The Thief's True Identity

"" (盗賊の正体, Tōzoku no Shōtai) is episode 6 of the anime series, The Familiar of Zero.

Summary
In the classroom, Louise is pissed off because Kirche is feeding Saito food. While Louise is beating up Saito, Kirche mentions how Henrietta could be blamed for Fouquet’s actions since all the guards of the school were reassigned to guard the princess. Louise and Tabitha then get called to the headmaster’s office, and Kirche tags along. There, Miss Longueville informs everyone that eyewitness information places a suspicious person in a deserted house deep in the forest. After Louise identifies Fouquet from a drawing, Osmond decides that they need to recover the staff themselves, but none of the mages are willing to do it. Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha all end up volunteering, and they will be guided by Miss Longueville. With her driving the horse-drawn cart, the group sets out. Along the way, Saito asks why a noble like Fouquet would be a thief, under the assumption that Fouquet is a noble because she can use magic. Miss Longueville refutes that assumption by saying that not all mages are nobles. There are various ways a noble can become a commoner and Miss Longueville is one such person. Fortunately for her, Osmond is not particular about nobles or commoners. Kirche and Louise then start arguing with Saito caught in the middle. After he breaks them apart, Kirche gives him the golden sword again. Saito already has Derflinger, but since Kirche insists, he decides to carry the golden sword, too.

They eventually arrive at the abandoned house, but there’s no one inside. Tabitha notices a chest and opens it to find the Staff of Destruction’s box. Before they can open the box, they hear Louise scream from outside. The roof of the house gets ripped off to reveal the giant golem. Neither Tabitha’s wind magic nor Kirche’s fire magic has any effect, so Tabitha calls on her dragon Sylph. Outside, Louise is trying to use her magic on the golem, but she can’t manage more than a tiny explosion. Saito tells her to run, but Louise refuses because she is a noble. According to Louise, a person who can use magic cannot be called a noble, but a person who does not run away from the enemy can. She of course also wants to prove that she’s not Louise the Zero. The golem slams its arm down at her, but she is saved by Saito when he grabs her and dives out of the way. When she tells him not to get in the way, Saito responds by slapping her – it would all be over if she died. Louise starts to cry because everyone is always making fun of her, and so she thought that running away would mean even more of that. With Louise in tears, Saito hands her over to Tabitha, Kirche, and Sylph. Saito then pulls out the golden sword Kirche gave him and tries to attack the golem. But as soon as he lands the hit, the blade breaks.

With no other choice, Saito uses Derflinger, and this time his rune lights up. Saito quickly slashes apart one each of the golem’s legs and arms, but the golem is able to regenerate its limbs. Louise decides to take the Staff of Destruction’s box from Kirche and jumps off Sylph. She opens the box mid-air and pulls out a strange green tube. She of course has no idea what it is or how to use it. However, Saito immediately recognizes what the tube is and runs over to her. As he grabs it from her, his rune glows again. Saito opens up what is actually a rocket launcher and fires it at the golem. The resulting explosion blows off the golem’s head and ends the battle. Kirche runs over and starts hugging Saito, but Tabitha asks the important question of where Fouquet is, since that was her golem. It is at this point that Miss Longueville picks up the rocket launcher and reveals herself to be Fouquet. Saito tries to reach for Derflinger, but Fouquet points the rocket launcher at them and orders them not to move. Fouquet had stolen the Staff of Destruction, but was troubled because she didn’t know how to use it. Fortunately for her, Saito was able to show her how, as to be expected from the Gundolf. The others of course have no idea what she means by Gundolf. In any case, Fouquet is ready to blow them away with the rocket launcher, but it refuses to fire. Saito uses the chance to rush up and hit her in the stomach with the hilt of Derflinger. He knew all along that the weapon had one shot, this rocket launcher from his world.

In the aftermath, Fouquet is transferred to the authorities and the Staff of Destruction is returned to the treasure vault. Saito, however, will not get rewarded like the others because he is not a noble. He doesn’t care about that, but he does have something that he wants to ask Osmond. After the others leave, Saito explains how the Staff of Destruction was a weapon from his world. Osmond recalls that 30 years ago, he had been attacked by a beast and saved when an injured man fired a rocket at it. That injured man collapsed from his own injuries and Osmond brought him back to the school, but the man ended up dying. The man had been carrying two Staffs of Destruction – the one used to save Osmond had been entombed with the man’s body and the other Osmond presented to the Royal Court. Unfortunately, all this still doesn’t help Saito figure out a way home. That night, during the dance party, Saito is standing off to the side thinking about going home when Louise makes her entrance. Several guys try to talk to her, but she ignores them all and goes straight for Saito. And when the dancing starts, Louise wants to dance with him. She tells him that she believes him now about him coming from another world. After Louise learns that Saito does still want to go home, she thanks him for saving her from the golem. Saito thinks that it was natural for him to do that since he is her familiar. Louise can’t help but smile and blush as the two keep dancing. From the sidelines, Derflinger comments on how this is the first time he’s ever seen a familiar and a master dance together.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Saito Hiraga
 * Kirche von Zerbst
 * Louise de la Vallière
 * Henrietta de Tristain (Mentioned)
 * Jean Colbert
 * Charlotte de Gallia
 * Longuevuille
 * Osmond
 * Chevreuse
 * Derflinger
 * Fouquet
 * Unnamed American Soldier (Flashback)