I don't own this.

AN: Long time since I last updated, sorry. Been playing games, partying, and college. Also, working on my other story as well.

Anyway, things will keep moving. As many of you may have noticed, the story will focus much more on Saito than Louise. So, enjoy the story.

André du Châtelet watched as his friend threw a fit. Gerald's familiar, a Germanian Sheppard, had lost the commoner's scent. The commoner had crossed a river less than half a day's walk from the capital.

André sighed, it was to be expected that they would lose the trail, the commoner had a two day head start, and it had rained two days ago. If anything it was miraculous that there was even a scent for the familiar to follow.

André pulled out a map of Tristain, and tried to figure out where the commoner was most likely heading.

"What are you looking at?" Gerald tiredly asked his friend.

"The commoner was moving west-southwest in almost a straight line. There are two villages that are close to the path he is taking. Ferovale 2 days from here, and Childarin south of that village. He probably stopped at one of them to buy supplies or earn some money. Someone in one of these villages must have seen him. I guarantee it." André could see that Gerald was annoyed that he hadn't realized that himself. André grinned at his friend's annoyance.

"What about this town here? Durath?"

"That town is 3 days from Ferovale, it's a possibility, but the others are more likely. I suggest we split up, you go to Childarin, I go to Ferovale, and then if there's no word on the commoner, you move to Durath, and I'll see Count Mott and the other two noble families who own this land. I'll catch up with you in Durath." André told his friend.

"Then I guess I'm off to Childarin."

André whistled loudly, and his familiar came crashing through the trees. It was a small, red, fire dragon. André gently stroked him and whispered thanks for his quick arrival. His dragon was remarkably young for a familiar, it had only just gotten big enough to fly last year. He still wasn't strong enough to carry more than one person.

"I suppose you and Fafnir are going to Ferovale?"

"See you in a few days." André said as he and Fafnir flew away.

"So, I am Gandàlfr, a familiar of void, right?"

"That's right partner." The sword strapped to Saito's back acknowledged.

"And anything that was made to be a weapon I will understand how to use expertly?"

"Yep."

Saito kept moving towards his destination in deep thought, trying to remember all of the times he had used the runes. There were the two tests, the fight with Guich, the fight with Roger, his escape, and the fight with Gerald.

In his head Saito began comparing how well he fought with Guiche and how well he fought with Gerald. Some of the differences were obvious. One, in his fight with Guiche he was many times faster, to the point that the golems were practically standing still, and in the fight with Gerald he was only moving as fast as the mage. Second, when he fought Guiche he was able to crush a brass golem with a punch, and when he hit Gerald there was no way he hit him that hard even once. Something was wrong.

"Is there anything that affects how powerful or effective the runes are?"

"It's all you partner. They're only as strong as you are."

"I was faster and stronger in an earlier fight, so no, it is not only as strong as I am." Saito told the sword in annoyance.

"Well you are the only thing that affect how strong you are."

"That's a bit better, I guess." Saito said as he began to consider what affected the runes strength. It couldn't be which weapon he was holding. It couldn't be his proximity to Louise. It had nothing to do with his own physical strength. So that left emotional.

Saito groaned, realizing that in his fight against Guiche he was infuriated, and if that was when he was at his strongest, then rage must have been the most effective emotion for strengthening the runes. Rage, not happiness, relaxation, or calmness. No, he had to be piss off to be at his best. "Damn it." Saito quietly said to himself as he realized another problem. Fear. When he used his pistol he was terrified that he was going to die. From his shooting it looked downright amateur. Sure each shot hit the noble, but they were so spread out, when they should have been close together.

"What's got you bothered." The sword asked in an annoyed tone.

"I figured out what controls how effective the runes are. I can't control my damn emotions. I can't just make myself angry."

"Just stop and think. You keep getting angry when you think."

"That's because I keep realizing horrible crap! Hopefully I run out of bad things to realize!" Saito said as he cleared the forest and heard something move. Saito froze in place, waiting for a moment before pulling out his Beretta. Saito heard it again, and began slowly making his way toward the sound. It may have been a pursuer, and Saito hoped that if it was he could surprise them. He carefully made his way to the sound, moving like a shadow. Then Saito saw it.

There was a doe and a 5 point buck. He chambered a round, and both the doe and the buck looked up at him. Saito stared at them for a moment, waiting for them to move. Time seemed to stand still as Saito stared at the buck. Then, both the animals turned and fled.

BANG!

The buck fell to the ground. Saito had hit the buck right in the neck. "Lord Derflinger," Saito sarcastically began, "I think my luck is turning around."

Saito quickly picked up the spent casing and stuffed it in his satchel, and walked over to his kill. As he was walking Saito ejected the clip, ejected the chambered round and caught it before putting the unspent bullet back into the clip, and reinserting the clip into his Beretta. Saito put his pistol back and pulled out his knife. He frowned as he realized that this wouldn't be easy. This knife was not made for gutting, skinning, and carving up an animal.

"What is that weapon? I can tell it uses gunpowder but I've never seen anything like it." The blade asked.

"Wait, so you call it... There's other guns?" Saito asked as he began sloppily trying to skin the deer. A spear-point knife was not made for this.

"Sure, but none of them shoot like that!"

Saito thought for a bit. This meant that firearms did exist here, but they were primitive ones, probably muzzle loaders. "Well thank you for that information Lord Derflinger." Saito said, making sure to say Lord Derflinger with as much sarcasm as possible. " And this weapon is a 92 FS Beretta. From what I can guess about your guns is that you can shoot once then reload. With this, I can get off 17 shots before I need to reload. It's a weapon that my people make." Saito told his sword with a grin.

"Your people? Who are your people?"

Saito paused for a moment. What was he supposed to say? Should he even tell the truth? Saito decided to trust the sword with the facts. "I'm from a different world. In a country called the United States. It's a Republic."

"A Republic? Is that a joke?"

"I just said I'm from a different world, and the thing that's shocking is that it's a Republic? Really?" Saito asked as he groaned, he had just finished skinning the deer, and it was a piss poor job. He then got ready to start cutting up the deer into small venison steaks

"Wait, so you're a warrior from another world?"

Saito paused again. He technically wasn't a soldier yet. "Not yet, right now I'm technically an 11th grade High School student, but I have been accepted into Marine ROTC (1) at the Naval Academy (2) in Annapolis."

"What's a rotsee?"

Saito sighed. "It doesn't really matter here. The point is that I'm not a warrior, at least not yet. I've been set aside to get extra education to be a better warrior and leader, but I haven't even gone through that yet."

"So you are a Noble?" Deflinger asked.

Saito stopped cutting for a moment. "What have I done to even give you the impression that I'm a part of the Nobility?"

"You said you were a student."

"So that instantly makes me a Noble? What, were you expecting a non-Noble to be illiterate or something."

"I can't see you reading."

"I CAN READ FLUENTLY IN THREE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES! I WOULD BET MY LEFT TESTICAL THAT YOU WON'T MEET ANYONE ELSE WHO CAN DO THAT!"

"Aww, did I hurt your feelings?"

Saito drew the blade and gave a menacing glare to his sword. Then promptly burst into laughter. "Oh I can tell that we will get along just fine Derf, you rusty piece of crap."

Siesta stared up at the central tower that was the Tristain Academy. She knew it would probably be the last time she would ever get to see it. She wouldn't be here when Saito came back for her. She could feel her heart being torn in two at the thought of never seeing her hero again, but she wasn't like him.

She was nothing like Saito. Siesta looked down at herself. She wasn't interesting or different like he was. She wasn't strong, she couldn't stand up to the Nobility like he could. All she could do was bow to their whims.

Siesta turned around and began to walk towards the carriage that would take her to whatever awaited her at Count Mott's Estate.

Saito sat down on the makeshift bed he had been provided. He had reached the tiny village of Ferovale earlier, and had traded all of his deer for some bread and jerky. He had enough food to last for 5 days now. He had also gotten a place to stay for the night, at the shopkeepers house. It has been just four days since he had left those annoying Nobles back at the Academy. In just four days he sold a wand, got a job, bought a talking sword, almost killed a triangle class wind mage, saved said mage's life, quit his job, and left town.

Saito searched his satchel for his map, he needed to plan. He threw the pointless treasure maps across the room, and pulled out the map of Tristain. He was two days from the capitol, and a day and a half from the Academy. Now, he had to figure out where to go. Unfortunately, Saito knew nothing of Tristain, this world, or even what the name of the continent. He needed someone who knew something about this world. Saito turned slowly towards his sword, he had propped it up against the wall.

"Hey, Derf! I need some help." The sword didn't answer. Saito quickly walked over and pulled the blade from its sheath. "Derf! Help me!"

"Why are you waking me up?"

"I need your- wait, how do you sleep?"

"How do you sleep?"

"I close my eyes and... This is pointless. Look, I need your help, where should we go?"

"Partner, I've been in a weapons shop for decades, how should I know?" Derflinger asked, supremely annoyed.

"Derf, I've been in this world for... 9 days, at least I think it has been 9 days. You know more than I do."

"How often do you think people ask their sword for directions?"

Saito paused for a moment, "Damn it, then I have no idea what to do."

"What are you trying to do Partner?"

"I'm trying to get home."

"How?"

"..." Saito stared at Derflinger. How did he plan to get back home? "Find something magic that will get me home?"

"You were summoned here by a void mage, right?"

Saito thought about what that might mean. "I need to use void magic to get home, don't I?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Well, I don't want to crawl back to the pink menace yet, so let's think of something else."

"Treasure hunting."

"That sounds... Terrible."

"Well do you have a better idea?"

"...let's go treasure hunting." Saito said as he collected the ten treasure maps. "Alright, I'll pick one. You can sleep again if you want."

"Finally."

Saito ignored Derflinger's final comment as he looked through all of the maps, trying to figure out where they pointed. Most were difficult to understand, since they were in puzzles or riddles, however one wasn't hidden by a riddle or puzzle. Saito grinned, he was heading north to the village of Tarbes.

Saito was putting his junk in his hideously colored bag. Seemed that they wouldn't be staying long. That's what Derflinger liked about this partner, they have yet to stay someplace for long. Sure, he hasn't been with this partner for long, but it was going to be interesting. Although this partner was probably going to die soon.

Not too unusual. His partners never really lasted too long. Still, this one lasted longer than expected, actually fighting off that Triangle class mage. That and he had a knack for surviving in the wilderness. Derflinger had more than one stupid partner die due to being ill equipped to survive outside of civilization.

"So, Derf, you ready?"

"What are you talking about? Do I need to do anything?"

"Great, let's go." Saito quickly said as he strapped Derflinger onto his back. "We're heading a couple days north. Our first prize is going to be the Thunder Dragon's Rainment."

Saito made his way towards the exit of the house, and Derflinger noticed that the owner was cooking some of the deer that Saito had sold to him.

"Leaving already Saito?"

"I'll stay for a bit if you like Herron." Saito confidently said as he sat at the table.

"Good! I'm glad you came by with some venison. It's considered stealing if we kill any of the animals around here since it's on our lords land." Herron calmly said as he kept cooking the meat.

"You're kidding." Saito said. Deflinger knew that they were on the lord's land when they killed the deer.

"Yeah. sometimes Count Mott hires some of us to herd some of the animals toward him so that he can "Hunt."" (3)

"That sounds, kind of pathetic, it would take out all of the fun." Saito whined.

"Never been hunting, so I'll take your word for it." Herron said as he brought the meat to the table, and served himself.

"There's not enough for me." Saito said.

"You have food in your bag."

Saito grinned and shook him head as he pulled out some bread. It seemed that was going to be his breakfast.

"Bit curious, why did you come out here. It's not like there's anything valuable out here."

"Me? I'm completely lost, I have no idea where I'm going, and no idea where I want to end up. What about you, why are you here? I haven't seen any reason for you to stay, and I'm sure that your store could be better in a bigger town." Saito responded.

"Your right, I could be much more successful in a bigger town, but here I know the people, and I have no competition. Honestly though, I stayed for my family."

That made Derflinger curious, he didn't notice any person other than his partner and Herron in the house.

"I understand." Saito said, a far off look in his eyes and a sullen grin. "I don't know if I'm going to see any of my family or friends again."

"What happened?"

"Nobles." Was Saito's succinct answer.

"I know the feeling." The man sympathetically said.

"If you don't mind, where is your family?"

"Wife died few years back, and both my sons left when she did. Don't know where they went. My daughter, well, Count Mott requested that she become one of his servants."

That was too bad, Derflinger knew what usually happened to girls who were requested.

"Wait, what's so bad about that last one?" Derflinger couldn't believe what his partner had just asked.

Herron just stared at Saito, anger slowly forming on his face.

"I just said something incredibly stupid, didn't I?"

"Get out."

Fafnir was diving to the ground, and landing with a crash. André always detested his Familiar's tendency to fly as though nobody was riding him.

"Good day, Noble sir. Are you here to speak with the Count?" The plebian guard asked.

"Yes, is the Count in right now?" He had received no word on the peasant in Ferovale, so this was the next step on his list.

"Of course, follow me." The guard said as he began to lead his superior to his lord.

Fafnir took to the sky as André followed the armed peasant. Everything seemed to be in order at Count Mott's estate, there wasn't a single thing out of place. It was serene and calm, as it always was at this estate. Still, André never liked Count Mott. The Count gave the Nobility a bad image, especially with his tendency to make the lesser people his mistresses.

The Nobility was not meant to taint themselves with the common blood. However equally bad was his habit of abusing the peasants. It was all an exercise of his own power, a selfish little game where he abused his position. The purpose of the Nobility was to protect and take care of the lesser people. Founder knows they're incapable of taking care of themselves.

"My offer is simple, Count Mott."

André stopped the peasant leading him and peered around the corner. It was the peasant. He was standing behind the Count, a dagger held in his left hand. There were two of the Count's guards in the room, but neither of them were close enough to the commoner to do anything useful.

"We duel. If I win, you must get rid of all of your mistresses, and never have a mistress again." The peasant said with a grin.

"And if I win?" The Count asked

"I'll obey any order."

"What makes you valuable?"

"I was able to sneak into your estate, find you, and get behind you without anyone noticing me while I had a sword strapped to my back. I'm sure you could think of something useful."

André narrowed his eyes. Gerald was right, this commoner was dangerous.

"I suppose I'll accept your offer. I already have an assignment for you."

André turned his attention to the Count. This was a problem. If the Count won, then the commoner would be untouchable, however that also begged the question what purpose did the Count have for the dangerous commoner? Right now, André wouldn't attack, he'd only interfere if the commoner was losing. If the commoner won, well that would just be perfect blackmail.

Saito stared calmly at the noble as he backed away and pulled out a small staff. Saito tightened his grip on his dagger, relishing in the flow of strength from the runes. He had never felt so strong before, even during his fight with Guiche felt like nothing compared to this.

Saito knew why he felt so strong. He absolutely hated the man before him, and he would make sure the Count wouldn't use his power to take advantage of people, to use women. A brief image of Louise being abused flashed through Saito's head, and the righteous fury gripped him tighter. Saito breathed out, and calmed himself, he would control this rage.

"I've never seen a peasant as foolish as you."

"I'm not foolish, insane is more accurate." Saito threw back with a scowl.

"You should know that my runic name is Mott the Surge, and I am a Triangle class mage."

"I'm Saito Hiraga, and I've kicked a Triangle mage's ass three days ago." At least Saito thinks Gerald was a triangle class mage.

"Entertaining boast." Mott said as he raised his staff. Saito prepared himself for something to give him an idea of what his opponent was capable of. A vase tipped over, and water spilled on the floor. It exploded up in a column, twisting in the air as it started going straight toward Saito. Saito quickly rolled out of the way and watched as the column of water went straight up and returned to the Count, beginning to swirl around his wand.

Saito grinned. The water was slow, easy for him to dodge. He could already see the difference between Gerald Armagnac de Fézensaguet and Count Mott. Gerald was trained and a Triangle class mage. Mott was just a Triangle class mage. "And here I was thinking you were going to be a threat."

"I can also do this!" Count Mott raised his wand again, and the water suddenly froze into four swords made of ice.

Saito frowned as the noble sent the first three flying to the ground point first, either in a pointless attempt at intimidation or bad aim. the forth strait towards Saito's face. Saito shifted a bit to the left, and the deadly ice blade passed right by him. Saito began running forward, ready to take the noble's wand. Mott quickly created dozens of ice swords, and launched two before Saito placed a fist on Count Mott's face.

Saito began a relentless assault, planting fist after fist on the nobleman. Enjoying the bones giving way under the attack. This man used and abused people, it seemed fair that he served as a punching bag. Still, Mott kept a firm grip on his wand. Saito firmly grabbed the wand with his right, and unleashed a final punch, the brass knuckles digging into the Count's ribs.

The Count fell to the ground, coughing violently from the attack. This noble was nothing compared to Gerald.

"I think I won, and we did have a deal." Saito frowned a bit as he stared down at the noble. He realized that he may have gone too far. Saito couldn't even identify where the noble's mustache was.

Count Mott was beaten and bruised. Saito hadn't even given him a chance to put up a good fight. Then again, it seemed that being good at magic and knowing how to fight didn't come hand in hand. "Guards! Get this commoner!"

Saito jumped back, ready to engage the two guards in the room. "You don't pay us enough to do that!" A smooth faced guard said as he backed away from Saito, clearly terrified of the commoner.

"That's probably a good idea. I've already knocked out 8 other guards. I lied about getting here with nobody noticing me." Saito said with a grin. Both guards dropped their spears and ran away. Saito couldn't help but feel like he was a badass as the guards ran in terror. Then he realized something important. "You aren't going to get rid of your mistresses, are you?"

"Of course I am!" Mott hastily said, his voice cracking. He was terrified.

Saito glared at Count Mott. He was going to keep his mistresses. Saito tried to think of a way to make him get rid of the women Mott abused, but realized that his entire plan relied on the Count being as honorable as Gerald. He couldn't kill the Count, that would lead to every noble in the country trying to take his head. There was nothing he could do.

"Don't worry commoner, the Count will not be keeping his mistresses." A new man came walking out.

"Who are you?" Saito asked. The new guest had the same combat wand as Gerald. This could be a problem.

"I'm André the Inferno. Thanks to you, I can make Count Mott get rid of the commoners he's abusing." Saito observed André with suspicion. The red haired noble was ready to draw his combat wand. André seemed to be dressed very simply, whereas every other noble wore something elegant, André was dressed in a simple wool shirt and pants. The only thing that made him look like a noble was his cape and wand.

"What are you going to do, blackmail him?" Saito asked incredulously.

"Yes. You are very good blackmail."

"...Well I guess that would work." Saito figured that everything would work out, thanks to André. Then he realized something very important. "Wait, why are you here?"

Saito's eyes widened as a stream of fire came flying towards him. Saito quickly dove away, as the flames engulfed the wall behind him. "Gerald is my friend."

(1) : ROTC means Reserve Officer Training Corps.

(2) : Initially I was thinking of saying West Point, however West Point doesn't train Marines. The Marines are closely related to the navy, and the Naval Academy trains Marine ROTC candidates. Afterall, Marines stands for" My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment Sir!"

(3) : It was actually common for Nobles to make hunting illegal on their land, since the animals on it were all considered their property. If anybody killed an animal on their land, it was considered stealing. When the Noble decided that he wanted to go hunting, he would usually hire some people to bring the prey to him, by scaring the animals into the right position. It was a very lazy way to hunt.

AN : Yes, random bits of information that I give to you. That way, even if you don't like my writing, at least you will learn something. I'm also sure some of you have noticed that I haven't done one of Saito's flashbacks this chapter either. Don't worry, there's a reason he hasn't had any for a while, and he will experience more of them. I already have five pieces that I'm going to add. Also, this chapter mostly set in place more of Saito's background, and made some of his origens clearer.

Anyway, Read and review!

This is Lee, and I'm out!