WOOOOOOW, okay, GEEZ, did not expect to take this long to back here. School is a real killer of your free time, but I'm done with the first semester of junior year, THANK GOD.

Anyways, might be able to power write or some shit during the break, but for now here's what I got this chapter. Good God it took way too long to get out.

Shame about the Dies Irae anime though, I was hoping for it to be good but NOPE THEY HAD TO GO AND MESS THAT UP, WHAT THE HELL IS WITH FINALE REN SHOWING UP LOL

But that's a rant for elsewhere.

Here we go, triple update today!

Chapter 3: The Contract

I awaken in an unknown field, somehow on my feet. To my left lies a fertile grassland, filled with a plethora of flowers of every color. To my right lies a desolated desert with only rocks populating it. I don't know what this place is, but I get the feeling it's important. Not to me, but someone else.

Ahead of me stands a man I've never seen before, but I feel a certain kinship with him for some reason. His hair is a little longer than what I would expect a guy to have. Its particular shade of brown makes me think of the sword mom used that day. He's dressed in a simple tan tunic, his pants also roughly the same shade.

In a single smooth movement, he pivots around and looks at me. His skin's a bit pale and his light green eyes look tired. They remind me of a veteran I once met at the grocery store. A man who's been haunted by something for far too long.

He walks over to me, never breaking eye contact.

"So you are the one."

His voice is a bit loud, but it resounds within me. It's a deep baritone and I can't help but get the feeling of a father when he talks to me.

"Yeah."

He puts a hand to my chest. That same cooling feeling floods into me. You…

"Fear not the runes within your hand. For as long as you hold onto that desire within you, there is no reason to be afraid."

"W… can you tell me why?"

"When you reach the next stage. I will say more. The link between us is fragile as it is, far too undeveloped. For now, awaken Gandalfr, for the cruelest play is beginning, and you have been cast into the leading role."

My eyes flash open, revealing a much more familiar ceiling. Stone, huh… well, I guess I'm back at the Academy. I still feel like shit, though…

"Ugh…" I mutter, stretching my arms—

Eh?

I realize my arms have no cuts on them. I then reach for my face and find no bruising or other damage. The only thing present is the soreness. What the hell… Magic really does seem convenient.

"...you've gotta be kidding me." I mutter, finding a familiar pink head of hair at the foot of my bed. Her head is resting just about where my feet are, as it seems she's fallen asleep in her chair. Geez, underneath that fierce glare of yours you've got a soft heart underneath.

I shift around, reach over, and prod her in the shoulder. "Oi, Vallerie."

She doesn't respond, so I poke her a little more. After thirty seconds, she wakes up and yawns before looking at me.

"Ah…"

"I'm awake. Thanks for watching over me."

She blinks for a few seconds before letting out an unholy screaming fit. I simply let her get everything out before talking.

"How long has it been since I passed out?"

"You've been out for an entire day!"

"Yeesh. Ah, geez, well, whatever the hell you did, I'm better now. No injuries, just some soreness. That's magic for you, I guess. Anyways, I guess I won. I'm not apologizing for beating his head in."

"You nearly…"

"Lost, yeah. I got lucky with whatever the hell I got in the middle of that fight." I mutter, looking at my right hand. I can't feel that sensation anymore, so I guess it's not active right now. "Really though, I should've lost. I can't punch my way through those. Sorry to give you a scare like that."

"Is… is that what you're capable of, though? You said you were going to—"

"I guess so. I wasn't counting on him summoning metal people to fight me with, just thought we were going to go one on one."

"I told you that you couldn't win!"

"And what was I supposed to do? Just let him walk over me? What a joke, defending Siesta when it was easy, but when the going got hard I'd cave? That isn't my style." I shoot back, making her recoil a bit.

"...but you got hurt."

"A bit of pain isn't anything to be afraid of. You ever hear the phrase 'Better to die on your feet than live on your knees'? It's not my favorite phrase, but it's a good way to live. Either way, you seem a little better now. You don't have that whole superiority air around you anymore. That's good."

"Ah…"

"Anyways, guess this is a good a time as any. You willing to talk about this whole 'familiar' thing now? You can stop shaking as well." I say, pointing to her hands that haven't stopped trembling this whole time. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"A… but I—"

"I know you were kind of an asshole, but that doesn't change things. I'm not going to hit you just because I disagree with you. I'm not that kinda guy. Anymore, at least."

"Anymore?!"

"Long story, kid. I'll tell it to you another time. But, I'm willing to play along with this 'familiar' song and dance. You've already done well enough, but that's only under the threat of me leaving. So, let's get out of that contract of fear and make things a little more willing. I only ask a few things."

"M… mhm."

"No more of the slavery stuff. I'll play along when you need me to, but you have to recognize I've got things I want to do too. Obviously we'll have to hammer things out, but we can at least agree to that much, right? It'll be like a job. I take care of a few things like I dunno, cleaning up your room when I've got time or doing your laundry or fighting for you when needed, you take care of a few things like food and water. It's pretty much what we've been doing, but rather than it being about me leaving versus you punishing me, it's a mutual agreement. No orders, but we negotiate for things."

"A… okay."

"And about those people who kept tormenting you… well, I guess I can stand by you sometimes. Figure it'll give them a scare."

"Why not all the time, then?"

"It wouldn't help you."

"W-wha—?!"

"I won't save you from them. I don't do the saving business. I'm no hero, just a guy who looks after his own skin and does what he wants." I say, getting out of the bed. "Besides, what good is it going to do? If you rely only on me, what's going to happen when I leave? They're just going to come back. So I'll teach you how the hell to make them back off. Grind some respect into them. Now come on, I'm friggin' starving."

Louise begins following me, though before we get to the hallways, I let her take the lead before keeping up with her, just a little bit behind her side, roughly a foot away. The stares and whispers aren't there anymore. Now they just cower and turn away. Not so fun anymore, is it?

"Ah, Vallerie!"

Louise stops, with me stopping in sync. From the right is that guy from before who I thought was a teacher.

"Professor Colbert, what is it?"

"Are you two busy right now?"

"No, I'm not…" Louise then glances at me and I nod. "We're not."

"Excellent! Can you please follow me?"

We exchange a brief glance but decide to head out with him. He leads us into a tower I don't think Louise goes to, then down the stairs and through some more hallways before taking out a key and unlocking a door. I'm hesitant to follow through, but he goes in first and beckons us inside.

"Please, have a seat."

I take a look around the room and find it looks like a laboratory. Uh, you ever hear of safety standards, professor? I'm pretty sure the office you talk to kids in shouldn't be where you mix chems.

Louise sits down, though I elect to just stand.

"I um, I am sure you are both well aware of the incident yesterday." He says with a cough. "I… wished to talk to you about it."

"If you're asking if it's going to be a repeat occurrence—"

"Ahn, please let me have this one." Well hey, what do you know, my conditioning for her has worked. Or may it's a teacher being here that's doing this.

I take a breath and nod. I guess I need to get my anger in check or something.

Louise looks at her teacher. "Professor, I do not think it will happen again, save that there are no more agitating incidents. Ahn only intervened because Guiche was about to strike the servants."

He looks at me. I nod. "I come from a place we kinda prided ourselves on talking our problems out rather than resorting to violence. I only responded with something he'd listen to. Of course, I see the students getting up in arms about this shit, but if they start doing things to the workers here it's possible I might…"

"Ahn."

"...yeah." I mutter, putting my hands back in my pockets.

"If there are any reports of action against the workers, we will take action right away. I already anticipated this, however, and have already informed them any reports they give to us will be taken seriously and will be personally investigated by either myself or the headmaster. In addition, the one involved, ah, miss Siesta, she is currently being kept in the workers' quarters under guard."

"...thanks."

"It was only what needed to be done." he says, giving a smile. "Oh, where are my manners? I am Jean Colbert, a professor at this Academy of Magic."

I put out my hand, reaching across the desk. "Ahn Raimond Dietrich."

To my surprise, Colbert gets up and does a forearm grab rather than a handshake. "To have such a name…"

"I'm from a far away place." I say as he releases my arm. "I already ran into that cultural note here. From where I'm from everyone's got a first and last name, sometimes a middle name."

He nods, sitting back down. "Fascinating. Perhaps we could have a chat later, I would love to know what land you come from. Ah, before I get off topic. I am sure the two of you do not intend to terrorize the students, but I only ask that you do not go looking for trouble."

"Yes, Professor." Louise says.

"I won't go looking for it, but if it ends up finding me, I'm not going to hesitate to take action."

"I suppose that will have to do. Although I suppose with the mood of the school as it is now, I doubt anyone will trouble you. I have said everything I need to say now, so if you have anything to say, please say it now."

I glance at Louise, who shrugs. Looks like she has nothing more to say.

"Vallerie, you mind waiting outside?"

"Eh?"

"I want to talk the professor about a few things. That won't be a problem, right?"

"Um… no. No it won't. I'll be right outside."

With that, she gets up and goes outside, closing the door behind her.

"You wish to talk about Louise, I assume?" He asks as I take her seat.

"Yeah. It's going to be rough for her, with this. I give it a few days before they have the courage to start up again. Anything you can tell me? Major instigators, causes, anything like that."

He raises an eyebrow. "Why do you wish to know?"

"Because I want to help her help herself. I'm not so much in the 'heroing' business, but I can't just stand by when I see the level this is on. I'm fine with bullying to some extent, it can help build character and teach you how the hell to stand on your own two feet. But this goes a little further than what I'm fine with. Practically every student here is against her. I won't fight her battles for her, teach, but like hell I'm going to just let her be mangled by those morons."

His eyes narrow. "And so what would you do?"

"She's been getting by, but I suspect had I not come along she would've reached a breaking point. So I'm going to help her get better. Have some more self confidence, a better self image. What she's got on right now is just a facade. Following some sort of 'code' or whatever, but it's pretty hollow. I know because I used to live that kind of life. But to do that I need to know her full situation. I don't think she'd tell me and you seem to be familiar with it anyways, so anything you can give me is good."

He pauses, opening his mouth as if to speak but then closing it again a few times.

Then, after a deep sigh. "Alright. I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

The Star of Hegemony

"Oh, back so soon?" Yuuka asked the children as they entered the house, never looking up from her sewing. "There's still daylight outside."

"Miss Tiffania sent us in."

Yuuka stopped her sewing, set it down on the table, and got up from her chair. "I see. Where is she now?"

"She's outside!"

"Yeah, I think she wanted us to tell you to go out to her too!"

She nodded. "Thank you. The toys are in the usual room, so please entertain yourself and do not leave the house until we return."

With that, she slipped on her red jacket, grabbed the key of the hook, and walked out the front door before locking it behind her.

"Tiffania." she said as she tucked the key into an inner pocket, calling out to the girl.

"O-oh, good, the children told you."

The girl with elven ears gave a smile, her green dress that didn't leave too much to the imagination fluttering in the wind. Her hands quickly moved to keep her dress down, though her blonde hair now became a mess as the winds continue to blow.

"Sorry, I would have finished your new dress faster, but I got distracted." Yuuka said, stepping closer to the one who had summoned her. "You sent the children inside, so someone has come close, yes?"

"Mhm." Tiffania said as she put on her sunhat, partially hiding her ears.

My apologies for not telling you about this. Yuuka thought to herself, activating her Assiah's abilities. While Tiffania could not see it, the light around her ears began to be manipulated so that to an outsider, her ears would appear to be a normal human's.

For a few moments, they waited.

"Who goes there?" Yuuka called out, having heard the footsteps, though it held a surprising amount of emotion for someone who was considered so lifeless.

"I come in peace."

"Hands in the air." With that, her normal tone of speaking came back.

"As you wish."

Yuuka grumbled internally as she saw a blonde man step out from behind the trees. His clothing made it very obvious that he was someone of statute, making his appearance here all the more anomalous. His eyes were off as well, with one being blue and the other a sort of orange-brown. His blue cloak moved slightly as the winds blew, exposing his white uniform underneath.

"Identify yourself." Yuuka said, stepping in front of Tiffania.

"Julio Chesare of Romalia."

"For what purpose are you here?"

"To confirm something."

"Confirm what."

He turned his right hand slightly, exposing the runes of his hand. "That another one was here."

Another human familiar.

Yuuka paused, wondering what to do next. No wonder something had felt off this morning. There was something in the air, like over a hundred persons were moving all together. Now the source of the noise that bothered her was clear. It was likely he too, possessed some relic, and that she was detected the source of his power the whole time. The difference between them was not much, or at least, not enough to make a difference.

"So, which one are you?"

"I do not believe I owe you that information." Yuuka replied almost instantaneously, readying herself to activate Yetzirah if necessary. "In fact, you are from Romalia. You are not be trusted. Give me one reason we should listen to you."

"I come bearing a message, so allow me to at least speak it."

"Hurry up."

"My, you really should put a little more emotion into your voice, such a charming voice is wasted on—"

He blinked as he realized what was in dangling in the air in front of him were small strands of freshly cut hair. It seemed Yuuka had lost her patience, having manipulated razor thin strands of light and making them solid to slice his hair as a warning.

"We would like to offer you two refuge as we believe that you—" he gestured with his head to Tiffania. "—are the carrier of Void magic for the line of the Royal Family of Albion and you—" Now he gestured to Yuuka. "—are one of the legendary familiars. Albion is becoming more of a dangerous place, so moving preemptively may not be a bad idea."

Yuuka looked at Tiffania who shook her head before turning back to Julio. "It seems we will have to refuse. We'll take our chances."

"I see. May I assume you will not change your minds?"

"I don't think we intend to."

"Very well." Julio closed his eyes. "Then I will take my leave."

With that, he backed away before turning around, quickly becoming lost in the trees.

"It was…"

Tiffania nodded, knowing what Yuuka was about to say. The way he spoke made it seem like the children weren't being considered and she would not just abandon them for herself.

"Thank you for talking to him."

"It was nothing."

"I'm sorry for being so weak…"

Yuuka reached over and used two fingers to lift Tiffania's head up. "No one is good at everything and everyone's got a weakness or two. I just happen to compliment you, and you compliment me."

"Thank you…"

"Don't cry. This isn't anything worth shedding tears over. If you cry, the children will also cry. They look up to you. Now, please head inside."

"Are you going to do something?"

"Yes."

"Don't go after him."

"I won't."

Tiffania nodded, trusting her, not saying a single word as she headed inside, unlocking the door with her own key. As soon as she was alone, Yuuka looked around the area. It shouldn't take too long, nor would it be of much expense to her. If she needed additional fuel, she knew where there were some… unsavory types that she could use.

And so, with the power of her Ahnenerbe, the light around the small home shifted, obscuring it from view.

The Star of Hegemony

I didn't think that I could just train Louise to think differently right away, so I decided to devote some thought to it. She was clearly someone who thrived on validation, from someone at least, so I had to fix that. Of course, I could taste the bitter irony, since I knew I was doing this to make mom proud of me. Become a son she could've been proud of.

But I guess no one better to help her out, then. I guess there is a difference. Louise seems to be trying to emulate rather than become her own person whereas I am being my own man, just a man I think someone can be proud to say they knew.

Dammit, if only you had summoned Sheffield, Louise. She'd have been able to help you a lot more. Probably wouldn't have gotten her ass kicked so easily either.

At least no one's been bothering us for the past few days, so that's a plus. Ugh, I'd kill for a smoke right about now. I know I was on track to quit, but this kinda stress is making me want one.

I guess I could train Louise how to fight, but right now she's no better than a wet noodle. We could go running in the mornings as well. I don't really know that much about martial arts, like, the really formal stuff. I know more about boxing and MMA, but if I knew more of the structured stuff like karate that'd be good for discipline.

Dammit girl, you really summoned the wrong guy for the job.

That reminds me, I haven't seen that guy I dreamed about again. I can't even hear his voice or anything like I'd expect from something like that. Come on, give me a bit of freakin' guidance or something.

I guess the first thing I need to do is get Louise in shape. I suspect she only used the threat of violence on me since she felt she could get away with it and that gave her a confidence booster. She doesn't seem like the type to just go beating up people like a thug either, so giving her some sort of confidence in herself that she can fight or would be good. I can't really do anything about her 'exploding' magic though.

Funny thing, as I found out. The source of her bullying comes from her inability to cast magic. Every spell she tries always ends up just blowing half the room away. Why this is a bad thing, I don't know. Either way, I don't know shit about magic here and while for some reason I know how to speak their shit, I don't think I can read it. I'll have to check on that later.

But I'm pretty sure I'd need to know stuff about magic, which I don't, so I can't help her there. I did also gather that magic users run on something called 'willpower' as well, so maybe it will give her a bit of confidence that while she can't cast magic, she can still kick ass. Also, if all her spells become a blast, just chuck a blast at a guy, concus him, and then beat his head in. I would've killed for something like that in my thug days.

"Sir Ahn."

"Don't call me si—oh, Siesta. How long have you been there?"

She gives me a small smile. "Ahn wasn't paying attention, but I knew if I called him 'sir', he would listen."

I roll my eyes. "What did you need?"

"Um, I just came to offer you some water." she says as I notice the tray in her hands. "You've been out here for a few hours and thought you might be thirsty."

"Oh. Thanks, Siesta."

Alright, turn off.

The sensation around my hand vanishes again. I've gotten pretty good at being able to turn it off and on, though I was getting a feel for how it's like fighting with this thing while thinking.

Siesta looks at my handiwork, which really is just a few different objects I've managed to cut. Unlike my dad's now broken knife, this thing doesn't seem to obey a 'sharpness'. I felt the same resistance whether it was cutting through wood, metal, or cloth—that is to say, none. It's sort of like I've got some sort of conceptual sword in my hand, able to impose 'being cut' or anything I can do with a sword on something. I don't really know how else to describe it. It also has a bit of a range, roughly up to ten feet. After that, it simply doesn't function.

"Ahn is really strong."

"I'm not." I immediately say back, making Siesta flinch a bit. "I'm not… really that strong. I just got lucky, you know? I was getting my head smacked in until I got that power. If I didn't have that, I'd be a sack of injuries right now."

"But… but you stood up for…"

Ah, I see. Goddammit playing knight in shining armor is coming back to bite me in the ass. I guess actually backing up my words and having the guts to see it through to the end makes them think that way…

"Yeah, it was the right thing to do. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees." I say with a shrug. "It'd leave a bad taste in my mouth if I was just going to run away. Maybe my pride is just a little too much for my own good. Anyway, I really could use that drink."

Siesta puts the tray down on the table and then takes a glass and hands it over to me. I nod, taking the glass from her and downing it in one go.

"Anyways, I was told you were supposed to be in the worker housing area, just in case—"

"Well, Ahn is here, right? I came straight to you and the students are in class, so they couldn't find me."

"Am I your protector now?"

"Um, well… Ahn will, right?"

I give her a pat on the shoulder. "Just don't go looking for trouble, okay? No one can be there all the time for you."

She nods. "Okay, I won't."

"Good." I let out a sigh, sitting down on the table. Wait. "You're not in your maid uniform."

I only just realize it now, since I ended up mentally superimposing that normal image of her maid clothes onto her. Today she's dressed rather plainly: a dark brown skirt that runs down to her ankles and a dark green shirt that exposes a bit of that buxom the uniform hides.

"They told me not to work because of what happened, so I don't have to wear it for today." she says, sitting on the table as well, next to me.

"I see. Sorry to make you not work."

"It's okay, it's only one or two days until everyone forgets about it."

"I hope."

Yeah, I hope. I hope it doesn't end up ruining your time here, Siesta. Hopefully the fact I couldn't take it anymore doesn't end up dragging you into the mud.

Siesta and I make some small talk before she decides to get up and go back to her room. What a nice girl…

"Ahn."

"Oh, hey Louise." I say, getting off the table. "What's going on?"

"I thought you'd be here." she said, walking over to the table. "Anything happen?"

"Not really. Hey, you busy tomorrow?"

"No?"

"Good. I'll be here tomorrow, so come here as well."

Louise looks a little suspicious of me, but nods. Well, I guess I might as well go all out.

"Munya…" Louise groans, looking away from the crowds as she takes a step back from the makeshift punching bag I made. I probably could've done this in her room, but I wanted to kill her sense of shame. The way to get rid of her relying on validation is if she doesn't care about actually everyone.

"Come on, you're at thirty three. You can get to fifty." I say before giving my bag a solid low kick again.

"My legs hurt…" she mutters, fixing the pants that I found for her during the day.

"Pain's good. It means you're hitting your limit, so push a bit beyond it. Just a little more. Seventeen kicks. Count 'em out."

"One!" Louise shouts as she pivots, bringing up her right leg and kicking the bag roughly where her opponent's meaty thigh area is. "Two!"

Eventually some of the bystanders get bored and leave, but a few just keep watching. Some of them hoot and holler at Louise when she falls, but every time she does, I silently offer her a hand up and tell her how many more she's got left.

"Seventeen!" she yells out, falling over. I catch her and help Louise stay on her feet, assisting her get over to the table where she starts gulfing down the water Siesta brought. "Ha… ha…"

"You did good today."

"My shins are sore…"

"The more you do it, the easier it gets." I tell her. "Don't sit down, though. Do the stretches we did at the start."

"Okay…"

While Louise gets to stretching, I head over to the sandbags, lifting one of them and tucking it off to the side where it won't be in the way. Shit, I really hate lifting those things.

When I return, she's finished stretching, wrapping the jacket I left on the table around her. Ah, I guess I should've told her not to wear white.

"Let's go back." she says right away. "I want to take a bath."

We both head back, where Louise quickly gathers her things and leaves the room, leaving me alone in her room. I guess that wasn't a bad first day. I managed to teach her how to throw a punch and how to kick. I was pretty conscious of myself too, when I started doing fights. But after a while you realize that what people think of your style or your mistakes doesn't matter, only whether or not you're still kicking at the end of the day does.

That reminds me, I should probably get myself a bath sometime, too. I know the workers here have their own bathing area, so when Louise comes back I'll probably head down. Should give her time to prepare as well.

When Louise comes back, she tells me I can go take a bath which I do. I head out to the baths, uncaring of the other kids of nobility origin. Pretty sure none of them want to mess around with me, especially not here, where they're likely without their wands.

It's a nice place, really. Looks like an old time bathhouse, maybe something out of the Roman Empire or something like that. They even stock the place with soap and towels as well, meaning I didn't have to pilfer it from someone.

Feels really nice though, cleaning off. I've been sweating up a storm, too. Friggin' spring weather is way too humid.

The way back is pretty peaceful, up until I get to the hallway where Louise's door is.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me." I mutter, seeing a familiar big-ass fire lizard perk up as soon as it sees me. "Oi, Louise! Open the door, or at least get a load of what's happening out here!"

Of course, as soon as I yell that, the thing comes for me. It lunges right at my leg, but I leap up and to the right, pressing up against the wall before pushing off of it, clearing the beast.

"Gonna need to try a little harder than that."

Damn though, I don't think I was ever that strong. But ever since I was able to manifest that power, I definitely feel a little stronger. Not really superhuman, but… a definite boost.

I pound on the door to Louise room after finding it locked, keeping my eyes on the lizard.

"Christ!" I yell out, leaping away from a small flame spurt. "You trying to kill me, asshole?!"

I dodge another small flame blast, only realizing that the carpeting that is normally here has suspiciously vanished. Son of a bitch, this was a setup!

More importantly, how freaking thick are these doors and walls that Louise cannot, for the love of God, hear me?!

Moving again to slip past another spray of flame, I end up putting myself in a bad spot and quickly get blindsided by a tailswipe to the legs, sending me to the ground. I try to roll away, but the lizard quickly puts its jaws around my leg and starts dragging me off.

I try to shake my leg out, but I can't muster enough power, especially with how damn hard that thing clamps down. The whole way there I try to claw my way out, but all I get is fingers scraping on the stone and a few cuts.

We go down a floor (that hurt, too, by the way), so I ended up using the arms to shield my head. I find that it's bringing me to an open door which it drags me through before letting me go, though the door shuts behind me.

"Ah, sorry for the… rough ride." I hear a sultry voice say before I find my wounds healing. "But this was the only way to bring you here."

My eyes immediately dart around the room, searching for the source of the voice. It's dark, but just barely lit enough. Couple that with the light of the moon through the window, I can see a bare frame of a person. As soon as my eyes adjust, I find it none other than Louise's prime tormenter, Kirche. Dressed to impress too, what with that lingerie and barely-there nightgown.

Of course it would be her.

"Well, aren't you going to come over?"

"I didn't know prostitutes kidnapped people now." I fire back immediately, getting to my feet. "So, what's your angle?"

"Hm~?"

"I'm not a moron, though thanks for assuming that I am."

"I haven't assumed anything, darling." she says, continuing that honeyed voice that makes me sick. It's like a snake, slowly embracing its prey. "Let's get to know each other a little better, shall we?"

She slowly removes her nightgown, letting it glide over her curves as it falls to the floor, exposing her dark, exotic skin.

"My runic name is 'The Ardent'. Watching your struggle against Guiche, how passionately you defended—"

"You can stop right there." I say with enough force that she actually stops. "Did you not just hear me? I ain't a moron. You think I can't see through your ruse?"

I step back and lean against the door, crossing my arms.

"Oh yeah, see Louise that is actually getting some confidence because of her familiar. What do, as her prime tormenter and bully? Oh, I know, just steal him away from her. You think all guys think with their lower head? Kindly stop thinking I'm so low as to be led astray from my responsibilities by hormones." I say, not letting her get a word in by continuing the next sentence every time she opens her mouth. "I don't know what weakness you're hiding, but let me tell you this—

"—Maybe when I came here, Louise and I got off to a rocky start. However, I've promised that I'm going to be with her from here on out, not out of pity, not out of fear, but because I want to. If you think you can get in the way of that, you're welcome to try. But when I make a promise, I sure as hell intend to keep it. And one girl flaunting her assets isn't going to change that."

I've been getting the hang of it, so I decide to try it out. Probably could've used this earlier, but then again I'd be breaking Louise's door. Using my Assiah, the door behind me instantly is carved in two as if a massive sword had cut right through the middle. I then turn around and move a hand to push the slabs down—

However, she reaches from behind me and pulls me close, her bare breasts pushing on my back.

"Oh Ahn, please don't leave me… my entire body calls out to you, beckoning for you. Why won't you love me…?"

"If your body is doing it and not your mind, then clearly you're more like a beast, consumed only by lust." I say coldly, breaking away from her. "And I won't love you because frankly, you're manipulative and I can tell you don't really mean it, it's just a way to get to Louise through me, you snake. Go find someone else to fill the hole in your heart."

With that, I unceremoniously kick out one of the slabs in the door, seeing the wood piece fall away. I don't say another word as I walk away, leaving her standing there as I go back up the stairs.

When I get to Louise's room, I kick the door a few times before she opens it.

"What took you so long?!"

"You didn't hear me shouting through the door earlier?"

"No? Er, well, while you went out to the baths I went to go talk to Professor Colbert about something—"

"Explains a lot. Kirche got a hold of me with her oversized lizard. I broke out by cutting open her door."

"You what?!"

"The sword thing I used with Guiche, I've been practicing with it. I can cut things from a small distance away, pretty handy if you ask me, so I imagined a sword cutting her door in two and voila, it happened."

"I see…"

"She was trying to get to you through me, but I wouldn't be so easily led astray. You can go check the door if you want, not sure if she can repair it herself." I say with a shrug.

"N-no, I think it's fine. Also, Ahn, you… you have kind of a scary expression on your face."

"Do I, now? Sorry. Just thinking about what she did is pissing me off." I mutter, leaning against the wall. "Thinking she could just flaunt a bit of skin and make me into an obedient dog… hmph."

"I… I guess considering you don't even back down when faced with a mage, you wouldn't do that…" Louise says in a bit of a strained whisper.

"Heh, what, you doubted me?" I ask with a bit of a laugh, causing Louise to stiffen up. That was likely the case. Not exactly unfounded, too, especially because her faith in me might still be a little rocky. "How many times do I gotta tell you kid, I'm not running away. I made a promise to you earlier, didn't I? I might do what I want, but I've got standards, and I know that any duties I've taken on hold greater importance.

"It's fine to doubt me every once in a while, but I'll show you that you can trust me."

That's what you would've wanted me to grow up as, right, Mom? I guess she technically gave me the ultimate reason to trust in her after facing up to whatever that thing was that day, after all of the times she told me she couldn't tell me something, but just had to trust that she had my best intentions at heart.

"R… right!" Louise says with a nod. "U-um, though—!"

"Hm?"

"The Familiar Festival is coming up, and…"

"I'm not leaping through hoops, but if you want to show off, I guess I could do a parlour trick or two…"

As I start talking, I see Louise pull out some paper. Geez, did you have a routine prepared for—oh yeah, she did.

But still…

..One day, Louise, you'll be able to look at your classmates without fear. That much, I promise you. If I can learn how to build myself up from nothing, so can you. So, for now, while you don't have a guiding light, I can be the one you follow, as shitty as I am for one. Let's have a good partnership from here…

Wew, there we go. That was pretty fun. Louise and Ahn start forming an actual partnership. I started showing how things are with the other familiars, hinting at Yuuka's Assiah/Yetzirah. Siesta gets some screentime where I tried to make her be a little more innocent.

Then there's the parts where Ahn tries to start working on Louise's self-esteem problems, along with pointing out an old friend who he knew that had a style that contrasted his. Then the Kirche scene where I used it to show off Ahn's character more. He's not the smartest kid on the block, but he can read into people's motives fairly well, or at least when he believes it's a selfish one, he can.

He made him rather cold, if only because he greatly dislikes what Louise is going through, and also that he said he was going to be her partner. So, I was hoping this scene would show off that he's stubbornly loyal to those he sides with.

Overall I had some fun writing this chapter. Let me know what you guys think, and see you next time!