Editing Zero no Tsukaima:Side Story Volume1 Story1

===1st Story—Tabitha and the Pterosaur===

Carrying her master, the blue-scaled Sylphid soared high above, flying towards the other end of a sky even bluer than herself. The two moons shone brightly in the clear heavens. The white moon was so luminous it could almost be transparent, while the red moon left a slightly reddish tinge. Seeing this view from such a high altitude, it was like a scene in a dream.

''Grumble, grumble''.

Sylphid snorted quietly. She was hungry.

But it would be rude to disturb the rider while she was reading a book. Troubled over what to do, Sylphid looked furtively at her mistress.

A little beyond Sylphid's head, on her neck, rode a young girl savoring a book. Her blue short hair was dancing in the winds. Although turning 15 this year, her body's build could be easily mistaken as 2 or 3 years younger, as if she stopped growing since the age of 12. The cold blue eyes behind her spectacles did not reveal any emotions. It was hard to tell whether she was absorbed in the book, or just flipping through the pages readily.

However, her facial profile was as lovely as peaceful tranquility. Perhaps the little bit of clear, transparent, cold winter wind shrouded the innocent young face with a tinge of melancholy.

She was Sylphid's important master, Tabitha.

''Growl~'' Sylphid's stomach rumbled again.

''Oh, Sylphid can't take it anymore! Even if Nee-sama gets angry, Sylphid doesn't care! Sylphid doesn't care anymore!''<!-- Changed the "I"s to "Sylphid"s, assuming Sylphid usually uses third-person and the translator forgot to substitute. --> Unable to keep it down, Sylphid began begging her master.

"I'm starving, I'm starving, I'm starving..."

Tabitha lifted her head and looked towards the mythical creature she was riding on.

Noticing that she got her master's attention, Sylphid bleated happily, "Fufu~ Nee-sama's head finally moved~ You finally decided to take notice of Sylphid!"

Sylphid called her master Tabitha "Nee-sama".<!-- Consider deleting this. Its explanatory purpose is made rather redundant by the next paragraph. -->

Sylphid was always alone to begin with. When she was summoned out during the "Summoning Ceremony" of the Tristain Magical Academy by this girl, feeling very blessed, she decided to call Tabitha "Nee-sama". It made her feel as if she really had an elder sister.

Because of this rather simple personality, Sylphid had completely forgotten about her hunger just from Tabitha looking at her. Since she had a chance, all sorts of chatter began coming from her mouth.

"Nee-sama, you look so lovely today. I'm so glad!"

By looks, Sylphid was a wind dragon around six meters long. The beautiful blue scales that covered her entire body seemed to be transparent, glittering under the moonlight. Her wingspan was even longer than her body. Those two strong, powerful wings were enough to let her soar freely in the air with little effort.

Although she looked like another normal wind dragon, it was hardly so. Out of all mythical creatures, a dragon's intelligence was considered as superior, but that alone was not enough to make them talk.

Sylphid vibrated her throat. A cute speaking voice came out of her mouth. "Today's weather looks great! How are you feeling, Nee-sama?"

Only a sage carrying an abundance of knowledge might realize the true nature of Sylphid. The name of her kin, forgotten long ago in history, once described in numerous legends.

Tabitha flipped open a book written by exactly one of those sages. The book title was called "Mythical Intelligent Creatures of Ancient Times—The Rhyme Dragons".

"Nee-sama, what are you reading?" The cute voice that came from her mouth hardly matched the dragon's face.

"A book on your species," Tabitha answered, her voice emotionless.

"I'm glad. As I thought, Nee-sama is really interested in me."

"Not really. It was just by chance."

"Even if it's coincidental, I'm delighted already. Nee-sama, do you remember? The day I started calling you Nee-sama?"

"I remember," Tabitha responded with some measure of coldness.

"I also remember!"  Sylphid cuckooed joyfully. "That day Nee-sama gave me my name! A superb name! Sylphid! A human name!"

"It is not a human name."

"Is that so! It's a wind wisp's name! An ancient wisp! Kyui-kyui!" Sylphid nodded her head excitedly. Tabitha's body rose up and down along with the dragon's motions, but still managed to hang on. Such an amazing sense of balance.

"Between dragons, I have a name called 'Illococoo', it stands for gentle breeze! In the human world, my name is Sylphid. I have two names! Just like Nee-sama! Kyui-kyui!"

Tabitha lowered herself and returned to the book.

Sylphid continued to chatter all by herself.

"That's right, that's right! After Nee-sama summoned me, it was the pinked-haired girl's turn! She summoned a human male! How shocking! That is so improper! Hilarious!"

But Tabitha had already ceased responding.

"Really!" Sylphid moaned sadly. This made her remember about her famished stomach. "My stomach is starving. Is dinner ready yet? Is dinner ready yet?"

The way she talked in human language skillfully revealed that Sylphid was no ordinary wind dragon. These ancient wind dragons were so rare and ancient that even legends about these wind rhyme dragons were about disappear.

Hidden in high altitude dense forests, where no traces of humans could be found. Legendary creatures that lived in peace.

Wind rhyme dragons had a high ability to understand human language, and they had an extremely long time to mature. From the annual growth rings of her scales, Sylphid was a wind rhyme dragon who had already lived for more than 200 years. In terms of human age, it would be equivalent to a ten-year-old child.

But just because she's young, didn't mean she's not dangerous.

Wind rhyme dragons possessed much higher intelligence than humans, outstanding conversation skills, could manipulate "primal magic", and even at high speed they could spit flames in flight. In short, they were most certainly powerful creatures.

To be able to summon such a large wind rhyme dragon from this world and form the familiar's contract with it; just from that alone one could see Tabitha's extraordinary magic skills.

Even Sylphid admired such a powerful mage from the bottom of her heart.

"I'm hungry. I'm huuun-greeee."

"You're noisy."

"Unless I talk about it, Nee-sama will immediately forget about my meal. That's why I have to keep saying it. I'm hungry. I'm hungry." Mixing her protests with occasional cries of ''gya gya'', Sylphid refused to stay quiet.

"I'll let you eat when we arrive."

"Really? For real?"

"I promise."

"Hooray, hooray! This time I'll surely eat a lot. Eat meeeaaaattt<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>" Sylphid began to hum a song. Because of the large lung capacity she had, the sound she made could not be covered by the rushing wind.

Tabitha knocked the dragon's head with her staff.

"Ow, ow, oww."

"That's why you should keep quiet."

"Huh, fine I'll stop. Oh right, Nee-sama, if you're not taking the carriage but riding me instead, does this mean we're heading to the city?"

Tabitha nodded.

Sylphid became uncomfortable. She hated the city.

"The city's irritating. Uuu, why can't I talk in front of other people?"

"Trouble," Tabitha replied with a quiet voice. After all, wind rhyme dragons were creatures long assumed to be extinct. If Sylphid's real nature had been exposed, there's no saying how the Science Academy of Tristain or the Gallian royals would demand Tabitha to hand her familiar over and do all sorts of tests. That's why Tabitha didn't allow Sylphid to talk while she's in dragon form.

"I hate the city. Hate not being able to talk in the city. Not talking is boring."

Detached, Tabitha looked into the distance and said, "Bear with it."

Sylphid felt the cold air surrounding Tabitha condense. Taking a peek at her master, it was just as expressionless as usual. Whether she's unhappy, she's normal, she's eating, even when she's angry, Tabitha face would always be impassive. The same went for when she's happy (although no such thing had been witnessed so far); she would probably be just as impassive.

Sylphid had never seen Tabitha smile. Like her nickname "snowstorm", Tabitha's expressions never changed much.

Sylphid really hoped her master would one day be able to beam like the sun.

However, she had no idea where to begin. Feeling a bit depressed, Sylphid sighed, going ''kiyai kiyai''.



The capital of Gallia, the city of Lutèce, was about 1,000 leagues inland from the border of the neighboring country Tristain. It boasted a population of 300,000 and was the largest city on Halkeginia.

East to this city was the grand and huge palace of Versailles. It's where the royal family of Gallia resided. A long time ago, this was a lush forest. The one who turned it into the beauty it is now was the second last king, Robespierre the third. King Joseph the first was its current master. At the center of this Palace, he wielded the scepter of government in the heart of Grand Trois, a building made of rose-colored marble.

Some distance from the Grand Trois, inside the pink colored, small scaled palace called Petit Trois, a young lady gave a big yawn.

"Fuwaaaaaaaaaaa."

It was a seventeen-year-old girl. The unusual color of her hair was the same blue as the pupils of her slender eyes. The appearance of such an unusual color would convey to any person that she was related to the Gallia royal family. The blue hair grown to shoulder length was combed carefully, smooth like silk thread, waving lightly in the wind. On her forehead was a large extravagant crown. The lips which had never known hardship gave off an alluring shine.

The girl licked her crimson red colored lips with her tongue. This coarse and vulgar gesture spoiled the dignified features of a noble in an instant.

She was the daughter of King Joseph, princess of Gallia, Isabella.

Seemingly listless, there Isabella lad in a luxurious sprawl, pulling a thin cord leading to a bell. Three female attendants immediately jumped into the living room.

"You rang, your highness?"

"I'm bored."

"Would it help to have a game with us?"

"Pinochle? Whist? Card games are so tedious."

"Then, a dice game......"

"Isn't that a game for the commoners? Princesses do not play such games."

"What about going out hunting? In Pierrefont forest, you can land a deer's head with hunting dogs, according to Mr. Simon's report."

"I do not want to go out."

The female attendants looked at each other anxiously. Isabella talked with growing irritation.

"Really, father is also so inconsiderate! Even I want to be useful to the royal family! I am different from the doll lady from wherever she comes from, I really am capable! It's the only reason why I suggested for a title, but then suddenly I became the commander of the 'Knights of the North Parterre'? I don't want such a simple job, it's so mundane! Doesn't father love his daughter!?"

On hearing that title, the female attendants shuddered.

In the Palace of Versailles where valuable flowers blossomed all year round, there were an innumerable number of flower beds. Distinguished knights of Gallia were named after such flower beds. For example, Knights of the Southern Rose Parterre, Knights of the Eastern Lily Parterre...... However, because there wasn't any flower bed in the northern side, no squadron of knights should contain "North" in their title.

But, covered by the shadows of the Palace, one knight squadron "North" in their title remained.

The Knights of the Northern Parterre.

This special squadron took care of all the dirty work of Gallia, domestic or foreign. Isabella was the commander of none other than that. Since this was also a Knight's squadron, it contained various Chevaliers with various abilities. These shadowy knights carried out shady missions, had no fate with glory, and would never get to know each other. They were knights of the Northern Parterre.

Isabella was waiting for one such Knight of the Northern Parterre.

"Hasn't that gargoyle arrived yet?"

The older attendant shook her head.

"Lady Charlotte is still yet to be seen."

"She's only a 'doll'. Calling her 'the gargoyle' is enough."

No matter how hard they tried, the attendants could say anything but "Yes". Lady Charlotte was of royal blood, and was the cousin of the Isabella lying around, although stripped of title and birthrights. As mere servants, they could not take such a rude attitude towards her. Besides, compared to Isabella, Charlotte was......

Noticing the quiet discord in the servants, Isabella gave her orders in a trifling tone.

"All of you, go receive that doll."

"Y-yes." With relieved expressions, the attendants nodded.

But Isabella scolded the attendants who were about to line up for a welcome.

"I never told you to see her like that."

"Eh?"

Isabella laughed wickedly.



Riding Sylphid, Tabitha slowly landed on the front gardens of Petit Trois. The soldiers waiting at the entrance came running towards her, and one of them gave her a bow.

"Welcome back, Lady Charlotte." The bowing soldier then prompted the other. "Hey."

With a bitter expression, the second soldier took a step backwards and also bowed. "The princess awaits you."

Tabitha handed the reins to the first soldier. "Let it have some food," she said, pointing to Sylphid. Since Tabitha forbade the dragon from speaking to anyone except her, Sylphid only snorted happily.

Tabitha went into the building, unmoved by Sylphid's actions.

The gargoyle standing in front of the princess's room removed its pole, allowing passage. Unlike other countries, Gallia valued a conscious magical gargoyle much more. Compared to Golems, which could only execute simple tasks after long hours of issuing mundane commands, gargoyles could imitate a person's actions. A gargoyle with such variety was something that only a powerful country like Gallia could manage.

Lifting up the heavy cloth curtain that hung from the ceiling, she entered the room......

''Flap~''! ''Flap''! ''Flap''!

Something seemed to fly towards Tabitha. But Tabitha took no action to evade, calmly taking it with her body.

"It" turned out to be eggs and mud filled sausages.

''Splat''! ''Splat splat''! The contents scattered all over the place on impact. Thick egg whites spewed all over across Tabitha's face; still, Tabitha's expression did not change at all, not even attempting to wipe it off.

On seeing such a sight, the master of the room, Isabella, burst out into laughter.

"Oh ho! Ho ho! Oh ho ho ho!"

The attendants who hurled the eggs and sausages at Tabitha came out from behind the shade of the curtain with apologetic looks. Tabitha remained expressionless and stared straight ahead. Only Isabella was in her field of vision, but the focus of her view was much more distant, as if there was nothing else around.

"You laugh as well! What kind of ugly attire is this! That appearance!"

Being ordered so by Isabella, the attendants laughed helplessly. Isabella continued laughing at Tabitha for some time.

As ever, Tabitha's expression did not change.

This manner only further irritated Isabella. "Why don't you say something?"

Tabitha did not respond at all. The fake laughter of the attendants stopped as well.

"At least get furious, resent me, or try crying!"

Tabitha looked at Isabella.

"Grrr......" Feeling slightly overwhelmed, Isabella bit on her lip. Next she forced herself to put on a discriminating smile. "This child is totally like a gargoyle. I have no idea what's going on inside your head. Just because you can use a little magic, you think you can act unscrupulously?"

Isabella tried her best to put scorn in her words. However, Tabitha's expression did not change. With eyes that looked like they were staring at an ornament, she only continued staring at Isabella.

Getting no response from Tabitha, Isabella was reaching her boiling point.

"You dare to talk to a princess in such filthy attire? Take off those filthy rags!"

To order for the eggs to be thrown herself, then make such an outrageous request; even the attendants could not help but tremble from anger just by watching this farce.

"Take it off! That's an order!"

By those words, Tabitha began unbuttoning her shirt. As if changing into bedclothes at night, she took off her shirt and skirt without any reservation. All that was left was her chemise.

There wasn't any curve or shape on the girl's body. This build certainly wasn't one of a fifteen-year-old.

Isabella sniggered. "Take that off too!"

Never changing her expression, Tabitha took off the last piece of clothing on her body. The attendants closed<!-- Can this perhaps be changed to "averted"? That has more of a connotation of shame/guilt to it, rather than just closing. --> their eyes out of pity. The skin of this beautiful girl was pure white and appeared like snow.

"......Hmmph, you, are you eating properly?"

Even so, Tabitha remained expressionless.

How could Isabella give such a cruel treatment to her cousin?

It was exactly because they were of the same bloodline, that Isabella couldn't stand the talent Tabitha wielded. From a young age she was already carrying the title of Chevelier and was able to perform outstanding magic.

As for her own magical talent......

Being magically capable implied being respected. In this grand Palace, how many aristocrats and servants actually saw her as a princess? Just the slight thought of this almost made her pass away<!-- "Pass out", maybe? Or alternatively, "die from the shame"? --> from remorse.

Isabella stood up and approached Tabitha. Snatching her glasses away, she moved her face close to her cousin's.

Painfully biting her own lips, Isabella said, "You are not part of the imperial family anymore, do you understand? Just because you have a little magic ability, you think you can do whatever you want?"

Isabella glared at Tabitha in the eye. The atmosphere in the air froze instantly. And so, several minutes passed.

Beads of cold sweat formed on the forehead of Isabella.

"Hmmph," Isabella snorted.

She could not bear the pressure of Tabitha's silence anymore.

Picking up a letter that was lying on top of the bed, she threw it at Tabitha.  

"This is for you, the seventh mission of the Northern Parterre. Clean it up quickly."

Quietly putting her clothes back on, Tabitha left the princess's room along with the letter.



From the Gallian capital of Lutèce to the Al Delaware district, it would take two days on horseback, or five days on foot; on Sylphid it took only two hours. Al Delaware was a place covered by an endless forest. This forest stretched all the way to Germania. Both countries called this forest "The Black Forest".

At the corner of this forest was a small little village called Eginheim. Every war between Gallia and Germania would always end up next to this little village of a population around 200. The villagers here made their living by transporting lumber to the town and selling it. Today, they were gathered in the center of the village square, yelling with fury.

"We can't take it anymore!" cried the stocky man carrying an axe on his shoulder.

"That's right, that's right!" the villagers joined in chorus. In their tightly grasped hands were nothing but weapons. As most of the villagers were woodcutters, most of the weapons that they wielded were axes. The crowd was rioting, as if about to have a fight.

"Those goddamned winged creatures! Because of them, we can't go logging anymore! Is this going to be our future for the rest of our lives? Huuhhh?"

"Ab-absolutely not!" a sickle wielding grandma cried out shakily. "If we continue and let them do whatever they want, I won't make it through the winter because of those bastard winged men! Aren't I right? Hah, all our lord does is talk! Dispatching some knights he said, how many months do you think it will take to dispatch some knights!"

"Granny Amithbah is right! If we let these winged men have their own way, we'll all starve to death! No matter what, we must put an end to it today! Let's go! Follow me!"

Full of a murderous atmosphere, the villagers moved to march into the forest.

And then a skinny boy stood in front of the villagers, blocking their way.

"W-wait a minute! Everyone wait."

"Josiah?" The stalwart man who led the villagers scratched his head in confusion.

"Brother Sam, wait a minute. Don't go!"

"Move aside."

"Let's talk it over! Talk it over! Why can't both sides negotiate?"

"Negotiation? With who?"

"Those, those winged creatures......" Josiah shrank at the angry look of his brother.

"Even if we try to negotiate, those things'll attack us with magic as soon as we approach them! How're you supposed to talk with those kinds of bastards!"

"That's right, that's right!" the villagers concurred.

"But that's only because we tried to drive them away with bows and arrows first."

"I say, Josiah. Those things fly in the sky. They're birds, just like birds. What's wrong with shooting at birds with bows and arrows?"

"How so? Aren't those winged creatures capable of speaking human languages? They're definitely not birds! They're friends living in the same forest!"

Sam's face changed.

"Friends? Don't mess with me. If they're friends, they'd be in this bunch a long time ago!" Sam pointed at the fence separating the village and the forest. "Only people inside this fence are friends!"

"B-but......"

"All creatures living in the forest are friends? Don't say those kind of naive words! You're my brother! Son of the village head! If you don't protect everyone's livelihood, who will?"

''Thunk!'' Sam rammed his younger brother aside.

Many times the size of himself, his elder brother sent Josiah rolling on the ground. Sam and the villagers walked past him. Josiah slammed his fist on the ground in regret<!-- Alternate: frustration? -->, then crawled up and chased after them.

Around 30 minutes of walking distance from the village, the villagers' journey to the forest were full of zelkova trees. Zelkova trees were the best material for construction and furniture, and were also a broad-leaved tree which made it large and easy to process. The villagers of Eginheim made their living by selling furniture crafted from these zelkova trees.

The thick trunk of the zelkovas reached up to the skies. Its dense leaves completely blotted out sunlight. Even during daytime, the understory was pitch black.

When they reached a part of the forest where zelkova trees grew densely together, Sam and the villagers muted their footsteps. Spreading apart and hiding under the shadows of the trees, Sam pointed to a corner and told a team of bow wielding hunters, "That guy has its nest right here. There's a total of ten."

The hunters nodded their heads.

"It'll be fine, damage to their wings is enough," Sam said, holding his axe as if it were a small dagger. "As soon as they fall to the ground, I'll take care of the guy."

"Won't they use magic? Is it really alright?" a hunter worriedly asked.

"As long as we have this guy—" Sam indicated to his axe— "the birds' magic will be rendered useless."

Around Sam were 30 or more muscular males with axes in their hands. There were also around 20 hunters with bows, each of them very capable of shooting down birds. One could say they were just like another bunch of mercenaries.

Waving his solid arm around, he declared, "Kill all the birds!"

The villagers laughed, relaxed.

As the hunters drew their bows, Sam lifted a boulder as large as a cow next to him.

"Arrrrhhh!" With a cry, the blood vessels on his head became completely visible. With much effort, he hurled the boulder towards the largest zelkova tree.

''Bam~!''<!-- Remove the tilde? Kinda seems to detract from the impact. --> The ancient tree shook.

All the hidden villagers swallowed.

After a while which felt like ages...

A few people fell from the wobbling tree.

They were free-falling towards the ground! But just an instant before they slammed into the ground, there they stopped, floating lightly in the air.

On closer look, these were not humans. They were wearing crude clothes made out of a single piece of cloth, a pair of wings extending from their backs. These are the winged men, as the people of Halkeginia called them.

Sam yelled towards the hunters, "Now! Release!"

''Whish whish whish whish~'' Countless arrows sailed towards the airborne winged men.

As they were about to pierce them, something extraordinary happened.

All of the arrows were derailed from their original trajectory, either digging themselves into tree trunks or disappearing into the dark distance.

"Damn!" the hunters sighed<!-- "Sighed" seems a bit mild, though. Just replaced with "cursed", perhaps, deleting the following clause. -->, cursing themselves. Did they really miss?

No, they were all adept bowmen. An arrow or two missing their target was maybe possible, but so many arrows missing at once?

Which meant the arrows never missed.

They were deflected.

"Next volley! Don't stop, keep shooting!" Sam's bellow woke the hunters out of their trances, and they began firing arrows again.

Male and female; a total of four winged men were floating in the air. Looking like young humans themselves, they reached out their hands like opera singers, lifting them high slowly, singing, "Air oh blow away<!-- "Oh air, blow away" might sound better. --> these foolish arrows!"

Along with the melody, the air surrounding them began to whistle radically. All the newly released arrows had been blown off course, one of them even sticking itself back on the tree trunk right above the hunter's head. "Waah!" that hunter cried, throwing down his bow.

"Don't flee!" Sam yelled.

The next moment, branches behind the winged men of the zelkovas began to extend, reaching forward.

"Magic!" someone cried out. The villagers instantly succumbed to fear and panicked.

With a low voice, a winged man quietly chanted spells. Well, more than spells, it could be better described as announcing what was going to happen next.

"Oh, branches under our contract, reach out and take the freedom of the people who hate us!"

Following this winged man's voice, the other three joined in chorus: "Take their freedom!"

Superstitious hunters all fled, throwing down their bows.

"Don't run! There's only 4 of them!"

"Ahhhhhhhh! Primal magic! Primal!"

"The primal magic of the devil in the forest!" All that was coming out of the hunters' mouths were "Primal magic!!", fleeing like ants out of an anthill.

"Primal, so what! Whether it's a noble's magic or primal magic, ignore them all! Let them witness the bravery of real men!"

Ten muscular males who did not flee gave a threatening war cry and charged towards the winged men. Immediately, branches lashing out from nowhere trapped them.

Sam lifted his head. Looking the winged men in the eye, ten meters high above, Sam's entire body went rigid. ''Those things only look like humans, but they're a different species. It feels so different.''

Sam felt very useless. Originally thinking that they would win in numbers, everything turned out to be futile without magic.

A winged man chanting spells whisked his hand towards the woodcutters. "Dry leaves, according to the power of the water in the contract, turn into razors!"

"Turn into razors!"

Dead leaves all around them started circling them like a tornado, the impromptu weapons straightening as if there were wires laid inside. As strong as steel plates, the leaves hurled themselves towards the woodcutters.

Sam and the others closed their eyes in despair—

''Whooooooshhhh!''

A strong wind along with small traces of ice and snow suddenly blew across the trees. All the dry leaves were whisked away in this icy wind.

The winged men lifted their heads. The shadow of a young girl descended from the sky into their vision.

It was Tabitha.

The winged men immediately turned their targets to the larger threat. More leaves began dancing again, turning razor sharp and charging at the girl.

Descending, Tabitha waved the staff in her hand and chanted a spell. "Illu, fulu de la sora in de"

''Fua!'' Tabitha's descending trajectory changed. The razor sharp leaves passed through the empty place where Tabitha should have been just now.

What she chanted was the most general spell in the wind category, the soaring spell. This spell allowed the caster to soar freely in the sky. While using the soaring spell, one could not cast other spells though.

Therefore, after evading the winged men's attacks, Tabitha landed onto the ground swiftly.

Refusing to back off, the winged men controlled the branches of the zelkova trees. Like how it attacked Sam and the others, countless branches slashed towards Tabitha.

Waving her staff again, sharp blades of the wind chopped off all the attacking branches.

The winged men began to feel distressed. They had not expected such a young and fragile girl with uncommon blue hair to be a strong mage.

The two sides remained still, only a distance of fifteen meters between them.

Both sides exchanged stares.

Neither side made their next move, and so the time passed. Because they were both in front of each other, failure to deliver a decisive attack would imply death.

A sorrowful voice sounded from the skies. "Stop! All of you! Don't use the contract of the forest for this!"

The winged men all looked towards the voice. A long brunette haired and beautiful winged man descended from above. Fully clothed in white, she opened her wings and slowly came downwards, a beautiful sight not worthy of this world.

"Miss Elsa!"

Tabitha was not going to let this chance pass by.

Just as she was about to deliver an attack—

Her arms were grabbed.

"Please! Please! Hide your staff away!" a weak, thin, and green clothed teen begged her.

That teen was none other than Josiah. He was shaking all over, but there was no sign of letting Tabitha's right hand go.

The winged beauty called Elsa waved towards her kind. "Come back! Please come back! No more fighting!"

Still facing Tabitha, the winged men looked at each other with hesitation. Under Elsa's pressure, they flew away along with her.

Josiah peacefully watched the winged men leave, but his eyes soon became fixed on Elsa.

Elsa was also looking at Josiah, then she bowed her head in grief.

The winged men slowly disappeared above the canopy. Staring dumbfounded for a while, Sam suddenly became conscious and rushed towards Tabitha. "Are you the knight dispatched by the palace?"

Tabitha nodded, simply describing her title and name. "Gallian Parterre knight, Tabitha."

"Everyone, it's the knight! It's the Parterre knight from the palace! Our lord really did appeal to the palace!"

All the villagers began cheering.

Sam then struck his brother who was still holding on Tabitha's arm. "You little! Get your hands off the great knight! Why did you have to stop her from using magic!"

Being thrown onto the ground, Josiah lowered his face in sorrow.

"Then, great knight! Please hurry and eliminate them," Sam suggested to Tabitha, rubbing both hands in glee.

Tabitha stood there quietly, not moving a muscle.

"Is there a problem?"

Slowly, Tabitha put her hands onto her belly, saying without much expression: "Empty stomach."

Under the guide of the villagers, Tabitha arrived at Eginheim. The village head prepared a banquet in the best room he had to serve Tabitha.

"Although our lord requested the support from the Palace to help eliminate the winged men, it seems to be futile," the village head sighed discouragingly. "Looks like we better give up. Your arrival has already helped us a lot."

All other villagers also sighed after seeing Tabitha. "Is this not a child?" "Will this really be fine?"

Hearing the villager's complaints, Sam threw a stern glare. "Stop this kind of baloney! The great Tabitha here, drove all the winged men away when they were about to kill us!"

The atmosphere immediately changed to awe and fear, looking at this seemingly twelve or thirteen years old girl.

Mages were terrifying. Even such a small girl had such a powerful effect. It's not surprising why only magicians could become aristocrats, royal subjects, even control the entire Halkeginia, all over this world.

Tabitha laid her staff slowly on the desk.

But even this minute action sent bone chattering shivers to the villagers next to her.

Tabitha began to eat the feast placed on the desk.

"P-please, enjoy yourself."

Without much concern, Tabitha began gobbling.

How can all that food fit in her tiny body? All they could see were her swift actions clearing plate by plate clean.

After finishing a salad the size of a small mountain, Tabitha stared at the empty bottom of the bowl.

Seeing her staring motionless, a villager asked, "How do you like hazel grass?"

Tabitha exaggeratedly nodded her head. <!-- Suggestion: swap this paragraph with next one? -->

Hazel grass is a very bitter, needle shaped vegetable, commonly used for meat seasoning purposes. Very few people seem to be fond of it.

"Hurry, bring lots of it!"

Stacks full of hazel grass was immediately delivered. Without much noise, Tabitha began chewing again.

The villagers looked at her, stunned.

A knocking sound came from the window. Those who looked in that direction began screaming.

"AHHhhhhh!"

"Dragon! Dragons!! A dragon has appeared ahhhhhhh!"

A blue-scaled dragon was peeking inside the window.

Dragons are the most powerful mythical creatures on Halkeginia. To commoners living in these villages, dragons were as terrifying as storms and blizzards. They were like natural disasters, an opponent incapable of defending against.

Fortunately, this dragon was anything but disaster. She was Tabitha's trusty familiar, Sylphid. Earlier, Tabitha had spotted the villagers in danger, so she leaped directly off from her, leaving her in the air by herself.

This wind rhyme dragon was knocking her nose against the window.

"Dragon!!!!! Outside the window!!!! AHhhhhh!"

The villagers scurried frantically.

''Thump!''

The dragon smashed the window with force, poking her head into the house. Seeing the table full of great feasts, the wind rhyme dragon also complained, "Nee-sama is eating all by herself! That's too wicked! I'm hungry! Sylphid's stomach is hungry as well! Gao, gaao, gaao!"

The dragon's voice was a furiously bellow. The house turned even more chaotic.

"Waaaaaahhhhh! T-the dragon! The dragon spoke!!! That dragon ahhhhhhh! Dragon ahhhhh!"

Tabitha scratched her nose without any expression. Since they had left the palace, it's true that she did forget to prepare food for Sylphid.

Seeing the villagers panic, Sylphid secretly thought, ''Oh boy'', and stuck out her tongue. Although she thought she looked very cute this way, in the eyes of the villagers, there's nothing more like a scene from a nightmare than a dragon revealing its vicious teeth.

"Please don't eat! Don't eat usssss!"

"Nee-sama, I'm sorry, I spoke in front of other people. But, but, I have become very hungry already."

The village head called out to the villagers, "Calm down! Is that not the knight's familiar? There's nothing strange about familiars speaking human language! But if one can make a dragon a familiar, she must really be an incredible knight!"

Hearing the village head's words, the masses did seem to calm down for a bit. But then—

"I've never heard of creatures being able to speak after becoming familiars. For example, cats, dogs, hamsters. Nevertheless, dragons are creatures that cannot be tamed."

Hearing the most knowledgeable Granny Amithbah say so, the villagers immediately resumed their chaos.

"It is an evil dragon after allll!!!"

"We taste very bad!!!"

Tabitha repositioned her glasses, then pointed to Sylphid and said softly, "Gargoyle."

"Eh? Gargoyle?"

As the residents of this magically advanced country, of course they knew what a "gargoyle" is. It's a magical statue crafted by nobles used to imitate life. If it's detailed enough, one couldn't possibly tell whether it's alive or not.

"Wh-what! Is that so? Hahahahaah!" To cover up their ludicrous performance the villagers began laughing.

"Wahahahahaa!" Sylphid joined in on their laughter.

In the peaceful atmosphere, Sam leading a tied Josiah by his hair walked in. "Just now this kid did something very disrespectful to you. Whether it's to roast or to boil, please give your punishment."

The villagers also looked coldly at Josiah.

Tabitha shook her head. Feeling relieved, Sam hit Josiah lightly, unbinding his ropes.

"This is great! Hurry and thank this benevolent knight! There's really nothing to complain even if she killed you over this! Do you understand?"

Josiah only stood there biting his lips. As if sensing something from his brother, Sam inquired, "Don't tell me, you and the winged man...?"

All the villagers broke into whispering chatters.

"Josiah and the winged girl."

"Shame of the village."

"Hey! What do you want! Josiah!" Sam bellowed. Josiah stood up and ran away.

Tabitha continued her dinner, uninterested at all.

That night.

After resting tonight, she would be looking for the winged men tomorrow morning.

Tabitha was assigned the best room in the village head's house. She laid on the bed, preparing to fight all she could in tomorrow's battle. She didn't even use the effortless "Illumination" spell to read her book, instead reading by the oil lamp's light.

The noisy Sylphid stuck its head from the window, mumbling all sorts of things next to the girl about to sleep. "Aww~ awwwww~~ really want to drink some wine. A little, just a little bit of it. That way I can sing for Nee-sama. It's a joyous, beautiful melody. Lala, laaala."

"Quiet."

"Huh. After all I'm just a gargoyle. Treating a wind rhyme dragon like a controlled gargoyle! This is too ridiculous! The most I can't stand is that just because people think I'm a gargoyle I'm allowed to speak as much as I want! The reason why I'm so noisy right now is all Nee-sama's fault. It's not my fault, no no. In human language, I guess this would be 'self-inflicted trouble'! Speaking of which, that's really a weird thought. Does this mean that you harm yourself because of the things you do? But all things are decided by the great consciousness. That's how we dragons think. And that means? It's also the great consciousness which is hurting itself. How terrifying." She really was annoying when mumbling all sorts of pointless talk.

Even so, Tabitha managed to say silent. Sylphid reached her head over, licking Tabitha's face with her child sized tongue. Unfortunately, the saliva drenched Tabitha like how she would be after running in the rain, her whole body dripping wet.

Wordless, Tabitha took out her handkerchief and rubbed clean her own face.

Just as Sylphid was about to beg, "Nee-sama, turn this way, come with Sylphid—"

Tabitha slammed her book shut.

It wasn't so she could accompany Sylphid. The dragon also shut her mouth, staying silent.

Tabitha reached for the staff next to her bed.

Someone outside the door was walking this way.

But who?

From the door, a small, timid voice could be heard. "It, it's me, Josiah."

The teen who obstructed Tabitha from casting her spell during the day.

"What?"

"I have something to talk to you about."

"Wait until tomorrow."

"Please. I want to talk to you now."

Tabitha jumped off from the bed and opened the door.

Not know what to do, Josiah stood there trembling.

"Come in."

Although Josiah made a scared cough when he saw Sylphid's head from the window, he went on and bowed politely before entering the room.

"I'm really sorry for disturbing you so late at night. I also know that it is very disrespectful to you."

"Your point?"

"That, um, I hope you won't, you won't hurt those winged men."

Tabitha shook her head.

"I beg you, please." Josiah knelt at Tabitha's feet.

"It's my duty," Tabitha replied coldly.

"Please let me explain the situation to you."

Tabitha didn't say anything. Josiah began describing.

"The winged people will construct nests on different trees according to the weather. Because it's spring, they have a larger family, that's why they constructed a big nest on the larger zelkova trees. Oh, since they call it their nest, that's why I also call it the nest. But it's a very well made home."

Tabitha sat there motionlessly look at him. Josiah continued talking.

"The winged men began living there around half a year ago. Actually, we can still make a living not chopping those zelkova trees. It's because there are lots of other trees, we can always chop those ones. But because zelkova trees can sell for much more, everyone made up this lie that the winged men affect our livelihoods."

"That's why you are driving the winged men away?" Sylphid helped along. Josiah nodded.

"That's why. The entire forest was originally owned by the winged men. We humans came here afterwards, built our own fences and claimed it as our own land, we have no right to drive them away."

Although hearing him say so, Tabitha did not shake her head nor give any kind of response.

"Do you understand? Can't the great knight show mercy? We never had any right to drive them away."

"Mission." Tabitha's answer could not be shorter.

"Why? This is too much! Are we doing whatever we want right now?"

Sylphid came close to the teen and further explained, "Nee-sama, she's only a chess piece."

"Chess piece?"

"That's right. She moves when she is ordered to. That's how knights are. Once the order to eliminate the winged men has been received, we must complete it. There's no choice for us to make."

Josiah hung his head in defeat, but lifted it back up in no time. "Then cancel this request! Please cancel it!"

"Is that what the entire village wants?" Sylphid asked duly.

"N-no."

"This request was given by the village head to your lord, then passed from your lord to the palace, then the order was finally issued to Nee-sama. If there's no general resolution, but the knight returns, Nee-sama's mission is decided as incomplete and she will receive harsh punishment. In Nee-sama's situation, having her executed isn't exactly unlikely either!"

Sylphid's explanation was made as if she was talking about someone else.

Josiah hung his head once again in sadness.

"You are really familiar with the winged men, aren't you. I've always felt that it's as if you're protecting them. Why?"

Just as Sylphid asked this—

A clear voice came from behind, outside the window. "Josiah."

Tabitha and Sylphid turned towards the source of the sound. They saw a beautiful female's face peeking inside from what space remained from the window where Sylphid snuck in.

And yes, this is the second floor.

Upon closer inspection, this was a rather familiar face. It's the creature who descended from the canopy.

She had wings on her back.

It's the winged man called Elsa.

Sensing danger, Tabitha swiftly raised her staff.

Josiah cried out, "She, she's not here to hurt you!"

Elsa also nodded in agreement. "I'm only here to see Josiah."

Coming through the window, Elsa sat on a chair. If she did not have the birdlike wings on her back, she would look nothing more than a beautiful young lady. The color of her wings was the same as her hair, brunette.

As if guarding Elsa, Josiah stood by her side.

Tabitha sat on the bed, placing her staff beside her pillow and listening to their conversation.

Understanding the relationship between the two of them, Sylphid gasped. Elsa followed suit from seeing a talking dragon, stunned. Josiah explained to her how Sylphid is actually a gargoyle, while Sylphid—

"Wow! Romance between a human and a winged man! This is amazing!"

The two began describing how they first met to Tabitha.

"Josiah hurt his leg while picking mushrooms one day. Just as he was resting down in pain..."

"Elsa used magic to heal my leg. Was that primal magic? That magic, it didn't require wands of any sort! The first time I saw it I was so shocked!"

"Only you humans call it primal magic, silly. We call it the elven powers. Whether it's in the air, in the earth, between the fire, elven power is hidden everywhere. I was only borrowing those powers."

"That's right! That's how it is! Elsa taught me a lot of things I never knew! It's amazing!" Talking about himself, Josiah excitedly described things about Elsa to Tabitha. "The winged men know much more about the forest than we do. That's why we should be in peace, not staring at each other like we have some blood feud. The idea how winged men and devils are the same is completely ridiculous! All the villagers believe it is that way."

"It was the same to us. To us, humans are no more foolish than bugs on the ground."

"But we were both different from our kin. After many secret meetings in the forest, we both began considering how both sides should get to know each other better."

"Mhm."

"Before I knew it, she had already become a special person to me. We are different species, but I know more about you, about your kind."

Elsa gave a lonely smile. Afterwards she held Josiah's hands seriously, looking at him. "About that, Josiah..."

"Hmm?"

"I am here to say farewell today."

"Farewell?! Why?"

"Our clan plans to leave that tree."

"Isn't it your mating season? Where else are you going to find such a thick zelkova tree! Other trees can't possibly withstand such a large nest!"

"We've considered it and came to a conclusion. If it were to trigger a fight, then we'd rather not breed."

"I can persuade everyone! You've got to let me try! Elsa!"

"But your clan leader sent such a powerful warrior, and we really do not want to use the elven powers in a battle." Elsa turned to Tabitha. Like always, Tabitha was expressionless. Apologetically, Elsa said, "Sorry, I am not blaming you. You are here under your orders. Even if you refused, other people will be sent here. I understand this kind of human organization."

Tabitha tilted her head.

"How could you! Great knight! I beg you! Please return! Suggest to the palace!"

With a small voice, Tabitha said, "No."

Josiah pulled on his hair. "Why! Am I not begging enough? Do you aristocrats have no conscience? Only following orders? How is that different from a gargoyle! Aren't you the same as that dragon over there!"

Sylphid snorted in disagreement.

Josiah suddenly dashed forward and shoved Tabitha's weak body down on the bed. Her staff outside her reach, he grabbed Tabitha's neck. "It's because you're still a kid you don't understand! You don't understand what's it like to love someone! You don't know how painful it is to separate a pair of lovers!"

Slowly, those pair of hands grew more forceful. Tabitha's face remained the same, staring down Josiah with emotionless eyes.

Elsa rushed forward, trying to hold Josiah back. "Stop! Josiah please! Don't harm humans!"

"I-if I kill this kid, at least I can buy more time!" With red eyes, Josiah squeezed with all his might. "It's everyone's fault! If we were to live peacefully with the winged men, life could have been so much better! There's so much we can't do if we don't help each other! Why do none of you understand!"

Just as Josiah was yelling madly—

His body was blown away, slamming into the door. It was a highly pressurized blast of wind, a blow from wind magic.

Coughing, Tabitha sat up from the bed, her right hand holding the staff tightly. Because of Sylphid's assistance by blowing, Tabitha was able to reach the staff which was standing next to the bed.

The staff wielding Tabitha slowly stepped down to the floor.

Josiah sat in fear. There could be nothing worse than angering a noble. All that awaited him now was.....

What's done was already done. Josiah gave up and shut both eyes.

Elsa stood in front of him. "If you want to kill Josiah, then first kill me!"

Seeing the staff Tabitha wields even taller than her own body, Elsa couldn't help but close her eyes as well.

But after what seemed like ages, no spell came. Opening their frightened eyes, all they saw was Tabitha hugging her staff, watching them in a crouched position.

Eyes with no emotion, Tabitha said simply, "Do exactly that."

"Do exactly that?"

Sylphid answered both of their questions. "Nee-sama means, let the villagers see the things they can't solve without winged men."

"Oh?"<!-- Can this be "Huh?" instead? --> The two exchanged confused looks.

Sylphid began her speech happily. Because Tabitha did not finish her suggestion, the task was left up to Sylphid. To Sylphid, this was most certainly a very enjoyable time indeed. "Well, you didn't come up with any constructive suggestion, or great plans, or even a hint of how to resolve the problem when you were pleading with Nee-sama. If we return without doing anything, it would be the same as failing the mission. But, if the villagers were to understand the importance of the winged men's existence, then all will be solved!"

"Th-that's true." The two felt relief.

"Leave it all up to Nee-sama, Sylphid and Nee-sama are the top Gallian Parterre Knights. There's nothing we can't do, kyui-kyui!"
Sylphid licked Tabitha's face happily. Drenched all over again, Tabitha took out her handkerchief wordlessly, drying her body with it.

Next morning, a terrible thing happened in the village.

The one reporting it was one of the bowmen in the party during yesterday's assault. Just as he was about to head out the village and go hunting, that thing appeared.

An uncontrolled gargoyle.

Panic spread. A wild gargoyle meant that the gargoyle crafted by nobles entered uncontrolled status for some reason. Because of how even the creator himself was not able to control the gargoyle, it was certainly a very serious situation.

The gargoyle going haywire was the one that arrived yesterday; the dragon shaped gargoyle ridden by Parterre Knight Tabitha.

"I'm hungry! Hun-greee!"

So it cried while spitting flames. Though it was only a small amount of flames, it was already enough to turn these villagers white. The haywire dragon-shaped gargoyle was wreaking havoc in the village square, already destroying a bucket next to the well with just one stop.

Compared to the disturbance the winged men could give, this dragon could very possibly burn down the entire village. Knowing clearly so, all the villagers hurriedly rushed towards Tabitha's room.

"Our knight! Great knight! Something bad has happened to your gargoyle!"

Tabitha was mediating in the middle of the guest hall, hugging her staff.

Noticing the sweating villagers, she lifted her head and said in her most serious tone, "Letting my own gargoyle go uncontrolled; there could be no greater shame as a knight."

Then without much change in expression, she laid the staff in front of her.

"Please! No matter what, please think! Hurry!"

"Focus. One strike to the heart, finish my enemies, magic of snow and storm." Murmuring this weird spell, Tabitha walked down the stairs. Although not understanding much, the villagers stood there gratefully.

"Ohh, that spell the knight just chanted, although we have no idea what it was, it sure sounded very powerful!"

Walking to the town center, Tabitha faced off with the dragon.

"Quiet down! Gargoyle!"

"So noisy! I'm hungry! Breakfast!!!"

Whoosh! Sylphid spat flames towards Tabitha, but was blocked by a strong wind containing ice.

"My strongest spell! Wind stick!"

Watching the show, villagers began cheering. "It's the strongest spell!" "Strongest!" "But, 'stick'?" All sorts of comments were mixed into one big cheer.

From in front of Tabitha's staff, an ice block flew towards Sylphid. ''Thunk!'' It hit Sylphid directly on the head.

"Ouch! Why did you really hit me! Jerk!" Tears fell from Sylphid's eyes.

"Ohh, it cried! A gargoyle actually cried!" There was no end to the villager's cheers.

Tabitha slightly raised her eyebrows, relentlessly shooting out magic.

Wind blast, ice spear, all sorts of magic were used. Heavy wind, ice blocks, blades of wind, all hurled towards Sylphid.

Unable to handle the continuous attacks, Sylphid flew into the sky, spitting small flames from above.

"Flew! It flew!" The villagers cried.

Nodding her head, Tabitha also flew upwards after a wave of her staff. It was the soaring spell.

"Even knights can fly. Soaring knight." Saying so, she chased after Sylphid.

Although the voice was small, it was Tabitha who said that just now.

An aerial battle between a knight and a gargoyle, it was a scene little will ever witness. All the villagers silently stared at the battle.

"That hurt just now!"

Sylphid attacked Tabitha with its giant flapping wings. Tabitha evaded its attack with agility.

"Great knight! Use your spell! Counter-attack with your spell! Otherwise you'll lose!"

Tabitha shook her head.

"Using soaring spell. Can't cast other spells," was all she said.

Attacking in midair while using the soaring spell did require an immense amount of concentration. Although not impossible to cast dual spells, it required strenuous practice and extreme concentration.

Sylphid intercepted Tabitha.

Tabitha evaded the interception for an uncountable number of times<!-- Was this supposed to be "uncountable LENGTH of time"? -->, before—

"Great knight!" cried the villagers when Tabitha was sent flying by Sylphid, crashing onto the ground.

"How...." The villagers knelt weakly down on the ground. They would have never thought that this glorious Parterre knight would lose against her own gargoyle.

Taking the village as its next target, Sylphid started flapping her wings this way.

"Run!" someone cried.

But where could they run?

Were they going to abandon their own village? How could they possibly do so!

Sam yelled frantically, "Arrrr! If so, I'd rather die along with the village!"

Another granny agreed, "That's right, our village is everything. How can we abandon our homes and seek refuge in the forest?"

Tabitha steadily descended next to Sam using the soaring spell.<!-- Which contradicts earlier about Tabitha already "crashing onto the ground", actually. Double-check source? -->

"Great knight! Are you alright!"

"Omph, I was careless. I cannot be more grateful."

Her gratefulness could be felt through the tension in her voice, of which there was none, but Sam didn't take notice.

"That gargoyle, does it have no weakness?"

"Under its foot there seems to be an arrowhead stuck inside. If we were to pull it out, it should return normal"
Saying so, Tabitha then fainted.

Sam looked towards Sylphid. There was an arrowhead stuck under its foot.

But, how was he to approach it? Even the knight wasn't able to get close to an uncontrolled gargoyle's foot, much less them.

At this moment—

"It's our retribution!" Josiah's voice could be heard.

One man stood up out of the crowd, yelling, "It's because we were going to drive out the winged men! It's our retribution! Don't you understand? This is what happens when we drive other people from where they live!"

"Blasphemy! This and that are two separate things!"

"There's no difference at all! We'd have other choices if we decided to cooperate! That way even that gargoyle can be defeated!"

"What should we do?"

"Let's do just that!" Following Josiah's yells, Elsa walked out from the forest, slightly ashamed.

"You bastard never broke up with that bird!" Sam's face was distorted with anger. He went forward and grabbed Josiah's hand.

"Now's not the time to say these things! Leave all the rest to me!"

The brothers glared at each other. With little choice, Sam let go of his hand.

Josiah looked at Elsa, and the two nodded towards each other. Carrying Josiah by his armpits, Elsa lifted him up.

And so, the two of them began flying.

Because she was flying while carrying another person, the way she flew was fairly erratic.

"Aren't they going to fall like that?" Sam muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Weird folks!" Sylphid approached its new target.

Then, a band of winged men flew out of the bushes, a total of around ten.

They cried out to the villagers, "Shoot your arrows! Hurry and draw the gargoyle's attention!"

Suddenly realizing, the hunters began releasing their arrows, while the winged men danced around Sylphid to confuse it.

"Waahh! What is this! No good!" Sylphid bellowed wildly. "All of you!"

Crying out, Sylphid expanded her wings, lashing out her foot.

Not letting this chance pass by, Elsa flew towards it. Josiah jumped towards Sylphid's foot, grabbing the arrowhead. After a few strong tugs, the arrow was successfully pulled out.

Along with the arrow, Josiah started to tumble towards the ground, but Elsa caught him in midair.

Seeing all of this settling down, the villagers all cheered.



Three days later.

A joyous atmosphere encased this village.

Elsa and Josiah's marriage was to be held in the village square.

Since the event where they stopped the haywire gargoyle, the villagers changed their view towards the winged men and are now at peace with them. That patch of zelkova forest was to belong to the winged men, as part of the village's gift to them. Conversely, the winged men would help the village find suitable trees from the sky, even helping the villagers deliver their lumber to the streets if necessary. Of course, the request to eliminate the winged men have also been cancelled.

Under cooperation, lives became easier. Both species planned to learn more from each other. Although troubles might spring up from different cultures and habits, possibly causing even hostility because of misunderstandings, this was not the case in this village. After all, there was already a reassuring couple between these two species.

At the village center, Josiah in a full tux of winged men and the Elsa in complete white bridal dress was especially eye catching.

Kids danced happily around Elsa's dress.

From the middle of that happy crowd, Sam came running this way and bowed deeply towards Tabitha.

"Thank you very much, great knight."

Tabitha shook her head. "I didn't do anything."

"The one who made this plan was great knight, wasn't it. Although Josiah is a good kid, he isn't so smart. This kind of plan couldn't have been conceived by that kid."

Tabitha didn't reply.

"It's not that I don't love my brother, but I am the village head's son. I can't stand on a side against our villagers, even if I begged to differ I'm not able to say anything. In my position, I'm not allowed to do things the way I want. Sigh, just like great knight yourself." Sam seemed to be relieved and smiled, bowing once more.

Tabitha, riding Sylphid, flew off into the sky.

Sitting on Elsa's shoulders, Josiah and her began chasing.

"They keep calling out 'Thank you both!'"

But Tabitha never turned back, only reading her book indulgently.

The newlywed couple flew alongside for a while, eventually throwing their bouquet towards Tabitha and headed back to their village.

When Sylphid caught the bouquet, Tabitha knocked the dragon's head, shaking her head.

"No need."

"Then decorate it on my head. Kyui-kyui!"

Waving her staff slightly, a breeze landed the bouquet on Sylphid's head.

Suddenly remembering, Tabitha asked, "Foot?"

"Eh? Ohh, that arrow was never stuck! I was only grabbing it with my claws! Kyuikyui!"

Tabitha returned to her book. Seeing how Tabitha worried about her, Sylphid happily began her single sided chatter again.

"A wedding is so beautiful! It would be great if Nee-sama also married somebody! That way even Sylphid can dress up! Dress up with lots of flowers! Kyuikyui! Ohh, first we need a lover! Lover hurray! Nee-sama should hurry and make one! Lover! Lov-er! Kyuikyui!"

Tabitha felt no need to answer.

"Who would be a good candidate? Who would be a good candidate? That's right! How about Guiche? He looks pretty handsome!"

Quietly, Tabitha expressed her thoughts: "Stupid."

"Oh right! Only that there's a bit of water in his head<!-- Meaning unclear? -->! Wahaahahah!"

After they returned to the Magical Academy of Tristain, they would be unable to chatter as happily as now.

Therefore, this blue-scaled Sylphid, regardless of how many times Tabitha said, "Quiet down quiet down", would always nag next to Tabitha's side.

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