Chapter II
Hello to all! Hopefully everyone, or most everyone, enjoyed the first chapter of this alternate version of Dragon of Zero. I am glad that people are actually reviewing the story as well! Also, I have posted a poll on my profile page so it will be most efficient if everyone who has an opinion on whether Dragon of Zero or Dragon of Zerbst is better chooses one of them in the poll on my profile page. I will be continuing to work on Dragon of Zerbst until the plot reaches the same point as where Dragon of Zero has reached. Once that has been accomplished I will tally up the poll results, and the reviews on the story, to see which story won the most votes. So if this story, or Dragon of Zero, matters to you, I suggest you make your opinion known in reviews and the polls. With that out of the way, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki and my newly appointed secondary author TheLastNanaya for their help with the story. So, I cannot think of anything else to add, so might as well move on to the reviewer responses.
andrew: Noted.
Jose19: Yes, Louise can be nice but she is far, far too bitchy for me. Hence why the story took that turn it did in Dragon of Zero. I greatly dislike her as she is in canon.
Yes, I am aware of that. The Void Familiar Runes force the bearer to wholly and completely love their Master, completely ignoring their faults and heightening, however few, good points they have. Though I think in Louise's case the Gandalfr Rune needed a magnifying glass.
Lone Gundam: Yeah, it was certainly dark and I really do not like killing off characters in my stories unless I have a good reason. But in this case, I have a very good reason. Yes, it is mostly happening the same way.
issic clark: I am glad you do! I will update as often and as frequently as I can. Oh don't worry your little head about that, there will be lemons. I promise.
Bakuto Masaki: Why yes it does. I certainly hope so, it seems off to a stronger start.
Dark Vizard447: Glad you like it. Yeah, I understand your feelings. As I mentioned before I am also not a big fan of her and, unless circumstances are just right, my feelings about her line up with yours. I see. Somehow I get the feeling you are right so I will take that into consideration when the time to decide comes. Thank you for your review.
Xenoguyver: That is understandable. That is...acceptable I suppose. In a way it sort of is a spinoff, but it is a spinoff vying for the position of true story...if that makes any sense.
And with that, the reviewer responses are wrapped up. Thank you to all who posted reviews and here is hope for the rest of you. Now, moving on to the actual story.
As Kazuma, Kirche, and Tabitha walked out of the shop owned by the unusual and disturbing Naoya, Kirche looked at the rusty sword sitting on Kazuma's back in thought. "Ddraig, what is that sword?"
The sword somehow popped up out of its sheath and a voice spoke, "Oy, I have a name girly."
Kirche jumped to the side in shock, while Tabitha looked at it with her normal expression.
Kazuma smirked in amusement. "It's always fun to watch him spook people."
"What is that thing?! I've never seen a sword talk!" Kirche exclaimed.
Kazuma pulled the sword from its sheath and smirked. "This is Derfflingher. He's a sword I obtained long ago from a rock on a beach."
"Oh thanks, make me sound like some rusty piece of junk you found on the ground," the sword, Derfflingher, remarked in annoyance.
"That is what happened."
Kirche put a hand up. "So, is this why you wanted this sword that badly?"
Kazuma nodded in response as he roughly sheathed the blade, causing Derfflingher to grunt. "Yes. Because he's an old friend of mine. Oh, and one thing, since I'm sure Derfflingher is hard to remember or say, you can just call him Derf."
Kirche nodded weakly.
As the two of them spoke Tabitha looked around the area. Once something caught her eye she stopped and turned.
Kirche and Kazuma noticed this and shared a look of confusion.
"Tabitha, what's wrong?" Kirche asked curiously.
Tabitha pointed her staff at Kazuma and said, "Stay here," before tugging on Kirche's cape.
Kirche blinked curiously and smiled apologetically at Kazuma. "Sorry, this should only take a minute."
Kazuma waved a hand dismissively. "Take your time."
He watched as the two walked off down one of the other streets and flicked his wrist, sending one of the flying worms off into the air, turning invisible as it flew.
'Just because I let you go on your own doesn't mean I'll let you get out of my sight,' Kazuma thought.
It took only a few minutes for Kirche and Tabitha to return to where Kazuma was waiting.
"Waiting long?" Kirche asked playfully.
Kazuma shook his head in response. "Nope, barely felt like an hour passed."
Kirche gave him a flat expression.
"So, what is it you two went to get?"
"That's a secret," Kirche said with a smirk.
Kazuma raised an eyebrow curiously. "A good one or a bad one?"
"You'll just have to wait and see."
"Hmph, so be it. So, anything else you two have to do?"
Kirche glanced down at the blue-haired girl, who merely shook her head, and then Kirche turned to Kazuma and did the same.
"Then we should probably get going."
Kirche nodded in agreement as she and Tabitha followed behind him.
Eventually they reached a small patch of prairie and Kazuma stopped and looked around. "This should be far enough from the city."
Kirche tilted her head curiously. "Far enough for what?"
He closed his eyes and then reopened them to reveal red irises with slit pupils before his body was enveloped in light and he transformed into his dragon form.
"Hmm…for some reason I doubt I will ever get used to that."
Kazuma, in dragon form, then knelt down for Kirche and Tabitha to ride on his neck. "Let's get going, I'm very bored."
Kirche smirked in amusement as she climbed up. "Look who's bored now."
Kazuma huffed before blasting off into the air.
The trio arrived back at the academy swiftly and Tabitha went her own way while Kazuma and Kirche returned to their shared room.
As Kirche sat on her bed tiredly she asked with light sarcasm, "So, I reunited you with an old friend. Aren't I a wonderful Master?"
"Oh yes, wonderful Master, you are the greatest in the entire universe," Kazuma answered dryly.
Kirche giggled lightly, entertained by his response. "You know, you are quite different than what I expected for a Familiar."
"I would think, considering most of the other Familiars are little more than creatures with heightened intelligence. Although Tabitha's is the exception."
"How true. To think, we're the two students who summoned dragons. I feel quite fortunate, to have such an unusual Familiar."
Kazuma looked at her flatly. "I'm not sure how I feel about that unusual part."
Kirche waved a hand dismissively. "I didn't mean it as an insult if that's what you're thinking. Well, I suppose you can wander around for a bit, I need to take a bath."
Kazuma twitched lightly as he heard that but shook his head when he remembered the other item Naoya had given him. "If that's the case then I'm going to investigate a few things."
"Sure, just try not to be out too late," Kirche requested as she closed the door to her bathroom.
As Kazuma walked out of Kirche's room he sighed slightly in relief. "Not sure what that was all about."
'Oh? What's that?' Ddraig asked.
'Nothing to worry about. For now I need to find a place away from the prying eyes of the rest of the students.'
Kazuma managed to find such a spot with a secluded courtyard near the back of the school, a small fountain etched in the wall.
As he sat down next to the fountain the black and teal scroll Naoya gave him appeared in his hand in a puff of smoke.
"Might as well see what that crazy bastard put in here," Kazuma remarked as he unrolled the scroll.
As he unrolled it, he saw two symbols came into view with an inscription next to them.
Kazuma read them curiously.
"See? I told you those scales came with a profit."
Kazuma raised an eyebrow curiously and then looked at phrases printed directly next to each symbol. The first one read "Dragon Buster" while the second read out "Dragon Reaver."
Kazuma lightly poked the symbols, flowing a small amount of energy into them, causing two objects to appear in a burst of smoke.
The first was a bladeless sword hilt with a hand guard resembling a dragon's maw that was black with teal markings.
The second was little more than a teal colored orb.
Kazuma narrowed his eyes as he held the objects. "So…he must have pulled these from that bastard." Kazuma raised an eyebrow as he noticed other words poking out from the rolled up section of the scroll.
He unrolled it further and read what was printed. "Getting new tattoos is risky business. They tend to have nasty surprises if they are rush jobs."
He narrowed his eyes in thought before widening them in realization. The gauntlet covering his left hand vanished, exposing the rune he had been given when he became Kirche's Familiar. "So…I was right."
'Right about what?' Zangetsu asked.
'This rune. It's effecting me.' Kazuma snapped his fingers, causing an exact clone of himself to appear in a flurry of lights. 'I'll use a Thought Projection to confirm it.' As the copy looked at him, he said, "Use the Tenshigan to see which Magic Circuits it's using.
The clone, a Thought Projection, stood still as its eyes began to change. The normal brown changed to red with no differentiation between the iris and sclera, as well as a series of rings on the eyes, each ring having three tomoe marks on them, the Tenshigan. The Thought Projection looked at Kazuma, it seeing a series of lines and pathways flowing throughout his body, a blue-grey light flowing through the lines.
"Well?" Kazuma asked.
The Thought Projection looked up at him and said, "It's using two Magic Circuits running up your arm, flowing mana from itself to your mana lobe and sending it out into the rest of your brain, causing the alterations."
Kazuma nodded and asked, "Are those Circuits connected to anything vital?"
The Thought Projection shook its head. "No, they've sprouted directly from the Rune."
Kazuma nodded in understanding as the Thought Projection disappeared. He then sighed in frustration. "Great. I'll have to block them off myself." The armor covering the rest of Kazuma's left arm disappeared in a flash of light as he put his right hand over his left arm. He pulsed mana from his hand into his arm, flinching when he felt the Rune surge mana of its own. "Damn…this thing is not going to let go easily." He then flowed mana to his left hand while also flowing mana from his right hand to the spot over the Rune's Magic Circuits. Kazuma grit his teeth slightly as he felt the Rune pulse its own mana to fight back. However, after several moments of coursing his own mana he felt its fighting stop. Sighing he created another Thought Projection that examined his arm with the Tenshigan.
"Its mana reaches halfway up your arm and then stops with a wall of your own mana dispersing it," the Thought Projection explained.
Kazuma sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I see. Which means I'll need to keep that proverbial plug active. That's going to use up a good portion of my concentration just keeping that in place." Kazuma got up and stretched his neck before looking at the two items he'd received from Naoya. "For now I should probably just keep them in this scroll. Putting the Dragon Reaver in myself really wouldn't work. Besides, I don't need Acnologia's soul inside my mind alongside the three of you." Kazuma then returned to Kirche's room.
As he returned he noticed Tabitha waiting in Kirche's room alongside the dark-skinned redhead.
"Did I miss something?" Kazuma asked.
"No, Tabitha is actually here to speak to you," Kirche explained with mild confusion.
She turned to him and handed a long box to him. He then opened the box and raised an eyebrow. He pulled out a long revolver, with a barrel almost a foot long with grooves going down three sections of it.
Tabitha then explained, "It's called Longtomb Special."
Kazuma nodded and then examined the pistol, before noticing a switch on one side. When he flicked it the long barrel split into three pieces that spread apart in a triangle formation. "A rather nifty weapon." Flicking the weapon up the barrel returned to normal. He outstretched a hand and a golden magic circle appeared in the air which then sunk the gun into.
Kirche blinked curiously. "What was that?"
Kazuma explained, "It's Requip Magic. I use it to store my weapons and armor in a pocket dimension that I then pull them out of. An old friend taught it to me."
Kirche made a silent "Oh" in response.
Kazuma then turned to Tabitha and said, "Thanks for the gun."
Tabitha shook her head and pointed to the window where her dragon Sylphid hung outside.
Kazuma blinked curiously. "Huh…?"
"Sylphid asked me to get it," Tabitha explained.
Kazuma raised an eyebrow and said, "Uhm…thanks…Sylphid…?"
The dragon growled happily before flying off.
Kazuma twitched an eyebrow and thought, 'Is it just me or did that thing blush?'
'Probably just you,' Ddraig answered.
"Hey, you're not gonna drop me in that circle thingy are ya?" Derfflingher asked in concern.
Kazuma shrugged in response. "I might."
Derfflingher immediately sunk into his sheath.
Tabitha bowed and left the room.
After a few moments Kazuma turned to do the same.
Kirche frowned in confusion. "Going out again?"
Kazuma nodded. "Yes, I sometimes like to go back into dragon form and stretch out."
"Oh, okay. Well, I'll probably be going to bed soon so try to be quiet when you come back in."
Kazuma waved a hand in recognition as he left the room, closing the door behind him.
Kazuma walked out into the field outside the walls of the school and was enveloped in red light as he transformed into his dragon form.
Ddraig remarked, 'You aren't actually out here to stretch out in dragon form, are you?'
Kazuma responded, 'I am. Believe it or not my muscles have been rather tight lately from all this craziness, and basically from fighting that big armored bastard. And stretching out in dragon form provides me with more relief than simply doing so in human form.' As he thought that, he flopped down in his large dragon form.
He momentarily fell asleep until a familiar voice caught his ear.
"Ddraig, what are you doing out here?" asked Siesta as she walked towards him.
Kazuma turned to her, lying on his back in dragon form, and said, "Merely stretching out my muscles. What about you?"
Nodding, Siesta answered, "Oh, I was just helping Marteau move some supplies." She looked over his dragon form slightly confused and asked, "Uhm…if you don't mind me asking…when was the last time you bathed…?
Kazuma looked at her incredulously. "Are you trying to say I stink?"
Siesta waved her hands frantically. "No, no! That's not it all! It's just…well oftentimes the masters will wash their familiars. I don't think Miss Zerbst has done that."
Kazuma thought for a moment. "Are you offering to?"
"Well…yes…"
Kazuma scratched his chin for a moment and then shrugged. "Sure, I don't mind."
Siesta nodded and ran off to another area of the school.
Siesta returned moments later with a bucket and a large brush.
Kazuma looked at her and asked, "And that would be…what…exactly?"
Nodding in response, Siesta explained, "It's a brush used to clean larger familiars."
Kazuma nodded in understanding and laid down for Siesta to begin cleaning the scales on his back. As she did he asked, "Why are you doing this, Siesta?"
Siesta looked at him puzzled and thought for a moment before saying, "Ah, well, I just thought you might enjoy getting washed, most familiars do and I'm certain that you haven't gotten cleaned yet so you could be a little dirty…"
Kazuma just in response. "If you don't want to tell me that's fine."
Siesta nodded with a small smile as she continued cleaning the scales on Kazuma's dragon form.
Siesta spent a good portion of the night finishing cleaning off Kazuma's dragon form.
After drying for a short time, Kazuma was about to get up and leave when he felt an odd sensation against his side. Looking at the spot, he chuckled to himself when he saw Siesta had fallen asleep, lying right next to him.
The next day, in Osmond's office, a tall man with receding, dark brown hair, a twirled mustache, and blue eyes wearing an extravagant red and yellow outfit with a wide-brimmed neck stood opposite Osmond's desk holding a piece of paper. "All I ask is for your signature to agree to this proposal."
Osmond frowned uncertainly and then lifted his staff slightly, causing a quill to float into the air and write on the piece of paper before the man rolled up the document.
The man nodded with a smirk and said, "We appreciate the academy's understanding and cooperation."
Osmond replied, "We cannot oppose if it is a direct order from the royal palace, Count Mott."
The man, Count Mott, nodded and turned to leave, Longueville bowing to him as he did. "Ah, Miss Longueville, care to join me for dinner?" Count Mott asked shiftily, stealing a none-too-shy glance at her plentiful bust.
"As…interesting, a prospect as that is, I'm afraid I will have to pass," she rebutted.
"Very well, I will be on my way," Mott answered as he left.
After he left Longueville huffed in disgust and then walked into the office and picked up a pile of books and asked, "So what did the palace demand this time?"
"Nothing much," Osmond responded. "They were simply cautioning us about a thief."
"Thief?" Longueville answered as she struggled to put the books on a high shelf, only to pull out a wand and levitate them to the top.
"Yes, Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt."
Longueville raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I don't know that name."
"It seems whoever it is has only been stealing valuables from nobles."
"Is that so? Why would they warn us about him?"
Osmond nodded and explained, "We're holding on to the Staff of Destruction for the palace, they wouldn't want it stolen."
"Staff of Destruction? Sounds dangerous," Longueville remarked.
Osmond then angled his staff at the paperweight on his desk which resembled a bent hand with a pointing finger. It flew over to the other side of the room and stroked down Longueville's back, giving her chills. Osmond found it quite amusing, Longueville, however, did not as she threw said paperweight at him.
Kazuma slowly woke up and looked around. It took him a moment to realize he was back in human form. Shaking his head he mumbled, "Great…I fell asleep out here." He then looked around and wondered, "Where's…Siesta…?"
Ddraig commented, 'Don't know. I felt her presence disappear only a little while ago, but she took off quick.'
Kazuma sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well…shit. Now I'll probably never make it back to Kirche's room."
'Even after all this time your sense of direction is still shit?'
'Bite me.'
Kazuma wandered around the area some hoping to make his way back to Kirche's room to no avail. What he did find, however, was Siesta sitting near a fountain washing laundry. Raising an eyebrow he asked, "Siesta, what are you up to?"
Siesta blinked and then looked at him. "Oh, Ddraig, you're finally awake."
Kazuma sighed weakly. "Yeah, don't really know what happened but next thing I knew I woke up in that field back in human form. But…are you washing laundry?"
Siesta nodded as she continued. "Yes, as one of the servants it's my job to do this."
Kazuma frowned in annoyance and then folded his arms in thought. "You know, I could help with that."
Siesta looked at Kazuma surprised. "Ah, n-no, I couldn't ask you to do that…"
Kazuma smirked and snapped his fingers, "It wouldn't be me, strictly speaking." A moment later multiple Thought Projections shimmered into existence.
Siesta looked at Kazuma astonished. "Y-you can use magic like that? I've never actually seen magic that can do that before."
Kazuma nodded in understanding. "It's actually a unique spell I learned when I was younger, it's called Thought Projection. Oh, and if you're still against me helping you wash this stuff, consider it thanks for giving me that clean last night. Didn't really need it but it certainly felt good."
Siesta nodded with a smile. "I'm glad I could help."
Kazuma waved a hand as he pointed towards the clothing and his Thought Projections took over. As they did he twitched an eyebrow at one of the items they picked up. "That's…rather silky…"
Siesta giggled in amusement. "Well, to keep things proper, female servants wash the female students' laundry and male servants the male students' laundry."
"Ah…I see. Well, I suppose I've experienced worse, and weirder." He then glanced at Siesta slyly. "What about you?"
Siesta blinked in thought and then turned bright red. "Ah, well…I…don't…really…"
Kazuma blinked in curiousity. "What do you mean?"
"Servants can't really afford undergarments. As a result, most of us don't wear any."
Kazuma stood still for a moment as a single drop of blood escaped his nose. Shaking his head vigorously he sighed. "Oh…well…sorry, I didn't know."
Siesta shook her head in response. "You needn't apologize, you had no way of knowing."
Kazuma just chuckled weakly. "Either way, that's a little strange personally."
Siesta laughed good-naturedly. "That's not surprising, as a knight I'm sure you're used to more wealthy situations."
Kazuma blinked curiously. "Knight?"
Siesta raised an eyebrow. "With that armor, aren't you a knight?"
Kazuma examined his armor and then responded, "Well…strictly speaking I'm not human, remember?"
Siesta frowned in thought and asked, "Then…what are you exactly…?"
Kazuma scratched his cheek with a weak smile and asked, "Well…how much time do you have?"
Siesta looked at him puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Kazuma waved a hand. "Not much really. It's just that what I am is a little more complicated than naming a single race. For a variety of reasons what I am includes a lot of hyphens."
Siesta tilted her head befuddled. "Hy...phens…?"
Kazuma slumped his shoulders and mumbled, "Just forget it…"
Siesta laughed in amusement.
"Did I say something funny?" Kazuma asked with a bemused smile.
Siesta shook her head in response. "No, you just have a funny way of putting things, that's all."
Kazuma gave a toothy grin and replied, "Glad I could be of help. Oh, looks like they're done."
The last Thought Projection placed the basket of dried clothes next to the two talking individuals and vanished.
Siesta looked at the clothes in surprise. "Wow, they're even dried."
Kazuma held out a hand as a flame formed in the palm of his hand. "I have perfect control over the four main elements. So creating warm air to dry clothes isn't very difficult."
Siesta turned to Kazuma in surprise. "You can…use magic without a wand?"
Kazuma nodded. "Yes. Honestly I was surprised to see all the students here using wands. It seems a little inefficient. But considering where I am, it's not too surprising."
Siesta raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Kazuma shook his head. "Ah, nevermind. I was just babbling. Do you need help carrying these back?"
Siesta shook her head and picked up the two baskets of laundry before leaving.
As she entered the side door Kazuma sighed in relief.
Ddraig teased, 'Way to go genius.'
Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. 'Hey, it's not my fault. That girl's so nice I let my guard down. Those boobs don't hurt either.'
'Is that all you think about?' Zangetsu asked annoyed.
'Not all, just most of what I think about.' Kazuma then made his way back into the main tower with a sigh. "Great…now I have to try and find my way back."
Eventually Kazuma found his way to what he thought was the tower Kirche's room was in.
As he walked into her room, he noticed she was there, sitting on her bed quietly.
"Well, don't you have class today?" Kazuma asked.
"Hmm? Oh, no," Kirche answered absentmindedly.
Kazuma furrowed his brow in thought. "Is something wrong?"
Kirche smiled weakly. "No, just getting nostalgic."
Kazuma raised an eyebrow as he noticed a small book in her hand. "What's that?"
"A family heirloom, it's just some old book no one knows the origin of." After spouting that offhanded remark, she tossed the book back into a small decorative box on her table. "So what kept you out all night long?"
Kazuma sweat-dropped lightly. "Let's uh…not talk about that."
Kirche pouted lightly as she looked at him.
Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. 'Sh-shit. How can someone like her be that cute?' "Ahem, anyway, if you don't mind me asking, where are you from? You certainly don't look like the other people of this country, Tristain was it?"
"Observant, aren't you?" Kirche asked with a smirk. "I'm from a country called Germania."
Kazuma blinked in curiosity. "Germania? I'm afraid I haven't a clue where or what that is."
"It's one of the border nations to Tristain."
Kazuma raised an eyebrow and asked, "If that's so, why are you here in Tristain? Isn't there a school for magic in Germania?"
Kirche gained a tic mark as she thought about it before sighing heavily. "Yes, there is but…well I was kicked out because the crones who ran the school thought I was a 'nuisance'."
Kazuma looked at her puzzled. "Really? You don't seem like that to me. Though considering you called them crones I can imagine a few reasons they wouldn't like you. Most of it in their own heads."
"Right?!" Kirche asked happy he saw things her way. "And then when that happened my family tried to force me into a marriage with some old geezer, so I ran off to this country so I could practice magic in peace."
Kazuma then began laughing amusedly.
Kirche moaned in annoyance and asked, "What's so funny?"
Kazuma sighed as his laughing subsided and explained, "About what you said, nothing. It's just a similar situation to someone I used to know. A beautiful redhead like yourself thrown into a marriage she wanted no part in. So I challenged her fiancé to a fight and ripped the wings off that overgrown peacock. Of course the prize for winning was his marriage to her got cut off."
Kirche looked at him curiously. "You wouldn't consider doing the same for me, would you…?" she asked playfully.
Kazuma shrugged. "I may. Though I don't want to barge into something I don't have all the information on yet. So I suppose for now you'll just have to stick around for a while."
Kirche smiled and responded, "I don't have a problem with that…"
"Ahem, don't forget you're not alone in here," Derfflingher interrupted.
Kazuma and Kirche looked at him annoyed.
Kazuma sighed. "You still have that unnatural talent to break the mood."
"Isn't that why you love me?"
"It's why I might smelt you down for some brass knuckles."
"…That's cold…"
Kirche sighed in disappointment. "You know, I've told you so much about myself but I don't think you've told me anything about yourself."
"Hmm…that's a slightly more longwinded tale than your own, so I wouldn't be able to make it quite as concise as that which you've told me."
Kirche frowned incredulously but sighed in resignation. "So be it." Kirche then stood up and walked over to where she kept her wand.
Kazuma raised an eyebrow curiously. "What are you up to?"
"I'm going to do some practice."
"I assume you mean practicing your magic?"
Kirche nodded.
"I've never actually seen wand-based magic before."
Kirche raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Is there magic besides that?"
Kazuma looked at her puzzled. "Of course there is. There's magic that uses wands, obviously, but there's also other types as well. The type I'm most familiar with is spirit artes."
"Spirit…artes…? Is that like the magic elves use?"
Kazuma blinked in thought. "Elves?"
"You do know what elves are, don't you?"
Kazuma frowned in annoyance. "Yes I know what elves are, I'm just wondering how you do."
Kirche tilted her head in thought. "I suppose you don't know about the Promised Land then, do you?"
Kazuma folded his arms in response. "No, I can't say I do."
"Oh boy. I don't really know all the specifics myself since it's really got nothing to do with me, but what I do know is that there's a large tract of land that the elves live on that the other nations want for some reason. They also use really weird magic that makes them pretty intimidating."
Kazuma narrowed his eyes in thought. 'Something doesn't seem right here. Nothing I can do about it right now though.'
"Well, that's not important, since it doesn't have any effect on us, right? So, how about I get practicing?"
Kazuma nodded as he merely sat down. "It seems odd for you to be practicing."
Kirche frowned in annoyance. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nevermind, I was just spouting what entered my head."
"Hmph." Kirche pointed her wand at three pebbles in front of her. "Now, let's see if I can get a different result from before."
Kazuma raised an eyebrow as he watched her.
"Lel, in, yan," Kirche chanted as the stones lit up. After a few moments the light dimmed revealing the stones to have turned to brass. Kirche sighed in relief.
"You didn't seem to expect that result."
Kirche shook her head with an embarrassed smile. "Honestly I didn't. Last time I tried it out the stones just exploded."
"It makes them good bombs at least."
Kirche looked at him flatly and flicked her wand, causing one of the brass pebbles to fly at him. To her surprise, however, right before it hit him it seemed to impact a field of some sort and disintegrated as red energy sparked from it. "What was that?!"
Kazuma sighed. "It's a power that I have, it's a sort of reflexive barrier that causes objects that get near me that are a threat to dissolve."
Kirche blinked in thought as she picked up another pebble and flicked it at him with her fingers.
As before, the stone dissolved before reaching him.
"That's rather impressive. Is it something I can learn to do?" Kirche asked intrigued.
Kazuma shook his head. "No. It's not an ability that I learned, it's just something that I have."
"Oh…" Kirche responded in disappointment.
"You know, you really seem to have a strong desire to learn or get new or different things."
"Of course," Kirche answered with a confident smirk. "I don't want to just be another pretty face. I want to have an identity all my own."
Kazuma sighed as he scratched his head. "…Ah…"
Kirche looked at him suspiciously. "What was that for?"
Kazuma waved a hand dismissively. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
Kirche nodded and looked around on her desk. "Now…I need…ohh, where is it?"
Kazuma raised an eyebrow curiously. "Something wrong?"
Kirche turned to him, knelt down to look for something. "There's a new spell we learned yesterday and we're supposed to demonstrate it during the next day of class. The professor gave us an iron weight to use but I can't find it."
Kazuma blinked in thought. "Do you know what the weight looked like and how heavy it was?"
Kirche sat down on her bed in thought. "Well…it was a cylinder about this big," she used her hands to demonstrate how tall and wide it was, "and I think he said it was about two kilograms."
Kazuma nodded and extended a hand forward.
Kirche watched in surprise as the red energy once again sparked from his hand, this time as a brown cylinder appeared in his hand. She leaned forward in surprise to look at it, unintentionally causing her chest to bounce appealingly. "That's it! Is that also one of your abilities?"
Kazuma nodded as he handed the weight to her. "It is." As she set the weight down on her desk and picked up her wand, Kazuma asked, "So what's this spell supposed to do?"
"It's supposed to turn the weight into silver. It's a really complex spell too." She reached into her desk and pulled out a small slip of paper with a series of words written on it. After looking over the list she chanted the series of words written on the piece of paper and then flicked her wand at the iron weight. There was no effect for several seconds so she lightly tapped the iron weight. She immediately regretted doing so as it exploded.
Kirche twitched an eyebrow before sighing in exasperation. "Dammit, it happened again."
Kazuma waved the smoke away from his face as it flowed out of the room. "Somehow I doubt that was supposed to happen."
Kirche turned to Kazuma with an annoyed, pouting face. "Of course not."
Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. 'Damn…cute…' "I see that your iron weight isn't here anymore."
Kirche turned around in shock as she realized it was gone. "Aww, come on!"
Kazuma chuckled in amusement as he stood up and created another weight that he set on her desk. "Now, now, no need to get so agitated." Kazuma pulled a chair over and sat down beside her. "Now before you try that again one thing I noticed is the delay on that reaction."
Kirche nodded in disappointment. "Whenever they explode like that there's always a delay."
"Which probably means there's a problem with your mana flow."
Kirche looked at him curiously. "How can you tell?"
"That delay. A spell's reaction, whatever it may be, good or bad, is delayed like that only when the amount of mana you flow into it is insufficient. As for the explosion, I could tell from here your mana wasn't correct, it was a little erratic."
"Wow, you really know a lot about magic don't you?"
Kazuma shrugged in response. "I know a little. Now, I've got a way that will allow me to see the mana as it flows through your body, so when I tell you too, perform the spell again."
Kirche raised an eyebrow but nodded in understanding and redirected her attention on the iron weight.
Kazuma took a moment to activate the Tenshigan before nodding to himself. "Okay, give it a shot."
Kirche performed the chant once more and then flicked her wand. Once again the weight didn't respond.
Kazuma immediately placed his hand on it, causing it to disintegrate. "That one was about to blow up too."
Kirche sighed in frustration.
"That said, I figured out your problem."
Kirche turned to him expectantly. "What is it?"
"Well…it's going to take some explanation. So pay close attention."
Kirche nodded in understanding and narrowed her focus onto him.
"First off, have you ever heard of Magic Circuits?" Kazuma asked.
Kirche shook her head. "No, I can't say that term is familiar."
Kazuma nodded. "I assume that you've learned about the circulatory system, nervous system, and so on?"
"A little, I'm not intimately familiar with it," Kirche answered unsurely.
"As long as you know what it is and what it does it's sufficient," Kazuma explained.
"I do."
"Good enough. Well there's one more, invisible, organ system in your body. It goes by different names based on the purpose, Magic Circuits, Chakra Network, and others. It's a network of vessels that flow throughout your body. They carry energy through your body."
"By energy you mean mana, right?"
Kazuma nodded. "Mana is one of the energies it ferries. In ancient times it was most commonly used for an energy called chakra, a combination of mana and physical energy."
"Fascinating," Kirche said, impressed with the newfound information.
"That aside, mana is the only one we're concerned with. Mana is produced in your brain by a section called the mana lobe, mana is then shuttled throughout your body by your Magic Circuits."
"I've never heard any of this before."
"That's not surprising. This is knowledge that was lost hundreds of years ago. Now, there's an object called a Magic Crest. That's what we need to focus on."
"Magic Crest…what is that?" Kirche asked in confusion.
"In a succession of mages, for example, a family with a long history of magic usage, what will happen is a portion of their magic circuits will be carved out of their body or copied at some point. This piece of magic circuitry holds the circuits they used for all of the spells in their lives, it holds remnants of each of their spells that they used. When this piece of circuitry is transplanted into another person, this makes it almost second nature for that successor to learn the spells tied to that Crest. Then, the successor adds new circuits to the Crest as they learn new spells. After that the Crest is taken or copied from them and passed on to a new person who repeats the process, meaning each new generation of mage gets more and more powerful."
Kirche folded her arms under her bust in thought. "I don't think I've got anything like that. So what does this Magic Crest thing have to do with me?"
"It seems you were given a Magic Crest at some point in your life, and whoever implanted it in you did a shitty job since it hasn't integrated properly with your magic circuits, disrupting and screwing with the flow of your mana. That misplaced Crest is why your mana's not flowing properly. It seems for the most part your circuits work fine, but occasionally your mana cycles through the Crest and gets disrupted. It seems that using a new spell is what causes it to go haywire, since the Crest tries to adapt itself to your circuits during the use of the spell but instead disrupts the mana flow."
Kirche frowned in confusion. "But I was never given a Crest, at least, not that I can remember. And my parents never mentioned anything about it."
"I see…well I suppose there's nothing we can do about that now, what we need to do now is fix it," Kazuma explained, his thoughts churning.
Kirche put a hand to her cheek in exasperation. "So how do we go about doing that?"
"I need to flow my mana into your Magic Crest and then forcefully reorganize your magic circuits to fully integrate the Magic Crest into your body. That's pretty much the only way."
Kirche sweat-dropped in response. "That…doesn't sound comfortable."
Kazuma shook his head. "It's our only option aside from removing the Magic Crest, but doing that would make it impossible to use even poor magic. However, like you think, and I'll be blunt here, it's going to hurt like hell."
Kirche gulped in response. "And there's really no other way?"
"Not if you want to keep being a mage."
"Will this really correct all of my hang-ups with magic?"
Kazuma nodded. "Yes, any issues with using magic from this point on will be of your own doing, meaning you can fix them. As long as that thing is as it is, every time you use magic you're playing Russian Roulette. So far all that's happened is your spells have exploded. If you mess up real bad at some point, your magic circuits themselves could explode."
Kirche's eyes widened in shock.
"So yes, it's the only option."
Kirche thought silently for several moments and then nodded surely. "Do it."
"Right, although…there is one slight issue."
Kirche looked at him curiously.
"Your uniform. Your school uniform has a form of enchantment on it that acts as a mana shield. It's not immensely powerful, but it was enough that it took me a few seconds to focus on your Crest and it'll slightly disrupt my flow of mana."
Kirche narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What are you trying to say…?"
Kazuma sighed heavily. "I'm saying that for me to properly realign your Crest and circuits you have to take your uniform off. Well, just your cape and blouse."
Kirche looked at him for a moment and smirked. "I don't mind." She unclipped her cape and pulled her blouse off slowly. "If you wanted to see me naked all you had to was ask."
Kazuma twitched lightly and shook his head. "Right…well that aside, I need to put up a barrier."
Kirche, standing with her torso bare aside from a lacy bra, looked at him curiously. "Why?"
"I need to put up a silencing barrier, because what I'm going to do is going to hurt. A lot." A pulse of light flashed through the room as the barrier was created.
"Erm, one last question," Kirche said.
"And what's that?" Kazuma asked.
"Where is this Magic Crest?"
Kazuma sighed. "It's right over your heart."
Kirche blinked glanced down. She then glanced back up at Kazuma, slight embarrassment hitting her.
Kazuma smiled warmly. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything cross, I just want to help you, that's all. Now, it's probably best that you sit down."
Kirche nodded in understanding, sitting down in her chair and slightly pulling her heavenly hills apart.
Kazuma got down on his knees as the gauntlet on his right arm disappeared in a flash of light. Kazuma reached out a hand towards her bosom, pressing a single finger against her sternum, feeling her chest press against his hand slightly. He also noticed her slight tremble as his finger touched her. 'One thing I'll give her is that her skin is extremely smooth.'
'You are losing track of the goal,' Zangetsu counseled.
Kazuma shook his head and looked up at Kirche. "Now what I'm about to do is going to feel almost like your body's being set on fire, so just be aware of that."
Kirche nodded apprehensively.
"Get ready, I'm going to start."
Kazuma began flowing mana into the section of magic circuit over Kirche's heart.
Kirche winced as she felt the heat from his mana mixing with hers, she noticed the sensation to be very strange.
Kazuma narrowed his eyes as he attempted to reshape the Crest. '…Damn…that Crest is really resilient. It's not budging an inch. I'll need to use more mana.' As he began to flow more mana, he felt Kirche trembling. "Try to keep it together for just a bit longer, your Crest is really stubborn."
Kirche nodded slowly as she felt small amounts of pain flow through her.
Kazuma retained focus intently on Kirche's circuits as he attempted to reshape them. He felt relief as they began to reshape around the Crest.
However, also at that same moment, Kirche felt the effects of this. "AAAHHH!" Kirche began screaming loudly in pain as she felt an intense pain in her chest.
Kazuma looked up at Kirche and put his concentration further into reorganizing her magic circuits.
It took several minutes however Kazuma finished and stopped the flow of mana, allowing Kirche to slump back in her chair, the pain having taken quite a toll on her, her body covered in sweat from exhaustion.
She slowly opened her eyes and asked, "Is it…finished…?"
Kazuma nodded. "Yes. I finished the reorganization. How do you feel?"
Kirche breathed heavily and responded, "My whole body's on fire…"
Kazuma nodded in understanding. "I know it hurts, it will die down soon."
Kirche nodded as Kazuma stood up and clapped his hands together. In a sparking of red energy a mauve blanket formed in between his hands as he knelt down and put it over Kirche. "Despite what you feel now you'll get cold in a minute or two."
Kirche merely nodded in acceptance, unable to do much more.
Kazuma then put a hand over Kirche's Crest again, causing her to flinch. "Don't worry, I just need to check and make sure everything's flowing right."
Kirche nodded as she felt another slow flow of heat in her chest.
Kazuma was about to say something else to her when he noticed she was asleep. He smiled lightly. "Guess it took a lot out of her."
However, after a moment the door to Kirche's room opened as Tabitha walked in. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Kirche, sitting on a chair with only a bra to cover her breasts, passed out, breathing heavily, covered in sweat. She turned to Kazuma with a suspicious glare.
"H-hold on. This isn't what it looks like." 'For once,' he added in his thoughts.
Tabitha nodded in understanding.
Kazuma sighed in relief but widened his eyes as Tabitha extended her wand towards him.
"Pervert," Tabitha chided monotonously.
"…Shit…"
Outside, Guiche and Montmorency were having another argument in one of the courtyards of the academy when the windows in one of the towers exploded as an object plummeted out of it and slammed into the ground hard.
"What on earth was that?" Guiche asked in bewilderment.
"Don't change the subject you two-timer!" Montmorency snarled.
"Eeek!"
Kazuma sat in a small crater at the base of the tower Kirche's room was in with a twitching. "That…friggin' hurt. She's almost as bad as Koneko…let's just hope she doesn't somehow find out about rap music."
Kazuma swiftly made his way back up to Kirche's room where he saw her practicing the same spell she had been practicing earlier. "You certainly bounced back quickly."
Kirche smiled at him with a nod. "I still feel a little unsteady but I can already feel the improvements. See?"
Kazuma looked and saw that the iron weight had been successfully turned into silver. "Good work. Glad it didn't blow up this time."
Kirche nodded and then thought for a moment. "Hey, Ddraig."
"Hm?" Kazuma hummed as he sat down.
"You said that a Crest has whatever spells the previous owners knew, right?"
"Yes, that's true. Why?"
Kirche glanced down at where her Crest was and wondered aloud, "I wonder if it's possible for me to learn any of the spells this Crest has."
Kazuma put a hand to his chin. "Well without knowing who the previous owner was and what spells they knew it's hard to say."
Kirche frowned in disheartenment.
"I said it's hard, not impossible. The easiest way would be to pulse mana through it and just see what happens. But the obvious problem with that is we have no way of knowing what spell will activate or what it will do."
"Can't you fix whatever happens?"
Kazuma scratched his head in thought. "To an extent. As long you don't summon any kind of giant monster I should be able to handle it fairly easily."
Kirche nodded as she stood up and took a long breath. She extended her hand forward, trying to push mana through the Crest in her chest, and attempted to use a spell. After a few short moments a single white dot appeared in the air that expanded into a wide circle, with a strange location visible within it.
Kazuma snapped up out of his seat and clamped his hands on the edges of the strange ring to keep it open. "This…this is a portal…"
"A-a portal? To where?"
Kazuma shook his head. "I don't know." Using force he expanded the ring and looked through it. On the other side of the ring he saw a vast forested area with large creatures roaming through it. One of the strange creatures noticed him and turned to face him. Kazuma deadpanned before releasing the ring, allowing it to snap shut. Sighing, he sat down and folded his arms. "That was rather bizarre."
"You're telling me! What were those things?!" Kirche shouted in confusion and fear.
Kazuma shook his head. "What they were is not what's important. What is, is this: you just opened a portal to another world."
Kirche looked at him blankly for a moment. "Y-you…you're joking, right?"
"I can't be certain how, or why, but I believe it has something to do with your Crest. Somebody who used to own that Crest had the ability to punch holes in the Realms, allowing travel between them."
"Realms…?"
"That's not something that needs explanation at the moment. I wish I knew who implanted that Crest inside your body, and what it can do. Because if it allows you to do things like what we just saw, then there's no telling what it could do."
Kirche's eyes began to sparkle with excitement.
Kazuma lightly bopped her on the head. "Don't get too excited. Having powerful magic you don't understand is just as dangerous, if not more so, than having all of your spells simply explode upon use. What if you try that spell again and instead of just peering to a different world you end up filling the school with monsters, or cause a rift that destroys the school? For now, it's best if you don't try to use that spell again."
Kirche sighed in disappointment but nodded in understanding. "Well you certainly seem to know more about it than I do."
Kazuma put a hand on her head lightly in encouragement. "Don't worry, something like this isn't permanent and it's for your own safety as well as others."
Kirche folded her arms incredulously. "Is a power like that really that dangerous?"
Kazuma nodded in agreement. "Extremely. The ability to open dimensional portals is a powerful ability, one that has dire consequences if not handled correctly."
"How…how do you know that so well?"
"Because I have a similar ability, called Kamui. It allows me to open a portal to a pocket dimension exclusive to myself and also allows me to send anything within range to or from that pocket dimension."
Kirche twitched an eyebrow. "Let me guess, another of those abilities that can't be taught?"
Kazuma frowned and rebutted, "Correct. And besides that, I said I have a similar power. I can't be sure how similar they actually are. The mechanics, effects, duration; those could all be different from Kamui. If they are then I wouldn't be able to help you. The only way this would work is if we found out what magic you have and how to control it."
"Void Magic," Derfflingher interrupted.
Kazuma and Kirche looked at Derfflingher puzzled.
Kazuma asked, "Void Magic? I've never heard of that."
"It's something the Founder used. That explains everything, even that Familiar Rune you've got," Derfflingher explained.
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and picked up the sword. "You seem to know a lot about this stuff. Care to explain it?"
"Of course. Most of my wielders over the past thousand years have been Void Familiars."
Nodding, Kazuma asked, "Then what is Void Magic?"
"It is also known by another name, the Fourth Magic."
Kazuma's eyes widened.
"So you've seen the others then?"
Kazuma nodded. "Yes, I've seen the Second, Third, and Fifth. So Void is the Fourth? What does it do?"
"It manipulates mana itself. It can create clumps of unstable mana that explode, it can make matching rings of mana in two different Realms that allows travel between them, it can even show another person's memories to the user."
Kazuma and Kirche looked at Derfflingher in surprise.
"So its capabilities are limitless then?" Kazuma asked.
Derfflingher thought for a moment. "No, not limitless. There are certain limits to its powers, such as the size of those dimensional rings being limited based on how much mana the user has, or the simple teleportation spell only being able to transport within the range of what the user can see."
"So, how did Kirche end up with this Magic?"
"That I can't really answer."
"Why not?" Kirche asked in confusion.
"Well, there are four Void countries. Tristain, Gallia, Romalia, and Albion. The most basic requirement is that a Void Mage has to be born in one of these nations."
Kazuma narrowed his eyes in thought. "Yes, that seemingly would make it impossible for her to have the Void Crest, since she's from Germania. Right?"
Kirche nodded in agreement. "Yes, I was born in Germania last time I checked."
Kazuma folded his arms in thought. "Derf, how specific are those rules for Void Crests?"
"The Crest will only transfer into someone born in Tristain," Derfflingher explained.
Kazuma tilted his head to the side with two fingers pressed against his right temple.
"Hmm…whatcha thinkin'? I know that expression anywhere. Those gears of yours are turning."
Kazuma nodded and turned to Kirche. "Kirche, are you one hundred percent certain you were born in Germania?"
Kirche looked at him curiously. "Well, I never really bothered to ask but I assumed I was. Why?"
"What's going through that head of yours?" Derfflingher asked.
"You said that the Void Crest bearer has to have been born in Tristain, correct?" Kazuma asked.
Derfflingher remained silent for a moment. "…Yes…where are you going with this?"
"Technically, that stipulation is extremely broad. It says someone born in Tristain, not born and raised."
"…Ah!"
Kirche looked between the two curiously. "What? What?! Tell me!"
"Kirche, what if you weren't actually born in Germania, but in Tristain and then brought to Germania after birth?"
Kirche's eyes widened in realization. "I never thought about that."
"…You're right. Given the laws implemented by the Founder, it technically is possible that someone born in Tristain but raised in Germania could inherit the Tristainian Void Crest. I never thought about that," Derfflingher added.
Kazuma nodded in agreement.
"So that would explain how Kirche has the Void Crest of Tristain."
Kirche puffed her cheeks in annoyance. "I'm right here you two."
Kazuma chuckled in amusement. "Sorry, didn't mean to be rude." His smirk then flattened. "Well at the very least we've got that sorted out. All we need to do now is figure out what Void Magic can actually do, that way we can see what abilities you potentially have."
Kirche nodded excitedly.
"But until then, you have to promise me you won't try and use any other spells from the Void Crest. Also, considering that Void Magic is something so powerful, it's best you don't tell anyone you have it. There might be people looking to use it for their own ends."
Kirche sighed in disappointment. "Aww…and here I was thinking I had something special and cool."
Kazuma narrowed his eyes. "That's foolish."
Kirche turned to him in shock. "What?"
"Magic isn't a toy. It's not some cosmetic that you use to show off or prove who you are. Magic is no different than a sword, gun, hammer, or saw. It is a tool with a myriad of purposes that, if used improperly, can lead to death and destruction. If your only goal in using magic is to prove how special you are I strongly suggest that you stop here."
Kirche's eyes widened in shock.
"You need to understand that I don't say this to insult or hurt you. After all, if it weren't for your magic I'd likely be dead. I say this as an aid and a warning. Magic is not a toy, it isn't something to use haphazardly. You need to treat magic like a powerful tool, treat it with respect and reverence; many people can get hurt if you use it poorly."
Kirche lowered her head in response.
Kazuma sighed as he put a hand on her head. "One more thing I should add. I'm also not saying you are using magic poorly. From what I've seen so far you use magic as it's intended. You don't seem to have any foolish or malicious intent for your magic usage, I just want you to try and keep it that way. Okay?" Kazuma asked with a smile.
Kirche looked at him and sighed in defeat. "That stupid smile."
Kazuma grinned in amusement as he lowered his hand. "That's better."
"So, what next?" Derfflingher.
"I think it'll be easier to keep ahold of you in here," Kazuma remarked as a golden magic circle opened next to him.
"Hurk! It better not be cold in there," Derfflingher remarked as Kazuma placed him inside the circle before it disappeared.
Outside the castle, Siesta walked towards a carriage carrying a suitcase and wearing more common clothes than usual. She looked back at the school sadly before getting in as the carriage took off.
After dealing with Kirche's Crest and learning more about the Crest itself and the magic it had, Kazuma decided to take a look around the school while Kirche stayed in her room to practice more. He had given her plenty of iron weights to practice on.
Kirche twitched an eyebrow as the thirty plus eights sat in front of her. "He has to be a sadist…"
As he walked around the area, Ddraig asked, 'You won't get lost now, will you?'
Kazuma shrugged in response. 'I managed to memorize Talim's layout, and it was way more complicated than this. I'm certain I can, hopefully, get the layout of this place down eventually.'
Making his way out of the tall tower Kirche's room was in, Kazuma made a Thought Projection that immediately flew up into the air. He then walked out from under the covered pathway between towers so his Thought Projection could see him. After a few seconds the Thought Projection disappeared and Kazuma closed his eyes to look at the layout. 'Okay…there are five towers around a central spire. The lower left tower sits on its own while the other four towers are connected to the large one by covered paths. The lower right tower is the one that Kirche's room is in.' He then looked around in thought but was interrupted by a familiar, boisterous voice.
"Hello there our sword!"
Kazuma turned and saw Marteau walking up to him. "Ah, Marteau, what do you need?"
"I was just curious if you were hungry."
Kazuma shook his head. "Not particularly. I'm trying to memorize the layout of the school right now and it's giving me some trouble. Do you know where Siesta is? She'd probably be able to help me again."
The boisterous man frowned in response. "You haven't heard?"
Kazuma looked at him puzzled. "Heard what?"
"Siesta has gone to work for Count Mott."
"What?" Kazuma asked in confusion and shock.
"Siesta is, like the rest of us, a peasant and a servant moreover, so she, nor any of us, have any say in the matter. She has to work there."
Kazuma clenched his fists and asked, "So what kind of person is this Count Mott?"
Marteau huffed and answered, "A cocky, overbearing, pervert. Unfortunately there's…and he's gone…"
Kazuma had already left the spot, leaving no trace.
Marteau sighed and lightly slapped his face. "Oh boy…this won't end well…"
Inside Osmond's office, Osmond and Colbert were speaking as Longueville put away more supplies when the door burst open as Kazuma walked through.
Longueville turned to Kazuma surprised, stumbling to hold onto the books she was holding, sighing in relief that they did not fall. Colbert looked at him in worry as Kazuma walked up to Osmond, visibly angry.
Osmond stroked his beard curiously and asked, "I assume you have something important to say to me, for barging into my office like that?"
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and asked, "Did you allow Siesta to be taken by that Count Mott?"
Longueville looked at Kazuma confused and then turned to Osmond annoyed.
Osmond sighed and replied, "Yes, I did. However, given the aid we are given by the palace, and the responsibilities they entrust to us, we have little choice in the matter. There's also the fact that Count Mott is the messenger between the academy and the palace. Meaning that he has quite a bit of influence on the palace on our behalf."
Kazuma tightened a hand and shouted angrily, "You let that bastard take my maid because of that?!" Kazuma then disappeared in a burst of wind.
Osmond blinked curiously and then turned to Colbert. "Did he just say…?"
Colbert nodded weakly. "Y-yes, I believe so. And if he is more than just a human able to transform into a dragon this will end badly."
Osmond nodded in agreement.
Longueville looked between the two and asked puzzled, "Why? What is so dangerous about this situation?"
Colbert scratched his head and explained, "It's the nature of dragons. They are extremely territorial. If they feel that something that belongs to them is in danger of being stolen they will not hesitate to lash out."
Longueville raised an eyebrow and then flinched. "D-does that mean…?"
Osmond sighed heavily. "Yes. Apparently Kirche's familiar has grown attached to that maid. Which means the Count taking her under his command like that is not sitting well with Ddraig."
"We should do something about this swiftly," Colbert warned.
Osmond shook his head. "There is little we can do. I'm sure you've felt it as well. The amount of raw mana emanating off his body even when he's calm. All we can do at this point is hope Count Mott acquiesces to Ddraig's…adamant, request. Otherwise the situation may become tense."
Longueville gulped and then walked out the door. As she did she smirked, intrigued.
On a long road towards Count Mott's residence, Mott sat in the carriage with Siesta next to him, caressing her cheek. "You don't need to worry anymore, the accommodations at my manor are far nicer than those at that rusty old school."
Siesta flinched as his fingers brushed against her face.
The two stumbled slightly as the carriage suddenly stopped.
Mott growled and demanded, "What's the sudden stop for?!"
The driver answered, "There's someone in the road."
Mott snarled and jumped out of the carriage to see what was happening, Siesta beside him. He raised an eyebrow curiously as he saw who it was.
It was a slender, beautiful young woman with waist-length violet hair and matching violet eyes, and a considerably sizable bust wearing gray, half-frame glasses, as well as a revealing, sleeveless, lilac cheongsam with a small cutout with black markings on it that was just above her bountiful breasts, matching detached sleeves, and white boots with matching black markings to those on the dress. She also held what appeared to be a massive pair of scissors with a panda symbol on the hinge.
Mott looked at the woman curiously before a wry smile formed on his face. "Young woman, are you lost?" he shouted to her.
The woman looked at him with a absent expression and nodded slowly.
Mott's smirk increased as he signaled his men, "Bring her with us as well."
The woman narrowed her eyes as Mott held Siesta close to him, Siesta's face looking away in shame. 'These people…they're the same…as the Imperial Capital.'
Two of Mott's guards walked up the woman, one saying, "Come on, we've got a nice place for you to stay."
The woman looked towards the man as the cover slipped off the scissors she held.
The second guard's eyes widened in shock as the woman opened the scissors wide, and then snapped them shut, bisecting the first guard. He readied his blade and shouted, "You bitch!"
The woman swung her closed scissors upward, slicing the man's sword in half, spinning on one foot and continuing the motion with the scissors, cutting him from the right side of his waist to his left shoulder.
The man's corpse fell to the ground as the woman stood still, staring at Mott blankly.
Mott stepped back trembling as the woman began walking towards him. He then pulled a knife from his pocket, held Siesta close and pressed the blade against her neck in fright. "Stay away!"
The woman stopped and looked at Mott thoughtfully.
Right at that moment Kazuma appeared in a burst of wind near the spot and saw Mott's stopped carriage. He then noticed the two dead guards ahead of the carriage and rushed up to see what was happening. His eyes widened as he saw Mott with Siesta as a hostage. "Let her go you bastard!"
Mott turned and saw Kazuma running towards him, the woman also saw Kazuma and widened her eyes in surprise.
Mott turned to face Siesta towards Kazuma, only to see the brunette disappear. "Wh-where did…?"
Kazuma reappeared in a burst of wind behind Mott.
Mott turned just in time to see Kazuma grab him by the face and slam him into the carriage.
The sheer shock of the situation ended up causing Siesta to pass out on the ground.
As Kazuma held onto his throat, Mott scowled at Kazuma. "You…you bastard…who are you…?"
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and answered, "A dragon you royally pissed off, you pig."
Mott raised an eyebrow and then glanced at Siesta. "Th-that servant girl?! You're doing this because of a damn peasant?!"
Kazuma tightened his grip on the man. "Watch your mouth, swine."
Mott snarled at Kazuma and added, "She's a mere servant! She's mine to do with as I please, you have no right to interfere!"
Kazuma sighed and then frowned angrily as his eyes turned to the Tenshigan. "She's a human being you waste of skin."
Mott gulped and asked, "Wh-what do you want from me?"
At that moment the woman walked up to Kazuma, causing him to drop Mott as his eyes widened.
The woman smiled and waved at him. "Hey, Kazuma."
Kazuma blinked and said in shock, "Sh-Sheele…"
The woman, Sheele, then looked at Mott and said plainly, "That man tried to bring me with him along with this girl."
Kazuma frowned and then turned to the crawling Mott, stepping in front of him. He then knelt down and asked calmly, "Is this true?"
Mott gulped and nodded weakly.
Kazuma stood up with an annoyed. "It's bad enough you took Siesta to make her a sex toy, but then you try to take Sheele as well? People like you make my life a pain. Then again, you also provide my third greatest form of entertainment." Kazuma stretched out a hand and, in a flash of light, the Longtomb Special appeared in his grasp. He aimed the long-barreled gun at Mott and pulled the trigger.
A loud bang reverberated through the area.
Kazuma sighed as the pistol disappeared from his hand. Kazuma then turned to Sheele with a smile, however his soon-to-be celebrations were interrupted by the sounds of angry voices approaching.
Sheele began to sweat heavily.
Kazuma groaned and asked, "Sheele, what'd you do…?"
Sheele pressed her index fingers together anxiously as she explained, "I found a bandit camp and slaughtered them all. I think that's the survivors coming for revenge."
Kazuma scratched the back of his head in annoyance. "Geez…you really are a klutz."
A large group of men in piecemealed armor charged up to the road, the leader of which was a large, muscular man with red eyes.
Kazuma looked at the man curiously. 'He…looks like Ogre…except he has both of his eyes…'
The muscular man stepped forward and pointed to Sheele. "You wench! You destroyed our camp and slaughtered my men!"
Sheele bowed gracefully. "I'm sorry. I'm just so clumsy."
The man looked at her confused. "Oh, uh…" he then shook his head wildly. "Don't change the subject! I, Orc, leader of the Iron Breakers will make sure you pay personally!"
Kazuma twitched an eyebrow. 'Orc? This has got to be another one of Seltsam's sick jokes, just like having Derf.'
At that moment, Siesta woke up and saw Kazuma and Sheele in front of the bandits as Sheele said, "Kazuma, please be careful."
Kazuma waved a hand as he walked forward, "Yeah, yeah. I'll make sure to leave 'em in just a few pieces."
"Why you…!" Orc shouted as he charged with a large broadsword.
Kazuma sighed and stamped his foot on the ground, causing a pillar of stone to rise up swiftly under Orc and catapult him into the sky. "…Yup…he won't be walkin' away from that one." Kazuma then outstretched a hand as Derfflingher appeared in a flash of light. "Now to finish the rest of you."
"Hey! I can feel again!" Derfflingher exclaimed happily.
Kazuma then dashed forward in a burst of speed as the other bandits charged as well. Kazuma hacked the first two in half, stabbed the next one, and then jumped over the next two as they flanked him, causing them to stab each other in the chest.
Another charged at him from behind but was sliced in half by Sheele.
The remaining three looked at the two and then charged.
Kazuma summoned Longtomb Special and easily dispatched the remaining group with three shots.
Derfflingher coughed and complained, "Did you really have to cover me in so much blood?"
"It happens," Kazuma rebutted as Derfflingher and Longtomb Special vanished in flashes of light. Kazuma turned and saw Siesta was awake.
He turned and walked over to her, though noticed she looked at him apprehensively. He knelt down and outstretched a hand, asking, "Are you hurt?"
Siesta looked from him to his hand apprehensively for a moment but then grabbed it lightly as he helped her stand. "N-no…"
Kazuma frowned and asked, "Do you hate me after seeing that?"
Siesta remained silent for a moment before shaking her head. "No. You came all the way out here just to get me, didn't you?"
Kazuma nodded.
Siesta smiled in response. "Then that's all I need. Although this is a little surprising."
Kazuma sighed and asked, "Well…do you want to go back still?"
Siesta nodded in response. "Yes." She then noticed Sheele. "Who's this?"
Kazuma gaped. "Ah…well…that's a long story…"
And with that, the second chapter comes to a close. If you liked it, be sure to post a review, if you did not, go ahead and post one, just be civil about it. As a reminder, this story is an alternate version of Legends of Chaos: Dragon of Zero, so if you have read that story as well be sure to tell me which you like better in a review and do not forget that I have a poll posted on my profile page to more easily tally which story is more popular. So be sure to log an answer there if would. Until next time, buh-bye.