Next installment of The Devil Familiar of Zero. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to update this story as much as I like due to school starting up again. I have also been busy with my new story The Devil Tyrant, so if you could check that out and review it, I will appreciate it.
"Speech"
'Thought'
"Goodbye, Kirche." I said as I opened the front door.
Cool morning air greeted my face as I walked outside with Kirche muttering something as she follows me out the door. I just spent the morning talking with Kirche, making sure that we didn't have sexual intercourse yesterday night. She confirmed that we didn't do anything, relieving me of all the anxiety I had since I woke up with her on top of me.
That would be very bad if we did and a baby was created. Half Devils with human blood are very dangerous as they don't the traditional weakness of holy items that we pure Devils have.
I'm glad that we didn't do anything after all. It truly would have been a disaster if we had sex and a baby was formed. Kirche could have died in childbirth, not a good solution as I don't want her to die. If the child was born, someone needs to take care of him or her, and I'm not sure I could be that person.
Nonetheless, all of this is irrelevant as nothing happened between us, and I'm glad. Kirche is now grabbing my left arm, trying to stop me from leaving Tabitha's estate.
"Where are you going?" Kirche pouted while making a face. I must admit that it was cute and probably would have made any other man turn around and go back with her, but I wasn't fazed at all.
"I am going to go meet up with Louise now." I said as Kirche again made a face.
"Why are you with that Zero instead of me?" She said as she took my left arm and put it against her breasts. I again was unfazed and retracted my arm back to my side. I couldn't simply tell her the truth with Brimir and I, so I pondered what to do.
"That is for me to know and you to find out." I said as I opened my wings as fast as possible before taking flight, leaving Kirche in the dust. I flew North, hoping to reach the magic academy so I could find out where exactly is the Valliere estate. I noted my current location in the sky and matched it with the locations I have been to, and deduced the path to the magic academy from this information. I flew for thirty minutes at my normal speed before I saw one tower in the faint distance. The tower was one of the five towers of the academy, so I knew that I was going to arrive.
I gradually descended into the forest around the school, making sure that no one saw me as I don't want them to see my wings. I smoothly landed and retracted my wings, looking around to make sure no one was approaching my location. There was no one, so I started walking in the direction of the gates of the academy.
I saw very few people in the courtyard, just a few servants and some staff members whose names are somewhere in my head that I can't reach at this moment. I then walked into Vestri court, the sight of my battle with Guiche, ah, good times.
" , how are you?" Colbert shouted as he waved at me. He was walking in the courtyard, some type of box in his arms. I started walking towards his location at the other side of the courtyard and saw the smiling forming on his face.
"I am fine, thank you for asking." I said as I reached his location. I then looked down at the box, it was blue, red, and white, and it looks like something a little child would like.
" , do you know what this little box is for?" Colbert said as he handed me the box. I examined the box, noticing the pin and the knob, before seeing the word toy written on the box. I have my suspicions about the box, so I opened it up to find several little animal figurines inside. This confirmed what I believe the box to be.
"It is a music box." I said as Colbert's face looked confused.
"Music box?"
"Yes, this is how it works." I said as Colbert stared hardly at what I am going to do. I turned the knob a few times, tightening up the mechanism inside, and then pulled the pin on the side. A nice, smooth sounding music came out of the box, surprising Colbert. I believe the song is It's A Small World, a song played by Disney at their amusement parks if I remember correctly.
"Amazing!" Colbert said as he put his right ear against the box, eagerly listening to the music of the box. The music eventually stopped playing, and Colbert took his ear off the box, his face full of joy at the music.
"Is this something of your land?" He said, his face absolutely giddy when he spoke.
"Yes, there were of my land, but they are relatively old now, and have been replaced with more modern technology."
"I see. Rofocal, are you busy today?"
"I was planning on meeting up with Louise later, do you need help with something?"
"Yes! I have been collecting strange objects for years now. Would you mind helping me identify these objects?"
"Sure, where are they located?"
"In my workshop. The academy gave me a small stable and I converted it into a workshop. All of my items are inside.
"Lead the way." I said as he nodded before turning around. He walked towards the stables with me following closely behind him. I noticed his workshop was behind the stables, far from any possible student or servant wandering into the area. We came to the shed, a modest wooden structure that looks like a log cabin more than a workshop.
He took out a key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock and turned, causing the lock to click, and he opened the door. I followed him inside, noticing all the primitive inventions he created, as well as the blueprints for future designs on pieces of parchment scattered on the desks in the dimly lit room. The sun was coming in from the West side, providing a bit of sunshine, but not enough to illuminate the entire room. I went to the window, staring at the wall just outside of it as Colbert scattered about in the workshop.
"What is this?" Colbert said from behind me. I turned around and noticed a massive object in his arms. I turned at looked at the table full of items from Earth, and then back at Colbert.
"That is a boombox." I said as Colbert looked confused.
"Boom….box? It creates explosions?" He said as I chuckled.
"No, it doesn't make explosions. It does play music."
"How?" He said as he looked curious.
"See this?" I said as I pointed at the cassette slot. He nodded so I thought about how to explain what the boombox is.
"You need to put something inside called a cassette tape. Once you put it in, as long as you have a power source, it can create music. Music comes out of these." I said as I gestured at the two circular speakers.
"I see! What about this?" He said as he put the boombox on the table before picking up the typewriter next to it.
"That is a typewriter. You can use it to write something you want on it."
"Why would you want that if you can simply write on scrolls?"
"You can produce more writing on the typewriter rather than having to write out each letter by hand."
"Interesting. What are these things on it?" He said as he pointed at the keys.
"These are letter keys. They form the basis of a language in my world called English. There are twenty-six letters, and with those letters, you can make any word you want." I said as his face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Interesting. What about the rest of these items?" He said as he gestured towards the table that as far as I could see, had over thirty items on it. I realize that I can't be stuck here all day explaining each one to him, so I thought about a deal we could make.
" , if I identify each object and tell about its function, can you tell me something in return?"
"What is it?"
"Can you direct me to Louise's estate?"
"Sure, I'll be glad to."
"One more thing, after I identify each object, I'm going to place it on the floor just so I know which ones I've identified." I said as he took the boombox to a corner before coming back for the typewriter. Colbert also came pulled up a chair and a piece of parchment to the table, and readied a quill with ink, probably going to take down notes about what I say.
"Electric rice cooker. You can cook a food called rice inside without the use of a fire. You simply put the rice inside, and as long as there is electricity, you can make warm rice." I said as I pointed at the white rice cooker on the table.
"Electricity?" He said as I facepalmed.
"This." I said as I rose my left arm and aimed it at a window. I took a deep breath before unleashing a lightning strike, causing the window to shatter. I then took the electric rice cooker and gently placed it right by Colbert's feet. Colbert looked at the window and then back at me before turning back to this parchment, scribbling frantically on the sheet.
I continued identifying objects in his room for a few more hours until there was nothing left. I must admit, there was a rather large assortment of items inside the room. There was a pencil sharpener, television remote, deodorant, enigma machine, light bulb, and a camcorder, and these were the most noticeable items.
"And that is all." I said after identifying a fax machine. Colbert nodded as he looked at all the notes he took, all thirty seven pages of them.
"So, , you helped me, I'll point you in the direction of the Valliere estate once we leave school grounds." He said as I nodded.
He stacked all of his notes neatly in a pile and put the pile in a desk drawer before opening the entrance door. He exited first and I followed in the rear, noticing the fading colors of the sun as it began to set in the horizon. We walked in the direction of the gates as I noticed the lack of students in the courtyard. We walked for about five minutes in complete silence as we reached the gates.
"You will reach the Valliere estate if you go in that direction." He said, his right finger pointed in the North direction.
"You will see a massive estate unlike any other and that is it."
" , will you consider postponing your decision to travel? It is going to get dark soon." He asked.
"No, I will go tonight." I replied
"How will you get there?"
"Don't worry about that. I should be leaving now, anything else?"
"Be sure to give my battle commander Karin my regards." He said as I raised my eyebrows, wondering who this Karin is.
"Of course, goodbye." I said as I started walking into the forest. I turned around, making sure he wasn't following me into the forest. He wasn't, so I expanded my wings without the fear of anyone seeing. I jumped off the ground, and caught a wind from the South, helping me glide in the direction Colbert pointed me to. I glided for about an hour before I noticed a sprawling estate in the distance, and seeing that it was far grander than Mott's estate, it must be the Valliere estate.
I saw the walls of the estate from the sky as I searched for a proper landing spot, hidden away to prevent anyone from seeing my wings. I noticed a patch of clearing in the forest, hidden about three hundred meters from the main gate of the estate. I gradually glided to the spot, slowing down my speed to avoid a crash landing with the hard ground. I stuck the landing perfectly, managing to hit the ground at the right speed to avoid a collision.
I got out of the forest, noticing a foot bridge in front of the massive wall. The door was massive and there were two guards on duty at the time, at least that is what I can see from my position. The guards are rather old to be guards, by my estimation, there are in their thirties, and the one on the left sports a thin moustache. Both are dressed in modest armor, causing lances in their right hands while sporting serious expressions on their faces.
I started walking in that direction, thinking about what I was going to say to get me into the estate.
"Halt! Who goes there?" The guard with the moustache bellowed.
"I do. The name's Marquis Rofocal Shax, I have business with Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere." I said as they looked at each other before nodding.
"Prove that you are a Marquis, demonstrate magic."
"Good enough?" I said as I made a fireball in my hand before putting it out. They nodded and then the one with the moustache looked up at the wall.
"Open the gate!" He said as the gates swung open, revealing a well lit estate about two hundred meters in front of me. The estate had many ornate windows and was surrounded by a wall of well-trimmed trees in front.
I walked onto the estate grounds, hearing the sounds of the gates closing from behind as I started walking. I noticed the various species of flowers as I continued on the path to the front door, looking for any similarities to the ones here compared to the ones at home.
I snapped out of my thoughts as I approached the steps to the manor, walking up each step as I pondered what was going to happen at the door. I reached the top of the stairs and walked towards the door, knocking on it three times before I heard a response.
"Coming." A young, feminine voice said from behind the door. A young woman with long, brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a maid uniform opened the door.
"Can I help you?" she asked politely after bowing.
"My name is Marquis Rofocal Shax.I have business with Louise, may I see her?" I said as she nodded.
"Please, follow me." She said as she let me through the door. She closed the door behind us before walking in front of me. We walked on red carpet as I looked at the well painted walls, noticing the small details of the walls. We stopped in front of the stairs as the maid turned to face me.
"Please wait here, I will retrieve Miss Louise from her bedroom." She said as she bowed before going up the stairs.
"Nice place." I muttered to myself as I continued looking around the room. I heard footsteps coming from the next floor, and I turned my sight to see Louise and the maid.
"Rofocal!" She said as she rushed down the stairs, tears flowing from her eyes.
"Don't leave me! Where were you all this time?"She said as she hit my chest with her tiny fists.
"I couldn't get the tear from the spirit as it attacked me. I then spent the next two days trying to find this place." I said, leaving out the night with Kirche as I don't want her to be angry.
"Where's Henrietta?" I whispered in her ear.
"She is in my room, still weak from the journey." She whispered back.
"I see." I said, thinking about what to do next.
"Excuse me, Miss Louise, Mister Rofocal, dinner is about to start." The maid said as she came down the stairs.
"Well, you should have dinner before we discuss what to do." I said to Louise, who nodded in return.
"Let's go." Louise said as the maid started walking into a hallway, with Louise and I following closely behind.
We walked into the dark hallway before making a left turn, entering into a grand room. The room was well lit, and there were paintings hanging everywhere in the room. There was a long table with three women at the end of it, each with a plate of food in front of them. There was the oldest looking one with pink hair at the end of the table, and her glare looks like it can pierce the strongest door just by looking at it. There was one with flowing blonde hair, her expression was also serious, but not as serious as the one at the end of the table. There was the last one with pink hair, she has a kind expression on her face, a stark contrast to the first two.
There is a fireplace at the end of the table, and numerous servants at the ready for any of the women.
"Who is this?" The one at the end of the table asked as I walked into the room.
"Names Rofocal Shax, Marquis of Hell." I replied as all three focused their attention at me.
"Oh, so you are Louise's familiar. I thought the rumors were false." The one with the blonde hair said as she stood up and started walking towards me. Her eyes examined me from head to toe, focusing on my eyes, our sights met.
"And you are?" I asked, not knowing why this woman was looking at me.
"Hmph. I am Louise's oldest sister, Eleonore de La Valliere, and I will be treated with respect." She declared as she raised a finger up. I rolled my eyes and continued walking before stopped near the table.
"Cool story." I replied as Louise sat opposite of Eleonore, who looks rather angry for some reason as she took her seat.
"So familiar, you are a noble?" The one at the end of the table said as she looked at me.
"That could be said."
"What do you mean by could?" She said as she focused her eyes on me.
"Nobility in my land doesn't require magic. I just happen to have it." I replied as her eyes widened.
"Where are you from anyway?"
"Hell."
"Where is this Hell?"
"It isn't in your world as I am from another world."
"Impossible, there is no such thing! You are a liar!" Eleonore said as she stood up from her seat.
"Believe whatever you want, but it is the truth." I replied dismissively.
"Show us your magic if you can truly use it." Eleonore demanded.
'Damn, what a bitch.' I thought as I held my hand up before creating a rock and setting it on fire.
"Happy now?" I grinned as she glared angrily at me before sitting down.
" Well, since you proved that you can use magic and are of noble birth, how would you like to marry into this family?" The one at the end of the table asked me as I raised my eyebrows.
'Seriously?' I thought as she continued on.
"Yes, you can marry Eleonore or Cattleya." She said as Eleonore stood up.
"I'm not marrying a familiar, not matter what his background is." She stated. I became somewhat annoyed at her behavior as she seems even worse than Louise, if that is even possible.
"Feeling is somewhat mutual, I don't want to marry a hag." I replied as everyone looked at me with a shocked expression. I felt the air lower by at least twenty degrees, so I looked at Eleonore who was trembling.
"YOU DARE CALL ME A HAG?" She screamed as she pulled out her wand before launching a wind ball at me. I froze time and walked around the table, grabbing her wand out of her hand before walking back to the other side. I then unfroze time and watched the wind ball hit the wall.
"Yes." I said as I twirled her wand in my hand. She looked shocked and then noticed the wand missing from her hand.
"Eleonore, that is enough." The one at the end of the table said.
"But I….."
"No buts. Familiar, apologize to my daughter now."
"Um, no."
"You are refusing an order from me?" She said slowly as she got up.
"Yes, who are you to give me orders?" I asked.
"I am Karin the Heavy Wind." She said as she glared at me.
"Ah, so you are the person Colbert mentioned as his commander. Still, you don't hold sway over me." I replied as she looked angry.
"How arrogant! You will learn about respecting me. Be ready in half an hour. We will duel at the entrance of the house." She said, taking a coat from her servant before storming out of the room.
"Rofocal! Apologize to her now! You are going to die." Louise said as she grabbed me, hugging me while hitting me with her tiny fists.
"Not necessary, I intend on winning." I replied.
"No! Mother doesn't understand the meaning on holding back." Louise stated.
"Neither do I." I said as I left the room with a servant who looked absolutely terrified for me. I walked out to the entrance with Eleonore, Louise, and Cattleya right behind me.
I was in front of the house as I sat in Lotus position, trying to clear my mind before a battle. I meditated for half an hour before I heard the flapping of wings, opening my eyes to the sight of a giant manticore. I saw her dressed in full armor, with a saber in her hand and a mask covering her face. She dismounted the manticore which then flew away.
"Well, let's get this over with." I replied as I saw her scowl underneath the mask.
"Very well, I am Karin Desiree de La Valliere. My runic name is Karin the Heavy Wind."
"Well then, I am Rofocal Shax. I guess my runic name is Rofocal the keeper of Chronos."
"You can have the first move." I offered her.
"I intend to." She said as she launched a powerful wind spell at me. I dodged as she created several tornados which she sent my way.
"Not going to happen." I said as I stopped time before destroying the tornados with two water serpents. I then started time again and rushed at Karin as I was boosted by my wind magic.
She then proceeded to rush at me with inhuman speeds, and she tried to slash at me with her wandsword. I dodged her strike before countering with a right hook to the body with full force. The punch went through the armor and landed perfectly as I moved to disengage from close quarters combat.
"You are the strongest human I've ever faced. Not good enough though." I said as she conjured up more tornados, sending over ten of them my way.
I decided to face them head on, wanting to see what she was really capable of. I created a tidal wave of water, sending it head on to meet the tornados. The tornados and the wall of water crashed head on and neutralized each other, but I didn't celebrate as I noticed numerous blades coming at me.
'Interesting tactic. Sending in swords behind tornados. You are an interesting human.' I said as I surrounded myself with water before solidifying it, causing ice which will protect me. The ice blocked the wind swords, and she rushed at me as she conjured up hundreds of tornados which surrounded me.
I then switched to fire as I created a massive ring of fire, over one hundred meters in diameter, and expanded it to destroy the tornados. The fire destroyed the tornados, but this was a distraction as I noticed hundreds of wind blades coming at me from all sides. I barely had time to put stop time before two swords managed to inflict cuts on my left arm and right leg.
"Ok, no more playing around." I yelled as I created three massive tidal waves of water which I sent at her. I rode on the third one and I saw her create tornados to stop the tidal waves. She managed to destroy the first two and managed to destroy the third one as I closed the distance to engage her in a fist fight. She kept trying to slash me with her wandsword as she added in wind spears when I was too far to be slashed at. I countered by dodging the attacks and sending water spears at her. She managed to cut down the water spears, but I managed to get close enough to launch two more punches to her body, each going through the armor, and the second one lifted her up off the ground.
She managed to catch herself as rushed again, this time I aimed to disarm her of her wand. There was some blood coming out of her mouth, but she didn't back down and rushed right back at me. She conjured up numerous wind spears, but I dodged all of them before grabbing a hold of her wand. She tried to yank the wand out of my grip, but I kicked her in the stomach, again going through the armor, and this caused her to fall to the ground. The wand was out of her grip in the struggle and was now firmly in my hand.
"Winner!" I screamed out loud as I saw the shocked faces of Eleonore, Louise, and Cattleya.
"Rofocal! You did it!" Louise said as she ran at me, before tackling me with a flying hug.
"Damn right I did." I said as I noticed Karin struggling to getting back to her feet.
"You okay?" I said as I went over to help her up, making sure that she wasn't critically injured or anything.
"Yes I am. I haven't had such a fight in nearly thirty years." Karin said as she took off her mask. I gave her back her wand after she took off her mask.
"Feeling is mutual. That is the best fight I have had in a very long time. So I respect you for your skills now, do you respect me for mine?"
"Yes. Yes I do. I can tell you are able to protect Louise. But why?" She asked.
"Why what?" I asked, confused about what she meant.
"Why do you continue to protect Louise? You have the power to conquer Halkeginia if you wanted to." She said as she narrowed her eyes at me.
"I have my reasons, one being the familiar runes." I replied, looking down at my runes before thinking back to my meeting with Brimir.
"What guarantee is it that you will stay loyal to my daughter?"
"If I was going to abandon her, I would have done it a long time ago." I replied as she scowled at me.
"Well, you have proven that you can protect her at least. But this isn't the end."
"I must say otherwise. You are at your limit. The strikes to your body will cause severe internal injuries if left untreated. I on the other hand remain relatively unscathed." I said as she looked down at her broken armor.
"Come on, let's get you inside so I can heal you." I said as I lifted her up, surprising her before I carried her bridal style to the door, ignoring the looks I was receiving from Eleonore, Cattleya, and Louise.
'This is going to cause a headache.' I thought as I saw the looks on their faces. Damn, they aren't going to make this easy for me.
Hope you enjoyed the story. Read, follow, and favorite this story. Most importantly, review! I need you to tell me what I need to improve on.
I'm not sure as to when I will get to updating this again. School is picking up, and I need to continue on my other story, The Devil Tyrant. I hope to update next month, but I can't promise anything.
Thanks to everyone who has been following this story since the beginning, hope to update soon.
Skylinemaster out.