“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.
Saito looked at Louise with his mouth wide open. The rather serious look on Louise coupled with her gently biting her lips looked so stunning that it had captivated Saito.
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 (2), 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 to praise about Louise…
“Ahem!” Clearing his throat, Osman veered his sight clear of Louise and said; “That… Miss Vallière comes from the prestigious Vallière Family, 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 Saito, Osman continued saying; “Even though he’s a commoner, he has defeated General Gramont’s son, Guiche de Gramont in battle.” Old Osman thought to himself: and if he really is the legendary Gandálfr… “Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt should not be a match for him.”
Mr. Colbert also enthusiastically added; “Yes! Yes! Because he is the legendary Gand…”
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. Saito also hastily followed. As he wasn't wearing a skirt, he pulled the end of his jacket.
“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 impetuous that got me 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 came alone, wouldn’t Saito be in danger, too? Am I right, Louise the Zero?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Anyways, if that large golem appeared again, you would surely run to the rear and let Saito 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.
“That’s enough! Would you both please stop it?” Saito 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 Saito seductively, and then placed in his arms the sword that she had bought for him.
“Wow! Thanks!” Saito said while taking the sword.
“I won that time 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. The darkness and the weird smell present in the forest sent shivers down their spines.
“We’ll have to walk from here onwards.” 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 Saito’s.