic than usual!" Many of the students present began laughing at her, but she still did not move.

Professor Colbert told them to be silent before looking back at Louise with concern. He did not want to have to fail the young woman, and not just because of the political disfavor that it would court with her family. She always tried so hard, studying more than anyone else in her class to just cast one spell right. He could tell that there was nothing wrong in her technique, but he decided to bend the rules a little to give her another chance. "Louise? Perhaps there was just a minor error somewhere. I suggest that you try again."

Still she did not respond, but her entire body spoke of tension. Sweat dripped down her brow, her teeth were clenched, and her knuckles white.

"Louise?" Colbert said again, his concern rising.

In truth, she could not hear him, or the mocking calls of the students behind her. She wasn't paying attention to anything other than the circle, because she felt it. There was something on the edge of her perception, something which was reaching out to her in kind, but wasn't quite getting through.

No! She mentally screamed as she poured every last bit of her willpower into the circle. I will summon a familiar! I! Will! Not! Fail!

Then the circle began to glow a faint red. As Louise keep pushing with her will, the glow increased in intensity, the students behind her gasping in surprise at the sight. In an instant the light expanded inwards, tracing more designs and symbols within the center of the 2 meter circle beyond the Runic lettering that lined the edge. The resulting sigil was dense and incomprehensible to her, but she did not care. She could feel her summon getting closer. She had to push a little more…

With a final strangled cry from Louise, several things happened at once. The magical light orbs around courtyard all cracked and shattered. Gouts of earth tore themselves out of the ground, and wind pushed inwards to the circle. And of course, there was an explosion.

A number of people were knocked back, but Louise stood firm. She panted heavily from the effort she had just put forth, and peered into the smoke, hoping against hope that thing she had felt would be standing there when it cleared. When the cloud was blown away from a small gust of wind though, she almost took a step back at what she saw.

I summoned a… man?

The man in question stood tall in the center of the circle, of average height and long brown hair that cascaded down to mid back. He was dressed in armor as a soldier, but the design was not one that Louise recognized. It was the color of bronze, and had intricate designs etched into metal. A number of plates ran down his arms ending in gauntlets, and his breastplate was partially covered by a strip of white cloth. The cloth extended downwards and joined with a sort of white robe that covered his legs, though it still showed that his boots were in the shape of a dragon's feet. Finally he wore a white cape that extended down to his ankles, the article still billowing somewhat from the wind.

Louise stared at him with an open mouth gape. She briefly wondered in horror if she had summoned a commoner, but she pushed that thought out of her mind quickly. No common soldier would be given such elegant (if somewhat simple) attire. This was clearly someone of at least moderate importance. This thought was also reinforced by his bearing. As he locked eyes with Louise, she could feel the intensity of his gaze as he looked at her.

No one spoke. With the sheer unexpectedness of the man presence, no one knew what to say. Eventually, the man's gaze softened somewhat, and he said "Upon your summoning, I have come forth. I ask of you, why have you called me?"

Louise blinked in surprise, as the man had not spoken in Tristianian, but rather in Ancient Romalian. She did not know why he had addressed her in a dead language, but she had fortunately had the language drilled into her head when she was young by instructors, as it had close ties to the origins of the Runic language.

Feeling that it would be improper somehow if she switched to a more modern tongue, she replied in kind. "I-I have summoned you to be m-my familiar." She cursed herself for stuttering, but she couldn't help it. She had put all of her willpower into summoning him, and as such was barely conscious. This might not be what she wanted, but she was in no state to try again even if she could.

The man looked surprised at this, and once again looked into Louise's eyes, as if searching for answers in her soul. Part of her was annoyed by his silence and felt that she should just bind him already, but she found that her body could not move. It was probably just the exhaustion. She most certainly did not care what this man thought about it.

After some of the longest moments of Louise's life, the man smiled. It was a warm, heartfelt thing which filled her with an odd sense of relief. "Very well," he said as he went down on one knee. "For this life you have given me, barring acts of immorality or blasphemy, I shall be bound to your service till you see fit to release me."

Again, part of her wanted to argue that he would do everything she told him to, but she couldn't exactly begrudge him for refusing to act if she gave him orders that went against God. She let out a breath that she didn't know she was keeping. It was over. She had done it.

"Um, Louise?" She turned to see Professor Colbert looking between her and the man, curiosity clear in his eyes. "You still need to bind your… familiar."

She blinked, and a moment later her face blushed deeply as she realized what that would entail. All the other students had to do it to animals, but she… She shook her head. She had come this far, and it would be unforgivable if she failed now because she didn't want to do something embarrassing. She turned back to the man and brought her wand to bear again. Pushing the very last sliver of power she had left, she chanted "Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, grant your blessings upon this creature and bind it as my familiar." With that's she leaned in and gave the man a kiss on the lips.

It worked. She felt the last bit of her power leave her and a light began to emanate from the man's left hand. She could not make out anything more than that however, and the toll of using so much magic caught up with her. With a small smile on her lips at her first success, she fell, consciousness leaving her before she even felt the man catch her from her fall.

=====SoZ=====​

Because it is worth continuing, here you go SV.​

 

[Felius]

Huh? I remember another did with quite the similar premise. I do hope his faith doesn't become the major focus of the story.

 

[odlawzein]

Aaaahhhh! Nice to see this back from the dead. It's a rewrite? Or are you gonna continue where you left off on FFnet?

 

[Ridli Scott]

Aaaahhhh! Nice to see this back from the dead. It's a rewrite? Or are you gonna continue where you left off on FFnet?

Click to shrink...

I want to ask the same.

 

[Linkstore]

Huh? I remember another did with quite the similar premise. I do hope his faith doesn't become the major focus of the story.

Click to shrink...

This is a rehost of the same story on FF.net, so odds are you're thinking of this very fic, I'm afraid to say.

 

[A Nation's Virtue]

Huh, I remember this fic.

Watched.

 

[all fictions]

Tentatively followed, hoping the fic's issues with grammar and poor story choices were resolved in the interim.

 

[Satire Swift]

Aaaahhhh! Nice to see this back from the dead. It's a rewrite? Or are you gonna continue where you left off on FFnet?

Click to shrink...

I'm picking up where I left off. I ran into a writer's block about a year and a half ago, so I wrote Assimilation to clear my head. Now that its in a decent place to leave off, I'm coming back to this. I'm cross posting it over here as I write the next chapter.

Tentatively followed, hoping the fic's issues with grammar and poor story choices were resolved in the interim.

Click to shrink...

Though I have an inkling, what 'poor story choices' are you talking about?

 

[Felius]

This is a rehost of the same story on FF.net, so odds are you're thinking of this very fic, I'm afraid to say.

Click to shrink...

Ehh, lemme check.

...

Doesn't seem so. This one was lost in my "read later" list in FF.net, while the one I'm talking about I think it was about one of the Knights of the Round Table, and whom would not shut the fuck up about his faith.

 

[all fictions]

Though I have an inkling, what 'poor story choices' are you talking about?

Click to shrink...

Hm, "poor" might be too strong a word. It's certainly nothing that breaks the narrative or maked the plot nonsensical. Rather, there were weird choices for the story that took me out of it because I couldn't make sense of them or they seemed uncessessary, like making the capital of Tristain Bruxelles. They weren't serious problems, but they kept bothering me while reading and reduced my enjoyment.

As for the central theme/conflict, it didn't really work IMO (at least it seemed that way to me)

I have left a more extensive review of FF.net, which I would have done before as it was sitting on my drive for a while and I forgot to post it, but fuck it. In short, when I first read it back in July, I thought the fic needed some more polishing to go up a notch, which I guess is what my first comment actually meant.

 

[Satire Swift]

I have left a more extensive review of FF.net, which I would have done before as it was sitting on my drive for a while and I forgot to post it, but fuck it. In short, when I first read it back in July, I thought the fic needed some more polishing to go up a notch, which I guess is what my first comment actually meant.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the input. I wasn't planning on doing any extensive revisions, but I'll try to keep what you put in mind.

To address two of you're points, the first being Bruxelles being made the capital... I honestly didn't know it wasn't until you just pointed it out right now. And apparently no one else remembered because you're the first to call me out on it. I don't know if I can fix it and keep everything I want though, some I'm going to have to think on that one.

Similarly with Mazarin, I just forgot he existed. I'll change the priest character to him when I get around to it, it's a pretty simple change.

 

[Satire Swift]

=====SoZ=====​

Siesta fretted as she walked to the infirmary. The last time she had tried to talk to the Lady Françoise about her missing pendant, she had been yelled at. Granted, the noble had seemed rather distracted at the moment, so it was likely a matter of bad timing. Still, Siesta was always nervous when it came to the nobility. If a Lord or Lady wanted to, say, beat one of the common folk, there wasn't much that said commoner could do about it. Of course, they would have to come up with a reason and there were limits to what they could do, but it was safe to say that a commoner's fate was typically in the hands of those that ruled them.

If it were any other piece of jewelry or item the maid would have written it off as a loss, but this was the pendant that her grandfather had given her before he died. He never went into much detail about his religion, but she knew that he would always clutch it tight and frown when he heard sermons of Founderism. When she had asked him about it, all he would say was "God loves us all, not just those with magic." His displeasure with the disparity between those with magic and those without was something that Siesta shared, and was likely the reason he had given it to her before he passed.

And so, when she had heard that the Lady Francois had passed out during the summoning ritual, she had volunteered to be one to check in on her. After all, if she was doing her duty taking her laundry and she happened to find her lost pendant among them, who would argue with her? The Lady had already remarked on her distaste for the item, and while she did seem a little high strung, Siesta doubted that the young noble was so needlessly cruel to try to claim it as her own.

However, the maid had this plan in mind under the assumption that the Lady would be alone and asleep, and upon opening the door to the infirmary, she found that this was not the case. She found that there was a man sitting beside the lady's bedside, a soldier by the look of it. He wore brass colored armor and white cloth and had an equally white cape draped over his back. Rather notable was the fact that his brown hair reached down to mid back, somewhat longer than most military men would consider fashionable.

The man turned to look as Siesta as she walked into the room, his posture straightening as he looked at her. Siesta stiffed an 'eep', as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have. Now this his torso turned to her, she could see that the armor was somewhat more ornate than she thought. Not only that, the man had a sort of... bearing about him. A certainness of presence about him that she had only seen on those who were in charge. It was clear to Siesta that the man in front of her was a noble as well.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude." She said. "I-I'm here to see to the lady's needs."

The man gave a small frown and tilted his head. When he responded, he did so in a language that the maid did not understand. Was that... Romalian? She thought in confusion. When it was clear that she did not understand what he had said, he spoke again, this time in a language that sounded somewhat closer to Tristainian, but still incomprehensible to her. He must be some kind of foreign dignitary, she thought.

Still, if he was, he should at least know the language of the country he was in. Siesta did not know what business he might have with the Lady, but considering the circumstances she was in no position to ask. Such as it was, she was left in a somewhat awkward position. She still had to do her job (and look for her pendant), but the man did not seem to understand why she was there. She would have thought that her uniform would give her purpose away, but perhaps servants were dressed differently where he was from? Considering how he did not seem to know Tristainian, this reinforced the idea that he was from some distant land.

The next minute or so was filled with awkward gestures and pantomimes, but the maid eventually got her point across. It was not as painful as she might have thought, as the man was surprisingly patient for a Lord, showing no frustration or irritation at her attempts to communicate. When all was said and done, he moved out of her way and she got to work. Another member of the staff had changed the Lady into a gown and her clothes were put into a small pile on nearby table. Siesta took a brief moment to search them and to her dismay found that her pendant was not there. She would have preferred to do a more thorough search, but with the Lord present, she did not want to look suspicious by rooting through the other woman's clothes, especially when she would not be able to explain herself. So she set about her other duties, changing the water in the basin, making changing the beds not in use, and so on.

When she had finished, she returned to the Lady Françoise's side and gave a small frown. She could still try asking her about it later, but that was not a conversation she was looking forward to. She gave a small start when she realized that the Lord was looking at her curiously. "Oh! I was, uh, just thinking that she needed another pillow!" she said and she turned to snatch another one from an adjacent bed. When she turned back she paused, both in uncertainty about having to move the Lady to put said pillow under her head, as well as in mild embarrassment that she had bothered to say such a thing to someone who could not understand her.

However, the Lord understood and Siesta briefly blinked in surprise as he helpfully pulled the Lady into a half sitting position so that she could do as she intended. She placed the pillow down and he laid the other woman back down careful. He then paused, his eyes focusing on something. Following his gaze, Siesta found that he was looking at the Lady's left hand, which was closed into a tight fist. The Lord carefully pried it open, and both were surprised to see Siesta's pendant pressed into her palm.

The maid felt both relief and dismay at this. The first because she now knew for certain that she had not simply dropped it somewhere, and the second at the way they man reverently took it from the Lady's hand. Why would he be so amazed by it? It was just a piece of wood to him. It only held any meaning to Siesta herself. Still, with the way he was staring at it, it didn't look like he wanted to part with it any time soon.

But it was her grandfather's pendant. She had to try. "Umm, my Lord?" she asked nervously, the man's attention turning to her. "I-I don't mean to be rude, but that is mine." She said, pointing at the object in his hand.

He of course did not understand, and merely frowned slightly. Still, the maid continued on. "I mean, I know you can't really understand me, but that belong to my grandfather and... he gave to me when he died, and it would mean a lot to me is you gave it back, and..." she rambled on like this for a while, frequently gesturing in order to get her meaning across. While the Lord was just as patient as before, it seemed he was not able to understand her this time, as the subject was somewhat more complex. She became increasingly frustrated, particularly when his expression changed and she thought she had gotten through to him. He blinked and looked down at the cross he held, and then his fist closed around it, his head still cast down as if in thought.

Siesta felt tears well up behind her eyes, but she held them back. She simply did not know what to do. She could not just take it from him, and she could not make him understand. Eventually, in defeat, she stuttered out "I-I am sorry for b-bothering you." before she swiftly moved to the door. However, as her hand wrapped around the handle she felt a hand firmly grip her shoulder. She tensed and slowly turned around, finding that the man had stopped her, but she was uncertain as to why.

There was a moment's pause between the two of them before he gave her one of the warmest smiles she had ever seen. Siesta blushed at this, suddenly becoming rather acutely aware of the man's strong features. The Lord then took her hand and pressed the pendant into her palm, still smiling as he did so. She blinked in surprise, looking back between her hand and the Lord several times. "You... you're..." she said in disbelief before a happy smile of her own broke out on her face. "Th-thank you, my Lord!" The fact that the pendant was hers to begin with was lost to her at the moment, as she felt so happy that he was giving it to her even though he seemed to want it himself.

After a few more thanks, she left in infirmary in higher spirits than when she entered.

--------------------​

Jean Colbert moved out of the way of a rather happy looking maid as he made his way to the infirmary. He had been meaning to check on Louise much sooner, but he had been quickly sidetracked by other things soon after she had passed out. As the servants had carried her off, one of the junior teachers had run up to him in a panic, yelling about how half of the magical items in the academy had broken or stopped working.

At first the professor had thought that the man was exaggerating, but had found to his great alarm that it was not the case. In addition to the shattered Mage Lights in the courtyard, most small things around the academy imbued with magic (some books with preservation spells, some alviss, even some novelty baubles which did nothing but spin around and emit light in an amusing fashion) had all become inert. He had at first wondered if there had been some kind of disruptive event (Louise's particularly interesting summon came to mind), but he then learned to his even greater alarm that many of the more powerful enchantments throughout the academy had become weaker as well.

Even though it was all speculation at this point, the worst that should have happened if there was some kind of disruptive magical force (which was unheard of) was that the item would be disenchanted or there should have been a small fluctuation before it returned to normal. However, this didn't seem like a disruption so much as the magic was… drained. He had no idea where it could have gone or what had caused it, but such investigation would have to take place later. He had already informed headmaster Osmund of the situation and both agreed that getting all of the academy wards back to full strength took top priority. It would not do for someone to learn that the defenses were weakened, both for the sake of the students and for the many valuable items stored away within the central tower vault.

He pushed such thoughts aside as he opened the door to the infirmary, and was greeted with the sight of Louise still asleep in her bed with the man she summoned standing next to her. Now this was something that had been teasing at Jean's brain ever since the summoning. As far as he knew, there had never been a human familiar before, though something about that seemed wrong and tugged at his memory. Whatever the case, the man himself also stuck the professor as odd. The man was clearly a soldier, one of respectable rank judging by the way he carried himself, though his attire was not of any nation he recognized. The fact that he had spoken in Ancient Romalian was also of particular interest. Only scholars knew that dead language with any proficiency, so why a soldier could speak it was a mystery.

The man turned to face the professor. It was hard to see, but he tensed slightly upon the sight of Jean before relaxing his body after a moment. Normally this would have been brushed off, but Jean knew that he had done so in response to his own subtle posture change when he had seen the soldier in the room.

He had not always been a teacher after all.

Jean held the man's gaze, as if trying to find answers through his eyes. No one else present at the summoning had thought anything of the summoned man, dismissing him as an oddity or more proof of Louise's ineptitude at magic. Well, except for the dragon that Tabitha had summoned, of all things. Jean had noticed that it had tried to hide behind the blue haired girl upon seeing the man, a rather comical sight considering the difference in size. If he did not know better, he would have said that the dragon was afraid of him, but that was preposterous. After a moment, he finally said "I'm sorry to intrude, but I am checking on the welfare of my student. I would also like to speak to you if that is alright."

The soldier gave a small frown and replied in Ancient Romalian "I am sorry, but I do not understand you."

So he does not know Tristainian at all, Jean thought to himself before replying in kind "It is most strange that you would choose such an old language to speak in considering your occupation. You are lucky that I am rather versed in the language myself as I spend much of my time researching. Tell me, why do you know it?"

"It is the language of my homeland." He replied simply. "I am afraid while I am well traveled, I am not familiar with this land or its tongue. It bears a passing resemblance to the language spoken by those of Gaul, but it is such a different dialect that I believe that I will have to spend some time acquainting myself with it."

Jean frowned at this and was about to ask him more before he realized his oversight. "Ah, do forgive me for being rude, I have not yet introduced myself." He gave a slight bow of his head. "I am Professor Jean Colbert of the Tristain Academy of Magic."

The man bowed his head in kind. "I am Tribune Georgius de Lydda, formally of the Praetorian Guard to the Emperor of Rome."

Jean could tell from the man's inflection that Tribune was not his first name, but rather his rank, although he had never heard of it before. "I am afraid that I am not familiar with that rank. As well, when you say Rome, do mean Romalia?"

Georgius blinked in surprise before giving a sigh. "That is indeed possible. It has been quite some time since I have been to that land, and it is likely that the name has changed since then."

Jen frowned at this. "To my knowledge Romalia has been named as such for the past 6 thousand years, ever since the Papacy was established."

"Then I am afraid that I do not know where I am." The man replied before he muttered. "Or it has been even longer than I thought."

Jean paused in confusion for a moment before shaking his head. Georgius was most likely from a group of people that had splintered off from Romalia sometime in the past, and had traveled a distance to forge their own nation, likely a great distance away. The only other option was that he was from the very distant past, but that was both ridiculous and did not add up. "I shall see that you get a look at some of our maps at some point to determine where your homeland is. In the meantime, I have some concerns. Namely the fact you are a soldier of a foreign nation. That could cause… complications if you are now in the service of Miss Françoise as you claim."

Georgius held up a placating hand. "It will not be an issue for a number of reasons, first and foremost that I am no long a part of the Roman military. I was…" he paused, an uncomfortable look crossing his face. "I must ask, in this… academy of magic, is it common that Heroic Spirits are summoned?"

"Heroic Spirit? What is that?" Jean asked. "There have never been any cases of a mage summoning a spirit as a familiar. Animals and magical beasts are the sort of creature which the summoning ritual brings forth. In fact, as far as I know you are the first human being to become one. Now, why do you ask?"

"It is nothing," he said quickly. "Suffice to say, I hold no allegiance to the Roman Empire." He turned to look at the sleeping girl and changed the subject. "Now, do you know how long till my master recovers?"

Jean stepped forward to stand next to the bed. "Not much longer I should thing. She is suffering from a minor case of Willpower Depletion. It is not uncommon among learning students who push themselves too hard."

Georgius did not look at him but said "I must say, I have never seen such a large institution for the practice of magic. Most practitioners that I have seen are solitary, or prefer a master-apprentice sort of relationship."

"Really?" Jean asked with no small amount of interest, the scholarly part of him taking over. "There is no societal involvement in the teaching of magic? That would mean technique would likely be kept within lines of teaching, and that would vastly change the structure of society as a whole. Tell me, how is your government structured? Is there a royal line or does the noble family with the strongest techniques holds the position of power? Are there families dedicated to-"

The soldier held up a hand to forestall the professor's questions. "Perhaps another time. For now, if there is nothing else for you to do I would like to be alone with my thoughts for a while. This is all very new to me."

Jean mentally berated himself. Georgius had been suddenly taken away from his homeland and had no idea where he was or how to even speak the native language. He would at the very least need some time to adjust. "Of course, I apologize. I look forward to speaking with you later."

He made to leave when he was stopped by the other man. "Wait. If I may ask a question before you go?"

"Yes, of course, what is it?"

"What is the state of Christianity? Are men and women free to worship God and our savoir Jesus Christ?"

Jean tilted his head. "Again, I am not sure what you mean. Of course all are free to worship God, but I have not heard of this Christianity or Jesus Christ."

A mixture of emotions crossed Georgius's face, a combination of surprise, relief and… sadness? "Thank you." The man said. "That is all I need to know for now."

--------------------​

Georgius sat still in the chair by his master's bedside for sometime after the professor left, thinking about the situation he had found himself in. He had been summoned, fully and completely, to be mage's familiar of all things. He did not think he was just a pale copy sent from the Throne as usual, but than again, how could he tell? He had an ego, but such was also the case of those sent to participate in the Grail War, so it was possible that he was simply a better copy.

He looked down at his hand and flexed it, feeling the muscles and tendons clench and relax. There was one thing he was certain of though; he was alive. This was no mere construct body that would fade away if not given enough magic, but rather flesh and blood. To be honest, it made him somewhat uncomfortable. Resurrection was one of the greatest miracles Christ preformed, and it seemed that the same had been bestowed upon himself. By teenage girl, completely unintentionally if he understood the situation correctly. Either the art of magic had advanced far beyond what he thought possible, or…

There was something very special about this girl.

He looked at the sleeping form of his master, wondering just how he could address his martyrdom. It was clear that his legend was either not known in these parts or had been forgotten entirely. If the summoning of Heroic Spirits was in fact not something had happened in this land before, then they would probably not believe him if he told them of just how he left the employ of the Roman Empire. And perhaps accuse him of blasphemy, depending on how they viewed such things.

The soldier's frown deepened. The religion of the people of this Tristain was another thing that concerned him. God was known and worshiped, but there was no knowledge of Christ? Were these people like those originally chosen of God? Whatever the case, he would have to investigate further to see how closely it resembled his own Christianity (or Judaism if his guess was correct). If necessary, he would spread the word of Christ as he once had when he traveled the world.

As he thought about his travels, he remembered one of the more prominent ones, and the token he had received from it. He had been rather surprised to see that crucifix again, though it did explain why he specifically was summoned. What was more surprising was that dark haired servant's attachment to it. He did not understand what she had said, but she had a clear emotional connection with the item, and seemed rather distraught when she seemed to think she would not get it.

In truth, he wasn't entirely sure why he gave it to her. It was one of the few possessions he had that held any true value to him, and as he had only been summoned with his armor, that should make it all the more precious to him. But still, he couldn't help but feel that it would be better if she had it. It meant something to her, and would do more good in her hands rather than his own. It was a feeling he took on faith to be the right choice.

Also, it had been nice to see how happy it had made her. Besides, it was his to begin with, so he could give it to whom he chose. Although, if it was an heirloom of his master, she might see it differently. If he had just given away what she might consider a priceless artifact…

Georgius scratched the side of his head sheepishly. Maybe he should have thought it through a little more.

Before he could give the matter any more thought, his master stirred in her bed. "Fwwaaaa…" she muttered unintelligibly, slowly sitting up and blinking drowsily. Georgius had to admit that it was more than a little adorable. "Are you feeling well, master?" he asked.

"Huh?" she said as she turned toward him before giving a start of surprise. "Gah! Wha-!" She started before she stopped, memory coming back to her, and she slipped back into his native tongue. "Wait, you're the man I summoned. You're my… familiar."

Her tone as she said that last word seemed to carry uncertainty for some reason or another. "Yes." He replied. "I heard you call out for me and I answered. I am Tribune Georgius de Lydda, at your service, my master." Georgius mentally chided himself for using his title again. He really had no claim to it anymore, but old habits were hard break.

The young woman looked at him in confusion. "What kind of a name is Tribune? And where is Lydda?"

Case and point, the man thought to himself. "Tribune is my rank, not my name, though to be fair I do not hold it anymore. As for where Lydda is in relation to where we are, I cannot say. Now if you would be so kind as to introduce yourself as well?"

She drew herself up straight (which did not add much to her height) and said "I am Louise Françoise de la Vallière, and yes, I am your master!" she was somewhat loud, and there was a small measure of pride in her statement, but not much. After a moment though her confidence seemed to fade and she looked at him nervously. "Are, um, are you a noble?"

Georgius blinked in surprise at such an odd question. "Well, I was born into a noble family of the Roman Empire if that is what you are asking. Why?"

Louise now seemed very uncertain of herself. In fact, she seemed down right mortified. "Oh God, I summoned another noble…" she said to herself, looking down at the bed. "This could be a political nightmare. If mother learns of this-" she cut herself off and her face drained of color.

The man put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "I understand how it could be problematic for a noble of one house to be pledged to another, but I assure you that will not be a problem with me."

"Why wouldn't- wait, do you mean that you are a disgraced noble?" She asked.

Georgius hesitated for a moment before saying "That… is not inaccurate." He doubted that he would have still been considered part of the elite after his summary condemnation and execution, so the statement was correct. Again, the thought of how to broche the subject of his death crossed his mind.

Louise let of a sigh of relief. "Well, at least that's something I don't have to worry about. While you're not the dragon or manticore I wanted, having a magic wielding noble who is clearly a warrior is just as impressive as having a magical beast. In fact, it's even more so!" she said smugly. "And now I can rub it in Kirche's stupid face!"

He would have lightly chastised his mater for that last comment, but what she said before confused him. "Why would you think that I can wield magic? I am not proficient in those arts."

"What!?" she all but yelled. "What do you mean!? I thought you said that you were a noble!"

"And what does that have to do with magic?" he asked, honestly confused.

"All nobles have magic! That's how it works! That is one of the core tenants put forth by Brimir!"

Georgius's brow furrowed. "Really? Well, I don't know who this Brimir is, but magic is not required learning where I come from. Magic has nothing to do with social status back in Rome, though I imagine more would attempt to learn it if it did." He frowned at the thought of that. He knew that not all magic was evil, but he had seen far too many people drawn in by the lure of easy power only to be corrupted by it to not be wary of the force. He hoped that such was not the case in this land.

Louise's jaw fell open at this statement, and she looked at her familiar in total shock. It was almost as if the she couldn't even wrap her head around the concept at all. "Louise?" Georgius asked with some concern. "Are you alright?"

"So… really you're little better than a commoner." she said flatly, disappointment clear in her voice though again he did not know why.

"That is true, although it is nothing I am ashamed of, nor would I consider myself better than others if I did still have my status. All men are equal before God, after all."

This did little to improve his master's mood though. "I didn't summon anything special." She muttered darkly to herself, hugging her knees against her chest. "Just some soldier."

"I am what I am." Georgius said. After a moment's pause, he decided to take a gamble. "If you want some something special, it's worth noting that I was in fact executed for refusing to betray my God and your summoning has literally given me a second life."

She slowly turned her head towards him, her expression one of utter bafflement. Then it became a scowl. "That joke was in terrible taste and probably blasphemous too. Your sense of humor is utterly horrid."

Georgius hung his head. "So I have been told…" he said despondently.

=====SoZ=====​

 

[Satire Swift]

=====SoZ=====​

It was nightfall by the time that Louise and her familiar left the infirmary and made it back to her room. The young girl was not particularly pleased with the information she had learned from the man. Magic is not required learning he says, like it's nothing more important that learning to ride a horse! She thought incredulously to herself. Considering how all consuming her desire was to learn magic, the idea that it might not have any importance was inconceivable to her. And he knows nothing of Brimir?! What kind of hopeless, backwards society does he come from?

All that left her with was a disgraced noble who couldn't use any magic. That was hardly better than a commoner! Granted, he was a soldier, so that implied some level of competence and skill. Louise shuddered to think what she would do if she had summoned some useless oaf who just stumbled through life hoping to get lucky. But still, she had hoped that she would summon something impressive enough that she could use to declare herself a mage, something so grand that no one would dare call her the Zero ever again.

And all she got was a reason for them not to kick her out of the Academy.

She barely paid Georgius any mind has he followed her into the room, muttering under her breath as she did so. Considering the hour, she decided to just go to bed now and deal with all this nonsense tomorrow. Her familiar simply stood off to the side saying nothing as she striped down to change into her night cloths, though he did give a small start of surprise before turning around. The whole time Louise was very acutely and uncomfortably aware of his presence. Normally she should have no problems ignoring other people (after years of insults she had it down to an art), but he had presence which just seemed to fill the room. This is absurd. He is my familiar, she thought to herself. That means he's more like a dog. And not a man in his late 20's who happens to be a common soldier, which are notoriously known for being the crudest and most lewd human beings around and happens to be standing a few feet away from me right now-

"Stop it!" Louise shouted, trying to stop her own thoughts.

"Is everything alright? I'm afraid that it will take me some time to learn the language of this land." Georgius said in his own language, still not turning to face her.

"You! Stop, uh well... Stop doing that!" She shouted at him, now having a target for her ire. Clearly it was his fault for making her uncomfortable in the first place! Unfortunately, she couldn't quite pin down just what he was doing that was the problem. He was just standing there.

"Stop doing what?" It seemed he didn't know either.

"Just- just turn around." Louise said hopelessly. She needed to take charge of the situation somehow, and she had finished changing into her nightwear in any case. As the man turn she tossed the clothes she had been wearing previously at him which he caught with some surprise. "Familiar, I expect you to have those washed by tomorrow morning, understand?"

Her familiar looked at the clothes curiously before looking back at his master. "I am confused. I thought that there were servants in this place to take care of such things for the students. Is that not case?"

Louise felt mild annoyance at her familiar taking back to her as she replied "Yes, but I might as well get some use out of you. Normally a familiar is supposed to collect reagents for its master, and its master is supposed to be able to perceive through its senses. However, I don't see you being much help with the former, and I've already tried the later and it doesn't work for whatever reason. So for the time being you're going to be my personal servant until it can figure out a better use for you."

Georgius blinked at this before giving what seemed to be a small chuckle of amusement. "I see. Fair enough I suppose. After I have finished, where am I to retire for the night?"

Louise wordless pointed at a pile of hay that was stacked near her bed. Georgius looked at it in confusion before a look of understanding crossed his face. "Ah, of course, you were expecting to summon some kind of animal. I was told by your professor that human summons are unheard of, though I do wonder what you would have done if you had summoned one of the larger creatures." He shook his head. "In any case, I suppose that I could try to find a spot amid the servant quarters, or perhaps a cot could be brought up if you insist on my proximity."

"No, this is fine." Louise said dismissively. "Now off with you."

To her increasing annoyance, her familiar did not move, instead once again looking at her in confusion. "Do servants in this land only sleep on hay? Because if so-"

"You are not a servant!" Louise snapped at him. "I'm mean, I will be using you as one, but as my familiar you do not deserve any better treatment than the others that were summoned. Just think of yourself like a dog."

The confusion disappeared on his face and it instead settled on a small frown. "While I suppose I understand your logic, I'm afraid that I do not agree with it. I am still human, and treating me as less than that-"

"Don't speak back to me familiar!" The young woman shouted at him. "I am your master and you will obey me!"

"Yes, though I did say that was contingent on what you ordered me to do, and I consider it immoral to-"

"Shut up!" The mage shouted. She had had enough if this dog's insolence! She snatched her wand off the desk and pointed it at him, chanting the words for the Silence spell,

Naturally, it exploded.

Louise coughed and waved her hand to clear the smoke around her. Well, it wasn't exactly a success, but at least that will shut him up, she thought. However, much to her surprise she found Georgius to still be standing when the smoke cleared, albeit with some scuff marks on his face and his hair somewhat comically mused. Granted, it wasn't one of her larger blasts, but that still should have knocked him down.

Her familiar gave a small cough while bringing his hands up to fix his hair. "I apologize for your displeasure, but I am afraid that I must stand my ground on this issue."

Louise growled. "Well then, it seems you will have to be disciplined for your insubordination." She turned from him and rooted around in her draws for a moment before pulling out a riding crop. She had it for when she went out riding, but it would certainly suffice for the moment. She gave the implement an experimental crack for intimidation.

Again, he did not move, instead continuing to look at her as he said "If you must."

Louise's anger grew at his apparent unconcern. She did not even bother to wait to tell him to strip off his clothes. She simply strode forward and struck him across the face with the crop. He did not flinch, and merely continued to look at her. And so she struck him again, again, and again.

Louise didn't know how long she kept it up. Certainly long enough for her arm to become tired. She was frustrated at how little it seemed to affect her insolent dog of a familiar. All he had to show for it was a few light red marks across his face. That wasn't the worst part though; the whole time he would not stop looking at her. It was not a look of pain or anger. It was not even a look of contempt or mocking which she was used to.

It almost looked like he was concerned for her.

With a scream of frustration, threw her crop on the ground at his feet and stormed back to her bed. "Fine! Just go!" She yelled. "You can sleep in the hall tonight!" She fell onto the mattress fuming to herself.

"Louise..."

"I said get out!" She screamed before burying her face in a pillow. There was a moment of silence before she heard the sound of the door opening and closing. She felt tears building in the corners of her eyes, but she angrily clamped them shut. Stupid, stupid familiar! She thought to herself. He's no better than an insolent dog! He deserved every lash I gave him!

But if that was the case... why did she feel so ashamed?

--------------------​

Georgius paused in the hallway to look back at the door, considering whether or not he should go back in. After a moment, he sighed and continued to walk down the hallway, his arms laden with his master's clothes. He knew that his master was much more upset than she was trying to let on, but he still did not know why that was the case. He wanted to help her, but without knowing what exactly the problem was, he was bound to be more harm than good. It was clear that she did not find him very impressive compared to some of the other familiars summoned, and it seemed that she was taking this frustration out on him as a response. In particular, her pride seemed to be injured by it.

However, regardless of her reasons for it, he could not allow her to demean himself (or anyone else) in such a manner. Of course, that did not mean that he found all she told him to do offensive. While some of the other Tribunes he had known in life may have found servant work to be beneath them, Georgius found the chance for a quieter life than his previous one to be a novel opportunity. Besides, a little humility was good for the soul. As well, he didn't think sleeping on hay was necessarily beneath him either (he had suffered through far worse on his travels.)

No, the problem stemmed from the fact that there was no reason for him to do so. He was quite certain that there would be no problems with finding himself some quarters or a cot. That meant the only purpose sleeping on that hay would serve would be to establish himself as less than human in his master's eyes, and that is something he could not allow. To treat any as a lesser being than what the were was not only an insult to the person, but was an insult to their Creator as well. Georgius hoped that he would be able to show Louise as much in the future.

Since he had no idea where to go, Georgius wandered somewhat aimlessly. He had developed a good sense of direction after all his travels, so he was able to keep a decent mental map of where he was within the tower. Still, all he had seen so far was private rooms along with some common areas, and all of the writing he had seen thus far was incomprehensible to him. Fortunately, just about the moment he was beginning to think that he would have to ask for help, he rounded a corner and almost knocked over another person. Backing up, he was surprised to see that it was the same servant which he had encountered in the infirmary and had given his crucifix to. "Ah, excuse me." He said automatically, not thinking of how neither of them could understand the other.

"My Lord!" The woman said in surprise before a small blush crossed her face. "I sorry, I should have watched where I was going."

Georgius was about to tell her that the fault was his own, when both of them straightened in surprise. They had understood each other! "You speak Latin? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Latin? I don't know what you mean." She replied. "Besides, you're speaking Tristainian now!"

Georgius frowned at this. He was certainly used to picking up new languages quickly, but not in a matter of hours, and he wouldn't start using it unconsciously. "Hmm, I suspect that the magic that brought me here might have something to do with this, though why it took so long to take effect eludes me." Many of the intricacies of magic were opaque to him, something his adoptive 'mother' would have been displeased about. "Well, in any case, now I can properly introduce myself. I am Tr- Georgius de Lydda." he said, catching himself before he could use his title.

"I am Siesta de Tarbes, my Lord." the woman said with a smile and a curtsy. She then gave him a small frown. "I'm sorry, but is that your personal or family name?"

"Personal." He replied. "Lydda is sufficiently small that that the use of family names is not common. Georgius is my only name. I'll admit that it is a far cry from Rome, where the people there have as many 5 names! Sometimes imagine that addressing each other takes up most of the conversation."

"Do you mean Romalia?" Siesta asked. "I've never heard of such a thing before."

He opened his mouth to respond before he paused and sighed. "No, I am quite certain I do not mean that. My native land is very far from here."

She seemed curious, but did not press it any further, instead looking at the clothes he held. "Ah! Do you need those cleaned? I'll take them from you."

"No, that's alright. My master asked me to clean them, so I should be the one to do so. However, I would appreciate it if you could show me to where the wash bins are."

Siesta gave him a confused look, but began leading him down the hallway. "What do you mean 'your master'? Do you mean that you serve another noble?"

"Yes, I was summoned by Louise Françoise this afternoon, and I have sworn myself to her service."

The woman gave a gasp. "You're the person that was summoned by during the Springtime Ritual?!" she asked incredulously. "I had thought that the other servants were exaggerating! Why would you submit yourself to another noble? Particularly Miss Françoise."

Georgius frowned at her comment about his master, but put it aside for later inquiry and instead responded "I have my personal reasons, and as it stands I am no longer part of the nobility of my homeland, so I have no allegiances to them."

"Oh!" Siesta said in surprise, not sure how to take this information. "What happened?"

Georgius was getting uncomfortable having to mislead people on this subject, but if Louise's reaction was any indication, it would not be received well. For the moment, he simply said "I refused to renounce my God, and I opposed the edicts of the Emperor that punished those that worshiped Him."

"You mean that God was not worshiped in your homeland?" She asked, now even more interested in what he was saying. She then blinked as if she had thought of something. "Oh! Before I forget!" She then stepped in front of him and gave a deep bow. "Thank you for returning my pendant."

This brought Georgius up short. "What?" he said in surprise.

"Yes, that pendant was mine. It was a gift from my grandfather just before he passed. I had though I had lost it, but I had accidentally left it in with Miss Françoise clothes."

The man paused a moment before saying "Do you know where your grandfather obtained this… pendant?"

Siesta frowned in concentration as she searched her memory. "I believe he said that it had been in the family for generations. A long time ago in his homeland, there were a great number of missionaries that had come to spread the word of God, though they were not always nice people. He said that one of his ancestors was probably cheated out of a large amount of money for it, told it was some kind of artifact. Still, it was keep with his family throughout years as a sort of lesson in humility. Besides, he said that it still worked fine as a symbol of his faith." She tilted her head to the side. "Why do you ask?"

"Because that is a crucifix. It is the symbol of my faith."

"Really?" She responded, clearly excited by this information. "I've never met anyone else who believed what my grandfather did! You must tell me, are you from his homeland? Or do you know where it is?"

Georgius was about to explain how far he had traveled in his own missionary work before he noticed that the two of them had stepped outside. He had become so focused on her that he had not even noticed when his surroundings had become darker. The sky was clear, so he took the opportunity to look up and search for constellations. Though traveling by stars was more of a sailor's purview, he still knew enough from his studies that he thought that it should give him at least a rough idea of where he was. He craned his neck up-

-and froze. His eyes widened and he felt his mouth open in shock. The stars were alien to him, but that was not the source of his concern, as if that was all, then it would simply mean that he was farther afield than he had ever been before. No, what had made a chill run down his spine was that in the sky next to the moon, there was a second red sphere hanging next to it.

Two moons? He thought in awe. That... how is that possible? No amount of time could cause a second moon to appear in the sky!

"My Lord?" Siesta questioned, concern creeping into her tone. "What's wrong? Can you not tell me where your homeland is?"

"No..." he said numbly. "I don't believe I can..."

--------------------​

Jean rubbed his eyes wearily before setting his gaze back on the old book. Ever since his meeting with Louise's familiar, he had been scouring through the school library for clues of his origin and that the thing that had been scratching at the back of his mind the more he thought about human summons. Needless to say, he had spent most of it pouring over the history of Romalia, trying to find any record of a schism in the distant past that might have possibly lead to the creation of Georgius's nation.

Unfortunately, he had found no such thing. Either his assumption was off, or there had been no record of such an event, though the later was possible given that the Romalian government would want to suppress any knowledge that dissention may have occurred in their nation so soon after declaring themselves the center of Founderism. The soldier's question about religion also reinforced this idea, making him think that there had been some disagreement between sects.

Jean shook his head and closed the book. In any case, he would have to wait till the next time he saw the man to ask him. Hopefully Georgius would have settled in a bit more by then. In the mean time, he still wanted to look into human familiars. He could have sworn he had heard of them before somewhere, but he just couldn't remember. He took the book under his arm and walked up to the bookshelf he had gotten it from before casting a simple levitation spell on himself to reach the height where he had found it. Though he was a fire mage, all nobles could cast the lowest level of spells of any element, if not very efficiently. He rose on the cushion of air to the top shelf and put back the book in his hands before taking another one dealing with early history.

As he floated back down the ground, he noticed something at the edge of his perception. Years of hardened reflexes told him that there was a person hiding behind the shelves behind him.

Jean had to suppress his instinct to launch a preemptive strike. He was in a school, so the odds that whoever it was a threat was minimal, which said nothing of the fact that he abhorred the idea of using fire in a library. Instead, he merely said without turning around "If you are looking for a particular book, then perhaps I could point you in the right direction. I'm afraid the librarian has retired for the evening."

There was a small start of surprise behind the shelf before a female voice spoke up. "Oh! I'm sorry if I surprised you Professor Colbert. I've actually been meaning to talk to you."

Jean felt a smile cross his face, and he turned to see the Secretary Longueville rounding the aisle to approach him. She had been hired somewhat recently by Old Osmund to be his personal secretary, mostly for her surprisingly impressive clerical skills. And partially because she was rather attractive, if Jean had to admit. The Headmaster was not always the most...professional, to say the least.

Nevertheless, the professor had a hard time disagreeing. Her intellect combined with her long green hair and spectacles indeed made her a rather attractive woman to Jean. "Of course, my dear." he said, and he gestured to the table. "Sit. So what is it?"

The woman sat down at table and he took a seat across from him as sat as well. "Well, I've been somewhat... concerned over the events of today. I have heard rumors among the staff that magical items have been failing all over the Academy. Some say that even the walls themselves have weakened!" She looked off to the side with a worried expression. "Is the Academy vulnerable?"

Ah, of course. Jean had been too busy with everything today to properly deal with the staff. It was natural that there would be some concern with all the strange things that had happened today. "Don't worry, I assure you that it is not the case. Yes, while it is true that there was some kind of... event which has disrupted magical items across the academy, we are in no danger. The teachers are competent enough to repel any threat that may come." He glance down at the book he had taken and found that it was an historical account of the life of Brimir rather than the one he intended to get. Ah well, he thought before flipping it open. He wasn't going to pay much attention to it anyway with Miss Longueville in front of him.

"But we could be such a tempting target if anyone found out!" she insisted. "What of the vault in the central tower Professor Colbert? Is it vulnerable as well?"

"Firstly, please call me Jean." he said with a smile before it faded and he shifted a little uncomfortably. "And, well, yes it technically is. But even in its current state, it is still protected by powerful and ancient magics." he said quickly, flipping another page. "The locks on the vault are some of the most intricate in all of Halkeginia, and it would take a truly tremendous amount of force if anyone thought of simply smashing their way though."

Longueville tilted her head curiously at this. "Why would someone do that?"

"Oh, well, if the vault has any real weakness, I would say that it might have problems dealing with raw, brute force." He replied without thinking before waving his hands in front of him. "Not that anyone knows that! So no one would certainly try it!"

The secretary looked unconvinced, giving that man a shy look. "I don't know... Pro- Jean, if someone did come meaning us harm, you would protect me, wouldn't you?"

Jean drew himself up in his chair. "Madam, you can count on me. Even in the unlikely event that some scoundrel appears, I shall not let a thing happen to you. Besides, the devices and walls that still have enchantments on them are recovering as we speak. It will be no more than a few days before everything is back to normal."

She paused for a moment before giving him a warm smile. "Thank you, Jean. I really needed to hear that." She got up from the table. "Perhaps we could talk again later."

"I would enjoy that." Jean said, ignoring the slight fluttering in his stomach. It had been a very long time since he had spoken with a woman like this.

With that she turned away, Jean's gaze drifting slightly farther downward than what would generally be considered appropriate. He shook his head and turned his gaze back to the book in front of him, wondering if he should just call it a night. However, as his eyes idly glance over the random page he flipped to, a certain passage caught his eye.

Brimir's Familiars

As the Founder is known for his creation of the Familiar Summoning Ritual (among many other feats), the subject of his own Familiars is much less well known. There were two notable things that put Birmir apart in this regard. The first was that he had four familiars. The second was that rather than being a mighty magical beast or some common animal, these familiars were human. While one might question the worth of having a human as such, the Familiar Runes inscribed on their persons granted them great power and abilities beyond that of normal men.

Jean blinked dumbly at the words in front of him before giving a laugh at his luck. Yes! Now I remember! Brimir's familiars were human! That mean's Georgius isn't the first human summon. The professor read further to get more details and found drawings of the runes of each familiar the Founder had. Jean thought for a moment before mentally cursing himself for not looking for the runes on Georgius's person (to be fair, he had many distractions at the time). Still he had seen the glow coming from beneath the soldier's left gauntlet before Louise fell into his arms. If he had them, they were probably there.

And if that was the case, that would make him the Gandalfr, the Shield and Left Hand of God. A guardian meant to protect their summoner, and whose might and skill was said to be able to defeat armies. Jean felt his excitement rise at this prospect. He would have to check to be sure, but if it was true that meant a great opportunity for study. They first human summoned in 6000 years! That made Louise the only person aside from Brimir who could-

The last piece fell into place in Jean's head, and his excitement turned into shock. There were a number of things which had made the Founder the mythic figure that he was: he brought together the scattered tribes of humanity to start civilization, he created the Familiar Summoning Ritual, he even created the system of magic that allowed mages to cast beyond the most basic level of spells. But the main reason he was so revered (and feared) was that he wielded the holy Void element. Different from the standard four of fire, earth, water, and wind, the power of the Void was a magnitude greater than anything they had achieved even after 6000 years of study. So, if a familiar was supposed to represent your elemental alignment, and the last person who had a human familiar was the Founder, then that meant Louise…

Jean slammed the book shut, grabbing it and bolting out of the library back towards Old Osmund's office.

--------------------​

Siesta looked over at Georgius with some concern as the two of them washed clothes in the washing bins. The man had said little to nothing ever since they had gone outside and he looked up at the sky. He instead seemed to be deep in thought, his brow furrowed as he absentmindedly scrubbed clothes against a washboard. She didn't know what was wrong, but she did know that she wanted to help. He had been nothing be nice to her ever since she met him earlier that day, something she would have never expected from a Lord. Well, ex-Lord if what he said was true, but still, even those cast out of the nobility were hardly better in temperament than those who were still in power. Georgius was so unlike them that he was almost like a character from a piece of fiction. Her mind started drawing comparison between him and Captain Roberval, the main character of the novel she was reading, The Corsair and the Unbridled Tempest. Both were such dashing and honorable figures, and it wasn't hard to imagine Georgius swinging down on a rope from his airship, taking Siesta up in his arms, then taking her back to his cabin to-

The maid's face began to blush violently as she completed that train of thought. Siesta's preferred choice of reading material did not exactly spare any details when it came the things that happened behind closed doors (and though she would never admit it to anyone, it was the primary reason she bought them).

"Siesta? Are you alright?" Georgius asked her, choosing now of all times to start paying attention.

"I-It's nothing! I'm fine!" She insisted, trying very hard not to think about her favored genre of literature. "I'm just worried about you! You've been so quiet since we came outside."

The man gave a small sigh. "Ah, I am sorry. I've just had to think. Siesta, this may seem like a strange question, but have there always been two moons?"

"Eh?" She said, confused at the indeed strange question. "Of course. Why wouldn't there be?"

"Because where I come from, there is only one."

She perked up a little at that. "My grandfather used to say there was only one moon where he was from as well, though I don't see how that is even possible."

Georgius once again looked up at the sky with a frown. "I cannot be sure, but my best guess for the time being is that I have somehow been summoned to the far side of the Fey Lands."

"Fey Lands?"

"Fey. You know, fairies, sprites, elves-"

"Really?!" Siesta said once more in shock. Little was known of the Holy Land to the east where the Elves resided, and even less about the lands beyond that. Ever since the Elven race had declared hostilities against humanity and drove them out of Brimir's ancestral home, going there had become tantamount to suicide. "Do you think that my grandfather came here the same way you did?"

"Well, if he is from the same place I was, which I suspect is the case, then it is likely. It's possible that he had never said anything because he thought no one would believe him." The man replied, looking somewhat uncomfortable as he said this.

"Well, whatever the case, what can you tell me about his homeland?" Siesta asked with some excitement. "Grandfather never spoke of it much."

"I'm afraid that I won't be able to tell you unless you could give me the specific name of the country. The world is very large and though I am well-traveled I am afraid even then I do not know of every land in the world."

"Oh," She said in disappointment. "I'm afraid I don't know. I remember that he said some things about the trees, the people, how there were no nobles…" Siesta paused when a thought came to her. "Um, Mr. Georgius? I have to ask, can you use magic?" Her Grandfather had said that magic was incredibly rare back where he had come from, and while the maid generally used the word 'noble' as a synonym with the word 'mage', it was possible that Georgius did not have magic. In Germania, it was possible for a commoner with enough wealth to buy the title.

"You can just call me Georgius. And no, I cannot. Unlike this land, the nobility where I came from do not have to know magic to be considered as such."

Ah, maybe that's why he seemed so different from the nobles here, she thought to herself. Then again, he had said it himself that he wasn't even a noble any more. "So, if you aren't a noble, and you can't use magic, what does that make you?" she said out loud before wincing, cursing herself for asking such an uncouth question.

The man paused his washing to look at her before looking off to the side in thought. "A man of God." He eventually replied. His gaze fell on his armor, which he had taken off and put to the side before he had begun his work. "A soldier." After another moment's pause, he finished with "And a knight."

Siesta's heart fluttered a little at that. Of course the man before her was a knight. They were said to be the most honorable and upright men in all the world. Given how obvious it was that Georgius was a military man, she was surprised that she had not thought of it sooner. Still, even with this fact, given the recent revelations she had learned about him, he seemed more… relatable now. Without magic or titles, he was more like a commoner, like herself. "So, is that why you swore an oath of service to the Lady Françoise? And why you're willing to do her laundry?"

Georgius looked slightly confused at this before grabbing another piece of clothing and saying "Well, yes, but that's not the only reason. It is good for a man to do simple work every once and a while, to remind him of humility." He gave a smile. "Besides, laundry is something I actually know how to do. Considering how much time I spent on the road, I would have spent most of it smelling something foul if I never washed my own clothes."

Siesta was about to respond when she noticed the garment in Georgius's hand. "Um, I believe you need to wash that more gently."

The man blinked before holding up what were now his master's torn underthings. His face went red and he looked off to the side embarrassed. "…to be fair, I am used to dealing with fabric somewhat stronger than this."

The maid gave the man a smile and moved closer to show him how to handle the softer fabrics. The fact that this allowed her to get physically closer to the knight that had been to kind to her all day was completely coincidental.

=====SoZ=====​

 

[Jouaint]

I loved this fix I'm glad to see the author is still working on it.

 

[Satire Swift]

=====SoZ=====​

Looking at his master from across the table, Georgius found her posture and the air around her very tense. He supposed that it was understandable given how things ended between them last night, but he had been hoping that she has cooled down somewhat after sleeping. He had spent the night in a spare bed the servant quarters, spending some time to pray for guidance for what the Lord wished him to do. When morning came he returned to his master's door at dawn and waited with her laundry. When Louise exited the room and found him standing there, she looked like there was a good deal she wanted to say to him (most likely at a volume that indicated displeasure), but she had strangely held her tongue. She then gave him a few curt instructions to put away her cloths and to meet her in one of the courts after breakfast. Apparently the day was supposed to be spent by her class getting to know the familiars they summoned.

Which now led to his current situation, sitting at a table in a courtyard with his master and a very uncomfortable silence between them. It seemed that he would have to be the first to reach out. "It there something you would like me to do, master?" He offered.

"I'd like for you to be a real familiar, Founder damn it!" She yelled, the floodgates now open. "I'd like for you do what I tell you to do, not to say 'no' and then treat your due punishment like, like it was nothing! I'd like for you to be my first actual success!"

Georgius titled his head to the side slightly. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by that."

"I mean that you're just a common soldier! That's hardly something to be proud of! A familiar represents a mage's power as well as their alignment, and you're just more proof that I have neither!"

The man leaned back at this, surprised and somewhat stunned by this. This was why she was so upset? She had made mention of it back in the infirmary, but he had not given it too much thought then. Granted, he could understand that he was not as ostensibly impressive as some of the other magical creatures that were summoned (the dragon had come to mind), but still. "I think that you are selling yourself short, my master."

"Don't patronize me!" she snapped.

Georgius was about to respond when a new voice interrupted. "Miss Françoise, you are supposed to be using this time to get closer to your familiar, not to yell at him." The two turned their heads to see Professor Colbert approaching their table, his staff in one hand and some books and paper rolled up under his other arm.

Louise gave a small start and looked off the side, mildly embarrassed for being seen so unbecoming in front of a professor. "I-It was his fault…" she muttered. "He was being disobedient. Familiars are supposed to do whatever their master says!"

"While that may be true of normal familiars, I am afraid that I must remain an exception for reasons that I have already mentioned." The soldier replied. "Your geas is insufficient to make me do otherwise."

"Geas?" the professor asked with some confusion. "What do you mean?" Louise seemed to be equally confused by his statement.

"…The one that was put on me when she marked me yesterday." He said, now becoming as confused as the other two. "You know, the mental compulsion to obey the one who had given the mark." In truth, Georgius had not given his branding as much thought as he likely should have, though to be fair being brought back from the dead gave him a lot to think about. While he had noticed the compulsion immediately, he had set the matter to the side until he had time to learn more about the situation he had found himself in, and once he realize that the mark was never meant to be used on humans, had decided to let the matter go for the time being. After all, the geas would not sway him; his faith was too strong. "Of course, I would prefer it if you removed it as soon as possible."

Colbert looked at him in thought for a moment before his eyes widened in realization. "Of course! The Familiar Contract Obligation theory! Mages have been wondering for years just why normally wild and violent animals have become docile upon the contract, but no one has been able to prove anything! But since you're a human, this can lead to a breakthrough because that means you can help us analyze the… compulsion on a… fully sentient… oh dear…" the man trailed of, his academic excitement failing upon realizing just how morally dubious the situation actually was. He pulled himself up with an apologetic expression "Sir Georgius, I must apologies profusely for the situation you are now in. I would not have allowed the contract had I know that this was the case. Magic that affects the mind in such a manner is very illegal in Halkeginia."

At these words, Lousie turned white as she realized that she was one who cast this very illegal magic in the first place. "Oh Founder mother is going to kill me…" she muttered over and over again, rocking back and forth slightly.

Georgius spared at glance at the girl. He was starting to get the impression that Louise's mother was a rather stern woman. "I would not worry about it. No one knew beforehand and I am suffering no ill effect from it."

"Indeed Louise," the professor agreed. "It is a sacred ceremony that has been preformed for thousands of years. You are not going to be blamed for something you could not have possibly predicted." The pink haired woman breathed out a sigh of relief at this, and Colbert continued. "In any case Georgius, I am afraid that it cannot be removed. Any such magic will be bound within the runes themselves. Normally I would not even consider trying to remove them, as since they were created by the Founder Brimir such an act would be tantamount to blasphemy. Still, even in this case, I am afraid that no one has the knowledge of how to accomplish such a thing." He paused for a moment before a thought occurred to him. "Ah, before I forget, may I see your familiar runes?"

The soldier was a little surprised at this request, but nodded and removed his gauntlet, offering his left hand to the professor to look it over. While Colbert put his books and such down on the table and began to excitedly look over the markings, Georgius turned back to Louise. "You see? You managed to cast a permanent geas on me. No small feat if I do say so myself."

Louise shifted uncomfortably at the praise. "Yeah, well, you said it's not even really affecting you, so how is that a success?"

Georgius gave a sigh. "If that does not satisfy you, then how about how you summoned me in the first place?"

Her frown deepened. "Familiar, if you go spouting that nonsense about-"

"Ah, no, not that." The man said quickly. "What I meant was that you summoned me from farther away than I believe any of your classmates accomplished."

"Really. And just how far away is that?" she asked flatly.

"Enough that where I am from there is only one moon in the sky rather than two."

"Really?!" Colbert exclaimed, looking up from Georgius's hand. "I've never heard of a place where only one moon is visible!"

Louise on the other hand was more skeptical. "One moon? That is absurd. How would the tides work?"

Georgius blinked, not quite sure how to respond to that. "Differently, I would imagine. In any case, considering the differences between my home and this place, I have come to the conclusion that I have been summoned from beyond the Fey Lands."

"Fey Lands?"

The soldier frowned. He wasn't that surprised that the maid did not know what he was taking about, but he would have thought that mages here would have known of the land where fairies dwelled. "It is a land separate from our own where spirits and fairies dwell. My knowledge of it is limited, but I do know that that it boarders the normal world. In light of current events, it may be possible that it boarders several."

"That is an… interesting theory." The professor said, rubbing his chin in thought.

Again, Louise was not convinced. She gave a sigh. "That is very fanciful, but it is still absurd. I refuse to believe such nonsense without proof."

Georgius gave another sigh. "You are a rather difficult master to please. I assure you that everything I say is the truth. I would like to have a talk with you about faith later, but for the moment there is still one thing which I can use as proof of your skill." He looked between the two mages present. "You have both been speaking Tristainian since this conversation has started."

The two looked at each other before looking back at him. "Yes… what's your point?" Louise asked.

"I do not speak that language."

Louise opened her mouth to say something before she paused and blinked. "Wait, you're right. How have you been following the conversation?"

"It would seem that there has been an enchantment placed on me which allows me to understand it. This is most likely a delayed effect from the summoning, or perhaps a result of whatever spell you tried to cast on me last night." Georgius had give some thought to this newfound ability of his last night, and realized that it had taken effect after the incident he had with his master. "After I left your room, I was perfectly able to converse with one of the maids I had found."

His master shifted awkwardly. "It was supposed to be a silence spell…" she said with some embarrassment.

The soldier raised an eyebrow at this before saying slowly "So, in your attempt to still my tongue, you instead gave me the ability to comprehend unknown languages? That… is the most spectacular failure I have every seen."

Louise's face flushed more, but whatever she might have had to say on the subject was swept to the side by Professor Colbert's sudden enthusiasm. "Really?! You can cast such magic, Miss Françoise?" He leaned in very close to the pink haired woman, causing her to lean back in surprise as the man continued. "I have never even heard of such magic before! Why, such a spell could completely change the field of historical research, not to mention diplomatic relations! Do you think you could do it again?"

Louise was surprised by this, and the blush remained on her face, though Georgius suspected it was for a different reason now. "I, uh, I think. But I'm not sure-"

She was cut off by more rambling on the part of professor, mostly speculation interspersed with praise for the young mage and her accomplishment. The soldier did not fail to notice the small smile beginning to work its way onto Louise's face. Georgius felt a small amount of pleasure for his part in assuring his master's self-worth.

Eventually Colbert's rant came to a head when he said "And of course this explains so much for early civilization. Birmir would have had a massive advantage in uniting the scattered tribes of humanity if he could-" he suddenly cut himself off, his face paling as if he had said something that he shouldn't have. "I, uh, I mean… I have to go now! Thank you for your time!" and with that he grabbed his things and quickly ran off.

Georgius and Louise looked after him confused for a moment before the younger of the two jumped to her feet with a start and ran after him. "Wait! Tell me more about how I cast impressive and useful magic!"

Georgius looked after the two with a small amount amusement before settling back in his chair and sipping some tea. It was quite good, so he decided to take the brief moment of respite to enjoy himself.

The moment was not to last though, as only a few minutes later he noticed a commotion occurring on the other side of the courtyard. He briefly contemplated whether or not to investigate, but the voices he heard sounded heated and angry. Given that this was a school filled with adolescents capable of wielding magic, there was a good chance that someone would get hurt if shouting turned to violence, likely someone not even involved. He got up from the table and walked over to the source of the noise, around which a small crowd was forming. He gently pushed his way to the front, but as he was taller than most of the teens there, he could see a pair of female students yelling angrily at a male student, who was trying in vain to placate them.

It was pretty clear what it looked like, but Georgius decided to ask before he jumped to conclusions. "Excuse me," he asked a student he was standing next to. "but what is going on here?"

"Hm? Oh, it looks like Guiche here got caught two timing with Montmorency and Katie. Honestly, I'm surprised it's taken this long before the man got caught doing something like this."

Georgius gave a disappointed sigh at the predictable outcome. Oh to be young and male. It was hardly surprising all things considered. Despite his disapproval of the practice, many of the nobility back in the Roman Empire had… arrangements outside the bonds of marriage. However it seemed that was not the case in this land, or if it was, the blonde haired boy in the ruffled shirt had handled the situation very poorly.

"How could you cheat on me! Again!" The blonde haired girl with hair ringlets shrieked at him.

"I-I thought you cared for me!" The brown haired girl said in a half sob.

"BASTARD!" Both yelled out as they simultaneously slapped him across the face and stormed off.

Guiche was knocked on his rear end by the force of the two strikes and sat there dumbly for a moment. Georgius guessed by the look on his face that this was the first time his actions had ever caught up to him like this. In that case, while the event was a little painful, there would be a good chance that he would realize how he could hurt other people by acting selfishly, and help him grow as a person.

Unfortunately, Georgius's wishful thinking turned out to be only just that when the boy pulled himself to his feet, and turned to a member of the crowd, anger clear on his face and in his voice. "You! This is your fault!"

The soldier turned his head to see who he was talking to, and became alarmed when he saw that it was Siesta, clutching a sliver tray to her chest like a shield and tears threatening to leave her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, I was just t-trying to return the vial you dropped-"

"I told you it wasn't mine!" He yelled. "If you had simply listened to you better and walked away, two beautiful maidens would not be in tears! I will have your job for this!"

That would simply not do.

"Now, I am sure that will not be necessary." Georgius said as he stepped into the circle, pulling the boys gaze from the maid to himself. Siesta's eyes widened as she saw him.

Guiche's eyes narrowed slightly. "I remember you. You're that… soldier that the Zero summoned yesterday." He said this evenly, but with a hint of uncertainty, as if not quite sure what to make of him.

"Zero? If you mean Louise Françoise, then yes that is the case." He wasn't certain, but that name sounded derogatory. He would have to learn more at some point.

Guiche continued to give him a measuring look before saying "Well, as the son of the great General Gramont, it would be remiss if I did not introduce myself." He pulled out a rose of all things and gave it a flourish. "I am Guiche de Gramont, heir to a line of soldiers in service to this nation for hundreds of years! Tell me, what is your name and rank?"

Georgius paused for a moment before he said "I am Tribune Georgius de Lydda, but I am no long a part of the military of my nation. In any case, I do not see what that has to do with the topic at hand."

"Tribune? That it not a rank I have heard of… but you say that you are a soldier no longer? Well, that makes things simpler I suppose." He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "This does not concern you. Leave now and I shall forget your impudence for interrupting me."

Ah, he was trying to establish his position in relation to me, Georgius thought. The boy clearly had some respect for those in the profession of war (most likely due to his father if what he said was true), and had wanted to see how important Georgius was before taking a stance. It seemed that the fact he had left the military had diminished him in boy's eyes. Though it wasn't often that Georgius took overly much pride in his work for the Roman Empire, Guiche's automatic dismissal still grated him. The boy seemed to think that he had left early in his career or was dishonored. Granted, the later case was true for him, but the blonde fop should not be so dismissive before knowing more.

"I must insist," Georgius replied "for it seems that you believe that the servant here is at fault for your previous altercation. I find this rather unlikely."

Guiche frowned at him. "I said it was of no concern of yours, but if you simply must know, that maid tried to force a bottle of perfume on me and insist that it was mine. This resulted in a… misunderstanding that impugned on both of those young ladies honors."

"But… that was totally the vial of perfume that Montmorency gave you." A boy behind him pointed out.

"And you were just bragging to us how you were seeing two different girls." A second boy remarked.

"I think the two ladies understood this pretty well." Said a third.

"Shut up! Traitors!" The blonde yelled as he whirled in place to glare at the boys behind him.

Georgius had to keep himself from letting out a small chuckle. "Well, there you have it then. Clearly she is not to blame. I would think that your time would be better spent seeking forgiveness from the two that you wronged than taking your frustration out on the staff."

Guiche whirled back to look at Georgius, his face flushed with embarrassment and anger. "How dare a lowly foot soldier like you look down on one of noble blood?!"

"Point of fact, I am actually a knight, but whichever might be the case, it does not change the fact that the only one to blame is yourself."

The boy scoffed at this, clearly not believing him. "So you're a knight now? Fine. Prove it to me then." He gave a flourish with his rose. "I challenge you to a duel!"

Georgius blinked and looked at the boy dumbly. "What?"

"I shall meet you in the Vestai Court in ten minutes. If you truly are knight, your honor will keep you from running like a coward." He gave the older man a smug smirk before he sauntered off, much of the crowd following after him.

Needless to say, the man was stunned. Mostly by the fact that a boy had challenged him to a duel, and no one there had laughed at the clearly ridiculous idea. It was so inappropriate that Georgius did not even know where to start. For the moment he put that to the side and turned to face Siesta, who was still staring at him with wide eyes. "Are you alright?" He asked.

She gave a start as he addressed her. "Yes! I'm fine!" She said a little too loudly. "Are- are you really going to fight Lord Gramont?"

Georgius frowned. "I would think not. Honestly, challenging me to a duel under these circumstances would almost make me think that he's trying to do it to save face, if the idea didn't completely fly in the face of how honor worked. Not to mention all of the other reasons why it would be improper." Seriously, he would have thought that the boy would know at least that much if his father truly was a general.

Siesta gave him a confused look at that statement, as if she did not understand what he was saying. He was about to explain himself when a voice shouted from behind him "Familiar!" He turned around to find his master striding towards him with an angry look on her face. And she had been in such a good mood too. "What is this I heard about you fighting Guiche?" She demanded as she got close to him.

Georgius sighed. "It seemed that his temper got the better of him and he walked off before I could respond." He paused for a moment in thought. The boy did seem young and inexperienced, but it seemed prudent to be sure. "Tell me master, is this Lord Gramont an accomplisher of great deeds? Has he been honored in anyway?"

"What?" Louise asked, confused by the question. "No, of course not, he's just a useless skirt chaser. Now come on." She said as she grabbed his hand and tried to pull him in the direction the others had gone.

Of course, now that his suspicions were confirmed, he had no intention of any such thing, and Louise didn't exactly have the leverage necessary to move the larger man. "Then I have no intention of fighting him."

"Really?" Siesta asked, somehow sounding both relived and disappointed at the same time. "Why not?"

It was now Georgius's turn to look confused. "Because he is a boy."

Louise looked at him like he was an idiot for a second before she slowly said "…he's a mage. I think that more than makes up for him being younger than you."

"No, his age doesn't have anything to do with this- well, I suppose his inexperience does play a part, but it's more than that." He said, feeling strange that he had to explain this. "Lord Gramont is a boy. He has yet to go through the trials and tribulations that will give him the right to call himself a man. He does not even have the right to challenge me. Such a thing is earned, not given. I would gain no honor by fighting him, and he has already made it clear that he does not believe me to have any honor either, however wrong he might be. As far as I can tell, neither of us have anything to gain by dueling each other besides someone's death on our hands, and everyone else here should know better than to take his challenge seriously."

Siesta put on a thoughtful expression at this, while his master looked completely flabbergasted by his response. "What… that's not… honor doesn't…" she shook her head. "How can something sound right yet be so wrong at the same time?" She asked herself.

Georgius wasn't certain why he was getting this response but he decided to switch the conversation to more pressing matters. "Though I think I've taken his mind off of it for now, he was intending to get Miss Siesta in trouble for her part in exposing his deceit involved two female students. Can he actually have her fired for such a trite reason?"

"Huh?" Louise said snapping out of her own mutterings. "Well, not exactly. He would need an actual reason to take to the Headmaster, but a simple claim of insubordination would be enough."

"Which would be a lie." Georgius said firmly. "And plenty of people can confirm this."

"I don't know…" Louise said slowly. "I'm not sure that enough of the students will care enough to come forward if Guiche does make a claim."

"People are better than you give them credit for. I'm sure that a little convincing is all that is needed to keep them from falling victim to their own weaknesses. Besides which, even if no one else would come forward, I would not allow such a thing to happen to Siesta."

If he was looking in the other direction, he might have noticed the other woman blushing at this comment.

Louise continued to frown for a moment longer before she shook her head again and took his hand, once again trying to lead him to the court. "Well, we can deal with that later. While it's smart of you not fight Guiche (though you came to that conclusion in a stupid way), you still need to apologize to him."

"For what? I merely pointed out that he was at fault for his own actions."

"That was the insult! The fact that it is true doesn't matter!"

Georgius's expression became stern. "I will not coddle the boy. If he does not learn that his actions are wrong and how to deal with it, he will never become a better person."

Louise clenched her fists in frustration. "You're just a commoner and he's a noble! You can't just speak to them however you please!"

While he had spent most of his time either on the edge or beyond the Roman Empire, he was aware that there were those among the privileged that considered themselves… well, better than those of lower status. Many of his fellow knights had either had to play politics with such people or more unfortunately became one themselves. One on the perks of traveling so much was that he generally didn't have to deal with such things.

And considering his current situation, he saw no reason to start now. "No."

"Gah! Stupid insolent Familiar! If you don't he'll probably try to kill you!"

"I like to think that I am not prone to arrogance, but I think that I can handle an adolescent which you yourself described as a 'useless skirt chaser'."

"It doesn't matter he's an idiot, he's a mage!"

"Again, you people keep bringing up things which I fail to see the relevance to current conversation. My faith will protect me against whatever he might bring to bear."

"A commoner can't fight a mage." She ground out through her teeth. "It's suicide! Mages are favored by God!"

There were a number of things wrong with that statement, but Georgius focused on one thing in particular. "Now you're exaggerating to the point of blasphemy. To say that God favors those with magic over those without is absurd. God loves all of his children, not just those with magic."

For whatever reason, this completely floored the pink haired girl, and her mouth dropped open. If she was trying to respond to this, the only noise that came from her throat for a few moments was a choking sound. Eventually she seemed to get her wits about her again and said "H-how dare you say something like that?! Its not- the idea that- it's the way the world works, Founder damn it!"

The man's confusion lasted for a moment before he remembered something she had said the other day in the infirmary, that nobles having magic was one of the 'core tenets put forth by Brimir'. What if… no, that couldn't be what she meant. That would be… "Master…" he said slowly. "When you said that all nobles have magic, you didn't mean that simply having magic was enough to grant a person nobility, did you?"

"Of course that's what I meant!" She yelled back. "How else is it supposed to be? Magic is what gives us the right to rule!"

Georgius went stiff upon hearing this. This… this land was a mageocracy? And more than that, it was one that claimed the support of God in its supposed superiority?! There had been very few times when Georgius considered himself truly angry.
This was one of those times.

His emotions must have been apparent to the other two women, as they began to back away from him slightly. He wanted to tell Louise just how wrong she was, how much of a sin it was to attach God's name to something so unfair. However, he refrained from doing so upon looking at her fearful face. It was not her fault, surely not, and he did not trust himself at the moment to not go overboard if he started to rant.

Instead, he merely said in a strained voice "Any God who would support such a thing is no God of mine." Before he turned around and walked off, wanting some time to calm down think to himself.

--------------------​

The secretary Longueville took a few careful glances left and right before she stepped out of the central tower. She did so because at the moment she was not dressed in her usual robes of her day job, but rather the magically enchanted robes of her true profession. She has taken on the job of secretary at the Academy a she need time to, as they would colloquially say, 'case the joint'. From this turn of phrase, it would be reasonable to assume that she was a thief.

Not just any thief, though. She was Fouquet, the legendary Mage-Thief who has stolen from the wealthiest and most guarded treasures all across Halkeginia.

And Fouquet knew that when an opportunity presented itself, it was prudent to take it. Her little conversation with Professor Colbert had been most enlightening as to the current status to the vaults defense. The man was so easily taken in by her 'distressed damsel' routine that she almost felt bad for him.

Almost. He was a mage after all, and experience had taught her that they were hardly worth any respect or mercy.

In any case, he had said that the vault was weak now, but would recover within a few days. She had originally planed to wait a little longer and perform the heist during the Princess's visit in a few weeks (for added humiliation), but now seemed like a better time anyway. She had started to believe that fate was on her side as well when she heard that two students would be fighting on the opposite side of the tower (she had in fact heard that it was a student and another's familiar, but that was just silly). This provided her with a distraction as well. She had originally considered hiring some bandits to attack the Academy before, but she didn't like the idea that one of the servants might get killed because of it. She saw no reason to make the common folk suffer anymore than the nobility were already making them.

When she had walked far enough away from the tower, Fouquet gave a sweep of her wand and a generous application of her willpower, and the ground beneath her shook. Slowly at first but with increasing speed, the ground she stood on rose. As it rose higher and higher, it shaped itself into a crude facsimile of a head, arms, legs and torso. Seconds after she had cast the spell, she was standing on the shoulder of a 100 foot tall golem made of stone and dirt.

Not nearly as subtle as she usually liked, but that naive man had told her that brute force was the best option, so she would use every last bit she had.

As well, the golem's height now put it on equal level of the vault in the center of the tower. No one had noticed her just yet, so it was with a small smile that she ordered her golem to reel its fist back to cave in the vault wall.

It was also with some surprise that she ordered it to stop when she heard someone call out "Excuse me!" She blinked in confusion before looking down at the courtyard she was standing in, and found there to be a soldier in brass colored armor looking up at her sternly. She was even more confused when he shouted again, somehow very politely.

"I'm going to have to ask you to stop."

=====Soz=====​

 

[Satire Swift]

=====SoZ======​

Fouquet was still for a moment, looking down at the man who called out to her and trying to decide if he really did just say that. Under normal circumstances she already would have just started to ignore the soldier or stepped on him but… he was just standing there looking back up at her, seemingly completely at ease despite the fact that he was standing next to several tons of animate earth. Eventually, her curiosity won out and she called out "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?", the magic enchantment on her hood and cloak altering her voice to make her sound like a man.

"I said that I'm going to have to ask you to stop." The man repeated. "I know not why you wish to do harm to this academy, but if you stop now, I promise that no harm will come to you."

Fouquet blinked. "And what, pray tell, will happen if I don't?"

"Then I am afraid that I will be able to make no such promise."

The woman looked at the soldier for a moment longer before she burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all. The fact that he was just so serious about it was what really sold it for her. "Well, good luck with that!" she called out after she got her laughter under control, and promptly ordered her golem to smash in the side of the tower.

The massive fist collided with the stone work with a colossal crash, but Fouquet was surprised to see that the tower wall held. She felt a brief moment of panic before she drew the fist back, but it abated when she saw that the strike had still done significant damage. The wall had caved a good ways in and a large pattern of spider cracks ran up the wall. It would probably only take one more good hit to finish the job. Still, the vault is weaker than usual and it still held up against a fully powered strike from my golem? It was wise of me to do this now. I might not have managed it at all if I had waited.

Fouquet flicked out her wand again, intent on giving the order to finish the job. However, the moment before she could there was a tingling on the back of her neck, instinct causing her to spin around, and she was most surprised and alarmed to see the soldier pulling himself up over the edge to the golem's opposite shoulder and sprint right at her! Fast! was the only thought that went through her mind as he cleared the distance much faster than he should have been able to. Fortunately for her, while she generally avoided combat, Fouquet's younger years had been rougher for her than most, and as such she was no stranger to it. Reflexes took over and in an instant a wall of rock formed between her and the soldier, just seconds before he was on her.

This would have given her more comfort if the wall didn't simply crumble when he reached it.

Fouquet only had a second to take this in, and that second almost cost her dearly as she was barely able to jump back before the man's fist connected with her torso. Normally the woman was able to keep herself calm no matter what the circumstances, but everything had happened so fast and unexpectedly that all she wanted was to get away from the man in front of her. As such, when the man leapt at her again, Fouquet promptly willed the golem beneath her feet to let her sink down into it, putting her firmly out of the grasp of the soldier. She took her moment's pause in the hollow space in the golem's torso to breathe out a sigh of relief…

…which quickly turned into a sharp gasp when he punched the rock of the golem's hide above her and she felt it weaken.

How in the hell is this possible?! She thought to herself. For starters, the man was definitely moving faster than he should have been able to, considering how he managed to scale the 100 ft golem in a matter of a dozen or so seconds. And for another thing he was strong enough to punch right through stone!

Except… that wasn't it. A frown settled onto her face, as a second blow connected and she felt the rock become weaker still. It wasn't that he was strong; the force required to simply smash through the wall she had made earlier would have caused chucks of it to go flying, but instead it merely crumbled. This wouldn't have made sense except for the fact that the wall had been made from the same rock as the golem it was pulled up from, which was not a solid piece of stone so much as a large amount of small rocks and dirt held together with magic. It had to be somewhat granular in order to move. It wasn't that the man was that strong, it was that his blows were somehow voiding the magic that held the earth together. Her only consolation was that he seemed to have a harder time doing so to her golem proper.

Fouquet commanded the golem to swat the soldier off itself, but from within her current confines, she couldn't see what was going on. She felt the massive construct shake as it stuck itself a few time where she thought he was, but each time she paused to check, there would be a another strike and the spider web of crack above her would grow. More likely than not, the soldier would get in, but she no longer felt panic. She had gotten time to recompose herself and assess the situation. Now, she knew what to do.

The final strike came, and like the wall before the rock above her lost cohesion and opened, revealing the soldier in a crouch looking down at her. There was a single moment of silence where the two did not move, staying completely still as the looked at each other. Then the man opened his mouth. "If-"

That was the moment Fouquet had waited for, and in that instant she threw her free arm over her face and gave a twitch of her wand hand, transmuting the stone around the edge of the hole into magnesium. Another swift flick and a little fire magic later, she heard the soldier scream out in surprise and pain as the metal ignited. She could feel the heat of the burning metal, but her cloak had enchantments to protect her from such things. She opened her eyes as soon as she dared and opened up the hole above her even wider, leaving the briefly stunned man nothing to stand on, and so he dropped down in front of her.

Wasting no time, Fouquet thrust a pillar of stone out of the 'floor' at him. The man regained his senses just in time to catch the pillar square in the chest, lifting him off his feet and through the relatively thin wall of rock that led out to the front of the golem. Through the hole he had made, Fouquet saw him slam into the outstretched arm of the golem before dropping out of sight.

Fouquet let out a breath at this before filling the cavity she was in, letting herself rise to the top and be standing on the golems shoulder like she was a minute before. The pillar hadn't connected with as much force as it should have, most likely due to whatever was causing him to make her magic fail before. Lucky, she was able to make it work for her and easily push him through the stone wall and out into a 90 ft or so drop. She walked to the edge of the golem to look at the body and why in the hell was it getting up?!

The woman felt no small amount of shock at the sight of the man pulling himself to his feet at the base of the golem, seemingly no worse for the wear despite the fact that he had just fallen from a ridiculous height. And the way he was glaring up at her showed that he had managed to regain his sight must faster than he should have as well. What the hell is he? She thought to herself. No man should have been able to survive that. No man should be able to move that quickly or disrupt magic. She briefly wondered if he was a mage, but discarded it. She never saw him use a wand for one thing, and for another, well, he just didn't seem to behave like any noble she had every met.

One thing was clear though: he was a threat, and one that Fouquet couldn't afford to underestimate or ignore. He had already wasted enough of her time. Any longer and she would lose the element of surprise, and then the Academy staff would arrive and she would had a great deal more trouble getting what she came for. She needed to get rid of him and fast. With a mental command, she ordered her golem to crush the man before her.

The golem lifted up one of its massive feet and brought it back down over the soldier, intent on flattening him with its entire weight. However, the man once again showed that he was quicker than he had any right to be and jumped to the side before the foot smashed back into the ground. The force from stop caused him to tumble through the air somewhat, but he quickly righted himself to land in a crouch. He then, rather than doing what any sane person would do, ran straight towards the 100ft behemoth.

Fouquet brought the golem's fist down at him, a cloud of earth and dirt erupting from the spot where it impacted. She lost sight of him for a moment, but he then shot out of the cloud, running up the arm of the construct in an attempt to once again get at her person. She was prepared for this though, and with a quick chant a number of stone spears emerged from the golem's upper arm and shot down at the advancing man. With nothing to block them with and little room to maneuver, he was forced to slow his advance to dodge the projectiles, which he mostly managed to do. One or two connected, and while they pushed him back some, they did not skewer him like they should have and merely broke apart upon contact with his breast plate. By the time they had passed, he found the arm to be rapidly rising and jumped off, as the force would have undoubtedly thrown him clear of the Academy walls.

This continued for a while longer, with Fouquet continually trying to crush the man with her golem's stomps and punches, and him trying to climb it. Neither seemed to be gaining any appreciable ground though, as she had enough magic to keep him from scaling her mount, and he was fast enough to avoid its blows. In short order the courtyard they were in looked like it had sustained significant artillery fire it was so torn up. Fouquet ground her teeth in frustration. This wasn't working. Though she was a Square-class mage, the most powerful class of mage there was, her Willpower was still finite. An hour ago she would have laughed at the idea of some commoner physically outlasting her Willpower, but with this man she wasn't willing to put it out of the realm of possibility. What was worse, she was running out of time-

A roar from above was her only warning, and Fouquet cursed as she ducked behind the lump that was the golem's head, just before a wave of fire swept through where she was just standing. She glanced around the stone and spotted a dragon flying towards her, carrying two students on its back, a tall red head and a short blue haired girl. Now it seemed that she had most definitely run out of time. If the students had noticed then she only had a handful of seconds before the adults came. If she wanted to get what she came for, she would have to change her strategy and fast. She could just try to refocus her efforts on the vault, but she couldn't afford to take her focus off of the soldier. She needed some way to distract or hamper him...

The way she was looking for revealed itself when a streak of pink hair entered the courtyard, yelling something at the soldier. It was that noble girl who was always causing property damage with her incompetent magic. The way the man was reacting to her seemed to indicate some connection or another. Fouquet grinned to herself. The man wouldn't be able to stop her if he was to busy protecting the girl.

And if he failed, it was not like anything of value would be lost.

--------------------​

Louise fumed to herself as she wandered the grounds, muttering darkly under her breath. She was starting to believe that maybe she should have thought more carefully about holding on to that maid's pendant when she preformed her summoning. She had kept the heretical item anyway for any shred of luck it could give her; she supposed it was a fitting punishment that she received an equally heretical familiar. Or was it blasphemous? She could never keep those two straight.

The important thing is he's still an insolent dog that should be whipped! She thought to herself as she put the semantics aside. She had briefly considered going to the Vestai Court to plead with Guiche on his behalf, but decided against it. He thought that he could handle the consequences of insulting a mage? Fine, let him deal with it! Normally she would have been more concerned about her familiar's wellbeing, but what he had said had really gotten under her skin. The idea that mages weren't any better than commoners was just… impossible! Of course the essence of Nobility came from magic! If it wasn't, why had the Founder deemed it so all those millennia ago? If it wasn't, how could society possibly function?

If it wasn't, what had she been fighting to obtain all these years?

Louise had hoped that going for a walk would have helped her calm down a little. It worked somewhat. Right up until she heard the first crash.

Louise jumped out of her own thoughts and nearly out of her own skin when she heard the noise. It was so loud that it had echoed off the Academy walls and back to her again. She looked around in confusion for a moment, unable to pinpoint exactly where it came from. Then she noticed something weird about the central tower, like there seemed to be a piece of rock sticking out from it that did not look to be the same color as the rest of the stone. Then it seemed to shift and move behind the tower.

What was that? It's almost like there's something there. But that can't be right, at the height I saw it whatever it is would have to be almost a hundred feet tall! Nevertheless, Louise started to run, curiosity getting the better of her. About a minute later she found herself standing still at the edge of another courtyard, looking up with wide eyes and her mouth dropped open.

It was a golem made of earth, but on a completely different scale from the ones she had seen tending the farms on her family estate. This thing was half the height of the central tower itself! There was a massive spider web of cracks halfway up the tower, and given how Louise knew that was where the Academy vaults were located, there was little mystery of what it was after. However, at the moment it was not trying to get into the vault; rather, it seemed to be trying to punch and kick a small blur of white that was dancing around it. The mage's shock only increased when she realized it was Georgius.

W-w-what is that idiot doing?! She thought to herself. He actually does thinks he can take on a mage! He's just – he can't… However, her train of thought trailed off the more she watched. As her familiar dodged and continued to try to scale the giant construct, it looked like he was actually holding his own. He wasn't doing any damage of course, but he moved with surprising speed, always managing to keep ahead of the rocks that threatened to crush him.

Louise was snapped out of her daze when she heard a roar from above, and glanced up in time to see Kirche and Tabatha swoop down on the golem on the blue haired girl's dragon. Kirche launched some fire at the head of the thing, which splashed of harmlessly but seemed to distract it. Georgius took this as his cue and once again ran towards the colossus, intent on scaling it.

Louise felt a surge of panic at this. Her familiar had been amazing so far, but she didn't want him to keep pushing his luck. "Familiar! Get back here at once!" She yelled. "I order you to stop being so suicidal!" With that vulgar Germanian overhead, her familiar wouldn't have to put his life on the line to distract the huge thing.

Georgius looked at her in surprise, but unfortunately he was not the only one to notice the pink haired mage. The massive golem turned itself to face her, and she froze in fear as she felt its hollow eyes bore into her. It then took a step towards her, and Louise found that her legs had completely locked up in terror. She heard her familiar yelling to her to run, but all of her focus was on the golem bearing down on her.

A voice came up from the depths of her mind, sounding an awful lot like her mother. I did not raise some weakling who freezes in battle. Anyone who cannot follow the Rule of Steel is no child of mine. Louise grit her teeth and shook her head. No! A mage does not give into fear! And a mage will not flee when her familiar stays to fight! She pulled out her wand and began to chant the words for the fireball spell, the syllables flowing out of her rapidly in half-adrenaline, half-panic. It would probably just explode, but given the circumstances, that would probably work too.

However, she realized a problem when the golem drew its fist back to turn her into a stain on the ground: she wasn't going to finish in time.

Time slowed down for Louise as she saw the mass of rock coming towards her. She felt as if trapped in her own body, forced to watch her oncoming death while she tried impotently to finish her spell. Then, as if unaffected by the slowness that had taken the rest of the world, Georgius appeared in her vision, dashing in between herself and the punch, as if it would do any good. His right arm was low and across his body, as him he was preparing to draw a sword. Except, now that Louise looked, there was a sword. It looked almost unreal, as if an image wreathed in golden light, but it was there. It was a simple thing, with a cross shaped hilt and a slightly round section at the tip, but she could tell it was too well made to be a common sword. As the fist neared the pair, Georgius swept his sword arm out to meet it, and Louise swore she could see a glow coming from underneath the gauntlet of his left hand.

Then time sped back up again. There was a ringing of metal followed by a massive crash. Louise was almost thrown off her feet, but was still blinded by a sudden rush of wind and dirt. For a moment she honestly wasn't sure if she was alive or dead, but that cleared up a moment later along with the dirt cloud. She was greeted with the sight of the golem's fist embedded in the ground several feet to her right. Her familiar still stood before her, his back to her and his sword at his side. The blade shone for a moment longer before it broke apart into tiny golden motes which faded into the air. Georgius looked at his now empty hand, a look of surprise on his face.

It was nothing compared to the shock which Louise now felt. Her familiar, no, this man in front of her had just deflected several tons of solid rock… with nothing but a sword. The silence in the courtyard was deafening. Finally, Louise said what was on everyone's mind. "What-"

Or she at least tried to, as she then too late remembered that she had been in the middle of casting a spell, and that switching languages mid chant caused it to go off prematurely. Normally while she would have been dishearten by another failure, it was mitigated by two things:

1. All of her spells to date, whether correctly cast or not, have exploded, so it wasn't much of a difference.

2. As luck would have it, the motions of her wand arm had left her pointing directly at the golem's torso.

Her biggest explosion to date ripped through the golem's chest, causing chunks to go flying in all directions. The arms were still barely attached, but the head a most of the upper chest were simply gone. The golem was still for a moment before it fell over on its side, collapsing into a small hill of rubble as it did so.

Georgius slowly spared a glance back at his master. "… I am rather glad that your attempt to silence me did not turn out like that."

Louise ignored his comment and said "What the hell was that?!"

He glanced down at his hands. "I… am not sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure?!" she shouted. "You just blocked a small freaking mountain for Founder's sake! Why didn't you tell me you could do that?!"

"Because I did not know I could?"

"Graaaaah!" She shouted as she stood. "Stupid familiar! You had me all worked up over fighting Guiche when you could do this the whole time! I… I can't believe…" she trailed off, suddenly swaying on her feet slightly as weariness overtook her.

Naturally, her familiar caught her before she fell. "Master, you should calm yourself. You are likely in shock from almost being killed." He said as he gently sat her on the ground. "Take a moment to rest. You have certainly earned it, seeing as how you stopped the intruder."

Louise rubbed her head. He's probably right about being in shock. I mean, I only cast one spell, so why else would I feel so tired… still she felt a small amount of giddiness. I stopped the golem with one spell. Better than anything that Germanian hussy could manage.

She glanced up and breathed deeply in satisfaction, but her smile faded slightly upon seeing the tower. Wait, I thought it was only cracked. When did the hole get there?

---------------------​

Inside the tower vault, a large misshapen rock was lying on the floor, having landed there after blasting through the far wall. It was still for a moment before it started to crumble, and soon Fouquet fell out of the pile of dirt which it had become. She clutched at her ribs and coughed, a small amount of blood passing her lips as she did so.

"This…" she moaned out in pain from her injuries. "is… bullshit!"

First there was the soldier who could move like a Triangle -class wind mage and block a stone fist the size of a house, and now there was the student who could make her golem explode with a single spell?! Granted, the thief probably should have considered this possibility given the girl's previous magical inclination, but still! By all reasonable accounts, there was no way she could have predicted this nonsense! She supposed that it just went to show that a person could make the most perfect plan in the world, but it wouldn't account for anything if he tripped on a rock and broke his neck.

Fouquet pulled herself to her feet, rubbing her eyes to clear the dirt out of them so she could see where she landed. She had only the briefest moment of flying through the air to realize what had happened, and in that moment she had instinctively pulled all of the flying detritus around her into a protective cocoon of sorts. It wasn't exactly a smooth ride though, as her current injuries could attest to. It was a good thing her cloak protected her from blunt trauma as well, or she'd be little more than tenderized meat.

She blinked when she noticed that she was indoors, and blinked again when she saw the many rows of shelves with a great number of various objects on them. Once she realized just where she landed, she managed to bark out a laugh before she was forced to grip her ribs again. This has to be both the luckiest and unluckiest job I've ever pulled, she thought to herself with grim amusement.

And all things considered, she wanted to quit while she was ahead. Of course she still had to get the thing she was looking for first. Normally she would have raided the vaults for anything valuable she could carry, but this time she was under the employ of someone else. She wasn't supposed to know exactly who she was working for, but well, you do not spend years dealing with the seedy underside of society without picking up a few tricks for finding out who was pulling the strings. And they were a group she did not want to cross for a number of reasons.

Instead, Fouquet merely pocketed a few of the smaller items while she looked for the thing she had been tasked to retrieve. It didn't take long, as there was a case that was put prominently on it's own self, and was clearly labeled as containing the object she was looking for: The Staff of Destruction. Seeing as how it was locked up here, it must have been a truly powerful weapon indeed, though Fouquet wondered why she had never heard of it before this job if that was the case. Maybe because the name is misleading, she thought as she eyed the dimensions of the box. It can only be a few feet long at most. That's hardly a staff. She picked up the case with a small grunt. Heavier than you'd think too.

She briefly thought about opening it to take a look, but decided against it. Considering her current run of luck, it was probably booby-trapped with a number of subtle enhancements. She's crack into it later when she had time to check everything over. Right now her concern was simply getting the hell out of the Academy. Normally Fouquet would have ridden out atop her golem, but that had been blown to bits, and making another one would be both tiring and leaving it open to be destroyed by that pink haired brat. She turned and looked at the vault door was a frown, unsure of just how strong it currently was. She probably could have brute forced it open like she did the wall, but that would require another giant golem, which she couldn't make in the vault for obvious reasons. That left her only reasonable exit as the hole which she had just come through. It wouldn't be too much of a problem to get down, but a quick glance from around the edge of the hole showed that there were a number people gathering in the courtyard below.

Fouquet needed a distraction, which meant that she was going back to her preferred approach on jobs. She glanced at the pile of earth that had become of her golem, judging the distance. At this range it would be a strain on her, but she thought she would be able to pull it off. Pointing her wand and focusing deeply, she started to chant.

--------------------​

Georgius stood by his master's side, glancing around the courtyard for any sign of the mage who had created the massive golem. He was most likely at the bottom of that massive pile of dirt and rocks, but he did not feel like letting his guard down while his master was in her current weakened state. Which he thought was understandable given the surprising amount of force she had brought to bear on the construct and her age, but seeing as how he had only been in this world for a day, he didn't have much of a comparison to draw too. Whoever he had just been fighting had the movements and focus of someone who knew combat, and given the rather impressive size of the golem he reasoned that he had been a fairly powerful mage. For Louise to destroy it in one blow must have taken a lot out of her.

Not for the first time since things had settled down, Georgius glanced down at his hands. His master was not the only one to do something surprising during that battle. When she had been in danger, there had been a number of strange things that had happened with himself. He was not unused to gaining strength when other's needed him most but this was even greater than usual. He thought he had caught a glimpse of the runes on his hand glowing through his gauntlet, so he suspected his contract with his master might have had more enchantments involved than just the geas.

That was not his biggest concern though, as that could have been a perfectly normal part of being a familiar in this world. No, what concerned him was that for but a moment, he had held his old sword again. Ascalon, the magical blade that had been gifted to him by his 'mother'. Did he somehow summon it here for a time, or was it but a seeming? Either way, he had no idea how it happened, or how to make it happen again if needed. It was frustrating just how much of his current condition was a mystery to him, once again finding himself wishing he had paid more attention to the woman who took him in when she tried to teach him how magic worked.

Whatever the case, he would have to do such investigations later. At the moment he had to deal with attention of a dark skinned, redheaded student along with her much shorter blue haired companion. "I say, I should have known there was something special about you as soon as I saw you." The redhead said, eyeing Georgius in a way that made him mildly uncomfortable.

"Strong." The blue haired one said, her own gaze making him uncomfortable for an entirely different reason.

"See? Even Tabitha thinks so. She's actually looking at you while speaking."

Georgius shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. "Thank you, though I was only doing what I must. And you are?"

"Oh, how careless of me," The redhead said before she put her hand on her rather ample chest. "I am Kirche Augusta von Zerbst, pleased to make your very dashing acquaintance."

"Tabitha." The other one said before she stated "You scare Sylphid."

Georgius looked at her confused for a moment before she tilled her head back slightly, and he looked behind her to see her dragon trying to hide behind a tree. 'Trying' was the operative word, as said creature was much wider than the tree in question. When the beast noticed his gaze, it gave a start and crouched down even lower in an attempt to hide. It was more than a little adorable if the man had to admit. Still, he could make a guess as to why a dragon might be wary of him, but he had no idea that they could sense such a thing. He had dismissed the creature as not a threat the other day because it seemed relatively young and docile, but he would have to be sure that his presence didn't agitate it to the point that it would do something aggressive. When Georgius looked back at Tabitha, she was still looking at him with those piercing blue eyes. She's trying to read me and find out why, he thought with mild curiosity.

Before he could simply tell her though, Kirche interrupted with "Oh, there'll be time for that nonsense later. Right now we should find some way to… unwind from such a tense and exciting battle." Georgius was both impressed and terrified as just how suggestive she could say the word 'unwind'. Louise could be considered to think similarly if one replaced impressed with indignant and terrified with angry. The low growl that came from her throat made the man wish there was some way out of the current conversation.

"What in the Founder's name happen here?!" Professor yelled out in alarm as came running into the courtyard, a gaggle of students not far behind.

"Oh thank the Lord." Georgius muttered before turning to the approaching professor. "There was an assault on the main tower, professor. A mage riding a massive golem was trying to knock it down, though I am not sure why."

"Vault." Georgius turned back to look at Tabitha, who had now started reading a book. She was pointing a staff she held in her other hand up and towards the tower, and he followed the line up to the newly made hole. Ah, so it was thievery that he was after.

Professor Colbert noticed as well, and began to fret. "Oh dear, why did someone have to do this now? There's no telling what might have been taken-"

"Fear not, for the thief was stopped." The soldier interrupted. The confused look on Colbert's face prompted him to continue. "I was able to stall the thief for long enough that my master arrived to see the conflict, at which point she destroyed the construct with an explosive blast. The hole is likely the result of some debris resulting from that."

"But you make your part sound so small," Kirche said, seemingly intent on exalting his own heroism for him. "For one without magic to keep the attention of an experienced mage with a massive golem while being barely injured at all, why, that is the stuff of legend! Or at the very least folk heroes." She then moved a little closer, and her tone dropped a little lower. "And heroes deserve to be rewarded, don't they?"

Once again, Georgius was feeling more than a little uncomfortable at the direction the redhead seemed to be taking things, not in the least part because he was more injured than his appearance might have indicated; he simply bore it well. Thankfully, it was his master that came to his rescue this time. "Zerbst! Keep your amorous hands off my familiar! And don't try to just brush me aside! I actually blew up that damn thing, where you couldn't even leave a scratch!"

Kirche rolled her eyes. "Oh fine, credit where credit is due. You did finally manage to find a use for those explosions of yours. After you were saved from almost getting flattened."

Whatever retort Louise might have had was interrupted by a familiar voice. "What? You can't possibly be saying that the Zero accomplished anything of worth." Heads tuned to see Guiche standing amid the students with a look of distain on his face. "And of course the so called soldier happened to miss our duel."

Georgius stared blankly at the self absorbed adolescent. "I was occupied with more pressing matters." He deadpanned.

"Oh really? And I suppose your so called 'assistance' with this thief would be the cause?" The blonde said as he walked over to the massive pile of dirt. "That is utterly laughable. No doubt you and you poor excuse for a master simple hid while all the real work was done by Tabitha and the lovely Von Zerbst." He embellished that last bit with a flourish of his rose wand towards the woman in question.

Kirche was not impressed however. "Firstly, I do not have such a short memory to forget your rather poor performance between you and those two other girls a few minutes ago. Secondly, I can confirm that while unlikely, Louise did in fact destroy the golem. And Thirdly, the man here had most certainly played a part as well, displaying strength and courage beyond most normal men. More than you'll ever show at the very least."

Guiche's face turned red at the insult, but he managed to keep his composure. He closed his eyes and put a hand on his chest in supposed mock hurt. "Ah, why must the most beautiful of roses have thorns? It simply will not do to have such a woman question the bravery of a Gramont!" He opened his eyes and turned towards Georgius with a small smirk on his face. "I believe I can prove my worth over this failed-"

That was as far as he got before Georgius leaped towards the boy in a motion so fast that Guiche did not even realize that it happened until the man was in front of him with his fist cocked back. Guiche screamed in surprise and threw his arms up to cover his face in reflex. As such, he did not notice how Georgius's punch sailed past him and instead collided with the man-sized rock golem that had risen from the pile of dirt, arm raised intending on crushing the blonde's skull. The golem crumbled under the blow, but there were already more starting to rise from the pile. "If you wish to show it, I would start by protecting the rest of the students." Georgius stated.

As the growing mass of golems advanced, many of the students screamed and began running in several different directions to get away. Unfortunately the golems spread out trying to attack as many as possible, and the terrain was tricky do to the previous fight. Georgius moved as fast as he could, moving himself between a nearby female student and another construct swinging its arm at her. He took the blow in the side with a grunt before his fist lashed out, this one fading to dirt like the previous. It had been good to find out that the resistance he had been building to magic during the years of his last life was still with him in this one, as well as the fact that he could use it offensively against these things.

He was not the only one to go on the attack. A thin bolt of flame impacted and destroyed one not far from him, and Georgius looked over to see the professor expertly dispatching one golem after the other with bursts of fire from his staff. Kirche and Tabitha had joined in as well, the former letting loose slightly less controlled fire spells while the later launched several icicles with each swing of her staff. Even his master attempted to help, exploding a golem that got close to her in spite of her weakened state. In truth, the golems were not that impressive. They were crude, misshapen things that were clearly made with quantity in mind rather than quality. If conditions were ideal, the five of them could probably handle the situation without a problem.

The real complication was the students. The chaos that had resulted from all of the teens trying to run away and the golems pursing after them reminded Georgius of some of the battles he had seen during the Roman campaigns. These were not soldier though; they were merely a lot of frightened youths. The professor was shouting and trying to direct them, but they were far too panicked to hear. Georgius continued to move as fast as he could, diving in the crowded areas which the other mages could not fire safely into to protect whom he could. Still, he could not get to every one, and more than a few lay on the ground injured and in pain. Georgius grit his teeth in frustration as one golem slammed into him to slow him down. I need that power I had a few minutes ago! What was it?! How do I get it again?!

Throwing the one on top of him into another one, Georgius spotted Guiche a short distance away trying to defend himself. The boy could apparently make golems of his own, though his were of much better make, looking to be metal suits of armor and armed with weapons. One such armor lay on the ground unmoving, having been overwhelmed by numbers. In it's hand was a spear, and Georgius was in great need of any advantage he could get to protect. He dashed over to it, rolling under a strike and grabbing it as he rose.

As soon as his hand griped the shaft, he felt his body get lighter and stronger, and the glow came from underneath his left gauntlet once more. He paused for a moment in surprise. Georgius did not know why, but it seemed that his prayer had been answered. A nearby golem tried to take advantaged of his lapse and lashed out at his head. With speed that surprised even himself, Georgius swept the spear up and bisected the construct diagonally. Wasting no more time on thought, the knight moved even faster than before, ducking an weaving between bodies, his spear lashing out at all who meant harm on the students. The speed and force behind the blows was incredible, and in short order the number of golems had thinned considerably. The efforts of the mages who had chosen to fight managed to keep them from leaving the courtyard after the students who had succeeded in running away. Now the dozen or so that were left had bunched together, and in a final push rushed at Georgius, deeming him the biggest threat.

The group was a short distance away when it made its charge, so Georgius decided to finish it. He pulled his spear arm back before stepping forward with his opposite foot, and with a mighty cry he hurled the spear at the oncoming hoard. The weapon moved so fast that there was a small crack as it moved through the air, and when it struck the lead golem the spear exploded from the sheer force. Its target followed suit, and the concussive blast that resulted ripped out in a wave through the rest of the golems, causing them to be blown apart and crumble to dust.

Georgius was dimly aware that his new strength had left him again, but he had other concerns at the moment. He turned to look at the students who had been injured to see if any were in serious condition. Fortunately while it looked liked no one had been killed, more than a few had broken bones and deep cuts. "Is there anyone here who knows healing magic?" he called out. Rather than getting an answer though, everyone in the courtyard merely started at him with open mouths and wide eyes. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Kirche merely gave him a sly grin. "Oh, they just saw a hero in action. A rather impressive one if I do say so myself."

He was about to respond when he noticed with alarm that his master was unmoving on the ground. "Louise!" He called out as he ran to her side, fear griping him. How had he neglected to protect his master? What if she-

"Passed out." The soldier blinked and looked at Tabitha. She elaborated. "Cast too much."

Georgius knelt down and looked her over, and was relieved to find that she was indeed uninjured. He wished that she had been more mindful of herself while casting, but was proud that his master had been so intent of protecting the rest of the student body.

Motion to his left made him turn, which brought him face to face with a somewhat weary looking Professor Colbert. "Sir Georgius, you have my utmost gratitude for your help in defending my students. I would like to speak to you when possible to be sure that you are rewarded for your efforts."

Georgius shook his head. "Thank you, but I need no reward. Right now we should focus on helping the injured."

Colbert however looked grim. "Yes, but there is a problem. I was not able to stop all of them, and a number of golems slipped away towards the tower. I can't purse because…" he waved around at the injured students lying in the courtyard. "I have sent some of the rest to find more teachers but I don't know how quickly they'll get here."

The professor had left the request unasked, but Georgius heard it all the same. With a nod, he said "You stay here and look after the injured and my master. I will do what I can." With that he turned, but rather than going straight to the tower, he walked over to Guiche, who was looking at him with the same wide eyed amazement as the rest of the students there. "Can you make me another spear?" He asked.

Guiche gave a start at the question, and stuttered "Ah! I-I, uh, y-yes!" He fumbled for his rose and with a swipe a spear rose from the ground before him. It was of better quality than the previous one, and Georgius was pleased to find the runes on his hand light up again as he took hold of it.

Without another word, he ran to the central tower.

=====SoZ=====​

 

[Satire Swift]

=====SoZ=====​

Georgius had a somewhat uneasy feeling as he cut down another misshapen golem in front of him. Though their numbers were much fewer than the ones he had just battled in the courtyard, he had still run into several of them moving through the halls and terrorizing anyone they happened to run into. As of yet, there were still only injuries and not deaths, something he was thankful for, but he couldn't quite place what the constructs were doing. At first he thought that this might have been a sort of death curse the thief had unleashed upon his demise, trying to get vengeance on the one who had slain him, but it didn't added up. Mostly because of how the golems behaved around the servants.

They didn't try to kill them like the rest of the mages they encountered, nor did they simple ignore them. Instead they chased them around much like the others, but never did more than wave their arms menacingly or make overly slow, ineffective swipes. It was like they had been instructed to make a show of it with the serving staff, but not to actually hurt them. He wasn't certain what this said about the thief's character, but he had other concerns at the moment. Namely, that it was more and more looking like that the true purpose of things was to be a distraction.

He ducked forward to avoid a blow from one of the human shaped lumps of rock behind him before he sprung back, spinning so that the back of his fist collided with its 'head'. The blow caused it to crumble like all the others, but there were still two more behind it. These showed a slight bit more intellect than the previous one though, as they did not try to immediately charge him. The hallway they were in was lined with a number of what Georgius had thought were metal statues, but had quickly realized that they were suits of armor when he found that they were hollow. He would have been more interested in their construction if the two remaining golems had not started to launch pieces of them at the soldier.

Still, it was not a cause for concern. Georgius swiftly dodged the pieces or swatted them aside with his spear as he closed on the pair. In short order he was within range and a quick thrust destroyed one's torso, and a follow up swipe cut the other in half. He spared another glance around and saw there were no golems left to be found. That left him free to attend to the other important thing in the hallway. He turned at said "Are you alright?"

A butler then crawled out from under the table he had been hiding under. "Yes! Thank you!" He exclaimed. "Don't know what would have happened to me if you hadn't come along."

If I am right, not much, Georgius thought to himself before saying "Do know if there are any more of those golems around?"

The man shook his head. "I don't think so. I've been trying to get all the other servants to a safe place away from these things, and I ended up drawing these few away from some of the other staff. I haven't heard any more screams or loud noises since then."

Georgius nodded. "Good. See if you can find the others and find a good place to hide." As the other man thanked him again and ran off, the soldier was left to ponder what to do next. He had to operate under the assumption that the mage was still in the academy, mostly as with the alternatives, that the mage was in fact dead or had already escaped, there was nothing he could do. Although if the smaller golems were a distraction, then Georgius did not have long before the thief did make an exit. He could only hope that injures and exhaustion were slowing the other man down.

Georgius needed to think. Just how would this mage escape? It possible that he would simply walk out the front gate amid the chaos that currently reigned over the Academy, but it seemed unlikely. There was a chance that he could be seen, and the thief had already proved that walls were not a hindrance to him. He probably wouldn't be making that giant construct again to make his escape either, as Georgius imagined that he would have done so already if he could have. Still, given that he had shown considerable skill with earth magic, it could not be discounted that the thief would simply try to go under or through the walls. Georgius had no idea if such a thing were possible considering that the walls themselves were likely enchanted in some way, but he did not want to underestimate this man.

So, given all this, it was probable that the thief had created the distraction of the golems and had run to the courtyard on the other side of the main tower to capitalize on it. Georgius couldn't be sure of this of course; it was a conclusion drawn from much guess work based on what he had seen and speculation on just what the mages of this world were capable of. Still, it was the best he had for the moment, and he knew that he didn't have much time if his suspicions were correct. Without another moment's pause, the soldier took off for the Vestai Court, the one where that boy had insisted the two of them duel.

It seemed that Georgius would be dueling someone there today. Justice would demand no less.

--------------------​

Fouquet took deep and steady breaths as she hid in a gardening shack she had found near the Academy wall. For the moment at least, she was safe and allowed to recover somewhat. Making that many golems, crude as they were, ended up being more taxing than she thought, and she only had enough to lower herself down from the tower before she was spent. She didn't dare want to try escaping from the academy without any Willpower, so she had found this place to spare a moment to recover.

Unfortunately, time was against her, as she felt her constructs being destroyed one by one. Fouquet had hoped that they would by her a little more time to recover, but she would have to make do with what she had. The woman estimated that she would be able to cast several dot level spell, and maybe a line or two. That should be enough to dig her way under the main wall and into the woods beyond.

She briefly considered burying the bloody staff and coming back for it later, but she decided against it. She was pretty sure she could make her escapes now, and she wanted this job to be done with as soon as possible. With the case tucked under one of her arms, Fouquet carefully crept out of the shed and trotted the moderate distance to the walls. Once she was close enough, she raise her wand to start burrowing through the earth and-

"It seems that I was right. You are quite skilled." A familiar voice said from behind her.

"Oh come on!" She shouted in frustration before turning around to see that Void damned soldier that was the cause of her current troubles. He stood there holding a spear about 30 feet away. She knew that he could clear the distance before she could create a stable tunnel and close it behind her. She blearily wondered if this man was made simply to make her life harder.

"I shall ask you one last time to stand down." The man said. "If you-"

Fouquet didn't have much Willpower left in her, but a skilled mage could do a lot with a dot spell. Wasting no time, she whipped out her wand arm towards him and turned the ground at his feet into quicksand in an attempt to slow his movements. Unfortunately, it seemed that he had not let his guard down like the last time and jumped as soon as her arm moved, clearing most of the distance between the two of them in a single bound. He almost made it to her, spear first, before she managed with a quick word and gesture to launch a pillar of earth at the man and roll backwards to avoid the attack. The spear was deflected, but the man himself was merely slowed as he crashed through the raised earth.

She then opened a hole unearth him with the intent of trapping him, but as he fell he managed to tilt his spear horizontally, bracing the hole to keep himself from falling in fully. The metal pole creaked as he swung himself back up, launching himself an impressive distance into the air before the hole could close around him. Fouquet then once again found the man coming down directly at her. She swiftly made a half dome of earth to protect her, but she knew that if wouldn't be enough. As she backed away again, she saw that the man had moved in midair such that he was falling both feet first, and he crashed through the barrier like it was made of sand.

"How?" She couldn't help but growl as she kicked up a wave of dust to blind him. "How in the merciless Void can you shrug off magic like water!?"

A quick twirl of the spear cleared the cloud and brought the man into sight again. "My faith in God is a shield to protect me." He said before he launched himself at her again. "Though I will admit, repeated testing of that shield has made it stronger."

She brought up a short wall to defend, but it merely slowed down the sweeping horizontal blow of the spear. Her enchanted robes absorbed most of the force, but she felt her abused ribs crack at the strain. This, as well as his response, wore at her fraying nerves. "Oh please, do you take me for an idiot?" she spat, pushing herself to make another crude golem to place between the two of them. "'God' doesn't favor commoners. He cares too much about his precious mages to give a shit."

Strangely, rather than advancing again, the soldier paused. He remained tense and ready to move at a moment's notice, but he did not advance on her. Instead he merely stood his ground and said "So it is true. I had hoped that Louise was exaggerating."

Fouquet blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"The tenants of God in this land are far different than what they should be." The soldier said, taking slow steps towards her and her golem. "I do not know how it started, but the idea that the Lord would exalt mages over others is both wrong and immoral."

She blinked in surprise before she barked out a laugh of amusement, slowly moving herself and her construct back in kind. "That's a pretty heretical thing to say." She remarked. While part of her was a little intrigued by what he was talking about, she recognized that there was no easy way out of this one. In her tired state, she couldn't help but lose to a man who could resist magic and move and strike faster than a normal human. Still, something about the current subject had piqued his interest, and that gave the woman precious time to come up with something. Her mind raced to come up with something, anything!

She started to slowly circle the man, knowing that she had to keep him talking. She said "I don't know what it's like where you're from, but here magic's all that matters. After all, why shouldn't those who can bend the elements to their will and subjugate the rest rule?"

A small frown crossed the man's lips. "I suppose I could explain it to you, but somehow I don't believe I have to. You say that with such distain that it's clear you don't agree with it either."

Fouquet had to suppress a frown of her own. That was a little more information about herself then she wanted to give. Still, it was hard to keep total control of herself while half of her mind was spinning away to think of an escape. A half formed idea was already coming together in her mind. "Yes, well, I've seen firsthand the 'nobility' of the ruling class. One of the side benefits of my occupation is that I like to think that I'm balancing the scales a bit." Her circular motion around the other man had now left her facing the walls of the academy. With her gaze still on him, she carefully and subtly tucked her wand behind her back, creating yet another golem a short distance out of sight. She lost focus slightly from the strain, but persevered.

His expression grew a bit harder. "I fail to see how stealing something from a school and nearly killing several of its students is ''evening the scales a bit".

"Oh please, it's not like they deserve anything less." She snapped, her temper slipping away from her more. "All that wealth and jewelry and art is just waste in their hands. And those students you are so concerned about will just grow up to become like their bastard parents." Even in the mist of this, she managed to send a command to her last golem to return to the shed which she had been hiding in before.

As she guessed though, the man before her did not enjoy her logic. "You cannot possibly know that. Besides, your actions will not change anything for the better. You are little more than a rogue working for his own ends."

A small amount of bitterness crept into her heart at that statement. As much as she enjoyed taking from the nobility, it didn't change the fact that he was right. She had never set out with the goal of actually changing things, but to be reminded that her efforts had little weight in the grand scheme things still hurt a little. "Heh, I guess I am a bit of a hypocrite…" she said in a low voice, thinking of how even this job was for some shadowy noble, even if he supposedly aligned with certain… revolutionaries in Albion. Her head perked up as an idea came to her and reached her mouth before she could think about it. "Alright. Why don't you come with me?"

"What?" the man said in surprise, clearly not expecting Fouquet to say that.

What? She thought to herself, having not expected to say that either. It had just kind out popped out. However, a certain giddiness welled up inside of her at the thought, so she kept going. "Yeah, ditch that brat that calls herself your master and join me. Hell, I'll even give up stealing if you want. I don't know just what the hell you are but you're certainly a cut above the normal lapdogs that work for the mages, and you sure don't like the way things are either. There is something happening right now that will shake up the nations. Come on, you and me together, we just might be able to actually change things." The man before her had stared down her massive golem without even blinking. She could see that sheer determination in him even now, the drive to accomplish no matter how daunting the task. It was based on a feeling she had in her gut, but maybe… just maybe they could actually change the world.

The soldier paused for several moments, never looking away from her, but it was clear that he was processing her invitation. However, eventually his face fell a little bit and he said "An interesting proposal, but I cannot accept. I have already pledged my service to Lady Françoise till she releases me, and I will not break my oath. Besides, I don't believe that the mages of this land are as irredeemable as you seem to think." His expression softened a bit. "Although, you are correct that I take umbrage with certain parts of this land. Perhaps if you came with me instead…"

Fouquet was about to argue with how he couldn't be so lenient and passive on the matter before she caught herself. What the hell am I doing?, she thought to herself, the brief sway of her body reminding her just how light headed she was getting. The Willpower Depletion is making me delirious. Why in the merciless Void would I ever think that just two people could change things? She gave a sigh and shook her head, before retuning an irritated glare at the man in front of her. It was just as well he turned her down, but now she felt a small amount of anger at him, separate from the trouble he had already given her. She wasn't quite sure why, but she pushed it aside and said "And let myself get thrown into prison? I think not. It's a pity. We could have been something grand. I suppose I'll have to use my back up plan then."

The soldier could tell from the finality in her tone that the conversation was over. There was a long moment of silence between the two where neither of them moved. It was ended with a sudden burst forward from the soldier and Fouquet raising her wand arm from behind her back. The man was able to slice apart the golem separating the two of them in an instant, but she was not far behind in casting her spell. Rather than spears or walls of rock coming into existence, she simply had the broken construct of rock explode into a large cloud of magnesium dust.

Magnesium in itself was a highly reactive metal, burning very brightly if lit. However, she had also learned though conversations with farming peasants that there were such things as dust explosions; a spark among a dry grain silo could cause the entire thing to explode in an instant. Such a thing was possible with any combustible particulate.

And judging by a brief glance at the other man's face as she cast a spark from her wand, he knew it too.

The explosion wasn't terribly big, but not only was the man in the center of it, it was also extremely bright and loud. Fouquet was on the edge of the blast and jumped away from it, but she was hardly unscathed. Her cloak had been put through so much that day that even with its protections it became shredded and burned, and the woman herself became a little disoriented. However, there was no time for that. She knew full well that this would only slow the man down a bit.

Fouquet somehow managed to pick herself up and stumble/run towards the shed where she had sent her last golem, case still tucked under her arm. As she burst into the structure, she tore off the remains of her cloak, revealing her disheveled secretary outfit underneath, and cast both it and the case to the side. Calling up the last dregs of her Willpower, she tore a sizable hole in the earth beneath them, not bothering to make it structurally sound. Naturally it collapsed in on itself. She fumbled for a handkerchief in her pocket and gaged herself with it. He vision started to blur, and so she more or less tossed herself at her golem, it catching her and holding the woman in such a manner that it looked like it could crush her at any moment.

Her plan was quite simply to make it look like the 'thief' had kidnaped the poor secretary as a backup plan. While the soldier was distracted with her as a hostage, it became reasonable that the thief had escaped by digging a tunnel and collapsing it behind him, albeit father from the wall which he had originally intended.

It was not the best if plan. In fact, if the woman was pressed she would admit that it wasn't even a good plan. Anyone with sense would at least try digging up the ground where she had clearly 'escaped' to find clues, and as such the Staff of Destruction would be out of her grasp. Furthermore, a clever or suspicious man could likely figure out she had something to do this all this if they stopped to truly analyze the situation. Still, it was the fastest plan she could come up with in her exhausted state, so she would just have to hope that no one was feeling particularly bright for the next few hours.

The world started to drift away from her as she finally let herself succumb to Willpower Depletion (hopefully it would help sell the bit that she had been accosted), though she was vaguely aware of the door slamming open and that man standing there. A whisper of a laugh came to her lip as she thought about if he had actually said yes to her inane proposal, the two of them traveling the world and booting the nobles out of their mansions and castles and onto the streets where they belonged. It was a childish fantasy at best, though she didn't know why she felt that flash of anger when he turned her down.

A final treasonous thought crossed her mind before the blackness took her. Maybe it was because, for the first time in a long while, he let you feel hope.

--------------------​

Jean gave a weary sigh as he laid down the last student into the set of rows they had made on the grass. There was a good two dozen or so who had been injured and rendered immobile, thus necessitating that the Academy nurses come out and preform triage right in the courtyard. Thank the Founder, none of the injuries were immediately life threatening, but if not treated correctly and soon some would develop infections or have bones set improperly. The man himself was of some assistance, having knowledge of basic aid to treat the smaller wounds, but the real work was done by the healers.

For not the first time, the professor felt displeasure at his element. True, fire had been useful in coming to the defense of the students, but unlike the other elements it's applications outside of combat were limited. He had been making strides ever since he had become a teacher to find other uses for the element, though his successes were small. Regardless, for the time being he would have to simply do what he could.

"I need some more bandages here!" he called out, tending to a rather nasty cut on a female student's leg. A short while later a servant with short black hair came to him, her arms laden with various supplies. "Thank you my dear." He said as he took what he needed from her.

However, rather than leaving the maid stayed for a moment. "Pardon my intrusion sir, but are you sure that we are safe? I heard from some of the other servants that more of those things were seen wandering through the academy."

He looked up at her worried expression and tried to put on a calming smile. "Please don't worry. One of the student's familiars has gone to dispatch any others that may have gotten away. And rest assured, I have full confidence in his ability to do so."

"His?" She said in confusion for a moment before her eyes widened. "You mean Sir Georgius?" she blurted out.

Jean blinked as he looked at her. "Oh, so you know him?"

A light blush crossed her face. "W-we are acquainted. And not that I don't have faith in the man, but how are you sure?"

Jean gave a small chuckle and swept out his hand. "Well, aside from saving the many of the lives you see here, I was told that he faced down a golem half the size of the tower and lived."

The maid looked awed by this fact, but before she could say anything, a familiar voice said "We can talk about such things later."

The two of them turned to find the knight in question walking towards them, though he had traded his spear for a figure cradled in his arms. Jean bolted to his feet in alarm when he saw who it was. "Longueville!" he cried as he moved towards the other man. "Is she…?"

"Worse for wear, but she will live." Georgius said. "It… seems that the thief had taken her hostage in case things went wrong. He threatened her to gain time for his own escape."

Twin emotions of guilt and anger welled up inside the professor. Guilt for failing to uphold his promise to the woman to protect her… and anger at the man who would do such a thing to her. "Am I to assume that the thief is in fact alive and has escaped?" He said, his tone staying on just this side of dangerous.

For whatever reason, Georgius paused, a small frown crossing his face as his eyes flickered down to the woman in his arms. After a moment he said "So it would seem. However, perhaps it would be best if we checked the area in which he made his escape."

Jean nodded. "It might be possible to find clues as to which way he went."

"Something like that." Georgius muttered under his breath as he put the woman down at the end of the row. He then looked back at the professor. "Tell me, what will be the fate of the thief if he is caught?"

"I cannot be sure, but if he is who I think he is, then I imagine that he will be thrown into a dungeon to rot for the rest of his life." Jean said coldly.

The soldier's brow furrowed somewhat at this, but he said nothing. Eventually, he turned to the maid and said "Siesta, could you please take me to my master. It would be remiss if I was not present when she awoke."

"Of course, Sir Knight." She said as she turned.

Even as the two walked away, he could hear the man say "I told you to call me Georgius."

"When you defend a castle from an assault, you should be referred to by title." The woman replied primly.

Jean arched an eyebrow at this. He had not known that the man was a knight, but he could hardly say that it was surprising. Still he had other things he had to think about. This attack on the Academy would no doubt send ripples throughout the country. Sure, it was in fact a heist by a very powerful mage, but he doubted that many of the noble families that sent their children here would remember that fact. They would wonder if their children were actually safe within the walls, there would be inquiries as to the staff's competence, which was to say nothing on what if anything the thief actually took. Needless to say, the princess's visit in a few weeks would probably be canceled.

Above all else though, this event only deepened the mystery of a certain soldier and his pink haired master.

-------------------​

Louise knew that she was dreaming. She was not surprised at all by this, as the last thing she remembered was casting a fireball/explosion at a golem before things went black. She did feel a little put off though. She had never once felt tired from casting too much (the fact that all the spells cast previously were miscasts had no bearing on this), and now she had suffered from Willpower Depletion twice in just as many days. Not only that, that stupid Germanian floozy was probably making fun of her right now and she couldn't do anything about it.

One might have questioned the young noble's priorities considering that she had been in the midst of a battle when she had lost consciousness, but oddly the girl was not overly concerned about such things. She had just seen her familiar turn aside a golem half the height of the main tower; he could most assuredly protect her from this rabble. She would have to deal with her sudden and newfound respect for the man she had summoned when she woke up. But at the moment she had to deal with the strange dream she was having.

It was a montage of images and scenes at first, all taking place in a city she did not recognize. The architecture was elegant, with columns and arches and buildings of stone, but also somewhat simple in a way. It reminded her somewhat of early cities created by man shortly after the days of Brimir. The scenes also seemed to be focused on a young boy, who grew up in a large house with his parents and servants. It was hard to make out anything other than small details, but it was clear that the boy's life was a happy one.

Then it shifted. The dream became more concrete, and now she saw the boy sitting before his father, the man's expression serious.

"Son," he said. "Whatever your life may have in store for you, whatever dark path you may find yourself on, you must never forget your faith." The man held out his hand, and Louise was surprised to see a metal pendant in the same shape as the one the maid had, though of better quality. "Remember, God is always with you. He loves you always, just as he loves all of his children."

Before Louise could ponder this, the dream shifted again. The family was now in a forest on an outing, laughing and being merry. The boy trotted off to chase a rabbit. Suddenly, there was fire. It came from everywhere, surrounding the boy and getting closer. He screamed and ran, ran as fast as he could from the flames until he found himself alone among the ash. He cried and shouted for his mother and father, but he couldn't find them.

Just when the boy thought hope was lost, there was a woman standing before him, in dark robes and with long red hair. He asked her where his parents were, and she replied with sorrowful words that that had been taken by the flames. The boy cried harder then, and was in no state to resist when the woman bent down to hug him. Her words were like honey, but Louise could see a dark gleam in her eye.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of you from now on."

=====SoZ=====​

 

[TheLurker]

Yeup. Watched. This looks interesting as shit, and Saint George is proving to be suitably badass.

 

[Doctor Blood]

I'm afraid I must echo the comments left by one of your recent FF.net reviewers (and if insightful criticism on FF isn't a sign of the end times, I don't know what is.)

In short, George doesn't feel like a man from the 300s, or a Christian from the 300s. I realize that getting inside the head of that kind of character would require a great deal of research on your part, but it would create something unique and fascinating.

First and foremost, its theme, which ostensibly seems to be a clash between Georgius's Christian faith and Founderism, is kinda...poorly executed. Georgius never feels Christian, he only seems vaguely religious. Oh, he mentions God and the Son of God a couple of times, yes, but always in vague terms and it's only a shallow, surface thing, nothing really deep. For one thing, he never prays, not once, throughout the entire thing, which is just weird. I would at least expect a quick prayer before eating, or when waking up or going to bed or something. He doesn't quote the Bible either, even if half remembered stuff (I don't expect him to be a theologian or anything), especially when the Scriptures would help him immensely in his arguments against the classism advocated in Founderism: instead of vague "all men are equal before God" he keeps saying, the parable of the Good Samaritan is *right* there to support his point. It's a short and extremely simple story that conveys the message effectively, but instead I read him saying bland platitudes you would find in fortune cookies.

Not only do I have difficulty believing him a convincing religious person, I don't find him a convincing early Christian either. His Christianity should be, while recognizable, still slightly different, as it is from before any eucumenical council iron out the rules, the canon, and the theology. It doesn't have the Trinity and doesn't yet wonder if the Son of God has a homoousian or homoiousian nature or whatever, and it has extra revered Biblical scriptures like the Shepherd of Hermas or the Didache, and early Christian hymns like the Oxyrhynchus hymn. Any reference to those things would have been nice, to characterize Georgius' faith further instead of just paying lip service to it and using it to drive conflict. Like having Georgius quoting both New Testament and the Didache, or having him singing or humming the Oxyrhynchus and have an Halkeginian character ask what it is.

Speaking of Halkeginian, the Brimiric Founderism isn't a particularly believable thing in this fic either. Even the original had the students at least pray before eating. Here? Brimir seems to be only invoked by people swearing left and right "by the Founder/Void!", and we get nary a look at the tenets of it or how they practice it, besides people repeatedly saying that Brimir favorited mageocracy and saying God exists. That's barely above Westeros' Old Gods in terms of a religion being actually depicted as one. Only the second-to-last most recent chapter had a character pray, and it was a priest, so kind of less impressive than seeing a regular character practice it. The only religious people in Halkeginia seem to be the raving fanatics of Albion as crazy antagonists. Everyone else is paying lip service. Finally, you seem to abuse the word "heresy/heretical", only sometime remembering that the word blasphemy exists, which serves as a way less grave synonym, especially in less serious situation, and sacrilege/sacrilegious is also a good substitute. Synonyms exist for a reason, especially in a society where the word "heresy" is supposed to be kind of a big deal.

As such, with depictions of religion barely more convincing than GRR Martin's, the central theme/conflict falls flat for me, and it's disappointing because it's a legitimately good idea.

Click to shrink...

 

[Ridli Scott]

Well, @Doctor Blood I dissent with you. Even if you have some reason.

This Georgius de Lydda isn't the real one, he's is a servant. A prana construction, a ghost based on the original, an echo of the legend, but not the original. Why? because being transported to the Throne of Heroes changes the mind of the servant. I'm pretty sure that, for example, Arthur Pendragon's mind was changed after his death because he knows now about the realm of heroes. Same with Georgius, the experience of death and later discover that he is now a legend a warrior who could be summoned to fight warriors from all the ages in a "holy war" changed his mind.

Now Louise gives him a real body, but the mind is still changed, expanded by the new knowledge.

 

[Satire Swift]

=====SoZ=====​

Headmaster Osmond's pen scratched across the parchment, busy writing yet another letter to a concerned parent who had become worried for the safety of their child since the incident a few days ago. He would have liked to have been able to just issue a simple statement on the matter, but when the students who go to your school are from the ruling elite of the nation, a more personal touch was required. Unfortunately, the personal touch was starting to cause his hand to cramp up.

There was a brief reprieve from the harsh mistress that was paperwork when a knock came at his door. "Headmaster? It's Jean."

"Yes, yes, come in." The old man said, and the door to his office opened to allow Professor Colbert entry before he closed it behind him.

"Oh dear, are you still writing those?" Colbert asked.

"One little attempted theft and suddenly they all think that their kids will be dying left and right!" Osmond complained. "It's almost like they don't even remember that there were only a few broken bones! Why, back in my day we would have been lucky to get away with those kinds of minor injuries! We had to wrestle manticores for our breakfast and duel Rhyme dragons for our lunch, and dinner oh boy you do not want to know what we had to do for that!"

"Sir…" The professor said with some exasperation, not wanting to deal with the Headmaster's eccentricities today.

Fortunately, Osmond wasn't really in the mood to go any further than that, as he just waved his hand dismissively. "Oh you're no fun. In any case, the parents I can handle. It's the Crown that has me worried."

"What do you mean?"

The old man glanced up from his writing. "What's the current status of the vault?"

Colbert shifted uncomfortably. "We've had our finest Earth mages seal up the hole and magic barrier has reasserted itself… but it's not a strong as it once was. My guess is that the creation of the hole in addition to its already weakened state damaged it in some way, like a broken bone that was not set quite right."

Osmond grimaced. "Word of the attempted theft reached the capital quickly. To them, the fact that we managed to recover the Staff of Destruction before it left the Academy is a moot point, or the fact that the thief was identified as Fouquet, one of the most skilled thieves in all the land. Royal inspectors will arrive in another day or so to check on the vault's integrity, and if they do not find it satisfactory, they will be taking some of the more high profile items to be stored in the Royal Treasury."

This fact left a bad taste in Osmond's mouth for a number of reasons. The first was a simple matter of pride. He had insisted that any artifacts that were kept within the Academy were safe and protected, and to be proven wrong would not reflect well on his reputation. The second was a more personal matter, namely that the Staff of Destruction would be among the items moved. Not many knew it, but that staff had belonged to the man who had saved his life from a rampaging monster many years ago. The man had been suffering from wounds when they met, and died before Osmond could even ask his name. It felt wrong to have to give up the artifact of his savoir.

Professor Colbert was one of the few who knew this, and gave the old man a sympathetic nod. "I will see what I can do with the faculty to insure that does not happen. However, there is a reason I came to see you. It is the urgent matter I came to see you about the day of the incident, point of fact."

The Headmaster had to search his memory for a moment before he remembered. "Ah yes, about Miss Françoise and her familiar. I thought I told you to let the matter lie for now."

"How can we possibly do that?" Colbert asked insistently. "It all adds up. The girl's strange magic, the human summons, the speed and power displayed by Sir Georgius. Headmaster, Louise is a Void mage."

Osmond gave no overt reaction to this, instead just continuing to look at the other man evenly. "And that is quite a claim to be making. 6000 years since Brimir has walked the earth, and now his lineage is found in a girl who can't cast anything other than explosions? It would seem rather dubious to most."

"Who cares what other people think?! Miss Françoise has access to a form of magic that has been lost for millennia! Think of all we could learn if she was given the chance to use her abilities to their fullest!"

Osmond gave a sigh and shook his head as the teacher ranted. It looked like Colbert had been spending far too much time in academia if that was the only thing he took away from this possibility. "Jean," He said firmly, cutting off the other man mid-stream. "Let's say that your hypothesis is correct. The Royal family of Tristian rules under the claim that they have a direct line of decent to themselves from Brimir. And it also stands to reason that to have a particular element, someone in your family must have had it before in your ancestry, correct?"

Colbert blinked, not sure where the other man was going with this. "Well, yes. What is your point?"

"In that case, what do you think would happen if it was known that someone outside of the royal line suddenly appeared and was a Void mage?"

There was a moment's pause as the professor considered the question before a look of alarm crossed his face. "You- you can't possibly suggest that Louise would make a claim for the throne if she knew?"

Osmond chuckled. "Oh, I doubt that particular scenario. All accounts say that the girl is quite loyal to the Crown, and is very fond of the princess." Although I wouldn't necessarily put it past her mother to try if she found it necessary, the man thought silently. "In any case, even if both the Crown and the Vallière family handle it sensibly, the rest of Tristain would be thrown into chaos at this knowledge. The peasantry would question if the Royal family should be the one ruling if there was clear evidence of Brimir's lineage in another, and the nobility would undoubtedly all try to use Miss Françoise for their own ends." He shook his head. "No, it is best to keep such speculations to ourselves for the time being. The poor girl has enough to deal with at the moment."

The professor looked frustrated by this, but he eventually nodded his head in agreement. "May I at least continue to observe and make notes of Miss Françoise's progress? I also have an interest in Sir Georgius as well."

"Hmm? Of yes, of course. Can't reach a conclusion without breaking a few eggs, or however that saying goes." Osmond replied, shifting comfortably back into his more relaxed state before he paused, his brow knitting together. "I must ask, with the knowledge of what Louise might be, why are you so interested in her familiar? And for that matter, since when is he a 'Sir'?"

"Oh, the man is a knight. Or at least he was." The professor shifted a little. "If I understood him correctly, he was part of the personal guard to the emperor of his nation, though he admits this is not the case anymore."

"If such in the case, then technically he no longer has the honorific."

"True, but after all he has done in defense of the Academy, well, it just seems right."

Osmond leaned back in his chair. "Well enough, I suppose." He said, thinking about when he had met the man after the incident with Fouquet. He remembered that the man had been very humble in his part in capturing the thief, up until when headmaster had asked him to explain just how he stopped Fouquet. Even with the man's simple and un-glorified telling, Osmond would have found the report of what the knight had accomplished exaggerated, except… "What did you say you thought this man was again? A Shield of God?"

"A Gandalfr." Colbert said. "One of the familiars of Brimir. Said to have been able to defeat armies and wield any weapon."

"Indeed? Well, I supposed that would explain things." It wouldn't do for a bodyguard to the most powerful mage in existence to just be another cut-rate mercenary, would it? "Still, you neglected to mention that they could also negate magic to some extent. Georgius even seemed surprised that we had never even heard of such a thing."

The professor shifted uncomfortably. "That's just it sir. None of the records I found say anything about the Gandalfr being able to do that. There was one that mentioned that the Void could be used to such an effect, but never in reference to the familiar."

Osmond arched an eyebrow at this. "It could be that it was just not mentioned in the sources you have. You said it yourself that you barely have anything to work with here in the Academy libraries."

However, the other man shook his head. "It's not just that. I have spoken with the man and he claims that he has had such an ability long before he was summoned here! All he can say about it is that it is a product of his faith in God."

The old man couldn't help but tilt his head at this. "That… is odd to say the least. However I don't think we should take it a face value considering none of our citizenry have gained such a power if the pray often enough. Perhaps looking into the matter of this man is more important than I once thought."

"Exactly why I am doing so, sir." Colbert replied before looking down at the ground and stroking his chin. "Truly Georgius's homeland must have been a fascinating place if such was considered true though. Perhaps his people came in contact with some kind of spirit or elemental that imparted the ability on them long ago. Oh, if only I hadn't been so busy this past few days. Maybe I should…" The man continued to ramble to himself, lost in his own thoughts. It was such that he even forgot to excuse himself and simply walked towards the door, no doubt intent on resuming his studies on the matter.

However, whatever his plan was came to a halt as when he opened the door and the figure of Miss Longueville stood in the doorway, her hand poised as if to knock. "O-oh! Uh, hello."

Professor Colbert was just as surprised by this as she was. "M-Miss Longueville! What are you doing here? I thought you were taking a leave of absence."

"Indeed." Osmond said, his brow furrowing. "You left in such a hurry that you only bothered to tell the nurse in the infirmary and wrote me a simple letter. Of course given what you went through, this is perfectly understandable, but I would have thought that you would have needed more time than a few days."

"Ah, yes, well," She said, fixing her glasses as she regained her composure. "I had planned on doing so as well, but I found that hiding away from the world was not doing me any good. I decided that the best way to overcome my experience was to take control and resume my normal life."

"Are you sure?" the Headmaster asked with elderly concern. "I do not want you to stress yourself if you're not ready for it."

"Headmaster, I assure you that this is where I have to be." She said firmly. "Now, I simply came here to inform you of my return. I need to set a few things in order before I get back to work."

"Yes, of course. By all means." The old man said with a wave of his hand.

With that the young woman curtly turned and walked back down the hall. Colbert looked unsure of himself before he turned back to the headmaster. "I, uh, will be looking into those matters we discussed right away!" and with that he swiftly took off.

Not right away I should think, Osmond thought ruefully to himself. It was rather amusing that while Colbert had resisted Osmond's choice of secretary at first (well, more the reason for the choice), the man had obviously become enamored with the woman. Ah, to be half a century younger. Oh well, there were other ways he could enjoy the company of young women.

With a mental command, the mouse that was his familiar climbed up onto his desk, ready to receive orders. "Chuchu, it seems that my secretary has returned. Now quickly, find out where she puts her underwear before she finishes unpacking!"

--------------------​

As soon as she was out of sight, Longueville stomped down the halls, letting her frustration and anger through the innocent façade that she had held before. Her timing in when she went to tell the old man of her return had been most fortunate, as she had been able to listen to the conversation through the door. A Void mage. A bloody Void mage! Well, at least that explained why her golem was defeated so quickly. And that man, Georgius, had actually been her familiar, who apparently gained certain powers from the contract. Though she didn't know what to make of the fact that this… Gandalfr wasn't supposed to be able to void magic, it at least explained how she was defeated.

However, this wasn't what was making her angry. If anything, the knowledge let her feel vindicated that she went into a job with a critical lack of information which she had no way of knowing. The whole plan was flawed for the very beginning. No, what actually was making her angry was the fact that she was still here!

"So you failed." The voice from the shadows said flatly. The dank basement they were in, while not any place she wanted to spend any time in, was the closest point that she could safely meet her employer, a few towns over from the Academy. Even now she had no idea what he looked like, but she could tell from his tone of voice that he was less than happy. "I thought that you were the best."

"I am the best." She growled back at the shadow. "Anyone else who had gone into that job would have been captured, and you can bet that they'd be singing all they knew about you, what little there is."

The figure grunted. "Your claims are on somewhat shaky ground given that you were defeated by a simple student, who my reports say can't cast a single spell successfully."

"Firstly, if you happened to be on the receiving end of the spell she threw at me, you'd very quickly learn the difference between a successful spell and an effective one." Fouquet spat. "Secondly, it doesn't matter what anyone else said, the reason I lost the damn staff was that Void damn soldier."

There was a long pause before the man said. "Are you telling me… that you failed in your mission because of simple commoner?"

Fouquet snorted at this. "A simple commoner isn't capable of moving as fast as a triangle wind mage. A simple commoner can't turn aside the fist of my mountain golem with a sword he pulled from nothing. A simple commoner isn't able to god-damn negate magic!"

There was a shift in the man's posture, as if the statement had taken him aback some. "What? You can't possibly be serious. The idea that a commoner could do any of those things, let alone negate magic, is utterly absurd."

"I'm not going to argue that last part, but it happened." She said with a scowl. "The man managed to wear me down before I got clever and slipped away and that was after he hunted down the small army of golems I let loose and saved the rest of those snotty brats." She said with a hint of bitterness. She then said half to herself "The real kicker is that he didn't seem to like the nobility too much either, just sticking with them because of an oath or some idiotic nonsense like that."

There was another pause from the shadow before he spoke again, this time with some interest. "Really? Well, while your claims are… extreme to say the least, I suppose they are worth bearing investigation, especially if this soldier might be pliable to our cause. What was his name?"

"I don't know. I was too busy trying to get the hell out of there when I woke up to ask." She paused and shifted uncomfortably. "Besides, I already tried to get him to join me before I left, but he turned it down. Seemed like one of the stupidly honorable types."

The man was unmoved. "Hmm. Well, there are many different means of persuasion. Every man has his levers, so you'll just have to find the right lever for this one."

"What?" Fouquet said in surprise. "No no no, I am not going back there again. I barely managed to get out the last time. I plan to be on the opposite side of Halkeginia by the time you send the next poor bastard in."

"Ah, but it is such a bad practice to leave a job unfinished," The man said, and she could almost feel his slimy smile beneath the shadows. "We still require the Staff of Destruction after all. I know that you might be reluctant, but as I said… everyone has their levers."

Fouquet simply sneered back at him. "I don't give one Brimir's ball what you think. There is no amount of money you could-"

"Saxe-Gotha orphanage."

Fouquet stopped, her body becoming completely still and her eyes going wide. Then her body began to tremble in rage. "You…" she seethed. "You. Mother. FU-!"

"No need for that." He cut her off. "There is absolutely nothing you have to worry about… so long as you finish your job." Fouquet wanted to tear him limb from limb as his tone turned smug. "So, is that a sufficient lever?"

She had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down, the memory of that meeting still fresh in her mind. Longueville didn't know how the hell her employer had found out about the orphanage, but that left her options limited. For now, she didn't see any other option than to go along and try to steal the Staff again, along with learning as much as she could about Georgius. She wouldn't let anything happen to Tiffania or the children, no matter what.

"Miss Longueville!" The voice caused her to turn, and she found Professor Colbert running after her.

Oh him, she thought dryly to herself. She hadn't seen the man since she had gotten the information about the vault from him, and she really did not feel like dealing with him at the moment. It had been clear that the man had some kind of attraction to her and she didn't need him make ill-fated attempts to woo her right now. "I'm sorry, but I have a lot of work to catch up on, so-"

She cut herself off when he stopped in front of her, and the man suddenly bowed. "I am sorry."

Longueville found herself at a loss at the man's behavior. "What? What are you taking about?"

"I promised you that you would not come to harm if the Academy was attacked, and yet that… villain captured you and hurt you greatly." He replied still bowed. "I have no excuse. I can only… I am sorry."

Longueville did not consider herself a heartbreaker (unlike some other women who worked in her field), but she had used her feminine wiles on nobility once or twice in the past. The men she had flirted with were by and large so full of themselves they never saw her as more than a pair of legs, and the few that actually played attention her were simply smarter at trying to get access to said legs. However, she had become fairly good at reading people over the years (a skill you needed when the person you're making a deal with would stab you in the back if he could), and Colbert wasn't apologizing to save his own face, or even to try to get into her good graces. It seemed that he honestly felt ashamed that he couldn't protect her.

This… was not something she had expected from a mage. "I, uh, well…" she stammered for a moment as she tried to figure out how to respond. Was she actually feeling a little bad that she made him think that she got hurt by the 'thief'? That must have been it. Otherwise that would force her to think why a bit of red was creeping into her cheek as she responded. "Ah, it's fine. You couldn't have possibly known that my assailant was on the Academy grounds, let alone would kidnap me for leverage. I am sure if you were there, you would have stopped him."

The man straightened, a small smile coming to his lips. "Thank you. It is good to know that you are alright." There was a paused and he seemed to remember himself before shifting awkwardly. "Well, I hope you have a good day." He said before turning and walking away.

Longueville looked after the man, feeling somewhat nonplussed about what had just transpired before an idea came to her. If the man actually was looking into the matter of the Gandalfr, then perhaps she could use him to inquire for her without arousing suspicion herself. She couldn't make it seem she was just using him though, so she'd likely have to actually spend some time with the professor. It might be a little annoying, but he didn't seem too bad to be around, for a noble any way.

She felt a small niggling thought well up in the back of her head, but she crushed it instantly. She was not in the mood for introspection either.

--------------------​

"What interesting architecture." Geougius commented as he and Louise walked down one of the main merchant streets of Bruxelles. "It reminds me somewhat of the villages in the northern part of the Empire, but much larger and with better construction. There also seems to be more luxury items available, though that may be simply due to the district we are in." Given that the man was in his usual armor and he was accompanying a noble, most of the people on the street gave him a wide berth, but he still greeted anyone who looked at him with a smile and a nod.

"No, there are more upscale districts than this one." Louise said offhand. "To be honest, this is more bourgeoisies." Things had been… interesting for the past few days to say the least. Since classes had been canceled due to the damage caused by Fouquet, she had spent most of her time trying to find something to do with herself. She had eventually struck upon the idea of going to Bruxelles to do some shopping, and Georgius had approved of the idea. It seemed that he was eager to see more of this land he had found himself in.

Louise gave a small frown at the man's back as they continued down the cobbled street. It had been a few days, but the girl found that she still really didn't know much about the man. She had questioned him at length (When she regained consciousness) about how he had blocked the golem's last attack, but he was at just as much a loss as she was. Beyond that, he was not much for speaking about himself unless asked, and what he did say was usually understated.

On a whim, Louise decided to fill the time with learning more about the man she had summoned. Normally she wouldn't have cared one bit what the man was like so long as he followed her orders like a familiar should, but recent events had shown her that perhaps some investigation was worthwhile. At the very least it would take her mind off of those weird fragmented dreams she had been having lately. "What was your homeland like?"

"What was that?" The man turned his head back to ask, snapping out of his admiration for the city.

"I asked what your homeland was like. I happen to remember you making some rather interesting comments that I would like for you to elaborate on, particularly just how you determine nobility."

The man was silent for a moment before he said "Well, in the Roman Empire anyone who holds a sufficiently high office in government is considered nobility, though if you are speaking in a strictly aristocratic sense, there are two classes. The first and higher are the members of the Senate, while the other belongs to knights such as myself."

That wasn't exactly the answer Louise was looking for, but it still piqued her curiosity. "How are people selected for these offices? And for that matter, what is a Senate?"

Georgius blinked at this question, not sure how to respond to that. After a moment's contemplation he answered "A Senate… is supposed to be a council of men who handle the highest legislative and judicial duties for the whole of the Roman Empire, making its laws and insuring they are upheld. It's worth mentioning though that when I left they had become little more than an extension of the Emperor's will." He looked to the side before continuing. "As for your first question, the simplest answer is that government officials are elected by the citizenry. It is a little more complicated than that, and some positions were appointed, but that is the simple of it."

Elected by citizens? The girl thought in bafflement. What the man had described was somewhat close to how things worked in the Germanian Empire (the heathens allowed commoners to just buy their way into nobility after all), but just having commoners choose who governed them? "That doesn't make any sense. How are you supposed to keep a hereditary line under such a system?"

"You don't. Most of the hereditary lines had lost influence and power as the Empire grew. When a man achieves a sufficient office, he and his whole family are considered nobility. However, this is a double edge sword as it only last so long as at least one of the family holds such a position. Should they lose their office or fail in their duties, their title and privileges would be stripped. The Empire had become largely meritocratic by the time I left." He gave a small sigh before he continued walking, looking at various trinkets and jewelry that were on display by a street vender. "Or at least it ostensibly was. I am not so naive to think that corruption did not play a part in that society."

Louise mulled over just how strange such a nation must have been. She had to admit though, the idea of her status as a noble relating to her skill at governing did have some appeal. She knew that she would be better at it than most of the other fops at the Academy who mocked her for her failure at magic. Before long she shook her head and returned to the subject she actually wanted to talk about. "That is certainly interesting, but I was wondering more what position mages had in you society. If they were not automatically nobility, what were they?"

Georgius once again paused, as if not sure how to address the question. He looked off to the side where a street performer was applying his craft to make small objects disappear in front of his audience. "Mages… were not really part of the social fabric at all. The study of magic was something that took all of one's focus back in my homeland. Mages did not have time or will to deal with things like politics, and as such mostly keep to themselves when they were not trying to abuse their power for gain."

"What?! Are you saying that magic counted for nothing where you were from?!"

"I wouldn't quite say that, but it was rare that a practitioner would apply their craft in a way that was useful to his fellow man." He turned back to Louise. "Master, if I may be so bold in saying so, I have made some observations of the magic which is used in this land and I have found that not much seems to be expected of mages here. Granted I have only truly observed students and the amount of power they can focus is impressive for their age, but all I have seen done is simple shaping of elements. Not only that, it seems to be relatively easy for those at the academy to learn such things. In my homeland magic took far more effort."

"I don't know how things were where you were from, but don't speak as if magic is useless here!" Louise yelled at him. "I mean, yes there are those that waste their Founder given talent, but mages are crucial to society! Earth mages help with agriculture and build infrastructure! Water mages can heal wounds better than any apothecary can! Wind mages create transposition and send messages, and I would think that the use of fire mages in combat would be obvious! And that's nothing to say of magics involving enchantment or artifice!"

Georgius blinked at this and put on a thoughtful expression. "I see. Perhaps I was quick in my assessment. But for mages to be responsible for so much… Master, do you know how many mages there are in this land?"

"About 10 percent of the population of Halkeginia is nobility. Why?" She asked.

This caused the soldier to straighten in surprise. "Really? That many? Well, that does explain a good deal. In the Roman Empire I would have been surprised if a tenth of a percent of the population was capable of any appreciable magic."

"What?" Louise said in shock. With that few it was barely like there were any mages at all! No wonder everything the man said about his homeland seemed so backwards! "How did you people live without mages?"

"We managed." He said simply as he gestured to the throngs of people moving through the street. "Even if the wielders of magic number greater in this land, I should think that most of the people here still do not have much interaction with them. Man is more resilient than you think. With our own bodies, our will and our faith we may overcome any trial that is laid before us."

Louise once again frowned at the man, but she didn't have any particular argument to refute that. For that matter, what he said (and the way he said it) was rather similar to what priests of the Church would tell commoners, that while they did not have magic they should still endure as their efforts would be rewarded. She had to suppress a small shiver though when this thought made her think of the other thing she really needed to speak with her familiar about. However, that was a conversation she was not looking forward to having. He had been so angry when they had last spoke of Founderism, and while she knew that she shouldn't be worried about her familiar ever harming her, the memory of the brief moment gave her pause.

She eventually sighed and decided to put off that subject for another time. Georgius may have been a Heretic, but he was close enough to normal that it would be fine for the time being if no one looked too closely. "Well, faith and will is all good, but I think tools play an important part as well. And as such, I can't have my knight of a familiar be without his."

The man titled his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Louise turned and began walking down a side street, trusting the man to follow her. "This day of shopping is not just for me. You did quite well in defending your Master from harm during the theft, and as such you should be rewarded. And seeing as you are unable to summon that… blade again for whatever reason, you will need to have a proper sword to protect me in the future."

The pair traveled through some more winding alleys before they arrived in a quieter section of the city, and found themselves standing in front of a shop with a sword on the overhanging sign. Deeming this to be satisfactory, Louise walked inside and announced her presence. "Shopkeeper, I am in need of your wares."

The room she had walked into was relatively large, and there was a wide variety of weapons lining the walls and put in racks, ranging from swords, axes, spears, maces, and even a few exotic weapons she could not immediately identify. On the opposite wall there was a counter, behind which a curtain leading to the back of the shop was being pushed aside to reveal the owner coming to greet them. He was a mousy looking man with beady eyes who greeted them with a smile. "Welcome, welcome to my humble shop. I must say I do not get much nobility gracing me with their presence while I work."

For her part, the pink hair girl just gave a small hum and said as she gestured to Georgius. "I am looking to purchase a suitable sword for my servant. I trust that you have something in stock that is to his liking."

The soldier then spoke up. "I am also proficient in the use of spears as well."

However, Louise waved her hand dismissively. "No, a spear is a plebian weapon. You shall use a sword."

"Very well." The man said before turning his attention back to the store keeper. "If you have it, I would like a double edged sword with a cross-shape hilt, approximately one meter in length."

"Hmm… I believe I have just the thing that you're looking for." The other man said before he slinked into the back of the shop. A few moments later he was back with the most beautiful sword Louise had ever seen. The double edged blade shone with a golden radiance and the hilt looked lined with silver. "It's so beautiful…"she said as the shopkeeper handed it to Georgius.

The soldier however had a frown on his face as he turned it over in his hands. "It's so… shiny." He said, not liking this observation for some reason.

"That's the sign of quality my friend." The shopkeeper said with a grin. "It was treated by Germanian alchemists! It could cut through steel like it was air!"

After a pause, Georgius said "Do you have anything less… ostentatious?"

"What?! Are you saying you don't want it?!" Louise said incredulously.

"Well, it just too gaudy for my tastes for one thing. And on a more practical note the balance on this is terrible." He tapped the blade a few times, resulting in a dull metallic sound. "And the metal does not seem terribly strong either." He turned his attention to the storekeeper. "I cannot speak for those Germanian alchemists, but I would not wish to wield this blade even if it could cut steel as you said."

"Oh that is just ridiculous." Louise said. "If it was as bad as you say it wouldn't be worth nearly as much." There was a small pause before she turned to the shopkeeper. "Um, how much is it?"

"3000 new gold." The man said flatly, keeping an eye on the soldier.

"What?! That's as much as a mansion and a small estate!" She shook her head. "Well, never mind that then. What can I get for 100 new gold?"

The shopkeeper arched an eyebrow at her before he took the blade back from Georgius. "Well, let me see." He walked over to a barrel marked 'discount swords' and rummaged around for a moment before he took out a rusty piece of junk. "I am afraid that this is all I have for such a small amount."

"That's barely a sword at all! And it's not even close to what he asked for!" This blade was single edged, with a quillion and a rounded hilt.

"Nevertheless, a quality sword costs money. If you're willing to pay more, then I could offer you better stock."

Louise cringed a little. 100 new gold was all she had on her after what she had spent for herself, but she couldn't give her familiar such a rusted weapon, could she? She shot Georgius a somewhat embarrassed look, though he was already moving forward to take the blade. Once again he wore a frown as he hefted the weapon, but this time the traces of displeasure were gone. He swung the blade through the air a few times before he brought it close for inspection, and he gave it a single sharp tap with his gauntleted hand. This time a distinct metallic ring echoed through the shop for a moment before dying down. "Good steel." He muttered with some surprise before saying more clearly. "I can work with this."

Louise blinked. "Are you sure?"

He eye the sword some more, and the girl wondered what he was thinking when he said "Call it… a matter of faith."

---------------------​

"Ah, so she did buy him a sword…" Kirche said, spying on Louise and her familiar from around a corner as they exited the weapons shop. "But it's hardly a weapon worthy of a man like himself! Oh you are hopeless Louise."

Tabitha, as usual, said nothing. She did not care what Louise did or did not do. In fact, normally she would have been using her time off from classes to get some reading done, but Kirche had burst into her room and demanded that they follow Louise and her familiar into town. The red head had babbled something about being in love with the man, but the blue haired girl didn't give that too much thought; Kirche fell in love with a boy once a month or so. Still, Kirche was her friend, perhaps her only one, so Tabatha had indulged her friend's latest interest.

However, that wasn't the only reason she had allowed the use of her dragon to fly after them. Tabatha had an interest in the man named Georgius herself, though in a far different manner than Kirche. She had observed him a few times since his summoning, and she found that he was… similar, yet different to herself. Both were very simple and subdued at most times, but both were much more than they appeared to be (and far more dangerous). However, her neutral state was a mask she had carefully constructed over the years, her training allowing her to remain detached from most things. Georgius's calm was more natural, as if he had nothing to hide from the world but felt no need to present it either.

"Oh, what's this?" Tabatha turned her attention away from the man to find Kirche looking at her with a smirk. "I say, you do seem to spend a great deal of time looking at him. Am I going to have some competition in this game of love?"

Tabatha looked at her friend flatly for a moment before saying "For Sylphid."

Kirche blinked. "Oh yes, you want to know why your dragon is scared of him. Well, given what we've seen him do, I don't think it would be unreasonable that he could fight one."

While she agreed with her, the blue haired girl shook her head. "Scared when first saw him. Hadn't seen him fight yet." Sylphid was a rather… unique dragon in that she could speak (something which Tabatha had ordered her to keep a secret), but all the creature had said on the matter was that the man smelled like blood. This had confused Tabatha as dragons typically liked their meals bloody.

To which Sylphid had replied "Not human blood".

=====SoZ=====​

 

[Satire Swift]

=====SoZ=====​

Georgius sat on a bench in one of the several courts of the Academy, his newly acquired sword from the previous day across his lap. The sky was clear and the weather pleasantly warm, so he had decided to go outside to do what he hadn't time to do when he returned yesterday. He turned the blade over and examined it for a few moments, a small frown crossing his face before he reached to the side and pick up the cloth and bowl of oil he had brought with him. He quickly and efficiently began to clean the blade, as if it could somehow reveal to him why he was so bothered by it. It most certainly wasn't that there was anything wrong with it, it was just that he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the blade than what was obvious.

As he worked, he was surprised to find that the rust covering the sword came off easily. He barely had to put any force into his arm in order to wipe away the stains and corrosion to reveal the steel underneath. What was more was that the underlying steel was perfectly fine. No pockmarks or brittle metal where there should have been. It was like the rust that covered it had merely grown on the surface of the blade rather than into the surface of the blade. Not only that, but its edge was still relatively sharp as well. It wasn't too long before Georgius found himself staring into his own reflection in the polished metal. After that he gave its edge a few passes with a whetstone and started to bind some new leather on the fraying grip.

It took him longer than it probably should have a man of the Roman military, but sword maintenance was not a skill he regularly practiced (What with having an invincible magic sword and all). Still, lessons from his training when he was first joined the military came back to him and eventually he was holding a sword as good as new. This of course only deepened his suspicions of it. An old sword can be cleaned and repaired to a functional state, but it certainly can't look like it just came out of the forge.

Georgius gave a small shake of his head and stood, figuring that he might as well give it a few practice swings. While there were a few students milling about, he did not have to walk too far before he found an open enough space for him to practice. This was helped by the fact that the students tended move out of his way when they saw him approaching. It wasn't quite that they feared him, but more a sort of wary caution. As far as Georgius could tell, most of the adolescents had never seen a common man excel at battle like he had several days ago, and the fact of what he had done had mixed with rumors to turn him into something almost mythical. Most weren't sure just what he was capable of, and that put many of them on edge.

Georgius ignored the stares as best he could and started to go through the basic motions of swinging the blade to get a feel for it. It was a little longer than her was used to, but it was well balanced and he had the strength to use it. He would have to adjust his style as he was used to have a second edge to work with, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem. He did not consider himself a sword master by any definition, but he had more experience than most of the Roman military when it came to the blade. There was little use an infantry man had for fancy maneuvers when he was holding phalanx with his fellow soldiers or in the thick of melee.

Chop, parry, thrust.

The strikes flowed out smoothly and naturally, a years of experiences coming to bear. The sword heft did not bother him as much as he thought it might, and Georgius found himself wielding it like he had used it all his life.

Chop, lunge, retreat, parry.

Georgius idly wonder if he would be forced to cross blades with another man in this life he had gained. He had only a few days ago thought he would be but a common servant to his master, but the attack on the Academy dashed that possibility. It was not a thought he relished if he had to be honest with himself. He had taken men's live in the past, when he was a lowly foot soldier defending the eastern borders of the empire, but he was doing what he had to in order to protect his home.

Diagonal slash, reverse, riposte, disarm.

On a more practical note, Georgius was not sure how he would fair against a true weapons master. Most of the human opponents he had faced in life were soldiers little better than himself, or unskilled barbarians that relied on brute force and viciousness. Lucky for him none of his fellow knights had ever challenged him for his decoration. Of course, this meant he was afraid that he may let his master down.

Horizontal strike, follow with horizontal feint spinning backwards, second horizontal sweeping feint to reverse direction again, rising strike, executioner drop.

Maybe I'm just letting my fears get away from me, he thought idly. After all, Louise's status in this society meant that most of her interactions would be with other magic wielding Nobility, which he had already proven he could deal with. Besides which, it was entirely possible he would end up resuming the self-appointed duties of his old life if Louise decided to travel later in her life; wandering the country side, slaying foul beasts that threatened innocent people, and saving those in distress (mostly damsels if past experience was any indication). Yes, perhaps he wouldn't have to worry about his average skill with the blade.

Feint left, riposte, backhand, spin back right, windmill strike, continue momentum into spinning leap, aerial windmill strike, land in crouch and reverse momentum, strike solar plexus with hilt, reverse grip on sword, swept legs, spin, plunge blade-wait.

Georgius suddenly stopped himself, he body frozen in mid-attack. He looked at the blade held inversely in his hand, and took note of the low stance he was occupying. How… did I know how to do that? He thought to himself in astonishment. He had never possessed that level of skill before, and at the end he switched to a style he had only heard about in gladiatorial matches. Nothing in his training in the military had ever shown him how to do that. And it wasn't something he had picked up in his fights with various monstrous creatures.

Again, Georgius had to ignore the stares from the various students who had watched him practice, and as he straightened he returned to a normal grip on his sword. Turning his attention inward, he noticed a familiar feeling of lightness and strength flow through his body. Following his suspicions, he took off his left gauntlet and indeed the runes on the back of his hand were glowing softly. Georgius scowled as he looked at his hand, one glowing with arcane power and the other holding a mysterious sword. "What are you?" he asked rhetorically.

So naturally he was surprised when he got a response. "Hell, I was about to ask you the same thing partner."

Perhaps Georgius had been a little tenser than he thought. That might explain why a moment later he found the sword embedded in a nearby tree, his arm extended towards it as if he had just thrown it. Georgius blinked in surprise. Did that sword just talk? He thought to himself.

Indeed it did, and moment later it started to wiggle indignantly. "Oy! What did you to that for?! Who throws a sword, honestly?!"

Hesitantly, Georgius stepped forward. "I'm… sorry?" He said as he grasped the hilt and wrested the sword free from the tree. "You took me by surprise."

As the blade spoke, the small bit of metal above the hilt moved up and down like a mouth. "Yeah, well you should work on that. Any partner of mine should have nerves of steel!"

There was a long awkward silence before the man spoke. "I am sorry, but this is very strange to me. Are talking weapons common in this land?"

"Ehh… I don't know?" The blade said uncertainly. "I've been sleeping for a long time. Got woken up by that little display of yours. Anyways, that ain't important! My name's Derflinger, and we're gonna be partners from now on! So what's your name?"

"… I am Georgius." He replied. The situation was making him uncomfortable, if he had to admit it. He found the idea of an intelligent weapon to be disagreeable for a number of reasons, not the least of which being his encounters with living weapons in the past had involved soulless abominations crafted by evil for the purpose of slaughter. True, this Derflinger was much more amicable than that flesh golem or those magic-warped multi-headed bears, but he was still not certain of the blade's true nature. "Tell me," he asked "just what are you?"

"What do you mean?"Derflinger asked, and Georgius could almost imagine it raising an eyebrow. "I'm the great sword Derflinger! I'm a damn good blade and not a bad conversationalist if I do say so myself."

"You're a weapon that was made to kill people." The man said flatly.

"Uhh… yeah?" The sword replied, not sure what he was getting at. "That's kind of the point of weapons."

Georgius started walking back to the bench. "And just what do you think of that, being made specifically to end life?"

The blade was silent for a few moments before it said "Huh. Can't really say I feel anything about it. It's just what I do I suppose." There was another pause before it said "Wait a sec, you ain't one of those pacifists are you? Cause if so, I'm probably not going to enjoy these next few decades."

Georgius's mouth twisted as he sat. "Not as such. I do not like fighting my fellow man, but I will do so if necessary. I fight, but to protect the innocent."

"Oh. Good. I can work with that." The blade replied in a satisfied tone. "Just make sure you use me and we'll get along just fine."

This gave the knight a moment's pause. "Are you saying that you prefer to be used for just causes?"

"Meh, I guess." The sword replied noncommittally. "Like I said, I've never really thought about it before. I don't really care for that 'philosophy' or 'morals' stuff you humans go on about sometimes."

Georgius could only feel nonplussed at this response. It was good that Derflinger didn't seem to relish in the idea of killing people, but it was also rather ambivalent when it came to morality. He guessed that it might have been better than having a weapon that constantly lamented its use. Of course that just raised the question of why make a sword intelligent in the first place.

He realized that he voiced that last concern out loud when the sword said "Beats the hell out of me. I think that part was accident on my maker's part. Can't really remember though, it was a long time ago…" it trailed of in mummers for a few moments before it said "Anyway, don't worry about it. I certainly never have!"

Geogrius briefly wondered if this blade did or did not have a soul and what that might mean morally before his thoughts her interrupted by a voice. "You know, if my sword started talking to me there would probably be a lot more swearing involved on both our parts." He turned to the source of the voice and was caught off guard by what he saw. Walking up the paved path toward him was a blonde woman dressed in a thick gray tunic and a white and gold cape. Her arms bore metal bracers and from the way the cloth moved about on her torso, he wouldn't have been surprised if it was lined with fine chain mail. If that wasn't enough, the sword at her hip clearly marked her as a warrior of some sort. She patted the sword comfortingly "Then again, considering all we've been through it probably has the right to cuss me out a bit."

Georgius blinked at the odd sight. "I'm sorry, you seem to have me at a disadvantage, Miss…"

The woman scowled at him. "Agnès Chevalier de Milan, Captain of the Royal Musketeers. I haven't been a 'Miss' for a very long time." She eyeballed him for several long moments. When he didn't say anything immediately, her tone became sharp. "Well, do you have a problem or something?"

A soldier, not a warrior, Georgius thought to himself. It wasn't just the obvious use of rank, but the way she held herself and the sense of discipline he had only ever seen in those who had fought in the Legions of Rome. Finally he said "I apologize, I did not mean to offend. It is just… I have never seen a female soldier before."

"And I'm sure you have all sorts of opinions why what's between my legs makes me ill-suited for the job." She said flatly, her tone indicating that she had similar conversations in the past.

"Well, I personally prefer that women didn't have to fight at all…" Georgius started uncertainly.

"Oh, so you think women are too weak and fragile to stand up to the rigors of combat?" She asked, her tone becoming heated.

"Uh, no actually." He replied, becoming very uncomfortable. "I've faced women in battle in the past. Of course, those were Celts, so they were really more warriors than soldiers, and they came from a somewhat less refined society…"

"So now a woman doesn't have the metal discipline to be in a proper military and can only fight like a savage animal?" She nearly yelled, leaning in close to the man.

Georgius leaned back and frantically waved his free hand in front of him. "No, no I didn't mean that at all! I just meant, well, uh, I mean-"

"Er, partner?" Derflinger said from his other hand. "I'm no expert on social interaction, but I'm guessing you should quit now before you dig that hole any deeper."

Agnès glared at the knight for a few moments longer before she closed her eyes and sighed, letting the tension bleed of her body. "…Sorry." She said grudgingly as she opened her eyes. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. People used to mock me for being a woman in my profession. It took no small amount of effort on my part to prove them wrong. Or at least make them scared enough of me that they don't say anything stupid to my face anymore." She gave him a quizzical look. "So, terrible first impressions aside, what's your name? And where are you from anyway? I've never seen an armor design like that, and you looked like the mere idea of me being a soldier baffled you. It's not common, but I know there are at least a handful of women in the militaries of the Brimiric nations."

"I am Tribune Georgius de Lydda, and I hail from Roman Empire. Not Romalia," he said quickly to head off any confusion. "Suffice to say it is… a very long ways away. In any case, though I haven't studied this land's culture in depth, I would wager that your society gives more rights to women than mine did." Georgius didn't care to dwell on his old homeland at the moment and instead held up his sword to her. "So, do you have a familiarity with intelligent weapons?"

"Nah, I've never even heard of one before." She said with a shake of her head. "I've just gotten use to all the weird stuff magic can do. Though I'd probably smack the mage who thought I'd want a sword that could talk back to me."

"Oy! Maybe that mage knows that we weapons have a lot of useful things to say!" Derflinger said indignantly.

Georgius gave a small hum as he ignored the blade and slid it into the sheath at his hip. "So, what brings someone like you to the Academy? I have only been here a few days, but this does not seem like the kind of place the Captain of the Royal Musketeers would frequent." He had no idea was a Musketeer was, but it was probably important.

"Ah, manners." Agnès said with a small shake of her head. "I was sent here with an envoy from the Crown. They're here to inspect the integrity of the vault. After that attempted theft a few days ago, some are wondering if a few of those items would be safer in the Royal Vaults."

A small frown crossed the man's face. Considering the circumstances, he felt that the robbery was foiled quite successfully. Then again, a hole was put in the vault itself. "If that is the case, why are you not with them now?"

"They're with the Headmaster at the moment, and they don't need me do their magic thing. Besides," She said as she eyed him up and down. "I wanted to take look at the man who was said take on a golem half the size of the main tower alone."

Georgius stood a little straighter. "It seems I've developed something of a reputation, if not an entirely accurate one. I was only able to distract it until Miss Françoise destroyed it."

"Hmp. You know, most women don't consider humility a virtue these days" Agnès said with a rueful smile. "Well, regardless of how you might protest, I doubt you're going to be successful in convincing the serving staff that you're anything other than folk hero. When I asked them about you they went on at great length about how you saved them from a small army of earth golems. One man has taken to referring to you as 'their Shield'. "

Georgius had to suppress a sigh at this. The cook Marteau was far too excitable for a man his age. "Well, now that we have met, do I live up to your expectation?"

There was a long, thoughtful pause as Agnes studied him before she said "I am not disappointed. Although you strike me as being the… old fashioned type." Georgius arched an eyebrow and she elaborated. "You know, the man who must valiantly save the day and always defend and protect the helpless maidens that all women must surely be."

"… and that's a bad thing?" Georgius asked in confusion.

Agnes smirked at his response. "I think women should get things done themselves rather than waiting for some white knight to come along for them." She turned and started to walk away. "It was good to meet you. I have a feeling we'll being seeing each other again, 'Shield'."

Geogrius stared after her nonplussed for several long seconds. Derflinger then spoke up from his side. "I feel like there's a human expression I should use right now but it can't quite… oh now I remember!" The blade affected a cough. "Women, am I right?"

--------------------​

"I must say, I was expecting something a little more… impressive." Count Mott said as he eyed the various rows and shelves of treasures that filled the Academy vaults.

Headmaster Osmond turned away from the earth mages examining the walls of the room to give the man an even look. "Oh? And just what were you hoping to see, gold and jewel encrusted trinkets along with piles of coins? It is not that kind of treasury."

Mott waved the old man off. "Of course not, but it does contain valuable artifacts of great worth. I would have thought that it might look a little more impressive than an overly large storage closet." He waved his hand at the walls. "However, I was also speaking of the vault itself. The door is suitably impressive, but the wall look only like ordinary stone. It hardly seems appropriate for something that was supposedly created by Brimir himself. Then again, considering the recent failure, perhaps the authenticity of that claim should be called into question."

Osmond suppressed an irritated sigh at this. He had only ever hear of the Count Mott by reputation before meeting him today, but it seemed that the tales of him being a rather foppish and shallow man were not far off. Personally the Headmaster would have preferred if the man weren't here at all, but unfortunately he was the Royal Messenger of Tristain. The Count had been sent along with the delegation of Royal Mages to check on the integrity of the vault, though just why was a mystery to Osmond. The Count's job was to deliver Royal proclamations, and as of yet he had done nothing of the sort.

Still, due to his position in the government he had to be offered some degree of respect, so Osmond held back a more sardonic response in favor of saying "Ah, but it was said that Brimir never did care for what we might consider that finer things. Most of the few artifacts we found of his have been simple items, yet their power cannot be underestimated."

"Perhaps," Mott replied "But that doesn't explain how the vault was breached. I was able to get a glance at the official report you sent to the Crown, and there was mention of some kind of event which 'drained' the magic from several items around the academy, the vault included. Could you elaborate on that?"

"Not much to say, I'm afraid." The Headmaster replied. "I have my best teachers working on it, but the exact nature of what happened is a mystery. All I can say is that it occurred during the Springtime Summoning Ritual, and since then the vault has returned to strength."

"Really?" Mott asked with curiosity, stroking his pencil thin mustache. "So it happened when a student summoned a familiar? Do you know who it was and what they summoned?"

"Eh, can't really say I remember." The old man said, scratching his head with the tip of his staff. "It was so many days ago and so many things have happened since then." In truth, there was very little doubt in his mind as to who the person doing the summoning was, but Osmond wasn't about to let Miss Françoise come under any scrutiny at this point. "In any case, it only makes sense that an item of Brimir's might be affected by a spell he created."

The twist of Mott's mouth indicated that he didn't quite accept that logic, but regardless he moved on. "In any case, whatever may have caused this… event, I suggest that you discover the cause as soon as possible. While I am not to make any… official statements on the mater, I can assure you that the Crown would be very interested if such an event can be reproduced."

"Oh? And why's that?" The headmaster asked, though he already had an idea of what the Count was getting at.

Mott began to walk down the aisles of the vault, idly glancing at the various items on their shelves. "Draining magic from items in such a manner is unheard of. If we could find a way to use it, it could be an entirely new branch of Magic Theory. Think of all the applications it could be used for."

"As far as I can tell all it'll be good for is making someone else's day worse." Osmond said innocently enough, although there was a slight edge that was hard to miss.

Mott turned to look back at him and gave a knowing smirk. "What recent news have you heard from Albion?"

Osmond blinked in surprise at the apparent non sequitur. "Much the same as it's been for the past few months. The Nobility of the nation has been becoming more and more divided over issues and refusing to see eye to eye. There have even been rumors that some are preparing for civil war." Truth be told, Osmond had a hard time even finding out just what they were disagreeing on. The unrest had built up too fast over mostly nothing for it to be based entirely on policy. The old man had his suspicions, but it seemed more likely to him that the real argument was really over one of the most basic things nobles desired: power to rule.

"Yes, and war has a way of spreading in this world." Mott replied meaningfully. "Of course this is all baseless speculation and probably means nothing, but it is always nice to remind the other countries just why Tristain is the leader in Magic Theory." He was silent for a few moments before he turned back to mages inspecting the walls of the vault. "But enough of that. What is the integrity of the vault?"

One of the men, a middle aged man graying at the temples, broke from his incantations to turn and replied with "Well, it is of course stronger than anything any earth mage can manage today, but I think it is weaker than the Royal Vault."

"You think?" Mott asked, annoyance in his voice.

The man shifted uncomfortably. "They are close in comparison. Perhaps if we could compare them side by side it would be clearer, but at the moment it is not certain."

The Headmaster didn't fail to notice the Count's irritation at this, though he wasn't sure why. Whatever the case, he hoped that the earth mage's uncertainly would allow them to give him the benefit of the doubt when he said that the vault was strong enough to protect its contents. He owed at it to that dying man to at least watch over his weapon.

Osmond was about to say something before a new voice interjected. "Headmaster? I have the daily reports for you to look over."

Osmond turned and his eyebrows rose in surprise. "Is now really the best time Miss Longueville?" He asked the green hair woman. "We are in the middle of official business at the moment."

His secretary gave a small start of surprise before she clutched the papers she held in her hands to her chest. "Oh! I'm sorry. I… guess I haven't gotten back into my job completely yet."

Osmond was about to try to reassure her before Mott spoke first. "Oh ho! No need for apologies my dear. The presence of such a lovely young woman such as yourself is always appreciated." The Count's eyes drifted downward towards the woman's chest, leaving little doubt to where his thoughts lay.

The headmaster tried not to frown. He knew it was a little like the pot calling the kettle black, but he didn't like the way Mott was looking at his secretary. He may have made certain comments and sent his familiar to look up her dress once or twice, but at least he never eyed her like a piece of meat. "My dear, perhaps you should leave us until-"

"Nonsense, she can stay!" The Count interrupted. "I'm always glad for the company of beautiful women. In fact… you say that she is you secretary? I could have use for someone with those skills."

Miss Longueville could see where this was going, and her eyes narrowed at the man. "I do not have a transferable contract. If you wish to hire my services, you'll have to do so normally, but I assure you I am quite content with my position."

Many commoners that worked directly for the nobility had contracts stipulating the terms of their employment, and one of the main clause put in to them were stipulations that their contract could be bought and transferred to someone else. The commoner could of course refuse the transfer, but it would cost them their job and most would be blacklisted as being uncooperative. Luckily for the secretary, her skills at reading and writing had deemed her a skilled laborer and she was able to negotiate the removal of that clause. The headmaster made a note to himself to make sure Mott didn't run into any of the female serving staff. They would not be as fortunate.

The Count was not dissuaded however, and moved closer to the woman with a lecherous gin on his face. "Oh, don't say things like that. I'm sure there are many things I could give you that would change your mind." His hand drifted low and started reaching for her hip.

Miss Longueville was not suffering any of that however, and with a scowl she threw the papers she was holding into the man's face. It was relatively tame compared to some of the responses Osmond had elicited for his own… less than honorable act towards her, but it still caused the Count to step back with a sputter. "Oops. I'm sorry. How clumsy of me."

The Count recomposed himself and returned her scowl before turning to the Headmaster and said "None of my own servants would ever dare to be so rude to me. I see you've been lax in disciplining your staff."

Osmond waved the man off with a chuckle. "Oh, I find that keeping a firm hand causes such a dreary and unhappy atmosphere. I just happen to like to keep things a little more lively around here. Call it an old man's prerogative."

Mott frowned and looked back at the secretary, who was now picking up the papers which had scattered over the floor. He was about to say something to her when he paused and he tilted his head to the side. After a moment he leaned down and snatched the top paper of the stack out of her hands. He ignored the indignant squawk of the woman and skimmed the page. "Oh, what's this?" He said with a smirk on his face. "A report from your staff at how the strength of the vault has noticeably weakened since the Springtime Summoning Ritual?"

The Headmaster silently cursed to himself. Of all the reports she had to be carrying, why did it have to be that one?! For the first time he felt a wave of anger at the green haired woman and shot a glare at her. She didn't seem to notice though, as she was still picking papers up. He turned his attention back to the Count. "Does it say that? Well, I'm sure it's just speculation…"

"The report details it as far more than speculation." Mott pointed out. "In fact this Professor Colbert seems quite certain of it." He handed the paper to the mage he had spoken to earlier. "Well, that seems to conclude things here then. Headmaster, would you please prepare an inventory of items for us to view. We should make our selections to move to the capital as soon as possible."

"Now wait just a minute," Osmond started to protest. "You're being a little hasty-"

"Because the thief could strike again at any moment." Mott interrupted, his slimy smile still on his face. "But if you insist on doing things by the formally…" He turned to look at the Royal earth mage he handed the paper to and waited expectantly. There was a long pause as the man went over the page before he looked back up and nodded in confirmation. Mott turned back to the Headmaster and drew himself up imperiously, his tone shifting to a more formal oration. "Headmaster Osmond, I am here to inform you that the Crown has deemed the Academy Vault to be insufficient for storage of items of immense value or danger. The Crown will be taking such items and moving them to the Royal Vault in Tristania. This will occur in two days."

Osmond had to control himself to keep from gritting his teeth. Two days? That was far too fast to get proper protection for the items organized, which meant... that they had already prepared for this. It could have been that they had simply wanted to be prepared just in case, but the old man couldn't shake the feeling that the Crown had come here simple looking for an excuse. Still, there was little he could do. "Of course. If that is the Crown's assessment, I will comply with their wishes."

"Excellent. Now, how about we take a look at this Staff of Destruction, shall we?" Mott said as he walked over to the back shelf which the black case was resting on. He looked at it in puzzlement. "How can a staff fit in a case only a few feet long?"

After giving a sigh, Osmond walked over. "Well, if I have to be honest, it's not really a staff," he said, his mind drifting back to that day, that soldier smiling as he died as if he found some relief in the fact. "And more importantly it's broken…"

-------------------​

Longueville left the vault as soon as the Count had declared that the staff would be moved. She had made sure that the report on the vault's integrity had been obvious for him to see, and thankfully Mott's perception was sharp enough that she didn't have to do anything too obvious. True, it would be harder to steal from the Royal Vaults then try again here, but that was not her plan in any case. With her position as the Headmaster's secretary, it should be easy enough to find out when and where the Staff was going to be transported, and from there a relatively easy matter snatching it.

Most importantly though, it meant that she wouldn't have to deal with that familiar Georgius messing everything up again. While she had orders to both steal the staff and investigate that knight, she much preferred to keep those tasks as separate as possible. She would deal with the knight when she got back. For now though, she could focus on planning a straight forward heist without any magic negating do-gooders getting in the way.

-------------------​

"It's… a talking sword." Louise said incredulously as she looked at the blade which Georgius was holding out to her.

"She's not very fast on the uptake, huh partner?" The sword said glibly, its quillion moving in an odd pantomime of a mouth.

Her familiar spoke before she could get indignant. "This… Derflinger said that it had been in a dormant for some time before I picked it up. I doubt that that store owner realized what he was selling us. Then again, my knowledge on the artifice of this world is limited, and the blade doesn't know much either. Are speaking weapons common in this land?"

Louise frowned. "Well, no. I've never even heard of one before. The closest I've ever seen was an alviss that could say simple phrases."

"An alviss?" Georgius asked.

"It's an advanced kind of golem that also uses clockwork in addition to magic." Louise explained. "But even then it was just doing things by rote. This thing acts like it can actually think."

"Oy! That's because I can think you little brat!"

"Oh really?" The pink haired girl ground out. "In that case, who made you? Because I'm pretty sure anyone who can make artifacts that can think would be known all over the world."

"I was made by, uh…" the blade trailed off before taking an embarrassed tone. "I, uh, can't really remember her name."

"How convenient." She said flatly.

"Hey, you try remembering something that happened 6000 years ago!"

"What?!" She screamed incredulously. "That's impossible! Magic was nowhere near advanced enough back then to make a sword that lasts for millennia, let alone talk! Your just a liar or senile!"

"If I'm senile, that mean you just admitted I do have a mind, so ha!" The sword said smugly. After a few seconds it seemed to actually hear what it just said. "Wait, dammit, that not-"

Georgius interrupted before the argument could get any further. "Whatever the case may be, this is undoubtedly a very unique artifact. And as it seems perfectly functional as a weapon, I will be keeping it."

"Well, if you really want too." The girl said uncertainly. In truth, she found a talking sword to be just… weird. She had no idea how such a thing was even possible. She'd have to ask her older sister Eleanor about it the next time she saw her. Eleanor was researcher at the Oriz Magic Academy studying advanced magic theory. If anyone knew how it would work it was probably her.

There was then a knock on the door. Louise looked at the door quizzically. Who would possibly be calling at this hour? She thought to herself. Georgius took it upon himself to answer the door, and Louise was surprised when she heard him say "Oh, well hello again Captain."

A lithe figure in a white cloak with gold trim stepped into the room, and when the hood lowered Louise saw that it was a woman with short blonde hair. "I know I said I'd see you soon, but I thought that the Royal Mages would take longer."

"Familiar, who is this woman?" Louise asked suspiciously, glancing at the sword hanging of the woman's hip.

"This is Agnès Chevalier de Milan, Captain of the Royal Musketeers." Georgius said while gesturing to her. "I met her this morning."

"C-Captain of the Royal Musketeers!?" Louise jumped to attention. He had heard stories about the woman who what the head of Princess Henrietta's personal guard, but she had never met her in person before. "Of course a servant of the Princess is welcome. Please if there is anything my familiar can do for you, don't hesitate to ask."

Agnes gave a bemused glance at Georgius, who merely shrugged. She then said "That won't be necessary, I'll only be a moment. The envoy has decided that the vault is not secure enough, and several of the high profile items are to be moved to the palace in Tristania. " She reached into her cloak and pulled out a letter. "I was instructed to give this to you in the case this happened."

Louise took the letter and saw that it did have the Royal Seal pressed into the wax. Though it was a little inappropriate to do so while the messenger was still in the room, Louise's excitement over getting word from Princess Henrietta overrode her decorum and she hastily opened the letter and read its contents. The other two in the room were silent as she went over the letter, and she let out a small gasp when she got to a certain passage. "T-The Princess wants me for a mission! She wants me to travel with the Staff of Destruction to insure that it safely reaches the capital!"

Georgius glanced over at the captain. "Did you know about this?"

Agnes shrugged. "I suspected. It only makes sense that when moving a high profile item you get the same people to protect it who stopped its theft the first time." She turned her attention back to Louise. "A merchant caravan heading to Tristania will be passing by the Academy in two days. The envoy will join up with them under the guise of convenience while discretely carrying the Staff. I trust that you will be prepared by then."

"Of course I will!" Louise said fiercely, a gleam in her eyes. "I, Louise Françoise de la Vallière, swear by the Founder Brimir that I will not fail in this mission given to me by the Royal Family of Tristain!"

Agnes was a little surprised by the force at Louise's response, but she simply gave a nod. "Nice to see you're so enthusiastic. There are details we should go over, but it is late and we can speak of it tomorrow. I bid you good night." She gave the mage a simple bow, and as she turned she gave Georgius an odd look before she left, closing the door after her.

Louise's mind raced. A mission from the Princess! Henrietta had heard of how she foiled Fouquet's theft and was impressed enough to trust her with this! She could finally be of use! She could do something despite being the Zero!

She was so excited that she almost didn't hear the damn sword speak up. "Oh yeah! I remember that guy!"

"Huh?" Louise asked, snapping out of her excitement. "What are you talking about?"

"That guy who was always around the person who made me. His name was Brimir!"

"…What."

=====SoZ=====​

 

[Satire Swift]

=====SoZ=====​

"Are you sure that is all you'll need?" Georgius asked as he and Louise made their way out to the Academy stables. The last two days had passed fairly quickly, with only their sporadic and clandestine meetings with the Musketeer captain to make them any different. Mostly they had discussed simple details of how they were supposed to behave, who they would be talking to when they reached their destination, and how they would ensure the Staff's delivery into the Royal Vaults. For now, all that was left was to join the Royal Envoy before they left. Of course, as the lot had come in on horses, that meant that they needed one of their own as well. Such as it was, even though both would be riding on the same animal, they were packing fairly light. Each carried their own small sack of clothes on their backs, but the soldier also had a large sack he carried by his side.

"Of course it is, stop fussing." Louise replied. "I have made trips to the capital before, so I know how much I need, and I can get things laundered when I get there. Normally I would be taking more, but for a mission such as this, I shall suffer for the sake of mobility." She spared a glance over at the sack that Georgius carried. "By the way, what are you taking? I wasn't aware you had any possessions other than your armor or sword."

Georgius hefted the bag at his side. "Well, I let it slip to Siesta that I was going on a small trip today, and she insisted on making me something to eat before I left. Though I think she vastly overestimated how much I can eat in one sitting." Judging by the weight of the thing, both he and his master would eat well tonight, and probably have some left over for tomorrow. "As for the rest, I borrowed some clothes from the serving staff here." He replied. It had been a little awkward the first night he had gotten here since he had no change of clothes, but after the incident with Fouquet they had been grateful enough to lend him a few pieces of more casual wear as a form of thanks. "I may wear this armor of mine quite a bit, but I do have to take it off at some point."

Louise paused for a moment before a blush crossed her face and she looked off to the side, a hint of embarrassment crossing her features. "Yes, well… perhaps while we are in the city I can see to it that you are more properly outfitted. You may be a familiar, but it won't do you have you borrowing commoner clothing."

The soldier gave a small hum at this. It seems my master is becoming more aware that she has responsibility in regards to those in her charge, Georgius thought to himself. It was a good sign all things considered, as from what little he had learned of her family told him that they ruled over a sizable portion of the nation. In all likelihood Louise would be in a position of leadership as she became older, and it was good for her learn the burden of being the one in charge, even if it only started with her making sure to provide her familiar which basic amenities. "Thank you." He said regardless.

"Yeah, just make sure that's all you get him." A voice spoke up from Georgius's side. The man looked down to see Derflinger rattling around in his sheath. "We don't need you buying partner here any other weapons and confusing him over which one to use. I'm the only one he needs!"

Louise's eyebrow twitched. "And I need to not hear the ranting of a delusional talking sword!"

"Hey! I take off-mph! Mrmrp mrrph!" The sword began to say before he was cut off by the soldier ramming the hilt back down. It was probably too early for the two to be speaking after the last… incident. Derflinger claiming that he personally knew the messiah figure of Louise's religion did not do well for the girl's mental wellbeing. It became especially bad when the sword began going into detail of the man's… less divine aspects, the fact that he was somewhat of a lecher first among them. There was much screaming that followed this, and by the time Louise had calmed down she had decided both that the blade was simply senile and to not believe a word it said. Georgius supposed he couldn't blame her; he imagined that he would do much the same thing if someone had told him such tales of Christ.

A frown crossed his face as his mind drifted to the subject religion. When he had first arrived he had made a mental note to investigate 'Founderism' as it was called, but that goal had drifted to the side of the road ever since the attack on the Academy. All he knew so far is that there was a vastly powerful mage named Brimir who created the civilization that dwelled in this land, and he had claimed to do so under the will of God. Well, that and this particular society venerated magic and those who wielded it above all else. That alone was enough for Georgius to disapprove, but his situation was one he had not experienced before: He did not know how to approach the problem.

True he had acted as a missionary in his travels and it would bring him pleasure to do so again in these lands, but he was the only person who even knew of Christianity in this world. He had not his scriptures to guide him, or anything that would let others know that he spoke the truth (he imagined that the Apostle Thomas would have some things to say about that). In addition, he was unsure what to do with the existing Church. Should he try to convince its members that some of its edicts were wrong? Or should he instead decry it completely and not involve them at all? And all of this was to say nothing of his obligations to Louise.

Georgius shook his head to clear his thoughts. He simply didn't know enough to act correctly as of yet. Perhaps when he was in the capital again he would learn more of the Church and gain a better understanding of how he should proceed. For the time being, he brought his attention back to the present just as he and Louise entered the stables, and he found Captain Agnès waiting for them. "Good, you're here. The rest of the envoy is ready to go and waiting by the main gate."

"Not that I mind, but should we even bother taking horses?" Louise asked, glancing at cloudy mare that she favored. "The caravan won't be going terribly fast, and I am sure that the Staff will be more secure if we were riding on the cart with it."

The captain shook her head. "This mission is meant to be a secret and that goes double for your involvement. We can't let it look like you're guarding something specific, so we need to reinforce the idea that you're just along for the company. As well, horses will help you get around faster is something does happen." She glanced over at Georgius. "You do know how to ride a horse don't you?" She asked, clearly not sure if he had been just an infantryman during his military service.

The man replied with a small smile and said "Actually, I am a knight."

However, Agnès just raised an eyebrow at this. "Very impressive, but you know that doesn't guarantee that you actually know how to ride a horse, right?"

The soldier had to pause for a moment to try to understand the question. He failed. "I… what? How can you say that? Riding a horse is the core of being a knight. The name derives from it!"

The other woman simply looked at him with an ached eyebrow. "Ah. You really are that old fashioned, aren't you? Anyway, I'll just take that as a yes." She gestured, and a still confused Georgius shook his head and began saddling the brown stallion. Agnès began to walk further down into the stables before she turned to look back at the pair. "Oh, and remember that we need to act like we never had this conversion." She said before she disappeared around a corner.

Georgius frowned after her for a moment before he turned to his master. "Why would she think that knights and horses are unrelated?"

"I'm not sure what it's like where you come from, but in Halkeginia knights usually ride something more impressive than a mere horse." Louise said as she held her hand up to count her fingers. "Dragons, griffins, manicores, things like that. The only knights I know of that ride horses with any kind of regularity are the Musketeers, and they are very much in the minority."

Georgius blinked at this. "This land is very strange…" he muttered to himself before he went back to tending to his steed.

---------------------​

A short while later the two were walking to the main gate, Georgius and Louise leading their horses by the reins. Before they reached it however, they stumbled on another pair that happened to cross their path.

"So you're saying that he comes from a society where magic is not used by the ruling class?" Miss Longueville asked, her brow slightly furrowed as she walked.

"So he says," Professor Colbert replied with a nod. "I have not had the chance to speak with him on the matter much, but I have my own theories as to-" the man cut himself off as he noticed the other two. "Oh, hello Sir Georgius! We were just speaking of you. I hope you don't mind, but Miss Longueville expressed curiosity in your origins. Now that you're here though, I am sure you can give a better explanation yourself."

Before Georgius could respond to this, the secretary spoke up. "Ah, that won't be necessary." She said, sounding slightly nervous. "I am sure that the good familiar is a very busy man. However, if you really want to be rid of my company so soon…"

"No, of course not! I didn't mean that at all!" The professor said frantically. "I simply meant, uh, that if you wanted a more direct and accurate source-"

She cut him off with a sigh, though there was a hint of a smile on her lips. "Relax, Jean. I was merely making fun. You really do need to get out of the library more often." She glanced back at Georgius, and her eyes narrowed slightly at the horses behind him. "So, are you going somewhere?"

"Yes." He said with a nod. "You were correct in your assumption that that I have matters to attend to at the moment. My master wishes to visit the capital, so we are heading out with the Royal Envoy."

The woman's body became still at this, and her eyes widened slightly. "Y-you are?" she asked. "Are you going to be travelling with them all the way to the capital, perchance?"

"Yes, it is a most convenient arrangement." Louise said, and she looked at Longueville curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, no reason." She said with a wave of her hand, though the motion had a stiffness to it. She turned to the professor before saying "Ah, drat, I just remembered something I forgot to do. We'll talk again later." And without another word she turned and left the group.

"Oh! Well, I'll see you later then!" Professor Colbert called after her awkwardly. Georgius's gaze followed for her as well, a small frown on his face. Before he could think on the woman's behavior though, Colbert spoke to him and his master. "Yes, well, if you truly are going on a trip, then I am glad I caught you. There is a request I would like to ask of you before you depart. I have been meaning to ask it of you for the past several days, but… things have been trying to say the least."

Louise arched an eyebrow at this, unsure of how to handle a teacher requesting something of a student in such a manner. "Very well… what do you want?"

"I wish for you to cast your translation spell on myself." The girl blinked in surprise and Colbert continued. "Though we haven't spoken of it since I first learned of it, I am still very interested in the spell's potential. Though I would prefer to study it in depth, I understand that you have your own duties as well as your own studies that will be starting again soon. However, if you could cast the spell on me now I can at least make some observations on my own."

"Uh…" Louise said, her posture suddenly drooping and her demeanor becoming timid. "I am not certain that is wise. I've only done it once, and there might be… side effects."

Such as being in the center of a small concussive blast, Georgius thought to himself, but Colbert was undeterred. "I understand the spell is in its infancy, but I am still willing to be subjected to it."

However, Louise was not convinced, and she stood up straighter. "Perhaps another time. I would like to be sure I got it right before I made the attempt." She said, more forcefully than might have been necessary.

Georgius looked at his master curiously. "Surely you could spare a few moments to try. It might not succeed, but-"

"No." Louise said sharply, and her voice took on a small edge. "I said I shall do so later."

"Why-"

Louise spun on him, anger in her eyes. "This matter is closed, familiar! We need to be leaving and you're holding us up over something pointless! Now come along!" she all but shouted before she walked to the gate, leading her own horse with a sharp pull.

Georgius looked after her confused for a moment before his face settled into a frown. He glanced at the professor and gave him a gesture before he hurried after the pink haired girl. He didn't have to go far as the horse was resisting being pulled so forcefully. "Louise, is there something wrong?" He asked.

"Everything's fine." She snapped. "I just don't feel like casting a spell that will probably blow up anyway."

"Even so, that does not mean that you should not try." He replied. "Practice is important after, and the man is willing, so even if it does explode-"

"I don't want it to explode!" She shouted as she whirled on him. "I don't want it to be like every other spell I've ever cast! I want it to actually work the way it's supposed to!"

Georgius leaned back from her outburst, and remained silent for a moment as the pieces started to connect in his head. "Louise…" he said slowly. "I think it is time that you told me just what you meant when you said that you wanted me to be your 'first actual success'."

Louise glared at him from a few moments before she gave an angry sigh, and her tone took on a hint of bitterness. "It means what it sounds like," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and she looked off to the side. "I can't cast spells. Not real spells, anyway. Anytime I try it just explodes instead."

"So the term Zero is derogatory…" that man said half to himself, his eyes narrowing slightly. He would have to see if he could do something about that in the future.

Louise's hands tightened into fists. "Yes. Louise the Zero, because she can cast Zero spells."

"That isn't true though." He pointed out. "You summoned myself, and successfully managed to cast your translation spell on me… even if it didn't go how you intended. Which is to say nothing of the golem."

"The golem was just a convenient application for my normal failure." She said dismissively. "And the other two were just flukes."

"Is that all I am to you? A fluke?" Georgius said with mock hurt.

Louise rolled her eyes at this, but she still said "You're a much better familiar than I thought you were at first, I'll give you that. But even as competent as you are, you're still just a human. And I was trying to make you shut up with that spell, not fail so hard I wrapped all the way around to success!" She threw up her hands in exasperation. "It's better than nothing I guess, but…"

"But what? I still don't see why it is you do not want to try again right now. If you do the same thing as last time I'm sure you'll get the same result."

The girl looked up at him with an expression of frustration. "But I don't want the same result! I don't care if it would work out in the end, it's still just fluke I've tricked into being something useful. This translation magic is the one thing I have that proves I can use real magic and it still came from an accident." She sighed and looked at the ground. "You can't understand. You're not a mage. I just… I want this one thing to be RIGHT."

Georgius was silent for a long moment before he said "Ah, I see." It wasn't about the result. More than anything else, Louise wanted to be noble, and in this land that meant being a proper mage. To her, the ability to weave magic to her will is what gave a person their nobility. Even though Georgius knew that it wasn't true, she believed it with all of her heart, and to reach a result by using improper magecraft was the equivalent to being a brute in fine clothing. What she really wanted was one real spell. "Very well. Then cast the spell normally."

She looked up at him confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Cast the translation spell intentionally. Don't try to replicate what you did with me and instead make the spell do what you actually will it to do."

"W-what?!" Louise said in shock. "I-I can't just make up a new spell on the spot! Developing new spells is a process that can take weeks or even months! My elder sister does it for a living and even she couldn't come up anything so fast! I don't even know where to start as far as the chant is concerned!"

"In my experience, while the words to a spell are important, they are only so to the one doing the casting." Georgius replied. "Different people can use different words to achieve the same results. The important thing is that you believe in what you are doing. Conviction and belief are the most important things to working your will upon the World."

Louise narrowed her eyes a bit at him. "You said you weren't a mage."

He looked off to the side. "Yes, well… let's just say that I was exposed to magic a great deal at a young age."

The girl gave him an almost suspicious look and she opened her mouth as if to ask something. However, a moment later she thought better of it and shook her head. "I don't know…" she said uncertainly. "I've barely managed anything magical my whole life. Even if I've had a little success lately, why would I now…" she trailed off.

Georgius let out a small sigh and put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped at the contact, and when she looked up at him she saw that he was giving her one of his warm smiles. "I believe in you. Even though you don't know it yet, I can tell you that summoning me was no little success. You are a very special girl Louise, and even if you may stumble and fall today, someday I am sure the world will know just how special you are too."

Louise's face turned bright red at this and she sputtered, turning around so that the man couldn't see her face. She spent a few moments taking deep breaths to calm herself down before she said "W-well… when you put it like that, I suppose it wouldn't be too bad to try."

"Glad to hear it." Georgius said, and the two of them made their way back over to the professor, who was waiting patiently where they had left him. "It would seem that my master has changed her mind."

"Excellent!" Colbert said with a smile. "I am ready whenever you are." Though he kept his tone cheerful, Georgius didn't fail to notice the man's body tense up as if he was expecting an attack.

Louise raised her wand and pointed at the professor, though she paused to take a last look back at Georgius uncertainly. He gave her the most encouraging smile he could and she turned back forward, letting out a breath. Then, she began to chant.

It was a strange thing for Georgius to listen to. She spoke it softly and he couldn't make out the words, and yet he could still feel the meaning behind them, the intent to bring understanding. His left hand tingled as she spoke, and he brief wondered if other familiars felt something similar when their masters cast spells.

After many seconds of chanting, Louise pointed her wand at the professor and finished her incantation. "Translate."

Several motes of light rippled upward from the ground around Colbert and twirled about him. The man closed his eyes on reflex, expecting the worse. However, in an instant the motes disappeared and all was still. The man cracked open an eye after a second and peered around. After finding himself not being hurled through the air, he finally allowed himself to relax and he let out the breath he was holding.

However, tension still filled Louise's body. "Did it work?" She asked, still cautious about getting her hopes up.

"I am… not sure." The professor said with a frown. "There was a moment of lightheadedness, but I feel nothing now. I suppose I will have to find someone who speaks a language I do not understand."

Georgius took the initiative, and spoke in the native language of Gaul. "Can you understand what I am saying?"

"Of course I can. Why wouldn't I?" The man replied in confusion, but after a few seconds he blinked and his eyes went wide. Geogius gave him a smile and nodded, and the professor said "I-I didn't even notice that you had switched languages! Amazing! The interpretation is so advanced it becomes seemly identical to the recipient's native tongue! It took a conscious effort on my part to remember the actual words being used! I have to experiment with this!" The man abruptly turned and started to jog away from them, but he didn't get very far before he gave a start and hurried back to the other two and bowed. "Thank you so much, Miss Françoise!" he said before he hurried of again.

The two watched him walk away and Georgius gave his master a sidelong glance. She had a stunned look on her face, like she couldn't believe what had just happened. "So," he said. "Did you think it came out 'Right'?"

In response, she looked at him and gave him a grin that outshined the sun.
​

---------------------​

Longueville walked calmly through the gardens of the Vestai court, letting absolute nothing perturb her serenity till she reached her destination. Not the fact that, against all odds, that impossible familiar just happened to be going along with the caravan she needed to rob. Not the fact that if she failed again it could mean terrible things for those back home. And certainly not the fact that some gardeners were yelling at her because she was literally walking through the gardens. She didn't stop until she reached that small shed she had used back when she tried to steal the Staff the first time.

She entered it and closed the door behind her. She took a quick moment to look around and make sure that there was no one in there with her. She then took a deep breath.

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-!"

---------------------​

Guiche turned his head to the side. "Did you hear some sort of noise that sounded like combination of rage and despair?"

"No, but you know what else I'm not hearing?" Montmorency said with a twitch of her eyebrows. "You begging for forgiveness for cheating on me, like you should be doing at this very moment."

"Sorry! Sorry!"

---------------------​

"So… what are they doing now?" Kirche asked Tabatha for what must have been the 5th time.

"Riding." The girl replied plainly after giving her friend a flat look.

"Well, how am I supposed to know? It's hard to see from up here." The red head said with pout, leaning back as much as she dared on Sylphid's back. The woman had once again bothered Tabitha for the use of her dragon to spy on the man of her affection, and now the two of them were high in the air over the Tristain country side.

Normally the blue haired girl wouldn't have minded much, but she didn't want her friend getting in the habit of using her as a chauffeur for romantic excursions. "Wait till he gets back?" she suggested.

"Of course not!" Kirche said with a huff. "Try as I might I have not been able to get the man alone. You would think that with classes out I would have plenty of time to corner him or lure him into my room, but he has thus far proven infuriatingly elusive. If I didn't know any better, I would say that he was avoiding me… There must be a reason for it."

"Not interested?"

Kirche rolled her eyes. "I meant a reason that's actually believable." she replied, the idea that a man would not be interested in her completely unthinkable at her age. "In any case, I am tired of waiting! If I cannot bring him to me, that I shall simply go to him!"

Tabitha shook her head and turned back to her target, looking at him through the lens of distorted air she had created with her magic. She still thought that this was a little excessive, but if she had been forced to admit it, she was still curious about the situation she was viewing. Georgius and Louise had apparently joined the Royal Envoy once they had left the gate and now the group was traveling together. Louise's ties to the princess of Tristain were not terribly well known, but a person like Tabitha was always in a position to know more than most. It could have been just as simple that her classmate was traveling to see the Princess, and thus traveling with the Royal Envoy was sensible course of action. Still, some part in the back of Tabitha's mind nagged at her to be sure.

Just because Tabitha spent most of her time with her head in a book didn't mean that she didn't observe. Quite the contrary, she was very good at observing her surroundings. She had training from a very young age to let her pick up details while going unnoticed, and part of that training was telling her that something else was at work. Her own natural intelligence drove her to make sense of everything she saw, to connect all the threads into the big picture. And right now she felt that she was missing a thread, and it scratched at the back of her mind.

Her gaze through the lens unconsciously shifted, looking at the man Louise had summoned. He was altogether a different problem. He was a thread out of place. Try as she might, Tabitha couldn't find the correct context to fit him in to her worldview, not his behavior or his origins. He was new… outside… different. A man like him could easily disrupt the balance of things if they find themselves in just the right place or time. Give him a cause and there was no telling what would happen. So, Tabitha was more than willing to put up with Kirche being herself if it meant she could also keep an eye on her little 'outside context' problem.

Tabitha blinked as something new came in view. "Caravan." She said.

"Really?" Kirche said before she leaned towards the air lens to have a look for herself (this of course ended up with her looming over Tabitha with her chest resting on the smaller girl's head, but Tabitha suffered it like any friend would). "Hmm... I think I remember now. There was supposed to be a convoy from traveling from Germania's Western Provence to Tristania, making a circuit through this area soon. My mother mentioned it in passing in her last letter due to some dealings she had with them."

The two watched in silence as the Envoy reached the sizable chain in wagons and what the pair could only assume were the leaders of the respective groups met each other and conversed. Tabitha would have liked to hear that conversation, and normally she could have using more air magic, but doing so among the fast winds created by riding a dragon were tricky at best. In any case, it only lasted for a few moments before the Envoy leader looked back and waved his hand and the rest group pulled up alongside the caravan. A few moments later the merged procession was underway, slowly making their way to the capital.

"How odd." Kirche said. "I don't suppose-" The girl cut herself off when the image refocused on Georgius to find him looking straight in their direction, a small frown on his face. "Oh my. Do you think he can see us?"

"Possible." Tabitha admitted. They were a ways away, but it was a fairly clear day and Sylphid was much larger than any bird that might have been in the sky.

"Well, I supposed that settles it then. We're just going to have to go down there and see what the fuss is about!" Kirche said with a nod, though her self-satisfied expression wavered a bit when Sylphid lurched slightly. "Hey! Why can't you keep still?"

Tabitha frowned and tried to pat the dragon reassuring on the neck. Sylphid was still nervous around the soldier for reasons she had yet to fathom, and did not like the idea of getting closer to him. "Risky. Don't know what's going on."

"Oh don't make it sound so ominous." Kirche scoffed. "It's probably nothing important. Beside, I'm sure once the caravan leader knows what family I'm from he'll let us come along for the ride. Now, let descend so that love may follow its due course!"

Tabitha sighed, but she started trying to coax her dragon down the ground all the same. Something about the situation didn't sit right with her, and she wouldn't find out more from up here. She just hoped that she wasn't getting involved in something more dangerous than she thought.

--------------------​

Reynard's men were bored. This did not bode well for the leader of a band of brigands. Boredom lead to dissatisfaction, which lead to the men thinking that things might be better if they were in charge of the group, and several steps later Reynard was hanging another man by his entrails to remind everyone why that line of thought was a bad idea. Sure it would cure the boredom for a while, but it also reduced the workforce, and that was just bad for efficiency.

The man let out a sigh as he leaned back against the wall, watching his men mull about in the tavern basement that they called home at the moment. He was more than willing to give them some action, but there was nothing good to be had around these parts anymore. They already picked clean the small village they were holed up in, and any of the other local towns were too big from them to hit. Sure, they made do with the occasional highway robbery, but those had been getting far and few in between these days. Damn it. Maybe I should have just let my parents marry me to that horse face girl, Reynard thought to himself. But no… I had to say 'to hell with that' and try my luck in the world. I could really use some of that luck right now…

"Hey boss!" Reynard looked over to see Galad, his second, walking over to him. "Thought you might wanna know, that little doohickey of yours is blinking."

The gang leader blinked before getting out of his chair and walking to his makeshift 'office'. On his desk just like Galad said, the windstone embedded in the copper and silver amulet was slowly glowing bright then dimming. The device was a very clever piece of artifice, if Reynard did say so himself. The amulet had a corresponding twin, and when a small amount of wind magic was channeled into it, the other would glow no matter how far away it was. It was only able to blink, but he imagined that if circumstances were different he could have gotten into a magic research academy with it. However, there was still cause for celebration, as the person he had given the other amulet to was a very prominent member of their profession, and he would only be contacting them for one thing.

Reynard grinned and turned back to the main room. "Pack up boys! We've got a job!"

=====SoZ=====​

 

[Satire Swift]

=====SoZ=====​

It was a beautiful day to be traveling through the Tristain countryside, and Louise's mood fit it perfectly. Riding through said countryside on her horse (one of her favorite pastimes), only made it better. For the first time in her life she had successfully cast a spell! A spell which no one else could use or had even heard of no less! Combine that with the fact that she was on a mission from the Princess, it was safe to say her spirits had never been higher.

"We should be seeing the caravan any moment now." The leader of the Royal Envoy said as he looked back at Louise and her familiar from the head of the group. "You shall remain back with the others while I greet the head merchant." he said woodenly.

The girl couldn't say that she knew much of Lord Alexander Dumont other than that he was known as one of the most skilled earth mages in the nation. While every noble may have been a mage, not all could be said to have the same skill will magic, and those that excelled were often picked by the Crown itself for prestigious positions. And while few could match the Royal line in terms of power, specialized mages were always useful. Gossip said that Lord Dumont had earned his position as head of the Royal Earth Mages by displaying unprecedented skill with elemental transmutation magic, though the middle aged man did not carry himself like other's who held his position might have.

From what little she had interacted with him, Dumont was a quiet, stern man who seemed to take his position very seriously. It actually reminded Louise of her mother a little. However, she was also getting the impression from him that he didn't particularly care for her or her familiar's presence. To be sure, he was always polite when he spoke to them, but she couldn't help but notice the slight edge in his voice when he did so. It was almost like he was silently disappointed with her.

Also like her mother.

Louise shook her head to clear herself of such thoughts. However, while her mind was on the subject of skill with magic she did remember that she had something to ask the person she was riding a short distance behind. "So, just how do you know about incantations, anyway?" Louise asked.

Georgius glanced back at her. "Like I said before, I was exposed to magic a great deal at a young age."

"Well, yes, but I meant more specifically." She said. "I mean, you don't really talk about your past that much."

The man stared forward, and was silent for several long moments before he replied. "I… try not to dwell on my previous life."

"Why?" She asked. "Was it really that bad?" A thought occurred to her. "Was the reason that you were dishonored from nobility so shameful?"

"What?" The knight said in surprise, and a dry chuckle escaped his lips. "No, no. nothing like that. It's just that I consider that life to be over. I'd rather focus on the future instead." There was a long pause before he twisted around in his saddle to look at his master and found her looking at him expectantly. "But if you really want to know, the reason for my fall from grace from the Empire was that I refused to give up my God."

Louise blinked in confusion. "I don't understand, how could that disgrace you?"

"The Roman Empire had its own pantheon of gods as its patrons. The Empire's tolerance for other faiths throughout the years was… somewhat fickle, and mostly the result what the Emperor decided at the time. My Emperor decided that he wanted to end Christianity for good."

"Wait, wait, your homeland was filled with heretics?" Louise said in alarm. "And just what is this Christianity?"

"It is the name of my faith, much as yours is known as Founderism. In any case, Emperor Diocletian had been taking actions against religious minorities for years, but it finally came to a head when he stripped away our legal rights. He arrested every Christian soldier and demanded those left make sacrifices to the Roman pantheon. It was then that I could no longer abide by the actions of my Emperor, and declared to him in full view of my fellow soldiers that I myself was of the faith and would not stand for persecution. Things became… unpleasant after that to say the least."

Louise was silent for several moments, not sure how to respond to that. She had always just assumed that Gerogius's homeland was of the same religion as him, and the fact that he had given up his life there to stand by his faith left her with mixed emotions. One the one hand, it was admirable her familiar stood in defiance of an empire with pagan deities to defend his faith in God (mother would certainly approve)… but then there was the fact that his faith was, well, wrong. Or at least lacking some important bits of knowledge.

Still, she didn't want to spoil her good mood by delving into that territory again, so she went back to her original question. "So, about you knowing things about incantations…?"

The man again glanced back at her, and she could see him cock an eyebrow before he responded "I was raised by a witch for most of my adolescent life."

"What?!" Louise said in surprise, shocked that a man like Georgius spent his formative years with someone who practiced dark magic. "How is that possible? Did you have a secretly evil nanny or something?"

Again, the knight let out a dry chuckle. "More that I was tricked into thinking my parents were dead and she kidnapped me when I was a boy. To this day I am still not entirely sure why, though eventually she saw fit to tell me the truth and let me go into the world on my own."

"…You've had a very strange life haven't you?" Louise said.

"It has been eventful, there is no doubt of that." Georgius replied.

"Well, in any case, how much do you know about the workings of magic, anyway?"

"Not as much as my adoptive 'mother' would have liked to be sure. She tried to train me on a number of occasions but I never displayed much of an aptitude or interest in the subject. I understand the basics and a few esoteric things that I happen to remember. Why do you ask?"

Louise had to restrain herself from giving a knee jerk reaction to the comment. Never displayed an interest in magic… how could you possibly not be interested?! She thought. Intellectually she knew that his homeland didn't give any special status or respect to mages, but it was a little difficult to tell her heart that. Still, she managed to say instead "Because so far, you're the only person who has managed to give me any kind of advice that actually worked when it comes to magic." The man's head tilted curiously, and she continued. "My family has tried doctors, specialists, and any number of tutors to try to get me any kind of competence in magic, yet explosions were all I got for their troubles. Then you come along and well…"

Georgius gave a small hum as he looked ahead. "I appreciate your confidence in me, though I must admit the actual effect of the spell was all your doing. I merely pointed out how you should try to follow your own path then try to do something that has never worked.

"Even so, maybe you could give me a new perspective." Louise said. "I mean, as happy as I am with what I just did, I would rather not be only able to cast one spell for the rest of my life."

There was a pause before her familiar nodded. "Very well, I will provide whatever assistance I can."

"Thank you." The mage replied gracefully.

She was about to say more when Dumont called out "There it is!" Louise peered around the man sitting in front of her to see a line of wagons coming into view as they crested over a hill. There were about 15 in total, which was a fair size for a merchant caravan. She knew from her briefings with Agnès that there were four merchants in this particular group, with the caravan itself being led by a textile merchant by the name of DeMedd. As they got closer, Louise got a look at the man as he walked out to meet the envoy. He was large, with a barrel chest and gut, with wild auburn hair and dressed in fine clothes. His voice was loud and boisterous as he called out to them. "Ho, took you long enough! I was started to get worried that I wouldn't make it to the city before nightfall!"

Lord Dumont looked back and gestured to the group. The five other Envoy mages, along with Georgius, Louise and Agnès, slowed to a stop to the side of the road while their leader rode ahead. The men then talked in much quieter voices, though Louise could tell that Dumont was still being somewhat irritable, and that the caravan master's lax attitude wasn't helping any. Louise idly glanced back at Agnès, or more specifically the sack just behind her horse's saddle. Even though the captain would be physically looking after the Staff of Destruction for most of the journey, Louise could still feel the weight of the responsibility as if she was carrying it herself. If Agnès felt the same way she didn't show it, much like how she had barley even looked at the two of them since they got underway.

While they waited, the Louise decided to get back to the matter at hand with her familiar and took the opportunity to pull her horse up next to his. "So, do you have any idea what's wrong with me off the top of your head?"

Georgius gave a small hum. "Well, I haven't exactly been aware of your condition for very long, nor do I know the intricacies of how mages in this land bring their spells into the world, but I am hesitant to say that there is something wrong with you."

Louise blinked. "How can you say that?"

"Because it would imply that there is something fundamentally broken in your body or soul that prevents you from properly shaping magic to your will. If it was a problem of the body I would imagine that you would take significant injures trying to push as much raw power through yourself as you usually do when you cast. And if it was of the soul… well, let's say that your mind would not be in a very good state right now."

The pink haired girl tightly pressed her lips together. "It's nice to know that my sanity is not at risk, but if that's the case, why can't I cast spells properly?"

"Hard to say, but I would guess that you are naturally hyper specialized to do one thing. Normally all magi can do a wide range of things using all of the five elements, even if they are far better at certain things than others. It's possible that you are so specialized that you can't do anything other than your 'one thing'. As far as elements are concerned, given what I've seen and what you've done successfully, I believe that your element is Aether."

"Aether?" Louise said incredulously. "What in the Founder's name is Aether?"

Georgius brow furrowed, his expression confused. "…The Fifth Element. The substance upon which all magic is based and is impossible without. How can you not know that?" He paused for a moment and looked off to the side. "Now that I think about it, I don't believe I've met a single Aether mage since I got here. I know that pure Aether elements are rarer, but I would have thought with so many magi in this land…"

"What kind of bizarre magic theory is that?" Louise said, interrupting his musings. "The five elements are Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Void. I've never heard of this… Aether."

The knight's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Void? Really?" he was silent for a moment before he shrugged. "It must be a difference of name. While odd, I suppose I can see why you would refer to Aether as Void. In any case, what I was trying to say is that I think you are a Void mage."

Louise nearly swallowed her own tongue at hearing that, and her entire body went rigid. "D-d-don't say things like that!" She yelled at him, snapping her head around to see if any of the other Royal mages had heard what he had said. "S-stupid blasphemous familiar! Do you have any idea how much trouble we'd both be in if other people heard you say that?!" She reached over and started to pound on his breastplate, but quickly stopped when she realized that she was just hurting her hand.

Georgius, of course, continued to look confused. "I don't understand. Why does that upset you so much?"

"Because only the Founder Brimir ever had the holy Void element you idiot!" She yelled back at him. "There hasn't been another in six thousand years!"

The knight blinked at this. "That's… strange. Are you saying that no one since Brimir has been able to do anything with the Void at all? Even cast the simplest of Void spells?"

"Of course not! And besides which, all of the spells the Founder used have been lost to time!" Louise let out a breath as she forced herself to calm down. "Look, there is no way you can even compare me to Brimir. The Void element made him the most powerful mage in human history. He was a living saint that created the world we live in. Comparing one's self to the Founder is sacrilege."

Georgius's head tilted to the side a little. "I see, but aside from the rarity why is the Void element sacrosanct? Though rare we have had magi of the Aether element in my homeland and they were not overly more powerful than their peers. Power is separate from element."

"I still don't know what this 'Aether' is, but if that's the case then I can definitely tell you that it is not the same thing. Void is fundamentally different from the other elements, both in quality and in magnitude. It doesn't obey the normal rules of inheritance either. Brimir was granted the power of the Void by God himself!"

Georgius became very still at that. "Truly?" he asked, his voice filled with trepidation.

"Yes!" Louise breathed out, glad that the man finally seemed to be taking what she said seriously. "Brimir said that he had been chosen by God to unite humanity in worship of him, and that the Void was bestowed upon him to accomplish this task. Now, since I do not have access to landscape altering powers or have received any signs from God, we can safely assume that I am not a Voids Mage." Honestly, not even in Louise's wildest fantasies of magical competence had she dreamed of calling on the power of the Void.

Georgius was silent for several long moments. "I see. If that is, true then I shall take care not say such things in unwanted company."

"Good." Louise said with a nod. "I'm glad that you're learning."

"Yes," He said, turning back forward in the saddle, his voice distance. "I am indeed learning some very important things."

It was only a moment later that Lord Dumont seemed to finish his conversation with the boisterous merchant, and gestured back towards the group. The lot moved forward and began to mingle with the carts, most taking up various positions near the front. Louise did not fail to notice however that the Musketeer Captain had drifted back somewhat, disappearing amid the carts towards the middle. Soon enough the procession started to lurch forward and they were once again moving towards the capital, albeit at a much slower pace. Louise figured that all there was to do now was to look out for trouble, but considering how smoothly things have gone so far, that seemed-

Georgius suddenly straightened in his saddle and looked up and off to the side. Louise perked up at this. "Trouble?" She asked, squinting to see what was looking at.

"Perhaps..." He said. He continued to look in that direction for a few seconds longer. He then said "Lord Dumont!" The other man rode his horse over to them and stopped, looking in the direction that Georgius pointed in.

Louise still didn't see what the two men were staring at for several long moments before she finally noticed a speck flying amid the clouds that was quickly getting bigger. As it got closer the shape resolved itself into the familiar profile of a dragon. Her concern over it quickly faded as she soon recognized whose dragon it was. Sylphid? What is Tabitha's dragon doing here?

Her curiosity turned to displeasure when the dragon landed several meters away and she saw just who was riding the beast. Tabitha was a given, but the other passenger…

"Darling!" Kirche said as she slid off the back of the dragon and walked over to their stallion, focusing on the knight in the front. "You should have told me that you were going on a trip!"

"I didn't think that this particular matter concerned you." Georgius said flatly. His eyes drifted up to see Tabitha also slide off of her dragon and give it a pat. Sylphid looked at the group nervously before she beat her wings and took back off into the air, leaving the blue haired girl to walk up next to her companion.

"And just who are you?" Lord Dumont asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at the newcomer.

"Ah, of course." The redhead said as she put a hand to her chest. "I am Kirche Augusta Frederica von Zerbst, heiress of Germania's Zerbst Province."

Before anyone else could say anything, the caravan master stepped forward. "Wait, the Zerbst Provence? You wouldn't happen to be related to Zoltana Augusta Frederica, would you?"

"Why, that happens to be my mother." Kirche said coyly. "Why do you ask?"

"Why, your family is one of my best customers! Count Arthur DuMedd, at your service my dear." He said with a bow.

"Really? Well isn't that a coincidence." she replied. "I was merely traveling to join my darling Sir Georgius. It seems that our journey will have even more company than I thought."

"I am sorry, but you can't travel with us-" Lord Dumont began to say.

"Nonsense, nonsense!" DuMedd insisted with a wave of his hand. "Of course the daughter of Zoltana can come with us if she wants! Come, you can ride up front."

"Oh, you are most generous, Count." The red head replied. "Traveling by dragon while companion is on horseback is awkward at best." She shot Georgius a sultry wink. "And with you riding by me side, we can finally become better acquainted."

Dumont grit his teeth at the situation, but said nothing. He could order Kirche away using his authority from the Crown of Tristain, but that would at the very least raise suspicions as to why he would need to do so. As the secrecy of the mission was paramount (and he apparently did not feel confident in any lie he could tell), the man had to hold his tongue. Louise on the other hand felt no obligation to do so. "Kirche, I can't believe that you came all this way just to lust after my familiar. Have you no shame?"

"Bah, how can a girl like you possibly understand?" Kirche said dismissively. "One must pursue what they want with all the passion they have. Though I suppose you'll never understand. You'll be a Zero for the rest of your life."

Louise began to feel a familiar anger build inside of her at the comment, but then she remembered her success just a short while ago, and the emotion just bleed away from her. Instead of one of her usual retorts, a smug smile crept over her face. "Oh, really? Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you are so stupid to actually believe that. Those absurd things on your chest must take up all the blood meant for your brain."

Kirche actually flinched at that, surprised by the comment and how it was delivered. Her eyes narrowed, looking at Louise with a suspicious glance. "Wait, wait, what is this?" She said as she walked towards the girl on horseback. "What is this confidence you suddenly have?"

"What, surprised that your taunting is useless now?" Louise said with a smirk, glad that her position on the horse allowed her to look down on Kirche for a change. "I will have you know that I successfully cast a spell not an hour ago. You calling me Zero is meaningless now."

"What? You actually performed magic?" Kirche said incredulously.

"She did." Georgius said. "She cast a spell which now allows Professor Colbert to understand unknown languages."

"You see?" The pink haired mage said as she crossed her arms. "What do you have to say to that?"

Kirche opened her mouth but she did not say anything immediately, and looked off to the side in thought. Then a wide smile covered her face. "Well, you couldn't have done it with me pushing you so hard." She said, and she turned back around to walk to the front of the caravan.

Louise blinked at this. "What. No, no you can't just take credit for- don't you walk away from me!" she yelled she slipped off her horse and ran after her nemesis. Kirche just laughed and started to run, leading her on a mad dash between the carts.

It was another five minutes before the caravan got moving again.

--------------------​

There was something odd going on. That much Tabitha was certain of. She had done little other than just sit on a wagon next to her friend and she had already noticed some odd behavior from people around her. Though the various merchants and workers of the caravan seemed normal enough, the members of the Royal Envoy were tense, especially Lord Dumont. It seemed that their presence had set the lot of them on edge, reinforcing the idea there was something covert going on.

Louise's involvement in the matter, if at all, was less certain. Louise may have been acting like her usual self, but that was likely due to Kirche focusing her attention. Tabitha gave it even odds that she was a part of whatever they were doing. In any case, the blue haired girl didn't plan to interfere with whatever the operation might have been happening. She was merely going to discreetly observe and report on it later. And so, she resolved herself to sit quietly no matter what happened.

That only lasted until they reached the landslide a few hours later.

The road to the capital took the caravan through part of the Ardennes Forest, and the path curved around a low mountain. Though a certain amount of detritus was to be expected in such an area, Tabitha was surprised when the caravan turned around a bend and found a massive barrier of dirt, rock and upturned trees strewn across the road in front of them.

"Whoa, what in blazes?" DuMedd said as he stopped the wagon and waved his arms to signal the train of carts to come to a stop. "When in the Void did this happen? There hasn't been a major storm in this area in weeks!"

Tabitha watched as the Royal Envoy began to look around nervously, and she saw Captain Agnès appear and quickly whisper to several of them before the group dispersed to several points along the caravan. Tabitha recognized a scatter pattern when she saw one, and it was warranted in her opinion. Everything about the situation told her that this blockage was not natural. Given the tree cover it would make a good spot for bandits looking to rob a caravan full of goods. She did not overtly look up from her book, but she shifted ever so slightly to put her staff in easy reach, her body tense as she waited for the attack.

And yet... none came. A frown threatened to work its way onto her brow as the caravan master spoke to Dumont, and the man nodded as he walked up to the pile in front of them. He drew his wand and began clearing the debris away with his magic, though it was slower going than might have been possible given that the man also had to move several trees out of the way. Again, Tabitha waited for people to come screaming out of the woods around them, but nothing happened. She glance back to see that, while not everyone looked concerned, there were enough keeping an eye out that told her they were aware of the situation they were in.

She decided that she needed a second opinion, and she figured she might as well advance her own agenda while she was at it as well. She closed her book and hopped down off of the wagon to get away from DuMedd, who was making the same complements to Kirche which he had been giving the whole trip, and made her way to find the man whose opinion she wanted. Her quarry, such as it was, stood off to the side of the road, frowning at the debris which blocked their path. Louise was not with him at the moment, likely because the pink haired girl still needed some time to cool off after the needling Kirche gave her. Tabitha approached him and asked "Thoughts?"

Georgius looked at her surprised, not so much because she just appeared next to him, but because she had simply spoken to him at all. "The captain is worried that this was meant to slow the caravan down so that it can be more easily plundered, and yet no one has yet decided to show themselves or steal anything from us. I am wondering what the point of it all is."

"Suspicious." The blue haired girl agreed. "Wear us down?"

"Or buy them time to set something up." The knight remarked, hand cupping his chin in thought.

"Perhaps it would be best if you used your dragon to scout ahead and see if there is anything more obvious." The man gestured off to the side and into the woods, and Tabitha turned to see Sylphid a short distance away trying to spy on them. Once again the dragon was also proving that she knew nothing of stealth, as she was trying to crouch down in some bushes that were several times too small for her.

The blue haired girl said nothing, simply glancing back at Georgius and narrowing her eyes slightly. Again, the man had showed no malice or even just displeasure with her familiar. There was nothing about the way he acted that could have provoked such a fearful reaction in the young dragon, so she was still forced to conclude that it was based on who (or what) he was. And that was unfortunately a much harder puzzle to crack.

Tabitha was about to move away and do as he asked when Georgius seemed to notice her expression and gave a small sigh. "Perhaps now it the best time address this matter after all." She simply tilted her head at that, prompting him to go on. He did so. "Your dragon is clearly unnerved by my presence. I feel that if we just let the matter lie as it is, there may come a time when I accidentally provoke it into attacking me. Please convey my message that I mean it no harm or ill will, nor do I intend to inflict harm on those it cares about such as yourself."

"…She." Tabitha corrected absentmindedly. She had almost forgotten how direct the man could be about things. A thought occurred to her. Could it really be that easy? She thought to herself before she asked "Why?"

"I would think the fact that I do not wish to be attacked by a dragon to be obvious. Anyone would want that." He remarked. "I must say though, this land does seem to have a far more amicable relationship with dragonkind than I would have thought possible. Louise mentioned that your knights use them as mounts, and you have even bound one as your familiar, if a very young one."

Something about that statement nagged at Tabitha, but she ignored it to continue her inquiry. "No. Why is she scared of you?"

"Oh. Well," Georgius drew himself up straight. "I slayed a dragon once."

Tabitha waited, but after a moment she realized that was all he was going to say. That's it? That's his explanation? She thought incredulously. "Not enough." She said as she shook her head. "Killed dragon before. No effect." Her thoughts drifted back to that particularly nasty two headed dragon she had fought in the Romalian mountains, but she quickly banished those thoughts.

"Truly?" The knight said in surprise. "Well in that case I am afraid I don't know why your dragon is frightened of me. I always assumed that was the reason, though I didn't know how she could tell."

The blue haired girl felt frustration at that. After all of her wondering it turned out that the man himself didn't even know? She supposed that he could be lying, but her instincts were telling her that he was telling the truth. And while it was very impressive for a non-mage to kill a dragon, it certainly seemed plausible given what she had seen him capable of.

The man continued. "I must say, I am very impressed that one as young as you managed to slay a dragon yourself. The one I faced was the most powerful foe I had ever encountered in battle. I cannot count the number of times one of its spells almost laid me low."

Tabitha's attention snapped back to the man, her eyes going wide. "Spells?" she said. "This dragon cast spells?"

"Of course it did. Just like all dragons can." Georgius said with a raised eyebrow. "True, its spells were nothing like human magic, but that certainly didn't change its potency. I have never faced a human mage that could match it for power."

Tabitha was rendered speechless by this. Dragons, while impressive magical beasts, were only that. They did not have the intelligence for communication, let alone the casting of spells. Out of all of the different kinds of dragons, the only ones known to be able to perform such feats were the legendary Rhyme Dragons. Tabitha had thought all of those were extinct.

Or at least, she had until she summoned one.

It had been quite a surprise to her once she realized just what Sylphid actually was, and she had wasted no time in insuring that it was kept a secret. Not only did she not want numerous researchers pestering her and prodding the dragon for knowledge, but a girl such as her saw… uses in having such a powerful asset remain hidden. But now this man before her was claiming that he had defeated one in the past, a feat which supposedly only the most powerful mages could have accomplished. Not only that, his statement implied that his homeland only had Rhyme Dragons. It was well and truly possible that Georgius was from the same land that Sylphid came from.

As she thought about her dragon's possible family and their nesting grounds, she remembered something. Georgius had referred to Sylphid as a young dragon, but how could he know that? Sylphid was the size of any other dragon, even with her relative youth. The only way he would know that meant she was young if- "The dragon. How big was it?" Tabitha said quickly.

The man looked up in thought for a few moments. "I would have to guess that it was about 10 meters tall at its full height, and perhaps 15-20 meters from head to tail. I'm afraid that I cannot give you an accurate measure but it was certainly the largest creature I had ever seen. Why?"

Tabitha had to fight to keep herself from going pale at that. That was more than twice the size of Sylphid, and that could only mean one thing: A Great Wyrm. The man before her was claiming to have killed a Great Wyrm Rhyme Dragon. And the most insane part past was… part of her believed him. It was preposterous, completely absurd! Even if he believed it himself, he had to be delusional or mad! And yet… part of her wondered. "How are you alive?" she all but whispered.

"Ah, well, it was a close thing." He said simply. "Though if I had to attribute my survival to one thing, I would say that my Faith shielded me from the worst of the fell beast's power." A look of confusion crossed Tabitha's face, and he blinked as thought occurred to him. "Oh right, your professor mentioned that such a thing was unheard of in this land. To clarify, what I meant was that I have resistance to magic. Only the most powerful of magics have any effect on me, and then they are often reduced."

Tabitha stood in stunned silence for several long moments, trying to process everything she had just heard. She had only ever heard of Elves being able to counter magic like that, and even then it was never described as a natural resistance. The idea that a human could have it, that a commoner could have it, could mean all sorts of things. She went to ask him more about it but a voice interrupted her. "Clear!" Lord Dumont said. Tabitha turned to see that the man had indeed pushed the rocks and trees to the side, clearing the path for the caravan. He wiped his brow with his arm and said "Alright, let's get a move on!"

Georgius turned back to Tabitha to give her a nod before he wandered back towards his stallion to mount up. Tabitha pursed her lips as this, but she then turned and strode into the woods, walking straight to her familiar. "Come." She said as she passed her, and the dragon gave a tentative look back at the line of wagons before she followed after her master.

As the pair walked a short distance to find a clearing large enough for the dragon to take off from, the blue haired girl hesitantly spoke up. "Irukuku," she said, using the dragon's real name. "Have any elder Rhyme Dragons ever been killed? By humans?"

"Waa! Mama said she don't like to talk about that!" The blue dragon said, her childish voice at odds with her massive size. "Those were bad times! But even then, it was usually the little ones that died. Like me." She gave a small wine. "Big ones like mama too strong. And they can make bad things happen to people who wrong them, even as they..." she trailed off.

"..." Tabitha was silent at this, but her suspicions were confirmed. It was then they found a clearing and took off into the air, flying over the forest and down the road. Her mind raced as she tried to think of the implications of what the knight had just told her. From the sound of it, Georgius may have indeed pulled off his impossible victory, but not as unscathed as he thought. The death of such a powerful creature at his hands could have left its mark on him, his… 'resistance' dulling a deadly curse into no more than a sort a magic scar, one which other Rhyme Dragons found very noticeable. It was likely due to her age that Sylphid simply didn't understand what she was sensing.

As far as other things were concerned, Georgius's 'magic resistance' could cause all kinds of trouble depending on who found out. Tabitha herself was not particularly religious, but she was politically minded enough that she could see someone who was taking affront to something that could negate Founder given magic. There was also the somewhat worrisome fact that he had referred to it as his Faith shielding him. Faith in what had not been specified, thus increasing the odds that the man would come into conflict soon if he did not tread lightly.

Of course, given how completely open the man had been with her thus far, she doubted that he would be discrete. And from what she could gleam of the man's personality, he would not back down if his beliefs were challenged. Many would try to stamp him out for that, but Tabitha knew that the man could take it, especially with his fighting prowess and magic resistance. Through ignorance the man could become a wild card and upset all manner of plots simply by being pulled into them. The girl found herself caught in a slight conundrum; she wanted to warn the man about how he needed to keep certain things secret (like his knowledge of Rhyme Dragons for instance), but she couldn't explain why lest she draw attention to herself. Whatever the case, Tabitha still resolved that she need to find some way to keep the knight from getting involved in anything too dramatic until she knew what to do with him.

It was then her attention snapped back to the present as she noticed something wrong as she looked down on the forest from dragonback. There were in fact several more places along the road where she could see that the road was obstructed by debris.

The girl frowned to herself. As she analyzed the blockades, she got a feeling that the world would not make her self-appointed task easier on her.

--------------------​

As much as she might have found it beneath her, it didn't take long after the caravan had stopped for the night for Louise to collapse onto the bedroll in the tent that had been provided for her. This mission… was not quite going as planned. For one thing that Germanian harlot showed up and refused to leave, either to just annoy her or make wanton advances towards her familiar. For another there had been so many landslides along the road in the forest that it had slowed down caravan significantly. Even though they finally had made it out of the forest, they were forced to make camp as the sun was setting behind the hills by the time they got out.

While there was a nearby village just over the next hill, and the girl really wanted to stay in a bed for the night, the glare she had gotten from Agnès had made it clear that the Captain wanted her to remain close to the Staff. Besides which, arguing with Kirche all day had made her tired enough that she just wanted to sleep anyway.

Louise shifted around on the blankets, her eyes fluttering closed after a few moments…

The images came as they usually did, fragmented and without context. They were always about the boy but she could never make heads or tails of them, just jumping from one scene to the next without rhyme, reason or order. She felt irritation at this, wondering why her dreams had refused to make sense as of late. It wouldn't be so bad if the bloody things would just fit together in a way that made sense. From what she had seen thus far, it vaguely reminded her of what Georgius had just told her of his past, but that had only happened today-

At that thought, the images and sounds suddenly resolved into something coherent. The boy was older now, just starting into his teens, and was running through the woods. He went deep into the forest, pasting by massive trees that reached to the sky and going through ravines filled with colorful plant life. Eventually, he came to a cave in the side of a hill, and walked in with a proud gait. It wasn't long before the cave opened up into what looked like some kind of hovel. "The pixies shall be bothered by the gnolls no more!"

The red headed woman emerged from a darkened corner, an equally dark expression on her face. "What have I told you about running of on silly little things like this? You are supposed to be studying your magecraft."

"I don't need magic to help me!" He said, a little bit of defiance in his tone.

"Once again, you miss the point." The woman said flatly. "Magic is far more important that the little squabbles of forest creatures. They have been fighting and killing each other since the Beginning and will do so till the End. Getting involved is pointless."

"No it's not! Cause I helped, the pixies aren't afraid anymore! It might be only for a while, but that's worth something!"

The woman sighed, realizing that she was getting nowhere. She then knelt down in front of him. "Boy, do you like fighting evil?"

"Oh yeah, I'm all about fighting evil!" He said, the conversation now interesting him.

"Well then, you should study what I'm teaching you, because there are many nasty, magic, evil things out that would hurt me if they had the chance. You want to protect me, don't you?"

"Of course! I'll always protect you!" He said fiercely.

She smiled a knowing smile. "Well, then you best get to studying, won't you?"

"I guess so…" The boy said, though he sounded less than enthused by it. He began to say something but stopped as he saw something past the woman. "What's that?"

The woman looked back to follow his gaze. It landed on a foal atop a pile of hay, its leg chained to the stone wall. Its fur was a peculiar shade of white, so pale it was almost ethereal. "Oh, that is a little project I'm working on." The woman said.

The boy walked up to the young horse, curiosity filling him. "What's his name?"

"Hmm, I had not bothered with one yet. Why does it matter?" She said. "Do you wish to name him?"

The boy was silent for several long moments staring at the creature before him. The foal stared back, and he could see the intelligence behind those eyes which no normal horse would have. Eventually he spoke. "His name is-"

And that was when Louise was awoken by the sound of an explosion.

=====SoZ=====​

 

[Satire Swift]

=====SoZ=====​

Kirche paused outside of Georgius's tent, taking a last chance to inspect herself and make sure that her outfit was right. There wasn't too much to be said about the fine silken evening robe. Of course, that just meant that what she was wearing wasn't as important as how she wore it. It was slightly just too small for her, hugging her body and leaving nothing to the imagination in the way of her curves. There was a cut trailing up her thigh and the top was open, just barely hanging off her shoulders and showing generous amount of breast. Most importantly, it would only take a slight tug down to make the whole thing fall off.

This was not the situation the red head would have preferred to be in to seduce her target. Her room back at the academy was already set up with everything she needed to insure a night of passion between herself and any man she deemed fit to entertain her; candles, perfumes, and all manner of racy negligee. However, she imagined that if Georgius was susceptible to such things, she would not be standing in the middle of an impromptu merchant camp at that moment. She could have sworn that he was avoiding her, but that just seemed silly.

And so, a different approach was required . There was more than one way to approach a romantic encounter, and Kirche was willing to try something new for a change. Rather than trying to lure the man to her, she would go to him, and she had just the play to do so. While she had not said anything herself, she was well aware of how suspicious the numerous landslides along the roads were. Those were no accidents, and the purpose could only be to slow the caravan down. While the threat of possible attack was in the back of her mind, she was more concerned on how she could make this work for her; there was a long standing tradition of the woman going to the man's tent on the eve of battle after all, experiencing life one more time before he goes to possible death. Besides which, her playing the role of the worried maiden seemed to fit better with Georgius, who behaved very much like the white knight of stories.

A small shiver of anticipation ran through her as she readied to open the flap of his tent. The novelty of the situation was exciting, and she had never been with someone as mature as Georgius. To be sure, the youthful exuberance she had experienced thus far at the Academy would always have its place, but now she was looking forward to something more… tempered.

Without much ado, Kirche let herself into the tent. True to form, it was a small solder's tent, fit for only one person and short enough that she had to crouch to enter. As she did she saw the man lying back on a bed roll, his armor and pack off to the side. His choice of casual dress, if not completely outlandish, was a little odd. He forwent trousers entirely and instead opted for a large green tunic that went down to his knees. Kirche filed this curiosity for later and knelt where she was, putting just enough timidness in her posture to make it noticeable, and waited for him to notice.

After a few moments of silence Georgius noticed something was different and sat up. The tent was dark, but enough light from a torch on a nearby wagon illuminated the enclosure so that she could see his face. And he could see her just fine as his eyes widened upon seeing the sight of the partially clothed woman. "Kirche!" He said with a mix of surprise and uncertainty. "What's wrong?"

"… I'm worried." She replied, putting just a hint of a tremble in her voice. "Everyone is talking about the landslides, how they couldn't have all happened by accident. What if… what if someone made them? "

Georgius brow furrowed slightly and he let out a sigh. "Perhaps… but we can't be sure of that yet. Anyone who would have done so would have had ample chance to attack when we first encountered the obstacle, and now we have to set up camp with watches in mind."

"They could be waiting further down the road, having slowed us down so they could lead us into their carefully prepared ambush." The red head insisted, moving into the tent and crawling up to the man. "Oh, anything could happen! A stray arrow, a moment of inattentiveness, and life could be tragically cut short!"

"I know that the possibilities can be intimidating, but-"

"I don't want to be alone tonight!" She said, moving in close enough for their faces to be mere inches apart. "I don't know what the future holds, but I know that this night belongs to us. Stay with me my knight, so that we may know what it feels to love before fate may tear us apart."

"Kirche-"

She placed her hands over her heart and her eyes watered slightly. "Please."

Georgius was silent for several long moments, his gaze thoughtful. Then, slowly, the man's hands reached for her shoulders, and Kirche felt her breath quicken. She closed her eyes to savor the moment…

Only to feel him grip her in a firm, very non-sensual manner. "Kirche, why are you doing this?"

She opened her eyes and filched back. "Wh-what do you mean? I said I was scared-"

"Kirche, I'm not an idiot." The man said flatly. "I have seen you stand against a tide of golems without hesitation. You have never once shown doubt or uncertainty, and your act of it is unconvincing."

She looked at him for a long moment before she sighed and relaxed a bit. "Do you have to go and ruin the mood like that? It was just a bit of roleplaying I thought you might enjoy."

Unsurprised by her change in demeanor, Georgius said "I would prefer that you behave like you truly are."

"Oh. Well, why didn't you just say so?" She said cheerfully, and her hands moved up to assist the knight in disrobing her so that the fun could get started. However, his hands stayed where they were, and she was unable to move them.

"You misunderstand. When I asked why you are doing this, I didn't only mean just now." He said. "Why are you pursuing me like this? We barely even know each other."

Kirche blinked in confusion. "Have you truly not caught on by now? Well, I suppose you are not too perceptive in these matters." She said as she put hand to her chest and looked him in the eyes. "You see Georgius, my Runic name is the Ardent, and your actions have truly set a fire in my heart. Your strength, your deeds, and your nobility have ignited a passion in me which I cannot ignore. My handsome, brave knight, I have fallen in love with you."

The man was silent for a long moment before he released her shoulders with a sigh. "I don't believe that you know what love is."

Kirche was so surprised by this response that she actually flinched back from the man. "How, how can you possibly say something like that?"

"You seem to be entirely focused on having carnal relations with me. That's lust, not love. Besides which, in spite of myself I have heard certain… things about you."

Kirche let out a huff at this and crossed her arms under her chest. "Oh, I see. You think I'm spoiled goods." The red head was always the first to admit that she been with a number of the boys at the Academy, and the passion which had drawn her to each of them always died down after a relatively short time. She was not ashamed of it; Love was meant to be passionate, and when there was no passion left it was time to move on. Of course, this was at odds with the more conservative mindset that pervaded over Tristain. She leaned forward, framing her breasts as she did so. "Well, don't worry about that. I've been called all sorts of things because I don't let others tell me what to do with my passion. And I assure you that whatever I may lack in 'purity' I more than make up for in experience."

Georgius was silent for a long moment before he said "You're missing the point. Love isn't meant to be something so temporary . By giving yourself physically to others so readily, you cheapen one of the most precious things you can give to another person."

The red head frowned, her annoyance with the situation starting to get to her. "Please don't tell me you have already been influenced by your master's prudish nature already. This entire nation is woefully repressed."

"This is a belief I have held for a long time. And regardless of how you may feel for me, I will only give myself to a woman I truly love, and I do not love you Kirche."

"But-" She started.

"But nothing." Geogrius interrupted, his features firm. "This is not going to happen tonight, and barring any unforeseen events or personality changes on either of our parts, I don't believe that this will ever happen."

Kirche was silent and a little stunned for a long while, trying to process what she had just been told. She had never been rejected before. Sure, some of the boys back at the Academy had tried to take a similar moral high ground in response to her advances, but they had all just been trying to keep face in public in the end. However, the Germanian was nothing if not good at reading men, and Georgius appeared to actually have the conviction to stand by what he said. The man truly was a knight out of a story book.

And that made a somewhat darker part of Kirche really want to find out what it would take to change his mind. "So… you're saying I have a chance."

The man face palmed. "Oh Lord, what I wouldn't give for a distraction right now."

A thunderous explosion answered his prayer

--------------------​

Given the circumstances of the day, Tabitha had resolved to sleep lightly that night. It turned out to be a good decision, as not long into the night the sound of a massive blast reached the wagon she had been dozing on. She snapped to attention and her staff flew into her hand, but after a moment she realized that the sound was too far away to have come from anywhere near the merchant caravan. She stood in her seat and quickly scanned around, and in short order she saw it: a light over a hill to the west, and from it smoke starting to rise into the night sky.

A town was in that direction, whose name escaped her at the moment. A frown crossed her face. Was this connected to the blockages that had slowed them down, so that they'd be here? But then why were they attacking the nearby town rather than the caravan? Maybe it was just a coincidence. After a moment's though Tabitha realized how unlikely that sounded and climbed down from the wagon and started making her way westward.

Several of the merchants and caravan folk had also noticed and the makeshift camp was starting to stir. Several of the caravan's normal guards had already taken position on the perimeter near the hill. The looked at each other nervously, not sure if they should stay and protect their charge or to be more proactive and investigate. The decision was taken away from them when that woman who came with Georgius and Louise stormed up to the group. "Hold your post here. This caravan doesn't move until I say it does."

"Uh, Dame, I don't think that you have the author-" The guard cut himself off at the scowl the woman gave him. Tabitha was well aware that the woman in question could be none other than Captain Agnès of the Royal Musketeers (the musket slung across her back was a bit of a giveaway), so it wasn't surprising than she had the force of personality to command these men. The woman then walked past them and up the hill.

Tabitha followed discretely, slipping past the guards without much effort. However, she didn't get far before the older woman noticed and turned towards her and gave another scowl. "Get back to the wagons. It's not safe out here and I'm not going to be held responsible of something happens to you."

Tabitha, however, was made out of tougher stuff then the guards they just passed, and was thus unaffected by the woman's expression. "No authority." She said calmly, and without missing a beat she walked right past the now surprised captain to reach the top of the hill.

As she looked out, she saw the town a short distance away burning. The farmlands that had stretched out before the caravan as it left the forest likely belonged to a number of farmers which frequented this village. It was fairly small all things considered, so each building was likely valuable, and the flames were starting to spread. As she watched there was a sudden burst of fire and another building caught ablaze. The blue haired girl gave a wave of her staff and muttered a few words, and in a moment a lens of air appeared before her. Looking through she could see a number of people running around. Some looked to be panicking and screaming, others appeared to be trying to put out the fires. These were most likely the villagers, but there were also others…

"Bandits." Tabitha said flatly, not terribly surprised by the situation. There were several that were clearly burning, attacking and looting anything in sight. At least one was a mage of some sort as she saw him cast a fire spell at a new building.

Tabitha heard a grunt next to her, and looked to see that Agnès had shifted her attention from herself to the town. "So, is this what they were planning? But why? If they were really after us why would they hit a nearby town and put us all on guard? Besides which, this close to a main road leading to the capital they have to know it won't go unanswered."

Tabitha did not respond to this, but she silently agreed with the other woman's assessment. She had resolved herself not to get involved with whatever was going on, but something was making her uncomfortable . She didn't like being in the middle of an operation she knew nothing about, and the uncertainty of the situation was making her tense.

Before she could do anything about this though, there was a sudden rush of air behind her. Tabitha spun, only to find Georgius now standing with the two of them on the top of the hill, a look of concern on his face as he hurriedly buckled his breastplate on. "What is happening?" He asked.

For a moment Tabitha was surprised by how suddenly he appeared behind her before she remember that while the man had never shown any inclination to being stealthy, he was also very fast. "Bandits." She replied, gesturing to the burning buildings.

The man looked at the village for a moment before he nodded and started to move forward. However, Agnès's arm shot out in front of him. "Where do you think you're going?"

Georgius looked at her confused. "To help. What else would I possibly be doing?"

The captain glanced at Tabitha for a moment before she moved in close and whispered something that the blue haired girl couldn't hear. It wasn't hard to guess however; Georgius and his master were on some kind of mission, and going into the town could jeopardize it. It was a fact that the man did not seem to take well as a frown crossed his face. "I understand, but I am not going to stand by while people are dying."

"And you think I want to?" The woman replied, her stance rigid. "We don't get to do what we want even if-"

Agnès was interrupted when a voice called out from behind them. "Georgius!" The group turned to find Louise running up to them, throwing her cloak over her shoulders as she did so. "What's happening? Are we under attack?"

"No, but this village is." The man said, and the pink haired girl saw as she reached them. The man continued. "I was about to intervene-"

"Which is something we can't afford to do!" Agnès snapped.

The man looked his eyes hard. "I refuse to put an object ahead of human lives, no matter what importance it may have."

"But- but we can't just-!" Louise started to say, but Georgius put his finger to her lips before she could continue.

"Louise," he said, softer than he had spoken before. "This is the reason I chose to become a soldier, to protect those who could not protect themselves. Please don't make me chose between that and my fealty to you."

Louise looked at him helplessly. Then after a moment's pause, she said quietly "You know what you're doing, right?"

He gave her a smile. "Of course." He said, and turned to take off.

"Wait." Georgius stopped in his tracks and turned to Tabitha, confused why she had spoken up. The girl paused, still not entirely sure of the situation, but a certain idea was starting to form in her head. A reason for why there was something so obvious going on next to the caravan they were traveling with. "Trap." She said simply.

As he looked back at her (as did the other two), the man thought about this for a long moment. He then gave a small movement of his shoulders. "Perhaps."

Tabitha frowned. He acknowledged the possibility, but was still going to do it anyway? "Foolish." She said.

To this the man simply smiled. "Never." He said, and with that he sprinted towards the burning village.

Tabitha would think about that exchange for some time.

--------------------​

Jacque was a simple bandit who liked the simple things in life. Smashing things, burning things, the occasional murder or two. Such as it was, things were looking up for him with this latest job that Reynard had gotten. He didn't know much about the details (or even bothered with the name of the town for that matter) and he didn't much care. So long as he got to plunder and have some fun while doing it, it didn't matter much to him what the overall plan was.

The man walked out of the home he had just finished ransacking, into the orange red glow of the street. Most of the light was being provided by the handful of buildings Galad had torched when they first got here, and that light was steadily growing as it spread to other structures. The whole thing seemed almost too easy, but then again it wasn't like the paltry few guards they had here could have done anything in the face of Reynard and Galad.

The bandit smirked as he hefted the bag of coins he had found in the house. Before they had been dragged off with the others, the family it had belonged to told him where it was, begging him to take it in exchange for not burning their home to the ground. As he tucked the bag onto his belt, he calmly strolled over to nearby cart, looking left and right to see if anyone was watching. When he found the coast clear, he picked up one of the torches in the back, setting it alight with some flint.

Unfortunately for the family, they hadn't realized that Jacques was a bastard and he loved it.

However, as Jacque pulled his arm back to let the torch fly, something stopped him. Namely, an armored fist colliding with the side of his head. It hit with such for that the man reeled through the air for several feet before collapsing on the ground in a heap. Georgius stood over him with a scowl on his face, but said nothing. It was then Derflinger opted to fill the void. "Oy partner, what was that for?"

The man turned his attention to the blade at his hip. "These men are ravaging the town. I should think that my desire to stop them is obvious." Such as it was, he was not entirely sure if he had just killed the man or simply incapacitated him. Strong blows to the head tended to have unreliable effects, ranging anywhere from simply being knocked out to bleeding in the brain.

"No, not that!" The sword said. "I mean why did you just punch him? I'm raring to go over here!"

Georgius had to suppress a sigh at this, but as he spotted two more bandits running towards him, he nevertheless drew the weapon. Once again he felt himself invigorated with power and a faint light glowed from beneath his gauntlet. Not giving his assailants time to close the rest of the distance, he launched himself forward. Neither of the men could react fast enough to Georgius's speed, and before they knew it he was already on them. His sword lashed out and found their necks, and the two crumpled.

Derflinger let out a hum. "Not bad… but why'd you use my dull side?"

The knight didn't answer for a long moment, looking down at the twitching but still mostly alive men on the ground. Picking his pace, he moved deeper into the burning town. "I dislike killing." He said simply. In truth, this was the first time that his abilities so outclassed his opponents that he actually had that option. He wouldn't hesitate to use lethal force if he had to, but for now it should be enough to incapacitate his opponents and deal with them later.

He moved quickly, covering as much ground as he could to get to the various burning buildings to see if anyone was left alive that could be saved. In most cases he was sad to find that it was not the case; while the majority of the burning buildings were devoid of people, a few contained the bodies of those who were in the way of the bandits, most guards if their armored bodies were any indication. As he ran into more of the men as he made his search, he incapacitated them like he had the others, though if he was being honest with himself, he may not have taken as much care to keep their bones from shattering as he could have.

Just as he was starting to fear that the town was already naught but a graveyard, he heard a cry from coming from a street over . He dashed quickly between buildings to find a trio of men walking down the street, the leader dragging a crying young boy by the wrist. The child was struggling quite a bit, much to the annoyance of the other two men. "Seriously, why the hell are we even bothering with the little shit?" one of them said.

"Reynard said to bring any stragglers we find to the town square." The one in the lead said, sounding none too happy himself. "I don't get it, but far be it from me to argue with the mage. Remember what happened to Galin when he got a little too stubborn?"

"Yeah, but-" It was at this point that one of them men noticed Georgius moving towards them at a very high speed. "What the- shit!" He yelled as he attempted to draw his ax e from his belt and moved between the knight and lead bandit, the knight's actually target. Georgius frowned as he was forced to slow and change direction, moving around the side to find a better angel to get to the child. Unfortunately, the other bandit drew a sword and charged him from behind, forcing Georgius to deal with that situation first.

Moving at a speed the man couldn't keep up with, Georgius spun in place and parried the lunge , striking out with his foot so that the man stumbled and over extended himself. As he was off balance, the knight grabbed onto the back of his shirt and simply hurled the bandit at his axe wielding compatriot, who was moving to help. The strength of the throw surprised even Georgius, as the first man crashed into the second with a loud crunch before both flew back and smashed into a cart several meters away.

With that he turned his attention to the remaining bandit, who had seen how quickly the other two were dispatched and was now holding a knife the child's throat, he eyes wide with sudden panic. Georgius was silent for a long moment before he said "Surrender and release the child, and I swear that you shall not come to harm."

The bandit simply snorted at this. "Yeah right, you think I don't know that the gallows are the only place I'm going if I turn myself in? Here's my counter offer, you drop your sword and I won't paint the street red with this kid's blood."

Georgius did not respond but his grip on Derflinger tightened. It looks like I will have to kill after all, he thought grimly to himself. He would not risk the child's life. Georgius readied himself to end his first life since gaining his second…

Suddenly there was a sharp crack in the air and the man's head reeled to the side. Georgius briefly saw a splatter of blood from the side of the bandit's head before he feel back. He rushed forward to ensure the safety of the crying child, but he didn't need to have bothered; the man most definitely had a hole through his skull.

The knight heard footsteps off to the side, and as he turned he was greeted by the sight of Captain Agnès, a grim expression on her face and that strange wood and metal object she had been carrying in her hands, smoke pouring from the barrel. A number of questions came to mind at this sight, but Georgius settled on "Captain Agnès! What- did you do this?"

The woman arched an eyebrow and glanced down at the object she was holding before looking back up at him. "Unless you also happen to have a guardian angel who's also a marksman, I think that's a safe assumption." She said dryly before she slung the item back onto her back. "And before you ask why, it's not like I could call myself a Chevalier if I let you handle this mess for me. Let's both hope that we're not making a huge mistake."

Georgius was silent for a moment before he nodded, though he held back a smile. He got the impression that Agnès would get grumpy at that. "Thank you. And the, ah, item?"

"Your master's looking after it." Agnès remarked as she walked forward and drew her own blade. "Now let's handle this quickly. Oh, and if we find the bastard who lit all these fires, he's mine, got it?"

Georgius made a noise of agreement, though he spared another glance at what he had to assume was a weapon on her back. He then turned back to the child and knelt down, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I need you to be very brave for me. Do you know where your parents are?"

The boy looked at Georgius cautiously for a moment before he shook his head. "N-no."

"Then I'm going to need you to stay with me for a little while," He said. "It's not safe he with all the bandits wandering around and all the burning buildings. Just be sure to hide when I tell you to, understand?" The boy was hesitant, but after seeing his lack of options the child nodded, his hand latching on to Georgius's cloak. The knight didn't like the idea of bringing a child into potential danger, but what else could he do? He turned back to the captain and said "I heard one of the bandits saying that they were rounding up the villagers in the town square, but for what I cannot be certain."

"Well then, what are we waiting around here for?" Agnès said and the two of them moved out.

The knight and the captain found themselves peering around the corner of a building, looking at the mass of people huddled inside the town square. It was easy to tell which ones were the villagers and which were the bandits, as the former were mostly huddled on the ground and the latter were standing over them armed with weaponry. Georgius tried to single out a leader among the group but he couldn't find anyone who looked more important than anyone else. After a few moments of analyzing the situation, Agnès said "Well, you got a plan? Because right now I'm looking at about 20 bandits with over 150 potential hostages."

"I was planning on walking out there and demanding their surrender." The man replied simply.

Agnès started at him blankly for a long moment before she said incredulously "You're… completely serious about that." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "You know, even ignoring the less than stellar odds, any normal man in your position would have said something to the effect of 'defeat them all single handedly' rather than stupidly trying to get them to surrender."

"All men deserve a chance. It is good to offer it whenever possible." Georgius replied. "And quite simply, we don't have time for a more elaborate plan. The town is burning and soon even this location will not be safe. Whatever they are going to do with these innocent people they are going to do it soon."

She arched an eyebrow. "You think you can take them all?"

"Yes."

Agnès gave a small snort at this, but said "Alright, fine. Go do your knight in shining armor thing. And while you have everyone's attention, I'm going to make sure that no one tries make a repeat of our last hostage situation. Or try to leave the party before it's over."

Georgius nodded at her and told the boy following them to go hide. As he did so, Georgius then, true to his word, walked out from around the corner and towards the town square. He didn't make it far before he was noticed; the bandits nearest to him let out a shout of surprise and very quickly the nearest bunch had broken off from the rest of the group to crowd before him, weapons at the ready. One of them leered, saying "Oy, what do we have here? And here I thought we had killed all the pathetic excuses for guards."

Undaunted, Georgius said "I am going to give you this one chance: surrender and come peacefully."

There was a moment of silence before they burst out in laughter, obviously finding the man's offer absurd. Georgius gave a small sigh at this. He wasn't naïve; he knew that this was by far the most likely response he was going to get before he even asked. Still, he refused to believe that offering such a mercy was useless, even if it was dismissed. Then through the laughter, another voice emerged. "Are you for real?" A man walked forward from behind the rest, and Georgius noted that he was dressed somewhat better than the rest, dressed with a fine jacket and slacks. He peered around the rest of the men to get a better look at the knight in front of him. "Just who are you, anyway?"

"I am Georgius de Lydda, and I will not let you bring any more harm to this village or its people."

The man gave a nonplused hum. "Huh. Well, good luck with that." He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Kill him."

As one the men rushed forward, their weapons drawn and lunging towards Georgius. As the first man drew in range the knight simply parried the man's weapon upward with such force that it left his body exposed, and a crushing punch with his free hand to the bandit's solar plexus caused him to crumple. The next man came in from the side with a sword stab, but Georgius turned his body so that the strike glanced off his breastplate before his foot lashed out and kicked the man back, causing him to tumble into the men behind him. Another bandit swiped at his head, but he rolled back, and as he sprang to his feet three swordsmen were attacking him from all angles.

Back in his first life this may have been a little problematic, but now he had no trouble at all keeping up. His speed and skill far outclassed his opponents, and he blocked every strike launched at him. Soon one of the men slipped up and got too close, allowing Georgius to strike him in the head with the side of his blade, instantly knocking him out. He followed this by slicing at the next man's legs as he was distracted, and kicking him in the head as he fell to the ground. The third man rushed at him with a rising strike from the ground, but Georgius blocked it and simply smashed his own head into the other man's while their swords were locked.

The rest of the bandits started to circle him, but they moved more cautiously. They looked nervously at each other, each not wanting to be the first. "What hell is wrong with you?!" The man in the coat yelled at them, anger clear in his voice. "This is pathetic! He's just one man, so hurry up and kill him!"

Again the bandits assaulted him, and again it proved useless. Weapons were sundered, bones were shattered, and men continued to fall before the knight. Georgius's care to not kill any of the men resulted in him taking a glancing blow or two, but it was nothing he couldn't shrug off. As their numbers started to dwindle, the bandits' panic grew. The one in charge ordered more of them to swarm Georgius, but only some obeyed. Others were overcome with fear and ran, trying to get away from the man who was cutting them down like nothing. Georgius suspected that a worst fate lay for those who were trying to flee but he didn't have time to think about that.

It wasn't long before the knight dispatched all but one of the bandits attacking him, and the man looked terrified to be standing there alone. Georgius took a step forward, and in response the man dropped his spear, putting his hands up in surrender. Georgius grunted and was about to say something… but then his eyes widened as he looked past him. The knight lunged forward at the bandit who screamed in response, but rather than attacking him Georgius grabbed him and threw him to the side, just before the gout of flame engulfed him.

Georgius winced as the heat of the flames washed over him, but his Faith left him unscathed. As soon as it came the fire vanished and he was left with the sight of the man in the fine coat pointing a wand at him, a look of disbelief on his face. "What?! How?!"

"I'm a little confused myself," Derflinger spoke up. "I thought I was the only one who could do something like that…"

Georgius ignored his sword and glared at the mage. "You tried to kill your own ally to get to me."

"Fat lot of good it did!" The man yelled back. "Bah, it doesn't matter. I don't know how you survived that, but I won't lose to some peasant with a sword. I've killed dozens of men like you, razed towns to the ground, and I'll be dead before-"

That was as far as he got before a familiar crack filled the air and the man's head snapped to the side before he crumpled to the ground. For the second time that night Georgius looked off to the side to find Agnès standing nearby, though this time she had a bloody sword in one hand and what looked to be a small version of the weapon on her back in the other, its barrel smoking. He also noticed the unmoving body of the man he had just saved at her feet. He sighed and gave her a look, to which she replied "What? I said he was mine, so don't get your pride all hurt just because I stole your victory."

Georgius was about to correct her in regards as to why he was upset when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw another man standing on a nearby rooftop, this one with an overcoat draped over his shoulders and a three point hat on his head. He was glaring at Agnès with murder in his eyes and Georgius could see the man reaching for a wand. "Agnès! Look out!" He yelled as he moved, the world blurring as he closed the distance between them.

"Partner, use me!" Derflinger yelled out. Georgius wasn't quite sure why the sword thought that would help, but he decided to trust it. The knight just barely managed to place himself in in front of Agnès and raise the sword in front of him before the man finished his chant, and lightning lanced toward them. Georgius braced himself, but rather than the usual sensation he felt when he was being assaulted by magic, he felt a strange sort of pull from the sword in his hands. The lighting arced straight into the blade, which simply absorbed it like a sponge gaining water. When the attack stopped the blade glowed briefly for a moment before it subsided. "See?" The sword said smugly. "Told you I could."

"How?!" The man yelled from his perch on high. "How did one commoner defeat my entire company? How can you survive spells so easily?! What are you?!"

Georgius raised his sword and pointed it at the man, his cape flowing out behind him as he did so. "I am the man that will put an end to the senseless violence you have brought upon this village. I give you this one chance to do what is right, and to surrender and face justice."

"You dare insult me with such an imbecilic demand?!" The man screamed back. "I will make you pay for this! The last thought that will go through your head is that you wished you had begged Reynard the Tempest for mercy you-"

That was as far as he got, for at that moment Georgius felt something settle on his shoulder, and he saw the long barrel of Agnès's larger weapon pop up in the side of his vision. With a crack there was a burst of fire and smoke from the barrel and Reynard screamed in pain, doubling over. He lost his footing and tumbled, falling off the front of the building and slamming into the ground with a crash.

Georgius slowly turned his head around to give Agnès a flat look, who gave him an equally flat look in response. "I'm not apologizing." She said.

The man sighed and started walking forward, wanting to see if the man lived or not. He made a few reassuring gestures to the townsfolk (who regarded him with equal parts concern and awe), as he moved, and as he got closer he found Reynard to still be moving, crawling desperately towards where his wand had dropped. "Just raid the town he said…" he muttered weakly as he pulled himself forward. "Pack all the people together before you leave he said. Should have known… money was too good…"

That statement worried Georgius. When he got close enough he pulled Reynard to his feet and slammed him against a wall. Given the growing blood stain that was covering his abdomen, it was as much to keep him standing as it was to intimidate him. "Who are you talking about? What money?"

Reynard's eyes slid in and out of focus before they locked onto Georgius's face, and a hateful sneer formed on his lips. "He knew… That bastard knew you'd be here, didn't he?! That bastard set me up!"

"Who?" Georgius demanded, but a sinking feeling in his gut told him that he already knew.

Vehemently, Reynard uttered "Fouquet!"

-------------------​

Fouquet paused for a long moment, looking at the smoke emanating from the glow over the hill. She really didn't have time to be wasting on such things, but she couldn't help the way her gut twisted at the thought of what was probably happening in that village at the moment. She had told Reynard to keep the damage and body count to a minimum, but she doubted that everyone there was going to be fine. But she needed to keep that damn familiar busy if she wanted to get to the Staff of Destruction, so she had used him regardless.

This is what I've come to, she thought to herself. I've started using commoners as pawns. Just like the nobility. She shook her head at that thought. No, it wasn't the same. She was only doing it because Tiffa was at risk. She was forced to do it to keep the ones she loved safe. She wasn't responsible.

And maybe if she kept telling herself that, she might actually start to believe.

She suppressed a sigh and turned, moving somewhat stiffly back into the caravan camp. The disguise she wore was not the best she had ever made, she had to admit. She was wrapped in a heavy cloth robe with padding around the shoulders and gut, giving her the appearance of a rather paunchy male merchant so long as she kept her hood up. It was difficult to move around in and it was as hot as hell , but it was the best she could do on such short notice. Even with all the landslides she had slowed the caravan down with, she still had barely enough time to contact Reynard, set her contingencies, and get into position. She was just lucky that she was able to procure a choker that emulated the voice altering effect that her previous robes had, even if it wasn't quite the same (though that in itself might be helpful).

Regardless, everything was going more or less as planned. Even with how little she had interacted with him she could tell that Georgius would be unable to stand by while innocent lives were at risk, and she had mad e special mention to Reynard to cluster them together into one big target. The familiar had taken bait and had left the camp, along with that Musketeer it would seem. All of the guards and even the Envoy mages were focusing their attention on the nearby skirmish. Now all Fouquet had to do was find the bloody staff. Normally this would be akin to finding a needle in a haystack; there were about twenty wagons in this caravan, and she was certain that she wouldn't have time to check every last one for which the box hiding in. However, she did have an idea of where to start looking. It may have in fact just been a coincidence that the Vallière and her familiar were traveling with the Envoy like they said, but it seemed farm more likely that the pair had been contracted in secret to keep the staff safe given their last performance. So, since Georgius was doing other things at the moment, that meant the best place to start look for the staff…

Would be to look for his master, Fouquet thought to herself, and a smirk came over her face as she spotted the head of wavy pink hair some distance away. The girl was standing near the back of a wagon located near the tail end of the caravan. She fidgeted nervously, glancing towards the red haze coming over the hill every so often. Fouquet casually walked over to the wagon and made to move past the girl and said "Excuse me, I need to get something from here."

"No!" The Vallière said, darting between Fouquet and the wagon. "I mean, uh, you can't go back there!"

Affecting a tone of surprise, the thief replied "What? Why not? I want to get a sword to defend myself in case those bandits move on to us when they are finished plundering." She shifted about in a way that made her seem nervous but also kept her face in the darkness.

"Well, you can't." The girl said, not really bothering to say why. A moment later she said "Besides which I don't think there are any weapons in this wagon anyway, so off with you."

"Oh dear," Fouquet said, shifting from side to side. "That's not good. Maybe I should just go and hide till they pass." She tilted her head. "How is it that you're so brave that you can stay here, knowing that brigands could descend upon us at any moment?"

The girl hummed and stuck her chin up. "A noble does not flee from danger, especially when they are in the middle of a-" She cut herself of before she said anymore and coughed awkwardly. "In any case, I am not worried. My familiar is handling the rabble as we speak."

In a moment of curiosity, the thief asked "Really? You have a lot of faith in him if you think that the man can deal with a whole band of brigands." In reality Fouquet fully expected Georgius to wipe out Reynard's little band, but she wanted to know what his master thought.

Louise looked back toward the town, her voice becoming distant. "He's… determined, among other things. He'll come back." She said, although she seemed to say that last part to convince herself. She was silent for a moment before she gave a start and turned back to the thief. As she spoke her voice was filled with suspicion. "Wait, how do you know that my familiar is a man?"

Oops, Fouquet thought, and with a smooth motion her wand slid out of her sleeve into her hand. With a flick of her wand, stone manacles sprung up from the ground and latched onto the Vallière's wrists, yanking the girl down onto her knees and plunging her hands into the earth. She tried to scream, but as soon as she was lower to the ground a stone hand erupted from in front of her and clasped itself around her mouth. The girl made desperate noises as she tried to free herself, but a full grown man couldn't hope to overcome those bonds, let alone a small 17 year old girl.

The Vallière looked up at Fouquet and her eyes widened as she realized who she had been talking to. The girl's eyes filled with tears and impotent rage as she struggled to no avail. The situation was almost nostalgic to the thief. Doesn't feel so good when you're on the other side of the wand, does it Noble? Fouquet thought to herself, remembering some of the harsher moments of her childhood, how she had been abused by those with power. However, the feeling of smugness dissipated when she remembered how poor of a mage the girl in front of her was regarded as.

There was a moment as she looked down at the pink haired girl and wondered if it would be best if she just killed her now to get rid of any potential headaches in the future… but she quickly dismissed that thought. The last thing she wanted was a vengeful Georgius tracking her down across the entire continent. Instead she gave a flick of her wand and the earth moved, pushing the girl underneath the wagon. Fouquet moved forward and started to shift through the pile of goods on the wagon, casting glances about to see if anyone was coming close. In short order she found the large black case she was looking for and let out a pleased grunt. She then wasted no time wrapping it back up in cloth she had found it in and stealthily slipped out of the encampment along on of her planned escape routes, heading back towards Ardennes Forest.

Once she knew she was far enough away that the dark of night would make it hard to see her, she broke out into a run. Movement was difficult in her outfit, and she was already starting to feel tired but she didn't dare let herself stop. She kept up her run until she was at least a few hundred meters away, slowing as she reached a step hill. Her leg s felt weak, but she forced herself to keep going until she was half way up the side, finally coming to a stop. As she caught her breath she took moment to look over the case in her arms.

Like the last time, the thing was sealed tight, and a quick pass with her wand confirmed that it was enchanted with a number of spells. She recognized some earth enchantments to make the case harder to break into, but there were also fire and air elements woven in as well, their purpose unknown to her. They're probably traps, she thought grimly. She was not looking forward to trying to get it open

Suddenly, some distance behind her there was a great crash. She looked up and saw a small plume of dirt rise into the air between her and the caravan, framed by the light coming from the wagons. She grit her teeth at this. Looks like they figured out which way I went after all, she thought. She had picked this route through the field for a reason, that being that she had already filled the length of it with carefully concealed pitfalls for anyone who tried to follow her. If I'm lucky, it's just be one of the caravan guards-

As soon as she thought this, there was a second plume of dirt from a pitfall collapsing in on itself. And that was soon followed by a third. There was only one reason they would be tripped so fast. But I'm unlucky, so of course it's him, she thought, dread forming into a ball in her stomach. She knew full well how fast that familiar was, so she knew that her traps wouldn't slow him down enough for her to escape. Fortunately, she had prepared for this too.

She placed the case under her free arm and cast out her wand, and from the top of the hill behind her several boulders were hurled through the air at where she thought he was, launched as pillars of earth suddenly rose up and pushed them into the air. Unlike her attacks the first time they fought, these boulders were solid slabs of stone and rock, so she doubted that the man would be able to simply shrug them off.

Of course, that required her to actually hit the man with them, and that was a tricky prospect at night against a target that can move faster than any man rightfully should. She used her pitfall traps as a guide, watching where they were triggered and firing where she thought he would be. However, no matter how many she launched, the man still got closer and closer. After a minute he was close enough that she could see him, a shadow of a figure dashing from side to side, climbing out of her pits almost as soon as he fell into them. All too soon Fouquet ran out of boulders to throw, and that infuriating man cleared the last hole. She fought down her terror as he reached the base of the hill and started to charge up at her, and she used her final ace.

She whipped out her wand arm gave a great cry of effort. The top half of the large hill simply dissolved and started to flow downward towards her enemy, picking up into a massive wave which swept around her. Even with his great speed, the man had no time or room to dodge, and so the torrent of dirt slammed into him, bring him to a halt. Fouquet refocused the entirety of the landslide at him, pointing all of the dirt, rock and mud at the knight and then letting gravity and mass do the rest of the work. She was breathing hard as she held her focus on the man, who still managed to hold his ground, his sword planted in the slope in front of him. Given what she had seen of him she wasn't too surprised by this, but even Georgius would have to succumb to this onslaught. Any second now he would lose his footing and-

Her eyes went wide as she saw him take a step forward though the landslide. And then he took another step. And then another. "No," She whispered in horror before she screamed at him. "No! Why! Won't! You! FALL!?" And still the man inched closed, refusing to give in to the wave she threw at him. For a moment, her will wavered, despair filling as she found herself facing some kind of unstoppable juggernaut.

However, at that moment, a memory came to the front of her mind. A young blonde woman, smiling and playing with children, hidden away from the world in a beautiful forest. No! Fouquet screamed in her mind. I don't care what you are! I don't care what I have to do! I won't let anyone hurt Tiffania and the children! Not because of this stupid, bloody sta-! Suddenly, an idea came to her and she glanced down at the box held under her arm. Oh what the hell, she thought. Before she could reconsider, she tossed the box into the wave of dirt flowing around her and aimed it straight at Georgius.

Focused as the man was at trying to fight the landslide, he didn't notice the box until it was too late. It slammed into his face with a sickening crack and his head reeled back. Finally, the man lost his balance and caved under the force of the dirt flowing over him, tumbling back down the hill. Fouquet didn't let up, even as he feel to the bottom of the hill she poured more dirt in top of him. She didn't try to actually crush him with it, rather she compressed the dirt on top of him, forming denser and heaver stones.

Eventually her willpower started to fade and she had to let up, breathing hard for a few moments. She stumbled awkwardly down the slope to the base of the hill, where another smaller hill made of stone now sat. She slipped down to the bottom and looked about, trying to find where that damn box had settled. She didn't immediately see it amid the top layer of rubble, and she started to worry she'd have to dig for it. She really didn't want to run the risk in case-

As if summoned by her fears, some of the rock exploded forth, and a sword slashed at her legs. It was only her reflexes powered by sheer terror that she managed to jump back out of range, a scream coming from her throat as she tumbled to the ground. She scrambled back, trying to bring her wand to bear to stop him… and stopped. In front of her she saw Georgius pinned to the ground by all the rock on top of him, only his head and his sword arm to the shoulder exposed to the air. The man grunted and struggled to get free, but he couldn't.

Fouquet paused for a moment before a bitter chuckle escaped her lips. "Of course dropping a hill on you didn't kill you. Why would I have ever thought otherwise?" She said as she looked at him. At this point she wasn't sure if any amount of rock would be enough to kill him, and with his sword arm free she didn't like her chances of getting close enough to kill him that way. However, just as she wondered what the hell to do next, a splash of dirty white a few feet above him caught her eye, and her eyes widened as she saw what it was: The case for the Staff of Destruction. The man's movement earlier must have uncovered it.

With a careful gesture of her wand (and an even more careful eye on the trapped knight), she commanded the dirt to launch the box at her, and she caught it in her arms. When she caught it though, she let out a gasp of surprise as her hand brushed the latch and it immediately popped open, with no fuss and no spells suddenly going off. It took her a moment to realize why, and this time she let out a heartier laugh. "Ahahahaha! Your so called magic resistance actually removed the protective enchantments! Because I hit you in the face with it! Ahahahaha!" She yelled at the man, and she had to wipe tears out of her eyes at the shear absurdity of it all. Her luck was truly a fickle thing when this familiar was involved. She set the box down and flicked open the lid, intent on just taking the much easier to carry contents with her…

And froze when she saw what the box actually contained. "…What the hell?" She said as she reached down.

-------------------​

Osmund woke up with a start, a slight tingling sensation at the back of his mind. Something had happened, but he wasn't sure what. The old man was not willing to sufferer another incident like the one he had at the hands of Fouquet, so he threw himself out of his large canvas bed and onto his feet, ignoring his old tired bones as he did so. He grabbed his staff from the wall and walked to a particular alcove in the headmaster quarters, one which contained a number of arcane instruments and objects. To most this would have looked to be little more than clutter, but in reality it was a very advanced monitoring systems of the Academy's various wards and defenses.

However, after a few moments of inspection Osmund found that there was nothing amiss. He frowned, but he could find no reason why he would have woken. The tingling sensation was fading, and achingly familiar. But it wasn't one of the wards, what was it? Come on Osmund, think. Maybe it's one of your older wards…

Then it occurred to him. The case holding the Staff of Destruction. What if it had been opened? He had set the wards on that box a very long time ago after all, so he had probably forgotten what the trigger (if any) was supposed to be if the container was ever breached. But if that was the case, what did it mean? The Envoy must have reached the capital by now, so it should be sitting safely in the Royal Vaults.

The Headmasters frowned turned into a more worried expression, but he let the tension bleed out of him. He slowly padded across the cold stone floor before reaching a window, throwing open the shutters to see the moonlit landscape folding out before him towards the capital. He peered out into the night as if he could see what was happening, but it was of course a foolish gesture; His eyesight wasn't even very good these days. Could it be Fouquet trying to steal it again? He thought. More than he liked to admit, the thought of the Crown losing the Staff so soon after they got it made him feel oddly vindicated, but he would still rather that not be the case. It seemed more likely that the Royals simply moved it to another case, but that begged the question of why. Just why had they been so insistent on getting the damn thing?

He stared out until he felt something scamper across his knuckles. He looked down to find his mouse ChuChu on his hand, looking up at him with concern. Osmund couldn't help but give a small chuckle to himself as he pet the small creature. "Sorry old friend. I didn't mean to wake you with my worries. Just an old man troubled by what the future holds." ChuChu let out a squeak and curled up on hand, trying to be comforting.

Osmund sighed and looked back out over the hills and forests, feeling very tired and very old. His mind inevitably drifted back to past, back to the man he hoped he hadn't failed. Then again he wasn't sure what the strange man would have thought about the fact that Osmund had kept his weapon. There Osmund had been, a then young mage foolishly trying to fight a two headed dragon when the man in strange garb ran screaming out of the trees to attack the beast. The creature swung at him with one of its claws, but then there was a sudden flash of light and sound of thunder, and the next thing Osmund knew that the dragon was dead, it's chest completely destroyed.

However, the man himself had also been struck, and his weapon was broken. He did not scream in pain or shout, he merely looked bewildered at his broken weapon and the massive wound on his chest from which his lifeblood flowed. Osmund rushed over to help, but he was no healer, and the man was far too wounded for basic care. It was then the man did something which confused him to this very day.

He laughed.

The man began laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world, even as his breath grew short and he coughed up blood. He said something to Osmund in a language he did not understand, but he seemed… relieved. Happy even. The man had died with a smile on his face. There was not much else for Osmund to do but to bury the body and keep the Staff of Destruction for safe keeping.

A small hum escaped the old man's throat as he thought about the name he gave the weapon. It wasn't actually a staff to be sure, but he had named it as such to keep people from asking about it too much. Powerful staffs were certainly not unheard of after all.

However, now that he thought about it, Spear of Destruction wasn't such a bad name either.

--------------------​

Trapped as he was underneath an untold amount of weight, Georgius could only watch as Fouquet straightened up, the man holding in his hands what the box he had been protecting contained. In each of his hands he now gripped one half of a spear. The haft was made out of simple wood, broken in about the middle. An elongated leaf shape of iron made the head of the weapon. It was a spear.

The Spear.

THAT Spear.

He had never seen that spear before, but some deep part of him, the part that was blessed by God, knew what it was. He had no idea how it could have possibly gotten to this land, and yet here it was before him. "No…" he whispered to himself.

"This… isn't a staff." Fouquet said flatly as he looked at the pieces of the weapon he held in his hands and glanced back into the box he had just opened. He then looked over at Georgius, his tone threatening. "Is this some kind of trick?"

The knight however was still too stunned to respond properly. "How… I don't…"

After a moment the man sighed. "Great, just great. Best case scenario is that I bring this back and hope that it's actually worth something."

"No!" Georgius shouted, snapping the man's attention back to him. "I don't know what your master wants it for, but you mustn't give it to him!" He didn't know if there was anything the mages of this land could do with a relic like that, but he was certain that he didn't want to find out.

Fouquet gave him an odd look at this. "Wait, why? Is it actually valuable? Do you know what it is?"

Georgius didn't say anymore, afraid of giving the man any more information on what he held. He struggled to free himself even harder, but the mass of rock on top of him barely moved. "Please, you must believe me! If it is used for ill there is no telling what harm could fall upon the world!"

Fouquet looked at him for a long moment before looking at the broken weapon in his hands. He then looked back up at Georgius. "Sorry, but if I've learned anything, it's that the world doesn't care about you. So, the world can handle its own problems. I have my own to look after." And with that, the man took off into the night, fleeing around the hill and back to the forest.

Georgius grit his teeth and reversed the sword in his hand, plunging Derflinger into the ground in front of him and attempting to drag himself out. Even pulling as hard as he could, it was slow work, and it was a many minutes before he finally managed to pry himself from the landslide that trapped him. He ran around the hill to see where Fouquet had gone, but of course by that point there was no sight of him. The knight knew that the odds of finding the thief now were almost none.

"Hey, partner," Derflinger said, his normal jovial tone now absent from his voice. "Just what was that spear? Even broken I could tell that weapon was something special. Something deep and powerful left its mark on that thing. Do you know what it is?"

"I… I think I do." Georgius said numbly. "It's from my homeland. It was just a normal spear until it…" he trailed of trying to think of how this could have happen?

How could he have just seen the Spear of Longinus? "Until it pierced the side of the Son of God." He completed.

Derflinger was silent for a long moment before he let out a low whistle. "Damn, I'm actually inclined to believe you. You have to be really something special to leave that kind of a mark just by bleeding on it. I mean when I-" He cut himself off suddenly and coughed. "Anyway, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know what I am going to do," Georgius said slowly, looking out over the moonlit fields. He then took a deep breath, and his grip on the sword tightened. "But I do know one thing."

"What's that?"

The knight looked up at the twin moons in the sky. He thought about his Master, the wondrous girl who gave him his second life with a power she had not yet realized. He thought about the weapon consecrated with his Lord's blood, now being delivered to hands unworthy. He thought about the religion of this land, so close yet so twisted and wrong compared to his own. He thought most of all of his uncertainty, of how he didn't know why he had been brought here, or what purpose God had in store for him… and how that uncertainty was no more.

"This is where I am supposed to be."

=====SoZ=====​