Disclaimer, I own nothing, don't sue me.
Chapter 4: Professional negotiator
Osmond rubbed his red cheek and sighed as his secretary stormed out the door, in his other hand, he held his familiar Motsognir. The small mouse had been caught on his vital mission and had been promptly squished flat by the irate woman before he could secure the data.
In hindsight, mentioning that she would probably become and old maid if she didn't change her attitude was a bad idea as the slap proved.
"Don't worry my dear Motsognir, we'll get her next time."
Soft apologetic squeaking was the only response from his familiar.
The headmaster grumbled as he returned his attention to the never-ending pile of paperwork on his desk. He swore on his soul that every time he looked away the stack would start growing. Cursing the former headmaster for dumping the role on him and himself for being gullible enough to accept it, he had a good understanding of why his predecessor had stripped off his robes and went running out of the academy screaming he was free immediately after the handover had been completed.
"Become the headmaster he said, it'll be easy he said. Haaa… well what do we have here anyway? Let's see, more requests for the removal of Valliere's familiar from the campus, more requests to hire the familiar as a guard, oh? A request from the Gramonts to have him as a tutor for Guiche de Gramont? Heh, someone's sure getting popular nowadays."
Osmond sorted through the pile, most of them going into the reject bin. A few would be sent on to the royal palace, mainly those by nobles who thought because of their clout they could have the school brush up the grades of their children.
'Arrogant fools, this academy is the most prestigious institution in all of Tristain, we answer only to the crown. I'm sure her highness will be most interested in these idiots trying to abuse their power.'
That left three letters on his desk, one was a warning about the phantom thief Fouquet the crumbling dirt who might be targeting the school's vault, another was about the princess herself coming down in person to visit and the last was a notification that count Mott would be dropping by to assess the school's security.
That last one left a bitter taste in his mouth. Osmond would be the first to admit that he was a super pervert but he prided himself of having lines he would never even approach, let alone cross. Mott on the other hand had no such morals.
There wasn't a single underhanded technique that he would not use to get what he wanted and with his rank as a count and position of the palatial messenger, there was very little he could not do.
It was an open secret that he actively abused his servants, among their numbers were several of the former school staff that Osmond was unable to prevent him from 'collecting'. Sadly, there was nothing he could do in the matter, Mott was too clean to touch and his abuses were written off as disciplining unruly staff members.
He'd have to make a note to instruct all female serving staff to remain in their rooms for the duration of that despicable man's visit, the males who had to work overtime to cover for the shortfall would be compensated of course.
"I'm getting too old for this shit."
-line break
"Put your backs into it! Only one more lap to go!" Saito cheerfully encouraged his three victi-students while running alongside them on their fifth lap around the school compound.
"Stupid… sadistic… familiar… making… everything… look… easy."
"Quiet down! You want him to add another lap!?"
"I'm gonna die. Ah… I see a bright light…"
"Ahh? No! Malicorne! Don't go into the light!"
Saito was mildly surprised by his disciples' determination to keep going. Louise was a given since there was no way in hell her pride would allow her to quit.
Guiche had begged him to take him under his wing and he'd consented if only to give Louise someone to train alongside with, as with Louise, Guiche refused to give in and took everything Saito threw at him head on.
The real curveball was Malicorne however, the overweight noble just popped up one day and started training with them to give his buddy Guiche some moral support.
Saito had written him off as an unfit noble who'd never done anything more stressful than walk around in search of his next meal. He fully expected the boy to just drop out once the training truly got underway.
To his great surprise, Malicorne never did drop out, sure he whined at the exertion but dutifully completed every exercise given and that earned him a modicum of respect from the general. They'd been at it for two weeks now and already the trio were showing signs of improvement.
Excess fat was giving way to muscle and their performance was improving on all fronts. Both Guiche and Malicorne had advanced to becoming line mages, Louise still had issues with casting spells but she could now manage simple ones without mimicking ground zero of an air strike.
On the note of her explosions however, Saito had forbidden her from ever aiming one of them at another person unless it was a life and death situation.
After a particularly powerful one created a new lake on the outskirts of the school, Saito had grabbed the pinkie and ran like a bat out of hell before swearing the girl to silence on the matter. She was a full-fledged artillery mage now and it was best to keep things on the downlow to avoid anyone from getting the idea to use her as a weapon.
There were enough human weapons running around thank you very much.
As they finished their last lap, Malicorne collapsed on the ground in exhaustion and the other two sank to their knees.
"Good work! That's five laps completed and you lot could only do three last week. Mighty fine improvement." Saito honestly complimented them.
"D-did… you… have to… push us so… hard!?" Louise stared at her familiar with murder in her eyes.
"Of course I did. Sure you'd still be doing good if I didn't push you hard. But good isn't good enough! A wise man once told me the enemy of great is good, if you're satisfied with being good then you'll never be great. You've already made the decision to not be mediocre, why settle for less than perfect?"
"Oh… I hurt in places I didn't even know existed." Guiche moaned before picking his exhausted self off the ground to do his cooldowns.
"Here! I have some juice for everyone!" Siesta handed out three glasses to the nobles who accepted them with much gratitude. The maid popped up from time to time when her schedule permitted it at Saito's request. Her job mostly involved handing out refreshments to the victi-students.
Initially, she had been wary of doing so especially since Guiche was there but Saito was around and that offset some of her misgivings. The request was simple enough, drop by once they were done with some refreshments and maybe a snack.
Over the two weeks, she'd come to know the three nobles better and while they weren't what you'd call friends yet, it was something approaching that.
"Well, that concludes the physical training. I'll meet you all in your homeroom for the theory lesson in two hours. Today we'll be covering the topic of fighting against an enemy with air superiority on both the individual and army level. Enjoy your break."
Three sighs of relief reached his ears as the nobles heard that he wasn't going to add on some last-minute torture just to mess with them.
"Anyways, Siesta, about the contract…"
"Ah yes, I've settled everything on my end, all that's left is to inform the headmaster and finalise the paperwork."
"Good, good. While I'm your new employer, most of your duties will still be to look after my partner, she's making progress but she's not quite ready to look after herself yet. And for the love of all that is holy, make sure she never steps foot in a kitchen."
"It can't be that bad."
"I've had the misfortune of seeing her cook twice, the first time she created an industrial grade corrosive that melted a hole in the floor. The second time, she spawned some eldritch abomination that I had to save her from. Damn thing nearly beat me."
Saito was distracted by giggling coming from the maid and huffed in annoyance. "Oh sure, don't believe me. Just don't blame me if something she cooks eats you before I can rescue you."
-line break
"Hoh? Your request is unusual to say the least, a servant's contract is usually bought by a noble… this is the first time a commoner has requested to purchase one I think." Osmond sipped his tea as he studied the familiar and maid standing before him.
"Partner isn't quite ready to stand on her own yet, and since I'm a man there are some things I cannot do for her. Siesta's assistance is needed in this area. If its about the money… well I have the money."
Familiar and headmaster shared a knowing grin as the weight of their coin pouches served as a reminder of their very lucrative partnership.
"Well, then there's no reason for me not to agree. You wouldn't mind if I request tea from her would you? For some reason, she's the best at brewing tea in the whole school and well… it is one of the few perks about this job." Osmond grimaced in distaste as he stared at his paperwork which had somehow doubled in the few seconds he hadn't been looking.
"My condolences. As long as it doesn't conflict with her duties and she doesn't mind herself, I have no objections. Siesta?"
"I'm alright with it."
"Then it's settled?"
Osmond nodded and stamped a few sheets of paper before handing it over to the familiar. "It is, here you go, don't lose those now, they're proof that she has a contract with you. Pleasure doing business with you… again."
Another knowing smile passed between the two.
"Well, now that that's settled, I do have a few questions, you mind going into detail about your training sessions with Valliere and her classmates? Their rapid improvement has been noted by their teachers and I have been getting questions about that. I don't want any allegations of cheating you understand."
"Nothing to it really, magic here is powered by what was it… willpower?"
Upon receiving a nod from the headmaster, Saito continued with his explanation. "All I'm doing is improving their fitness and by pushing them to their limits, increasing their mental fortitude. Way I see it, magic is an exercise of the mind will a focus on the strength of their will instead of just knowledge. I'm not quite sure if I'm right but given the results it's a safe bet that there is at least some relation. If nothing else, they can't go wrong by being tougher."
"That is an… interesting way of looking at it. Most nobles don't put themselves through that kind of training unless they plan to enlist, and even then, never to this magnitude. Are you sure you won't reconsider my offer to be a teacher?"
"Sorry, I answer only to Louise and maybe the crown. Besides, me being a teacher will only end in tears once my students realise I ain't gonna cut anyone any slack on account of their nobility. If they wish to train with me, they're free to drop by but I won't be reducing the difficulty for them, wouldn't be fair to Louise and the others if I did so."
Saito gave a small smile as Osmond grumbled. "Very well, I concede your point. Heh, you've been here less than a month and the status quo is being shaken to pieces, as expected of the ganda… no never mind."
Saito caught that slip and was about to press for more info when the door slammed open. In walked an obese man dressed in fancy robes that barely contained his girth. Clearly a noble, he barged past Saito without even a glance and addressed the headmaster.
"I've completed my inspection of the vault, it's just a small room made out of bricks. Certainly fails to impress, are you sure its sufficient to protect the valuables inside? I hear Fouquet is targeting the school. It would be a serious issue if the staff of destruction was stolen."
Saito stepped back and motioned for Siesta to do the same as Osmond spoke up to the new arrival. "I assure you count, the vault's defences are more than capable of protecting its contents."
"Are you sure? It looked pretty weak to me, the royal palace would be a far safer place to store the staff."
Osmond remained outwardly unfazed but on the inside he was questioning just what Mott was up to. "I assure you the defences are unmatched, it is the most secure room in all of Tristain. When the school was built, the reigning king had the vault enchanted to the same degree of defence as the palace vault. And since then, it has been a tradition for every teacher and headmaster to add at least a layer of defence over the existing ones upon retirement. I myself have added six layers to them, it is the most secure room in all of Tristain."
"Are you sure? It would look very bad on the school's part if it was breached."
Osmond wanted to sigh, Mott was seriously trying his patience. His existence alone was revolting enough, to have him questioning his work and trying to push his agenda was the icing on the cake.
Unholy killing intent surged out of the normally genial old man, all of it directed at the count. Mott lost his composure and a wet stain spread across his breeches.
"I assure you. The staff is well defended. It would take an army or a void mage to breach all the defences, neither of which Fouquet has. Are. You. Questioning. My. Work. Boy?"
"N-no! O-of course not! If… if you're sure th-then I'll report it back to her highness. I-I'm sure she'll be pleased."
"Excellent." The surge of killing intent vanished as though it never existed and Osmond smiled kindly at the palatial messenger.
"Then your work here is done I think? If you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do so I won't show you out. I trust you remember the way to the exit?"
"I… I… yes! Yes of course. I'll be leaving now headmaster, t-the crown thanks you for your hard work." Receiving a non-committal grunt in response, Mott turned and made for the exit with as much dignity as he could muster.
The day was not going as he'd intended. First, he had to leave the comfort of his home to come here, then all the female staff in the school had mysteriously disappeared and now his efforts to have the staff of destruction relocated had failed miserably.
On his way out, his attention was drawn to a black-haired maid standing in the corner. 'Well, maybe the day isn't a complete bust after all.'
A lascivious smile disfigured his face further and he made no secret of his intentions. "Maid. You will attend to me. Come."
"No."
"Excuse me!?" Mott stopped in his tracks and turned back to the other commoner in the room he'd ignored, a random insect had dared to oppose him?
"I said no. She has her own duties to fulfil and has no time to tend to you."
The count raged inside his mind but refrained from pulling out his wand. Even if it was to discipline an upstart commoner, he got the feeling that the headmaster would not take to kindly to his office being damaged and there was no way in hell he was going to piss off the old man. Legend had it that the last moron who tried being funny was blasted into so many tiny pieces that they had to bury what little they could recover of him in shoebox.
"Hmmph is that so? That's fine, I'll just purchase her contract from the school."
"I'm afraid that's not possible count. The school no longer has her contract." Osmond spoke up at this point. Really, he could just order the count to leave now on the excuse of having business with the two, but… well, a gandalfr had appeared after so long, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested to see what Saito would do.
"It was purchased by that fine young man over there."
Saito gave a small nod as Count Mott's incredulous gaze turned to him. "A commoner purchased a contract? That's impossible."
"Not really, he had the money so I sold it to him. There isn't a law or rule against it and I should know, I checked."
"Hmmph, no matter, boy, I order you to hand over the contract at once."
"No."
"You… You dare defy me!?"
"You have no authority over me."
"I am a count! I am the palatial messenger! I demand that you obey."
His anger only increased as Saito snorted disrespectfully. "I, don't have to. One, I'm not a citizen of Tristain. Two, I answer only to my contractor, Duke Valliere's youngest daughter and to the princess herself since she outranks my employer. You are nothing more than a glorified messenger."
Mott was frothing at the mouth at the blatant show of disrespect. Face curling into an ugly snarl, he reached into his pocket for his wand only to stop and stare at the point of Saito's sword in shock.
"Oooh… partner, I know I said I wanted to be used but I'm a weapon of war damn it. Don't go using me as a butcher's knife, I don't want to be used for slaughtering pigs! I deserve better than that!"
"Sorry Derf, but piggy here is asking for it."
"A… A talking sword!"
"Bollocks, you could have waited for him to pull the wand out first you know, then if you cut him up it's self-defence. And can you put me away now? He stinks."
"You're a sword, how the heck can you even smell?"
"Hmm… you know, that's actually a good question."
Mott staggered backwards, too surprised by the fact that a random commoner had a magical talking sword and was now bantering with it of all things.
"Y-you! I won't forget this! This isn't-"
"Yeah, yeah, this isn't over, I'll regret this yada yada yada. Can you be anymore cliché? I think you might want to leave now. The headmaster is getting angry."
Mott turned to see the headmaster staring at him with narrowed eyes and paled considerably. The old man was tapping his wand on the desk abd his familiar was perched on his shoulders, looking far more menacing than a mouse had any right to… hang on, were its eyes always glowing red?
Mott gulped before slowly turning and making his way out of the room with shaky steps, trying not to show that the wet stain on his pants had grown in size again.
As the door slammed shut on his way out, the trio inside were left to their own thoughts.
Siesta was in awe of how Saito had stood up to the count, beating up students in 'duels' was one thing, directly opposing a full fledged noble with an important job was something else entirely.
The headmaster was half impressed with the familiar and half worried that he might have made a powerful enemy and bring trouble down on himself in the future.
As for the star of the show himself, Saito sheathed his blade and made a note to ready for further aggressive negotiations in the future. He'd met people like Mott in the past and most of them usually gave him an excuse to have a more private discussion in the not too distant future.
"You certainly do know how to make life interesting Mr Saito. I do hope you know what you're doing though, count Mott has friends in high places and can make your life… difficult."
Saito shrugged as the headmaster's voice drew him from his memories. "I've dealt with people like him in the past. You can relax though, I've memorised most of Tristain's laws, there are enough options in them that the good count won't be a count for very much longer if he tries anything."
The two blank stares he received got a chuckle out of him.
"What? I got a lot of free time when partner's in class ok? Just thought knowing the laws of the land I'm in was a good idea."
"Just… just don't bite off more than you can chew yes?"
"Relax headmaster, if nothing else, I am a professional negotiator, everything is under control."
-line break
The twin moons hung overhead, their light providing just enough illumination for Saito to pick his out his people of interests. A single glowing marker hung over one of them as the tracker fed information directly to his heads-up display.
"Munyaa… hmm…? Saito… why are you not asleep?" Louise rubbed her eyes groggily as Saito gently nudged her awake.
"Just thought I'd let you know that I'm stepping out for a bit."
"Hmm… where are you going?"
"To pay dear old count Mott a visit."
"Ok…" Louise blinked as the words finally processed. "YOU'RE GOING WHERE!?"
"I did tell you the good count would never take failing to get Siesta lying down. She's being kidnapped as we speak."
"WHAT!?"
"Relax, I have everything under control. Just a few questions though, you're the third daughter of a duke no?"
"Yes…?" Louise answered and stared at Saito suspiciously, she didn't know where he was going with this but a headache was coming on.
"That means the title of duke will be inherited by one of your older sisters no?"
"Yes…?"
"Right! How would you like to be a count?"
"…What exactly are you planning to do?"
Saito sniggered before pulling out a stack of papers. "These here are the employment papers for Siesta, and I had a loophole built into the contract. Mainly, I hired her in the capacity of Hiraga Saito the familiar and not Hiraga Saito the person."
"…I don't get it."
"It's quite simple, familiars have no rights. According to the law, they are nothing more than an extension of their master, in this case that's you. Any action taken by them will be seen as the action of their master. Legally, you are Siesta's employer… and the overweight idiot just had your personal attendant kidnapped for slavery. Pretty damning stuff."
"That's… wow."
"But wait, there's more! See right now, there are two options available to you. The first and most obvious one, call the cops on his ass. That gets him arrested and stripped of his nobility, Siesta is rescued and we all ride off into the sunset. But we're not going to do that."
Saito clasped his hands together and began let loose evil laughter worthy of the finest evil overlords in existence. "There's a law that dates back about 150 years give or take a bit, it covers conflicts between nobles. Whenever one does something that constitutes a grievous insult against the other, the offended party has the right to issue a challenge for a grudge match that cannot be refused."
"Oooh… carry on…" The Valliere was wide awake now, this reeked of being another one of Saito's completely insane plans that had a tendency to work out in the end. Count Mott was a familiar name to her, being one of the prime examples of everything that was wrong with the nobility. If her familiar had a plan to put him in his place she was all for it, maybe it would even gain some points in her mother's eye for upholding the rule of steel.
"Rules are simple, once challenge has been issued, neither party can back down from it and anything goes during the duel. Winner takes all. Titles, land, money everything the loser owns becomes property of the victor. It's partly the reason why that rule fell out of use since it is very, very final. I'll be standing in as your champion of course and you'll be a count by sunrise."
"And what if you lose?"
"Ahahahaha! That's the beauty of it! Even if I do by some act of god lose, nothing will happen… except maybe I get a few broken bones for my efforts, nothing serious. See, even if he wins, it doesn't change the fact that he did break the law, so he'll still be going to prison no matter what happens. Am I good, or am I good."
Louise whistled softly as she appreciated the genius behind the plan. "And just how long have you been planning something like this?"
"Ever since I came across it while studying the law, granted I was not expecting it to come into play so quickly. If I hadn't pushed buying her contract through then this might be a little more complicated. Well, luck or providence it doesn't matter, negotiations with the count have been going smoothly, now I just need to seal the deal."
"You call this negotiations?"
"But of course, the best kind of negotiating is the one where you achieve your goal without the other party even realising that you've done so. Now I move on to the next bit, aggressive negotiations." Having said his piece, Saito leapt out down from the balcony and sprinted off into the night.
-line break
Siesta shuddered in a mix of revulsion and fright as Count Mott approached her. One moment she'd been doing the laundry the next some thugs had thrown a bag over her head and kidnapped her.
She didn't know how long she'd been left with the hood on but when it was taken off, she sorely wished they hadn't. Count Mott in his night clothes was the stuff of nightmares and she resisted the urge to throw up on the spot.
Mott himself was feeling pretty good, being back in his manor reminded himself of his station and his right to enjoy the finer things in life.
His hired muscle stood at the foot of the stairs in his entry hall, the maid that caught his eye earlier in the day being held between them.
Right as he opened his mouth to give a grandiose speech about how it was her honour to serve one as great as he, the doors were blown down in a blast of ungodly sound.
The upstart commoner from before stepped through while whistling a jaunty tune and spinning his sword at the end of a string. The carefree "Yo!" thrown his way only served to increase his ire.
"YOU! How dare you invade MY HOME! Guards! Arrest that man! Arrest him!"
"Me Saito says arrest him."
Siesta and the two thugs could easily see what the count couldn't from his angle, behind the broken doors lay a trail of bodies groaning on the floor. Kidnapping a maid sure, fighting against someone who just beat up every guard in his way without even slowing down… not so much.
"Come along Siesta, you have work to do back at the academy."
"She is going nowhere brat. She belongs to me now and I will enjoy making her scream my name."
"Belongs to you eh? Do tell, where are her employment papers?"
"Hmmph! As if I need any of that! By my authority as a count, she belongs to me. Your papers are worthless scrap. Where are the blasted guards?"
Saito nodded along to the count's words before drawing a dagger imprinted with the Valliere insignia and tossing it into the ground hard enough to embed it in the polished marble. "So you did kidnap her as my master thought. Count Mott, on account of your kidnapping of Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière's most trusted confidant, you have been declared anathema and challenged to a grudge match. The duel will take place here and now, as her familiar, I will be acting as her champion. You may choose to face me yourself or send a champion of your own."
The sound of metal clanking on stone drew their attention and a blonde lady knight in full armour came marching through the shattered doorway, cape billowing out behind her. Several similarly armoured knights followed behind her.
"What's going on here? We're her majesty's royal guard and we received reports of a disturbance in the area."
'Unexpected but not unwelcome. Good to have witnesses.' Saito mused as he analysed the newcomers and held his sword in a non-threatening manner. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mott mouthing 'filthy plebeians' and filed that away for future reference.
"Ah chevalier Agnes, how nice to see you again. This commoner barged into my home unannounced and threatened me, make yourself useful and remove him from the premises. Founder knows your little group of knights aren't good for much else."
To her credit, Agnes let the insult slide off with little more than a small frown, remaining professional despite the unpleasant man. "Is that so. Fine, young man, I will have to ask you to leave."
Saito shook his head and stood his ground. "That's not happening. I am well within my legal rights to be here. I am here as the familiar of a noble, one that has been grievously insulted by Count Mott. She is the third daughter of the Valliere family and has issued a challenge for a grudge match to be held here and now. If it is possible, I would like you and your knights to remain here as witnesses of the duel."
"A grudge match?" Agnes whistled appreciatively. "That hasn't been done in nearly three decades."
"I was unaware of that. This man kidnapped the maid Siesta who happens to be a close friend and confidant of my master just hours after she purchased her contract. Such an insult cannot be allowed to stand, and my master will have satisfaction."
"Lies! I did nothing of the sort. And your master purchased nothing! It was… it was…"
Saito rolled up his sleeves and displayed the familiar runes on his left hand. "As you can see, I am a familiar. I am merely the extension of my master's will, she was indisposed in the afternoon so I settled the paperwork in her place. The maid's contract papers remain with her even now, if you insist on further slandering my master, I insist that you show proof of your ownership of her contract."
Mott was screwed and he knew it. And so he did what all cowards do, run away and hide. "I have no time for this nonsense. I'm leaving."
"So you forfeit the match then count? If you do so, everything you own including your title of count will be transferred to the familiar's master." Agnes spoke up to put the final nail in Mott's coffin.
"WHAT!?"
"A grudge match cannot be turned down. If you leave, it will count as forfeiting and you lose everything. Of course, you will be coming with us to assist in investigations into the charge of kidnapping."
"Y-you can't do that! I am the palatial messenger! I… I order you to remove that commoner from my presence."
"This is an issue between the daughter of the Vallieres and you, as agents of the crown, we cannot and will not interfere… unless you forfeit in which case we will remove you since you no longer own the mansion. It is the law and not even you are exempt."
"You… I… gragghhh! Fine! All I have to do is crush that upstart yes? Tch, a waste of my time but if you have a death commoner allow me to grant it. I am Count Mott of the Wave and a triangle class mage. Enjoy your last breaths before I drown you."
Drawing his wand, the tension in the place skyrocketed, the knights, thugs and Siesta retreated to the edges of the room to avoid interfering with the duel. The two thugs also took the opportunity to make themselves scarce before anyone could think to arrest them.
"Yo Derf! You want a piece of the action or no?"
"Please, not against that pig. Call me when you got someone actually worth fighting, I'm going back to sleep." The talking sword responding grouchily.
"Suit yourself." Saito slipped on one of his dusters and drew his sidearm in the other.
Mott attacked without warning and sent three ice spikes shooting towards Saito. Dropping to the floor in a crouch, the spikes sailed harmlessly overhead and buried themselves in the wall.
Launching forwards, Saito bobbed and weaved through the oncoming barrage of ice spikes, water balls and water whips to close the distance.
He grunted in surprise when a spray of water that landed on his right arm started to freeze immediately courtesy of Mott's magic. The ice itself wasn't debilitating since his jacket insulated him from the cold but the movement of his arm being hampered was annoying.
Smashing the thin layer of ice with his duster, Saito ducked under a spinning ice blade and readied himself for an opening in Mott's defences.
The count had surrounded himself with six rings of high pressure water, all rotating around himself at high speed, a more advanced form of a spell one of the nobles he'd beaten a while back.
And just like that noble, it had a single crippling weakness, those spinning rings could deflect or weaken most attacks in theory but the main drawback to the spell was that it was impossible to manually control the rotation.
Control itself was left up to the spell and the rings followed a set pattern, one that would open up a single weak point every so many cycles. The opening was too small for anything short of a gun or a continuous stream to take advantage of and most people wouldn't be able to even see that opening let alone capitalise on it.
But Saito wasn't most people, his augmentations courtesy of ZOCOM back in the days of fighting in the red zones coupled with the boost from whatever magic was in his familiar runes improved his perception to the point the world looked like it was going by in slow motion.
A split-second opening?
All the time in the world.
Saito exhaled and snapped his sidearm up, firing as soon as the window opened. Time slowed to a crawl as the bullet exited the barrel and bypassed every layer of defence the count had thrown up.
The wand in Mott's hands vanished in a shower of splinters as the wand disintegrated on bullet impact.
"Gah!" The count loss his concentration as he cradled the now wandless hand in the other, his revolving shield crumbled instantly and formed a large puddle on the floor.
"That's impossible! There's no way you could have bypassed my defences. This cannot be!" Mott screamed in defiance as Saito picked his way across the lingering ice spikes and rubble to get to him.
"Oi! Chevalier! Arrest him! He attacked a noble! Arrest him!"
Agnes shook her head and without her approval, none of the other musketeers moved either. "This is a grudge match, we cannot and will not interfere."
"What!? I… I yield! I yield! Stop him!"
"That's not how grudge matches work arrogant fool. Once the duel has commenced, it only ends when the victor says it ends. As long as you don't die, I have carte blanche to do as I please."
Saito's grin was positively sinister at this point as he approached the pathetic man. "I happen to have friends among the serving staff at the academy, they told me quite a lot about how you like to 'break' those under you. So now, I break you."
"Stop! I…I'm ordering you to stop! A-are you listening!? STOP!"
"Don't worry. I won't kill you." The enraged general holstered his sidearm and slipped on the other pair of dusters.
"I'm just going to hurt you, really, really, bad."
The first blow sent teeth flying. The second brought the count to his knees. The third broke four ribs. The fourth darkened one eye permanently.
With every blow Saito landed, his mind wandered back into his past. Repressed anger surged to the forefront as Mott's face was replaced by the one man he hated almost as much as Kane.
Obsolete water filtration system at risk of imminent failure, tiberium corrosion 39%, funds requested for emergency repairs, estimated budget 2.3 million.
Denied.
"They don't matter, GDI's responsibility is to our constituents. We are not here to waste precious funds on backwater peoples, that money will be put to better use funding promotional efforts in the blue zones, we need to keep the people's trust!"
Filtration system complete failure. Tiberium contamination, total. Estimated casualties, 72,000 affected 8000 dead. Death toll expected to climb.
They don't matter.
ZOCOM operations in central Australia in danger of total collapse. Brotherhood forces entrenched in area. Allied forces outnumbered 8 to 1. Reinforcements requested from Sydney.
Denied.
"They're ZOCOM, best of the best! They can handle themselves. We're moving a large amount of gold bullion from here to the GDI treasury and we're behind schedule as it is. We need to guard the gold lest NOD gets any funny ideas. Don't worry commander, I'll be meeting the rest of GDI high command on the Philadelphia, I'll be sure to pass along your request, but for now they don't matter."
ZOCOM losses 87%, NOD forces too deeply dug in to be rooted out. Tiberium containment efforts complete failure. Future reclamation efforts non-viable.
They don't matter.
Deep scans show possible liquid tiberium deposits beneath Temple Prime. Recommend extreme caution during operation. Risk of chain reaction with use of ion cannon judged to be high. Request for ASAT defences to be struck from available options.
Denied.
"No general, I'm not suggesting it. I'm ordering it. General, this is a NOD controlled yellow zone. Whatever the repercussions of the ion strike may be, my concerns are not for the locals of this region, my concerns are for our public! The GDI populace who have been promised payback for the Philadelphia."
GDI losses in Sarajevo 100%. Deadly fallout and radiation across eastern Europe. Estimated civilian death toll in the millions. Tiberium infestation increased to unsustainable levels, most of Sarajevo red zoned.
They don't matter.
Scrin invasion begins. Millions dead. Liquid tiberium bomb built from data salvaged from Temple Prime. Orders to use it passed down. Estimated resulting death toll, 25 million and unchecked spread of the tiberium scourge.
They don't matter.
Saito sucked in a deep breath and slowly lowered his still raised fist. It was wet with blood. Slowly, the face of Redmond Boyle he'd been pounding was replaced with the broken form of Count Mott. Every bone in his arms had been broken from trying to ward of the hammer like blows and his face was a complete mess of swelling and blood.
With an act of supreme will, he forced his left fist to unclench, releasing the count's shirt and allowing the body to drop unceremoniously.
As the general brought his breathing under control and stepped back, he angrily berated himself for losing control like that.
'Damnit, lost control. So, the calming effect from the runes does have a limit after all.' Saito's body shuddered as he exhaled.
'Breathe in, count to four, exhale. Breathe in, count to four, exhale.' Slowly but surely, he regained full control over his own emotions. Turning away from the fallen noble, he approached the chevalier standing by Siesta.
"It's done. Can I trouble you to see that he gets medical attention? I'm sorry for the hassle."
Agnes nodded and motioned for two of her musketeers to see that Mott didn't expire from the one-sided beating before favouring Saito with a questioning glance. "A lot of anger in that beating. Looked a little personal to me, you sure this is about avenging the honour of your 'master'?"
"I am here on behalf of my master. He just happens to remind of someone from my past."
"I'm not going to tell you to throw away your hate. God knows I of all people don't have the right to do so." Agnes nodded understandingly even as a dark look flickered across her face.
"Just see that you don't go around attacking people because they happen to look like someone you know. I'd rather not have to arrest you. Did… did you ever settle the score with that person?"
"No." Saito shook his head and a broken smile crossed his face. "Someone else beat me to him."
"I see. The past is gone, hypocritical as it is coming from me, do try to move forwards. May you find peace in the founder's embrace." Agnes gave a short bow towards Saito before turning and marching out, the remaining musketeers falling in step behind her.
"Ano… are you alright Saito?" Siesta piped up from the side once they were the only two remaining in the destroyed hall.
"No. But I will be. Quite an eventful night I'll say. Pick a room and get some rest. Sun's rising in a bit and it's a long day ahead. I wish to be alone for now."
"Al-alright… um… have a good night Saito." The maid bowed and left after seeing a noncommittal nod.
And so, the general was left standing alone amidst the ruins of his own design, reflecting on old regrets and laying plans for the future.
Author's notes: It won't die! The plot bunny won't die! I've been writing this through finals week and here's hoping my gpa doesn't crash and burn. If anyone's curious, I see GDI and NOD as two sides of the same coin, both are right on some points and hopelessly wrong on others. Corruption exists in both organisations and neither side can admit that they're wrong. The two Saito's should be reflections of that, both are incredibly similar but they differ on several points. ZOCOM Saito is by the book who believes in exploiting all the loopholes. MOK Saito plays by his own rules since he believes enough people toss out the book that it doesn't really apply anymore. Both men are products of their environments and have developed their ideals accordingly. On a side note, cookies for everyone who manages to pick out the references in the chapter
