The news Gil would act as her proxy in the fight was met with few raised eyebrows. After all, he was a familiar and possibly a fellow Noble. They were more interested in what he could do.
So when Guiche summoned his Valkyries, Gil took one look at them and did something no one expected.
He laughed. Long, hard and with open mockery in his voice.
"Please tell me that's not the best you're going to use," he said, snickering.
They weren't even remotely at his level! He wouldn't have to use even the weakest weapon in his treasury to take them out!
Guiche looked pissed, and sent his cheap Valkyries at Gil.
Gil easily sidestepped them and stole it's spear. Then unseen by everyone his right hand glowed as the runes activated.
Using his superior Servant's stats, Ko Gil took out the Valkyrie with contemptuous ease. He didn't feel like fighting however many cheap copies this idiot could summon, so he used his speed to get right into Guiche's guard and pin him with the very weapon the fool had summoned.
"Do you surrender?" asked Gil with the perfect calmness of a Servant who wasn't about to hesitate ending a witness. Not something he had to deal with here apparently, but still the voice of someone unafraid of lethal violence.
Guiche looked openly ready to piss himself.
"I yield! I yield!" he yelped at the slightest pinprick.
Gil stabbed the spear into the dirt.
"You owe my Master a proper apology. And a word of advice? I knew a boy much like you that treated women as things. His end was not swift when he was confronted by someone much stronger than he was and didn't care that he was just someone in way over his head. You might want to rethink your attitude before you join him in the lowest point of whatever passes for hell here," said Gil in warning.
Shinji had been similar to this blond idiot, but with far less morals. He was a magus born without a hint of magic, and his death had been painful because he had joined a war he had no reason to belong in.
Gilgamesh might not have given a damn about this fool, but Gil wasn't his adult self. He did still care about humans. Well that and Shirou had rubbed off on him at some point.
Louise looked at her familiar, jaw dropping for a few seconds, before a vicious grin appeared on her face.
Any doubts about his competency were shot to hell. She had summoned something far better than any simple cat or mole.
Guiche would approach her a few days later with a proper apology. It felt unbelievable to be vindicated like that.
"Where are we going?" asked Gil.
"To the market. Partly so Siesta can pick up a few things, but mostly so I can properly outfit you with a weapon and armor," said Louise.
Gil blinked.
"I don't need any armor. I have my own with me. I would be interested to see what sort of weapons are available outside of the custom made market though," said Gil.
"Yes, well I can't afford a custom weapon after I bought Siesta's contract earlier," said Louise.
Gil had vouched for her, as did the other servants. And Siesta almost seemed relieved to be working as Louise's maid for some reason.
So in order to better serve Louise (who wanted to get some custom soaps for her clothes) Siesta was given a few gold coins from Louise's allowance for the month and told to get the best bargain she could get while matching the scent without skimping on the ability to clean. Siesta was rather cheerful about the fact her contract was bought by Louise.
Gil was quite bored, and he was curious about the magic in this world.
Though he had to admit, the look of shock on Louise's face when she saw his armor on the ride to town was hilarious. Apparently she had never met anyone with actual GOLD armor that was worth a damn. Not even her mother had any good opinions of such wasteful spending.
The fact that it was actually useful was the reason why she was shocked.
"Remember, you can wander around town for a few hours once we get you a sword," said Louise.
Gil tactfully didn't tell them he already HAD a sword. Multiple ones in fact. He was wondering if she had forgotten him summoning one to prove he wasn't some plebeian kid she had summoned by accident.
In the sword shop...
Gil inspected the swords with little interest. Since this was a shop at the same level as the common folk, it was hardly likely there would be anything of actual worth.
And seeing the shop owner trying to overcharge Louise for something that was more flash than actual use, Gil snorted.
"I wouldn't buy that for one gold coin. It would break on the first use against anything of real power," said Gil flatly.
Louise stared at him, before glaring at the owner.
"HA! He got you there old coot!"
Gil whipped his head around to the sound. It had a metallic twang to it, which meant it couldn't have come from a living human.
It was a sword. A talking sword.
He definitely didn't have that in his treasury. Besides, it was the best forged one in the entire shop, from what he could see.
Gil walked up to the sword, and brought it up to the counter.
"How much?"
"Fifty silver," said the owner without hesitation. "You sure you don't want something a little...newer?"
"I'd much rather have the sword that's withstood time and is still very much a good blade than some cheap new model that will break at the worst time," said Gil without hesitation. "Besides, I've never seen a sentient sword before."
"Hoho! Someone who recognizes my true potential!" said the sword smugly.
"Shut up Derflinger," said the owner, who accepted Louise's coins.
After they exited the store, Louise looked at the rusty thing.
"You sure you're fine with that old thing?"
"I may have neglected to mention I have thousands of more powerful swords and weapons whenever I want. Far superior to the trash they sold at the store. However I've never seen a sentient sword before," said Gil. It was slung across his back.
"Better listen to him girly. Even I can sense he's not a normal Gandalfr," said Derflinger.
"What's a Gandalfr?"
"Legendary familiar. Only gets summoned right before major crisis and upheavals. Means you're going to be very, very busy soon," said Derflinger. Seeing their looks, he chuffed. "I'm old enough to remember Brimir girly. Not the first time a human's been summoned as a familiar."
Louise stared at the sword.
"You and I are going to have a very long talk later, sword."
"Just call me Derf."
They were wandering around the market (Louise wanted to inspect a local bookshop, since she still had plenty of her allowance left) when they heard the commotion.
Gil watched with irritation as a Noble arrogantly knocked over a little girl over a minor accident...and his reaction when he went to kill her made Louise blink when he disappeared.
Gil casually held the arrogant noble by the neck. His small size didn't really matter when he was holding him up anyway.
"I think sir, that you should remember where you are. Behaving like a common thug over something as minor as a spilled potion is hardly becoming of a proper noble," said Gil calmly, his voice like ice.
He hated anyone who reminded him of Gilgamesh.
Louise's mouth opened and closed, as she was too stunned to react to his 'attack' on another noble.
The noble huffed, before walking away. There was something in the boy's eyes that terrified him.
Gil turned to look at the shocked pair. A mother and daughter by his guess. He held out a hand to the little girl on the ground. She paused before taking it.
"You alright?"
She nodded.
"Thank you for intervening," said the mother.
"Gil... what was that about?" said Louise dangerously.
"I wasn't about to let that arrogant idiot kill a little girl over something as stupid as a minor spill on his outfit," said Gil flatly.
"Thanks, onii-san!" said the little girl brightly. Gil gently patted her head. And with a little slight of hand left a few silver coins in her pocket.
"You should enjoy your day out with your cute sister," said Gil, winking at the mother.
"I think we've taken up enough of their time, Ellie."
"Okay Mom. Thanks again, big brother!" said Ellie.
"Remember, enjoy your day out!" said Gil as they left.
"...You slipped some of the coins I gave you into her pocket, didn't you?" said Louise quietly.
"Only a few. I still have most of them."
Louise smiled. She kept finding more and more reasons to like her familiar. He was a sweetheart who defended her without hesitation and didn't stare at the other girls like most men did around her.
Louise was browsing the bookstore when she spotted Gil looking bored. Making a decision, she said "Why don't you go see how Siesta is doing?"
"And carry everything she ends up buying back?" he added dryly.
It was a common fact. When a woman goes shopping, it's usually up to the men to carry back their newly acquired junk.
Still, they had all these books in the school library, and he didn't feel like buying any to read.
It took Gil twenty minutes to find Siesta. And when he did, it was with a familiar face.
From an hour and a half ago.
"Gil!" said Siesta with surprise.
"Louise sent me to check on you. Find everything alright?"
"Yes, I was just catching up with my cousins," said Siesta.
"Big brother!" said Ellie.
Siesta looked between Gil and her cousins.
"You've...met?"
"Ellie accidentally spilled some elixir on Count Mott, and he stopped things from escalating."
Siesta and her cousin shivered, likely in disgust from their expression.
"I take it this man has a reputation?" said Gil.
"He likes to hire pretty commoners as his 'mistress' and use them. Rumors have spread that those picked are rarely able to get employ after they're so broken," said Siesta. "I've been thanking Brimir that Miss Louise bought my contract."
Gil didn't like the sound of that.
"Why haven't charges been brought up against him then?"
"He's a noble. We're commoners. No one would take our word for his," said Siesta sadly.
As if to break the tense atmosphere, Ellie suddenly discovered the ten silver coins Gil had slipped into her pocket.
"Mom, look!"
"Where did you get that?!"
"I slipped it into her pocket earlier. I thought it would be a shame if her big day with her mother was ruined by some stupid noble, so I knew that finding some unexpected good luck might brighten it again," admitted Gil.
Siesta giggled.
"You're an absolute sweetheart Gil," said Siesta.
"And before you get any ideas of returning it, I'll become selectively, deaf," continued Gil cheerfully. Siesta giggled again.
"I think Uncle would love meeting Gil," said Ellie, giggling.
Siesta imagined that meeting, and giggled as well.
Gil looked up at the sky.
"I think Louise might get impatient if we're out much longer," he said, after seeing the sun's position.
Siesta walked with Gil back to the agreed meeting point if they got split up, after Gil used some of his magic to carry all her purchases for the day. They even managed to get a few things along the way, as Gil still had 'pocket money' which would have qualified as worth much of anything. Hell, he barely knew what to do with so little 'graciously' given to him by his master.
He was Gilgamesh, for Brimir's sake! He had more gold in his Gate of Babylon than Louise's family made in a year, if they were lucky!
They found an impatient Louise waiting for them, with a rather large number of books. Considering he knew she liked to read, and he never bothered to read the copy he had, which for some reason was written in what looked like old Norse, Gil pulled out a hand written book his previous "master" Caren had given him to keep him occupied. Mostly because they got a few things wrong.
"What's this?"
"Well I noticed most of your books are written in what's considered a dead language where I come from, and this is a pretty close equivalent to it. It's called 'The Epic of Gilgamesh, King of Heroes'. Someone gave it to me a while back and I never remembered to return it. I did have to edit it a little though," said Gil, barely keeping a straight face because he was basically telling Louise who he actually was.
Her anger placated (mostly out of scholarly interest), she noticed Siesta.
"I found those soaps you like so much. They had a sale on them and some perfumes," she said cheerfully.
"Where are they?" asked Louise, honestly curious. Her jaw dropped when Gil reached his hand out to his side...and a golden ripple appeared, which he promptly used to bring out a familiar soap bar. "What the... How is that possible!?"
"It's something I've been able to do for a long time. I can put anything I want in there, but I can only pull a limited amount at once. Especially weapons. I've collected a lot of those," said Gil. Technically he wasn't lying.
"Useful. If we ever have to go on missions, you're carrying our supplies," said Louise.
"Naturally," said Gil.
"So did you enjoy yourself, Siesta?" asked Louise. Gil had been quite firm that she should at least make attempts to interact on a positive level with her maid.
The reasoning being that they were less likely to betray you or worse, stab you in the back if they genuinely liked you.
Considering Louise had indirectly provided a shield against nobles like Count Mott from 'buying' her contract from the school, Siesta was more inclined to be loyal to Louise. The fact that under her tsundere exterior (and Gil had laughed long and hard when he finally recognized that his new Master was a total Tsundere out of her earshot) she was actually a really nice, if very insecure girl didn't hurt either.
Siesta took Gil's advice not to take her rants to heart. What she said and what she meant often were too different things as she tried to save face. That and Louise was more inclined to slip little extras to her new maid to make up for being a 'brat', when she was really just taking out her frustrations on the one person she knew she outranked.
Gil had confiscated her whips and other objects that made him raise an eyebrow upon learning his master was quite possibly into "S" and "M" relationships (unlikely she knew that about herself, considering her age) the first night. He had been quite bored, after all, and snooping was perfectly acceptable. Besides, he had finally located what he had been looking for, which was a book that had the native writing of this world in it.
It hadn't been too hard to make mental comparisons with Norse runes, and from there it took him an hour at best to crack the written language. As someone who was born in the time that the Universal Language was still around, never mind his status as a Servant, he automatically spoke the language.
There were a lot of perks.
Louise smirked triumphantly when Gil once again made a crack at Kirche's age and the fact she was known for being the school's "mattress" without saying it outright. Seeing Kirche taken down a few pegs was always satisfying.
However she hadn't known Gil had become quick friends with the bookworm Tabitha, or her familiar Sylphied. Something about meeting up at one of the towers to watch the sun set while they read their books?
Tabitha never mocked her like Kirche, and Gil made it clear he wasn't interest in girls just yet, so Louise could ignore their odd friendship.