Zero no Tsukaima

Chapter Ten: The Place of Courage

On a little hill drawn on a map… The dawn brought forth light to the darkness.

The view slowly expanded, and the gra.s.sland below grew larger and larger.

It was as shown on the map, a rural area approximately 150 leagues southwest of the city of Saxe-Gotha. Saito had finally arrived there after a whole night of riding.

A light excitement embraced him. Although he had been riding all night, his fighting spirit and fatigue were restored by the morning light.

Through the morning fog, slowly; and accompanied with the shaking of the earth, a great army appeared.

Saito stood up and slammed his palm against the horse he had been riding. The beast, which had been chewing gra.s.s idly, was suddenly startled and fled back in the direction where they had come from.

“You are not going to use the horse?" Derflinger asked over the shoulder.

“That guy has a life too; it is not just some tool.”

“You have such a good heart, partner.”

Saito asked Derflinger, “Didn’t you say before that Gandálfr was able to stand against a thousand foes alone? 70,000 shouldn’t be a problem right?”

“That is what they say, but it is only a legend, so people tend to exaggerate. Don’t get too hopeful, in reality, it was probably less than a thousand.”

“…Why are you like this? Lying to me like that. If you lied, don’t tell me the truth. We are already as good as dead, so at least lie to the very end.”

On the horizon of the gra.s.sland they could see the advancing army. Although it was an army of 70,000, due the fact they were not marching abreast, it did not appear to be as large. But in reality, all 70,000 were there.

Soldiers wielding weapons, Mages armed with spells, cannons, demi-humans like orcs and trolls, dragon knights… Knights riding phantom beasts.

None were missing, all 70,000 were there.

Saito asked with a fear shaken voice.

“Ah, why must I risk my life to charge into that mob?”

“Why are you asking the obvious? Because our ships have to retreat, so we have to buy time.”

“No… I am not talking about that… But, forget it.” Saito let out a sigh. “Last time I was saved by Guiche’s mole, but this time there is no way we can escape.”

“No, we cannot. No matter what, just charge in. In a situation like this, no matter which direction, charging is the same. Aim for the commanding officer, strike down the head, and the body will fall into chaos. You can probably buy them a day or so.”

Saito nodded, holding Derflinger tightly. The runes on his left hand began to glow.

“Let me tell you something, Derflinger.”

“What is it?”

”Can I tell you a story from my childhood?”

“Sure.”

“I once saw an old lady being hara.s.sed by some punk near a train station, something about the old lady b.u.mping into them. But at that time I was just a little kid, I couldn"t stop them even if I wanted to, so I only stood by and watched. That time I thought, if only I were a little stronger, but at the same time, I also sighed in relief. Because even if I were stronger, it would not guarantee that I would have won.”

“True.”

“No mistake, I am stronger now, there cannot be any excuses. That time I had no strength, so I had an excuse not to do anything. I was not strong enough, so I didn’t help. But now, I"ve lost that excuse. Because I am now very, very strong. No matter what, I am Gandálfr, right?”

Deflinger murmured lowly, “Um hum.”

“But… all that strength is only external, I am not really any stronger inside. Yet there is nothing I can do about it, although I am the legendary familiar Gandálfr, my body is shaking, I really don’t have any mental preparation. This type of situation is really not for me. Protecting everyone’s honor, I really don’t like it! I"m shaking with fear. I do not want to die.”

“Partner, you are really someone truly brave!”

“This kind of personality will only lead to trouble, fast.” Saito thought about it.

Courage, isn’t this what it is all about?

“Hey, Partner.”

“What?”

“Am I going to die?”

“Probably.”

The boy became silent. Derflinger decided to raise his spirits, “If it is going to be like this, then go out like a hero!”

“Why?”

“Because otherwise it would be a waste.”

Four hundred meters in front of them, they could see Albion’s forward a.s.sault force.

Suddenly his body began to move by itself; they would never know if this was the power of Gandálfr, or Saito’s own bravery, or something else…

Saito charged toward the army of 70,000.

The first group of Albion soldiers who found the charging hero was not frontal cavalry, but the owl familiar belonging to an artillery commander. Because he didn’t believe the infantries, he decided to personally investigative the matter.

After he verified the situation through his owl, he immediately ordered the firearm squadrons to prepare to fire, as during the course of a march, firearm troops do not normally keep their weapons loaded.

“What? Only one person?”

He was surprised when he found out there was only one person, but he became shocked once he saw the boy’s speed.

It was not a speed that could be achieved by a human on foot.

The frontal cavalry also made the same mistake as well.

Because of a mistake with the estimation of speed, the opposition charged right past them just as they were stopping. Before the cavalry could even draw their weapons, they were knocked off their steeds.

The only thing the fallen cavalry men could do was hear the sound of the enemy’s footsteps, the speed was so great that they could not even see their foe’s image.

Before the soldiers finished loading their weapons, the enemy was already in front of their leader.

It was a person armed with a large sword.

The commander, in reflex, tried to pull out his wand, but was sent flying by the sword. Something hit him hard on the side of his head and he instantly lost consciousness.

The next moment, mage knights approached from the sky. They used magic and familiars to track Saito’s movement and then released a barrage of spells.

Wind blades, ice spears, and fireb.a.l.l.s flew in waves toward Saito, but were instantly absorbed by the sword. Though the knights were taken by surprise, they did not stop their magical a.s.sault.

The knight commander ordered his men to scatter; in the instant he made that order, a gust of wind blew next to him, where the wind struck, his wand was snapped in half and a foot slammed into his stomach. Ribs shattered, the pain was so strong the officer could not cry and soon fainted.

Derflinger asked Saito, “Why didn’t you kill them?”

Saito threw back a short reply, “I am not a soldier.”

“What do you mean?”

“Be they allies or enemies, I will not treat them as tools.”

Derflinger sighed.

Saito danced, dodged, and struck left and right, which caused ma.s.sive chaos within the enemy formation.

Fighting alone turned out to be extremely advantageous.

To prevent friendly fire, the enemy did not dare to use firearms or projectiles, and with Gandálfr’s speed, nothing in this world could catch up.

But… the mage opponents were still very difficult to deal with.

Although Derflinger could absorb the endless barrage of spells, the amount of magic delivered was certainly above normal, and slowly the sword began to lose its ability to handle them.

“Ugh!”

“Left hand?”

“Hum, d.a.m.n… I can’t move it anymore.”

Saito could only wield Derflinger with his right hand, his left shoulder took a deep wound, and part of his body was now charred by flame, which came from the fireball that exploded near him.

Although the situation was grave, Saito still charged forward, bravely standing tall while surrounded on all sides.

Due to the attacks by magic and weapons alike… Saito’s injuries became graver every second.

Riding on his phantom manticore was the unit’s commanding officer. He kicked his beast and prepared to charge, but a sword knocked him off his mount and he saw his manticore struck down. In that instant, his own legs were shattered and he collapsed on the ground.

The commander of the firearm division ordered his men to prepare for a maneuver, thinking about surrounding this wind-like enemy in an instant, but the enemy leaped over the formation, and struck the commander’s head with his sword, sending the man instantly into oblivion.

The young commander in charge of the archers hastily ordered his men to fire, but the arrows could not reach their foe, instead striking down his allies instead. In the chaos he managed to hit his own foot.

The chaos among the forward guard became progressively worse. General Hawkins received reports that completely boggled him. The communications he received were a complete mess.

Some said, the enemy was a single rider.

Some said, the enemy was a magician.

Some said, it was a part of the enemy army.

Some said, it was elvish mage knights.

Some said, it was an elvish division… etc.

But the General, a veteran who survived a hundred battles, felt it was a single foe.

An enemy with the speed of wind.

An enemy with strength like fire.

An enemy unshakable like the stones of the earth.

An enemy elusive like the waves of the sea.

“I don"t like it,” General Hawkins muttered.

Just as Saito broke the wand of a middle ranked officer, the boy spotted a group of mages. Since so many mages were protecting a single individual, that meant…

“That guy must have a pretty high rank...” Derflinger added. But even though Saito heard him, he couldn’t do much as his body began to be paralyzed by the pain. Very soon he wouldn’t be able to move at all.

He had to save his energy for breathing.

Just to take down one more officer…

Just to cause more havoc.

Just like this to extend the time, just even one minute, one second, must be taken.

This was Louise’s task.

A task my own beautiful master was going to carry out.

Saito rushed towards the enemy general surrounded by a horde of mages.

General Hawkins stared at the wind blasting toward him.

Truly amazing speed.

He pulled out his wand, chanted his spell, and in one breath summoned a wind blade. But… the enemy swiftly dodged it. He could only see the foe’s blade, flying toward his head.

General Hawkins could only see the shadow in front of him, as if trying to brand it under his vision.

His riders struck the enemy full of magic bolts, each attaching itself on to that swordsman’s body.

Although so many bolts should have been fatal, the wind-like warrior never slowed.

A fencer"s sword shot up, slamming into Hawkins" body.

The blade’s tip reached within 5 cm of his face.

Hawkins, not averting his gaze, stared straight at the tip.

But it did not strike Hawkins’ face.

As if time suddenly stopped, the swordsman’s movement froze.

Hawkins used his wand to knock the sword away, and the unknown blademaster hit the ground with a thud.

“Your Eminence! Are you ok?”

“General Hawkins!” one of the knights rode by.

“No bones broken,” He answered.

“Combat is over, give me the report.”

Reports came in quick succession.

It was absolutely unimaginable that a single warrior was able to cause so much damage. Lower command, upper command echelon had 14 wounded, the enlisted infantry estimated injured were around two hundred and fifty.

The loss, from the entire army’s point of view, was apparently within the acceptable limit. But its effects were significant. The strong forward guards were now in complete chaos, many were injured by their own friendly fire in the fog of war, and the story that "everything was caused by a single swordsman" had spread among soldiers like wildfire, greatly damaging the morale of the troops.

The forward commander reported with a bitter face: “I am afraid it will take a while to reform the forward command, at least several hours.”

Also, stories continued to spread among the frightened troops, which greatly decreased the army marching speed. The enlisted soldiers were afraid the enemy might hide another swordsman like the one before.

The adjutant slowly murmured to General Hawkins,

“I am afraid we cannot meet today’s marching objectives. If the situation continues, we will have to waste half a day… no, an entire day of time.”

Hawkins lowered his head.

He got off his horse, walked near the fallen swordsman, and took in stock of his looks.

“He is just a boy.”

The body on the ground was a black-haired, very unusual looking boy.

Looking at him still breathing weakly, his body clearly had taken an enormous amount of magical damage; it was only a matter of time.

Hawkins wanted to summon a water mage, but after so many injuries it would only extend his suffering. Not even magic is infinite.

Hawkins looked down on the boy and whispered,

"I am really jealous."

"Huh?"

"A single warrior stopped an entire army... in the words of history long gone, he is a "Hero"; I wish I was not merely a general, but a hero."

Hawkins’ voice trailed off.

His sub-commander nodded as well.

"What you say is right, but situations like these are the results of war, a pity he was an enemy of ours."

"Even though he’s an enemy... not even a n.o.ble... I believe he should receive the highest honor and respect."

"I understand your point."

General Hawkins and the sub-commander both saluted the boy.

"Let"s bury him with honor."

He gave his order to his troops.

In that second, Saito"s body leaped.

"What the h.e.l.l?"

Saito"s body reached his old speed, and vanished into the forest.

Once inside the forest… Saito’s body collapsed again.

A voice echoed in the dark forest.

Not Saito’s voice, but Derflinger’s.

“Haaah… it’s been one thousand years since the last time I used ‘Master’ was it? Though the reason I was able to move… was because of the absorbed magic energy. Anyway, I"m beaten already... but partner, you look tattered...“

Saito’s body didn’t move in the slightest.

“Hey partner. Do you hear me? Hold on there, I’ll tell you something nice. At that time, that girl wore those black cat clothes just for you. She wanted you to push her down again.”

Derflinger waited for a while.

However, no matter how long he waited, there was no answer.

Once Derflinger’s power wore off, Saito’s hand lessened its grip. Free from Saito’s lifeless fingers, Derflinger muttered with regret,

“…tch, you can’t hear me anymore.”

Louise awoke and found herself on the deck of the Redoutable.

Because of the wind brushing her face, as well as the sound of the fluttering sail, she finally woke up.

Malicorne and Guiche were staring back at her face.

“Wow, Louise is awake!”

”Good! Good!!”

Seeing friends nodding their heads constantly, Louise asked in a surprised voice:

“I… why…?”

“We don’t know. When the ship departed I found you sleeping here.”

“…Here, this is a ship?”

As she watched the moving scenery for a few minutes, Louise suddenly remembered a very important thing, abruptly springing to her feet.

“I, I must go stop the enemy army. I have to prevent the Albion army from catching up!”

Malicorne and Guiche both stared at her with surprise.

“Stop the enemy?”

“Yes! I have to delay the enemy to buy us time to retreat.”

“We already retreated.”

“This is the last ship from the port of Rosais.”

“…Oh?”

Louise looked confused as she stared from the forecastle, as the continent of Albion became smaller and smaller.

“How can it be? What happened to the Albion army that was chasing us?”

“They said they couldn’t catch up with us, although by a small margin”

“Good, Good, this means we can get home safely.”

“But when we get back, there will still be a lot of trouble.”

Malicorne and Guiche stared at each other, then the two started laughing.

What really happened?

Why did the Albion Army slow their march?

In that moment… she suddenly remembered something more important.

She could not see Saito anywhere.

Louise ran around the ship in a circle, and met Siesta and her family on the forecastle.

“Miss Louise… you woke up?”

“Don’t talk about it! Where is Saito?”

Siesta’s face turned white upon hearing this.

“I was waiting for Miss Vallière to wake up to ask it, shouldn’t Saito-san be with you?”

Louise shook her head, looking at her worried face, Siesta became paler every second.

“Miss Vallière, where is Saito-san? Where, please tell me!”

In that moment, they heard two soldiers talking behind them.

“I heard from a buddy from Navarre"s ship, they said they saw a single person ride off to stop the Albion army.”

“Haha, stop joking, it is just one person, what can he do?”

Louise walked near one of the soldiers and said,

“Hey, what you just said, is it true?”

The soldier was surprised to be questioned by n.o.bility, and showed a face full of shock and stammered,

“Yes, yes. But I don’t know if it is true or not, someone else told me this story, that part is true.”

Louise’s face lost all colors, the tint of blood instantly withdrew from every inch of her body. It must have been Saito. It was impossible to be wrong. I don’t know what he did to make me fall asleep, then dropped me off on this ship… then went off against the Albion army.

Louise ran up to the hedge and screamed

“Saito!!!”

“Miss Vallière, what happened? Please tell me, tell me!”

Worried Siesta pressed Louise.

“Saito!!!”

Louise screamed, jumped over the railing, and then tried to jump toward the ground.

“HEY! HEY! You want to die?!”

Guiche and Malicorne saw the situation, and grabbed her before she could leap.

“Let me go!!! I am begging you let me go!!!”

“NO! There aren’t any of our men on the ground anymore.”

“Let me go!!!”

Louise’s wails and howls echoed across the White Country"s sky.

The Albion army that arrived at Rosais, looked up into the sky and ground their teeth.

They were just a hair away, but now they could not do anything but watch the allied army escape.

They would have continued the chase, but there were no ships left.

After occupying Rosais, Cromwell entered the red-brick base… then bit his fingernails in anger.

He already had General Hawkins, who failed to accomplish the mission, confined and sent back to Londinium.

“Why didn"t Gallia send their soldiers? If they had been attacked from both sides by both countries, the Allied Forces would not have been able to leave Saxe-Gotha…”

He asked Miss Sheffield… who was nowhere to be seen.

Cromwell was nervous after losing a fight. He was afraid to carry this war any further. He was at the breaking point. He was at the point where he was shaking uncontrollably…

Shouts of joy sounded from the other side of the window.

When he stepped up to it…

He saw a large fleet piercing the sky.

On fluttering flags one could see two wands crossed… Gallia’s fleet.

Cromwell went ecstatic.

“Ooh! Finally you came! As expected from the large country of Gallia! How many ships are there? But… why did it come now… after the enemy ran away?”

And once he bit his fingernail again, it hit him.

“That’s right! They are going to chase the enemy fleet! That"s good! Messenger come here, immediately!”

When he was about to call messenger… the messenger jumped into the room himself.

“Gallia’s fleet! It arrived!”

“I know! I saw it myself! Now! Tell Gallia’s fleet commander that- …”

The messenger interrupted Cromwell’s orders.

"There’s a message from Gallia’s fleet, Your Excellency!”

“Message? Oh! I see!”

“They wanted to know your whereabouts in order to greet you!”

“Greeting? Is that so, ha ha ha! They are really very cordial! They have a cordial king and secretary, so the fleet commander must be too! Now, rise up an a.s.sembly flag in front of the door.”

“Understood.” The messenger left.

After a few moments, in the courtyard, the Holy a.s.sembly flag of the Republic of Albion was raised. After that, dozens of ships lined up around the building one next to another. It was a spectacular naval scene.

What kind of greeting would it be? He waited excitedly…

Then, before his eyes, the building’s door opened and people ran out in panic. Why are they running away from here? Just like rats from a sinking ship.

He looked up at the fleet again. Hundreds of cannons from the gangway shone at the same time.

Cromwell hadn’t seen anything more beautiful during all 30 years of his life.

Thousands of cannonb.a.l.l.s, after an order to fire, hit the red brick building where Cromwell was.

And in an instant, the official base turned into a pile of rubble.