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"Knowledge is power, guard it well."

-Blood Ravens battle cry, pre-Aurelian Crusade

Chapter 4- On Legends and Libraries

Saito's body washed to the shore of the much-reduced lake. Sighting it, a dragon and its four riders set down close by. Saito was not visibly wounded anywhere but did not seem conscious.

One of the riders, a pink-haired girl, leapt from the dragon and rushed to Saito.

Two others dismounted in a more cautious manner, as if readying for a new battle.

"Saito! Are you alright? Can you hear me?" she turned in a panicked manner to the others as Saito did not answer to his shaking. "We need to get him medical attention immediately!"

Kirche drew in closer, Montmorency stood unsure and ready to flee again, and Tabitha stayed atop her dragon.

"No, Louise. We all saw what he was. The Water Spirit made it quite clear that he was a daemon," Kirche said while pulling her wand.

"What? Are you seriously bringing that up now?" Louise went for her own wand and tensed up. "He saved us all."

"Yet he was the cause of the Water Spirit's attack, and I almost died because of that, even if he did save me. And my family had a contract with the Spirit! Next time it appears, well, it won't forget. A Water Spirit hasn't been killed since the days of the ancient void mages, and to think your familiar did it...your familiar is a daemon. I only hope it truly killed the Water Spirit, completely..." Montmorency's voice trailed off as she ranted to herself in a daze, head turning in circles as if afraid the Spirit was still around. Kirche spoke up while this occurred concurrently.

"Yes, anyways, as I said, you must have heard the Spirit screech that he was a daemon. Listen Louise, I know you don't like me and all that, but this is something bigger. Hand him over, we all know the dangers of daemons," Kirche demanded.

Kirche was Germanian, and thus head-strong and Germanians are always taking an opportunity to prove their merit, for Germania is in fact a place where one does not need to be born into the nobility.

"Of course I knew that he was a daemon though! Are you lot insulting my intelligence? That's why I took him to a cathedral in Tristainia, to be sanctified or even to sacrificed, me included, by the Church!" Louise pleaded in her own irritated way. Then she remembered something. "Wait just a moment! I have proof!"

Louise grasped Saito's body and turned it over. "Look here, to his neck. The symbol is faded now, but I'm sure you would all be better at detecting magic than me."

Kirche moved forwards and looked it over. It seemed true, and Montmorency followed up slowly. They both saw it. A priest had clearly cast a spell on him. There was still palpable magical residue.

Montmorency seemed to snap out of her fear and pulled Kirche back with her and they huddled together, ignoring Louise's snaps to hurry it up.

"Look, Kirche. Ignore everything I just said, what you just said, or whatever you think. Don't try to be a hero. Don't go running head-long! I realise something now: that would be going to get us all killed. And I like living, don't you? Living is one of my favorite things to do." Montmorency motioned frantically about, swinging her fingers in the air and pointing. "Look, let's just take moment to think this all out, okay? That Saito there, he killed a bloody god. I'm sure of it. You saw that, and you see that spell, right? That spell's a sign of approval from the Church. And also-" Kirche interrupted her.

"-Yeah. I know it just killed the Spirit. That's why we should attack before it recovers. And that spell only may be real, Montmorency. I mean, Louise probably wouldn't be able to cast something like that; Revelation is a high-level spell and also forbidden to learn except to Church clergy. But, I know very well you can grease the clergy."

"Maybe you think that. And maybe it was true in Germania. Not in Tristain though, because the Inquisition would have your head over Church bribery. That's one of the things that they actually still reserve the right to do here since the reforms. No person would pay that much as a bribe. Anyway, more to the poin-"

"-No, Montmorency, I'll stick by my "may be" real. I don't feel comfortable with this completely. There's something else to consider: what if Louise cast the spell herself? I know I said she probably shouldn't be able to, but she had the power to summon the daemon, so we should reconsider..."

"Not going to happen, and stop interrupting me. Not like wasting time in this blast crater's a good idea. Listen, Louise is a void mage. So-"

"-What? Where'd you get that crazy idea?-"

"Stop interrupting me, damn it! I'm trying to say something important here, Zerbst! Do you think you can do everything better?!" Montmorency looked to Louise tapping impatiently, folded her hands at her waist, and sighed. "Then again, maybe you don't know everything about this because you're Germanian. Okay, listen harder. Let's all calm down and run through this. We're all a little overexcited here." Montmorency took a deep breath. "So, Louise is a void mage, because void mages could summon daemons. She couldn't cast Revelation herself. Being a void mage is just like other elements, and a novice can't cast that proficiently in other elements. There's nothing about that grants instant power in other elements. In fact, void mages might not be able to cast in other elements at all, judging by how Louise is the 'Zero.' Therefore, she-"

Tabitha jumped down from her dragon and interrupted Montmorency. Montmorency only sighed again.

The other girls looked to Tabitha, stopping their discussing and sulking. "Saito will live," she said before walking over to Kirche and Montmorency.

"Sentient blades," she said, straight to the point. "Daemons can be good." Tabitha leaned back and didn't say a word after that.

"What?" Kirche went. Montmorency's face was splayed into another new, knowing look.

"Oh yeah, that's also true. Guess it's all fine then, right?" Montmorency supposed. "Again, you're Germanian, so you're probably not too well-versed with the ancient legends beyond peasant-level basics." Montmorency cleared her throat. "Now that Tabitha brought it up, I do remember that void magic could make daemons good. That enough proof in addition to the mark? So Saito should hopefully be fine, unless..."

"...So yes, wait, Louise is a void mage, summoned a daemon, then it's good? And what's the catch?"

"Riiiiight. I was going to get to that. But yes, she is a void mage- that would explain a lot of things, like her inability to reliably cast real simple magic in any of the four elements. That'd also confirm a priest cast the spell. And the catch is... well, I've never heard of daemons in their physical form being bound. The way it goes is that they, the daemons, would be placed in swords, trapped in to be wielded for good, their nature not necessarily all that different, only disabled temporarily by the fact they'd be in a sword and such. Of course, what I know is not everything. I studied a lot about the ancient legends, because, you know, my family had a contract with the Water Spirit, however, there's a lot more to the legends of old than what's known by the general nobility. If we wanted to know more, we'd need clearance to some secret archive or something of the sort. That's besides the point though. The facts are laid out easy before us, right? You good then?"

Kirche swept her head over and looked once at Louise. Next to her, Saito was beginning to stir slightly. Kirche gave an unsure smile to Louise and turned to Montmorency again.

"Yes, alright. So the point is that we've got a possible friendly daemon, an angry looking Louise who's a void mage, and know little about how a battle against either would go down with our novice magic. I'm not sure I want to attack now...?"

"Good. You're getting to it then. We're only students also, that's true too. And we don't want to mess with something that killed the Water Spirit anyway. How about we leave it for now and you can watch him closely?"

Montmorency notably said you but Kirche spoke back as if she had said we.

"No, we wouldn't be the best for that job. Either we act now, or we tacitly approve of him. If we were to report this after without having fought it, then your Inquisition will probably kill us for 'consorting with evil' or some stupidity like that, at least after they torture us to see what we really know."

Kirche was Germanian, and Germanians are also known to recognize reality when necessary in their practice of realpolitik.

"Wow Kirche, never took you for the realistic type. You were the one just wanting to rush heedlessly into the daemon and Louise before. Fair point though. I'm not fixing to get killed by the Inquisition either. The Church did approve, let's go with that, it boils down to that we didn't know any better. Anyone stops us for flying off from the site of... all this... we need to get our stories in order. Guess we decide Saito's good then, right? Keep everything that happened here all hush-hush?"

The discussion went on for a little further, the decisions already made excepting small details. The cult of let's-not-die had won out after the indoctrination of Brimiric religion.

"Yeah, and basically Saito is a daemon, possibly good, but definitely strong enough to destroy us all. Hence, that means we leave it be," Kirche continued.

The consensus would be boiled down to that Saito was a good daemon, and if he wasn't, then everyone was going to die in some horrible way. So he had to be good. They then put together some half-baked tale that they were out vacationing and adventuring before calling Louise over.

"Okay, Louise," Kirche said with a forced laugh and some of her usual lusty panache, "seems Saito's good. Let's go then. If anyone stops us, you're my kid sister and really shy. Saito is your servant or something. We're... whatever. Make up the rest yourself. Doesn't really matter, we'll fly discreetly all the way back to the Academy. It's the best place for medical treatment that's close enough to us but far enough away from this site. Above all though, don't give away that you're a Vallière if we're found; that's a famous name that'd complicate things... And hey, congrats on the daemon, huh? Maybe you give it your best and you can keep with me in our rivalry."

"What was that-" Louise started up before seeing Saito open his eyes. She bounced a tad in excitement. "Oh, he's awake!"

"We're leaving," Tabitha cut in.

Everyone piled aboard Sylphid in short order. Some slight errands were run first, like salvaging a discarded Tear of the Water Spirit from broken off essence scattered about. Saito regained full consciousness, pushing Louise away. "Where's Derflinger?" He dragged himself to the dragon after searching for and taking Derflinger. Both Saito and the sword were clearly weakened but rapidly becoming better.

"Hmmph... I thought the other Saito said only up to what 'could be trained naturally anyways' in enhancements? Did he lie?" Saito looked down to some cuts and minor open wounds. They didn't hurt, but it didn't seem they were sealing and repairing like his punctured eye had. "Oh."

Saito spent the trip back glumly recalling yesterday's fugue state, trying to make sense of it all.

[/]

The ride back to the Tristain Academy of Magic was a success in going undetected. The riders had not seen anyone follow them. Sylphid set down in the courtyard of the school to no fanfare. Tabitha and Kirche departed their own way, while Montmorency, Louise, and Saito left for the infirmary. Montmorency walked with Louise and Saito but stuck a wide berth off.

They arrived to the infirmary, and Guiche was on a bed and arguing with the head healer. Well, "arguing" if arguing meant one person yelling and the other standing with a plastered, well-practiced look of complete frustration on his face as he listened through to Guiche's rant for the ten-millionth time that day played over in new words.

"You were unable to save my arm?! Why? This is outrageous! What am I going to do as a cripple for the rest of my life!? My looks, my nobility, what's it all for then?! What use is being in power if I'm only to be an armless laughing-stock?! And what happened to the other duelist, that plebeian? You have to listen to me, there was something terribly wrong with him! My mind wasn't making things up! There was no trauma or what you'll call it! I know what it was!"

He stopped when he saw Montmorency enter, and radiated a madcap smile, "Ah! Montmorency! I knew you would always come for me out of worry."

"Can it Guiche, I've just gone to hell and back for your undeserving rear."

Guiche was about to spout some nonsense about his gratitude and eternal debt of love to Montmorency when he saw Saito and Louise enter behind Montmorency.

"Ahhhhh!" Guiche flipped around in terror and blubbered before rising and slamming his head into some metal guard-bars on the side of his bed. Guiche's hitting the steel may or may not have been induced by some stealthy wind magic from supposed-healer. He pointed to the two behind Montmorency before collapsing and fainting.

Montmorency merely huffed as if that was expected. She called over the pessimistic healer and pointed to something in her hands.

"This is the Water Spirit Tear. And... they helped me get it." The healer took the Water Spirit Tear and examined it, looking it over.

"Oh, yes, could you get Saito some medical attention here? Tabitha says Saito's fine, but I want to be sure." Louise beamed before toning it down a bit. Saito began grumbling that he was fine before Louise elbowed his complaints away. "He's my familiar, see, so I need to be sure."

"Ridiculous. Not only did they come back with the Tear, but they had to be just scathed enough to warrant an inspection. What'd they even do on the trip to get such wounds? The trails must have been safe. Did they fight the Water Spirit? Ha, maybe then this patient's screams of an inhuman monster would be somewhat substantiated." Constant thought and snorted once while rubbing his temples. "Okay, yes. I will do all this. First, I will restore the brat, erm, I mean, ah whatever, this wounded noble's arm. Then- no, belay that. Inquire to someone else- ah, look over there, a nurse- get them to inspect your familiar. I have enough to handle as is."

The healer huffed some obscenities under his breath before taking the Tear and pressing the bottle onto his hand. The fluid inside poured out and he absorbed it. His hands glowed for the briefest moment with extraordinary luminosity before settling down.

"This better work." The healer muttered before turning to Guiche, "At least the patient is already sedated. Not by proper medical procedure, but the details, who cares?"

Saito was attended to by another healer, a heavy-chested female, who was examining his wounds while Guiche's operation was watched in great interest. Questions of no import could be heard floating from his area, such as how do you feel, where does it hurt, how did you get these and typical answers from Saito like fine, so-and-so places, and stairs. It was always stairs. If patients were to be taken at face value, stairs, and not magic-related mishaps, were the number one leading cause of injuries in the Tristain Academy of Magic.

As this happened, Louise was hovering nearby, staring intently. The nurse pretended not to notice. No point in getting in the way of pink-haired girl that ensured job security to her (that was the way the doe-eyed nurse liked to optimistically spin it).

The main healer had taken Guiche's discarded arm out of cold-storage and was now gently placing it next to Guiche. He propped it up in the proper position and bound it together to Guiche's body with magical ice. Some more applied magic slowly brought life and color back to the white limb.

It was not simple as that, however. Few things ever were.

Parts of the arm had been torn off when Saito had most savagely ripped it out of its socket. With a delicate touch, the healer slowly approximated life and restored those pock-marks throughout, drawing a faint outline of what should be before finally settling down. The ghostly outlines materialized into full-fledged flesh, going from a dream-like translucent state to opaque and quite real. The limb was fully restored and no worse for the wear afterwards.

"Okay, that is done. The limb should function optimally, other than some minor stiffness and faint bruising," the healer said with self-admiration evident and soaking up the various soft praises of the operation's spectators. "Now I shall wake him."

Saito's examination was almost finished, the other healer having concluded that he was in need of minor medical treatments and proceeding to chant some minor spells. Louise's eyes were flipping back and forth between the nurse and Saito rapidly. The nurse was beginning to sweat a little bit under Louise's piercing gaze.

Constant placed his hand on Guiche's forehead.

The nurse incanted a word incorrectly. Saito was, instead of having several lacerations closed up, was met with splash of water. He sighed, not even moving.

Louise began yelling at the nurse. Constant roused Guiche with a glow of water magic.

So, it is at this point Guiche woke up from his steel-induced nap.

Opening his eyes, he was met by the irate-looking healer.

"Good, you are awake. Now, please allow me to ask you several questions, that way we can both leave and go about our very-important lives."

Guiche ignored the healer and tried to get his senses together. His head was pounding from Founder-knows-what. He hazily tried to recall what had happened up to this moment, ignoring Montmorency, who was going along some line-of-reasoning that she was happy to see Guiche up again, but he was still a dastardly two-timing bag-of-rat-ridden air.

Last thing he remembered, he was down at the field in Vestry. And he was in a duel, yes. He gave a good show! That stupid commoner was beaten good.

But wait, then the commoner turned into... something else. Something dark, something terrible, and something out of ancient legend. His shining victory had turned into an ignominious defeat.

Guiche yelped slightly when he heard Louise's voice, as that meant there was a chance the commoner-daemon was still nearby. Montmorency palmed herself in the face and shook her head, saying something about how he'd turned into a snivelling dog. The healer decided to simply leave, right there, Old Osmond and his paper-work be damned.

Guiche was ready to sprint out of his bed and follow the healer, but he froze in place. His eyes acted faster than his coward's instinct and went over the location from where the voice had come from. Holding in a breath, he observed the comical scene before him.

The commoner, Louise, and a fine-looking brunette nurse were stuck in a fool's parade. The nurse was stringently apologizing, bowing rapidly all the while; Louise was stridently criticizing her behavior, a haughty look on her face while her index finger was held aloft and chided; Saito sat impassively, like a thick stone in a raging, white-water river.

Guiche brought himself up from beneath the blanket which he had not even known he had cowered underneath. Seeing what was before him, he thought with that at times pea-shaped, orc-powered brain of his and decided that he must have imagined the daemon. No way what was there was now here. No way the hell-beast was the stone-faced boy in the infirmary. It was all... trauma? The word popped into his head from somewhere he didn't know. He exhaled.

"Hey! You! Commoner! Stop bothering those ladies over there! If you don't, I want a rematch to the duel! Some trick ended it last time, and honor demands I can redraw!"

Saito got up and followed in the healer's footsteps, dripping water as he left.

"Running now, like the coward you are? It's okay, I would flee from myself as well."

He turned at that final smug notr, and Louise, who was rushing after Saito, bumped into him as he paused.

Saito seemed to come to out of his detachment from the world.

"What do you know of honor, Guiche? You challenged me to a duel to make yourself look better. Your honor's just for show. And even more than that, when faced with real resistance, you folded in terror. You were the one to run like a coward. Be happy I didn't take my rights to the duel and finish you. Don't lecture me abouthonor."

Montmorency took the hand she had over her own face and rapidly relocated it to Guiche's in a swinging motion.

"Guiche! You idiot! Do you know what he's done for you? And what he is? Don't push him! And look at your arm! It wasn't that good a little while ago! Have you even-"

The door closed, cutting off the noise of Montmorency's diatribe.

[/]

Louise and Saito were back in Louise's room now. Saito sat upon his cot, taking Derflinger in-and-out of its sheath repeatedly. The sword made some ow noises repeatedly, although logically swords should not feel pain, and, if they would, would not feel pain from something so light when they are often used to hit objects at much higher speeds.

"So Saito? What's wrong exactly?" Louise asked in good nature. "Let's get it all sorted out before the familiar exhibition! I want you to be all ready for that."

"Nothing really."

"Stop that. It might surprise you, but I can read people very well."

"Even though you've got almost no friends?"

Louise's face darkened.

"That's probably the reason why, actually. Glad to see you're observant, though."

She turned away from Saito and huffed before facing him again.

"Why are you acting so conceited?" Louise groused.

"Conceited? If anything, I'm hard on myself right now. Just ignore whatever I say or do."

"Did something happen at the lake? Something you want to bring up? Hey come on, you're my familiar, you can trust me."

"No, no. Nothing really. I just turned into a fifty-meter monster and destroyed about 20 square kilometers' worth of pristine land. That's something I do every Tuesday anyways. It's actually something of a past-time in Japan, we call it 'going Gojira.' You know, in fact, it's some common we've got these special nature reserves set up just for the expressed purpose of rampaging through them. You get the urge to do so, and you book an appointment ahead of time. Then, you travel there by express transport- it's all very nice and managed by the government. The best rampages even got made in film. Why, they're popular outside Japan, too."

"Really? I was sure that it was an unusual occurrence on your world to turn into 'hulking, daemonic beasts' and destroy some uh, 'kilometas'-"

"Really. And I thought you said you were good at reading people."

"Oh, shut it, Saito. I was just returning some of your irritating sarcasm! The question was only asked out of concern. Geez, you are being so thick of it right now. And for no good reason."

It was true. By all accounts, Saito should be enjoying his current life. He was bound with mighty power, was sitting in a pretty girl's room, living out in a fantasy land, and had the call to heroism. It was like some bland, generic adventure manga story.

Hell, here he was becoming a typical brooding anti-hero. There was even some nice internal conflict to top it off while he undertook a journey that would better him for his experiences. Away from the complicated yet carefree materialism to learn life's simpler yet deeper roots. It was what he might have thought up as an escape back home.

And maybe that was exactly why he was so riled up. Those things were fun and games- an escape, a diversion. Just a pleasant divertissement from the real world. This was something else. Did he want to be the hero of the story? Was there even a real choice?

"Unlike you, I don't have a problem with my power," Louise spoke. "I've discovered that I'm a void mage. As I told you on the night after the duel, that's a lost magic. So it's kind of a big deal. Oh, something interesting- in fact, it's a little bit confirmed by your presence. I'm going down to the library to read up and do some research, I want to be ready when the word gets around. I'll probably have to step up to all sorts of responsibilities then. You can come to the library too if you want. And hey, maybe I'll be better at reading books than people, eh?"

Louise left for the library and let out her anger slamming the door, sighing.

Saito sighed as well. He might as well follow for now. The library would be a good place to continue to think, to process and get himself in order. It would be a good place to decide his path forwards.

[/]

Fouquet was on a mission to steal the Staff of Destruction. It had been transferred to the Academy recently for safe-keeping. The key word was "was." Her employer had contacted her and informed her to meet a distance off from the campus grounds. Her mission was to be changed.

She perked up and pretended to be carrying to important documents to somewhere else. The top healer on campus looked once at her and moved on, not stopping his tired stumble.

"It was right damn foolish to call this meeting during the day. It's a hassle to sneak off from the school. I'm the head secretary here, so people expect me to working in that lech Osmond's office. This better be something good," Fouquet thought. "Well, the mission must go ahead. You do what you must. The orphans and Tiffania need the money."

Fouquet left the school, taking care to not be seen again. Out a small side door, a brisk jog through a dirt path, and she reached the meeting place. It was a minor abandoned home she had stocked up as a nearby stash and fall-back position. She looked around, not noticing anyone.

Her employer (or the employer's intermediary, it didn't really matter) stepped out from the shadows, surprising her. He was tall, handsome, and full of silky, gray hair coming down and about from his head, mixing his hair-style in with the lengthy beard on his face. His face also seemed familiar, where had she seen it before?

"M'lady." The man tipped his chapeau. "My apologies for startling you. You were just such a beautiful sight, I was unsure that you would really be the infamous Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt."

The euphoric hat-tipping was met by a cold stare from Fouquet. She was not about to let him know she was surprised, or give him the advantage in any sort of way. Appealing so brashly to her veneer of feminine purity? Pfeh, try again. "I assure you I am Fouquet, in the flesh. Now, what was your purpose for calling me here? What changes are there to be made to the mission? And I trust payment will be adjusted commensurately?"

He circled around. Fouquet's eyes followed him through the room, tensed. He'd be considered as beautiful as a man could be, but there was a lean, dangerous, and power-hungry look to him. She knew the type. His grasp settled on a bottle of wine. Fouquet hadn't placed it in the store-house, so he must have brought it.

"This man, wait, isn't he Viscount Wardes? He fits the famous description. That's it. But, Wardes of the gryphon riders? What is he doing here?" Fouquet's mind registered suddenly. "No matter. He is employing me, I have to work with him."

The man pulled up two simple, wooden chairs to the dingy table. "The mission can wait. I assure you your concerns about payment have been addressed. Why don't you join me for a drink here? I haven't even had the opportunity to introduce myself." Fouquet didn't budge. "Ah, come on. It's straight from the cellars of King Joseph. Finest Gallian vintage."

"No need to let him know you know who he is. He seems like the type that would prefer wrapping up loose ends. Bet he spiked that wine with something that'd wait several hours in case I decided to get too friendly and know too much. Nah, stop being paranoid, Fouquet. He probably wants only to sleep with you. Scum-bag. Isn't he engaged to some Vallière? Whatever, no need to let him know I know his name though."

"No? Well, suit yourself." He poured himself a generous offering and sipped at it before resuming his speech, a more studious tone taken.

"Your mission was to retrieve the Staff of Destruction. It is a powerful artifact, and would have been most useful. That has changed; something greater of value has made itself known. Thus the new mission. And this mission does not require you shift from whatever position you have infiltrated yourself into the Academy for. Consider that an added bonus. And, about bonuses, the extra pay with come after completion of the mission. Here is the up-front cost." Wardes dumped several bags out on the table.

Fouquet moved and sat down, more comfortable with the prospect of talking business.

"What are we after? And what's the plan?"

[/]

Louise paged frustrated into tome after tome, crying out occasionally. "This is useless, already read this, no no no no." It was all background noise to Saito.

He took a seat and set Derflinger off to the side.

There were three choices ahead.

"Stay and protect Louise," honor appealed. "This is a cause as good as any other."

"Why do that?" spite demanded. "What has this world, what has any of this daemonic business done for you? The stupid girl over there stabbed your eye out. Strike off on your own. Forge your own destiny."

Honor responded back, "That may be true, but it was not intentional."

The voices continuing droning in his head. He tuned them out.

He could fight to protect Louise as the daemon had requested. It was the most appealing path. There was a desire within him to protect her.

But the problem with that was that he didn't personally agree with it. Those feelings were false. Listening to that daemon would be surrendering himself. It would be giving himself up as a man.

He could get up and leave. He didn't know much of this world, but surely someone with the peak of human condition could manage in it. Yes, there'd be a nice irony in using the daemon's granted powers to defy it.

The issue was that was running from his problems. If he was going to run, he wanted to do it all the way back home. No use staying and wasting away his life here in this fantasy land. It would also be effectively resigning himself to his fate, only there was no honor in it even.

He could let the power of the axe, still separated from him by kilometers upon kilometers, and yet calling to him, simply overtake him. This would mean the end to his control and life, most likely. But it would a spiteful way to say no to everything; to destroy it all.

No one sane willingly goes to death without good reason. Saito shelved the last point, except for one last detail. The axe's calling was beginning to grow. The urge to kill was returning.

The daemon Saito had mentioned that, with an opportunity to return to his roots of protecting (along with a few other points), he had overcome the axe.

"How about a compromise?" self-preservation suggested.

The best solution was to protect Louise. The very thought of her sent the axe's presence into the backgrounds of his imagination once again. At the same time, he would search for a way to return home to Japan. Before it'd all be nothing but faded memories and half-remembered aspirations, he wanted to see it one last time.

That way, he could feel as if he would have some agency in his decision. Or, even better, once in Japan, hopefully this could all have turned out to be nothing but a bad dream. The influence of the daemonic, magic, and whatever all would lift. He pinned the hope of the hopeless upon that: to return home. He was sure somewhere that this world was completely real, but hope is hope. His hope was to wake up, and have it all have been a fanciful nap-time's fantasy, or to say one last farewell before accepting fate.

It was decided then. For now, play the part of hero. For Louise. Later, find a way back.

There were several other quibbles to address: what emotions had exactly been "enhanced," namely. Far as he could tell, melancholy, cynicism, anger, and other negative emotions were working just fine. He tried tickling himself and felt laughter flow out of him.

After some rigorous testing and various revulsive looks from nearby library-goers, he concluded only love seemed to be suppressed.

He could not remember anyone he loved, either. He could not remember their names or how they were. Only their faces, their hauntingly happy faces putting him at ease once, but not now.

There was a homely woman he loved only chastely. She smiled and handed him a home-cooked breakfast. A man who looked like the definition of average. He was reading a newspaper and looked up from it, acknowledging Saito. A group of young men similar to him. They were all sitting around, laughing and lazing the day away. Eventually, they went into a fast food restaurant and set down to eat.

Saito's memories cut off. He didn't want to continue it, if he even could, knowing there was a chance he'd never see any of it again.

He lay there listlessly for a while.

Time dragged on. Even Louise found a book that she didn't yell at, and set about reading it.

Whatever it would be, he decided his path forwards wouldn't be one of moping. It was fair enough to stay here for the time being until he could figure a way out. Best to get started learning then; more information would help both goals. Determination filled him to the brim.

He unsheathed Derflinger, not to slam it back into the scabbard this time in frustration.

"Derflinger, I want to know more of this world. Tell me more, like you did on our way to the lake. The history, magic, nobility; the works. Give me everything. Louise is doing her best, and I want to be ready too." It felt good. Like he'd been granted power over his life again. And he could almost hear a heroic musical accompaniment sounding off as he spoke.

"Nope." Derflinger responded in the most curt manner possible, ending the imagined musical number before it began. "I'm tired. Go read a book. We're in the library."

Saito got up and pawed over to the closet bookshelf. He could read just fine it seemed. Most likely due to his nature as being capable of the maximum capability of himself. It was a human language, so it had to be within him to know it.

He thumbed through some volumes on Halkeginia. History, geography, and whatnot. It was all dry stuff, but he read it anyway. A book here might have been on the terrain and waterways of the world. Another there about warfare. How to fight with swords. Proper care of horses and various breeds.

It was never in too much detail though. The Academy's library seemed focused around magic, then. Saito picked up a tome on magics to read. He picked it apart. It was mostly boring and mechanical descriptions about the nature of magic. Good to know though.

A page caught his eye though: "The Magicks of Ancient Times." Included within it was the summoning of daemons, but it did not go into further detail. Much of it was torn out or blackened. So then that was for a different volume: "The Ancient Legend: The Void After Brimir." Saito did not bother taking some of the books he had been perusing back to the shelves. He used the organization around the library to pin down where it would be and made his way to its location.

It was not there. He looked around and saw where it was. Louise was flipping through it attentively close-by.

Saito sidled up to her. "What're you reading?"

Louise jumped slightly in her seat. "Ah, Saito. Hello again. I see you're calm now. I got tired of getting nowhere with void magic. So I decided to pick up an old volume about the ancient legend. Take a break, touch up on some old stories. And this, it was my favorite story as a child."

"It's a great tale, even aside from its religious context in that it was a time when void magic was still open," she continued. "It's got lots of dramatic battles, dashing heroes, adventure, and in the center of the tale is how a young girl and several of her friends rose to their destinies."

"Ah, inspiration, huh?"

"Well... not everything has a hidden meaning, Saito. It's just that I liked the story. The message does relate, but the story has to be able to stand on its own too, you know?"

"Mhm." Saito's face showed the hint of a bemused smile.

"Whatever. Think what you want," Louise griped.

She then pointed to the books Saito was carrying. Her voice was shaking somewhat and she didn't look Saito in the eyes. "You know, in the spirit of taking a break and all, why don't we go see some of that stuff you were reading about first-hand?"

"Hmm?" Saito looked to the books he hadn't placed back on their places on the shelves. Several of them seemed to be related to nature, geography, rivers, and the like. "Oh, sure. Why not?"

"She's in love, that's right. That's something I'd dreamed about back in Japan... to have a girl totally into me. It feels wrong though. If she asks, I guess I can't go ahead. I feel nothing. Although the daemon did say my feelings would return... maybe if I believe enough in a false love, it becomes real? No Saito, don't take advantage of her."

"All right. Good. Destiny can wait a day. Let's go do some sight-seeing."

Saito and Louise saddled up a horse again. This time, for recreation.

Saito was careless about seeing pretty sights at first. But, as he rode along, he grew more and more into it. Halkeginia really was beautiful, something he'd failed to take note of before.

The blue skies above were cloudless and sunshine shone through unobstructed. It'd rained earlier that day, and the last drops of dew were illuminated by the shining light of daytime. Birds chirped and the wind softly fluttered against the grass. The heat felt good on his skin, and Saito allowed himself to relax.

The air was like drinking from the freshest, coldest bucket of stream-water after a long day's work in summer. Saito felt all his worries melt away with every breath.

Greenery lay all around in each direction. It was like being adrift in the endless Pacific, only the water had been turned to plant life by some divine miracle.

Only the thuds of the horse's foot-falls against the ground interrupted the perfect day. Even that eventually became adjusted, a peaceful and rhythmic addition to the quiet roads.

"So Saito," Louise chimed in, "how's the scenery?"

"It's really something," Saito said dimly.

"Bet you didn't have anything like this in Tōkyō, eh?" Louise grinned.

"We did have parks. Special nature reserves. Nothing like this though."

"Yeah? The same ones you'd rampage through?"

A playful elbow to Saito from Louise.

"So where are we going?"

"Oh, you'll see. It'll beat everything you've seen so far by a far shot. In the meantime, why don't I tell about some of what we're seeing..."

As they rode, Louise pointed out fixtures in the landscape.

"That plant over there is the Misericord flower. It's a risible plant. They named it for a passage describing humanity in the Book of Brimir. It's good as a stimulant, really keeps you awake. Isn't that funny what that's saying about people?"

And so on. They passed through worn out dirt paths, Louise speaking at length of plant life. They passed through a town, Louise spoke about it too.

"You're smarter than I thought, Louise."

"Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment." Louise beamed gauchely at the praise. She never received much of that. "I tend to spend my time just learning. I try, I really do."

Louise was not a failure for lack of effort. Given a lack of friends and academic success, she had striven to dig herself in and doubled back on learning. That made her different from Saito, who had never cared.

"A question, though, Louise."

"Yes?"

"So these people out in the fields? How're their lives?"

"They're peasants. Unimportant in the grand scheme of things. They'll spend their lives performing menial labor here. I actually thought you were one when you first appeared. That would have been sad."

Louise expected more praise, but only heard Saito exhale a small half-sigh.

"Yeah. Real sad."

"Nothing to be done about it. The world is still feudal," he thought. Saito fell away from the world once again. He fell into the trance of the tapping hooves and the waving meadows.

They rode until late evening. Saito felt he could have gone on forever like that.

The waking dream of the horse-ride stopped with Louise's voice coming up again.

"We're here, Saito."

Another lake was ahead. This one was small it could easily be called a pond.

Saito sat down in the grass upon a small hill. Louise followed.

The water lay still. It was completely motionless, but not stagnant. It looked frozen in time. Saito reached out and tossed a rock at it.

The surface rippled away like it had been waiting for someone to disrupt its stasis. Pockets of water danced about, forming into any manner of shapes and melting away as fast as they would come. Halkeginia's Sun was beginning to set, as it always did, and the stars were starting to shine in its place.

The bright stars and the moons above reflected onto the water, bringing a range of dazzling colors and lights into the moving waters. The dance continued, and nature's beauty was shown, seen here only by the horse and the two riders.

"Look Saito." Louise pointed into the distance.

The torches of a village were lit for the night. One by one, pinpricks of light came into existence, defiantly beating back the darkness in conjunction with the moonlight. The torch-lights linked together, and a luminous bubble formed in the empty stretch of blackness that was night. Saito and Louise lay there, viewing the picturesque scene before them in wordless satisfaction.

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, to live on this world. And it wouldn't be so bad to protect Louise."

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Louise asked. "I'd always come here when I was feeling down and out of it. It doesn't match the Secret Garden I had back at home, but it is still something... And today, it really does seem like the best it's ever been looking."

Saito looked over to Louise. She averted her gaze, blushing.

"S-saito..."

He looked to the stars, laying down. His head went onto his elbows.

"Yeah. It's really something. Why don't we stay this way for now? I like the way things are between us." Saito pre-empted Louise's confession. "There we go. She's is to be in love with me, huh? As I thought... I'll leave that off. Kind of scary the runes were supposed to do that to me... And so fast?"

"Well, it's great and all, but we shouldn't stay here too long though," Louise added, speaking with hasty alacrity. "Tomorrow's the familiar exhibition. I'm sure you'll do good if you give it your best, but no point in tiring you out. Let's get going back, we'll take a less scenic route to make haste to the Academy. All when you're ready, of course. Make it soon though."

"Seems all good things have to come to an end," Saito mumbled to the grass.

The voices returned.

Spite spoke up. "Why protect this world though? The daemon had wanted it, but you're your own man. Go ahead and keep guard for Louise if you insist so much, but, at the very least, don't try to protect it all. No one here deserves it."

So did self-preservation. "You'd have enough trouble already picking fights for Louise. Be a hero, but don't die. You'll protect exactly nothing if you're dead."

Honor begrudgingly gave its own opinion. "You didn't give your word to do anything yet involving 'protecting the entire world.' Only Louise. That much is true. Choose what you would like."

Saito listened to the voices.

And the horse rode back in mostly silence, save for the tapping of its metal shors on the beaten dirt trails. Saito and Louise soon reached the Academy's outskirts.

They saw a mountainous golem before them. It thundered to a tower of the Academy. Its fist began pounding the tower, with clear intent to destroy.

[/]

Fouquet opened the door to the women's restroom.

"It's down-right embarrassing and improper for him to be going in. But, this is the way... and the mission is actually much easier. Why did he want me to create a golem at all?"

"Save your misgivings," Fouquet said to herself and Wardes. "Come through here, there's another door. It's the entrance to the underground library-archive you wanted."

The man only showed faint amusement on his face.

"The entrance is in the ladies' restroom? Oh dearie me."

Fouquet ignored him and pressed on the wall of the supply closet opened. Her touch caused it to rotate and reveal a secret passage-way.

"You've certainly done your research, Fouquet."

"Thank you." Tunneling underneath the Academy in an attempt for the vault was one of the most natural choices for an earth mage thief to try. She had discovered the archive then.

They walked forwards down a stone hall. The only light source was the lantern Fouquet carried, and it was vastly insufficient. It threw up light, but didn't nearly cover the entire breadth of the hall. At times, she even had difficulty keeping Wardes in view. Darkness licked at the edges of the lantern-light. The impression that unseen shapes in the shadows followed them was apparent, but, anytime Fouquet shown her light, it seemed the shapes would duck away.

Fouquet and the gray-maned man reached an impasse. A large, locked door with three magically incanted spells.

It took only a second for Fouquet to cast a spell to unlock. The door creaked open with shaky effort.

The pair continued forwards. The hallway gave way into a wider one, this one buttressed up by stone pillars.

Another door ahead. It was only of wood. The obstacle was momentary as well.

The hallway contorted back into one a smaller passage. The buttresses disappeared. A bright light shone ahead.

The walkers reached the light. Coming out into it, Fouquet remembered the deep hole the archive was built into. The archive building lay ahead, built into a protruding cliff hanging over a steep drop.

She stopped. The man did too. There was a perilous passage ahead. A thin pathway stood above plummeting to certain death.

Fouquet cast a spell. Rocks from around her on the cliff face lined and reinforced the ancient bridge. She even took the extra step of placing guard railing of rock.

"I would say you exceeded my expectations, but this is easily what I would expect from an earth mage as masterful as the Crumbling Dirt."

Fouquet and her employer walked on the bridge cautiously until they fully crossed over.

"It might take a while. There is a book I wish to take from here. As discussed, ready your golem and place it near the Academy for us to depart in, then wait outside. I must not disturbed, and we should have a fast path to extricate should the situation turn unfavorable." The Viscount gave orders summarily before disappearing into the archive building itself.

Then Fouquet noticed the foot-falls continuing despite Wardes no longer being around to make them. She made as if to stretch, but pulled down her hand at the last moment to her wand and drew it with practiced speed.

Fouquet cast and sent a barrage of rocks to the position of the foot-steps.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the rocks were set ablaze and failed to connect.

"Whoever this is, he's clever. Guess I was right about feeling something was following me," Fouquet thought as her eyes darted around and her ears pricked up. "He waited until I was on the archive's magic-resistant stone. And he waited for me to be alone." She pulled together a group of rocks from the cliff-side the archive perched on into a makeshift palisade to shield herself from possible covert attack.

The target revealed himself, wreathed in flame that had distorted the light around him to give invisibility. His face remained hidden as the magical light illuminating the archive did not shine in the right angle. His arm held a heavy wooden staff, and he planted it firmly on the stone below.

"That clothing, is it a teacher's?"

"I've been tracking you since you entered the archive. Watching from the distance, I wasn't sure of your intent until you reached here. Your trespassing has not gone unnoticed. Lay down your wand now, and I assure you will be fairly tried." The man extruded a presence of danger. Fouquet knew she was in the company of a masterful fire mage. His face was now lit, and it was etched with reluctance but determination.

"Does he know I'm not here alone? He speaks like if it was only me here... And also, I feel I know him too."

"Last chance," the fire mage said, lifting his staff and readying it.

"His voice... is Professor Colbert's." Fouquet realized. She frowned underneath her hood and put herself into a combat stance. "Looks like I'm not the only one who isn't how they appeared."

"You're the legendary Flame Snake, aren't you? Strange that I didn't see it before, Professor Colbert. You hid it well. Ironically enough, your use of invisibility gave that away," Fouquet mused. "I guess today's the day for legends to meet. I'm Fouquet, Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt." Colbert grimaced and shifted into a ready position.

Living up to her title, Fouquet sent a landslide speeding downwards onto Colbert. He disappeared again, the smell of flame still burning the air.

Fouquet swept around desperately. She heard a whoosh and was too late as Colbert revealed himself and swung her staff at her.

Fouquet twisted backwards and dodged the majority of blow's force, recovering with a cartwheel into a back-flip away. She shot off a few rocks into where Colbert had once stood, but he had disappeared already and was elsewhere.

The action repeated once more. Fouquet felt the approach by instinct and Fouquet managed to catch Colbert off guard by splitting off parts of her makeshift palisade and shooting it towards him. He flinched only slightly as he was hit by small bits. The rocks burned away easily in blue flame and Colbert disappeared again.

She was getting frustrated. Using her wand, she cast another spell. Rocks flew in from all about and began padding over the archive entrance's stone flooring. This way, she'd be able to detect him much easier.

Colbert revealed himself in earnest, the padded rocks being burnt into greasy splotches.

"I won't be holding back now," he said as he readied his staff for a direct blast of flame.

Fouquet decided now was a good time to call her golem.

Some people would have to die today. She never liked killing. She did, however, enjoy living over her disdain of killing.

[/]

The golem thundered its way out of its forest hiding spot nearby. It made its way to the tower that held the entrance to the archive. Thankfully for Fouquet, the magical defenses guarding the tower that held the vault of the Staff of Destruction had not been applied everywhere. Cost-saving measure.

Louise was screeching at this time.

"SAITO! SAITO! DO YOU SEE THAT? GO FULL DAEMON AND DESTROY IT, NOW!"

Saito dismounted the horse calmly and took a seat on a tree stump.

"Don't see why I should do that. It's not threatening you. This isn't my fight then. I've been giving it some thought, and I decided saving everyone all the time is overrated."

"WHAT? WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING? YOU SAVED EVERYONE BACK AT THE LAKE!"

"Well yeah, but the Water Spirit said it was going to be flooding the entire world. Entire world includes you eventually, so there you go."

"I wasn't actually in control," wasn't what Saito said.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOT THREATENING ME? IT'S ATTACKING THE ACADEMY. THAT'S MY HOME. AND THERE'S PEOPLE IN THAT TOWER THAT'LL GET KILLED."

"All right, all right, fine fine. If you insist." Saito pulled Derflinger, who woke with an ehhhh. "You see, I'm really tired though. From the lake fight. I'm not going daemonic or anything."

"WHATEVER! JUST ATTACK IT ALREADY!" Louise dismounted the horse. Saito obliged and began running towards the golem.

"Strange. I'm not running as fast as during the battle with the bandit-mages. Oh, human limits... right..." Saito craned his neck and yelled to Louise.

"OI! HEY, LOUISE! Maybe open up with some magic of yours? You know how to make things explode!"

Louise raised her wand, but they were too late. The tower collapsed and the golem stood in its ruin. It smashed its fists downwards and began tunneling, digging fast as a golem of earth element could.

"Nothing to be done about it, it's gone," Saito whistled. "It was so huge though, how could we have fought it?"

Louise slapped him and began tearing up..

Saito heard clearly where he stood, with him being much closer to the ruined tower and the voices not speaking. He heard the anguished laments of the dead and dying from the tower. He heard the structure completely collapse, the sickening crunch silencing hundreds.

A splash of blood doused them both. Louise broke down.

Her cries filled the otherwise void silence of death in the air.

[/]

Fouquet was struggling to keep up. Colbert had blasted barrage after barrage of burning blue fire at her. Each time, she was getting away with less and less breathing room. An earth shield here, a jump here, and at first she had even been able to throw an attack here and there. It was all beginning to tire her out. Her panting breath grew shallower and shallower by the moment and the archive's echoing chamber was filled by the sound of her exhaustion.

She considered her options. The golem was several minutes out, the archive's dome storage being constructed by expert builders.

Colbert prepared another blast of flame. Instead of firing it directly, he levitated a stone Fouquet had tossed earlier into the air. He directed his staff at it before Fouquet could act on it. Fire and stone mixed, raining hot rock down and about all over. Fouquet was able to disable the larger chunks of fire-stone and contest with her earth magic, but the smaller ones played more to her opponent's element. She hopped about, skipping past embers.

Fouquet was used to going up against opponents far above her caliber. That was something she was used to. She was only a triangle class, and still had stolen from any manner of higher-ranking mages.

It was never directly on the field of battle, however. Always sneaking in when opportune, taking what she wanted and leaving. Stealth played to her strengths.

But Colbert was the Flame Snake. There was no way she could beat him in the field of stealth.

Colbert directed his staff downwards and conjured a flood of oils. More flame followed. The ground ignited and Fouquet tip-toed her way delicately, lining her feet in rock to protect herself when agility failed.

Fouquet's triangle class casting consisted of earth, air, then fire. Water magic would have been a godsend, but there was no lake or whatnot around to help her anyway. She wouldn't be skilled enough to cast water out of nothing. She didn't know it either, so no use dwelling on what wasn't.

Colbert inhaled deeply and resumed normal barrages of blue fire.

Earth was already being used as much as it could. It was her primary element, after all. Fouquet blocked a sudden gust of flame by tossing a boulder in its way. It incinerated in a half-second, splitting into a million burning fragments.

Fire was out of the question against the Flame Snake. He would probably turn the flames back onto her or something unpleasant of the like. A loose piece of burning debris acted like shrapnel and flung off into her. It swept along and cut shallowly into one of her legs.

She had to find a way to bring air into the equation, offensively. She was already augmenting her prodigious aerobatic ability to dodge the constant sweeps of flame at her. Fouquet slowed ever-so-slightly to pat out the rock-shrapnel's fire.

Another blast of azure flame. It was a concentrated ball this time. She managed to deflect most of with another rock, but stray droplets of fire shot off. One lone ember fell onto her hood, and it ate hungrily at her, spreading away from her head and down the length of her body.

Gray smoke started floating over the battlefield like wisps of vengeful fog.

She almost screamed but bit her tongue. Fighting through the pain, she crushed a rock into dirt and hit herself with a shower of earth. The fire went out.

Smoke and dirt filled her lungs. She hacked and coughed, scrounging for oxygen. A burst of air magic cleared her breath.

She'd slipped up. In a way more than last mistake, however. She looked back to Colbert when the smoke cleared from her artifical winds, and now he was in the center of a storm of flame. She was too focused on herself, and not noting her opponent enough.

Putting together his own combination of fire and air magic, Colbert was the eye in a storm of fire. Streaks of fire flew about, blue and indigo and red and tangerine and yellow and apricot. It was show of light and color in the otherwise dull and sterile white light of the archive. It was beautiful and macabre, all at the same time.

Fouquet could feel the heat from where she stood. The wind of the storm blew her hood down and fire began creeping its way over.

"Back in Albion," Fouquet dropped to the ground in pain, "I was one of the highest ranking nobles. Funny thing, everyone always wanted something from me. Everyone wanted power, everyone wanted recognition. They were all jealous. Those I thought I knew as friends and acquaintances didn't think for a moment to betray me." Fouquet's hands went over her chest in pain where a scorch mark was.

"I lost my title due to their greed and selfishness. Now I see that isn't unique to Albion. It's true across the board. It's true to humanity on a whole. Even myself. I hide my face as the thief Fouquet, but never how I am now. I steal and I don't dress that up." Fouquet spat. "You hid at a school for so long, escaping your life as the Inquisition's Flame Snake... escaping a life dedicated only to killing. How many did you kill by that cruel flame of yours, how many deaths did you cause?"

Fouquet ground her teeth together and closed her eyes.

"Well, you're going to cause mine, so add another. This one will be honorable though, won't it? So do your students proud. Show who you really are. Strike me, the evil thief... strike me down, professor. Be the day's hero."

Colbert lowered his firestorm and shook his head. His opponent was thoroughly beaten, and he was one to show mercy. His hands began glowing with water magic. He plodded over, his flame staff now a supporting cane.

Fouquet opened her eyes.

"Going to heal me now, are you? Self-righteous scum. Finish... me... off," she strained from the weight of a heavy spell from Colbert.

"What a waste..." Colbert murmured to no one in particular.

"Just... a little... longer," she thought.

The archive started shaking. That was unexpected, but Fouquet took full advantage of it. Colbert was thrown slightly off-balance. She used the last reserves of her willpower to break Colbert's magical restraint and power herself forwards with wind magic. She squarely kicked Colbert in the jaw before piling on as many rocks as she could to him.

Wardes exited the shaking archive, one hand keeping hold of his hat and another tightly grasping a book to his abdomen. "I had expected something of the sort to be defending the archive from trespassers, so, your golem is readied?"

"One step ahead of you," Fouquet spilled out. "Actually, we don't even have to run out of here anymore."

The golem's fist punched through the ceiling of the dome. It scooped Fouquet and Wardes up.

Fouquet glanced back one last time. The bridge to the archive was collapsing. That would leave her opponent trapped.

The rocks began to glow and Fouquet looked away. The golem carried her and Wardes out to a clean escape, jumping up to the surface, but Fouquet knew the Flame Snake was not done in.

The golem broke into a sprint and distanced itself from the school. Security from the palace's gryphon corps was already swooping in to contain the situation.

"That's my cue." Wardes smiled and called for his own gryphon. "I was coming here for a surprise visit to my fiancée, see. And the situation just called for the gryphon knights to appear... I'm self-less enough to give a hand when I'm near, even when I'm off-duty. 'That's the captain for you, an example for us all.' Wish me luck."

"Wait," Fouquet said. "Normally I wouldn't care, but I almost died. What was in that library that was so valuable?"

Wardes' gryphon flew in. Wardes placed one foot on it and looked back to Fouquet, holding up a dusty tome.

"The archive held this. A book. On the ancient legends."

"The ancient legend?" Fouquet gave off a cynical laugh. "Could have gone to any library for that."

"No. This is the complete tales of the ancient legends. It has everything in it. It is part of the key to unimaginable power."

Wardes stepped all the way onto his gryphon. He tossed a bag of gold to Fouquet and flew off.

[/]

Saito was right, there was nothing they could do. The Academy was swarmed with gryphon knights but the commotion soon died down. Everyone was instructed to return to sleep; the situation was controlled.

Louise and Saito returned to their quarters after washing up. There was evidence someone had been awaiting them there but abruptly departed.

They didn't notice. Louise went to sleep with a heavy heart, and Saito did the same.

Saito's tortured dreams returned. The man and the woman from the day dream of earlier appeared. At first, he was happy to be with those he knew he had loved. They all sat upon pillows around a table.

But their faces were silent. They said nothing. The only noise was of eating.

He wanted so much to reach out and speak. To say something, to announce that he was back. That he had only gone out to get his laptop repaired, and it was done.

Yet he did not.

Slowly, the scene faded and found himself in a blank space. There was nothing around, it was all white.

Words began to fill the blankness. They coalesced together into sentences, then into paragraphs.

"People died today, due to your inaction," the first sentence spoke solemnly.

"Weren't you vowing that no one would die not longer than a week ago?" This sentence was sardonic.

More sentences appeared, criticizing and finding every fault in him failing to save lives.

They circled around and mocked him.

He shouted and shouted back in response, wanting to give retorts on how necessary and little in number those deaths were. He wanted to justify himself and be righteous. But no words came.

The forms continued increasing, shaping into larger and larger sentences. Paragraphs came. Essays and treatises and studies and digests abounded.

One sentence rose above all the rest, echoing throughout the empty chamber.

"What a great hero you are playing the part of, Saito. Look at yourself. Stuck in the spaces between sanity and reality and trying to have a shouting match with words."

Saito hung his head in shame, his hands going over his temples and molding themselves into fists.

And he stood there with white knuckles and heavy breathing. He looked around, and saw Louise fidgeting uneasily in her sleep, his own body off to the left upon his cot.

Saito found himself out of himself.

Moving as a ghost, Saito left the bedroom and walked outside. The soft grass did not crunch underneath his feet. The two moons glowed brightly, giving the Academy's courtyard an otherworldly finish of red and blue.

Soon, even that moonlight faded. One black-haired man was left invisible in the darkness.

Saito sighed. What came in his dreams had truth.

He hadn't be treating this world seriously. He hadn't been thinking of it as real.

Most of him had known it was. But still, he hadn't gone about it entirely seriously. He went about it like it was a temporary thing, an obstacle in the course back to his real life back in Japan.

And for that, people had died. People had died at Lagdorian, except they died few in number and in the cause of saving more lives.

People died today for nothing. They died because of his inaction.

"No more," he vowed. His fists were still clenched as tight as they had been in his dream. Now they were clenched in determination, however, and not anger.

He wasn't going to give up on returning to Japan. But he wasn't leaving Halkeginia either.

It wasn't going to be him wishing for something to happen that wouldn't come. No fantasy at returning to Tokyo and leaving this all behind. A true Japanese man does not mope but accept what is laid out in stride. Why, he'd even said he wouldn't be moping earlier, and still he had.

"No more," he repeated.

His actions today made him unworthy of Louise and those in his memories. But he vowed he would redeem himself.

He would work at being Louise's familiar. He would turn himself into something great; something that'd achieve. He would become something honorable.

And only then would he return to Japan. His head would be held high, and there be no shame. He would return to Japan, but not for the purposes of saying a sad goodbye or hoping it would all end.

Only then would he speak to his family. Only to say a firm goodbye.

It was time to start working at something. It was time to stop doing the bare minimum in life.

Halkeginia's Sun rose as it always did, heralding a new day.

END OF ACT I

ATTENTION READERS, THIS IS YOUR AUTHOR SPEAKING

I think overall Saito deciding to stay the course in Halkeginia is actually something very common in anime as a whole. Anime series don't lend for a normal plot (let's exclude slices-of-life series). What I mean by "normal" is that even if the setting is modern day, the main characters will still be drenched in a fantastical world anyway. The protagonist will often leave behind what they've known for a new life, whether they're transported to an entirely different place or stay in a low-fantasy Earth is only aesthetics.

The latest example I've seen was Witch Craft Works, although there're metric tonnes more if one cares to look.

Really struck me how the main character seems more worried about that pretty girl saving him incurring slight harm than what the actual fuck is going on. I don't think he had more than five lines of thought about everything I know is gone, this is terrible.

People shouldn't logically be able to psychologically handle this stuff, but they step up to the plate. You see, you leave the old world behind, because the new one's better. You can be a someone here.

Where was I going with the above analysis? I sort of lost it half way through.

Well, that's that.

new chapter see it here before end of month yay goodbye now hahahahhahaaaaaaaaaaa story is 1/2 done