Sitting in the easternmost part of Austri Court in Tristain's Academy of Magic, Louise was frantically knitting. The spring weather started to change as summer approached, but everyone still wore the same clothes. The weather here was quite dry instead of humid.

Ten days had passed since their return from Albion. Luckily today was a day off for most. As soon as she finished her food, Louise went to the courtyard to knit. Sometimes, she would rest her hands and stare at the blank pages of the Founder's Prayer Book while trying to think of an edict.

Around her, students played a game similar to basketball, but instead of using their hands, they had to use magic. Staring at the group, Louise let out a melancholic sigh as she looked at what she was knitting.

Looking at the scene from afar it looked like a painting. A quiet girl sitting alone while a group of students played a game.

Louise's hobby was knitting. When she was small, her mother had told her that if she had no talent with magic, she should at least have something she was good at, and so her mother taught her how to knit. Though her mother taught her how to knit, Louise had no talent for it whatsoever.

She had planned on knitting a sweater... But no matter how she looked at the object in front of her, it was not a sweater. It looked like some kind of torture device that could kill someone. Louise stared at the object and let out a bitter sigh.

People all around her had skills that she didn't. That maid girl Saito was always with could cook. Kirche had her good looks...

But what do I have? There's nothing appealing about me.

Just as she was starting to get depressed from the thing she had knitted, someone tapped on her shoulder. It was Kirche. Panicking, Louise quickly hid away the object under the Founder's Prayer Book.

"What are you doing, Louise?" Kirche gave her usual condescending smile and sat next to Louise.

"C-Can't you see? I'm reading."

"But that book is blank, isn't it?"

"This book is a national treasure called the Founder's Prayer Book."

"Why do you have a national treasure?"

Louise explained that she was to read a handwritten edict at Henrietta's wedding.

"I see. I'm guessing that the Princess' wedding has something to do with the journey to Albion?"

Louise questioned whether or not to answer Kirche truthfully. Since Kirche had been a decoy so that her and Kai could go, Louise nodded.

"We risked our lives so that the Princess' wedding could proceed smoothly? Not a very prestigious task... So, it had something to do with the alliance between Germania and Tristain announced the other day..." Kirche was quite sharp.

"Don't tell anyone about it." Louise seemed somewhat discouraged.

"Of course, I won't. I'm not Guiche you know. Our two countries have become allies. We should try to get along from now on. Right, La Vallière?" Kirche put her hand on Louise's shoulder and smiled. "Did you hear? Albion's new government proposed a non-aggression treaty. Cheers to the peace that we brought."

Louise gave a sigh as a response. For the sake of peace, Henrietta was going to marry a man she didn't love.

"By the way... what are you knitting?"

Louise blushed instantly. "I-I wasn't knitting anything!"

"You were. It's right here." Kirche grabbed the object from under the Founder's Prayer Book.

"Hey give it back!" Louise tried her best to take it back, but Kirche held it out of reach.

"What is it?" Kirche looked at the object in confusion.

"I-It's... a sweater..." With each word, Louise's voice grew fainter.

"A sweater? It looks like a deformed starfish."

"As if I would knit something like that!" Louise finally snatched her 'sweater' back with an embarrassed look on her face.

"Why are you knitting a sweater?"

"None of your business."

"Oh, that's fine. I know why anyway." Kirche put her hand on Louise's shoulder and got closer. "You were knitting it for that familiar of yours, weren't you?"

"N-No! I wouldn't ever do a thing like that for Kai!"

Kirche smiled. "I didn't mention which one."

Louise froze up for a moment. "S-S-Still... I wouldn't ever do that!"

"You're really easy to understand. You like him, don't you? Why?"

"I-I don't like him. That idiot doesn't have any good qualities..."

"You know Louise, when you lie, your ears shake."

Louise quickly covered her ears.

Realizing her blunder, she covered her face in shame. "Why are you doing this... He's my familiar..."

Kirche laughed. "Oh, La Vallière, can't I joke around a bit?"

Grabbing the Founder's Prayer Book, and her 'sweater', Louise stormed off, not giving Kirche any more satisfaction.

"That girl is just too easy to mess with..."

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"Hoo..." Kai let out a deep sigh as he lowered his fist.

Sure, it was Voidday, but it wasn't time to slack off. He still had to keep training. With Gandy as a guide, his physical training had been going much more swimmingly.

Looking around, Kai was in that same training spot where he had awoken Gandy. It was actually quite a nice spot to train. Fairly close to the Academy, but far enough where he wouldn't be disturbed. The creek helped clear his mind when he was meditating. Plenty of trees to set the atmosphere.

"So, what's next on the agenda?" Since he had left Derflinger back in his room, Kai decided to speak out loud to Gandy.

You could always try transforming-

"No!" Kai got oddly defensive.

Then you should rest.

"What? Seriously?"

Resting is just as important as training. Endlessly torturing yourself with training won't truly help you as a fighter.

Kai let out a sigh.

I'm trying to help you!

"God, fine, Mom!"

You damn brat! Don't take that tone with me!

Kai fell flat on his butt. "Fine, I'll rest... But I ain't goin' back yet. If I do, Louise will probably make me do chores immediately."

I've noticed that you complain about her a lot... But, there's a sort of sweet tone to it as well.

"Yeah...?"

Do you love her?

Kai flinched for a moment, but calmed down. "Yeah, I do. Sure, she can be annoying, bratty, bossy... other adjectives... but it'd be boring as hell if she wasn't, y'know?"

Hm.

"Anyway, Gandy-"

Please stop using that name.

"Anyway, Gandy, how'd you learn how to use stuff like the Kamehameha?" Kai mimicked the motion of the technique while lying down.

I learned how to harness my Ki at an early age, but specifically, the techniques that you've been using... I learned those in my death.

Kai took a moment to try and think about how that would work. He opened his mouth to ask how but was stopped.

When people die, they go to a realm known as Otherworld. Otherworld is, in its simplest form, the afterlife which contains both heaven and hell. I learned the Kamehameha from an old man in heaven... I think his name was Go... Gohan?

"How do you not remember?"

Oh, I'm sorry my memory isn't the best! I haven't been able to reincarnate for thousands of years because of those damn runes!

"Yeesh, sorry I asked."

...It's fine. I'm just... tired.

Kai closed his eyes for a moment. "Alrighty then! I think it's high time I get back. Saito'll get real mad if I make him do all the chores."

How considerate...

"Shut it you."

Kai heaved himself off the ground and started flying back to the Academy.

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Saito was cleaning Louise's room. He had already swept the floors, and wiped down the desk. Since the laundry was oddly enough taken care of by Louise, Saito's workload had been somewhat reduced, but with Kai going off and doing God knows what, Saito had to pick up that slack.

The surface level cleaning was done fairly quickly. Louise's room didn't have much in it. A small desk next to the closet, a table with a small vase that had a plant, two chairs at that table, her bed, and her bookshelf. Since Louise studied fairly often, her bookshelf was lined with thick books.

Saito pulled out one of the books out of curiosity and began to read. He didn't get far since he had never seen any of the letters before.

Duh, why would I have seen them?

That translation spell that Louise cast was only for their speech... but it was odd. How did it work exactly? Were the words itself translated, or did they just understand what the other person was saying? Beyond that, Kai clearly wasn't Japanese, and Saito didn't know English, so how did that work?

Saito's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Who could it be? It wasn't Kai or Louise, they wouldn't knock. Maybe Guiche or Kirche?

"It's not locked."

The door opened and Siesta popped her head in.

"S-Siesta..."

"Um..." She was in her usual maid uniform and she held a large silver tray, filled with food. "I was worried that you might be hungry..."

Seeing her cute gestures, Saito's heart started throbbing. "T-Thanks... I had gotten some food earlier though."

"Really? I was serving the teacher's table, so I must not have noticed. If I'm just being a nuisance then..." Siesta slightly hung her head.

"N-No, that's not it at all! I'm really happy that you thought about me! I'm actually really hungry right now!"

"Really?" Siesta's face brightened up. "Well, eat to your heart's content."

The small table was crammed full of food. Siesta sat next to Saito, with a smile on her face. Saito started to regret eating so much, but he didn't want to see Siesta sad.

"Is it good?"

"Yeah, it's really good." He wasn't lying, but it would of been a hell of a lot better if he was hungry.

"Ehehe, eat all you want then." Siesta stared at Saito, who ate like a pig.

"Oh sorry, I forgot my manners..."

"N-No, it's not that! It's the opposite. I'm really happy that you like the food so much! The cooks would be really happy!" Blushing, Siesta wiped her eyes.

Saito felt as though his heart was beating so fast that he couldn't taste the food anymore. He knew it didn't make sense, but it still felt like that.

"I made that one." Siesta sounded extremely shy.

"Really?"

"Mhmm. It was difficult to make it, but since you're eating it, I'm glad I made it."

Saito felt his heart racing even faster. Siesta was thinking of me. Me of all people. The atmosphere between the two suddenly grew tense.

"S-Saito!"

"Y-Yes?"

"Umm..." Siesta paused for a moment as if picking the best choice of words. "That talk, that we had before! Especially about that thing! Um, what was it called? Oh, the airplane!"

Saito nodded. "Ah... the airplane."

"Yes! Being able to fly without magic must be wonderful! So even commoners like us can fly freely in the sky like birds?"

"Aren't there airships?"

"They only hover. My village is actually a very nice place. It's called Tarbes. It's about three days from here by horse, somewhat near La Rochelle."

Saito listened intently while enjoying Siesta's cooking as much as possible.

"It's a very remote village and there's nothing really special there, but... it has a very spacious and beautiful field. During the spring, the spring flowers bloom, and during the summer, the summer flowers bloom. It's like a sea of flowers as far as the eye can see. It should be very beautiful at the moment..." Siesta closed her eyes as if imagining it. "I want to look at that sea of flowers from the sky, just once."

"Sounds nice..."

"Oh, why didn't I think of it before?" Siesta suddenly grabbed Saito's hands who nearly fell backwards in surprise.

"W-What?"

"Do you want to visit my village?"

"Huh?"

"The princess is getting married, right? There's a special holiday for us. It's been a long time since I've returned to the village... If it's okay, please come. I want to show you the beautiful field of flowers. My village has this really nice way of cooking stew as well. It's called Yosenabe. It's made from vegetables that people don't usually use. I really want to let you taste it!"

"W-Why do you want me to come?"

"...You showed me that there's a possibility." Siesta nervously looked down.

"A possibility?"

"Yes. A possibility that a commoner can win against a noble. We live in fear of nobles. Knowing that there are people who don't live in that fear makes me happy as if their happiness was my happiness. I... I want to show that person my home..."

"I-I see..." Saito felt embarrassed. I'm not great or anything. I've heard that I'm Gandalfr and I'm supposed to be legendary... Well, that happens sometimes, but that's it. It's not something to be praised.

"Of course, it's not only that. I want to show you the village... But, if I bring a man back suddenly..." Siesta started to blush deeply. "I can just say that you're my husband."

"W-What?!"

"If I say it's because we're getting married, they'll be happy. My mother, father, brother, and sister will all be happy."

"Siesta?"

Siesta shook her head. "Sorry! That would be troublesome! I'm not sure if you'll even come! Haha!"

Saito hung his head, embarrassed. "S-Siesta, you're really bold sometimes. Like when we took a bath."

Siesta blushed even more. "I'm not being bold or anything."

"Eh?"

"When I left home, my mother told me to not show anyone my body except to my chosen man." Siesta reached out and gently held Saito's hand. "I would have showed you if you simply asked."

"Y-You're joking... right?" Saito's mouth was hanging open.

"It wasn't a joke. Even now..."

"W-W-What about now?"

Siesta looked straight into Saito's face. "Am I not attractive?"

"No, that's not it at all!" She was attractive! Too attractive!

"Really?"

Saito tried to compel himself to stop, but he couldn't.

"Then, why didn't you do anything when we were taking a bath?"

Don't look at me like that... I'll feel like I did something bad.

"...I see, I'm not attractive. You have that girl with you too... That Von Zerbst girl is a noble too. I'm just a village girl after all." Siesta let out a sigh.

"No, it's not like that at all!"

"Saito."

"You're really attractive. I promise you."

Siesta was glad. So glad in fact, she took off her apron and started to undo her blouse.

"Wah! Siesta, what are you doing?!"

Siesta looked at him calmly. Buttons were being undone one by one.

"Siesta! I don't think this is a good idea!" Saito quickly shook his head.

"Don't worry."

Panicking, Saito sprang at Siesta to cover her up. "P-Please wait! I have to think about something like this!"

"Kya!"

The two of them lost balance, and fell onto Louise's bed behind them, and things looked as if Saito had pushed Siesta down.

"Sorry..."

Directly below Saito, Siesta put her hands to her chest and closed her eyes.

With amazing timing, the door opened.

"Man, I just thought of a really cool tech-" Kai's words stopped as he looked at the scene in front of him.

Saito looked at Kai with a panicked expression. "I-I-I swear it's not what it looks like-"

Before either of them could say anything, Siesta quickly fixed herself and ran out of the room.

"Kai... Siesta was just bringing me food and-"

"Look man... I don't care what kind of stuff you do, or 'don't' do, but c'mon man... I sleep on that bed."

"Really, she was just bringing me food- Wait, you sleep on the bed now?"

Kai closed his eyes, and jerked his thumb toward the door. "Get on out of here, before I tell our most dearest master what you and Siesta were doing on her bed."

Saito gulped. "Y-You wouldn't..." Kai didn't have any reaction. "Oh god, you would..."

With a nod from Kai, Saito ran out of the room.

"Righty then... I should wash the sheets before Louise gets back..."

Weird guy.

I'll say.

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Toward the entrance of the academy, two boys were sitting next to each other with cups full of wine in their hands. The last hours of the day were burning away.

Guiche let out a hearty laugh. "Bringing you food? That's the best excuse you could come up with? I made better excuses when I was a child!"

"It's the truth!" Saito started to get defensive. The two of them were a little drunk from how much wine they had.

Taking a large gulp of the wine, Guiche started laughing louder. "I don't see why you had to come up with that stupid excuse."

Saito gulped down the rest of his wine. "I'm telling you that it's not an excuse!" He grabbed the wine bottle next to him and poured more into his cup.

Nearby the two of them heard someone cough.

They turned to see Kirche standing there.

"You lot should get ready to leave soon."

Saito and Guiche looked at each other. "What?" The two of them spoke in unison.

"Well, darling, do you plan on living as Louise's pet for the rest of your life? You might be on a looser leash, but it is still a leash."

Saito hesitated for a moment, wondering where she was going with this. "Not... really... But, I haven't found a way home yet."

Guiche and Kirche looked at Saito with confused looks.

"Ah! I mean... Rub' al..."

"Ah, right, you were born in Rub' al Khali, weren't you?" Kirche nodded to herself, which let Saito breathe a sigh of relief. "Well, would you like to become a noble?"

"A... noble?" Saito was taken aback.

Guiche was more taken aback. "But, Kirche, he's a commoner. He can't!"

"In Tristain that is. By law, commoners are strictly forbidden to purchase land to become nobles."

"Exactly!"

"But in Germania, it's different. If you have money, you can buy land and become a noble, or buy the rights to a position and become a tax collector or a commander."

And that's why they call Germania uncivilized," Guiche said as if he were sick.

"Uncivilized? People who fuss over traditions and customs like 'if you're not a mage you can't be a noble', which makes their country weak, have no right to talk. It's the reason Tristain has to ally with Germania to be able to oppose Albion."

Saito, who had been quietly listening, spoke up. "So Kirche, what you're saying is that I should get money and become a noble in your country?"

"Exactly that."

"I don't have that kind of money. I'm broke."

"Then earn some." Kirche tapped Saito's face with a bundle of parchment.

"What's that?" Guiche and Saito looked at the bundles with curiosity.

"They're treasure maps."

"Treasure?!" Guiche and Saito yelled in unison.

"Yes, we're going to go treasure hunting and sell the treasure we find. Saito... you can do whatever you want then."

Saito gulped.

Kirche embraced Saito, pulling him in as much as possible, suffocating the poor boy. "When you become a noble... you can propose to me okay? I like guys like you. I don't care if you're a commoner or a noble. People who can overcome difficulties... I like people like that."

Guiche looked at one of the maps. "No matter how I look at it... these maps seem a bit suspicious..."

"I got them from various places like magic shops, stalls, general stores..."

"It's definitely dodgy. I know that there are nobles who would go bankrupt buying treasure maps when they're just normal maps."

"That attitude won't do! Most of them might be fake, but there might be a real one in there."

Guiche groaned while slapping his forehead.

"Saito, let's go. Let's go find treasure... and then you'll propose to me, okay?"

Saito thought about it for a moment... "Alright, I'm in. Let's go!"

Kirche hugged Saito tighter.

Suddenly someone burst onto the scene. "Nonono, you can't do that!"

"Siesta?!"

Before the group, Siesta was in her maid outfit.

"You can't marry Saito!" Siesta pulled Saito out of Kirche's embrace.

"Don't you wish the man you love to be happy?" Kirche pulled on Saito to bring him back.

"Just because you're a noble doesn't mean you're happy. You can stay at my village, and buy a vineyard with that money!"

"A vineyard?"

"In my village, there are a lot of good vineyards! We could make nice wine together! It's brand name could be Saito Siesta!" That name needed some workshopping.

Kirche and Siesta both pulled on Saito. It was the first time in his life that girls fought over him and he had a dumb smile on his face.

"As if you'd find treasure." Guiche had a bored tone.

"Guiche. If we find treasure, you can give it to the princess as a present and she may see you in a different light."

Guiche stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's go."

"Take me along! Please!" Siesta cried out. If she didn't go with them, Kirche would undoubtedly seduce Saito.

"Commoners such as yourself are just a burden." Kirche's response was cold.

"Don't treat me like an idiot! Even though I look like this, I..." Siesta started shaking as her hands were balled up into fists.

"Yes? Go on."

"I can cook!"

"As if we didn't know." Everyone had the same response.

"But... meals are important, right? While we're searching for treasure, we'll be camping, right? We can't just rely on the food we bring. I could make good food for everyone."

She had a point. Guiche and Kirche were nobles who couldn't stand bad food.

"But, you have work to do, right? Are you just going to abandon that?"

"The cook always lets me leave if I say I'm doing something for Saito."

Saito nodded. The head chef really liked him. He would definitely do what Siesta said.

"Fine, do what you want. But I'll tell you now, the ruins, forests, and caves we're heading to are dangerous places. There are lots of monsters there."

"I'll be fine, Saito will protect me!" With that, Siesta grabbed Saito's arm.

Kirche nodded. "After the preparations are done, we're heading off!"