Tristain Academy of Magic, 2140 hours

Louise stared out of her window, surveying the sight before her. The courtyard where the summoning rituals have taken place was packed with the strange soldiers and carriages that she summoned. Most of the soldiers were asleep, with a few still up doing patrols. As she gazed at them, her mind went back to the events that have occurred earlier that afternoon.

Her familiar, who has called himself Julius Sickles, was apparently the leader of a group of soldiers known as the "Duke of Lancaster's Regiment." Furthermore, he stated that his group was working with another group of soldiers called the "King's Royal Hussars." Mulling over these thoughts, she surmised that she must have summoned an army of nobles and she had taken them away from their families, their country, and most of all, their king. Louise shuddered at the thought of what the implications of such an act would be, although when she had first looked at them, none of them looked like nobles. They might have looked like commoners, but they conducted themselves quite surprisingly well, and their behavior seemed to fit that of a professional army, not a disorganized rabble. Appearance-wise, they wore unusual clothing, ones that she had never seen before.

Her thoughts then shifted to the packs they carried on their backs and the strange muskets they wielded. She wondered how an army entirely equipped with muskets and with no mages present in their ranks would be able to win in battle against an enemy that has an elite force, such as the Manticore Knights, which her mother, Karin Désirée de la Vallière, was a part of; the Griffin Knights under her fiancé, Jean-Jacques de Wardes; and the Musketeer Knights, the Princess of Tristain's elite bodyguard unit. The unusual soldiers' carriages also puzzled Louise. How would they be able to move without the aid of horses? And how would they be able to utilize the cannons they wielded?

Louise sighed; it was clear that all the thinking she had been doing for the past two hours had taken its toll on her. She went back to her bed, resolving to get answers from her familiar tomorrow.

Tristain Academy of Magic, 0645 hours

Julius took another bite of his MRP, going over what had happened thirty minutes ago.

He had spoken to his battalion and the tankers of the King's Royal Hussars regarding their situation in Halkeginia. They had no means of going back, no way to contact home. Everything around them could be a potential hostile, so they had to be careful. They were not keen on underestimating any hostile they could face, whether it's the Taliban back in Afghanistan or whatever Renaissance-style army they encounter. The Hussars and the Lancastrians, surprisingly, agreed to stay with Julius and tough it out until they could find a way home.

Julius finished his breakfast and threw the remains into a garbage bin he had found the night before. Grabbing his rifle, he stood up and walked around, intending to explore the place that was to be where his unit and the Hussars would seemingly be stationed for the foreseeable future.

"Out on a walk, Major?" Lionel's voice piped up behind him.

Julius turned around to see Lionel and Travis standing with their rifles slung across their waists. "Yeah, I wanted to know what we'll be working with if we're to stay here," he stated.

"That sounds reasonable enough," Travis said as Lionel took a pack of Lucky Strikes from his pants' cargo pocket, drawing a stick out and lighting it. "Then I suppose you don't mind if we tag along."

"Well, I suppose I could use some company," Julius chuckled. "Let's go, then."

The three set off, heading for one of the five courtyards within the academy walls. The building was huge, with walls as high as thirty feet with a tower at each interval. Travis could only guess that these towers were where the students likely slept. It reminded him of one of those medieval castles in western and central Europe.

Twenty minutes later, the trio were on their way back to their unit when they came across the very person that had brought them here in this world.

For a while, no one said a word, until Louise broke the silence.

"Familiar, we have to talk." It soon became clear to the three Lancastrians that this girl has some kind of attitude problem. Nevertheless, they decided to play along.

"I'm all ears," Julius replied.

Louise hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Tell me, familiar, are you and your men nobles?"

Julius blinked a few times, unsure how to answer this question.

It was Travis who spoke up. "In our world, most of our countries are ruled by a leader that is chosen by the people. Everyone is treated equally where we come from, and in our country, the nobility, and the queen in particular, are nothing more than state symbols."

Louise mulled the thought over. "So that means you're not nobles? And how are the countries in your world able to keep their people in line without magic?"

"You'll know someday," Julius replied. "On to another matter, though. I know how the master and familiar thing works. I can't be your servant. I have enough on my hands right now."

Louise paled in shock upon hearing what Julius just said. "But… but familiars are supposed to obey their masters! Are you so brazen as to defy a noble like me, commoner?!"

Julius suddenly grabbed her by the throat. "Now you listen to me, and you listen good. Where we come from, in one of our countries, a bunch of nobles abused their power, stealing money from the lower classes. You know what the lower classes did? They rebelled and had the ruling royalty executed for a shitload of corruption, and that country was plagued by revolutions and counterrevolutions afterwards. You see where I'm going with this?"

He roughly pushed her away. Louise, horrified both by Julius's sudden action and what she had just been told, could only nod.

Julius took a deep breath before speaking again. "All we're asking of you is that you treat us as equals, as your allies. There's a saying in our world: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' Treat us as your friends, and we'll help you in whatever you need, provided that our help is warranted. But treat us like trash…" he let his sentence hang.

Louise blinked, before coming to a conclusion. "Alright, I understand now," she said. "My apologies for my outburst, it's unbecoming of a noble like me."

"It's alright, I should apologize as well for my unprofessional behavior," Julius returned.

"Could we start over?" Louise asked. "I'm Louise Françoise Le Blanc de la Vallière, third daughter of the duke and duchess of Vallière," she finished with a curtsy.

Julius stood at attention, holding his rifle in such a way that its muzzle was pointing at the ground. "Major Julius Sickles, 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment," he said. "Hopefully we can work well together from hereon out."