“It's me.”
Came the shy voice of Tiffania from the other side of the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened revealing Tiffania. She wore a thin night cloth and had a candlestick with a wax candle in her right hand. The candlelight melted smoothly with Tiffania's blond hair.
“What's wrong?”
Saito said in a strained voice.
“I want to talk to you about something. Can I?”
“Alright.”
It was the first time he saw Tiffania changed into her nightclothes. Though the nightclothes were loose, it hugged Tiffania's developed body tightly. Because of her young features, when the outline of her body was hidden, she looked very childish.
When Tiffania put the candlestick on the table, she sat on the chair.
And asked Saito in a serious voice.
“Hey Saito. Who are you? You don't have any family in Tristain, however, the Queen of Tristain is searching for you. 'I am not a familiar anymore' you said. How can a human be a familiar? If you don't want to tell me, it’s alright, however… However, I feel uneasy.”
Saito worried.
If he had to explain it, the talk would touch ‘Void’.
That there is a girl named Louise, who, like Tiffania, is a user of Void…
But maybe he should not tell that to Tiffania, who lives peacefully in the forest. It might put her in an unnecessary danger.
When Saito kept being silent, Tiffania continued asking.
“When I played the harp, you cried…”
“You saw?”
“Yes. When listening to that tune, tears fell from my eyes. I remembered mother and the place where she was born. Though I do not know about it… for some reason, I still call it my hometown. Do you remember your home?”
Saito nodded. Apart from the explanation of Void, he could talk about himself...
“Where is it? If you want to talk that is.”
“…In a country of Earth.”
“What?”
Tiffania stared at him with wide eyes.
“As I said, I am not from here. From another world. I am a human that came from there.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t? That’s why I did not want to talk about it.”
“Where you come from? How?“
“That… somehow I was summoned as a familiar. I do not understand it myself really.”
“There must be some reason…”
“There may not be one. As for the reason I ended up in here…”
“I absolutely want to know.”
“Well I became a familiar with an ability to use any weapon.”
Saito said in a soliloquy way.
“You can’t use them anymore?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s why you do not return to Tristain? But what about your master…”
“It’s all right.”
“You don’t want to meet that person?”
“That’s not why - I cannot meet her. It’s because as a human, I am useless now and have lost any purpose…”
Seeing Saito like this, Tiffania said in a sympathetic voice.
“You love her, don’t you?”
Once she said so, tears started flowing from Saito's eyes. Feelings that had been restrained till now broke free, and Saito cried raggedly. Tiffania stood up and hugged Saito’s head close to her.
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Don’t cry, don’t cry.”
After a while, once Saito’s sobbing subdued, he apologized to Tiffania.
“I'm sorry for crying.”
“It’s all right. I also cry sometimes…”
Tiffania, even after Saito stopped crying, rested his head on her chest. Tiffania’s soft and big bosom settled Saito’s mind down.
“…That is so. That’s why I felt close to you.”
“To me?”
“Aye. It was the hometown to which you cannot return. I have one as well. I think this was the reason why you started crying after hearing my harp.”
He looked at Tiffania’s slumber attire.
“Do these clothes look unusual to you?”
“That’s right.”
The night clothes that Louise wore, were of a different design.
“These are Elven clothing. I got them from my mother. Because Elves live in the desert… they wear such clothes. The texture protects from the sun during the daytime, and the warmth protects from night’s cold. Because it is warm, I made it into nightclothes.”
Tiffania said in a longing tone.
“When the night comes, I remember mother. She was very beautiful and gentle. When I go to sleep and put these clothes on, I feel like I am held by mother again.”
“Yeah.”
“Lands in the east… Mother's hometown… I want to go there. But I cannot.”
”Why?”
“Elves dislike humans. When they see the ‘mixed’ me, they will not understand.”
In a sad voice, Tiffania said.
“And humans are afraid of Elves. They will not be afraid of me as long as I'm an unknown girl. Human in daytime. Elf at night. And neither in the end. A failure.”
“You are not a failure.”
Looking up, Saito said.
“Why?”
“You are very beautiful. When I saw you for the first time, I honestly thought you were a fairy. So have more confidence.”
Tiffania blushed.
“…”
“S-sorry… I didn’t have anything strange in mind when I said that…”
“Don’t say that again. It’s embarrassing.”
“Alright.”
“It was the first time someone told me I am beautiful. You are really a weird person. Instead of being afraid of me, you say I am beautiful.”
“But you are beautiful…”
When Saito said that, Tiffania quietly pushed Saito away.
“Tiffa?”
“…Muu, I told you not to say that again.”
“W-w-why you are so angry? It is not bad to be called beautiful.”
“S-stop saying that I am beautiful. I, I want you to be silent.”
Saying so, Tiffania stood up.
Confused, Saito scratched his head.
The next morning...
“Get up.”
N? Saito thrust out his head, but it was still dim.
“Isn’t it night still…?” he muttered and dived back under the blanket. Then the blanket was torn away.
“What the!”
He shouted and felt a sword pointed at his nose.
“Get up. I won’t repeat myself three times.”
In the darkness, he recognized Agnes' face. He also noticed that the pointed sword was Derflinger.
”It’s great, partner!”
“Ah?”
“The commander of the musketeers will be taking care of your training from now on! Under her guidance, you will gain skills in no time!”
Agnes smiled.
“Since I’m bored anyway, to kill time, I will train you, with pleasure.”
“I-is that so…”
He said scratching his head, but his cheek was pulled.
“W-what auch auch?!”
Then a hand gripped Saito’s ear and brought his face close to Agnes, who said.
“Alright? From today on, your only answer is ‘Yes’. Is that clear?”
She had a power different from Louise, and Saito nodded instinctively. It was a musketeer commander with stern look and not a young, beautiful woman.
“Y-yes…”
“I can’t hear you.”
“YES!”
“One minute. Put your clothes on and come to the garden.”
And once he ran to the garden, still hastily putting his clothes on, Agnes stood there with her arms crossed. When Saito stood before her, she reported in a lowered voice.”
“Ten seconds late.”
“That, only ten seconds…”
She roughly pulled his cheek, Saito shouted in an almost crying voice.
“Yes! I’m late!”
“Well then, one hundred push-ups.”
She said simply, and Saito started doing push-ups.
After that, the basic training of hell continued. He was made to run around the forest for a long time, then his strength was trained using a log. The hard and intensive training that he was doing seemed like games now.