After three-something years, I decided to watch the episodes this chapter is based on...
I don't remember the writing and pacing being that utter garbage. I'm not gonna lie: how the scene played out fucking blew my mind. So I'm going to start fucking with the canon, because God knows only a fix-up will keep this story going.
Also...
What the fuck is up with the anime plot... None of the characters develop in meaningful ways. As expected of an isekai story, only Saito develops. So you know what that means: we gotta add in some head-canons (and fill in some gaps with the magic system. [This shit is forcing me to do all the writing work wtf.])
And after all that...
Sorry for not updating. Life happens. And I'm lucky that I wanted to practice my skills again because this site is fucking crazy. (Though, sadly many of the fandoms that I like reading aren't as active. Still love y'all despite that)
Other than that,
Enjoy!
John's trip to Tristain was uneventful, apart from the hassle to change a Continental coin he had on-hand into local currency. Although there was no issue with the exchange itself, a confused yet inquisitive look from the shopkeeper was the tip John received. As he should, John spent the money he received on paying his fares and meals. As the smell of salted winds waned while the flora and fauna thickened, John's cart was ground to a halt. The front view port slid open with a clack and the now-accustomed man had a stern look on his face.
"T'is the end of the line, lad. Place's crawlin' with them unsavory sort… Ain't safe for civilians and travelers like me…" the driver said with his country twang now mired with concern. "You sure you really wanna go?"
John didn't even look contemplative, but instead attempting to read the face of the man who had dealt with John's sparse, yet confusing, inquiries. The both seemed to size each other up, before John's face relaxed with an answer:
"Yeah."
With a gruff sigh, the driver cracked his back and neck and dismounted his seat on the carriage. John organized himself and shouldered his pack as the sound of footsteps on worn path approached the door. Then, with a click, the door latch came undone and was opened, revealing the man with a small rucksack in hand.
"'Ere." says the driver haphazardly tossing the dirt-stained bag towards John, which John cautiously handled. "Usually I make 'em pay for this 'ere, but ain't nobody in their right mind comin' down to Tristain."
Undoing the knot, John looked into the bag to note a rolled-up scroll, a fire-starting kit, a personal chow kit, and, oddly enough, a visibly worn and corroded .30-06 round.
"Map, camp stuff, and a lucky charm them snake-oil peddlers shill. It ain't worth much, but I usually pinch a pretty penny from them nobles." the man said with a snicker, casually juggling the coin John gave him with controlled flicks. "It ain't worth as much as you gave me, but I think you'll need it."
John seemed to debate whether or not to ask the man about the charm, but he thought it best not to. Clambering out of the carriage, John then made his way down further along the path. The man, as John began his departure, also began to clamber up to his rightful throne. John was near out of earshot before the sound of the man mounting his seat was interrupted by a whistle.
"And hey: if you ever need a ride, just pop that scroll I've hidden in your kit… 'S'long you ain't in Tristain!" With a hearty laugh and a crack of the reins, the carriage spun around and sped the way it came: along with the man's fading laughter.
Failing to not smile himself, John shrugged his bag more securely on his shoulders and stowed the sack within it. With a whisper of a smile that faded, John press-checked his pistol and began to trudge down the path. Even with the driver's warning, whether it was the rumored bandits or soldiers, John was sure he would be able to handle himself even in this foreign magical environment. After all, he needed to know what he was sent there for…
But as if by divine interference the sound of crashing, explosions, and yelling screamed out from only a fair distance ahead.
With a deep breath, all was dropped except for his belongings and focus.
...
"Watch ou-" Before Kirche's warning could finish, a cloud of debris and the sound of tons of weight slamming the ground drowned her from relevance.
A wave of panic washed over Kirche, her feet weakly edging their way backwards. At that moment Kirche had closed her eyes and had clenched her fist, the wind was knocked out of her as she was slammed to the ground. Kirche was thrown out of her stupor into a daze, which her attention was caught by a familiar pinkette's voice.
"What are you doing, dummy! We have to hold on!"
Kirche's body jerked as her arm was pulled from her, the force nearly ripping her shoulder out of her socket. Tabitha had narrowly snatched Kirche from the jaws of death, as Louise did the same for Daisy. Coughing her lungs out with renewed vigor, the red-head trained her wand and blasted a large bout of flame.
"Sylphid's close," relayed Tabitha, barely deflecting a thrown boulder with a well-timed gust of wind, "do you have the Wand?"
Louise nodded and shoved the Wand into Kirche's bosom, desperately searching the sky for their opportunity. It seemed to be the only way to find their way back to the academy safe and sound.
Though the correct statement would be to survive until one came.
…
An incessant amount of crashing and shouting.
Focus.
Off the beaten path, John was making haste towards the source of the sound. Something- hell, anything would make John sane. He hated feeling like he was chasing his own tail. Reminded him the lessons he learned. And punishments undeserved.
Each crash and boom got louder and louder with each second, the days on the trails didn't do wonders for his bones, yet all of that didn't affect him at all. The pounding of his heart, the sweat pooling, the ground shaking, his ears ringing. All of that were of no consequence when he eventually made it to an opening.
Gently sidling into the thick brush, John peered into the chaos that was unfolding before him. In the opening in the middle of the forest, a giant of rock was attacking four women, with unknown creatures assisting them: one resembling a lizard spewing fire and another...
Barking?
John turned his head once more to look over once more what he was seeing... Then John saw her: Daisy. Running around growling and barking at the gargantuan monster, the dog was always inches from being smashed into a meat pancake. Resisting the urge to run out and snatch her away, John further analyzed the situation: barely managing to keep his cool. A little further down the tree line, was a shed that looked worse for wear.
And so once again, John took to bounding: this time towards the shed- making haste so that Daisy didn't have to be at risk for any longer than she needed to be. Peeking into the dilapidated shed, he saw nothing of note, but noted that it was a good place to hide away for the time being. Peering back into the opening, John noted how one of the combatants, the shortest of the three, was caressing a black case.
Overhearing some of their plans to retreat, apparently it was some sort of "Wand of Destruction". Looking up a dragon, of sorts, was already screaming down from a height. Landing with a billow of dust, two of the girls mounted the beast and the pink-haired girl handed off the wand. Apparently, she would hold back the golem as to not allow it to swat the beast from the sky.
If John was to guess correctly.
The plan would, in essence, rely on her ability to somehow fend off the seemingly invulnerable amalgam of earth and stone and then somehow flee. However, the flaw in that plan is obvious just looking at her:
Flat-footed. Out-of-breath. Slow.
Each swing would drain her more than the last, her face was caked with once-dry dirt, and each swing was inching closer to reducing her pink to red.
Turning his gaze skyward, John watched the winged creature fly off into the distance- shrinking below the horizon.
Daisy had been under his nose- only to be whisked away again.
Exhaling, John waited for the golem to swing on the girl before sprinting out of the door. However, John- in some sort of bleeding-heart moment, whether or not it was pity or that she was only yet just a child- looked back. Luckily, he was just in time to notice she had been dazed and dropped to the floor by the swing prior.
Gritting his teeth and pivoting off his planted foot, John kept his eye on the golem. In an act of arrogance, the golem had made its way over the girl: looming over her as it slowly reared its arm up as if to crush her beneath it. That arrogance would give John enough time to fire off a shot from his sidearm, distracting the golem, allowing him just enough time to make his way to her.
The golem quickly switched targets and swung it's cocked arm towards John. With a measured burst of speed, John inched past the wide swing, with the earth behind John fracturing from the force.
The eyes.
Another set of shots hit the general ballpark, but the golem is unfazed. Then in one smooth, elegant, and practiced motion, John dove at the girl and grabbed her by the uniform. The girl didn't even let out so much as a peep as John pulled her to his chest, tucking her into his roll: narrowly dodging a swing from the golem.
John was sent tumbling through the air from the shock-wave before his back violently struck the ground. Ignoring the air stolen from him, John planted his leg into the ground and placed all the inertia into the girl. In a beautifully coordinated movement, John's following leg put John into a skid and the girl into her maiden flight- the girl flung safely into the tree line to land upon a patch of shrubbery.
Turning his head, John narrowly ducked a wild strike the golem had thrown, that of which leveled the forest where John had thrown the girl. John seemed to freeze in place as his mind attempted to search the kicked up dust for her- or her remains. Thankfully, the girl was safe barricaded beneath the fallen trunks. Having now gained the golem's ire, John snaked his way out of the clearing with the golem shambling towards him: one act of kindness to ease his conscience.
…
…
…
Shaking the thundering drum that was her heartbeat in her head away, Louise opened her eyes gingerly...
A silent night greeted her as the stars shimmered through the cage of tree trunks that sheltered her from the elements. Standing up she heard the soft winds drift calmly over her resting place. Clambering out of her makeshift prison, Louise sat atop the ribs of her cage and stared off into the distance to clear her head.
She tried to recall everything, or anything at that matter… But all she remembered was fighting for her life to not be crushed, but somehow…
She ended up here?
She looked back towards the clearing and saw she was a good dozen or so meters into the forest.
So did Ms. Longueville save her?
But... She would've woken up next to her or seen her nearby?
There was no way she could've done it on her own… And yet again she has embarrassed herself to the person who saved her. She just wanted to prove herself… Yet...
Clutching her fist in frustration, she grit her teeth in an attempt to resist crying. However that did not stop the tears from flowing.
"Dang it!" she screamed in frustration, kicking the nearest fallen trunk.
Ignoring the sharp pain that shot through her untrained shin, she sniffled as she began to make her ways towards where she came.
Why...
Why can't I do anything right...
If I had an actual familiar or knew how to use magic...
Wiping the next wave of tears, Louise's bout of self-loathing was cut short by the sounds of someone speaking. Immediately coming to her senses and slinking into the darkness, she leans her head closer towards the voice's direction:
"Tsk. So earth nor wind magic can't activate the wand... I highly doubt water can... Am I missing something?"
Curiosity getting the better of her, and the sense of justice to punish Fouquette, Louise peeks around the corner to see Ms. Longueville mounting a horse and galloping off. In shock Louise immediately goes to give chase: mounting a horse. That was the case until Louise thought about the fact that she would get caught and couldn't possibly fight Fouquette off, if Ms. Longueville was Fouquette.
She wouldn't hurt me…
So why am I hesitating?
Despite her hesitation, and apparent lack of mastery of horse handling, Louise snapped the reins to coerce the horse: barely managing to hold on as the rearing horse nearly flings her off. The cool night air seems to rush past her as the horse finds its way back home, or that's what Louise hoped that the horse was doing, hoping that she wouldn't be discovered.
Both in hopes that she isn't seen in such a state…
Or discovered having known something she shouldn't have.
...
Having shaken off the golem, John now rests against the foot of a tree, lost in the forest. Showing no signs of accomplishment or pride at the fact that he managed to simultaneously escape such a force of nature and pursue a possibly subsonic target, John drank from the canteen once more. Screwing the lid back on and standing, the Boogeyman stood up and began to walk as if he had not spent the last hour or so running for his life.
Fortunately- or unfortunately- John once again approaches a tree line. Cautiously stepping foot into the falling daylight, John sees plains that sprawled across hundreds of acres for miles. Noting the sprinkling of villages and cities that seemed to have built themselves within some radius of a large castle, John knew that going from the top-down would be wise. Tightening his satchel strap, John shrugged the strap back into place and set foot towards his target.
From the sparse wagons offering him some refuge from the now-pouring rain or the few drunks who glared at him, John refused any such service, knowing much better than to accept help at this time of night from who-knows. However, oddly enough, John sees a flash of pink past by him riding a night-black horse. The horse, just as unpredictably, buckles forward, sending the sole rider flying off into a hay bale.
Quickly, John goes to rein in the horse and soothe it, stroking the nose of it to secure trust. Despite the arrogant huff the horse let out, the horse allowed John to guide it towards the hay bale, where a groaning individual crawled out. Suddenly, recognition hits him as John finds himself making way towards the girl and kneeling beside her.
"You alright?" asks John, concern bleeding in his voice as he pat-checks her for any fractures or bruises.
The drumming returning to her head, Louise is brought to focus by a very measured and cool inquiry:
"You alright?"
Looking up at who it was, she was met with the gaze of an old man, seemingly impartial and stern as he ran a gentle yet firm hand on her back. On his back was a freakishly long wand, or a very bulky, yet short, staff, made of metal and an assortment of bags and baubles hanging off of him here and there. Despite that, he wore a suit of night black and a dangling tie which seemed well-kept except for the rogue dirt-splotch or leaf.
Snapping her attention back towards him, despite seemingly feeling her up, she did not feel violated in the least bit and graciously accepted an upturned palm which easily lifted her up. However, the moment the night wind struck her face, common sense flashed in her brain as she slapped away his hand and snatched the reins of her horse from him.
"If you hadn't spooked my horse, I would've been fine!" berated Louise, puffing out her chest despite the man towering over her.
Despite catching herself, ready for some sort of angered or pestered response, the man simply smiled and uttered a very quiet:
"Sorry." A moment passes before he bows slightly and says, "I'll... be on my way then."
Gently adjusting a strap with a steady hand, the man walks past her and out of the lit torches of the town. Feeling guilty enough as is, Louise noticed the subtle limp in his stride and slumped shoulders as his trudged onward. Conflicted, Louise huffed as she forced the horse to follow her to a nearby inn to spend the night. Especially not out in the rain.
…
Another sleepless night.
Deserved?
Probably.
John found himself sitting beside a campfire, eating what is a mock breakfast with diced soggy bread-stuffs and a fish he managed to catch; all-the-while content with absentmindedly watching his freshly-washed clothes dry in the morning sun. A rationed packet of instant coffee and sugar, coupled with a very obviously sprained ankle and fractured knee, made for a very miserable rest.
Then, even in his skivvies with the flowing river drowning out whatever dulling sense of hearing he had, John was alert enough to hear marching down the road. Scrambling for his gear and clambering up a tree, John positioned himself to overlook the camp and the road. A minute or so passed before John saw the first of the source of sound. Marching down the road was a convoy of hooded figures, guarding a large cage covered in sewn-together skins.
It's the same across worlds…
The convoy halts as an effeminate voice commands them to stop, gesturing towards the still lit fire and strewn belongings. Arming themselves with swords and wands, they cover almost all their angles.
Keyword: ALMOST.
Immediately, they let down their guard slightly as they begin to scavenge John's belongings. What made it even worse was beneath the hood were elves. And from what John knew, those knife-ears were almost always never good news.
Actually, always never good news.
As if on a comical queue, a man looks up at the trees by chance and spots John. The two lock gazes and, without even letting the man shout, a well-placed shot silences him preemptively. One body falls limp onto the ground, then a second, then a third.
A fourth falls with no sweat, and, only then, does some sort of retaliation occur. The tree is set alight beneath him, yet John works to silence the mages. An accruing aura of blue energy snuffed with the snap of a fifth shot then the sixth. A dangerously-close incomplete spell denied with a seventh, which put off the mage that allowed John to fire the eighth: the haphazard bout of lightning setting the canopy of the tree ablaze. Now all that remained were three men with swords.
Firing a shot with his pistol this time, John threw the rifle at the now-folding body as he himself leapt down to safety. Immediately, the two men attacked with practiced coordination, the first swing nearly lopping John's head off, and the second attempting to cleave him in two from waist to shoulder. Easily John ducks the first then falls backward on purpose, landing on his back and dumping a few rounds into the two assailants. Quickly securing his six and cautiously snatching his rifle, he scanned around for a minute before relaxing just enough to check his belongings.
AK: a mag and then some.
Glock: two and something mags.
A quick release of the magazine reveals 5 bullets ready for action, not including the one in the chamber.
Make that two and six.
Grunting, John then notices the repercussions of being reckless with an already-injured body, frantically making a makeshift splint out of a few pilfered wands and chopped up robes. If John was lucky, his knee would end up fine after a month or two. But most likely?
He's essentially fucked.
Using a staff as a crutch, John hobbles over to pretend as if he hadn't just ended the lives of more elves. Carefully placing the clothes over the fire to dry them faster, John quickly finishes his meal and does a quick inventory check as he waits for the clothes to dry. Eventually, despite the smoky musk that clung to his suit, John managed to clean up camp by the time sunrise crept above the forest canopy.
Amazingly, only now did questions enter John's mind, as the lack of sleep and pain were good distractions from such things. Elves this far from where he had met them, and who were significantly more suspicious escorting this big cargo-piece with hoods donned, definitely did not spell out something good. Readjusting himself before getting ready to set off, John slowly approached the covered wheeled cage and gently lifted the skin veil to-
FWOOOOM
John suddenly found his footing gone, with the familiar opposing force of the ground replaced with none at all. In a quick instant he was pulled up to his waist until the drop halted, a searing pain tearing through his feet all the way to his knees. With pistol no-factored, John slung the rifle over his shoulder and squirmed to scan the area. Behind him was one elf, and in front was two more. The first shot to the one behind him was cumbersome, with some reserve of flexibility expended to properly hold the rifle upside down over his shoulder and aimed.
Flipping back over, John was greeted with a rapidly approaching wash of mist as John tried his best to hold his breath. John felt his extremities numbing from the contact and his eyes burning. John managed to get the closest with a few shots, missing one or two in the process. The second-
THWAP
A running swing nearly knocked out John as the elf used their staff to absolutely bludgeon the side of his temple. Despite the ringing and pounding pain, John had the right mind unprofessionally mag-dump the elf in the chest. Reeling in pain, John took a breath and-
Sh-shit… I just-
A day and some later...
Crap! Come on, you stupid-
BOOM
The sound of a large fist slamming down nearly sent the horse flying as it stumbled forward. Ever since she left the last village before she reached the school, a large once-inert golem animated and began to give chase to Louise.
Why her? Who knows.
But now it was only a few dozen meters until she reached the academy gates. Professors and students alike bombarded the golem, but the golem seemed to shrug off everything.
50
Louise absolutely nearly knocked herself out putting so much power into her explosion.
40
A punch easily ducked under, but what was scary was hearing a multi-ton hulk of stone offset such a large amount of air in its wake.
30
"Wait! No! Come on, we can make it!" Pleaded Louise, the horse seemingly slowing down as it headed towards the closed gates. Then Louise felt it:
20-
The same as when she met that familiar man, Louise felt herself hurtling through the air. The giant wooden gates quickly approached.
10
I-Is this how I die?
5
Louise closed her eyes and prayed.
4
Prayed really hard.
3
She focused…
2
And subsequently:
1-
"Oof!" grunted Louise, impacting something soft.
Thank goodn- wait:
She opened her eyes and saw herself skidding across the ground behind the gate, leaving a trail of upturned grass in her wake. Eventually, she finally finished rolling, ending up nearly 15 meters away from the gate. Shocked, Louise looked around to see if anyone had operated the gate or cast a spell upon it, but no Louise-sized hole nor operator existed. All were focused on blasting away the golem.
B-but how?
Suddenly, the sound of footfall grew until Louise weakly picked herself up and turned towards the sound. It was professor Colbert, with a mixture of emotions on his face, with an awaiting puppy in his arms.
Letting down the puppy, Daisy scampered up to Louise and began to lick her legs excitedly as Colbert firmly gripped her shoulders. "Louise! Thank God you are alright! Tell me! Where were you, and how did you do that?" Interrogated Colbert, not noticing how shocked, confused, and overwhelmed the girl was.
"W-what the hell do you mean where was I? Didn't Kirche and Tabitha tell you guys anything?"
"I-I mean, they did, but before we sent a team, we realized there were a bunch golems that were set on not letting anyone leave or enter."
"So that explains the golem… And why nobody sent help…" Mused Louise as she hummed to herself before something lined up in her head. "Wait- What did I do?"
"That spell! That allowed you to go through the gate!"
"The WHAT that allowed me to WHAT?" Louise exasperatedly asked, unsure if she was hearing him correctly.
"You just managed to phase through the gate!"
First shock, then pride, then finally resignation filled her as she thought about how to respond: knowing she would look stupid recreating how accomplished such a feat. Louise weakly coughed before she pet the puppy who was exposing its belly to her.
"Well… I don't know what happened. All I know is that I made it, the Wand of Destruction is returned, and that…" Louise trailed off her boasting, looking around to see if the suspect in question was listening, and only continuing in a hushed tone once she was satisfied it was just Colbert and her: "I-I might know who Fouquette is."
With that statement, Colbert's face fell into a serious grimace.
"Are you sure?"
"Well: they were talking to themselves about the wand and may have had some hand in how we were ambushed retrieving the wand."
Colbert looked as if he wanted to press the girl further, but simply relented knowing that it was better to bring this information back to Osman.
"Alright." Colbert positioned himself to help Louise walk by her side, which Louise gingerly accepted. "Let's talk about this with the principal."
…
"Sir, we've received word from the town over that rescued staff and students are taking refuge there. They simply request that they either be relieved or be notified upon the golems being disposed of." The green-haired secretary relayed, as a visibly fatigued and stressed Osman diligently read through scrolls and books. At his side was the Wand of Destruction back in its case, Osman attempting to decipher the script on the side of it.
Humming in acknowledgment, he closed the case and was about to hand it to Longueville until the door opened to Colbert escorting a visibly-battered Louise.
"Sir Osman! Louise might have a lead on who our thief is!"
With Colbert's announcement, a glimmer of hope shone in the old principal's eyes. What went unnoticed was the glance that Longueville and Louise traded, the tension in the room pulled taut in a fraction of a second.
To Longueville's dismay, the extend case was retracted back onto the embrace of the old mage.
"This is good news! Come, tell me who it might be so that we can finally put this debacle to rest!" With a welcoming gesture, Osman offered a seat as Longueville calmly went to pick the case off of the desk until:
"No you don't!" Louise interjected, snatching the case from the secretary. In a flash, a hateful grimace crossed both the women's features as the two men present in the room immediately dove to separate the two and coerce the Wand back into their position.
"Louise! What are you doing!" reprimanded Colbert.
"She's Fouquette! She used us to test how to activate the wand!"
Osman's color drained from her non-white features as he jerked his head back to his trusted secretary, not even present enough to interrogate her: his trust and fatigue getting the best of doing so.
"Th-that's untrue! She might of misunderstood or mistaken me with someone else!"
Before either man could arbitrate, Louise immediately rebutted:
"I saw your green hair as clear as day! You were mumbling about how to unlock the Wand after you abandoned us right when the fighting started!"
Shaken by this revelation, the room fell silent as all eyes fell on the shivering secretary. An uncomfortable moment passed before Longueville swallowed and began:
"Y-you misunderstand… I was just thinking about how we could somehow activate the wand to protect us… A-and t-that…" Her green hair obscured her eyes as she put on an embarrassed tone: "I kinda… was knocked out."
Louise looked like she was about to explode before Osman put a hand on Louise's shoulder.
"No, Louise. I know that you have your suspicions, but we must gather evidence. For now, the two of you will return to your rooms, and Ms. Longueville will be under arrest in her room." Osman turned to Colbert. "Please inform all the staff that if she were to leave her room, that would mean she is guilty of theft and conspiracy."
Osman looked at both women before finishing: "Is this alright with you two?"
Both women nodded, not before trading another hateful look. With that Colbert pushed the two out of the room and closed the door. Osman, by Colbert's side, rested a tired hand on his shoulder.
"Colbert. Can I also entrust upon you hiding the wand?"
"Hiding it? Why not just put it in the vault?"
Scoffing, Osman patted his back.
"Please, if Fouquette could do it once, they can guarantee do it again."
"Th-then where?" Colbert asked, visibly confused on where they could possibly hide the Wand. The thief must have known the school like the back of their hand.
A cheeky smirk reached the principal's face as he handed off the case to Colbert.
"In the Void tower."
"The Void tower? But nobody has-" Colbert reasoned, but immediately stopped when he realized the sage's intent. "I see. Then I shall see to it."
The two men smiled at each other, nodding knowingly at the trust the two shared and separated, Colbert closing the door behind him.
"Geez. What is this academy coming to?"
Well. That's it. Don't forget to review or message me with anything I could do to improve.
And until then,
Ciao!