Chapter 5: The Incident and Stolen Staff

---

A new day approaches Halkeginia. Another normal day is upon them, as normal as it could be whenever Kurumi is involved. But other than that, today is the day that the second year students within the academy are participating in the Familiar Exhibitions.

Not only that, but they are also preparing for the visit of one of the royal family's members, Princess Henrietta. It is a special treat for them as this only happens once in a bluemoon. It is more special to Louise as she gets to meet one of her beloved friends.

And since time passes by, it's been a while since they actually met each other again. And because of this, Louise is worried about meeting her again, since she has a Familiar that can be classified as dangerous to humankind, yet extremely loyal to her. And because of that loyalty, Louise manages to stop her Familiar from committing mass murder.

Then again, in some cases, her clones are another story. Yes, they too are loyal to Louise just like the original, but sometimes, they do things independently and cause some ruckus, or kill bandits who happen to cross paths with them.

But those are ten percent of the cases, to which Kurumi easily handles and cleans up their messes. Kurumi is definitely a life saver for Louise on different occasions. Afterall, she is Louise's familiar, and she needs to play her part well. Who knows, after doing so may lead to a way back to her world with Shido. But for now, she needs to play her part in this world and be Louise's Familiar for an unknown amount of time.

The sun rises from the east, lighting up the land with its radiant sunlight. Pass through the curtains, a ray of sunlight slightly brightens up the dark room. Squinting her eyes, Louise slowly wakes from her slumber.

She sits up from her bed, yawning and stretching her arms out. "Is it morning already?" She asks herself as she heads to her window, curtains still covering it. She moves the curtains aside and all at once, all of the sunlight waiting for her has hit her entire form.

She covers her eyes as she is still adjusting her vision from that of a dark room, to the bright sunshine she's currently showered in. "Yup, it's definitely morning." She says to herself as she is irritated because her eyes are still adjusting to the change of lighting.

"Good Morning Louise-sama." Opening the door to her room, Kurumi greets her with her usual smile, like every morning, she is holding a basket of fresh laundry.

"Good Morning to you too, Kurumi." Louise yawns, covering her mouth.

"I see you slept soundly this time, Louise-sama." Kurumi comments as she observes Louise from head to toe.

"I didn't have any nightmares this time, so don't worry." Louise replies as she heads to her dresser.

"So, Louise-sama, are you ready for the princess' visit today?" Kurumi asks her as clones of herself rise from the shadows.

"Yes, of course, I am." She says as she gets dressed up by the clones. Moments later, the information finally registers in her head and her calm demeanor turns to that of a surprised one.

"W-Wait! Today's the day!?" She asks Kurumi, forgetting the fact that today is the day that Henrietta will visit the academy, and that tomorrow will be their Familiar Exhibitions.

"Why yes of course, Louise-sama." Kurumi replies, "Have you forgotten about the announcement yesterday, Louise-sama?" she asks her.

"Wait, was that yesterday, or the day before?" Louise asks again, confirming if her memory is right.

"They only announced it yesterday, Louise-sama." Kurumi replies, making Louise deflate in defeat.

"I thought she's going to visit next week…" She utters to herself,

"Well, it would give us a lot of time to prepare ourselves for the princess' visit, but then again, here we are." Kurumi replies, "Besides, aren't you looking forward to this, Louise-sama?" she asks her again.

"Of course, I am looking forward to this, Kurumi." She replies, "It has been some time since I last saw her." She says as the clones are done dressing her.

"Besides, it's more of a reunion for me than a visit in an official capacity." She says as she sits down on the chair before her dresser's mirror. Kurumi then begins combing her hair.

"Well, based on what you had told me last night, you do hold her dear like a sister, don't you?" Kurumi comments, making Louise's face bright red.

"D-Don't say such embarrassing things so easily!" She stutters out as she is flustered with that comment.

"You are so easily flustered, Louise-sama." Kurumi giggles, " I didn't even put much effort in that one."

"Mouu! Kurumi!" Louise whines in response.

"I'll stop, I'll stop~" Kurumi stops giggling, "But in actuality, I am glad that you are looking forward to this, Louise-sama."

"Huh?" Louise is confused with Kurumi's comment, 'It's as if she lost something…'

"No, it's nothing Louise-sama." Kurumi shakes her head and continues on with combing her hair.

'Something feels off about her…' Louise thinks to herself, not once she sees Kurumi like this. As if Kurumi is feeling sympathetic towards her, all the while reminiscing about something from her past.

"And done." Kurumi says, "How does it look, Louise-sama?" she asks her.

Louise glances at the mirror and observes Kurumi's work.

"Hmm, neatly done as always." Louise comments as she looks at every angle of her head.

"Thank you for your kind words, Louise-sama." Kurumi thanks her, playing the humble servant personality.

"I know our pact is more of a master and servant one, but you can drop the honorifics, Kurumi." She says to her.

"But isn't that contradictory to the pact?" Kurumi asks her,

"Not it wouldn't, besides, it's an order from your master." Louise grins.

"Well if you put it that way, I guess I must follow you." Kurumi replies, "Alright then, Louise-san."

"See? It's not that hard to drop honorifics now is it?" Louise says, a little smug about it.

"When it is an order from you, nothing is hard, Louise-san." Kurumi says, confident that she can do anything that Louise throws at her. Afterall, she has been her Familiar for some time now.

"Sometimes, I think that you can probably do almost anything." She says, sweat appearing on her face.

She just chuckles for a short moment in response, "But moving forward, Louise-san, shall we head to the dining hall?"

"Well it is getting late, so we should head there now." Louise replies, not shortly after though, her stomach grumbles.

"Looks like someone is starving for today's breakfast." Kurumi coos at her, once again teasing Louise.

"It's a normal reaction when you're hungry okay!?" Louise retaliates, the teasing is just annoying for her.

"I'm just messing with you, Louise-san." Kurumi laughs, "Don't take it too personally." she adds.

She continues on laughing, Louise's face still fuming red in annoyance. 'You can be really mean sometimes.' She sighs.

"Well, shall we get going now, Louise-san?" Kurumi asks as she opens the door, gesturing to Louise to go first.

"Of course." Louis says, "Time to start a new day." Looking forward to the day, all the while nervous, as she is about to face her childhood friend once more later on.

Opening the door, the bright light of the hall, which is illuminated by sunlight, engulfs them as every other student in the same floor as her are just getting out of their rooms just like her, or are now walking towards the dining hall. Friends chat and tag along with one another as they set off for their day, and some of the students instead bond with their Familiars as they start their day.

As for Louise's case though, she still sees Kurumi as her Familiar instead of a friend, but she wouldn't admit that she actually sees Kurumi as a sort of friend other than being her Familiar.

"As lively as ever, isn't it, Louise-san?" Kurumi says as she closes the door.

"It definitely is." Louise says, starting to walk towards the staircase with Kurumi following her.

"I wonder what will happen today…" Louise asks herself, imaging scenarios on how her day will probably work out. And most of them are just Kurumi teasing her midday or something horribly going wrong.

"Are you doing alright, Louise-san?" Noticing how Louise's mood suddenly drops as she now also looks pale, Kurumi asks out of concern, "We wouldn't want another visit to the infirmary now, would we?"

"I'm doing fine." She weakly replies, her mood still dropping as she thinks of other scenarios that could happen. "I am just thinking of something." She adds.

"I could already sense what you are thinking about, Louise-san." Knowing how Louise thinks, Kurumi can already judge by the look on her face about what she could be thinking.

"Louise-san, you've seen it for yourself for the last few days that I am not a born natural disaster."

"Technically, if we count in the fact that you can destroy an entire city in the kingdom with your unusual spirit abilities-"

"Spacequakes."

"-Yes, those, you are a born natural disaster."

"Well if you put it that way… I can't argue with you." Kurumi says with her smug smile.

"What are you so smug for?" Louise asks.

"Oh look, Louise-san." Kurumi changes the topic as she sees Guiche along with Kirche and Tabitha this time.

"Ah, it's them…"

"Oh, Kurumi-san!" Zerbst waves at her, greeting her again like yesterday.

"Eek!" Guiche gets goosebumps at the sight of Kurumi as he could still remember the devilish smile she gave him back when he lost to their duel. He instinctively hides behind Tabitha out of all people.

"Morning." Tabitha simply greets, still little to no emotions whatsoever.

"Good morning to you, Zerbst, Tabitha, and… Guiche…" Louise awkwardly greets as Guiche continues to hide and shiver behind Tabitha.

"M-Morning…" He greets back.

"Oh come one, Guiche-san, I am not a rabid animal." Kurumi pouts, and in response, he continues to hide behind Tabitha even further.

"*sigh* There is just no reasoning with you, is there?" Kurumi comments, rather disappointed as Guiche seems as if he hadn't moved on from the duel they had before.

"Ah, don't worry about him." Kirche says, "He'll get over it in a week or two." she claims.

"I really do hope so." Kurumi sighs, 'I wanted to have a mundane conversation with him… Oh well.'

"Anyways, are you heading for our class now?" Kirche asks them.

"Of course." Louise replies, "Why wouldn't we?"

Tabitha shakes her head. "Classes are canceled." She says.

"Canceled? Why are they canceled- Oh right, the princess is visiting us…" Louise corrects herself as she remembers what day it was.

"Jeez, you're so forgetful today, Louise-san."

"-san?" Kirche asks to confirm if what she heard is right.

"Huh?" Tabitha tilts in her response, showing her confusion on the sudden change of how Kurumi addresses Louise.

"I allowed her to drop formalities." Louise defends herself, "Besides, it's getting eerie that she keeps calling me 'Louise-sama'." She whispers the last bit as she didn't want to be heard by Kurumi.

"What was that, Louise-san?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"I see your bonds have grown stronger since." Walking up to them, Colbert couldn't help but join in with their discussion.

"Ah, good morning Colbert-sensei." Louise greets him in return, bowing her head.

"Good morning, Colbert-sensei." Kirche and Tabitha greet him as well.

"G-Good morning, C-Colbert-sensei!" Guiche stutters out as he is still cowering behind Tabitha.

"Good morning to you all." Colbert greets them back, "What are you all doing here?" he asks them.

"We were just having a little chat, sensei." Kirche replies.

"I see, well you better get going." Colbert says to them, "Afterall, you are all to welcome the princess."

"Ah right, thank you for reminding us sensei!" Louise thanks him.

"Well then, off you go." Colbert says, "I think that all of the students are already at the front gate." He says as he glances out of the window.

"Okay, sensei!" They reply as they walk down the stairs to join the others who are now currently waiting outside.

---

Now outside, Louise and the rest are still waiting for the arrival of her Majesty. Some are growing impatient, while some are excited to see her Majesty visit their school.

"From what I've heard, the last time a royal visited this place…"

"I can't wait for her Majesty to arrive…!"

These are the comments of some students, as they continue to wait for the princess to arrive.

Just at the doorstep into the academy are where Osmond, Longueville, Colbert and the rest of the faculty staff are standing. As Osmond looks over the horizon, he can see figures from the distance, the carriage of Henrietta.

"She's here." Osmond says to the staff, all of them are eyeing the carriage from a distance.

'Looks like they are early this time.' Longueville comments to herself.

As the students hear the sounds of the carriage drawing ever closer, they fix their postures, standing tall as the princess arrives.

"I now announce to you all the arrival of her Majesty, heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Tristain, Henrietta-sama!" Announces one of her retainers as they enter the academy's grounds.

As the carriage enters, every student bows down in recognition of the presence of their beloved princess, the next queen of their land. The carriage stops midway through, and the door of the carriage opens.

One of her retainers steps out of the carriage, then they give out their hand to help Henrietta out of the carriage. The girl steps out of the carriage, her dignified figure makes the students admire her. Wearing a white dress, draped with a purple cloak, and with the finest jewels decorates her dress and cloak, and her tiara, further cementing her status as royalty.

"Welcome, Henrietta-sama!" The students greet her as she is now walking towards Osmond.

"Welcome, Henrietta-sama." Osmond and the rest of the staff bow before her.

Henrietta, in return, gives a sincere smile. They didn't honestly need to be this formal, as it is not even an official visit, as it is a mere little trip for the princess. And now showing their humbleness before her is making her quite ashamed as she didn't mean for them to do any of this.

"Raise your heads." She says and everyone proceeds to straighten up their figures.

She then looks around, hoping to see Louise. Glancing from one line of students the other. And shortly after, she notices Louise's most defining feature, her pink hair. She then heads towards her childhood friend to greet her.

"It's been a long time, Louise." She greets her, grabbing Louise's hands.

"Yes it has been, your Majesty." Louise replies.

"I-Is she friends with her…?"

"H-How is she…?"

"I can't believe it…"

And with that simple act, it caught everyone's attention as they didn't expect Zero Louise to be friends with someone related to the throne.

"You are full of surprises, Louise." Kirche whispers to herself.

Giving out a short giggle as she is once again reunited with her childhood friend, Henrietta glances at the person right beside Louise. Noticing that something is off about the person.

'I've never seen such clothes before, is she a noble from Germania?' Henrietta thinks to herself, 'And her eyes… why is one of her eyes gold?'

Noticing that Henrietta is observing Kurumi, Louise nudges Kurumi.

"Greetings, your majesty." Kurumi bows, mistaking Louise's actions as a signal for her to greet the princess.

"A-Ah." Henrietta didn't mean to stare at her for too long. "I'm sorry for my imprudence." She apologizes.

"You didn't do anything wrong, your majesty." Kurumi replies, smiling.

"If it's not rude to ask-" Henrietta gets cut off as she asks.

"Ask away, your majesty."

"Then excuse me for asking, but where do you come from?" She asks.

"Where do I come from?" Kurumi asks, pointing at herself.

"Yes." Henrietta nods, "You seem to be from somewhere else based on your clothes."

"Ah, well this is my astral dress, you see." Kurumi says, "And I am from nowhere in this world. Louise-sama simply summoned me to be her Familiar." She explains.

"From nowhere in this world?" Henrietta asks, "And what do you mean Familiar?" She adds. It is still a foreign concept for her for someone to summon a human to be a familiar.

"I-It's a long story…" Louise sighs, "I'll tell you all about it soon."

"If you say so." Henrietta drops the topic for now, "Let's have a little talk later, okay?"

"Of course, your majesty." Louise bows once more, in turn Henrietta bows as well before she goes off to Osmond.

Osmond leads the princess into the academy, her retainers following them. Once they're inside, the students remain outside for a bit.

"Alright, all of you head to your classes now." Colbert announces to them.

"Classes already?"

"Well, let's get a move on."

"I wonder what we will do later."

The students give various reactions and responses to Colbert's announcement.

"Well then, Louise-sama, let's head to your class." Kurumi says as she walks ahead of Louise.

"I should've told you to revert to that uniform of yours…" Louise sighs.

"Hm? Why so, Louise-sama?"

"First of all, I already told you, you can drop the honorifics, second of all, we stood out again."

"It is unavoidable Louise-san." Kurumi reasons,

"What do you mean unavoidable?" She asks her.

"She would still notice my eyes." Kurumi answers.

"Ah right, your golden eye with some sort of clock…" Louise deflates, "Can't you make them look normal at least?" She asks.

"No can do, Louise-san."

"Well that was a quick response."

"All I can do is to conceal them with my hair or some bandages, Louise-san." She suggests,

"Huh?" Louise asks as she hears the last part, "Why bandages?"

"Ah, right, you don't know what a chuunibyou is, don't you?" Kurumi says, remembering that she didn't mention that term since getting here.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Louise is on the verge of annoyance once more with new definitions that her Familiar understands. "What is this 'Chuuneebyou' you're talking about?" She tries her best to replicate how Kurumi said the word.

"It's nothing, Louise-san." Kurumi replies, "You don't need to worry about that."

"If you say so." Louise shrugs it off, not asking Kurumi further as it would seem futile to do so, "Let's head off then." She says as she walks ahead of Kurumi.

"Right behind you." Kurumi replies as she follows Louise.

The aforementioned class is being held once again at the courtyard of the school. Since the Familiar exhibitions are tomorrow, training is still going on. Ergo, it did not take much time for Louise to find their class. And once again, Colbert is the one who is supervising said class.

"Since tomorrow will be your class' Familiar Exhibition, you still have to train your familiars for the occasion. " He announces to them, "And because of that, once again, all your classes are canceled for the sake of the exhibitions tomorrow."

Some of the students' faces lighten up as they hear that their classes are canceled once again. Before they can celebrate however, Colbert says one more thing.

"Also, don't bother doing nothing." He adds, "Every teacher is observing you and will call you out into the yard. Even the princess will be observing you all."

Now those some faces are now showing the face of defeat and agony as they wished they could spend the day relaxing for most of the time. While the rest are eccentric, the thought princess will be observing them as well and being praised because of it may lead to friendship with a royal, a feat already achieved by Zero Louise.

"Let's give it our all!" The majority of the class yells as the minority of them slouches down as they really want to relax for the day.

'I didn't expect them to be this eccentric…' Taken aback by the sudden war cry, Colbert decides to let them be, and tend back to matters he's been attending to for the past few days.

"Now if you will excuse me, I shall be going now." He says, "But do remember, do not slack as teachers would observe you from a distance and we'll be obligated to intervene if none of you will follow, understand?"

"Yes sensei!" The students reply as they all go to their respective places for them to train their familiars. Some students are having Familiar spars, while others are just teaching their familiars with basic human talent, such as dancing in the case of Montmorency and her frog familiar, Robin.

Colbert gives out a satisfied smile, before looking up at one of the windows. He sees Henrietta Osmond, and Longueville, all observing the students. 'Huh, I expected for them to observe later on.' He shrugs it off and goes his merry way back to the library. 'If I don't find anything, I might as well resolve to ask her.' He sighs as it has been days, well in reality it's been a week since Kurumi became a familiar, and he is already a third through the library's countless books and scrolls and found nothing about what Kurumi is saying.

But enough of Colby and going back to Louise, she is currently getting dragged into another spar session by Kirche.

"C'mon Zero!" She whines at Louise, the only thing left for this to be dramatic is for her to cling onto her as she whines.

"I told you, we're not doing a spar!" Louise disapproves, "There are a lot of people around, they might get involved in this!" she reasons, "And what right do you have to call me by that name!?"

"Oh c'mon! They won't get involved, I promise~"

"One more time you ask Zerbst, I'll be forced to ask Kurumi to freeze you." Louise responds, grinning maniacally at the thought of Zerbst being frozen by Kurumi and dragged beneath her shadows.

"I never thought to see the day you'd grin that way." Kurumi says, as if she is a proud mother,

"I am not grinning that much!" Louise denies the fact that she is.

Sighing, she's having none of it though. "You practice on your own, and we practice on our own, alright?"

Zerbst then proceeds to look like a beaten up puppy rejected to be cuddled by their owner, "Fine…"

"Now that's settled, let's go Kurumi." Louise says as she leads her to a part of the courtyard, where no one will interrupt them, and no one will get injured.

"Alright." Kurumi replies as she follows Louise.

"Not fair…" Zerbst pouts, having cartoony tears flowing down her eyes, Tabitha patting her head, whispering "There, there."

"Sometimes that woman is insufferable." Louise sighs, "I had enough dealing with her antics."

"I wouldn't call her insufferable, Louise-san." Kurumi replies, "In all honesty, she's entertaining to be with." giving her the brightest smile she could.

"For you at least." Louise says, "I've been stuck with her, and since then she's part of the people who mock me because of my failed spells."

"Speaking of that, isn't it like, you only have one element that you specialize in?"

"Yep."

"And you don't know what it is?"

"Yep."

"Isn't there some sort of device in this world that identifies your magic?"

"Nope." Louise says, "You just have to cast spells, and hope to Brimir it's your element."

Kurumi suddenly just drops to the floor, kneeling down on all fours, as if defeat just had hit her so badly, her face hidden by her bangs as she looks down at the grass, trembling "Kurumi!?"

"I'm fine… Louise-san… Don't worry about me…" She says as she looks up to face her.

"You look pale as if you're dead as you said that!"

"Anyways." Kurumi gets up, shrugging off any grass and dirt that got caught on her astral dress, "Let's get to target practice, Louise-san."

"Yeah, yeah." Louise replies, looking around the area. "This seems like a good spot." She says.

"Now, what shall be my targets?" Kurumi asks her.

"Huh, never prepared some."

"Classic, Louise-san."

"It's not my problem that I didn't make them."

"Technically it is…" Kurumi whispers to herself.

"What did you just say!?" Louise yells.

"Nothing, Louise-san."

---

On the other side of things, Henrietta is observing the students, alongside Osmond and Longueville and some of her guards from the palace, witnessing various familiars who are now currently showing off their skills and talents of sorts. Osmond and Longueville are having a keen eye on everyone, but for Henrietta as she tries to find where Louise is among the crowd, she sees her isolating herself from everyone else, except for the strange girl she just met earlier.

"Osmond-san."

"Yes, your majesty?"

"Who is that girl with Louise?" She asks, "She doesn't seem like a student here."

Hearing that, Osmond and Longueville sweats up, their bodies tensing up as they don't know how they should explain the situation, considering the fact that it's the first time in history that another person becomes a mage's familiar.

"Well you see, Henrietta-sama." Another voice intrudes to give them the proper explanation. "On the day of the Familiar Summoning Ceremony, she is the one who Brimir deemed to be her Familiar." As everyone looks at the source of the voice, they see Colbert approaching them.

"Ah, Colby-sensei."

"It's Colbert!"

"What do you mean?" Henrietta asks, "There is no such thing as a human familiar…" She says as she does believe that fact.

"Well, you see she's a special case, Henrietta-sama." Colbert says, "She's-"

"Hehehe~ Looks like I have to take over explaining things again." A voice intrudes, interrupting Colbert and alarming everyone.

"Who's there?" Henrietta asks, "Show yourself." She commands as her retainers form up to be her meatshield.

"Do not worry, Henrietta-sama~ I'm here just to get you well informed about myself." The stranger says, and everyone is still up and ready for a fight. "Please hold down your arms, I am not looking for a fight."

But they are not going to drop their arms just like that and so, the stranger sighs in disappointment.

"Like I said, I'm here to regale you with a tale, not bloodshed." The stranger says as some sort of substance forms before them by the darkened wall.

Everyone then proceeds to point their attention and weapons at the wall, anticipating for someone or something to come out.

"Hostile as ever." The stranger sighs as they step out of the shadow.

"Wait." Henrietta says as she notices who the stranger is, "You're the girl I met earlier…"

"Why quite right you are indeed, Henrietta-sama." And outsteps Kurumi, making Henrietta take a quick glance outside to see if Louise is still with the girl, and she is still with the girl.

"H-How are there-"

"Two of me? Well actually, there are more of us." She says as all of the Kurumis then appear from all sides of the hallway.

This shocks everyone including Osmond, Longueville, and Colbert. "I-I thought there were only four of you…" Osmond whispers.

"Four of us?" Kurumi says, "Did you make that duel a basis of your assumption?"

"-ghk!?" Two Kurumis then suddenly hold Osmond in place, clinging to him. In his mind, it's paradise. In reality, the tension between the two parties is rather high.

"That's besides the point." She says as she materializes her musket weaponry, along with the rest of the clones. "Now shall we talk in a more civilized way, or we talk by force?" She asks as she and the rest ready their rifles and aims at them.

Looking around her, there's no possible way out of this situation she's in. If she acts rashly, it could cost their lives. Seeing that there's no other options, Henrietta chooses the more peaceful route.

"You-!" One of the retainers tries to charge at Kurumi but is quickly halted by Henrietta.

"Stand down." She says to them.

"B-But Henrietta-sama-!"

"I said stand down!" She commands, not wanting the tension to rise further.

And with that, her retainers sheaths their swords, and everyone holds their guard down.

"I see, you're more cooperative than the other people I encountered whenever I'd tell them my history." Kurumi says in delight as she dematerializes her weapons, and the clones follow in suit.

"Now, do you want me to regale you with the long tale?" She says as she steps closer to them, "Or do you want a short version, or the simplified version?"

"The simplified version please." Henrietta says, steadying her own resolve.

"Alright then." Kurumi says as she materializes her flintlock pistol once more.

Before they can even respond to Kurumi's actions, she swiftly takes the princess to her custody.

"Henrietta-sama!" Yells one of her retainers as everyone pulls out their swords.

"Uh-Uh-Ah." Kurumi mocks them, "You don't want to hurt your princess now, do you?" She says as sticks her head to hers.'

"Tch!" Some of them are biting their lips, they couldn't do anything but witness what's happening in front of them without being able to intervene at any time as it could bring harm to their next ruler.

"Now, prepare yourself, your Majesty." Kurumi says, "As you are going to have a front row seat, peek into my identity."

Henrietta is sweating so much as she is currently fearing for what will happen next. 'W-Will I die…? W-What's going to happen…?' Her body shivers as she is still under Kurumi's custody.

"This will be a painless process, Henrietta-sama, I assure you." She says, "But please do recover from the shock you're going to experience by the end." She says, smiling maniacally.

"Don't do this!"

"What are you doing!?"

"Someone stop her!"

As everyone around them panics, Kurumi pays no attention and continues on with her plans.

"Yud." She utters, and everyone sees some sort of blackish-red substance go into the barrel of her flintlock.

She aims it at her own temple and aligns her head with Henrietta's.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"Are you insane!?"

"Stop her already!"

"AGH!"

BANG

Two sounds are heard. First, the firing of a flintlock, and lastly, the sound of metal piercing through skin.

"Heh." Kurumi spats out, "At least I've managed to show her everything, and I can be easily replaced anyways." She closes her eyes and she falls into the shadows. Every other Kurumi then retreats back into the shadows as the first Kurumi is stabbed by one of the princess' retainers.

"Henrietta-sama!"

"Are you alright, your Majesty!?"

"Bring her to the infirmary!"

Henrietta looks as if she's in her own world for a moment, shortly after however, she looks so shell shocked as if she underwent hell itself. She couldn't bring herself to scream out as the horrors she sees from those memories of Kurumi is enough to drown out her screams.

Being unresponsive for some time, her retainers carry her to the infirmary where she can rest for the moment. Two guards post themselves at the door, while two of them post themselves inside with Henrietta.

For Henrietta, she feels like she undergoes years of Kurumi's life. But in reality it is mere minutes before she gains her senses again. And there she is on one of the beds of the infirmary, slowly recovering from the shock and horrors she saw.

She tries to comprehend what she saw back there, all of the tragedies, all of the deaths, and feeling of hatred towards some being, she tries to comprehend it all. And silently, she waits there, trying to find the answer she needs, remaining silent as time passes by.

Back to Louise and Kurumi outside in the courtyard, they're still training as Kurumi hits every single target flawlessly with only one shot. Some of her shots manage to penetrate some of the targets Louise forced Guiche to make.

She blows the smoke from the tip of her pistol's barrel. "Another bullseye~" She chants to herself, feeling proud that she hits the mark of the target. "What do you say, Louise-san?" She asks, but gets no response, she then glances back to see Louise deeply in thought, currently in her own world.

"Is something the matter, Louise-san?" She asks Louise, but still no response. "Louise-san~" She steps closer to Louise and still has no response.

"Louise-san~" She calls her again, this time she's mere inches away from her face.

"Ah!" Startling Louise, she steps back a bit as she finally gets her attention, giving her breathing space to recover from the shock. "W-What was it?" Louise asks her as she didn't pay attention to any of her questions.

"You seem to be thinking of something, Louise-san." Kurumi says, "Is something troubling you?"

"Well…" Louise starts off, pausing for a second, "I have a feeling that something bad has happened." She says.

"Hm? Why do you think so?" Kurumi asks.

"I don't know." Louise replies, "It's more of a gut feeling, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Louise-san." Kurumi says, "But after this, do you want to head to Henrietta-was it?- and catch up with her?" She asks.

"Well, that is the plan."

"Well then, since time is about to end, how about I shoot a couple of more targets, then we pay her a visit?" She suggests it to her.

"Well, since we practiced enough already, sure, why not." Louise says, "Hey Guiche!" She calls out.

"Yes Ze- I mean, Louise?" Guiche corrects himself as he does not want to get beaten up by her Familiar.

"Can you make more stone targets for us?" Louise asks, as to which Guiche immediately does so.

"There you go." He says, returning back to his training session with Verdante.

"Thanks!" Louise shouts at him as he seems to be preoccupied with pampering his Familiar.

"Alright Kurumi, there's your new targets."

"Thank you Louise-sama." She thanks, then she pulls out her pistol once more and quickly shreds through the newly formed rocks as her targets, it all happened in a blink of an eye. Everyone who is watching them drops their jaws at amazement and disbelief.

"H-How did you do that!?" Louise is shocked as she didn't even see the tracer from those rounds, and all of it happened in a split second.

"I'm quite impressed with myself, Louise-san." She says as she observes her pistol, "Normally, I couldn't fire that fast, nor hit something accurately with that quick draw."

"S-So you're saying this is the first time you've done that!?"

"Apparently so, Louise-san." She replies, but something catches her interest. "Hm? That's odd." She comments as she sees on her right hand, some sort of symbol glowing. "What is this, Louise-san?" She asks her, she knows that Louise has knowledge of the symbol on her hand.

"Now that you ask, that's the rune that comes with the contract with our Familiar Pact." She explains.

"Ah, I see." Kurumi says, "And what do these runes do to the familiar exactly?" She asks again, her intuition saying that these are not just some sort of scribbled lines on her hand.

"Well, it does give powers to the familiar." Louise replies, "I did think that your ability to copy yourself is the power of your rune…"

"Well, it does not look like that's the case, now does it?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, from what we could gather, it definitely affected the speed of my fire." Kurumi states, "Does it enhance my combat ability?" She asks herself as it seems plausible that it does.

"We better ask Colbert-sensei rather than make wild conclusions."

"Mhm." Then they notice that there is an eerie silence; you could even hear crickets.

"Ah, right…" Louise utters as she realizes what is the cause that everyone is so shocked.

"Sorry for the commotion." Kurumi apologizes as she lowers her head, and then proceeds to act again as if nothing happened.

Shortly after though, they make their way back to her room before paying Henrietta a visit. But it would be Henrietta that would pay them a visit first, as she is afraid of what the girl would do to Louise.

Speaking of Henrietta though, she is already having talks again with Osmond and Colbert about her experience.

"A-Are you certain, H-Henrietta-sama…?" Colbert asks, a chill runs down his spine when he hears about the massacre the spirit had committed before.

"I am very certain." She says, having goosebumps as she confirms it herself.

"H–How did you even see her memory?" Osmond asks, wondering how one bullet shot gave her Kurumi's memories.

"I don't know." Henrietta replies, "But I'd like to meet her in person later." She says it more of telling what she intends to do rather than asking for permission to do so.

"B-But Henrietta-sama-"

"I am sure that I'll be fine." She cuts off one of her retainers, "Besides, we know Louise is her master."

After some more back and forth debate on whether or not letting her meet with Louise and her Familiar, in a matter of time though they allow her to visit Louise, Colbert will join her as her guard and that he'll look into the accounts Henrietta told them and confirm them if they are right.

'Please…' Henrietta says in her mind, 'Please let it all be an illusion…' She doesn't want to believe that what she saw earlier is a reality, she wishes for it to be some sort of disturbing fantasy. She wishes that it is a mere nightmare that she can wake up from.

But this is now the time that Halkagenia will fall into a slumber, where it would never wake from the neverending nightmare it's about to face.

---

Louise sighs as she sits on the side of her bed, "After all that searching, we didn't manage to find her." She comments. After heading to her room earlier, both of them set out to find Henrietta, but somehow, they didn't find her.

"She's probably busy with business here in the academy." Kurumi says, "Either she's doing an inspection or is currently talking to Osmond-sama about some things." She adds.

"Maybe I'll just have to meet her tomorrow." She sighs again as she falls onto the soft bed of hers.

Meanwhile, Kurumi feels like something breaks in her mind, she smiles as she hears what her clones have to say to her.

"Looks like that will not be the case, Louise-san." She says, giving off a satisfied smile.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Louise sits upright again after hearing what Kurumi said.

"Three."

"What?"

"Two."

"What are you counting down for?"

"One."

Someone is knocking at her door, getting the attention of both mage and spirit.

"Who could it be at this hour?" Louise growls as she doesn't want to stand up and leave her bed, she just wants to sleep after that long unfruitful search.

"Hello, Louise? It's me, Henrietta." Stopping herself from grabbing the door handle, Louise realizes who it was just outside the door.

"A-Ah!" Louise stutters out, "Henrietta-sama!"

Henrietta, on her part, just giggles as Louise never changes, being formal with her at times and what not.

"No need for the honorifics, Louise." She says, "Can I come in?" She asks politely.

"J-Just a second!" Louise replies, then glances at Kurumi.

"What is it?"

"Don't act weird around her okay?" Louise whispers to her, "I don't want you creeping her out."

Kurumi giggles at first as when meeting new people, this is her first request above anything else. "Of course, Louise-san."

"You better." She says under her breath as she grabs the door handle. She opens the door to see Henrietta and Colbert.

"Ah, Colbert-sensei!" Louise says, "Good evening." She greets them both.

"Good evening to you too, Louise." They both greet her.

"Come in, come in." She invites them into her room.

"Sorry for the intrusion." Henrietta says as she steps in.

Louise and Kurumi then take out some chairs for them to sit, and once they are seated on their chairs, Louise is the first one to start the conversation.

"Well, what brings the both of you here in this hour of the night, Henrietta-sama." She asks them, as it is already an hour before midnight.

"There are just some things we want to clarify since there was an incident earlier." Colbert says on behalf of Henrietta, "Since earlier, one of her clones almost threatens her Majesty."

Hearing this, Louise almost goes pale, the only thing left is her spirit getting out of her body and going off into the afterlife or going into another world.

"T-Threatened you!?" She glances back and forth between Kurumi and Henrietta.

"Yes she did, but Henrietta came out of the incident without harm." Colbert says, "On the other hand, your clone died because of the incident. On behalf of her Majesty's retainers, I apologize." He says, bowing before Kurumi.

Kurumi just giggles in response, throwing them off as a more normal reaction would be that she'd mourn for her loss.

"It's quite alright, Colbert-san." Kurumi replies, "Besides, I'm the one supposed to be apologizing, and you did the right thing against rogue clones of myself."

"Rogue clones?" Colbert repeats.

"Why yes, even if they are the exact replica of me, they also have independence when they make their actions." She explains, "And because of that independence and my personality, you may see some other version of me that acts the exact opposite of myself."

"S-So you're saying you're not in full control of the replicas of yourself that you made?" Henrietta asks, fearing that the clones that they encountered before are also rogue ones.

"Oh I do have control over them and making sure that they're in line." She says.

"How are we so sure that you have full control over your replicas?"

"Simple, whenever they cause trouble without me being informed, I'll simply take their lives myself." She says, once again her expression never wavering as she utters those words.

"T-Taking their lives?" Henrietta stutters out, her eyes opens widely as she hears that simple answer,

"Why yes." Kurumi replies, "Even I myself was a clone originally, but because of Louise-san, I became this world's original."

"B-But why would you end their-"

"Because they disobeyed me." She cuts her off, "And besides, we clones are willing to make the sacrifice for the original."

Everyone is left speechless at her answer, why does she treat them so harshly as if they were mere tools for her?

"Even if they're clones, some will still hold their morality, while most of them will abandon it all." She tells them, "A prime example of this is one of my fellow clones back in the world I was summoned from." She says to them, telling them a bit more about the other world she used to live in.

"She has the most unique relationship to the original, caring for her and whatnot as she did not abandon our humane morality, unlike the rest and I did. She would look after her and would even worry about her." Kurumi sighs before telling the next part, "But alas, the rest of us are there to act out her plans, and if she's in danger, we'd take the hit for her."

She then proceeds to grins maniacally, "But now, that's the past, and I am now the one in control." She says to them and she proceeds to laugh like a psychopath. Everyone then stands up and pulls out their wands to defend themself as Kurumi summons her weapons.

"And you're not taking this from-"

BANG

A hole then appeared on her forehead, shadows splashing out of the hole.

"Another rogue one." The newcomer sighs as she blows out the smoke from the barrel of her gun.

This Kurumi then falls onto the ground, shadows consuming her body. Everyone witnesses this, and are almost giving out their consciousness because of the tension within the room.

"I'm sorry for that rude one." Everyone then looks at the newcomer, another Kurumi that is currently holding laundry.

"W-What the hell was that!?" Louise yells at Kurumi.

"Hm? Didn't I mention that I'd be doing your laundry and that one of my clones will accompany you back to your room?" She asks Louise. "But then again, it's my fault that I didn't pick anyone properly."

"A-Are you trying to give us a heart attack!?" Colbert and Louise yell at her.

"Jeez, I said I'm sorry. It's not my intention to scare you like that." Kurumi sighs again, she then looks at Henrietta, "I'm sorry for one my underlings showed you my past." she bows before her, "And sorry for causing you all so much trouble."

"That's behind us now, care to explain things now?" Colbert demands an explanation.

"Well, just like what she said, my clones tend to stray away from my personality. And that she seems to be the one that conducted the entire commotion earlier."

"What do you mean she's-"

"She told them to do so, thinking it came from me." Kurumi then looks at Colbert's eyes with a dead serious look, showing she's not joking about this.

"I assume you regained control over them, yes?"

"Of course, if you want a formal apology from my clones I can call them out now."

"That is not necessary, uhm-"

"Kurumi, Tokisaki Kurumi." She replies,

"-Kurumi-san."

"Well that's settled now, what do you wish to know, Colbert-san? The murders, my current plans, The Spirit of Origin, or spirits themselves?" She asks him with a straight face, not once faltering as she asks those things.

"I-I…" Colbert stutters at Kurumi's question, he is taken aback as he doesn't expect her to be this bold about these topics.

"Oh don't worry, I don't care what you would think of me right after I tell you these things." Kurumi reassures them, "I wouldn't take your life if you think of me that badly." she giggles it off.

"A-Ah Kurumi, I-I think it's time for you to take your rest-"

"No need to hide from them, Louise-san." Kurumi says, turning her head towards Louise "Besides, they are bound to know at some point."

With such a cold response, Louise feels that her lips froze at the remark Kurumi gave. Turning her attention back to Colbert and Henrietta, she asks them again.

"Now, what is it that you wish to know about me, hm?"

Biting his lip and embracing the situation, he gathers up courage to ask Kurumi about everything his mind has.

"I-Is it true that you killed ten thousand people?" Stuttering and sweating, he asks her, feeling an aura of intimidation coming from Kurumi.

"Yes it is true." She simply replies, she sees this as a rather entertaining question and answer portion as if she's in a talk show and that she is not revealing her identity and her dark past.

Henrietta gasps, hearing such a thing is shocking to her, even more so that Halkagenia hasn't heard a single person committing such a killing spree. Sure she'd understand if its under the hands of several men involved, but a single person doing it with their bare hands is a feat unheard of in their history.

Kurumi then glances at Henrietta, giving her goosebumps in the process. 'I-It just supposed to be a normal visit…' is what is going on in Henrietta's mind as she doesn't expect that this would happen, this nightmarish scenario to happen.

"I wish I could remove everything about me from your memories, I really wish I could." Kurumi says rather apologetically. She stands up, then she kneels before her, bowing her head where her forehead is now touching the floor, she continues. "It was my failure to properly oversee my clones that had caused you this."

Seeing that Kurumi is actually regretting what had happened to her earlier, she overcomes her shock and calms herself down, regaining her composure. She takes a deep breath before replying to Kurumi.

"Raise your head." She says, "I may be in shock from what I saw earlier, but do not fret." She says, Kurumi now raising her head and looking back at Henrietta, "I saw the horrid past you had, the tragic fate you have to deal with. Even though the road you're walking through is that of one who walks towards hell, I understand the pain and hatred you have to that being."

"Thank you for understanding Henrietta-sama, I-" She gets cut off as Henrietta isn't done talking,

"But I do not say that I am comfortable being around you." She says, "Even if I know the reason why you had committed such horrible acts in the past, it doesn't change the fact that you have done it." She says rather boldly, as if she's standing up against Kurumi.

"I know that painful truth already, Henrietta-sama." Kurumi says as she smirks, her eyes are now hidden by her bangs, "That is why I already gave up hoping for forgiveness or atonement."

"H-How could you not at least try to seek atonement and repentance for the things you've done!?" Colbert protests as he can't possibly accept that everything ends there, confirming that she did those things just makes his opinion of her plummet even further.

"Ten thousand dreams and lives are lost at your hands! The least thing you can do is to atone for what you have done!"

"I'm already too far gone from that, Colbert-sensei." She says, stopping Colbert from trying to convince her to atone for the acts she had done. "Besides, after I am done with my goals, those murders wouldn't have happened since I changed time."

"W-What do you mean change time?" Colbert asks her, his fingers fidgeting.

"Y-You mean…" Henrietta utters as she fully remembers this specific part given to her by that Kurumi clone.

"Getting your revenge on the Spirit of Origin…?" Louise pieces in as she remembers one of her conversations with Kurumi back then.

"Of course." Kurumi says, rather jolly and somewhat giddy as she says so. "If I alter the past, I basically prevented the murders I have to go through to achieve that feat." She explains. "Think about it, once the Spirit of Origin is gone, the past me doesn't need to be a spirit and goes onto planning her revenge, tripping on a bunch of lives in the process and enacting her revenge. I will basically negate my own murders because of this."

"Spirit of Origin? Altering the past? Past you? This sounds like a madman's squabble!" Colbert comments as he finds what Kurumi had just said absurd to the point of fiction.

"Oh believe me." Kurumi says as she steps closer to Colbert, "The Spirit of Origin is the main reason why I am in my current state, a spirit." She sighs, "Besides, I was once human, and turned to a spirit because of blind promises."

"But-!" Before Colbert refutes her, she continues speaking,

"I know it is partially my fault as I accepted her hand, but if she hadn't just approached me that day, none of this would have happened to me." She says with a low tone.

"Besides, there are many more people that are turned into spirits and affected their lives." She says to them, "Against their will, they became spirits." she adds. She then walks towards the window, the breeze of the cold night entering through and making the curtain sway,

"A person splits into twins with both having the idea that one of them will be the original person after their many battles. a girl that if she feels unsettled about something would bring a freezing danger to anyone arounds her throwing everything into a freezing hellstorm, a girl who tragically lost her parents due to a spirit's rampage became a spirit herself and caused the very same rampage to her past self." She lists some of the spirits she knows, and all of them are sealed by Shido and are practically part of his harem, while the three of her audiences are still tensed and sweating as they hear her recounting the spirits she knows.

"We spirits didn't want to be spirits in the first place." She says, "It is a rather tragic life for us, that is until we met someone." She finishes as she gazes out of the window and into the courtyard. But something catches her eye.

"A certain…Someone…?" Colbert repeats, but Kurumi does not bother replying back.

"A-Are you talking about…" Henrietta recalls a certain boy when she saw Kurumi's memories and past, but still, no response from Kurumi.

Growing impatient, Louise storms towards Kurumi and makes her spill the answers. "C'mon Kurumi! Answer the question! Who's this someone? And why are you looking out of the window for too long!?" But once she gets to Kurumi, Kurumi lets her have a peek to see what Kurumi is looking at. "Look at that, Louise-san." She says to her, pointing at some figure, holding a rectangular box.

"What are you two looking at?" Colbert says as he heads towards the girls that are staring out of the window. He takes a peek out of the window and his eyes widens, realizing what that rectangular box is holding.

"The Staff of Destruction-!" he gets cut off as someone storms through the door. Their heads turn around to see who it is that interrupted them.

"The Staff of Destruction has been stolen…" Osmond says rather grimly.

Colbert's eyes widen as he hears the confirmation from Osmond, and once again glances out of the window. The figure is gone and so is the staff. Storm clouds are now forming above them and it is only the beginning.

---

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