Chapter 5: First Night

Okay, I'm going to be honest here and say this was my mistake, I didn't think about the small detail that I had no place to sleep.

But could you blame me? I had to juggle in my head, from thinking about how to direct the conversation so that Louise believed my words, acting as if I was completely in control of the situation, until dealing with the fact that I was in a world that until less than one day I thought was fictional, in my opinion, that was already outstanding, I considered myself intelligent, not a genius.

Leaving my ramblings aside I looked at Louise hoping that she had any solution, but all I saw was a slightly nervous expression, I sighed and decided that I had to give her a way out, this wasn't her fault, after all, she expected to get some animal but she ended up trapped with me and I refused to sleep on the pile of straw I saw in one corner of the room.

"Louise, I will go out and look for a place to spend the night". I said to the girl and she widened her eyes when heard my idea.

"What? But that is"

"It's the best solution at the moment". I interrupted her.

"I will not solve anything by staying here, there is only one bed and no furniture where I can sleep, maybe I will be lucky and find a good place but in the worst case I have some experience camping in nature, I know it's not your fault that you didn't foresee this situation, however, I would be grateful if you could help me solve this problem tomorrow". I finished and I waited for her reaction, she had a slightly reluctant expression for a few seconds, but in the end, she let out a sigh of resignation and looked at me.

"I understand, I'm sorry about this Reese, tomorrow I'll talk to the director to fix this"

"Thank you". I answered and before leaving the room I stopped and said. "I'll see you tomorrow Louise, rest". To then close the door behind me.

Walking down the hall I couldn't help but look at the screen of my phone, and with a couple of quick movements of my fingers, I found myself in the image gallery, seeing one in particular, I touched it with my thumb making it extend and cover the entire screen of my phone.

There were four people, a man in half of his forties, he wore a formal suit, had black hair brushed to one side, his face showed a confident and happy smile, next to him was a woman with a kind look and smile, she wore a violet dress and just as the man had an expression between happy and proud.

In front of them was a dark-haired boy dressed in a toga and next to him was a small girl with long light brown hair, she wore a pure white dress and was happily hugging the dark-haired boy, the people in the photo were my family and me in my high school graduation, seeing them a thought crept into my mind.

"Perhaps … they were going through the same thing as me?" The idea brought chills to my body, my parents were smart, much more than they appeared, so I was sure if they only had a tenth of what I had obtained as Sword Saint they could handle almost anything.

But my sister … She was a different subject, as brilliant as she was, she was still a girl of only 10 years old, if she was in a situation similar to mine then I…

No, thinking about those kinds of things would only divert me from what was really important, going home. I had no means to check if what I thought really was happening or not, so, at least for now, I would have to worry about what I would do in this world, starting with finding a place where spending the night.

Looking up I found a sky full of stars greeting me, without realizing I had just reached the exit of the bedrooms tower, it was a beautiful sky to be honest, especially with the 2 moons in the center that crowned the landscape.

Seeing both satellites only served as the final proof that this was all real, this was really happening to me, it wasn't a well-crafted prank or an extremely realistic dream, I was really far from home, giving one last glimpse of the stars I decided that it was time to seriously think things.

The knowledge I had about Zero no Tsukaima was basic in the best case, without even finishing the first season most of the knowledge about future events came from a friend of mine who had finished the series and told me certain specific things to call my attention and make me interested in the show.

The worst thing of all was that he also told me that the anime differed from the novel in several points, especially at the end where the plot of both versions was completely different, and with that came the most important question.

Would the power of the Sword Saint be enough to overcome all that this world could throw at me until Louise could return me home?

I did not know this world completely so I wasn't 100% sure, but no matter what happened I would do my best to manage them, after all, I never heard Gerald mention anything about some character with characteristics above humans like in re: zero.

At that moment I felt something hit my chest and I heard a slight "kya", paying attention to my surroundings once again I saw that I had collided with a girl causing her to fall sitting on the ground, surrounding her were clothes on the floor next to a basket.

"Oh no, I had just washed all these clothes". She said in a slightly frustrated tone.

Approaching her I held out my hand and spoke. "I'm sorry about that, are you okay?"

But when she saw me her eyelids widened, everything was silent for a few seconds, then the girl stood up so quickly that I almost thought she would fly off the ground, and when she was straight as a pole she leaned in at a perfect 90 degrees while she was speaking in a nervous voice.

"I ... I'm sorry, please excuse me for colliding with you, l … The clothes basket did not let me see where I was going and I-l … I'm sorry". She said with a rather nervous voice.

Ok, what the hell is going on here? I didn't remember being so intimidating, I hadn't even spoken out loud, but it was clear that she was scared, now the question was how I would solve this situation. "You don't need to lower your head". I said a little hurriedly, seeing someone in this state was quite uncomfortable.

"It wasn't your fault, if we are going to look for culprits then I should be the first to be pointed out, I had nothing to obstruct my vision, and even so, I didn't see you for being too focused on my thoughts". I added trying to decrease, at least, a bit her nervousness, however, it seems that wasn't very effective.

"N-no, even if I couldn't see the front, I should have been more careful". She answered quickly while refusing to look up.

Okay Reese, now think, how will you get out of this situation? The first thing is to calm her, I can find out why she was so nervous later, thinking about how to complete this task I turned my eyes to the clothes lying on the floor and an idea occurred to me.

Without her seeing me I bent and picked up the basket for later starting to fill it with the clothes that had fallen to the ground, when I was going for the fifth garment the girl seemed to realize what I was doing and emitted a screech of surprise.

"P-please don't do that, I must be the one to pick up these clothes". She said as she quickly took some clothes from the floor and hung them on her left arm.

"Here, take it". I said, extending the basket in front of her, and when she looked up I could see the indecision on her face, at least she didn't seem scared anymore, now to continue.

"I know I said it was my fault, but isn't it a bit cruel to ignore me like that?" I added as I tried my best to make a friendly smile.

"Eh? N-no, thank you very much for the help". She answered once again in a hurry as she took the basket and we both stood up.

"Don't worry, that was just a joke, but you don't need to be nervous, I promise you I'm not going to do anything bad". I assured her, after all, one of the best ways to reduce the intensity in a tense moment was with a joke, It doesn't matter if the joke is good or bad, the atmosphere should calm down at least a little if you are not on the receiving end of the discussion.

In addition to the promise of no harm, that had caused the girl's mood to go from scared to a little uncomfortable.

"Well, where are we going now?" I said without releasing the basket.

"Eh? W-what?"

"Yes, I know it may sound a bit strange, but at least I would like to help you with this, please just take it as a selfish request of mine, okay?"

"I … well ... ok, this way please". She said, this time in a defeated tone as she left the basket in my hands and started walking, it did not take us long to reach a water source, where a stream of water flowed from a stone-carved lion's head into a small pond, and next to source was a relatively large wooden bucket, a laundry board, and what looked like a medium-sized bar of soap.

"So, here is where you normally wash the clothes?"

"N-no, normally all clothes are washed every day while students are in class, but when a student or teacher personally asks me to wash their clothes I come here"

"I see, well let's start then". I said as I removed the gloves from my hands and rolled up my sleeves, this time there were no gasps or stutters, but I did not need to hear it to know that the girl was shocked.

Turning to look at her I confirmed my assumptions, there she was, practically frozen, with her mouth slightly open and an expression that said 'this can't be true'.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, making her startled a little.

"N-no, it's just that … um, well, have you washed clothes before?" She asked a little hesitant.

"Yes, maybe I´m not an expert, but since I was a kid my parents taught me to do all the household chores and a few other things to a level at least acceptable in case I ever lived alone, cook, clean, sweep, paint, repair and things like that, is not for being smug but I think I am quite versatile, also from what I see from these clothes, we should only need to rub them lightly with soap and then rinse them, after all, they only stained a little with dirt when they fell". I said and to emphasize my point, I pointed out the stain on a pair of pants I took from the basket.

Seeing where I was pointing, I saw how against all logic the girl's eyes widened even more and moved to look me up and down well, which was honestly a bit of fun.

"You … Could you be the familiar that Miss Valliere summoned?"

This was ... curious, how did she know that? What's more, now that I saw this girl well, she seemed quite familiar to me, short black hair, maid outfit, I had it on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember it well, the best, for now, will be to get some information from her.

"That's an interesting question, what makes you think that?"

"Well, throughout the day the staff of the academy was talking about how Miss Valliere summoned a person, a young man with red hair"

"Even if that's the case, I'm sure I'm not the only redhead in the whole place, right?"

And to answer the girl nodded a few times and after that, her finger pointed at my left hand.

"But there are also those marks on the back of your hand, I have seen some familiars and well ... all of them had marks like yours"

When I heard those words I found myself smiling slightly, this girl was more insightful than she seemed, although she didn't mention it I'm sure that she noticed that my clothes are different from the rest in this place, along with the fact that I was carrying a sword.

I could notice it since while we were walking she gave me some furtive glances, surely when she saw the marks in my hand she connected the dots and concluded that I didn't belong to either the student body or the staff of the academy, that in addition to the gossips that must have existed since my arrival, would obviously result in her thinking that the summoned human was me.

"Well, in that case, there is no way to deny it, isn't it?" I said with a cordial tone. "My name is Reese Van Astrea, it's a pleasure". I finished saying while I extended a hand in the form of a greeting.

She stared at my hand for a moment before slowly stretching hers up to take mine. "My name is Siesta, it's a pleasure to meet you Van Astrea-sama"

Hearing her greeting, I blinked a few times, sama? She had used sama with me? "Please, you don't need to use sama with me, honestly, it's a bit awkward"

"Eh? But as part of the academy staff I must respect you, even if you are a familiar, you are still a noble"

"I really don't think that is the case, I wasn't born in this country so I'm not really anyone here, a simple foreigner who took the role of a student's familiar, so let's leave the formalisms, ok? You can just call me Reese if you let me call you Siesta"

"Umm, I understand … Reese ... san"

"It's not exactly what I expected, but I think that will work, well, now let's start with these clothes". I said and turn around to take the bucket when the girl spoke again, well, screamed would be more precise.

"Wait! Are you really okay with helping me do the laundry?" She asked as she stared at me.

"Don't worry, as I said, at least I am able to wash clothes to an acceptable level, also, if my mother found out that I caused problems to a girl and I didn't even try to help her, I would never hear the end of her scoldings". And since that this time I didn't hear any objection, I simply took the wooden bucket and filled it with water, then put it between the two and threw one of the garments, and after a few seconds, other garment found its way into the bucket, this time from Siesta's hand.

For a time neither of us said anything, we were just there, wetting, soaping, rinsing, and squeezing the garments mechanically, it was only when I finished with the third garment that I decided to speak once more.

"Hey, I can ask you a question? You really don't need to answer it if you don't want to, but I would be grateful if you do it". I asked for her consent without taking my eyes off the garment I was washing, she stood still for a few seconds, probably thinking about whether she should accept or not to that I make the question, but in the end, she gave me her consent shaking her head up and down.

"Thank you, what I want to know is why you seemed to be afraid of me a few minutes ago, well, to be honest, it still seems that you are a bit tense with me, it's something I did? If it so, I'd like you to tell me so I can apologize appropriately". I asked her in the calmest and least intimidating way possible.

"Eh?! I-it's not like that, it's just that Van-I mean Reese-san surprised me a lot and … I … well …" And once again it seemed that she was getting nervous so I rushed to try to calm her down.

"Calm down, what I said before I keep it, I promise not to do anything that affects you negatively no matter what you answer me, so you can be calm and be honest with me". I said and it seems this time my words had the desired effect since his stuttering stopped and she looked at me like she was thinking what to say.

"Reese-san … really isn't from here right?"

"Eh? Why do you ask? I told you before that I'm a foreigner, right?"

"Yes, it's just that ... the first time you said it I didn't think it was true, but after listening to you I realize that you really aren't like the Tristain nobles"

While listening to Siesta's explanation I was also thinking, I wasn't like Tristain's nobles? Well, that was obvious, I wasn't a noble nor had I been raised similarly to one, also, from what I remembered from the series, the nobles here were...

That was! How had I been such an idiot to not remember it? In this world only those who possessed magic were considered noble, this had led them to develop a superiority complex towards commoners who were seen as inferior in the eyes of the magical population, and Siesta believed that I was a noble, so she was cautious with me because she had fear of offending me.

In the midst of my thoughts, I heard the voice of the maid so I turned my gaze to her and listened to her words.

"Here, most nobles are ... um ..." She stopped and put on a thoughtful expression, surely trying to search for a term that wasn't too offensive.

"So arrogant and full of themselves that sometimes it can be even embarrassing to see?" I said without the slightest intention of masking the smile that my own comment caused me.

"!!!!!!" Even if Siesta didn't say anything I could clearly hear what she thought about my comment. 'Did he really just say that?!!' probably something like that, taking into account the expression she had on her face.

"I actually saw a few signs of that behavior, but since I was still a newcomer I gave priority to talking to Louise and collecting some information". I told her my thoughts but when I saw her expression she still didn't seem to have come out of her amazement, so I put a hand in front of her face and snapped my fingers a couple of times to get her out of her trance.

"Eh?"

"Come on, was it really so surprising what I said about the nobility?"

"B ... But does Reese-san really think like that?"

"Yes, and I am not the only one, where I come from there are also some people like that, those who believe that others are below them, either because they have more power, money or knowledge, but the general population is against of that kind of attitude"

"Is ... is that really true?" She asked in a surprised tone and slightly … Hopeful?

"Yeah, so you don't need to bother following all those 'rules' of nobles or commoners with me". I replied hoping that this would dispel her annoyances.

"Could … Could Reese-san tell me more about where you came from?" She asked, this time without a hint of fear and I could swear that I even got to see little stars in her eyes for a moment.

I took this as a sign that I had finally managed to completely calm the situation and I had no trouble telling her a couple of things about the earth.

"I have no problem with that, now, where should I start…"

And since I started narrating some of the simplest things in the modern world everything was more enjoyable, at least Siesta didn't get nervous or stutter again, from time to time she even answered some questions I asked about her and before we knew it, all the clothes were clean and hung waiting to dry the next day while we walked with Siesta leading the way.

"So where does Reese-san come from not only the nobles can go to the academies to study?"

"That's right, anyone who can pay a certain amount of money can enter a school and study, and even if they don't have money it is possible to enter schools that are free"

"But then why do people spend money if there are places where they can study without paying?"

"That is because generally, the most expensive places are better than the free ones, but there are also places where the only schools there are the free ones, this is because the leaders of those places pay the schools with the taxes of the population"

"I see, I had no idea that such a place existed, what is the name of the place where Reese-san live before?"

"The name of my home? Umm … Well, if there is a name that encompasses all the places that are there then that would be … Earth"

"Earth?"

"Yes, I'm a terrestrial". What's more, on second thought, it really wouldn't be wrong to call the people of this world aliens, after all, they are literally from another planet.

"It must be nice ... living in a place like that". She said this time in a slightly dejected tone.

"Come on, you don't have to get like this, I will not deny that there are many benefits you get from living there, but believe me, the earth also has some serious problems". I added trying to cheer her up, after all this world also had its good points.

Here there wasn't global warming or pollution, and while I'm sure there must be people in the government who are corrupt, at least there weren't idiots or crazies with access to weapons of mass destruction who could provoke nuclear wars simply by ordering an attack.

"Yes, I suppose that no matter where you are, there will always be problems". She said and stopped in front of the entrance to a different tower than that the student rooms.

"This is where the academy staff rooms are, thank you very much for helping me Reese-san, and also for the stories from your home, all were very entertaining". She spoke while slightly lowering her head, nothing forced like when she apologized to me a while ago, this time the gesture was more natural and with sincere gratitude.

"Don't worry about it, that was my fault, thanks to you for talking with me, it really helped me relax a little, now I must go to find a place to spend the night, please wish me luck". I answered as I turned and got up my hand goodbye when the girl spoke once more.

"Wait, Reese-san doesn't have a place to sleep?" She asked with clear doubt in her voice.

"Oh, yeah, I didn't mention it before, right? What happens is that in Louise's room there really was no place where I could sleep, so I decided to go out and look for a place where I could spend the night, by any chance you don't know any? I really don't have a problem as long as it's not the ground or a pile of straw, when I was a kid I slept on one once and it wasn't very comfortable"

She widened her eyes slightly at my statement but her expression became pensive less than a second later, none said anything as she thought until finally, her expression changed once more, this time she looked slightly ... shy?

"I ... If Reese-san doesn't mind ... then ..."

Eh? Nonononono, I had seen something like this before, but, she wasn't about to suggest what I believe right? It is impossible that only after a pleasant conversation she suggests something like that ... right?

Seeing her, I realized that she was having trouble finishing her sentence, oh god, does she really want to offer her room as lodging for me? Well, Reese, you're a decent guy, so think of a gentle way to refuse and then get ready to sleep on the grass tonight, damn, I hope I'm not cold, sometimes I really hate being a good guy.

"You could sleep in one of the empty rooms for the academy staff". She finished hastily.

"Thank you but I …" I stopped in the middle of my denial to correctly process what Siesta had suggested.

"Rooms for staff? Did you say one of the empty rooms for the academy staff?" I asked with what was probably a stupid tone.

"Yes, but if Reese-san doesn't like the idea then"

"No!" I interrupted her again, this time I was slightly nervous. "An empty room is perfectly fine for me"

"Really? Then please follow me". She answered with a happy tone once more to then turn around and start walking with me following her a couple of steps behind.

The walk lasted a couple of minutes in which no one said anything until we finally reached a passageway with multiple doors on each side, we advanced until we reached the last one, Siesta took the handle and opened the door letting me see a small room, inside there was a bed, a chair next to a wooden table and a small bedside table with 2 drawers, it wasn't remarkable, but it was definitely better than sleeping outside.

"Thanks for this Siesta, I really owe you one". I said as I gave her a slight nod.

"Ah, no problem, but would Reese-san like me to wake him up tomorrow?"

"Mmm, yes, that would be helpful, it's fine if you do it at the same time you normally wake up"

"I understand, then see you tomorrow Reese-san, have a good night". She leaned in slightly before starting to walk away.

"Yes, same for you Siesta, see you". I answered before closing my door and walking to the bed where I sat down and after a few seconds where I didn't say or do anything I slapped myself, a clear 'slap' sounded in the room for a fraction of a second before disappearing, then I covered my face with both hands.

"God, how could I be such an idiot, think that for a moment I thought she would invite me to sleep in her room". At this point, I was inclined to think that the transfer of worlds had killed some of my brain cells.

So, after wallowing in my own shame for a few more seconds I decided to go to sleep, I needed my mind to rest from all these events in order to think better, I really hoped that when I got up I would not find myself in that infinite white space again, or worse, that when I opened my eyes I was surprised that I was in a hospital waking up from a coma that lasted several years, well, at least I had met another of the recurring characters from the anime besides Louise.