Chapter 6

Shirou had to admit, despite the basic understanding of magic this world possessed, it was impressive. While they couldn't pull off a wide array of thaumaturgy like his world, it was as if they attained a greater diversity, mastery, and power over the elements they could use because of it.

In fact, when he learned of how powerful some mages could be, it left him a bit stunned. Though, some of the terms they used caused him to cringe. Like willpower. He supposed it made some sense, but he was too used to his own world to like it.

He understood why everyone thought Louise was a 'zero', but he knew better. She was like him to an extent. A specialist, the only problem, there wasn't anyone to help her with her magic. She didn't have a future self to get information from, nor did she have a knowledgable witch like Alice to help her.

Meaning, he'd need to do all he could to try and help her out. Even if he couldn't use magecraft like everyone else, his teachers made sure he knew about the theories and concepts of such things. Granted, he had never actually taught anyone, but he figured he could copy his teachers.

Though, adapting his knowledge for this world would take a bit of time. 'Seriously, dot, line, triangle? Adding the same element on top of itself? Who came up with this system?' He thought to himself. He let out a sigh, before altering a few more pieces on his owl doll.

"Alright, now, I just need to stick in some remnants and you'll be complete." He looked up at the moons, before letting out a sigh. "I'm still a bit worried about those spies. It'd be nice to visit a town, I could get some more information there." He reached into his bag, before holding up an apple.

The apple was immediately grabbed and eaten by a blue dragon. "What do you think, Sylphid?" The dragon tilted its head, before letting out a small noise, one that was inbetween a bird and what he would imagine a dragon would sound like. "There's a town nearby? That's interesting. Maybe I'll get Louise to take me there."

Shirou smiled at the dragon, before standing up with his finished doll. "Well, it's getting late, and I have a rough climb ahead of me. Flame's been getting a bit too close to catching me the past few nights." The dragon let out another call, causing Shirou to let out a small laugh.

"Alright, let's see, I think I have something in here you'll enjoy." He reached into his bag, before widening his eyes. He took out a bag of strawberry candies. "Well, I don't think you can have this, since you have to open it." He said to himself, but the dragon took the bag, before quickly escaping into the night.

Shirou was a little thrown off by the quick movement, but he just shrugged, before heading back to his room. He was sure that Louise was already asleep, as it was a long day. 'Blowing up tends to make one tired.' He thought to himself.

He made his way through the tower, being sure to be careful not to alert Kirche's familiar. 'I still don't know why it's been trying to chase me down.' It wasn't hard to sneak by, he learned quite a bit about concealing one's presence from Serenity.

As soon as he entered his room, he breathed a sigh of relief. As much as he enjoyed the liveliness of the academy, sometimes it was nice to have a peaceful night. Though, he didn't expect to see Louise, sitting on her bed, waiting for him. "Uh, hey, Louise. How come you're still awake?" He asked with a wave.

"I was waiting for you. I wanted to speak with you about something." She said to him, watching as he placed his things on his usual desk.

"Well, I'm all ears, master." He said, with a grin on his face. Louise's eyes narrowed, before a small smile replaced her previous frown.

"We'll be making a trip tomorrow. So, I wanted to know if you knew how to ride a horse? Or, if there may have been something you may have wanted to see or do?" She asked, not realizing that Shirou had just been thinking of this very thing. Shirou simply let out a hum, before he sat on his chair.

"Well, I'm afraid my knowledge on horse riding is pretty low, but I may be able to use my magecraft to figure it out." He replied, figuring he could trace a weapon and use its knowledge. "Though, I wouldn't mind stopping by a weapon shop or forge. Maybe, you can tell me a bit more about yourself, as well." He said with a grin.

Louise had a bit of red on her face, as she realized that she hadn't really told him much. However, she simply nodded to his words. "Good, then we'll go with that. Now, you should get some sleep, we'll have a long day tomorrow." She said to him, before turning and laying on her side of the bed.

Shirou silently chuckled to himself. There were a lot times that Louise reminded him of Rin. However, he couldn't bring himself to really compare the two. For example, the fact that Louise stayed up and asked him his opinion, rather than wake him up and tell him they were going somewhere, was one of the major differences.

The way that Shirou saw it, Louise was many things, but being a typical noble was not one of them. If he had to put it in a way that most would understand, Louise was a girl who grew up believing in the ideals of knights and chivalry, despite the fact that such things were tossed to the wayside by most nobles.

She truly wished to act like a proper noble, which he found admirable. He thought that she would have loved to meet Saber, which she just might, if she was lucky. However, he just hoped that whatever she saw didn't cause her to change. Some of his memories, he didn't think she was ready for.

Despite how tough she seemed, he could tell that she had yet to truly witness how ugly the world really was. He looked down at his arm, 'I wonder what she'll think of that memory?' He looked back towards Louise, who hadn't moved from her position.

Shirou let out a sigh, deciding he'd be there to help her through it when the time came. After placing all of his stuff in their usual places, he decided he'd go to sleep early for once. Relatively early. He had to admit, he was rather interested in this world's weapons and magic items.

Louise was surprised that she didn't have any dreams about Shirou the previous night. Honestly, she was a little disappointed. She'd been growing so used to learning more about Shirou through them, that she completely forgot that she could just talk with him.

She wouldn't have had a problem with it before, but after everything he had been doing for her, she began to feel like she was taking advantage of him. Sure, he was her familiar, but she couldn't bring herself to just walk over him. He had helped her in so many ways that she wanted to repay him in some way.

Which was why they were going to the visit the city. As much as it was about getting Shirou to see more of the world, she equally wanted to try and get to know him a bit better. Even now, she didn't really know what he liked and didn't like. It was actually a bit disheartening to think about.

So, they rode a horse to the city. It was still a few hours ride, but it wasn't too much for her. Though, she noticed that Shirou was a bit uncomfortable afterwards. "Do you not use horses in your world?" She decided to ask, seeing him let out a small chuckle.

"There are still some people who use them, but most of the world moved on with the technology. As you look through more of my memories, you'll see what I mean. Personally, I use a motorcycle as my horse." He stretched out a bit more, before looking back at her with a small smile.

"I see, well I look forward to seeing it." She replied with a smile. "Well, Shirou, we'll be visiting a few different places today. I think we should start with the weapons store, that way we can get you looking like a proper warrior." She nodded to herself. She knew that Shirou would want to visit there first.

She then thought for a moment, before once again nodding to herself. "Also, one more thing." She said, holding out her finger towards him. She saw him tilt his head questioningly. "I want you to call me Louise from now on. You don't have to refer to me as master anymore, okay?" Shirou raised a brow, but smiled and nodded.

"If you're fine with it, then okay. I'll be in your care today, Louise." She then nodded her head to his words, before turning and beginning to walk towards where the shop was. She turned her head back towards him, seeing him walking behind her and taking in the sights.

"You can walk beside me if you want." She saw him think about it for a moment, before shrugging and increasing his pace to catch up to her. "It'll be easier for us to talk this way, besides, I don't want you to get lost here."

"Well, I appreciate it. Though, if you really want to make sure I don't get lost, then maybe we should hold hands." Louise's face then reddened, her head snapped towards Shirou, who was sending her a teasing smile. "Sorry, I couldn't resist." He then let out a small laugh.

Louise's eyes narrowed. "I-idiot, see if I try to be nice to you again." She then turned forward and began to walk at a faster pace.

After a pretty well paced walk, the two finally made it to the store. Though, Shirou noticed that Louise was still a little upset about his joke. Or, maybe she was just staying upset on principle, since she didn't seem all that mad. The shopkeeper seemed to be talking to her about something, but Shirou wasn't really paying attention.

Rather, he was inspecting the different weapons around the store. "This place certainly has a large variety of weapons. It's a bit surprising actually." Shirou picked up one of the rapiers. "Hmm, the weight's pretty good, but this thing would fall apart after about ten decent hits."

"You seem to be knowledgable about swords. If you're looking for something top of the line, I have just the thing." Shirou turned and saw the shopkeeper walk into the back of the store. Louise seemed a bit puzzled by his action, but simply shrugged.

"Is there a specific type of sword that would fit you best? I don't know a whole lot about them." She asked, picking up a sword that looked similar to a saber. Shirou watched her closely, seeing her moving around with the weapon.

"I've used all kinds, but I'm partial to single edged blades, personally. Though, for most people, it would be best to match one's weapon with their weight and height, even their coordination. Honestly, there are many factors, but a decent amount of training can always fix that." He said, eyeing a small rapier.

He picked the weapon up, before walking up to Louise. "If you wanted to teach a large group of people how to wield a weapon fast and quick, it'd be best to give them a spear. You could teach someone to use it pretty quickly, though mastering said weapon is another story entirely." He then took the sword from Louise before handing her the weapon he had grabbed.

She was a bit puzzled at his actions but didn't say anything. "There are many types of swords and weapons, so finding a compatible weapon can be a bit tough if you don't know what you're doing. Luckily for you, I know quite a bit." He said with a small smile, causing her cheeks to slightly redden when he began to move her body around.

"You need a firm grip, but you don't want to choke the weapon, it's easier to manipulate that way." Shirou grabbed her forearm and placed his other hand onto hers. He softly manipulated it, before nodding. "Like that. No different from pointing your wand. Now, we do this..." He then slowly moved her legs and body around.

"There we go, you're a natural." He said, seeing her looking at him with a strange expression. "You don't have to stay like that, I just wanted to see if my instincts were right." He said, causing her to relax and stand normally.

"Why did you do that?" She said in a slightly embarrassed voice.

"Because, I'm going to teach you how to wield a rapier." Her eyes then widened. "I didn't have to move you around too much. The way you wield your wand is pretty similar to a rapier. I haven't seen anyone else wield it like you, so I'm guessing you were taught by your mom, who more than likely used a rapier."

Louise nodded slowly, surprised that he deduced that just from the way she wielded her wand. "Why are you going to teach me? I mean, I have my wand and magic, I also have you. Or, is it because of..." Shirou walked up to her and patted her on the head, causing her to flinch.

"You may never have to use one, in fact, I hope you never have to use one. However, I can't be in two places at once, and magical energy does run out. Should you not be able to cast spells, I want you to be able to defend yourself. Don't take my words as me not believing in you. I do, in fact, it might help your magic if you learned."

"I just want to make sure that you are the best that you can be. You want to be one of the greatest mages who ever lived? Then I'm going to do everything in my power to get you there. Okay?" She slowly nodded her head, though he could tell she was embarrassed, as well as a little emotional.

He really needed to work on her self esteem. Just as he removed his hand, the shopkeeper showed up again, causing Louise to flinch from the suddenness of his arrival, dropping the sword in the process, however Shirou managed to catch it in time. He let out a small sigh, before seeing a massive waste of money and materials.

Louise looked impressed though, with even the shopkeeper seemingly wanting to show it off. "Sorry, to keep you waiting. This is the finest item in the store. It was forged according to ancient tradition by a famous alchemist mage by the name of Sir Spee from Germania. This thing can slice through steel like butter."

Shirou's eye twitched as the man handed him the sword. He let out a sigh, feeling and analyzing the blade in his hand. "How much is it?" He heard Louise ask, causing him to snap his head towards her.

"3,000 new gold pieces." He answered, though Shirou simply narrowed his eyes, before placing the sword back on the counter. Louise raised a brow at his actions, even surprising the shopkeeper.

"If you're going to try and trick my master, then you should try it when you're not standing in front of an actual swordsmith who specializes in these kinds of things. This would be worth about a thousand, at most, and that's only because of the materials used to make it, as well as the minor enchantment."

"Not to mention the fact, this sword isn't meant to be used in combat." He finished saying, before walking towards a small barrel of weapons. His eyes were drawn to something there. "There are a few different types of swords, Louise."

"There are swords like that, which are purely decorative. There are ceremonial swords, which are decorated beautifully but usually only serve a specific purpose, like knighting ceremonies. Then there are the tried and true weapons. They may not be pretty, but they serve their purpose." Shirou grabbed an old single edged blade from the barrel.

"How much for this weapon? And don't try to cheat me." Shirou spoke to the shopkeeper, who was obviously a bit uncomfortable. "We just want a fair price, I'm not trying to threaten you."

"A hundred for the weapon." Shirou looked towards Louise, who simply sighed before taking out the required amount and handing him the money. Shirou looked back at the sword in his hands. His eyes narrowed at the blade.

"Are you going to explain why you wanted to buy that sword? I thought you could trace any weapon you laid your eyes on." Louise asked, watching Shirou inspecting the sword before he sheathed it and placed it onto his back.

"I can, but this sword is a bit special. The fact of the matter is this, I can't trace this weapon." He replied to her, causing her to look at him with a puzzled expression. "It'd be better to say that this sword is currently locked and that I can't trace it yet. It reminds me of Add, at least a bit. I couldn't trace him either, despite him being a weapon."

"It isn't a divine construct, but it is magical. I'll see what I can do to unlock it when we get back to the dorm." He replied with a reassuring smile. Louise quickly looked away, before she gathered herself.

"Um, you mentioned someone called, Add. Who's that?" She decided to ask, though she got her answer in the form of an image. 'Another strong memory.' What she saw was a really pretty girl with gray hair and stunning green eyes. She was dressed in grey and black, specifically a skirt and some sort of jacket underneath a black cloak.

She noticed a cage on her hip with some sort of box thing inside of it. She already knew what it was. When he spoke of Add, he was talking about the small box thing. 'Okay, I have the knowledge of what it is, so why is this memory still going?' She thought to herself, before seeing him reach into his bag.

"Here, Gray, I picked this up from a client of mine as payment for a mystic code. It was signed by the author, so I thought you might like it." He then held out a book towards. "I was going to wait until Christmas, but something came up and I won't be able to stop by the clocktower for awhile."

She watched as Gray took the book into her hands with a surprised expression on her face. "Are you sure? This is pretty valuable you know." Louise was a bit surprised at the girl's soft voice.

"Of course, besides, it's a gift meant for you anyways." He said while scratching the back of his head, something Louise was used to seeing at this point. "Well, I'm afraid I have another appointment I have to take care of, so I have to get going."

"Wait, um, is the reason you won't be coming back because of the Holy Grail War?" She asked him, causing him to flinch slightly. "I...I won't tell Sir, but you should be careful if you are. It sounds like it's dangerous." She noticed that Shirou seemed surprised by her words for some reason. It looked like he was about to reply when she snapped back to reality.

"Louise? You okay? You kind of zoned out for a moment." She looked towards Shirou, readjusting herself with his looks. It was only two years difference, but he looked far different from the memory she saw. She shook her head and looked at him.

"Okay, so I know what Add is, at least, somewhat. But, who's Gray?" She asked, getting a shocked expression from him.

"Wait, did you see another memory flash or something?" She nodded her head to his question, causing him to let out a sigh. "Gray was one of my friends from the Clocktower. I may have been freelance, but I still did some business with people there. I met her when I was visiting once, which resulted in me seeing her every time I visited."

"You liked her, didn't you?" She asked, smiling to herself when she noticed Shirou nearly trip over himself. He coughed into his fist.

"I was a pretty busy person and didn't really have time for such things. Sad to say, the only real romance I experienced was during the grail war." He replied, trying to keep a straight face. He missed the slight twitch of Louise's eye, 'He didn't deny it.'

"Anyways, back to the topic at hand, I have a feeling that this sword is rather important. It has a unique aura to it, which actually excites me. It means there could be more weapons like this out there." He said, trying to move past the topic.

"Didn't you say you were going to try and teach me how to wield a rapier?" Louise asked him. She was still on the fence about it, but Shirou did mention something about it helping her magic. So, she would give it a chance.

"Oh, I am. However, I want the weapon you use to be tailored to you. I'll probably end up making it myself. I'll have to do some more research on wands and weapons, but it'll be a small price to pay" He replied. "Which reminds me, did your mother wield her wand separate from her rapier?"

Louise stopped walking, before looking back towards Shirou. "It's been awhile since I've actually seen her use a wand, but I'm pretty sure that the wand and rapier are a single weapon. She's a master at using wind, so she can augment her attacks with it." She answered, though talking about her mother reminded her of something.

"Interesting. Saber had her sword sheathed in wind, so I wonder if a similar effect could be utilized in this world. Though, for you, I think I'll need to be a bit creative." Louise tilted her head at his words.

"What do you mean?" She asked, though her mind was wondering if her family had come to the city for Void Day. 'I really hope they didn't. I don't think I'm ready for Shirou to meet my family just yet.'

"Well, your magic is special, as such, finding ways to mix it into a combat style will be tricky. However, I think you may just be able to do it. I mean, your magic already possesses an interesting trait despite only causing explosions so far." He said to her, catching her interest.

"What do you mean it has a special trait? Aren't I just casting inaccurate explosions?" She asked, though there was some hope present in her tone. Shirou simply smiled at her.

"When you exploded in the classroom, I felt a sort of pulse of anti-magic come from it. My arm went dead for a moment, while my circuits ceased to function momentarily. It wasn't anything too substantial, but if your magic can retain that ability, then you'll become a force to be reckoned with." He said to her with excitement in his voice.

She didn't fully grasp how big of a deal it was, but Shirou understood completely. Magic with the ability to nullify other magics was insanely powerful. He didn't know if it would work with curses or what have you, but if it did, then Louise's magic was on par with Rule Breaker.

"Despite what everyone may think, non-elemental magic isn't weak. For all we know, you could perform magic that no one has ever seen since the first void mage. Honestly, I'm really excited for you, Louise." She only looked at him with a small smile.

'He's not lying to me.' She thought to herself, before she then heard something that made her stomach knot up. "Little Louise!" She straightened like a board, causing Shirou to raise a brow. He was about to turn towards the voice, but Louise quickly grabbed ahold of his arm.

"Uh, Louise, is something wrong?" He asked in a worried tone. Louise looked up at him with a somewhat frightened expression.

"Can you trace a wand, please? I really need your help for this." She said quietly, already knowing the source of the voice was growing closer. Shirou didn't even question her, he simply nodded.

"Trace on." He then held his hand up, tracing something that looked more like a wand with a jewel on the end. "Sorry, the only wands I know of don't fit me. So, I'm tracing a wand, or cane, that Tohsaka gave to me." He said with an apologetic smile. "Besides, doesn't this red jewel look noble and classy?"

Louise's eyes widened, before she let out a small laugh at the absurdity of his words, as well as the fact the cane clashed with her image of him. He may have been a mage, but she knew he couldn't act like a typical noble. He was far too kind and caring for that. 'But, he does sort of act like those knights from those stories I read.'

Just as she finished her thoughts, the source of the voice appeared in front of them. Shirou tilted his head at the woman. She was blonde with pinkish eyes like Louise, though she wore glasses. She was also taller than Louise was, and maybe slightly more filled out, but not by much. By simple deduction, he figured it was her sister.

"Louise, didn't you hear me calling out to you? It's rude to ignore your big sister like that." The woman said, causing Louise's grip on his arm to increase quite a bit. Thankfully, it was on his prosthetic arm, so it didn't hurt too much.

"I...I didn't hear you, sister Eleonore. I, uh, I was focused on showing S-Shirou around the city. H-He was interested in visiting the shops." She answered, putting on a forced smile. Shirou could tell she was nervous, and maybe even a little scared. 'What did they do to her to make her like this?'

"Oh?" Eleonore then began to look at Shirou, inspecting him closely. He simply offered a small smile in return, causing her to quirk a brow. "And what are you to Louise?" Shirou tilted his head a bit, not really understanding her words. "And where are you from?"

Shirou was about to answer when Louise interrupted him. "His name is Shirou Emiya..." 'Huh, wonder why she used that version of my name?' "and he's a mage who's been helping me with my magic. His mother reached the highest rank a mage can achieve where he's from." She answered quickly, with her words catching Eleonore off guard.

"I see...and I'm guessing he knows about your problem?" She asked Louise with narrowed eyes. Louise then nodded, causing her to look at Louise closely, before turning her attention back to him. "That doesn't answer my question though, he may be a tutor for you, but why are you with him here?"

Louise looked up at Shirou for a moment. He simply offered her a comforting smile, since she was doing a pretty good job so far. He could see that she didn't want her family knowing that he was her familiar, which he supposed made some sense. He then heard Eleonore let out a sigh.

"Louise, you may have a teacher who's willing to overlook your...issues, but I'm sure you understand your position, yes? Mother and father have already began looking for potential suitors for your future. Why don't you just come home? Surely, you understand that we simply want what's best for you."

Shirou's jaw clenched for a moment, before he managed to calm himself down. 'I hate when people belittle other's dreams. I suppose now I know where her low self esteem comes from, as well as her constant need to prove herself.' "I don't need them to look for me a suitor, nor will I come home."

Shirou turned his head towards Louise, surprised at her words. He could tell that Eleonore was surprised as well. "You can go home and tell mother and father that I don't need them to find me a suitor, because I have Shirou, and he's promised to stand by me and help me achieve my dream of being a great mage." She said proudly.

However, Shirou felt like she may have said something that could be misconstrued. His worries were proven true when Eleonore's expression turned into one of shock, as she tried to form words unsuccessfully. "Come on, Shirou, we're going back home." She said, pulling him along.

"Um, Louise, I'm proud of you for sticking up for yourself, but I'm afraid you may have worded that wrong." He tried to say, but Louise seemed to not hear him, at least not until Eleonore called out to her one last time as they walked away.

"You know that mom is going to want to meet him!" Louise then stopped walking for a moment, with Shirou knowing that she just realized what she implied. "So, you better visit when you can, otherwise mom's going to come find you!" Shirou let out a sigh, before pulling Louise along.

Finally, Shirou managed to get Louise back to their horse. He looked at Louise, who was red in the face and seemed to be close to dying of embarrassment. However, Shirou couldn't help himself. "So, should I start referring to you as 'dear' or 'sweetheart?" Louise slowly turned her head towards Shirou, her eyes were narrowed, though the previous redness remained.

"How can you make jokes at a time like this?! This is a disaster waiting to happen!" She exclaimed, even grabbing Shirou by his jacket and shaking him. Shirou lifted his hands up in surrender and smiled to himself.

"It'll be fine, Louise. Besides, I think it could be fun." He replied, causing her to stop and look at him with a strange expression. "Look at it this way, at the moment, you don't have to worry about being married off. Then there's the added benefit of showing off your abilities when they do show back up, proving them wrong."

"But, I haven't started training yet. Then there's the fact that we aren't like that, they'll be able to pick up on it. Not to mention, you'll likely be tested as well. There's so many things that can go wrong, Shirou. That's why it's a disaster." Shirou placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, we have some time to get you into shape, so we'll begin training tomorrow. As for faking them out, well, I have some experience with that. When you go to sleep, think about things relevant to whatever you wish to see, it might help. You can learn a bit more that way. I'm sure everything will work out fine." He then offered her a reassuring smile.

"And what about if my mother wishes to test your capabilities?" She asked, though she seemed to have calmed a bit. Shirou scratched at his cheek with a sheepish expression.

"Well, I'll just have to do my best to prove myself. I haven't faced a top tier mage in quite a while, but I'm sure I'll find a way to manage. If push comes to shove, I'll utilize my crest and the knowledge and spells within. Plus, as your familiar, I'm a lot stronger than I would be normally."

"As long as your mother isn't as powerful as my mom and aunt, then I should be able to manage. Plus, I've been working on some puppets, so I'm nearly back to a hundred percent fighting capacity." He replied to her, before he felt a small tug on his back.

"That's right little lady, I can tell my wielder seems far more capable than my past possessors." Shirou turned his head to see his sword lifting itself out of his sheathe. He noticed a piece of the guard that extended to the spine was moving as it spoke.

"D-did your sword just talk?" Louise asked with a dumfounded expression. Shirou had to admit, he felt the same. He knew the sword was special, but he didn't realize it possessed a pseudo-personality. 'No wonder I couldn't trace it.' "Shirou, that's an intelligent sword. I've never seen one before, but I've heard stories of them."

"I've been trying to forge a weapon like this for years now, only to accidentally buy one in a weapons shop run by a con artist? I don't know if that's good or bad luck, but thanks for buying this for me Louise." He said with a smile.

Louise's face reddened a bit when he said that. 'That's his real genuine smile. He must be really happy. Ugh, why does he have to smile like that when we're in this kind of situation?' She shook her head, "Consider it repayment for what you did to my wand." She watched Shirou unsheathe the sword from his back.

"You have a name?" He asked it, with Louise covering her mouth to hide a small laugh. 'I wonder if he realizes how weird he looks talking to a sword.'

"The name's Derflinger, it's a pleasure to meet you, partner. You wouldn't happen to know what year it is, or where we are?" It asked him, with Louise raising a brow.

"Shouldn't you already know about that stuff?" She asked it, with Shirou looking at her. "It's an intelligent sword, so it should at least know about stuff like that. It's similar to a human in some ways."

"I've been asleep for a long time, thank you very much. I don't just have an internal clock to let me know these things." Shirou simply shook his head.

"I don't know the year, but we're in the country of Tristain. You can call me, Shirou, by the way. Uh, tell me, do you mind if I get rid of this rust on you?" He asked it, running a finger along the sword. Louise looked at it, being surprised the edge was still sharp with all of the rust.

"Hmm, well if you think you can do something about it, feel free. I hate looking like this, you know." Shirou chuckled a bit, before closing his eyes.

"Trace on." Louise watched as he opened one eye, seeing that he was using the eye he used for analysis. "Hmm, it seems I still can't get a read on you. Almost as if everything is jumbled together or in a haze. Interesting. However, I think I can do something about your appearance." His runes then lit up on his hand.

She noticed his circuits appear on his hand, before the sword began to have circuits covering it. "Whoa, that tingles. What are you doing, partner?" Louise then saw the blade begin to brighten, before seeing that it completely restored. The blade was cleared of rust, while the guard returned to a beautiful bronze color.

Shirou then shut off his circuits, before breathing a bit heavy. "That was harder than I thought it would be. Using alteration along with a few spells from my magic crest, as well as needing to resonate myself with the sword, I managed to get you back to a decent state. Though, I'll need to do a few repairs myself."

Louise was surprised, but figured it made some sense. Intelligent swords weren't the same as normal swords. "Did you find anything out when you looked at it?" Shirou shook his head.

"Not really, other than he's resistant to magic, which actually makes him a pretty big deal. There aren't many weapons that can do that. If he can recall his memories, I'm sure I'll learn more, and I bet he'll have a few neat tricks he could use as well. Considering he feels more like a noble phantasm than a mystic code."

"Hey, can you not talk like I'm not here. It's rude." Shirou then rubbed of his head with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry, I'm not used to having a talking sword just yet." He replied, causing Louise to smile a bit.

"I must admit, I wasn't expecting to be awoken by such an odd pair. Though, for a Gandalfr, you're remarkably more in tune with swords and your master than others." Louise looked at the sword with a surprised expression.

"Wait, you know about his runes?"

"Of course, well, I did. I don't really remember much, other than that his title is Gandalfr, which makes you his master, the void mage." He replied, getting the attention of Shirou.

"Does that mean you could help us train when you recover your memories?" He asked it.

"Hmm, I might be able to. We'll just have to wait and see. I'm excited to see how well the two of you work together. Now, you were talking about a plan to deceive the little lady's family, right?" Derflinger's words caused Louise to remember their previous conversation.

"That's right! Shirou, we have to come up with a plan, otherwise the results could be really bad." She watched Shirou let out a small sigh.

"Well, we'll come up with something when we get back to the dorm. As for your training, we can test out some of those spells in those papers we found. I can trace a few sword puppets that we can test them on. Who knows, we may even be able to come up with a few spells on our own. Trust me, I'll make sure that you manage to impress them."

"Fine, but if we don't manage it, I want you to make me a promise that you'll find a way to convince them to let me stay at the academy and continue being a mage." Shirou sheathed Derflinger, before walking up to her and placing a hand on her head.

"I promise." He smiled at her, before messing up her hair causing her to step back to fix it with a pout on her face. He let out a small laugh, "If I can't manage it, then we can run away and elope like a forbidden love between a knight and his princess, off into the sunset like those books you like to read." Louise's face reddened again, as she tried to speak, but only managed a few angry noises.

"Y-y-you idiot! Why do you insist on teasing me like that?! Besides, how do you even know I read those stories? I thought you couldn't read our language!" Shirou shrugged his shoulders with a carefree smile on his face.

"I asked Siesta to tell me about them when you were out of the room. She likes to read those stories too." Louise then turned around, before making her way to her horse.

"We're heading back to the academy. I have a maid that needs to be punished. Hurry up, otherwise I'll leave you." She said, trying to hide her red face. 'I wonder why he was joking around more than usual. He seemed to be a bit different lately. I wonder if everything's okay?' She thought to herself.

'Though, I sort of prefer him like this. He seemed a bit happier, even if he didn't notice it himself. Maybe, if I can find out what caused him to be this way, then I can make it a more common occurrence.' She then held up her wand in front of herself.

'I just hope that something bad didn't happen, and he's only trying to hide it behind a mask. I wish he would trust me a bit more so he could talk to me about it.' She felt the magical energy in the wand warm up, before she placed it back into its holder.

'Well, I suppose I'll just have to prove myself to him, and show him that he can trust me with those things. I'm tired of him only helping me, I want to be able to help him too. Even someone like you needs help from time to time, Shirou. You help and save so many people, but even I can tell that you need someone to help and save you too. Especially from a few things I've seen in my dreams.'

And I'll end this chapter here. Shirou now has Derflinger and things are starting to move forward into some more action oriented sections of Familiar of Zero. I want to get to the beginning of the war quicker than usual, since Shirou will be more conscious of it. I always saw Familiar of Zero as a more fun world to explore, but I want to show the more ugly side of it too, such as the war and stuff. Everyone will find out about the void magic sooner, while Shirou tries his best to keep Louise safe from those who want to use her. I don't want to bog this down with too much filler, so things will be going by a bit quicker, but there will still be fun things happening. I thought it would be amusing to keep the love potion bit in, because I have some fun things planned for that, because it will have a lot of importance for Shirou when he meets the lake spirit. Next chapter will introduce Louise to some more of Shirou's past, she'll see more of the grail war and meet Shirou's family and friends as well as some of his teachers. I may include a few of the girls Shirou knew as well, that way Louise can see what kind of guy he was, aka, dense. I'm looking forward to writing it. Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I usually try to answer them. As always, until next time.