Author's Note: Chapter thirteen here.

I have changed my update schedule. I will now update a chapter once a week on a Wednesday. This is to allow me plenty of time to write. I apologise for the extended length of time between chapters, but needs must when demons drive.

Read, Review and check out my other stories!

Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero.

"Saito" -Talking

'Louise' -Thinking/ Human-Human Telepathy

"Explosion!" -Spell

:Master: -Master/Familiar Telepathy

Chapter 13: Staff of Destruction

Just before Fouquet attacked

Louise and Saito's Suite

"Stupid…Saito…" Louise muttered with a scowl as she scowled at the sheet of parchment in front of her. Saito had gone out on patrol earlier because of Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt and had ordered her to practice her 'kanji' writing for at least an hour.

Her poor hand was throbbing like crazy, but at least she was making progress. She had discovered that each 'kanji', as Saito referred to the pictograms, had to be drawn in a particular fashion and represented an idea of what it said, and could be made up of two or more other pictograms. For example, the pictogram for 'adolescence' was made of the pictograms for 'green' and 'spring.'

Still, this would be worth it in the end once she was able to write a talisman and use it. She was unable to use Halkeginian elemental magic, but perhaps Saito's Mysticism magic would work. Either way, she had nothing to lose by learning this new system of magic.

Louise sighed and put down her brush, flapping her hand a couple of times to ease the ache before turning her attention to her wand that lay off to one side on the table. It was a lovely instrument, carved from an ancient white oak and carved by a master craftsman. It had been a gift from her family when she had started to attend the Academy.

She had only used it once, during that first, disastrous, lesson in her first year. She had felt so ashamed that she had locked it away and used a cheap replacement wand made of willow until now.

She reached over and picked it up, caressing it in her hands as she held it.

"Welcome back." she said softly.

The moment was broken when the ground shuddered and the building shook, almost toppling Louise from her seat.

"What in the Founder's name?!" she yelped and hurried over to a window. Peering out of it, she was startled to see one of the largest Earth Golems she had ever seen stomping towards…

"A Wood Golem?" she whispered in disbelief. While some Earth Mages could encourage the growth of plants very slightly, creating wood, let alone that much of it, was something that only the Elves had been able to accomplish. Clearly, Saito had understated the power of his magic.

She studied the Wood Golem intently. It was shaped like a man wearing an unusual type of armour, along with a facemask that looked rather intimidating, a leering inhuman face.

Perched atop one of the shoulders of the Golem was Saito, wearing his Onmyōji outfit. He was glaring at something…no, someone standing atop the Earth Golem, shrouded in a hooded cloak…

"Fouquet…" Louise whispered in realisation. How brazen! Attacking the Academy head on like this was a complete break from her usual method of operation!

When the Golems started fighting, Louise was amazed by how easily Saito's Golem held off Fouquet's one, even somehow damaging its arm just by holding its arm in its fist.

"Where's Professor Colbert?" Louise muttered in confusion. The man was supposed to be on patrol with Saito and should have come running the moment that the Golem appeared, let alone when it started fighting it out with another one.

Indecision swirled within her. On one hand, no way did she want to be caught up in that fight out there. On the other, there was no way Professor Colbert would shirk his duties and she was concerned about him.

Deciding that as long as she didn't leave the Academy building proper, she would be safe, Louise stood up and strode towards the door to her Suite, tucking her wand into her pocket as she walked.

With Saito

"Hold it!" Saito shouted as he pursued the cloaked figure of Fouquet through the empty corridors of the Academy. Fortunately for him, despite the lead she had had on him, the thief was evidently only average in fitness, so he had caught up to her.

"Little mage, women don't like overly persistent boys!" Fouquet snarled over her shoulder before sending a wave of stone towards him.

"Talisman of Metal, come to my aid!" Saito shouted, "Ryū Myaku no Tsurugi! (Blade of the Dragon Pulse!)"

He hurled the talisman before him as he chanted. It vomited a large volume of silvery metal that formed itself into a crescent-shaped blade that shot at the approaching wall of stone like a bullet. It cleaved the stone in two before spreading over it like a coating and hardening, trapping the stone in place, allowing Saito to charge through it unmolested.

Ahead of him, Fouquet was gritting her teeth as she ran. Saito's Mysticism was far too damn adaptable and she had too few ideas about what it could do. Thus far, the huge golem made entirely of wood that ate earth and the two metal spells he had shown thus far were very much in the irritating category.

'He deliberately tooled himself up to counter an earth mage!' she realised. She knew enough about his magic to know that those odd bits of paper of his were each tooled towards one of the elements of magic and that he carried an unknown number of them on his person. Obviously, he had set himself up with an entire set of anti-earth spells, ones that could seriously lock her down if she let him.

She needed to get out of the Academy, away from the stones that were designed to be resistant to being manipulated by earth magic and were thus costing her a lot of willpower to use against the boy mage at the moment.

"Talisman of Fire, come to my aid!" Saito chanted, "Hiya Seisha! (Fire Arrow Fusillade!)"

Saito decided to go on the attack this time and threw a fire talisman ahead of him. It burst into flames and spat a large number of fire arrows at Fouquet before vanishing.

The arrows peppered the stonework around the thief as she alternated between dodging and using the case of the Staff of Destruction as a shield to block them.

The arrows did the job they were supposed to do though…slow Fouquet down. Saito pulled out another talisman.

"Talisman of Earth, come to my aid!" he chanted, "Ishiken! (Stone Sword!)"

From the stones on the floor ahead of him, a sword emerged, shaped like a traditional Nihontō. Saito snatched it up as he ran past and lashed out at Fouquet, who blocked it with the case.

"You would strike a lady?" Fouquet teased him in a strained voice as she held him off.

"No…but I would use it to hold you in place for this!" Saito shot back, "Shikigami no Mai: Shibari! (Dance of the Paper God: Binding!)"

From the sleeves of his outfit, countless paper talismans erupted forth as shot at Fouquet, who looked around wildly.

"What the…no!" she realised the intent of them as about ten of the talismans latched onto her right hand, binding it to the case's handle. She turned and fled again, simultaneously trying to rip the paper from her hand with no success.

"Don't bother trying to rip it off!" Saito mocked her as he pursued her once again, "Once you are bound by my talismans, you cannot get out of them without significant use of magic. Additionally, now you have some on you, the rest will pursue you to the ends of the earth."

This was a lie, of course. They would only pursue her as long as Saito could visually confirm where she was. And the talismans were stubborn and resilient, yes, but enough time and effort would yield results if she had the time to work at them.

The young Onmyōji didn't intend to give her the chance.

With Louise

As the constant shaking that had continued for the entirety of the battle of Golems died down, Louise staggered out the door that led to Professor Colbert's laboratory, which he used for various alchemical experiments. It was here that he could usually be found when not in class, rather than his quarters.

"Professor Colbert?" Louise called as she knocked on the door.

Silence.

"Professor?" Louise called again, knocking harder.

The door swung open silently.

'OK…this is not promising.' Louise thought with a lump in her throat.

All Alchemists locked the doors into and out of their laboratories whenever they weren't physically present due to the nature of some of the mixtures they dealt with. Colbert was absent minded, but he wasn't negligent in regards to the safety of unwary students.

Louise cautiously poked her head into the small building, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside Colbert's lab. There were tables covered with so many kinds of esoteric tubes, glass pipes and beakers that she was surprised that Colbert could keep track of them.

"Professor Colbert? It's Louise Vallière." she called timorously as she walked in slowly.

A groan answered her, from the very back of the room.

Louise tiptoed to the back and gaped at the sight of Professor Colbert lying facedown on the floor with a bloody knot on the back of his head.

"Professor!" Louise yelped as she drew her wand, "Lok Arr Tu!"

All of the blood on Colbert's head vanished with a wave of her wand. Looking around, the pinkette saw a carafe of water that was about half full. She hurried over to it and dipped her handkerchief into it before hurrying back to Colbert and placing it on the knot on his head.

"Urgh…" the man groaned as he came around, "W…who…?"

"It's Louise Vallière, Professor." she answered, "Try not to move; you've got a nasty bump on the back of your head."

"N…no…I've got…to warn Saito…" Colbert grunted as he forced himself to his knees.

Just then, a small white bird streaked through the door and landed in front of Colbert and Louise.

"That's one of Saito's Shikigami messengers!" Louise exclaimed.

"Professor Colbert, I am currently engaging Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt. I request assistance." Saito's voice came from the open beak of the magical construct, "This Shikigami will lead you to my location."

The man's eyes widened ad he tried to get up, but he stumbled back to his hands and knees with a groan of pain.

"Miss Vallière…can I ask you to go to Saito?" Colbert asked weakly.

"Of course." Louise nodded.

"Tell him something…the identity of Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt…is…******" he said.

When he said the name, Louise couldn't believe it. But then, Professor Colbert had no reason to lie to her.

"I'll tell him." she replied firmly.

"Be careful, Miss Vallière…" Colbert warned her weakly, "Fouquet is as cunning as a snake and isn't pulling her punches with this heist."

"Got it." With that, she ran out of the lab in pursuit of Saito's Shikigami, entering the Academy again rather quickly. She was in average physical condition, so she ran out of breath easily, slowing to a light jog. Fortunately, the white bird slowed down in step with her own speed.

'Just how versatile is Saito's magic?!' Louise wondered incredulously.

She shook her head. Ponder Saito's capability for understating his own abilities later, get to him and tell him whom the thief was now.

The pinkette stumbled as the ground seemed to shift beneath her. She looked around warily. Was Fouquet actually inside the Academy right now?

'Damn. She must have gotten by Saito somehow.' Louise guessed. She had to get to Saito now!

Back with Saito

The Onmyōji growled as he pursued Fouquet. This was becoming tiresome. The thief just didn't know when to quit, running all over the place like this.

'Hold on…we're almost at the front of the Academy, near the gate!' Saito realised, 'Damn! She plans to jump out the windows there and summon another Golem to escape on!'

From what he had seen, most golems in Halkeginia were either multi-story high behemoths or seven-foot tall giants. Human-sized ones didn't seem to be around. Granted, human-sized or smaller golems were usually administrative assistants. The sole exception, Guiche's small Valkyrie Golem, was one made out of metal and seemed to be more a distraction than an actual threat, at least against Saito's magic.

Against those without magic, Saito was willing to admit that the Valkyries would be something of a threat. Solid metal golems are highly resistant to damage, both magical and physical.

In any event, Fouquet couldn't summon a golem here.

Shaking his head, Saito returned to the problem at hand In less than a minute, Fouquet will be out of the building and onto her home territory again, meaning all sorts of pesky earth magic options will be open to her, like Earth Path Travelling.

"Talisman of Metal, come to my aid!" Saito chanted as he withdrew another talisman, "Ideyo! Suigin no Ryū! (Come forth! Quicksilver Dragon!)"

Another silvery mass of metal vomited out of the talisman, but this time coalesced into the long and sinuous form of an Eastern Dragon that floated through the corridor at its full length of just over three meters, the smallest Saito could create.

"Shibari!" he ordered the mercury dragon and pointed at Fouquet.

With a roar, the construct flew at the startled woman, intent of capturing her.

"Arc Lok Szar!" Fouquet yelled, sending a blast of fire, her first non-earth spell, at the dragon. A wise choice, Saito had to admit, as mercury has the lowest boiling point of all metals.

'But that is just regular mercury, not magical quicksilver.' he thought smugly.

As the flames engulfed the Quicksilver Dragon, the surface of the construct bubbled as you would expect it to as the heat of the flames started to heat it up and boil it.

Then, abruptly, the magical fire was sucked inside of the dragon and its skin returned to normal.

"What the…?!" Fouquet shouted in shock.

"My Suigin no Ryū is a counter-mage construct." Saito informed the woman, who stood frozen in disbelief, "Particularly fire magic. Suigin no Ryū: Suigin Rengoku! (Quicksilver Dragon: Mercury Purgatory!)"

The dragon opened its mouth and fired a silver fireball at Fouquet, who hurriedly raised a stone wall in front of her to block it. The fireball smashed through it as if it wasn't even there and clipped Fouquet's cloak, setting it ablaze.

"EEK!" the thief squealed, throwing her cloak away, revealing her face to Saito, who started in shock at the angry face of Headmaster Osmond's secretary, Miss Longueville. She looked very different without her glasses and with her hair down, but it was unmistakably her.

"Damn you!" the secretary snarled.

"I see." Saito said neutrally, "So this is how you discovered how to unseal the Staff of Destruction. Professor Colbert only informed the Headmaster of the spell used to seal that case in the Vault a few days ago…you were standing next to him as he explained it, so of course you know about it. Very cunning."

"Tch. Damn brat." Longueville snarled, "Just give it up. Your magic is tricky, yes, but not nearly powerful enough to combat mine!"

"Suigin no Ryū, Shibari!" Saito ordered again, sending the silver dragon after her.

Running the last few feet to the window, Longueville smashed it open and leapt out silently casting what looked like levitation magic to slow her descent to a safe speed.

The Dragon flew out after her, but Longueville once again summoned a giant Earth Golem to fight for her, which reached up and crushed the Suigin no Ryū into a splatter of mercury.

"Dammit!" Saito cursed.

"Saito!" Louise called as she came up behind him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he rifled through his robe, "It isn't safe here!"

"I have a message from Professor Colbert!" Louise shot back, undaunted by Saito's ire, "Fouquet's real identity is-"

"-Miss Longueville." Saito interrupted, "Yes, I know. Wait, is Professor Colbert alright?"

"He has a bad lump on the back of his head, but he should be OK." Louise replied, "What are you doing?"

"Kyojin Mokujin, attack the Earth Golem!" Saito ordered once he pulled a Wood Talisman from his robes. Then he turned to Louise.

"Go back to Professor Colbert and take him inside to the Headmaster." he ordered, "I'll be in pursuit of the thief."

"OK." Louise said. She hesitated and added, "Be careful." before heading off.

"Back at you." Saito replied before following Longueville out the window on white wings. Gliding to the ground, Saito spotted Longueville on her Golem being intercepted by his Wood Golem.

'She never learns.' he sighed as he started running after her as his Mokujin made its victory count rise to three Giant Earth Golems as it cleaved the latest of the thief's golems in two with its blade.

Longueville leapt to the ground, spitting curses at the pesky outwardly mage that was spoiling all of her plans.

"I planned this theft ever since I came to this damn Academy and put up with that old letch of a man constantly peeking up my skirts!" she raged, "I refuse to allow a brat to stop me!"

"Sadly, you don't have much in the way of choice here." Saito shot back impassively, "Or do you think that you can oppose a Golem that can reduce your magic golems to nothing but dust?"

"Crumbling Dirt!" Longueville snarled, slamming her hand onto the ground, causing the entire area to erupt into loosely packed dirt. The immensely heavy Mokujin started to sink into the soil.

"I knew it!" Longueville gloated, "Your little earth devouring spell can only affect the blade and hands of your golem. If it affected the legs, it would sink into the earth and destroy it!"

Saito raised an eyebrow indifferently. "Am I supposed to be impressed that you figured out something so basic?"

"Ran Kar Aros!" the verdette shouted angrily.

From the ground of loose earth, tendrils of earth shot out and started to wrap around the Mokujin and drag it further into the ground, binding its arms so solidly that it couldn't move them.

Saito was impassive as he drew another talisman. "And? Talisman of Metal, come to my aid! Tetsu Mekki (Iron Plating!)"

The entirety of the Mokujin was then swiftly covered in metal plates. They didn't stop there either. The entire ground around the wooden construct for a good ten meters was covered in solid iron plates that were at least a good inch thick at least, cutting Fouquet/Longueville off from her main element.

"What the…damn you!" she snarled once she realised what he had done.

"With this, you have to rely on elements not of your specialisation." Saito stated confidently, "And with only one hand free, you are finished."

"Not likely!" Longueville snarled as she brandished her wand at him, "Lo Ra Toa!"

A blast of wind slammed into Saito and sent him head over heels while the thief ran in the other direction. Stumbling to his feet, Saito pulled out another talisman.

"Talisman of Water, come to my aid!" he chanted as he threw it at Longueville, "Sōsuiryū! Suisa Shibari! (Twin Water Streams! Water Chain Binding!)"

Water erupted from the tag in a pair of large streams that shot straight out at the fleeing woman, wrapping around her and forming a tight chain that bound her and foot.

"No!" she cried, thrashing in her bonds fruitlessly.

"Got you." Saito smiled grimly.

"I think not." a cultured voice said before saying, "Re For Tola!"

Saito was struck in the back by a powerful force and sent flying. Wracked with pain, Saito lost consciousness.

SLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSL

The Next Day

Academy Infirmary

Saito groaned as he regained consciousness. His body ached worse than it had in his entire life.

"Saito!" Louise yelled…at least his head ached as if she had yelled.

"Quiet…please…my head…!" he groaned.

Opening his eyes, Saito peered up and spotted his anxious master/student leaning over him. Nearby, he spotted Professor Colbert and Headmaster Osmond.

"Ah, Professor Saito." Osmond said as the Onmyōji sat up awkwardly, "I take it you are feeling better?"

"Not by much." Saito quipped, "What happened?"

"Apparently Fouquet…Miss Longueville…got the better of you." Colbert replied seriously as he rubbed his head, "Just as she did with me."

"No…I had her tied up with binding water chains." Saito replied with a wince as his muscles started twitching, "I was also facing her. Whoever attacked me struck from behind…and had a male voice."

"An accomplice." Osmond concluded grimly, "One who can use lightning magic, a rare art."

"Yup. Fouquet can use earth, fire and wind magic, even more proof that she couldn't use lightning." Saito concluded.

"In our magic system, lightning is a powerful subset of wind magic." Osmond explained, "So it isn't as unthinkable as you might imagine. The fact that you heard someone speak is more solid evidence."

"Huh…odd." Saito noted, "Anyway, the guy that attacked me sounded almost lazy…but I could tell he was older than me…late twenties/early thirties. He struck me so quickly I couldn't even move to defend myself. I let Fouquet get away…"

"You may have done, but at no point did any of us suspect that Miss Longueville had an ally waiting in the wings." Osmond said pointedly, "The fact you were taken off guard can be attributed to your relative inexperience, young Saito, but, as Professor Colbert's attack proves, even an experienced mage can be taken off guard…especially by a beautiful woman!"

As the old man cackled lecherously, Louise developed a twitching eyebrow as her jealousy came to the fore once again. Saito, taking note of this, decided to change the subject.

"How's your injury, Professor Colbert?" he asked hastily.

"Thanks to Miss Vallière's aid, I am in the pink of health." the bespectacled man replied reassuringly, "Miss Longueville knocked me out with my own staff, which is rather embarrassing. Fortunately, it was only intended to keep me out of the way for a while. At the very least, it proves Fouquet never intended to kill me."

Saito gave Louise an approving look, which made her blush lightly and drove the jealousy away. On her forehead, the symbol of the Apprentice flickered into visibility for a split second before fading away, unnoticed by all.

"I'd better go out after her." Saito said and stood up, wincing as his muscles protested this overuse of their function.

"You're injured!" Louise protested.

"My robes are imbued with a minor healing spell, in addition to their defensive enchantments." Saito replied, "I'm fine, Louise. This time Fouquet is going down."

"We have no way to track her." Colbert reminded Saito patiently.

"You don't…I do." the Onmyōji retorted with a grin, "I bound Fouquet's hand with my talismans. They are quite difficult to remove and as long as they are attached to her, I can track Fouquet's location, as long as she's within 20 Ri."

"Ri?" the three Halkeginians echoed blankly.

"Just over 48 miles." Saito translated.

"Wow!" Louise gaped.

"You anticipated that she would get away, didn't you?" Osmond asked shrewdly.

"I…wasn't prepared to dismiss the possibility, no." Saito replied carefully, "At the Onmyōji Academy's combat classes, being prepared for any eventuality is drilled into us thoroughly, even failure, so we can pull some measure of victory out of it."

"'Win at all costs, even in defeat.'" Osmond mused with a sad sigh, "A sad thing to teach children."

"A necessary thing to teach children who are going to join an organisation embroiled in a guerrilla war that has lasted for a millennia." Saito corrected him with a half smile, "It isn't something I regret learning, as it was to better protect myself, my fellow Onmyōji and my country. Anyway, let's go get her."

"Headmaster!" a man, one of the other teachers at the school, came running into the room looking worried.

"Hubert, what is it?" Osmond asked with a sigh.

"Miss Zerbst and Miss Tabitha are missing." he reported, "They haven't been seen since your announcement this morning regarding Fouquet."

Osmond sighed. "The von Zerbst family curse of impetuousness continues, I see. She likely convinced Miss Tabitha to go with her. Is her dragon in its usual place?"

"No sir." Hubert replied as he wrung his hands nervously.

"Professors Colbert and Saito, please purse and capture Miss Longueville, the thief known as Fouquet the Sculptor, retrieve the Staff of Destruction, and escort our two errant students back should you come across them." Osmond said simply, "I must inform the Crown of this theft by the end of the day, so kindly return by then with it."

"Of course, Headmaster." Colbert bowed.

"Hopefully we can find whoever attacked me from behind while we're at it." Saito muttered.

"Oh, and on your way out, Professor Saito, could you take care of that mass of metal in front of the main gate?" Osmond asked, "Or at least store it elsewhere?"

"Ah…yes. Certainly." Saito nodded, "I'll set some Shikigami to store the metal next to Professor Colbert's shed, and I'll bury the Mokujin under the earth just in case I need to summon it again. Louise, can you supervise the Shikigami?"

"Of course." the pinkette nodded.

"You can't dismiss it?" Osmond enquired.

"No. When it was just an army of Mokujin, I could, but now that it's a Mokujin three-quarters of the height of the Academy? No chance." Saito replied, "That much magic gathered into one mass takes on a life of its own without the proper spell framework. Sadly, it was a rush job, and it was made using wood, a substance that grows naturally, so it'll change all on its own unless I bury it and place it in stasis. Even then, it'll only delay the inevitable."

"Hum. Very well." Osmond nodded, "I will ask that you walk me through how you can summon and manipulate wood at some point."

"Of course." Saito nodded.

Later

Woods, Tristain

"I hate horse riding." Saito groused as he dismounted from his horse. His lower regions felt like somebody had been at them with meat tenderisers.

"It does take some getting used to, I'll agree." Colbert remarked as he followed suit, "Now, which direction is Miss Longueville?"

"Over there." Saito pointed straight ahead, "About two-hundred paces that way."

Colbert unlimbered his staff and gripped it tightly. "Keep a weather eye, Professor Saito. Whoever Fouquet's partner is, he might be lurking around here waiting to attack from behind again."

"I have a plan in the works to counter that if it happens." Saito said confidently as he allowed a pair of talismans to slip into his hands.

"I see. Then lead on." Colbert said with a nod.

The two men proceeded to walk through the forest, alert for any possible ambush or sneak attack. The forest was thick and the trees gave the impression of being indoors from the closely packed tree trunks.

"Look." Saito pointed out an opening in the trees that led to what looked like a clearing in the forest. A loud thud and feminine yelps of pain set the two men into battle mode automatically.

"That sounded like Miss Zerbst." Colbert frowned, "Prepare for combat."

"On it." Saito moved stealthily towards the tree line and scowled at what he saw. Kirche and Tabitha were being chased by a regular Earth Golem. Occasionally, Kirche sent a blast of fire at her pursuer, but it just regenerated from the ground it stood on. Tabitha also tried to damage it or freeze it up, but the smirking Fouquet, clad in another hooded cloak, blocked or undid anything she did with her ice magic with the thief's own fire magic.

"Talisman of Fire, com to my aid!" Saito chanted under his breath, "Arawareyo! Enryū! (Come out! Flame Dragon!)"

He timed it so that the chant ended when Kirche cast another fire spell, so the flames were manipulated into becoming Saito's spell. A large orange and red dragon now hovered above the clearing, snarling at Fouquet.

"What the?!" Kirche gaped at the dragon in shock.

"Sorry to cut in, Miss Zerbst, but do you mind if I deal with her?" Saito drawled as he strode out of the trees indolently.

"P-Professor Saito?" she stuttered.

"Just so you know, you are in trouble for leaving the Academy without permission." Saito said as he stopped between Kirche and Tabitha and the Earth Golem, "For now, however, I will give you a lesson in defeating Earth Golems."

"You! How!?" Fouquet demanded angrily, "You were hit with a Line-Class lightning spell!"

"This robe isn't just for making me a snappy dresser; it also has numerous defensive enchantments, especially one guarding against sneak attacks from behind." the Onmyōji stated in an off-handed manner, "Anyway, Miss Zerbst, if you want to take down a Golem, of any description, it has to be taken out with one shot, as most will have regenerative capabilities. Observe."

"CRUSH HIM!" Fouquet yowled in fury, her construct lumbering forward to do her bidding.

"Enryū: Karyū no Kaendan! (Flame Dragon: Blazing Bullet of the Fire Dragon!)" Saito commanded.

With a roar, the fiery dragon sped forwards and engulfed the Earth Golem faster than Fouquet could raise her wand. As the flames faded, the golem was reduced to cinders, collapsing to the ground in a heap.

"Th-that had to have been Square-Class magic!" Kirche stammered. Tabitha nodded in agreement, her usual indifferent expression slipping slightly as a speculative look entered her eye before she recovered herself.

"Probably." Saito admitted, "There again, that spell was something of overkill. Meh. Work with what you have."

He turned his attention back to Fouquet, who suddenly looked nervous.

"And as for you…" Saito said angrily, "Who the hell is your ally? He could have killed me if I wasn't wearing my Onmyōji robes!"

"Humph. As if I'm going to tell you." Fouquet scoffed. Saito noticed that the case that held the Staff of Destruction was still firmly attached to her hand by his talismans. "Just die here, little mage!"

With a gesture of her wand, two more Earth Golems erupted from the ground before her and started to advance on Saito, who brandished his other talisman.

"Talisman of Earth, come to my aid!" Saito chanted, "Chōtei no Eihei! (Guards of the Imperial Court!)"

He threw it onto the ground, causing it to erupt again, this time birthing a pair of seven foot-tall armoured samurai wielding spears.

"Destroy the golems and capture the caster." Saito ordered. He turned his head slightly to get a proper look at Kirche and Tabitha as his golems strode forwards to follow his orders.

The busty redheaded girl's Mantle of Nobility was stained and torn around the hem and her shirt was barely holding itself together. She looked tired as well; magically drained he was willing to bet.

Tabitha looked in much better shape overall, but she still had dirt and a few ragged edges on her mantle. Saito could still feel a lot of magic emanating from her, so surmised that either her reserves were vastly larger than Kirche's or else Kirche had been using more powerful magic rather frequently.

"What sort of stupid golems are these?!" Fouquet demanded, drawing Saito's attention back to her. She was looking on in fury as the Imperial Guardsmen absorbed the sections of her Earth Golems that they cut off with the blades of their spears.

"Earth Golems specifically designed to counter other Earth Golems, obviously." Saito replied with a raised eyebrow, "Isn't it obvious?"

"You….!"

"Yes?" Saito asked not so innocently, "Oh, by the way…I'll be taking the Staff back now."

With a quick handsign, the talismans attaching Fouquet's hand to the case released before two of them zoomed up and covered her eyes and mouth, eliciting a muffled scream as the woman staggered back and tried to rip them off her face.

The rest levitated the case over to Saito, who grabbed it then gathered the other talismans back in his hand, a satisfied smile on his face.

"Now, for the second time…" he said with a sigh, "Got you."

"Once again, I don't think-GURK!" a voice spoke from behind him. Saito turned around to see a man with light grey hair wielding an odd sort of sabre and dressed in blue clothes being held by the throat by an angry-looking Kaede.

"Aruji, is this the insect who dared to harm you?" she asked menacingly.

"I think so, Kaede." Saito replied.

"Viscount Wardes!" Kirche said in shock.

This made the Onmyōji's eyes narrow. "This is Louise's former fiancé?"

"Yes." Kirche replied with a nod, "But why would an Agent of the Tristainian Crown aid a thief like Fouquet?"

"That is something her Majesty will be very interested in asking him." Saito replied grimly, "Shikigami no Mai: Shibari!"

A flood of talismans erupted from Saito's robes and bound both Fouquet and Wardes hand and foot. Fouquet's Earth Golems had been absorbed by Saito's own and he dismissed them with a wave of his wand, returning them to a pile of dirt.

"Kaede, you can put him down now." he said calmingly.

"But Aruji…!" the Ginki protested, "He attacked you! He hurt you!"

Saito walked over and stroked her hair right behind her horn, which always calmed her down.

"Yes, but he has other crimes to answer for." he said reassuringly, "If nothing else, he will pay for those, and I'm certain that Princess Henrietta will tack on an assault charge. So let him go before he suffocates, OK?"

"…as you wish, Aruji." Kaede mumbled as she dropped the man to the ground.

"Good girl." Saito said and watched the flush creep across her cheeks. He had summoned Kaede not long after leaving the Academy. She had been incandescent with rage that he had been attacked and it had taken ten minutes of her smashing a few nearby trees into kindling before she was calm enough for him to order her to shadow him and non-lethally neutralise anyone who tried to attack him from behind.

"Ah, Professor Saito." Colbert emerged from the trees, "I see you have-! Is that Viscount Wardes?!"

"Indeed it is, sir." Saito smiled thinly, "I think Duchess Karin will be very pleased to have the chance to speak with him, wouldn't you agree?"

The previously quiet prisoner started to thrash wildly at the mention of the Duchess and Saito felt a bit of vindictive pleasure rise up inside of him. That'll teach him to mess with his master.

'Whoa there! Be kind, rewind!' Saito thought as he hustled Kirche and Tabitha along while Colbert levitated their prisoners along the path they had taken, followed in the shadows by Kaede, 'She isn't my master! No way. I am breaking this runic shackle as soon as possible and going home.'

The runes on Saito's hand glowed slightly in response to his thoughts.

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Next Chapter: Wrath of the Heavy Wind

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