A Dragonball and FoZ Oneshot Crossover

by Wildsmoke

A Dragonball FoZ oneshot crossover that is a true "what if" scenario featuring a never before seen Saiyan named "Nimbuscloud" (A name tribute to the Kintoun or Flying Nimbus) a Saiyan that nobody knew was still alive! Taking place years after Planet Vegeta's destruction; this crossover keeps the storytelling style from both authors while brilliantly combining two masterpieces.

Chapter One: A Mage's Familiar

"Who are you?" asked the girl intently. She was examining Nimbus' face. Behind her was an azure blue sky.

She seemed to be close to Nimbus' age. Underneath a black cloak, she wore a white blouse and a gray pleated skirt. She peered at Nimbus and was astonished by his alien features.

Her face is... gorgeous.

Pink irises danced upon the stage of her flawless, white skin and strawberry blonde hair.

A human?

According to the readout there shouldn't be any humans on this planet.

Yet in the distance, on an endlessly rich grassy plain, he saw a huge castle with stone walls.

"Where are you from, creature?" Asked the girl as she peered into Nimbus' yellow wolfen irises.

The two continued to stare at each other intently.

"Is that a tail?" Excitement could be heard by the crowd of people standing behind. Everyone around him had some sort of stick in their hand and wore the same uniform as that girl's.

Apparently, these onlookers had never seen a Saiyan before. Suddenly the crowd parted, revealing a middle-aged man. He carried a big wooden staff and was covered in a black robe.

"Never in history has a humanoid been summoned as a familiar." Said the man. "But the Springtime Familiar Summoning takes precedence over every rule. In other words, there is no other way around it; this person must become your familiar. Please continue the ceremony"

The pink haired girl then approached Nimbus and held up the wooden stick in her hand.

"My name is Louise de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this humble being and make him my familiar."

She chanted those words like a magic spell and touched Nimbus' forehead with the wand. Her lips then slowly drew closer.

What... What are you doing?

"Just stay still." Louise said, a touch of embarrassment in her voice. Her face got closer.

His eyes widened with curiosity.

"Mmm..."

Louise's lips touched Nimbus'.

What is happening?

The taste of her soft lips confounded Nimbus even more. Nimbus remained frozen, paralyzed.

Louise removed her lips. "It is done."

"You have failed 'Summon Servant' many times, but you have managed to succeed with 'Contract Servant' in one try." Colbert said happily.

Some of the students laughed.

Louise scowled at them. "Don't make fun of me! Even I do things right once in a while!"

"Truly 'once in a while', Louise the Zero." Laughed a girl with gorgeous curly hair and freckles on her face.

"Mr. Colbert! Montmorency The Flood just insulted me!"

"Who are you calling 'The Flood'? I'm Montmorency the Fragrance!"

"Watch it! Nobles ought to show each other the proper respect." Colbert interjected.

What are they talking about?

Suddenly, Nimbus' body started to heat up.

"Aaah!" Nimbus' eyes widened in surprise.

"It will be over soon; just wait. The Familiar's Runes are being inscribed." Louise explained.

Suddenly he felt calm.

"That was quick..." The middle-aged man, known as Colbert, approached Nimbus and checked the back of his left hand. There, jumping out at him, were unfamiliar letters.

Are those runes? It looks like a wriggling snake in some strange pattern. Nimbus stared at the inscription.

"Hmmm... These are very unusual Runes," said Colbert.

Nimbus wondered what he meant.

"Well, let's go back to class, everyone."

Colbert turned on his heel, then rose gently into the air. The other people who looked like students also floated up.

Everyone who was floating quietly with their wands moved towards the stone walls of the castle in the distance.

"Louise, you'd betterwalkback!"

"She shouldn't try to fly. She can't even manage levitation." the students jeered as they flew away.

The only ones left behind were Nimbus and the girl named Louise.

As soon as it was only the two of them, Louise took a deep breath, turned toward Nimbus, and asked, "Who are you?"

Isn't that my line? He thought.

"I'm Nimbus."

"Nimbus? Where did you come from?"

"A place called Arcen."

"Where are we?" Asked Nimbus.

"This is Tristain. And this is the renowned Tristain Academy of Magic."

"Academy of Magic?"

Louise nodded. "I'm a second year student, Louise de La Vallière. I am your master from now on. Remember that!"

"Uh... Louise..."

"What?"

"Did you really summon me here?"

"Indeed. I was hoping for a dragon or a griffin or a manticore. Or at least an eagle or an owl. Nobody has ever summoned another human before.

"..."

"Are you a user?" Asked Louise.

"I'm a Saiyan."

"Saiyan?"

"Yeah." Nimbus said, laughing. But Louise didn't seem to be joking.

"Well, I've never heard of a Saiyan before," Louise said blankly.

"How about you? Are you a user?" Asked Nimbus, not knowing what it even was.

"That's obvious!" Shouted Louise.

It must have something to do with those strange wands they were holding.

"Where did you get that?" Asked Nimbus

"My wand?" It's a la Vallière family heirloom."

"Oh, I've never seen one before."

"You've never seen a mage's wand before?" So you are a commoner?"

Commoner?

Anyway, a mere thirty minutes ago, Nimbus had been image training in the high peaks of Chugach, a sub-arctic rainforest on the planet Yukan.

He was meditating after roasting and eating an entire Dodon chick. He was quite content, in fact, since the Dodons were a much rumored delicacy he had heard about from the pilots on planet Zarbet. He'd been on the trail of the Freiza Force and hadn't stopped for a decent meal in weeks.

Deep in meditation a shining mirror-like object appeared in front of him in his vision. Nimbus' cells were captivated by its irresistible glow. Nimbus' curiosity was at least twice that of a normal Saiyan.

It was a large ellipse, about two meters high and one meter wide, with no substantial thickness and seemed to be made from an incredibly pure energy.

A normal Saiyan might have obliterated it just for fun. But Nimbus was a pure hearted Saiyan that enjoyed learning as much as fighting.

Is this a reflection from my subconscious?

Nimbus was tempted to open his eyes and check to see if the light had also materialized there in the outside world. But he was afraid that if he did he might not remember where to find it again.

He wanted to see if he could fly through it. Nimbus judged that there wouldn't be any immediate danger if he flew through.

Impatience and curiosity completely overtook Nimbus and he gravitated towards the light..

And appeared on the other side...

"Is that true?" asked Louise, looking at Nimbus with an expression of disbelief.

They were in Louise's room now. If you treated the window as south, the bed would be situated on the west side, the door would be to the north, and a big wardrobe would stand to the east. All the furniture looked like valuable antiques. On the tabletop was a lamp with an art deco style shade. Its flickering light filled the room with a pale glow. It seemed as if electricity wasn't used. Louise had brought Nimbus here after the Springtime Summoning Ceremony.

Nimbus was deciding how to approach the incredible situation.

Being a space-faring Saiyan, even a nation of mages who flew through the sky using a ki that manipulates elemental systems wasn't entirely shocking to Nimbus. But those huge twin moons floating in the sky meant that he was not on the planet Yukan. He truly was summoned to another world by this mysterious pink haired girl.

From the window, he could see the grassy plains where he'd been summoned. Across the plains, illuminated by moonlight, he could also see a tall mountain range. Over to his right was a vast expanse of dense forest. Nimbus let out a sigh.

That's right, I don't even have my spaceship. I'm stuck here now.

Nimbus scratched his head.

The castle and the grounds he had passed on his way looked very much hand made. It had been a breathtaking spectacle that would've amazed him if he'd come here in his ship.

An entrance arch and a sturdy staircase, both made of stone... This was the Tristain Academy of Magic, Louise had explained. All the Academy students lived in dormitories on the school grounds.

"By another world, what do you mean?"

"There are other planets. Past those two moons."

Nimbus pointed at the blue and pink twin moons bejeweling the sky.

"There are worlds past the moons?"

"Yup! A lot!"

At that, Louise set her elbows on the table with a troubled look.

"Are you saying you're really from another world?" asked Louise, seemingly still perplexed.

"Yup, it's true!" Nimbus nodded.

"Prove it."

Nimbus reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device.

"What's that?"

"It's a scouter," replied Nimbus.

"I've certainly never seen anything like this. What kind of magic artifact is it?"

"It's not magic. It's technology."

He placed the scouter over his right eye and pressed the button.

The scouter screen whirled to life.

Numbers and symbols were displayed on a small holographic overlay.

"Wah! What is that?!" Louise gave a surprised yelp as the screen flickered on.

"It's a communicator device used to track a person's location. It measures sources of energy or power."

"It's pretty... What element of magic does it use? Wind? Water?"

"Science."

Louise stared at Nimbus blankly. Clearly she didn't get it. "So, what kind of element is this 'science'? Is it different from the four elemental powers?"

"Science is based on physics. It is not magic."

Louise sat on the edge of her bed and dangled her feet. Then, shrugging, she said with a dispassionate look, "Hmm. But I don't really understand it..."

"Why? Is there anything like this in this world too?"

Louise pouted. "No, but..."

"Then just believe me. There's nothing to understand."

Clutching her long hair, Louise just shook her head. "All right! I'll believe you!"

"Really?"

Crossing her arms and cocking her head, Louise gave an annoyed growl. "Only because you would've gone on about it if I didn't say so. Nobody's even heard of another world. 'Summon Servant' is used to call living beings from within Halkeginia. Normally, only animals or magical beasts are summoned. This is actually the first instance that I've seen it work on a person."

Nimbus' eyes trailed down to the runes that had been inscribed on his left hand.

"Do you want to know what this is?"

"Yeah."

"That's like a stamp that says you're my familiar."

Louise stood up and crossed her arms. Her eyes were like a curious kitten, and her eyebrows traced a subtle line over them.

For some reason Nimbus had been summoned to this world by this strange girl.

Nimbus' curiosity continued to climb.

"I guess I'm really your familiar."

"Come again?"

"So what exactly does a familiar do?" asked Nimbus.

"Firstly, a familiar is able to grant its master an enhancement in vision and hearing."

"Like how?"

"That means what the familiar sees, the master can also see."

"Oh."

"But it seems that doesn't work with you. I can't see anything."

"Maybe it takes practice," Nimbus said off-handedly.

"Also, a familiar will retrieve items that its master desires. For instance, reagents."

"Reagents?"

"They're catalysts used when casting certain spells. Something like sulfur, or moss..."

"Oh."

"And this is most important of all... A familiar exists to protect its master! The task of protecting them from any and all enemies is a duty of the highest priority! But that might be a little bit problematic for you...A powerful magical beast would almost always defeat its enemies, a mere human wouldn't stand a chance, even if you do have a tail."

Nimbus waved his white fluffy tail.

"That's why I'm only making you do things I'm fairly certain you can do: laundry, cleaning, and other miscellaneous tasks."

Nimbus quietly watched her.

"Right then, all this talking has made me sleepy," said Louise with a great yawn.

"Where do I sleep?"

Louise pointed to the floor.

"I'm not a dog, you know?"

"But there's nowhere else. And there's only one bed." She threw him a blanket.

She then brought her hand up to the top button of her blouse.

One by one, the buttons came undone.

Soon she was down to her underwear. Nimbus blushed.

"Is that because you're a mage? You're okay with doing that in plain sight of a guy?"

"A guy? Who? I don't need to think anything of being watched by my familiar."

What the heck.

"Oh, and these. Wash them for me tomorrow." Several items came flying over to land softly beside him. He picked them up, wondering what they were.

A lacy camisole and matching panties.

White, too. What exquisite and delicate pieces, Nimbus thought. He held them high as a mix of indignation and delight welled up.

"Frankly, I'm both flattered and offended."

Louise was pulling a large nightgown over her head. And in the dim light thrown off by the lamp, he could see the outline of her figure. While he couldn't make out any other details, it didn't seem as though she was embarrassed.

"You're my familiar, right? Laundry, cleaning, other menial tasks - they're naturally your job."

Nimbus laid down on his back.

Things just took a really crazy turn. A familiar? How wild. Tomorrow, I'll do some training. Also, I'll have a look around and map out the area. I'm going to have to learn a lot more about this planet if I'm going to live here for a while.

Now that his plan was set, he felt noticeably sleepy.

No matter the situation, Nimbus' amazing adaptability had always saved him. Where anyone else would've panicked and crumbled, Nimbus came through thanks to his flexible personality.

Louise snapped her fingers, and the glow of the lamp died out.

A shroud of darkness descended upon the room.

Outside the window, the two moons shone down mysteriously.

Chapter Two: Louise the Zero

When Nimbus woke up, the first sight to greet his eyes was the underwear that Louise had stripped off.

It had somehow ended up in his line of sight, having been carelessly tossed away. Louise was still asleep in bed, snoring gently. Her sleeping face was simply cherubic. Now she seemed a lot more childish. She was a loud and annoying girl when she spoke — "noble" this, "magician" that — but, while she slept, she was cute. Nimbus almost wished that she would stay that way forever.

Then reality sank in. So, last night reallywasn'ta dream. He had thought he might find himself back in his spaceship, but, obviously, that hadn't happened.

It was a refreshing morning. Dazzling light shone down into the room.

Nimbus' characteristic curiosity was reawakened. Now this seems kinda like a sightseeing hour. I wonder what kind of world this is?

First things first, he flung the blanket off Louise.

"Wh-What? What's going on!"

"It's morning, Milady."

"Huh? O-Oh... Wait, who are you!?" Louise yelled in a slurred voice. Her expression was vacant as she trailed off into a pitiful mumble.

Is she ok?

"Nimbuscloud."

"Oh, that's right. The familiar I summoned."

Louise got up and yawned. Then, she ordered Nimbus:

"Clothes."

He handed her the uniform that had been draped over a chair. Louise began to sluggishly undress.

"Underwear."

"Where?"

"They're in the lowest drawer... Of that closet... Over there."

It seemed she thoroughly planned to make the most out of Nimbus.

He went and opened the indicated drawer. Lo and behold, it was packed full of underwear. Grabbing a pair at random, he threw it over his shoulder without looking back.

Once Louise had put them on, she mumbled again.

"Clothes."

"I just gave them to you."

"Dress me."

Nimbus turned only to find Louise sitting sleepily on the bed wearing nothing but the underwear he had thrown at her. He suddenly didn't know where to look.

Louise pouted in displeasure.

"You must not know because you're a commoner, but nobles will not dress themselves if a servant is available."

Nimbus picked up her blouse.

Why do I get this feeling like I'm being conned

When he left the room with Louise, he saw three identical wooden doors along the wall. One of them opened, and from inside appeared a girl with flaming red hair. She was taller than Louise, roughly the same height as Nimbus. She gave off a strongly flirtatious aura. Her face was attractive, and she sported a captivating bustline.

The top two buttons of her blouse were undone, highlighting an impressive cleavage which impulsively drew the eyes in. Her skin was tanned, giving her the look of healthy and natural beauty.

When she saw Louise, she grinned broadly.

"Good morning, Louise."

Louise returned the greeting with a frown.

"Good morning... Kirche."

"That... is your familiar?" Kirche asked somewhat mockingly, pointing at Nimbus.

"That's right."

"Ahaha! So it really is a human! That's amazing!"

Nimbus smiled warmly.

"It's just like you to summon a commoner with 'Summon Servant.' What else to expect from Louise the Zero?"

Louise's white cheeks flushed scarlet.

"Shut up."

"I summoned a familiar yesterday, too. Unlike a certain somebody, I was successful on my first try."

"Really."

"Flame!"

Kirche called her familiar triumphantly. From her room, a large, dark-red lizard slithered out. A wave of heat followed.

"Ohh! Cool!" Nimbus enjoyed reptiles.

Kirche smiled.

"Ohoho! Don't tell me this is your first time seeing a Fire lizard?"

Kirche put a hand to her chin and tilted her head teasingly.

The creature was at least as big as a tiger. Its tail was tipped with flame, and its mouth emitted sparks and embers.

"Don't you feel hot being near it?" Nimbus asked. "Wow, it's a monster... Fantastic!"

"It's actually fairly cool to me."

"Is that a salamander?" Louise asked with jealousy.

"That's right! A fire lizard! See, look at the tail. A flame this vivid and large means it's without a doubt a salamander from the Fire Dragon Mountains! It's like a brand! Collectors can't even put a price on these!"

"That's nice," Louise said, her voice bitter.

"Isn't it? It matches my affinity perfectly!"

"Your affinity is Fire, isn't it?"

"Of course. After all, I'm Kirche the Ardent. The ardent of gently smoldering passion."

Kirche puffed her chest and smiled calmly. Then, she turned to Nimbus.

"And what's your name?"

"Nimbuscloud Kush. It's nice to meet you."

"Nimbuscloudkush? What a strange name."

"Ooh."

"Well then, I'll be off now."

She stroked her flaming red hair back and dashed off. The salamander followed her with a cute shuffling movement that looked odd with such a large creature.

As she disappeared, Louise shook a fist in her direction.

"That girl really gets on my nerves! Just because she summoned a salamander from the Fire Dragon Mountains! Argh!"

"So?"

"So! You can determine a mage's true power just by looking at his or her familiar! Why did that idiot get a salamander, while I got you?"

"Jeez, sorry for being a human. But you're one too, y'know."

"Comparing mages and commoners is like comparing wolves and dogs!" Louise exclaimed haughtily.

"By the way, she just called you 'Louise the Zero', but, what's the 'Zero' stand for? Is it your title or something?"

"No! 'Zero' is just a nickname."

"A nickname, huh? I can understand why she's called 'Ardent,' but why are you 'Zero?'"

"You don't need to know," Louise answered uncomfortably.

The Academy of Magic's dining hall was the tallest and centermost building on the premises. Inside, three extremely long tables were arranged parallel to each other. Each one looked like it could easily seat a hundred people. The table at which Louise and all the second years sat was the middle table.

It appeared that students could be identified by the color of their cloaks. Viewed from the entrance, everyone sitting on the left-hand table looked a little older and wore purple cloaks — third years.

The students sitting on the right-hand table wore brown cloaks — first years. So they're like year-level jerseys,Nimbus thought.

Every single mage on the school grounds, students and teachers alike, gathered here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

On an upper level, he could see teachers enjoying pleasant chatter.

All the tables were magnificently decorated.

Numerous candles, bunches of flowers, baskets full of fruit...

Nimbus' eyes widened in amazement at the sheer grandeur of the dining hall. Louise raised her head imperiously and began to explain. Her pink eyes twinkled with pride.

"Tristain's Academy of Magic doesn't teach just magic, you know."

"Almost all mages are nobles. The saying 'nobles achieve nobility through the use of magic' is a foundation for the education we receive as nobles. Thus, our dining halls must also be fitting of a noble's status."

"I see!"

"Understand? Normally, a commoner like you would never set foot inside the AlvíssDining Hall. Be grateful."

"So what's an 'Alvíss'?"

"It's the name for the little people. See all those statues over there?"

Where she pointed, lined along the walls were elaborate sculptures of small people.

"They're well-made. Uhh, those things don't... like... come alive during the night or anything, do they?"

"Oh, you knew that?"

"So they do?!"

"Well, they dance. Enough of this, pull out my chair, will you? You're not a very competent familiar," Louise remarked, crossing her arms and tilting her head, which made her strawberry-blonde hair ripple. "Oh, ladies first." Nimbus pulled Louise's chair out for her.

Louise didn't even thank him as she sat down. Nimbus also brought over a chair to sit on.

"This is amazing!" Nimbus cried. It was far too grand for a breakfast. A huge roasted bird taunted Nimbus. Other than that, there was also wine and a pie baked in the shape of a trout.

"Oh, Great Founder Brimir, we thank you for this humble meal that you have graciously provided us this morning," the harmonious sound of a prayer sounded. Louise joined in as well, closing her eyes.

Just how is this a 'humble meal?'This is more than a banquet!

"Ah, it's delicious. Delicious!" Nimbus muttered while sampling various dishes.

The classrooms in the Academy of Magic were similar to university lecture halls. And like everything else, they were constructed from stone. The lecturing teacher stood at the lowest level, and the seats were arranged upward like stairs. When Nimbus and Louise entered, every student in the room simultaneously turned their heads towards them.

And then the laughter began. Kirche was there as well, surrounded by a group of guys.

The familiars that everyone had brought along were a varied bunch.

Kirche's salamander was curled asleep under her desk. There were students with owls resting on their shoulders. From a window, a gigantic snake peered into the class. One boy whistled, and the snake withdrew its head. There were so many interesting creatures that Nimbus had never seen before.

He was suddenly excited. All sorts of amazing beasts were milling around him.

He spotted a metallic parrot with four wings. There was also a huge eyeball floating gently in midair. What could that be? He decided to ask Louise.

"What's that one called?"

"It's an Egverea."

Louise answered him in a sullen voice and sat down. Nimbus sat down beside her.

The door opened, and the teacher entered.

She was a middle-aged woman dressed in a voluminous purple robe and wearing a hat. She had a plump, round face with a friendly expression on it.

The woman gazed around the classroom and spoke with a satisfied smile.

"Well, everyone, it seems that the Springtime Familiar Summoning was a great success. I, Chevreuse, always enjoy seeing the new familiars that are summoned each spring."

Louise cast her eyes downward.

"My, my. You've summoned quite a... peculiar familiar, Miss Vallière," she remarked as she looked at Nimbus. The comment was innocent, but the classroom exploded with laughter.

"Louise the Zero! Don't go around grabbing random commoners off the street just because you can't summon anything!"

Louise's long strawberry blonde hair billowed as she stood up. She raised her cute voice in anger.

"No! I did everything properly! He is all that appeared!

"Don't lie! I bet you couldn't even cast 'Summon Servant' properly, right?"

The other students chuckled.

"Mrs. Chevreuse! I've been insulted! Malicorne the 'Common Cold' just insulted me!"

Louise banged her fist against the tabletop in protest.

"Common cold? I'm Malicorne the Windward! I haven't caught any cold!"

"Well, your hoarse voice sounds exactly like you've caught one!"

"Miss Vallière, Mister Malicorne. Please stop this unnecessary argument."

"Calling friends 'Zero' or 'Common Cold' is not acceptable. Do you understand?"

A few giggles broke out from somewhere.

Chevreuse looked around the classroom with a severe expression. She pointed her wand, and, as if from nowhere, the mouths of the students who'd giggled were suddenly filled with lumps of red clay.

"You people shall continue the lesson in that state."

This put a firm stopper on any further outbursts.

"Now then, let's begin the lesson."

Chevreuse coughed heavily and waved her wand. A few pebbles materialized on her desktop.

"My Runic name is 'Red Clay.' Chevreuse the Red Clay. This year, I will be teaching you all the magic of the Earth element. Do you know the four great elements of magic, Mister Malicorne?"

"Yes, Mrs. Chevreuse. They are Fire, Water, Earth and Wind."

Chevreuse nodded.

"And combined with the now-lost element of 'Void,' there are five elements in total - as everyone should already know. Of the five elements, I believe Earth holds an extremely important position. This isn't just because my affinity is Earth, nor is it simply a personal preference."

Once again, Chevreuse coughed heavily.

"The magic of Earth is very important magic that governs the creation of all matter. If it wasn't for Earth magic, we wouldn't be able to produce or process necessary metals. Raising buildings from large boulders and harvesting crops would also involve much more work. In this manner, the magic of the Earth element is intimately related to everyone's life."

Aha,thought Nimbus. So in this world, magic is the equivalent of science and technology. I think I understand now the reason Louise is so proud to call herself a magician.

"Now, everyone, please recall that the basic magic of the Earth element is 'transmutation'. While there will be people here who have already learned this in their first year, basics build foundations, so let's review it once more."

Chevreuse turned her attention to the pebbles and twirled her wand over them.

She then whispered a spell, and they began to glow brightly.

When the light dimmed away, the pebbles had been changed into sparkling lumps of metal.

"Is that gold, Mrs. Chevreuse!?"

Kirche leaned forward over her desk.

"No, it isn't. It's plain brass. Only Square-class mages are able to transmute to gold. I'm just..." Chevreuse gave a self-important cough. "A Triangle mage..."

"Louise." Nimbus poked her.

"What? We're in the middle of a lesson!"

"What's all this about squares and triangles supposed to mean?"

"It's the number of elements that they can add to a spell, which also determines the level of a mage."

"Ohhh."

"See, for example, you can use an Earth spell on its own. But if you add Fire magic to it, the overall power of the spell increases greatly," Louise explained to Nimbus quietly.

"Oh, I see."

"Those who can stack two elements like Fire and Earth together are called Line mages. Mrs. Chevreuse, being able to combine three elements, Earth-Earth-Fire, is a Triangle mage."

"What happens when you add an element to itself?"

"It reinforces that element and makes it stronger."

"I see. So in other words, you could say that the teacher over there is a fairly powerful mage, because she's a Triangle?"

"Exactly."

"How many can you add, Louise?"

She didn't answer.

The teacher noticed them talking.

"Miss Vallière!"

"Yes?"

"Please refrain from private chatter during lessons."

"I'm sorry..."

"Since you have the time to chatter, perhaps I should have you demonstrate for me? Try changing these pebbles here into a metal of your choice."

Louise didn't stand up. She simply sat there looking troubled and fidgety.

"Hey, come on! She's pointing at you!" Nimbus nudged her.

"Miss Vallière! Is something the matter?"

Mrs. Chevreuse called for her again, but Kirche raised her voice in concern.

"Umm..."

"Yes?"

"I think it would be better if you didn't let her..."

"And why is that?"

"It's dangerous," Kirche answered plainly. The majority of the class nodded in agreement.

"Dangerous? How so?"

"This is your first time teaching Louise, right?"

"It is, but I hear she is a hard worker. Now, Miss Vallière. Don't you worry, just try it. You won't be able to do anything if you dread making mistakes."

"Don't, Louise!" Kirche cried, her face pale.

But Louise stood up.

"I'll do it."

With a nervous expression, she walked briskly up to the front of the room.

Chevreuse stood next to Louise and smiled.

"Miss Vallière, you have to visualize vividly the metal that you wish to transmute them into."

Giving a small nod, Louise waved her wand. She had never looked as adorable as in that instant when she pursed her lips to begin chanting the incantation - it was almost angelic.

Even knowing her true personality, Nimbus was momentarily enamored.

In the morning sunshine streaming in from the window, Louise's strawberry-blonde hair sparkled enchantingly. Her violet eyes shone like jewels, and her skin was a flawless white. Her sculpted nose was befitting of nobility.

But as he sat there pondering, the students sitting in front of him had for some reason hidden under their chairs. Don't they see how dazzling Louise is? Still, she doesn't seem to be very popular. Rather, she gets called 'the Zero' and made fun of. Just looking around here, there aren't any girls nearly as pretty. Not even Kirche rivals her in looks.

Closing her eyes, Louise uttered a short rune and flourished her wand.

The pebbles on the desk promptly exploded.

Louise and Chevreuse caught the blast full-on and were thrown against the blackboard, as people screamed. Frightened familiars added to the chaos. Kirche's salamander suddenly woke from its sleep and stood up on its hind legs, breathing a jet of flame. A manticore burst into flight and smashed through a window to escape. Through the hole, the giant snake that had been peeking in earlier slithered in and swallowed someone's bird.

The classroom was in pandemonium.

Kirche stood up and pointed a finger at Louise.

"That's why I told you not to let her do it!"

"Jeez, Louise! Save us some grief and just quit school already!"

"My Lucky got eaten by a snake! Lucky!"

Nimbus stared in shock.

Mrs. Chevreuse lay on the floor; judging by her occasional twitching, she wasn't dead.

A soot-blackened Louise rose slowly. She was a miserable sight to behold. Her torn blouse revealed a slender shoulder, and her panties could be seen beneath her ripped skirt.

Still, what an amazing girl. She didn't seem at all fazed by the discord in the room. She pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the soot off her face.

"Looks like I messed up a little..." she said, in a weak voice.

Of course, that elicited a vehement response from the other students.

"That wasn't 'a little!', Louise the Zero!"

"Your success rate is always ZERO!"

Nimbus finally understood why Louise was called "the Zero."

Chapter Three: Colbert's Discovery

Mister Colbert, a teacher who had dedicated twenty years to Tristain Magic Academy, was by now a mainstay figure.

His Runic name was "Colbert the Flame Snake," and, naturally, he was a mage specializing in fire magic.

Since the Springtime Familiar Summoning a few days ago, he'd been concerned about the boy that Louise had summoned. Or more precisely, he'd been concerned with nothing but the runes that had appeared on that boy's left hand. They were rare runes indeed, so for the last few nights, he'd confined himself to the library and had been researching various texts.

Tristain Magic Academy's library was located in the same tower as the dining hall. The bookshelves were unbelievably tall, about thirty meters in height, and the way they were lined up against the walls was a spectacle to behold. And rightly so, since this place was crammed with the history of everything following the creation of the new world in Halkeginia by the Founder Brimir.

Colbert was now in a section called "Fenrir's Library" that only faculty were allowed entry to.

The ordinary bookshelves, to which students had free access, didn't hold any answers that could satisfy him.

He Levitated up to an out-of-reach shelf and scanned it intently for a particular book. His efforts were rewarded as his gaze fell upon the title of the book. It was a very old text which held descriptions of the familiars that had been used by the Founder Brimir.

His attention was focused on one particular paragraph written in it, and as he read on in fascination, his eyes grew wide. He compared the book with the sketch he'd made of the runes on the boy's left hand.

"Ah!" he gasped in surprise. At that moment, he lost the concentration necessary for maintaining his Levitation and almost fell to the floor.

Holding the book in his arms, he hurriedly descended to the floor and ran out of the library.

His destination was the Headmaster's Office.

The Headmaster's Office was located on the topmost floor of the tower. Sir Osmond, the current Headmaster of Tristain Magic Academy, was sitting with his elbows propped on his elegantly built sequoia desk, looking unbearably bored as he shook his white beard and hair. From inside the desk drawer he procured a smoking pipe. Miss Longueville, the secretary who had been writing something at the other desk placed to the side of the room, waved her feather quill.

The pipe floated into the air and landed in Miss Longueville's palm. Sir Osmond muttered dejectedly, "Is it fun taking away an old man's little pleasures? Miss, um..."

"Managing your health is also part of my job, Sir Osmond."

Sir Osmond stood up from his chair and walked up to the cool and collected Miss Longueville. Stopping behind the seated lady, he closed his eyes, his expression grave.

"If the days keep passing by so peacefully, figuring out how to spend time is going to become a rather big problem."

The wrinkles etched deeply on Osmond's face were only hints to the history of his life. People guessed him to be a hundred years old, or even three hundred. But his true age no one really knew. It's possible he himself didn't remember anymore either.

"Old Osmond," Miss Longueville spoke up without taking her eyes off the feather quill that was scribbling away on the parchment.

"What is it? Miss..."

"Please stop saying you have nothing to do as an excuse to touch my bottom."

Sir Osmond opened his mouth slightly and began walking around in tottering steps.

"Please also refrain from pretending to be senile whenever a situation goes bad," Longueville added calmly. Sir Osmond sighed deeply. It was the sigh of a man bearing the weight of many troubles.

"Where do you think the ultimate truth may be? Haven't you ever wondered that? Miss..."

"Wherever it is, I assure you, it's not underneath my skirt, so please stop sneaking your mouse under the desk."

Sir Osmond's face fell, and he murmured sadly, "Mótsognir."

From under Miss Longueville's desk scurried out a little mouse. It dashed up Osmond's leg and perched on his shoulder, twitching its tiny head. He fished out some nuts from a pocket and held one out to the mouse.

"Chuchu," the mouse chittered, apparently pleased.

"You're my only truly trustworthy friend, Mótsognir."

The mouse began nibbling on the nut. It disappeared quickly, and the mouse chittered "chuchu" once more.

"I see. White and plain white too, hrm. But Miss Longueville should really stick to black. Wouldn't you agree, my cute Mótsognir?"

Miss Longueville's eyebrows twitched.

"Old Osmond."

"What is it?"

"The next time you do that, I'm reporting it to the palace."

"Kah! Do you think I could be Headmaster of this Academy if I was scared of the palace all the time?!"

Sir Osmond flashed his eyes wide and yelled angrily. It was an impressive display, completely unexpected of a frail-looking old man.

"Don't get all prissy just because I peeked at your underwear! At this rate you will never get married! Haa!

Miss Longueville stood up and wordlessly kicked her boss around.

"Ack! How can you! Treat a senior! In this way! Hey! Ouch!"

This "peaceful" moment was interrupted by a sudden intrusion.

The door was thrown open with a slam, and Colbert rushed inside.

"Old Osmond!"

"What is it?"

Miss Longueville was back at her desk, sitting there as if nothing had happened. Sir Osmond had his arms behind him, and turned to face the visitor with a serious expression. That was certainly a quick recovery.

"I have some big news!"

"There is no such thing as big news. Everything is but a collection of small events."

"Please take a look at this!"

Colbert handed Osmond the book he had been reading just before.

"This is 'The Familiars of the Founder Brimir,' is it not? Are you still going around digging up old literature like this? If you have time to do that, why don't you think up some better ways of collecting school fees from those slack nobles? Mister, err... What was it again?"

Sir Osmond cocked his head.

"It's Colbert! You forgot?!"

"Right, right. Now I remember. It's just that you talked so fast I never really caught it. So, Colby, what is it about this book?"

"Please take a look at this also!"

Colbert then handed him the sketch of the runes on Nimbus' left hand.

The moment he saw that, Osmond's expression changed. His eyes took on a solemn light.

"Miss Longueville, would you please excuse us?"

Miss Longueville stood up and left the room. Osmond spoke only after he confirmed she was properly outside.

"Explain this to me with every detail, Mister Colbert..."

It was just before lunchtime when they finally finished tidying up the classroom that Louise had made a mess of. Mrs. Chevreuse had regained consciousness two hours after she'd been caught in the explosion, and while she did return to class, she didn't give any more lectures on Transmutation for that entire day. It would seem she had been rather traumatized.

Having finished tidying up, Louise and Nimbus headed to the dining hall for lunch. Along the way, Nimbus playfully teased Louise. After all, it was him that had to do all that manual labor just now. It was Nimbus who had carried over the new window glass and moved around all the desks.

With all that 'commoner' mockery from Louise, there was no way Nimbus could let her off the hook that easily.

"Transmutation! Ah! Kaboom! Transmutation! Ah! Kaboom! Oh, I screwed up! Only 'the Zero' screws this up!"

Louise's eyebrow was twitching furiously. She was on the verge of blowing her top.

When they arrived at the dining hall, Nimbus pulled out a chair for Louise.

As he sat down to eat, the plate was snatched away.

"Hey!"

Louise's shoulders shook angrily, as did her voice. Somehow, she'd managed to reign in her overflowing fury until they'd arrived at the dining table. Probably so that she could bestow an appropriate punishment.

"This familiar, how dare it say such things to its master?!"

"Ahh, geez! I was only joking, you know?"

Louise screamed, twisting her cute face in rage.

"One meal cut for every time you've said 'Zero!' And that's final! No exceptions!"

In the end, Nimbus left the dining hall without having eaten anything.

I guess now's my chance to see what the forest has.

Just as Nimbus was about to fly, a small voice came from behind.

"Hello."

He turned around to see a normal-looking girl in a maid's outfit carrying a big silver tray, looking concernedly at him. Her black hair was neatly adorned with a headband, and her freckles were cute.

"Hi." Nimbus waved his left hand.

"Are you by any chance the one who became Miss Vallière's familiar...?"

It seemed she noticed the runes inscribed on Nimbus' left hand.

"You know me?"

"A little. It's become quite a rumor, you know, that a commoner was called by the summoning magic."

The girl smiled sweetly. It was the first carefree smile Nimbus had seen since he came to this world.

"Are you a mage too?" Nimbus asked.

"Oh no, not me. I'm a commoner, just like you. I serve the nobility here by doing domestic duties."

I'm actually a Saiyan and not from this world, but it's probably useless to try to explain. Nimbus decided to just introduce himself.

"I see... Well, I'm Nimbuscloud. Nice to meet you."

"That's quite a strange name... I'm Siesta."

At that point, Nimbus' stomach grumbled.

"You must be hungry."

"Haha! Yeah!"

"Please, follow me this way."

Siesta walked off.

Nimbus was led to the kitchen located at the rear of the dining hall. Lots of large pots and ovens were lined up inside. Cooks and other maids like Siesta were busily preparing food.

"Please wait one moment, okay?"

Siesta had Nimbus sit on a chair placed in the corner of the kitchen and disappeared hastily into the back.

She soon returned with a bowl full of warm stew in her hands.

"This is some stew made from the leftovers of the nobles' meals. If you don't mind, please eat this."

"Can I?"

"Yes. It's only the staff meal though..."

Her kindness was touching. He scooped up a spoonful and brought it to his mouth.

Delicious.

"This is so good~!"

"That's great. There's plenty if you want seconds, so take your time."

Nimbus ate the stew as if he were in a dream. Siesta stood watching him, smiling sweetly all the while.

"Weren't you given anything to eat?"

"Louise went and took my plate away when I called her 'the Zero.'"

"Oh no! You shouldn't say things like that to nobles!"

"Noble schnoble. Getting all high-horse just because they can use magic."

"You must have a lot of courage..." Siesta looked at Nimbus with an expression of amazement.

Nimbus gave Siesta back the empty bowl.

"That was really tasty. Thanks."

"I'm glad you liked it. Feel free to visit whenever you're hungry. If you don't mind having whatever we're having, I'd be happy to share."

Such a kind offer. Nimbus was even more touched.

"Thanks! This is the first time anyone's been so nice to me since I came here."

"That's an exaggeration."

"It's not. If there's anything I can do for you, just tell me. I'll lend a hand."

"In that case, would you like to help me serve the desserts?" Siesta said with a smile.

"Okay," Nimbus nodded enthusiastically.

Lots of dessert cakes were arranged on a big silver tray. Nimbus carried the tray, while Siesta picked up the cakes with tongs and served them one by one to the nobles.

One mage in particular stood out. He had curly blonde hair, wore a frill-trimmed shirt, and looked rather self-important. There was a rose stuck in his shirt pocket too. His friends around him were poking all kinds of fun at him.

"So, Guiche! Who're you going out with now?"

So it seemed the prideful mage was called Guiche. He gently raised a finger to his lips.

"'Go out?' I hold no one woman in such special regard. After all, a rose blooms for the pleasure of many."

At that moment, something fell out of Guiche's pocket. It was a small glass bottle with a purple liquid swirling inside it.

Looks like he dropped something.

Siesta called out to Guiche.

"Hey, you dropped this."

But Guiche didn't turn around.

Siesta bent down to pick up the bottle.

"Sir, you dropped this bottle from your pocket."

She placed it on the table. Guiche shot Siesta a dirty look, and pushed the bottle away.

"This is not mine. What are you talking about?"

Guiche's friends then realized where the bottle came from and raised a loud commotion.

"Ooh? That perfume, isn't that Montmorency's?"

"Yeah! That vivid purple color is the perfume that Montmorency only mixes for herself!"

"So to have something like that fall out of your pocket, Guiche, means that you're going out with Montmorency now, right?"

"No wait, listen to me. I'm saying this for the sake of her reputation, but..."

As Guiche was about to say more, a girl, who wore a brown cloak and had been sitting at the table behind them, stood up and walked over to Guiche's seat.

She was a cute girl sporting chestnut-colored hair. According to the color of the cloak she wore, she was a first year student.

"Guiche! I knew it!"

"They're misunderstanding. Katie, listen. The only person I hold in my heart is you..."

But the girl called Katie slapped Guiche's face as hard as she could.

"That perfume you dropped from your pocket is more than enough proof! Goodbye!"

Guiche rubbed his cheek.

At this point, a girl with tightly rolled hair stood up from a seat further down the table. Nimbus recognized her as the girl who'd had the argument with Louise when he was first summoned to this world.

Wearing a severe expression, she approached Guiche with quick clipped steps.

"Montmorency. This is a misunderstanding. All I did was accompany her on a long trip to the forests of La Rochelle..." Guiche said, shaking his head. While he was pretending to remain composed, a drop of cold sweat ran down his forehead.

"Just as I thought! You've been making moves on that first year, haven't you?!"

"Please, Montmorency the Fragrance. Don't twist your rose-like face in anger like that. It saddens me to see it!"

Montmorency grabbed a bottle of wine that was on the table and poured its contents out audibly on Guiche's head.

And then...

"You liar!"

She yelled and stormed off.

Silence fell upon the hall.

Siesta handed Guiche a handkerchief and he slowly wiped his face.

Guiche spun his body about on the chair and crossed his legs with a flourish.

"Thanks to you thoughtlessly picking up a bottle of perfume, the reputation of two ladies has been damaged. How will you take responsibility?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I was just trying to help out."

Siesta replied innocently.

Guiche's friends burst out laughing.

"Exactly, Guiche! It's your fault!"

Guiche's face flushed crimson.

"Listen, server. When you first called my name, I pretended not to know anything, didn't I? Would it have hurt to be a little bit tactful and just go along with it?"

"I thought you didn't hear me. Either way, I'm terribly sorry."

Guiche snorted, as if looking down on Siesta.

"To have expected a noble's wits from a commoner was completely my mistake. You may leave."

That irked Nimbus. He couldn't help but make one inflammatory comment.

"Whatever, said the guy with wine all over his clothes!"

Guiche's eyes narrowed.

"Hmph... Ah, you are..."

"You must be the commoner summoned by that 'Louise the Zero.' It would seem that you don't know the proper etiquette for addressing a noble."

Nimbus shrugged and shifted his gaze away from Guiche.

"Very well. Then I shall teach you a lesson about respect. A perfect way to relieve some stress. How amusing."

Guiche stood up and turned in the other direction.

"I'll be waiting at VestriCourt. Come once you're finished delivering those cakes."

Looking excited, Guiche's friends stood up and followed him off. One person remained though, as if to make sure Nimbus didn't run away himself.

Siesta gazed at Nimbus, her entire body quivering. Nimbus spoke with a grin.

"It's all right."

"You're going to get killed.."

"What?"

"If you truly anger a noble..."

Siesta dashed off in a hurry.

What was that about? Nimbus muttered. Is that guy really so strong?

Louise ran up to him from behind.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! I saw that!"

"Hey, Louise."

"This is no time to be "hey"-ing me! How can you just go promising duels like it's no big deal?!"

"Well, he's the one that wanted to."

Louise sighed and shrugged disappointedly.

"Apologize to him."

"Why?"

"If you don't want to be hurt, go and apologize. If you do it now, he might forgive you."

"Nah."

"Just do it."

Louise fixed Nimbus with a firm look.

"No."

"So stubborn... But you know what? You can't win. You'll be badly injured. Actually, you'll be lucky to come back alive with just injuries."

"I won't know that unless I try, right?"

"Listen, a commoner can never beat a mage!"

"So where's this Vestri Court?"

Nimbus walked off. The friend of Guiche's that had been watching Louise and Nimbus' exchange pointed with his chin.

"This way, commoner."

"Aaah, jeez! Really! Why does this familiar keep going off and doing stuff on its own?!"

With that, Louise chased after Nimbus.

Chapter Four: Gundalf's Legend

Let us change locations for a moment and return to the Headmaster's Office.

Mister Colbert was fervently explaining everything to Sir Osmond about the commoner boy that was summoned by Louise at the Springtime Familiar Summoning... About how he was concerned about the runes that had appeared on the boy's hand as proof of the contract between him and Louise... And that when he had gone to find out more...

"You mean the Founder Brimir's familiar Gundalf?"

Osmond intently examined Colbert's sketch of the runes on Nimbus' left hand.

"Yes! The runes that appeared on that boy's left hand are exactly the same as the runes that were inscribed on the legendary familiar Gundalf!"

"So, your conclusion?"

"That boy is a Gundalf! If this isn't big news, then what is, Old Osmond?"

Colbert stood up as he wiped his balding head with a handkerchief.

"Hrm... Certainly, the runes are the same. But for an ordinary commoner boy to become a Gundalf just by having the same runes... I wonder how that could've happened."

"What shall we do?"

"However, it is probably too early to be making definite claims."

"That's true."

Sir Osmond drummed his fingers on the desk.

There was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

From behind the door came Miss Longueville's voice.

"It's me, Old Osmond."

"What is it?"

"It seems there are some students dueling at Vestri Courts. It's causing quite a commotion. A few teachers have gone there to try and stop it, but their attempts are being impeded by the sheer number of students."

"For heaven's sake, there's nothing worse than nobles with too much free time in their hands. So, who's involved?"

"One of them is Guiche de Gramont."

"Ah, that idiot son of General Gramont. And his opponent is?"

"...Well, it's not a mage. I've been told it's Miss Vallière's familiar."

Osmond and Colbert exchanged a look.

"The teachers are requesting to use the "Bell of Sleep" to stop the duel."

Osmond's eyes glinted like a hawk's.

"Ridiculous. There's no need to use such an important artifact just to stop a childrens farce. Leave them be."

"Understood."

Miss Longueville's footsteps disappeared down the hallway.

Colbert swallowed audibly and verbally pressed Osmond.

"Old Osmond."

"Hrm."

Sir Osmond waved his staff and a big mirror set in the wall began scrying the situation at Vestri Courts.

Vestri Court was the central garden situated between the Wind and Fire elemental towers. Being located to the west, the Court didn't receive much sunshine, even in the middle of the day, but it was the perfect place for a duel.

Right now... the place was packed with people who had heard the rumors.

"Gentlemen! It's a duel!"

Guiche lifted his artificial rose high, eliciting a loud cheer from the crowd.

"Guiche is going to duel! His opponent is Louise's commoner!"

Waving his arms about, Guiche acknowledged the cheering.

And then, as if finally noticing Nimbus' presence there, he turned to face him.

Nimbus and Guiche stood in the middle of the Court, glaring intently at each other.

"First of all, I commend you for coming here instead of running away!" Guiche remarked in a sing-song voice, as he twirled his rose.

"Guiche!"

"Oh, Louise! My bad. I'm just borrowing your familiar for a bit."

Louise shook her long hair and yelled angrily at Guiche.

"That's quite enough! And besides, dueling is strictly forbidden!"

"Only dueling between nobles is forbidden. No law exists to forbid duels between commoners and nobles."

Louise was at a momentary loss for words.

"Louise, do you like this commoner?"

Louise's face blushed.

"No! Don't be ridiculous! It's just that I won't put up with having my familiar beaten up before my eyes!"

"It will be fine. It's just going to be a little practice sparring." Nimbus reassured her.

"Right then, let us begin," said Guiche.

Guiche watched Nimbus with a leisurely smile and flicked his rose.

A petal floated down as if dancing in the air...

And became the armor-clad shape of a warrior.

Its height was about the same as a person's, but it appeared to be constructed from some hard metal. Under the pale sunlight, its armor gleamed.

It stood stoically in front of Nimbus.

"What's this?"

"I am a mage, therefore I fight using magic. Surely you have no complaints?"

"Of course not."

"I guess I forgot to mention earlier. My Runic name is "the Bronze." Guiche the Bronze. Accordingly, my bronze golem "Valkyrie" shall be your opponent."

"Oh?"

The warrior-shaped golem charged towards Nimbus at a great speed.

The runes inscribed on Nimbus' left hand began glowing brightly.

The statue modeled in the shape of the mythical Valkyrie came towards Nimbus in what seemed like slow motion.

It's right fist struck Nimbus' stomach.

Nimbus' body blinked forward five yards.

The version of him that was struck by the Valkyrie phased out of existence.

He had teleported to the other side of the Valkyrie.

It had been so fast that nobody even saw him move, making everyone wonder just what kind of superhuman ability this was.

Guiche's mouth opened in surprise as he quickly charged his Valkyrie with another attack.

Nimbus leaned forward, shifting his weight to the ball of one foot in a runner's pose.

Snap!

His body shot forward through the air 20 meters.

Guiche gawked at the approaching duo with a look of horror on his face.

Nimbus' characteristic fighting spirit flared, and he uttered an intense shout.

Guiche's rose-like wand fired off another petal, condensing it into a small spear, which he then fired off like a bullet.

With his right hand, Nimbus deflected the spear, sending it ricocheting into the air.

'I'm gonna die!' thought Guiche, as he shielded his head.

Nimbus' body blinked once more, reappearing at his original spot.

Clang!

The golem mercilessly sent Guiche flying with a kick.

When he came to, he could see Nimbus standing there framed by a backdrop of blue sky.

"My own Valkyrie?"

"You want to continue?"

Nimbus asked.

Guiche shook his head furiously. He'd totally lost any will to fight.

And in a failing voice he said,

"I... I yield."

Nimbus bowed respectfully to his opponent.

He could hear rowdy cheering from the audience such as "Whoa, that familiar is awesome!" or "Oh man, Guiche lost!"

Guiche stood up and shook his head in amazement.

"Louise, just what is he? I've never seen anyone move that way before."

"He's just a commoner..."

"There's no way I could have lost to "just a commoner.""

"Hmph. Wasn't it just because you were weaker?" Nimbus teased before turning on his heel and springing into the sky.

When he passed the mountain range his body disappeared from sight.

"Come back here! You're just a familiar, so why do you keep doing stuff on your own?!"

Louise yelled at the fleeing Nimbus

"He can fly.." muttered Guiche.

Sir Osmond and Colbert finished watching the entire event via the Mirror of Far-Seeing. They exchanged another look.

"Old Osmond."

"Hrm."

"That familiar actually ended up winning..."

"Hrm."

"Guiche is only a second level Line mage, but even so, he shouldn't have been beaten by an average commoner. What amazing speed! I've never seen a familiar like him before! There's no doubt that he's a Gundalf!"

"Hrmm..."

Mister Colbert urged Osmond.

"Old Osmond. We should report this to the palace immediately and ask for instructions..."

"There will be no need for that."

Sir Osmond nodded sternly, ruffling his white beard.

"But sir! This is the biggest discovery of the millennium! A Gundalf, reborn in the modern world!"

"Mister Colbert. Gundalf was no ordinary familiar."

"Exactly! The familiar used by the Founder Brimir, Gundalf! There was never any description of its appearance, but it's said to have been created specifically for the purpose of protecting the Founder Brimir during his spell incantations."

"Correct. Founder Brimir's incantations were especially long... However, that made his spells very powerful. And as you know, mages are most vulnerable while spell casting. Gundalf was the familiar that he used to protect himself in those times of vulnerability. Its strength..."

Colbert eagerly cut in at this point, looking extremely excited.

"It could annihilate an army of one thousand all by itself! Ordinary mages were said to be no match for it!"

"So, Mister Colbert."

"Yes?"

"Who was it that summoned this Gundalf?"

"That would be Miss Vallière, but..."

"She must be a very talented mage, I take it?"

"Not at all. Rather, one might say she'sun-talented..."

"A puzzling duo to be sure."

"Yes."

"So how did this incredible boy become contracted by such an untalented mage to become Gundalf? What an utter paradox. I just can't see where the ends meet."

"Indeed..."

"In any case, there is no need for us to hand over Gundalf and its master to those fools at the palace. Give them a toy like this and they'll just cause another unnecessary war. Court advisors have too much free time on their hands and like fighting far too much."

"Oh, I see. I apologize for overlooking such important matters."

"I will take responsibility for this case myself. You will not speak of this to anyone else, Mister Colbert."

"Yes! I understand!"

Sir Osmond took hold of his staff and turned to look out the window in the direction Nimbus had flown off to. He immersed his thoughts in the far reaches of history.

"The legendary familiar Gundalf... Just what kind of form had it taken before, I cannot help but wonder."

Colbert murmured as if dreaming.

Nimbus returned in the morning light.

When he got to Louise's room, Louise herself was sitting at a table and sleeping soundly with her head on it.

Then there was a knock on the door.

It was Siesta. The commoner girl who had fed him stew in the kitchen. She was in her usual maid outfit, complete with the headband adorning her hair.

She looked at Nimbus and smiled. On the silver tray she carried was some breakfast.

"Siesta...?"

"So, you've returned now, Nimbus?"

"I brought you both some food. Please eat."

"Oh, thanks!"

"Everyone was worried you wouldn't come back."

"Everyone?"

"All the kitchen staff."

Siesta cast her eyes down shyly. "Um... I'm sorry. That I ran away that time."

"What's the matter?"

She was talking of how she had run away in fright when Nimbus had gotten Guiche angry at the dining hall.

"Don't worry. It's nothing to apologize about."

"Nobles were always so scary to us commoners, since we couldn't use magic..."

Siesta suddenly raised her head. Her eyes sparkled brightly.

"But I'm not so scared anymore! I was so inspired, Nimbus! You won against a noble, though you're not a mage"

"Really... Haha."

Somewhat embarrassed, Nimbus just patted his head. Then he realized that Louise was still asleep.

As she slept, Louise's breathing was even and gentle. There were heavy dark circles under her eyes though.

Her sleeping face is always so adorable. It's so doll-like.

Hold on, was she up all night waiting for me? He thought. Suddenly her side profile looked intensely cuter.

"Good morning, Louise!"

Louise's eyes flickered open.

"Huaaaaaaaaa~~"

She made a great big yawning stretch, and then her gaze fell upon Nimbus, who was standing next to Siesta holding a tray of food.

"You're awake."

Louise stood up.

And drew closer to Nimbus.

Nimbus' heartbeat accelerated.

Next, Louise threw a mountain of clothes at Nimbus.

"Ah!"

"That's the laundry that's needed to be done while you were away. Once you're done with that, clean up the room. Hop to it!"

Louise glared fiercely at Nimbus.

"Uh, in that case, I will take my leave now..."

Siesta left the room wearing a crooked smile.

Nimbus chided bashfully at Louise.

The way Louise sat on her bed swinging her legs had an undeniable level of cuteness beyond this world.

Her long strawberry blond hair rippled. Her pink eyes twinkled with mischief. She was rude, arrogant, and selfish, but try as he might to deny it, her appearance was enchanting.

Raising a finger triumphantly, Louise declared.

"Don't you forget! You're my familiar!"

Chapter Five: A Familiar's Day

It had been a week since Nimbus started his life as Louise's familiar at Tristain Magic Academy. If one were to explain an average day for Nimbus, it would read like the following:

First, like the majority of animals and humans in Tristain, he woke up in the morning. His bed was, as usual, the floor, accompanied by the blanket that Louise had so "graciously" bestowed upon him.

The first thing Nimbus did each morning was to awaken Louise.

Once awoken, Louise got changed. She put on her uniform by having Nimbus dress her.

With her vividly rosy cheeks, charming violet eyes, and lips that seemed carved from fine coral, Louise knew she didn't need to decorate herself, so she didn't wear any kind of makeup.

With her enchanting looks, Nimbus was breathless every time he saw Louise. They say you get used to a beautiful lover in three days, but it didn't seem Nimbus would get used to Louise anytime soon. Maybe because he was her familiar, not her lover.

Dressed in her uniform, which consisted of a black cloak, a white blouse, and a grey pleated skirt, Louise then washed her face and brushed her teeth. The room didn't even have sensible things like running water installed, so Nimbus had to go down to the fountain and bring up water for Louise's use in a bucket. And, of course, Louise didn't wash her face herself. She made Nimbus do it.

After breakfast, Nimbus cleaned Louise's room. This involved sweeping the floor with a broom and wiping the table and windows with a cloth.

And then there was the oh-so-enjoyable laundry. He took the laundry down to the fountain and scrubbed it clean against a washboard. There was no warm water, only the icy cold kind. Louise's underwear were all expensive-looking pieces with lots of lace and frills attached, so he had to wash them gently. It was tedious work. On one occasion, he left one particular pair with a slightly torn elastic band in the pile one day. Merely a few days later, Louise walked out obliviously wearing that particular pair, when the elastic snapped entirely. Her panties slid down to her ankles.

Once Louise realized what had happened, she thrust the torn pair of panties accusingly at Nimbus.

"There was a torn pair!"

"Indeed there was, Mistress."

"Explain yourself."

"It must have been the fountain water. Why, it's so cold it could freeze fingers right off. I believe the elastic couldn't endure that."

Nimbus replied curtly.

"So you're saying it's the elastic's fault?"

"No, I believe it was the water's fault. I'm convinced that there must be some kind of curse on it to affect the elastic somehow."

"In that case, I should not feed such a loyal familiar soup made from that kind of bad water."

"Most gracious of you."

"Three days should do, I think, for the water to return to normal."

Nimbus had his meals cut for three days.

However, Nimbus remained completely fine for those three days. He'd just visit the kitchen behind the Hall of Alviss, where the energetic and lovely Siesta would serve him food like stew, and meat on the bone.

Naturally, he kept his visits to the kitchen a secret from Louise. There might be trouble if she found out about the meat and stew Siesta kindly provided him with. Louise would surely forbid him visiting for the sake of "educating" her familiar.

Currently though, she was totally unaware. In any case, Nimbus preferred Siesta and the kitchen a hundred times more than some Lady Queen and Founder Brimir he'd never met.

One morning, after escorting Louise to the dining hall, he went to the kitchen. Nimbus, having beaten the noble Guiche at the Vestri Courts, was hugely popular there.

"'Our Sword' is here!"

The one who called out was Marteau, the head chef, a well-rounded man well into his forties. Naturally, he was also a commoner himself, but with his position of head chef at the Academy, he earned as much as a lower class noble, a fact he could be proud of.

Dressed in simple but fine clothes, he commanded the kitchen with a wave and a flourish of his hand.

Despite his highly respectable position as head chef of a magic academy for nobles, Marteau wasn't the least bit arrogant, and surprisingly enough, disliked both magic and nobles.

He called Nimbus, who had defeated Guiche, by the nickname "Our Sword" and treated the lad like a king. Thanks to him, the kitchen was an oasis to Nimbus.

Nimbus sat down at his chair, and with a smile, Siesta promptly brought him a bowl of warm stew and soft white bread.

"Thanks!"

"Today's stew is extra special."

Siesta declared, looking particularly happy. Nimbus curiously lifted a spoonful to his mouth and his face instantly lit up.

"Wow, this is delicious!"

At this, Marteau approached the table holding a kitchen knife in one hand.

"Well of course. That stew's the same stuff we serve to the noble kids."

"Sure, they can use magic. Making chariots and castles from dirt, conjuring up unbelievable gems, even controlling dragons — so what! But see, creating such exquisite dishes like this is a kind of magic itself. Wouldn't you agree, Nimbuscloud?"

Nimbus nodded.

"Absolutely."

"A fine fellow! You're a good man!"

He put an arm around Nimbus' shoulders.

"Here, 'Our Sword!' Let me place a kiss upon your forehead! Come on! I insist!"

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Nimbus asked.

The man let go of Nimbus and spread his arms out in protest.

"You defeated a mage, without even laying a hand on him! Don't you get it?"

"I guess."

"Say, just where did you learn to fight that way? Tell me what kind of tricks are there to allow one's body to move so swiftly."

Marteau stared earnestly at Nimbus. He asked the same thing every time Nimbus came to eat, and Nimbus' answer was the same every time.

"No tricks. Just years of heavy training."

"You guys! Did you hear that?!"

He yelled, his voice echoing around the kitchen.

The younger cooks and the apprentices shouted back.

"We hear you, boss!"

"This is what they call a true master! They never boast about their skill! Look and learn! A true master never boasts!"

Then Marteau turned back around to face Nimbus.

"You know, 'Our Sword,' I'm starting to like you more and more. So how about it?"

"Um, how about what…?"

The chef turned to Siesta.

"Siesta!"

"Yes?"

Siesta, who had been cheerfully watching the two of them get along, responded brightly.

"Bring our hero here, some of Albion's finest."

Her smile widened, and retrieving a wine bottle of the requested vintage from the rack, she poured some into Nimbus' glass. Siesta looked on absorbedly as Nimbus' face grew redder and redder from the wine. These events repeated almost routinely:

Nimbus visited the kitchen, Marteau became more attached to Nimbus, and Siesta's respect for him deepened even further.

Although that particular day… There was a crimson shadow spying on Nimbus from a window of the kitchen. One of the young cooks took notice of it.

"Hey, there's something outside the window."

The shadow gave a garbled 'kyuru kyuru' and slinked away.

Then, after breakfast, cleaning, and laundry, he accompanied Louise to class.

The lessons fascinated Nimbus with their marvels: turning water into wine, combining various reagents to brew special potions, materializing fireballs out of nothing.

However, the questions that he really wondered about would not be revealed in the classroom. He sought the information contained in the school library.

And so, when the daily lesson had given way to a study hall, Nimbus left the classroom in search of the academy library.

Although the professor and Louise gave Nimbus an evil look, there were no rules forbidding a familiar from ditching class.

In fact, if they were to make Nimbus stay, it would mean that they were acknowledging him as a peer. Louise chewed her lips from the overwhelming desire to give Nimbus a piece of her mind, but she couldn't because doing so would mean contradicting herself about him being nothing more than a familiar.

Peering down the hallway, Nimbus felt the gaze of a large creature.

Once again, there was that crimson shadow watching Nimbus.

It was Kirche's salamander. With its belly to the floor, it stared at Nimbus from the far end of the corridor.

Noticing it, Nimbus waved his hand at it.

"You're Kirche's salamander, aren't you? I know you have a name. What was it… Oh yeah, it's Flame. Flame—"

Nimbus motioned for it to come closer, but the salamander flicked its tail around and spat out a few embers before retreating.

"Why would a lizard be so interested in me?" Nimbus tilted his head in puzzlement.

And while Nimbus was having a staring contest with a salamander…

At the Headmaster's Office, Miss Longueville the secretary was busily writing away at something.

She stopped writing for a moment and glanced over at the sequoia desk at which Sir Osmond was busy taking a nap.

The corner of Miss Longueville's lips rose in a faint smirk, an expression she had never shown anyone before.

She stood up from her desk.

In a low voice, she murmured the incantation for a Spell of Tranquility. Dampening her footsteps so as not to wake Osmond, she crept out of the office.

Her destination was the treasury, located on the floor directly below the Headmaster's Office.

Stepping off the stairs, she confronted enormous iron doors. They were kept shut with a thick bolt mechanism, which in turn was secured with an equally large padlock.

This place was where artifacts dating from even before the Academy's establishment were contained. After cautiously surveying her surroundings, Miss Longueville withdrew her wand from a pocket. It was about the length of a pencil, but with a flick of the wrist, it extended to the length of a conductor's baton, which she whirled expertly.

Miss Longueville cast another spell.

Once the invocation was complete, she pointed the baton at the padlock.

However… nothing happened.

"Well, it's not like I really expected a Spell of Unbinding to work anyway."

Smiling deviously, she began reciting the words to one of her specialty spells.

It was a Transmutation spell. Chanting loud and clear, she waved her baton at the heavy lock. The magic cascaded over it… but even after a considerable wait, there was no visible change.

"Looks like it's been magically reinforced by a Square-class mage," she muttered.

A Spell of Reinforcement was one that prevented the oxidation and decomposition of matter. Any substance that had this spell cast on it was protected from any chemical reactions, and allowed it to be preserved forever in that state. Even transmutation magic would have no effect against something protected like this. Only if one's magical skill surpassed that of the mage who cast the spell could it be overcome.

As it was, the mage who had enchanted this door was apparently an extremely powerful mage, considering that not even Miss Longueville, an expert in Earth magic and transmutation in particular, was able to affect the door.

Taking off her glasses, she stared at the door once more. At this point, she heard footsteps coming up the staircase.

She shrunk down her baton and slipped it back into her pocket.

The person who appeared was Colbert.

"Greetings, Miss Longueville. What are you doing here?"

"Mister Colbert, I was going to catalog the contents of the treasury, but…"

"Oh, that's quite some work. It'd probably take you all day to go over each and every item. There's a lot of junk mixed together with them, and it's a rather cramped space they've been arranged in too."

"Indeed."

"Why don't you just borrow the key from Old Osmond?"

The woman smiled.

"Well… I didn't want to disturb his sleep. In any case, I'm in no immediate hurry to complete the catalog…"

"I see. Sleep, you say. That old man, I mean, Old Osmond, is quite a deep sleeper. It seems I shall have to visit him another time."

Mister Colbert began to walk off, but paused in his tracks, and turned around.

"Err… Miss Longueville?"

"Is something the matter?"

Colbert looked slightly embarrassed as he opened his mouth to speak.

"If it would be all right, how would you like to, say… join me for lunch?"

She took a moment to consider, then smiled brightly as she accepted the offer.

"Sure, it would be my pleasure."

The two of them headed down the stairs.

"Hey, Mister Colbert." In slightly informal tones, Miss Longueville struck up conversation again.

"Y-yes? What is it?"

Emboldened by how easily his invitation had been taken up, Colbert responded quite eagerly to her.

"Is anything important actually inside the treasury?"

"There is."

"Then, do you know of the 'Staff of Destruction'?"

"Ah, that is quite a curiously shaped item, indeed."

Her eyes glinted.

"What… kind of shape?"

"It's extremely difficult to describe, except as simply strange, yes. But never mind that, what would you like to eat? Today's menu is flounder baked in herbs… but I'm quite well-acquainted with Marteau the head chef, and I can have him make any of the world's finest delica—"

Miss Longueville interrupted Colbert's babbling.

"I must say, the treasury is quite amazingly built. No matter what kind of magic is tried, it would be impossible to open, I assume?"

"That's quite right. It's impossible for just any one mage. After all, it was devised by a group of Square-class mages to resist all spells."

"I'm very impressed that you're so knowledgeable about this, Mister Colbert."

She regarded him with a comfortable expression.

"Ah? Well… Haha, I just happened to come across a lot of documents pertaining to this floor, that's all… I like to consider it a part of my research, haha. Thanks to that, I'm still single at this age… yes."

"I'm sure the woman that you find will be very happy to be with you. After all, you can teach her so much about things that nobody else knows…" Miss Longueville fixed him with a fascinated look.

"Oh, no! Please don't tease me like that!"

Colbert flustered nervously as he wiped sweat from his balding forehead. Then, regaining composure, he faced her seriously.

"Miss Longueville. Have you heard of the Ball of Frigg that is being held on the day of Yule?"

"No, I haven't."

"Haha, I guess it's because you've only been in Tristain for two months. Well, it's nothing spectacular, just a party of sorts. However, it's said that a couple who dances at this ball will be destined to be together or something like that. It's just a petty legend of course!"

"So?"

Smiling, she pressed him to continue.

"So… if it would be all right, I was wondering if you would dance with me, yes."

"I would love to. While ball parties are fabulous, I'd like to know more about the treasury right now. I'm quite fascinated by magical items, you see."

Wanting to further impress Miss Longueville, Colbert racked his brains.Treasury, treasury, she says…

Remembering something she might find interesting, he put on an important air and started to talk.

"Ah yes, there's one thing I can tell you. Although it's not particularly important…"

"By all means, do tell."

"Certainly, the treasury is invincible against magical attacks, but I believe it might have one fatal weakness."

"Oh, that's intriguing."

"That weakness is… physical force."

"Physical force?"

"Yes! For example, well, not that this is ever likely, but-"

Colbert stated his opinion quite proudly to Miss Longueville. And once he was done talking, she couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.

"That is most intriguing indeed, Mister Colbert."

Chapter Six: Kirche the Ardent

The night time in Tristain was perfect for exploring. With little light pollution coming from the towns and cities, Halkeginia's evening heavens were teeming with stars, which made navigation easier.

Nimbus had not left the academy grounds since his first night after being summoned. There were still many mysteries he wanted to know about the geography and development of the country.

And despite Louise's protest, "A familiar should not go gallivanting around at night!"

Nimbus went to "take in the night air."

The moment he left the room, the blanket that Louise had given him was tossed into the hallway. The door locked behind him with a loud click.

Then, down the hall, the door to Kirche's room opened.

Her salamander Flame crawled out, with its burning tail emitting a warm glow. The two stared at each other. The salamander shuffled closer to Nimbus, who began walking down the hall.

"Flame!"

"Kyurukyuru," it growled comfortingly. It looked harmless before it clamped its jaws on Nimbus' sleeve, shaking its head as if asking him to follow it.

"What's the matter? You want me to follow?" said Nimbus to an insistent Flame, which only pulled harder.

Kirche's room remained open. Is it trying to drag me in there? Indeed it was. What could Kirche want from me? Nimbus stepped into Kirche's room.

The room was pitch dark, save for Flame's mild glow. Kirche's voice commanded from the darkness, "Close the door." Nimbus obliged.

"Welcome to my room."

"It's pretty dark in here."

He heard Kirche snap her fingers. Starting from the one nearest him, lamps lit up one by one towards Kirche like lights floating above a street.

Doused in the mild glow, Kirche sat on her bed, with a look of worry on her face. She was wearing attractive underwear

"Don't just stand there. Come to me," Kirche cooed with her most captivating voice.

Nimbus approached a smiling Kirche, with an expressionless face.

"Sit down."

Nimbus sat by her side as he was told. His expression was blank.

Kirche merely stared at him while slowly waving her fiery red hair. Under the faint lamp light, Kirche's brown skin looked exotic.

Kirche made a long sigh, and worriedly shook her head.

"You must think me a lowly, despicable woman."

"Kirche?"

"To be thought so is inevitable. Do you understand? My runic name is 'Ardent'."

"I know that."

"My lust is as flammable as hay… that's why I suddenly called you here. Don't you get it? Isn't this really bad of me?"

"That is indeed very bad." Nimbus was unsure and just played along.

"But… I'm sure you'll forgive me."

Kirche looked at Nimbus with moist, watery eyes.

"Forgive what?"

Kirche suddenly clasped Nimbus' hand, enveloping them with her warm palms before slowly caressing through every finger.

"Loving you, my dear. To you, my love is that sudden."

He watched her with cold eyes.

"Yeah, that's sudden all right." She must be joking. Despite that thought, Kirche's face looked serious.

"Your grandeur in defeating Guiche was… just… so cool… like a hero of the legends… When I saw you right that moment I was in love. Can you believe it? I was attracted to you just like that! Passion!

"Passion, huh?"

Nimbus just sat there, thinking about how Louise had locked the door earlier and probably wouldn't let him back in if she knew that he was here with Kirche.

Kirche took his silence as acceptance, and slowly, with closed eyes, approached Nimbus with her lips.

However, Nimbus pushed Kirche's shoulders away.

Kirche looked at Nimbus with surprise, as if asking "Why?". Nimbus looked away from her.

"You fall in love too easily." Nimbus said, hitting Kirche's weak point. Her face turned red in an instant.

At that moment, the door flew open.

Wearing her thin pajamas, Louise stood and stared at the two from the doorway.

Kirche mildly eyed Louise, and then embraced Nimbus.

Louise murderously moved towards Nimbus and Kirche, knocking down a few lamps in the process. Louise's hands moved faster than her mouth. More impressively, her legs moved faster than her hands.

"KIRCHE!" Louise howled towards Kirche's general direction. Kirche acted like she just noticed her presence, and slowly removed herself from Nimbus, while waving her hand indignantly.

"Don't you see that we're kind of busy here, Vallière?"

"Zerbst! Whose familiar do you think you're touching?"

Nimbus was at a loss. Louise's violet eyes glimmered with fiery anger.

Kirche raised her hands above her head. Stuck between the two, Nimbus only watched. It seemed that letting the whole situation develop into Kirche kissing him had made Louise extraordinarily angry.

"Come here, Nimbus." Louise stared at her familiar.

"Oh? Louise… he is indeed your familiar, but he has his own will too, don't you think? Please respect his choice." Kirche said at the side.

Louise raised her voice. "By tomorrow he'll be run through by magic from at least ten noblemen! Is that all right with you?!"

"Oh, no problem with that. Didn't you see how good he was in the Vestri Court ?"

Louise flapped her right hand. "Hmph… so his dueling skills are good, but that doesn't matter when he's attacked by fireballs from the back and whirlwinds from the front."

"No problem! I'll protect him!" Kirche gave Nimbus a passionate look.

However, before Kirche could finish her words, Nimbus stood up.

"Aww… are you leaving so soon?" Kirche sadly peered at Nimbus, with her hair spread to her back, and a twinkle in her eyes.

"That's her usual tactic! Don't be fooled by her." Louise tugged Nimbus' hand, and walked out.

Back in her room, she closed the door with a deadly silence, and faced Nimbus. Forcefully biting her lip, she sent him a murderous glare.

"What now?" He asked.

"I almost saw you as a person. Looks like I was wrong." her voice was quivering and anger filled her face.

"You're kidding me, right?" Yeah. Sounds like a lie no matter how I think about it.

"And you went to wag your tail at that Zerbst witch…"

"It wasn't like that at all. Her familiar was following me, he dragged me into Kirches room."

"Dragged you?" Louise interjected. "You were overpowered by Kirche's Salamander? Ha."

"And curiosity got the better of me, you know that I like magical beasts." Nimbus whined

"'Magical breasts'" Louise mumbled under her breath.

Louise sat on a chair, crossing her legs. After fiercely interrogating Nimbus for a while, her mood seemed to slightly improve.

"No matter what, you must not go out with that woman."

"Do you hate her that much?" Nimbus asked.

"First, Kirche isn't a Tristainian; she's a noble from neighboring Germania. Just that makes going out with her completely unacceptable. I hate Germanians."

"How do you expect me to know these things?"

"My house, Vallière, has estates on Germania's borders, so we're the first on the field against Germanians the moment any war starts. Even worse, right opposite to us on that border is Kirche's birthplace." Louise bit down hard on her teeth. "So basically, the Zerbst family is our sworn enemy."

"Plus, that Zerbst constantly slanders Vallière. My great-great-grandfather's fiancé was stolen away because of that."

"Huh?"

"My great-great-grandfather's! His wife was taken away just like that."

"Okay, whatever… So basically, this is all because your family lost a wife to Kirche's family?"

"Not just that. We've lost count of how many family members we've lost from the wars."

"And you think that Kirche is interested in me because I'm your familiar?"

"Yes. And I will not let Kirche steal even a single bird. I'll shame my ancestors if that happens." With that, Louise poured a glass of water, and downed it in one gulp. "That is why Kirche's forbidden."

"Your ancestors have nothing to do with me."

"Yes they do! You're my familiar, right? As long as you eat from the Vallière family, you are to follow my orders."

"Familiar this, familiar that…" Nimbus averted his gaze.

"You have a problem with that?"

"No." Nimbus crossed his legs and started floating upward.

"And I think you should thank me."

"Thank you for what?"

"If the word that my familiar became Kirche's lover gets out, you would be dealing with a lot more than just Guiche."

Nimbus was sitting upside down now. His soft white hair hung freely.

"How are you able to levitate without a wand?"

"It has nothing to do with magic."

"I haven't heard of anyone else who is able to fly without a wand. Besides an elf."

Louise's gaze trailed off.

"My power comes from 'spirit' control and a deep understanding of the martial arts. I can't use magic the way you all do.."

"Ah… I get it now…" Louise nodded in understanding.

"Get what?"

"I'll buy you a sword."

"A sword? What for?"

"You never have enough lives if Kirche has her eyes on you. We brought that on ourselves, so we'll have to take care of it," Louise weakly said.

"Mmm."

Nimbus wanted to explain that a sword would be useless to him but decided to keep playing along.

"What?" Louise stared at Nimbus.

"It's nothing. We can get it."

"Now that you understand, go to sleep. Tomorrow is the Day of Void, so I'll take you shopping."

Oh… so this world has Sundays too, Nimbus thought as he moved towards the hallway.

"Where are you going?"

Without answering Nimbus slowly reached for the door.

Leaping from her chair, Louise jumped in front of the door with her arms spread. Then, she noticed Nimbus' expression. He had what looked like a strange smirk floating on his face.

"Huh!"

"I was just grabbing my blanket from the hallway."

Louise's face flushed. As if she was going to smack Nimbus' cheek, she struggled to hold her hand back, glaring at Nimbus as he dove under the blanket and wrapped himself in it.

He looked at the inscriptions in his left hand.

Chapter Seven: Tristain's Arms Dealer

Kirche woke up before is the Day of got up and began putting on makeup, while excitedly plotting how she should seduce Nimbus today. Kirche was a born hunter.

When she was done, she left the room and knocked on Louise's door. She rested her chin on one hand, hiding her will open the door, and I'll immediately embrace and kiss him. Oh… what will Louise do when she sees that…Kirche thought.

And then, right… I can try to eye him outside the room, and maybe he'll approach me himself.The thought of rejection never entered her mind.

However there was no answer after she had knocked. She tried to open the door but it was locked. Without a second thought, she used an unlocking spell on Louise's door, and was rewarded with a click. In reality, unlocking spells were forbidden on campus, but Kirche didn't care.

The room was empty. The two weren't there.

Kirche looked around the room. "Still the same… a tasteless room."

Louise's backpack wasn't there. Adding that fact with the Day of Void meant they had gone out somewhere. Kirche looked out the window and saw two people on horseback, ready to depart; it was Nimbus and Louise.

"What? Going out, huh?" Kirche mumbled in annoyance.

After thinking for a while, she quickly left Louise's room.

Tabitha was in her room, deep in her sea of books. Under her light blue hair and glasses were bright blue eyes that sparkled like the ocean.

Tabitha looked four or five years younger than she actually was. She was even a bit shorter than the already short Louise, and her body was quite slim. However, she didn't care about these things. She was a girl that would rather not care about what people thought of her.

Tabitha loved Days of Void. They're when she could sink into her favorite worlds. In her eyes, everyone else was an intruder in her own little world, giving a melancholic feel to her.

Before long, strong knocks rocked her door. Without standing up, Tabitha simply picked up and waved her staff, which seemed to exceed her height.

She cast "Spell of Tranquility", a wind-type spell. Tabitha was a mage of the wind affinity. "Spell of Tranquility" effectively blocked out those distracting door knocks.

Satisfied, she returned to her reading, her expression remaining unchanged throughout the encounter.

Then somebody forcefully broke the door open. Noticing the intruder, Tabitha moved her eyes from her book. It was Kirche. She began babbling about something, but with the silencing magic, none of her words reached Tabitha.

Kirche took away Tabitha's book, and then grabbed the little reader's shoulders to make her look at her. Tabitha blankly looked at Kirche, her face unreadable. However, one could see that she had an unwelcoming gaze.

But Kirche was Tabitha's friend. She would have blown anyone else away with a cyclone. Seeing no other way, Tabitha canceled her magic. As if a lock was opened, Kirche's voice instantly emerged. "Tabitha! Get ready, we're going out!"

Tabitha only softly explained to her friend, "Day of Void." That explanation was enough for Tabitha, who attempted to take her book back from Kirche's grasp. Kirche stood up and raised the book high in the air, their height difference barring Tabitha from the book.

"Yes, I know how Days of Void are important to you, I really do. But now's not the time for this talk! I'm in love! It's love! Do you get it now?"

She didn't, and shook her head.

Kirche was propelled by her emotions, but Tabitha was a calm and collected thinker. One can only wonder how such polarized people could be such good friends.

"Right… you won't move until I explain. Geez… I. AM. IN. LOVE! But that lad is going out with that damn annoying Louise today! I want to go after them, and find out where they're going! Do you get itnow?" Tabitha still didn't, because she still didn't know why that mattered to her.

"They just left! On horseback! I can't catch up without your familiar, you know? Please help me at least with that!" Kirche started crying.

Tabitha finally nodded.So that's why… you need my familiar to catch up.

"Oh thank you so much… so… let's hurry up!" Tabitha nodded again. Kirche was her friend, and she couldn't help it if her friends had their problems that they couldn't take care of themselves. It was a bit annoying, but she didn't have a choice. She opened her window, and whistled. The sound of the whistle rang in the azure sky for a moment. She then jumped out of the window.

Those who did not know her would have found it weird, if not alarming. Kirche, however, followed close after Tabitha and jumped out the window without a thought. Just a note — Tabitha's room was on the fifth floor. She tended to forego the door altogether when she had to go outside since jumping out the window was far quicker for her.

Strong and tough wings spread out to the wind. Then, a wind dragon flew into the air and received its two passengers.

"Your Sylphid is still so awesome no matter how many times I see it!" Kirche grabbed a protruding spine and sighed in admiration. That's right — Tabitha's familiar is an adolescent wind dragon.

The dragon, which got the name of the "Fairies of the Air" from Tabitha, swiftly and perfectly caught the upward draft around the tower, and reached 200 meters in the air in the blink of an eye.

"Where?" Tabitha succinctly asked Kirche.

Kirche immediately cried, "I don't know… I was panicking."

Tabitha didn't mind and commanded her wind dragon, "Two people on horseback. Don't eat them." Her dragon made a short grunt, showing understanding. Its blue scales glittered, and its wings flapped strongly to the wind. It flew high in the air, scouring the ground for a horse; a simple task for a wind dragon.

Satisfied that her familiar was doing its job, Tabitha snatched her book back from Kirche's hands, leaned back against the dragon, and started reading again.

Meanwhile, Nimbus and Louise walked briskly on Tristain's city streets, having deposited their campus-loaned horse at the city gate's stables.

A journey that Nimbus had previously undergone by flying, had dragged on as a 3 hour horseback ride.

Despite the hassle, Nimbus curiously looked was his first time seeing the city in broad daylight.

White cobblestone roads…

Compared to the Academy, there were far more people in common garb here. On the street side were vendors selling fruit and meat.

Nimbus' love for exotic places momentarily rose. This was a weird world. There were people briskly walking and people frantically running. Males and females of all ages walked the streets.

"Bourdonné Street, Tristain's widest avenue.

The palace is straight ahead." Louise pointed.

"Can we go to the palace, then?"

"What business do we have visiting Her Majesty The Queen?"

"I want to ask her to increase my portion of food."

Louise laughed.

The streets were filled with shops. Nimbus, full of curiosity, could not take his eyes off them. When he looked at one weird-shaped mushroom in a jar on a trader's mat, Louise pulled him by the ear. "Hey, don't walk around corners. There are lots of thieves and pickpockets here. Youarelooking after my wallet in your jacket, right?"

Louise said wallets are for servants to carry, and mercilessly gave that duty to Nimbus. The wallet was heavily filled with gold coins.

"I am… I am… very carefully, too. How can anyone steal something that heavy?"

"With magic, that can be done in a second."

But there was nobody around that looked like a mage. Nimbus learned how to discern between commoners and mages in the Academy. Mages always had capes on, and they looked really arrogant when they walked. According to Louise, that was a noble's walking stance.

"Aren't they all commoners?"

"Of course. Nobles only take up ten percent of the population, and there's no way they will walk in slums like these."

"Why would nobles steal?"

"All nobles are mages, but not all mages are nobles. If for whatever reason a noble is disowned from their family, left the family name on his or her own accord, dropped status to be a mercenary or a criminal…"

"Oh, okay, I understand. So, where's the blacksmith's shop?"

"Over here. They don't just sell swords though."

Louise walked down a narrow road.

"A little tight here."

"I told you nobles don't come here that often."

At the fourth intersection, Louise stopped and looked around.

"Should be near Peyman's Potion Shop… I remember it's around here somewhere…"

She saw a bronze sign and happily cried, "Ah! Found it!"

A sword-shaped sign dangled under it. It looked like this was the arms dealer's shop. Louise and Nimbus walked up the stone stops, opened the door, and entered the shop.

Despite the bright daylight outside, the shop was a bit dark inside. A gas lamp flickered. The walls and shelves were filled with unorganized weapons. A detailed suit of armor decorated the room. A man in his fifties smoking a pipe eyed Louise suspiciously. That is, until he saw the pentagram on her golden button. He removed his pipe and said, "My lady! My noble lady! All of my wares here are real and reasonably priced! There's nothing criminal here!"

"I'll be your customer."

"Oh… that's rather weird… a noble buying a sword! Quite strange."

"Why is that?"

"Well… priests wave sacred staffs, soldiers wave swords, and nobles wave wands. Isn't that the rule?"

"Oh, I'm not the one using it. My familiar is."

"Ahh… a human familiar, huh?" The shopkeeper spoke in a lively voice, and looked at Nimbus. "I believe that would be this gentleman over there?"

Louise nodded. By this time, Nimbus had already been intrigued by the shop's vast collection of trinkets, periodically making cries of "cool!" and "this is neat!".

Louise ignored Nimbus and continued, "I'm not very knowledgeable about swords, so please show me anything that is reasonable."

The shopkeeper jubilantly walked into his warehouse, silently rambling, "Oh, this is too great… I can raise the prices so high with this…" Shortly afterwards, he returned with a longsword of about a meter in length. It was a very exquisitely decorated sword. It looked like one could swing it with just one hand. There was even a hand guard on the short handle.

The shopkeeper said as though he just thought of something, "Speaking of which, it seems that nobles like to let their servants bear swords lately. The last time any of them came to pick one from me, they picked this type."

I see… a shiny, glittering sword. Very well-suited for a noble,thought Louise.

"Is that the trend?" Louise asked. The shopkeeper naturally nodded.

"That's right. It seems that there's an increase of thievery on Tristain's city streets lately…"

"Thievery?"

"Yes. Some mage thief that calls himself something like 'Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt,' and I heard he stole a lot of treasures from the nobles. Those nobles are getting really rattled, so they're arming their servants with swords."

Louise had no interest in thieves and focused on the sword instead. Nimbus should definitely be able to wield a sword that is a lot bigger.

"I'd prefer something bigger and broader."

"My lady, please forgive my bluntness — swords and people have compatibilities, just like men and women. As I look at it, this sword fits my noble lady's familiar very well."

"Didn't I say I want something bigger and broader?" said Louise, impatiently lowering her head. The shopkeeper went inside again, remembering to silently mumble. After a while, he returned, one hand rubbing the new specimen with an oily rag.

"What about this one?" It was a splendid broadsword of around a meter and a half in length. The handle was made for two-handed wielding and was lavishly decorated with jewels. A mirror-like blade reflected light with an irresistible glow. Anyone could look at it and say it was a very sharp and broad blade.

"This is the best thing I have. Rather than say it's for nobles, it's more like something nobleswishthey can wear on their waists, but that's something reserved for very strong men. If not, wearing it on the back isn't half bad."

I guess this one's fine…Louise thought, glancing at Nimbus.

"How much?" she asked.

"Well… it's made by the famous Germanian smith-alchemist Lord Shupei. It can cut through metal like butter because of the magic infused in it! See this inscription here?" The shopkeeper proudly pointed at the words on the handle. "You can't get this cheaper anywhere else."

At that, the shopkeeper bluntly gave the price, "Two thousand écus, or three thousand new gold coins."

"What?! You can buy a holiday home with a garden with that!" Louise said, shocked.

Nimbus, with no idea of the currency's value, stood dumbly.

"A famous sword is worth as much as a castle, my lady. A holiday home is quite cheap compared to this."

"…I only brought a hundred new gold coins…" Louise had little skill in bargaining, and made the taboo of giving away her wallet's contents. The shopkeeper only waved his hand dismissively. "Come on… even standard broadswords cost at least two hundred new gold coins." Louise's face turned red.I didn't even know swords cost that much.

"We'll have to go for something more affordable."

"Don't sound so desolate, miss."

Louise and Nimbus looked towards the sound. The shopkeeper held his hands to his head.

"Him? Wieldthatsword? Don't make me laugh. That silly toy would only become a hindrance!"

"Huh?" Nimbus looked for the owner of the commenter, but there's not a single being in that sound's direction. It was just a pile of swords.

"Hey, you! That noble girl over there!"

"How impolite of you!"

Nimbus slowly approached the sound.

"What… there's nobody here!"

"Are your eyes there just for decoration?"

Nimbus looked behind ? It's actually a sword that's saying it. It came from a rusty, old sword. "A talking sword!" Nimbus exclaimed.

The shopkeeper suddenly yelled angrily, "Derf! Do not say such impolite things to my customers!"

"Derf?" Nimbus carefully inspected the sword. It was the same length as that huge broadsword, though its blade was slightly less broad. It was a thin longsword, although its surface was coated with rust.

"Customer? You've got to be kidding me."

"Could it be… that this is a sentient sword?" asked Louise.

"That's right, lady. It's a sentient, magical, intelligent sword. I wonder what kind of mage could make a sword speak… but its got a rotten tongue, always arguing with my customers. Hey, Derf! Keep up the insolence and I'll ask this noble here to melt you!"

"Sounds good to me! I'd like to see you try it! I'm kinda tired of this world. I'd love to be melted down!"

"Fine! Then I'll melt you down!" The shopkeeper approached. But Nimbus stopped him.

"That's just too wasteful… isn't a speaking sword rather meaningful?" Nimbus stared at it. "You're called Derf, right?"

"Wrong! It's Derflinger! Remember that!"

"Just like a person, it even has a real name." Nimbus muttered.

"My name is Nimbuscloud Kush. It's nice to meet you."

The sword fell silent, and it seemed to closely observe Nimbus. After a while, it silently spoke. "So you came…"

"Do i know you?"

"Hmm… you don't even know your true powers, huh? What… oh well! Buy me, my friend!"

"All right. I'll buy you," said Nimbus. The sword went silent again.

"Louise, I'll take this."

Louise reluctantly said, "Oh… you wantthisthing? You can't pick anything prettier thatdoesn'ttalk?"

"You don't like this one? I think a speaking sword's pretty cool."

"See… that's why I don't like it." Louise complained. But she didn't have enough for anything else, so she asked the shopkeeper, "how much for this one?"

"Eh… one hundred will do." He waved his hand dismissively.

Nimbus took out Louise's wallet from his jacket pocket, and poured its contents onto the counter. One by one, gold coins dropped onto the wooden surface. After careful counting, the shopkeeper finally nodded.

"Thank you for your business!" the shopkeeper said as he sheathed the sword and gave it to Nimbus.

"If it gets noisy, just shove it back in the scabbard, and it'll shut up."

Nimbus nodded, and received Derflinger.

"I remembered!" Derf suddenly became excited.

"What do you remember?" Nimbus asked the sword.

"Gundalf!"

"What?"

"It's so nostalgic. I could cry. Right, no, that's what I was missing. My partner!"

Nimbus felt what was like the beating of a heart pulsing out of the hilt that he held in his left hand.

"I'm glad! Now no one can ignore me! I will show how cool I am!" Derflinger shouted as its blade started to shine.

"Derflinger?" Nimbus was taken aback for a moment as everyone watched Derflinger in astonishment.

The light coming out of Derflinger intensified. The energy radiating from the swords' metal body condensed into a vibrant crystal blade.

"This is my true form! Partner! I forgot it! My tired body changed itself! Anyhow, it's a pretty interesting story, partner!"

Suddenly the crystals surrounding the sword vanished as quickly as they had materialized and Derflinger was left in a non-rusted, metal state.

"I forgot." Derf voiced with chagrin.

"That was a neat trick. You are full of surprises Derflinger" Nimbus sheathed the sword across his back.

Two figures watched Louise and Nimbus leave the weapons shop — Kirche and Tabitha. Kirche watched the two from the shadows of the streets, fiercely biting her lip.

"Louise the Zero… trying to warm your relationship with Nimbus with a sword, huh? Striking out with gifts so quickly after finding out he's my prey? What the heck?" Kirche stamped the ground in anger. Tabitha, her job done, was reading as usual. Sylphid circled around the skies above them. They had followed the two here soon after they'd spotted them.

Kirche waited for them to walk far away, and immediately ran into the weapons shop. The shopkeeper stared at Kirche as if he couldn't believe it. "Whoa… another noble? What the hell is going on today?"

"Hey there, sir…" Kirche played with her hair, a charming smile in her lips. The shopkeeper's face turned deep red under the sudden seduction.

"Do you happen to know what that noble bought not long ago?"

"Yes… she bought a sword."

"I see… so shedidget him a sword… what kind of sword?"

"Oh! A dirty and rusty one."

"Rusty? Why?"

"Because she didn't bring enough money."

Kirche laughed, her hand to her chin. "She went broke! Vallière! Your Duke's house will cry for this!"

"Uh… is my lady here to buy a sword, too?"

The shopkeeper perked up, not willing to let go of the noble looks racked and rich compared to that other one.

"Hmm… show me your best."

The man walked inside, brushing his hands in excitement. He returned, of course, with the broadsword he just showed to Nimbus.

"Ahh… a very well-made sword!"

"You have a good eye, my lady. That noble not so long ago had a servant that really wanted this one, but it's too much for them."

"Is that so?"The noble servant? So Nimbus wants this!

"Of course… this swordismade by the famous Germanian alchemist Lord Shupei after all. It can cut through metal like butter because of the magic infused in it! See this inscription here?" The shopkeeper repeated what he had said before.

Kirche nodded. "How much?"

The shopkeeper asked for more, "Hmm… for new gold coins, four thousand five hundred."

"Hmm… that's a bit pricey." Kirche frowned.

"Well… A great sword needs to be paid for its worth, you know?"

Kirche thought for a while, slowly moving her body towards the shopkeeper. "Sir … isn't this just a bit expensive?" Upon being caressed at the throat, the salesman suddenly lost his breath. Temptations hit his mind.

"Uh… but… great swords are…"

Kirche sat on the counter, raising her left thigh. "Isn't the price a bittoo high?" She slowly raised her left foot onto the counter. The salesman's eyes irresistibly stared at her thighs.

"Then… four thousand new gold…"

Kirche raised her thigh further so that he couldalmostsee in between them.

"Ah… no no no, three thousand would do…"

"It's getting hot in here…" Kirche ignored him, only opening her shirt's buttons and exposing her cleavage. "I feel really hot in here. Help me take off my shirt, please…" She threw her most attractive expression at him.

"Ah… I can give you a discount."

Kirche stopped with her buttons, and turned her attention to her skirt instead, raising it just so little.

"How does a thousand sound?" she suggested, slowly lifting her skirt more. He looked like he was about to hyperventilate.

And then she stopped.

"Oh! A thousand will be fine!"

Kirche stepped down from the counter, quickly wrote a check, and slapped it on the counter. "Bought!" She then picked up the sword and left the shop, leaving the salesman to stare at her check.

After a moment, he suddenly regained consciousness, holding his head. "DAMMIT! I SOLD THAT BABY FOR JUST ONE THOUSAND?!" He took a bottle of liquor from his cabinet.

Chapter Eight: Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt

In Tristain, there was a mage thief by the name of "The Crumbling Dirt," who had every noble in the country cowering in fear. This one's full name was Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt.

When Fouquet heard that a noble in the North had a jeweled crown, they would go all the way there to steal it. When Fouquet heard that a noble in the South had a staff bestowed by the king as a family treasure, they broke through walls to steal it. In the East, none of the best pearl rings by the artisans of the White Islands remained in any mansion. Fouquet also eagerly took possession of a priceless bottle of well-aged wine from a winery in the West. The thief was everywhere.

Fouquet's tactics range from stealthy infiltration to outright breaking in. The national bank had been attacked in broad daylight, and houses were silently frequented in the depth of night. In any case, Fouquet's tactics simply left the royal mage guards in the dust.

Fouquet was identified only by the use of alchemy to enter targeted rooms, turning doors and walls to dirt and sand, then walking through the gaping holes. The nobles were not stupid, of course; they had tried to magically "solidify" everything around their treasure in an attempt to stop the alchemy, but Fouquet's magic was simply too strong, nullifying everything, fortified or not, into dirt.

If Fouquet decided on breaking the way in, a 30 meter tall dirt golem was used. Tossing aside mage guards and shattering castle walls, it let him boldly take prizes in broad daylight.

No one had ever seen Fouquet's appearance up close. Nobody even knew for sure whether he was a man or a woman. All they knew is that Fouquet was an earth mage of at least Triangle class, that they left insulting notes, such as "I got your treasure. –Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt" at every robbery scene, and that they preferred treasures and artifacts of great magical power.

Two huge moons shone down on the walls outside the fifth floor of the Academy of Magic, which encased a treasure room. The light stretched out a shadow, standing straight against the walls. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt.

Fouquet's green, long hair moved with the wind, and Fouquet briskly stood, openly showing the figure that strikes fear in all the nobles of the country.

Pressing a foot against the wall, Fouquet felt the wall's power and could not help but admire main tower of the Academy is as strong as it looks… is a physical attack really its only weakness? I can't break through something this thick without attracting was not hard for an expert in earth magic like Fouquet to check a wall's thickness with their feet, but breaking a wall was completely looks like they used only hardening spells on it, but I can't even break this with a golem. It's got a very strong hardening spell… my alchemy won't do much.

"Damn it… and I already got this far." The thief's teeth grit in frustration. "I'm not leaving the Staff of Destruction, no matter what." Fouquet crossed his arms and went into deep concentration.

Meanwhile, as Fouquet thought in annoyance about the wall, Louise's room was in chaos.

Louise and Kirche glared at each other in anger, while Nimbus, sitting on his blanket, cheerfully supervised the two. Tabitha nonchalantly read on Louise's bed.

Louise had her arms on her waist. "What is the meaning of this, Zerbst?" She glared at her rival.

Kirche watched Nimbus with admiration. "I told you, I got what Nimbus really deserves, so I came here to give it to him."

"Ah, that's a shame. I already got my familiar's ideal weapon. Right, Nimbus?"

He unsheathed the sword and stared at it. When he first held Derf, the inscriptions in his left hand glowed, and the sword become lighter than a feather. He wanted to know more about the transformation that had occurred, about the bright light.

But all he could think about at the moment were the two arguing in front of him.

"Jealous words are quite unmannerly, Vallière!" Kirche trumpeted triumphantly.

"Jealous? Who's jealous?"

"Aren't you? I, Kirche, easily got Nimbus' most outstanding sword as a gift. You can't say you're not jealous, can you?"

"Jealous, my arse! That aside, I will not accept even a tiny little bit of generosity from a Zerbst! That's all there is!"

Kirche looked at Nimbus, who ogled absentmindedly at the two girls.

"This sword is created by Germania's very own alchemist Lord Shupei!" Kirche threw a seductive glare to Nimbus. "You listen here… all that is good under the sun, let it be swords or women, can only come from Germania! Tristainian women, like Louise, are all extremely jealous, impatient, miserly, and snobbish, and nothing can change them!"

Louise glared at Kirche.

"What? I'm just telling the truth."

"Oh… how… amusing. Women like you are all romantic-minded idiots! Did you hook up with too many guys back in Germania, making nobody trust you, and ending up dropping out and running all the way over here to Tristain?" retorted Louise with a cold, uncompromising laugh, interspersed with angry shivers.

"You have guts, Vallière…" Kirche's face darkened.

"What? I'm just telling the truth," added Louise victoriously,

They simultaneously brandished their wands.

Tabitha flicked her staff even faster than the two, blowing their wands away in a gust.

"Indoors," she simply announced.

Probably meaning it's dangerous to fight in here.

Louise angrily muttered, "And who is this? She has been sitting on my bed since—"

"She's my friend," countered Kirche.

"And why is your friend in my room?"

Kirche stared. "Is that a problem?"

"Hmmph."

Nimbus tried to talk with Tabitha, but she never replied, only quietly reading her book, as if conversations were really inconvenient.

Meanwhile, Louise and Kirche still glared at each other.

Kirche looked away, "Well… let's have Nimbus decide."

"Me? Decide?" Nimbus immediately felt distressed for being singled out.

"Right. This is about your choice of swords." Louise also looked at him.

Suddenly Nimbus felt worse.

He looked at Louise, who glared at him.It just feels like I'm picking between the two of them and not the sword.

"Well? Which is it?" Kirche and Louise both stared at him.

"Uh, well… can I have both?" He was knocked on his back by a combined kick, hurling him off his blanket.

"Hey." Kirche turned to Louise.

"What?"

"Guess it's time to get this over with."

"Hmm… you're right."

"I really hate you, you know?"

"Same to you."

"We think quite alike." Kirche smiled and raised a brow.

Louise, too, defiantly stuck her chin up.

"Let's duel!" They shouted in unison.

"Geez… you don't have to…" Nimbus was embarrassed. The two glared at each other as if they did not hear him.

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

Louise bit her lower lip, and nodded. "Fine. Location?"

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

Louise lowered her head.Am I sure? Of course… not.But it was a challenge from a Zerbst, so she had to take it. "Of course! I will not lose to you!"

Meanwhile, standing on the walls of the central academy tower, Fouquet felt footsteps. He jumped off towards the ground, and just as Fouquet reached it, he whispered "Spell of Levitation," landing like a feather, absorbing his momentum. Fouquet then disappeared into the courtyard bushes.

Entering the courtyard were Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and Nimbus.

"All right, let's begin." Kirche announced.

"Are you guys really going to duel?" Nimbus anxiously asked.

"Yes, we are." Louise confidently answered.

"Isn't it a bit… dangerous? Let's just stop here and let it go, shall we?"

"Like you did with Guiche?" Louise shot Nimbus a glare.

Tabitha approached Kirche, and whispered something in her ear. Then she pointed at Nimbus.

"Hmm… now that's a good idea!" Kirche grinned.

Then, Kirche whispered something to Louise.

"Ah… not bad." Louise nodded.

And they both looked at Nimbus. He suddenly had a bad feeling about it.

"Hey… are you guys serious?" begged Nimbus, but nobody cared.

He was hung in midair by a rope from the main tower.Yep… I should have just picked a girl and been done with it.On the ground he could see the silhouettes of Kirche and Louise. Despite it being the middle of the night, the two moons made for clear vision. He could even see Tabitha on her wind dragon. It held two swords in its mouth.

The two moons shone warmly on Nimbus.

Kirche and Louise looked upon him, dangling upside down in mid air.

Kirche rolled up her fists. "Here's how we do it… the first to cut off the rope and let Nimbus down wins. Then the winner's sword goes to Nimbus. Sounds good?"

"Got it." Louise nodded, her face blank.

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

"All right."

"Okay… good luck."

Louise brandished her wand. In the air, Tabitha began to shake the rope, wobbling Nimbus left and right. Spells like "fireball" have high accuracy rates, and as long as the target doesn't move it can hit it. However, Louise had more than that to worry about – she had to make the spell work in the first place.

Louise thought hard.What would work? Wind? Fire? Fire spells work the best here…and here Louise remembered that that is exactly what Kirche is good at.

Kirche's fireballs will cut that rope easily. I can't fail this one.

She picked fireballs anyway. Aiming a small one at the target, she recited the short spell. If she failed, Nimbus would get Kirche's sword, and to someone esteemed like Louise, this would be completely unacceptable. She finished reciting, and with her utmost concentration, flicked her wand. If it worked, a fireball would come out of the tip.

But nothing came out of the wand. The next moment, the wall behind Nimbus exploded.

"What the hell?" The explosion startled him. I couldn't sense that blast coming.

The rope remained intact. If she thought she could use the shock wave to break the rope, she wasn't thinking. A large crack appeared on the wall.

Kirche collapsed in laughter. "ZERO! ZERO LOUISE! You broke the wall instead of the rope! Now that'stalent!"

Louise looked down.

"Really, I've got to ask you… what the heck did you do to make it blow up like that?! Oh god… my sides hurt…"

Louise frustratingly held her fists and knelt to the ground.

"Next is my turn." Kirche aimed at the rope like a hunter would its prey. Tabitha was shaking the rope, so it was tough aiming. Despite that, Kirche kept a brisk, easy smile. Chanting a short spell, Kirche waved her wand born out of habit; fire spells were her specialty, after all.

From her wand appeared a melon-sized fireball, which flew towards Nimbus striking the rope, and burned it loose in an instant.

Nimbus began to fall, but by swiftly engaging his ki, he spun himself vertical, and descended slowly to the ground.

"I win, Vallière!" Kirche announced in earnest.

Louise sat down, pulling on the grass with her hands in despair.

Meanwhile, Fouquet watched them from the bushes. The thief saw the crack on the walls from Louise's blast.What kind of magic is that? She asked for a fireball spell, but nothing came out of her wand, and the wall blew up. I've never heard of a spell that can make things explode like this.Fouquet shook his head.More importantly, I can't let go of this chance.Fouquet started chanting a long spell, waving his wand at the ground. When finished, a mild smile formed on his face. Following Fouquet's voice, a bulge formed on the ground. Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt was showing his talent.

"What a shame, Vallière!" Kirche laughed.

Her battle lost, Louise reluctantly and gloomily slacked her shoulders. Nimbus watched her, a complicated emotion on his face.

Kirche smiled, "Oh, I should probably untie you now!"

Right then, Kirche felt something behind her. She turned around. She couldn't believe her eyes. "What… what the heck is this?!" Her jaw dropped. What she saw was a huge earth golem moving towards them.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!" Kirche ran away screaming.

"What the hell is that? It's huge!" Nimbus shouted.

Louise recovered her senses and ran towards him.

"Hey… why are you tied up like this?!"

"Wasn't that your idea?"

Above them, the golem raised its foot.

"Dammit… this rope…" Louise tried in vain to untie the knots.

The golem's foot descended. Nimbus ignited his ki.

In an instant, all of the ropes burst into flames and disintegrated. He reached down and pulled Louise out from under the foot with only inches to spare, before it came down crushing everything under it in a heartbeat.

Hanging from Nimbus' arms, Louise watched the golem.

"What is that thing Louise?"

"I'm not sure… but it's one gigantic earth golem! Somebody must have summoned that!"

"Something that big?!"

"…whoever summoned this must be at least a Triangle-level mage."

Nimbus perked up, and thought of Louise, who tried to untie him despite her danger. "That aside… why didn't you run?"

"No respectable master would desert her familiar like that," she answered frankly.

Nimbus watched her quietly. For some reason, he found her quite attractive… just now.

Fouquet, standing on the golem's shoulder, smiled and paid no attention to Nimbus or Kirche escaping. A dark cape covered him from head to toe so they could not make out his face. Fouquet transformed the golem fist to a metallic composition, and ordered it to punch the wall. A dull thump sounded as the metallic fist hit in the wall, collapsing it. Under the dark cape, Fouquet smirked.

The golem transported Fouquet in with its hand, and the thief entered through the hole and into the treasure vault. It stored valuables of every kind, but Fouquet had only one target.

The Staff of Destruction.

A row of staves of many sorts hung on the wall, but one came to Fouquet as completely unlike a staff. It was a meter long, and made with a sort of metal that he had never seen before. He looked at the metal plate right under it, reading, "Staff of Destruction, do not remove." His smile grew to a grin.

Fouquet picked up the Staff of Destruction, and was shocked by its what is this thing made of?He had no time to ponder and ran back onto the golem's shoulder.

Fouquet burned a message onto the wall before leaving: "I have the Staff of Destruction. – Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt."

With its caped summoner sitting on its shoulder, the golem leaped over the Academy walls, landed with a huge thud, and moved toward the grasslands and beyond.

Above the golem, Tabitha's wind dragon and Nimbus circled around. Tabitha, sitting on the wind dragon, waved her staff, signaling Nimbus and Louise onto the dragon's back.

"Thank you," he said to Tabitha in gratitude.

Her face remained blank, only nodding in acceptance.

Nimbus watched the gigantic earth golem, and asked Louise, "That mage… broke the wall. But what for?"

"The treasure vault," Tabitha answered.

"He was holding something when it came out of that hole."

"It was a thief. But… that was quite bold."

They watched as the giant golem suddenly crumbled in mid-run, into a large mound of dirt.

They descended to the ground.

Brightly illuminated by the moons, there was nothing else besides the mountain of dirt.

Just like that, the summoning mage had disappeared into the night.

Chapter Nine: The Staff of Destruction

The next morning…

At the Tristain Academy of Magic, there was much commotion from the last night's events, just as though a wasp's nest had been stirred.

Why? Because the Staff of Destruction had been stolen.

And it was brazenly stolen by using an earth golem to break through the wall of the vault.

The teachers of the Academy of Magic who gathered inside the vault were speechless when they saw the gaping hole in the wall.

The inscription on the wall etched by Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt said it all:

[I have the Staff of Destruction. – Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt.]

At this point in time, all the teachers at the academy could do was gripe and whine.

"It's that thief who had looted the nobles clean, Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt! How daring of him to target the academy!"

"What were the guards doing?"

"Even if the guards are around, they're useless! They're only commoners! Speaking of which, which noble was supposed to be on duty last night?"

Mrs. Chevreuse felt anxious. She was supposed to be on duty last night. But who would steal from the academy? she thought while sleeping soundly in her own room instead of being next to the vault door like all nobles on watch duty must do.

One of the teachers immediately pointed out and said, "Mrs. Chevreuse! You were supposed to be on duty last night! Am I right?"

Mrs. Chevreuse broke into tears, "I'm very sorry… Very sorry…"

"Even if you cried your heart out, would it come back? Or are you going to pay for it?" Mrs. Chevreuse knelt down on the floor and wept.

Just then, Old Osman arrived. "Erm… This is not the best time to be hard on the ladies, right?"

The fellow teacher who reprimanded Mrs. Chevreuse retorted, "But Osman, Mrs. Chevreuse failed in her duty! She was sleeping soundly in her bed when she was supposed to be on watch!"

Old Osman gently stroke his long beard while looking at the very shaken and stirred teacher.

"Erm… What's your name again?"

"It's Gimli! Have you forgotten?"

"Oh, right! Gimli! Well, Mr. Gimli, don't get angry. Honestly speaking, how many of you here can say that you're always vigilant throughout your tour of duty?" Old Osman replied.

The teachers looked at each other and hung their heads in shame. There was silence.

"Well, that's the situation that we're in now. Talking about responsibility, I think all of us, including myself, have to be held accountable for this incident. Why did we think that a thief could never infiltrate the academy? Is it because of the number of mages we have in the academy here that gives us the assurance that we won't be attacked? This type of thinking is wrong from the beginning."

Old Osman gazed at the hole in the wall and continued, "It's our complacency that has gave Fouquet the courage to trespass, and steal the Staff of Destruction. We're all at fault."

Mrs. Chevreuse looked upon Old Osman with gratitude and said, "Oh! Mr. Osman! Thank you for your benevolence."

Old Osman, not wanting to put the blame on anybody, decided that was the best way to loosen the uptight atmosphere. After that he proceeded to clear his throat, with everybody remaining solemn waiting for him to speak.

"Well then, who were the ones who witnessed the theft?" Osman asked.

"It was these three," said Mr. Colbert while pointing to the three people behind him.

It was Louise, Kirche and Tabitha. Nimbus was also present but due to the fact that he was a familiar, he wasn't counted as a "person".

"Oh… It's you guys…" Osman said as he looked at Nimbus with great interest.

Nimbus did not know why he was being stared at, but remained courteous nonetheless.

"Please tell us about the event in depth."

Louise stepped forward and described what she saw. "Mm… A great clay golem appeared and broke the wall. The hooded magician standing on its shoulder went in and took something… I think it most probably was the Staff of Destruction… After that the hooded mage rode on the golem and escaped beyond the school walls… The golem became a big mound of earth in the end."

"After that, what happened?"

"Later, all we saw was a mound of earth, with no sign of the hooded mage."

"So… that is what happened…" Osman said while stroking his beard.

"Even though we wanted to carry on the chase, without any leads we couldn't. So…"

At this point in time Old Osman suddenly remembered a question to ask Mr. Colbert, "Ah, Where is Miss Longueville?"

"I'm not sure, I haven't seen her since morning."

"Where could she have gone to during these trying times?"

"That's right, where could she be?"

In the midst of those mutterings, Miss Longueville finally appeared.

"Miss Longueville! Where have you been? Something terrible has happened!" said Mr. Colbert anxiously.

Miss Longueville spoke to Old Osman in a very cool and calm manner. "I'm extremely sorry to be late! I was doing some investigations. So…"

"Investigations?"

"Yes. When I woke up this morning there was already a lot of commotion happening, so then I went to the vault and saw the inscription on the wall made by Fouquet. I knew that the thief infamous throughout the land had struck again. Therefore, I immediately started investigations."

"You're really very efficient, Miss Longueville."

Mr. Colbert then asked again in an urgent manner, "But in the end, did you find out anything?"

"Yes, I have gotten a lead on the whereabouts of Fouquet."

"What!?" Mr. Colbert spoke with amazement.

"Where did you get this information from Miss Longueville?"

"According to the commoners around the area, they saw what seemed to be like a person wearing a black-hooded cloak entering an abandoned house in the nearby forest. I think that the person is most probably Fouquet and that abandoned house is most probably his hideout."

Louise upon hearing that exclaimed, "A black hooded cloak? Unmistakable, that must be Fouquet!"

Old Osman too got psyched up and asked Miss Longueville, "How far is it from here?"

"By foot it takes half a day, by horse it should only take four hours."

"We must report this to the Imperial Court right away! We must seek reinforcements from the imperial army!" Mr. Colbert shouted yet again.

Old Osman shook his head and stared at Colbert, and with a vigor unfitting for an old man shouted, "You fool! By the time we report this to the imperial court, Fouquet would have gotten away scot-free! Besides, if we can't even handle such a small problem on our own, we're not fit to be called nobles! Since the staff was stolen from the academy, then it's the academy's responsibility to get back the staff ourselves!"

Miss Longueville smiled, as though she was waiting for this answer all along.

Old Osman coughed for a while, and then started recruiting volunteers. "Now, we're going to organize a search team to find Fouquet. Those willing to join, please raise up your wands."

All of the nobles looked at each other awkwardly, not one raising a wand.

"No one? That's peculiar. No one wants to be known as the hero who caught Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt?"

Louise was among those who lowered their heads but she decided to raise her wand.

"Miss Vallière!" Mrs. Chevreuse exclaimed in surprise. "You mustn't do this! You're still a student! Please leave this to the teachers!"

"But none of you are willing to help…" Louise muttered.

Nimbus looked at Louise with his eyebrows raised. The rather serious look on Louise looked so stunning that it had captivated Nimbus.

Seeing that Louise had raised her wand, Kirche too raised her wand, with a little reluctance though.

Mr. Colbert even more surprised, exclaimed, "Miss Zerbst! Aren't you a student too?"

Kirche replied nonchalantly, "Well, I simply cannot lose to the Vallière family."

Seeing Kirche raising her wand, Tabitha did the same.

"Tabitha! You need not do this! This does not concern you at all!" Kirche said.

Tabitha just answered, "I'm worried."

Feeling touched, Kirche looked at Tabitha with gratitude.

Louise at the same time also muttered, "Thank you… Tabitha."

Seeing the three of them, Old Osman laughed and said, "Well then, it's all up to you three now."

"Sir! Headmaster Osman! I strongly object! We must not put the life of a student in danger!"

"Well, would you then go in their stead, Mrs. Chevreuse?"

"Ah… Erm… Well… I'm not feeling very well recently, so…"

"They have seen Fouquet before plus, even though Miss Tabitha here is very young, I have heard that she has already been conferred the title of chevalier, am I right?"

Tabitha did not answer and just stood quietly.

All the teachers looked at Tabitha in astonishment.

"Is that true, Tabitha?" asked Kirche in similar astonishment.

Even though chevalier is the lowest title that the Imperial family can confer to a person, Kirche was still amazed that Tabitha could attain it at such a young age. If it's a title of "Baron" or even "Marquis", the titles could be obtained by purchasing large amounts of land. However for a person to be called a chevalier, the only way is to render great service for the country. It's a title that can only be conferred by merit.

Once again, there was great commotion inside the vault.

Old Osman went on and looked at Kirche and said, "Miss Zerbst from Germania comes from a family of distinguished war heroes, and she herself has a very strong background in fire magic."

Kirche flicked her hair with confidence.

Louise, thinking that it was time for her to be praised too, cutely stood to attention.

Old Osman was now in a pinch. There was almost nothing yet to praise about Louise…

"Ahem!" Clearing his throat, Osman veered his sight clear of Louise and said; "Miss Vallière comes from the royal Vallière Family, and is first cousin to her Majesty Princess Henrietta. A family renowned for their mages. And… She'll be a promising one in the future… and as for her familiar…"

Placing his gaze on Nimbus, Osman continued saying; "Even though he's a familiar, he has defeated General Gramont's son, Guiche de Gramont in battle." Old Osman thought to himself,And if he really is the legendary Gundalf…" Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt should not be a match for him."

Mr. Colbert also enthusiastically added; "Yes! Yes! Because he is the legendary Gund…"

Old Osman hastily covered Mr. Colbert's mouth before he could finish his sentence.

"A.. Hahaha… He's talking nonsense! Haha!…"

Then there was silence again.

Then Headmaster Osman in a solemn tone spoke, "If anyone thinks that they're more capable than the mentioned three, please step forward."

No one stepped forward.

Therefore Old Osman turned to the group of four and said, "The academy awaits the capture of Fouquet then!"

Louise, Kirche and Tabitha stood to attention and said, "We swear upon our wands to capture Fouquet!"

After that they pulled the edges of their skirts and made a curtsy. Nimbus also hastily followed. As he wasn't wearing a skirt, he politely bowed.

"Well then, ready the carriage and set off right away. You must conserve your energy before you reach your destination."

"Miss Longueville, could you go with them, too?"

"Yes, Headmaster Old Osman. I had wanted to go with them as well," said Miss Longueville.

So under the lead of Miss Longueville, the four quickly set off.

Even though it was considered a carriage, in actual fact it was just a cart with wooden planks attached as a seat. The good thing about it though was that if they were attacked, they could easily jump out of the carriage right way.

Miss Longueville was in charge of driving the carriage.

Kirche asked the silent Longueville who was concentrating on the reins, "Miss Longueville, this type of job could be done by a commoner. Why do you have to do it yourself?"

Miss Longueville smiled and answered, "It's all right. I'm not a noble anyway."

Kirche paused for a while, and asked again, "But aren't you Headmaster Osman's secretary?"

"Yes, I am. But Old Osman isn't a person who is concerned by a person's status when looking for help. Whether if he's a noble or commoner."

"If it's possible, tell me in depth how you lost your status, please."

But Miss Longueville just smiled at Kirche. It seemed like she did not want to speak anymore.

"Just tell me please, even if it's just a little," Kirche pestered as she began leaning closer to Miss Longueville. Just then she felt someone grabbing her shoulder. It was Louise. Kirche then turned around and said, "What is it that you want, Vallière?"

"Forget it. Stop raking up someone's past."

"Humph, I'm bored, that's why I needed some one to talk to," Kirche replied while placing her hands behind her head and laying against the side of the carriage.

"I do not know if this applies to your country, but in Tristain, it's a shameful act to force someone to reveal something that he or she does not want to say."

Kirche did not answer her. She got up and sat in a cross legged position and began saying, "It's all because of your impetuousness that I got into this mess. Capturing Fouquet…"

Louise gave an angry stare at Kirche, "What do you mean by that? Didn't you volunteer yourself in?"

"If you had come alone, wouldn't Nimbus be in danger, too? Am I right, Louise the Zero?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Anyways, if that large golem appears again, you would surely run to the rear and let Nimbus do all the fighting, right?"

"Why would I run away? I would use my magic, you'll see!"

"You, using magic? What a joke!"

The two started bickering again. Tabitha continued reading her book.

"Are you two just gonna keep arguin' like that all day?" Nimbus interrupted.

Kirche did a gesture and said, "Humph, I'll stop. I'm not the one at fault anyway."

Louise bit her lips.

"Well then darling, this is for you." Kirche looked at Nimbus seductively, and then placed in his arms the sword that she had bought for him.

"Oh. Thanks." Nimbus said while taking the sword. What am I gonna do with this?

"I won that round, or do you have something to say, Louise the Zero?"

Louise stared at the both of them, but kept quiet.

Suddenly, it turned dark. The carriage had entered the forest.

"We'll have to walk from here onward," Miss Longueville said. The group then disembarked from the carriage, and proceeded to the small path into the forest.

"I'm afraid of the dark and don't like the feeling around here…" Kirche said while wrapping her arms around Nimbus.

"Could you not keep so close to me?"

"But I'm afraid!" Kirche said with exaggerated reaction. Anyone could tell that she was lying…

Nimbus, worried about Louise, glanced at her.

Louise turned her head away. "Humph."

The group reached a clearing in the forest. It was roughly the size of the Vestri Court and in the middle was an abandoned house. The house was built from wood with a corroded stove. Next to it was a completely run-down warehouse.

The group hid behind the bushes and observed the house.

Miss Longueville pointed to the house and said, "From the information I've gathered, that should be the place."

"Looks like no one is inside. Is Fouquet really hiding there?"

The group started discussing, using sticks to draw their battle plan on the ground. They all agreed that ambushing him was the best way. All the better if he was sleeping.

Firstly, they would need to scout around the house and find out what is going on inside.

After that, if Fouquet was inside, the scout would draw him out, because there was not enough earth inside the house for him to create an earth golem. Once outside, the rest would all cast their magic against him, without letting him have a chance to summon his golem.

"So who is going to lure him out?" Kirche asked.

Tabitha replied, "The one with the best reflexes."

All stared at Nimbus.

"Me?" Nimbus sighed.

Nimbus moved closer to the house and peered through the window in the house.

There was only one room in the whole house, with a table and a reclining chair that were both covered in dust. There was also a bottle of wine on the table and in one corner of the room there was firewood.

There was no one inside and there did not seem to be any place to hide inside the house either.

Had he already left this place?

But their opponent was Fouquet, a Triangle mage. So he could still be hiding inside even though there did not seem to be a hiding place.

Nimbus didn't sense a hostile pressence so he decided to call everyone over.

He used his hand to make an "X" sign on top of his head, a sign that means the house appears empty.

The rest of the group who were hiding carefully approached the house.

"There's no one inside," Nimbus said while pointing at the window.

Tabitha waved her staff at near the door and muttered, "There's no trap." She then opened the door and went inside the house.

Kirche followed suit and entered the house.

Louise told the rest she would keep watch and stayed behind.

Miss Longueville said that she would investigate the area around the forest and disappeared.

Nimbus' group went through the house and started to look for any clues to Fouquet's whereabouts.

Then, Tabitha found inside a box… the Staff of Destruction.

"The Staff of Destruction," Tabitha said while waving it around.

"Isn't this too easy?" Kirche exclaimed.

Nimbus looked at the Staff of Destruction and said with astonishment, "Kirche, is this really the Staff of Destruction?"

Kirche nodded and said, "Unmistakably, I saw it once during my tour of the treasure vault."

Nimbus picked up the staff and examined it closely. "If I'm not wrong this is a …"

Just then, Louise who was standing guard outside gave a chilling shriek. "Nimbus!"'

Just as everyone looked outside the house, a loud sound could be heard.

Crack!

Suddenly the house was without a roof and everyone looked up.

In place of the roof was a giant earth golem.

"It's an earth golem!" Kirche screamed.

Tabitha was the first to react. Waving her staff, she started chanting her magical inscriptions. A whirlwind appeared out of her staff and struck the golem.

After the whirlwind dissipated, the golem remained unscathed.

Following Tabitha, Kirche took out her wand hidden in her cleavage and started chanting.

A fireball shot out of her wand and engulfed the golem. Even though the whole golem was on fire, it did not seem to be affected by the fire at all.

"It's too tough for the few of us!" Kirche shouted.

"Retreat," Tabitha said softly.

Kirche and Tabitha went different ways and ran out of the house.

Meanwhile, Nimbus put the Staff of Destruction on his back using the strap. Nimbus' body then blinked and reappeared in front of Louise.

Louise stood behind the golem, chanted something and pointed her wand towards the golem.

Something exploded on the surface of the golem. It was Louise's magic! The golem realized this and turned to face Louise.

Nimbus, standing between the golem and Louise shouted, "Run! Louise!"

Louise refused, "No! If I subdue this, no one will ever call me Louise the Zero ever again."

Louise appeared to be very serious. The golem tilted its head, apparently pondering whether to deal with Louise and Nimbus or Kirche and Tabitha who were escaping.

"You have never fought against a real opponent! You can't possibly win!"

"I'll never know if I don't try!"

"It's too difficult! You don't have the fighting experience!"

Louise stared at Nimbus and said, "Haven't you done this before?"

"What?"

"When you were challened by Guiche and his Valkyrie, you had kept your head up and said,you did not want to submit to an opponent, and the only way to know your own strength is to try."

"Yes… I may have said something like that… but…"

"I feel the same way. Even though I cannot accomplish anything, this is a matter of pride. If I run away now, people will say, 'because she's Louise the Zero, that's why she ran away'."

"Does it matter? Let people say whatever they want!"

"But I'm a noble. Nobles are people that can use magic." Louise tightened her grip on her wand. "And nobles never turn their backs on their enemies."

The golem decided that it would deal with Louise and Nimbus first, it raised its leg, preparing to crush her.

Louise raised her wand towards the golem and started chanting again…

But it failed, even though Louise used 'fireball'.

Then a small explosion occurred on the golem's chest and small fragments of earth fell out from its chest. The golem was not affected by the attack at all.

Louise saw the golem's foot getting nearer and nearer. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.

At that instant, Nimbus grabbed her at the speed of a whirlwind and disengaged from the golem's stomp.

He dropped her on the ground.

Plap!

"Do you really wish to die?"

Louise looked at Nimbus, stunned.

"To hell with your pride! Once you die, nothing really matters anymore!"

Tears began to flow out of Louise's eyes like a waterfall.

"Please don't cry!"

"But… but I cannot take this lying down… I'm always being treated like a fool by others…"

Looking at the crying Louise, Nimbus felt hapless.

Being constantly called "Zero", being treated like an idiot, no one could take that lying down. He recalled his fight with Guiche.

Louise protested that time, too. Even though Louise is stubborn and haughty, in reality she actually hates fighting.

She's only a girl… Louise's beautiful face was now covered in tears, just like a crying child.

But this was not the time to console her.

Nimbus turned his head over and saw the golem raising its fists, ready to pound them.

"Can't you even console me a little?" Louise protested as Nimbus picked her up and fled.

The golem chased after them, even though the golem was nowhere near as agile, it could still cover plenty of ground with its massive stride.

I need to create some distance between us.

The golem threw a boulder. In mid-flight the projectile morphed into solid steel.

Nimbus saw this, and it gave him an idea. He parried the volley with the sword Kirche gave him.

Pang!

The sword broke from the hilt upon impact, deflecting the golems strike.

Finally, Nimbus grabbed hold of the Staff of Destruction.

Taking out the arming handle and opening the rear cover, he pulled out and extended the inner tube.

Strange…Why do I recognize this thing?

But that was not the time to think.

He flipped up the telescope sight on the tube and aimed.

Seeing his proficiency in handling the Staff of Destruction, Louise was too shocked to say anything.

Nimbus placed the Staff of Destruction on his shoulder and pointed the front of the staff towards the golem.

"Don't stand behind the staff, there will be a backblast!"

Louise hurriedly moved out of the way.

The golem approached closer and closer to Nimbus.

"Now it's my turn."

Nimbus released the safety latch and fired the weapon.

Immediately, a loud thunder came from the staff and a projectile with wings flew towards the golem.

The projectile met with the golem with a terrific explosion.

Louise instinctively closed her eyes.

A deafening roar occurred and the upper body of the golem pulverized and flew out in all directions, causing a rain of earth.

Louise slowly opened her eyes.

As the smoke from the explosion cleared, only the lower body of the golem was left standing.

What was left, took one last step forward before it finally stopped moving, and knelt down.

Then slowly from the waist, it crumbled… and returned into what it originally was — dirt.

Just like last time, the golem was reduced into a mound of earth.

Louise, who had witnessed everything, felt her legs weaken and sat on the floor.

Kirche, who was hiding near the bushes, came running out.

Louise finally gave a sigh of relief.

Kirche hugged Nimbus and said, "Nimbus, My darling! You did it!"

Nimbus looked at them, and then looked at the Staff of Destruction. "How could something like this be here?"

Sylphid, who was carrying Tabitha, descended. Tabitha looked at the mound of earth and asked, "Where do you think Fouquet is?"

"That's right, there mere fact that the golem was here means that she's close." whispered Kirche.

Just then Miss Longueville came out from the forest. She bent down and picked up the Staff of Destruction from where Nimbus laid it down.

"You did a great job"

"Miss Longueville! Where have you been?" Louise asked.

"Staff of Destruction describes it well enough. It blew my golem into a whirling cloud of dust."

"Miss Longueville!" Kirche shouted. "What do you mean your golem?"

Louise stared at Miss Longueville, too shocked to say anything.

Miss Longueville removed her glasses, her once gentle expression had changed into one full of killing intent.

"Yes, I am Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt."

Fouquet held the Staff of Destruction on her shoulders like Nimbus had done just now.

Tabitha waved her staff and began chanting.

"All of you don't move! I have the Staff of Destruction pointed towards you. Drop your wands now."

They had no choice but to obey. Without their wands, they could not cast any magic.

"Why?" Louise asked angrily.

"I had gotten hold of the Staff of Destruction, but I did not know how to use it."

"The way to use it?"

"Yes. No matter how I waved the staff or applied my magic on it, there was no response at all. That frustrated me. After all, if I do not know how to use it, it would be just as useless as a decorative item. Wouldn't it?"

Louise wanted to dash out towards Fouquet, but was held by Nimbus.

"Nimbus!"

"Let her finish."

"How considerate of you, Mr. Familiar. Then I will continue. Since I did not know how to use it, the only way was to let other people show me how to use it."

"So therefore you brought us here."

"If it's someone from the academy, there was a chance that someone knows how to use the staff. My plan was slightly off in that a bunch if students came instead of instructors, but i thought maybe the familiar here would be able to pull it off.. As you'd expect from Gundalf."

"Who's Gundalf?" asked Louise.

Fouquet smiled and said, "I give you my thanks, now. Goodbye."

Kirche feeling hopeless, closed her eyes.

Tabitha and Louise closed their eyes, too.

But Nimbus did not.

"You're really brave."

"Well, actually it's not bravery." Nimbus replied.

Fouquet pressed the trigger as Nimbus had done before.

But the magic that happened before did not happen again.

"Huh? Why?" Fouquet pressed the trigger again.

"It has only one shot; it won't be able to fire again."

"What do you mean one shot?" Fouquet shouted deliriously.

"Even if I explained, you would not be able to understand. That is not a magical staff from your world."

"What did you say?" Fouquet dropped the Staff of Destruction and took out her own wand.

Nimbus moved as fast as lightning, delivering a blow to Fouquet's stomach with his left elbow.

"This is a weapon from another world. To be precise, it's called an FF3 Rocket Launcher. An infantry blaster from the Freiza Force."

Fouquet fell onto the ground.

Nimbus then picked up the Staff of Destruction.

"Nimbus?" Louise and the other two all stared at Nimbus.

Nimbus answered, "We've caught Fouquet and retrieved the Staff of Destruction."

Louise, Kirche and Tabitha looked at each other, and then ran towards Nimbus.

Nimbus, with mixed feelings, hugged the three of them together.

Inside the headmaster's office, Headmaster Osman listened to the group's account of what happened.

"Hmm… So Miss Longueville is Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt… Because she's such a beauty I did not think twice about hiring her as my secretary."

Mr. Colbert upon hearing that immediately remembered that he was also bewitched by Fouquet once, and had revealed the weakness of the vault walls to her.

Mr. Colbert decided that he would take that secret with him to his grave.

"Yes. Beautiful women are deadly mages.

"I couldn't agree more with you, Colbert."

How did you go about hiring her?" Mr. Colbert asked.

"Anyways!" Headmaster Osman cried out using vigor unfitting for an old man.

Nimbus, Louise, Kirche and Tabitha stared blankly at the two.

Realizing that the students had given them the cold stare, the embarrassed Osman cleared his throat and regained his solemn composure.

"A job well done for all of you, you have returned the Staff of Destruction and captured Fouquet."

The three besides Nimbus acknowledged proudly.

"Fouquet will be handed over to the imperial guards, and the Staff of Destruction will be returned back to the treasure vault. Finally the case is closed."

Gently caressing each of the trio's heads, Osman said, "I have requested the imperial court to confer upon you the title of Chevalier, I believe that we should have news of it soon. And since Tabitha already has the title of chevalier, I have requested that she be given the Elven Medallion."

The trio's faces brightened up upon hearing the news.

"Really?" Kirche said astoundingly.

"Yes. You have done more than enough to deserve this title. Haven't you?"

Louise gazed at Nimbus who was listless since they entered the office.

"Headmaster Osman, Nimbus… won't get anything?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. Because he's a familiar and not a noble…"

Nimbus replied, "I don't need anything."

Headmaster Osman gently clapped his hands and said, "I almost forgot, Tonight's Ball of Frigg will resume as planned since we have gotten back the Staff of Destruction.

Kirche's face brightened up. "That's right. Let's forget about Fouquet and dance all night long!"

"The main attraction of the ball will be you three. So go get ready and dress up!"

The three bowed, and left through the door.

Louise stopped and looked at Nimbus.

"You go first," Nimbus told Louise.

Even though Louise was still worried, she nodded and left the room.

Osman turned to Nimbus and said, "You have something to ask me?"

Nimbus nodded.

"Please ask. I'll try to answer your question to the best of my abilities. Even though I couldn't confer you a title, this is the least I can do to show my appreciation."

Immediately after, he asked Mr. Colbert to leave the room. Mr. Colbert, who had been waiting for Nimbus to speak, was expressing displeasure as he exited the room.

After Mr. Colbert left, Nimbus said, "That Staff of Destruction originates off-world."

Osman's eyes gleamed. "And from what world is your origination?"

"I'm not from this world either."

"Is this true?"

"Yes. I was transported to this world from the planet i was on, due to Louise's summoning."

"I see. If that's the case…" Osman squinted his eyes.

"The Staff of Destruction is a weapon of my enemy. Who was the person who brought it to this world?"

Osman sighed and said, "The one who gave the Staff of Destruction was my savior."

"Where is the person now?"

"He died. That was over thirty years ago…"

"30 years?"

"Thirty years ago, while I was wandering inside the forest, I was attacked by a two-headed dragon. The one who saved me was the owner of the Staff of Destruction. He used another Staff of Destruction to kill the two headed dragon and then collapsed. He was already injured at that time. I transported him to the academy and treated his wounds. But to no avail…"

"And he died?"

Headmaster Osman nodded.

"I buried the Staff of Destruction that he had used to save me along with him in his grave. The other one I named the Staff of Destruction and kept it inside the vault in order to commemorate my savior…"

Osman gazed far away and said, "While he was resting on the bed till the day he died, he kept saying repeatedly 'Where is this place? I want to go back to my world.' I guess that he must have been referring to the world of his home."

"Who was the one who brought him to this world then?"

"I don't know. Right till the end, I still had no idea how he ended up here."

"Oh. Just when I thought that I had a clue," Nimbus lamented. The clue had led him into a dead end. Osman's savior was most probably a soldier ofthe Freiza Force. But how did he end up in this world? Even though Nimbus wanted to know badly, there was no way to know more.

Osman held Nimbus' left hand. "The runes on your hand…"

"Oh yes. I wanted to ask about that, too."

Osman pondered for a moment and said, "…That I know. Those are the runes of 'Gundalf', the legendary familiar."

"The runes of the legendary familiar?"

"Yes. Gundalf was a legendary familiar who was fearsome in battle. That is most likely the reason why I believed you would retrieve the Staff of Destruction."

Nimbus was confused. "Why am I the legendary familiar?"

"I don't know," Osman quickly replied. "I'm sorry. But there is a possibility that the runes of Gundalf are related to you being transported to this world."

"Hmm…" Nimbus' mind wandered.

Nimbus thought that he could get the answers that he wanted from the headmaster, but apparently he did not know much either…

"I'm sorry that I could not be of much help. I'll always be on your side, Gundalf!" Osman hugged Nimbus. "I must thank you once again for bringing back the possession of my benefactor."

"It's all right…" Nimbus said fainly.

"I tried to find out for you how you arrived in this world but…"

"But what?"

"But I could not find anything, please do not be dismayed. You'll get used to this world as time goes by. Maybe by then you could find a wife here too…"

On top of Alvíss Dining Hall, there was a great hall. That was where the ball was being held. Nimbus leaned over the railings of the balcony and looked at the grand reception.

The students and teachers who were dressed grandly gathered around tables filled with exquisite food and chatted amongst themselves. Nimbus arrived there through a flight of stairs leading up to the balcony. Seeing them reminded Nimbus of the grand festivals on planet Arcen.

Next to Nimbus were some food and a bottle of wine that Siesta had brought for him earlier. Nimbus poured for himself a glass of wine and drank it.

"Eh, haven't you got a drop too much?" said Derflinger, who was leaning on the balcony smugly. Nimbus brought Derflinger for company. As usual it had a rotten tongue but it still had a happy-go-lucky personality, so having him for company still had its merits.

"You're noisy."

In the middle of the dance floor, Kirche was surrounded by a group of young men, talking and laughing.

Tabitha dressed in a black gown feasted away on the sumptuous food on the table.

Looked like everyone was enjoying the dance to the fullest…

The doors to the great hall opened and Louise appeared.

The guards at the door notified everyone on Louise's arrival. "The daughter of Duke of La Valliere, Louise de La Valliere arrives!"

Nimbus held his breath.

Louise was dressed in a white evening gown with her long, strawberry-blonde hair tied up into a pony tail. Her hands were covered by pure white gloves which adorned her grandeur. Her petite face along with her low cut evening gown made her sparkle like a gem.

After confirming that the guest of honor had arrived, the musicians started playing music that was extremely soothing to the ears. All around Louise were males that were captivated by Louise's beauty asking for a dance with her. Before this, no one ever realized Louise's beauty and only thought of her as "Louise the Zero." Now, that same group of males were trying to win her heart.

The nobles started dancing gracefully on the dance floor. Louise turned down everyone's invitation for a dance, saw Nimbus on the balcony and headed over. Louise stood in front of Nimbus and placed her arms on her waist, "Looks like you're enjoying yourself," she said.

"Not really…" Nimbus moved his gaze away from the dazzling Louise.

Derflinger looked at Louise and said, "Haha. Fine feathers make fine birds. "

"None of your business." Louise stared at the sword and crossed her arms.

"Aren't you going to dance?" Nimbus asked while avoiding Louise's gaze.

"I have no dance partner," Louise replied.

"Didn't a lot of people ask you for a dance just now?" Nimbus asked.

Louise did not answer and extended her hand.

"Even though you're just a familiar, I could make an exception," the blushing Louise said while avoiding Nimbus' gaze.

"Don't you mean 'Could I have this dance?'" Nimbus said.

After a moment of silence, Louise sighed.

"Only for today!" she said.

Louise then held the ends of her dress and made a curtsy.

"May I have a dance, sir?"

These actions made the bashful Louise look even more cute and alluring than ever before.

Nimbus held Louise's hands and together, they walked towards the dance floor.

"I haven't danced in a while," Nimbus said.

"Just follow my rhythm," Louise said, and then gently held onto Nimbus' hand. Nimbus imitated Louise's actions and followed her rhythm. "Nimbus, I believe you now," she said.

"What?"

"…You said that you were from another world," Louise replied while dancing gracefully.

"Huh? Didn't you believe me already before that?"

"I originally only took what you said with a pinch of salt… but the Staff of Destruction… It's a weapon from your world isn't it? When I saw that, all I could do was to believe," Louise lowered her head and asked, "Do you wish to go back?"

"Not yet." Nimbus answered plainly.

"I see…" Louise muttered to herself then continued dancing.

After that, Louise was still blushing and did not dare look at Nimbus. "Thank you," she abruptly uttered.

Hearing that, Nimbus was puzzled. Why is she acting so funny today?

"For what, Louise?"

"Well… Didn't you save me when I was almost crushed by Fouquet's golem?" Louise replied.

The musicians played an even more encouraging tune.

Louise is really very dainty today, I should be satisfied.

"You're welcome. That's what I'm supposed to do."

"How come?"

"Well, because I'm your familiar Louise."

Louise smiled.

Derflinger, who was still leaning on the balcony, looked at the both of them, "Unbelievable!" it said to itself.

The twin moons in the sky shone onto the dance floor, and along with the candle lights, created a romantic atmosphere.

"Partner! You amaze me!"

Looking at his partner dancing with the mage, "A familiar dancing with his mage? That's the first time I've seen this happening!"