Fighting the other two golems wasn't difficult. Aselith and Saito went with a similar strategy as before, with Saito cutting the leg of the golem on the right while Aselith held back the one on the left. Fouquet hadn't learned anything from the last fight at all, or he would have had his golems act differently.

No, not his. Her. Saito almost forgot what Tabitha and Aselith just said.

Anyway, in under a minute, both golems were destroyed. It was a lot easier the second time, even if there were two golems.

"Well done." Aselith patted Saito on his shoulder.

Saito couldn't help but blush at the praise. It wasn't like Aselith was the only one who was nice to him, but he was the only one to help him improve himself. Siesta always made sure he had food to eat, along with the kitchen staff. A few of the students were friendly. But only Aselith truly saw something greater in him.

"So, now we have to find Fouquet?" Saito asked as he looked around. The others were already approaching. "She can't be too far, right?"

"Oh, she's close." Aselith smiled. He turned to the nearby forest. "In fact, she's—" His eyes widened as he immediately spun around. "Kirche!"

It happened in an instant. The earth beneath Kirche shot up and wrapped around her, trapping her. She dropped her wand, that arm out but still encased in dirt, as she struggled to free herself.

"Kirche!" Tabitha yelled, angling her staff at her trapped friend.

"Careful!" Fouquet's voice called out from behind Saito. "One wrong move and I crush her."

Saito still had his hand on Derf. His runes still gave him speed. But he didn't think he could get to Fouquet in time. Most mages had to chant a spell to do magic, but he learned they didn't need to keep chanting to keep a spell active, like the golems.

"Now then," Fouquet said, walking out from behind a tree, her wand up, "everyone, drop your wands and weapons."

Saito looked to Aselith, unsure of what to do. He got a nod. Saito nodded back and slowly lowered Derf to the ground.

"Good." Fouquet stopped over 20 feet away. "Demon. Turn around and walk to the cottage, arms out. I don't want to see any fire coming out of you."

Aselith narrowed his eyes but did what he was told. "This won't end well for you, thief."

"Quiet." Fouquet smiled. It wasn't until Aselith reached the cottage that she spoke again. "Gandalf, bring me the Staff of Eternal Fire. Your master can bring the Staff of Destruction, since she's already carrying it."

"Gandalf?" Saito asked. "Who?"

Fouquet smirked. "You really don't know, do you? It doesn't matter. Just bring me the artifact. I know how to use one, so I'll just have to figure out the other on my own."

Saito could tell she was talking to him, despite the strange name he was called.

Louise was walking over as he started back. Tabitha was holding the Staff of Eternal Fire in its open case. When he walked up to her, he could see her shaking. A lot.

"That's right. Kirche is her best friend." He didn't know too much about most of the students, but Kirche and Tabitha were often together.

"P-Please." She whispered, tears threatening to fall down her face. "Don't let her hurt Kirche."

Saito nodded and took the staff from the case. Unlike the so-called Staff of Destruction, this one looked like an actual staff, if a short one.

"You can handle this, Saito." Aselith spoke up, head turned to the side as he glanced at Saito.

"Keep facing the cottage, demon!" Fouquet snapped out.

Aselith gave Saito one last nod and complied. What was that about?

He turned around and started walking back to Fouquet. Louise already set the rocket launcher down at her feet and backed up. At least that one wasn't dangerous anymore, since it only had one shot. But the staff in Saito's hands? Who knew what it was capable of?

What could Saito do? He still had that dagger Tabitha made for him. It was strapped to his ankle. No one knew about it except her and Aselith. When he set down the staff, would he have enough time to take it out? No. He knew he would take too long and it would draw too much attention.

This wasn't right. They couldn't just let Fouquet take it. If he tried something, Kirche would die. She was nicer than most of the other noble kids, and Tabitha was…well, maybe not exactly a friend, but Aselith liked her if nothing else.

What even else was there? This staff wasn't a weapon, so his runes didn't light up. There was nothing he could…

Saito paused in his approach. Ideas came to him. It was…strange.

"Boy." Fouquet called calmly, waving her wand. "I still need that staff."

Saito shook his head and continued walking. There was a way out of this. He knew what to do. It was similar to when he held a weapon, but different. With a weapon, it was like he just knew how to use it. But the staff…it was like he was just taught.

He was nearly at Fouquet now. Just a few more steps. He saw where the rocket launcher was, and where he was expected to put the staff. Perfect.

Slowly, he bent over. The staff was parallel to the ground. That was fine. With what he knew—what it showed him—it didn't need to be pointed to work, at least not for what he wanted to do.

With a smirk, his grip on the staff tightened. Then, he activated it.

Fire erupted from the staff, consuming them both. Fouquet shrieked in pain. Saito saw his opening and used the staff to smack the wand from her hand, breaking it. With another swing, he slammed the staff at Fouquet's chest, knocking her to the ground, both still on fire.

"Saito!" Louise yelled over the roaring fire.

With Fouquet down and flailing, and without her wand, Saito dismissed the flames. "Kirche!" He yelled as he spun.

The earth around her was breaking apart, Aselith already helping to pull it away. She was free a moment later, rubbing her freed wrist.

"Kirche!" Tabitha yelled and wrapped her friend in a tight hug. "Kirche!"

"Aw, I'm okay, Tabby~." Kirche assured her friend, rubbing her back.

"I'm sorry! I couldn't do…I couldn't help…" Tabitha cried out as she pressed her head against Kirche's chest. Saito had to admit, despite the situation, he was a little jealous.

"There, there." Kirche continued to console her. It was as if their positions were reversed.

Saito returned his attention to Fouquet. She didn't move from her spot, but she was still breathing.

"Saito!" Louise yelled again, her voice full of concern. Saito didn't take that to mean anything special. She only seemed to care about him when he was in danger, and only because she considered him a pet or a slave, something that belonged to her.

"What?" He asked neutrally.

Louise stared at him for a moment. "How…How did you do that? And why aren't you hurt?"

"I…" He was about to tell her, but how could he? She didn't believe him about being from another world. She didn't believe he never used a weapon before, even when he used practice weapons that didn't activate his runes. It was pointless to explain.

"I just could." He settled on that. It was close enough to the truth.

Louise continued to look at him, then grew stern. "And what about that?" She pointed at the rocket launcher. "Aselith put that in your hands and you knew how to use it. How?"

Again, there wasn't much to say. She brushed off his explanations about using weapons before. Nothing changed.

"A question for later." Aselith said, looking over Fouquet's body. When did he get there? "For now, we should bring the thief and the artifacts back to the academy. I believe the archwizard will be able to explain things."

He picked up Fouquet and placed her over his shoulder. She groaned in response but gave no other movement. Aselith turned to look at Saito, ignoring Louise.

"Well done, son." He said, patting his shoulder again. "I knew you could do it."

Just like before, Saito felt good about being recognized. But he noticed Aselith's eyes weren't on him. They were on the staff in his hands.

Author's Notes:

You're about to get some explanations on things. One explanation, anyway.