Storyteller Of Zero

by Kremant

For the Isekai lovers who love seeing someone else being summoned than the other guy! Louise will perform the ritual to summon her Familiar. Only this time, the one she will summon will be someone who will cause quite the shock and surprise all around him. And the only thing he brings along... Is a Tome? Just what kind of stories are about to be unleashed upon Halkeginia?

5. SOZ-Episode 4-A Storyteller's Gift

[ATTENTION: This chapter is bigger than usual. The reason will be explained at the end. Enjoy the one and a half long episode]

The sun has risen, bathing the famous academy in its morning light.

Within Louise's room, the pink-haired Noble has just started waking up, as she sits up on her bed and yawns.

"Good morning, Louise." Says a familiar voice beside her.

Louise looks to the side, and sees Aristidis leaning forward before her, with a kind expression on his face.

"Did you sleep well?" He asks her.

The pink-haired girl smiles and nods at him. "Yeah."

"Great." Aristidis says, before he grabs her by the shoulders, lift her off the bed, making her yelp in surprise, and placing her down on a chair by the table, with a chalkboard being pulled into view at the other side in front of the said table by the maid Cinderella. "Cause before you begin your day, you are going to learn about proper dental health."

"Wha-" Is all Louise could utter in her surprise as she watches the pitch-black Storyteller walking close to the chalkboard, and with a piece of chalk draws fast two big drawings of very detailed teeth, one being closed and the other open.

After finishing, Aristidis looks with a serious expression at the pink-haired Noble. "Cinderella told me that yesterday you did not brush your teeth after I went to meet with the Headmaster, and also before bed apparently you did not give them the best attention with the brush."

When he said that, he pulls from behind his back with one hand a rough wooden toothbrush, and with the other a small bowl with a thick substance in it. He begins walking close to the open window. "Not to mention that the brush and paste you are using are so primitive for the job, that they are not even worthy of a garbage can."

While saying the last part, and after stopping right in front of the window, he empties the bowl of its content out of the said window, and then drops both the wooden toothbrush and the bowl toward the floor, where they end up instead inside the big mouth of a somewhat fat being of short stature, soft-orange colored in skin, with a big fat nose, thick and somewhat long black hair on its armpits, blue lips, and which also appears to be holding high its round eyes with both hands. [Krumm, from AAAHH! REAL MONSTERS, has come for a snack.]

The armpit monster licks his lips with his big tongue after gulping the two objects. "Delicious garbage."

"Hey!" Louise yells upset at the short monster for eating her stuff and calling them garbage as well.

"Eyes here, Louise." Aristidis tells her while still serious about, with Krumm casually walking away. "These are the ones you will use from now on." He says that as he places in front of her on the table a pink plastic toothbrush, along with a toothpaste filled tube.

The pink-haired girl takes ahold of them and looks mostly at the toothbrush with interest.

The pitch-black Storyteller continues. "The plastic tube hosts a thick substance within that has proper cleaning and strengthening properties for your teeth, and this toothbrush's bristles are a lot more safe to use on them, and can go between each tooth easier, in comparison to your older one, for a more detailed brushing."

"Wow." Is all she can say as she keeps on looking at the two items with amazement after hearing how effective they sound to be.

Aristidis goes close to the chalkboard, and points at the two teeth drawings. "Now that you have the proper tools, it's time show you how to brush your teeth the right way-" He lifts a finger upward at head level as he looks at Louise. "And I will not be satisfied until I see you doing it the right way."

The pink-haired Noble sweat drops at how serious he sounds about the subject. "Is all that really necessary?"

"Yes!" He answers with a serious yell that catches her off guard. "The last thing you want is a bad tooth to ruin your day." He points at her. "I am not responsible just for your protection and entertainment, but for your personal health as well. And I expect you to care about yourself as much as I do about you."

The last part makes Louise to blush for a moment there at how sweet it sounded, but shakes fast her head to get the feeling off her.

Aristidis relaxes himself a bit and continues. "Now before we get to learn how exactly to brush the teeth, firstly you must know that you will have to brush them at least twice a day. Once after breakfast, and one last time before bed. Many dentists and tooth mascots might not agree fully with me on that, due to how soft I am about it in comparison, but we don't really have to be extreme about it to keep your teeth healthy. I will still arrange you a meeting with a greatly specialized dentist of mine once I have the power for one as such though, and make sure you visit them once a year to ensure your dental health even more. And no, you will not avoid it."

That troubles the pink-haired girl. "E-Every year?!"

"Every year." He simply answers. "You will understand better once we visit them. Trust me, they are definitely far better at their work than the ones your world possesses, and you will barely feel any pain from the procedure in comparison." He assures her.

That somewhat reassures Louise, but she still feels rather troubled about it, due to the unknown factor Aristidis's Tome possesses.

The pitch-black Storyteller claps both his hands. "Back on topic." He slaps the chalkboard. "Now the brushing movements you will follow-"

~A Quick Explanation Later~

Louise and Aristidis were sitting at the table with the chairs placed close to one another, with a big squared mirror having been placed in the middle of the said table, and with the scene showing the pink-haired girl from close up using her new toothbrush the way she was shown earlier.

While still the scene focuses on Louise, she appears to have finished as she takes the toothbrush off her mouth, with Aristidis offering her from the side a cup of water.

"Take some water, and spit it into the empty bucket down beside you." He tells her.

The pink-haired girl takes the cup, and does as she was told before she spits the toothpaste foam and the water mix into the bucket conveniently placed down beside her.

Aristidis places the open toothpaste tube and two more cups of water in front of her. "Now place a small bit of toothpaste at the tip of your finger, within your mouth, and then move it properly around within along with some water. Then spit, one more cup, and repeat with only water one last time."

Louise annoyed at the tedious to her procedure does as she is told again, spits the second mix, and then does it again with just water to clean the remaining toothpaste from the mouth as she spits for one last time in the bucket, before taking a towel that is offered to her by him to wipe her mouth. "The taste is weird, but the aftertaste makes it feel strangely nice to the mouth." Says somewhat impressed.

"Great quality means great results." The pitch-black Storyteller says as he sounds satisfied while giving a thumbs-up. "Now normally we should not do this before breakfast, but we are making an exception for today for the sake of learning. Memorize each step in the right order, and your teeth will be healthier than ever."

The pink-haired girl likes the sound of that. "Considering how much you appear to know, you must be right. I feel so grateful for having a powerful, caring, and knowledgeable Familiar like you, Aristidis."

"Aww, stop it." Aristidis says flattered, before the scene moves to show him using a black toothbrush onto the place his mouth would be, with much of toothpaste foam obvious at the skin there.

Louise soon notices what he is doing, and looks at him incredulously. "W-Why are you even- You don't even have teeth, so much a mouth!" She eventually yells at him.

He stops brushing and shrugs. "What can I say? There are times I like playing pretend." After saying that, he starts wiping his mouthless area with a towel.

The pink-haired Noble just looks at him. (There are times I can't help but question the way he thinks.) Says in her thoughts.

When the pitch-black Storyteller was done with the towel, he stands up. "Now that that is over with, I believe we should get ready for breakfast in that dinning hall of yours."

"Right." Louise agrees with him, and then stands up as well as she turns to the personal maid. "Mai... Cinderella, my uniform." She corrects herself before giving the order.

The maid Cinderella bows. "Of course, miss Valliere."

As the personal maid goes to bring Louise's uniform, Aristidis appears pleased with the pink-haired Noble. (Happy seeing her getting a bit more familiar with a commoner like Cinderella. She is turning into quite an acceptably noble example.) Says in his thoughts as he nods with his arms folded.

After they were ready, they went to the dinning hall, and when done eating the group had to separate due to Louise having to go to class.

So, Aristidis did what any not boring person would do. He went to the place close to the academy's wall not far from his workers' place of work, and took a seat upon the soft well-kept grassy ground to read from his Tome in peace.

One hour or so has passed, with some students passing by while wondering about what his workers are building for him, and the pitch-black Storyteller started looking around himself, somewhat confused about.

He takes a look at his wrist, where now a watch appears to be there. "Well, this is strange. She should have been done by now with the first hour of study." He whispers to himself while wondering about.

Aristidis then places two fingers to the side of his head. ({Friend, status report.}) He telepathically speaks to someone from distance.

The scene shows an eyeball with bat-like wings, a somewhat long slender tail with an arrowhead-like tip, and blue skin flying in place in front of a window, with the scene then moving to show a frustrated Louise within a semi destroyed class swiping with a broom dust and broken debris. [The flying eyeball is Jimmy The Eye, from AQW/Dragonfable]

({Punished for almost completely destroying the class with a spell, and now has to clean/fix the place alone?}) Aristidis questions telepathically as the scene moves back to him. ({Mistakes during training can happen at any time, but you don't punish the student for it just like that. They could at least allow a maid or two to help her a bit. Anyway, continue keeping an eye on her, and inform me in case of any possible danger toward her health.})

He brings the hand back to the Tome again and sighs. "I would send someone to give her a hand, but going against the teacher's order might result in further punishment for her. Sorry, Louise, you are alone in this one." He whispers to himself that as he gets back to reading. (I will fix her mood once we have free time later.) He thinks as he reads.

While at it, from the central building out comes the blue-haired Tabitha holding a book in one hand and her magic staff with the other like usual, who takes notice of the pitch-black Storyteller at the same place like yesterday, beside whatever those workers of his are building.

As she just looks at him reading from his Tome for some more from a distance, she decides to approach him.

Not long after, Aristidis takes a curious peek from above his Tome, and sees the blue-haired Noble staring silently while standing right in front of him.

He closes the Tome and looks at the silent girl curiously. "Hello. How may I help you?"

She extends her hand and points at his Tome. "Tome." She simply says and then turns her hand upside down in an expecting manner. "May I?"

Aristidis looks at his Tome, then at the girl again, and shrugs as he extends it to her. "Sure."

Tabitha looks at the Tome, then at the pitch-black being, and then at it again as she takes it in her hands.

Aristidis puts both hands behind his head and with his elbows extended in a relaxing manner as he leans back on the wall, as the blue-haired girl opens the Tome.

When she does so, she narrows her eyes in confusion. After turning a few more pages, she stops, and then turns the Tome around to show two white pages to him. "Blank."

"Hm?" The pitch-black Storyteller looks confused at the pages, but then realizes. "Oh, right." He drops his relaxed stance and leans forward to take the Tome off her hands, while closing it in the process. "Totally forgot about it for a moment there. You see, my Tome doesn't work if handled by someone other than me, going as far as to refuse showing anything to anyone who doesn't already know the knowledge it holds."

He opens the Tome again as Tabitha sits appropriately next to him, with it showing its now filled pages, while she narrows her eyes confused now at the unknown to her language.

Aristidis continues. "But even if you could make it show you like it does now, you still need to know the language it is written in, to understand anything at all. I can read out loud a few of the stories for you if you want."

After saying that, he moves close to her enough for their arms to press against each other, as he looks at her seductively. "But we will have to get... Close."

The blue-haired girl sweat drops at the way he acts and looks at her suddenly, while somewhat keeping her stoic expression on. She looks at the open Tome one more time, and after a few seconds of thinking, she nods, accepting his terms.

(Goodness she is almost as cute as Louise. Definitely a close second.) Aristidis thinks pleased. "Great! So, miss..."

"Tabitha." She gives her name.

"Tabitha." The pitch-black Storyteller nods appreciatively. "What genre would you prefer? History, Medieval Fantasy, Modern Fantasy, Science Fiction, Space-"

"Huh?" Tabitha utters, confused at almost all the categories he just named.

Aristidis notices her confusion, and can't help but be amused with her obvious lack of knowledge at the subjects, which he obviously expected her to have. "Let me explain the more confusing ones to you. For starters, Medieval Fantasy is like a world in the age of swords, magic, and mythical/peculiar animals and different beings alike. Pretty much like the one you live in. Now Modern Fantasy-"

After Aristidis explained quickly about the different genres, he started reading her about stories mostly of the Medieval Fantasy genre, like The Sword In The Stone, and even the I'm Quitting Heroing, which appeared to draw her interest quite a bit.

Her usually stoic expression somewhat broke by surprise when the Storyteller told her that the stories of the Tome were actually real.

While he was reading to her some more, Tabitha noticed many of the students walking back to the main building of their academy, and stood up.

Aristidis stops when he noticed that. "Time to go?"

She nods at him.

He nods in understanding. "Very well then." Says before closing the Tome. "We can continue our reading session once we both have the appropriate freedom again. If you want, that is."

The blue-haired Noble bows appreciatedly. "Thank you."

With that, she turns around and heads toward the main building.

Aristidis appears satisfied. (Doesn't talk much, but she is definitely a nice company. Looking forward to our next meetings.) Says in his thoughts, before he produces a cup of coffee to drink from as he opens the Tome to read from again.

Times passes by, and after an hour Louise, among other students, comes out of the main building and still obviously frustrated about.

Aristidis spots her and gets up as he closes the Tome, before lifting a hand to wave at her from a distance, and with a happy face. "Hey, Louise, over he~re!"

The still frustrated pink-haired Noble looks at the pitch-black Storyteller for a moment, but then walks the other way.

That confuses the pitch-black Storyteller as he sweat drops. "Eh?"

As Louise walks away, Aristidis is seen being carried beside her in a lying position on top of a certain flying persian carpet of purple, dark-blue, red, and yellow/golden colors. [The Magic Carpet, from Aladdin, has made its appearance.]

"Is everything alright?" The pitch-black Storyteller asks her somewhat concerned in his relaxing position.

The pink-haired Noble looks at him somewhat upset as she keeps on walking. "I will go do some magic training at an empty space alone and I need to focus. You are too distracting as it is, so go back and wait till I'm done."

By saying that, she starts walking faster, with the flying carpet stopping slowly where it is as Aristidis looks at her go.

He places a hand on his chin as he contemplates about it. "Obviously still mad about what happened in the classroom, and wants to practice safely and see results soon. She could still be nicer about it, though." He whispers to himself mostly, and then looks at the Magic Carpet below him. "Well, Jimmy will keep on watching her, so no reason to worry really. Come on, let's go back and relax, and we will see if she is in a better mood later."

The flying carpet makes a saluting motion with one of its upper ends, and moves Aristidis back to where he was.

The scene then moves to show him at the same sitting spot from before, reading on his own, and explosions being heard at the distance with a small shaking of the ground. Then the next hour shows him at the same place with Tabitha sitting next to him again, with more explosions being heard at the distance as the ground shakes a bit once more. And the same thing happens again right at the next hour, but this time while Aristidis was seated at a table and playing a game of Checkers with the Magic Carpet from before.

After moving a piece of his, the pitch-black Storyteller looks at where the explosive noises occur as he sweat drops. "She is having much more difficulty with magic than I thought. Rather weird when thinking about the fact she summoned a person as grand as I, won't you agree, friend?" He says the last part as he turns to look at the Magic Carpet, who moves a piece of its own multiple times above some others and folds together its two upper ends in victory.

Aristidis looks at the Checkers's Board more carefully, and sees that his last pieces have been taken out. He nods twice impressed. "Well play."

As the Magic Carpet rises in the air together its two upper ends triumphantly, Professor Jean Colbert is seen approaching the table, while looking for a moment at what both workers and animal workers are building, still unsure of what they build exactly, but it doesn't appear to be that big or cover much of ground.

When he reaches the table, he looks at the Magic Carpet sitting across Aristidis, and is fascinated by what appears to be a living inanimate object, which is knowledgeable enough to play games no less.

"Professor Jean Colbert." The pitch-black Storyteller says, which draws the sudden attention of the Professor. "To what do I owe the honor?"

Colbert stays like that for a moment, and then clears his throat as he brings his focus back. "Excuse me if interrupting, but may I ask what the ones who are most likely your workers are building within the academy's property?"

Aristidis makes the board of Checkers with a wave of his hand to vanish. "Just a little something for the good health and further relaxation of Louise, myself, and some special others that I wish to share it with."

"O-Oh, I see." The professor says somewhat relieved. (I was worried he was building something dangerous for a moment there.) He thought.

"There is not any problem with me building something small within the academy's ground, is there?" The pitch-black Storyteller asks him.

Colbert was going to say something about it after finding his composure, but then thinks about it as he looks at the being in front of him.

Aristidis tilts slightly his head curiously. "Professor?"

Colbert snaps out of his thoughts, and smiles awkwardly while moving his hand from side to side negatively. "N-No, no, there is no problem with it, really. I was just curious about it since it looks so peculiar and all. So, what is it exactly?"

The pitch-black Storyteller makes a stop sign with his hand. "I apologize, but I don't plan on letting the surprise toward Louise and the special others to be ruined, so I will ask no further questions about it."

"Oh alright, I understand." The professor says while still a bit awkward about. "Well, I better go back to my duties, have a nice day, Aristidis." Says as he walks away.

Aristidis nods. "You too, professor."

As Colbert keeps on walking away, he contemplates about something. (I would normally complain on behalf of the academy about the random ongoing construction within its grounds, but thinking about his tremendously powerful magic, it would be better to be on his good side just to be safe. Well, as long as it is indeed nothing dangerous...)

The pitch-black Storyteller looks at him leaving for a moment longer, and then leans forward to the Magic Carpet. "For a moment I thought he was going to ask me about canceling the idea. Thankfully he did not, else I would have to oblige as to not get both me and Louise in unnecessary trouble. Lucky, aren't we?"

The Magic Carpet nods a few times fast for emphasis.

"Anyway, want to play anything else?" He asks the living Carpet, with it proceeding to think about it.

The process is interrupted when both Aristidis and the Magic Carpet notice from afar that moment Louise walking on their way, who was pouting currently in frustration, with her head facing downward.

The pitch-black Storyteller raises a hand and waves it to her happily. "Hey, Louise! Just in time too, we were about to decide what game to begin playing next. I was thinking of a simple game of Tic-Tac-Toe as a start, what do you think?" Says the last part as he takes from below and places on the table a paper with the lines of Tic-Tac-Toe ready.

The pink-haired Noble takes a seat on the third chair by the table, and keeps on pouting frustrated, paying no attention to what Aristidis said.

The pitch-black Storyteller sees how her mood is still bad, and moves along with his chair close to her. He looks at her with a kind face. "Come on, speak your problems to your good Familiar." His face then goes serious. "Was anyone mean to you while I was not looking?"

Louise sighs and shakes her head. "No... They have all stopped annoying me about it thanks to what you did the other day. Even that Zerbst. It's just..."

Aristidis patiently waits for her to speak her mind.

She looks the other way sad. "I'm so tired of trying to cast a simple spell, only for it to blow up in my face. I am following the instructions as I learned, and yet..."

The pitch-black Storyteller puts an arm around her shoulders, catching her somewhat by surprise as she looks at him, and looks at her with a more neutral expression. "Louise, even with instructions you can't expect to be able to master something just like that. Magic no less. You need time with such things."

Louise looks the other way still somewhat frustrated. "Easy for you to say. You're already adept with your own magic."

He takes his arm off her and places the hand on his chin in contemplation, before his expression turns somewhat enthusiastic. "Say, I know that according to today's program your classes will finish rather sooner today."

She looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, so?"

Aristidis continues. "Well since we will have the time, I know just the thing to make you forget of your problems!"

Louise appears kinda unconvinced. "And that is..."

~Some Hours Later~Outside Of The Academy's Gate~

"A picnic!" Aristidis yells enthusiastically to Louise with his hands extended upward as they both now stand just outside of the academy's main gate, with the Magic Carpet standing beside the Noble as it claps its two upper ends with excitement.

The pink-haired girl raises an eyebrow confused. "A what?"

He continues while imagining as he turns to look around the surroundings. "Imagine a nice sight-seeing in the nature, trying to choose the best spot we can sit down to, prepare the blanket to place our foods and drinks on. And of course, chat about with a great company by your side, while taking in the beautiful view of our surroundings."

Louise looks downward to the side unsure. "I don't know..."

Aristidis turns fast to look at her with an enthusiastic expression on his face. "Come on, Louise, it will be fun! And after all, how often do you get to do something like that to begin with?" His expression softens but retains some of the enthusiasm. "Trust me when I say you will enjoy it."

She thinks about it for a moment. "Well... Alright, I suppose it does sound nice a calm walk in the nature."

The pitch-black Storyteller brings an enthusiastic thumb up for her. "That is what I like to hear!"

Louise smiles somewhat amused at his enthusiasm.

Aristidis turns around as he looks with a neutral expression around, with a palm sideways placed on his forehead as a way to see farther. "Alright, our ride should be here in a few seconds if not mistaken."

"Ride?" She asks somewhat confused.

Almost immediately after, a man pulling by two strong handles what looks like a two-wheeled carriage in the colors of purple and yellow/golden, that looks like it can carry only two people appears and stops with it in the middle of the road in front of them. The man himself is tall and muscular, with a big chin, black hair and long enough to cover his thick neck, a strange tight sleeveless outfit with a skirt of yellow/gold, blue and purple colors, with golden long cuff bracelets around his arms and legs, and a golden cap on his head where at the top extending upward is a symbol that looks like a blund arrowhead of the same color. [Kronk, from The Emperor's New Groove has come to offer his services!]

Kronk smiles and points with a thumb behind him at the small carriage. "Hop on, everyone, nature awaits."

Louise appears startled by the out of nowhere appearance as Aristidis and the flying carpet move close to the two-wheeled carriage, and then looks confused. "Is he going to carry us around on that small carriage on his own?"

The pitch-black Storyteller looks at her. "You will be surprised by Kronk's superbly physical condition. Now come on."

She approaches the carriage, Aristidis opens the door for her with a respectful bow, which she thanks him for, and steps inside, with the Magic Carpet and him following suit before closing the door behind them.

Louise then realizes something as she looks around and outside through the open carriage-windows. "Wait, where is Cinderella?"

The pitch-black Storyteller leans back on his seat in a relaxing manner. "I told her to stay and help my workers by offering them food, drinks, and towels when needed. Also make sure they don't lazy around more than appropriately while I am not looking. Work will never be done otherwise."

"Speaking about it-" The pink-haired Noble begins curious. "What are they building exactly?"

Aristidis winks at her. "I will keep it a secret for when it is ready. Just know that like everything else I offered, you will like it."

"Oh, a surprise. I already like it." Louise says with a smile and somewhat excited about it.

The pitch-black Storyteller moves forward in the small carriage, till he gets his head out of the front window to look at Kronk. "Kronk, let us move."

The muscly man salutes while keeping a hand on one handle. "Right away, Storyteller." He puts his other hand on the other handle as well and looks forward determined. "Let's find that picnic spot."

And with that, Aristidis sits back down on his seat again, and Kronk starts pulling the two-wheeled carriage, moving at a speed you would expect from a horse, making Louise to exclaim for a moment in surprise at the fact.

~Some Time Later~

The scene shows the four at the highest point of a green hill, only a few trees around them in comparison to the forest around at the distance, and a checker-designed blanked in white/red colors placed upon the ground with some plates filled with snacks, with Louise seated at one side of the said blanket and with Aristidis at the opposite side, as the Magic Carpet and Kronk are moving plates from a big basket.

While they were doing that, apparently the muscly man was telling for some time now his story to Louise, with him pulling at the moment a plate with spinach puffs out of the basket.

"And ah... That's how the story goes, yeah." Kronk says with a nod, sure that he forgot nothing about his story, as he sets down upon the blanket the plate of spinach puffs.

Louise looks at Kronk upset. "How could you even work for someone like that again after everything that happened?!"

"Oh, don't be too hard on him now, Louise." Aristidis tells her with a sweat drop. "It's just that he is too much of a nice guy for his own good at times and gets easily confused. In any case, everything ended up well by the end of the story, so... Yeah."

Kronk while smiling sits with them at the blanket, with the Magic Carpet sitting as well. "Let's not be stuck in the past. It belongs, well... There. Now try out one of the spinach puffs, you two. Trust me, you'll love them."

"As always, friend." The pitch-black Storyteller says as he takes one and places it inside his mouthless area, where it vanishes. He appears pleased. "As always indeed. Louise, you should really try one."

Louise takes one from the plate, and looks at it rather unsure. She can't say she ever liked eating spinach, but considering her Noble of a Familiar eats it without trouble, she should at least try one to not appear impolite in his eyes.

She closes her eyes and eats part of it. Then she opens them wide as she "Hms" in disbelief, before looking at it. "This is delicious!"

"Spinach puffs are one of his many specialties." Aristidis tells her, and then looks at Kronk. "As one of my chefs, you can never expect anything less."

The muscly chef was smiling flattered as he moves a hand dismissively. "Come on, no need for that." He grabs the plate with the spinach puffs and moves it closer to the two. "Eat some more. We have enough for all."

Louise and Aristidis take one more spinach puff each from the extended plate, and eat them, as Kronk places the plate down again and eats one himself.

In the meantime, the Magic Carpet was playing with one of the spinach puffs, either by juggling it alone, or by letting it roll from one of its upper ends to the other with great skill as a way to pass the time, since it can't eat and all.

A happy expression forms at the pitch-black Storyteller's face. "We will eat some more, and then play a new boardgame."

"You have more?! Great!" Louise exclaims excited.

"That sounds great indeed!" Kronk says with the same excitement, with the Magic Carpet doing a flip in the air before clapping its two upper ends in excitement. "Let's play."

Aristidis gets enthusiastic. "And that is not all! After we are done with the picnic, better be ready, Louise, because I will put you in the most relaxing program of your life, that many would wish to have in their own lives in this world, which includes the surprise my workers are building, that will be ready during late afternoon!"

That makes Louise to exclaim in enthusiasm. She is so looking forward to this!

~Many Hours Later~Late Afternoon In The Academy~

The scene shows Louise back in her room, blushing and facedown on her bed, and exclaiming softly with relaxation.

Then it is revealed that the maid Cinderella is giving her a back massage.

"This relaxing program of yours is the be~st" The pink-haired girl says in her relaxing state.

Aristidis was close to the open door and looking at her with a happy expression. "Knew you will enjoy it. Now stay here, and I will call you down as soon as I see that the thing is ready."

With that, he closes the door behind him.

The scene moves outside, where it shows the pitch-black Storyteller facing a small cottage that is surrounded by a slim and tall well-made wooden wall, in a circle like manner with its ends being connected to the academy's stone wall, with a closed double-door in the middle of it. The night has just covered the sky, as a few torches are lit with a wave of Aristidis's hand to light the place appropriately.

"Checked already the inside, the main thing is working properly, and the whole situation looks fabulously done in general." Says quietly satisfied to himself.

"Aristidis?" A voice says beside him, with him turning his head to see Siesta the black-haired maid.

"Hello, Siesta! I have not seen you all day long." Aristidis replies happily.

Siesta smiles. "We had a lot of work today, so... Anyway, everyone is talking about what your workers were building here. What is it exactly?"

The pitch-black Storyteller chuckles a bit cunningly. "Follow me."

As the maid looks confused at the way he said that, he approaches the doors and pushes them both open while stepping inside, with her then stepping inside as well to take a better look.

When inside, what she sees is a small well-made cottage that doesn't cover much space, and looks like it only has one room due to the size. There is also a table with a big closed umbrella stuck in the middle of it, a few chairs around the said table, and where there was once grass and dirt now there is a stone-made well-decorated squared floor.

Those are not the most surprising things to her, though. But the small round pool of obviously warm water right next to the small cottage, big enough for approximately ten people to sit in, which had two different strange white small ropes stuck to part of the pool outside where the water doesn't touch, with the first one looking at its end like a two-toothed fork, and the other like a small squared white stone with a few more smaller darker stones stuck on it. [For those who don't understand, this is referring to the wires that connect to the plug and the small controller.]

As the black-haired maid was being impressed by the decor, Aristidis takes off his luxurious cape, tosses it to the nearby chair perfectly, goes close to grab the plug and place it inside his open Tome as it magically with a soft yellow glow goes through its pages, sets it down on the floor, and then he steps into the small pool of water, before sitting down and turning himself to face her while resting his arms at the sides just outside of the pool.

He looks at her seductively. "Welcome to my Spa Zone, Siesta."

Siesta was looking at him with surprise. (W-Why he went inside the water dresse-) Her train of thought stops as she realizes something when looking again at his pitch-black body and head more carefully, then at his cape on the chair, and again at him before blushing greatly. (He was naked all along?!)

"What are you just standing there and looking at me for? Take those clothes off and join me." Aristidis tells her.

The black-haired maid gets even more surprised while blushing at what he told her to do. "E-Eh?!"

The pitch-black Storyteller lets his body lower itself a bit more within the water, as he closes his eyes with his head moving upward in response to the pleasing sensation of its warmth. "The water is appropriately warm. Already relaxing as it is. And you look like you would appreciate some proper relaxation with a great company like mine after a hard day's work."

"B-B-But...!" Is all Siesta can say in her blushing shock.

Aristidis lifts his body like before, and looks at her amused. "Don't tell me you are still afraid that I will eat you or something. Do I need to remind you again that I have no mouth now?"

The black-haired maid appears to find her composure enough to speak her mind about it. "But for a commoner to bathe alongside a Noble such as yourself-"

"Ok, first, a spa doesn't really count as an actual bath." The pitch-black Storyteller cuts her off with a somewhat serious expression. "And second, I believe I already gave the impression that I am not like them. If I want to be accompanied in a spa by a friendly maid like you, then that is my choice to make, not theirs." He says the last part as he puts a hand to his chest with his head facing upward to the side in a pompous way, before returning to his previous relaxing stance.

Siesta while blushing is both impressed by the pitch-black Noble's bravery, considering the fact this place is barely covered by the eyes of others by the small wooden wall, and somewhat flattered by his nice words toward her.

But then another worrying thought comes to her mind. "I-I still have work to do in the academy. I couldn't just-"

"Give me a moment." He cuts her off with a stop palm sign, before placing two fingers at the side of his head, much to the maid's confusion at the gesture.

After a moment, Aristidis places both hands onto the pool's sides again. "Cinderella has no problem taking over your work for the night. And before you ask, yes, I can use magic to communicate from distance with other through the mind. Makes things quite easy when you have to speak with someone in particular."

Siesta looks at him quite surprised. (There is magic like that?) Questions in her thoughts.

The pitch-black Storyteller signs her with a hand to approach. "Now come relax with me. You have no idea how therapeutic for stress and tension this water is."

The black-haired maid just looks at him for a moment, before lowering her head to the side as she blushes about like before. "W-Well if you insist."

She begins undressing her maid uniform and the rest, before placing them at the other chair, and turning to him while covering shyly her upper, medium sized area, and lower area with her hands.

Aristidis simply tilts his head with closed eyes while showing a kind face toward her.

Upon seeing that, she can't help but feel somewhat more relaxed at the fact he appears so casual about it.

She smiles, lets her hands free, and begins approaching the pool.

The scene then cuts to Louise's room, where Louise has just gotten off the bed, with the maid Cinderella standing beside, and appears obviously more relaxed than usual as she smiles brightly.

"This was such a great day. I don't even remember why I was mad about at the beginning." The pink-haired girl says while still in her relaxed trance.

Cinderella goes close to the door while smiling. "I'm glad to hear that." She opens the said door. "Now you'll have to excuse me, Louise, but I was just assigned by the Storyteller to some work I need to take care of. When you're ready, go down and to where the construction area was, speak to the guard stationed in front of the new structure's entrance, and may you enjoy whatever the Storyteller has in store for you." With that, she leaves and closes the door behind her.

Louise can hardly contain her enthusiasm at the thought of what Aristidis's workers have finished building for them. "I can't wait! This day can only get better!" She says as she approaches the door.

The scene then cuts back to the Spa Zone, where Aristidis and Siesta are sitting in the pool, at opposite sides each, and seem to have been chatting for some time.

The black-haired maid appears somewhat surprised. "So, Cinderella, Brock, and those beasts from before are all from your Tome, Aristidis?"

He nods. "Yes they are."

"Then that means they are your Familiars, right?" Siesta asks.

Aristidis is about to say something about it, but stops himself before placing a hand on his chin in contemplation. "You know, that is actually not an incorrect way of seeing this." He lets his chin, and takes ahold of the small controller behind him. "Anyway, I believe it is time to see the full use of this spa."

By saying that, he presses a button, and from below lots of air-bubbles start being produced, with many hitting their bodies softly.

The maid is startled by this at first, but soon after feeling the unique sensation of each air-bubble hitting softly her body, she closes her eyes in relaxation and exclaims softly from enjoyment.

"This is the aeromassage system in use for you." The pitch-black Storyteller tells as he enjoys the air-bubbles' sensation himself. "It offers quite the great massage, among other things, to the body. One of the best treatments one can receive."

"This is incredible..." Siesta trails off in the great relaxing sensation she receives from the spa. She looks at him. "Does every Noble family has one in their mansions?"

Aristidis laughs at that from amusement for a moment. "I mean, yes, they could probably afford one, but it is a FAR away dream for them right now. Maybe in a few hundred years if they ever find out how to make one."

The black-haired maid is confused at what the Storyteller means exactly.

He notices that, and decides to elaborate. Arrogantly. "What I am trying to say, is that I am the only in this world who can have and offer such treatments. In comparison to me, all the Nobles and rulers are nothing but commoners on that aspect."

She looks at him surprised. "T-The Nobles commoners to you?!"

Aristidis winks and points at her with a finger. "Better believe that I am saying the truth, because I am not messing with you."

He then places both hands to hold his jaw as the elbows are fakely supporting themselves on top of the water, while looking at her seductively. "And sinse I am that powerful, I am not treating people based on their status in society. But as the characters they deserve to be treated deep within."

Siesta gets entranced by him with the way he phrased those words, but then blushes a bit more when she realizes herself, and looks downward to the side at the bubbling water shyly. "S-So, is this some kind of magic or something?"

The pitch-black Storyteller straightens up in his sitting position and looks at her with a kind face. "It is a bit more complicated than that, but I will try to explain plainly since you appear interested. For starters know that the spa would normally need to be connected with a certain source of energy, but I am using the Tome for that work instead, for now. A magical connection, pretty much. Now as for the spa itself-"

While that continues, the scene cuts to a smiling Louise who has just gotten out of the main building, and who is walking fast toward the location of the obvious tall wooden wall with the thin building in the middle.

When she reaches a few meters before the place, what she sees standing in front of the closed entrance of the said wooden wall with its arms folded, is a strange big grey rocky golem, close to 2,50 meters tall, if not exactly as much, which is wearing brown-colored minimal armor, that hardly covers the body to truly call it effective. [That's Korg, from Marvel, everyone! Most well known from Thor: Ragnarok.]

She is a bit intimidated by it, but then remembers that it must definitely be the guard Cinderella mentioned, and relaxes.

Louise approaches and stands in front of the supposed to her golem. "U-Um, excuse me."

The rock man turns to her, and then smiles. "Hey there, little girl."

The soft-speaking voice of the strange golem catches Louise off guard as she looks at it wide eyed. Definitely not a voice she would expect from one as such, so much a voice to begin with.

"Wh-What kind of golem are you?" She asks him in her great surprise.

He begins. "My name is Korg, I'm a Kronan, not a golem, unless it's because I'm made of rocks, which makes it understandable, so it's cool, and I'm also stationed here as guard for the spa's entrance. So, how can I help you?"

(That is one chatty Kro-whatever he called himself.) Louise says in her thoughts as she sweat drops at seeing how unthreatening the rocky being appears to actually be in the end.

She finds her composure back and looks at Korg with a serious expression. "I want you to let me pass through. Aristidis is expecting me."

"Ah, I see." The rockman says as he takes from behind him a small wooden board with a paper on top to look at. "Your name please, the first one thought, the paper given supports only that much."

Louise is annoyed at the fact that he pretty much insulted the names of the Nobles for being long, but she knows better than losing her time with someone who most definitely doesn't know better. "Louise."

Korg looks at the paper thoroughly. "Alright, let's see what Storyteller man has written in here for you."

The pink-haired Noble raises an eyebrow. "Storyteller man?"

The rockman ignores that, and starts reading out loud. "Louise. Pink hair. Looking younger than she actually is. So cute you could die for her."

"Ah-!" Louise half-exclaims from embarrassment while blushing heavily at hearing the last one.

Korg looks at her. "Judging by your reaction, and the details in the list, you must be the real deal indeed. You can go in freely, small lady." He says as he steps aside.

The pink-haired girl finds her composure a bit as she looks somewhat annoyed at the closed entrance. She is not just annoyed by the fact that this Kro-whatever is calling her small, but also because of Aristidis's unceasing attempts at courting her! Through an invitation list, seriously?!

(Once in, I will have a serious talk with him about this, and then relax in whatever he prepared for me.) Says in her thoughts.

The scene cuts again inside the spa, where Aristidis appears to have changed subject while talking to Siesta. "And this is the story all about how I arrived in this magic academy's well-kept ground." Says in a semi-singing manner.

"Wow." Siesta says with a smile at his interesting story.

That moment, the doors open and reveal a somewhat serious-looking Louise. "Alright, listen, I appreciate everything you do for me and all, but-"

She stops as soon as she notices the black-haired maid naked in a warm and bubbling pool with Aristidis.

Both Louise and Siesta blush as they look at each other, with the latter doing so out of embarrassment at being seen naked, and the former at seeing a naked person suddenly the moment she went through the entrance.

The pink-haired Noble points her finger at her while still blushing about. "Wh-What is a maid like you doing here n-naked?!"

"I-I..." Is all that comes out of the maid's mouth, unable to think of anything to say in her embarrassment and surprise.

Aristidis looks happily at his summoner. "Oh, Louise, you are finally here! Just in time to enjoy the especially relaxing activity that is called Spa. Seriously, you must feel the sensation on your body." He says the last part as he leans against the pool's wall with his hands behind his head in a relaxing manner.

Louise at the moment looks at him and his pitch-black body, remembering about a certain obvious detail. "Before anything else, something I forgot to question from last day. Are you seriously telling me you were naked all this time?!" Says the last part while blushing and upset.

The pitch-black Storyteller raises an eyebrow. "I am actually surprised you discovered about it just recently, especially if you consider the fact that I have no lines in my one-colored being to indicate that I wear any kind of fabric on my body, cape excepted."

The blushing pink-haired Noble still looks at him upset. "How can you just walk around while looking like that, you... You pervert!"

Siesta appears troubled while looking at Aristidis being yelled at.

"Allow me to ask you something." Aristidis begins as he looks at Louise with a calm expression while straightening himself normally in his sitting position. "Why people wear clothes to begin with? Out of decency of not showing the specifics of the chest and the lower areas, of course. No?"

"Obviously!" Louise yells at him about how obvious it is.

He continues. "But since I show none of those, top lacking and lower conveniently covered, why wear any clothes at all, since I don't really show anything as obvious to provoke anyone."

That catches the pink-haired Noble off guard. "W-Well..."

Aristidis shrugs. "By that logic if you think about it, there is no real reason for me to wear anything and cover myself." He leans again back with his hands placed behind his head in a relaxing manner. "After all, I am not even human, so there is no existing rule that forces me to do so. And taking everything into consideration, makes the thought of me wearing clothes utterly ridiculous, don't you think so too?"

Both Louise and Siesta just look at him for the moment, unsure of how to respond to that.

The pitch-black Storyteller raises suddenly a finger. "Also, it makes it easier for me to shapeshift."

Before any of the two can question this, a music out of nowhere is suddenly heard, starting with a voice saying "AIA AIA!", and then quicker than the eye can process, Aristidis's entire body, even the neck, grows in size with huge muscles, making him look like the greatest bodybuilder, with the Pillar Men Theme now sounding in the background. [To make it simpler for the fantasy, his body now looks like that of Machio Naruzo from How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?. When flexing, obviously.]

The eyes of both the girls almost fall out of their sockets because of how wide open they are at witnessing the now full of muscles Storyteller.

He begins flexing his muscles in various poses where he is seated, as he looks at them cunningly. "Like what you see?"

"YES!" Siesta yells all of a sudden while blushing and looking at him with a crazy look in her face, earning the attention of the still surprised Louise, before she realizes herself and feels embarrassed about it. "I-I mean y-you look great, Aristidis, yes." Says as she laughs awkwardly for a bit.

Aristidis lets out some arrogantly pleased-filled chuckles at that, with the music slowly coming to a stop in the meantime.

Louise looks at him again in her surprise, not really interested that much in his big muscles as much as in the fact that he can obviously shape his body in any way he wants. Whether that's some kind of magic or some form of natural ability, it still shows how little she knows about all the tricks her Familiar has.

The pink-haired Noble decides to shake the surprise off her, as she looks at him seriously. "Ok, let's say that the naked fact is normal for you and leave it at that, forgetting about how absurd it still sounds. But why SHE, a commoner is bathing with you?" Says the last part while pointing at the once more troubled naked maid.

Aristidis reforms his body back to normal. "Well, Siesta is a nice and polite girl to know, and since her work is so hard I thought she deserved a nice proper break. Also to show my appreciation for her constant help toward me from the moment I came here. And since she is such a great company to have, I thought you could use a new friend, Louise."

Siesta blushes soflty, flattered by the pitch-black Storyteller's worlds of her.

Louise on the other hand was incredibly surprised. "Friends with a commoner?! I mean, I understand that being polite to them is the right thing to do and all, but being close friends is just-"

"Louise!" Aristidis yells as he looks at her with a serious expression, catching both girls off guard. "It is not about status, or how much one has. It is about having fun together with something you both enjoy, and wanting to bond close over time so you can have that sense of security of having someone at times there to support you. You can't tell me that one of those other Nobles are more appropriate as possible friends after the treatment they gave you all this time, are they?"

Hearing him say that, makes the pink-haired girl to remember her first days in this academy, and how it eventually led to her becoming a mockery to those others who are Nobles like her. She hated it deeply.

The Storyteller continues. "Unlike them, the servants here were at least respectful enough to not make fun of you about it. Siesta?" Says the last bit before turning to her.

The maid looks at him confused. "Ah- Yes?"

"Would you like it if Louise here became your friend?" He asks her.

Siesta looks at him for a moment, and then at Louise, thinking very carefully about this, and then she smiles. "Of course. If Lady Valliere wishes so too."

"Eh?" Is all Louise can say in her surprise.

The idea itself for Siesta sounds crazy due to how she sees herself, but considering how Aristidis is treating her from the first day they met, along with how he sees things as a Noble himself, she doesn't see why not? She could always use an extra friend herself.

"See this?" Aristidis asks the pink-haired girl, gaining her attention once more. "The girl is giving you a chance. Who cares about whether she is a commoner or not. I do not. And after all, through the different histories there have been many great Nobles as I read who had commoner friends, so why should you be any different from them?"

That catches the Noble's absolute attention. Were there really Nobles who were close friends with commoners in the past? She was always mostly focused on learning magic, so she didn't really pay any actual attention to historical details. At least not at that level.

Aristidis folds his arms. "The least you can do is give the girl a chance yourself, instead of criticizing and belittling her like some so called Nobles did with you."

Louise lowers her head at the thought. And after a moment, she raises it to look at the maid, before looking the other way with her arms folded and blushing. "I-I suppose I can give you a chance. Better be grateful about it."

The pitch-black Storyteller facepalms himself as he chuckles quietly from amusement at the sound of that.

Siesta was just looking at her, and then smiles before bowing her head. "Thank you for having me as your friend, miss-"

"Louise." The Noble cuts her off as she turns to her again, and smiles. "Just Louise."

All stay like that for a moment, and then Aristidis with a happy face claps once his hands. "Great to see you so understanding. Now take your clothes off and get in the spa I have built for us."

"That's what I'm here fo-" Louise says as she was about to start removing her top, only to stop in place as soon as she realizes the whole situation again.

She looks at him while blushing and surprised. "Wait, you seriously expect me to bathe with you?! Also you still haven't explained yourself about why you bathe along with a woman!" Says the last part Upset as she points at Siesta.

At the moment Aristidis appears to be holding a bottle with a straw on it. "Is there a problem with it that I do not understand?" Says before slurping from the bottle's straw.

"It's indecent!" Louise yells at him upset for not seeing how wrong it is, with Siesta unsure of how to respond herself about it. "And not-human or whatever, you are still a man!"

The bottle vanishes from his hand. "As stated from before already, I do not have such insecurities. And I mean, it would truly be called indecent only if Siesta was bothered by it herself." He turns to Siesta. "Siesta, do you dislike sharing the spa with me, or have I acted with indecency toward you while in it?"

"N-No! I don't mind, a-and you were a gentleman to me the whole time." She says rather awkward about it.

Aristidis nods before turning to Louise. "See, Louise? You are the only odd one here."

"But... But... BUT...!" The pink-haired girl utters, unable to think of anything to say in her great disbelief about the whole situation.

The pitch-black Storyteller moves himself close to the other side where Louise stands on and looks up to her with a disappointed expression. "Louise, I am your Familiar. The one supposed to protect and be there for you. Have I shown you myself as a bad example all this time? Is it so much to ask for some trust and understanding from you?"

The way he said that, makes her feel bad for herself. Because he is not wrong. As strange as he is at times, he has been nothing but an actual noble example, and everything he did only good brought to her. And now here she is, criticizing and doubting him.

She looks the other way. "You're... Right. I shouldn't treat you as if you had ill intentions just like that. I am sorry."

"It is alright." Aristidis says happily at her, and then pushes himself back to his old position within the spa. "Now stop being so embarrassed for no reason, and join us. It is only us here, after all."

Louise looks at both him and the naked Siesta in the spa, and feels unsure for a moment, and then shyly looks down. "I-If everyone is alright with this..."

After saying that, she hesitantly puts both hands on her blouse's top buttons, and begins unbuttoning the first one.

The mouthless Storyteller looks at her with a heavily seductive gaze as he puts a leg above his other. "Yes, come on in, Louise. The water is warm, and the air-bubbles as nice as the company within."

Louise stops at the sound of that, and upon noticing the way he is looking at her with those intense eyes of his, a weird feel of dread fills her, almost as if something inside her is screaming DANGER.

After not long later of standing stunned like that, she takes a step backward, and then turns around immediately to make a run for it toward the exit while yelling highly troubled "Forget it, I can't do it in the end!"

She forces one of the doors open, and continues running, leaving behind her a very confused Korg. She can trust Aristidis with everything, but she feels too scared to trust him in this one!

Siesta was looking surprised because of the sudden outburst, and Aristidis was showing no emotion for now as they were both looking at the door.

"My." Is all the Storyteller says after witnessing the Noble's reaction.

The Kronan Korg that moment is seen leaning down enough to peek through the said open door. "Everything alright, bruh?"

The black-haired girl gets even more surprised at the appearance of the golem-like being. She looks at Aristidis as she points at Korg. "Eh- What is-"

"No worries, friend." The pitch-black Storyteller cuts her off as he speaks to the Kronan. "Continue keeping watch, I will explain later."

Korg nods and closes the door.

Aristidis turns to Siesta. "That is Korg, a living rock being from another world, nice guy to converse with."

"Oh!" She says somewhat fascinated by the fact.

The Storyteller looks at the closed entrance. "Also, do not worry, Louise didn't say that for you. I must admit I was a bit more intense than usual this time. Had to expect that reaction."

Siesta doesn't quite understands what he means, but at least she is happy that it was not because of her the whole thing.

Aristidis stays like that for a moment, and then sighs. "Enough with this- Tell me, Siesta, do you happen to know for what reason everyone were calling Louise Zero exactly for?"

She turns to him somewhat confused. "You don't know, Aristidis?"

He looks at her. "I wanted to let Louise tell me herself, but my patience can only last that long with such things. Can you please tell me, so I may understand?"

"Well, according to what I have been hearing all this time, it's because of miss Vall- Louise's zero precent at magic, which results in those literal explosions of hers." Siesta tells him.

The Storyteller puts a hand on his chin. "Ah, so those explosions are indeed failed attempts at proper casting."

She nods. "Yes."

Aristidis stays like that for a moment as he now rubs his chin in contemplation while looking up to the night sky. (Enough power to bring me here, yet unable to control it, and the teachers are not knowledgeable enough to provide the appropriate help. I see.)

He nods, and then looks again at Siesta with a kind expression. "Thank you, Siesta. I believe that I know what I have to do next."

~Later~Midnight~

The scene goes to Louise's room, where it shows her sleeping peacefully in her bed.

Then, from the side of her bed, a female figure shrouded in the darkness of the room starts slowly raising from there. The shadowy figure appears to be over 1.60 in height, slender body, obviously wearing clothes with a somewhat long skirt, and has long hair tied into two long braids.

A small sharp and gleaming object she raises at head level with a hand, as two crimson glowing sinister-looking eyes open. As the figures crouches over Louise, the minimum light of the moon through the window reveals that the said figure is a female with round glasses, dark-purple hair, reddish forehead, a long sharp tongue standing out of a wicked smile, wearing a mostly dark-purple Japanese school uniform, and with the sharp object that she is holding being a pair of specialized-looking scissors. [Genocider Sho, the alter ego of Toko Fukawa, from Danganronpa, has appeared.]

She brings her free hand slowly but surely close to Louise's neck, and then... Takes a hold of a small part of the inner side of the pink-hair there, and cuts it off with her scissors.

The scene then moves outside of the room, showing Aristidis leaning with his back on the wall close to the door, while pretending to check his nonexistent nails as he waits.

Soon after, the long-tongue girl opens the door and exits the room, before closing it again. She then goes close to him, and hands in his now extended hand the pink lock of hair. "Here is your hair, you creepy slob. I can't believe you called me here for something like that." Says annoyed, and then looks at him angrily. "My scissors are not for cutting hair, you know!"

Aristidis was checking the lock of pink hair. "Well, it was a special case, so obviously I needed special scissors for the job."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The purple-haired girl says while rolling her eyes as she walks past him. "Make sure to call me next time when you need my ACTUAL talent."

After that, she keeps on walking away, till she vanishes into nothingness.

The pitch-black Storyteller was looking at the place she vanished from. "At least she did not throw them at my face."

He turns at the lock of pink hair. "Now let's see..." He trails off as his eyes glow white, with the lock of hair glowing with a faint purple energy, which seems to cause his interest. "Oh, so I was right that she is of the fifth. Well, it was rather obvious considering who she summoned." Says the last part in a pompous way. "Anyway, let's see now how we can make this work properly." He says as he opens the door to Louise's room, before closing it behind him.

~The Next Day~Early In The Morning~

Louise wakes up from her sleep, and sits up on her bed as she streches her arms a bit. Last day for her was great with all the treatment she received, but then later THAT had to happen with the spa-thing. Seriously, how he could expect her to even do that? Going in with the maid is one thing, but with HIM, looking at her like that no less?!

Even if he was really going to behave and remain a gentleman in the spa, it was still too risky with him courting her and all.

She sighs. She was really curious about that spa-thing Aristidis prepared. Maybe she can try it later. On her own, that is.

Louise gets off the bed, and notices his Tome on the table, on its own. She looks around her room, only to see him nowhere at all. "That's weird, he is never going anywhere without his Tome."

Then the door to her room opens, with Cinderella being the one to enter.

"Cinderella." The pink-haired Noble calls for the personal maid.

Cinderella smiles at her as she approaches. "Good morning, Louise, I hope you didn't have to wait for me for long."

"No, I just woke up." Louise tells her, before looking at the Tome again. "Where is Aristidis?"

The maid looks at the Tome as well. "The Storyteller told me from the previous night that he will be doing some important work inside the Tome."

The pink-haired Noble looks at her surprised. "He can get inside his Tome?!"

"Yes." Cinderella simply answers. "He didn't tell what that important work of his is, but it's going to take him an entire day till he is back. Maybe more."

Louise looks at the Tome again, wondering what that work he is doing within could be.

"Worry not, Louise." The personal maid tells her with a smile. "Till he is back, I will look to your every need normally as always. Now come on, we need to prepare you for the day ahead."

Both of them turn to head to the drawer, with Louise stopping to look one more time at the Tome. She was feeling... Worried.

Time moves on, and the scene shows the pink-haired Noble outside at the courtyard, performing spells at the empty space she was using yesterday, just so she can avoid causing damage to the class like the other time.

After one more failing, and exploding, attempt, she falls down onto her backside, panting from overexertion.

She catches her breath a bit, and sits up on the well-kept grassy ground normally, before looking down at the ground, wondering about. "Could he be closed within the Tome because he is upset that I didn't join them at the spa yesterday?"

When making that assumption, it escapes her a small chuckle as she shakes her head. "What a ridiculous thought, that's definitely not the case."

She gets up, and tries one more spell, which results to an explosion close enough to her to make her fall down with her back on the ground.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..." She utters as she sits up on the ground again while rubbing her bottom somewhat in pain.

Louise seeing one more of her failed attempts, places slowly her arms around her bended legs, and brings her face between them saddened. "I always try my best... I learn everything needed... So why can't I do anything right...?"

She remains like that, as the scene fades away.

~The Next Day~Morning~

Louise was walking through one of the many hallways of the academy, heading for her room, after having breakfast in the dining hall, with her head looking low. When she woken up in the morning, Aristidis was still nowhere to be found, the Tome still there on the table untouched.

She was hoping for some exciting activity to be suggested by him after the yesterday's disappointment, so she can forget about it. She was going to try the spa herself, but apparently it can't be used without him using the Tome to make it work.

The pink-haired Noble sighs. (I guess I will just go to bed and try to get some sleep to forget my problems. Thankfully it is Void-Day, so we have no classes for today.) Says in her mind.

The scene moves to the point where Louise is seen walking upstairs, and going for the door of her room.

But once she reaches close enough, she stops as she hears a muffled music from within that she has never heard before.

She stays like that for a few more seconds, and then smiles in realization. "He is back!"

Louise grabs the handle of her door and pulls it open.

"Ari-" She stops what she was about to say after seeing two girls, one with orange long hair and strange clothes, for Louise strange, and one with black long hair with soft-green skin and green/black uniform punching and kicking at each other in a near-choreographical manner, while also the green one is shooting from her hands some kind of green energy blasts at the other who dodges them efficiently, with their surroundings being some kind of weird-looking to her city instead of Louise's room, as a dynamic music is being heard in the background. [The two girls are Kim and Shego, from Kim Possible, and the music is called Shego's Theme, from the same cartoon.]

Louise closes the door, stopping the sounds she was hearing from within that way, and appears highly confused. "... Huh?"

She opens the door again, and this time in a city filled with flames and ruin, sees a tall pale-skinned bald man with a black goatee on his jaw and a big red tattoo over part of his left side of the body and head, wielding some kind of wicked-looking short blades attached to chains around his arms, stabbing and slicing at the same time at a huge and fat one eyed creature, that he climbs on as he does so, before he reaches its head to put a hand on its only eye, and with minimal effort pulling it out as huge amounts of blood splash over him from the socket as the creature screams in agony. [The man is Kratos, from the God Of War, and the music is Phoenix Rising, from the same game, during the epic part of course.]

Louise closes the door again, and turns her head away with eyes wide open in shock.

She turns at the door and opens it once more, seeing now in an open field several gargantuan and naked human-looking beings running toward her as a really dynamic music was about to sound, with Louise shutting the door hard almost as soon as she saw them in her panic. [What she saw were some Titans from Attack On Titan, running toward her in the same iconic fashion like those people from the Baywatch series used to do. The music that didn't find the chance to play more than those two seconds was the first opening of Attack On Titan.]

The pink-haired girl turns around and starts rubbing her eyes hard. "What in Founder's na-" She stops herself as she turns fast and opens the door, seeing now Aristidis seated on a chair by the table while drinking from a cup, with her room being now as she remembers it, as the small radio box in the middle of the table is playing one of its many unknown to her musics. [The music playing is the Tutorial, from Yu-Gi-Oh GX Tag Force game.]

He notices her and lowers the cup as he looks at her with a kind expression. "Hey, Louise, how is it going?"

Louise looks at him for a moment confused, and then enters the room with a hand placed on her head. "I... Think I am seeing things."

"What things?" Aristidis asks with a small tilt of his head.

"N-Nevermind that." She dismisses the thought, before looking curious. "So, Aristidis, what were you doing inside the Tome all this time exactly?"

Aristidis drinks some from his cup. "Testings, checkings, catching up with some old friends of the Tome while at it, nothing to trouble yourself with really, but still too important for me to not bother with."

As Louise wonders about it, the pitch-black Storyteller puts the cup on the table, and pushes the button on the radio box to stop the music.

He places a hand on his chin in contemplation. "Tell me, Louise, is there any city nearby our location, and if yes, how far approximately?"

The pink-haired girl looks at him confused as she is taken out of her train of thought. "Huh? There is the capital city of Tristain, Tristania, which is at least three hours away by horseback. Why?"

Aristidis stands up and appears satisfied. "Excellent! Let us be on our way then." He says the last part as he raises a finger for a moment, before he walks past her and toward the door.

Louise didn't quite catch that. "To where?"

He stops and turns around to look at her. "To Tristania, of course. I know it is Void-Day today, and I want to see from up close how your cities look, the roads and fields around, and pretty much do a nice sight-seeing like a proper tourist." He says the last bit while placing a straw hat on his head.

Louise that moment realizes before starting to contemplate about it while looking upward at the ceiling. "Oh right, you have never been anywhere outside of the academy before. And I suppose going out to the capital city doesn't sound like a bad idea."

She then looks at him for a moment, and sweat drops as she points at the hat. "Tell me you're not planning on wearing that while out."

The scene then cuts to them exiting the main building, with Aristidis having now a black top hat on his head, and a black cane in his hand, as he holds the Tome to his side with the other, and Louise who wears her usual uniform of the academy.

While the pitch-black Storyteller remains stationary, the pink-haired Noble decides to walk to the side.

That draws his attention as he raises an eyebrow. "Louise, where are you going, the gate is that way." Says as he points at the other direction where the gate is.

She stops and looks at him with a raised eyebrow as well. "To take a horse from the stables. How else we will go to-"

"Louise!" Aristidis cuts her off, looking quite offended about, before he lifts the Tome a bit to make it look more apparent. "I know I have been missing for a day and all, but you cannot tell you forgot about my Tome already."

Louise looks at it, then remembers about the fact. "Oh... Ooh... Right." Says the last bit while sheepishly placing a hand at the back of her head.

He shakes his head. "You know better than that now, Louise. You are the summoner of THE Storyteller." Says the last part in a serious but self-important way. "So it is only natural that when we decide to go anywhere, we have to do it in style. According to current appetite, of course."

The Storyteller then snaps his fingers, and from the side coming fast and stopping in front of them is a round, golden trimmed, black luxurious open carriage that is being drawn by four unique-looking equines, with the said carriage seemingly appearing to be big enough to carry ten people at most, with seats and pillows within it being of rich purple fabric, and a person sitting at the front dressed in a well-made black servant outfit as a driver who holds the reins of the four equines. The said four equines at the front tied to it are far from normal, though. Each of the sand-yellow colored equines has a pointy horn at the middle of the forehead, making them unicorns which is normal in this world, but the most unbelievable thing about them was their mane and tail made out of orange flames, with the back of the lower part of each of their legs having also flames attached to them. [A Rapidash quartet from Pokémon is here and ready to hit the road.]

Louise was greatly stunned by the beauty of the unicorns, and the fact that their mane was made out of literal fire. And the carriage was so big and luxurious, as if it was made to host an entire royal family!

Aristidis feels proud with himself for stunning her like that. "Do you like the carriage? It is custom-made by my best workers of the Tome. Had it ready from my time in the Dimensional Library."

He approaches the closest flame unicorn, and starts to softly stroke its flaming mane and face with both hands, as the Tome is placed under his arm. "And these beauties are the Rapidash. Both fast, and strong enough to bring shame to breeds of their species from most stories."

The pink-haired girl looks surprised at Aristidis casually stroking the flaming mane without being burned. "I-Is it not burning you?"

The mouthless Storyteller looks at her with a kind face. "These ones will not burn you if they feel they can trust you. And since you are my summoner, I can assure you that they trust you just as much. You can pet them freely if you want."

Louise looks unsure at first, but decides hesitantly to approach the one Aristidis was petting, with him backing away a bit for her, and places a careful hand at its flaming mane, which doesn't burn her, much to her great surprise at seeing her hand through the flames unscathed as she exclaims in astonishment.

She then proceeds to pet the Rapidash, while smiling and softly blushing in wonder.

The scene then cuts to Tabitha's room, who was currently sitting on the middle of her bed and reading a book, with her staff resting beside her by the wall.

While at it, someone started to knock on her door quite urgently, with her calmly taking the staff with one hand while still looking at the book, and with a minimum movement of it, along with a sort chant, the door unlocks itself as she places her staff back upon the wall.

Almost immediately after, the door opens and in comes her friend Kirche, who was talking in a seemingly dynamic manner, but without any sound being present.

Tabitha notices that, takes her staff calmly again, and does the same movement like before silently, before placing it back upon the wall once more, having removed the silence spell around her.

"-It is just terrible, Tabitha, hear my pain! The last two days could have gone so much better than that!" Kirche being able to be heard now tells frustrated.

The blue haired Noble tilts her head somewhat confused, without taking her eyes off the book. "Hm?"

The redhead blushes softly and smiles as she places both hands onto her cheeks. "Well you see, I have gotten a love for someone special like no other before."

Tabitha rolls her eyes at that. She always hears stuff like that from her. No point in taking it seriously.

Kirche then turns around to face the door as she fantasizes about while hugging herself. "And it is no surprise that it is for the lovely non-human Noble in black Aristidis."

That catches a bit more of the blue-haired girl's attention as she looks at her redhead friend now.

Kirche stops what she was doing, and turns around to show an expression both troubled and frustrated to Tabitha. "But after that attempt I tried to pull by inviting him in my room that one night, he got all offended and wants nothing to do with me anymore. So, I was going to make a few attempts the penultimate day on him to win his heart, but those guards of his were everywhere!"

{Flashback}

The scene shows Kirche in the dining hall, about to approach Aristidis and Louise who were eating together at the middle table, with the rest of the students, with the redhead about to call him by name, only to be stopped halfway by an Oblivion Guard who comes from the side and stands in the way with a stop handsign while yelling "Stop right there, criminal scum!", startling her and making her feel troubled about.

The scene then shows the moment where Aristidis and Tabitha were sitting together upon the well-kept grass by the wall as he was reading from his Tome to her, with Kirche being seen at the distance coming walking toward them with a raised hand in a friendly manner and about to shout his name, only to be stopped by another Oblivion Guard who comes out of a bush to the side while yelling "Stop right there, criminal scum!", startling her once more before pouting at the guard frustrated.

And then the scene shows the moment where Aristidis and Louise were just about to enter the two-wheeled carriage, with Kronk at the ready to pull them to their destination once in, with Kirche being seen running determined toward them, but just before she even reaches the academy's gate, an entire team of Oblivion Guards appears from one side suddenly, tackling her away and behind the other side of the gate while yelling in an asynchronous manner "Stop right there, criminal scum!", just before the two outside of the gate leave with the Kronk's carriage.

{End Of Flashback}

Back to Tabitha's room, Kirche was obviously absolutely livid about the fact. "Like it is not enough that they scream right in my face as if I have done something that awful, I can't even get appropriately close without getting caught by them! Not to mention his complete absence yesterday, that didn't allow me to even gaze upon his beautiful form at all, something about his Tome Louise said. This is so unfair!"

The blue-haired girl shakes her head at her redhead friend. She can comment her persistence, but not approve the reason itself.

"Driver! To Tristania! Let's go!" They hear both a familiar voice yelling from outside, with Kirche moving fast close to the window to see Aristidis along with Louise in a luxurious carriage being drawn by unicorns with flaming mane, as they depart from the academy with great speed, which makes the pink-haired girl exclaim from surprise at how fast they move because of those unique-looking unicorns.

The redhead was surprised. "Eh, they are going out today?"

While looking at them going, an idea starts to form in her mind. "Hm. I suppose I could use the old happen to run into each other while out pattern." She smiles while softly blushing at her plan.

She then turns to her blue-haired friend, with both hands placed together in front of her in a pleading manner as she moves right in front of her. "Tabitha, I'm in great need of your help and your Familiar Spirit too, please help me with this!"

Tabitha thinks about it for a moment, and closes her book before nodding in agreement.

Kirche was really happy with that. "Oh thank you for understanding, I owe you one!"

After going close to the window, the blue-haired girl whistles to her dragon Sylphid who comes flying, with both her and her redhead friend moving themselves at the said dragon's back, before beginning to fly after Aristidis's carriage.

Tabitha normally is not one to get herself in such activities, in her free time no less. But even if it's about something idiotic like helping her friend chase after one of the many love interests, she would still do it just to see her happy. Also make sure Kirche is alright if something goes wrong with her antics.

This time though, it seems like there is also another, not so obvious reason for this. She wants to be close to that Aristidis being. It's as if expecting to find out about something. There is something she wants to learn about within the pages of his Tome. And keeping a close eye on him right now, appears like the best option. So she will do so.

The scene cuts back to the Rapidash Carriage, moving in high speed on the road as they head for the capital city Tristania.

Louise was sitting at the back seats, checking out with amazement around herself how fast the landscape is passed by them while on the move.

As for Aristidis, he was at the front seats, which face the back seats obviously, contemplating about something. (So, conclusion. I can affect the environment I choose to in any way imaginable like I used to in the past, but depending on distance, both how far the targeted area is AND how much of it is to be under the influence, it will drain THAT much of my power in a continuous manner just as suspected.)

He appears amused for a moment, before he continues with his contemplation. (It was fun trolling her with it back in the room, but I need to be careful when using it under any other circumstance. Might not use it any time soon again. Not till I have much more of my power back that is.)

The pitch-black Storyteller looks at the pink-haired girl, who still looks around in amazement of their carriage's speed.

His expression turns cunning. (Time to make the move of the day.) Says in his thoughts as he is about to make the said move.

"Storyteller-" The driver's voice at the front of the carriage stops him. "I spot a stationary person in the middle of the road at the distance ahead of us."

Aristidis turns to take a look, while Louise's attention is drawn at what their driver said, and in the open field in front of them at the distance sees someone dressed completely in black. Still too far for him to get any clear image of the person, though.

"This looks interesting..." He trails off before thinking about it.

"Your orders?" The driver asks the Storyteller.

Aristidis looks for a bit more at the figure ahead of them as they are closing the distance, and nods. "Driver, stop a few meters in front of him. I want to see what this is supposed to be about."

"As you wish." The driver says, before proceeding to make the Rapidash go slower as they approach.

Louise looks at the pitch-black Storyteller somewhat concerned. "Are you sure this is a good idea? He can be a thief wanting to ambush our carriage with the rest of his hidden filthy lot, wanting to take our valuables by force. It is quite a common occurrence."

The mouthless Storyteller turns to her. "You would normally be correct about such thing, but have in mind that the area before us right now is clear, and lacks any trees, big rocks, or even a slightly raised hill that could be used for cover for miles, so the thought of extra people appearing out of nowhere just like that under those conditions is pretty much..." He trails off for a moment, and then puts a hand on his chin as he starts to think about. "Although, there is still the possibility of, let's say, an earth mage using his magic to conceal his peers under the ground safely, till it is time for the big move." After that he dismisses the thought as he moves his hand about. "But even in that case, there is no real reason to worry. Need to remind you who you have by your side?" Asks the last part rhetorically in a pompous manner while putting his hand on his chest to indicate himself.

The pink-haired Noble sweat drops at his constant show of arrogance.

Eventually, the carriage comes to a stop not too far from the stranger, and Aristidis with Louise disembark, with him taking her hand courteously to help her step down from it, and begin to walk toward him.

The pitch-black Storyteller turns his head to her. "I know there is nothing to worry about, but make sure to be close to me just in case."

The pink-haired girl nods as she gets a bit closer to his side, while not taking her eyes off the stranger ahead.

Aristidis nods in an approving manner. "Good. Now-" He says the last bit as he turns his head to look again at the stranger not far from them, but stops as soon as he does so.

Louise is confused at his sudden cease in movement. "Why did we stop?"

He keeps on looking at the stranger, who appears to have his back turned. The person is tall, a bit taller than Aristidis, and is wearing a pitch-black in color full-length cloak, with a hood that has two inwardly curved points at the sides of the top, which resembles a very familiar, to the pitch-black Storyteller, letter M.

Aristidis's eyes widen in shocking realization as he looks at the cloaked person.

The pink-haired girl starts to worry for him. "Aristidis?"

"It can't be..." The Storyteller trails off, not ceasing on staring at the stranger. "Could this really be you after all these years?"

"Eh?" Is all Louise can say, before looking at the stranger as well, really confused as to what is Aristidis talking about. Does he know him?

At that moment the stranger turns around, revealing from the total darkness of his hood two red glowing eyes, and a white set of sharp teeth for a big smile. "I could be anyone you're referring to. Better be more specific."

Aristidis's expression turns happy in his surprise. "Kremant!"

"Who?" The pink-haired girl asks the mouthless Storyteller.

Kremant nods. "That's me, alright."

The enthusiastic pitch-black Storyteller turns to Louise. "This is the person in the black cloak I was telling you about!"

She looks at the black cloaked person with great surprise. "Wha- For real?!"

"The reason of who I am today, yes." Aristidis replies to her simply.

"Oh come now-" Kremant says as he waves his hand dismissively. "I just created your body and gave you the power." He approaches the mouthless Storyteller and places a hand on his shoulder while pointing at him with the other. "You're who you're today because of yourself."

Aristidis appears somewhat amused by that statement. "You were always one for sentimental talks."

"And you only knew me for THAT long." The black cloaked person says jokingly.

Both laugh about after that exchange for a bit, as a still a bit surprised by the situation Louise looks back and forth at each of them.

Needless to say, she was extremely curious now that what she sees as the creator of her Familiar is in front of her. And she has a lot of questions. "U-Umm-"

Kremant turns to her and cuts her off with a raised palm. "Tight schedule, I'll answer fast some of them. Let's see... Your Familiar was created using magic from your world and from others. I've never met your Founder. I'm not the power that decides what every Noble gets as a Familiar, but yes I am the reason Aristidis was chosen to be yours in this story. Not telling you why though, you will have to find out for yourself the reason. No, I'm not any kind of deity nor a demon. I left him alone in that library to let him learn on his own, so he will not feel like he is dependent on me. And before you ask, yes, I can read your mind. End of questions."

Louise was just standing there, shocked at the last fact, among everything else.

The black cloaked person leans forward in front of her. "I don't think you have quite realized it yet, but it is thanks to me that he is with you today. Was not easy tying together the magical signature of yours and his so he could be summoned by that ritual of yours for you, let me tell you that. Better be grateful for that now." Says the last bit with a cunning expression and a seemingly reprimanding finger.

The pink-haired Noble is caught off guard by that statement. "Oh- Y-Yes, I-I understand! Th-Thank you." She says while bowing, completely unsure of how to properly respond to him.

"Aww, how cute her reaction is." The cloaked person says while grinning about, straightens up, and then turns to wink at Aristidis. "No wonder you have taken a liking to her, she is a treasure."

"She sure is." The pitch-black Storyteller says in total agreement while nodding twice.

"H-Hey!" Louise yells really embarrassed about.

Both the men laugh amused at her shyness, with her now starting to get quite upset at the fact.

Aristidis stops and looks at Kremant. "So, how come and you are here? Simply came to catch up after all this time?"

"Nah." He simply says. "Just to check on you after not seeing you for so many years. I would stay more, but yeah, busy."

"Oh alright, I see." The mouthless Storyteller says in understanding yet a bit disappointed. "I suppose I should call myself lucky I even got to see you after so long, having in mind of how busy you must be and all."

The cloaked man looks at him with a big grin. "Let me take a good look at you."

After saying that, he walks around Aristidis, as Louise steps back to make space, and looks at him up and down while doing so, as the Storyteller watches his movements a bit confused.

He then stops right in front of him, and after a small pause, he spreads his arms and hugs Aristidis, catching both Louise and the Storyteller off guard. "I am SO proud and happy of what you have become, my boy."

The mouthless Storyteller just looks at him for a moment, and then happily returns the hug. "Well, I am happy that you are happy with me. I wouldn't be here if it was not for you."

As Louise looks at the touching scene before her, she was remembering about her family, and that made her feel... Sad.

She lowers her head as she thinks of all the times her father and mother would compare her to her two older sisters. About how she could never meet their expectations even in the simplest of spells. How the disappointment in their eyes felt to her every time she tried her best, only to fail. That approval and love of theirs that she could never truly receive...

The scene moves back to the still hugging duo, with Kremant patting once Aristidis's back.

"Well, that's all for now, time to go." The cloaked man says, before turning into a cloud of smoke which dissipates in an instant, much to the surprise of the other two. "I'll come visit you again soon. Till then enjoy the day, you two!" They hear his voice saying from all around them.

"You too! Thank you for visiting!" The pitch-black Storyteller yells as he waves his hand around him.

He turns to Louise. "Alright, Louise, let us continue on our way."

"R-Right." Louise says, still a bit surprised at the previous vanishing act.

The carriage approaches them, and they move back into their positions, with them moving once more with the high speed of the Rapidash.

Aristidis appears happy. "Quite the character, wasn't he?"

"Y-Yeah." The pink-haired girl says a bit nervous and with a sweat drop, before she looks slowly the other way, looking a bit sad in her thoughts.

The mouthless Storyteller sees that, and wonders what is this about all of a sudden. He decides to not ask this time, and leave it for later. They have and a city to visit, after all.

Then he remembers something he was supposed to be doing before being interrupted some minutes ago, and his expression turns cunning as he looks at Louise.

He gets up, walks carefully toward the pink-haired girl, and sits on the seat right next to her, before placing an arm above her shoulders, catching her attention. "Hope you don't mind me sitting here for a while." Says with a wink of his eye.

Louise blushes at the way he decided to approach her this time, and looks the other way troubled. "Y-You know that that's not an appropriate move for someone to make on an e-engaged Noble like myself. I-I will politely ask you to return back to your previous seat."

"Sorry, no can do." He says as he shakes his head, and then points toward his said previous seat. "Needed to make space for the band."

That confuses Louise. "Band?" She questions, till she suddenly notices a black-haired man with both a mustache and a short beard, wearing a black top hat, leather vest, pants of the same color, and with a guitar in his hands now standing there at the opposite side of the carriage along with a band of similarly dressed people, with each having different musical instruments as well. [Aurelio Voltaire Hernández, the famous musician, singer, and composer. Quite known and in places like Adventure Quest World.]

Aristidis shrugs. "Can't just tell them to move elsewhere when there is no appropriate space, now can I?"

Louise looks back and forth at the pitch-black Storyteller and the band, realizing the trick he pulled on her just to keep on sitting beside her.

The Storyteller turns with an enthusiastic expression to the band. "Hit it, boys!"

"You got it, Storyteller." Voltaire nods in agreement and then turns to his band. "Let's give the little lady a show to remember!"

With that, and while the carriage is still on the move, Voltaire and his band begin playing their first song. [Which is called The Vampire Club, because why not?]

~Some Time Later~At Tristania~

The scene shows Aristidis and Louise disembarking from the carriage, with the previous band of people not present in it anymore.

The pitch-black Storyteller takes a look at big open gate connected to the city's wall before them, with two guards being stationed at the gate's sides each, with them being surprised about at the never seen before appearance of his and the flame unicorns. He then starts contemplating about. "Let's see... Without taking into account that little stop of ours from before, it took us approximately one hour to reach the big city."

"O-One hour you say?!" Louise questions incredibly surprised about the fact it took so little to reach it. "No way! Just how fast are these unicorns of yours?!

Aristidis looks at her. "Well, the Rapidash can run at one hundred and fifty miles per hour, and when you compare it to the forty-three miles per hour of a normal well-trained horse, pretty much..."

(How much he said?!) The pink-haired girl yells in her thoughts, unable to believe the speed he talks about.

(Better not mention that I have way faster beings in the Tome than those. She is already too shocked as it is, and it is better letting her enjoy the day as she should.) The Storyteller says in his thoughts. (Maybe another time.)

He pretends to clear his throat. "Anyway, what are we waiting outside for?" He lifts a hand, and his carriage driver throws the black cane at him, which Aristidis catches, spins it around in place professionally as he does so, and hits its bottom end at the ground beside him while turning toward the gate and fixing his top hat. "Let us go enjoy a good time in the big city!"

~Some Time Later~

For some time now, the duo was visiting places, trying some things, and eating a few other things. Looking around Tristania like tourists, pretty much. Well, Aristidis was acting the part, Louise was mostly smiling awkwardly at times with his overly exaggerated enthusiasm.

And all that while the people around were looking with surprise at him, for the obvious pitch-black and mouthless reasons, and while Kirche and Tabitha were spying on them from a distance, with the redhead losing the chance to approach him every time, due to how fast they were changing places, much to her frustration.

Eventually, Aristidis and Louise went into a rich-looking inn for Nobles. Technically it doesn't specifically says it doesn't allow commoners, but one can understandably guess that only Nobles have the coins for places like this.

The duo enters the building, and a somewhat obese man with rich yellow clothing and a well-trimmed thick mustache approaches them with a smile.

He bows. "Welcome to the Golden Line, the place where Nobles get only the greatest line of orders. I am the owner of this prestigious place, how may we help you today?"

As he lifts his head to properly look at the two, he just now actually takes notice of the mouthless and pitch-black fact that is Aristidis. "Umm..." The inn's owner trails off, incredibly confused about what or who is he even looking at.

The pitch-black Storyteller begins. "Not going to lie, I like the way you represented the inn, but the name frankly sounds more like an airline company's name than anything else."

"Airline company?" The obese man questions, still confused about, with Louise being confused at it as well.

"Right, you don't quite have those here." Aristidis says while looking to the side, and then looks around at the well-decorated, but mostly empty by other customers for now place. He then spots a faraway corner with no one else around, nods, and turns to the inn's owner before lifting a finger. "Anyway, one table for two, please. The one in the faraway corner if possible." Says as he points at it.

The man looks where the pitch-black Storyteller points to, and nods with an awkward smile. "C-Certainly, my good sir and lady. Would you like me to call someone to take your cape?"

"That will not be necessary." The mouthless Storyteller says dismissively. "We will wait in our table for the menu, so we may choose some of your plates." Says that part in a self-important way, his nose raised high, before he begins walking along with Louise to their chosen table.

The inn's owner was just standing there while looking mostly at Aristidis as he was walking past the other tables. (A mouthless pitch-black man just walked into my inn to take something and eat as if it was normal... I think my chefs have put something into my food and didn't notice- I will have a word with them later for this.) Says in his thoughts, upset at the last part, while wiping with a handkerchief some of his sweat.

Aristidis and Louise sit at the table away from the rest of the few customers, and after a waiter brings them a menu for each, they look at the pages to see what to order.

The Storyteller appears quite intrigued. "Quite the menu for a medieval era I must say. They sure have quite the variety here. What do you think, Louise?"

The pink-haired girl was facing the menu in her hands, but was actually absent minded, with a somewhat sad face being present.

Aristidis is confused by the lack of answer, and lowers the menu in his hands to look at her. "Louise?"

Louise snaps out of her deep thoughts and looks at him a bit startled, before she smiles awkwardly. "Y-Yes, they sure do, I suppose."

The pitch-black Storyteller just looks at her for a moment. (She is probably tired after the time we spent together in the city. We were going around like crazy, after all.) He thinks, before showing her a kind face. "I have made my choice from the menu, what about you?"

"I-I have chosen as well." She answers a bit more calm now.

"I will call the waiter." Aristidis says while raising a hand to wave at the one available.

In the meantime, Kirche and Tabitha enter the inn as well, spot the other duo, much to the redhead's delight, with the inn's owner approaching them, before Kirche asks for a table themselves.

After Aristidis and Louise gave their orders, the waiter leaves their table to have them ready.

"And now we wait." The Storyteller says pleased, and then his expression turns happy. "You know, I never expected to see Kremant ever again after our first and last meeting from so many years ago. It feels good to know that he didn't just... Forget about me. Not to mention that he is proud of what I have become too. Feels so good being recognized like that."

"Y-Yeah, I'm sure..." Louise trails off, as her mood is slowly dropping for some reason.

The mouthless Storyteller sees that, and decides to do something about it. "Hey, usually you see me calling others for our entertainment. How about I show you some simple yet amazing things I myself can do?"

That catches her attention. "Hm?"

With that, Aristidis snaps his fingers, and a line of yellowish energy appears around him like a large ring. Then with a small circling movement of his finger, the large ring turns into seven small balls of bluish fire, that begin circling around him at a slow pace, and then moving the said finger left and right in a rhythm, making the small fires move their upper part left and right while doing so, as if they were dancing. He seemed to be having quite the fun with that.

That brings a smile to Louise, seeing the impressive skill before her.

The scene then shows at the moment that Kirche and Tabitha are sitting close together at a safely distanced table, placed in such a way that they see Louise's back, and Aristidis at the opposite side of their own table, watching as the pitch-black Storyteller was performing.

"Ahh, so he can do magic on his own too! How impressive..." The redhead whispers in amazement.

"Good control." Says Tabitha in the same whispering but more focusing manner as well.

The scene moves back to Louise, who as she watches Aristidis doing more impressive tricks with the levitating fire, the pink-haired girl's expression falters a bit as she lowers her head.

She contemplates once more about how she is unable to cast any spell at all, while Aristidis can freely use it as if it was natural for him, and how her parents feel ashamed of her for having a failure of a daughter at that, while Kremant, her Familiar's father in a sense, has shown how proud of him he is. Then she remembers Kirche's words. (Admit it. Despite that small win, you still remain the Zero we all know you as. Wouldn't be surprised if the reason you summoned someone like him, is the ritual's way to compensate for the lack of your own magic.)

She smiles bitterly. (I suppose... She was not just spouting nonsense. He IS the one with the magic after all, while I can do none. Maybe that's what Kremant meant when telling me to learn on my own about why I received Aristidis. Maybe he was given to me indeed because of the lack of my own magic. I suppose I should feel lucky... That I was able to have at least that much...)

While Aristidis was focusing on his current magical act, he hears a quiet sobbing which makes him stop what he was doing as his small flames dissipate, and takes notice of Louise covering her eyes with both hands as tears run obvious across her cheeks, while she tries hard to keep her emotions in check.

The Storyteller looks with surprise and concern at her. "Lou-" He cuts himself before he says more, and looks around them. "Sound Barrier." After whispering that, his eyes flash for a moment, and a large invisible barrier flashes for a moment around them, and for some reason around Tabitha and Kirche as well, who don't notice.

Aristidis turns his concerned attention back to the sobbing Louise. "Louise, what is the matter? Why are you crying?"

While covering her eyes, the pink-haired girl lowers her head more, facing her knees now, as she tries some more to keep her feelings in check, but eventually breaks into crying. "I'm a failure... A COMPLETE AND UTTER FAILURE!"

The Storyteller was taken by surprise, along with Kirche and Tabitha at the other table, at Louise's scream full of depression. "Why-"

"My father and mother... " The pink-haired girl cuts him off while keeping on trying to hold her feelings back as she cries. "Were always expecting much from me... To be a strong Noble like them... And I failed them!" She lifts her head, revealing her crying and hurt expression. "They might have told nothing, but I know how much they are ashamed of me... How much they are disappointed at my lack of magic... I was hoping that after going to the Tristain's prestigious academy of magic, that the teachers there would be able to fix that. But even that hope was for naught! And it didn't help that everyone was making fun of me, calling me Zero and stuff. And Kirche is worse than any of them at it! Always there to make me feel bad at the fact."

As she was saying the last part, Aristidis moved himself along with the chair right beside her using his magic, and hugged her.

She paused for a moment, and then decided to hug him back as she was sobbing about. "I just wanted to prove to everyone that I'm more than just a Zero. That I'm worthy as a Noble. I know that I'm inferior in every way. Doesn't mean she needs to rub it in my face every time! I'm diligent in my studies, and always try my best to cast something, anything, when she gets to do whatever she wants with her own magic- IT'S UNFAIR!"

As Louise continues to cry, and him patting compassionately her back while hugging her, Kirche who was watching with her blue-haired friend from the somewhat short distance and hearing her words filled with sadness, felt awful with herself, due to how responsible she is in this situation.

That moment a wooden staff hits the back of the redhead's head, somewhat lightly, causing her to rub the back of her head somewhat in pain, before turning to see to her surprise that it was Tabitha.

"Bad." The blue-haired girl tells her friend with a serious expression as she points a finger at her.

Kirche kept on rubbing the pained spot while looking at Tabitha guiltily, and then her friend notices something at where they were watching, causing the redhead to look as well again.

It was Aristidis who was looking straight at them, as he was shooing them somewhat urgently with a hand gesture while still hugging the now sobbing Louise, who had her face placed on his chest.

The two get the message, get up from their seats, and walk out of the inn, leaving them alone.

After that, the pitch-black Storyteller pushes a bit the whimpering pink-haired girl back, breaking the hug, and with a black handkerchief he pulls from behind him begins wiping the tears away from her face. "Come on now, ladies such as you are not meant to cry like that."

After finishing, and with Louise now a bit calmer, he looks carefully at her face for more teared spots, before he makes the handkerchief vanish from his hand pleased. "There, now this is a pretty face to look at."

"Please stop." She says still sad, before looking the other way. "Your bold compliments will do nothing to make this feel better. Deep down you must have realized as well that I'm just a Noble without magic." She lowers her head in despair. "You must feel ashamed for realizing that the one who summoned you is just a simple useless girl."

"You do realize you are talking nonsense, right?" He simply asks her with a raised eyebrow.

Louise looks at him confused. "Eh?"

Aristidis continues. "Louise, if you had no magic, you wouldn't be able to summon a fly, so much someone such as me. You are more special than you think you are." Says the last part with a kind expression.

The pink-haired girl has a hard time understanding. "Then why-"

"Listen-" He cuts her off. "I would normally wait till we got back in the academy, but I see how much you need this, so I will tell you early."

The Storyteller puts a hand on her shoulder, as she looks at him confused. "You are a Void mage, Louise."

Louise's eyes widen in shock. "I... I'm a what?"

"A Void mage." He repeats. "And an incredibly good one, I will bet." After saying that, he opens his Tome and places his free hand magically through its pages, pulling out of it a small black book, a little bigger than a normal hand's palm, that has yellow/golden writing at its top cover as title. "After I give you this, that is."

The pink-haired girl looks at the small book in Aristidis's hand in silence, a bit of the previous shock still in her.

The mouthless Storyteller continues. "The night before the day of my absence, I analyzed your magic signature, discovering about your element, and with that the reason of the odd difficulty you had with magic in general all this time. With that, I went into the Tome, and asked the best experts on the subject to help me create an object that will allow to manipulate the magic within you, for you to use with the appropriate ease. And after going from place to place in the Tome, a bit of power/magic offering gathering through the pages, this was the final result." Says while indicating the small book in his hand. "Like the Tome that was made for me, THIS is made specifically for you, and only you. I named it, Void Manipulation: Louise's Multiversal Moveset."

The book in his hand that moment glows beautifully for a moment, as Louise watches with silent amazement.

Aristidis keeps on talking. "Within its pages is almost every power/magic many of my Tome Subjects possess, which can be brought out as spells for you to cast. Do you understand, Louise? When I give you this, instead of the usual fail, every spell you cast will be nothing but a glorious success!" His eyes become stary for a moment as he does a circling movement with his head and upper part of the body while saying the last bit.

The girl keeps on looking at him in silence with widen eyes.

"Isn't that fantastic?!" The pitch-black Storyteller asks with enthusiasm. "You will be able to do SO many amazing things from now on, and everyone seeing you in action will be like WHA~T?!, it will be so awesome to watch!"

"Is... Is this really true..? I will really stop being a failure...?" Louise asks in her shock.

"Louise!" Aristidis speaks her name with seriousness, before softening his face. "You know me well enough to know the answer to that."

As she looks at him, the face full of shock slowly begins to turn into that of utter happiness, as more tears start to fall, before she throws herself onto him, hugging him tightly, with her cheek pressing on his chest. "Thank you! Thank you so, SO much, Aristidis! You are the greatest Familiar I could ever ask for! You truly are!"

The Storyteller returns the hug while rubbing the top of her head with one hand happily. "I love you too, dearie."

When hearing that, she takes a look at what she is doing, and blushes greatly before she pushes herself off him and back on her seat. "W-Wait, d-don't get the wrong idea, I-I didn't mean it like that!"

Aristidis chuckles amused for a bit at that. "Do not worry, I know very well of such situations." He then winks at her seductively. "Doesn't mean I still didn't enjoy it, though."

Louise blushes some more from embarrassment, before looking angrily at him for taking advantage of her like that. But as she looks at the small book in his hand, and now understanding the reason of his absence for that day, she calms herself before looking away for a moment, putting on a serious face. "Fine, I will forgive you for this only because of your generous, life-changing gift." She then turns with a somewhat big smile in her face as she brings her hands toward the small book. "Now give it here."

Before she can grab it, the Storyteller moves it out of reach, making her lose her balance for a moment because of her miss. "Not yet." He says, and then puts the small book magically inside his Tome, before closing it shut.

She looks angrily at him. "Why not?!"

He looks at her with a serious expression. "We are here to enjoy the day in the big city, and that is what we will do. I will teach you how to use the book tomorrow during break after the first class of the day. Have some patience, no need to be in a hurry."

Louise looks at him for a moment, and understanding how there is no way talking him out of this, sighs in mild frustration. "I suppose I can wait till the next day..." She trails off, before remembering a certain detail which brings back some of her past surprise. "Still, it is so surprising to find out that my element is the Void. The Founder's very element!"

Aristidis remembers something that moment. "Before you ask, know that I don't know why YOU inherited the supposed lost element, or if more can have it, with the lack of knowledge only assumptions I can make. And also, I will have to ask you to NOT reveal to anyone that you have the said element."

"Huh? Why?" She asks highly confused.

He begins. "According to some books I read during my first day in the academy, there have been references to people who said they were as much, only to be executed as pretenders and blasphemers for using the name of Founder's sacred element as if it was theirs, and most of the times without even being given the chance to prove themselves. And I don't think you want that to happen to you too, now do you?"

Louise is taken aback by the information, being terrified at the thought of ending up like that.

"We will reveal it to the world once we know it is safe enough." Aristidis reassures her. "You can still speak of it with close friends, if you believe they are to be trusted, and as for the curious others, you can simply say your magic comes from the small book itself as an excuse. It will be more than enough to convince."

That makes her feel safer as she lets out a relieved sigh, but then realizes something. When she was crying, when they were talking about the fact that she is of the Void, there were people around who could still hear them in the inn.

Louise turns and looks around her quickly, but no one seems to have the surprised reaction she expected, or have paid any attention at all to her and Aristidis, much to her great confusion.

"No one heard anything." The pitch-black Storyteller says, which draws her attention. "I placed around us a Sound Barrier spell the moment I saw the tears in your face." He snaps his fingers, and with an unnoticed flash the said invisible barrier from before vanishes. "I didn't want anyone to misunderstand you just because you had an emotional moment."

"Oh, I-I see... Thank you for that." She says awkwardly.

Aristidis shows a kind face. "Always there for you, better never forget that." Says the last bit with a wink.

That moment the waiter comes by the table with two plates, before setting them in front of the duo. "I apologize for the delay, hope you did not have to wait for long."

"No, everything is quite alright, thank you." The mouthless Storyteller says politely.

The waiter bows, and leaves them to return to his duties.

The Storyteller looks at his plate of chosen food. "Looks quite promising. Let us enjoy, and then continue our great sight-seeing in the city." Says as he takes his fork, and starts eating from his plate with his known mouthless way.

Louise looks at him for a moment, and then smiles before turning to her own plate. "Yes."

The pink-haired girl thinks of what he did for her, and his promise of always being there for her. She can't help but feel really happy on the inside about it, as she realizes now for sure that she has everything she could wish for. And she couldn't be more thankful for that.

~Some Hours Later~At The Academy~

After returning to the academy from their sight-seeing in Tristania, the scene shows Aristidis, without his hat and cane, and Louise opening the door to her room, as the former was apparently telling her about a random funny moment in a story. "And the two ninja-boys kissed each other by accident because of that push. I am sure you can imagine their reaction afterward."

Louise covers her mouth with a hand while trying to not laugh amused and in an unladylike manner.

When they look through the open door, they notice, much to the pink-haired Noble's surprise mostly, Kirche and Tabitha waiting within with Cinderella, with the first playing a card game with the latter, and with the blue-haired girl being seated on Louise's bed while reading from a book, who they all take notice of the returning duo.

Louise appears upset at the unexpected intrusion of the two, mostly at her rival's, as she steps inside the room. "What do you think you're doing in my room, Zerbst? I don't remember inviting you, nor wanting to."

Kirche lets the cards she was holding down on the table, gets up, and walks toward the pink-haired Noble till she stops right in front of her, as Aristidis closes the door behind him as he enters the room too.

The redhead's expression was not that of the arrogant overconfidence or cunningness she usually shows... But instead that of sadness and guilt, as she was looking at Louise.

The pink-haired Noble was feeling somewhat uneasy with the way her rival was looking at her. "Wh-Why are you looking at me like that for?"

After saying that, Kirche with tearful eyes suddenly wraps her arms around Louise, pulling her into a somewhat tight hug, much to the latter's startling confusion as she tries to not be suffocated due to her face being buried between the former's big chest. "OH, I am so sorry, Louise! I didn't know it was so bad for you! I never meant to hurt your feelings that badly, I swear! I promise, I will never call you Zero or treat you like one ever again! Please forgive me!"

The pink-haired haired girl was absolutely stunned. Her most hated rival was apologizing out of the blue for all her transgressions against her, and even asking for her forgiveness.

A small smile can be spotted for the moment at Tabitha's face as she sees the scene before her.

Louise starts to think that her rival has gone mad for any number of reasons, and frankly feels even concerned for her. "A-Are you al-"

"Louise." Aristidis calls from behind, drawing her attention as she sees him shaking lightly a cup of some liquid in his hand. "Just take the hug."

The pink-haired Noble just looks at him after hearing him telling her that, before turning to look at her still hugging rival. Eventually, she decides to hesitantly return the hug, feeling that it is the right thing to do.

After a few seconds, Kirche breaks the hug as she takes a step back. "After hearing about everything at that inn, I just had to make up for my past misdeeds."

"You followed us?!" Louise asks surprised.

The redhead rubs the back of her head awkwardly. "I was planning on saying that it was just a coincidence to find you there, but yeah, we did so."

The pink-haired Noble was in distress as she places both hands on her own head. Not only did they hear her talking of her pain while crying about, but also about the fact she is a Void mage! What a catastrophe!

Louise grabs the redhead by the collar of her academy's uniform while looking troubled but serious. "Tell me you said nothing to no one about it."

Kirche raises her hands defensively. "N-No, we did not. And don't worry, we will not trouble you by saying anything about it to anyone." She turns her head to Tabitha. "Right, Tabitha?"

The blue-haired girl nods in agreement.

Upon hearing that, the pink-haired Noble lets the redhead's uniform, and sighs in relief. She turns to Aristidis upset, who is currently drinking from his cup. "Aristidis, I thought you said that you have put in place a Sound Barrier spell around us, and that no one could listen!"

"Sound Barrier?" The redhead questions confused.

The mouthless Storyteller lowers his cup and looks at Louise. "I did so, but I allowed them inside to listen."

"Wha- Why?!" The pink-haired Noble asks really upset, not able to understand the logic to that after he himself talked about keeping the Void fact a secret.

"Because you need friends." Aristidis explains. "And considering miss Kirche here went to the trouble to ask for your forgiveness, burying her very own pride as a rival of yours in doing so, shows that she is worthy of being one. And Tabitha too, because she is a good girl despite her quiet nature."

Kirche puts her hands together as she smiles at the Storyteller's good words for her happily, with Tabitha lifting her book high enough to cover her own face in response.

Louise was in disbelief with Aristidis's thinking. "Do you seriously-" She cuts herself off and points angrily at the redhead. "It is obviously just another act of hers to impress you, in an attempt to have her way with you! She doesn't mean any of that!"

Kirche steps forward to defend herself. "I had no such ulterior motives, I'm truthful about it!"

A sharp short-lived bell sound is heard that moment, drawing the girls' attention toward Aristidis, who is seen holding on one hand a small base with its right side being white with an angel wing at its top, and its left side being purple with a bat/demonic wing at its part of the top, connected to a red bead in the middle right above a golden bell placed at the middle of the said base.

"Looks like that is not true." He says cunningly, before his expression turns neutral. "And before anyone asks, this is a Magic Lie Detector, the bell is sound when a lie is said close to it."

Kirche is shocked by the fact, with Tabitha looking at it with interest, and with Louise looking surprised that something like that exists.

The pink-haired Noble smiles smuggly as she looks at her rival. "AHA! I knew it was all just an act in the end!"

The redhead looks troubled at her as she defensively moves her hands forward. "Wai- No! That's just-" She looks at the magic bell Aristidis keeps on holding, and loses her words for a moment before turning to Louise again. "Alright, look, I confess that I DID wanted to impress him as well in this, but I really meant it when I said that I was feeling bad for being so hurtful to you all this time, and that I want us to make up."

Aristidis, and the rest, looks at the bell, which didn't sound this time, and nods satisfied. "Ok, you are definitely saying the truth now. There might yet be hope for you in the end." Says the last part as he winks at her.

Kirche is really happy hearing that.

Louise on the other hand is incredibly surprised with the fact that her rival in the end meant that about being sorry.

The pitch-black Storyteller makes the bell vanish from his hand. "Louise, since it is official that she means her apology, what do you think the next appropriate move you should do is?"

The pink-haired Noble thinks about it for a moment, and then sighs as she turns toward her rival with a serious expression. "Since you mean it, it would be wrong of me not to accept your apology."

"And?" Aristidis questions as he gives her a look that shows he expects to hear something specific from her.

Louise appears annoyed as she understands where he is going with that, and groans in mild frustration as she rolls her eyes. "Fine! I also apologize for all the bad things I said to you in the past as well."

"So, friends?" Kirche asks as she extends a hand toward her.

The pink-haired Noble looks at it for a moment, and then decides to grasp it with her own. "Friends, I guess."

At the sound of that, the redhead becomes extremely happy about it, and pulls Louise into another tight hug, with the latter's face once more between the big chest of the former, as she flails about to get free. "Thank you for forgiving me, Louise, you will not regret it! And know that if anyone ever tries to give you a hard time, your best friend Kirche will be there to help you at any time. And Tabitha as well, right, Tabitha?" Says the last part while looking at the blue-haired girl.

Tabitha nods for confirmation.

Aristidis appears very happy with the whole scene before him. Louise got two new friends just like he wanted her to, so how can he not be?

After suffocating enough, the pink-haired Noble pushes herself off Kirche's grasp, catches her breath, and looks at her. "Look, I am glad that you finally see how awful you were and all, but there is no reason to treat me as if I can't do anything for myself anymore. I am a Void mage, as you have already heard." Says the last part with an air of self-importance.

Both the girls, even Tabitha, yes, were really surprised at the sound of that.

"What?! You're a Void mage?!" Kirche yells in her surprise.

"Founder's element?" Tabitha questions in her more calm surprise.

"Eh? Eh?!" Is all Louise can say as she is trying to understand what is going on.

"Actually, they never got to hear about that part and after back at the inn." Aristidis simply answers her great confusion.

Upon realizing that she just gave herself away, the pink-haired Noble was frozen, before her face moves toward the ceiling as she screams "EEH~?!" in great disbelief.

The Storyteller puts a hand on her shoulder after she stops yelling about. "Louise, there is no need for such panic, seriously, calm yourself."

Louise looks at him, but still not quite calm about her situation.

Aristidis decides to continue. "They will keep it a secret themselves, worry not about it. We will just explain to them the reason as to why, while in the meantime we sit down to play one of our famous boardgames, and as your friends they will understand and do so, be sure about it."

He lets her shoulder and walks toward the table, as everyone but Cinderella watches him in confusion. "Now come on, let us begin."

Over the course of the current game, everything about Louise's manipulated by Aristidis element is revealed to the two, and the reason about why they must keep it a secret from everyone for now, with them understanding and agreeing with the thought.

Time passes by, and everyone enjoys the time together, with Tabitha who was convinced to participate in the next games, with Kirche who was doing the same but with the occasional attempts at flirting with Aristidis, who was slapping her hand every time she tried to touch him in an inappropriate way, and Louise who was somewhat annoyed at the redhead's unceasing flirting intensifies toward him, but who was smiling nevertheless because of the nice time she was receiving with them. It was so great the feeling of having a big company of friends like this for her.

Eventually night comes, and Kirche with Tabitha leave so they can get some sleep and prepare for the next day.

The scene shows Louise, dressed in her nightgown, in her bed, and Aristidis in his own beside her own, who he made it appear like the first time, as he is reading from his Tome.

The girl was looking at the ceiling. "I still cannot believe that I ended up becoming friends with a Zerbst of all people."

The Storyteller lowers his Tome as he looks at her. "I believe you understand we are past the whole family grudge at this point, don't you think so too, Louise? Just because there is a conflict going on between the two families, doesn't mean it needs to be between you two as well."

Louise keeps on staring at the ceiling some more, and then turns to look at him with a smile. "You're right, Aristidis. I mean, who cares about an idiotic feud that happened who knows how many years ago? Not me, that's for sure. And I prefer having Kirche as a friend more than having her as an enemy, as strange as this still sounds to me."

"That's what I like to hear, bravo!" Aristidis says really satisfied as he claps his hands a few times fast for Louise. "I am happy for you for seeing the big picture."

"All thanks to you." She tells him sincerely, and then yawns tired. "We better get some sleep now. It was quite the big day. Goodnight, Aristidis." Says before turning around in her bed as she proceeds to get some sleep.

"Goodnight to you as well. My beautiful pink angel." He says seductively the last part.

That makes her blush, before she sits up to look at him awkwardly upset. "A-Aristidis!"

Aristidis winks playfully at her. "You know you like hearing those, don't lie now."

Louise groans frustrated with her mouth closed shut as she blushes about, before she turns fast around in her bed, not wanting to admit anything.

The pitch-black Storyteller chuckles amused quietly for a moment, and then sighs pleased as he looks at her silently.

(I look forward for what the next days have in store for us.) He says in his thoughts, before covering himself with his bed's blanket, and letting himself fall asleep.

[And that's all-]

[Wait, you're asking "what about Derflinger the sword?"]

[Well...]

~Some Hours Earlier~After The Main Duo Left From Tristania~

The scene moves to a certain weapon shop within one of the many alleys of the city.

The storekeeper behind the counter was a slender man with simple commoner garb and glasses, the tip of his nose somewhat reddish, a wisker-like mustache, and two big tooth coming out from above within his closed mouth, making him overall look like a human hairless mouse.

He was lazing where he was sitting. "Not much work today." Says before he sighs bored.

The storekeeper closes his eyes for a moment as he was tired with the monotony, and when he opens them again a few seconds later, right in front of his face he sees the black cloaked Kremant's red glowing eyes and wicked sharp-toothed grin.

"Hello there." He simply says to the storekeeper with a raised hand close to his hood, with the said storekeeper backing away as he screams absolutely startled by him, before falling off the chair and with his back on the floor.

The rodent-faced man rubs his backside in pain as he sits up, and then looks at the full cloaked man with surprise. (Wh-Who is this?! How did he get in here, there was no sound from my door's bell!) Says on his mind utterly confused.

Kremant chuckles amused for a moment. "Sorry if I scared you. You could say that I have a tendency of coming out of nowhere at a daily basis." He straightens himself up and proceeds to look around him. "So, got any nice swords here to sell me."

The storekeeper gets up as he understands something. "Y-You're here to buy a sword?"

"Said so already, didn't I?" Kremant says while looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

(Ah, so he is a customer!) The rodent-faced man says in his mind relieved. (With the black cloak covering him completely, I thought he was a robber or something, wanting to steal from my shop. Now that I think about it though, it would make more sense if he came during the night in case he was one as such with the way he is dressed.)

He puts on a smile to be more welcome to his customer. "E-Excuse me for the delay, my good sir. Now if you let me help you find the right sword for you, I'll make sure-"

"Already found it." Kremant says as he is seen pulling from a barrel filled with weapons a really rusty sword.

The Storekeeper raises an eyebrow. "That rusty sword? I mean, with the proper maintenance it can still be of use, but don't you want something more-"

The black cloaked man ignores him, and proceeds to knock with his hand a few times the rusty sword's handle.

After a few more knockings, the sword's handle starts to move. "Hey, who the hell disturbs my sleep like that?!" Says the sword itself in an annoyed tone.

The rodent-faced man blinks his eyes a few moments confused. "Did that sword just talk, or am I imaging things?"

Kremant looks at him. "Oh, so you're one of the multiversal instances who doesn't know exactly what they have in their possession. I see."

(Multi-what insta- What is that man even talking about?!) The Storekeeper says in his mind way too confused.

The black cloaked man turns to the talking rusty sword. "Hello, Derflinger."

"Oh, I see you know me!" Derflinger says rather surprised. "Yet I don't seem to remember you from anywhere. Have we met before? Actually before that, what year is it now, and where are we exactly?"

"Well-" Kremant begins. "About the year I'm not quite sure, but you have been sleeping for a few thousand years now, nothing that special really, we are in a weapon shop at the city Tristania of Tristain, and we have not met before really." His expression then turns mischievous. "I know about you thought, along with the fact that Sasha was your first wielder. Quite a special girl I hear."

"Sasha... That name does ring a bell!" The rusty sword exclaims with surprise after thinking about it.

"But enough of that." Kremant says as he moves his hand dismissively, and then grasps with both hands the sword's handle, before lifting up in the air. "I am here to acquire your power, Derflinger."

"Ah, I see." Derflinger says in understanding. "You're quite the mysterious fellow, and appear to know much about my past that I seem to have forgotten as well. You know what, sure why not? I'll stick around with you for the time being. So, what is the grand adventure you want us to embark on? Save a damsel in distress? Conquer a kingdom? Or-"

"I think you misunderstood me." The black cloaked man cuts the sword off, as his wicked grin gets a bit bigger. "I said that I am here for your power. Nothing more. And nothing less."

"Huh?" The rusty sword says confused. "What does that mea-"

That moment from Kremant's sleeves, multiple red tentacles emerge, and wrap themselves around the sword, before they then start to glow brightly.

"H-Hey, what is... No..." Derflinger trails off as a shocking realization strikes him while his whole being appears to be slowing turning to dust, with panic setting in. "NO! THAT'S NOT HOW MY STORY IS SUPPOSED TO END! YOU CAN'T- YOU! THE RAT-FACE BY THE COUNTER! I AM WORTH MORE THAN YOU REALIZE! HELP ME! DON'T LET THIS WACKO DO THIS TO ME! PLEASE DON'T-"

The sword Derflinger starts to scream, as his entire being finally turns to dust completely and its voice ceases.

"Ah~." Kremant lets out in satisfaction as the tentacles retreat back into his sleeves while lowering his hands down. "Now THAT was a meal. A total delicacy for sure."

The Storekeeper was trembling in place, terrified of the the scene he just witnessed before him.

The black cloaked man turns to the rodent-faced man, having as a result to make him flinch in place scared. "So, how much for the sword? Actually hold that thought."

He snaps his fingers, and three open bags filled with gold coins appear out of thin air at the counter before the Storekeeper, much to his further surprise. "These are in total three-thousand golden coins. For the minimum but nice customer-service you provided me with, my mouse-faced Storekeeper." Says with a bow.

Kremant then turns around and heads for the door. "You may uses them to renovate your store a bit if you want. Because frankly-"

He stops and looks around at the store one more time, which appears rather mediocre, before turning his gaze toward the Storekeeper. "This place is a shame for display, you can do way better than that, come on."

After saying that, he turns toward the door, and lifts a hand as he says "Bye!" before phasing through it.

The mouse-faced Storekeeper appears stunned as he keeps on looking at the door the black cloaked just left from. "What kind of demon was that...?" He whispers in his shock.

Kremant then appears right beside him unnoticed and with a neutral expression. "Not a demon."

The Storekeeper screams from horror upon noticing him, with the scene cutting back to black.

[Yeah... ANYWAY ROLLING CREDITS]

{To Be Continued}

[Now I know that most of you must be asking "why such a long episode?". Well, the reason is that I had to do it this way, so I can place the moment with the Louise's book of a gift there, because if I was to end it at the day of Aristidis's absence, the episode would definitely feel like a total filler! And I wanted to avoid that, even if it meant dragging it too far this time even for my own liking. That's all for now, folks, see you at the next one!]