Chapter II
"Well then, Lord...Felwinter?"
Osmond paused, making sure he got the pronunciation correct.
The man in question stood opposite the headmaster, staring him down with the empty gaze of his helmet skull. His strange attire, a mixture of cloth and armor, as well as his tools, one of which looked suspiciously like a musket, prompted a raised brow upon his entrance into Osmond's study.
The old headmaster didn't know much about the situation. Professor Colbert only sent a maid with a short summary regarding a noble that Ms. Valliere had summoned and how the man had disintegrated some manner of beast-like golem with only a wave of his hand.
Osmond got the impression that Colbert was worried that they were only a few fumbled words away from what could be a major diplomatic and political incident for Ms. Valliere or even the academy itself. In the headmaster's darker thoughts, he even worried that this could come to a more physical demonstration of magic.
While he had confidence that he, Colbert, and the guards could subdue one mage, powerful though he may be, he wasn't willing to let the student body and those unready for the brutalities of war face the brunt of the battle. He knew all too well how easy it was for collateral damage to ravage that which you sought to protect.
It was why he'd sent his secretary, Miss Longueville, out of his office for the moment. It wouldn't do for her to be caught in the crossfire. He'd rather not have Louise here either, but given that she'd summoned the man in the first place, he wasn't sure he could really leave her out of this. Especially given her family.
But if anything ever happened to her…
Well...I'd better make this work. Osmond thought with a smile, Because if this man doesn't kill me, Karin certainly will.
"...Correct…" Came the cold reply, pulling Osmond from his happier thoughts.
Osmond glanced at Professor Colbert and his student Louise, both looking uncomfortable in their seats in front of the displaced noble.
When the three had come into Osmond's office, he'd offered them all a chair. Lord Felwinter had declined, and instead opted to loom silently behind Colbert and Louise. All the while he stood as still as a statue. No hint to the emotions he felt under that armor, no mutters, no movement, not so much as a twitch.
Osmond had to admit, if only to himself, that he found it unnerving.
Not so much because Felwinter was a mystery, but because of what the clues told him.
"So, Professor," The aging man pushes past the uncertainties he feels, "Can you tell me what this is all about? And who this strange gentleman is?"
"I, er, that is to say, Ms. Vallière, summoned him as part of the ritual I was overseeing for the students." Colbert gestured towards his pink-haired student who looked to be a sentient bundle of nerves at the moment. "As part of the summoning she also brought two...beasts, I suppose, that Lord Felwinter killed before they could attack the students."
"For obvious reasons, she has not completed the contract."
Osmond nodded in agreement, taking in a quick glance of the armored mage before them. Still, not so much as a twitch.
I wonder... he thought.
"I have yet to be told why or how I was brought here." the noble in golden regalia inquired in his hollow voice.
Osmond pursed his lips. Being able to transport people wasn't unheard of, but it was exceedingly rare. It'd be hard for anyone to believe a mere child capable of it. But summoning another human, let alone another mage as a familiar was unheard of.
For a moment, Osmond considered giving him the lie, but he dismissed the possibility quickly. The time for such things had long past. There was no way he'd even be able to keep it a secret given how public the event was. No, this man was going to learn the truth one way or another.
"Ms. Vallière brought you here as part of the yearly familiar summoning ritual we do for the students attending this academy." The wizened headmaster explained with open arms, "The summoner does not choose their familiar, instead the ritual itself chooses the best partner for the summoner. As such, her summoning of you was but an accident."
Lord Felwinter paused for a moment to consider his words. Or, at least, that is what Osmond hoped he was doing. It was a better thought than idea that Felwinter was simmering in rage.
"A familiar." the foreign noble slowly repeated, as if testing the word in his mouth.
"I am taken to understanding it as some sort of magical pet."
Osmond winced.
Definitely unhappy
He also couldn't help but notice Louise cringe in her chair, the reality of what she'd nearly forced on another noble, accidently or not, crashing into her once more.
"That is…" The headmaster chose his words carefully, "Not completely accurate, it is more a magical contract, a union, a partnership."
"But not a partnership of equals." Felwinter commented.
Colbert tapped his fingers against his staff in an act of forced calm. Louise kneaded her hands into her knees. Osmond gulped. An insulted noble could be a dangerous thing. If not in terms of magical might, then the political pressures they could bring to bear could ruin all their lives, if this Lord Felwinter was feeling particularly vindictive.
But, it seemed like wherever this noble came from, he'd never heard of summoning a familiar. Or he was playing ignorant to put more pressure on them. Osmond just had to hope for the former.
"The familiars that are summoned are typically beasts. Summoning another human is an act unheard of. As such, it was previously only natural for the relationship to be unequal." He explained.
Felwinter held the old instructors gaze with his own empty helm for a long, cold, moment.
"...So you do not practice slavery here?"
Osmond almost let out a breath of relief. "Of course not, good sir. We are not barbarians."
A strange sound rumbled from the dark helm of foreign Lord. One Osmond's mind chose to interpret as a pleased hum.
"In that case," Felwinter began, turning towards young Louise, who looked so frightfully out of her element, and dipped his head, "I must thank you Ms. Vallière."
"T-t-thank me?" Louise stuttered, her face aflame at the sudden appreciation.
"I was but moments from certain death," he rumbled from his onyx ram's head. "Accidentally or not, you have saved my life. For that, I am in your debt."
"I am assuming, of course, that this debt would not lend you to becoming Ms. Louise's familiar?" Osmond asked, if only because he wanted to save Ms. Vallière the indignity of asking herself.
The way Felwinter's black helm slowly slid in his direction, a featureless gaze with those dark pits, he figured the answer was as obvious as he'd thought.
"No," the aging man chuckled, "No, I imagined not."
Louise looked disappointed by that, but admirably managed to reign in her emotions, leaving her eyes the only window to her inner feelings.
"As much as I might owe Ms. Vallière," Felwinter began, "I must request that you return me home as soon as possible."
Even with all his years in dealing with the most petulant noble children in all the land, Osmond could only barely suppress his grimace at the question.
"Ah, well, you see, Lord Felwinter, there is no...reversal spell. Once you are summoned...you are summoned." he explained.
Now Osmond got the impression Felwinter was simmering in rage behind that helm of his.
"You mean to say you have no way to return me home?" His voice was as cold as biting wind, a strange sound he could only liken to the crackle of low-level lightning magic tinging the sound with a kind of energy he dared not provoke.
"If we knew where you came from, I'm sure we could send you on a carriage there by the end of the week. Perhaps even an airship!" The headmaster tried to inject some excitement into his voice to mask the dread, even chuckling afterward at a joke no one could hear.
Another rumbling sound came from the helm of the foreign lord before he muttered, "Doubtful."
"I'm sure the Queen would have no problem with getting you back to your people as soon as soon as arrangements can be made." Osmond protested with a forced smile. "Once we know where you came from, of course."
"Given that I've never heard of Tristan, I'd be surprised if you knew of my country," Felwinter commented, surprising Osmond with the information, "I also don't know the best way to translate it into your tongue and culture. At my best judgement, I'd say I come from the Kingdom of the Iron Banner."
"But even that feels inaccurate." He rumbled.
Colbert and Osmond spared each other a quizzical look, neither of them having heard of the place before, just as Felwinter had guessed.
"Do you, perhaps, mean Germania?" Colbert suggested.
"No…" the lord replied slowly, "Though I have heard of a faraway land called Germany. Perhaps they are one in the same? Nevertheless, the land I live was once called Russia, you might know it by something similar?"
The name Russia tickled something in the back of Osmond's mind, but he couldn't put a finger on it. In the end, he sighed and pushed it back for later review. "I suppose we don't know how we would send you home."
"I'm sure a thorough study of your maps will lead to some enlightenment." Felwinter posited.
"Quite right," Osmond nodded, feeling a weight come off his chest as the displaced noble calmed down.
"We have a large collection of maps and records in the library," Colbert noted, "And if you've heard of Germania, then there must be some connection. We just have to find it."
The professor actually looked excited by the prospect. Then again, they'd be helping to discover a new country, one with what appeared to be significantly different applications of magic to learn.
And Louise…
Oh, poor little Louise.
"In that case," Osmond sighed with a heavy heart, "we'll have to figure out what to do with you, Ms. Vallière."
She blinked, "What do you mean?"
"Technically speaking, you have not completed the ritual. You have no familiar. And seeing as you have successfully summoned something, we cannot allow you to attempt a summons again."
Her eyes widened as the gears clicked in her head. The pink-haired student's lip began to tremble, though she held it and her voice admirably steady.
"So you mean to say…"
"Legally speaking," Osmond continued carefully, "I cannot keep you enrolled in this academy. While the fact you have summoned something, another noble in particular, does prove you have magic, on paper you have failed to perform the ritual. The only way we could allow you to attempt another summons is if Lord Felwinter died."
The headmaster directed a wry look at the lord. "And I'm sure he would be quite opposed to that."
"Correct." the lord deadpanned.
"And," Osmond sighed with a heavy heart, "In that case, I have little choice but to expel you on the grounds that you have no magical potential befitting a Noble."
"I...understand," She ground out with balled fists and wet eyes in a tone that told him that she did anything but.
Professor Colbert looked nearly heartbroken. He'd always liked Ms. Vallière for how well she excelled in the theoretical portions of magic. It was only in the practical application that she failed and so often exploded. Osmond himself felt saddened by the loss of someone who could have done great things. While she still had a long life ahead of her, to be expelled from the academy was to become a disgraced noble. He'd heard she was already engaged, and he hoped that it wouldn't fall through with her new status. That, at least, could give her some measure of happiness he hoped.
"Question."
Osmond blinked, looking back up into the empty gaze of Lord Felwinter's helm.
"When you say that Ms. Vallière has no magical potential" the man inquired in his oh so hollow voice. "What exactly do you mean?"
Osmond glanced at the professor and student in front of him in surprise. The professor shrugged and Louise was too consumed in her own grief and despair to acknowledge him, assuming she'd even noticed him in the first place.
"Er, that is to say, near as we can tell, Ms. Vallière has absolutely no talent or aptitude for any practical application of magic. As such, she will be labeled a disgraced noble, a noble with no magic."
The lord cocked his head to the side, "Curious."
"Curious?" Osmond repeated, one greyed brow rose across his head, "How so?"
"This girl, Louise," Felwinter began, turning towards her with an intentful look, "Is brimming with Void [Light] the likes of which I've scarcely seen before."
Osmond's aging heart skipped a beat. Louise froze in her seat. Even Colbert, the war veteran he was, paused in his tapping and took in a sharp breath.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"
"Louise," the armored noble placed a golden gauntlet upon his student's pink crown of hair, "Is filled with a potential for the Void that I've never seen in one so young. It is impressive."
Osmond noted that Ms. Vallière turned an interesting shade of pink under his touch.
"That's impossible." Colbert murmured.
Felwinter gave the professor a careful look, pulling both hands behind his back, "I assure you, it is not."
"But the only user of Void Magic was Brimr, and that was thousands of years ago!" he exclaimed.
"I know not of what you speak, but I do know the Void." The blackened skull of a ram tilted to the side once more, "Among my people, I am considered a master of its usage. I know a fellow user of the Void when I sense them."
"Surely one of our many accomplished teachers would have picked up on her...alignment at some point in her education?" Osmond questioned, "As much as I have hope for Ms. Vallière, I've never seen a hint of true magical potential coming from her."
"The incompetence of you and your staff is not my concern." Felwinter said in a bland voice.
Osmond struggled not to visibly bristle in fury at the man who dared call his entire life's work "incompetent", instead focusing on calming himself and thinking about this like a professor.
"Everytime Ms. Vallière attempts a spell, it fails. Every time," He explained slowly, "It always explodes, sometimes very dangerously.
"Good."
Osmond was taken aback, "Good?" he repeated, as if to be sure of what he was hearing.
Felwinter nodded, "Explosions are the hallmark of any good Voidwalker. I'd be more worried if she didn't have an inclination towards them."
To prove his point, he snapped his fingers. Above them, a small, but loud, explosion went off, contained by a purple field. And just as the last, done without a wand or any other obvious focus.
"Fascinating…" Colbert muttered, his widened eyes locked onto the dissipating cloud of dust with keen interest.
Casting magic without a focus wasn't impossible, it was just extremely difficult. To be able to cast magic at any practical level without a focus required a level of skill and raw power that was restricted to at least Square-Class and above.
Osmond frowned at the display and leaned back in his chair.
This he thought, has become far more complicated.
"We would need some way to corroborate this," he said, tapping his fingers against the desk. "To lay claim to the same magic as that used by the Founder is no simple thing. Especially since there have been no reports of any other Void mages in the past 6,000 years since his death."
"That you know of." The cold and dispassionate voice of Felwinter interrupted.
Osmond suppressed an outright grimace as he realized the man had a point. Many things had been lost to history. If having an affinity for the Void meant that you couldn't cast normal spells, it wouldn't surprise him to learn that there had been numerous Void mages, all to be consigned to the footnotes of history as disgraced nobles.
"Well we could surely find something one way or the other in the library." Colbert pointed out, "The records are extensive, some even date back to the Founder's time itself."
Osmond took the time to stroke his beard as he rolled the thought around in his head. Setting up a research project at the academy to search for Void mages? He had little doubt it would quickly turn into something political and religious very quickly.
"So what'll happen with me?" Louise spoke up, a thin string of hope trembling in the undertones of her voice.
Osmond hated to be the one to break it. But he wouldn't put the burden on someone else.
"I'm afraid we will need a lot of time to verify this," He admitted solemnly, "Possibly years of research. We can't justify keeping you here for that long given your already spotty record."
If Louise had pouted, cried, or even raged, Osmond might have been content. Not happy, not after being forced to expel a driven and bright student, but he would have been able to sleep at night knowing she would be okay in the end.
But no, it was the way the light died in her eyes, the way she just slumped ever so slightly, put on a faint, empty, and meaningless smile, and said, "Oh, okay, I understand," that broke his heart.
"In that case."
His cold, empty, static-lined, but not unkind voice cut through the room like Karin's famed "Heavy Wind."
"I would like to offer you an apprenticeship."
The room blinked, staring at the man clad in golden robes and a black ram's skull.
"You would like to...offer an apprenticeship?" Osmond repeated, making sure he heard him right.
"Ms. Vallière has a level of potential in the Void I've never seen in one so young." He explained, "I'd like to...nurture it. In addition, I still owe her for saving my life. I feel that giving her an education on how to properly use her talents, something she's been sorely lacking at this institution, would be the best way to repay her."
Osmond leaned back in his chair, stroking his beard. His mouse, Chuchu, muttering in his ear.
This...this could work. A powerful noble taking in Ms. Vallière as his apprentice could solve many of their problems. She saves his live, earning a life debt, which anyone can respect. He's a powerful lord from a no-doubt powerful foreign nation that the country could at least trade with, giving the man a lot of political capital. To become his student would hardly make her a disgrace.
Many a great mage was taught by apprenticing under another great noble. They did not all have to attend the Academy.
"Yes...this could work," Osmond muttered, a smile slowly growing on his face.
But Louise wasn't listening anymore, for her attention laid elsewhere. The bright smile that blossomed on her face easily outshining his own pleasure.
"I accept!"
A/n: I'd like to thank Trav(NothingExistance) for his help toughing this whole chap up and being my Beta.
Also, fuck you. Consigned is a perfectly normal word.
Read a book.
Anyways, this chap sets up an important part of the rest of the story. If you got the impression I don't like Louise from the last chapter, then I've misled you(all according to kake).
Louise annoys me, but in large part, because I like most of where she's coming from. She's in a hard place with a lot of pressure, a lot of failures that aren't her fault, and not a very good support structure. I just don't like that she has to be an asshole about it.
So, I figured that rather than hand her the idiot ball and beat it out of her, I'll hand her someone she can't flip her shit at. She can recognize Felwinter as an authority on magic and a proper noble. He's got magic golden clothes/armor. A fancy helmet. He can disintegrate things and make explosions with the snap of his fingers. He's also got a presence and confidence that makes him seem intimidating.
As such, Louise has slotted him into the "Authority" slot, much like her teachers or her mother. So don't expect her to flip out and make his face explode or anything.
That said, at present, she's still an irritating little shit that's a bubbling volcano of anger and issues.
As for the teachers, they don't quite believe that Felwinter and Louise are Void mages yet. Again, they need to corroborate it with what they find in the Library. But, there's not exactly a lot of magic that lets you disintegrate stuff. And Felwinter seems, at the very least, like the type of person you don't want to insult to their face.
Next chapter is going to be from Felwinter's perspective. In large part because he's not going to be 100% honest with people here. He'll be telling them a version of the truth that will get him the most desirable results from these people.
That'll probably be ready in another week or so.