Also, Lousie might not be the most authentic source on the sordid details of the nobility's love life. After all "everybody knows" is not the same thing as "true".
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The Steep Path Ahead [Familiar of Zero AU]
- Thread starter shadenight123
- Start date
- Pronouns
- she/her
@Dimensionist I feel like you are completely ignoring the content of my posts and just raging at the wall. As I stated when you asked for more information, my argument was not that Saito should have been hyper-competent and done X plan, it's that choosing the option he did without considering any of the consequences or trying to think of an alternative was indicative of his character flaws. He did not make an informed decision in that situation, he did not do it to buy time, he made the decision the mercs baited him into choosing.
You decided to engage in moving goalposts instead of addressing these points, continually trying to argue that Saito made the best choice and there were no other real options. I am not interested in filling pages with your SV competence arguments. I supported my argument by supplying the rough outlines of a few other options because you couldn't be arsed to scroll back a page and actually read them. Calling me an idiot based off the summary of a post I made at 1 AM for your convenience was both shifting goalposts and needlessly inflammatory ad hominem, so I'm glad I fell asleep before you managed to finish posting. I'm sure there would have been shitposts galore on both sides if I had read that at 2 AM.
I agree the argument is dead at this point, and new chapters have been posted. Also, an interesting fact: when you click on someone's avatar, it shows you their gender! Why does nobody use this function?
You decided to engage in moving goalposts instead of addressing these points, continually trying to argue that Saito made the best choice and there were no other real options. I am not interested in filling pages with your SV competence arguments. I supported my argument by supplying the rough outlines of a few other options because you couldn't be arsed to scroll back a page and actually read them. Calling me an idiot based off the summary of a post I made at 1 AM for your convenience was both shifting goalposts and needlessly inflammatory ad hominem, so I'm glad I fell asleep before you managed to finish posting. I'm sure there would have been shitposts galore on both sides if I had read that at 2 AM.
I agree the argument is dead at this point, and new chapters have been posted. Also, an interesting fact: when you click on someone's avatar, it shows you their gender! Why does nobody use this function?
Chapter Forty-Two
- Location
- https://discord.gg/z9tBvbh
Chapter Forty-Two
When the last ingredient in the list was recovered, four days had passed since the events with Siesta. Marteau had gently told the headmaster he wanted to travel the world, and so he had eagerly bowed and left with his retirement fee.
Ginger, namely put, went with him.
Siesta on the other hand, didn't have to. Lady Charlotte had actually the need of a personal maid, one who wouldn't make a fuss about having to climb the tower and, as it turned out, Siesta was capable of climbing the tower pretty easily. It was even easier with a rope, so that was it.
"We do look the part of proud knights now, do we?" Louise asked as she walked side by side with Saito, both of them wearing cloaks of the same black color, the clasp identical. With the swords' hilts only barely sticking out from the cloaks, they did indeed strike quite the imposing figure. "Try not to do anything foolish while you're wearing that cloak now though," she added. "Or you'll put Lady D'Orleans in trouble."
They hadn't found a professor that knew about how to revert a summoning ritual -of the few that had given them more than a few minutes of their time, and that mostly because they had knightly cloaks on them- and so, after making their goodbyes to Charlotte and to Siesta, they had begun their trek towards Tarbes.
"Three days," Louise said with a chuckle. "Three days then we'll see if the maid told the truth or not, and then after Tarbes we can think about our next move."
Saito nodded. "We have to reach the Valliere's lands again after all-"
"Saito," Louise said with a sigh, but chuckled and shook her head next, "Fine. I'm sure it's just a coincidence."
"You can't keep thinking it's a coincidence, Louise," Saito said in a hiss. "Come on-it's clear the Cardinal lied."
"Yeah, but did he lie to my face or did he lie in the letter?" Louise retorted hotly. "Or-or you know, did someone hear him and manage to somehow swap the letter to deliver? I don't want to think a minister of god could be such a wretched and vile person, so-so I'll just hang on to my faith and believe there's a proper explanation for everything. We'll see what happens after-after the Duchess decides for herself."
Saito nodded. "Well, at least there's no bandit mage attacking us," he said, before warily looking around. "There isn't, is there?"
"No," Louise said. "There is not," she sighed. "For a bandit, he was pretty strong. I think he also said something, but-well, I just want to forget all about that."
The trip was surprisingly uneventful. If it weren't for the occasional chatting with Louise, or the occasional farmer waving at them from their own fields, they went by largely undisturbed.
"It's a nice change of pace from having to run from eager drakes," Saito remarked as the village of Tarbes stood now in all of its glory in front of them.
Well.
Most of it.
There was a burned down structure to the north of the village, and a couple of houses had apparently been destroyed. When they reached the outskirts, it was a rough looking man that welcomed them. Well, for a matter of welcoming them since he pointed an arrow at both of them.
"State your business, foreigners!" the man barked.
Saito moved slightly in front of Louise, a hand to his sword's handle. "We're knights of the North Parterre!" Louise said in her gruff and manly voice. "We come from the academy of Tristain-we're friends with Siesta and have news of her for her family!"
"Oh-" the man said, frowning for a bit. "I see," he grimaced. "Well-I guess...welcome to Tarbes, or what remains of it."
He placed the arrow back in the quiver on his back, and bowed as they neared him. "I'm sorry, lord knights, to be the bearer of bad news. There was a bandit attack a few days ago. The bandits wanted everything of precious the villagers had and when they heard of the dragon raiment-well, they wanted that too, but that stupid man, he refused them even at sword point." The hunter shook his head as he removed his cap from the head. "They...They made a show of force and killed him, and then-then all of them. Siesta had seven siblings, my lords...now she is an only child."
Saito felt all heat leave his body. He didn't realize his right arm was trembling until Louise gripped on to it with her hand, stopping it from shaking too much.
"Calm down," Louise said softly. "These vile crimes happen all the time in small villages. Did you seek refuge in the church?" she asked next.
"We did," the man said with a shaky nod. "But that stupid man-really, why did he have to be such a hardheaded idiot-" the hunter shook his head and quickly looked away, "I apologize my lords, I should not talk ill of the dead but-but what happened shook all of us. We did experience a few bandit raids in the previous years, but they were never so cruel, and they never ended in more than a few scrapes and bruises."
The man gestured for a rundown hovel, "But please, come in. You must be tired from your long journey, and you'll need rest."
"Where," Saito said softly, "Where have they been buried?"
"Near the Dragon's Raiment," the man answered. "It's where they would have wanted to be buried."
"Saito-" Louise began, but Saito wasn't listening. He was already walking in that direction, his steps firm. It was the burned structure on the northern side of the village, where among the burning wreckage a metallic construct remained unscathed by the flames. It was a Japanese airplane, which seemed to cruelly mock Saito as he realized that indeed, Siesta hadn't lied.
If the plane had been capable of flying, perhaps none would have died. As his hand stopped an inch away from the ruinous wreckage of burnt wood and cheap metal melted on itself, he looked to the side where a set of small stones denoted the deceased. They had been freshly dug, and stabbed on the ground near each of the tombs was a fresh batch of camp flowers.
The wind blew softly as it carried away their fragrance, which mixed with the smell of burnt wood and melted iron.
"She wasn't lying," Saito said in the end. "She really had a Japanese grandparent," he said softly as he looked back once more at the plane. "That's...That's an airplane, from my world."
"We'll have to go back and tell her," Louise said. "That poor girl-going through so much in such a short amount of time." Louise knelt in front of the tombs, her hands joined together as she began to pray. It was a strange prayer, but then again, it wasn't the first time he had heard it. Louise had prayed the same way after they had dug a tomb for that unlucky adventurer eaten by the giant spiders.
The prayer ended with the last words carried away by the wind.
There was no cheer in their expressions for the reminder of the day, even as they accepted hospitality for the night.
"Perhaps..." the hunter said after dinner, "if you could but spare a moment, my lords...we've been having a problem with a few orcs in the forest. They aren't normally a threat, but I wouldn't want them to feel bold enough to attack the village so shortly after the brigands left. If you could deal with them-it would ease the worry of many women in the village...and men too, of course."
Saito gave a simple, wordless nod.
Louise was a bit more articulate in her reply. "Of course," she said gruffly. "We would be poor knights if we did not help those in need!" as she tapped her chest with her right fist, she looked up with a firm gaze -the only thing that emerged from her mask.
The hunter smiled, his spirit definitely uplifted.
The biggest problem would be lifting up Saito's spirit. Perhaps...Well, Louise had really no choice by this point.
She would allow him a brothel visit.
That would cheer him right up, wouldn't it?
When the last ingredient in the list was recovered, four days had passed since the events with Siesta. Marteau had gently told the headmaster he wanted to travel the world, and so he had eagerly bowed and left with his retirement fee.
Ginger, namely put, went with him.
Siesta on the other hand, didn't have to. Lady Charlotte had actually the need of a personal maid, one who wouldn't make a fuss about having to climb the tower and, as it turned out, Siesta was capable of climbing the tower pretty easily. It was even easier with a rope, so that was it.
"We do look the part of proud knights now, do we?" Louise asked as she walked side by side with Saito, both of them wearing cloaks of the same black color, the clasp identical. With the swords' hilts only barely sticking out from the cloaks, they did indeed strike quite the imposing figure. "Try not to do anything foolish while you're wearing that cloak now though," she added. "Or you'll put Lady D'Orleans in trouble."
They hadn't found a professor that knew about how to revert a summoning ritual -of the few that had given them more than a few minutes of their time, and that mostly because they had knightly cloaks on them- and so, after making their goodbyes to Charlotte and to Siesta, they had begun their trek towards Tarbes.
"Three days," Louise said with a chuckle. "Three days then we'll see if the maid told the truth or not, and then after Tarbes we can think about our next move."
Saito nodded. "We have to reach the Valliere's lands again after all-"
"Saito," Louise said with a sigh, but chuckled and shook her head next, "Fine. I'm sure it's just a coincidence."
"You can't keep thinking it's a coincidence, Louise," Saito said in a hiss. "Come on-it's clear the Cardinal lied."
"Yeah, but did he lie to my face or did he lie in the letter?" Louise retorted hotly. "Or-or you know, did someone hear him and manage to somehow swap the letter to deliver? I don't want to think a minister of god could be such a wretched and vile person, so-so I'll just hang on to my faith and believe there's a proper explanation for everything. We'll see what happens after-after the Duchess decides for herself."
Saito nodded. "Well, at least there's no bandit mage attacking us," he said, before warily looking around. "There isn't, is there?"
"No," Louise said. "There is not," she sighed. "For a bandit, he was pretty strong. I think he also said something, but-well, I just want to forget all about that."
The trip was surprisingly uneventful. If it weren't for the occasional chatting with Louise, or the occasional farmer waving at them from their own fields, they went by largely undisturbed.
"It's a nice change of pace from having to run from eager drakes," Saito remarked as the village of Tarbes stood now in all of its glory in front of them.
Well.
Most of it.
There was a burned down structure to the north of the village, and a couple of houses had apparently been destroyed. When they reached the outskirts, it was a rough looking man that welcomed them. Well, for a matter of welcoming them since he pointed an arrow at both of them.
"State your business, foreigners!" the man barked.
Saito moved slightly in front of Louise, a hand to his sword's handle. "We're knights of the North Parterre!" Louise said in her gruff and manly voice. "We come from the academy of Tristain-we're friends with Siesta and have news of her for her family!"
"Oh-" the man said, frowning for a bit. "I see," he grimaced. "Well-I guess...welcome to Tarbes, or what remains of it."
He placed the arrow back in the quiver on his back, and bowed as they neared him. "I'm sorry, lord knights, to be the bearer of bad news. There was a bandit attack a few days ago. The bandits wanted everything of precious the villagers had and when they heard of the dragon raiment-well, they wanted that too, but that stupid man, he refused them even at sword point." The hunter shook his head as he removed his cap from the head. "They...They made a show of force and killed him, and then-then all of them. Siesta had seven siblings, my lords...now she is an only child."
Saito felt all heat leave his body. He didn't realize his right arm was trembling until Louise gripped on to it with her hand, stopping it from shaking too much.
"Calm down," Louise said softly. "These vile crimes happen all the time in small villages. Did you seek refuge in the church?" she asked next.
"We did," the man said with a shaky nod. "But that stupid man-really, why did he have to be such a hardheaded idiot-" the hunter shook his head and quickly looked away, "I apologize my lords, I should not talk ill of the dead but-but what happened shook all of us. We did experience a few bandit raids in the previous years, but they were never so cruel, and they never ended in more than a few scrapes and bruises."
The man gestured for a rundown hovel, "But please, come in. You must be tired from your long journey, and you'll need rest."
"Where," Saito said softly, "Where have they been buried?"
"Near the Dragon's Raiment," the man answered. "It's where they would have wanted to be buried."
"Saito-" Louise began, but Saito wasn't listening. He was already walking in that direction, his steps firm. It was the burned structure on the northern side of the village, where among the burning wreckage a metallic construct remained unscathed by the flames. It was a Japanese airplane, which seemed to cruelly mock Saito as he realized that indeed, Siesta hadn't lied.
If the plane had been capable of flying, perhaps none would have died. As his hand stopped an inch away from the ruinous wreckage of burnt wood and cheap metal melted on itself, he looked to the side where a set of small stones denoted the deceased. They had been freshly dug, and stabbed on the ground near each of the tombs was a fresh batch of camp flowers.
The wind blew softly as it carried away their fragrance, which mixed with the smell of burnt wood and melted iron.
"She wasn't lying," Saito said in the end. "She really had a Japanese grandparent," he said softly as he looked back once more at the plane. "That's...That's an airplane, from my world."
"We'll have to go back and tell her," Louise said. "That poor girl-going through so much in such a short amount of time." Louise knelt in front of the tombs, her hands joined together as she began to pray. It was a strange prayer, but then again, it wasn't the first time he had heard it. Louise had prayed the same way after they had dug a tomb for that unlucky adventurer eaten by the giant spiders.
The prayer ended with the last words carried away by the wind.
There was no cheer in their expressions for the reminder of the day, even as they accepted hospitality for the night.
"Perhaps..." the hunter said after dinner, "if you could but spare a moment, my lords...we've been having a problem with a few orcs in the forest. They aren't normally a threat, but I wouldn't want them to feel bold enough to attack the village so shortly after the brigands left. If you could deal with them-it would ease the worry of many women in the village...and men too, of course."
Saito gave a simple, wordless nod.
Louise was a bit more articulate in her reply. "Of course," she said gruffly. "We would be poor knights if we did not help those in need!" as she tapped her chest with her right fist, she looked up with a firm gaze -the only thing that emerged from her mask.
The hunter smiled, his spirit definitely uplifted.
The biggest problem would be lifting up Saito's spirit. Perhaps...Well, Louise had really no choice by this point.
She would allow him a brothel visit.
That would cheer him right up, wouldn't it?
Liar.
Good going Shade, this is the third update today right? You're on fire!
- Pronouns
- she/her
Sucks to be Siesta. If they wanted the airplane, it opens the possibilty of the perp being Sheffield or Vittorio. Though Mott being even more of a douche is a possibility (If you won't let me have your daughter, I'll take your family's other treasure!).
She jinxed it.
- Location
- Over the hill and far away
daaaaaaaaammmmn. Poor Siesta. She cannot catch a break in this fic.
Unlike her family, who now take the break eternal...
Unlike her family, who now take the break eternal...
- Location
- UP!
Well shit.
Dimensionist
Grandmaster of Apologism, Keeper of the Faith
- Location
- Bangalore, India
Ah, there's that shade feel.
Bit tame for him so far, though. Clearly this means someone else will die soon!
Bit tame for him so far, though. Clearly this means someone else will die soon!
- Location
- Theta C III
Well hey now. Who's to say that it is eternal? After all they have...
Necromancy!!!
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Many presume male is the gender of the person they're chatting to, and it's a thing in general unless proven otherwise on the net, far as I've noticed. As to why they don't check, a mix of laziness, being unaware if said function and assumptions in all likelihood.
...Poor Siesta. Lost her family along with the treasure, if the melted comment of the Raiment is at all accurate.
Chapter Forty-Three
- Location
- https://discord.gg/z9tBvbh
Chapter Forty-Three
The forest surrounding Tarbes had been cut down for the most part, leaving in its place grassy fields that were filled with crops. There were still some shrubs, and some random sparse trees, but for the most part the hills were dominated by fields of wheat and corn.
There was however a firm reminder that it had all been a forest once. It came from a hill covered in large trees, which was but the outskirt of a larger forest that practically teemed with life as the duo adventured within it.
"You know, Saito," Louise said. "If you want, when we reach Valier, we can stop by the Flaming Stallion." Saito nearly stumbled on the next step, and turned sharply to look at Louise with his eyes wide.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yes," Louise said. "Don't make me regret this," she added in a whisper as Saito raised a fist in the air with tears in his eyes. At least it didn't do much to uplift his spirit.
"You're the best partner ever," Saito said with a nod. "Are orcs like the ones-well, right, you don't know what a movie is. Are they intelligent?"
"What? No," Louise shook her head. "They're like pigs, large human-like pigs, and with just enough brains to grab hold of crude and makeshift weapons. They tend to eat human children, and are a threat to small villages."
"How big are we talking?" Saito asked, turning to look at Louise and impacting against a massive wall of something soft and smelly.
"That big," Louise said calmly, pointing her swordwand right in front of her, where a large creature, easily twice Saito's size, stood looking down at the duo with a puzzled expression in its pig-like eyes. It had long tusks, a snout in place of a nose, and skulls hung from his neck like beads of a necklace.
The creature emitted a crude swine-like shriek as it lifted its heavy club, but as Louise quickly swished her swordwand while pronouncing just a couple of words, a tiny bead of light shone right against the orc's nose and the next instant, the headless creature fell back down with a fuming neck.
Louise rubbed the back of her fingers against her cloak as she looked at her nails, "Well," Louise said with a smirk. "Guess once you go Triangle, you never go back to Line."
Saito blinked. "What?"
"I've clearly reached Triangle," Louise said. "I mean, at first it was just explosions, and that had to be a single dot of Water, then I reached Sleep, and that had to be a second element of Water, so I was Water-Water, a Line mage. Now though, I must have added Fire to it, or perhaps Wind. I don't know how it works, but my explosions are a lot more deadly now, so-"
The creature's headless body twitched once, and then unleashed a noxious gas attack that forced both Saito and Louise to rush back with their eyes stinging from the filth and their mouths covered with their hands.
"Gah!" Saito coughed for fresh air. "That-That was one."
"Usually orcs live in tribes of ten to fifteen individuals," Louise said with a knowing nod. "Come along Saito, we aren't done yet."
Saito nodded awkwardly, grabbing his sword in one hand and his shield in the other. "How come you're this giddy?"
"You mean, after everything that happened in the last weeks?" Louise replied. "Because-let's face it, if I am a Duchess' long lost daughter then all right, I'm set for life. If I'm not, I'm still a Knight for a good noble lady, and if she has no need for me, I'm still a powerful mage in my own rights! I've never had a really big wish, Founder Brimir doesn't like it when you wish big, but what little I have-isn't it enough? I've gone through so much-this is clearly the Gods rewarding me for my faith," she nodded happily.
"Aren't you even a bit sad about Siesta?" Saito asked.
"Well, but what would that change?" Louise replied calmly. "Saito-these things happen all the time. You must find comfort in the fact they have gone to heaven, and that their souls will forever bask in the light of the Gods, and that they will never go hungry or cold again. Maybe their deaths were painful, but now they can live on eternally in the garden of heaven, and Siesta will one day join them too when she dies of old age, and they'll have countless days of blissful fun," Louise pointed out with a cheerful voice as she stepped over a tree root. "That's why-"
There was a bellowing scream for their side, and a stampeding noise as if massive creatures were rushing for them. Three orcs soon came in sight from behind the trees, their rage clearly visible upon their features.
Louise waved her wand as she began to chant, and in answer Saito hastily pulled out his bow, nocking an arrow as the runes on the back of his hand glittered softly. The first arrow struck the upcoming orc right in the left eye, making the creature scream crudely as it swayed to the left.
Saito jumped on its back, another arrow nocked and immediately unleashed on the back of the second orc, which stopped running and fell on the floor, its legs both paralyzed.
Pushing his legs away from the orc he had climbed on, and who was swinging its mace right and left, he unleashed the third arrow right against the soft rubbery neck of the third orc, making the creature clutch the open wound as air came less, and blood instead began to pool out.
When Louise finished her spell, three small dots of light marked the final end of the creatures.
"Do you really have to kill them that way?" Saito asked warily, eyeing the headless corpses.
"It's quick and painless," Louise shot back, a hand against her hip and the other waving her pristine swordwand around. "And you aren't even congratulating me on my skills improving. I barely flinched when three orcs came at us!"
"Congratulations?" Saito hazarded.
Louise simply nodded, cheerful. They quickly had to vacate the area. Dead orcs really smelled something fierce, and it was probable they'd have to use fire just to 'purify' the area -at least in Saito's modest opinion.
"I don't understand," Saito said as the night began to fall, and what was probably the last orc of the forest fell down neatly beheaded by Saito's blade. "I'm not seeing any village."
"Orcs don't have villages," Louise said calmly as she wiped her swordwand. "They emerge from the mud just like that. Some say an evil alchemist overlord a long time ago created them, or that they're evil spirits bound to the earth that sometimes find a way out of their prison an come to terrorize the countryside," she shrugged. "But there are already Specters as evil spirits, so it falls kind of flat for them to be the same thing."
"Alchemists," Saito said with a sigh. "Why is it always Alchemists?"
Louise shrugged. "Nobles are terrible when bored."
"Don't become a terrible noble when bored, Louise," Saito said with a small chuckle.
Louise's lips twitched upwards, and she nodded. "I promise I won't. If you promise you won't beat yourself up for something you had no power of changing," as she inclined her head slightly to look at Saito's downcast gaze, she pushed both of her fingers at Saito's corners of his lips, and moved them until he had him smile. "You can't face life with a sad frown, it makes you an undesirable kid," Louise added softly. "Just cheer up, and I'm sure someone will come pick you up in no time!"
She removed her fingers, and then began to whistle as she sped up, Saito hastening his step to follow her.
They had a long road back, and the weight on Saito's shoulder wasn't going to lift that easily.
What good is a hero from a role-playing game, if he can't arrive in time to save the princess?
The forest surrounding Tarbes had been cut down for the most part, leaving in its place grassy fields that were filled with crops. There were still some shrubs, and some random sparse trees, but for the most part the hills were dominated by fields of wheat and corn.
There was however a firm reminder that it had all been a forest once. It came from a hill covered in large trees, which was but the outskirt of a larger forest that practically teemed with life as the duo adventured within it.
"You know, Saito," Louise said. "If you want, when we reach Valier, we can stop by the Flaming Stallion." Saito nearly stumbled on the next step, and turned sharply to look at Louise with his eyes wide.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yes," Louise said. "Don't make me regret this," she added in a whisper as Saito raised a fist in the air with tears in his eyes. At least it didn't do much to uplift his spirit.
"You're the best partner ever," Saito said with a nod. "Are orcs like the ones-well, right, you don't know what a movie is. Are they intelligent?"
"What? No," Louise shook her head. "They're like pigs, large human-like pigs, and with just enough brains to grab hold of crude and makeshift weapons. They tend to eat human children, and are a threat to small villages."
"How big are we talking?" Saito asked, turning to look at Louise and impacting against a massive wall of something soft and smelly.
"That big," Louise said calmly, pointing her swordwand right in front of her, where a large creature, easily twice Saito's size, stood looking down at the duo with a puzzled expression in its pig-like eyes. It had long tusks, a snout in place of a nose, and skulls hung from his neck like beads of a necklace.
The creature emitted a crude swine-like shriek as it lifted its heavy club, but as Louise quickly swished her swordwand while pronouncing just a couple of words, a tiny bead of light shone right against the orc's nose and the next instant, the headless creature fell back down with a fuming neck.
Louise rubbed the back of her fingers against her cloak as she looked at her nails, "Well," Louise said with a smirk. "Guess once you go Triangle, you never go back to Line."
Saito blinked. "What?"
"I've clearly reached Triangle," Louise said. "I mean, at first it was just explosions, and that had to be a single dot of Water, then I reached Sleep, and that had to be a second element of Water, so I was Water-Water, a Line mage. Now though, I must have added Fire to it, or perhaps Wind. I don't know how it works, but my explosions are a lot more deadly now, so-"
The creature's headless body twitched once, and then unleashed a noxious gas attack that forced both Saito and Louise to rush back with their eyes stinging from the filth and their mouths covered with their hands.
"Gah!" Saito coughed for fresh air. "That-That was one."
"Usually orcs live in tribes of ten to fifteen individuals," Louise said with a knowing nod. "Come along Saito, we aren't done yet."
Saito nodded awkwardly, grabbing his sword in one hand and his shield in the other. "How come you're this giddy?"
"You mean, after everything that happened in the last weeks?" Louise replied. "Because-let's face it, if I am a Duchess' long lost daughter then all right, I'm set for life. If I'm not, I'm still a Knight for a good noble lady, and if she has no need for me, I'm still a powerful mage in my own rights! I've never had a really big wish, Founder Brimir doesn't like it when you wish big, but what little I have-isn't it enough? I've gone through so much-this is clearly the Gods rewarding me for my faith," she nodded happily.
"Aren't you even a bit sad about Siesta?" Saito asked.
"Well, but what would that change?" Louise replied calmly. "Saito-these things happen all the time. You must find comfort in the fact they have gone to heaven, and that their souls will forever bask in the light of the Gods, and that they will never go hungry or cold again. Maybe their deaths were painful, but now they can live on eternally in the garden of heaven, and Siesta will one day join them too when she dies of old age, and they'll have countless days of blissful fun," Louise pointed out with a cheerful voice as she stepped over a tree root. "That's why-"
There was a bellowing scream for their side, and a stampeding noise as if massive creatures were rushing for them. Three orcs soon came in sight from behind the trees, their rage clearly visible upon their features.
Louise waved her wand as she began to chant, and in answer Saito hastily pulled out his bow, nocking an arrow as the runes on the back of his hand glittered softly. The first arrow struck the upcoming orc right in the left eye, making the creature scream crudely as it swayed to the left.
Saito jumped on its back, another arrow nocked and immediately unleashed on the back of the second orc, which stopped running and fell on the floor, its legs both paralyzed.
Pushing his legs away from the orc he had climbed on, and who was swinging its mace right and left, he unleashed the third arrow right against the soft rubbery neck of the third orc, making the creature clutch the open wound as air came less, and blood instead began to pool out.
When Louise finished her spell, three small dots of light marked the final end of the creatures.
"Do you really have to kill them that way?" Saito asked warily, eyeing the headless corpses.
"It's quick and painless," Louise shot back, a hand against her hip and the other waving her pristine swordwand around. "And you aren't even congratulating me on my skills improving. I barely flinched when three orcs came at us!"
"Congratulations?" Saito hazarded.
Louise simply nodded, cheerful. They quickly had to vacate the area. Dead orcs really smelled something fierce, and it was probable they'd have to use fire just to 'purify' the area -at least in Saito's modest opinion.
"I don't understand," Saito said as the night began to fall, and what was probably the last orc of the forest fell down neatly beheaded by Saito's blade. "I'm not seeing any village."
"Orcs don't have villages," Louise said calmly as she wiped her swordwand. "They emerge from the mud just like that. Some say an evil alchemist overlord a long time ago created them, or that they're evil spirits bound to the earth that sometimes find a way out of their prison an come to terrorize the countryside," she shrugged. "But there are already Specters as evil spirits, so it falls kind of flat for them to be the same thing."
"Alchemists," Saito said with a sigh. "Why is it always Alchemists?"
Louise shrugged. "Nobles are terrible when bored."
"Don't become a terrible noble when bored, Louise," Saito said with a small chuckle.
Louise's lips twitched upwards, and she nodded. "I promise I won't. If you promise you won't beat yourself up for something you had no power of changing," as she inclined her head slightly to look at Saito's downcast gaze, she pushed both of her fingers at Saito's corners of his lips, and moved them until he had him smile. "You can't face life with a sad frown, it makes you an undesirable kid," Louise added softly. "Just cheer up, and I'm sure someone will come pick you up in no time!"
She removed her fingers, and then began to whistle as she sped up, Saito hastening his step to follow her.
They had a long road back, and the weight on Saito's shoulder wasn't going to lift that easily.
What good is a hero from a role-playing game, if he can't arrive in time to save the princess?
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Dimensionist
Grandmaster of Apologism, Keeper of the Faith
- Location
- Bangalore, India
... That's weird. Orcs from the LNs were a damn sight tougher than this. Let me search for that passage ...
EDIT: Here:
So, to recap:
> Guiche, a dot mage, was basically worthless.
> Tabitha had to use one of her strongest spells to finish off a wounded orc.
> Kirche had to use a Line class fire spell, and even then detonate it inside the mouth of an orc, to take it out.
If Louise is using triangle class magic, then it's believable for her to take out an orc in one hit - Tabitha managed it with her triangle class spell, after all, even if hers was a wounded orc. But a bow and arrow? It seems very, very unlikely to pierce through to an orc's spine, or cut open it's neck.
EDIT: Here:
So, to recap:
> Guiche, a dot mage, was basically worthless.
> Tabitha had to use one of her strongest spells to finish off a wounded orc.
> Kirche had to use a Line class fire spell, and even then detonate it inside the mouth of an orc, to take it out.
If Louise is using triangle class magic, then it's believable for her to take out an orc in one hit - Tabitha managed it with her triangle class spell, after all, even if hers was a wounded orc. But a bow and arrow? It seems very, very unlikely to pierce through to an orc's spine, or cut open it's neck.
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- Pronouns
- she/her
Note how none of them actually died until Louise vaporized their heads with what at this point is an approaching-instant cast spell. They went down to headshots from powerful fireballs in the LN.
Dimensionist
Grandmaster of Apologism, Keeper of the Faith
- Location
- Bangalore, India
I edited my post to point out where the problems stem from. Namely, Saito's bow and arrow doing the damage it does - orc bodies are covered by a natural form of armor that won't allow piercing attacks to work well.
Well he shot it in the eye.
- Location
- https://discord.gg/z9tBvbh
Notice Saito's runes glittering.
I did not add that detail willy-nilly.
I did not add that detail willy-nilly.
Dimensionist
Grandmaster of Apologism, Keeper of the Faith
- Location
- Bangalore, India
... There's something more than just the Gandalfr boost going on?
- Pronouns
- she/her
Gandalfr boost means his bow might as well be a super-crossbow. He can fire much faster with the speed boost, laugh at the notion of "take time to aim", and the strength boost means he can handle far more draw weight than is reasonable.... There's something more than just the Gandalfr boost going on?
Hell, with his projectile feats in this fic he could throw the arrows and they might have more force behind them than a normal bow could add!
Wait. Are they supposed to glitter? Does Saito feel different when he holds onto weapons? Or what?
At least she isn't in denial about being in denial.
Now I'm imagining that the sleep spell is just an explosion shaped to give people concussions. Pretty soon she will be Muscle Wizard's more magical cousin Explosion Wizard - accomplishing everything with explosions, and thinking it's regular spells.
Is that a death flag for Henrietta?
Romantic_Kaiju
Romantic Kaiju
- Location
- National Battlefield
The Gandalfr Runes (his Familiar Runes) give all around boost to Saito's Physical Capabilities, and confer instant mastery of weapons, and could be said to minorly improve the weapons he is holding while using them.
I know what they do. I thought they just shined/glowed and that maybe it meant something else.
