Louise stepped out of the carriage onto school grounds. She was a little embarrassed by the royal transport, and the escort, but she had to be visibly present at the academy. Otherwise Albion might have reason to break their peace treaty. It was nice to be feared, but this was annoying.

"It's barely any real fear," Utsuho muttered in her mind. "They're scared of me like I was some sort of beast."

"We'll show them their mistake later," she thought back, soothing the raven's feathers.

Kirche hopped out next and stretched as the students stared at them. Louise felt her eyebrow twitch. "You don't need to show off Zerbst."

"Need to? No," Kirche smirked as she leaned down enough for Louise to see up her shirt. "Want to? Yes."

Her eyes twitched again, but she'd learned this was a fight that she couldn't win. Instead Louise stepped clear so the others could get out and looked around. She saw a cart with a familiar tarp over it. "Oh good! The Zero fighter made it already." Quick work. She hoped the academy had tipped the transport company on her behalf.

Guiche was next out, offering his hand to Siesta as she exited. "Lady Takao, I hope my services, small and ineffectual as they were, aided you in some way." Huh. That was actually a pretty smooth line, Louise had to admit. It helped that Guiche's usual greasiness wasn't present. He actually sounded like he meant it.

Siesta nodded her head and accepted the help down. She even blushed as Guiche kissed her fingers. Louise felt a twinge of annoyance at that. Sure it was gentlemanly, but Siesta wasn't used to being fussed over as a noble. Guiche should know better!

Utsuho's croaking laugh caused her to look up and notice Guiche's fast approaching doom. Louise grinned and waved. "Hi Montmorency."

Guiche froze for a second, then spun around to face his enraged girlfriend with the most disarming smile he could muster. "Montmorency, dearest! How I've missed you these past days."

"Is that what missing me looks like?!" The water mage exploded at Guiche leaving him stuttering in panic. "Rushing off to who knows where without a word? Did you enjoy being surrounded by so many women? Away from me?"

Louise turned away so they wouldn't see her snickering. Utsuho had no such worries and just kept crowing at the hilarity.

"That was a little mean," Siesta said, coming to her side.

"I think Louise was as jealous as I am now," Kirche said in mock sorrow.

"It's not jealousy," Louise snapped as she walked away from the Germanian. "Anyway let's make sure the Zero fighter made it in one piece."

Siesta quickly followed after, while Kirche brought up the rear. "It should be fine," Siesta said. "It had both the old preservation spell and the one Marisa lent me as well."

"True, but you can never be sure with overland travel," Louise said. She'd learned that from her father. "It won't be anything we can't fix, but we need to check."

She removed the tarp and looked over. It seemed fine. They'd need to check again, but all the pieces were still there. She let the wings pop down and snapped them into place. Amazing that this flying machine had been kept on a ship, but they didn't need the space anymore.

As she finished her walkaround she notice Professor Colbert running towards them. She wondered why the teacher was in such a hurry. Surely the classes she had missed weren't that important?

The bald man skidded to a stop right next to the Zero fighter and took a few breaths before pointing at the machine. "Miss Valliere, is this actually the famed Dragon's Raiment?!"

Louise blinked. "Yes?" She hadn't realized it was famous.

"It belongs to my family," Siesta said.

"Really?!" He spun to face Siesta. "Lady... Takao was it? You simply MUST let me inspect this artifact! There's so much we can learn from its design!"

Utsuho ruffled her wings. "He sounds like a kappa who saw a new toy. Make sure he isn't allowed to disassemble it."

Fortunately Siesta seemed to have similar worries. "I'd be glad to show you what we know, but it's important to keep it in working order." She frowned. "Though I am worried about keeping it supplied with fuel."

"Fuel?" Kirche frowned in thought. "Oh yes. That 'gasoline' you mentioned. Strange it can only take one specific source of fire to move it."

Siesta pulled out the manual. "From the writings, it needs a specific mixture of fuel and air to create a small explosion in the engine. That moves the pistons to turn the prop."

Colbert peered over her shoulder. "That sounds surprisingly like my fire snake! Oh! And they have diagrams!" He grabbed Siesta by the shoulders smiling widely. "Now I'm certain you must assist me in studying this marvel. I can get you a position as a lab assistant!" He looked over at Kirche and Louise. "And work out some extra credit to cover the classes you missed."

"One second." Louise extracted Siesta from Colbert's grip and huddled together with her and Kirche. "Can we trust him not to disassemble the thing?"

"We might need to take it apart a few times for maintenance," Siesta pointed out. "Having a square class mage might help. So long as we don't let him experiment."

Kirche nodded. "And if he did make something similar to the engine, maybe he can supply us with the gasoline it needs to keep running."

"Sounds like dealing with a kappa," Utsuho thought. "In the end it's usually better to let them help while supervising."

All good points. In the end Louise nodded, and turned back to Colbert. "Sure. Let's discuss the details."

Louise found she was almost looking forward to her lesson with Satori. It beat recovering from wounds inflicted by her ex-fiancee. And given the mess her nation was in, anything that could help her make sense of it was appreciated.

"It's good to see you've recovered in both body and mind." Satori said. "I know I always hated gut wounds."

"How many have you had?" Lousie asked. She'd learned not to try to keep her snappy remarks to herself here."

Satori grimaced. "Three disenbowelments. They're terrible even if you regenerate the damage instantly."

Louise winced. That sounded pretty horrible.

"It is," Satori replied. "And now let's talk about the source of that horror. War." She folded her hands. "What is the point of war?"

"To impose your will on other countries, or groups," Louise stated. She'd learned that a while back.

"Indeed." Satori nodded. "And so, what will your country's goals be in your war with Albion?"

"Huh?" Louise blinked. "What are you talking about? They're going to be attacking us. Our goal is to defend ourselves!" Sure she might have wanted to burn that traitor Wardes to ash, but that wasn't the important part.

Satori shook her head. "That's the goal many nations claim to have. But 'self defense' is a principle. Not a goal. If your foes want to take a mine at the border, you can 'defend' yourself by giving them what they want. For that matter you could end your current war and defend the lives of your people by surrendering and offering your armies to take back this holy land."

"But that would mean the destruction of the nation!" Louise frowned. "You've said dozens of times that actions can have multiple consequences for a nation. Like giving up that mine would show we can't defend our people." Satori had to be making a point in some roundabout way, but she couldn't see it.

"I'm trying to point out 'self defense' is too vague a goal," Satori replied. "Try being specific. What do you want when the war ends?"

"Peace," Louise said. Then understanding hit her. "Which means our goal is to destroy Albion's desire for war."

Satori gave her 'very good now keep thinking smile', and so Louise kept thinking. Why did Albion want a war? Well Cromwell and Wardes had their insane prophecy thing. The nobles just wanted more power and riches. The people? They probably were at least partially invested in the prophecy, but without a strong leader that wasn't the kind of fervor that could lead to an organized war effort.

She shivered at the truth hit her. "We need to kill Cromwell, and destroy Albion's army in the field. That's the only way we can win."

"Why does that disturb you?" Satori asked. "You were planning on assassinating him before."

"Yeah, but that was part of a battle!" Louise tried to put the issue into words. "It's different to declare you're going to dedicate your army to killing one person. It seems like we're the aggressors here."

Satori nodded. "The defenders are usually the people who have such goals. A bit of irony. Forcing an aggressor to stop requires much more force."

"So how does this help me?" Louise asked. "I can't exactly proclaim this to the world."

"Knowing what your goals are allows you to plan your victory and the terms you must demand to achieve it," Satori replied. "If you fail to achieve your goals when the battles end, all the casualties won't matter. Which isn't a big deal if you were fighting over land, but when your goal is peace..."

Louise grimaced. "Failure means there will be more war."

Louise sighed in contentment as she lowered herself into the hot springs. The academy baths were well regulated by magic, but often crowded. Here in Chireiden she could relax without worrying about her fellow students.

Utsuho stretched her wings. "Nothing like a good hot spring. The minerals help with rejuvenating skin! Sanae said something about removing toxins too."

Siesta hummed in thought. "Is that so? I never heard of that."

"Maybe it's outside world knowledge?" Utsuho said leaning back. Louise mentally sighed as she was reminded how unfair her familiar's human form was. The raven was sized like Cattleya except a little taller and with the muscle her sickly sister would never put on. Plus the wings.

Actually now she was curious about that. "Utsuho, why do you keep the wings when you shift to human form? Isn't it easier to blend in without them?"

"Blend in?" Utsuho blinked. "Why would I want to do that? I mastered human form so I could talk to Orin. Also for hands." The hell raven waggled her fingers. "It's amazing how useful these are. Especially the thumb."

Siesta sat up a bit. "So you made yourself look like that?"

"Hrm, not really." Utsuho rubbed her head. "I just made me but human. I got a totally awesome human body because I'm a totally awesome raven."

"Some people have all the luck," Louise muttered. Maybe she'd hit her growth spurt soon. Mother was a late bloomer. She should be too right?

Louise found her eyes shifting over to Siesta's body. Her friend's conservative outfits hid a lot of her figure, but the girl was almost a match for Kirche. The only flaw on her was the scar across her torso. One that matched Louise's cut.

Her eyes flickered up and met Siesta's and she looked away. She wasn't ogling her lady in waiting! Definitely not! No matter how hot and bothered and oh sweet Brimir no one was going to fall for that were they-

"Comparing scars?"

Louise looked up to see Momiji entering the baths. The wolf woman had a smirk, but fortunately she'd given Louise an out. "Sorry. It's just, I'm not used to it." She traced the line of her own injury. It was faint. Nothing horrible. But water magic never left traces like this.

"Um." Siesta sank into the water a bit. "Do you know why my magic doesn't heal injuries as well? Marisa explained it as the wound being spiritual as well as physical but that seems-"

"That's exactly right." Momiji sat down with them. "Magical healing depends on your spirit guiding the spell. It's the same as how we youkai heal. Sound wounds with meaning linger."

"I don't see how a wound can have meaning," Utsuho said. "Just feel like injuries to me."

Momiji shrugged. "Most are." She traced a faint line on her side. "Then there's the wound your mother's killer leaves on you with their dying breath."

Louise winced. A wound to the spirit huh? Yeah that sounded like it would hurt. Perhaps as much as nearly being murdered by your fiance. "But why is Siesta's scar still there then?" she muttered.

The wolf woman's ears twitched. Of course she'd overhear. "Perhaps because she was closer to death? That matters. Perhaps because she earned it protecting someone important to her?" Momiji grinned. "So, what do you think Siesta?"

Louise looked over and saw Siesta was blushing. Or maybe it was just the steam? It was hard to tell.

Still her friend managed to deflect the question. "What about the scar on your shoulder?"

Momiji blinked, then smiled again. "Ah that." She absently rubbed the faint mark. "Sanada Kaori. Shisengumi zero squad captain. She pinned me to a wall, though fortunately between my shield and the wound I gave her earlier she couldn't finish the kill. That was an interesting time." Ripples showed her tail was wagging. "It was too bad she decided to stay with the Shogunate to the bitter end. She was cute."

Utsuho stretched her wings. "Hm, do you have a thing for humans Momiji?"

"What?" The wolf's ears flipped back. "I've only been interested in two!"

Louise shook her head. Apparently all her teachers here were weird.

Siesta felt painfully out of place as Louise dragged her into the Alvis dining hall. "I'm not feeling that hungry," she muttered as the students all stared at her.

"Well you should eat something anyway," Louise said. "We all know the servants eat everything that's left, so you're just getting to go first instead of last."

Utsuho cawed in agreement, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was she was a peasant now in a room filled with nobility, pretending to be one of them. And she didn't need to read any novels to know how that situation went. Especially in a school.

Still Louise was insistent. The tiny pink haired girl pulled Siesta along to the middle of a table and plopped down, as if daring anyone to question her actions. Maybe being the daughter of a duke gave Louise that confidence. Or maybe it was because she was the daughter of Karen, the Heavy Wind.

Siesta on the other hand didn't feel that confidence. She pulled her hood up, helping shield some of the glares she knew were falling on her. The luxurious spread being placed on the table didn't help. Yes she had eaten the leftovers along with all the other servants, but the perfect untouched platters felt different.

"I don't belong here," she muttered.

Louise snorted. "Yes you do. You're a baronet in direct service to the queen. You officially rank higher than everyone but the teachers."

"Just because I can use magic? That doesn't make be better then the other maids," Siesta said. Her words might have been heresy, but it was true.

Louise shook her head. "No. You're better because you saved my life fighting against a square class wind mage. On a mission for the crown. That'd be worth a royal commission even if you were still a commoner." Louise leaned over and looked her in the eyes, concern glimmering through. "You're a great person Siesta, with or without magic."

Siesta felt her cheeks flush. And as the other students started whispering she felt her cheeks grow even warmer. But she still felt a warmth inside as well. She was happy to hear those words, no matter how strange they were.

Someone sitting down next to her nearly made her jump. She quickly glanced over, then sighed in relief as she saw it was only Tabitha. The quiet mage gave her a nod. Meanwhile Kirche planted herself down on the other side of Louise.

"Good morning Louise," Kirche chirped. "You haven't forgotten our date today have you?"

Louise whirled on Kirche. "We're testing the fighter, not dating Kirche. Don't say things people might misunderstand."

"How cold, Louise." Kirche pretended to pout while Louise got even more heated.

Siesta wondered if her friend would ever figure out Kirche was deliberately antagonizing her. Kirche obviously thought it was cute. Which it was, so Siesta kept her mouth shut.

"Ah Lady Takao." Siesta turned to see Guiche behind her. "I am glad to see you finally decided to join us."

Siesta forced herself not to flinch. His words brought only more whispers from the other students, along with a death glare from Montmorency who was standing right behind him. Fortunately the other woman's wrath wasn't aimed at her, but Siesta felt it would be best to defuse the situation. "Good morning, Monsieur de Gramont. Louise insisted I join, even though I'm not a student, and I couldn't refuse." She found it easy to emphasize Louise's name; something that Guiche missed, but Montmorency noticed.

Still the noblewoman was far from pleased. "Guiche, why can you pick Baronet Takao out of a crowd when she has her hood on?" Pure venom laced her words.

"My dearest Montmorency..." Guiche held a hand over his heart. "I am a lover of beauty in all things, and while your beauty-"

"Cat ears," Tabitha interrupted, saving Guiche from what was surely certain death from his own poetic idiocy.

Montmorency looked at Siesta's hood. "Hm, those are very distinctive." She frowned, most of the vitriol gone. "But why cat ears?"

A great way to change the subject. "I heard in the land my grandfather was from that this cloak was the outfit of a healer." Siesta smiled weakly. "My water magic is barely dot level, but my healing potions can reach line class so I thought it was fitting."

"I'd never heard of such a custom," Montmorency said. "Were there other similar outfits?"

Siesta blinked. Were there? She'd heard about this one from Marisa but... "I think I remember something about rabbit ears being popular." She froze as Louise blushed. Oh right. The bunny outfit was very different. Curse Satori's romance novels for planting that in her head.

Kirche of course noticed. "Oho? Louise likes bunnies, eh?"

"You'd be better as a fox," Louise muttered.

Montmorency hummed in thought. "Maybe I could make a frog outfit."

Siesta watched in confusion as the chatter spread throughout the hall. She might have accidentally started something.

Louise threw a scarf to Kirche as she approached the plane. It was nice to see the Germanian was on time. "You'll want this."

"It seems a bit early for that," Kirche replied.

"It'll be twice as cold as it was on Sylphid," Louise replied.

Utsuho nestled inside Louise's jacket. "The air gets colder as you fly higher too. My feathers help but..."

Siesta and Colbert came from around the back of the plane. Siesta held up a slate. "We've completed all the checks the manual instructed us to. Hopefully that's enough."

"Well if things go wrong, we can levitate away," Kirche said.

"I'd like to keep the plane intact," Louise said dryly as she clambered into the second seat.

Colbert nodded. "Please do. This is vitally important for the progress of my research!"

Good to see the teaching staff had their priorities straight, Louise thought as she strapped herself in. "Ready," she said when everything was done.

"Okay!" Kirche turned the starting switch.

The engine awoke with a roar that only got louder as the propeller sped up. Soon the plane started moving forwards as well, picking up speed across the field they'd chosen to use as a staging point.

The moment of flight was almost an accident. A bump sent the plane into the air, and Kirche pulled back on her controls. A great weight pressed into Louise and then they were moving even faster, their wings clearing the treetops below.

"This is great!" Kirche yelled over the sound of the engine.

"Not bad," Utsuho thought. "But you should go higher before trying anything else."

"Let's go up!" Louise said, conveying her familiar's intent.

Kirche pulled back on the stick again, and the weight of the world pushed into them. The plane strained against gravity, pushing them higher and higher.

Then Utsuho burst free from her jacket and pecked Kirche's head. "Down!" the bird croaked out.

Kirche yelped but did as instructed, leveling out. "What was that for!? Louise, control your familiar!"

"What's wrong?" Louise thought at Utsuho.

Utsuho returned to her side. "Too high too fast. You need the wind under your wings. If you lose that, you'll fall right into the ground. And it won't be as nice for you as it is for me."

"You were about to lose the wind!" Lousie yelled up at Kirche. "Let's go up a little slower!"

"How do you know?!" Kirche called back as she followed instructions.

Louise smirked. "Who better to learn how to fly from than a bird?!"

Montmorency smiled in satisfaction as she added the water spirit's tear to her potion. She felt the magic infuse the water as the spell completed.

She loved Guiche. She didn't know why, because he was a womanizing fool. But she loved him. He loved her at least a little. But he also loved every other girl with breasts in the world. And that wasn't acceptable.

There were two big problems. That first year Katie - dumb as a brick, but very cute in her niave way. And surprisingly that maid turned noble Siesta. She had no idea what had occurred between the two, but Guiche treated her differently than anyone else. It was worrying.

She'd hoped her new outfit would distract Guiche. The frog eye cloak was a bit childish, but quite cute in her opinion. However, everyone seemed to have gotten in on the animal themed hoods recently. The only person who'd stood out was Kirche, who'd added a scandalous outfit to her bunny ear cloak. Which affected every boy in school, and Louise.

And that was the problem. Montmorency had been hoping that the rumors were true, and Louise was sleeping with her lady in waiting. But judging from Kirche's actions, and the fact that Siesta wasn't slapping down the Germanian, that wasn't happening. Which meant Siesta was still threat number one.

And thus her perfect two pronged attack. Montmorency carefully poured half the solution into a nearly empty bottle of champagne. It would dilute the effects, but this potion was powerful enough for that not to matter. The rest she'd save for Guiche.

The matter handled, she headed towards Colbert's lab. Lady Takao was working there, and so it was her best bet for catching the woman unawares. Sure enough she saw the familiar mousey figure moving back to the dorms.

"Ms Takao," Montmorency said sweetly. "How are you doing this day?"

"Ah hello." Siesta chewed her lip, obviously worried. Montmorency would have to make sure not to do anything too suspicious.

She settled for a partial truth. "I apologize if I might have seemed hostile to you recently. You understand that Guiche and I are having a... discussion about our relationship."

"Yes." Siesta sighed. "I wish you luck with that. He seems a little dense about romantic matters."

That was an understatement. Montmorency forced herself not to smile, since that might give away too much. Instead she simply held out the bottle. "I'd like to offer this as an apology for my earlier outbursts. It's not much but hopefully there's no hard feelings."

"Ah. Well of course not." Siesta hesitantly took the bottle. "Thank you Montmorency. And again good luck with your relationship."

Now Montmorency let herself smile. "Don't worry. I have a foolproof plan for fixing that. After tonight's date he won't even think of stringing me along."