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"Saito" -Talking
'Louise' -Thinking/ Human-Human Telepathy
"Explosion!" -Spell
:Master: -Master/Familiar Telepathy
Chapter 21: Spiritual Problems Part 2
The Next Morning
Princess Henrietta's Temporary Suite, Tristain Academy for Magic
As the Crown Princess of the Country of Tristain, Henrietta had seen many expert spellcasters in her time at Court. She had seen feats of power from Mage Knights like Lady Karin and, formerly, Lord Wardes, and she had displays of skill from some of the greatest minds like Headmaster Osmond and Professor Colbert. She had been tutored by some of the most skilled and talented mages in the entire nation of Tristain in the arts of magic.
And yet nothing she had witnessed before had prepared her for the sights she witnessed as Hiraga Saito warded her suite.
The young mage stood at the centre of her suite's main chambers, surrounded by four animal-shaped masses of pure magical energy, one standing in each of the cardinal directions. To the south was a red bird seemingly made of fire. To the east a long, coiling, wingless dragon seemingly made of rich, verdant earth floated just off the floor. To the west, a great hunting cat, seemingly made of whirling white winds denoted by thick stripes of black prowled through the air. Finally, in the northern corner rested a massive black tortoise, seeming made from ice, while an equally black serpent made of running water coiled around its shell.
And he was still summoning a fifth one.
This time, rather than rising from the stonework beneath them like the others had, the mystic construct formed from the very air itself, light itself seemingly gathering inches over Saito's head to form another coiling dragon, seemingly made of pure golden radiance, that whirled and swam through the air above them like a streamer caught in the wind.
It was…mesmerizing to say the least. She had never heard of spellcasting like this before, and it was amazing to watch it first-hand.
"Princess." Saito called to her, quickly snapping her out of her daze. "Do you wear any jewellery or similar ornaments almost all the time?"
"My Presence Crown." The burgundy-haired girl touched the small crown atop her head.
Honestly it looked more like a customized, bejewelled hairband that just happened to look like a crown in Saito's humble opinion, but who was he to question another world's fashions?
"It'll do. Can you come over here please?" the onmyōji asked, holding out a hand. "Don't worry about the images; they're just aspects of the spell matrix I've been preparing, they can do you no harm."
Somewhat nervously, the Crown Princess of Tristain walked forward and stepped through the giant fiery bird. The amount of magic in it wasn't very high, but it still left her skin tingling slightly from the contact.
"Very good. Take my hand and I will tie these spells to your crown." Saito smiled reassuringly at her.
Swallowing slightly, she grasped his hand with her own. Almost immediately, she felt something wash over her, like she was slowly stepping into a warm bath.
"Huh. Unusual." Saito commented when she mentioned the odd sensation. "You must be somewhat sensitive to magic if you can feel my wards before they're even fully formed; that's what you're feeling, just so you know. Once Louise is cured, I'll have to run through different types of magic to discover which ones you are sensitive to, with your permission, of course, Princess?"
"That would be fine." Henrietta nodded.
With a chant that lasted five minutes, the five animals slowly started dissolving into various strands of coloured light before flowing into her crown, causing it to glow with a soft radiance. At the end of the ritual a soft pulse of magic seemed to radiate from the newly enchanted piece of jewellery and settle across the room before fading.
"There." Saito stated, letting out a soft breath before smiling in satisfaction. "That ought to do it."
"Can I ask what these protections do?" Henrietta requested calmly, doing her best to keep her own thoughts off her face.
"Certainly. You might want to call Agnès back in though; she was not happy about being excluded." The onmyōji smiled unrepentantly.
The princess smiled back ruefully. Having Agnès in the room would have interfered with the casting of the spell, possibly causing the spell to confuse the target of the protections, at least according to Saito. She had to wonder if that was true, or if he had just been toying with her faithful protector.
Once a sour-faced Agnès was back in the room, Saito got down to business. "Princess Henrietta, I can now safely say that there is nowhere within this castle that you will be safer than these rooms. No one who desires to do you harm can enter the room in any way, nor can magic or projectile weapons fired from outside can pierce the barriers that I have crafted. Any poison that enters in liquid, gas or solid form will be burned away in a flash of light. The walls, floor and ceiling are also three times as dense and three times as solid as regular stone. I did manage to keep the weight the same as their base form so we should have no worries about structural issues."
"I see. And what you did with my crown?" the Crown Princess asked.
"I cast a similar spell on it to one I cast on Louise's maid, Siesta." Saito explained. "As long as you wear that crown, you will be protected from physical and magical attacks that make it around your protectors' aegis. It will also throw up a magical signal flare to alert people that you are under attack. Should the barrier be breached, it will teleport you a hundred meters away, but will exhaust its magic for a few minutes, so if that happens, you should run."
"Is there any difference between this spell on my crown and the one that Miss Siesta has?" Henrietta asked.
"Hers is weaker and more limited because it was cast not long after I arrived in this world and I was both less sure of my casting abilities and had significantly less power to work with." Saito admitted. "I also cast it onto her directly rather than onto a piece of clothing or jewellery, meaning it's pretty much a permanent spell until I release it. Yours will last about a year without me engraving runes into the crown to bind the protection spells to it fully."
"So long as you can remove it without incident, I suppose it doesn't matter." Henrietta sighed, remembering that Saito had explained that organic materials like wood had funny effects on magic, so she didn't want to imagine what the human body could do to magic.
"Oh, humans take having magic cast on them fairly well, as long as the magic itself is benign rather than something like a fireball." Saito waved a hand dismissively. "Unlike with regular organic materials, like wood, or even a non-sapient or sentient creature like a squirrel, there's a form of resistance in humans that prevents magic from going out of control. An extremely weak form of magical resistance, if you like. Unless Siesta drinks a magic potion of some sort, the magic will remain exactly as I cast it."
"Well that's good to hear." The Princess sighed in relief. "Now, you are going to Lake Lagdorian with Louise, Montmorency and Guiche…are you certain you do not wish me to dispatch some members of my guard to accompany you?"
The mystic shook his head. "No, thank you. We'll travel faster as a small group. It'll also make us less conspicuous if we don't travel around with members of the Musketeers. Some young nobles out for a little trip with a single bodyguard? That's unremarkable. The future Queen's personal guard escorting a trio of young mages would certainly stand out. The last thing we need is to draw too much of the wrong kind of attention, particularly if we want to keep this quiet."
Agnès raised an eyebrow at the calm and reasoned argument. Most Nobles would say that it was beneath them to have commoners escorting them. Then again, the mage standing before her was raised with social and moral values that were completely different than any in her experience. He saw both Commoners and Nobles in different lights to what someone from Halkaginia did; he saw Commoners as people to be protected and not abused, and Nobles to be strictly monitored and disciplined.
She really didn't know how to treat him. He was a Mage, therefore a Noble, but he was also one who disdained the idea of nobility.
'Vexing man.' She scowled. Not that anyone noticed, as she scowled more often than not.
"Very well." Henrietta reluctantly backed off on the subject. She was still worried about Louise; her dear friend had never been the…cautious sort. Oh, she was intelligent and quite adept at planning, but when her dander was raised Louise would always charge first, think second.
The pinkette had literally thrown herself in between the burgundy-haired Princess and possible harm with that Johan character, and Henrietta had no doubt that the girl might be even more reckless now her mind was being messed with thanks to that accursed potion. "I expect her to be returned to me in one piece, Professor Saito."
Saito bowed his head in acknowledgement. "I shall endeavour to do so. Princess, might I ask a favour of you? While Louise and I are away, could you permit Siesta to wait on you? She is left with nothing to do today because she's so efficient."
"Certainly. I do need someone to wash the clothes I've worn since coming here." The Princess admitted. "Is she skilled?"
"Siesta could teach your maids at the castle a thing or two, I wager." Saito smirked a bit. "I have honestly never seen someone so skilled at housework. To think that Mott person wanted to waste her talents like that."
Henrietta scowled at the mention of the lecherous Comte de Mott. "He is a letch of the lowest contempt possible. Even for a noble, the number of maids he beds is obscene. His son is taking after his father, and is likely to turn out even worse from what Louise has told me. I trust you have a plan for when he returns after the holidays?"
"Rest assured, he will not like what will fall upon him." Saito smiled innocently, but there was a promise of pain in his eyes. He did not like people who abused their magic by attacking those without it just for fun. Bestowing a fitting punishment upon the arrogant son of Comte Mott would be a pleasure.
"Good." Henrietta nodded firmly, in complete agreement with Saito's opinions on Mages attacking Commoners. Then she sighed again. "I suppose you had better go and prepare to depart."
"You're right. I shall see you upon our return, your Highness." Saito bowed before leaving.
"Princess…you plan on asking Miss de Vallière and Mister Saito to do THAT, aren't you?" the Chevalier murmured to her mistress once Saito had closed the door and walked away.
"I have no choice…my fate is to be a…seventh wife…of the Germanian Emperor." Henrietta grimaced at the thought. "It is for the sake of Tristian. Which is why nothing can be allowed to impugn my marriageability to the Emperor in any way. I know that if I send Louise, my best friend and family member, Wales will return that item. Had she not summoned Professor Saito, I would not even think of asking her this, but…she is my liegeman. She is the only one aside from you that I KNOW I can trust to be loyal to me rather than to my mother or their coin purse."
"Princess…" Agnès muttered, touched by her future monarch's words. "If there was a way to spare you from this marriage, I would go through with it. You deserve better than to be that old man's plaything."
The Germanian Emperor wasn't old, exactly; he had just turned forty-nine to be precise. What he was well known as was something of a womaniser, collecting several beautiful women as his wives and concubines. All of them were only minor nobility at best, however; Henrietta was obviously intended to be the crown jewel in his collection as Royalty. A statement that said he could and did have the skill to seduce women from Commoners to Royalty, never mind that it had been worked out as a strict deal between Germania, Tristain and the Church of Brimir to prevent other nations from absorbing the smaller country, having nothing to do with the Emperor himself except as a way for Tristain to offer something of value…Henrietta.
The Emperor was very particular about his women though. He preferred to teach them their place in the bedroom from the breaking of their virginity, which was likely why Kirche von Zerbst hadn't been claimed by him, despite her obvious beauty. Any hint of impropriety from Henrietta would have him cancelling the marriage unilaterally. It was even a part of the damned marriage agreement.
Henrietta would love to simply ignore the proud and arrogant man, but Tristain had lost too much land and soldiers in the wars of the last thirty years, even with as famous a general such as Karin of the Heavy Wind waiting in the wings. The treasury was also low. The added blow to morale with the sickening and sudden death of Henrietta's father, the King, meant that if King Joseph of Gallia tried to conquer Tristain, he would most likely succeed, especially as he ignored the Priesthood and their 'advice' when it didn't suit him. Tristain needed this alliance with Germania to prevent that.
'It isn't just the Gallians we have to worry about either. The Reconquista are proving to be a far greater danger than we'd expected.' The Crown Princess thought as she bit her lip. 'That they managed to corrupt and recruit one of my father's most trusted and loyal agents is worrying, but the thought of what they might have done in other kingdoms is downright frightening, not to mention the fact that they are aiding the nobles on the rebel side of the civil war in Albion. If they get a good foothold on the Flying Island of Albion, they will have a stronghold that will be difficult to dislodge them from, and I can just imagine their next target to be Tristain.'
Albion and Tristain had been allies for at least three millennia. Their royal families had intermarried on an infrequent basis and their soldiers had been on the same side of the battlefield in almost every war fought by the two nations. That Tristain had been weakened to the point that they were unable to send aid to their allies was a galling slur on their honour that would take a lot to erase.
A knock on the door drew Henrietta's attention. "Enter."
Siesta, clearly nervous, entered and bobbed a curtsey. "Begging your pardon, Your Highness. Master Saito sent me to wait on you today, if it pleases you."
"Thank you, Miss Siesta." Henrietta smiled at the nervous maid. "As it so happens, what with the fuss and feathers of the last few days, my clothes haven't been washed and this is my second-to-last dress. Do you think you could take care of it?"
"O-Of course!" Siesta nodded ardently. "Are…are your clothes silk or some other fabric?"
"Some are." The Princess admitted. "Mostly my socks and undergarments, but one of my dresses is as well. Most are fine cotton or muslin."
"Whew. That's good." The maid looked a little relieved. "Most students don't bring much in the way of silk clothing, so there isn't much in the way of special cleaning solutions needed for properly handling silk here."
"Is silk clothing discouraged at the Academy for some reason?" Agnès asked curiously. She couldn't imagine most nobles willingly 'making do' with cotton clothing, no matter how well-crafted, without some outside interference.
"Well, some new maids once ruined a silk shirt and the Academy ended up paying three times its price to assuage that young noble's pride." Siesta winced at the memory. "Ever since, students have been told that only their Mantles of Nobility are to be silk; everything else aside from socks and undergarments are to be made of wool, cotton or some other inexpensive fabric."
"Old Osmond is as fiscally cautious as ever." Henrietta chuckled.
"Some people would call him a miser, Princess." The Knight pointed out acerbically.
"Considering a regular silken shirt would cost at most two-hundred and fifty Écu and at least one-hundred Écu, I think not wanting to pay between seven-hundred and fifty to three-hundred Écu for a simple mistake is sound financial reasoning." The Princess replied dryly, which made Siesta nod fervently in agreement.
Later
Tristain Countryside, On Route to Lake Lagdorian
Guiche did not like the sound of the chastity spell that Saito was going to cast on him once this trip was over, but he did see why it had to be done. Now that the choking sense of panic had (literally) been beaten from him by his (rightfully!) enraged fiancé, he could see that he had gone too far with his dalliances.
The Academy did not have a rule against its students sleeping with the commoner staff or even with each other. What it did have was a code of conduct that every Noble agreed to by attending the school, and a major part of that was that any dalliances with the maids, butlers or other students should be discreet at all times.
Guiche winced as he admitted to himself that he had been anything but discreet.
There was also no set punishment for breaking the code of conduct, other than it was up to staff discretion as to how and who were punished. It was why Princess Henrietta had deferred to Professor Saito regarding what Guiche's punishment should be.
"Guiche, you're about to fall off your horse." He heard Saito say calmly from next to him. He jerked himself back into the saddle and flushed red. He, Montmorency, Saito and Louise were riding towards the Lake of the Water Elemental, as Lagdorian was otherwise known. Saito had Louise riding side-saddle, much to the magically infatuated pinkette's delight, while he and his girlfriend each had their own horse.
"How is it that you know how to ride a horse?" Guiche asked Saito plaintively. "I thought you were a commoner."
"Back home, one of the oldest military arts is Bajutsu, horsemanship, and it's an optional ungraded class at the Imperial Academy. I took it because it was one of the few arts espoused by the samurai, a caste of warrior nobility in my homeland that I deeply admire, that I could freely study." Saito explained. "The equipment used there and here is pretty much identical, materials aside, so it translates over pretty well. I was an average student at best though, so don't expect me to go to a full canter unless it's an emergency."
When they stopped for lunch (and Saito prevented Louise from kissing him yet again), Guiche asked Saito a question that had been burning in him for a while.
"Why did Her Highness give Montmorency such a prestigious position as a punishment?"
The Japanese boy blinked at him before sipping his soup. "Hmm. Well, at a guess, I'd wager she's doing what she can to strengthen Tristain before she gets married off to this Germanian Emperor."
"I don't follow." Guiche was forced to admit. He'd never had a head for politics.
"Montmorency is from a prestigious family, one that is…a count?" Saito looked at the girl in question for confirmation, which she supplied with a simple nod. "Right. A count, while not a Ducal House like Louise's family, is also someone to keep an eye on in case they pull a Wardes. In this case, Princess Henrietta is punishing Montmorency by forcing her to work for the Royal Family, using her potions skills basically for free when she could usually set her own prices, for a set period of time. At the same time, she is likely going to subtly warn the Montmorency Family that she is keeping Mon-mon here ("Hey!" Mon-mon objected) as a hostage against their good behaviour for that same length of time. If you choose to marry her and stay with her Guiche, I'll bet she'll say something similar to the Gramont Family. That makes two Count Houses that she doesn't have to worry about rebelling and taking the throne…at least, not as much as the rest, anyway."
The blond boy felt his eyes cross. "That is so convoluted!" he muttered as he tried to wrap his brain around it.
"You're a Noble; haven't you had any kind of training in politics?" Saito asked in surprise.
"My…brother…is the one whom is to take the mantle of Comte de Gramont. Given his…obvious talents it was always unlikely that I'd ever need to step in and take his place so my training in those areas has been minimal." Guiche winced. "He is a Triangle Mage right now and is almost a Square Mage at the age of twenty. That's pretty good, even for a certified genius like my brother. Most don't earn their fourth element until they're in their mid-thirties. People like my brother and Tabitha are rare people who have strong connection to the elements and are able to gain the control and power necessary to wield them early."
"Genius, eh?" Saito smirked in amusement. "In my home language the word for genius is 'tensai'. It can mean 'talent from heaven' or 'idiot from heaven' depending on what kind of person you're dealing with. One of my classmates, just as an example, had an unprecedented ability to control Fire, Lightning and Air. He was a right annoying person; Ryūnosuke Sagara I believe his name was. He thought the sun rose when he got up and set when he went to bed. He assumed that his talent meant that he could get away with just about anything; that no one would criticize him for taking what he thought was his due."
Saito snorted and absently rolled his left shoulder, wincing slightly. "I stood up to him when we were placed in the same class and almost lost an arm. For that, Sagara was stripped of almost all of his ability to connect to his magic and sent to the brand new class a few years below us to rebuild his ability to use magic from scratch. He was an idiot from heaven, and got what he deserved."
"Wow…how old were you." Montmorency asked.
"Twelve." Saito asked as he continued to massage his left arm, presumably the one that he'd almost lost. "I was lucky; if the Grandmaster hadn't used one of his Familiars to heal my arm, I would have lost it. It took a direct hit from a rather potent lightning spell."
"And you're still alive?!" Guiche was shocked. He couldn't imagine surviving a direct hit from lightning magic.
"Not very many people actually die when they're hit with a lightning bolt." The onmyōji said dismissively. "I remember once reading about someone who got hit with seven or more of them over the course of his life. Anyway, I also had the barrier of the arena we were in protecting me. The only reasons I was hit at all were bad luck, considering Sagara was blasting at me willy-nilly, and the fact that his lightning magic he was using had a more powerful piercing effect than our teacher anticipated."
"If the guy was so powerful, why'd you stand up to him?" Guiche asked. The young de Gramont would admit to being a bit of a coward at heart. He couldn't imagine himself facing down a fellow student who was the same sort of genius as his elder brother.
"I don't like bullies." Saito said with a grim smile. "And you can't get rid of a bully by letting them walk all over you; sometimes you just have to stand up to them. Bullies are cowards at heart. Sometimes a willingness to stand up to them makes them back off from the start. If that doesn't work, you have to fight. A lot of people say that learning to turn the other cheek is better, but I think that just makes you a walking punching bag. Of course, I wasn't expecting my bully to be throwing around potentially lethal attacks when I confronted him; I'd figured he wouldn't be that stupid, but I guess I'd overestimated his base intellect."
"Bullies are cowards, eh…?" Guiche mused quietly. That bore thinking about.
After lunch and a bit of rest, the foursome continued riding, although Guiche didn't envy Saito having Louise on his lap during the ride. He'd have sore legs for a goodly while after he dismounted.
"By the way," Saito asked Montmorency, "Why is it that this lake is so well known?"
"The Elemental Spirit there is old, even amongst Water Spirits." The potioneer replied as she navigated her horse across the trail. "Only the best of the best Water Mages were ever able to complete a full Pact with it. It was seen as something of a sign of excellence to be able to do so. No one's made a successful full pact in the last two decades though."
"I can think of a couple of reasons why." The onmyōji muttered. "Elementals are very prideful and feel the flow of time differently than we mortals. The passing of the years means nothing to them, a year can mean less than a second to such creatures. A twenty year span without forming a true contract would seem like next-to-nothing to any elemental of significant power. To be seemingly constantly bothered by human mages seeking pacts and contracts would undoubtedly irritating for them. I very much doubt that she's going to be in a very welcoming mood when we arrive."
When they crested a hill, the four (well, three; Louise was more concerned with snuggling into Saito) were surprised to see water well over the boundaries of the lake, reaching far enough to drown a large portion of the nearby village and several sections of the surrounding woodlands.
"Someone must have upset the Water Spirit." Montmorency said with a frown. "The lake's never been this high up before. Not for as long as my family have been in contract with the spirit."
"There are also very few things that can upset a Water Elemental to this degree. They're usually the most placid of the spirits aside from Air Elementals." Saito added thoughtfully as he studied the scene in front of them. "What could have been done to make the Spirit this furious?"
"I don't know, but we'll have to wait until nightfall to find out." The ringlet-haired blond said in consternation. "Water elementals tend not to come out during the day unless they have no choice."
"So…we wait. Joy." Saito grumbled. "Ah well. I can at least get some work done on this engraving spell Emereldas gave me."
Nightfall
Edge of Lake Lagdorian
"I thought you said no one has made a pact with the Water Spirit here for twenty years?" Saito raised his eyebrow in query as Montmorency pricked her finger with a needle and allowed a drop to fall on the head of her frog Familiar, Robin.
"Full pacts, yes. Almost every Mage who has a primary Water alignment born in Tristain comes here to enter into a provisional pact with the Water Spirit." The potioneer answered absently. "Go, Robin. Tell the Water Spirit of the Lake that a provisional contractor wishes to open discourse with it."
With a croak, Robin hopped into the lake and vanished with a plop.
"Will it come?" Guiche wondered.
"Elementals tend to pay more attention to full contractors than provisional ones, but it's very rare that a contractor asks to talk to it after the Compacting Ceremony, so the Spirit will probably respond out of curiosity if nothing else." Montmorency replied. "Is Louise still asleep?"
"Out like a light." Saito answered, jerking his thumb at a tree, against which Louise was leaning against and letting of cute snores. Another of Saito 'Sleep' talismans would ensure she stayed that way for the time being.
"She's the reason why we're here, and yet…" Guiche sighed in frustration.
"I think it's better this way. You've seen how…ardent this stupid potion's made her." Saito's eye twitched as he recalled all of the clumsy and instinctual seduction attempts by the pinkette in the last thirty-six hours. "She has tunnel vision regarding me and might upset the Spirit without even thinking about it. The last thing we need is to have to fight for our lives against the very entity we're trying to gain assistance from."
"Agreed." Montmorency said fervently. "If we make the Spirit mad, no matter how many lives we have it won't be enough. Although I really have to wonder what made the Spirit so mad as to envelop Lagdorian Village in the waters of the lake. It's never happened before."
Suddenly, a large fountain exploded out of the lake's surface, clear, pure water gushing in arcs before the three humans.
"It's here…the Water Spirit…!" Montmorency gulped slightly. "The last time I was here, I was only a little girl but…the Spirit is as impressive now as it was then. Ahem."
She stepped forward, spread her arms and bowed her head in supplication to the Spirit. "I am Montmorency Margarita 'La Fère' de Montmorency, one of a family of Water Mages who have long contracted with you. If you recognise the blood on my Familiar, please respond in a way that we can understand!"
In a shimmer, the fountain of water, twisted, contorted and finally shaped itself into a giant, vaguely female, shape. Then it spoke in a noble voice that had a faint watery echo to it.
"I remember thee, Lonely One. I recognise the blood that runs through thy veins. Thou art of the family who pays me the most respect out of all who intrude in my waters."
"I am glad that my family has pleased you with our observances, Great One." Montmorency flushed slightly at the words spoken by the spirit. Elementals did not flatter or exaggerate in any way. It was whispered that they did not know how to lie. "Oh great Water Spirit, I have a boon to ask of you."
"A boon? Pray speak thine request." The avatar of the Water Spirit tilted its head slightly.
"I…made a mistake. A gross mistake that I must rectify." The blond girl admitted. "In order to do so, I must brew a potion and to do so, I beg a Tear from you; a small part of your body."
"I am afraid I must refuse, Lonely One." The spirit refused her request instantly.
"…eh?" Montmorency was wide eyed. The Water Spirit usually deliberated for at least a night and a day before granting or refusing a request; an outright and instant refusal had never happened before!
"Great Water Spirit, I am Saito Hiraga, a mage from far beyond these lands and tasked with aiding the young mage in her quest." Saito quickly stepped up beside the paralyzed Montmorency, formally introducing himself and bowing low in respect. "Might I inquire as to why you refuse so swiftly? The need for what we ask of you is great and if there is something troubling you, we would be happy to offer our aid in resolving it in exchange for agreeing to grant Montmorency's boon."
The shape of the Water Spirit shifted into a blob, losing its definition as the spirit considered his words.
"What are you doing?!" Montmorency hissed at him. "If something's troubling the most powerful Water Elemental in Tristain, what makes you think we can do anything about it?!"
"It's the only thing we could do." Saito whispered back swiftly. "We can also hopefully find out why the Water Spirit is enveloping the land like this. It isn't natural. Worse case, we can easily get backup from Her Majesty since whatever is causing this could easily become a threat to Tristain as a whole"
Before the blond could do more than blink in response, the Water Spirit reformed itself into its female avatar. "Very well, Brave One. You say you will offer me your aid? Then do so. I am focused on increasing the water here and cannot drive away my attackers."
"Attackers? Someone's attacked you?!" Montmorency sounded vaguely horrified. Although the Church of Brimir was the one religion in the land, many families, both noble and commoner, also secretly venerated and worshipped the Elemental Spirits that resided in various locations in the lands they lived in. For the Montmorency Family, that was the Great Water Spirit of Lake Lagdorian.
"Indeed. Two Mages of your kind hath assaulted me. I wish them driven away." The Water Spirit nodded. "Do this and I shall bestow a piece of my body unto you as per the Lonely One's request."
"It shall be done, Great Spirit." Montmorency swore, trembling in outrage that anyone had dared to attack her Family's deity.
"I shall await your return." The Water Spirit said, and then collapsed her avatar, returning it to the lake.
"I'm surprised you agreed to fight." Saito noted as he looked at the blond girl with respect.
"The blessing of the Great Water Spirit has made over 90% of the Montmorency Family born with a strong predisposition to Water Magic since the first compact was enacted." Montmorency said in a clipped voice, her eyes hard and tone cold. "Our skill at potions is because of that affinity, and it is the reasons our coffers have always been full. Our Water Magic aids Tristain's Navy in producing fresh water during long journeys, stops floods, helps ensure crops are nourished by rain, and does so much more. We are one of the most respected of the Noble Families and everything that we have managed is because of our bond with the Great Water Spirit. The chance to repay even a part of the debt we owe the Spirit is something we have long desired and now, I have the chance to do so on the behalf of my family. This has just become a very personal issue for me."
Later
Lakeside, Lake Lagdorian
"I have to say, it takes quite the brave or foolish Mage to attack a Water Spirit in the centre of its own home." Guiche frowned. "An Air Mage, do you suppose?"
"Likely. That would let them create a sphere of air to walk along the lake bottom." Montmorency nodded. "Maintaining that kind of spell, especially in the centre of a powerful spirit's territory wouldn't be easy, it would take a powerful mage."
The four Mages were hiding behind a bunch of trees. Louise was awake and actually keeping quiet, perhaps sensing the serious mood of the group.
"It doesn't feel right for a pair of mages to attack the Water Spirit out of nowhere like this." Saito frowned. "Unless it's as a reaction to the expansion of the lake, in which case it's an act of desperation."
"Sounds about right. No one in their right mind or with any other choice would attack an Elemental Spirit, especially not one with the power that the Great Water Spirit has at its command." Montmorency snorted. "Maybe it's a pair of Germanian Sklavenritter."
"What's that now?" Saito asked. The only time he'd heard that term was when Johan had called him it.
"Slave Knights." Guiche informed him. "Disgraced Nobles that choose to live out their lives as agents of the Germanian Crown. They wear collars that force them to obey anyone wearing a Command Gauntlet, so long as it doesn't contradict an order issued with the Master Command Gauntlet worn by the Emperor. They are used for espionage or attacks that require deniability on the part of the Germanian crown, as the collars vanish the bodies of those who wear them before being destroyed themselves once their wearers die. They're the perfect weapons to use if the Germanian Crown wants something done and doesn't want to risk exposing themselves."
"That's so wrong on so many levels." Saito shook his head in disgust, still having trouble dealing with how…barbaric this world's mages could be when employing their magic, how little sanctity they seemed to hold for free will.
"Aside from Tristain, all of the countries have units similar but different to the Sklavenritter." Montmorency shrugged. "The people who are in them are typically murderers, people who have lost their honour or have given up on life. The fringes of society, both Commoner and Noble. They generally aren't missed and the units are completely voluntary; if you don't want to join up, you are free to refuse."
"Shh! Someone's there!" Guiche hissed. The others looked out to see two figures shrouded in hooded cloaks standing at the lakeside. One had a large stave with a hook on the end of it. It looked a bit familiar, actually…
Saito shook his head. This wasn't the time for that. He turned to the two who weren't under the effect of a mind-altering potion and whispered, "I'll launch an attack to distract them. Montmorency, you bind them with the water. Guiche, you use your earth magic to trap their feet in the ground."
"Got it." The ringlet-haired girl nodded determinedly, her wand in hand.
"Just binding their feet? I can do that." the cowardly boy nodded in relief. Saito returned his attention to the two cloaked figures, one of whom seemed to be chanting a spell of some kind, and drew a talisman from his sleeve.
"Talisman of Wind, come to my aid!" Saito whispered. "Maware, Tatsumaki! (Whirl, Dragon Wrap!)"
He threw it and a mid-sized whirlwind roared across the distance between him and the two he was targeting, clearly catching them off guard. The larger figure drew a wand and sent a cord of fire out that devoured his wind. Clever. Air feeds fire, meaning using wind against a fire mage was nearly pointless. Unfortunately for this one, Saito wasn't alone.
"So Ma Re Ga!" Montmorency cast her spell, making the water of the lake erupt forth and wrap around them, forcing the two to let go of their casting tools as they struggled to break free.
"Gan Do Ra!" Guiche cast his spell a moment later, making the two sink a foot down into the ground and the earth seal their feet in.
"Nicely done." Saito nodded at the two of them, dispersing the remnants of his whirlwind. "Now, let's see who is disturbing the Water Spirit…"
As the four walked over to the two bound and struggling captives, Guiche said, "I must say Professor, that magic of yours is very unusual."
"It does its job." Saito answered modestly.
The tall figure stopped struggling and peered at them. "Professor Saito?"
"That voice…Kirche von Zerbst?" Louise said in surprise. It was one of the few things not related to Saito that she had said in her entire time under the potion's influence.
"Mm." the smaller figure said.
"Then…Tabitha?!" Montmorency stepped forwards and ripped their hoods off, revealing their faces. "What in Brimir's Name are you two doing here?!"
"That…will take some explanation." The busty redhead admitted sheepishly. "Can you let us go, please?"
"I hope that the explanation is good, as we have our own reasons for being here." Saito said, one eyebrow twitching rapidly. It was just one thing after another with this damn potion!
"Explain. Now." Montmorency said flatly, giving her friends the evil eye.
And so Kirche did.
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Next Chapter: Spiritual Problems Part 3
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