Chapter 17

- POV: Private First Class Brenner -

I left the dormitories, sighing as I rubbed my forehead. "That could've gone better."

"You're telling me. That's the first time I saw a girl pass out cuz of...you know," Derflinger remarked.

"Yeah, Yeah," I mumbled. I had carried Louise back to the dormitories once I'd gotten fully dressed and equipped, up the stairs to her room while she remained unconscious. After leaving her on the bed, I left quickly for some fresh air. "Not sure what else there is to do around here."

"Well, what have you done here in the past?" the talking sword asked over my shoulder.

"I usually end up doing nothing. I either sit outside with the other animals or I end up sitting in school with Louise. Mostly the former," I said as I looked up. It was nighttime, and I was just now noticing the fact that there were two moons in the night sky - a larger white one and a smaller red one. "And it isn't like I can start fights here."

"Yeah, well..." Derflinger muttered, the 'mouthpiece' of the talking sword clanking as he spoke. "Not like I'd be one to know what humans do for fun."

I looked down from the dark and starry skies, sighing as I continued to walk. "Plenty of things. I can't do any of them in this world," I mumbled before hearing a chuckle.

"Look! A naked girl flying through the sky!"

"Huh? Where?"

I stopped walking at that awfully weird dialogue, and I turned around. "Hm? What the hell was that?" I muttered.

Looking across the grassy courtyard, I noticed an odd sight - a small white table, with two tall and thin glasses of what appeared to be alcohol on top. Sitting on one side was Montmorency, and on the other side of the table was...him.

I frowned almost immediately upon seeing Guiche, seemingly enjoying a date with the freckled blonde girl with the curly hair. The last I saw the two together was before our duel, when she slapped the living daylights out of him for trying to two-time her and another girl. Why the hell was she with him now?

I heard a little giggle coming from the girl, and I raised an eyebrow. "Curious," I mumbled quietly before making my way over to them. "Hello!" I called, waving a hand.

Guiche's charming smile dropped as quickly as my own mood had fallen, his attempted elegant posture dropping into a disappointed slump. "Oh, it's you. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Guiche, be polite," Montmorency chided before throwing a smile my way. "Hello, Brenner!"

"Evening. So, what's the deal with having a date with a two-timing bastard like him?" I asked.

"I see you still haven't learned proper manners," Guiche scoffed. "I'm frankly not so surprised."

"Manners don't have any place in a good fight," I retorted dryly, cutting off another scold from Montmorency as I crossed my arms. "You'd know that if you ever learned how to take your lessons like a man."

"Or perhaps you should learn how to properly act in a gentlemanly manner instead of constantly speaking in that barbaric tongue," Guiche snapped back.

"Better a boots on the ground American voice than that dumb sounding posh voice," I growled.

"Posh?!" Guiche shouted, slamming his hands on the table as he violently stood up.

"Enough!" Montmorency called before clearing her throat. "I-I apologize, but we are having our date. So I'd appreciate it if you gave Guiche and I some space."

"Yes, be a good familiar and go along your way," Guiche remarked, picking up his glass and swirling it like a professional wine taster. "The two of us would like a moment."

I growled, having had enough of his sickening attitude. Without a second thought, I snatched the glass away from his hands, and knocked it back. As I downed the sweet tasting drink in one go, I heard a croak from Montmorency. With a sigh, I slammed the glass down on the table. "Sure thing," I muttered as I turned away and walked off towards one of the buildings.

I failed to notice Montmorency's wide eyed and horrified expression as Guiche shot off one last insult - something about drinking like a savage. I paid them no mind, simply too angered by the playboy to think about what to do next.

"Dumb bastard," I grumbled as I decided to head to the roof of the nearest tower I could find. "Dumb kid's gonna get himself shanked one day. What the hell is she even doing with him? Don't tell me he charmed her or some bullshit. He's always got that stupid rose..."

"Eh, don't bother with that any longer, partner," Derflinger remarked, poking out of his scabbard to speak out loud. "It was pretty nice to see you put that noble in his place. Spoiled brat."

"Yeah. Glad someone else sees it that way," I chuckled as I looked up into the night sky. The quiet was calming, though uncomfortable. "You know...I doubt I'll even be able to sleep tonight."

"Yeah, I get those feelings," Derflinger commented. "Though, that probably has to do with me sleeping for so damn long."

"Yeesh. You weren't awake while we were asleep, were you?" I asked.

"Nah, I can sleep sometimes. But it does get boring. Makes those hours feel like days or weeks," Derflinger muttered. "Hey, you say you were in a war. Tell me a few stories, will ya?"

I was about to decline like I preferred to do before realizing that there really was no harm in me talking. "Well...I have been in a few big battles. One battle I was in was Saint-Lô," I remarked. "A French town in control of the Germans at the time."

"French? Germans? Like Germania or what?" the sword asked.

"Nah, different world and stuff. Probably just coincidence or something," I said, waving a hand dismissively. "Anyways, we Blue & Gray men pushed through the northeast, drawing Germans away from the town in that area. It all happened fast, but the city was wrecked from intense bombing earlier."

"Bombing? What, you threw explosive spells at them or what?" Derflinger asked.

"We didn't have magic. We had planes - and they dropped big ass bombs in the area in order to disorient and cut off the enemy. You shoulda seen it, it was one hell of a mess," I said. "Almost the entire damn town got leveled."

"Sounds rough," the sword muttered.

"It was very rough..." I sighed as I opened the door to the tower. Like the rest of the school, it was pretty damn quiet. "Anyways..."

- a few hours later, POV: Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière -

I woke up in a sharp daze, my head pulsing in annoying agony as I slowly looked around. "Ugh..." I mumbled as I slowly sat up. Blinking quickly, I gripped my forehead and waited for the pain to go away, or to subside at the very least. "What...what happened?"

I looked down, noticing that I was in bed. The room candles were out, and the only light I could see was the moonlight from outside, barely illuminating the interior. I could feel my cape under me, and I realized I was lying down atop the covers. "How did I end up here? And how did it become night time so quickly?" I muttered curiously to myself.

I tried to remember what had happened. I'd met with the headmaster much earlier - specifically right after our return to the institute. It was mostly to discuss plans for vacation, which followed a status report and to ensure that things haven't gone wrong in the middle of our summons to the princess.

I neglected to mention my risky mistake with gambling, as well as the duration of our stay in town.

Following that brief report, I'd made several inquiries and requests with Headmaster Osmond, mostly on the status of my family and any possibilities of visiting them for the summer.

The headmaster had answered with some rather cryptic words, not giving much of a clear answer on the matter.

It was a debate that lasted for an hour, maybe two. I'd left to meet with my familiar, only to realize that he was nowhere to be found. His things were gone, suggesting that he'd gotten dressed. After searching for a few more minutes, I was told by the head chef that he was heading to the bathhouse.

More details flooded my mind, and I felt my entire body heating up. I'd seen him naked.

I mean, he wasn't naked - he was wearing a helmet on his head, at least!

He had no pants! No underwear! I could see his...his...

I shook my head violently, trying to get that image out of my mind. "He's my familiar, my servant! Why should I be so embarrassed about this?" I was quick to think. "I mean, I did see him naked before, when we went to the bathhouse that time, after we got that talking sword. Before Kirche came over and..."

I remembered what I'd said to Kirche that night - how I'd boasted about seeing Brenner naked. I recalled being plenty embarrassed when I saw him fully bare the first time as well, and I slammed my hands on my cheeks with audible slapping sounds. "Ugh!"

I felt the stinging pains on my face, and I sighed quietly. "Okay...he probably carried me here. I'll just talk to him! Let him know that it was an accident! I don't need to think about it any longer," I muttered to myself, pushing my body to get out of bed and look around.

Sure enough, Brenner wasn't here - and neither was any of his things. Surely, he'd still be in the school, right? I began to walk towards the door, feeling my thoughts racing as I reached for the handle.

As I twisted it, I felt my heart beginning to race. "He-he didn't leave, did he? I didn't mean to embarrass him! Or barge in on his privacy! I-I mean, he was the one standing naked in a hallway! Oh, if I ever get my hands on him, I'll-"

I stopped in both my words and my tracks, and I shook my head once more. I had to keep myself focused on the task at hand - and that was to find my familiar and talk to him. Hopefully, Brenner hadn't left - the gates were always locked this late. However, I wondered if Brenner could have found a way to leave the school. He'd done much more absurd things before, and I feared that this would be one of them.

I hurried down the stairs to ground level, stumbling once or twice in the process. Opening the doors, I rushed towards the tower, hoping to get to the headmaster in order to convince him to initiate a search for my missing familiar...

...only to hear a voice above me. Stopping where I stood, I looked up to see Brenner talking atop one of the walls connecting one of the outermost towers to the main tower. - feet hanging off edge and over the arches of the bridge-like structure. He was fully dressed in that odd set of clothing, and he still wore that bowl-like helmet on his head, chatting amicably with the sword on his back.

"And the helmet flew right off his head!" I could hear him say loudly. "That sniper was this close to blowing his damn brains out. I swear, we used up like a thousand bullets in the direction of where the shot came from."

"You got him, right?" Derflinger asked.

"Hell no! A tank blew up the area and buried him in rocks," Brenner grumbled. "I was never so pissed off in my life. Damn 2nd Armored."

"Brenner!" I called, hurrying over. "What are you doing up there? Wait, how did you even get up there?!"

"Oh, I just climbed out a window and jumped over here," the young man said. Then to both my surprise and horror, I watched as he got up and leapt to the ground. I felt my heart stop for a good second as he fell through the air, only to roll and stumble to his feet - seemingly unharmed. "Nailed that landing."

"Idiot! Don't you dare do that!" I cried.

"Bah, it's fine. Hey, I'm in the mood for some target practice," Brenner said, brushing off my call far too quickly. "But I'd rather not use bullets. Damn. Hey, your world's got guns, right? Think I could ask for some bullets in thirty aught six?"

"W-what?" I asked, somewhat taken aback by his enthusiastic talking. He was much more energetic than I'd ever seen him before, and it was admittedly unsettling.

"Thirty aught six. Point three zero dash zero six," Brenner said before shaking his head, waving a hand in the air dismissively in the process. It was such a departure from his usual reserved self, and it worried me a great deal. "Nah, it's late. I'll ask later, maybe tomorrow."

"What...what's going on?" I asked, somewhat confused. "Why are you like this?"

"What do you mean?" Brenner remarked. "Dunno what you're on about, but I feel fine."

"I got him talking about his old world," Derflinger said, poking out of his scabbard to talk to me. "I think that improved his mood or something along those lines."

"I...you improved his mood?" I asked, somewhat intrigued. "That's good. What were you two talking about?"

"The war," both my familiar and his sword said at the same time.

Oh.

...

"Oh," I said, moments after that word had popped up in my mind. "Well, let's go back inside. It's getting late and we need to get some sleep in order to wake up tomorrow-"

"Excuse me?"

I turned to see a familiar freckled blonde approaching. "Umm...I just wanted to check on Brenner. Is he okay?" Montmorency asked. Behind her was Guiche, his own brow furrowed in clear confusion.

I began to speak up before getting cut off at once. "Great, it's fuckboy McGee," Brenner grumbled as he stepped forwards, an arm pushed in front of me as if to block me. "What, is your pride too wounded to finish a date? Or were you hoping to get some other girl in your little group?"

"Excuse me? I was only following her here!" Guiche scoffed.

"I was only following her here!" Brenner jeered, his tone clearly made to imitate and mock Guiche. I winced at the horrid sound his voice made, and Guiche's face reddened. "Oh, piss off! I dunno how the hell that girl-" He gestured to Montmorency as he said this. "-can bother breathing the same damn air as you."

"Can you please be quiet?!" Montmorency asked before the volume of her voice fell. "I'm here to check on you because...because you drank something you shouldn't have."

I blinked, somewhat concerned by that statement. Brenner had fallen silent, as had Guiche before he could make some snappy retort towards my familiar. "What...what do you mean?" I asked. "What did I miss?"

- a few minutes later -

Montmorency was quick to explain the situation once we made it to my room - having wanted to ensure privacy. She'd made a concoction meant to manipulate the heart in an attempt to get Guiche to stop sleeping around. To make a long story short, she'd formed a love potion of sorts - intent on slipping it into Guiche's drink in order to ensure his loyalty towards her over their planned romance.

Then Brenner had shown up, instigating an argument with Guiche over his heartbreaking habits. He'd guzzled the drink alongside a small yet very effective dose of the love potion, causing the events that were now happening before me.

However, one part of Montmorencu's explanation didn't seem to add up correctly. Brenner had consumed her love potion. However, he was far from acting like the lovey dovey madman that she was hoping Guiche would turn into. In fact, he seemed very much the opposite. He was much more violent and crude, especially to Guiche.

"If you wanna say something, say it to my face!" the otherworldly man snapped, with me pushing him back from advancing on Guiche.

"I said I ordered you to stop! I will not allow you to fight him again, not in my room!" I hissed, my smaller frame barely able to keep him from stepping forwards.

"Guiche, you might want to stay outside for this," Montmorency insisted, pushing him the opposite way towards my door. "I'll get back to you soon, I promise."

"But wait! Wait just a second, you were really going to make me drink something like that-" he began to complain before the blonde girl successfully pushed him outside, closing the door quickly after him.

"I am so sorry!" Montmorency cried as soon as she turned around, bowing quickly as Brenner and I stopped struggling against each other for a moment. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen!"

"What you meant or didn't mean to happen means nothing!" I snapped, clearly ticked off over the events of this night. "Your potion affected my familiar, and you're going to fix him!"

"There isn't anything to fix," Brenner said. "I feel fine."

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the effects to wear off on their own," Montmorency said. "It might take a few months-" I felt my face darken considerably from those words, and I gained a rather small amount of satisfaction upon seeing her pale at my facial expression. "-t-to a year? M-maybe?"

"Excuse me?" I growled.

"Oh ho, this is getting good," Derflinger sang in the background.

"Shut up before I break you against the wall!" I snapped at the sword on Brenner's back before whirling around to glare back at Montmorency. "You're going to fix this!"

"B-but, I can't! This type of potion can't-" she began.

"Every potion has a counter! I know how these kinds of concoctions work - they're like poison!" I was quick to counter. Even if I was poor at magic, I had studied diligently in every other subject - and I knew most of everything ranging from history to alchemy like the back of my hand. "You can make a specific type of healing elixir to reverse or cancel what your stupid love potion did!"

"I..." Montmorency croaked before sighing. "Alright. I can do it, but I won't be able to now. I'm missing an ingredient-"

"It's summer vacation. If you're going to need something to make this work, then we're going to go tomorrow," I insisted before narrowing my eyes. "Or I'm going to talk to the headmaster about how you made an illegal potion meant to unwittingly manipulate the emotions of someone you want to hold affection towards you."

"W-wait a minute, I can-" Montmorency tried to protest.

"Well?" I asked, feeling my self control about to collapse before I tried slapping her myself. "Are you going to fix your mistake? Or are you going to have your noble status stripped as you're thrown into the gallows for committing such a heinous crime?"

The girl sighed, utterly defeated. "Fine...I guess it is my fault for causing this. But your familiar still stole the drink," she muttered.

"I'll deal with that. But frankly, I don't think he's to blame too much," I said. "I mean, this is Guiche we're talking about. He likely deserved to have his drink stolen."

"Hey!" Guiche's muffled voice cried out from behind the door.

"Uhh," I heard Brenner utter from behind me. "I'm fine-"

I whirled around, the fury on my face now redirected at the changed man. "If you try and tell me that you're fine one more time, I will take that helmet and beat you in the head with it!" I quickly shouted. I likely shouldn't have done that, given just how rude and antagonizing he'd become since drinking Montmorency's poison.

To my surprise, he zipped his lip and backed off quietly. Derflinger hadn't spoken once more either, not even making a single sound. I wasn't sure if I should be proud that my temper was powerful enough to overcome Brenner's anxiety inducing attitude, or concerned.

I sighed and closed my eyes, feeling far too tired to deal with any more of this. "I'm going to sleep," I muttered as I turned my direction back towards the seemingly equally exhausted Montmorency. "And you'd better be ready to pack up and travel tomorrow."

"I will," she said as she dejectedly made her way to the door. "I promise."

As she left and closed the door behind her, I could hear more muffled words from both Montmorency and Guiche as they walked away, down the hallway. "Ugh..." I groaned as I fell back and flopped over in my bed, far too tired to consider talking to Brenner.

"...you alright?" I heard him ask.

"I just wanna go to sleep," I mumbled. "Just...just sleep too?"

"...fine," he muttered. I was quick to tuck myself in under the covers as I heard Brenner lie down on the floor without complaint.

"We just got back to the school...how do the craziest things always end up happening to me?" I thought, shutting my eyes and waiting for sleep to embrace me.

- the next morning: POV: Private First Class Brenner -

I woke up earlier in the morning than Louise, deciding to slip out of the room with my Garand in hand to get some fresh air alone. As I closed the door behind me, I felt my thoughts wandering back to the events of last night.

"A love potion that makes me violent?" I thought to myself. "How the hell does that make any sense? I don't feel any different."

My mind did feel a little more clear after waking up in the morning, especially without that playboy blonde bastard to piss me off. Furthermore, I was still reeling from the fact that things like potions really existed, and that I really drank one by accident.

"Guess I did that asshole a favor. He'd better thank me," I grumbled to myself as I headed downstairs, my mind still swarming with thoughts. "Still, how am I more violent? I don't feel like I wanna start fights left and right..."

I fell silent as I recalled some moments last night. When I was talking to Derflinger about the war in my world, I remembered getting into more and more detail in some events - mostly gruesome ones. Then I started to recall some of the things I said and did, including trying to fight Guiche again in Louise's room.

"Now I see it. Fucking hell, how did things end up like this?" I grumbled to myself. As I rounded the last bend of the spiraling staircase, I ran into Montmorency who was headed up the opposite way. "Oh. Morning," I said flatly.

The girl flinched at my words, stopping right in her tracks. "M-morning," she said awkwardly, scratching her cheek as she looked away. "Eh heh...uhh, is Louise awake?"

"No. By the way," I said before crossing my arms. "I seem to remember telling you about 'playing hard to get' with that guy. I doubt he actually proved he wants you and only you yet, so you got any reason why you resorted to...I dunno...using a love poison or whatever?"

Montmorency flinched once more, her hair bouncing as she jerked. "I...I just wanted him to stop sleeping around. He is a kind person once you get to know him...and not at all as spoiled as he'd have you believe. I know you probably won't believe it, but it's true," she said. "As for why I used it...I couldn't wait for him to prove if he loved me or not..."

I felt my eyes twitching before I closed them, pinching and rubbing the bridge of my nose. "I'd say you're in some never ending loop of emotions or something..." I muttered. "But considering you tried to at least fix him is understandable, scummy, and disturbing. In that order."

The girl chuckled nervously before coughing and clearing her throat. "I...I wanted to let you and Louise know that Guiche and I are ready to go," she said.

"He's coming with us?" I groaned.

"I-it's not exactly an easy journey, and I don't want to travel alone with you two. N-no offense, but both of you are very scary," Montmorency admitted.

Alright, I guess I could see where she was coming from. "Yeah, yeah, I get it," I muttered. "Just get him to keep his damned mouth shut and I won't blow off his kneecaps. Got it?"

Montmorency nodded quickly, and I slipped past her to finish walking downstairs. "Tell Louise I'm getting some fresh air. I need a lot of it," I said, trying to keep myself calm as I headed down. I was feeling more bothered and annoyed than ever before, and I knew it had to be that stupid potion.

As I headed outside, I took in a deep breath and leaned against the nearest wall. "Goddammit..." I whispered to myself. I was alone, having not brought Derflinger with me in case doing so would wake up Louise. As far as I knew, he was still sitting on the other side of Louise's bed - propped up against the wall.

I sat down, the back of my helmeted head pressed against the wall as I thought a little bit more about what was happening. "I guess I've gotten a bit more violent..." I mumbled. The thought of my mindset and possibly my entire brain changing was honestly terrifying, and I was somewhat glad for that instead of falling hopelessly in love like the potion was apparently supposed to do.

Still, it was a bit of a mystery - was it because I wasn't supposed to be from this world? My mind continued to race for a while, at least until Louise called me back inside. In any case, I was going to get myself some answers - one way or another.