For thousands of years, Derflinger has seen many things.
His first 'awaken' to greet his first-time User. A rare 'individual' among the society, once that wasn't very welcomed by the locals. Said phenomenon still exists to the present. Even so he had been with the person long enough to consider her a great partner.
He has witnessed a relationship between two individuals of different races, connected by powerful and feelings. A relationship that went well enough, until his partner used him to end it and the other.
Time passed, and his memories were like mist, nothing worth to remember. There were few moments when he had fun scaring some people just because he is a sword which can talk. But that slowly turned boring… Those who used him quickly fell in battles, not able to entertain him enough… He has been passed over too many people, and most just ignored his existence and got him covered in dirt, causing his 'marvelous' appearance to be nearly unrecognizable…
Until he met his newest partner. Someone who, at first, he didn't believe could give him something great to remember.
Their first greeting started with him nearly got destroyed instantly. The only reason he wasn't because his partner didn't 'aim for the kill'. He had a few 'near-death' moments, but none of them felt as threatening. Maybe because he wasn't in battles that made him up his 'guard'.
Though, when he was bought and had a few words exchanged with his new partner, he has initially thought that he might not get far, since his partner was so… deadpan, like, all the times. And his 'blind obedience' caused the sword to reconsider offering his service.
Turned out he was wrong.
His partner has a wiser yet complicated mind, making calculations of all his own moves. He seemed to also make sure that the Void mage whom he followed won't have her reputation affected by him. He didn't pay a single damn care to the others if it's nothing dangerous to the Void mage and the 'innocents' or the dangers happened to aim at him, but immediately got to work if one dared crossing that line. Yet his partner would resolve with 'peaceful' conversations first before drawing blood.
His theory was soon proved by the 'Count accident' as the sword himself dubbed it.
His pattern of speech also interested Derf a lot. If he didn't know of his partner's situation, he would have thought that he was a Noble in disguise who did a bad job in disguising. Though that wasn't really that farfetched when it turned out that his partner can use magic. That didn't change the fact that he didn't allow his own personal preferences to affect his choices.
That level of professional wasn't presented in the past, and that's a new and interest change for the millennia-old sword.
That doesn't mean his partner has no problems. In fact, Derf is very surprised after hearing some of his partner's past with the previous 'master'. Based on his way of telling the story, the two were not on a good term despite having the same ideology, and it ended with another pool of blood. And it's a fact that his partner didn't want it to happen again to his new one.
And things get even more interesting when, at the moment, Derflinger's new partner is going to get pulled into a war between nations, just because of his 'mistress' insisting to join it.
Derflinger wakes up due to the unfamiliar sounds in the room. His consciousness now allows him to 'see' the room, and he sees Wisdom sitting on the ground, with a ton of items around him that completely fills the floor. Said person is connecting those parts and starts constructing something up, with his phone flashing out a hologram of something similar to a flintlock.
"Morning partner." The sword decides to speak up, knowing that Wisdom wouldn't be bothered by the break of silence. "What are ya doing?"
"Preparing." Not stopping his work, the familiar replies. "There is a high chance I won't use you unless the enemies of Tristain somehow get too close."
"I remembered you said that before fighting your girl's mother, yet you decided to build me up instead. Not complaining though."
"That's why this time I have to add a condition to that."
"Yeah I know." The sword makes a sound similar to a crackle. "I see that you are making a flintlock. You are going to need a LOT of them."
"…Or you need a few, then give them a lot of ammos." Wisdom counters, finishing half of a rifle.
"Reloading one… never mind." Derf is planning to argue, but then remembers that his partner is from some kind of future. He then notices Wisdom pausing for a moment while hovering his right hand above some parts. "Considering something partner?"
"…Remember my conversation with that shopkeeper?"
"Ah… But, do you really have to go that far? Didn't you vow to only protect your little miss in this? Also, I doubt there is anyone that could beat you. You even held back while fighting that lady…"
"Victories aren't measured by overpowering your opponents. You win by achieving your objectives." Wisdom interrupts and says the same thing when he said it to Louise before fighting Guiche.
"Yeah yeah, I heard that from other servants. Still, you're overcomplicating things."
"…Wardes."
"…Oh right." The blade completely forgets the guy. "Yeah, they're not going to hold anything back. And the fact that you rescued the Prince…"
"Basically my mistress and I are their primary targets."
"…What time is it right now partner?"
"Half an hour before sunrise."
After exchanging words with Agnes, Wisdom decides to not follow her group back to the capital, and instead stay in the ground of the school. During the time Louise continues her study, he resumes his work of assembling the weapons with the help of the blueprints he got before he got summoned. Once it's done, he takes a rest by heading down to Colbert's laboratory since the person's holding the Dragon Blood…
"Where did I find it?" The Fire Professor asks back in surprise. "I thought you already knew what it exactly is?"
"That's correct. That doesn't mean I could create it out of thin air."
"Why do I feel like that's not true at all?" Bringing the bottle that contains the materials, Colbert jokingly replies.
"My magic isn't that versatile."
"Anyway…" The professor returns back to Wisdom's original question. "I never found the Dragon itself, I'm afraid. I only found this in the village of Tarbes, just in the direction of La Rochelle."
"…Tarbes?" Wisdom has to ask back, just in case if he hears it wrong.
"Yes. What's wrong?"
The familiar pulls out his phone and opens up the image of Halkeginia's map and shows it to Colbert. "Can you point me where it is?"
"Around… here."
"Just… above the Port City…"
"Come to think of it, didn't that girl say her hometown is there?" Derflinger asks out loud.
"…Siesta." Wisdom says the name out loud, then puts his phone away and heads out. "Thanks for your information, Professor Colbert."
"Ah, wait a second." Colbert manages to stop him just before he completely gets out of the door. "Can you take miss Valliere to the Headmaster when she takes a break between classes?"
"…Is she in trouble?"
"Not in the slightest."
…
Later on. Headmaster's Office
"The Founder's Prayer Book, sir?" Louise asks back in confusion.
"Yeah. It seems that Her Highness is planning to give it to you." The old man replies. "You could say that she's expecting you to be her bridesmaid for her wedding."
"…The treaty has come through?" The question's from the 'Suspicion-level-100' familiar. "And the Nobles agreed?"
"From what I see here, that's just an excuse. It's more than that." Old Osmond explains. "I believe you have learnt enough to know about how important Founder Brimir is to us, correct?" That earns him a nod from Wisdom. "Anything that's related to him must be conveyed and kept in a very secure place. However…"
"The Palace has stopped being the most secure one." Wisdom understands. "However, I have a question. Shouldn't it be within the grasp of the Believers in Romalia?"
"Each nation, except Germania, holds one of the four items. If one person holds all of them at once, we would not know the glory or damnation he or she could bring to Halkeginia." He then pulls out the book and a small envelope and places them on his table. "Miss Valliere, please keep both in great care. And you might want to think of edict from now on." Old Osmand then winks playfully at the last statement.
"…I understand. I will obey respectfully." Louise takes the items and exclaims.
"You two can leave now…"
"I would like to warn you…" Wisdom interrupts. "That there's a high chance that I'm going to bring a Dragon to the school's ground tonight."
"What!?" Louise's expression breaks when she hears that. "What's that for? I mean, you are…"
"You mean the Dragon's Raiment?" The girl turns her head back to the old man. "Mister Colbert has tried to find where its exact location is, to no avail. Where did you get the information?"
"Miss Siesta is from the same village where sir Colbert got the gasoline." Wisdom explains.
"Gasoline?" Both the mages ask.
"It's the true identity of the Dragon's Blood. Anyway, turned out it was her family's heirloom, though it seems that she didn't really know the exact location as well."
"Then… how are you going to find it?" Louise asks.
"First thing is to head there. Headmaster, we're going to borrow her, again. Just for the night."
"Well, as long as the school still runs normally, then I don't mind."
"Thank you… My mistress, do you want to join?"
"…Why do I feel that you're going to make me do the travelling?" Louise sighs, but accepts it. "More chances for me to work on my spells." She then turns to the Headmaster and bows. "We will take our leave now."
Old Osmond nods, and the two leave his office. He then strokes his beard and chuckles. "She has becoming more confident in herself. Her familiar is surely a miracle worker."
…
Nighttime
"Are we… there yet?" Louise pants as she drops to her knees, feeling her magic completely exhausted.
"…Yes, we are just outside the village!" Siesta exclaims.
"You did a good job, my mistress."
"…Carry me."
Without any further words, Wisdom brings the girl and carries her bridal-style, causing the red of exhaustion on her face turn into the red of embarrassment. That also causes the maid to giggle lightly.
"Miss Siesta, please lead the way."
"Yes, follow me." Without dropping her smile, the maid goes ahead, quickly followed by the familiar with his summoner in hand.
"…How can you be so calm doing this?" Louise whimpers in embarrassment, just enough for Wisdom to hear.
'Blame the orphans who like playing Princess and such.'
'…I didn't expect you to work around children.'
'That's just a rare occasion.'
Eventually the group reaches Siesta's home, and after an amount of time digging through some stuffs, they manage to find out the location of the Dragon's Raiment. They immediately head to the area and then finds a huge wooden house.
"That thing is really that big?" Derf speaks up, as Wisdom starts working on the lock. Louise has also regained her strength and she's now standing on her own feet.
"Could be bigger. However, if what miss Siesta's great-grandfather wrote in his diary is true…" When the lock is out, the familiar flings the doors open and reveal the static Dragon. "This size is enough to do its work."
"Hey Wisdom!" Before he could interact with the weapon, Louise has found something and calls the familiar. "Is this the same language you wrote in some of your parchments?"
That causes Siesta to also head to where Louise is and sees what she found. "Ah, that's probably his gravestone. The letters… they do look like the ones in his diary…"
"…His name is Sasaki Takeo." Wisdom says after taking a few seconds to translate the language. "A Japanese Navy soldier… World War Two, given by the details in his diary."
"…World War?" Louise asks back fearfully.
"…It's the past now, no need to dwell into it." Leaving the gravestone, he starts heading to the war machine…
"Does this mean that you two are from the same world?" Siesta asks excitedly.
"…No, we aren't." With no further explanation, Wisdom starts examining the conditions of the 'Dragon'. "Hm… there is next to none of paint scratches… he must have taken care of it before he rested."
"Partner, since people here called it 'Dragon', surely it can fly right? But I see no way of it being able to do so."
"You will see how soon." He then starts checking on the weapons' system. "Two 20 mm and two 7.7 mm." He moves to the underpart of the wings. "…There are attachments here… capable of carrying bombs, I see." Using his phone as a light, he opens the outer panels of the engine and checks the system inside. "…A quick maintenance and it's good to go."
"My great-grandfather would be glad to give it to you." Siesta says with a smile. "After all these times, only you can understand what he has written."
"…That would be a hard no." Putting the panels back, Wisdom replies. "My only intention in using this machine is to give Tristain a few moments of protection. After this, I will return it back here, considering this is one of the greatest memories to show how strong and brave your great-grandfather is."
While not able to read his thoughts through his eyes, Louise could tell that her familiar is giving a lot of respect to Siesta's relative. Participated a war and survived to tell the tales is already a great achievement, and this is some sort of 'World War' Wisdom is talking about…
"…Wisdom." The familiar turns to his summoner. "I know you don't like to speak about your past. However, this World War… can you give us the story in the future?"
"…I don't have the story of a specific soldier, only facts."
"It's fine." Of course Louise is not actually THAT interested in war. She just wants to find a way to crack through her familiar's stoic expression. "So, are we finished here?"
"…We are. And this time I will do the work. You can rest my mistress." A small silence. "I almost forgot. We should warn the villagers about the potential threats from Albion so they can prepare for the worst."
The next morning
"…Seriously?!" Agnes asks out loud, not trusting what she's seeing right now. She then notices a certain familiar carrying a lot of stuffs to the item before her. She immediately questions him: "HEY! What is this thing? Where did it come from?"
"It's a weapon." Wisdom simply replies. "I took it from Tarbes, with permission of course."
"From whom!? The lords in Tarbes would never…"
"From its owner, witnessed by his descendants." That's all he says before he jumps into the cockpit and starts checking on the radar system.
Her knights are also taking notices of the strange object in the school ground, but they quickly stop focusing on it out of boredom.
Slowly but surely keeping her emotions in check, Agnes then gets closer and asks: "How does this thing work?"
"To make it simple for you to understand: A Wyvern with higher speed and firepower."
"…This thing can fly?" Touching the left wing, the knight asks with full of suspicion.
"Hey, I asked the same thing, and partner didn't say anything further."
Suddenly, one of the towers' windows explodes, causing everyone but Wisdom to look up to where it starts.
"Just everyday routine?"
"Just everyday routine." Not even looking up from his work, Wisdom then asks Agnes: "How's the interrogation going?"
"Well… we have bad news." Agnes summaries. "Reconquista has declared war on us. Our military is already preparing to head to the Port City…"
"Head further." Wisdom interrupts. "Lead the army to village of Tarbes. It's nearer to Albion, and its area is good to land down."
"So do Her Highness and His Highness. The army would still put a small group in the Port City in case if Reconquista plans to backstab us."
Agnes then pauses for a moment, remembering about what the two Royal cousins have talked with each other about their Void mage friend…
"About that pink-haired girl…"
"You are doubting my mistress?"
"I'm leaning to the idea of you stopping her from fighting the war."
"It's her choice to join or not. My job is to protect her and give her advices."
"Fair enough… though…"
"I'm still watching her, and that explosion doesn't put her in harm."
"Partner, since when are her explosions not dangerous?"
"When she has no intentions of harming anyone."
"…Well, looks like you have your priority straight." Agnes decides to leave the man alone and walks away, joining with the rest of her squad.
"So… when can I see it flying?" The sword asks again. "I mean, we have been flying on that blue dragon's back before, but you just said this thing is better than a Wyvern. Now that intrigues me."
"...When Professor Colbert manages to produce enough gasoline." Wisdom then starts making a call… "It's me. I need to confirm something…"
In Albion
"Most of Albion are bowing in servitude to you now, Your Excellency." In a dark room, Wardes starts talking to the leader of Reconquista. "It seems that some of the last Loyalists still lurk around here and there, but they're too weak to do anything."
"Even if they want to repel back…" Cromwell raises his left hand up and looks at the ring in his middle finger with his own satisfaction. "None of them will resist against this. It's a good trade for the troubles that Spirit caused us."
"Still, we didn't find the body of the Prince. I believe that he's now in Tristain with my supposed fiancée and her familiar."
"Hm… I remember that. Is that why you requested to put more forces in this invasion?"
"Correct. I know her, and she would willingly put herself in danger to protect Her Highness of Tristain. And given the danger I nearly managed to commit, that familiar must have already taught her more of the Void spells."
"Void… isn't he…"
"Yes. They're two of the Void mages of this era."
"…As long as I have the ring, I will be invincible." Cromwell chuckles. "When will Albion be closest to the continent again?"
"Two days from now, when solar eclipse happens." Wardes then turns his eyes towards the dark corner of the room and calls out: "What do you think of this?"
"…Not my concern. Only focus on him." A deadpan voice of a girl comes out. "No helping."
"Come on now, we're on the same boat here." Cromwell makes a joke in an attempt to ease the girl. "Just attack a few ones and…"
"Not my work."
The pure authority of the voice causes Cromwell to temporarily shut up.
"He's currently your boss here, girl." Wardes scolds. "It's not polite to…"
"Not my work." The voice repeats again, and this time it's full of killing intent. "Last warning."
Taking a moment for the killing intent to die down, Cromwell then asks: "Aren't you here to help me? To dominate the world?"
"Objectives clash. Nothing else."
"Well… hope you won't backstab us." Cromwell laughs. "Wardes, please go and prepare the Dragon Knights."
"Acknowledged." The moment he says that, Wardes feels the existence of the woman completely disappears. 'That girl… would she be able to defeat him?'