To duked: Can't really expose too many things, otherwise the story would get boring you know *winky face*
A few days later
'94…95…' Counting in his mind, Wisdom swings down Derflinger vertically in the air. Right now he's re-practicing basic movements, in order to re-configure his status before he moves on higher-skilled moves.
"You are still training, sir Wisdom?" Happening to see him during her work, Siesta makes a small sidetrack and walks to him and asks curiously. "Ever since you returned from the missions Her Highness gave you and miss Valliere, you take anytime not being with her to train with Derf. Did something happen back then?"
'99…100.' Finishing the segment, the familiar stabs Derf on the ground in front of him, then turns his attention to the maid. "There is nothing to worry about, miss Siesta."
"Just call me Siesta. Calling me 'miss' makes me feel old." The girl turns her face away, trying to hide her blush away.
Ignoring that, Wisdom continues: "About the previous mission, I just overworked myself, and now I have to make sure my body can return to its normal state so I could properly serve my mistress."
"Are you sure you 'overworked'? Because the last time I remembered, an overworked servant would be spotted sleeping throughout the day." Managing to sue the heat away, Siesta asks back. "And… your display of magic clearly showed that you are, not at all, tired."
"…I did collapse the night we returned." Using magic to create lined-up bamboos, he pulls Derf back off the ground. "And… the servants are afraid of me now, I take it."
"Well… some of us are. But, it was just because of your display of power. Chef Marteau even laughed it off and said that it would scare the other Nobles and make them respect our works for them."
"…He doesn't care that I could be a Noble?" Placing the blade of Derf near to the first bamboo, he asks the question before he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
"Even if he thinks so, he really respects you, sir Wisdom."
"…Stand back." Taking the warning, the maid backs off a bit. Wisdom then opens his eyes and slashes down the sword, cutting the bamboos into half from the middle. After the bamboos reset itself back to the first state, Wisdom stands straight up and continues talking. "Because I stood up for you all, or because I could control you if I really want to?"
"Don't ask her that hard question, sir Wisdom." The maid turns back in surprise to see the chef walking to them with a wide smile. "Actions speak louder than words. If it's the latter, you didn't need to kill off Mott and instead told him that you were a Noble to buy Siesta back."
"…You still trust me after I showed my true nature?" Taking the stance again, Wisdom asks back.
"Your true nature? What a joke!" Marteau laughs. "I know you are still hiding many things, but we all have secrets so I won't ask, not soon at least." The chef then waits for the familiar to cut down the bamboos again and reset. "Given that you occasionally gave the Noble kids here a good segment of beating down…"
"I just talked them down." Wisdom clarifies.
"And to us as well if we went a bit too far in insulting them, I can safely say that you care more about equality than just talking down on the 'superiors'. And that's something I can stand." He then walks away while saying: "We still need you in the kitchen, Siesta! Make it fast!"
"Ah! Excuse me sir Wisdom! Have a good day!" Remembering that she still has work to do, Siesta says her goodbye before quickly following the chef back to her work.
"…Equality." Finishing the third slash, he waves his left hand and makes the bamboos disappear before sitting on the grass ground, sheathing Derf back to his scabbard.
"Well, you didn't plan to save the Prince back then…"
"That's not counted as equality."
"BECAUSE your first belief was that you shouldn't stand in the war of Albion factions. Yeah I know it's more of 'I don't want to put Mistress into danger', but it does show that you showed no factions any favors."
"I did save him…"
"AGAIN, because you want to protect your Void mage. You predicted that his death might cause her problems. And saving some of the Loyalists so they could delay Reconquista heading straight to Tristain did the trick as well."
"…"
"Hey, partner. I NEVER said that you have to change. In fact, I like you because of your uniquely quiet personality and the way you look at the world. However, if you want to stay the way you are, you have to be careful. What happened that night was definitely the result of the conflicts in your mind between what you needed to do and what you wanted to do. And from my point of view, these trainings of yours are to help you solving that instead of fixing you back to your prime."
"…They serve both purposes." Wisdom admits. "…Do you want to rest?"
"Me, a sword, rest? That's a good humor from you. It's really funny to see a Gandalfr training."
"…The legendary familiar you served, if I'm correct." Standing up, the familiar pulls out the sword again and restarts his basic swings training.
"The only one, if I remembered right. And she preferred using her magic over me, sadly. Speaking of that, I do like you because you didn't actually use magic that often and too direct to deal with a problem."
"…If you say that to the others, it might come out as an insult."
"Well then I'm glad I'm just a sword. I can make others face the wraith for me."
A week later. Old Osmond's office
"Reconquista manages to get their army ready and starts the war, during the time the forging of alliance treaty between Germania and Tristain is still going." The Headmaster summaries the situation after hearing Prince Wales' direct announcement. "And Her Highness wants every male who's capable of fighting to participate it."
"Yes, that would cover up everything." The former prince, now working as Princess Henrietta's secretary to hide away from his enemies, sighs. "Some of us are against the idea of using the students, but right now Tristain is short of troops. There is no way its army can stand against Reconquista with its current resources. And of course, we did have to stand down since we knew it's true."
"...So be it." The headmaster gives out a sigh of defeat. "I will give the announcement later in the day…"
"There is something else we, I and Henrietta, want to ask you to do." From the pocket of his coat, Wales pulls out an envelope with some sort of items in it. He then gives it to Old Osmond and requests: "Please keep them somewhere safe, away from the curious eyes."
Receiving the item, the headmaster makes a slightly touch on the objects inside the envelope without opening it, and realizes what they are. "…I see. I will follow your order. However, may I ask why?"
This time Prince Wales chuckles. "Other than security, we want to further expand our trust to the people we have already done so. Her Highness trusts you, Henrietta trusts her childhood friend… and I want to establish a new trust to the Mage Killer."
"…You think you can trust him?"
"I know that he won't betray my ideals. After all, ours are similar."
"…That's something we both agree."
"Besides, considering miss Valliere is a… you know, maybe the rings are more useful here than with us."
"Ah, now that's reasonable."
…
Same night
"So the boys are going out for war, huh?" Derflinger asks, as his partner is meditating in his mistress' room, with the owner of said room is doing her homework while occasionally performing small spells. "Does partner have to go as well?"
"He's my familiar… technically." Louise replies. "And do you really believe anyone else other than me could order him to go to war? Even I can't order him around if it's not worth his time. And he isn't Tristainia."
"…Be careful of the ink bottle, my mistress."
"Wha… Oh." Turning her eyes to the object, she sees that the item is floating because of her spell, but it's slightly rotating. She quickly grabs it before discarding the spell. "Thanks Wisdom." Putting the bottle down, she then asks: "You didn't perform meditation that much before. Why the change?"
"Because my service is currently lessened. I believe that I don't have to be on my guard too often since now you are capable of defending yourself."
"Well that's another example of equality right there partner." The sword crackles.
"What is he talking about?"
"Don't worry, my mistress. Just a talk between me and the Head Chef."
"…Hey Wisdom…" Making some small noises of hesitation, Louise decides to just talk it out. "Did you… do something bad before you heard my calling?"
Upon hearing that, the familiar snaps his eyes open and turns his head towards the girl.
"It's… the day you collapsed." Louise confesses. "When we started sleeping once you looked better, I decided to look into the 'Core' again the last time of the day. At that point, the Telepathy path had a new thing… that allowed me to read people's mind." The girl pampers a bit at this point, showing that she clearly did what everyone would do when they find out they have 'that' kind of power.
"…I hope you didn't do that to the others." Wisdom wants to scold her, but at the same time, he can't blame someone who's curious at what they could do with their power… until it's too late.
"I… did peak into Kirche and Tabitha's minds." The girl confesses again, this time her face reddens up in guilty and embarrassment. "But, while I could see some of the events which I have already known, I couldn't go any further… And that Zerbst's still trying to seduce you…" Now the red's a bit of anger.
"…And mine?"
The red disappears, replaced by confusion and the white of fear. "I… I didn't know… I was watching through your eyes… you were sitting on the ground, with your hands dripping in blood… a body was laying there with a spear through the heart…"
"…"
"Then… that started my summon… and a portal opened… but you only took a glance before looking into your hands again… then, a minute later… you cleaned yourself up using a magic and accepted my call."
"…You didn't see how the person looks like?"
"It seems that… I could only see through the eyes of the person I tried to watch at that moment, and the images in your memories are blurred. I did try finding further, but then I felt drained so I stopped."
"…I see." Closing his eyes, Wisdom takes a few deep breaths to calm his nerve. Not because his Master invaded his privacy, but because he let his guard down even if he's in a vulnerable state. "Please, refrain from doing so on people. You can get into many sorts of problems if you are caught."
"I know." Even she knew that the moment she recognized the power. "…About that person…"
"…He is my previous master." Wisdom confesses, not wanting to lie to her.
Though, that makes the color on Louise's color drain away even more. "I…I see… why did you…" She stops there, not wanting to speak the word out. She fears it might trigger something in her familiar. "…Was he a bad master?"
"…No. He's not. He's one of the best, actually."
"Then… why?"
"…Conflicted ideals." That's all he could answer, as the memories of that moment start appearing in his mind.
"Really? That's hard to believe." Derflinger speaks up. "If you are saying that that person was one of the best, then it would be against your whole deal of not killing innocent people."
"I never said he was innocent… but then, neither am I."
"…Do you regret it?" Louise drops her work and sits down next to him, as he also stops meditating and leans his back on the wall behind him. "…Why didn't you just rewind time to fix it?"
"…There are… sorts of rules about travelling through time. Even if I bypass them, return back and save him, then I will disappear because the current me don't exist in the new future. Stopping time is not a problem since time still flows normally after the spell ends, but it contains side effects if not used cautiously. Looking into the future… it's pointless, because it is unpredictable and an endless stream of possibilities." Taking a small stop, he then answers her first question: "Regret… no, I do not. However, I wish that I should have picked a different approach."
"…What do you think your previous master would think of you now?"
"…Proud." That makes Louise and Derf 'Eh?' in confusion. "Our major ideals still stand the same… it's something else that caused the event. Also, he's the kind of master that accepts everything being facts, but always chooses actions that benefit others first and then the 'Light' side of humanity before himself."
"And you learnt from him and his friends?" Louise remembers that Wisdom did mention that he learnt skills from the others instead of this master.
"…Only his friends. My master is only good at breaking things."
"And…that's why you were mad at him, partner? What I understand from what you said is that the person is very irresponsible."
"…One part."
"…At least you are still a good person." The girl then stands up and in front of Wisdom, this time she has a smile on her face. "Whatever happened between you and your previous master is in the past now. What matters now is that you help me becoming a good mage, and help others having a good life. And you do that to redeem yourself as well. As your new master, I'm all ears to help my familiar as best as I can."
Hearing that triggers a piece of memories in his mind… a happy one. Trying his best not to let out a smile, Wisdom nods gracefully. "Thank you for your understanding."
"Is that why you let him sleep with you AND do THAT that night? To 'reward' him for his service?"
That one statement from the sword causes the girl's face to fluster and blush up, as she slowly points her wand…
"Embarrassing my mistress again, in public or in privacy, and I will melt you, Derf." Using the same monotone as ever, the familiar warns the sword.
"Let me have some fun here partner."
Slowly lowering down her wand, Louise turns her face away to hide the redness on her face. Though, upon hearing the sword's teasing, she finally realizes something she forgot to do:
Rewarding Wisdom for his excellent service.
Thinking back then, buying Derf and the guitar (he didn't use it much anymore) were just to keep herself safe and not be embarrassed in the Exhibition. She even sued him away (unintentionally) after he killed Mott, and he didn't even feel sad and instead made sure everything was justified and kept their relationship in the dark until he was cleared of crimes. He is even kind enough to teach her how to use magic when everyone else can't. The smile that day was 'probably' fake as well, just to make her feel good…
"Wisdom… I know that you always speak about helping people…" Finding her voice back, Louise asks her familiar. "But… after that event… what is your true desire?" She's hoping that she could at least find something so she can give him a fair reward.
"…It…" Hesitating for a few seconds, Wisdom answers: "It's something I would like to not talk about yet. Until I feel it's the right time, then I will tell you."
That makes the girl shake her head again, clearly disappointed that she couldn't still pry his mouth open easily. "Brimir damn it, Wisdom. How could I reward you if you keep closing yourself like that?"
"…I don't look forward to getting rewarded, my mistress. However…" That perks the girl's curiosity. "If you are serious about it… I guess there's one thing I would like to ask from you."
'YES! Finally! Now I will know what he likes, and…'
"…On second thought, never mind."
"Oh come on!" That causes the girl to stomp her right foot while pouting. "Don't be so hardheaded like that! I'm being genuine here!"
That doesn't change his expression or his current position.
"Urgh! You better think up of something!" Changing her uniform into her nightwear, she jumps on her bed with the pout still visible. "Goodnight!"
"Jeez, calm down girl." Derf speaks up, though that doesn't really affect anyone as the Void mage quickly falls asleep. "Kinda missing the tantrum she throws once in a…" The sword then notices something strange of his partner. "…Wait a second. Partner, that statement is intentional?"
"…Maybe. Maybe not."