“But…”
“„But…“ What?”
“I will not bow to anyone against my will!”
Drawing on his last reserves of strength, Saito forced himself to a stand. Pushing Louise aside, he grabbed the blade stuck in the ground with his left hand.
In that instant…
The runes inscribed on that hand began glowing brightly.
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 reached the Founder Brimir's familiar Gandálfr?”
Osmond intently examined Colbert's sketch of the runes on Saito's 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 Gandálfr!”
“So, your conclusion?”
“That boy is Gandálfr! 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 Gandálfr 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 Gramont. Skirt-chasing must run in the family, considering his father's even more of a womanizer. I wouldn't be surprised if the boy knows every girl in school. 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 children's fight. 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.
Saito was surprised. The moment he grabbed the sword, all the pain in his body disappeared.
He realized the runes on his left hand were glowing.
And then…
My body feels as light as a feather. I could almost take off and fly.
In addition, the blade he held in his left hand felt so familiar that it seemed like an extension of his body.
That's strange. I've never even touched a sword before…
Seeing Saito with the weapon in hand, Guiche smiled coldly.
“Firstly, let me congratulate you. I'm honestly quite impressed that a commoner would come this far against a mage.”
With that, he twirled the rose in his hand.
That artificial rose must be his wand. Really, how vain can you get?
Saito was astonished that he even had the leisure to think such things.
I was beaten up so badly just now. What in the world happened to me?
Guiche's golem attacked again.
Stupid tin can.
The statue modeled in the shape of the mythical Valkyrie came towards Saito in what seemed like slow motion.
What the hell, Saito thought.
I got kicked around like a rag doll by this crawling junk pile?
Saito leapt into action.
At the sight of his golem sliced in two as though it was a lump of clay, Guiche uttered a tormented moan.
The two halves of the golem each struck the ground with a resounding “clang.”
Meanwhile, Saito bolted towards Guiche in a whirlwind of action.
Panicking, Guiche waved his rose wand wildly. Petals danced, and six new golems appeared.
Altogether, seven golems were Guiche's full arsenal. Never had he thought that a mere commoner could be a match for even one.
The golems surrounded Saito and sprang at him all at once.
And just when it looked like they had him, five of them were slashed apart. It had been so fast that nobody even saw the blade, making everyone wonder just what kind of superhuman ability this was.
The remaining golem promptly dashed over to guard Guiche.
But it too was taken down by an unseen sword-stroke.
“Hiii!!”
A kick to the face sent Guiche sprawling to the ground.
He saw Saito leap at him.
I'm gonna die! he thought, as he shielded his head.
Something made a loud “thunk”…
When he timidly opened his eyes again…
Saito had driven the blade into the ground just to the right of Guiche's head.
“You want to continue?”
Saito asked.
Guiche shook his head furiously. He'd totally lost any will to fight.
And in a failing voice he said,
“I… I yield.”
Saito released his hand and walked away.
He could hear rowdy cheering from the audience such as “Whoa, that familiar is awesome!” or “Oh man, Guiche lost!”
I… won?
How?
Saito's thoughts were in a haze.
…Just what happened to me?
I was getting knocked around so mercilessly.
And then, the moment my hand touched that sword, my body felt like a feather. The next thing I knew, all of Guiche's golems were in pieces.
I didn't even know I could use a sword.
I don't quite understand it, but whatever. I won somehow, and that's that. I'll think about it later. Because right now, I feel really really tired. I want to sleep.
He could see Louise running over to him.
'Hey, I won!' he wanted to yell, but his knees buckled.
The feeling of fatigue overwhelmed him, and he could feel his consciousness drift far away. Saito collapsed.
As she saw Saito begin to teeter, Louise ran faster to try and support him, but she didn't quite make it. Saito toppled over onto hard ground with a heavy thud.
“Saito!”
Louise shook him. No, it seemed he wasn't dead.
“Guu…”
She could hear snoring. Instead, he was sleeping.
“He's asleep…”
Louise looked thoroughly relieved as she let out a sigh.
Guiche stood up and shook his head in amazement.
“Louise, just what is this guy? All of my Valkyries were so easily defeated…”
“He's just a commoner.”
“There's no way my golems could have lost to „just a commoner.“”