In a classroom within the Academy of Tristain, students were seen with bored looks on their faces despite what had happened just 2 days ago. The news of something happening to the Academy quickly spread throughout the student body, but not many know what truly happened.
"Say, ah~"
"Ah..."
Kirche had a small basket of fresh fruits, and with a small fork, she was feeding Saito. He seemed to really enjoy the free food and affection, and Kirche seemed to really like giving her darling affection.
Next to the two of them, Louise and Kai were both angry, but for once not at each other. They were annoyed to no end by the affection between those two.
"Is it good?" Kirche leaned closer to Saito.
Saito nodded while munching on the fruit.
"Good. It's fruit from Germania."
Louise snapped. "Hey! Stop feeding other's familiars!"
Kirche only blankly stared at her. "What's the problem? It gets really boring only having study hall. Well, I guess that they have their hands full dealing with that thief." It was true, the students were left to their own devices. "Still, I heard that Princess Henrietta might be forced to take the blame."
Louise and Kai's eyes widened.
"The only reason Fouquet was able to sneak in was because of the small number of guards we had were all assigned to protect her. Also, I heard that she decided to visit the campus despite strong objections."
Before they could each think about how it was their fault, Mister Colbert walked into the classroom. "Miss Vallière. Miss Tabitha. Come to the Principal's office immediately."
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In Osmond's office, the air was stiff. A knife could cut the tension in the air. Excluding the staff there were 5 people. Tabitha, Louise, Saito, Kai, and for some reason Kirche.
With an annoyed look, Louise turned to Kirche. "Why are you here?"
Kirche shrugged. "It looked interesting."
Miss Longueville ignored them and started to speak. "While questioning people in the city, I was informed of a suspicious figure who has been seen going in and out of the forest."
While praising her, Osmond smiled. "As swift and diligent as always, Miss Longueville."
"We will ask the knights to depart at once." Colbert was about to leave to write a letter when he was stopped by Osmond.
"If we take too long, Fouquet will get away. We will reclaim the Staff of Destruction and the honor of this academy with our own hands. Those who wish to volunteer, raise your wand."
Osmond looked around, and not a single person raised their wand. In fact they all looked toward the ground as if they didn't want to be picked.
"What's wrong? Are there no nobles in this room who wish to gain fame by capturing the infamous Fouquet?"
The room was deathly silent. Not a single person on the staff raised their wand.
Suddenly, with a determined look on her face, Louise raised her wand. "I'll go!"
As the teachers started to make a commotion, Kirche raised her wand. "I'll go as well."
Louise looked at her with a confused expression which earned her a smirk from Kirche. "I can't lose to a Vallière."
"Why you..."
Finally, Tabitha silently raised her staff.
Seeing them all raise their wands made Osmond smile. "I'll leave this matter to the three of you. They've all already dealt with Fouquet before, and despite her young age, is a knight with the title of Chevalier."
Louise and Kirche were surprised. "Knight?"
Tabitha only gave them a short nod.
Osmond continued giving his praises. "Additionally Miss Zerbst is from one of Germania's famous military families, and I've heard that her flames are strong as well. And..." Osmond turned to Louise. "Well... Miss Vallière is a direct descendant of the Vallière family which has produced many excellent mages... and... er... She..."
Louise looked at him confused. Could he really not come up with praises for her?
"That's right!" Osmond put his fist in his hand. "I heard her familiars are capable enough to take down Guiche de Gramont, the son of Marshal Gramont."
Colbert's eyes lit up. "That's right! They're the legendary Gand-" He quickly stopped himself.
Osmond walked up to the three girls. "The academy looks forward to your effort and commitment as nobles."
Miss Longueville spoke up. "I will assist them as a guide."
"Why thank you, Miss Longueville."
"Don't thank me, I planned to do so the entire time."
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After a few hours, the group of six were heading out of the academy in a carriage, with Miss Longueville at the front.
Saito started to make conversation. "So Louise, if Fouquet can use magic, then that means they're a noble, right? So why would a noble be stealing stuff?"
Miss Longueville was the one to answer Saito. "Not all mages are nobles. There are many nobles that become commoners for their own personal reasons. Among those, there are some that devote their magic to being a mercenary or crook. I too have lost the title of noble."
That last part surprised everyone.
"But you're the secretary of Old Osmond." Kirche sounded confused.
"He doesn't pick favorites based on status."
Kirche's nosiness was getting the better of her. "How did you lose your title then?" When she didn't answer, Kirche leaned closer. "Please, I want to know."
"You're being rude Zerbst!" Louise started to reprimand her.
"Hmph. I was only engaging in conversation because I was bored. Really, why do I have to go on this thief hunt?"
"You shouldn't have come then."
"If you came alone, wouldn't your familiars be in danger too? Am I right, Louise the Zero?"
"Why do you say that?" Louise's voice sounded dangerous.
"If that golem shows up, you would run away and let one of them do all the fighting, right?"
"Why would I run? I would just use my magic!"
"You using magic? Don't make me laugh!"
"Will you two stop fighting?! It's annoying!" Kai interrupted them while plugging one of his ears.
The two girls scoffed and turned away from each other.
After a little while it started to turn dark, almost giving the group a warning to turn back.
"We'll have to walk from here," Miss Longueville said. The group got off the carriage and proceeded on the small path on foot.
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Eventually, the group reached a clearing that was roughly the size of Vestri Court, with a small rinky-dink house in the center.
They hid behind some bushes and watched the house.
The group started discussing what they should do. They started using sticks to form some sort of battle plan. An ambush was the way to go here, and they hoped that Fouquet was asleep.
Step one. They needed a scout to go around the house and see what was going on. Step two. If Fouquet was inside, the scout would bring them out. Step three. Everyone used their magic at once. Step four. Victory.
"So... who's gonna be the scout?" Kai asked.
Tabitha simply said. "The fastest one here."
All eyes landed on Kai.
"Aw come on... Ah, whatever..." Kai drew Derflinger and looked back at the group. If anyone rushed them, Saito still had that sword that Kirche had given him on his back, so it should be fine.
Inching closer to the house, Kai felt his blood pumping. Looking inside, he could only see one room in the whole house, and it had a chair and a table.
It didn't seem like anyone was inside.
Were they too late?
Kai shook his head. This place is remote enough that unless you knew where you were going, you wouldn't find it. It was the best hiding spot for Fouquet.
Gesturing for the group to come over, Kai waved his hand. The rest of them carefully approached the house.
"No one's inside." Kai jerked his head toward the door.
Tabitha waved her staff at the door and muttered, "There are no traps." She opened the door and went inside.
Kai, Saito, and Kirche followed behind, while Louise stood on guard duty outside.
Miss Longueville said that she would investigate the area around the forest just in case, and disappeared.
The bigger group went into the house and started to look for any clues about where Fouquet could be.
After searching around a little Tabitha looked inside of a box... it was the Staff of Destruction.
"Isn't this too easy?" Kirche was a little on edge.
Saito looked at it with disbelief. "Are you sure that this is really the Staff of Destruction?"
Kirche nodded. "Unmistakably, I saw it once during my tour of the treasure vault."
Kai inched closer to it. "That doesn't look like a staff..."
"It's because the staff is inside the box-"
Just then a large sound reverberated throughout the area.
Louise's voice could be heard screaming. Before anyone could rush outside to help, the roof of the dingy shack was torn right off. It was the golem, but it was even bigger than before.
Tabitha reacted quickly and with a quick chant, sent a whirlwind at the golem, but it wasn't effective.
Following Tabitha's lead, Kirche took out her wand and sent a fireball straight at the golem. Once more, the golem remained unscathed.
Backing up, Kirche started to panic. "We won't win..."
Tabitha whistled, and from above they could all hear the screech of her dragon.
"Satio, go with them, I'll look for Louise."
"But-"
"Go."
Saito gave a short nod and started to retreat with Kirche and Tabitha.
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Kai hurriedly looked around for Louise while they retreated, and found her. "Louise!" She had her wand pointed straight at the golem. "Get out of there!"
Louise ignored him, and with a flick of her wand, she tried to cast a spell, but once more only an explosion happened. A small chunk of rock was knocked off of the golem. Not enough to damage it, but enough to draw its attention.
"Louise, run!"
She pointed her wand at the golem once more. "I won't!"
"You don't stand a chance! Just run!"
As if his words were the final straw, Louise's jaw locked and she gripped her wand with extreme force. "I'm a noble! Using magic doesn't make you a noble. It's those who don't run away that truly earn that title. I won't be Louise the Zero forever!" With a flick of her wand, she yelled, "Thunder!"
Despite her best efforts, all that came of it was a failed spell. Like always, she failed.
The golem raised its fist, and it started descending quickly toward Louise. She could only stare on in horror as her fate was about to be sealed. Was this really how she died? A failure as always?
All that could be seen was a dust cloud from the golem's fist, but not a moment later there was an insanely fast red blur speeding out of it.
Kai had activated the Kaioken and practically tackled Louise out from under the golem's attack.
As the two of them came to a stop, Louise looked at Kai and started yelling. "Get out of my wa-"
Louise was cut off by a slap.
"So what if you're some noble?! It's all pointless if you die, you moron!"
Louise shakily looked down.
"Because... because everyone makes fun of me all the time... It's so humiliating..." Louise looked up and tears were streaming down her face. "If I run away, I'll be made fun of again!"
"H-Hey..." His voice was softer as if trying to soothe her.
"I can't keep my promise to the princess..." Everything she had been holding back until now was coming out.
From behind the two of them, the golem was preparing another attack, forcing Kai to pick up Louise and run.
She was the haughtiest, rudest, most stubborn person he had ever met, but she was still a person. She hated being mocked constantly, being treated like an idiot, being an outcast. She hated it.
"Hey, Louise. One time you said that a mage's power is determined by their familiar, right?" He wiped a few tears off of Louise's face.
"R-Right?" She was confused, and her voice was still shaky from the crying.
"Then I'll become the strongest there is, alright?"
Before she could make sense of what he said, Tabitha's wind dragon landed next to them, and Kai handed her off to Kirche.
"Get on, quickly." Tabitha's voice was more urgent than normal.
Kai shook his head. "Y'all get going." Before any protests could be made, Tabitha made her dragon start to ascend.
Turning toward the golem, Kai drew Derflinger and realized what he had promised Louise.
"Damn it... now you're making me want to do something for you... ya damn brat." He pointed Derflinger straight at the golem. "This isn't gonna end like it did before!"
Rushing straight at the golem, Kai prepared a small orb of energy in his hand. The golem's fist tried to hit him, but Kai jumped up and fired the blast straight at its face. Not a moment later, the golem's arm swung and hit him.
Skidding across the ground, Kai shook his head and yelled out, "Kaioken!" A red aura burst around him and his speed doubled.
Getting ready for another strike from the golem, Kai raised Derflinger. As soon as the golem's fist neared him, Kai swung. He had thought with Kaioken that his power would be able to match the golem's but he was mistaken.
A quick clash between the two forces caused Kai to go flying back.
Jumping up into the air, Kai started cupping his hands. "Kamehame..." Before he could finish it the golem tried to head but him. Thinking fast, Kai yelled out, "HA!" And fired the wave to the side to move him out of the way of the attack.
Landing back on the ground, Kai dashed into the forest, hoping that the golem wouldn't find him.
Hitting his head with his fist Kai shouted at himself. "Think think think think think!"
As soon as he shouted, the trees around him were uprooted by the golem's attack, and the force of the wind blew Kai back.
Using his tail, Kai grabbed onto a branch and flung himself at the golem. Forcing Derflinger in front of himself, Kai had practically become an arrow.
Unfortunately, the 'arrow' was caught before he could pierce the golem.
Now in its grasp, Kai was forced to drop Derflinger. Being squeezed by the golem, his screams echoed throughout the area.
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Seeing him in trouble, Louise couldn't do anything but yell, "Kai!"
Saito on the other hand drew the sword Kirche gave him. His powers hadn't been working, but he had to do something. He couldn't just sit back and watch.
Jumping off of the dragon, Saito didn't have a plan to get down, luckily Tabitha waved her staff, and Satio's descent slowed down until he touched the ground safely.
Running toward the golem, Saito prayed that something would happen with his runes, but he was trembling. Fear was starting to take him over. What if he couldn't help?
Bringing the sword high above his head, Saito swung down at the golem's foot... and the sword broke instantly.
"A-Are you kidding me?" Saito's eyes were wide.
Nearby, Derflinger's voice rang out. "Grab me! If you don't want to die, grab me!"
Saito looked around for a moment and spotted him, but the golem seemed as though it would attack at any moment.
Shaking his head as if getting rid of the thought of running away, Saito ran toward Derflinger. As soon as the sword was in his hands, Saito felt an insane power-up.
It felt just like when he fought Guiche... No. It felt way better!
The golem slowly raised its foot, ready to squash Saito, but he was barely able to dodge out of the way. The power-up was a lot, but it wasn't enough to fight the golem on equal terms.
Seeing Saito as more of a threat, the golem moved one arm away from crushing Kai, to try and grab Saito. With less force on him, Kai yelled something out.
"Kaioken... Times Three!"
With a bigger red aura around him, the golem's hand was forced open, and Kai fell to the ground.
Before he splatted on the ground, Kai closed his eyes and started focusing. Spreading his arms and legs out, he started barely hovering over the ground. He was flying.
Even though he was flying a little, the drain on his own energy was intense, so he landed on the ground.
With a Kaioken times three active, Kai felt his body start to shred itself apart. After running, Saito was now next to him.
"Usin' my sword, huh?" Kai smirked a little. Playing off this pain was much harder than normal.
Saito smiled back. "Had to think of something."
"Let's go!"
"Right!"
The two of them ran straight at the golem, with Kai's speed he went straight under its legs. From behind he jumped up and slammed his fists down on the golem's back. With its main body going forward, Saito jumped up and used Derflinger to practically uppercut it with a sword.
Now faced with greater danger, the golem threw its hand into the ground and pulled out a giant chunk of dirt and stone.
As it started to throw the giant piece of dirt, the ground behind it started shaking. It turned to the source of the shaking and a blue and red light was there.
"HRAGH!" Kai fired off a Kamehameha.
The golem barely had any time to block the attack and as the smoke cleared, one of the golem's arms were blown clean off, and the giant chunk of dirt fell back to the ground.
Before they could celebrate, the golem's arm started forming back.
"Come on!" Kai was yelling with frustration, Kaioken times three was draining him like crazy, but it felt like he had less energy than he should.
While the golem was still regenerating, Saito ran over to Kai with panic in his eyes. "Kai, what do we do? We aren't losing like this, but we won't win either."
While panting heavily, Kai's red aura disappeared and his face contorted with pain. "Just give me a second..." He closed his eyes and started hitting his head with his fist. "Think think think think think..." His eyes opened and he looked like he was about to throw a tantrum. "Oh... I have an idea..."
"What is it?"
"I need you to distract it for a minute." Kai took a deep breath in and raised up his right arm. He hadn't tried this without Derflinger, and even with Derf, it hadn't worked every single time.
"Alright." Saito stared at the now regenerated golem.
Jumping forward Saito latched onto the golem's leg and started stabbing it.
The golem swung its leg around, trying to shake him off, but Saito wouldn't let go. Eventually, the golem tried to swat him away, but he jumped back and ran up its arm. Hitting the golem's head didn't do much, but he was doing his job.
As if batting away a fly, the golem started shaking and moving around trying to get Saito off. Seeing that its arms weren't working, the golem reached over and grabbed a tree.
Using the tree, the golem swung it on its own head, somewhat smashing it in, but it was able to hit Saito.
Now on the ground with a few broken ribs, Saito quickly stood up readying Derflinger.
The golem swung the tree like a sword, and Saito matched it. Even though the strength difference between them was incredible, Saito was still able to keep up. Albeit gradually, Saito was getting stronger throughout the confrontation.
Soon the tree snapped like a twig under the constant swinging, and the golem suddenly swung its fist toward Saito. He could only barely block the attack with Derflinger as he was sent flying.
"Thanks, Saito!" Kai grabbed the small energy orb in front of him and started jumping all around the place. This was it. After this, Kai's energy would be completely drained.
As the golem swung its arm, Kai jumped up right in front of its chest. "Times FOUR!" A gigantic red aura swelled around him as his body tore itself apart. Kai reared his arm back, threw the blast like a baseball, and he yelled out, "Brilliant... EXPLOSION!" The small orb made contact with the golem and blew up.
Kai fell to the ground, unable to move, and his eyes widened. It didn't work as intended.
The golem's chest was partially exploded, but the explosion didn't cause the boom he needed.
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From Tabitha's dragon, Louise looked at the scene in a panic. "I need to do something!" Turning to Kirche behind her, she took the box she had been holding. "Give me that!"
As soon as Louise jumped off the dragon, Tabitha waved her staff to make Louise float to the ground safely. The box containing the Staff of Destruction was thrown to the side.
Seeing what it really was, Kai and Saito's eyes widened. "That's-!"
Wildly flailing it around, Louise couldn't figure out how to use the 'magical' item.
Running toward her at full speed, Saito took the thing out of her hands. "This isn't a mage's staff. You use it like this!" Saito's runes shone brightly as if he were carrying a sword.
He quickly took out the arming handle, opened the rear cover, and pulled out and extended the inner tube.
Finally, he flipped up the sight on the tube and aimed.
"Saito! Do it NOW!" Kai screamed at Saito. The golem was about to fully regenerate.
Saito was the next to yell. "Louise! Don't stand behind it!"
She quickly moved out of the way of the 'staff'.
Firing the weapon, a loud thunder resounded through the area. A bright light appeared at the tip of the staff and the next moment the golem exploded. Any other parts of the golem that weren't destroyed by the initial explosion crumbled back to the dirt in the ground.
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When the golem collapsed, the entire area went silent. The feeling of triumph washed over everyone.
Limping over to Saito, Kai smiled weakly. "Yay... we did it..."
Saito smiled back. "How are you still standing?"
As soon as the words left Saito's mouth, Kai fell on his back. "I'm not... Ow..."
Before long, Kirche ran up and hugged Saito, which practically strangled him. "You're a commoner and you used the Staff of Destruction! You truly are my darling!"
While Kirche coddled Saito, Louise walked over toward Kai. "Are you okay?"
"Never... been better." She lightly tapped his side with her foot. "Ow."
She crouched next to him. "Idiot."
"I deserve that... Hehe..." His body was trembling heavily.
Silently observing the scene, Tabitha asked something. "Where is Miss Longueville?"
Everyone realized that their chaperone was missing.
As soon as they realized that, she came out of the forest.
Kirche let go of Saito and walked up to her. "Miss Longueville! Did you find out where Fouquet was controlling the golem from?"
She shook her head.
The group started looking for clues about Fouquet's whereabouts. A couple of them were looking at the rubble of the giant golem.
Nearby, Saito and Kai sat on a rock, catching their breath.
They looked at the Staff of Destruction with odd looks.
"How did it end up here?"
Kai shrugged at Saito's question. "No clue, maybe it was summoned like that magazine?"
As the two of them wondered what was going on, Miss Longueville walked up and took the Staff of Destruction.
The group looked at her confused, while she widened the distance between them. "Great job, people!"
"Miss Longueville!" Kirche started shouting. "What are you doing?"
"The one controlling the golem the entire time was me."
"What...? Then that means..."
She removed her glasses, and her gentle expression warped into one full of malice. "Yes, I am Fouquet the Crumbling Earth. The Staff of Destruction is really powerful. It could take out my golem just like that!"
Fouquet held the Staff of Destruction on her shoulder as Saito had done.
Before anyone could wave a staff, Fouqet shouted, "All of you don't move! I have the Staff of Destruction pointed toward you. Drop your wands. Now."
With no other choice, the girls had to drop their wands and staves. Without their wands, they couldn't do anything, and to Fouquet's knowledge, she had all the power now.
"Why!?" Louise angrily asked.
"Hm... I should explain to let you all rest in peace." Fouquet had a devilish grin on her face. "I had the Staff of Destruction, but I didn't know how to use it. No matter how I waved it or applied magic to it, there was no response. It frustrated me to no end. After all, if I didn't know how to use it, then it would just be a useless trophy."
Louise was about to lunge at Fouquet but was stopped by Kai.
"Kai!"
"Let her finish."
Fouquet's smile widened. "How kind of you, Mr. Familiar. It won't save you, but I appreciate it. As I was saying, since I didn't know how to use the staff, the only way to learn was to let someone else show me how."
Kai finished for her. "So you brought us?"
"Right. There was a chance that some students from the academy knew how to use the staff."
"What if we didn't know how to use it?"
"If that were the case, you would all be crushed by my golem. After that, the next batch of students would be brought here. But thanks to you lot, I don't have to do that." Fouquet let out a small sigh. "Even though my time with you all was short, I'm really happy. Goodbye."
Kirche, feeling hopeless, hung her head low.
Tabitha and Louise closed their eyes, bracing for the worst.
But the two boys kept looking defiantly.
"You two are brave."
The two boys looked at each other, and it almost seemed like they came to an agreement of sorts.
"It's not bravery," Kai replied.
"Right... well, do you have any final words?"
Kai smirked. "Not final perse..." His eyes widened as he pointed to the sky. "What's that?!"
Fouquet didn't look. "Did you really think something so childish would work on me?"
He shrugged. "Eh, worth a shot... but anyways. Let me tell you your mistakes." Kai raised a finger. "One, not realizing what kind of weapon that is..." He started walking toward her.
Having enough with his games, Fouquet pressed the button, just as Saito had before.
But nothing happened.
"Huh?" Fouquet's eyes widened. She tried again, but it didn't work.
"That right there is a rocket launcher from my world... I think it's called an M72? Ah... Doesn't matter."
Fouquet quickly pulled out her wand.
Quickly activating the Kaioken, Kai delivered a blow straight to her stomach. "And two, you underestimated me."
Fouquet fell to the ground, completely knocked out.
Letting out a breath, Kai turned back and smiled. "Welp, that means we're done here, right?"