Author's Notes:

Hey guys! I decided to get this chapter out earlier than normal. I hope you guys enjoy it! Also I'd like to thank everyone who left a review or sent me a private message. It really motivates me to keep me going. Thanks a lot, guys! Anyway, enjoy chapter 23!

Chapter 23: The Mysterious Village

Saito and Louise made their way to a very small village in Tristain. They would remain there for between a week and a month, depending on Germania's actions. Because of the small size of the village, news of their arrival wouldn't spread.

They left their campsite at sunrise, but due to only being able to travel by foot, it took them until sundown to reach the village, with Saito choosing to carry Louise the entire way. When they arrived at the town, people immediately took notice of them because of their crowns, extravagant clothing, and strange features. Especially Saito's tail and Louise's pink hair and eyes.

As they walked towards the village centre, an old man who held a long, wooden pole greeted them outside. He didn't dress in extravagant clothing, nor did he seem to be of noble lineage, but he was clearly the leader of the village.

"Hello, young ones!" He said to them. "Welcome to our humble village. I am Obi, the village elder."

"Hello, Obi." Saito said. "My name is Hiraga Saito."

"My name is Louise de la Valliére." Louise said. "I am his fiancé."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." They both said at once, bowing.

"The pleasure is mine. It's always nice to see young people in love." Obi said with a smile. "I do have many questions for you, but it seems like you have travelled for quite a while on foot. Please, allow me to invite you to my home to rest."

"Thank you very much." They said.

They followed him to a rather large house made of logs cut from a white tree. When they walked through the door, they were quite surprised. It was very well furnished with furniture Obi had made by himself. It was cozy and reminded Saito of visiting his grandfather when he was young. Sitting in the living room was an old woman. She was knitting and was surrounded by 3 young boys and 5 cats.

"Ah, Obi." She said. "Welcome home. I just finished knit-"

She stopped short when she noticed that he had brought two young people with him who both looked rather important. She immediately stood up and dusted herself off. She bowed low towards them before standing up to speak.

"Pardon my rudeness. I had no idea Obi would be bringing guests." She said with a smile.

"That's okay." Saito said. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Hiraga Saito and this is my fiancé, Louise de la Valliére."

"I am Obi's wife, Azealia. It's nice to meet you." She said. "These are my three grandchildren, Sasha, Dimitri, and Nicholas."

The kids paid no attention to their introduction, as they were preoccupied with playing with the cats.

"Please, sit down while I make some tea, then we can start to discuss things." Obi said.

Saito and Louise sat down. Within a few seconds, the kids and cats swarmed them. The kids bombarded them with a variety of questions at once, while the cats took a particular liking to Louise.

"Are you a human?" Dimitri asked Saito.

"Is your hair real?" Sasha asked Louise.

"Are you two married?" Nicholas asked them both.

"Now children, wait a little while before asking them so much. They've had a long day." Azealia said.

They all pouted, but listened to her, playing with the cats. They couldn't help staring at Saito and Louise. When Saito spoke, they could clearly see the fangs that replaced his canines when he absorbed Gandalfr. They noticed his strange eyes, which glowed a vivid orange and were unusual in their detail, with black, perfectly circular rings surrounding his irises. And, of course, they also noticed his glowing orange tail, which wagged freely behind him.

In Louise, they saw her perfect skin, her vividly pink hair and eyes, and the bright aura they felt when they were around her. After a few minutes, Obi came back with tea for them.

"Children, the adults have to discuss some business." Obi said. "Please go and play upstairs for now."

The children ran up the stairs to play. When they were upstairs, they all looked at each other. They were each separated by 2 years, with Dimitri, the oldest, being 9 years old. Sasha was 7 years old, followed by Nicholas, who was 5. There was no hierarchy in their relationship. Before long, and without saying anything, they all decided to spy on the adults. They snuck onto the stairs, where they could hear their conversation.

"So," Obi said. "Where shall we start? I suppose I should ask first about where you're from. You seem to be some form of nobility."

"The truth is, we are the King and Queen of a new country. We were given the land for…heroic deeds. We were crowned only a short time ago" Louise said.

The kids hiding on the staircase nearly fell over from the news. It made them excited to see their first royals and have them stay in their house.

"Ah! A king and queen?" Azealia said. "That explains the crowns! How fascinating! But, what are you doing here then?"

"I'm afraid we need to stop in this town for quite a while for…political reasons." Saito said.

"I see. Political conflict." Obi said. "Well, that's good to know. I now have a question for you, Saito. Are you human?"

The question took him by surprise. "Yes, I am human." Saito said. "I know it's hard to believe with my tail, teeth, and eyes, but I assure you that I am human."

"I see." Obi said. "Have you always looked like this?"

"No." Saito said. "I'm actually a type of familiar. I look like this because I made two contracts with the same person, Louise."

He removed his gloves and jacket so that he was only wearing his short sleeved shirt, revealing his arm. It was still slightly scarred, but had healed quite nicely in the past several months.

"These runes were put onto my arm when I made my second contract with her. At first, they were constantly glowing and my arm was extremely injured. But now, they only glow when I use magic." He explained.

"But they're glowing right now." Obi said. "You're using magic?"

"Let me explain." Saito said. "My body changed because when I made my second contract, my body absorbed a being called Gandalfr. Slowly, my body started to change. One of the changes happened to be an increase in my body's temperature. To stop myself from hurting people, I constantly coat myself in a magic barrier."

"What happens if you remove it?" Obi asked.

"Well…I suppose I could show you." Saito said.

He went to their kitchen and filled a large bucket with water. He stuck his hand into the bucket, and nothing happened.

"As you can see," Saito said. "Because I'm keeping magic on my body, the water is fine. But now, I'll remove it from my hand."

As he said this, the water immediately began to boil. Within a few seconds, the bucket was empty, as all the water had evaporated.

"It seems my body got hotter over time. Until I can figure out a way to control it, then I'll have to keep using magic to keep others safe." He said.

"I see." Azealia said. "So that's why your body changed. And what kind of mage may you be, Miss Louise."

"I am a void mage." Louise said as she sipped her tea.

"Void mage? I thought void magic didn't exist?" Obi said.

"It does. There are 3 other void mage like myself in the world. Each has a familiar like Saito. He is the Left Hand of God. The others are the Right Hand of God, the Mind of God, and the Heart of God. Saito's purpose as my familiar is to defend me while I cast spells." Louise explained.

"This is a lot to take in." Obi said. "Do you know where the other mages are?"

"I know of the location of two, but I think it's best to keep that secret." Saito said.

"I see. So Saito, where are you from. Even without your inhuman abnormalities, you look like you belong to a race I have never seen before." Obi said.

"I was summoned here from another world. The name for my race is Japanese. I've seen a few others like me here. Once I've settled as King, I want to try and help one of my friends figure out who she is. She's Japanese, like myself, but she has no memories of her parents or how she got here." Saito said.

"Interesting." Azealia said. "I have so many more questions, but I'm sure you are too tired to answer them now. Allow me to escort you to our guest room."

Saito and Louise bowed and followed her upstairs. The children had already scurried to their room, making sure they weren't seen. The guest room was large and cozy. A large bed sat at its far end, with two nightstands on either side of it. Several sofas and a desk were placed against the walls, and paintings of strange creatures hung from nails in the wall.

"Make yourselves at home! Try not to be so loud in your love making!" Azealia said, as she left to go back downstairs.

"What a nice couple." Louise said, blushing brightly.

"Y-Yeah." Saito replied. "I'm going to take a bath."

"I'll come with you." Louise said, smiling.

They both undressed and stepped into the bath, taking turns washing each other. As Saito washed Louise, he took notice of how her body was beginning to develop. Her body was already extremely beautiful before, but her curves seemed to be more defined. Her breasts, while still small, seemed more round than before. She had also grown slightly taller.

"You look beautiful." He said, subconsciously.

"I-Idiot. Don't say that when we're bathing together." She replied.

"Sorry." He said. "I was just thinking that you've grown more beautiful since I met you. Maybe it's all in my head."

"You've definitely become more of a man since I met you." She replied.

"I wanted to make myself worthy of being your husband, so I tried to be as mature as possible." Saito said.

He gave her a soft kiss. They remained like that for a long time, only ever pulling part for air.

"Hey, Louise." Saito finally said. "When do you want to have our wedding? Winter is coming soon. Is it okay to have it then, or should we wait until spring?"

"Winter is fine. But I guess it depends on whether or not Germania declares war." Louise said.

"Yeah. We'll know soon enough." He said, gloomily. "So, until then, we should enjoy each other's company." Saito said, kissing her neck.

"W-We can't do that here!" Louise said, although she seemed to be enjoying herself. "This isn't our house. There's an old couple and children here."

"Do you really care?" Saito said, stroking her hair.

She didn't say anything. She was silent for several moments, then suddenly kissed him. They passionately kissed for several minutes. Just when they had just decided to have sex with each other, they heard a knock on the door.

"Mr. Saito, Ms. Valliére, we brought towels for you." Said Nicholas, who had been sent by Obi.

"Th-Thank you!" Louise said.

She jumped out of the bath and grabbed the towels from behind the door. She handed Saito a towel and started to dry herself off.

"Well, that ruined the moment." Saito said. "Let's go to bed."

He picked her up and laid her down in bed, making sure to be as gentle as possible. He laid down next to her, letting his tail rest over her. With her beautiful face staring back at him, he quickly fell asleep. It was the first time in months that his sleep was completely peaceful. He dreamed of his home on the coast of Côte de Nice, and the possibility of having children in the future. However, in his dream, he also saw something vexing.

He saw in the distance a very bright light. In this light, he saw the silhouettes of three people. They did not move and they said nothing. He ran towards the light, but just as he was about to reach it, he woke up.

It was early morning and Louise was still asleep. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom. He looked into the mirror, thinking about the silhouettes he saw. Unable to make anything of it, he went downstairs and went to a balcony, which overlooked a valley the house was built over.

It was a chilly morning and a heavy mist coated the valley. Behind him, the three children had snuck downstairs and wanted to surprise Saito. When they were in range, they all jumped at him. Before they could reach him, however, he grabbed them all with his tail without averting his gaze from the valley.

"Why are you guys awake so early?" He asked, holding them in mid air.

"How did you know we were here?!" Dimitri asked.

"I'm not your average human. I could hear you and smell you before you even woke up." Saito said, finally letting them down.

"No way!" Dimitri said. He seemed to be the most logical of the three. "You were probably just spying on us somehow."

Saito turned around and looked down at them. "Tell me, what is your favorite meat you like for dinner?"

"Ph-Pheasant." They all said at once.

"I see." He replied.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds. When they opened, they glowed more brightly than before. He looked into the valley for a few seconds. Soon, it seemed to the kids as if he had disappeared into thin air. Within a few seconds, he reappeared, holding a freshly caught pheasant.

"Here you go." He said, handing the bird to Dimitri.

His eyes went back to their normal glow as he turned around and looked over the valley again. He took in the fresh, cold, crisp air. It had been a while since he had been in the mountains, so it was refreshing.

"You can teleport?" Sasha asked.

"No, I'm just fast." Saito said, watching a group of dragons flying in the distance.

The children remained watching him silently, which made him rather uncomfortable. After a few minutes, Louise came to the balcony. The little boys blushed as they saw her in her nightgown. It wasn't see through, but it made her seem to glow.

"Good morning, Louise." Saito said. "I was just showing off to these little guys."

"Oh. Did you sleep well?" She asked him.

"I had a bit of a weird dream. I'll tell you about it later. Other than that, I slept pretty well." He said. "How about you?"

She blushed brightly when he asked her. "I-I had a weird dream too."

"I see." Saito said. His mind was occupied with his dream, so he didn't quite realize what she meant.

"Excuse me," Nicholas said. "Are you two married?"

"Not yet." Louise said. "He already proposed to me and I accepted, but we haven't had our wedding yet."

"Why not?" Dimitri asked.

"When you become an adult, you might have to postpone the things you want to do because of a bunch of reasons. Saito and I have responsibilities, so because of the way the world is now, it may be months before there is enough peace for us to be married." Louise explained.

"That sucks." Nicholas said. "Dimitri, Sasha, let's go. Grandmother and Grandfather won't want us bothering them."

They all ran back into the house, leaving Saito and Louise on the balcony. She noticed how lost in thought Saito was. He gazed into the valley, clearly contemplating something that troubled him. She waited several minutes, hoping he would elaborate on what he was thinking, but he said nothing. She decided that it would probably be best to just ask him instead.

"Saito," She began. "What is troubling you?"

"Nothing, I just saw something in a dream last night." He replied.

"What did you see?" She asked.

"Well, it was a happy dream. Everything was nice at first, but then I saw three people. I couldn't make out their faces. I ran towards them to get a closer look, but when I was just about to see their faces, I woke up." He explained.

"I see. Do you have any idea why you had a dream like that?" She asked him.

"I have a vague idea." Saito replied. "It could have something to do with something Gandalfr told me."

"What did he tell you?" She said.

He remained silent for a few seconds, thinking about whether now was the best time to tell her the entire story. The people of Halkeginia idealized Brimir, so suddenly telling someone that he was a genocidal ruler who sought, and carried out, the extinction of more than one race could be a very big blow.

"Tell me, Louise." Saito said. "What are the names of the first kings of Tristain, Albion, and Gallia?"

"Bartholomew of Albion, Vittorio of Gallia, and Oliviére of Tristain. Why? Do you think it was them that you saw?" She asked.

He nodded. "I think so. I'd have no other reason to see three people in a dream. It has to be them." He said.

"But why?" Louise asked. "They are already deceased, so how could they possibly appear to you in your dreams?"

"I don't know the answers, Louise. I'll have to confirm this later on. If it is them, I have a question I need to ask them." He replied.

"Question? What kind?" Louise said.

"It regards the Elves and their feud with humans." Saito replied. "If it really was the first kings of Tristain, Albion, and Gallia, then they'll have the answer I'm looking for."

He looked thoughtfully into the valley, then suddenly turned around with a smile on his face. He stretched his back and took a big breath of air.

"This place is so nice! Let's have breakfast then see the rest of the village!" He said.

"S-Sure…" She replied, confused by his sudden change of mood.

By this time, Obi and Azealia had woken up and were already preparing breakfast for everyone. Saito and Louise insisted on helping, but the old couple refused, claiming that "royalty should not soil their hands with such things."

They all enjoyed a wholesome breakfast, rich with grain, nuts, bacon, eggs, tea, and honey. Everyone was amazed at Saito's voracious appetite. He ate more than they all could combined, and yet still felt hungry afterwards. When they finished the unusually large breakfast, they decided to take a tour around the village.

The roads were paved with smooth stones and all of the buildings were made of logs. While they walked around, Saito began to feel uncomfortable as people began to stare at him. Although he always let his tail trail freely behind him, he wrapped around his waist, so people may be fooled into thinking it was a belt of some kind.

"Don't mind them." Obi said. "You have strange eyes and a tail, while your wife has pink eyes and hair. You simply intrigue them. They'll get used to you eventually."

Saito did his best to relax, but he never did well with being focused on, so it was very hard for him. They toured around the village for several hours. Because it would soon be becoming winter, they day was shorter than normal, so it turned dark very soon. As they walked home, Saito noticed a statue in the centre of the village.

"Ah, how could I forget?" Obi said. "That is the statue of this village's finest hero. She would come here every decade, giving us gifts that helped us survive the harsh winter."

"How nice!" Louise said. "Will we get to see her?"

"I do not know." Azealia said, downcast. "She usually comes on the day of the summer solstice, but she did not come this year. Without the enormous amount of food and supplies she brings us, I do not know what we can do to survive the winters of this decade. We do not have the numbers or the means to get food or build shelter. Everything you see around you is because of her."

Saito seemed to be mesmerized by the statue. "It's an Elf…" He finally said, taking note of its ears.

"Yes, our hero is an elf." Obi said. "We are told that when she first showed herself to this village several years ago, our leaders did not trust her. However, decade after decade she came harboring gifts. Eventually, we welcomed her with open arms, as we finally began to trust her."

"What was her name?" Saito said.

"She never spoke her name, for she feared it would bring harm to both herself and us. She was very strict about this rule." Obi said.

"I see." Saito said. "Thanks for telling us. We should probably go home now, it's getting late."

"Of course!" Azealia replied.

They all went home, where they enjoyed a large supper with the pheasant which Saito had caught earlier. Soon after eating, the children fell asleep. Once everything was cleaned up, Obi sat down with Saito.

"So tell me, what is Japan like?" He asked.

"Japan? Well, it's very mountainous and beautiful, but that's in the countryside. I live near the capital, Tokyo. It's a really big city. All of the buildings are several stories high and made of metal, glass, and stone." Saito replied.

"That sounds spectacular. You must take me to visit some day!" Obi said.

"Sure thing! I'll take all of you to visit. It'll be an adventure." Saito replied.

"Thank you very much." Obi said. "Now, I must be going to bed. Have a very good night Mr. Hiraga. You as well, Ms. Valliére."

"Thank you!" Louise and Saito both said.

Obi and Azealia went upstairs, taking the kids with them and leaving Louise and Saito alone. Louise looked at Saito, noticing that he had the same look as he did when she saw him that morning.

"Why would an elf want to bring gifts to a small village like this? And why every ten years?" Saito finally said out loud.

"Perhaps she is just a nice person." Louise said. She kissed his forehead. "I'm going to bed, Saito. Join me soon, okay?"

"Sure thing." He said.

He gave her a kiss and let her go to bed. Saito, however, did not intend to go to bed yet. He stayed downstairs, pacing around the room in thought. Soon, he became restless. He grabbed a fur coat that Obi had lent him, and ventured out into the cold. He made his way to the centre of the town, where the large copper statue overlooked the village.

He stared at it for several minutes. He circled the statue for a long time, taking in every detail. Using the light from his glowing tail he examined each and every inch of the statue until finally, he saw the statue's left hand.

Engraved in it were the runes only befitting of the person who had become, for their master's sake, a shield for them to stand behind, just as Saito had done for Louise. It was unmistakable. The runes of Gandalfr were carved into its left hand.

Saito stumbled back in shock as the suspicions he harbored since seeing the statue for the first time were proven correct. Although seemingly impossible, he could not deny the evidence that was presented before him.

The statue, to Saito's shock and amazement, was of non-other than the first Gandalfr, Sasha.

Author's Notes:

First of all, sorry. I intended for this chapter to be released yesterday, but unfortunate circumstances didn't permit that, so I'm releasing it now. If everything goes according to plan, there will be another chapter before 11:00 pm, EST. I hope you liked this chapter! Please leave a review and follow the story. Thanks guys and, as always, I'll catch you next time!