"You are going to just leave them like that? They're going to need your help a lot."
"I'm not someone people should stay close to for too long, Chris. And I have provided enough support for them to handle themselves."
"It's not really about the mission…"
"I'm sorry, but you know who I am. These… relationship things don't sit well with me."
"Be careful of what you're saying. Master thought the same thing before and now we look at what happened to him."
"From what I can see, it benefits him."
"…Put yourself in his shoes once, and you will see why it's both good and bad."
"I doubt there's a day I have to take care of someone for a long time."
"That's mostly a death flag."
"Don't let Master's hobbies affect you."
"Coming from him, it's a precaution."
Colbert's office
"Memories sharing?" The Professor returns the question with a curious expression. "I think I have read that spell somewhere before. However, I doubt that any of us here could perform that spell, and if the purpose of that spell is correct, it would be very high-tier…"
"I see…" Louise acknowledges the information, though her head's still thinking of the memories she kept getting for the past few days...
"Was it all about mister Wisdom... you are still feeling that?"
"I have only seen that once, and it never returned. It's just that he allowed me to test some magic spells on him, and one of them is to try to get past his mental barriers. However, even when I didn't perform anything, the memories keep appearing for some reason."
"Hm… maybe something is holding his memories? Do you have any of his possessions with you?"
"…The device that he gave my sister to keep looking at her health. But, it kept denying us from finding anything else other than watching after Big Sis Cattleya."
"If that's the case… the only possible logic is your affinity to the Void. With how much knowledge he has, Wisdom must have kept a lot of things in there considering most people can't use it."
"...I don't think it's that simple. Anyway, thank you for answering my question."
"It's my pleasure, miss Valliere… and take care of yourself. It's still hard for you to accept…" Colbert stops himself before he could finish that sentence. "…Send my regards to miss Cattleya for me as well."
"I will do so." With that, the Void mage leaves the Professor in his office and returns back to her room…
Or rather, heading to where Cattleya and Eleonore are staying.
"Ah, Louise. How's your classes today?" The middle sister asks softly as the youngest sister enters the room, with the eldest one simply sends her a look of acknowledgement.
"It's still the same, Big Sis. And Professor Colbert wishes you the best." Louise then grabs the phone and tries tapping on it to see if she can open anything else, but like every other time, nothing works.
"Do you actually need those classes? Your affinity causes other elements to not work, right?" Eleonore asks out of curiosity as she's preparing more works for the students.
"No one else here can teach me how to use Void, but I can at least apply some concepts to make it work..." After a few minutes of messing the phone up-and-down, she throws it back on the bed then lands face-first to the bed. "…Did he hate us that much?"
That sudden question causes the sisters to stop their own work and turn to her as Cattleya asks back in worry: "What are you talking about?"
"…Wisdom. He spoke with someone in his past about not wanting to work with others for too long or something. Did he decide that was a good way to leave me?"
"No one would think death is a good way for ANYTHING, Chibi-Louise." Eleonore argues. "Also, wasn't serving you his way to atone for his mistakes in the past?"
"He could just pick anyone who's better than me to do so." Louise grunts back. "He clearly knew a lot of Void mages. Just serve one of them instead of me…"
"If things are that easy then he would just work with that killer and take over this nation."
"Obviously!" The Void mage shouts back in agreement… before all three sisters notice that none of them just said that. Instantly the eldest and the youngest draw out their wands and aim everywhere in the room while the middle sister looks around cautiously. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
"You have a talking sword and you are still surprised?" Now they manage to detect where the voice comes from, and it's the usually quiet phone. Louise picks it up and sees the screen now having a line in the middle changing every time it speaks. "I don't know why he applied the codes that made me go silent for that long, but I know it's for good reasons."
"…Do you have a name?" Louise asks, after a few seconds of considering all kinds of questions in her head.
"Most of us A.I. don't have a name. However, since I'm the only one around here, you can use that to call me." It's the voice of a 30-ish man who works as a secretary of sorts.
"…You said you were silenced. What does it mean?"
"Think of it as a silent spell, miss Eleonore. Except that they are lines written down in our own language."
"You have your own language?"
"Like how Elves and Goblins have their own, but that's something we can talk about later, miss Eleonore. Back to the matter before. He's not someone who would just abandon his missions that quickly. However, in this case, he had to pay for what he had done."
"…If I assume I know him well enough… he must have back-up plans, right?" Louise guesses, seeing how Wisdom usually works most of the time.
"He does… and it requires you to become stronger. And some more requirements that I'm not allowed to say now."
"So it's basically what she's doing now." Eleonore sighs and returns back to her work.
"…Mister A.I…"
"No need for the 'mister', miss Cattleya. We A.I. don't have gender, and we can change our voices if you feel uncomfortable."
"…A.I., you know what happened to Wisdom, right?"
"That… right, he used the name miss Louise gave him. Yes, I know." The A.I. mumbles the first sentence before replying normally.
"Is there a way to… bring him back?" She knows it's a bit pointless, but it might be worth a try.
"There is." A.I. instantly notices the girl's heartbeat rising up due to surprise so it quickly continues: "But it's impossible for you all to perform."
"Wisdom said Void has no limits in its potentials. I can still do something, right?" Louise jumps in, not letting the chance go away.
"No. While it's true the Void has no limits on its own, YOU are bound to your human's physical and mental limits. And I suggest NOT tampering with anything unless you know the consequences."
"…Is it because Wisdom ordered you to…"
"No. It's because I have knowledge about many stupid people that got wiped off plane of existence."
"…Then, how could I become stronger? Nobody here knows how to use Void." Louise's hope slightly dies down, half-accepting that she's not going to bring her 'familiar' back.
"There's an underground vault in the Academy."
That perks Eleonore's interest. "I tried finding it while I was still a student but gave up and thought it was just a rumor. Do you know the way down?"
"I do. Or more likely he knew and he gave me the knowledge. However, I suggest talking with the Headmaster of this Academy so that he's aware of the situation."
"Then it's settled. This weekend we're heading down that library! Chibi-Louise, make your plan for it!"
…
"You girls are demanding way too many things." Old Osmond sighs as he looks at the Valliere trio before him. At least the youngest one looks sheepishly apologetic. "There are a lot of confined documents down there. We cannot simply give you access that easily."
"And yet you let me run around trying to find the way in."
"That's because I could guarantee that you wouldn't be able to, at that age of yours, miss Eleonore." Rubbing his long beard, he continues. "Of course, I won't stop you from finding it. But I doubt…"
"My owner already knew about the entrance long ago."
"…Who is that?" The Headmaster blinks, looking at Derf on Louise's back to see it not making a move of talking.
Cattleya pulls out the phone as A.I. replies: "It's me. I was assigned to monitor miss Cattleya's health and attempt to at least find out why her health is worse than others. You can call me A.I."
"…I think Colbert would like to have a conversation with you." Old Osmond chuckles once. "Anyway…"
Just when he's about to talk more, someone starts knocking on the office's door impatiently. After a quick answer from Old Osmond, Agnes barges in and shows up with a message with the approved seal of Tristain's Royalty. "Headmaster, I have the approval right here. Now will you let me find it or not?"
The trio look back to the man to see him sigh and scratch his head. "You are persistent, aren't you? Fine. But these girls are going with you."
"Oh, and he's also joining too." Agnes points back to the door, where Julio is leaning on the wall and waving hello to the girls.
"…Wait for me. I'm calling for my trusted professor to lead you in."
Protect the innocents. Help the heroes. Eradicate the evils.
That's what all of his followers always keep in their heart. No one questions it, no one opposes the Master's ideal since it's fact. They all know he's always correct in identifying what's a threat and what's not.
However, they also learn from him to always look at things in all perspectives, no matter how bad they are. He's not above humanity itself, and they sometimes question his decisions in many situations which always ends up with a positive discussion before the final and correct order is delivered.
And it's no exception with a certain Elite group. What differs them from other followers is how they don't have a single similarity of personal interests to each other as a team, yet somehow always function properly when they do missions with each other.
Until the 'incident' between the last member and the Master happened. Surprisingly no one even cared about it and continued carrying his legacy and ideals to their hearts. No one, except her. She took the matter in her hands and personally made sure the member had to pay the price.
But in the end, they're still a team. And that means they both know what's good to do, and what's not…
"This is the vault." Colbert announces as the group stands in front of the structure's door, reading the warning engraved above it. "From this point, please always keep your wand in your pocket. We don't want any accidents around here."
"I think 'don't use magic' would be a better warning, Professor." Louise addresses, indicating that she doesn't really need a wand to do so.
"That's just a scare tactic." Eleonore disregards the warning. "Cursed to death because of disobeying the rules? Yeah right, like an ancient vault would have spells that…"
"Last eternally." A.I interrupts. "It's a legit warning. My sensors detected lots of magic wards marking in this structure. A single foreign spell being used and we might meet our end here."
That scares everyone, even including battle-hardened like Colbert. Though it comes through quickly as Julio says: "But it seems that you can…"
"Detecting magic doesn't always require unleashing magic. Using me won't trigger spells since I'm a creation based on science with magic as an addon."
"No surprise." Colbert nods and opens the door, revealing the rows of bookshelves and scrolls lying around inside the construct. "I suspect what you need is buried somewhere on the back. The ones on the front mostly dated recently."
With the collective nods of agreement, the group spreads out and starts doing some 'digging'. Louise makes sure that she checks on any books that have any 'suspicions' or 'theories' about the Void element. Normally she would have skipped them, but the Void is a subject nobody fully understands (except maybe Wisdom and the assassin) and even the familiar himself fact-checks by reading through fairy tales, so at least she has to give every detail the benefit of the doubt.
That's what she plans to do, anyway. In reality, she can't even find any books about Void at all, like it's a subject no one cares even though it's connected to the Great Founder. But then again, the Void mages aren't publicly known well around Halkeginia, so pumping into one while 'wandering aimlessly' to 'interview' isn't going to happen.
After about half an hour of searching, the Void mage sighs and walks back to the middle of the building where the stair leading to the second floor is, and sees Agnes sitting on one of the steps while focusing on the book she found earlier. "You found what you're looking for?"
"I did. You?"
"No luck." The girl sighs and sits down next to the knight. "I don't understand. Why couldn't I find even a single 'Void' word written anywhere around here? If secrets are kept here…"
"...Maybe you should check Romalia if possible. That's where the most dedicated followers are. What's related to Brimir is mostly found there."
"Great idea, except that we're still at war. Traveling won't be easy." Louise then peeks at the book Agnes is holding. "What is it written about?"
She receives no answers, however, as Agnes has already returned her full attention to the book. With another sigh, she stands up and turns her eyes towards another bookshelf…
And she sees a death-staring Tabitha looking directly at her.
One second passes as she's planning to call out for the girl if she needs anything. The next second she remembers the dreadful moment she has watched before knocking herself out due to mental overload. The very next second, she draws out her wand…
"FIREBALL!"
The spell never hits the figure as she seemingly vaporizes instantly, causing the spell to hit the far wall instead. That explosion causes everyone (except the Musketeer Captain) to immediately rush back to where Louise is, and Eleonore is the first to ask angrily: "A.I already warned us about the wards! Why did you perform…" But she shuts up when she notices the horrified expression on the youngest sister's face with a small tear in her eyes. "What happened?"
Before the girl could answer, the whole building shakes up, causing them to start panicking before Colbert quickly orders them all to evacuate. Due to being the most vulnerable, Cattleya is escorted by both Colbert and Julio out of the danger zone as quickly as possible. Thanks to the shaking, Louise snaps out of her shocked state and plans to head out, but then remembers that Agnes is still too focused on the book. The girl calls for her eldest sister so they can drag the knight out, and the knight resists hard until the shelves before them crash into each other causing the books to fall down before her.
The last trio navigates through the bookshelves, avoiding the falling books, and manages to reach the bridge. They quickly run to the exit, but the bridge starts breaking behind them. Agnes and Eleonore are able to reach the previous trio in time, they then look back just in time to see Louise's feet tripping over a crack and she stumbles for a second. And that is enough for the crumbling bricks to fall down, pulling her down with it…
But Louise manages to clear her mind just in time and pulls out a last-second teleport and lands next to Eleonore.
The panicking turns into relief as the whole group watches the hole between them and the vault, and Julio says with slight regret: "It's a shame we won't be able to reach it again."
"I wouldn't say so." Eleonore disagrees. "Everything would be reverted back to normal after we exit this place." Then she turns to ask Louise: "Why did you use a spell back then, what did you see?"
"I…" The Void mage struggles to say it out loud. "I… she…"
"Reason."
The cold voice behind them causes all to turn to see who just said it, and Louise draws her wand out again, able to identify who just said that by the tone without even looking. She really wants to fire another spell, but the others are between her and the person…
"Miss Tabitha?" Colbert asks in surprise. "How did you find this place? Did you follow us? But then, how did we not know…"
"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" Everyone startles as the Void mage walks forward and aims her wand directly at the person's head. "Leave at once! Wisdom is gone already, by YOU! If you want to kill any of us, I will…"
"Tying up loose ends."
"Loose ends!?" The Void mage fires another 'Fireball', this time hitting 'Tabitha' on the face, but it leaves no damage to the person. "You are NOT touching them as long as I'm here!"
The others quickly draw their wands and weapons and point at the person, now understanding that their opponent is not the one student they know but rather someone very dangerous.
Despite all the threats, 'Tabitha' simply closes her eyes for a moment…
And the group suddenly finds themselves on the surface, the school ground to be exact. That causes the servants and the students around to gasp in surprise… and a certain duo to also draw their weapons as they see one person looking exactly like one of them.
"Okay… now I see why Louise was skeptical of you." The Fire mage comments, as the Wind mage slightly shakes up in both surprise and fear as she can sense the person's deadly aura.
To increase the fear, 'Tabitha' opens her dead eyes again, then reaches her right hand into her cloak, causing the aims of the weapons to lower down. Despite that, the person just pulls out a ton of books and starts dropping them gently on the ground, trying to not kick up any dirt.
"Untold secrets." The person simply says, earning looks of terror and anger. "Use them well."
"...Why?"
"To end war."
"That's not what she's asking, madam." A.I speaks up with his volume turning double so all can hear. "She wants the full truth behind what happened days ago, about my user's demise."
"...His fault."
"But it doesn't have to end that way!"
"It doesn't. However, no mercy for the wicked." And with that, like in the vault, 'Tabitha' disappears, leaving only the bookstack behind.
"...Sorry, miss Louise. It seems the outcome was from her personality and nobody could change it." A.I apologizes.
"..." She clearly hears the sorry, but she doesn't care too much. Lowering her wand then wiping the tears out of her face, she walks to the dropped books and sees a lot of them being what she's looking for. "...A.I, do you know… if she's our enemy?"
"That would be a ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent negative."
"That… that high?" Cattleya questions. "But why is it not a perfect hundred?"
"If you plan to hurt innocents willingly, then you might want to prepare your last wish before doing so."
Picking a book up, Louise starts flipping over a few pages as Kirche and real Tabitha move next to her. The former speaks first: "I see that the person is what you saw in Wisdom's eyes, then. But why is she here?"
"...To be honest, I have no good ideas." Louise sighs and starts picking up the books, then notices some of them might interest a certain knight. "Hey Agnes, I think there are more reports about what you need to find."
"Huh? There are?" The Captain, after checking the others being okay, walks to the Void mage and sees the books. "Weird, why would she bring us information? She's currently our enemy, right?"
"If A.I is correct, then no." Louise replies. "Why she's working with Reconquista, however, I'm not sure." She then sees the last book titled 'Memories'...
"Returned."
"Ah, Familiar. Is Albion still under Reconquista's control?"
"Positive." 'Tabitha', with the hood back again over the head, throws a book on the person's table, effortlessly landing it between numerous items. "Requested."
"Ah, resourceful as always." The person behind the table picks the item up. "Even when you don't finish the contract, you still serve me."
"In your dream."
The person only laughs, not feeling any fear towards the assassin before them. "What a shame. Normal people would shake in their boots right now."
"Goodbye."
Without a care for the person before her, the assassin teleports away to a certain mansion, where a certain butler is cleaning up the front yard when he notices her 'arrival'. "Ah, you… how is my lady doing?"
"Good. No harm."
"I see… Do you believe she can do 'those tasks'?" He skeptically asks, not sure which side the person before him is actually on despite working for 'him'.
"Negative. Actively stopping it."
"...But will she be safe?"
"Will guarantee it." The assassin then turns her head to the mansion and asks: "Health?"
"The same as usual."
"...Elf?"
"Regularly visiting. He's tasked to…"
"Understandable. Take care."
Like before, 'Tabitha' leaves, and this time she enters the War room in Albion's castle, where some of the captains are discussing what to do next after taking the country from the Nobles. They notice the arrival of the assassin, but they pay her no mind and continue their discussion. Not being offended, she heads to her usual spot and sits down, closing her eyes and patiently listening to their talking…
"We also heard that there's an Elf living in the forest. What should we do?"
"Isn't that obvious? We capture and…"
The next words never come out as the captains feel a dreadful feeling hanging over their heads, and that's a clear message.
"I… I take it that you already knew?" One of them questions out loud without even looking at the source of that feeling.
"Correct."
"Then… you know what Elves are, right? Why are you stopping us from…"
"Innocent until proven guilty."
"Madam… surely you're joking? They are dangerous creatures…"
"So are humans."
That makes them shut up and changes the subject, earning themselves a bit of relief that the feeling at least stops for a moment.
After the 'meeting' and seeing that the 'assassin' has no further inputs, they quickly get out and take not a single glance back. A moment later, Wardes and Fouquet enter and sit in the seats close to the last person. The later then reports: "The warships rebuilding are running according to plan. However, it would still take months for them to properly function. We also have ordered some more from Gallia, and it only takes half the time."
The Wind mage continues: "All outposts are currently on hold, no other countries have attempted to attack us yet given that you single-handedly eliminated the most dangerous threat. Gallia will provide further support in the future, but for now we're on our own."
"Food resources?"
"That… how to say it…" Fouquet scratches her head. "The ones in Reconquista are… not very happy at how you took around a quarter of stored food and gave it to the 'lower class'. Thankfully the people seemed to be very happy about that and now they have some motivation to work more, so at least we won't go hungry."
"Not a problem."
"I have a feeling you would say that." Wardes chuckles. "Weapon productions are also steadily proceeding. The only thing that we're concerned about is…"
"My motivation."
"Correct. Wardes and I basically can't object, but many in Reconquista are really ready for another war."
"...And this, too." Wardes then pulls out a small envelope and places it on the table. "This is… their response. You know who they are."
"Correct."
"Then, that's all we got."
"Wardes, dismissed. Fouquet, stay."
The Wind mage sends a look that says 'Good luck' to the Earth mage and leaves the room. The woman gulps once and asks: "Did I do something that offends you?"
"Negative. Tiffania was found."
"...And?" She whispers in fear.
"Stopped the captains."
"Thank you." And she sighs in relief.
"...Ready to make peace?"
"What?" Confusion.
"Not safe in Albion. Better in Tristain."
"...I'm wanted there."
"Can negotiate."
"...Give me time."
"Suggest to think fast."
"I will."
'Tabitha' waves her hand, signaling Fouquet to leave, and the mage instantly follows the order. Once she's alone, she opens the envelope and starts reading the contents…
"...Albion nobles and rebels, working together…"