21 [Establishing Relations]

//Keep in mind that building up the harem is going to take some time since, ya know, Louise needs actual character development as well as other girls.

Be patient.//

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"...Well... this is a... pleasant surprise."

Small beads of sweat lightly trailed down Ordell's neck as he stood off to the side, his back pretty much pressing against the wall of Louise's dimly lit room. You see, it didn't take long for them to make it back, despite their fast transit however, the sun had already set over the horizon and covered the land of Tristain in darkness.

Ordell didn't even have time to put Derflinger away before Kirche arrived, dragging with her a very disinterested Tabitha. Louise narrowed her eyes the moment she saw the golden sword that she and Ordell previously saw in the blacksmith shop in Kirche's hands.

"Zerbst, what are you doing here?" Louise's tone was as unfriendly as it could be, Kirche was her long time rival and more or less a bully.

But the Germanian waifu played her off with her usual smile, however, this one wasn't quite so lustful, "Oh hello there! It's nice to see you too, Louise!"

The loli's eyebrow twitched, but she did note that Kirche didn't call her a zero this time. Could be a possible byproduct of some people actually acknowledging that maybe, just maybe, she isn't as pathetic as they were lead to believe. The thought warmed Louise's heart, but she knew that nobles, herself included, were quite delusional sometimes. They had pride. They wouldn't allow their minds to think they were bested easily, especially not Kirche The Fever.

"You didn't answer the question..." Louise's tone didn't get any friendlier, and Ordell could be seen sweating bullets off to the side.

The last thing he needed was these two fighting, especially now that he was trying to get Kirche to mend bonds with Louise so that he can expand his harem. He gave Tabitha a side glance, she did after all decide to stand next to him, but her head was in her book and she appeared completely disinterested in the conversation. A charming, cute bookworm that girl is...

Ahem.

"What? I'm just trying to be nice. Here! I saw Ordell walking around with that heap of junk on his back so I thought I'd get him something nice."

Honestly, Ordell couldn't tell if it was in Kirche's very genes to unconsciously insult other people or whether she was just that dense when it came to apologising. However, Louise very much did not like the comment about Derflinger being junk, the sword shared the sentiment.

"You fat-tittied whore how dare you call me a piece of junk?!"

Derflinger's voice all but startled Kirche, even Tabitha was surprised enough to look away from her book and direct her attention to the sword on Ordell's back. To make sure he doesn't get flagged, the male pointed at the sword comfortably resting in its sheath on his back, the brown hilt of which moved with every word it said.

"You have to be a special kind of retarded to buy a golden sword! Haven't the Minecraft novels taught you anything?! Gold sucks toes!" Ordell couldn't help but blink at the words that were flowing out of Derflinger's... mouth(?), what the fuck was it saying?

Kirche only stared at the talking sword with wide, baffled eyes. She blinked about a hundred times, her brain being unable to understand half of the garbage that Derflinger started spewing, not that anyone in the room could blame her. The sword had a very colourful dictionary for being a piece of metal.

"...It talks?"

"Trust me I was just as surprised as you," well there was one thing both Kirche and Louise could agree on, even if it wasn't exactly the right thing to do so.

"Anyway, thank you for the sword, Kirche," Ordell gratefully took the sword from Kirche's hands and put it against the dresser where he a second later also placed Derflinger, "But you really shouldn't have. I appreciate the gesture but gold isn't a good material for weapons or tools."

Tabitha gently nodded her head in the background to Ordell's words. Gold was soft, malleable. It didn't make for a sturdy material. Even with enchantments, steel and iron swords are simply made for better value at lower prices.

"Gold is really soft. It doesn't melt easily but it can bend," it was the first time Tabitha really spoke up during the conversation, but she returned to her book immediately after.

Kirche couldn't help but feel embarrassed by her mistake as she awkwardly scratched her cheek, "W-Well, to be fair I did get it at a discount. 100 gold coins."

"...That's not even a bargain that's a crime," Louise knew why Kirche specifically got it for so cheap, one look at the dark-skinned beauty's chest all but answered that question.

"Still, thank you," Ordell was really trying to steer the conversation in the right direction that would at least slightly alleviate any bad blood between his master and the fuckable beauty, "Thought next time, maybe join us instead of stalking us."

Louise: (¬_¬)

"Heheh..." Kirche actually blushed lightly in embarrassment, Louise never thought she'd ever see the day even a faint red tint would appear on the Germanian girl's face.

"Still, I wasn't expecting two gifts in the span of one day, what's the occasion?" Ordell hoped Kirche understood what he was trying to silently convey.

She... sort of did and sort of didn't, "Well, as I said, I thought I would try to be nice and get you a nicer sword. I do admit though, I'm not exactly... versed in weapons."

"I can tell," Louise was having none of it, this did put a damper on Ordell's plans of pussy domination.

"Louise, come on~" much to the loli's embarrassment, Ordell managed to swiftly sneak behind her before hugging her from the back, squishing one of her soft cheeks (on her face), "Kirche was trying to be nice, let's be nice back, 'kay?"

Louise: *(¬_¬) intensifies*

"P-Please...?" if pleading didn't work, Ordell might resort to his final weapon... puppy dog eyes.

Luckily for everyone involved, Louise sighed after looking Kirche into her very soul, "...Fine."

"YOSH~!"

"BUT... I still don't like you," the short girl really didn't seem too keen on getting along with the red-haired beauty, but it was understandable as she was subjected to ridicule from her on a daily basis before.

"Louise, you need friends you know. Why not put the past behind us and uh, move on?" Ordell wasn't very good at pep talks, not this kind at least.

Plus, it was a little embarrassing with the stoic stare he was getting from Tabitha. The girl was looking through his soul and into god knows what with how intense she looked. That day, Ordell burned it into his mind not to cross the book-reading beauty, lest there be hell to pay.

"Look Louise, I'm sorry about... well, what I was doing until now. But you do have to understand that not many people would so much as want to associate themselves with you due to your reputation," Kirche's words, while painful to Louise, were sort of true.

Associating with her when she couldn't even cast a spell properly would definitely put her would-be friends at risk of ridicule or even worse. People didn't just make fun of her because it was fun to do but to make themselves look better, or at least make sure they themselves wouldn't be ridiculed. After all, it's easy to put all the shame on someone lesser than you than to be brave and take it head-on.

Guiche was a very nice example of this.

Louise pondered in silence for a bit, she really didn't want to be friends with Kirche. It was the months if not years of annoyance and sometimes even tears that the dark-skinned Germanian brought her that she despised her so much for.

But... could she really afford to be so unapproachable? She knew of the charms her familiar possessed. She knew that he was friendly, Siesta was the living evidence of this fact. She couldn't deny him socialising because of her grudges. But still, Kirche wasn't exactly known for always being genuine or humanitarian. But... Kirche was also friends with Tabitha, wasn't she? Tabitha isn't exactly someone easy to understand or befriend, so could Kirche be a bad person if she managed to be the best friend of one of the most exceptional students in the academy?

Forgive and forget are wise words, but Louise wasn't quite sure she could do something like that... yet. She could at least try. After all, all of her encounters with Kirche were mostly one-sided bouts or something akin to that. Maybe there was something that could redeem her...? Or maybe she just wanted to throat Ordell's dick, as her reputation would lead someone to believe...

Right... Kirche's reputation wasn't exactly pristine. She was known for sleeping around with men, but could Louise believe these rumours? It wasn't a secret that Kirche flirted around, but that was usually in self-interest as far as she could tell.

...Sigh, she won't know unless she tries.

...

...

...

"...Okay, fine... I'm willing... to try and be friendly with you."