Chapter 16

"Is that a joke, right?", asked Osman to Colbert with a serious expression.

"Unfortunately no, principal Osman. Some days ago, someone managed to free Fouquet from the prison she was kept in.", explained the teacher seriously.

"Huff, it must have been those guys of Reconquista surely. Even if Saito-kun killed Wardes, they still had some other mages. Without counting that a war between Albion and Tristain is closer to happen due to the prince's murder.", said the bearded magician, sighing and smoking his pipe.

Colbert looked dejected too because of the situation, as his hope that a conflict wouldn't happen was useless at that point. Though, he noticed that the Gandalf was training outside as usual, using also the sword he gifted him.

'I'm sorry that someone so young like you will have to take part to an useless war. I'm really sorry.', he thought, clenching his fist. As he had told him, he cared for all the students inside the academy and didn't want that anything of bad happened to them. That same care was towards the school staff and his colleagues too of course.

Meanwhile, the young swordsman was destroying some wooden targets as usual, wearing the new clothes he started to wear: a simple white shirt, gray pants and brown boots. He still had the ones he had when he arrived in the new world, but he thought that the new ones would help him to not stand out too much in public.

'Besides, Lou-chan said I looked fantastic.', he thought, blushing and smiling. His lovely girlfriend wasn't sad like before and returned to be the cheerful maiden he adored, spoiling him at the canteen by cleaning his cheek whenever he got dirty while eating. Montmorency glanced at him with sweet eyes during those moments, which made him blush and remember the kiss on the lips she gave him. Louis didn't know anything about it luckily,otherwise she would argue with the blondie instantly.

While he was glad that she and he were friends again, her genuine feelings for him made him flustered like those of Siesta. Even if he denied it continuously, it was clear that Derflinger was right in saying that he was a womanizer.

Anyways, his training proceeded just fine and he also tried that killer move used against Jacques, focusing on applying more strength on the hit. That viscount didn't have an armor, but more power was necessary if he wanted to defeat an armored soldier if he were to fight one. He didn't enjoy killing, though he understood that pity was useless with bastards like Jacques.

"Saito-san!", suddenly called him Siesta's voice, making him turn to see her with a picnic basket.

"Hi, Siesta. Is that for me?"

"Yes, hehe. I thought you were very hungry after training all the morning, so I prepared you the lunch.'", she told him, smiling and blushing.

"O-oh, I see. Thank you very much.", he told her, scratching his red cheek. That action of hers reminded him of a wife caring for her husband, which made him more flustered.

Still, he put away his weapons and sat down on the grass, widening his eyes at seeing all the food inside the basket. Without wasting time, he dug in it and he adored how good it tasted, causing her to blush happily.

"You're great at cooking. I knew it that you are happier here, so I'm glad that I saved you from Count Mott."

"I will never stop being thankful to you for that. Besides, I-I don't want to be far from you.", she told him, getting closer to him.

Those bold words of hers made him tomato red once again, so they looked into each other's eyes with bashful expressions. Still, a new person decided to call his attention, and it happened to be Montmorency that hugged him arm, shocking him and the maid.

"Good morning, Saito-kun!", she said with a big smile.

"G-good morning, Momon. Did you finish your lessons?"

"Yeah, I finished them earlier and I saw you here with Siesta, so I thought of greeting you hehe. By the way, hi, Siesta.", replied the blondie, tightening her hold on his right arm. Pouting, the black haired girl clung onto his other arm instead, so both their chests were pressing on them.

Needless to say that he was beyond embarrassed because of the situation, getting a tick mark because he could hear Derf's chuckles. The giggles of the other maids and Marteau made him more flustered too, so he asked the two of them if he could finish to eat.

"Ah, sorry.", they said, letting go of him but frowning at each other out of jealousy.

"It's ok, I'm not annoyed. If you haven't eaten yet, would you like to join us?", he asked to the blondie, who smiled and agreed eagerly. The young warrior sighed in relief and continued to enjoy the food together with them, still blushing though.

'It's like she doesn't have any brake on her feelings for me like Louise.', he thought, glancing at the water magician. He preferred that she was happy like at the moment, as he couldn't stand knowing that she was still angry at herself for using a love potion on him. Besides, she helped him get over his failure in saving the prince, so he held her dear in his heart like he did with his master and other people.

Speaking of hearts, he was sure that Henrietta's one was broken in pieces after losing her fiancé, which made him feel a great anger towards Reconquista. Just their intention of causing a war between the two kingdoms was enough to make hate them so much that he wouldn't hesitate to kill them, no matter if they were men or women.

Anyways, he continued to enjoy his lunch time with the two maidens until everything was finished, so he greeted them before going back to his and Louise's room to rest. Still, Colbert suddenly called him and asked him to follow him to the principal's office to talk about something of important.

Noticing the serious expressio of the teacher, he nodded and walked with him to the office, entering inside and finding Osman with a smoking pipe in his left hand. "Good morning, Principal. What did you want to talk about?", asked the warrior.

"Hello, Saito-kun. I must tell you that someone freed Fouquet of prison and we believe it was Reconquista."

Such news shocked him enough to widen his eyes, clenching his fists in annoyance. "I understand your anger after you managed to defeat her and capture her, and for this reason, we're going to ask you if you can go on a mission to Tristania to find more clues about that conspiracy."

"I'm afraid that their next target will be the princess after prince Wales.", said Colbert sadly.

At hearing that, Saito imagined the dead body of Henrietta while his girlfriend and several other people mourned her with countless tears. That thought was enough to make him shake his head and grit his teeth with more rage.

"I refuse to let them hurt her too. I will leave for the capital city for tomorrow morning then, but I will tell Louise to stay here. It's too dangerous for her and I don't want anything to happen to her.", he told them, raising his fist upward and with determination visible in his eyes.

His resolute decision surprised the two men, as they were amazed by how much courage and good will he possessed. Though, they also smiled and agreed with him, telling him that they would prepare a carriage for him the following morning.

They also asked him if he wanted someone to accompany him to help him, but his answer was, "Don't worry, I know some friends in that city that will help me. I met them during my first time there."

Osman and the teacher chuckled at hearing that, nodding to him and wishing him a good rest after all the training he did. Leaving the office, he proceeded to reach his tower then, taking some minutes to climb the stairs and arrive to his room. When he opened the door, he didn't find the lovely pinkette inside, guessing that she was still busy with some lessons.

So he took off his clothes and went to take a bath to relax, closing his eyes. "Are you sure it's a good idea to leave without her, partner?"

"Last time, she risked to be molested by that corrupted jerk and I don't want it to happen again. Besides, she recovered from watching Wales die not long ago.", he replied to his weapon, looking at the water with serious eyes.

"Heh, you care a lot for her and those dear to you. It makes me proud of being your sword.", told him Derf, making him smile. Even if they didn't fight many battles together, the ones they had were enough to build a great trust between them that was going to grow a lot.

His bath lasted at least ten minutes before he got out of the bathroom and wore a t-shirt and some trousers, laying on the bed and closing his eyes to sleep. Training to ameliorate his skills was important, but sleeping enough to relax the mind was necessary too if he were to fight in Tristania during his mission. Which he was sure that would happen.

So he let the sleep take over, and when his beloved returned from her lessons, she blushed profusely at seeing him. 'Oh my! He's so handsome whenever he sleeps too.', she thought, smiling blissfully and going towards him. She couldn't help but giggle while looking at his face, falling for him again and feeling really lucky that he was both her familiar and her boyfriend.

His arrival in her life caused various good things, starting from better bonds with her classmates and going to her feelings for him. He reciprocated the great love and care she held for him and even took her innocence, never stopping to fill her of love like she did for him. He killed Wardes in order to save her and comforted her after Wales' death, and she felt like he was going to do other countless things for her sake.

She wouldn't leave him even if her sister Eléonore and her father were against their relationship, because she never cared about Saito being a commoner or a noble. Cattleya always taught her to respect every human being since her childhood, not giving importance if they were poor or rich.

And while she admired her beloved sleeping, her pink eyes focused on his lips and noticed they were so soft. Blushing instantly, she began to approach his face to kiss him, yelping when he suddenly hugged her close to his chest.

"Lou-chan.", he mumbled in his sleep and smiling, making her heart flutter.

'He's dreaming about me even now? Oh, I can't stop loving you! I'm the luckiest girl of the world!', she thought, getting surrounded by some flying hearts and hugging him back. She giggled more at hearing him say "I love you, Lou-chan" and similar things, which made her feelings' intensity skyrocket. If someone were to see them, they would say that they were really an adorable couple, despite everyone thought that way long ago.

The two lovers stayed like that until the warrior woke up, smiling when he found himself hugging the pink beauty. Waking her up too, he offered his hand and she took it to go together to have dinner, ad they slept until evening. Once in the canteen, they joined their friends at the same table, where Saito blushed embarrassed again because of the sweet glances to him from Montmorency.

Thankfully, he had not to deal with Kirche flirting with him anymore after he refused her, but the water mage's feelings along Siesta's ones weren't easy to deal with. Especially because the two of them seemed to not want to give up on him despite he and Louise were a couple.

Anyways, the dinner went just fine and he filled his stomach of various delicious things, letting himself get fed sweetly by his beloved that acted more and more as a wife. And when they were done, the two of them left to go outside, sitting on the grass to admire the two moons in the sky.

"No matter how many times I see them, I always find them so beautiful. They kinda remind of us.", she said, blushing and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, they're blue and pink like us. The blue one seems like it's protecting the pink one in the same way I do with you.", he told her, smiling blissfully.

"I was scared when you and Jacques fought, because I feared he would have killed you. I c-can't help but get worried for you."

Noticing that she hugged his arm tightly, he put a hand on her head and kissed her forehead. "You won't lose me, Lou-chan. I promised we will stay together and I don't want to break it. Though, tomorrow morning I will leave for a mission in Tristania to find more clues about Reconquista, and you have to stay here."

"W-what? But-Mmh!", she got interrupted by his lips pressing on hers, causing her to blush intensely while his right hand intertwined the fingers with her left one.

Using his tongue, he made her moan out of pleasure for some seconds before he detached his lips unwillingly. "You risked to get molested by that bastard of Chalene last time and I don't want it to happen again. I will come back here safely, so don't worry.", he told her, smiling at her and winking.

Such comforting words combined with his passionate kiss made her eyes widen, bringing her to smile brightly and envelope him in a hug. "I will pray that nothing happens to you."

"Thank you. You're really the best, Lou-chan. I love you.", he said in return, hugging her tighter like she did. Perhaps it was crazy that a seventeen years old boy like him ended up in another world made of magic where he became a warrior and killed somebody, but he was being so mature because he didn't want to lose those he befriended in the new world.

Of course, he missed his family and his friends in his own, but for the time being, his goal was to protect his love and his new friends while stopping Reconquista no matter what. After all, he didn't train to get stronger everyday for nothing.

In the next morning, he woke up early and gave a kiss on the cheek to his girlfriend while she was still sleeping, wearing then some civilian clothes along a mantle and leaving the tower. He walked towards the exit of the academy, seeing Colbert and a carriage waiting for him.

"That mantle will help you to mix better in the crowd. Please, be careful, Saito-kun.", told him the teacher with a worried expression.

"I will do it, Sensei. I'm going to do my best to accomplish this mission. See you.", said the warrior instead, waving his hand to him after getting on the carriage.

Colbert did the same but frowned sadly, not liking at all the fact that he was involved in a pointless incoming war when he wasn't part of their world. He hoped that nothing bad happened to him at least, otherwise he would have other sins to feel guilty about.

Inside the carriage, Saito just looked outside and thought about some plans to catch some mages involved with Reconquista. Last time he and Louise managed to do that because they got followed by a spy, but since they surely knew he killed Jean, he expected them to be more careful from now on.

'The worst thing is that they have Fouquet in their ranks now. I destroyed her giant thanks to the rocket launcher last time, but I can't do it again if I fight her. I won't have mercy this time.', he thought, glaring in the horizon. He had the feeling that she wanted to get revenge on him for mocking her and defeating her, so he was sure that a new battle against her awaited him.

He didn't care if his enemies were women or men because he was going to defeat them all in order to protect his beloved ones. Having killed Wardes showed already that he had no pity for evil doers at all, so despite Fouquet was a woman, he was going to get rid of her as well at any cost.

Traveling to Tristania required at least two days, so he and the owner of the carriage stopped at night to rest. Though, the Gandalf used that moment to train in the woods instead, slashing at the branches with both his swords. He even tried to ameliorate Chaos Blade by adding the second sword in it, which caused a lot of sparks at every cut.

His eyes focused then on a tree, so he got ready to strike him. "Partner, are you sure about that?"

"Of course I am.", was the reply, followed by him running towards that tree and striking it with the same move used against the viscount. The force of the hit caused a huge X shaped cut on the tree that quickly fell down.

The impact of the ground scared some birds that flew away in the sky and made the carriagex's owner wake up instantly too. Saito was amazed by what he just did, smiling anyways because he was glad of how much he ameliorated.

'This is astonishing…My partner's progressing so much that he's able to do this too. I may be wrong, but he must have surpassed the strength of a soldier magician at this point.', thought the ancient weapon, glad as well. In all its 6000 years, it was the first time that it got wielded by such a formidable person, and it was proud of it. Saito's constant research for new force was driven by the will to protect Louise and other people, and not to be superior to everyone.

Combined with his powers, an even stronger body really made him more powerful, so much that now he could destroy trees with just his swords. Fouquet's giants of rock wouldn't be so easy to destroy in the same way, still he could win by targeting her mainly. He didn't care about the reasons she became a thief, as he found her just pathetic like he told her. Besides, allying with Reconquista was the worst mistake she could do, so he was going to cut her down immediately if he fought her.

Finally, after exactly two days of travel, the carriage reached Tristania and Saito greeted the man that accompanied him before going towards Charming Fairies. Scarron told him that he could stay by them each time he wanted as thanks for getting rid of the corrupted noble, even if the true reason was because Jessica wanted that.

Thinking about her made him blush and sweatdrop, guessing that she would hug him instantly once he stepped inside that place. And without Louise impeding her to get too close to him, she would also try to do more than just hugging him by considering how more flirtatious she was than her cousin.

Regardless, he walked through the city towards there, keeping his ears on guard to listen to what people said. Their talks about the incoming war worried him and thankfully, no one pf them desired to enter in a a conflict with Albion. Wars always brought death, sadness and hatred in his own world, so he really didn't want Tristain and Albion to fight each other.

His walk brought him to Charming Fairies, seeing that it was full of customers even during daylight. Taking a little breath, he stepped inside of it and his entrance quickly attracted the attention of the maids, who blushed at the sight.

"Hey, how is it going?", he said casually but smiling.

"I-It's Saito-sama!", they all exclaimed going towards him and taking his hands in joy.

"We missed you so much!"

"You're not with Louise-San this time? Can we hug you in this case?", asked one of them, making him blush profusely.

"Huh?!"

"Saito-kun!!", exclaimed another voice, who belonged to Jessica that ran to hug his head against her chest. Some men between the customers spat their drinks out of shock while the warrior was a whole blushing mess now.

"Y-yo, Jessica. I'm happy to see you too.", he said embarassed, getting a tick mark because he heard Derf laughing in amusement.

"Hahaha, we're glad to have you back, young man! But why are you alone? Where's Louise-chan?", asked him Scarron.

"Well, I decided to come here by myself this time for various reasons.", replied the foreign boy, freeing himself from the contact with the girl's "big guns" but not from her hands.

"Fufu, this makes me so curious. Let's talk about it alone, handsome~.", she said, clinging onto his arm and smiling at him.

"Show him his room, Jessica. Good luck."

With her father's approval, the young beauty guided Saito to his room, with her colleagues pouting jealously because they wanted to give him affections too. The male customers chuckled instead, as they remembered him from last time and knew that Jessica was interested in him.

In fact, she took him to the same room he and Louise stayed in last time, closing the door after they entered. "Hehe, we're finally alone~.", she said, walking to him and blushing.

"Umm, I really appreciate you like this much, but you know I have already a girlfriend, right?", he asked her, stepping back until he sat down on the bed.

"I know, but don't worry: I'm fine with being your second or third girlfriend~.", she told him, sitting on the bed as well.

His mind recorded her words for some seconds before he let a loud "What?!" escape from his mouth. He really couldn't believe to what he just heard, as he expected her to try to make him fall for her in order to choose her over Louise.

"I know my cousin and other girls are interested in you, so it's fine if you get yourself me as your second girlfriend. Sharing you is totally fine for me!", she told him, winking.

Like that, she made him blush more; she was basically telling him that it was fine if he wanted to get a harem. "Hahahaha, I like this girl! I think her idea is great, partner!"

"Shut up, Derf! Jessica, are you serious?"

"I sure am. I really like how much you care for those dear to you, so I want to be yours too. By the way, are you again on a mission?"

"Y-yeah, I must find other clues about those that want a war between the two kingdoms. The academy's principal fears they will target the princess next, so I want to impede it and stop them.", he answered, flustered because of her declaration but keeping a serious expression.

"I don't want a war to happen either. You're really brave for wanting to stop it beforehand, which makes me like you more too. Saito-kun~!"

"Woah!", he exclaimed when she jumped him and snuggled on his chest while giggling.

'You're totally different than your cousin. Oh boy.', he thought, blushing once again and sweatdropping. It seemed that other than focusing on his mission, he would have to do the same about her attempts to get closer to him. And judging what she said just a minute ago, she desired to get way closer to him indeed.

A/N

And here's the 16th chapter, everyone! It looks like that Reconquista managed to free Fouquet out of prison unfortunately, so Saito will have to fight her again eventually.

The assassination of prince Wales caused the fear for the war to increase, forcing Osman and Colbert to send the warrior on mission to collect other information about the conspiracy. Since I want to develop each of his relationships with the girls, I will focus on Jessica this time, who is fine with being part of his future harem haha.

Though, the desire to get stronger to protect Louise and his dear ones keeps burning and his training gives good results, especially because another but more mortal battle against Fouquet will happen soon. Will she strike inside Tristania? Will Jessica manage to kiss him and do more? Stay tuned to find out.

See ya!