A tense air filled Principal Osmond's office. In front of his desk was a sleazy looking noble with a smirk on his face. He looked as if he had just caught the biggest fish in a contest.

Osmond let out a strained sigh as he signed the paper the noble had given him. Moments later, the paper rolled itself and floated into the nobles' hands.

His smile only grew. "We appreciate the academy's understanding and cooperation."

Osmond's old age seemed to catch up with him at that moment. "We have no choice if it's an order from the royal palace."

The man took a bow. "Excuse me." While leaving the noble ran into a woman. "Ah, Miss Longueville. Would you care to join me for dinner?"

Miss Longueville felt the man's lecherous stare and forced a smile. "It would be my honor, Count Mott."

The man twirled his mustache. "I'll be looking forward to it." He flicked his cape back as he walked away.

Miss Longueville only looked at him with disgust as she walked into Osmond's office. "So, what impossibility did the royal palace force on us today?"

Osmond let out a sigh. "They have requested a servant, but have also warned us about a thief."

That last part piqued Miss Longueville's interest. "A thief?"

"Yes, a thief going by the name of Fouquet the Crumbling Earth."

ㅤ

ㅤ

At a separate part of the academy, specifically the fountain where Louise's laundry is typically done, Saito could be seen hunched over. He was complaining about how cold the water was.

"Why did they leave me behind?"

Earlier that day Louise had given him a plethora of chores for him to do before she and Kai came back.

"She could have at least written it down..." While grumbling a figure appeared behind him, scaring him. "Wah!"

"I'm sorry, did I scare you?"

Saito breathed a sigh of relief once he saw who it was. "Oh, it's you, Siesta."

"What are you doing?" Siesta slightly leaned her head to the side.

"Louise is making me do her laundry..." Saito's mood soured.

Siesta leaned down right next to Saito. "Let me help you."

After a bit of teaching, Saito and Siesta were able to get through the laundry with relative ease.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Saito thanked her. "You really saved me. I never did laundry by hand until I came here."

Siesta cocked her head in confusion. "Come to think of it, where are you from?"

"Uh... How should I put it... It's a place really far away..." Saito stared at the cloudy sky with a far-off look. "Really far."

"Um, Saito..." Siesta seemed fairly bashful as she bowed. "Thank you very much."

"What's with this all of a sudden?"

Siesta flashed him a smile. "You never complain seriously, and you fight against nobles even though you're a commoner. You've given me a lot of courage. Thanks to you I can keep working hard."

Saito sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "W-Well, thank you."

"Good night." Siesta gave him one more bow.

"Y-Yeah... night." Saito felt his heart racing.

ㅤ

Unfortunately, Saito's good feelings ended as soon as he neared Louise's room. Once more he heard yelling like last night, but it was between two girls. One of them was definitely Louise.

Saito opened the door to see Kai sitting on his haystack, Louise and that redhead arguing, and a quiet blue-haired girl reading quietly on the bed. Between Louise and the redhead, it seemed really heated.

"What is the meaning of this, Zerbst?" Louise glared at Kirche, while Kirche looked toward Saito's direction.

"I told you already, I got my darling a present, so I came here to give it to him."

The present seemed to be a really expensive-looking sword with gems embedded in it.

Louise put her hands on her hips. "It's a shame since I already got my familiar a weapon. Right, Saito?"

"E-eh... Right?" Since he had just walked in, he was confused. He looked to Kai for help, but he seemed to be taking a quick nap.

"Tsk tsk tsk... Jealous words are quite unbecoming, Vallière!" Kirche smiled.

"Jealous? Who's jealous?"

"Aren't you? I, Kirche, easily got Saito the better sword as a gift. You can't say you're not jealous, can you?"

"I am not jealous! That aside, I will not accept even a tiny little bit of generosity from a Zerbst! That's all there is to it!"

From the yelling, Kai opened one eye to see what was going on, only to see the two of them pull out their wands. Before anyone could react, Tabitha flicked her staff, and a gust of wind blew their wands out of their hands.

She simply said, "Indoors."

Louise started muttering. "And who is this? She has been sitting on my bed since-"

Cutting her off, Kirche said, "She's my friend."

"And why is your friend in my room?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Hmph!"

While they were arguing, Kai motioned for Saito to walk to him.

"What's going on?" Coming in during the middle of it, Saito didn't have any context.

"Well, when we got back, we found Kirche in here with that sword, and it seems that she sees you as her 'darling' or something like that. So she's trying to give it to you."

"Wait, why can't I get it?"

"Cause Louise already got you a sword. Plus she really doesn't like Kirche."

As if on cue Kirche and Louise simultaneously said that they hated each other.

"We think quite alike," Kirche smirked.

Louise stuck up her chin and puffed out her chest, trying to make herself look bigger. It seems like they came to an agreement.

"Let's duel!" The two of them yelled in unison.

"But of course, we have to do this with magic!" Kirche declared loudly.

If Louise agreed then she would almost automatically lose. Luckily her pride would never get in-

Louise looked somewhat nervous but quickly resolved her answer. "Fine. Location?"

"Oh? Really? Are you sure, Louise the Zero? Are you really sure you want to fight me in a magical duel?"

Louise lowered her head. Am I sure? Of course not... But it was a challenge from a Zerbst, so I have to accept. Louise raised her head with determination. "Of course! I will not lose to you!"

Kirche smiled and leaned close to Louise to tell her how they would duel.

After a moment the two of them, along with Tabitha stared directly at Kai.

ㅤ

ㅤ

In the darkness of the night, a person was sneaking around. It was the master thief that the palace had warned Osmond about, and they were looking for a way into a specific room. Scouting out the area more, they heard something similar to screaming in the distance. They sleuthed their way over to see what was happening.

ㅤ

"GUYS WHAT THE HELL!?" Kai screamed at the group below, but they didn't seem to care.

He was hung in midair by a rope in front of a tower. Being so high up, he could only see silhouettes of the four of them.

Kirche rolled up her sleeves. "Remember, the first to cut the rope and let Kai down wins. The winner's sword goes to Saito. Sound good?"

"Got it." Louise could only nod blankly. It took her everything not to shake.

Next to each of the girls were the swords that they inteded to give to Saito.

"No limits on the types of spells used. You can go first... my treat."

"All right."

"Good luck... you'll need it."

Louise took a deep breath and brandished her wand. What would work? Water and earth aren't options. Wind? Fire? That would work best here, wouldn't it? And that's when Louise realized why Kirche wanted to do this type of duel. Kirche's fireballs will destroy that rope easily... I can't fail.

She chose to do a fireball spell. Aiming right above Kai, she recited the spell. If she failed, Kirche would win. To Louise, that was almost worse than death.

She finished reciting the spell, and with utmost concentration, flicked her wand. If it worked, a fireball would come out of the tip.

Miraculously... nothing happened for a moment.

The next moment, the wall behind Kai exploded. The shockwave spun Kai in circles.

Once he stopped spinning he started yelling. "What the hell?! Are you trying to kill me?!"

A large crack appeared on the wall behind him.

Seeing that failure, Kirche fell to the ground in a fit of laughter. "ZERO! ZERO LOUISE! You broke the wall instead of the rope! Now that's talent!"

Louise looked down dejectedly.

"Really, I've got to ask you... How the hell did you make it blow up like that? Oh god... my sides hurt..."

Louise squeezed her fists into tight balls and knelt on the ground.

Ignoring Louise, Kirche stepped up. "Next is my turn." She recited the words quickly and with a dramatic flare. She flourished her wand and a giant fiery snake ate the rope above Kai, burning the rope around his body as well.

Luckily, or maybe not so lucky, the flames on his clothes were quickly put out by the rapid approach of the ground.

Silently waving her staff, Tabitha made Kai float for a few moments, before letting him drop right on his face.

One thought went through his mind. I WANT THAT!

Kirche started celebrating. "I win, Vallière!"

Wallowing in her despair, Louise sat on the ground, pulling out some grass.

Feeling somewhat bad for her Kai and Saito walked up to comfort her.

ㅤ

During the entire thing, the master thief had watched what had transpired from some nearby bushes. Seeing the crack in the tower, they decided that right now was the perfect time to strike. It wouldn't be long before the wall's magic would repair itself. They started chanting an incantation, and the ground started to bulge. This was a rush job so the spell wouldn't be as strong as usual, but it was only students out there, so it should be fine.

ㅤ

"What a shame Vallière!" Kirche kept laughing.

Losing to a Zerbst... If her family found out it would be the end of her...

Before Louise could loom on it more, everyone heard Kirche scream. Turning toward her there stood an enormous golem, standing at a menacing 60 feet.

"W-What is that thing?! It's huge!" Saito felt like he had to move fast. He quickly grabbed Louise and started running.

The golem saw the two of them moving quickly and decided to squash them. Its foot rose and slowly descended.

Kai could only look on in horror as the two of them were about to be crushed.

The moment before they met their untimely end, Tabitha's wind dragon swooped down and grabbed the two of them.

The golem's attention turned toward Kai, who started to panic. The golem seemed a little slow, so he could take advantage of that somehow, right?

I need those powers to come back NOW!

Kai started hitting his forehead with his fist trying to think. He opened his eyes to see the golem's foot quickly coming toward him, but he was able to roll out of the way.

Nearby he saw Derflinger. That's right! Saito was able to awaken his power when he grabbed a sword... Please work for me too...

Kai started sprinting toward Derflinger to try and grab him.

From above Louise and Saito were yelling in unison. "Get out of there!"

Kai ignored them and kept running. Above him, the golem's fist descended. He was able to run fast enough to avoid the strike itself, but the impact from its fist launched him forward.

As he was skidding against the ground, he reached out and grabbed Derflinger. Unsheathing him, the runes on his left hand started shining brilliantly, and Kai felt a great surge of power within himself.

Obeying its order, the golem started walking to the tower, but something of an annoying fly started making noise.

"Hey ugly!" The golem turned, and below it was Kai pointing Derflinger straight at it. "I'm not gonna let you knock me around like that!"

The golem swung its gigantic arm at Kai, but he was much faster than before, and he jumped right over its arm, straight onto its head.

Kai put both his hands on Derflinger's hilt and swung at the golem's head, trying to damage it, but it only seemed to put a small dent in it.

This time the golem wouldn't underestimate the boy. It swung its arm onto its head, and Kai reacted by jumping down. On his way down he stuck Derflinger in the golem's leg to slow his descent.

The golem kicked its leg up, throwing Kai into the air. Derflinger was still soundly stuck in the golem's leg, so Kai was left helpless to the attack. Right in front of his eyes the golem's fist hurtled toward him, but nothing stopped the golem this time, so Kai was sent flying back and crashed straight into one of the walls.

From that one blow, Kai was knocked out cold.

Finally done with that nuisance, the golem started to approach the tower. The crack in the wall was starting to repair itself, so this would have to be quick.

Before it could swing its fist at it, a small explosion landed on its shoulder.

Louise tried to cast a fireball from Tabitha's wind dragon, but it failed.

The golem swatted at the wind dragon as if it were a fly. To avoid the blow, Tabitha made her familiar fly even faster. Unfortunately, it was a double-edged sword. Tabitha was busy controlling her familiar, and Louise couldn't aim at the golem properly.

ㅤ

ㅤ

Once more Kai found himself in an inky black void.

Was this going to happen every time he got knocked out in a fight? He hoped not.

The same thing happened last time. He couldn't get a single word out and a voice rang out.

Using my blade so early? That's quite interesting... but... Of all the Gandalfr's I've seen... You are by far the weakest one.

Kai's imaginary body swung its arms wide open as if offended.

I don't know what that means, but screw you!

But... You have potential. Once you activate your runes once more, one technique I know shall be imparted upon you. Just know, that technique, if used irresponsibly, can kill you.

Woah, wait a second! What the hell does that mean?!

From here on, I won't be able to communicate with you as well... I have already used up most of my remaining power.

ㅤ

ㅤ

The golem was showing no signs of slowing down its assault, but Tabitha's familiar was starting to get tired out. Unless something happened soon, they wouldn't last much longer.

Saito, feeling helpless, could only look around. If he had a sword maybe he could do something, but he had no such luck. Eventually, something was missing. Kai wasn't where he was a moment ago.

"Where'd he go?"

He looked around closer and saw right below the golem's feet, he was running straight toward that sword.

Kai jumped up and grabbed the stuck Derflinger and yanked him out. This time he felt even stronger than before.

The golem noticed Kai from below and tried kicking him.

Kai wouldn't have time to move out of the way normally but...

Please don't let me be crazy.

"Kaio...Ken!"

Out of nowhere, a red flame surrounded Kai. Despite feeling twice as strong, his body felt like it was shredding itself apart.

Kai didn't dodge out of the way of the golem's foot, but instead, he parried it. The golem was thrown off balance, and almost fell over.

A red blur sped between the golem's feet. Everywhere the red blur touched, a deep cut was formed. Of course, it didn't cause lasting damage, but it did cause the golem to slow down.

After his assault, Kai jumped as high as he could and began to slice the golem's head as much as possible.

Despite how much pain was going through his body, Kai couldn't help but feel a little excited.

"Come on slowpoke, hit me!"

Noticing the golem wasn't reacting in the slightest, he felt a little disappointed.

"Right... You're inanimate, huh?"

Seeing a commoner move like that surprised both Tabitha and Louise. They could tell this golem was a triangle mage's work, but it felt sloppy... but even then... A commoner should NOT be able to not only match its speed but outpace it.

Landing on the ground, Kai started to feel the strain on his body. The red aura around his body disappeared, and his breath was ragged.

"D-Damn... This hurts!" Kai's eyes widened as the golem's foot descended upon him. "Eek! Kaioken!" He quickly launched himself away from the golem's foot. As soon as he stopped moving, his body couldn't handle anything else, and he dropped to the floor, shaking.

When Kai stopped moving, shouting could be heard from the academy building. Teachers started running out, which was enough to scare off the thief, and the golem crumbled back to a pile of dirt.

The scene in front of the teachers was something out of a war story. Three people were on a dragon, a boy was shivering from pain, and lots of upheaved dirt was spread everywhere. This was a battlefield mere moments ago.

ㅤ

ㅤ

Twenty minutes after the attack from the thief, every single one of the school's faculty was in full panic. They were extremely lucky that nothing was stolen, or seriously damaged, but it was close. Too close for their prestigious academy. All who were involved, excluding Kai and Saito since they weren't students, were called to Osmond's office. They were all asked what had happened.

The only one who could give a decent explanation of what had happened was Tabitha.

She recounted how Louise and Kirche had a competition, after which the golem appeared, then Louise's familiar with a tail distracted it, and finally the teachers arrived.

The mention of the tailed boy fighting it intrigued Osmond, but he didn't question it. Since it was so late he sent them to their respective rooms.

ㅤ

In Louise's room, Kai and Saito were lying on their respective haystacks, with the former feeling soreness he never thought possible.

"Hey, Kai... Are you okay?" Saito's voice was full of concern.

Only able to manage a strained voice, Kai replied, "Y-Yeah... Just a little tired..."

"So, what happened back there?" His voice shifted from concern to curiosity.

"I'd love to say great question... but I kinda know." Kai raised his left hand to look at his runes. "The runes kinda told me what to do, and I did it."

Saito let out a huff. "I wish mine did that..."

"Pfft... No, you don't. Kaioken messed me up."

"Kaioken...? I'm guessing that was that power-up?"

Kai nodded.

When their conversation died down, the door swung wide open and an annoyed Louise walked in, tired and drained.

"Yo." Kai's voice was a bit more casual than it was a few moments ago.

Despite being tired, Louise's aggressiveness still prevailed. "Don't 'yo' me..."

"Well, you seem to be tired... so, goodnight?"

"Oh, no no no... You're not getting off that easily."

Kai gulped. "W-Whatever do you mean my most dearest bestest master? Did this humble familiar do something to upset you?" Even when trying to feign ignorance, Kai still sounded sarcastic.

"That was a triangle class golem... and you just threw yourself at it. For what? Why did you have to go and fight it?"

Kai looked over to Saito for help, and he hurriedly shook his head to leave him out of it. "U-Uh... It woulda probably done something bad... if I didn't?"

"Not good enough!" With that shout, Louise stomped on Kai's tail.

Kai let out a high-pitched yelp of pain, that sounded as if his soul left his body. As if it was music to her ears, Louise let out a tired sigh and went to bed.

Moving his tail in front of him, Kai blew on the spot Louise stomped on as if it would ease the pain.

What the hell?! Why does it hurt so much?!

As Kai wondered what life choices led up to that moment, he fell asleep.

ㅤ

ㅤ

As the morning bell rang the next day, Siesta was seen in a different outfit than her usual maid attire, looking longingly at the academy. She took a deep breath and turned to go in the carriage that was waiting for her right outside the gate. That would be the last time she saw the academy.

ㅤㅤ

During the day, Saito was seen wandering around the school by himself. Louise had told him that familiars weren't allowed in the classroom today, and before that Kai wasn't seen anywhere along with that sword he had.

Since he had nothing better to do, Saito decided to wander around the school. Wandering around definitely beat sitting around doing nothing. Luckily something interesting was about to happen.

"Hey, Our Sword!" A large hand patted Saito's back so hard it launched him forward. Saito turned to see the Head Chef Marteau. "Why don't you come to the kitchen?"

Saito nodded. "Alright."

After being led to the kitchen, and being treated to a big meal, Saito bowed his head. "Thank you for treating me to food all the time."

Marteau let out a hearty laugh. "You don't have to worry about it. It's the nobles' leftovers anyway."

Looking around a little, Saito asked, "By the way, where's Siesta?" Marteau looked at Saito with confusion. "Oh that's right, Siesta doesn't cook, so she wouldn't usually be over here."

Marteau's usual heartiness faded. "You didn't hear about it from Siesta?" Seeing Saito's confusion, Marteau began to explain what had happened with a heavy heart.

"What?! She quit?"

"Yeah, all of a sudden she had to go serve Count Mott. She left early this morning on a carriage."

Saito was still in shock. "You're joking... Why so suddenly?"

Marteau could only look at the ground. "In the end, commoners have to listen to nobles... no matter what..." As if to push it out of his mind Marteau yelled. "Let's get to work."

"Siesta... why didn't you say anything about it?"

ㅤ

Later that day Saito was wiping down Louise's windows while Louise brushed her hair. After asking her who Count Mott was, Louise started to tell Saito what she knew.

"Count Mott is an imperial messenger, so he occasionally comes to the academy. He's a creep, so I don't like him."

"But... why would he want Siesta?"

For a moment, Louise looked like she was trying to find the right words. "I have heard rumors, but... when a noble asks for a maid by name it might she is to become his mistress..."

Saito was a bit stunned. "M-Mistress? Are you serious?"

"There are many types of nobles, and not all of them are good."

Saito looked out the window toward the evening light. "Siesta..."

ㅤ

ㅤ

In a room toward the entrance of the academy, two students sat next to each other on the side of a fountain. One of them was Guiche, while the other was Montmorency. In Montmorency's hands was a gift from the cheating boy.

"It's fabulous! A brooch made of mithril!" She looked at the expensive gift with a look of greed.

Guiche crossed his legs as he smiled. "Don't you think it would look good on you, Montmorency?"

After a moment, she glared at Guiche. "Are you trying to buy my forgiveness?"

"P-Please, you don't really believe those vulgar familiars-"

Guiche was cut off by one of those familiars. "Sorry for being so vulgar." The sight of that boy's smug face made Guiche's blood boil.

"Saito! Do you intend to disturb a man's love again?!"

Saito nonchalantly brushed him off. "I just wanted to ask a question."

ㅤ

During dinner that night, Louise looked around somewhat confused. Below her were two plates of food, but... there were no familiars ready to eat.

"Not coming for dinner?"

"Where's Saito?" Next to Louise, Kirche had walked toward her while pulling a cart with food on it.

Not answering her question, Louise looked at the cart. "What's that?"

"Oh, this?" Kirche looked at the cart that had a ton of appetizing food on it. "I feel bad for him since he always gets poor food, so I thought I would give him some of mine."

Kirche was messing with Louise again. She knew it. "So, giving him that sword wasn't enough... Now you're trying to take him with food? Don't mess with my familiars." Louise's voice was firm, but Kirche didn't care.

"Even if I wanted to give it to him, he isn't here. Neither is Kai... I wonder where they are."

Hearing his name, Louise let out a strenuous sigh. Kai was... troublesome for her. "I haven't seen that moron all day. Earlier Saito went out to clean a rag, but I haven't seen him for a while. Where are they wasting time?" She crossed her arms as she thought out loud.

Listening to their conversation, Guiche turned around. "If you're wondering where Saito is, he came to me earlier asking where Count Mott's mansion was."

Louise's eyes widened. "Did you say Count Mott?!"

"Did he get sick of Louise and try to go to another noble's care?" Covering her mouth, Kirche hid her smile.

Not hearing any more of it, Louise started making a dash out of there. If she didn't hurry, that moron familiar of hers would get himself killed.

ㅤ

ㅤ

After Guiche had given him directions, Saito ran toward Count Mott's mansion. Running nonstop like that wasn't something he had ever done. Maybe jogging for a school race, but that wasn't really comparable.

Saito leaned against the wall surrounding the mansion and started panting heavily. "That snobby bastard didn't tell me it would take an hour on foot."

Not a moment later a guard rushed up to Saito. "Who are you?!" A spear was directed straight at his face.

"H-Hello."

ㅤ

Inside the mansion was extremely fancy to someone like Siesta. There were more books in one room than back in her entire village. The man in front of her was horrible, but she practically had no choice but to work for him.

Resting his arm on the edge of the chair, Count Mott smiled. "How is it here? Have you gotten used to the work?" The two of them were in what seemed to be his study.

"Yes, the work isn't too hard." Siesta's voice was devoid of emotion. How could she show any real emotion?

Count Mott stood up and walked behind Siesta. "I see... But... Don't work too hard."

Before the Count could put his hand on Siesta's shoulder, there was a knock at the door. Being interrupted like that annoyed him to no end.

"What is it?"

He heard one of his guard's voices yell through the door. "A man named Saito wishes to meet with you, sir."

Hearing that name, Siesta let out a small gasp.

"Saito? That's a name I haven't heard before."

Siesta was quickly ushered out of the room while worrying over the situation. He couldn't have really come here...

A few moments after Siesta left, Saito was led to Count Mott's study. Surrounding him were two guards making sure he didn't do anything stupid.

After hearing Saito's request, Count Mott scoffed. "What a foolish thing to ask." He quickly stood up and shooed Saito away. "Leave! You should be honored that I allowed a commoner to even talk to me!"

Saito didn't want to give up yet. "Please! If you'd give Siesta back to the academy, I'd do anything!"

"What is your relationship with Siesta?" The Count sounded as if he were testing Saito.

"A-Ah... A... Coworker...? Though... our jobs are a little different?"

"So, you're an employee from the academy."

Saito nervously gulped. "Um... I heard that when a noble asks for a maid by name... she's like a mistress..." His face was red from the embarrassing question, but he had to know.

Count Mott let out a small laugh. "Siesta is an official maid of the Mott estate. It is my freedom to do as I please." Like an over-the-top villain, he started to twirl his mustache.

"So you really are-"

"So what if I do? It's an honor for a nameless plebeian to serve a well-known aristocrat such as myself."

Shaking with rage, Saito shouted. "Don't be ridiculous!" With his shouting the guards put their spears in an X in front of Count Mott. "Doing whatever you want... When you know Siesta can't fight back! You damn sleazebag!"

Even though it was a mild insult compared to what he'd done, Count Mott was deeply insulted. "How dare you insult an aristocrat when you're only a plebeian?!" Retrieving his staff, he pointed it straight at Saito. "Stand still and accept your punishment!"

Before anything could be done to Saito, the door to the study swung wide open and Siesta rushed in. "Please stop!" She ran in between Count Mott and Saito and bowed. "Count, please forgive this man's insolence."

The Count's tone was firm. "No. If I leave this plebeian alone, Jour de Mott's name will be sullied. Move away Siesta!"

"I can't. Please, Count Mott. I will accept any form of punishment." Her words were genuine.

"Siesta! Don't!" Before he could move, Saito was blocked even more by the guards beside him.

The Count looked away from Siesta. "Saito was it? You said you'd do anything, didn't you? Well... it's my hobby to collect rare items, such as books. There's a particular book that I've been yearning for."

Saito was a bit puzzled by his particular choice of words... Yearning? "W-What is it?"

"A book that a mage summoned by mistake during some experiment hundreds of years ago. I heard that a family in Germania has it as their heirloom. And their daughter is in the academy right now."

Germania... it sounded familiar for some reason.

"I don't know if a plebeian such as yourself would know her, but she is a Zerbst."

ㅤ

ㅤ

While running back to the academy Saito started thinking.

The Zerbst's heirloom to get Siesta back safely... But Kirche of all people?

In the distance, he heard a horse neighing. Squinting, he could see a pissed-off girl with pink hair. "Louise?!"

Right in front of Saito, Louise stopped the horse and started yelling. "What were you thinking?!" Not giving him a chance to talk, Louise scoffed and pointed to the back of the horse. "Just get on."

Complying with her request, Saito got on the horse, and quickly, Louise brought them back to the academy. The entire ride was almost completely silent, even up until they reached Louise's room it was pretty much silent.

While getting ready for bed, the two of them started talking.

"Count Mott is a high-ranked noble in the palace. You can't even begin to compare him to Guiche. You're lucky that he didn't kill you."

Saito huffed. "But don't you feel bad for Siesta?"

"Sure, I feel bad for her, but there's nothing that we can do. So you should just give up, okay?"

Taking a breath in Saito nodded. "Yeah, okay." He obviously didn't mean it.

Giving it about an hour or so, Saito stood up from his haystack. He quickly checked to see if Louise was asleep, and she was.

Very quietly Saito walked over to Kirche's room. If Louise knew where he was headed he would be killed instantly.

He knocked on Kirche's dorm door, and she answered quickly. "Oh, darling! How nice of you to visit me!" She pulled him into a hug and dragged him inside her room.

Saito pulled himself out of the bear hug and began explaining his situation.

"Hm... Our treasure? Oh, that one!" Kirche flicked her wand and from behind Saito a book with a lock on it floated toward Kirche's hands. "Unlike Tabitha, I don't have an interest in books, so I never even bothered to unlock it. Though... I heard that this makes men excited~"

Either ignoring her advances or just making a comment, Saito didn't pay Kirche much mind. "No wonder that old pervert wants it."

"Besides, I don't even need this old thing... Right?"

Saito gulped. "Well, yeah..."

"I can give this to you."

"Really?!" Saito's face was full of joy, until Kirche pulled him close to her.

"If you agree to go out with me. Come on... for me?"

Breaking out of the embrace, Saito started yelling. "You nobles are all the same!" Leaving the room, he slammed the door behind him.

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"Hah..." Stretching out his arms, Kai was making his way back to Louise's room. "I'm so tired..."

The sword on his back poked its head out of its sheath. "Well, you have been training all day partner. And you haven't eaten anything, you moron."

"Ah shut it Derf." Kai lightly hit Derflinger's hilt to get him to stop talking.

With his fight against the golem ending as it did, Kai wasn't satisfied. Louise said that the golem was a triangle mage's work, and there are square mages out there. What if he had to fight someone like that?

Besides, it would be good to start understanding how his powers worked.

From the crack of dawn till what was practically midnight, Kai had gone out to train, and with a wise sword such as Derflinger teaching him... Kai barely made any progress.

The only thing of note that had happened during the training was that Kai figured out how to draw out some of his power without the help of the runes, and could sometimes make a small orb of energy.

"I'll just have a really big breakfast tomorrow to compensate... Well, if the kitchen staff would give me some. But right now, I just wanna sleep."

Kai opened the door to Louise's room, and saw that she was sound asleep, and not even taking Derflinger off of his back, Kai fell face-first onto his haystack. At that moment it was the most comfortable spot in the universe.

Soon Kai's vision was filled with the darkness before a dream, but he started hearing people shuffling around.

"Hey, wake up!" Shaking Louise to wake her up was Kirche. Next to her was Tabitha.

Louise started to groggily mumble. "Shut up, you stupid dog." She started to slowly open her eyes. "Kirche? Why are you here?" Louise quickly started to wake up.

"There's no time for that, Vallière." Kirche pointed to where Saito's sleeping spot was. "Your familiar is gone."

"He ran off again?!" Louise was starting to get angry.

"That's what makes Saito interesting... Hard to get."

"You have to be kidding! Think about me, having to deal with familiars that always-" Louise's eyes caught something brown and fuzzy.

Somewhat hearing their conversation, Kai was silently praying that they wouldn't notice him. Not a moment after hearing Louise cut herself off, he felt a sharp pain as she pulled on his tail.

"Augh..." Whatever fleeting strength that had been within Kai quickly disappeared.

"AND WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

"...Around." His response earned him a kick to the head. "Buh..."

The quiet Tabitha interrupted the two of them. "Noble's estate... When a commoner draws a sword..."

Everyone's eyes widened.

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Saito had taken the sword Kirche had given him from Louise's room and took a horse to get to Count Mott's mansion. He was able to run up to a wall since it was so dark out.

"How am I going to get in?"

Almost the same exact situation from before happened but on a larger scale. Multiple guards surrounded them with guard dogs by their sides. "Who goes there?!"

Saito backed up against the wall as the snarling dogs started getting closer. One of the guards recognized him and called the dogs off.

"H-Hello again..."

After a small scuffle, Saito found himself inside the mansion, two spears pinning him in place, and Count Mott standing in front of him.

"Let him go." The guards instantly backed away from Saito.

Saito rubbed his neck. "Man that hurt."

With a smirk, Count Mott started tossing his cane between his hands. "So what were you planning to do with that thing on your back?"

"It's dangerous when it's dark out. Wouldn't want me to get hurt, right?"

"No noble would give their treasure to a mere plebeian. I wanted to see you struggle more, but alas, you gave up so quickly. How boring."

"I didn't give up!" Saito drew the sword from his back. "I'll save Siesta!"

The guards sped in front of Count Mott to defend him, all the while the Count seemed collected as if he had predicted this. "So, you've drawn it. Fuahahaha! I've never seen a plebeian as foolish as you!"

Saito looked at him defiantly. "I hear that a lot." Saito looked at his hands in confusion. They were shaking, and the runes on his left hand weren't glowing.

"My nickname is the Wavepeak Mott. A triangle mage."

"So what?" Saito's voice was shaky. Damn it. My body won't stop shivering.

With a simple wave of his staff, Count Mott summoned a wave of water that bashed Saito to the ground. "I could do more." In the air, water condensed into multiple blades. The blades made contact with the ground and exploded.

Right before the last one could reach Saito, the main door swung open, and a small explosion consumed the blade.

"Saito!"

Saito looked at the entrance and saw Kai, Kirche, Louise, and Tabitha.

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After a few minutes of explaining themselves in Count Mott's study, the five teens were being lectured.

"Really, the quality of students at the academy has fallen! I must implore that Old Osmond give you all severe punishments."

Louise was the one to speak up. "I apologize for intruding, due to the emergency." Louise bowed before Count Mott surprising Kai and Saito. "The familiar's misconduct is the master's misconduct as well. I will accept any form of punishment."

Seeing her like that, Saito couldn't help but feel guilty. Everyone felt a little sympathetic toward her, other than Count Mott who was having none of it. "Pointing a sword at a palace employee is a felony. You had better be ready to involve your family in this case."

Saito stepped forward. "Wait! I'm the one in the wron-" He was cut off by Kirche.

"Count Mott. How about we settle this matter with this..." Kirche pulled out a rectangular object. "I heard you were looking for this." Seeing his confusion, Kirche bowed. "Sorry for the late introduction. My name is Kirche von Zerbst."

Count Mott's eyes widened. "Zerbst?! Then that's..."

"Yes, our heirloom, the summoned book." Holding out the book Kirche urged him to take it. "Please."

Count Mott took the book with his hands shaking. He fumbled around trying to unlock it with the key. This was the book summoned by the mage from hundreds of years ago. "This book..."

Saito started yelling again. "Before that, give Siesta back!"

Count Mott waved his hand. "Right. Give Siesta back." One of the guards nodded and ran off. Before Saito could process that he had just dismissively given a life up, Count Mott started shouting happily. "It opened! ...Oooh, this is... Heehee... I don't know what writing this is, but who knew something like this existed?" He was so giddy that the protective covering of the book fell off.

Seeing what it was Kai and Saito were stunned.

Kai jabbed Saito. "That's... first that's japanese, right?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"But... why the hell is there a dirty magazine here?!"

Next to them, Louise was confused. "Dirty... magazine?"

Saito shook his head and turned to Kirche. "Hey, you said that this was summoned, right?"

She nodded her head. "That's right. One of my ancestors from hundreds of years ago summoned it."

Saito looked at the date of the magazine. 1975. That wasn't hundreds of years ago. But... it was also summoned there, just like him and Kai.

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To get back to the academy only took the group about 15 minutes on Sylphid's back. Once they got back Kirche and Tabitha made their leave to go to bed. Louise and Kai had almost instantly gotten into some sort of argument, but Saito didn't pay any attention to them.

In front of him was the girl he had practically just saved.

Siesta bowed her head to Saito, who nervously scratched his cheek. "Thank you so much."

"Well, in the end, it was Kirche who had done everything." Saito was nervous to no end, and he couldn't put his finger on why.

"That's because you worked so hard."

"W-Well... Uhm..." Before Saito could try and diminish what he had done, Siesta walked up and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Before he could say anything, Siesta ran off. "G-Good night!"

Saito's face was as red as a tomato. "G-G-Good night!"

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When Saito came around a corner he saw Louise standing silently, and Kai leaning against a wall. At least there wasn't any arguing.

"H-Hey... Louise..."

Before Saito could say anything Louise started walking off. "We're going back to our room."

"Thank you, Louise. I'm... really sorry."

The somewhat tense atmosphere got even tenser. "Be quiet for a minute! I'm thinking about what kind of punishment I should give you two!"

Kai's eyes widened. "Hey wait a minute! The hell did I do?!"

He and Louise started walking toward each other. Great. Another argument. "You haven't done any work all day!"

"I've been busy!"

"That's no excuse!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"No, it isn't!"

Letting out a sigh, Saito started walking ahead to get some rest. It's been a long day, and he doesn't want it to be longer because of their arguing.