"Who would have thought the rye bread and soup would be such a horrifying combination?" Saito grumbled as he left the dining hall with Louise.
"Stop complaining. I had to get special permission just to let you into the hall. Normal familiars don't eat human food, you know."
They were now walking to the main classrooms after breakfast. Saito rubbed his back. There were some welts left from yesterday.
Suddenly, they noticed a brunette hugging a blonde guy in front of them. From the color of their capes, the girl was a first year while the blonde guy, Guiche was a classmate of Louise.
"Thank you Guiche! I like this brooch so much!"
"Oh Katie, you embarrass me with your subtle beauty. This brooch is but a little gift to show my love for you." Guiche twirled the rose on his hand as he spoke.
Saito cocked his eyebrows. "Hey, isn't that the guy who got engaged with Montmorency?"
"Oh, he's like that. Even though I don't like Montmorency, I do feel sorry for her." Louise didn't even looked at Guiche. It seems that she was accustomed to his behaviour.
Just then, a perfume bottle slipped out of Guiche's cape. Saito went forward to pick it up.
"Hey pretty boy, I think this is yours." He held the bottle before Guiche's nose. Katie's eyes widened.
"Aren't you Louise the Zero's familiar? Plebeian, I think you've been mistaken. That is not my bottle." Guiche gave a reassuring smile to Katie.
"I saw it fall out of your cape."
A small crowd began to gather around them.
"Isn't that the insignia of the Montmorency family? What is it doing in your cape, Guiche?" Katie looked a little cheated.
"No, no, it isn't mine. How can you believe this plebeian?"
Louise tugged at Saito's sleeve. "Don't meddle in the affairs of others, come on." She looked annoyed.
Just at that moment, Montmorency came to see what was the commotion about. As you might have guessed, a quick fight broke out and Guiche was the receiving end of the wrath of two girls.
Saito laughed heartily. "Hah, serves you right for two timing!"
Guiche looked at Saito with narrowed eyes. "As expected of the familiar of Zero, having no proper manners towards a noble at all!"
He arranged his hair and pointed his rose wand at Saito. "Since Louise has obviously been too lenient to you, I shall teach you some manners myself! I challenge you to a duel!"
Just before Louise could stop him, Saito agreed to it.
"Meet you at Vestri Court then, in a quarter hour's time." Guiche then walked away.
"What are you doing, idiot! You're going to get yourself killed!" Louise slapped the back of Saito's arm.
Saito didn't even hear her. He followed Guiche to Vestri Court. Louise shook her head. Just how much trouble was he going to get her into?
"Mr Osmond, it seems that a crowd had gathered at Vestri Court. The familiar of Louise de Orneilles is dueling the son of Gramont, Guiche. Teachers have been asking for permission to use the Bell of Slumber to dispel the crowd."
Mr Gimli was looking worriedly at the courtyard. However, the old principal seemed nonchalant.
"Never mind. Just let them be."
"But Mr Osmond..."
"There is a reason why I want to observe this duel, and I believe you understand the reason quite well."
Mr Gimli pursed his mouth. He nodded grimly.
"This is the perfect opportunity to observe if the familiar is what we think he is, Mr Gimli."
Back at Vestri Court, Saito raised the sleeves of this jacket. "Before we start, fist only, shoulders down, okay? I'll go easy on you!"
Guiche laughed softly. "Fists? I'm not going to stoop down to your level, plebeian. I'm a mage, so of course I'm going to use magic."
He swept his wand in front of him. A rose petal flew into the air and fell on the ground. A circle of light appeared and a bronze warrior rose from the ground. It had the appearance of an armoured female knight.
"I'm Guiche the Bronze, and this would be your opponent, my Valkyrie!"
"Stop it, idiot! There is no way a commoner like you would be able to win against a mage!" Louise yelled at Saito in rage. "Just apologise to Guiche and let the matter go!"
Guiche nodded. "I'm a kind and forgiving noble. If you beg for forgiveness now, I might just consider it."
Saito's blood boiled at that attitude. He answered by rushing towards Guiche with his fist held high. However, he was intercepted by the bronze golem. It delivered a punch into his stomach, knocking him backwards for a meters.
"Ku..." Saito coughed and rubbed his stomach. The pain was so intense that he felt as if his stomach was ripped apart.
Louise rushed to Saito. "Now do you understand what I meant? Even though Guiche is just a beginner, he still wields magic. Just apologise, Saito."
Was there a tint of worry in her big hazel eyes? Saito wondered if he was dreaming.
"You know, that's the first time in days since I heard you call my name."
"N-now's not the time to say this kind of things, idiot! Can't you just listen to my orders!" Louise's face was pink in rage.
Guess it was just his imagination then. Saito shook his head.
"You know, I don't mind if the food sucked. I don't mind being whipped and yelled at. I don't even mind having to wash your underwear." Saito slowly got up. "But what I do mind, is bowing my head to some haughty noble who wouldn't even admit that he did a mistake."
"Come now, plebeian, I haven't even started." Guiche let out a sarcastic laugh.
Saito dusted his sleeves. "That's nothing. Is that the best you could give me? How pathetic."
Guiche stomped his feet in rage. He summoned another golem and ordered them to attack Saito. Saito simply met them head on, but he got pummelled into the ground. The bronze golems were simply impervious to his punches.
"Saito! Just stop, please!"
Saito wiped blood off his mouth and shook his head. "Someone's got to teach this guy a lesson. Besides, I can't stand him calling you Zero everytime anyway."
"What...you don't have to do this for me! Hey, don't get up!"
Saito simply got up again and tried to tackle a golem. He was kicked away. The other golem charged forward.
Just as he prepared to dodge it, he caught a flash of pink in front of him. In a sudden move, he hugged the pink haired girl and turned to use his back to shield her. They both tumbled to the ground.
Saito tasted blood in his mouth.
"What are you doing idiot!"
"S-shut up!" Louise was shaking terribly.
Saito turned to look at Guiche. "What the heck were you thinking? Couldn't you stop your golem?!"
"Hey it was so sudden! Who would have thought that stupid girl would rush in front?"
Saito's fist tightened.
"She's not stupid! She's an idiot! And she's my idiot master!" Saito didn't even know what he was talking. Knowing that Louise got hurt trying to shield him lighted something inside him.
Saito felt as if the pain from his injuries was alleviated. His bruises began to heal on its own. His body felt full of energy. He rushed forward to Guiche. The golems came to block him, but he felt nothing as their punches connected.
Guiche started to panic and summoned more golems, but Saito just stood there, absorbing their punches. Semitransparent white runes appeared on his body around the areas where he was hit.
Just then, Saito gave a upper kick to one of the golems. It broke cleanly in half. Everybody was dumbstruck. Louise, who had gotten up, looked at Saito, mouth agape.
The next few seconds were a blur as Saito proceeded to clean up the rest of the golems. Louise noticed that whenever he punched them, runes would appear momentarily on his fist like a glove.
Kicking away the broken body of the golem, Saito stood in front of Guiche.
"Do we need to continue?"
"I-I yield." The noble had fallen on the ground, incredulous that he had been defeated by a plebeian.
Louise rushed to Saito's side.
"Are you okay?" Saito brushed dirt off her shirt.
"Of course I'm okay! What happened just now? You've actually won!"
The shining runes on his body slowly subsided as he confirmed that Louise wasn't hurt anymore. His injuries began to reveal themselves again and his body started to ache all over.
The last thing he heard was Louise's cute voice calling his name amidst the cheering from the crowd.
Mr Gimli turned to look at Mr Osmond in surprise.
"The plebeian familiar actually won against a mage."
"Well then Mr Gimli, go ahead and disperse the crowd."
"We should really report this to the palace, Mr Osmond. This is unprecedented behaviour!"
Mr Osmond shook his head. "As I said, who knows what schemes would the palace create once they know of this? Don't worry about it anymore, Mr Gimli. I'll investigate this personally."
After a moment's hesitation, Mr Gimli nodded and proceeded to walk to Vestri Court.
Mr Osmond looked out to the courtyard again. None of his research showed any characteristic of the Lifdrasir beyond enhancing the powers of the Void. However, the familiar just now, displayed a high resilience to damage and sudden burst damage.
Could it be something else? The real meaning behind the powers of Lifdrasir?
The only records on this mystical familiar was when it was summoned on the same familiar that already had the rune of Gandalfr.
He had to do more research. Maybe a trip into to the Amper Library in the treasury would help.
Stroking his beard, he watched as the pink haired mage shove the floating unconscious familiar to the Fire Tower.