Tabitha's Adventure, Volume 2

Tabitha's Adventure, Volume 2 is the second volume of Tabitha's Adventure.

The girls go to school Tabitha Torisutein has a secret magic. Her mother knight from Gaul (Chevalier) and given the position, we specialize in top secret mission among them, "Knights guard the north bed," It's a part of. Tabatha And today, to the dictates of the wind dragon Tsutomu Tsutomu familiar with Sylphid. Hidden in your heart, for the purpose of -. Tabitha was told of the reunion one day, to study gambling business without permission. There seems to be losing a lot of money a variety of customers. Tabatha will use the money given for this mission, started the match in gambling -. Popular "The Familiar of Zero" spin from the second edition packed with quiet charm of Tabitha!

Summary
Vol2 Story 5 - Tabitha and the Gambler

Tabitha is sent to infiltrate a casino that's somehow cheating the nobles, yet their method cannot be detected by magic. Eventually it turns out the owner was abusing a type of weasel-like creature called 'Echo' that can use Wind Firstborn magic to mess with cards, blackmailing the adult creatures while holding the offsprings hostage. Tabitha managed to reveal their tricks thanks to Sylphid in human form noticing the flow of magic that humans can't feel, and the casino was shut down.

Vol2 Story 6 - Tabitha and the Minotaur -

Sylphid on the way back to the Academy from Gallian capital got hungry and decided to take a detour for food. Tabitha just let Sylphid go and sample the local delicacies after finally gave up on calming her down. As Sylphid is eating the old lady of the couple that owns the shop begged Tabitha to take down the Minotaur nearby, who threatened to destroy the village unless they offer a sacrifice every month. The noble in charge didn't bother trying to save a small village and focused more on the child-kidnapping crime ring in the area. Tabitha accepted the request since she wants to get stronger; last time when taking down the casino the bodyguard was almost defeated her using tricks and smokescreens.

-Minotaurs have skin tougher than steel, can still move for a few minutes after having its head chopped off, and has a physical strength of a golem. They also have night vision.

-It turned out it was just the child-kidnapping organisation pretending to be a minotaur. Tabitha felt something was wrong after the message sent to the village was too neatly written, and it asked for a specific young girl when any one will do. The group was lead by a fallen noble, but before they was about to fight back against Tabitha the real minotaur showed up and cut the mage's arm off. the rest of the group was then captured by Tabitha.

-The minotaur in the end was the mage that killed the Minotaur ten years ago. A triangle mage of both water and fire, he had a incurable disease and didn't had much longer to live. He performed forbidden water magic to transplant his brain onto the minotaur's body. Since magic is from the mind even in the minotaur's body he can still cast spells, and the minotaur's body gave him better pathways to channel magic. He went from triangle class as a human to square class in the Minotaur's body. The only side effect was extreme headaches now and then.

-After the culprits was sent to the authorities, Tabitha went back to visit the Minotaur mage. After digging up a part of the cave he warned that was dangerous, she found human bones. And they were newer than the ones from ten years ago. Being stuck in a minotaur's body the mage now also consumes human flesh, and not all the children disappearances were by those criminals.

-Tabitha and the minotaur fought. He modified the Minotaur's battleaxe to act as a wand as well, and the two dueled. After a few attacks and being pushed back, Tabitha froze the saliva of the minotaur into ice spikes and shredded his internal organs, bypassing the steel-like skin. The mage complimented Tabitha on her kill, and mentioned back then he burned out all the oxygen in the cave to suffocate the enemy. When he first ate a child he thought he was dreaming, but slowly he realised it wasn't. He didn't know if it was the flesh of the minotaur changing his mind, or just his mind slowly becoming that of the minotaur's... but in the end he's glad he was finally killed, as he didn't have the courage to end his own life. None of the medicines he created helped in subduing the beast.

-After burning the remains of the minotaur, Tabitha returned back to the Academy. This time, she didn't allow Sylphid to take a detour for food.

Vol2 Extra Chapter - A Day in the Life of Sylphid

-Sylphid built a nest in the forest, making a tent of sorts with branches with her talons and filled it with hay. After waking up in the morning she yawned and birds will come and eat the scraps left between her teeth to clean it. Sylphid said 'good morning' to the sun, before realising her mistake. To prevent being exposed as a rhyme dragon Tabitha only allows Sylphid to speak 3,000 metres in the sky.

A child named Nina found Sylphid's nest, and Sylphid was afraid that she was overheard. The child left eventually, but left the basket of strawberries there by accident. Sylphid decided to go return it before flying back to the academy, but didn't want to change into human form (also forbidden by Tabitha). Sylphid found the child, but the villagers was scared of the dragon and tried to chase it away. Nina was then told how dangerous dragons can be, and seeing Sylphid approaching closer she cried; Sylphid just left the basket and left afterwards before someone panicked and shot a musket.

Sylphid went to the Academy's kitchens and knocked on the door. She was fed by the kitchen staff with scraps from the kitchen, and the guy who did so complained how nobles forgot dragons need to be fed every 6 hours.

this particular story is set at the time Saito was camping on the school grounds. The place was turned into a gathering ground for familiars and Flame (the salamander) came out of the tent. Flame calls Sylphid 'blue one', speaking at a tone below the human hearing range. Familiars can communicate with one another using things like pitch of voice and pacing of breathing.

All the familiars around there knew Sylphid was a Rhyme Dragon, but they kept it a secret from their mage partners. Verthandi said it's sad that humans thought Sylphid was treated the same as the dumb dragons. Flame instead joked it's because Sylphid looked ugly, puffing out fire in its laughing. Flame is also known as the 'red one' by the familiars. He's satisfied with how life at the Academy is, as Kirche treats him well and there's plenty of food without worrying about competition from the dominant Fire dragons like back on the mountains. Life is easier as a familiar for them compared to be in nature. Sylphid moaned about they had it good, being smaller and can just live in the academy while she has to live in the forest, has to get along with neighbours. Verthandi admonished Sylphid, saying she should know when to be satisfied while pointing at Saito who's washing clothes at the fountain. He was just kicked into the water by Louise. While Verthandi is cold towards Saito for beating his master, he also said for a familiar that can beat a mage Saito deserves his respect. They then watched Louise kick Saito in the balls for talking back to her, and they all sympathised with him. Louise then kicked him while he's down repeatedly, not even sparing headblows while she ranted. All the rest of the familiars sighed and said Sylphid had it much better than Saito, who even after all he did for his master he's still being treated like that; not to mention he's a human. Flame said even as a Salamander, a species known for violent tendencies even he thought Saito's treatment is over-the-top. So Sylphid should just be happy with what she has right now.

Nina, after being lectured by her mother for approaching Sylphid earlier fond her basket filled with the berries. She feels conflicted that what she saw about Sylphid didn't match what her mother told her, and went to talk to the old priest nearby. He told her she has to decide what's right herself, whether it's staying away from possibly dangerous animals or believe her own eyes.

Night time, Sylphid flew back to her nest. There was a fish and a note from Nina that she asked the old priest to write for her. The fish is for thanking Sylphid for returning the basket, and Nina also asked if she can come and play again. Sylphid crowed happily under the moonlit sky as she flew.

Vol2 Story 7 - Tabitha and the Bird of Paradise

-Sylphid is angry that the meat she ate wasn't actually meat. It was just bread with the taste of meat enchanted into it, so poor people can taste them. It's something recently introduced into the market. Tabitha ate some and said it tastes good. Sylphid fumed and said it's the role of the master to keep its familiar fed, and she's complaining. Tabitha replied she's short on money she Sylphid will have to make do, but Sylphid argued Tabitha buys expensive books all the time, that's not smart since books can't be eaten. Tabitha replied saying anything can give nourishment to the body but knowledge for food for the mind is important. Sylphid protested further but Tabitha ignored her.

-This time, Isabella was bored and sent Tabitha to obtain a egg of a Paradise Bird. They only lay eggs twice a year, but now's not the season for them; Isabella didn't care about that and sent Tabitha anyway. Sylphid is angry that Isabella is sending Tabitha for this, since now is breeding season for Fire dragons and the Paradise Birds live close to them in the Fire Dragon Mountains southwest of Gallia. They will be burned to a crisp if they approach.

Fire dragons will defend their young, even if they're faced with Rhyme dragons; Sylphid said instead of intelligence evolution gave them powerful fire breaths instead, and they are very aggressive. Sylphid also moaned how Tabitha just doesn't treat dragons seriously.

approaching the Fire Dragon mountains by air is suicidal at this time, as they'll be discovered by the dragons. So Tabitha and Sylphid had to walk from the bottom, and Sylphid in human form to escape notice. The steam everywhere from the clouds boiling gave them cover as they approached.

Tabitha found some eggs, but the 70cm sized bird attacked her as she tried to grab them. The bird also called a fire dragon to help repel the intruder (their call is similar to a female fire dragon's call for help). Tabitha's ice attacks was melted far quicker than she thought, and things not going as planned is one of her weaknesses as she will hesitate when that happens. Tabitha and Sylphid was blown away, but was saved by a local mage. She was someone that likes eating delicacies, but a while back she got interested in making food herself. A noble making food, something only a servant should do led to conflict between her and the family, so she ran away. Along the way she was helped by a lot of kind people, and she thought it was unfair they can't eat the same delicacies she can. She wanted good food to be available to everyone. Tabitha gave her some of the fake meat to eat, and she realised Tabitha was the one that made it. The taste was created using alchemy. Both the mage and Tabitha are here for the eggs, something known as one of the seven best delicacy on the continent.

A fire dragon's breath is stronger than even a Square class fire attack, so fighting head on is out of the question. They tried using one of them as bait, and let the others try and take the egg; failed because the number of dragons increased, three went after Tabitha and the two went after the egg was chased away by a exceptionally large male fire dragon. Fire dragons from all over Halkeginia migrate here for the breeding season, even after the local native population was killed off by Karin years before.

Tabitha suggested using bait to lure the dragons away. Fire dragons like fried meat, so they started to make some of the fake meat.

The closer the raw material is, the easier alchemy can be casted (eg, to turn something into steel using iron would be the simplest). The feeling of the mage and his/her level is also a factor. Most importantly, understanding the end result you want to transmute the object into is the main factor. The mage tried, but the end result from grass and dirt made Sylphid say it's nothing like the real thing. She then asked Tabitha why her creation is nothing like the ones from the chef. Tabitha replied it's the strength of willpower; she has never gone hungry so she can't create realistic-tasting 'food' with magic.

Tabitha then decided to force Sylphid into pretending to be a female fire dragon (using magic to change Sylphid's look), and spend three days training the rhyme dragon. After asking how is Tabitha planning to get her away from the dragons after she got the eggs, Tabitha told Sylphid 'figure something out'. This is one of the times Sylphid wished she's back to her wild nature so she can swallow Tabitha whole. This time, when Tabitha approached and the alarm sounded, the three male fire dragons who showed up was lured away by Sylphid, thinking her to be a attractive member of their own race. Tabitha got the eggs, but then a large and older female fire dragon (18m in length) showed up and tried to kill her. Tabitha's ice spear barely managed to block the fire breath, and the female Fire dragon was finally scared off by Tabitha's cold eyes, not wanting to risk fighting a mage that can fight evenly against her. Then Sylphid called for help, as she was being chased by multiple male fire dragons. Tabitha is out of willpower after the last battle, but she as a mage she can't just leave her familiar. At the last second the other mage showed up and transmuted the grass nearby into fake meat. To get the taste right she haven't eaten for three days, and it managed to distract the other dragons' attention.

They cooked one of the eggs and see how wonderful it really can be, but it turns out the reputation is overly-inflated. Sylphid laughed, and thought about the look on Isabella's face when she finally eats this.

Vol2 Story 8 - Tabitha and the Naval Port

Set after Tristain academy was attacked during the invasion into Albion. Colbert was injured and took back to Germania to heal after Kirche fooled Agnes into thinking he's dead. Tabitha got a mission, Kirche wants to come and help her friend but Tabitha told her She should be taking care of Colbert.

Tabitha arrived at St.Marlon, a main military port of Gallia. The fleet here can sail on both water and in the sky. Recently there have been attacks on the fleet, infiltrators coming in and blowing ships by setting fire to their gunpowder stock. The sixth one was already taken down, named the 'Black Pearl'. A normal Gallian ship is 50m long, with 32 cannons. Each ship have about 160 people on board. On the air and sea the fleet might be near-invincible, but on the ground they're sitting ducks.

It apparently was someone from the protestant sect of the Brimir faith, and after being discovered he shot himself despite suicide was forbidden by both sides of the Brimiric faith and people who killed themselves was said to fall to hell. The protestant sect argued nobility should be separated from the church and reduce luxury in the church, so they're seen as a eyesore by those in power.

Tabitha saw the flash of magic before it faded from the bomber's eyes; a spell called 'contract', a forbidden water magic. It controls someone's mind to make them do a certain thing at a certain time. Tabitha then suggested take the gunpowder out of every ship except the flagship, and will take all responsibility for this command. The guy that tried to blow it up was stopped by Tabitha, who had already transmuted the gunpowder there into charcoal. After defeating the controlled person Tabitha went to the culprit that she had the puppet linked to, earlier when she casted a tracking spell on him. The culprit was the daughter of one of the nobles that supported Tabitha's father, and after he died the rest of his supporters was eliminated one by one. She had managed to wipe out all proof from earlier questioning because she casted 'contract' on herself everyday to hide the driving need for revenge. But that made her appear too innocent and made Tabitha suspicious. In the end she shot herself as Tabitha confronted her, conceding defeat against someone with more hatred inside than herself. After what she did, she gladly took the option of falling into hell.