“These are familiars! Aahahaha!”
“Don’t think I l-love this guy or anything! This idiot came on his own!”
“Well, Summon Servant doesn't let you choose the partner!”
Rene, while laughing, approached Louise and said.
“However, you, Miss Vallière, summoned a boyfriend. The familiar and the lover in one, might be ideal for a mage!”
The dragon knights burst out laughing.
“He is not my lover! Idiot! All idiots! Why can’t you understand?!”
Then Matthew said grinning.
“How about the other day, hmm?”
“You were very naked under the mantle! What about that?!”
Even Louise's neck crimsoned.
“Ribaldry! Lowest! Boys of your age shouldn’t have thoughts like this!”
At last, Louise grabbed the blanket and put it over her head.
Even after calming down, she wouldn't come out, instead pretending to sleep.
“Spicy. I wonder why she is so angry?”
Rene muttered anxiously. After that, they all simultaneously looked for Saito's reaction.
And Saito… had a worried frown on his face.
Where do we stand?
What is our relationship now?
Familiar and master, however it seemed that their relationship progressed…
But did it really progress?
However, that time in the boat, they became close when he called for Louise. But what does Louise really think of me?
He felt uneasy.
“We didn’t mean any harm, sorry buddy.”
“A, aah” With mixed feelings, Saito nodded.
Rene and others exchanged looks.
“Ribaldry has been said.”
“It can't be helped. We are lower class nobles.” Matthew said.
“It happens to peerage as well! But Miss Vallière called it ribaldry and was annoyed! Aahahaha!” Siegfried and Gilbert laughed into each others' faces.
Indeed, thought Saito. Children in the Academy of Magic were all young nobles and ladies. They were all from high-status families like Louise’s, and even though Guiche’s and Montmorency’s families had financial problems, Guiche’s father was still a field marshal, and a field marshal is well respected within the military, right?
Louise and the others study in a private, prestigious school which is very different from public schools.
Aah, so that’s why I felt so close to these guy's from the beginning, Saito thought.
Then he recalled Rene's words.
He said, that you can only advance in rank on the battlefield. Feeling sympathy, Saito sobered in a moment.
“Ha, drinking certainly makes me happy, after a great deed!” Said Rene.
“That’s right! Even wingless, the 2nd Dragon Knight Squadron will show how great they are!”
“Aahaha” Gilbert and Siegfried neighed.
“Aaah, when will we finally attack Albion’s army in Londinium? It has been ten days since we landed!”
Matthew said impatiently.
That’s right. There were no marching orders from the allied forces. Seems like they were waiting for an Albion army to come to Rosais where they could repulse them… But Albion's army didn’t seem to move either.
At that time… the dragon knight's wish seemed to come true, as a single child soldier came to the tent.
“Haah, an order from the dragon knight battalion headquarters.”
The boy seemed to be thirteen years old. He had a frightened look on his face seeing vulgar senior nobles with a mess all around.
“Battalion headquarters? What good are dragon knights without dragons?”
Rene sarcastically asked.
“I do not know. I am just reporting orders…”
What duties could they be given? Gilbert grumbled, and everyone, now with a serious look, started cleaning up after themselves.
But… unfortunately for the dragon knights, it was not about getting a chance to prove themselves. Rene, who ran into the tent with his sword ready, after seeing the yawning Earl Ginnumer, lost any kind of expectations.
“Forget about the report. For now, please tell the story of your returning alive.”
Saito and Louise also came. Mostly because they could not leave without their “guards”.
Rene, in a not very motivated voice, began the report. Most of it was the same as the time he spoke the other day.
They were shot, they fell… one week later, they all awoke on the dragon’s back. That’s it.
A certainly mysterious story. However, during the war in magic-using Halkeginia, unexpected things happen a lot. Because of war, no one really cared about it.
However, Louise quietly listened to that story. Seems it caught her interest.
Well, when it comes to an end...
A single boy started speaking hesitantly.
It was an obedient Fernand. He, after making a thoughtful face, said,
“T-that…”
“What's wrong Fernand, do you want to go to the bathroom?”
Matthew teased. Making the boy flustered.
“T-that’s not it! Report! Stop making fun!”
Because the always obedient Fernand had a serious look on his face everyone fell silent.
“W-well… I cannot say for sure if it was illusion or reality the other day… but when I calmly think about it, but that…”
“What’s the matter? Give a brief report,” ordered Ginnumer.
“Ye-yes! Report! When I crashed, I was thrown off the back of the dragon… and laid on the ground for a while. Not moving anything… my body was paralytic. Ha ha, I thought I was about to die… But then, I saw.”
Ginnumer, seemed not to be in a mood for this, and urged him on.
“What?”
The boy, in doubt for a moment wether or not to say it, muttered hesitatingly,
“It was a fairy.”
“What kind of fairy? Water? Then it was a spirit.”
“It’s different! It was not that flabby! It was… more beautiful! A Fairy of the Wind!”
“'Fairies of the Wind' do not exist. Fairies, unlike the spirits of the dead, are legendary living beings.”
“I do not understand myself! But, I know was a fairy…”
“How did it look like?”
“Very beautiful… girl. With beautiful blond hair… her body shone. No doubt, it was a fairy! An ancient fairy!”
Everyone scorned Fernand's words.
Then.
“Beautiful blond hair, like mine?”
A clear voice said. The voice sounded so sweet that at first it was hard to tell if it belonged to a man or woman.
A tall, blond boy entered the tent. Saito’s and Louise’s eyes were drawn at once to that beautiful boy. The 2nd Dragon Knight Squadron made unpleasant faces.
“What do you want to say about your blond hair, Romalian?”
“Please remember my name first – Julio Cesar.”
The name seems manly. A handsome dragon knight, who introduced himself as Julio, after gracefully bowing to Ginnumer, reported.
“The 3rd Dragon Knight Squadron, returned from the patrol flight.”
Ginnumer nodded with a smile.
“Was the first unit successful?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, get some rest.”
“Certainly.”
The knight made a soft bow.
Julio looked around the tent. This reminded Saito of the similar antipathy he felt towards Wardes when they first met. Huuh? he really did not like this fellow.
Well anyway, it is not surprising. Though Guiche was lady-killer, he was different. Was he a woman? He looked like one, with those thin and slender, appealing lips. Long eyelashes that created a beautiful shadow. While listlessly rolling hair around his thin finger covered with white gloves, he looked around the tent.
Seeing Saito, in surprise he stopped playing with his hair.
Though the left eye of the boy who introduced himself as Julio was the same color as Louise’s… the right eye that had been mostly hidden by his hair was crystal blue. In other words - the colors of his right and left eyes were different.