"This is preposterous!" snarled the government liaison, he scowled at the Headmaster. "You cannot expect for there to be no repercussions for the outright murder that occurred here! The boy was an upstanding noble!"

"It certainly is no light matter," said Osmond, stroking his beard. "but we have followed the government's strict interpretation of the school rules. Under the laws governing school institutions, there is absolutely no precedent set for a familiar being challenged to a duel and murdering their opponent. The summoning of a human was unprecedented, let alone from an entirely different world. It broke all of the theoretical fundamentals of what we imagined possible with magic. But the rules are clear and my hands are tied."

"You cannot be serious! Are you just going to allow this man - admittedly a mage - to just murder any of your students as he pleases?!" said the government liaison, slamming his fist onto Osmond's desk. Osmond sighed heavily. "The nobles of Tristain will not stand for it! You'll lose everything! People will pull out their children in droves from this school!"

Osmond shook his head. "Unlikely, with the war still going on. Despite security measures, there is still the distinct possibility that rebel groups and terrorists will make a move and attack one of the civilian centers."

"Oh please! The war is almost set to a close!" said the government liaison, "The princess of Tristain is already taking steps to celebrate her victory. She will announce herself as Empress of Halkeginia. The last of the rebels are all but gone. We even planned a special event during the tournament for this very school but perhaps we shall have a change of plans!"

"If I may?" said the legal scholar, moving to stand next to the government liaison, "I've conducted a thorough investigation of the relevant legal case files and the current laws related to familiars, nobles, and duels. Despite the first time this situation has occurred, there is a way to resolve matters."

"Yes, good," said the government liaison, nodding to the legal scholar. "let us have this matter settled once and for all. Teach some sense to this old fool."

"Despite outward appearances, it would seem that we are at a critical impasse. The most critical elements are the duel and the fact a familiar killed a student." said the legal scholar turning to gaze at the Headmaster. "According to the witnesses, the young man clearly said it was a duel. I wish not to speak ill of the dead, but he was flaunting the rules and it was his motives that forced us into this conundrum. While there are precedents if a familiar acts rambunctiously and kills a student and such behavior has severe consequences . . ."

The government liaison smirked. Osmond stroked his beard and looked intrigued by the legal scholar's explanation.

"That cannot be considered the case in this situation. The familiar, who is a human mage, didn't act rambunctiously and made the stipulation that the loser must die. This was also made clear by the numerous eye witness accounts." said the legal scholar, the other two frowned but remained silent. "Which means . . . despite the ban on duels in schools, which only applies to students, the fact the young man, de Gramont, challenged a human familiar to a duel meant that . . . the duel became legally recognized. The boy may have meant it as a jest, but . . . the challenged party is a noble like us and therefore noble legal jurisdiction applies. It became the equivalent of de Gramont challenging me or my fellow here to a duel, we aren't bound by the school rules and we can choose to accept the offer when challenged."

"The green haired familiar murdered that innocent boy!" snarled the government liaison rounding on the legal scholar, "the boy begged for his life for a numerous amount of times and was murdered in cold blood for all of the students to see! Some will be scarred for the rest of their lives!"

The legal scholar shook his head. "Once de Gramont uttered that it was a duel and the stipulation made by the human familiar was accepted, it became a legally binding duel. Under the legal jurisdictions and in concurrence with all established precedents, the human familiar and de Gramont had a legally recognized duel."

"You would let a murderer go free?!" said the government liaison, his eyes wide. "You will not see justice for the murdered boy and his family?!"

"Should the human familiar act violently and attack or murder other students then he will be punished in accordance with the laws in the same manner as any noble. It would be unwise to allow the familiar's master sole discretion when it is clear that his magic is not of our world and we cannot expect a student to control a fully fledged human mage with mysterious powers and their own agenda. He is clearly more powerful than a student mage. That would be asking for trouble." said the legal scholar, he looked at the government liaison with a stern expression. "But it is entirely improper to call what happened a violent impulse or random act of murder by the human familiar. The deceased boy repeatedly accosted him and demanded the duel to begin with. A duel is a legally recognized battle between mages and therefore, under the rule of law, all of the events that transpired between the two during the duel and the death of the boy are recognized under the jurisdiction of dueling laws. Unfortunately, duels can and do end in death. The stipulation of the challenged party was the duel end in death and the familiar followed through with the stipulation that was agreed upon by the young de Gramont. As such, only two critical matters are left unchecked."

The legal scholar turned to Sync, who sat in the corner of the room. Sync propped his elbow on an armchair and a hand on his chin. He hadn't uttered a word upon being told to come to the Headmaster's office to rectify the legal dispute that had followed.

"Lord Sync, you have the legal right to any boon from the de Gramont family for having won the duel between you and their fourth child," said the legal scholar, the government liaison's eyes looked as if they would pop out of his sockets as he turned to the legal scholar and Sync. "Furthermore, you have the right to a boon from the school to recompose what you endured at the hands of the wayward student that harmed you as a result of the school's negligence."

Osmond bowed his head to Sync. The government liaison's face reddened. "Have you gone completely mad?! What is this nonsense?! How can you - !"

The legal scholar scowled at the government liaison. The government liaison shot a glare at Sync before looking away.

"What does a boon entail?" asked Sync, furrowing his brows. "What exactly are the specifics of what I can ask for?"

"You could ask for a certain amount of gold, land, a commoner as a servant, a family heirloom of the de Gramont House, or perhaps a wand," said the legal scholar. Sync remained silent. The legal scholar frowned and then sighed. "perhaps, the de Gramont estate?"

"Okay, what can I not ask for?" said Sync. What would I even want?

"Whatever is not in the power of the de Gramont family to give," said the legal scholar, "but whatever is within the jurisdiction and power of the de Gramont family to give, you may take by right of conquest and it must be in accordance with the specifics of what you say."

Sync frowned. "Wait a minute . . . are you saying that there is no limit for what I cannot demand from the de Gramont family?"

"No, I am saying that . . . you can ask for anything that is within the power of the de Gramont family to give," said the legal scholar, Sync's lips twitched upward. "and you will have to be specific on what you want, or you may not receive your intended reward based upon the wording that you utilize."

Sync tapped his chin and he smirked. "Alright then, I want the de Gramont family estate, I want their vault, I want all of their physical wealth including gold, jewelry, coin money, any forms of paper money that exist in this world, I want all their land properties, I want all their servants, I want full control of all of their business arrangements and business assets, I want their legal titles so that I become recognized in the same legal capacity as they were before I took all of their assets, and I want their accomplishments to be removed from whatever the new name of my House will be called or stricken from the record entirely. Of course, this means I also want the house or mansion that they live in with the estate too."

Glad I learned legal interpretations in Daath when making my way up to eventually become a God General, thought Sync grinning, let's test how far this "boon" goes. I suspect that it'll just piss these men off and they'll ask for something more reasonable. They can't be so stupid as to give me everything and I've always had to work for everything that I achieved. I can't really think of anything reasonable to ask for yet. I wonder if the real boon is somehow time-sensitive.

The three gazed at Sync aghast. The government liaison barred his teeth at Sync.

"Done, you shall receive all of their holdings, monies, land, servants, jewelry, and you may enter your new estate at any time." said the legal scholar, taking out a scroll and a wand from his pocket. He waved it and a white light enveloped the scroll and Sync's familiar marking flashed too. "It is done, the de Gramont family is henceforth removed from their original standing and you are now Count of the West of Tristain. The servants, estate, vault, contents of the vault, and everything but their family armory is now legally and magically bound to you, Count Sync. If you wish, you may remove the de Gramont name with your own last name."

Sync's eyes widened and he gaped at the other three people in the Headmaster's office. Wow, so this world is, in fact, incredibly stupid.

"You have just made an entire family loyal to the country of Tristain and the princess destitute!" shouted the government liaison, scowling down at Sync. "How could you do such a thing?! Was it not enough that you killed their youngest child?!"

Sync laughed. The government liaison's arms shook and his gaze held utter contempt for Sync. Sync stopped laughing and smirked at the liaison. "It isn't my fault that they raised a vicious bastard who was stupid enough to initiate the duel. It's their own fault for raising a moron."

The legal scholar cleared his throat. Sync gazed towards him.

"I . . . don't have a last name." said Sync, he frowned, removed his chin from his hand, and folded both of his arms. "So . . . to be frank, I have no idea what I should put as a surname."

The government liaison sniffed. "Well then, I shall take this matter to the princess. She shall see sense to this madness and she'll give you a surname and a suitable punishment, you foreign cur."

Sync shrugged his shoulders. The legal scholar sighed and shook his head. He straightened his posture and met Sync's eyes.

"Well, for the other matter, what boon would you like from the school to recompense what you've endured?" said the legal scholar, he frowned. "Also, please note that, unlike with the boon taken from the de Gramont family, taking a boon from the school follows a stricter guideline because it is the property of the royal family and thus government property. Thereby, we follow government protocol to set the reasonable boundaries of what you can ask. You could ask for an official apology by the school, if there had been a negligent professor then you could have demanded they be sacked and replaced, you could ask for one of the noble members of the staff to retire, or you can take one of the commoner staff under your legal jurisdiction and own them as your property. Normally, only government officials are allowed such a privilege unless, like the maids, they're replaceable with any other commoner woman being hired as a maid."

Sync moved one hand up to his face and drummed his fingers on his cheek. Sync furrowed his eyes and frowned. It would be wrong to just take Siesta as my property . . . but the morals that I live by aren't the same as this world. I can't be sure that Siesta won't get into future trouble by getting injured or worse by any of the noble students or teachers despite what I told them. In fact, from a purely objective analysis, it's probably best to nip this in the bud and secure Siesta's protection regardless of my world's moral code of right and wrong. A moral code that I never really lived by since I was the Order of Lorelei's hired killer. I need to adapt to the new world and how they treat commoners is better than how my world treated Replicas like me. I'm not going to be a prejudicial bigot, but if I can use this system to my advantage to protect Siesta then I should.

"I want the maid Siesta as my boon. Have her placed under my jurisdiction and . . ." Sync hesitated. This sounds so disgusting and deplorable to say . . . "have Siesta recognized as my property."

The government liaison glared and the legal scholar nodded as he put back the scroll and took out a government handbook. He raised his wand and the government handbook flashed. Sync's markings flashed once again and then returned to normal.

"It is done," said the legal scholar, "if you wish, she may still be able to carry out her duties as a servant of the school but legally she is your property."

Sync nodded in response and remained silent. The government liaison continued to glare at Sync before he huffed and left the room. The legal scholar bid farewell before following in his wake.

"So, young man," said Osmond, turning his attention to Sync, "it would appear that you've done quite well for yourself in just a single day."

Sync narrowed his eyes. "What of it?"

"I heard about your declaration to the student body that witnessed the incident. I must remind you that I shall have you arrested should you make good on your threat to the student body." said Osmond narrowing his eyes at Sync. "However, I cannot legally do anything should you harm them during duels. But I warn you, if you should use that loophole to go around murdering my students, then I will act regardless of the legal limits. You had better not kill anyone else in this school who is under my care. Dueling for physical possessions or titles shall be permitted but there is to be no further incidents ending in death. Do I make myself clear?"

Sync opened his mouth and then shut it. He was quiet for a few seconds before he nodded. "That is reasonable. For what it's worth, I apologize for putting you in a hard position . . . but I will not tolerate the torture of the commoners."

Osmond narrowed his eyes and then closed them to sigh. He reopened his eyes and waved his free hand in a shooing motion.

"Please, just get out of my office."

The class listened to the instructor as she lectured them on the different scales of magic and their different elements.

"Now class, I need someone to demonstrate fire magic," the professor looked around and spotted Louise, "Ah, Ms. Valliere, perhaps you will be suited for this task, please come down."

Louise got up from her seat and walked down the steps. She briefly gazed around the room before continuing her walk down the steps. Her classmates remained silent and some avoided her gaze when she tried to make eye contact. Louise felt her heart soar and her lips twitched upward because nobody had shouted her reviled nickname when she got up from her seat. Yet, Louise felt a stabbing sensation in her heart and felt her face tightening as the sensation of tears threatening to spill overwhelmed her when she looked at her classmates and they avoided looking at her. After Sync's murder of Guiche, none of her classmates would speak to her.

I don't understand my feelings anymore. How can I feel such joy and such pain at the same time? I want to cry and I also want to laugh. I don't know if I'm just going to fall into a ball and cry my eyes out or smile and laugh at all the stupid people who gave me that damn nickname. I feel like doing both . . . I feel like I'm going crazy. I don't know what I want. I feel like I'm an idiot and I also feel like I've succeeded somehow in proving my worth. thought Louise, she looked pointedly at the ground as she resumed walking down the steps. People are ignoring me. Sometimes I think about what would happen if I just punched someone in the face, just for a reaction. Or maybe just did something totally crazy like strip and dance naked. But I'd never do that . . . but this isolation is really becoming too much. Nobody makes fun of me anymore . . . but nobody talks to me anymore. They probably think I'll send Sync to murder them. A part of me wishes that my life would go back to how it was before Sync, and another part of me realizes how absurd that is because of how awful I felt when they kept belittling me for every little thing I did wrong. I hated that life . . . I know this is an improvement but . . . I'm so confused! What do I want? I don't know anymore. This is all Sync's fault! I tried to reason with him and now . . . everything has changed. I feel so empty. I just don't know how to feel anymore with all these thoughts and feelings twisting me up inside; I have no one to talk to! Who can I talk to about all of this? I have no one . . . I feel like I want to crawl in a hole and it hurts so much.

Louise followed the professor's instructions and the area she cast the spell predictably exploded. Grey smoke flooded the entire room and Louise could hear many students coughing. One of the students used a wind spell to dispel the smoke. Louise flushed and looked at the students. She felt a stabbing sensation in her heart as she witnessed the students remain quiet apart from a few coughs from the smoke. People avoided her gaze and the room remained as silent as a crypt. Unlike two days ago, before Sync was summoned, nobody laughed at Louise but her classmates seemed to be taking great pains to avoid her entirely.

"Well, at least the students have become more respectful," said the professor, she grinned at Louise. Louise gazed down at the floor and scowled. "Well, that's about it for today's class."

Louise ran up the steps and got her school supplies as the students got up from their seats and began to leave the classroom. Louise looked at the multitude of faces before spotting two people. She hurried down the steps and made a beeline in the direction of Kirche and Tabitha.

"Hey, Tabitha!" said Louise, raising one of her hands and waving it. Tabitha doesn't usually follow the trends of most of the other students. It's definitely worth a shot. "Zerbst! I mean . . . er . . . Kirche!"

Wow, that felt weird to say, thought Louise, Please, please turn this way! Maybe I could ask them to have lunch with me or maybe we could study together?

Tabitha turned and saw Louise's smiling face. Louise waved and straightened her posture. Tabitha's eyes widened as she stared at Louise with a dumbfounded expression. Their eyes met. Tabitha abruptly turned around and grabbed Kirche's arm before tugging her away. Louise lowered her arm and saw Kirche turn to her Tabitha with her eyes furrowed. Kirche glanced behind her to see Louise's smiling face. Kirche's mouth hung open before she turned her head back and ran alongside Tabitha. The two were out of Louise's sight within seconds.

Louise felt her heart shatter as she frowned and looked at the floor. For a moment, she stood dazed as her chest felt heavy as if sharp needles were piercing her lungs. She took a few deep breathes to calm herself and stop her chest from feeling painful. A few stray tears fell down her cheeks as she walked back in the direction of her room. I just can't go to the rest of the day's classes. I don't want anyone to see me in tears. I'll call in sick for the day. I'm so tired of all this! This is all so frustrating and humiliating! I can't stand much more, I feel so tired all the time and no one talks to me . . .

Louise entered her dorm room and threw her belongings on her bed before shutting the door. She looked up to see Sync sitting on the open windowsill and gazing outside.

"What are you doing?" snapped Louise, scowling at him and folding her arms. Sync turned to her direction. "What happened in the Headmaster's office? What trouble am I in?"

"You're not in any trouble. At least, neither of us is in any legal trouble at the moment. It seems that, because the brat called it a duel and I stipulated for it to be a death match, I can't be held liable for his death. Apparently, it's the equivalent of him walking up to any random mage that isn't part of the school and challenging them to a duel. The legal scholar asked me what I wanted for a boon . . . and . . ." Sync paused his speech and held up his hand to show Louise the ring of House de Gramont on his finger. Louise's eyes widened and she gaped at Sync. Sync continued. "Thanks to my understanding of legal interpretations of the rule of law, I was able to take everything from the fool's family. Their estate, vault, wealth, servants, and legal titles are all mine now. The Headmaster's assistant handed me the ring before I left. I have yet to set up a surname because I never had one growing up back in my old world. The government liaison is forming a petition and official complaint to the princess of Tristain so we may not be out of any legal penalties yet, but so far it seems to be going really well."

Sync smirked. Louise shut her mouth and glared at Sync. How can such a horrible resolution be possible?! Oh Brimir, I hope Henrietta doesn't also begin to ignore or despise me when she finds out that it was my familiar . . .

"Well, congratulations on your reward for murdering my fellow classmate," said Louise, she shook her head. "I hope you're proud of yourself. You've made my life a complete wreck because of your actions. Now, nobody talks to me and they're all too afraid to even look at me because they probably think I'll send you to hurt them!"

"So what?" snapped Sync, scowling back at Louise. "I thought you wanted your life to change and to be respected by your classmates? Now they won't dare to insult you because you summoned a strong familiar. Shouldn't you be proud of yourself?"

"This isn't what I wanted at all!" shrieked Louise, her arms moved to her sides and her hands formed into fists. Her cheeks tinged red and she clenched her teeth. Her body shook and she felt the urge to run over to the over side of her room to push Sync out the window. "I wanted to make my family proud by becoming an accomplished and respected mage! I wanted people to like me for who I am! I wanted to make new friends who would study with me, come to my birthday parties, and hang out with me just to talk! I wanted to be accepted and admired by my fellow classmates! I didn't want people to be so afraid of me that they refuse to look at me! I didn't want to be partly responsible for another student's death! I wanted people to like me and you completely ruined everything! You . . . you . . . you've ruined my life! I'll never get the chance to prove myself and make friends; I might as well just drop out because of how painful it's already become for me!"

There was a momentary pause as Louise glared at Sync while she stood shaking. Sync stopped glaring and gazed at her with a solemn expression for several seconds. Sync proceeded to burst out laughing and held his stomach as he laid his back on the side of the windowsill. He drew his head back and continued to laugh. Louise's cheeks reddened and she nearly shed tears as she stomped towards the open window. Sync continued to laugh as Louise stood a few feet from him.

What is the matter with this guy? Who are you really Sync and just what are you capable of? thought Louise, she felt a shudder. I don't know anything about you, do I? You can continue to act so normal and laugh at my face after murdering someone in cold blood. It's absolutely revolting and I don't know whether I should be terrified or angry. I'm so mad but I don't know what you'll do to me, especially if you realize that I'm deeply afraid of what you might do to me. I'm trying to be brave, but I get the feeling that you can already see right through me.

Sync finished laughing and smirked at her. Louise took a deep breath and met Sync's eyes.

"You sound completely pathetic," said Sync, Louise's eyebrows narrowed further as she gave Sync a visage of contempt. "Those idiots were mocking you before I was ever summoned. Judging from the terrible nickname and constant insults that you endured, I find it doubtful that your classmates would ever have been what you wanted them to be. You should be happy that I came into the picture and caused them to fear you."

"Happy?! Are you insane?!" said Louise, her shoulders shook. "I had a chance of impressing them and earning their respect before you showed up and killed someone!"

"A chance of earning their respect? Are you stupid?" said Sync, his lips twitched upward. Louise growled and she stomped a foot on the floor. "I find such a notion to be absurd. They were constantly disparaging you and didn't put any value towards your feelings. Do you really think they would care enough to change their views of you when they never bothered to get to know you? Face reality, Louise, seeking the approval of people who will incessantly demean you will only cause you to hate yourself. They only perceived you as a dreck; they were capable and comfortable with devaluing you as such. For the most part, people who treat you like rubbish will continue to treat you horribly, even after they've apologized and sworn that they will never treat you like rubbish again. People fall back into their stupid habits. If you really believed that those people would ever treat you nicely, then you're a fool."

Louise shook her head and walked backwards until she fell on her butt. She buried her face in her hands and wept. Her body shuddered as she cried. Sync watched for a moment and then turned his head to look outside the window. He ignored her wailing and his posture stiffened while sitting on the windowsill. Sync didn't say a word or try to comfort Louise as she cried on the floor.

I'm out of my loop, thought Sync, What am I doing here anymore? If all I do is cause her problems then I should just leave. I doubt I was ever meant to come to this world in the first place. I could easily transfer the custody of Siesta to Louise and just end my life. Louise seems to concern herself with Siesta's wellbeing enough.

Sync let out an aggravated sigh. "Louise, why am I here?"

Louise got up from the floor and wiped away her remaining tears. Sync turned to see her reddened and puffy eyes. Louise glared at Sync and blushed. I can't believe I let myself cry in front of this murderous jerk.

"What are you talking about?" said Louise, she sighed. "You're here because I summoned you."

"That's not what I meant," said Sync folding his arms, "I mean I have no reason to be here and evidently, I'm just being a detriment to your life. Why should I remain here?"

"So, you want to leave?" said Louise, "Fine then, just go and live in your new castle."

"You idiot, you're still not understanding me," said Sync glaring at her. Louise bristled at his words. "I mean that there is no purpose for me here. I don't belong in this world. You summoned me to prove that you're a worthy mage so that others would stop mocking you, right? Well, congratulations, you've proven that you're a real mage. Your purpose for me has been fulfilled."

"So then . . . you want me to send you back to your home world?" said Louise, she sighed and frowned. "I guess I could try . . . it could take some time though. Maybe even years."

Sync shook his head. "I was already dead in the world I came from. I don't think I should have been brought back to begin with. If you really feel that I'm a mistake and you want me gone then just kill me. Hopefully, I get sent back to where consciousness goes in my world."

Louise gasped and she took a step back. She flinched at Sync's calm visage. "I - I can't do that! Are you kidding me?! I'm not going to murder you! How can you ask me to do that?!"

"Louise, there is no point in me being here. I have nothing to do and no reason to be here. I'm not native to this planet. Besides, as your familiar, you can kill me without facing any legal repercussions." said Sync, "It isn't even murder, it's sending me back to where I came from. I was already dead in my home world so just think of it as returning a spirit back to the grave, if that helps."

"How can you seriously be asking this?! Aren't you terrified of dying? What you're asking isn't sane or rational at all!" said Louise, shaking her head as she gazed at Sync with a dumbfounded expression. "Please, stop talking like this! It's becoming too much for me to handle!"

Sync shrugged. "I'm not terrified of death. I'm empty, I've always been empty since the day I was born. I never belonged in the world I came from and I obviously don't belong here either. I don't know why I was given a second life but clearly it was by accident or it was a quirk of fate. I hate my life; I hate that I was born. Every waking moment of my life, I've always felt shame for being who and what I am. Even now, I still feel ashamed of myself. It influences everything that I do and it's defined my life since my birth. Back in the world I came from, I was alive just for revenge against the being responsible for my birth. What kept me alive and going was hate. I don't have a reason to be here. I have no purpose in this second chance at life. So please . . . kill me and end my suffering."

Louise swallowed as she remained quiet and contemplated what Sync said. How do I get him to stop acting like this? Is it even possible to change his mind? I can't believe I'm seriously considering ending his life . . . but do I have a right to force my opinion on the matter? Damn it, my life has become such a confusing mess since Sync entered it. I don't know what to do . . .

"You . . . live for me . . ." said Louise barely above a whisper. Sync raised an eyebrow. Louise cleared her throat and straightened her posture. She gazed towards Sync as eye level. "You live to help me. As my familiar, you shall assist me in reaching my goal of becoming a powerful mage so that I earn the respect of my family and I become respected throughout Tristain as a powerful mage."

"Oh really? And what qualifies as becoming a powerful mage? How precisely are we going to determine when such a vague goal is accomplished to the satisfaction of both of us and your family?" said Sync, shaking his head. "What exactly are your goals? Do you even have goals that you've set for yourself? Have you decided upon the milestones or quarterly goals that you need to accomplish so that you know that you're reaching your chief goal? Have you made any reasonable and realistic plans on how to accomplish your goal?"

"I . . . I don't know!" shouted Louise throwing her arms in the air. Her cheeks flushed and she scowled at Sync. "I just . . . it's what I want! I want to be a powerful, respected mage. I . . . want to be world famous for being a super awesome mage! I don't know how to do it though. So . . . hey, that's it! Your purpose is to help me become a super amazing mage that gets the respect of Tristain and my family!"

Sync sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, but that is far too vague. You need to be specific and clear on what you want or I'm not going to bother to entertain this childish delusion of yours."

"So . . . you don't believe I can do it either, do you?!" said Louise, placing her arms to the sides and curling her fingers into a ball. Her shoulders shook as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "You just think I'm a worthless idiot who can't accomplish anything, right?! You probably think I don't belong in this school like the rest of them too! Just like . . . just like . . . everyone has told me all my life . . ."

"I didn't say that! You're taking my words out of context," said Sync scowling at her, "I just meant that if you want me to take your proposal seriously then you need to give me a realistic, manageable, and accomplishable set of stretch goals to satisfy so that we can determine your progress in completing your main goal. Otherwise, we have no set of values to determine if we're progressing in any meaningful way to your actual goal. What tasks do we need to be completed, what is the length of these tasks, which tasks are most critical to do now instead of later, and how long do you believe it will take to complete the objective that you've set forth?"

"I don't know . . . I've only just begun my schooling. I haven't thought that far ahead but I really am determined to become a great and strong mage that'll be respected by my family and friends! Even if the other students don't treat me well, I want to become a great mage. I just don't know how to do that when I keep failing at casting the most basic spells." said Louise, her shoulders slackened. She frowned while meeting Sync at eye level. Louise took a deep, calming breath and exhaled. "If you can, help me do that. Help me improve as a mage. I honestly feel lost and I don't know where to begin improving. I constantly feel helpless when I'm picked to make demonstrations in class and I feel ashamed of wasting my family's money because I'm not making any substantial progress. I need to get better but I don't know how to do that and I just feel stuck. I feel like I can't improve no matter how hard I try and I feel helpless when I think about how close I could be to getting expelled. It makes me panic and I try not to cry myself to sleep every night because of how ashamed I am of myself."

Sync loosened his scowl and he looked pensive. Louise took a few deep breathes and swallowed before continuing. "When you murdered Guiche, it really damaged my standing in this school. I feel guilty because I feel like . . . if I hadn't selfishly wanted to prove myself then maybe Guiche would be alive today. If I had dropped out of school during the summoning class because the professor warned me that I could be expelled should I fail, then no one would have died as a consequence. I know that it was ultimately between you and Guiche but I feel responsible. Maybe if I had taken the time to explain to you the difference between nobles and commoners instead of you observing the discrimination at the cafeteria then it might have changed something about the outcome. I was so stupid for not realizing that you had no concept of what those distinguishing characteristics and social realities meant because you came from a different world. I'm truly sorry for that, but I . . . I need you to be my familiar and help me in some meaningful way. I want to prove to myself that I can do better, but I don't know how. As my familiar, could you possibly, just make arrangements on training me to become a strong mage like you? Could you maybe research why I can't seem to cast the most basic of spells and yet summon an otherworldly familiar? Whatever you think could be of help."

Louise stood and waited. Sync was silent for over a minute as he gazed down at her with a pensive visage.

She's putting a lot of the workload on me. I'm not even sure if this'll be worth my time or a complete waste, thought Sync, A part of me doesn't really care. I just hate living with this shame that pervades everything that I do. Can I really help her? I'm a total foreigner to this world and I feel so empty. Why should I bother?

"Sync, I'm not sure how much you really value anything," said Louise, "but please, at least for a little while, live for my sake. Help me become better. And tomorrow, if you can manage it, can we please talk over lunch or maybe tea? I think we both need a serious talk when we're both in a calmer state of mind. Would that be alright with you?"

"Alright, I'll hold back my doubts for now and try to help you as best as I can," said Sync, Louise relaxed her posture and sighed with relief. "I'll set up a training schedule for you and I'll research everything I possibly can in your library. It's actually best that I thoroughly research information and gain intel, if I might be living here for a lengthy amount of time. I'll look into your spellwork problem and see what I can do since you're so insistent on becoming better. You seem to be serious about improving so I'll help for now. It will depend on how useful I am for your goal though."

"Let's talk about that tomorrow," said Louise, "I feel really drained so I'm going to take a shower and sleep early."

Louise turned away from Sync. Sync got off the windowsill and walked past Louise. Sync headed out the door. "Alright, I'll go to the library and begin my research now. I can't make any promises."

"I only ask that you do your best . . . and," Louise paused. "Thank you, Sync."

Sync glanced back in surprise and nodded before heading out the door.

I need to find a way to change Sync's mind about his place in this world . . . thought Louise, she walked over to her desk and took out parchment. She took one of her quills, dipped it in ink, and began writing down a list. I'll take a page from Sync. Okay, just write down the issue and look for possible solutions. I'll ask Siesta for any input and if she's willing to help and hopefully I can come up with an effective strategy to make him see sense.