Chapter 6

That morning, Kirche added the finishing touches of her make up with lipstick. As she stared into the mirror at her own reflection, she thought back to last night's events.

Kirche knew that she was absolutely beautiful. With her looks and enticing sweet talk, she could have gotten any man she wished. Yet, Amos was the first man she had ever encountered to flat out reject her for her ways.

Strangely, it didn't perturb her at all. Rather, it seemed to motivate her even more.

"I'm not giving up on you, Amos. I'll make sure you see the value of this love I have for you." She swore. "Men that play hard to catch turn me on the most…"

A horse's cry filled the air, snapping Kirche out of her thoughts to get up to look out her window. At the gates, she was in time to see Amos head outside on horseback with Louise holding onto him from behind.

"What, they are going out today?" Kirche said to herself. "Hm… I guess I could use the old 'happen to run into each other' trick..."

With her decision made, she made her way over to the room of her best friend, Tabitha. Inside, Tabitha saw quietly on her bed while reading a book. She was about Louise's height with short light blue hair. Glasses with a red frame adorned her face which had a nonchalant look.

Several knocks were heard at her door. Reaching over for her staff, she waved it and chanted.

"Ansur Rel An…" When she finished, she returned to reading her book.

Kirche then entered the room and began to speak. However, no sound was audible to Tabitha. When the bulk of her chatter was done, Tabitha waved her staff again, bringing sound back to her world.

"Tabitha! We're going out today so get ready!" Kirche said.

"Void-day." Said Tabitha without taking her eyes off her book.

"I know how important Void-Day is to you, but listen! See, I've fallen in love! But he went out with that blasted Valliere just now! That's why I must know where those two are headed! You understand, right?"

All she got for a response was Tabitha shaking her head, eyes still locked to her book.

"Oh, right, you won't move an inch unless I explain everything." Said Kirche. She then took a deep breath.

"I WANT TO CHASE AFTER THOSE TWO BECAUSE THEY'RE HEADED SOMEWHERE BUT I CAN'T CATCH UP UNLESS I GET HELP FROM YOUR FAMILIAR!"

Kirche then got down on her knees on the side of Tabitha's bed.

"So please, help me!" she begged. Tabitha closed her book and nodded her head. She got up and opened the window in her room before bring her fingers to her mouth to whistle.

A loud screech responded to her call. In the distance, a large blue dragon with green eyes approached them. It was large enough to carry several people on its back. The pair got on and quickly took off into the skies.

Meanwhile in town…

Louise and I arrived in town after about three hours of horseback. It wasn't very busy today and so the roads were quite open. They were very narrow so if it was busy it would have been a pain to walk in.

As we were walking along, Louise spoke up.

"Do you really think I can learn how use a sword?" she asked me.

"Anyone can learn how. It's whether or not you're willing to." I replied.

"But why do I even need to learn how?"

"You can't always rely on your magic. I found out that you mages need to have your wands in order to cast your spells. But what would happen if you didn't have your wand? At least by learning how to fight you won't be totally defenseless should you be unable to cast spells."

"Isn't that your job?" she countered.

"I can't be there all the time. That's why it is important for you to be able to stand up on your own. You can't always rely on me, which is why you should be able to depend on your own strength."

After a few minutes of walking, we eventually made our way to an alley.

"If I recall, it was right next to Viemont's elixir shop…" Louise said. Her eyes then stopped on a building with a shield sitting outside of it. This must be it.

We entered the shop to see a middle-aged man standing behind the counter. He had buck teeth and was smoking a pipe.

"Welcome! What are you looking for?" he asked.

"Do you have any swords that would be fitting for a girl of her size?" I said while gesturing at Louise.

The shopkeeper dug around under the counter before pulling out a small sized rapier.

"How's this?" he asked. I took it and inspected it myself. It was a pretty normal rapier aside from the proportionally small size. However, I had no experience with rapiers and was well aware of how poor they are in a fight against a one or two-handed blade like mine. I shook my head and returned it to him.

"Do you have anything else?" I asked.

"That's the smallest one I got." The shopkeeper replied. Then he gasped in realization. "Well, I do have this one…"

He went over to a barrel in a corner of the room and rummaged around in it for a bit before pulling out another sword. It wasn't very large but I could tell it was at least practical for someone of Louise's stature. It was very rusty, however, but it was cheap at 100 gold pieces. And so, we ended up taking it. We then left the store to head our way back to the Academy with me carrying the blade.

Unbeknownst to them…

As Amos and Louise left the store, Kirche and Tabithawere hiding nearby watching them. Kirche saw the rusted sword in Amos's hands.

"That little brat came here to buy a gift for my Darling!" Kirche growled as she bit on her wand. Tabitha said nothing, ignoring her to continue reading.

"And what's with that rusty old sword? Clearly the poor girl cannot afford to even give a man of Amos's caliber and decent weapon! My Darling deserves only the best!"

With that, the two entered the store.

"Welcome! What are you looking for?" the shopkeeper asked them.

"Give me the best sword you have to offer!" Kirche demanded. The shopkeeper came back a minute later with a large golden sword adorned with many jewels.

"That sword was crafted by a very famous Germanian blacksmith! It's made of gold and reinforced with magic so it's pretty durable. It's the best I have!" he boasted. Kirche had sparkles in her eyes at the sight of the blade.

"Perfect! How much?"

"Three-thousand gold pieces." Replied the Shopkeeper. Kirche pouted.

"That's a bit pricey don't you think?" she said. The shopkeeper shrugged.

"Hey, you asked for the best I have so of course it comes at a high price."

Kirche suddenly sat on top of the counter and posed, ensuring to show off as much skin as possible.

"Please…, don't you think that's a bit much?" she said seductively. Blood immediately rushed the man's head.

"U-Uh…, yes! I suppose that's a bit much. How's two-thousand sound?" he stammered. Steam was beginning to come out of ears as Kirche lifted her skirt a little.

"Oh no… I only have five hundred gold pieces with me… I'm so sad…" she faked a pitiful tone. By this point, the shopkeeper couldn't think straight anymore.

"Y-You poor thing! Take it for five hundred!" he said unconsciously. Almost instantly, Kirche wrote a check for five hundred and slammed it on the counter.

"Deal." She said before leaving along with Tabitha who had been reading to herself the whole time. After a few seconds, the shopkeeper broke out of his trance and realized what he had just done.

"Oh crap!"

That evening…

After making a few more errands in town, we arrived back at the Academy by sundown. As we were settling down bedroom, she spoke up.

"I'm not so sure about this. I've never held a sword in my life."

I chuckled at her.

"There's a first time for everything. Besides, this sword is lightweight and feels easy on the hands. You should be fine."

"I guess so." Said Louise. I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Have some confidence. You have a great swordsman for your teacher, right?"

She looked up at me before smiling.

"Right!"

Just then, Kirche barged into the room with Tabitha reading a book behind her.

"Darling!" she cooed. Louise glared at her entrance.

"What do you want, Zerbst?" she hissed.

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to give my darling a gift since his master clearly has bad taste in swords." Kirche stated.

"What did you say?!" Louise fumed.

"Need I repeat myself? Darling deserves more than a rusty piece of junk." Kirche countered.

"Who're you calling a rusty piece of junk?!" a voice said. The girls froze before looking down to where the sword I got for Louise lay.

"Did… that sword just talk?" Louise said.

"No way, an Intelligent Sword?" said Kirche in disbelief. I went over to pick up the blade.

"Who are you?" I asked it. When it spoke, the metal above the hilt moved like a mouth.

"Glad you asked! My name is Derflinger and I was just having a nice nap when this loud chatter began to annoy me in my sleep!" Derflinger said. It was fascinating to say the least. Even back on Cray, a talking sword was unheard of.

"So? Who're you people?" Derflinger asked.

"My name is Amos. Those two girls are Kirche and Louise." I replied while gesturing to the girls.

"What about the blue-haired one?" asked Derflinger.

"Tabitha." Tabitha said simply.

"Looks like you're all mages. You all got that magic aura around you all. Except for you, Amos. You seem… different."

"I am Louise's familiar." I said.

"Whoa! A human familiar? You don't see that every day!" he said. "Then again, I can't help but feel that I have seen this before…"

I raised an eyebrow.

"You're pretty rusty. How old are you, Derflinger?"

"Dunno exactly! My memories are kinda hasty but all I know is that I've been around for thousands of years!" he chirped.

"Che! No wonder you are so rusty!" Louise said.

"Yeah, I suppose. You guys got anything I can move into?"

"Move into? What do you mean?" Kirche asked.

"I was sure you guys figured it out by now! I'm a sword spirit! The sword you are holding is just my body and doesn't have any real power. I'm what gives a sword its power!" Derflinger boasted.

"How do we move you?" I asked.

"Easy! All you have to do is break my current body with another sword! Then I'll be able to transfer myself over."

I thought about it for a moment.

"What if the sword you move into already has special properties? Will they disappear?"

"Nope! I'll just take on those powers for my own! It's how I grow as a sword spirit! That way each sword I inhabit will be stronger than the last."

I smiled at this revelation.

"In that case…"

I set down Derflinger and went over and got the Blaster Blade.

"Whoa! Is that gonna be my new body?" Derflinger squealed in excitement.

"Correct."

"In that case, hurry up! I can't wait!"

He needn't say anymore as I raised the Blaster Blade and brought it down on Derflinger, slicing the blade cleanly in two. After a few moments, golden particles raised themselves from Derflinger's body and slowly made their way to the Blaster Blade. The red jewel embedded in the hilt glowed.

"This feels amazing! I've never been in a sword like this before! What power!" Derflinger said, the red gem at the hilt glowing while he spoke before dimming when he finished speaking. I turned to Louise.

"Sorry Louise. We'll get you a new sword."

Kirche blinked at my statement.

"What?"

Right, she came here because she thought Derflinger was meant for me.

"Derflinger's old body was meant for Louise. I was going to teach her how to fight with a sword." I said.

"That's right, Zerbst! And Amos was the one who picked him out for me!" Louise said smugly. Kirche looked humiliated upon realizing her misunderstanding. Then, strangely enough, her expression quickly changed.

"In that case…," she said before pressing herself onto my chest with the fancy sword she bought.

"Please accept this as I sign of my love, Darling!" Kirche chirped. I heaved a sigh.

This was going to be a long night.