Day of Void
"I COMPLETELY FORGOT!" Louise shouts out of nowhere, causing the horse to stop in surprise. Though, after Wisdom calms it down, the pet starts following its old track to Tristania.
"Do you need to return?"
"…No, I have everything here. It's about the upcoming Exhibition…" The pink-haired mage covers her face with her hands to cover her own embarrassment for forgetting such important event.
"…What for?"
"It's a Familiar Exhibition… Tell me, do you have any talents?" Louise asks, hoping that he has at least one to show in front of everyone.
"…Please specify it."
"Dancing, singing, sorts like that."
"…I …My apology. I'm terrible at these activities."
The master sighs. Of course she should have seen that coming. Other than serving her nearly the whole day, all the times he would just sit idly in one place or just read a book. Or occasionally talk with the servants, but that's also rare as well.
"But…" Louise quickly turns her face to see Wisdom's one. "If it's important to you, then I can try."
Her face lightens up in happiness. As expected of her loyal familiar. "Thank you very much!" She only receives a nod from him, but that's enough for her. As long as he could help her, then it doesn't matter if he doesn't speak much.
…
Tristania
"Alright, let's find you a sword." After entering the main road of the capital city, Louise announces her reason. "While I don't doubt your capability of protecting me, you will need something to help yourself as well."
"As long as you see fit." The familiar walks behind his mistress, following her wherever she goes.
Looking at the signs on the stores, she tries to find where she needs to head into. "Clothes, potions, food… Ah, here you go!" Turning around a corner, she finally finds a sign with a hammer on it.
"Let me." Picking up the pace, Wisdom walks past Louise so he could reach the door first and open it up for her.
"Thank you." Louise nods, and the two head inside…
"Ah, welcome customers!" The rat-face shopkeeper greets the duo with his 'friendly' tone. "I only sell legit wares with reasonable prices! No criminals involved here!"
On instinct, the familiar gently but quickly pulls Louise back while he stands between her and the shopkeeper. A moment passes, and she has to speak up: "Ease up, Wisdom. He's just saying hello to us." She then walks forward, with her familiar reluctantly puts his hands down, and says: "I would like to buy a sword for my servant here."
"Ah, then you have come to the right place!" The shopkeeper raises his voice a little higher, like a rat squeaking. He then looks at Wisdom to make a calculation on which swords to sell to them. A few seconds later, he says while moving to the back of the store: "Wait here. I will find something for you."
When he's out of sight, Louise sighs and speaks to Wisdom: "You don't have to be so cautious, Wisdom. Many people have come here before me…"
"The eyes of a trickery." Wisdom interrupts. "Can't trust someone like him."
"…I can see your point." Louise then looks around the shop and says: "How about you see if you find something of your interest?"
"…Excuse me." Deciding to follow her advice, the familiar walks towards a barrel of swords and starts pulling them out and examining while waiting for the shopkeeper. Meanwhile, Louise stands there and watches him doing so, letting herself relax for a moment.
After a few minutes, the rat-face person returns and puts on the table a set of swords. "Here, miss Noble. Feel free to check on them." When Wisdom picks up a rapier and swings it two times, the shopkeeper asks: "What do you think of it?"
"…Not suitable." The familiar puts it down. "Works for a knight on solo missions, not if fighting against a whole group while protecting someone." He then reaches to a longsword and raises it up, and puts it down immediately. "Too light."
"You need something heavier?" The shopkeeper asks in curiosity. Some knights have picked up that one and said that it's too heavy, contrasting to what the 'servant' just said.
"…Technically." Wisdom gives out an uncertain answer. "The handle has considerable weight, but the blade is too light."
'Damn, I found myself a tough customer.' That's what the shopkeeper thinks. He then asks Louise: "Young lady, how about you pick one for him?"
"He's more experienced than me, since he was trained by a knight. Let him find one for himself." That's her answer. She then notices Wisdom completely ignoring a large golden broadsword. "Why didn't you test that one?"
"Only for decoration. Gold is not suitable to make armors, much less a sword." The familiar immediately replies.
"HAHAHA! And you don't even have a chance to bargain with him!" Immediately Wisdom throws the previous rapier right towards the direction of the unknown voice, letting the weapon stab deep into the wall behind him. "Woah there kid! You might decapitate someone with that!"
"Who's there?!" Louise has her wand ready and points it towards the direction where her familiar just threw the weapon.
"Derf!" The shopkeeper shouts up, and the duo watches him walking to the barrel under the rapier and pulls out a rusty sword, as he continues shouting to it. "You didn't see how paranoid he was when he entered here? You're lucky he didn't know you are in there! And I'm still doing business here!"
"What business? He has already seen through those worthless weapons of yours! You can't even make a counter to his deduction!" The sword… speaks before Louise's surprise eyes and Wisdom's suspicious glare. "How about you give me to him? Let's see how he compares the great Derflinger to those you made!"
"Fine! If you are rejected, then better prepare for me laughing at you for the rest of your life!" The shopkeeper then turns to see the customers' expressions, and sheepishly speaks: "Sorry, he has a very rude mouth."
"The same as you." Dropping the glare, Wisdom replies.
"Hey now, it's just to him. Here…" Putting the sword into the familiar's hand, the shopkeeper says. "Take a few swings and give me your thoughts."
"…Stand clear." Wisdom orders, causing the shopkeeper to step back. Raising the sword over his head, he then swings the sword down vertically with high velocity, creating a shockwave towards the barrel, destroying the object instantly and causing the weapons to drop to the floor, making echo sounds through the whole shop.
A little surprised at the sudden display, Louise's expression turns normal after remembering what he has done to Guiche's armors. Though, she asks disappointingly: "Do you have to do so?"
"…Need to test its durability." That's his answer.
"Okay… that's a blast. Literally." The sword is also surprised by that. He then declares: "Buy me. You won't regret it."
"Hey! He didn't…" The shopkeeper is planning to argue that the customer hasn't made the comparison yet.
"I accept." Wisdom gives out his final answer. "A bit rusty, but otherwise works very well. Also, perfect type of sword for protection."
"Hear that, buddy? Get lost! HAHAHA!" The sword crackles up at its own victory.
"…I guess it's decided." Louise says, as she sees the shopkeeper rubbing his temples. "So, how much?"
"…Ten gold coins." The shopkeeper names the price.
"Alright. Wisdom, take the…"
"Woah woah, wait a second." Derf stops the familiar from pulling out the money. "Hey, buddy. What's gotten into you? Normally you would sell me for a hundred when I wasn't paying much attention."
"That ten gold coins are going to fix the store and for them to buy maintenance tools. I'm giving you to him for free." The shopkeeper explains, surprising Louise. "I have to say, this is the first time I have seen a young man who has such vast knowledge of weapons, and managed to measure them with just a quick look. Young man, if you return here again, I will give you even better equipment. Of course, you have to pay that time."
"…Acceptable." Wisdom says, then puts the sword on the table with the ten gold coins.
"Give me a moment. I will get you the scabbard and the tools." The shopkeeper returns back inside the shop.
"…Damn. Now that's something I have never seen from that tricky rat." Derflinger breaks up the silence in the room. "Hey, young man. It's a bit late for introduction, but I'm Derflinger. What's your name? It can't be Wisdom, right?"
"…It is. Mistress gave it to me." The familiar replies.
"Heh…" The sword says uncertainly. "Well… at least it's better than staying there forever. Why aren't you a user though?"
"A user?" Both the master and the familiar ask in unison.
"…That's another story." Derf decides not to say more about it.
…
"I should buy some supplies for myself as well. I'm running a bit low on them." Louise says to herself as she walks in front of Wisdom, who now has Derflinger hanging on the scabbard placed on his back.
"Hey, partner, are you really her servant?" The sword tries to open a conversation.
"I am."
"Technically he's my familiar." Louise overhears the question. "Though, calling him servant is better."
"…A human, as a familiar? Ah… I remember such a case…"
"Wait what?" Louise stops mid-way and Wisdom also stops. She turns and asks the sword: "You knew someone who had summoned a human before?"
"Well… that's thousand years ago. Don't expect me to remember every detail." Derf confesses.
"…Doesn't matter." Wisdom doesn't want to hear much from it. "However… who made you?"
"…Sorry partner. When I could remember that detail, I will tell you."
"Great, a senile sword." Louise groans. "Though, if Wisdom believes that you're useful, then I can trust him."
"Hey, you can't even carry the gold by yourself."
"Hey! It's his job, okay? A servant's job has to…"
Wisdom shuts Derf up by slamming it into the scabbard. "No bad-mouthing my mistress." Though, he pulls the sword back so it could speak again.
"You're no fun, partner." The sword then notices the familiar turning his head to one location. "Finding yourself something, partner?"
Also noticing Wisdom's gaze, Louise turns to look at what he's seeing. "…Ah, that's an antique shop… You want to go there?" She receives a nod from him. "Hm… I don't see how you're interested in it, but okay. It's a master's duty to let her servant have a reward once a while."
"Thank you, my mistress."
After the conversation, the group enters the shop, and they're greeted by a happy old lady. After that, the lady lets the group wander around freely inside the shop, and Wisdom starts observing the items in the shop. Louise is also slightly interested and follows suit quickly.
"…This might do." Wisdom then pulls out an old guitar from a case. He then takes a small seat and starts fixing the strings of the instrument.
"A music instrument?" Louise asks curiously. "You can use it?"
"…I can try." The familiar replies. He then starts playing some music rhymes he has heard. Once the music sounds okay, he says: "It could work."
"For the Exhibition?" A nod is what Louise receives from her familiar. She then turns to ask the seller: "Madam, how much is this?"
Diary mode
Today is a good shopping day.
I managed to refill my supplies during the way back. Before that, a sword and a guitar, as Wisdom called it, for him.
A rusty, talking sword to be exact.
Though, his assumption seemed to be correct, because the sword now looks better than ever after Wisdom has properly cleaned it.
Also, he said that he's not good with things like dancing and singing, and yet he's playing that guitar like a professional… maybe he just doesn't do those activities much and is shy about it.
…Although, maybe because he let his guard down a little, we didn't notice a couple of stalkers…
Reality mode. Nighttime
"Why are you here, Zerbst?" Louise grunts while writing down on her diary. Right now there are two intruders in her room, namely Kirche and Tabitha. While she's frustrated that Wisdom didn't stop them from barging in, she knows that Wisdom doesn't have any reasons to randomly stop her classmates to come into her room. So technically she has no reasons to punish him.
"Why, you ask? To give my darling a present!" Kirche smirks and pulls out the same golden broadsword Wisdom didn't even care to look at in the first place. "I can't believe you would buy him such a rusty weapon, so unfit for him!"
Putting the feather down, Louise turns and retorts: "That's his choice, not mine. Also, look again." Louise points at Derf, and Kirche sees the object laying between used maintenance tools, as the sword itself looks as good as new. "And he also ignored that sword from the beginning."
That makes Kirche's excitement go downhill. But, she recharges it by sitting down next to the familiar and tries to push the sword to him. "Hey darling, just keep it for me, okay? Considering this a gift from me."
A tick mark appears on Louise's head as she grunts at her rival: "I told you he's mine! And didn't you forget how many times he has ignored your advances already? Just give up."
And true enough, Wisdom doesn't care about Kirche's approach as he keeps practicing with his guitar. Although, that comes to a halt as one of the strings suddenly breaks. Looking down at the string for a second, the familiar then looks up at Louise and asks: "My mistress…"
"I'm fine here." Not even bothered to listen to the rest of the request, Louise gives out her permission.
"…Excuse me." Standing up, Wisdom brings the guitar with him and goes out to the kitchen where he could ask if he could find a replacement for the broken string.
"…And why is Tabitha here, Kirche?"
…
"Mister Wisdom?" Siesta asks in surprise when she sees him walking in the schoolyard. "Did Lady Valliere order you to do something?"
The familiar shakes his head and raises the guitar up, and the maid sees a broken string. "I want to ask some of you if you have anything to fix it."
"Ah… maybe mister Marteau might know. You can go to the kitchen and ask him." Siesta suggests.
"Thank you." Giving her a nod, he heads to the direction…
"Thank you, mister Wisdom." Her strange line stops the familiar in his current location. "Thanks to you and your declaration in the fight with sir Gramont, we servants are being treated more kindly. We admire your bravery against the nobility, and you have given us lots of courage after that. I can continue to do my best all because of you."
Not turning back, Wisdom simply answers: "Commoners, Nobles… titles are titles. We are human. No individual stands on the higher levels than the others. While we could never reach the same level of fairness, we cannot let the balance of life be broken down by such meaningless trivia. Each of us wants to live in freedom, but each of us is also bound by our own rules. If you can follow your rules while adapt the others, you have earned the freedom you want, even if you're being controlled by something greater than ourselves."
Stunned by the speech, Siesta then lets out a small and sad giggle. "Maybe Lady Valliere has given you a fitting name, mister Wisdom. Goodnight." With that, the girl leaves the schoolyard and heads to her room.
Standing at the place for a few seconds, Wisdom then speaks to himself as he looks to the two moons: "…Freedom… No one will never be able to find its true definition." He then heads to the kitchen, where he could find someone who can help him with the guitar, so he could at least try to keep his mistress be proud in the Exhibition.