-Saito and Louise's Room-
Knocking and gaining permission to enter, Tabitha walks into Saito and Louise's room.
"I'm surprised to see you visit Tabitha. How are you doing?" Louise asks, still sitting in her bed. Aside from being assisted to the bathroom a handful of times throughout the day, she has not left the room or done much of anything all day.
"Fine." She responds with her usual emotionless tone. "How are you?"
"I've seen better days." She growls lightly. "I'm sure you saw that new student today, Faye, right? Well, you can thank her for my current condition." She crosses her arms and huffs.
"You whipped her master. You should've seen it coming. You were wrong."
"You too? But he keeps infringing upon me and Saito's relationship! He keeps telling me what I can and cannot do with Saito. Not only that, he's forcing his ideals upon me by using his maid to attack me whenever I discipline Saito! Anthony is no more than a dirty coward who uses other people to get his way." Louise tries to justify her actions. Then she wonders aloud, "Wait, how do you know about this?"
"Kirche told me. You're not entirely wrong. But you're in the wrong as well."
If there was anything Louise knew about Tabitha, it was that she is a very unbiased person. Aside from Kirche to some extent, she is close to absolutely no one at the school. Always having a nose in a book, she rarely ever shows any interest in conversing with other people. Even when she does speak with others, it's always in a soft, calm, and simple manner, using few words to get her point across.
So, compared to many other people at the academy, Louise takes Tabitha's words a little more close to heart. "Ok. Maybe I went a little too far with the whipping. But still! He should know his boundaries! Especially as a commoner!"
"Labeling him a commoner won't get you nowhere. Talk with him one on one calmly. No hierarchy."
"B-But…"
"Or don't." She bluntly states. "Either way, stop whipping him. It's cruel."
With that, Tabitha leaves the room. Although right before she does, Louise asks if she can bring Kirche over to her room. She responds positively.
"He'll just yell at me again if I try talking to him." She mumbles to herself. "What should I do? If only Cattleya was here, maybe she could guide me on what to do." Am I really that cruel? If I am, why has no one bothered to tell me? I'm so confused. Saito, what do you think of all of this?
-Anthony and Faye's Room-
"Wait, Mr. Colbert is still alive?!" Siesta exclaims upon hearing what will happen after the ball from Anthony. He explains how everyone will be partying and have a great time while Louise get hypnotized Sheffield. At least temporarily. Tabitha's betrayal also utterly shocks her. She never imagined the soft quiet girl who hardly spoke a word would ever attack any of her friends. Anthony explained her circumstances, though he did feel guilty about explaining her mother's state behind her back. Siesta was thankfully able to understand that Tabitha holds no true malice towards anyone.
Now finally, Anthony explained that Sheffield's attack was stopped by none other than Colbert, the man who was thought to have died back when he was protecting Agnes during the attack by Menvil and his comrades. He explains that he faked his death and has likely been working on something grand in the meantime to help counter any attacks that come for the academy.
"Shhh! Please don't shout. Yes he is. He faked his death and ever since I think he has been working on some giant airship like thing. I'm not entirely sure. The anime never really went into detail with what happened to him in that timeframe. Oh yeah, one more important note, Kirche is aware that he is alive."
"What?!" She shouts again.
"What did I just say?" He sighs. "Sorry, but yeah. I think she was the one who actually took him away in the first place after that battle and has stayed with him since. At least, that's what is implied."
"Oh my gosh…" She puts her hands to her cheeks. "To think he survived. That's…that's wonderful! I mean, I never really knew him or anything, but I've heard many great things about him."
"That is an interesting strategy for the man. To fake his death and work behind the scenes. Cowardly, yet clever." Faye says.
"He likely didn't have a choice. Agnes would've likely actually killed him for real otherwise."
"Why?" Faye asks.
"She hates him to her core because of his role in destroying her village when she was younger. However, she was also saved by him in the same attack, so it's a little more complicated than simple hatred. Still, her desire to avenge her village is higher than sparing his life for saving her."
"He both destroyed her village and saved her life? That sounds more like him manipulating her than anything." She responds.
He shakes his head, "It could've been like that, but he actually had a change of heart that day. Please believe me. He has no intention of harming anyone anymore."
"Of course! I believe anything you say master."
"I believe you as well. You convinced me to last night when you explained past events so clearly and accurately, like you were actually there. Though there are some events I wished you…erm…didn't see." She blushes remembering her more intimate moments with Saito. Like the time she bathed with him in that makeshift hot tub outdoors.
"Yeah…sorry." He awkwardly avoids looking at her for a few moments.
"Anyway!" Siesta quickly switches the topic. "What are we going to do about this? Now that we have the advantage of knowing it's going to happen in advance."
Anthony frowns, "Sadly, I don't think there's much we can do."
"What? Why?"
"You think we can realistically take on Joseph's army and heal Tabitha's mom with just the three of us? Especially considering only one of us can actually fight. Besides, considering we are basically complete strangers to Tabitha, I feel we are likely overstepping our bounds, even if it ultimately helps her in the end."
"I don't really agree with your second point. I believe we should help regardless of our relationship with her. But to your first point…yeah, I can't see us taking them on either as we are. Sorry I can't contribute hardly anything."
He crosses his arms, "Geeze, where did your self-confidence go? Weren't you the one who was so determined to have Saito to yourself and were planning various ways to seduce him?"
Her cheeks blush cherry red, "S-Shut up! I was delusional! Sensei was the one that brought me back to reality!" Then she says a little more quietly, "And slowly killing me with her training."
Faye makes a little humming sound in response to that.
"You haven't been too rough with her, have you Faye?" Anthony asks.
She shakes her head, "I have not master. I'm simply following standard procedures with her training."
"STANDARD?! How is that standard?!" She shouts.
Anthony laughs for a few moments before snorting, "A-Alright. Tone it down a little Faye."
"Understood."
Siesta pouts, "I feel like you're imagining me in a pathetic stance and I don't like it."
He snorts again, "N-no. 'Course not." Of course, he's imagining her panting and falling flat on her face after going through one of Faye's training programs.
She crosses her arms and looks away, "Just know that I'm not doing this for you or Sensei. It's to protect Saito from harm."
After a few more moments of chatting, they finally get back on subject with Anthony saying this, "I just got a brilliant idea on how to deal with the whole Joseph situation!"
"What's that?" The two maids ask simultaneously, prompting them to look at each other for a moment.
"Remember the duel we have with Kirche tomorrow? Presuming we win, we can explain to her about what we discussed tonight and see if she can come by with Colbert and that giant ship the night of the ball. Originally she comes by with Colbert as well, but that's purely due the wind altering their direction. I'd rather not take chances here. Plus they can arrive sooner."
"I see! Makes sense to me. But I must ask, can she be trusted with this information? After all, she is the resident flirter and spreader of gossip as far as I'm aware " Siesta asks.
"Master likely trusts her enough to know this. Otherwise he wouldn't bring it up as an option." Faye says.
"I admit I'm a little hesitant as well. However, I'm fairly certain she knows what her limits are. She wouldn't share such personal information unless she was forced to or felt really compelled to for some reason. I'm willing to take the risk. What's the worse that can happen? Everyone would probably view us as lunatics for trying to predict the future at worst."
"Hmm…" Siesta puts a few fingers to her chin, "I think you're right. Getting socially scorned and rejected is likely the worst that could happen, but even then I don't think that'll happen. If it does though, I think I can live with it. Only Saito's opinion of me really matters to me. If he started to hate me…I don't know what I'd do."
"I don't care how I'm viewed by anyone. Only master's opinion of me matters to me." Faye says.
"Hehe…" Anthony nervously laughs. "Well, looks like it's decided!"
Next Day After School
-Training Grounds-
"Heya! Sorry I'm a little late." Kirche runs over to Anthony, Faye, and Siesta who were getting in some last minute practice for the mock battle.
"No problem. We were just finishing up here so you're right on time." Anthony says as he wipes his forehead that has a bit of sweat on it. Though he figured it wouldn't likely matter in the long run, he wanted to try practicing a few basic kicks and punches for the fight. Faye gently guided him on how to perform said moves. Her teaching style with him was a very hands-on approach filled with lots of patience and kind words. She continually encouraged him to keep going and to keep practicing even when he was failing.
Siesta on the other hand is sweating profusely. Unfortunately for her, she was subjected to yet another one of Faye's grueling training sessions. They have moved on from basic kicks and punches to a couple more slightly advanced punches and kicks, like uppercuts and side-kicks, as Siesta got the hang of the former techniques.
The treatment between Siesta and Anthony was day and night, and the former was pretty jealous of the latter. Anthony tried to mitigate it by telling Faye to not be so grueling and harsh, but even after she started to lighten up, it was still nowhere close to how she treated her master.
"I'm exhausted." Siesta manages to get out as she sits down on the floor, trying to regain some of her lost stamina. She had a tiny mock battle with Faye and she was unable to hit her whatsoever.
"Woah, what happened to you Siesta? You don't look so good." Kirche asks with a concerned look on her face.
"One word of advice Miss Kirche." She stands again. "Don't have Sensei be your teacher. She'll work you to the absolute bone! Unless you're Anthony that is. Then you'll be treated as a delicate puppy."
"Sorry…" Anthony sheepishly states.
She sighs, "Don't worry about it. I signed up for this knowing what it'd be like. Well, somewhat anyway. Just let me vent my frustrations once in a while and I'll be fine."
"Master is delicate. He shouldn't overexert himself." Faye attempts to justify her actions.
Kirche laughs at their interaction. "Fufu. I can see this is already a lively and funny group! I look forward to joining it, presuming you can beat me that is!" She flaunts her chest proudly and gives a smug grin.
Faye gives a slightly cross look. She doesn't exactly appreciate people who are cocky and feel that they are going to win when they don't even know their opponents true strength.
Anthony says to Kirche, "Well, since it's us three against you, I think it's fair you get to pick which of us you take on first."
"Oooh! I get to choose eh?" She darts her eyes between the three as if she's playing eeny-meeny-miny-moe in her head. "Alright. I choose…..you!" She exclaims as she points to Anthony.
"Woah, me?!" He wasn't expecting to get picked first.
She taunts, "What? You scared? I mean, you can back out now if you wish. There'll be no judgment on my end."
"I ain't scared! …mostly." He nervously steps out into the open field of the training grounds. This is actually where students sometimes have small mock battles with one another to improve their strength, so long as they don't use any major or dangerous spells that can destroy buildings and the like.
Kirche says, "Here's the rules: All moderately classed and lower magic is allowed. Nothing high-end or catastrophic is allowed. Can't have the school be destroyed after all. We fight until one of us yields. If you leave the training grounds, then victory will automatically be given to your opponent. Finally, drink this." She tosses him a small glass bottle filled with green liquid.
"What…is this?" He observes the bottle, turning it around and around seeing if there is any sort of labeling on it. There isn't.
"That's an anti-pain potion. As this is a mock battle, there's no reason to subject ourselves to brutal pain. In addition it will lessen the effects of our attacks on our bodies, allowing us to go more all out. It'll only last for a few hours. Any questions?"
"Nope, I understand loud and clear!" He chugs the potion. He coughs as it has a slimy texture and tastes more or less like glue.
Having played a lot of Mario games back in his old world, he decides to try to imitate one of his fighting poses. Specifically the one where you clench both of your hands, put out both your left hand and left foot while pulling your right hand and foot back. It basically looks like he's getting ready to dash forward with all of his strength. He understands that it's very unlikely to work, but wanting to do this pose at least once, he doesn't care.
"Go master!" Faye cheers. "Even if your odds are unfortunately low, I'll always believe in you!"
He blushes and looks back at her, "T-Thanks!"
"Good luck!" Siesta shouts.
"Thanks!" He shouts back at her.
"Now, one final thing!" Kirche begins, "We must state our names, class, and affinity. I'll go first. My name is Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst. I'm a triangle fire mage.
"My name is Anthony Morgan. No class and no affinity, I cannot use magic at all."
She frowns, "I feel kinda bad for you, so I'll end this quickly." Raising her wand she shouts, "Wall of Fire!"
A large orange ring forms and attempts to entrap Anthony within its grasp. He barely manages to jump away in time before the ring settles itself on the ground and flames erupt.
"Hm, decent reflexes. I'll give you that much." She says.
Anthony attempts to dart straight for her and deliver a kick to knock her down. Unfortunately, she reads this far in advance and levitates herself about 7 feet above the ground.
"Aw no fair! You can freaking levitate!" He frowns heavily.
She shrugs, "Rules of the game state I can do this kiddo. Sorry, but I'll be ending this now. Fireball!"
Raising her wand again, she casts down a decently sized fireball that travels at nearly 90mph and strikes Anthony hard, causing him to be flung back several feet.
"YEOW! I yield! I yield! This hurts! Owwwww!" He screams.
"Master!" Faye shouts as she instantly heads towards him to heal him. She glares hatefully at Kirche. "I thought you said the potion nullified pain!"
She explains, "I said it'd reduce the amount of pain one receives. I never said it would fully nullify all pain."
"I'm sorry master, are you feeling better now?" She asks after frantically healing him. She learned quite a long time ago that he's not exactly the best at dealing with pain. He's more sensitive to it compared to most other people.
"Why'd I think I had a chance…" He coughs. "Dang it…I'm going to go sit down." Slowly getting up, he trods over to a nearby bench and sits down in it, hanging his head down low. I'm such a wuss. I mean, I always knew I was, but who knew it'd sting this much. Gosh, this is embarrassing.
Faye follows him, but not before casting another condescending glare at Kirche, which doesn't really change anything. She pats his back and attempts to give encouraging words to him.
"Now then, while she's preoccupied with him, you'll be next Siesta." Kirche calls her out.
"O-Oh gosh! Umm…ok." After seeing the display of attacks Kirche has on hand, the maid is not exactly looking forward to her mock battle. Her strength in combat is pretty equal to Anthony after all.
Kirche repeats her introduction while Siesta says, "I'm Siesta. Like Anthony, I also do not have a class or affinity."
Kirche begins with the same opening move as last time, however this time she increases the range of the ring of fire by a foot. Thanks to Faye's training Siesta is now capable of traveling at high speeds, at least for a brief second. She quickly dashes forward and manages to dodge the attack. Sadly she has to stop for a brief moment to regain her stamina. She pants while doing this.
She fires a fireball and Siesta manages to grab a little wooden stool and block just in time. The stool burns away in an instant, forcing her to drop whatever little remains. She gets up and charges for Kirche again.
She gets fairly close before suddenly she feels a good amount of pain in her right arm. "Yeow!" She shouts as she quickly darts her head towards the source. She shrieks at the sight of a long flaming serpent that has bitten straight into her arm. Kirche takes this opportunity of distraction to shove her to the ground.
"Ok I quit! This hurts. This really hurts." She begins to cry a little. Anthony orders Faye to bring her over to the bench and heal her up too.
"Sorry you two, I wasn't even remotely close to beating her."
"I got no room to talk." Anthony pouts. "You did good out there. Better than me at least. You should be proud of yourself."
"Y-You did well too! Don't feel too down in the dumps about it. We'll get another opportunity to beat her soon!"
"Yeah!" The two hug each other and they both feel recovered from the fight. Faye smiles at them both briefly before turning her head towards Kirche and standing up.
"Guess it's my turn. I'll give her the beating of a lifetime for giving master pain, even if it was a mock battle."
Kirche once again states her name, class, and affinity. Faye says, "I'm Faye Kawamoto. I'm a square water mage."
Kirch frowns at this. She instantly remembers what Faye said at the training grounds yesterday when professor Chevreuse instructed her to demonstrate her magic. Crap. She's a water mage. And a freaking SQUARE one at that! How is she above me?! No matter. I'll just have to play this safe.
With that in mind, she decides to let Faye make the first move.
-Author's Note-
A/N: Yeah, I'm ending it here. Next chapter will feature the conclusion to the battle as well as the day of the ball. I'll just say I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter!
The Disquieting One: Indeed. Hopefully the interaction will be interesting. I'm glad you're enjoying it enough to where you don't feel the need to correct anything. Though of course feedback is always welcome if you have any.
Frequent Reader: The answers will be in the next chapter. Louise will get punished (as she has been thus far) for her abusive actions. However, I cannot say that her fate will be any worse than Naru. I personally think Louise's choices of abuse (whipping primarily) are worse than Naru's choices of abuse (punching). On the other hand, Naru is way more violent overall compared to Louise. So basically they are both bad in their own ways.