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Zero no Tsukaima:Volume7 Chapter3 - MTL

2010-12-19T07:55:12Z

Musicguyguy: grammer nazi patrol.

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===Chapter Three: The Priest of Romalia===

The Tristain and Germania united army landed in the port-town Rosais, which was located about 300 <span class="plainlinks">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_(unit) leagues]</span> south of Albion's capital Londonium.

Upon landing, the allied forces expected an enemy counterattack. First of all, land units formed a circle around Rosais.

Yet… Albion made no counterattack.

The Supreme Commander of the united army, De Poitiers, lost the momentum to invade. Their strategy assumed the enemy would attack after the landing. The "decisive battle" was to happen near Rosais, where it would let them destroy the enemy’s large army in one blow and march to Londonium unopposed.

They planned for the campaign to finish in three weeks, when Yara’s month would begin… essentially, before Founder Brimir's Advent Festival, or "New Year's Day".

In other words, they had prepared for a quick, decisive battle.

This strategic failure could not be helped now. A large amount of food is necessary to maintain a large army of 60,000 people. To recite strong spells, specific medicine (especially Water element-based healing medicine) is needed, along with war materials like bullets, gunpowder and cannons. And it all had to be carried from their own country to the army in the front.

Fighting a long war in the enemy's territory would be nothing but a nightmare. Besides, Tristain’s economy made such a long war impossible.

Albion's main army successfully retreated from Dartanes, and barricaded itself in the capital city Londinium.

The enemy army avoided fighting a decisive battle; after Albion's air force received damage beyond imagination, and lost control of the sky, the Albion army might've abandoned counterattack tactics.

The allied forces were prepared for Albion’s attack.

But because expectations went down the drain and physical damage did not occur, constructing positions and preparing for a decisive battle became pointless. The allied forces wasted food for a week and a half.

The allied forces could not plan anything but a quick decisive battle, so they only brought a food supply for six weeks. But now it became necessary to carry food and gunpowder from their own country by ship. For the two countries that organized the expedition army with very limited finances, the situation was worrisome.

By the eighth day after the landing, a tense atmosphere surrounded the future invasion plans.

The air base in Rosais began as the Royal Albion Air Headquarters before turning into the Sacred Albion Republic Air Force Headquarters, and had finally become the Tristain-Germania United Martial Army Command Base. These walls of red brick ha changed masters three times in one year. A great hall on the second floor was where history was made.　

The Supreme Commander of coalition forces, General de Poitiers, sat at the round table on the central seat. He listened to two opposing opinions.

First one came from Germanian General Marquis Handenburg, who insisted, while shaking his fist and white mustache, upon a quick, decisive battle.

“Let’s march! March! March! We have food only for four and a half weeks. Make a detour at a fort on the way and march straight to the castle! Anyway, let's aim for Londonium. Fortunately, we control the sky. We have to end the war before Founder Brimir's Advent Festival, for morale will drop after advent festival!

Seems like Germania’s General insisted upon advancing like a flame.

“Ending before the Advent Festival is fine, but I wonder why there are no such short war stories in Halkeginia’s history?”

Wimpffen, Chief of Staff, objecting coldly stared through the pane of his glasses.

“Then, we'll be the first,” Marquis Handenburg said and gave a piercing glare to Wimpffen.

“By circling Londinium, we would expose our back to their castles… We can’t act without strategy. Moreover, if we start marching, the supply lines would be left behind. Without supplies we would end up in a deadlock. Although it is troublesome, we should proceed carefully, step-by-step. We should advance by capturing fortresses and castles along the way.”

“Capturing fortresses and castles would inflict too much damage! Supplies? We only have to take over Londonium before Advent Festival!”

“As the Marquis said, we control the sky, right? So the damage upon capturing will be kept to minimum. Londonium taken over by the Advent Festival? That’s nonsense!”

Marquis Handenburg exclaimed with a face full of contempt,

“…this is Wind-element thinking, wind that evades obstacles in its cowardice.”

“As if Fire-element thinking, which hastily burns itself out, is any better.”

The two men glared at each other.

“Courage is what cowardly Tristains need to be taught.”

“There’s nothing to learn from barbarians.”

They both pulled their wands out at the same time. Supreme General de Poitiers stepped in between them.

“We argue too much! Marquis! Marquis! Show Germanian courage in the battlefield! Wimpffen! Stop disgracing yourself!”

At last, they both calmed down.

“For now we have to admit that the first plan, beating Albion's main forces and then advancing to Londinium, getting Cromwell’s head, and raising white lily’s flag in Whitehall, failed. but completing the war according to plan is still possible.”

After overthrowing the Albion's revolution government, they would rule in the name of Henrietta. Of course, part of the territory would be ceded to Germania. Afterwards, the remaining survivors of Albion's royal family will be searched for and placed on the throne of the territory under Tristain’s rule, thus reviving the monarchy. To avoid possible revolutions they decided to look for Albion’s surviving royal family members, once a suitable noble with royal blood was found, the throne would be passed to him.

De Poitiers shook his head, trying to brush off these thoughts.

It was not the time to think about it. Right now they needed to think how to annihilate the enemy.

De Poitiers bit his lip. ''My promotion depends on this.''

If he could win this war, he would be promoted to Field Marshal.

Everything could have been easily settled by one decisive battle… De Poitiers felt a grudge against the Albion army. ''Why would Cromwell barricade himself in Londonium?''

''What about the enemy occupying the country?''

''What about facing ministers, nobles and the public's opinion?''

''What is he counting on?''

Momentarily lost in thought, he noticed the allied General and his Chief of Staff looking worriedly at him and announced their new strategy himself.

“…there is no decisive battle anymore, but the plan must be executed anyway. We have to take over Londinium and the Emperor's palace, Havilland, and raise Her Majesty‘s flag there. Now, it would be too dangerous to attack Londinium directly. And capturing castle after castle could take decades.”

The Marquis and Chief of Staff nodded and frowned. De Poitiers showed the map that had been laid out on the table and pointed at the place between Rosais and Londonium.

“The City of Saxe-Gotha. An ancient town, favorite tourist spot. We will take it over and turn it into the foothold for the capture of Londinium. We will leave 5000 soldiers here in Rosais to secure the supply lines and path for retreat. The remaining troops will participate in the capture with the support from our air forces. If the enemy's main army comes out, we will finish it with a decisive battle, of course.”

The Marquis and Chief of Staff nodded. The proposal was a compromise, and though it was a noncommittal strategy, it wasn’t bad.

Saxe-Gotha was a big town. The crossing of all roads. If it was taken, it would possibly be effective against other castles and towns. Even if the war was not settled before the Advent Festival, it would be easy to hold out longer as it was a big city.

As they debated the strategy, someone knocked at the door.

“Who?” asked a guard.

“Me. Her Majesty's Court Lady, La Vallière.”

De Poitiers signaled the guards to let her in, even though he wasn’t particularly eager to let the girl take part in army business. But he couldn’t treat her unkindly as she was Her Majesty’s Court Lady and the user of the legendary Void. She still might be bothersome.

De Poiters saw Louise as nothing more than a "tool".

“Aah, Miss Void. We have prepared a gorgeous tent for you. Leave all the trouble to servicemen and take a rest. I will call you if you are needed.”

Louise was nervous about the great surroundings. However, she couldn‘t do what she decided to if she acted cowardly. So, she gathered her courage and spoke up,”

“W-well…”

“What? Oh, you were not rewarded for your work at Dartanes. As expected of Void. You did well. Gentlemen! Applause!”

Indifferent applause echoed in the conference room.

“I will request the royal family for reward.”

“N-no that…”

“What? Are you still here?”

De Poiters tone became diluted with dour.

''Is a single reward not enough? What a greedy chit!''

Human beings are greedy, it is one of the basic habits of human beings. De Poitiers felt offended that after praising her, Louise wanted more.

“It's not that. Umm, I did not come here to get a reward. It’s about the dragon knights who returned alive…”

Generals for a moment could not understand what she was talking about… But then they remembered the dragon knight unit that returned alive and nodded.

“Aah, what about it?”

“Well… it’s great, but don’t you think it’s strange? A whole week passes after the crash and they return safe and sound, and all the while they don't remember anything in between?”

“Indeed.”

Annoyed generals listened to her. How was it effecting the army? They were about to say it.

“It’s a place near Saxe-Gotha. I think it should be investigated.”

When Louise said that, the General waved his hand.

“Oh, Okay. Near the marching route. A search expedition will be organized to investigate the mystery," he said in a dull tone not really supporting such an expedition.

“Did they hit their heads and see some kind of ghost?”

“…they reported it was a fairy.”

“A kind fairy!”

Someone said; the conference room was wrapped up in laughter. It did not matter whom she asked. The ten surviving knights were just another war miracle and they would not explore it even if the knights minds were clear.

“No way! What if behind it lies an important secret?! Something that might change the course of the war!”

“Miss, though it certainly is a mysterious event, it is not likely to change such a grand situation. We do not have time to care about such trivial matters.”

“But…”

Then, as if just having an idea, De Poitiers added.

“Right, I want you to go to investigate it. Can you do that?“

Louise left the red-brick command center as if being driven out. Saito and Rene, who were waiting at the entrance of the building, ran up to her.

“How was it?”

Fuun, Louise looking the other way walked directly past them.

Saito snorted. He had hardly talked to Louise since yesterday. After leaving Louise in front of the tent of the dragon knight squadron, the couple had been in a very ugly mood.

Saito walked behind Louise’s back.

“Haah, princess and her servant.” Rene said sarcastically.

Then he lowered his voice and whispered into Saito's ear.

“Just between us… Are you Academy researchers?”

“Academy?” Saito looked at Rene in utter amazement. Interested dragon knights gathered around the boy.

“I guess the flight machine was made by the Academy.”

“Are there any new magical weapons?”

“Like in the recent mission, where one was used in Dartanes to confuse enemies?”

The boy knights’ eyes were sparkling brilliantly while talking to Saito. Apparently, they thought that Louise and Saito were researchers from a magic laboratory. Indeed, the only ones that knew about Louise's Void were a few generals.

Though it was easy to convince the masses outside the court that it all was a war miracle, the same excuse didn’t really work with nobles. So the most plausible explanation would be "Academy’s new magical weapons".

Louise, listening to Saito’s conversation attentively, halted.

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Pon!* Saito stopped as well. Everyone stood upright. A tense atmosphere that emanated from Louise sank into all of them. What else would one expect from a duke’s third daughter?

Louise, without turning around, said in a clear voice.

“Not exactly. I am not an Academy researcher. I am Her Majesty's Court Lady, under her direct control.“

Saito panicked. ''Hey! Louise you idiot! Void should be kept a secret! It might cause trouble if the rumors would reach the enemy! They would be targeted!'' He thought in a feverish haste.

“We are the members of ‘Zero Organization’ responsible for researching new weapons, under the direct command of the royal family.”

''Huh?'' Saito was speechless. ''What Zero Organization? Never heard of it''.

“I-is that so?! Great!”

“Though I do not really understand, it sounds like a really powerful organization!”

“Really? Secret Organization? Then you can’t tell anyone? Then you research magical weapons, but what does it differ from the academy’s research? There must be a death punishment for revealing it.”

“R-really?”

“Everyone, swear by the founder to not disclose it!”

All of them, being kind, swore sincerely.

''We could pretend to be members of Zero Organization researching new magical weapons. This way enemies or allies would not be able to even imagine the existence of Void.''

Saito thought.

If someone started denying the rumors, it would cause even more rumors. But one could make a plausible "true" rumor, to avert curious eyes from the truth.

It was the right thing to do in order to manipulate the information.

He ran up to Louise and whispered.

“…but what have you told me about such a plan. Not much.”

“…I only said following the order of the Princess. Even allies should not know about the Void, thus I came up with an excuse.”

“You! You are not paying attention to my words. You are not listening to what I say at all!”

“It would be useless, as you cannot act, idiot.”

With a snort, Louise turned her face away and started walking.

“What’s the matter with you and your mistress; you are moody lately.”

Rene muttered.

Saito answered casually.

“Fuh. You are imagining things.” Hearing his words, Louise turned around.

“You were acting uneasy ever since we returned from giving that report, you were acting dejected and angry. That’s unusual.”

“I am not angry,” Saito repeated.

Louise gave a cold stare to Saito.

“Wha-what…”

With a snort, Louise turned around and walked away in silence. Saito, remembering his decision to ignore her, turned his face away as well.

However, Louise's destination was not Saito‘s tent.

“Hey, where's she going?”

She passed the port where two iron towers were lined up… past the arsenal blast-furnace… and the training grounds on the great plaza.

“Not to our corps.”

Rene said. Indeed, there was the tent of the dragon knight battalion headquarters, which they visited yesterday. For some reason she passed all the other tents and walked alone, looking around as if searching for someone.

Around there were 20 wind dragons tied to a stake, roaring and barking. It was dangerous going there so far away from other units.

There was only one person taking care of them.

It was the beautiful and tall priest of Romalia… Julio.

As if spoiling a lover, Julio patted the scruff of the wind dragon's neck. He was talking about something with the dragon. Seeing Louise heading straight towards Julio made Saito’s mood drop even more.

He ran after Louise. Rene followed Saito.

“Mister Cesar.”

When Louise called, a smile appeared on Julio's face. He approached Louise in a hoity-toity manner, took her hand and kissed it.

“Please inform me with an owl or pigeon next time. I would have escorted you.”

“No, I have a business concerning you and your wind dragon.” Louise said.

“Me and my wind dragon?”

“If you are free now, I would like to fly with you.”

Julio, without asking why, bowed with a smile plastered all over his face.

“Not everyday one gets the chance to help such a beautiful lady! There cannot be any question about it! Really, this is an unexpected pleasure!”

“What are you doing?! Stop playing around!”

Saito muttered in an unpleasant tone.

“That’s just how Romalians are.” Rene frowned.

“In any case, where should I fly you to?”

When Julio said that, Saito instantly forgot his oath to ignore and grabbed Louise’s shoulder.

“Hey, Louise.”

“What? You're in the way. Move it.”

Saito, after taking a few deep deep breaths, said,

“If you want to fly, why aren't you using my Zero Fighter? Why this foppish… No, why did you ask this priest of Romalia.”

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Snort* “Because you are unpleasant,” Louise said clearly.

“Huh?”

“He is well-mannered, gentle and smart. Moreover, he doesn’t have strange thoughts. T-T-Those strange thoughts. Anyone would be better.”

“But that doesn't matter when flying!”

“I will tell you clearly. When riding behind someone, it's better to ride behind a good-looking boy.”

The moment Louise said that, Saito's body hardened.

“…W-W-Wha-what?”

While dripping in cold sweat, only by thinking, Saito said - Louise pointed her finger at Saito.

“What? Jealous? Are you stupid? Whom are you comparing yourself against? Isn’t this handsome, well-dressed priest of Romalia, three, four, five, six-times better than a dog-mole; yet it compares itself against him and is jealous? Isn't it funny? Are you stuuupid? Why don’t you drop dead?”

“Y-you…”

Saito, as if suffocating, closed and opened his mouth few times. The flame of jealousy blazed up violently, almost burning his body up.

“Better luck next time. Since this handsome Priest and I are going on a secret duty, you can clean the tent meanwhile, since you made it dirty. Make sure to make it sparklingly clean. And do the laundry.“

Louise stuck her tongue out at Saito.

[[Image:ZnT07-079.jpg|thumb]]

Julio, who had climbed on the dragon, called out to Loiuse.

“Ready to go, Miss Vallière.”

“Hold it! I'm coming!” Louise jumped onto the wind dragon.

“Please hold me tightly. You are a jewel of Tristain. There would be a great diplomatic problem if you were to fall!”

“You flirt!”

Louise, giving Saito a wide grin, wrapped her arms around Julio's waist. And, smugly, fixed her hair.

The wind dragon flapped his wings powerfully. Sand and dust flew off the ground, making Saito and others instinctively shut their eyes.

When they opened them, the wind dragon was already high in the sky, flying vividly. Feeling like a fool, Saito watched the wind dragon disappear.

“What’s with her?! What was that?! What an attitude!”

Saito pulled out Derflinger from his shoulder and brandished it in anger. Rene and others jumped away from Saito, panicking; watching him with blank surprise.

“Hey. Nooo, partner, I am also having a tough tiiime!”

“What was that?!”

“Someone, save me from this guyyy…”

“Take this and that! What malicious words!”

“Snap out of iiit… Listen to me, partner. Ah, well, don’t pay attention.”

Extending over the wind dragon, Louise looked down at the ground. The people at the tent were quickly becoming small. The look of blank surprise all over Saito’s face put an oversized grin on Louise’s face again. ''Look! Such a stupid expression on his face! Whaat? Feeling jealous?''

“Bleeh!” Louise stuck her tongue out towards the ground again.

“Now then, where should I fly to?”

A voice coming from the front, brought Louise back.

“W-well…” she hesitated weather to say it or not.

“Where should we scout?” Julio repeated.

“F-from where do you know that it is a scouting mission?”

“Even a child could guess that! It can’t be anything but duty! But, one thing I cannot understand!"

“What?”

“A VIP researcher of the academy like you doing a scout's duty! Unimaginable! Don’t familiars usually work as scouts?”

Louise with her left hand tightly holding the Founder’s Prayer Book. In order not to lose it, she made a bag for it, reaching down her waist with a leather string over her.

“That’s a test from the upper department. To see… how good our researched magical weapons are. Surely all tests will be passed.”

“To check the good and bad sides.”

Louise nodded.

Louise started thinking about her legendary power – she learned that it was nothing more than just a gear in the giant country and army mechanisms. How much can you use it? What can you use it for? Can you use it for your own needs? ''The great generals also looked at me with those kind of eyes.''

''Though it is natural, there is no point in lying to myself. I am not Louise Françoise, I am a user of Void.''

''But the two might be one and the same. I‘m just fooling myself with family members and classmates, because I am just a user of Void...''

While she was lost in such musings, a laughter echoed.

“W-what?“

“Ah, sorry! City of Saxe-Gotha!”

“An ancient town. I heard it is beautiful. We cannot let it be destroyed by war.”

This made Louise speechless and Julio turned around.

“Well, I understand - there is war now. However, I am a priest,” he laughed.

He gave her a charming smile. This made Louise’s cheeks blaze on their own.

“I, I see.”

Julio, still turned around, brought his face close to Louise’s.

“You are truly beautiful, Miss Vallière.”

Pulling away slightly, a confused Louise asked,
　
“B-but why is Romalia helping? They're not our allies…”

“On our own will! Small help! Today’s Albion may effect all countries in Halkeginia. If the monarchy were to be overthrown, what would happen with the nobility in the republic? If that happens it would be a serious threat! A republic nightmare for all countries. Romalia is no exception, governed by the Pope."

“I do not understand politics well.”

“I am the same. I also do not have much interest in it. I am much more interested talking about other things...“

“Like?”

“Like, how can you be so beautiful, just like a fairy?"

He asked with a serious expression, Louise looked down slightly.

“Don’t say silly things, look more carefully. You are badly mistaken.”

“Excuses. According to Azuro, we are going the right way. We are flying to the city of Saxe-Gotha right?”

Louise became suspicious. This priest was not a mage. In other words, his abilities were those of a commoner. And even for a mage, it would take some time to establish a connection between him and his familiar…

So how could a priest, who was not even a mage, communicate so well with a beast that was not a familiar? How was this possible?

Julio laughed at Louise’s vacant look.

“The same way that you can use Academy’s magic weapons, I can use God's miracle.”

“Stop joking.”

God's miracle? It must be some kind of joke. God is a metaphysical being. Such power in a world where magic rules the reason of the world is impossible.

“What! Yes, it's a joke! However, I know about animals more than others! Naa, Azuro!”

The wind dragon barked and started increasing his speed.

Two people were flying through the sky of city of Saxe-Gotha for one hour.

The town was encircled by walls, with colorful brick houses behind them. The town’s population was close to 40,000 people.

“Fly lower.”

Julio nodded and started to fly lower. They could see towns people waving. They probably mistook them for allies. Then Julio smiled and muttered something to the wind dragon. Azuro spread his wings and started to shake in a strange way.

“What are you doing?“

“Mimicking Albion wind dragon’s movement. With this ‘dance’ Albion’s wind dragon looks for a companion. Albion dragon knights use it to identify foe or friend.”

“Your Azuro is from Albion?”

“Are you kidding? I trained him myself!”

“You're great.”

Louise felt admiration. It is not easy even for an average mage to train a dragon.

“It is good to study enemy movements beforehand.”

When Louise nodded and looked at the town scenery below. She could give a report while using the "Illusion" spell, providing vivid images seen from above. After seeing this, she could create images from her memory with the Illusion spell.

The instructions to use "Illusion" came from the staff section. Louise's Void could be applied in military planning. It was the moment when she finally realized that she was just a tool.

In the town’s plaza, they noticed a big monster striding.

“An orc.”

“Yeah. Is it my imagination… or are there a lot of soldiers missing?”

Not just her imagination. There were just orcs, trolls and demi-humans armed with spears and clubs. Though they could see a mage commanding them… there were no soldiers in sight.

“Using demi-humans as an army replacement is a cheap stuff. However… those brutal orc demons are following the humans as well…”

“There must be some kind of trick. However I do not know how that mage can make them obey.”

Louise concentrated her spirit and began imprinting the spectacle in her mind.

When you use the Void element for big, one-time spells, collecting willpower takes some time. And since it was already used today… the big Illusion spell covering wide landscape could not be created now.

“Circle over the town once more.”

“It might be dangerous. This cover will not last forever.”

Julio muttered - he was dancing an Albion wind dragon dance for five minutes.

“Facts and figures are needed. The amount of will for the spell is insufficient, so I can do nothing but write on paper.”

Louise, ignoring the danger, wrote down information regarding the town on the parchment, while shuttling many times over the town. With those notes 'Illusion' was used in order to take as many facts and figures home as possible. While seeing Louise in such a state, Julio smiled.

“There was no point for jealousy, right?”

“Eh? Eeh? What are you talking about?!”

“Without weapons it is dangerous and you were worried. Not for yourself… but for that familiar. Danger cannot be helped. Because of duty. However, I cannot be brave in rash danger. Do you differ? Why oh why, are you leaving this calm part out in anger. I wonder if it's because you're a girl?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

Louise said with a furious blush on her cheeks.

“That flying machine is out of bullets, right? There are no other secret weapons. Other than fast flights it's useless.”

“…How do you know this?”

“I was onboard the ''Varsenda''. Being curious, I examined that flying machine attached to the deck. Extremely well made! Amazing!”

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

Julio laughed from Louise’s threatening words.

“Please be relieved! I am your ally! I wasn’t thinking of any ploy to use you, unlike your generals… Now then, our time has run out.”

“Not yet. Wait a little.”

“It's impossible.”

“It's an order!”

“It's an enemy.”

Julio pointed with his chin. Nine wind dragons were flying directly at them.

Louise was stupefied.

“Escape!”

“…nnh, impossible. I've become too addicted to this chat!“

Smiling, Julio muttered. The enemy was faster in the sky. It was not possible to get away even when flying at one's best.

Staring at the closing wind dragons, Louise trembled. Gathering information for the generals, may have been overdone. She bit her lip, thinking about the possibility of death in terror.

She shook her head, trying to shake off such fears… Somehow… she needed to counterattack with Void. But how many explosions could be shot? Willpower… is low. The scale is small. Would they hit well enough?

While she was thinking that, the instructions came from Julio.

“Louise, are you good at horseback riding?”

Though she was suddenly called by her first name, it wasn’t the right time to complain about it. She nodded with a suspicious expression on her face.

“Y-yeah…I am.”

“Hold on tight then! As if you were jumping over fences with a stud! Azuro!“

The wind dragon let out a small bark and sped up aiming towards the enemy.

“Hey! Hey! Don’t go there! You can’t use magic!”

Julio thrust straight into the enemy's dragon knight formation. Louise screamed,

“Hey! Ah! Magic spell! Nooooo!”

All nine dragon knights shot spells one after another. Shining blades and fireballs flew towards them. When she started to recite magic too, Julio shouted at her.

“Don’t let go!”

When the magic was about to hit… the wind dragon suddenly pulled an unexpected movement. It twisted it’s body and suddenly shot up in the air, avoiding spells one after another.

Unbelievable. A wind dragon was moving at a speed that was unimaginable for such body. It was moving like a small bird, surprising even their enemies. For a moment, their speed decreased.

“Breath! Azuro!”

A big breath of fire escaped the wind dragon's mouth. It hit the dragon knight in the front making him crash down.

Then, passing through the other, it used its nails to tear up another dragon's wings. Another one headed down.

Dumbfounded, Louise stared at the spectacle.

''How can a wind dragon release such a big breath?! Unbelievable!''

The remaining enemy dragon knights, whose number had decreased to seven, turned around and headed back at them.

As one would expect from Albion’s dragon knights.

Though for a moment they were surprised by Julio’s wind dragon's movements, they regained their composure now. Dividing into two lines, they flinchingly moved forwards.

They started forming and closing a circle around them.

Seems like they closed their retreating paths carefully, planning to kill them.

In a movement that could be called casual, Julio's Azuro entered the circle. The enemy in front, tried to run, keeping a considerable distance.

But once Azuro turned a head towards that enemy, another one flew from the back. Seems like the one in front was just a decoy.

“Behind you! Behind you!”

Though Louise screamed, Julio, with a smile on his lips, kept on running after the decoy.

The enemy from behind, thinking that Julio's attention was surely focused on the decoy, started closing in steadily.

At the same time, when the enemy from behind released the spell, Azuro twisted around. Following the enemy’s movements from behind, dodging the attack with a wild somersault, Azuro spewed another breath.

Wrapped up in the breath, the attacking dragon knight fell down.

Shocked, Louise stared at the sudden development.

The movements of the dragon were unbelievably vivid, without making any unnecessary movements.

“H-how can you make a dragon move like that?!”

“Don’t talk, or you’ll bite your tongue.”

Julio’s tone of voice remained perfectly composed.

With three of them gone, the atmosphere around the enemy changed. Louise ducked her head, feeling the bursting anger. The encirclement loosened for a moment, and then, all dragon knights at once, plunged at them.

For a moment, Louise rocked up and down, side to side. Her body felt like a ball in the hands of juggler. Forgetting to keep her eyes open she closed them... Louise was clinging to Julio.

Every time Azuro turned, he was doing a severe damage with his fangs and claws to the opponent‘s wind dragons. To avoid the enemy‘s attacks, he himself attacked.

In only four seconds, six of them were beaten and fell down.

“The end. Let's return then.”

Julio said in a nonchalant voice.

“Wh-what happened?”

The wind dragon together with rider, were a single movement.

No, it was beyond any explanation, the movements of the unbelievable Azuro,

“I just brought out the true ability of the dragon. Everyone else’s dragons were making too many useless movements. That’s all.”

Julio said casually. And Louise understood… why he, not being a mage, had become the commander of the third squadron.

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| [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume7_Chapter2_%7EPreview%7E|Back to Chapter 2]]
| [[Zero_no_Tsukaima|Return to Main Page]]
| [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume7_Chapter4|Forward to Chapter 4]]
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Talk:Zero no Tsukaima

2010-12-19T07:11:43Z

Musicguyguy: /* overused words and phrases */ new section

== Volume 2 Name ==
Shouldn't

Volume 2 - The Wind of Albion/ 風のアルビオン

Be translated as Albion of the wind or something like that?

--
Proto

Cleaned; issue resolved. 20100702 - Novium

== Nyu-Kassuru ==

Nyu-Kassuru seems to be Newcastle.

* lolol.

after reading that out loud, i have to agree.

made me chuckle.

good spot my friend.

mind you after living in Newcastle for 5yrs, i have an urge to rename it as "Newky" and have all the locals refer to it as the "toon"

which the locals affectionately calls it. :)

[[User:220.246.154.243|220.246.154.243]] 04:28, 10 June 2007 (PDT)

== ZnT Teaser ==
The link is broken. The best I could do was putting Aquastar forum thread nearby; though I couldn't get it to show the right post. Any help is appreciated (required post number is in URL already). Or should it rather be removed completely? AFAICT, it was translation of the very first chapter, which doesn't make sense now...

I bet this is what Saito would say "I acknowledge the fact men make good pets and women rule the world! (So did men once)
I'm more than happy to let women rule the world, but they have to be willing to let me wear a dress with undergarments!! (Ankle fans and lipstick optional of course) You can make me sleep on a bed of hay and beat me with a whip for little to no reason, among other things. Also, you can treat me like a dog, get naked in front of me, and even make me dress you and still make me wash all of your clothes including your underwear."

==Edit Deleted : Licensing==

We have already recived the news that ZnT is licensed. You can find more about this [http://www.baka-tsuki.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1345 here]. This project will continue until the volumes are actually released.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

--[[User:Jumpyshoes|Jumpyshoes]] 18:02, 26 September 2007 (PDT)

Cleaned 20100702 by Novium. Added comment: No futher action taken by licenser as of yet. All is well.

== Proper Names ==
According to Wikipedia articles, country name is Romalia, not Romaria or anything; most likely, author meant Jörmungandr. If we translate proper names rather than transcribe them (Louise vs. Ruizu, Albion vs. Arubion etc.), let's be consistent where possible.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_no_Tsukaima#Setting
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jörmungandr

The same applies to Gallia vs. Garia, see Wikipedia for "Gaul".
I'm fixing chapter names in vol. 7, 11 & 13.

[[User:Const2k|Const2k]] 23:35, 26 April 2008 (PDT)

== Proper Names (reply) ==

About Romaria/Romalia:

Honestly, you can translate it either way. I don't care if you bother to change this since there isn't proof which is correct. Same goes for Gallia.

Though a note to you, "because Wikipedia said so" does not, at all, mean anything. Wikipedia is changeable by everyone, after all.

--

About Jörmungandr:
"most likely, author meant Jörmungandr"

Seriously, have you not heard of basing something off of something? The author clearly based Jörmungant OFF of Jörmungandr, but it obviously isn't.
In the novels, it is written "ヨルムンガント". Jörmungandr is "ヨルムンガンド".
The author didn't mean anything and make a mistake, he did this on purpose. So it should be "t"

~Serenade beta

just a side note a d at the end of a word in german and similar languages is pronounced as a t so the author is using the phonetic rendition (and according to my literature on norse myths Jörmungand doesnt have an r on the end) also for the wikiphiles the Jörmungand article is preceded by this warning "This article does not cite any references or sources." as opposed to my book "Norse Mythology a guide to the gods, heroes, rituals, and beliefs" by John Lindow.
Come to think of it (though it has been bugging me for a while) is the r on the end of Gandalfr there in the book or did someone translate it to that, because if its not in the book it likely follows Tolkien's rendition of Gandalf, as Tolkien was a scholar in norse mythology.

~Speerous

== Publication dates? ==

# Volume 13 - The World Door of the Holy Country / 聖国の世界扉 (published December 25, 2007; ISBN 4-8401-2110-9 and ISBN 978-4-8401-2110-1)
# Volume 14 - Aquileia's Saint / 水都市の聖女 (published May 25, 2007; ISBN 4-8401-2319-5 and ISBN 978-4-8401-2319-8)

Was volume 14 published before volume 13? Seems very unlikely. Could someone correct this?

--

Volume 5
Chapter 2-2 completed
Chapter 2 stands at 50% completion.

~ Vorpal

== About Chapters' Original Names ==

As every book has it's original title, couldn't it be possible to write also the name of the chapter in Japanese? It doesn't matter if it's not in the Main Page, but at least somewhere to be read, plz. Maybe here it can be written... :)

~ Macko Darlack

--

On another note, I suggest we change the Volume titles to reflect the way it's written in Japanese:

How it's all (Blank) of (Blank)

e.g.

The Familiar of Zero

Albion of The Wind

The Prayer Book of The Founder

The Water Spirit of Oath

The Holiday of Tristainia

The Ruby of Atonement

The Pentecost of Silver (Yeah.. this one's kind of awkward though)

The Serenade of Nostalgia

The Ball of Twin Moons

The Duet of Recollection

The Holiday of The Fairies

The World Door of the Holy Country

The Saint of Aquelia

~Xorius 07:59PM (GMT +10:00) 05/09/2008

== Vol. 9 Chapter 9 Title ==

Well, consulting a Kanji dictionary, the kanjis in 怪鳥 are 'mystery' and 'bird/fowl/poultry'. As some days ago S3-Ch7 was released 'The Ball of Sleipnir', there appeared a big airplane-like ship that was referred as 'a mysterious bird'. For that reason I guess this names fits with the chapter title.

~ MD

Thanks for the info^^

== Vol. 13 Chapter 13 Title ==

The kanas in "Aboard the 『オストラント』号" can be romanized as "''Osutoranto''". Now that S3-Ch8 was released, in English fansubbed version it is referred as "Ostland", something that was related with the East (however, it doesn't fit too much with East, 'cause Ost has to do much more with West [''Oeste'' in spanish]). It is the name of an airship (the one mentioned in Vol. 9 Ch9) named after Saito's origin, through the East, by %"%·/&%·.
As for the kanji, 号, it can be read as ごう (gou), meaning number, issue, sobriquet, pen-name... well, i don't know what sobriquet nor pen-name mean... but, ごう can also be kanjiized (new word! :D) as 壕, meaning trench, dugout, air-raid shelter... well, if those meanings are right, maybe someone could choose one of them... but I think for the name of that thing, the "Ostland" name fits well :D

~MD

In the chinese RAWs, its directly translated into Eastwards. Which makes sense with what's stated above. And the 号 is normally added at the name of Ships... kind of like Type, or Class kind of thing.

At least the chinese do haha...

~Xorius

Btw Ost is east in German and given that much of this comes from norse mythology german is a better reference language although finnish or danish is better still

so... the name of V10,Ch1 would be "The ''Ostland''", and V13,Ch3 "Aboard the ''Ostland''", right? or we write Eastwards instead of Ostland?? (btw, danish i reckon... but finnish never. totally diffrent *-) ) ~MD

== About some Abbreviations ==

When i read the article long ago, i didn't know (nor do i know now) the meaning of these acronyms A.W.O.L, M.I.A, K.I.A... there are some translators from there... what are they?

~MD

They are, respectively, military acronyms for 'absent without leave' 'missing in action' and 'killed in action'

Oo that's not meaning literally, right? ~MD

:AWOL means the soldier has absconded from their post or deserted.
:MIA means the person is missing, presumed dead. No body has been found or at least not positively identified.
:KIA means a body has been found that either is the person named, or has been identified as that person.
:JBV^_^

== Shinto Priest ==

Shinto priest sounds rather awkward in this context, making it seems as if there is some Japanese culture in the world of Zero no Tsukaima. The kanji, 神官, that I presume it is using (I've seen the Chinese version) can apply to priest from other countries as well, such as roman priests. Judging from the theme of this novel and that the priest are from a country similar to
the Roman Empire, using a term equivalent to roman priest sounds more appropriate.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/神官

== Volume 8 Chapter 6 ==
I just want to verify if this was the intended interruption in the Japanese version.

''“Indeed. However, there is no sparring partner…”''

''“Aarah. What if there were an expert? You lose even against kids who can swing a sword only a little.”''

In the Chinese version, it actually says something like:

"Really? But it is still useless against those mercenaries"

"That's obvious. How else are they going to make a living if they lose to a kid who barely knows swordsmanship."

The chinese are not know for their quality in...well...anything (including translations). Of all agree, we toss that to the fire and enjoy the japanses translation instead?

== Letter(s) of Appreciation ==

You know, I don't think there is anyone who has truly written how much they appreciate you translators efforts, or at least not enough.
That's why I would like to thank all the translators and editors for an excellent job, as well as to commend all the time you have spent on translating the 11+ light novels so far. I also encourage as many readers to write a small thanks as further motivation.

--[[User:AzraRillian|-AzraRillian - Transcend The Sin - "You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body." C.S. Lewis]] 20:09, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

== Vol.16 Ch10 Title 元素の兄弟 ==

Well, not japanese-speaker, but i reckon the translation for that is "Siblings of the Element[s]". First thought of "brothers", but since we dont know yet if all are male, siblings is a better option. And "Elements" suits better.

As for me, i'm including this translation [in spanish version] until someone demonstrates it's not, jeje )=P

greetings for all :D

--[[User:Macko Darlack|- Macko Darlack]]

p.s. btw, nice quote AzraRillian ;D

12.32am GMT-5 17/7/10

I'd say 'siblings' is the better term, since the readers find out in volume 17 the siblings consist of three brothers and one sister. --[[User:Flere821|Flere821]] 08:58, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

== Vol.12 Ch 7 ==

Yesterday, Siesta had stopped by the Charming Faeries Inn to bring some springtime [[veggies]] from her parent’s home. Scarron, who ran the bar, was Siesta’s uncle from her mother’s side.

I am in opposition to the use of "veggies", unless this is a quirk of writing used in the original text.
Seems out of character for the writer however; translators thoughts please.

== overused words and phrases ==

PLEASE AVOID:
*in other words
*moreover

Also, sentence structure like ''Louise, who was unaware of..., said ...., facing him.'' should be ''Louise, unaware of such..., said ...., and faced him.'' or some other varied, grammatically correct syntax.

Never, ever put prepositions at the end of a sentence. For example, ''That was the beast they were afraid '''of'''.'' is INCORRECT. It should be ''That was the beast '''of''' which they were afraid.'' or simply ''They were afraid '''of''' that beast.''

Talk:Zero no Tsukaima:Volume2 Chapter8 - MTL

2010-11-30T13:45:12Z

Musicguyguy:

for "However, it is a mountain in the barrier in the dark cloud to brandish the sword (?)" It should be something along the lines of However, all I can do is just swing the sword around recklessly.

関の山 = Most one can do

para 2 line 10: Slowly, the Eagle rose towards the opening. It was followed closely by the pirates aboard the captured Marie Galante.
Wardes nodded.
"Just like pirates eh, your Highness."
"Just like pirates, Vicomte"
- Vorpal

para 4 line 44: "Your Highness, this is not my request! This is the Princess's request! Wasn't that what the Princess wrote in her letter? When I was young, I was Her Highness's playmate! Her Highness could never bear to watch the one she loves die and not do anything! Please tell me, Your Highness! The Princess, at the end of her letter, she must have urged you escape!"

Wales shook his head.

"Not a single line was written of this subject."

-Vorpal

para 4 line 50: "I am royalty. I cannot lie. Upon both the Princess's and my own honor, not even a single sentence mentions any talk of escape."

-Vorpal

para 5 line 20: "Your Majesty, we await one order alone! 'All units advance! All units advance! All units advance!' Tonight, our hearing's a little off from all the good wine we drank! Therefore, aside from that order alone, nothing else will enter our ears!"

Hearing these brave words, all gathered nodded nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! "Your Majesty, those words you said earlier seemed like mutterings from some other country!"

"It's still too early for you to turn senile, Your Majesty!"

The old king, touched, wept as he mumbled, "You fools..." He raised up his scepter.

"Very well! In that case, follow me! My Lords! Tonight is a good night! The light of the overlapping moons is the blessing of our ancestors! Drink to you hearts' content, eat, dance, be merry!"

All around was a cacophony of sound. At a time like this, visitors from Tristain were rare indeed. Royalist nobles gathered in droves around the three. There was no depreesing talk from the nobles. Rather, they joyfully encouraged the three to drink and eat, and joked.

-Vorpal (all my translations are from Chinese, please double check for errors.)

== Pirates? ==

''We are most definitely not the pirates, Viscount." <--(I added the "not" in here, does the prince say they are or aren't pirates? ~Dan)-->''

Since Albion seems to be based on England (okay - The UK^_^), A little piece of history seems to be of help here. During the 17th century, the one of the French governers in the Caribbean described the Royal Navy as "The biggest bunch of Pirates at sea." The captains of the RN ships seem to have been quite pleased by this description.

Even now, a submarine that has engaged in battle will return to port flying the "Jolly Roger", aka [http://flagspot.net/flags/gb-nav.html#jollyroger skull and crossbones!]

JBV^_^

Talk:Zero no Tsukaima:Volume2 Chapter8 - MTL

2010-11-30T13:43:57Z

Musicguyguy:

Talk:Zero no Tsukaima:Volume2 Chapter8 - MTL

2010-11-30T13:43:09Z

Musicguyguy:

Talk:The Longing Of Shiina Ryo

2010-11-29T02:25:05Z

Musicguyguy:

Great work! You certainly made my day! I was surprised by how interesting this novel was that I continued reading even though it's 2.40 am already. I do hope to see more chapters up soon, certainly looking forward to it =D - [[User:Destinyz|Destinyz]]

* I am going to finish posting this tomorrow, it's just that adapting the weird formatting I used on MS Word to Wiki-formatting is harder than it looks. I'm glad you liked it; getting positive feedback makes this otherwise empty day of mine a much, much better one. Thank you very much. - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

hmm I look forward to the next chapter. I already read the 3rd chapter elsewhere. The story is weird in some places but that's okay. Still curious about what will happpen

* Weird is good, sometimes; because of weirdness, we've got bloody awesome stuff such as djent, hair coloring and SHAFT. I'm going to post the last chapter later, so get yourself ready for some weird action. [http://soundcloud.com/corelia/glass-faces-1 Listen to this while you wait, it's delicious.] - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

The Longing Of Shiina Ryo = The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya... RIGHT>?

* It started as a rant on that series, yes. It grew on me by the ending line of the first chapter, so I said "what the heck" and decided to take it serious. Not too serious, though. - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

very good story, i like it

* Thank you very much. [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

i super quote the comment upXD (just a question, you are writing or translating this??)

* Writing (and technically translating, considering the fact I'm not a native English speaker; yeah, that sounds like a good way to get away with stupid mistakes). The sequel is coming along nicely, too. - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

nice story, deservers to be serialized(be made in a book, sorry but i too am not english, i am italianXD)

* Thank you very much. It's highly unlikely unless I follow the dreadful path of self-publishing, but I suppose the possibility exists.[[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

Is it possible to publish here on baka-tsuki my original light novel I'm writing? [[User:Angelanime|Angelanime]]

* The criteria is the same they use for translation projects: once your novel is finished talk to thelastguardian, create a thread on the forum with a voting system so people can tell if they want to see your novel or not on Baka-Tsuki. On the first post, write the series/novel synopsis and then wait for the replies. After people had the chance to vote for a few weeks and there is a satisfactory result, create the page and start posting. I'm looking forward to your novel, both as an avid reader and as a fellow writer. - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

So yeah, I'm wondering if you should just capitalized the 1st letter in every word in the novel volume title so that it looks nice.
Btw, nice writing.
It reminds of Kyon, and you have a lot of references taken from other series, which is fun to read for us otakus.
Overall "Good Job!" *thumbs up*

* Thank you very much. As I said before, this thing started as a rant on Haruhi and that's why there are some similarities. To me Shin-tsu is what Kyon (a regular, snarky guy) would be if the weird stuff started happening to him when he was a kid, without a single pretty friend around to help him (I used "friend" instead of "girl" because, honestly, even straight guys are going bi for Itsuki. True story). Because of that he became someone who is constantly terrified, over analytical and anxious as a dog when seeing a postman and his bag, along with many other symptoms; clearly, we have a case of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurosis psychoneurosis] in our hands. Good thing he landed on a freak town, at least he is not the only one who is damaged. Also, here is a fun game to play along with reading this: try to figure out which kind of disorder(s) each character has based on their sentences and the other characters' impressions on them. Post the results here: I think all but one character can be fully analyzed just with Wiki pages, although I must say psychology books can help a lot. Regular people play "doctor", but the hardcore ones play "Psychology House M.D."! - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

---Man, this is great! It was my dream to have a work of fiction that comments on cliches in just the way you do it. i like
your style very much)
also, i spotted some grammatical errors. but in which talk page do i post the corrections? this one?
anyway, looking forward to the 2nd novel.
PS. i know how to write correctly, i just hate capital letters, so i'm sorry about that. idiffer.

* To be honest I was kind of wanting for a ''metamanga'' story to show too, although I had my doubts about how well that plan could be executed (there are a few things that are better left as ''theory'' instead of being put in ''practice'', such as interactive media and communism). When you find grammatical errors feel free to edit the chapter, preferably leaving a comment afterwards to point out my mistakes on the respective chapter's talk page. I too am looking forward to the second novel, mostly because I don't want it to take a year to be complete like the first one did (never take hiatus on writing, they ruin your life). PS. I don't know how to write correctly, therefore I use capital letters. Not sorry about that at all, except I truly am. - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

Hi! I actually saw your novel before on textnovel.com and I also have my novel there (code 3079). Also thank you for your advice, I get now how troublesome it is - especially for someone as lazy and impatient as me. [[User:Angelanime|Angelanime]]

* A fellow textnovelist! I haven't accessed that website in a while, and I guess it shows because the early fragment of the novels posted there are raw as meat before barbecue. So, I just read your story: it feels dark but told from the point-of-view of a protagonist who hasn't been corrupted yet, so there was no way I could not like it. And it's not that troublesome especially because everyone here is kind enough to give support and offer criticism when you need it. Totally worth it. - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

Actually, there's something that actually makes me sad.
It's about Ayaka. She appeared at the last chapter, became the culprit, and then got transfered.
I hope she got reintroduced later on, I really really hope so...

* Unfortunately, I could not introduce her before: the whole incident just happened because she wasn't present in the first day of the week. This let me a little sad too, because she is psychotic as hell and managed to keep it all inside herself until the moment was right. She carries knives around too and would stab you after being flirty and stuff; my kind of girl character, although I am not fond of her <span style="color:#ff0000">Shugoshin</span> because it's the easiest to defeat compared to the others I planned. I cannot talk about Ayaka's future right now, but on the special ''metastory'' (that happens between novel 1 and 2) the characters will comment on her transfer; she even appears on it, so rejoice! - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

Hey Ryuno! Your light novel is good to epic proportions. Your after word mentions that you don't have a style, but the style used in this story was VERY prominent and VERY enjoyable. I hope you meet success and that someone publishes this, it will do well. I'm also VERY surprised, pleasantly so, that you yourself posted this on baka tsuki for us. We all thank you and wish you good luck.
PS if you want one of us to make a few tweaks grammatically just ask, its one of the few things the baka crowd and faculty are rather good at.

* Epic proportions? Does that means I am going to get an anime by SHAFT and a movie with DEEN's budget? '''Best. Life. Ever.''' Thank you very much about your kind comment and I'm glad you enjoy this as much as I do (boredom strikes me easily). I've been reading Baka-Tsuki novel translations for a while and I thought you guys would like this better than the editors assigned to reply my query letters did, probably because it would be very hard to like it less. J.K. Rowling needed 5 years to get the first Harry Potter novel published, so I guess I have around 4 years to live in despair until I ragequit or something like that. Also, feel free to edit the chapters and banish the grammar mistakes back to their evil dimension by waving your mighty sword. - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

-I just finished reading/editing vol. 1 and I love your writing style. It really brings out Shin-tsu's perspective very well and makes his character seem very believable. Your English isn't the worst I've seen as you only make a few grammatical mistakes and the occasional poor word choice but it's nothing a good editor can't correct since you still get the general idea across. In all, the universe you have created in The Longing of Shiina Ryo has, in my opinion, unimaginable potential for expansion and I am greatly looking forward to your future works. P.S. Your cultural and meme references are great! -[BerylRaven]

* Thank you very much. About the "unimaginable potential for expansion" I must say I plan ahead (often too much for my own good) and yes, things are going to get crazy from here on out. My favorite manga is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and if you're familiar with Hirohiko Araki's way of constantly building/expanding the universe you're going to like this too. My intention is to make this universe expand massively until the Big Crunch at the final story, "SCENARIO FRONTIER" (almost entirely outlined, not available on DVD or BD, people die). I just need to write enough stories in between to make sure I won't be the only one crying when it ends. About the references, most people insert them in their works as individual easter eggs; I think it's funnier if you just throw them as full baskets. - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

Hey Ryuno, just as a minor heads up. Since I'm fairly confident a lot of people will want to read this, can you get the Baka Tsuki team to add this on the light novel list? Other then having this page saved and clicking through the recent changes, its slightly difficult to find. Good luck with everything!

* I'm not sure if I can. I know it would get a lot more of visibility amongst the other big name light novels (against common-sense but not again marketing techniques), but I don't think I have the heart to ask thelastguardian to change it. Plus, being the only novel in a category feels so ''avantgarde''. - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

Clap, clap, clap. I spent half my night reading this while writing my Physics lab and was thoroughly entertained. The monologues by the protagonist were humorous enough to actually make me laugh (I don't usually laugh when reading something). The interactions between characters are interesting, especially Kouma--I'm rooting for her victory, for some reason. You've got something good growing here. Hope you keep feeding it. -Visicury

* Reading a light novel while writing a paper for Physics class? Good grief, that sounds like a dangerous combination! Still, I am grateful and pleased; it's always good to know this story is keeping someone else amused other than myself. Just like my first story, The Underground Tower, this is keeping me awake at night with blooming new characters and bizarre situations; unfortunately, just like my first story, there is too much plotting going on and very little writing at the moment (only one tenth of the second novel was written so far, much to my dismay). However, this kind of comment might be exactly what I need to go back to the actual work: to know I should not keep the bits that are actually interesting to myself. - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

I was hoping for very unusual super powers D; But i guess your going to go hunting-team route

* Can't tell much about the "hunting team" thing without completely ruining the first chapter on the second novel (although ruining something I'm having trouble writing does sound appealing), but you can '''definitely''' count on crazy JoJo-style powers with limitations that stop the characters from being gods. On a different note, I'm almost done with the special ''metastory'' that will give out three details on the next one and counts with the ''super special tokubetsu na kimi miracle baby I'm happy to be with you etc'' participation of Morimoto Ayaka. We all know she could use the screen time, poor girl. - [[User:Ryuno|Ryuno]]

Very, very interesting. I'm loving the random references and the main character's sarcastic speeches. But one quick question: is his paranoia/mental...issues (schizophrenia, perchance?) going to be an important plot twist or is this going to be a semi-fantastical, pseudo-realistic novel? Actually don't answer that; I want to finish reading first. :3 --[[User:Musicguyguy|musicguyguy]] 02:25, 29 November 2010 (UTC)