The Immortal of Zero
Chapter IV: That's the Staff of Destruction!...?
"Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt? What kind of name is that?" asked Kai in a raised eyebrow. "This woman may have been on the 'Original Names' Department, but... She couldn't even get an even more intimidating title than that." Unknown to all of them, Ms. Longueville glared at him. "She could've done a 'Fouquet of the Roaring Earth' or 'Fouquet the Earthshaker', but please..."
"I must admit that you're right about his title issues, but this is no laughing matter, Sir Kai. She had stolen one of our most dangerous artifacts of all time. The Staff of Destruction." said Osmond in a stern voice, though Kai doesn't seemed to be intimidated by his tone, Square-class Mage or not.
"Staff of Destruction?"
"Yes. Hence it's name, this artifact can exceed the power of any Square-class Mage in sheer firepower." added Osmond, but Kai wasn't paying attention, because he took out a book out of nowhere. "Sir Kai, are you pawing attention?" he blurted, annoyed when Kai's not even paying attention, until before he spoke.
"Name: Staff of Destruction;
Real Name: *Secret*;
Power Rank by Mage: Above Circle-class Mage Firepower/ Below Void-class Element Firepower;
Power Rank by Commoner: Anti-Army Destruction;
Source of Power: *Secret*."
"A-anti-Army? Such a this exists?" spluttered the professor, falling down behind himself.
"And an almost Void-class Element." said Osmond thoughtfully.
"Headmaster. I would like to volunteer myself in order to capture Ms. Fouquet the...Combing Spurt...or something, and retrieve the Staff of Destruction." said Kai. "If it came from my world, I need to destroy it to prevent someone with ill intent from claiming it."
"I will give you permission to capture Fouquet, but you need to have permission from your master." replied Osmond. All of them looked at Louise, who felt herself blush, not because of the eyes staring at her, but because of her servant's face dangerously close to hers.
"I-i-i s-s-see n-no prob-blem to have h-him volunt-teering." she stammered, fighting the blush. "I also w-want to participate in Fouquet's capture m-myself."
"Where Darling goes, I go." said Kirche, glomping Kai in the process, much to his inconvenience.
"I will accompany to keep the beast under control." added Tabitha, as she smack Kirche with her large staff in her head. The red-head fainted by the impact.
"And we also need a Earth mage for this mission, so I prescribe Guiche the Bronze in our party. He'd prove to be a valuable asset against Fouquet since he has the ability to summon his golems." said Kai, making the said mage fall out of his hiding place; the door. "I already know you're there Guiche, since you already shown yourself. No use hiding." he added, as Guiche attempt to hide once again. He gave up on his hiding gig, and joined them.
"Heheheh." He laughed weakly by this statement.
"Guiche de Gramont, you have heard Sir Kai's proposition. You are a valuable asset in Fouquet's capture. Make us proud." smiled Osmond. Guiche began to stutter incoherently, either too shocked to speak properly by the headmaster's words, or the fact that he and Louise's familiar would be working together, no one would ever know. Louise suspected it was the latter reason.
"I will make you proud Headmaster. I will put my pride as a Gramont on the line to capture Fouquet!" he said, puffing his chest, completely forgotten about his fears of Kai.
"Headmaster? I would also like to accompany the students. I will make sure they won't be harmed." said Ms. Longueville, as heads turned to her.
"Can you do that? Somehow I doubt you would be of..."began Osmond, but Kai interrupted.
"Actually, that is a brilliant idea, Ms. Longueville. We need as much help as we can." he said in a cheery voice, making the others jump. Osmond chuckled.
"Very well. I expect good news when you get back." the Headmaster said, infected by Kai's light tone, but he couldn't help but notice a hint of disgust in his voice. It was after Ms. Longueville's suggestion that Kai started acting strangely, though he's the only one who'd notice that.
At the Academy gates an hour later, a horse carriage had been readied for Louise, Kai, Guiche, and Ms. Longueville, with Louise's familiar driving. Kirche and Tabitha were going to ride on Sylphid to keep an eye for any ambushes. Soon, they began their journey to the nearest town in order to gather information on Fouquet's whereabouts. The journey was uneventful, before long-
"Are we there yet?" complained Guiche, apparently bored by the trip through the forest and hour later. He and Louise kept grumbling at each other out of boredom, with Ms. Longueville just sat calmly at the side of the wagon, apparently relaxed, ignoring the steam emitted from the two young Nobles. At Sylphid's back, Kirche kept looking over at Kai, deciding whether or not she should jump towards him and not be lashed by the horse whip Kai was carrying around. Tabitha kept on reading her magic tome.
"For the last time, stop complaining! You should take a leaf out of Ms. Longueville's book and relax, instead of chanting useless words!" retorted Louise, pointing her wand at him, threatening him that if he could not shut up, he'll be rewarded by one of her super-explosions point blank. Kai chuckled at this heated argument. At his eyes, they seemed to be like brother and sister fighting over the last cookie. He knew it was an empty threat, she can't attack Guiche with her Explosion without risking the carriage's destruction, and risk walking towards the nearest town. He also knew that Tabitha would offer a life to them if that happens, but Sylphid can't maintain the weight of four more people on her back, and Kirche was heavy enough.
But if the worse comes to pass, he would have to put his foot down, even if he's the familiar of the pink-haired princess.
"Could you both please quiet down? I'm hearing something from the forest on our left." said Ms. Longueville suddenly, which made both of them shut up. Kai chuckled a bit, but he then heard heavy footsteps from the forest by their left, as Ms. Longueville pointed out.
Soon enough, a large rock golem was walking through the forest, the same kind Fouquet uses.
"Kirche, Tabitha, Louise. You three stay here and make sure to keep our carriage safe. Sylphid and Guiche can keep the golem occupied! Me and Ms. Longueville will try to find Fouquet." barked Kai, as the students took their positions; Tabitha's dragon kept firing wind bursts at the golem, as he and Ms. Longueville dashed through the forest behind the golem.
Soon, he and Ms. Longueville found a shack only a half-kilometer away from the golem's movements. They were disappointed to see that the shack was empty.
"Ms. Longueville, please stand guard outside while I search the shack for the Staff of Destruction." began Kai, walking inside, with his Zatetsuken in his hand (He summoned it while sneaking past the golem, anticipating if the golem turned towards them.)
"B-but what if Fouquet comes here? You are more than capable of handling her, rather than me." said Ms. Longueville nervously, when he retrieved a long, wooden case from under the hay, then turned to her.
"You are capable of handling her. After all, you are also a Triangle-class Earth mage. Isn't that right...Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt." he smirked, making the green-haired secretary sneer at him, her disguise now removed.
"How did you know who I was! I made sure my disguise was perfect!" she leered, though Kai was unaffected by her threat.
"You were giving off an aura from this morning, before we entered Osmond's office. Besides, you live up to your title. Like a crumbling dirt, you shall fall the same way." he smiled, while giving off an intense pressure that Fouquet found it difficult to stand up against such force of presence. "You are foolish to have challenge me into a fight, Fouquet. If you had planned this, you would've tried to follow my orders that you would guard the shack. That complain had become your last words." He tossed the wooden case into the air, before it exploded, chunks of wood scattering around them, and a white long device appeared, and landed on his left arm. It was a sophisticated rifle-like weapon.
"A Railgun? I haven't seen one from my world in person." he added, as he pointed the Railgun at her, who was shaking as she can't get away from her position, his Gandalfr runes glowing. "I know the procedure that it needs a high voltage to be effective." He then cast a bit of the lightning spell on the Railgun, which is now fully-armed and fully-charged. He then aimed at the rampaging golem, which is trying to swat Sylphid out of the sky, but failing due to the speed of the dragon outmatching the golem's attacks. He fired the Railgun, which almost hit Sylphid due to it's lightning speed burst, the shell hit the golem, destroying the upper part in the process. Fouquet fainted by this destructive display.
"What was that?"
"A lightning spell?"
"It came from Kai and Ms. Longueville's direction."
"Let's go check."
The voices of the the young mages grew in sound, trying to find the location of that powerful shot. Kai thought it would be best if he could hide the Railgun from their sight, so he began to shrink the weapon into a more compact size, and stowing it under his coat. Then, he used a twig, and cast a spell to look like the original Railgun, before he snapped it into two, then tossed it into the ground. Only a higher level mage can spot the twig's essence in the now-broken 'Railgun'. Louise, Guiche, Tabitha, and Kirche emerged from the trees in front of him, then they saw Fouquet, unconcious from Kai's demonstration of the Railgun's true power.
"What happened here? Is Ms. Longueville in danger?" began Guiche, who stood like a statue, looking at the scene. "Where's Fouquet?"
"What took out that golem darling?" added Kirche, after they saw the remains of the golem behind them.
"Where's the Staff of Destruction?" said Louise, looking around for the rumored artifact.
"To answer your question Guiche, this IS Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt." began Kai, pointing at the unconcious Fouquet. "She fainted, thanks to the demonstration I gave her, with the Staff of Destruction. That took out the golem." before pointing at the heap of dirt that was the golem. "And as for your question Louise, I deemed it too dangerous for mages to use, so I destroyed it." he finished, now pointing at the pieces of the fake Railgun behind him. The students, minus Tabitha, stood there with their jaws metaphorically hit the ground at this revelation.
The students and the two familiars head back to the Academy, along with the bound thief and the fake artifact. They went directly at the Headmaster's Office to report the event that happened, AFTER they had imprisoned Fouquet at the dungeon chambers below the Academy
"You mean to tell me that my secretary is Fouquet?" Osmond finally said, after a few moments of silence worth of digesting the report told by Kai, who nodded. The students, including his master, were silent, as they were not exactly on speaking terms with the Headmaster. "Hnnn.. to think all those years of service with me, she just used the opportunity to steal the Staff of Destruction. Are you telling me that this artifact is the one you destroyed?" again, Kai nodded, but Osmond saw a non-existent gesture that indicate otherwise, and not made for student's ears. He took a mental note of this. "Very well, you are dismissed. Kai, a word with you, if you may."
The students began to leave Osmond's office, and Louise noticed that her familiar haven't moved from his place. Kai, on the other hand, made another gesture that he will be fine. She left the office behind closed doors. When he sensed that there are no students at the corridor, he took out the Compact Railgun, and placed it at Osmond's table.
"This is the Staff of Destruction? I read in Colbert's report that this is much longer than this." asked Osmond.
"I have made it into a more compact form in order for me to carry it undetected." replied Kai.
"And this came from your world?"
"Yes. This kind of technology is far too advanced for your eyes. I deemed it too dangerous in the hands of the mages, in case they would use this to start a war."
"I see. You may keep it. When your master and her classmates described it, I would assume this is far too destructive, given that Fouquet's golem was taken out in one blast."
"I won't use it until when neccesary." He took the compact Railgun, then stowed it inside his coat.
"Thank you. You may leave then." at this, Kai left the office. As soon as the door was closed, the old man sagged in his chair. "To think that there are things that can rival magic from his world..." he shuddered.