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"Saito" -Talking
'Louise' -Thinking/ Human-Human Telepathy
"Explosion!" -Spell
:Master: -Master/Familiar Telepathy
Chapter 23: To Albion: Wardes' Scheme!
Later that Day
Princess Henrietta's Chambers, Tristain Academy for Magic
"So Joseph of Gallia is seeking to weaken my kingdom?" Henrietta asked dangerously. The Crown Princess of Tristain gazed sharply at Saito, who was sitting opposite of her.
"Yes, apparently." The Onmyōji replied, doing his best to appear unruffled by the powerful woman's gaze, silently reminding himself over and over again that the princess was not the type to shoot the messenger. "I think that was more an optional extra in this instance though. For some reason, I think he was trying to eliminate Tabitha."
The burgundy-haired girl blinked, most of her mounting anger leaving her and being replaced with confusion. "Eliminating a mere Chevalier would be fairly easy for a sitting monarch, Mr Saito. A single order could have them dead inside of a week at most."
This did little fact did nothing to further endear Saito to the medieval feudal system this world seemed to follow. Forcing his mind away from that though, the Onmyōji said, "True, but I understand from various sources that King Joseph is…idiosyncratic, shall we say, in regards to most things to do with his royal duties. Can you confirm that, Princess?"
"I have never met Joseph." Henrietta shook her head. "But I can confirm from reports given to me from the Church that he had a most unusual style of ruling, including all but locking the Church of Brimir out of matters of state."
"So kinda like Oda Nobunaga, huh?" Saito muttered. The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven had possessed little patience for those who interfered in his rule, particularly when it came to monks and priests. For refusing his orders and being close to his base of operations, Oda Nobunaga had razed the entirety of the Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei to the ground, along with putting almost its entire complement of Sōhei (warrior monks) to the sword. Not to mention his methods for putting down the rest of the Ikkō-ikki Rebellion, for the most part.
"Who?" Henrietta blinked.
"A powerful warlord who almost united my country during a period of civil war over four-hundred years ago." Saito offered distractedly. "He carried out numerous unusual and ahead of his time policies that earned him the ire of everyone from commoner to samurai, a caste of warrior nobility in my homeland. While he supported one particular Church, he never wholly converted to it nor enforced it as the church of the land; instead preferring the intrinsic separation of church and state. He was so ruthless that he was referred to as a Demon King, but he was truly someone who was deserving of the title of 'unifier'. Had he lived to successfully conquer Japan, there's no telling what history would have looked like."
"And you see shades of this Oda person in Joseph?" Henrietta asked.
"At a glance, yes." Saito agreed, leaning back thoughtfully. "Forgive me for saying so, but the various countries of Halkaginia seem to be very much under the thumb of the Church of Brimir. Speaking as someone who comes from a country where religion is something of a nonfactor in terms of government policy, I don't necessarily see the idea of a king choosing to remove religion from his government as a bad thing. However, the man himself is what is truly worrying me. I believe that he's using the missions he sends Tabitha on as a form of entertainment; he's interested to see if she will complete the missions he sends her on or if she dies during them. From what I've been able to gather, he sees her as nothing more than a toy he wants to see how far he can push until it breaks."
"That's…!" the Princess looked sick. "How…no, before that, what makes you suspect this?"
"Tabitha herself." Saito said seriously. "In her year, she possesses the most raw power aside from Louise, and she is the most puissant with her spells bar none. A Triangle Mage par excellence, I believe Professor Colbert has said regarding her. She's almost certainly going to become a Square Mage inside of two years. Not even Kirche von Zerbst, the one closest to her in terms of power and skill in her grade, can hold so much as a candle to her. Why is that, do you think? In answer: an enormous amount of practice, a hefty amount of hard work and the sheer necessity of survival. It was the same with Onmyōji a thousand years ago; surviving through situations where one's life and limb is at risk will vastly increase your connection with your magic and the elemental affinities that you possess. Such training was forbidden over five centuries ago following the death of Abe no Seimei though."
"Such a thing is possible?" Henrietta asked, eyes wide.
"Think of it like a blacksmith forging a sword." The Onmyōji elaborated. "No…perhaps tempering a sword would be a better comparison. Exposure to heat allows you to strike it with a hammer, removing impurities and allowing the metal to become harder. You have to get the balance right though; too little tempering and the resulting metal will be impure and lack strength, too much tempering and the metal becomes brittle and easy to break. In Tabitha's case, she's been tempered often and hard, you can tell from her general emotionless demeanour. If she's exposed to much more heat without time to rest and recuperate, she'll become liable to break, both physically and mentally."
"Why would he do such a thing to her?" the princess whispered. "It's seems far too cruel." She barely knew Tabitha herself, but no one deserved to suffer such a fate.
"As to that, I have no idea." Saito replied with a tired shrug. He wanted to help as well, but their current circumstances took precedence. "A descendent of a family that slighted him or his in some way? A random person who simply annoyed him or was chosen completely at random? I have no clue about why he's doing it, but that he is doing it is an undisputable fact."
Henrietta sighed. "Of all the things to crop up, it would have to be something to do with Gallia. I do not blame you for reporting it, but it is most inconvenient, Professor Saito."
"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, princess." Saito half smiled apologetically.
Shaking her head, the princess smiled back. "I can hardly blame you for the machinations of others. That would be most idiotic of me. No, I shall have to have scouts posted to the Tristain-Gallia border and on the lookout for any signs of invasion or raiding parties. That man has already proven to be a threat; we will not give him an opportunity to strike at his leisure."
"Yes. I'm more worried about the ring that was stolen from the Spirit, truth be told." Saito frowned. "Such a powerful magic item shouldn't be in the hands of people like Wardes."
A dark expression crossed the Princess' face. "Yes, and I also know the man behind the third name that the Water Spirit told you of. Lord Oliver Cromwell is the leader of the Reconquista Army that is embroiled in the civil war on the floating land of Albion."
"The leader of a rebel army left his army to come to take a magic ring from a water spirit…this does not bode well." Saito frowned deeply at this. "The ring must be even more powerful than I thought if this Cromwell character would leave his men to retrieve it himself."
"I agree." The Princess nodded. "Professor Saito, I am planning to issue a mission to Louise and yourself soon. I have no right to ask it of you, but with your two familiars, you are the best person to guard Louise and she is the best person to covey my words, as my first and only Liegewoman."
"I…see." The onmyōji sighed, shifting slightly his seat. "Given what you said about this Cromwell fellow, I take it that our destination will be Albion?"
"Correct." Henrietta looked somewhat miserable at this. "I…well, suffice is to say it is a mission of some delicacy. Sending Louise is a sign of how seriously I am treating the situation. While there, I would like you to brief the person you will be meeting about the capabilities of the Ring of Andvari."
"And who is this person?" Saito asked quietly.
"The Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Albion…Prince Wales Tudor." Henrietta said steadily.
Same Time
Saito and Louise's Suite
"Grrrrrrrr…!"
A low growling noise came from one Louise de Vallière as she glared at the door leading to the rest of the Academy. She had been in a very foul mood ever since Agnès had arrived to summon Saito, and only Saito, to Princess Henrietta's chambers.
'I get drugged by a love potion for the better part of a week and yet I'm being ignored like this?!' the pinkette grumbled to herself. Oh, Montmorency was very lucky that Saito had altered her aim at the last minute; otherwise she'd have been blown to kingdom come! The disgrace of being forced to act all lovey-dovey for Saito was almost too much for her to bear!
Very fortunately, her mother and sisters wouldn't find out about the incident. Henrietta had already issued Mon-Mon's punishment and had ordered everyone who knew about Louise's…ah, inebriated state into silence on the matter, on pain of suffering from Louise's full wrath with her total approval.
It was a real threat too. Louise really would blow them up if they talked about that embarrassing time with anyone.
Breaking her train of thought, Louise started tapping her finger on the table irritably. Ever since she had been cured of that damned potion, thoughts of Saito had plagued her, awake or asleep. She had even had a…very explicit and arousing dream about him doing things to her that no man did to anyone other than his wife! Thank Brimir for Siesta being her usual brisk and efficient self!
The pinkette flushed at the memory of the maid throwing her a knowing look as she got the sheets together to take to the laundry, along with Louise's sleepwear.
'That damned leering maid with her cow-like breasts!' Louise thought irritably. 'It isn't as if I wanted to have an erotic dream about Saito! He's my Familiar, for crying out loud!'
But…she was also Saito's Apprentice. Even with the limitations that Old Osmond had put into the contract and the more draconian terms removed, he could still pretty much command her as he liked, within reason. Ordering her to strip naked and stand at attention wasn't outside of the terms of the contract so long as he had a way to justify it as teaching her magic, just as a random example.
Dispelling the suddenly impressively vivid imagery of her doing exactly that in front of Saito from her mind, Louise furthermore attempted to quell the forest fire of a blush that had taken over her face. Had that dratted, drill-haired blond bitch fumbled something and not fully removed that twice-damned potion from her?! Was that why the thought of being close to Saito made her so floaty and happy and the thought of someone other than her getting close to him made jealousy claw a hole in her heart?! Was that why these licentious images kept plaguing her mind?!
"Aargh! This is so damned infuriating!" she moaned.
"Ah, what sweet music." A familiar voice purred and Louise looked around to see Emereldas leaning against the wall with a smirk on her face. The Succubus had altered her body to make herself the same height as Louise, but with enough curves to make Louise take serious mental damage from a simple glance.
Damned shape-shifting fiend! As if sharing classes with that cow von Zerbst wasn't bad enough, now she had to deal with her Familiar's Familiar whittling away at her self-image.
"What do you want?" Louise asked rudely. The last person she wanted to see right about now was Emereldas.
"My, is this how nobles act in this world?" the demon woman asked in amusement before becoming serious. "Look girl, I was this close to summoning the Flames of Forbidden Pleasure to turn you into a writhing mass of ecstasy while you were under the effect of that dratted love potion, so please do not push me right now."
Gulping, Louise looked at the succubus warily. "Again, what do you want? Saito isn't here."
"I am well aware of my dear master's location, girl." Emereldas sniffed arrogantly. "No, I came here to confirm something and require you to that end. Just sit still and it'll be over quickly."
"Can I get more than an abbreviated summary?" Louise huffed in annoyance. Terrifying the daemon in front of her might be, but Louise was still a noble and would not back down so easily.
"Urgh, fine." Emereldas grumbled as she walked over to the pinkette. "Master asked me to investigate a couple of things. One was possibly using Pandemonium, my home dimension, as a way to contact his world. Another is investigating his runic shackle in the hopes of breaking it."
"Are either of those possible?" Louise blinked.
"The first is impossible; once a demon is bound to a human, we can only go to the world where our masters reside." The succubus replied irritably. "He could make a temporary contract with another demon, but there's kind of a law that prevents us from interfering with the contractors of other demons, so that would likely not work. At least not with a demon powerful enough to travel to his world from Pandemonium with their own power. Most of the ones as strong as I am are ancient and immoral; they'd likely demand a high price, one that my dear master would no doubt balk at."
Given that it was ancient demons they were talking about, Louise really didn't want to think about what those demands would be.
"On the second…well, there's the thing." Emereldas chuckled. "I have had my servants scour the archives in search of any runic shackle even remotely similar to the one that is binding my master. Do you know what the result was? Nothing. Aside from the runes used to act as the physical manifestation of the binding, the entire system of magic that your familiar summoning system runs on is so completely unusual that there is not a single record of it in the Archives of Pandemonium! The statistical improbability of that happening is close to nil!"
"Um..." Louise looked at the succubus with a glazed over expression.
"Drat. My {Phantasmal Allure} got out of control again." Emereldas muttered and flexed her mental abilities, reigning in the one ability that all succubae of the Second Circle and above had access to. At her level, she could enthral the population of an entire city if she wasn't careful. She was lucky that only the pinkette had been hit with it.
"That is very irritating." Louise glared lightly at the succubus once she recovered her senses.
"Succubus. It's part of who and what I am, dearie." Emereldas shrugged unrepentantly. "Anyway, I decided that, since you're connected to my master via contract magic, that I should examine you to see if the damned shackle has had any effect on you through your link with my master."
"Shouldn't you check yourself first? I mean you do have a connection to Saito as well." Louise pointed out.
"The runes on my master are hard to decipher, but one of the few obvious details is that they are designed specifically to affect the minds and magic of humans." The succubus denied. "I am a succubus and the Ginki is an Oni. Neither of us can be affected by it due to the very design of the runes. Even if it could, our own Familiar bonds have protection from such things affecting us. Not to mention both of our species have an innately high resistance to hostile magics, which a runic shackle like this would easily qualify as."
"Actually…where are your Familiar marks?" the daughter of the de Vallière family questioned, looking Emereldas up and down, only seeing the regular tattoos that the succubus always wore across her limbs and body. "Saito's are on his hand and arms, but yours aren't visible."
"Because they only appear if we wish them to." The succubus explained. "To Kaede and I, the marks of our bond with our master are immensely private things. We do not desire to show such things off to all and sundry; only he may ask to see them and to him alone do we expose them."
"Huh….is that a culture thing?" Louise had to ask.
"I would suppose so." Emereldas actually paused as she considered it. "For demons, willingly being bound to a human is both a sign of strength and a show of weakness. It shows that you're strong enough to have a mage wish to contract to you, but is also offers a target for ambitious rivals. They are hidden as a way of preventing other demons from using the marks to track down and harm their masters. In Kaede's case, it is because Oni, as I have said before, are very independent. While being bound to a powerful, or even potentially powerful, mage can bring a great deal of prestige; some will also view it as a mark of weakness; that one is incapable of succeeding on their own. Given Kaede's status, many would willingly take the lower view simply to spite her, so, as a result, she chooses to keep her Familiar bond marks hidden until she has proven her own worth without the need of Saito's aid."
As Louise contemplated this revelation, Emereldas clicked her fingers a dozen times, each click summoning magic circles around the pinkette until it looked as if she was caged by them.
"Now then…let's see what has been bugging me…" the succubus muttered and snapped her finger one last time. As one, the circles started to rotate and spin around Louise, who eyed them nervously. Meanwhile, Emereldas was frowning lightly at the information her magic was feeding her, as if she found it worrying or confusing.
It continued for five minutes before the succubus abruptly ended the scanning circles with another click of her fingers. "Hm. That's some interesting data." She commented.
"Interesting how?" Louise asked warily.
"There seems to be some manner of feedback loop happening between my master and you." Emereldas said thoughtfully. "It's using the paths of his Familiar bond and your Apprentice bond as a way to do something, but I am not sure what. That will require me to analyse these readings, which I won't be able to do for a while. My Avanta Ceremony is happening in the next couple of days."
"Ah…congratulations?" Louise essayed.
"Thank you." The succubus said with a genuine smile on her face. "It is a momentous occasion for me. I wish I were able to protect my master during this time, but alas. The Ginki is taking up the slack in my stead, however. Guard yourself well, girl. I have a feeling that the coming days will be turbulent."
With a flash, Emereldas vanished back to her own world, leaving Louise more than slightly frustrated and confused.
Later
Unknown Location
Graf Johan von Leopold glared at the cauldrons lined up before him that contained the first of his new batch of jewels. The accursed an Onmyōji brat, (Hiraga Saito, he had been sure to carve that name into his mind with a vow of revenge) had utterly shattered the last of the precious gems he'd managed to bring with him into this infernal, primitive world. Now, because of that interfering Gör, he would be forced to hide like some kind of vagabond for quite some time.
Just about the only good thing to come of the entire debacle at Tristain was another odd discovery he'd made about this world's ambient magic. The sheer amount floating in the aether affected even the most stable of magics like potions, increasing the potency of the ingredients involved. An interesting discovery, if nothing else, and one that had surprised him. He honestly hadn't expected to need to brew these potions on this backwater world, seeing as his own magic so far advanced compared to the apish stick wielders that inhabited this realm that he hadn't though one would be capable of so much as cracking one of his own foci.
Still, the discovery needed to be taken into account. He was lucky enough that the only affect the increased potency had on the solution he used to bathe his jewels to prepare them to act as foci for his Jewel Sorcery was that it cut the amount the amount of time he needed to bathe his gems from between three to six months to only between one to three months. A more delicate potion or alchemic solution could have reacted quite badly to the upsurge in power.
It had taken quite some effort to find and make his current abode habitable; he did not desire to go through that much effort again, particularly in his weakened state.
Unfortunately, that still left him all but helpless for a prolonged period, something that made the vain mage internally baulk in fear, even if he would deny that to anyone or anything that dared challenge him. Right now he had but a single focus jewel to his name that he could use to work his craft and he had, rather shamefully he'd admit, allowed his other skills to wane since he'd been brought to this world, with the only exceptions being alchemy and blood magic.
All-in-all, he was now in a very precarious position.
Grumbling, Johan settled down into a chair and poured himself a decent glassful of wine. The house he had taken as his temporarily redoubt was either an abandoned noble's home or it was a long forgotten holiday villa for a noble family. In either case, it was at least somewhat befitting a man of his stature; the wine cellar was still nicely stocked and had a few fine wines in it. It would do, for now, but he would either return to his own world or move into a finer location soon.
'That bedamned Onmyōji…' Johan thought as he daintily sipped his wine, a fruity little red with a pleasant aftertaste. 'Siding with these…savages…over someone from his own world. The nerve of him.'
Sadly, that kind of attitude certainly befitted the Japanese Imperial Ministry of Onmyōji, however. The devotion of the Ministry to the protection of their country and people was actually something Johan (who still considered himself a patriot to his people and his homeland), could respect. If only they focused that dedication onto its proper recipient, their fellow mages and magic itself, rather than wasting it on the magicless base borne then Johan would have gladly counted them as allies.
They had no magic, no ability to see the unseen world, no ability to touch the elements. It was, he felt, the technological progression of the magicless that had driven away the power of the Void from planet Earth. Only by grinding them firmly beneath the heel of their betters would they ever be able to fully return magic to their realm and once more grasp the lost element.
Anyway, Saito's actions were in line with his training, something which, irritably, Johan couldn't fault him for. It did make things awkward for him though; he would have to move carefully inside of Tristain from here on out, as he was certain that the primitives had some seeming of his appearance up as wanted posters. Not that they could as much as touch him, but still.
Johan had seen many primitive mages in this strange world, but aside from them, he had also seen a small number of mages from his own world. Including himself, there were four that he knew of. Leaving himself aside, there was Hiraga Saito, the Onmyōji in Tristain. Residing in a series of random locations in the southern forests of Tristain, there was a mage who had been here for slightly less time than Johan himself. He had attempted to assassinate the Princess using a couple of servants and one of those infernal primitive slug-throwers, only to be foiled by the Onmyōji, apparently.
Irony was such a sour thing.
Anyway, the man's identity was unknown to Johan, save for the fact that he was utterly ruthless to his subordinates and used anything at his disposal, even firearms, to achieve his objectives. That was reason enough to be wary of him.
The final person from Earth was female and was known to haunt the kingdom of Gallia. In a rather more satisfying twist of irony, the woman possessed an upside-down black star in the centre of her forehead. Johan had little reason to go near her after he had initially spotted her, which was a good thing. He completely agreed with the Onmyōji regarding the fanatical fools that were members of Juxtaposed Black Star; they were to be avoided if possible and killed if the former wasn't possible. While they were just as focused on Japan as the Onmyōji were, the few times that they had sent operatives abroad had resulted in tremendous headaches for the Covenant of Thirteen. He supposed that Juxtaposed Black Star could make fine allies for the Covenant, but their arrogance when dealing with 'mere gaijin' had soured their few interactions to the point that the Covenant had standing orders to eliminate any member found operating in their territory.
Johan had little reason to interfere with the older two unless they crossed his path, but young Hiraga Saito had earned his ire. The German man readily admitted that the boy had surprised him, both with his puissance at casting spells and with the surprising ability granted to him by his Familiar Rune. He had been overconfident given their difference in age, experience and ruthlessness. That overconfidence had almost been his end, had it not been for his custom of always keeping a jewel in a pouch around his neck as an emergency backup. That same gem had been resting around his neck for over a decade untouched, unused, and nearly forgotten.
Until Hiraga Saito.
Smirking, he raised his glass in toast to the Onmyōji. "Well played, boy. We shall see if you are as crafty and lucky when next we meet. That shall be an occasion to remember. That much I promise you."
Three Days Later
Streets of Port Royal, Tristain
"I hate long distance horse-riding." Saito grumbled as he dismounted and stretched, hearing the bones on his body start clicking like an abacus.
"Why is he with us again?" Louise asked scowling at Guiche, who was dismounting from his own horse.
"He wants to try and get back into Princess Henrietta's good books so he has that chastity spell removed once he graduates from the Academy." Saito answered immediately.
"Th-that may be, but I also have to prove myself to Montmorency once more, Professor." The blond boy stuttered out before eying Saito in mild disbelief. "Why is it you are carrying around that very dangerous and expensive repeating crossbow pistol?"
"I finally finished enchanting the thing to draw magic from its surroundings so I don't need to manually recharge it." Saito answered as he hefted the Rampant Griffin out of its holster to admire it before holstering it again. "And as to why I have it, I'm going to be playing the 'noblewoman's bodyguard' on this mission, Guiche. No using magic so I can blend in."
Walking over and helping Louise off her own horse, Saito continued, "This means no blabbing to people about me, OK?"
"Hm. Rest assured I will not." The noble boy nodded and waved his rose wand elegantly.
"And stop taking your wand out randomly!" Saito bopped him on the head.
"So what's the schedule?" Louise asked as she covertly shifted and stretched herself.
"According to the schedule Her Highness gave us, we catch the boat to Albion at the crack of dawn tomorrow." The Onmyōji replied, pulling a sheet of paper from his pocket and scanning it. "We'd better find an inn or something to spend the night. Preferably one close to the docks without being rough enough where people might slit our throats."
Louise looked at Saito strangely. "Are we not taking rooms at the Crown?"
"The really expensive inn on the opposite side of town from the docks?" Saito asked with a sweatdrop. "No way are we staying there. It's too expensive, it's too far away from the docks and it's too expensive!"
"You do realise that you just said that it was too expensive twice, right?" Guiche sweatdropped in return.
"I really wanted to emphasize just how bloody expensive that place is!" Saito snapped back, before starting to scold the two young nobles. "Tristain doesn't have the spare funds to spend on frivolities like fancy inns, remember? That's why I donated the fragments of the golem I destroyed to Tristain."
The previous day, Saito had indeed torn down the jewel-covered wood golem outside of the Academy. He had given most of the materials to the Princess as a way to raise funds for the depleted Tristainian Treasury. The wood was harder than normal wood and was thus excellent for building or firewood and the metal sheets Saito hand conjured to act as armour would be useful in lieu of buying the stuff from Gallia, Germania, Albion or Romania.
What was really the biggest money-earner though was the diamond covering that had previously held the wood golem immobile. Had Johan dispelled it as he left, it would have vanished easily. Had it been cast back on Earth, the jewel spell would have faded inside of a few hours. Here in Halkaginia, the ambient magic had maintained the spell until it passed beyond some indeterminable barrier and became actual diamond. With the amount that Saito pulled off of it, Tristain's money problems would be solved once they stealthily and carefully liquidated the diamonds into coin.
That would take time and careful planning, however, so as to not glut the market and lower the price of diamonds overall, so Tristain was still close to broke for now.
"Fiiiinnneee!" Guiche actually pouted in disappointment. "There's the Fisherman's Rest nearby. It's still a noble-only inn, but it's close to the docks for precisely the reason of being close to the ships."
"Then why did you two think we'd go to the Crown if the Fisherman's Rest is more convenient and cheaper?" Saito asked with a twitching eyebrow.
Louise and Guiche shrugged almost in unison. "If the best is available, why settle for less?" they replied as one.
The Onmyōji stared at them for a moment before facepalming and muttering a single word to sum up his feelings on the situation.
"Nobles!"
That Night
Saito and Louise's Room, Fisherman's Rest Inn
After 'persuading' the innkeeper that he had to be in the same room as his 'employer' in order to carry out his duties, Saito had taken Louise out shopping for a plainer sheath for the swordwand that her mother had sent her. The pinkette had almost been horrified at the idea, but had bowed to the logic that carrying a sheath with the de Vallière family crest emblazoned on it would be a bad idea when they were trying to blend in and not arouse suspicion.
The sheath that he had finally bought was, to any onlooker, plain, functional, but of unmistakable high quality. Add in the sword belt around Louise's waist and she looked very much her mother's daughter.
"It suits you." Saito smiled at his excited master as she admired herself in the mirror with the sword and belt at her hip.
"D-Do you think so?" Louise asked shyly.
"Indeed it does." The Japanese boy felt his heart skip a beat at how cute Louise was acting right at that moment. "All you need to complete it is some skill with a blade so you don't cut yourself when wielding it."
"Can you teach me?" she asked instantly.
"I can only wield a sword with any great degree of skill thanks to my Gandálfr Runes." Saito shook his head. "I did learn the basics of Japanese kenjutsu…that's swordsmanship, by the way…but the katana and your swordwand are two totally different weapons that require totally different sword styles to be effective. A swordwand looks like it would require something similar to a sport called fencing in my world, which focuses on stabs and thrusts, while the katana used in conjunction with kenjutsu is a slashing sword. I think Kaede can learn it from her mother, so she can probably help you out there."
"Is that…wise?" Louise quailed a bit. "I'm fairly sure she hates me."
"She doesn't hate you, Louise; she merely dislikes the fact that I am your Familiar." The Onmyōji sighed. "I have explained to her multiple times that you are not at fault and she understands the truth of that now. She has also been taught teaching etiquette by her mother; if she teaches you how to wield a weapon, she will be strict but fair. I'll even order her to be gentle with you."
"Th-thanks…" Louise smiled and gently touched her weapon's hilt. "I still can't believe that Mother had this made for me. Neither of my sisters have one, yet I do."
"Why is that?" Saito asked.
"Big Sister Cattelya is a very peaceful and kind person; she abhors violence unless there's no other choice." Louise answered. "And Big Sister Éléonore kind of…looks down on the military. She says that those of the rank of Duke need not step onto the battlefield. It's beneath us, or so she says."
"Considering who your mother is, that is a very brazen outlook for her." Saito remarked dryly.
"They have had…harsh words about it." Louise acknowledged with a small shudder. "But that generally only happens whenever Mother is recalled to active duty, which isn't often."
"I guess every family has their problems." Saito shrugged. "Not that I'd know."
"What do you mean?" the pinkette blinked in surprise.
"I'm an orphan." Saito answered absently. "I was abandoned on an orphanage's doorstep in Kyoto when I was no more than a few days old."
"Wha-!?" Louise's eyes flew wide open in mixed shock and horror. "How could someone do that to their own child?!"
"It happens a lot, for a lot of reasons." The Onmyōji said solemnly. "Sometimes the mother is forced to do so by their parents to prevent them from bringing shame on the family if the baby is born out of wedlock. Sometimes the parents think that they can't look after a child, or the fact that they have one overwhelms them and they can't take the responsibility. There are lots of reasons ranging from noble to selfish. Not all of them are acceptable, but sadly that is the way of human nature."
Although he kept his tone light, the pinkette could somehow feel the pain Saito felt as he spoke. It was obvious that this was something that had plagued him for years.
"Do…do you ever wonder…?" Louise started before faltering, but Saito picked up where she left off.
"Do I ever wonder which reason my parents had for abandoning me?" he finished for her. "I admit that when I was younger, the idea of finding them was a distraction, but since I devoted myself to the Ministry of Onmyōji I've been able to let it go, mostly. It hurts, I'll admit, to think that my parents might have not wanted me, but I am an Onmyōji now. I work directly for the Emperor, with a yearly salary that most people short of the upper class back home would be jealous of. If they abandoned me, then it was to my own advantage and their demerit. Although…"
He trailed off there and Louise found the courage to ask, "Although…?"
"All Onmyōji students are given biannual counselling sessions starting from when they are twelve." Saito said slowly. "According to the final report taken from before I graduated, they believe that my lack of passion is due to the fact that I, at some level, apparently believe I'm not fit to dedicate myself to anything as a result of finding out that my parents abandoned me as a baby. I don't think so personally, but that's the opinion of my therapist."
Later, as Louise lay in her bed and her Familiar/Master snored soundlessly in the next bed over, Saito's words started to haunt her. What would it do to a person to discover that the one who had brought them into the world had not wanted them and had abandoned them as a result? She had been so ashamed of failing her Family that she could have died before Saito showed up, but she had never doubted that her mother and father would love her regardless of her inability to use magic.
'He's lived with this pain…for so long…' the pinkette thought with a bit of a tear falling from one eye. 'Regardless of the fact he had an entire organisation to fall back on for help, it isn't the same as a mother's love, or the comfort of family. How has he endured? What is driving him onward in spite of his pain?'
As she gradually succumbed to sleep, the mark of Apprenticeship on her forehead appeared and started to glow in sync with the Runes on Saito's hand.
The Next Day
The Airship Blue Mermaid, Skies of Tristain
"No matter how I think of it, this is so bizarre." Saito said with a yawn.
"What's so bizarre? Don't they have air travel where you come from?" Louise asked him quietly with a bleary look on her face.
"We do, which is why I find the fact your 'airships' are literal ship hulls with their sails replaced with gasbags to be not only ridiculous, but dangerous." The Japanese boy hissed back. When he'd first heard of an airship he'd thought that it might be some form of enchanted dirigible. Instead he'd found something that he was fairy sure only magic and hope was keeping stable in the air.
"It's worked fine for the last five-thousand years." Guiche said airily. The Gramont Scion looked perfectly fine with the early hour and both Saito and Louise felt more than a little resentment of that fact.
"The fact that it hasn't changed in that time is yet more proof that someone is actively trying, and succeeding, at stifling progress." Saito muttered as he took a bracelet out of his pocket and handed it to Louise. "Here, a present. It's what you might call a Bracelet of Calling. It will summon one specific object to you so long as you wear it and are within ten meters of it. In this case, it's your swordwand."
Face lighting up in delight, Louise took the bracelet eagerly. It was made of brass, with copper inlaid on it in elegant swirling patterns. In the centre of the bracelet was a shining yellow gem, with a white line running down its middle.
"This is…a cat's eye?" Louise asked.
"Yup. Gem magic isn't my forte, but I do know a little from taking a few cross-training classes. Enough to turn a good quality gemstone into a magical battery, anyway." The Onmyōji replied. "It's a present from both Princess Henrietta and myself as congratulations for gaining your mother's approval. I bought the materials for the bracelet itself and had the bulk of it made, while the Princess provided the gem and hired an expert jeweller to set it in place. I then enchanted it. I meant to give it to you earlier, but the ride here wiped me out."
"It's fine." The pinkette smiled as she slipped the accessory onto her dominant arm. "So how does it work?"
"Basically, you concentrate on wanting your blade in your hand and call out 'to me, my blade' once you start using it." Saito explained. "Given time and experience you won't even need the incantation, simply using a flex of will and a memorized activation of magic. Oh, and you don't even have to worry about being cut with its blade, as the safety enchantment I put on it automatically orients the hilt in your direction."
"Wow…where'd you get the idea for something so useful?" Louise asked in surprise.
"I saw a cartoon…read a story…about a fencer known as the Fantom Cat, who had a sword that had this enchantment in it." Saito said, stumbling over the idea of explaining televised media to her and deciding not to get into what would no doubt be a long and boring conversation. "I would have had it put into your swordwand, but I decided that this might be better. Didn't know if there were any rules or customs regarding enchanting someone's focus or if the magic would mesh well."
"There are duelling rules about your swordwand." Louise agreed with a bright smile. "Pre-enspelled swordwands are illegal; not so much with other items. With this bracelet, I have an advantage."
"That was how the Princess explained it to me." Saito chuckled. "You'll want to practice with it before using it in actual combat, but it may very well be a surprise move that your enemies won't expect."
As the hours passed, Louise practiced with her new bracelet, summoning her swordwand to her hand before repeating the process. She kept messing it up initially, but by the time they had dinner in the mess hall, she had gotten a basic mastery over the new skill she had access to.
"I think you overdid it, Louise." Saito said as he eyed the bruised skin on her hand. "You have plenty of time to learn how to use it. The journey to Albion's going to take a couple of days at least."
"Albion is in the middle of a civil war, Saito. Any skill that could save my life is necessary, just in case." Louise said seriously as she gingerly started to eat the food on the table; a kind of fish broth with bread on the side.
"True. I should start charging the rest of the bolts that I enchanted." Saito muttered.
"What do they do?" Louise asked before sipping some water.
"Depends. Unlike talismans, I can only inscribe a single spell into each bolt." The Onmyōji said. "Plus, I'm not really all that good at engraving spell formulae into metal yet, so I've been forced to keep the spells engraved fairly simple. Exploding flame bolts, freezing ice bolts, piercing wind bolts and the like make up the most of what I've enchanted so far, but I've two got two lots of ten bolts that have slightly more advanced effect enchanted into them. Though I'm not entirely certain if those will work properly, so I'm keeping them in reserve in case of emergencies."
Just as he finished speaking, the entire ship shuddered and tilted slightly, sending people staggering. The roars of dragons filled the air.
"TO ARMS! Enemy raid!" a sailor shouted from above deck. "It's the Reconquista!"
Saito and Louise exchanged glances before running up to the deck, with Guiche following them reluctantly. Outside, there were over a dozen red Fire Dragons with soldiers mounted atop of them casting magic at the body of the ship.
'I see…they want to capture the ship and take it as a prize.' Saito managed to deduce as he took in the scene. 'Nobles are all about racking up achievements in war; taking a ship and crew relatively intact would be a feather in the cap of whoever is in command of these dragons. Now that I know that though…'
Pulling out the Rampant Griffin, Saito loaded the small magazine with ten random bolts before aiming it at one dragon that was swooping down at them before pulling the trigger. Much faster than a regular bolt, it flew from the crossbow and slammed into the neck of the Fire Dragon and exploded, making the beast shriek-roar in agony before falling away, taking its screaming rider with it.
"Aren't Fire Dragons immune to fire?!" Guiche gaped.
"Highly resistant, not immune." Saito corrected him. "And to be precise, it is their scales which possess the fire-resistant quality. The bolt I just used detonated inside its flesh, reducing the effectiveness of its resistance by at least a third. Cast spells now, Mr Gramont. We have raiders to deal with."
"Urgh…yes sir…"
Louise drew her swordwand and held it ready in case one of the raiders tried to get close, while Saito shot with his crossbow pistol to try and whittle the number of attackers down. More often than not, he succeeded, with a few of the raiders themselves getting hit. This, unfortunately, made the ones remaining try to target him. When they did that though, the defending sailors took advantage of their distraction and fired their own bows at them.
"These guys are stubborn!" Saito growled as he shot down another Dragon, taking cover behind a bulwark.
"They're soldiers." Louise answered tersely, her swordwand tracing another as she readied another Explosion spell.
"There's only three left! You'd think that whoever's left would take the hint that they aren't winning!"
"Pride." Guiche grunted as he sent a rock bullet out to distract one of the remaining raiders. "We nobles have pride. And losing to a boat full of commoners is something that most would sooner die than accept as a possibility."
"Ship." Saito corrected absently. That made sense, now that Guiche had said it. Nobles were practically walking masses of pride. Anything that threatened or offended that pride had to go. And of course, that pride was often used against them in situations where they couldn't temper it with caution and common sense. Situations like this for example; hopelessly outnumbered and outmanoeuvred by the enemy, where retreat was the best choice. They wouldn't though, because their pride as nobles wouldn't permit it.
Guiche got lucky and smashed one rider off his beast with a spread of compacted rocks, while Saito got lucky and sent an ice bolt down the second to last dragon's mouth, which exploded and froze into an ice ball in its throat. Clawing at its mouth uselessly, the dragon veered off and began to panic, completely ignoring its rider's commands. Alone, the last raider cursed and turned his mount around, fleeing.
A ragged cheer came up from the sailors and Saito breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was unexpected. I wonder why they were this far from Albion?" he mused quietly.
"Hey, how did your bolts fly so far? Not to mention so fast?" Guiche asked. "Don't pistol crossbows only have a range of a less than fifty yards?"
"The answer to both is magic." Saito smirked, patting the Rampant Griffin fondly with his free hand before holstering it. "I carved a set of spell formulae into it that adds a wind enchantment to any bolt I fire from it, wrapping it in wind to increase its speed and part the air in front of it. This both increases the effective range of the crossbow and makes the bolts much faster."
Louise blinked. "Huh…you would have to pay a small fortune to have someone else do that for you, so it's good that you were able to do it yourself."
"I thought you were inexperienced at making spells on anything other than your talismans?" Guiche asked in confusion.
"Wood carving is how wards and some lesser enchantments are emplaced in wooden buildings." Saito replied with a shrug. "As an Onmyōji, repairing and adding such wards are a part of my duties. So of course I have experience with wood, not as much as paper mind you, but still enough to put together several useful formulae with a bit of time and effort. Metal is another story, as it requires special acids and techniques to be done right. I was lucky when I engraved Louise's bracelet that I didn't mess up. I need a lot more practice before I even want to try and attempt anything larger and more complex like a sword."
Sheathing her weapon, Louise nodded. "Sounds like a plan. In the meantime though, let's go and finish eating. I'm still hungry."
"As you wish, my little master." Saito smirked as a vein started to pulse on Louise's forehead. He felt the need to tease her for some reason.
"Don't call me little, dammit!" she raged.
Guiche, who was looking on at the two, sweatdropped at their antics. "Are they…flirting?" he muttered in disbelief as the Master/Familiar duo started to head back to the mess hall, with Saito teasing and twitting his smaller compatriot, who glared back at him in almost comedic anger.
"I shall never understand those two." Guiche concluded with a shake of his head.
Later
Conference Room, Reconquista Headquarters, Floating Land of Albion
"Driven back?" Wardes repeated with a single eyebrow lifted elegantly. "Raleigh's team was driven back?"
"Apparently so." Matilda answered as she sat down next to him in a huff. "The idiot cost us five dragons and seven men that we can ill afford to lose."
"As much as young Raleigh is arrogant and prideful, a dozen Fire Dragons and their riders should have been more than enough to overwhelm a single airship." Wardes said with a frown as he ran a finger along the jagged scar that Karin of the Heavy Wind had inflicted on him. "What reason did he give for the failure?"
"Something about some mercenary carrying around a fancy enchanted crossbow that fired enchanted bolts faster and at much longer range than you would expect." The Fallen Noble replied with a snort.
"I recall a report from our spies that Louise's Familiar, Saito, possesses a Rampant Griffin crossbow pistol." The former Tristainian Noble noted. "That makes it all the more likely that Karin's whelp is on the ship."
A useful part of being a part of an organisation such as Reconquista was the number of nobles who were willing to act as agents, funnelling information and funds to the organisation in exchange for higher positions in the New Order. They had known about Louise de Vallière's departure from Tristain, and they even had an idea as to why she was heading to Albion. Lord Cromwell had decided that Louise arriving in Albion was not to be allowed to happen and had sent Young Lord Raleigh and his team of Dragon Cavalry to intercept the ship carrying her, although it seemed as if the hunter had been turned into the hunted, likely because the idiot had tried to capture the ship rather than sink it as ordered.
"Well, now what?" Matilda asked crossly. "We can't exactly go to Lord Cromwell and say 'oh, sorry m'lord, the twelve dragon riders were driven off by some strange outworlder mage and a magic crossbow' can we?"
"Yes…and no." Wardes said thoughtfully. "In all honesty, this civil war has gone on for too long. If Lord Cromwell wasn't so fixated on defeating Wales Tudor himself, I could have infiltrated the Royalist faction's base and assassinated him before word of my…new status had reached them."
Crown Princess Henrietta of the Tristainian Royal House of Stewart, was no fool. She had dispatched one of her musketeers as a personal courier to Albion to inform her allied nation of a possible traitor. Had Wardes been able to either intercept or overtake the messenger, the Reconquista would already be in control of Albion and preparing to move onto the invasion of Tristain.
But no. Cromwell just had to go and steal a ring, of all things, from the Water Spirit of Lake Lagdorian, and cart him and Matilda around to show off after he got his grubby mitts on it. Granted, the fact that Cromwell had, miracle upon miracles, been able to just barely bypass the defences on the Ring of Andvari was impressive enough to sway a few more nobles to their side; although it had only been thanks to Wardes' Wind Dragon that they had been able to escape the wrath of the Water Spirit.
The point being that now that a subtle infiltration was out, and now that the only free troop of Dragon Cavalry the Reconquista had been able to spare had been just about decimated, then Cromwell would have no choice but to allow Wardes a free hand. Which meant he could hopefully gain at least a small amount of revenge on Karin of the Heavy Wind via her precious daughter. Not to mention that accursed boy, who used some type of magic he'd never seen or heard of before. And the strange being who served to act as his servant-slash-attack dog.
"You're planning something." Matilda accused him.
"I am a spy, my dear; of course I'm planning something." The former Viscount smiled thinly. "It sort of comes with the job description."
"Ha. Ha. Ha. It is to laugh." The verdette said flatly. "You're plotting to do something about the pink-haired brat and her boy-toy, right? Let me in on it. I have an axe to grind with the damned boy."
"Not just Louise, her Familiar and Duchess Karin; we will strike a blow against Henrietta and her precious country at the same time." Wardes added with a dangerous glint to his eyes. "They took my lands, my fortune and have effectively made me persona non grata in any place but the Reconquista thanks to the bedamned Writ of Excommunication the Holy Cee issued a few days ago. I believe an appropriate amount of retribution is in order."
Being excommunicated from the Church of Brimir meant that he was essentially a social pariah. His word was no longer binding, he could no longer legally own property, his family (had he any in the first place) would disavow him and he now had two choices: either go crawling on his knees to Henrietta to have the excommunication lifted or donate an appropriate amount of coin to the Church of Brimir as a show of proper repentance in order to have it lifted. There was also a deadline of two years to choose either before the excommunication would become life-binding and be permanent.
He would rather perform a running jump off of Avalon without a dragon to catch him than choose the first, which left the second. The price for lifting an excommunication was enough to purchase enough arms, armour, supplies, equipment and other miscellaneous items to keep a company of a hundred men in perfect fighting condition for a year or more. Not an easy sum to gather indeed. Luckily the gathered wealth he'd kept in a number of 'off-record' boltholes would cover at least a quarter of it.
Once Albion was taken, he was sure he could convince Cromwell to cough up the remainder from his newly acquired treasury.
"Well I have no objections…just leave that brat to me." Matilda bared her teeth. "I've got something special cooked up just for him."
"I look forward to seeing what you have planned, Fouquet the Sculptor." Wardes smirked. "I shall content myself with first slaying that prince in front of Louise and then dealing with her. As her former fiancé, the least I can do is end her life quickly. But first…shall we see exactly how useful that bauble of Lord Cromwell's is at enchanting spells into water?"
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Next Chapter: Desperate Battle in Albion
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