Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume14 Chapter8

2012-03-24T02:50:18Z

Neojimmy6: Totally revamped this, corrected, made it better basically. You're welcome. :D

==The Steel Tiger==

"Those guys... taking their time so slowly... what are they doing?!"

This was the Inn Street of Tiger's Highway. In this emptied place, Sheffield ordered the '''Golomontas''' to stay alert.

She placed a light blue monocle, a magical tool, in front of her eye. Every Golomonta's vision was shown through this monocle. Using this tool, Sheffield could manipulate ten Golomontas as swift as if she was using her arms.

An hour already passed since the landing. Romalia put up quite a bit of a fight; hence, all of the Golomontas’ ammunition was depleted.

To effectively eliminate the Romalians, only using the "swords" they carried was not enough. Even though the Golomontas had "reflection spells" cast upon them, enemy attacks still could not be completely deflected.

If the attacks continued for a while, ultimately the "reflection spells" would fail.

To cease the firing of enemy guns and magic, long ranged weaponry was definitely needed for the immense golems.

Resupplies of ammunition were supposed to be parachuted down from Gallian ships.

Incidentally, the guns that started firing not long ago from Romalia’s ships still haven't stopped shooting yet. Despite Gallia’s obvious advantage of having two fleets, one third of the ships has rioted and refused to engage.

In the end, the disorganized Gallian fleets accepted the showers of cannonballs with open arms. Even though the Golomontas needed more ammunition, resupplies never came.

If the supplies did not arrive soon, Gallia would be in quite a bit of trouble.

However, lack of ammunition was not the only problem. “Wind stones” were also needed. With the elves' assistance, Gallia manufactured these stones since they are the power source for Golomontas. In other words, the "wind stones" were required for the Golomontas to swiftly swing their beefy armored arms. If these stones were used up, Golomontas could hardly even move an inch.

So, if this continued, no matter how powerful these armored golems are, they would not escape the fate of becoming big useless lumps of metal. After an intense battle with the Romalian forces, the consumption of wind stones was sky high. Though Romalia’s armies suffered great losses themselves as well, the fact that the Gallia’s side lacked supplies was still nothing to be happy about.

Because this mission was not just to make them suffer, but to eradicate them all.

If this could not be achieved, then burning Romalia into ashes seemed like a complete joke. Since Joseph expected Romalia to be incinerated, Sheffield would not hesitate to do so.

''With the aid of the Golomontas, Romalian armies dispersed across the country are no more than sitting ducks. '' That's what she thought.

However, Romalia focused all of its troops to the two countries' border.

Even so, she still needed to accomplish her task. If she did not, there would be no value for her existence anymore.

In the field of vision of a distressed Sheffield, a ship broke off from the enemy fleets and was flying towards here, most likely to survey the Golomontas from above.

Sheffield's crimson red lips twisted into a sinister smile.

She waited for the ship to sail just a bit closer.

When the enemy ship was around a few hundred meters above ground, Sheffield ordered two Golomontas to join hands and crouch.

Another Golomonta stepped on their hands, and the two flung him up into the air.

The Golomonta leaping into the air, climbed onto the survey ship like a spider. They never would have dreamt of such a large golem to be capable of 'leaping'.

For a ship that was completely filled out with guns and cannonballs, withstanding the weight of a Golomonta was absolutely unreasonable. Subsequently, it fell down from the sky. As soon as it crashed on the ground, ten starving Golomontas ripped the ship into pieces, searching for precious wind stones.

As if eating peas, the stolen wind stones were all crammed into their mouths.

Afterwards, they took the cannons from the ship. They also stuffed cannonballs and gun powder into their pockets. Sheffield smiled at them lovingly.

"Incredible. That golem actually flew into the air and brought down an entire ship."

Reinard sighed.

The Ondine Water Spirit Knights, waiting in Bella's underground cavern, watched all of this happen. Holes were created just large enough so that the knights could pop out their heads. Of course, their heads were covered by their capes, along with some soil on top.

What a well planned disguise!

Through the small cracks, the boys peeked at the situation for almost thirty minutes.

Their job was to "lead the enemies to Louise who is waiting at the entrance". In reality, they had no idea how to commence it.

Guiche frowned and corrected Reinard.

"That is not just any golem. I remember seeing one similar to it back in Albion."

"Was it powerful?"

"Magic is ineffective. It seems that those monsters have some strange elven spell cast on them. The only thing that works against them is Louise's magic."

The teens' faces instantly became sickening green.

"Then what do we do?"

Guiche was irritated. If they attacked without a well thought-out plan, they would probably end up in torn into shreds from either the gigantic cannons or the frightening swords. Magic doesn't work on them either.

"If we keep waiting, eventually these monsters will head to Louise, I guess?"

Gimili pointed out.

"No.... they’ll probably take another path."

"There are cliffs left and right. How is there another path?"

"With their agility, can't they climb over the cliffs? Besides, those guys obviously know that the Romalian army has the entrance surrounded. They aren't idiots. They’re probably waiting for assistance from the fleet. Once the fleet assists them, they’ll attack directly to get through our defense."

Reinard gave his point of view. Guiche nodded in agreement.

"True. On the other hand, if they can't wait for assistance..."

"If it was a normal commander, he would choose to go around, or wait until the fleet ends its battle. What will our opponent choose to do?"

Malicorne used a 'distant-viewing' spell and observed the sky. With this spell, he understood that the war was going on slowly. They did not look like they wanted to win at all. From a distance, it looked like the battle might actually continue for another decade or so.

"It doesn't look like any side would win."

Reinard was right on target. The armored golems, using their fingerlike nails, stabbed their chubby fingers into the strong walls and started climbing. They looked like they planned to travel along the mountain range and attack from the army's side.

"The cliffs are as tall as 200 meters! These things really plan to climb up?"

"Looks like they're serious. And with such hand coordination.... they look just like acrobats at the circus."

Golomontas climbed slowly, seemingly enjoying themselves. The spread out Romalian army pointed all their guns at the entrance. If flanked from both sides, they would definitely fall into chaos, and Louise's plan would fail horribly.

"It looks like we have no choice. Better draw their attention now."

Guiche kissed Bella beside him. Because he looked so serious, the teens all covered their dried mouths. Kissing a mole wasn’t really a romantic scene at all.

"If I unfortunately die, Bella, take this to Montmorency. Do you get it?"

Cutting off a part of his hair, Guiche handed it to Bella. Like saying "no, no", Bella shook her head with watery eyes.

"Leave me smiling. I am a noble."

With this scene in sight, the teens all gave their familiar parts of their hair and conveyed their last messages to their family and loved ones.

"Reinard, tell me your plan."

Guiche declared without flinching.

"Plan? What are you talking about? All we can do is use magic to attract their attention, then fly away using levitation. If they're willing to listen to us and watch our show, then that's more than enough to please me."

"Sweet. Let's go."

Guiche leaped out of his hole and waved his rose, creating golems. The boys all casted their respective magic spells.

The armored Golems that were climbing up were bombarded by magic-made explosions, but remained entirely unhurt. The Golomontas turned their heads without hurrying.

"Idiots! We're down here!"

Guiche kept trembling with fear, yet never stopped yelling at them. Two Golomontas slid down swiftly, firing their big guns.

"Wind magic."

The wind mages of the cavalry had already casted a magic barrier protecting them, beautifully blocking the giant shells and reflecting them away harmlessly.

Guiche and the others cast their spells separately, provoking the enemy. Guiche's copper Golems, as if teasing the enemy, stood in front of them while making all sorts of weird signs and movements.

"Hey! You God-abandoned Gallian bastards! We've been sent here to have fun with you! Come on at us!"

The two Golomontas, wielding swords of unprecedented size, walked towards them, making cranking noises with each step.

"They're taken the bait! They've taken the bait!"

"Everyone, retreat!"

Guiche and the rest cast levitation and began to flee. Flying in the air was apparently much faster than the Golomontas' walking; therefore escape might actually be available...

"Watch your speed! Don't go too fast or they might give up chasing us!"

The armored golems would occasionally stop and fire their guns. The shells were all grape shots; these shells released multiple smaller artilleries when fired.

Though hitting aerial targets was difficult for the Golomontas, Guiche and his fellow knights were still made out of flesh and blood, so the grape shots were definitely not a good thing for them.

"Ahh!"

Guiche's shoulder was hit, pouring fresh blood out immediately.

"Guiche! Are you alright?"

"....Ugh, fine. Everyone! Keep flying! Fly towards our bright future!"

Guiche pointed at the blurry exit at a distance.

"I finally found you."

Sheffield was like an anxious little girl in love, seeping out happy cries. ''That young teen controlling the copper golems.... wasn't he one of those at Albion, along with that naïve Tristain girl? If that's the case, the direction where they're escaping must lead to that Tristain girl as well, right?''

''Most likely, that arrogant Gandalfr will there too, protecting her. This is not a time to attack from the shadows. ''

"I will – including you little girl – kill of tens of thousands of army troops. That Gandalftr kid may have stopped an army of 70,000.... but if it were me, the enemy would have been simply crushed like ants. "

The Golomontas ran as if they were flying. They would never lose to any type of enemy, unless they were fighting themselves.

Riding on the shaky shoulders of a Golomonta, Sheffield thought to herfelf :''Why is it that I, having the greatest power of all familiars, always return home in defeat?''

In Albion and Tristain, that puny girl and her familiar made her fail so many times.

''Is it the difference between couples?''

Between herself and Joseph, there was never much of a couple-like emotion. She only blindly followed his orders. She knew this perfectly, and was perfectly fine about it too.

However, their relationship was falling apart. Sheffield would never admit it, but jealousy burned in her heart. She was jealous of the wonderful relationship between Louise and Saito.

"Unforgivable."

Even though Sheffield was the familiar of a void user, just like Saito, Joseph only considered her as a tool, completely forgetting about love.

That was certainly a fact, something Sheffield understood in that garden blooming of blue roses.

From that point onwards, Sheffield fueled on jealousy secretly.

The inscription of "Myozunitonirun" on her forehead emitted an eye piercing blue light.

"This time, I'll definitely let you die without your limbs, your ashes scattered across Halkeginia."

As events played out, Sheffield no longer cared about whether or not she could incinerate Romalia. All she wanted to do was to rip those two apart.

''Then... Joseph would also.... with me....''

Sheffield's lips trembled, mesmerized with her own imagination. The Mind of God Myozunitonirun closed the distance between her and the Ondine knights little by little.

"It's already been an hour.... what have the kids been doing? Did they escape from fear?"

Carlo stated his thoughts. Louise's void spell finished being chanted a long time ago. What she had prepared wass the same spell she used in Albion to shatter the Golomotas to pieces, "explosion".

At the other side of Canyon Street, yelling was heard.

"...ahhhhhhhh!"

Louise squinted her eyes.

Several dots were heading towards her way in midair. It was the Ondine Water Spirit Knights fleeing for their lives using their levitation magic. Behind them were two Golomontas, determined to destroy them.

"Louise! You do the rest!"

The boys zipped past her at an incredible speed.

As soon as the Golomontas saw Louise waiting patiently a few hundred meters away, they began firing their guns.

But it was too late.

Louise had already aimed at the two Golomontas hunting down the Ondine Knights and unleashed the finished "explosion". A tiny beam of white light shone right in front of the Golomontas' eyes and expanded, consuming both monsters.

"Dead?"

Carlo laughed. Yet in the next moment, his smile turned into a twisted face of fear. After the bright light has dispersed, the Golomontas were still standing there, dumbfounded of course, but obviously unhurt.

"Not even a scratch…?"

Louise stared back at them, equally dumbfounded.

"....But...why?"

In the battle at Albion, "explosion" proved to work effectively against them.

On one Golomonta's upper body, something shaped like a mouth opened up. Sheffield's voice boomed loudly from inside.

"Long time no see, void user of Tristain! I've been looking forward to this conversation."

"Myozunitonirun!"

"What a pity just now! Elven technology is capable of imprinting defensive mechanisms within the armor itself. Although the superficial defense was disintegrated by 'void', the power from the remaining fragments weren't enough to go through the armor."

She sounded cheerfully.

"Arrrrrrggggggg!"

Carlo, who in charge of keeping Louise safe, shrieked out of pure fear and abandoned his position. The rest of the Crusaders followed Carlo. In a blink of an eye, there was no one surrounding Louise anymore, leaving her in the open.

From behind, Guiche called out

"Louise! Run!"

Yet, Louise's legs did not move at all.

"I.... I am a saint! How could I retreat from the battlefield?!"

Having fun with their prey, the Golomontas paced slowly forward, taking all the time in the world.

"Protect her! Cover Louise!"

All sorts of incantations were directed to the Golomonta. Despite their defense magic already being completely shattered, the elven upgrades on the armor was indeed extremely sturdy.

Not only icebolts, fireballs and that sort, even alchemy attacks were futile against them.

Louise prepared to chant again. If once was not enough, then she would keep doing it until it was.

''No matter how dangerous the situation appears to be, never give up. '' By following that rule, she was able to solve all the crises she faced and live until this very day, she thought.

Winds began blaring, just as Golomonta swung their gigantic swords. BANG! The ground in front of where Louise was just now had been impacted so forcefully that large cracks formed. The immense pressure caused by the winds due to the swinging of the swords pushed Louise back.

Letting go her wand, Louise helplessly knelt on the soil.

"You damned girl.... for a long time, I couldn't do anything about you. I won't let you die so easily and quickly. I'll make you pay for showing King Joseph and me contempt!"

Louise wanted to stand up, but her body was not following her basic commands. Golomontas, heighted of around 25 meters, really were legendary killing machines.

And so, the two enormous golems stared down upon her from above.

The surrounding Romalian troops commenced attacking in unison. The shells and bullets all landed on the Golomontas accurately, since everyone fired at such a close range.

Around a couple dozen of rounds blasted the surface of the Golomontas. The "reflection magic" gave a faint shimmer, easily warding off these pitiful attacks.

Around Louise, all sorts of shell fragments poured down like a waterfall. Fortunately, someone of the Ondine Water Spirit Knights generated a shield for Louise.

"Wuaaaaaaaaa! They're monsters! Ahhhhh!"

Soldiers frantically ran for their lives, no matter what their rank was or how much ammo they had left. This was not strange at all. Despite it being called a "Crusade", facing an opponent immune to your attacks is no different asking death to take you away.

Without even being able to dent their armor, courage naturally deflated.

In the crowd of fleeing allies, only Louise was encouraging herself.

"Never give up!"

Until now, hasn't she faced this kind of despairing situation multiple times?

Each time, didn't she stand up and fight back?

Granted power from God....

…relying on this system called "void".

Louise leapt to her wand lying quite close from her. Holding it tightly in both hands, she charged towards the Golomonta.

"Don't take me as a fool! Until now, how many times have I defeated you? This time won't be an exception either!"

Louise's words rang out. These words were unsupportable in Sheffield's head.

"Oh? Then what are you prepared to do?"

"Use my magic!"

"How long are you going to keep dreaming? Haven't I proved your magic ineffective already? You useless void user really surprise me."

''How did I do it? How did I always emerge victorious then?''

"Where did you familiar run off to? That kid always sticks to you like a faithful watchdog, shielding you. Did he leave you out of despair?"

''Watchdog? ''

"I never had a familiar! I did it all by myself...."

Suddenly, Louise felt an intense throbbing pain in her head, thus bending down to the ground in agony.

The pitch black fissure in her heart.... the deeply opened up fracture, was blaming Louise.

''"Gentle? You're really foolish, Louise."''

Being once described like that by Henrietta....

Did she really rely solely on her power to gain victory?

Then... she was reminded of Guiche's countless attempts to persuade her of something.

''Who is Saito? ''

"....who?"

Every time this name popped out, her heart darkened, tormenting the crack in her heart, as if threatening it to widen even more.

While searching for a light in the pitch blackness of her heart, she suddenly understood everyone's feelings.

Louise was confused. Seeing her face, Sheffield laughed rudely.

"Did you really forget? Or was I right about him abandoning you? That makes perfect sense; you are after all a useless waste of space, the most incapable out of all incapables! Ah, thinking about how many times I actually lost to this weak human! Such a shame! However, today will be the end! I will show my master your dying face. That way, my master will definitely be pleased, knowing who really treats him the best."

In Louise's mind, something flashed.

Countless episodes of desperation.

Crises conquered by Louise.

But, inside... something made her feel that these adventures were but silly dreams. She was unwilling to accept it. ''Am I not really myself?''

''Then...who?''

A silhouette of somebody tampered around with Louise's heart. That gentle silhouette. That projection, encouraging her in her memories, shielding her from attacks…

"Save me."

Louise pleaded for help without thinking.

"Begging for your life? You’re actually begging for your life?"

"Saito, save me!"

Like chanting an unknown spell, these words flowed out of Louise's mouth naturally. Even though these words were unknown to Louise's knowledge, as long as this name came out, for some reason she felt like she would definitely be saved.

"Oho, even the legendary void mage gave up and started praying? Compared to my master's power, you puny void user are weaker than a newborn infant. You shame the carriers of void! Suffer my wrath!"

Golomonta raised its foot. In Louise's vision, Golomonta's humongous foot kept magnifying. What was about to destroy her was a giant's foot.

Frightened to the core, Louise cried out

"Saito! Save me!"

''Must live, must definitely live.''

If she died.... she could never recognize the gentle shadow again. Louise knew that this would be something much worse that dying.

....Expecting that instant to be her last, these thoughts zipped through her mind.

CLANG!

A sound of solid objects colliding was heard.

Louise opened her eyes and… the foot of the Golomonta that was about to crush her was gone!?

The Golomonta's giant body tilted backwards, losing its balance. Its huge body collided with the cliffs, flailing its arms and legs messily. Because it lost a leg, standing still became a difficult task.

"Eh?"

Louise was totally confused about the events that occured.

The other Golomonta swiftly hid behind the rocks.

"Louise!"

Guiche, who was constantly getting her out of trouble, dashed towards her. He picked her up and ran away from the enormous golems.

Like a tightly stretched wire suddenly being sliced in half, Louise fainted away abruptly.

Saito, through his scope, noticed the other one. It was losing its balance oh so slowly, finally taken down on the cliffs of the canyon.

The giant's collision brewed up a stew of sand and stones.

"It looks like it's tuned up too low."

Saito declared while looking through multiple triangular shaped scopes. He originally thought that the Golomonta's width was around 6 meters... but seems like 8 meters was the correct answer.

Miscalculating the enemy's radius, the shell hit somewhat lower than where the scope really aimed at.

Saito adjusted the angle of the 88 millimeter cannon. Right in the middle of the large triangular periscope displayed the Golomonta crawling for dear life.

Subsequently, he pulled the trigger with force.

Following the loud bang from the turret, smoke emitted from the interior and pumped out slowly from the ventilation above.

Like a spear of light, the 88 millimeter shell embedded itself straight onto the now-no-longer-struggling Golomonta.

The armor of the Golomontas was originally designed to withstand the maximal magical damage possible. Nevertheless, being capable of escaping harmlessly from the most powerful attacks has its own limits.

The momentum of an 88 millimeter shell, if converted into Halkeginian units, meant that at 2000 meters away, it was able of piercing an 84 millimeter armor plate like cake. An armor this thick enough to endure this shell has still yet to exist in this world.

Shells capable of piercing through an armor of that size were not possible in this world. The shells for the Panzer, to everyone’s surprise, were in fact capable of doing so.

Traveling at a speed of 700 meters per second, the 88 millimeter shell instantly demolished the Golomonta fallen to ground, cutting through the armor that caused nobles so much trouble, and exploding from within.

The armor of the dead Golomonta expanded rapidly and blew to smithereens.

From the end of the tank's cannon, out came an empty shell. Beside of Saito, a blue-haired girl carried another one approximately half the height of herself.

"Tabitha, not that one. Load the one colored red on the end."

Giving a little nod, Tabitha took another shell from the rack and pushed it within the 88 millimeter cannon according to how Saito taught her. She then shut the cannon tight.

Saito returned to his periscope.

He sought out the Golomonta hiding under the shadows of cliff rocks. The moment it stuck its head out to survey its environment, it was already located by Saito.

"Where are you trying to run, you metal pigheads?"

The trigger was pulled without a second thought.

''BOOM.''

Without deviating at the slightest, the 88mm shell was a perfect headshot, squishing the Golomonta's face. Losing its balance, it fell facing the sky.

"Got him, comrade Saito!"

Buzzing through the headphones, cheers were heard. It was Colbert, who was on the controller's seat. On the other side, Kirche exclaimed

"Incredible... that must've been a distance of 2 miles, yet the shell still hit so accurately!"

What should have been asked was why a Panzer would appear here...

Bursting out of the door, arriving at the mentioned warehouse, Saito found the repaired Tiger I Panzer, accompanied by Kirche and the others. They seemed to have somehow gotten this tank while the ceremony was progressing.

Saito filled the tank with gasoline initially used for the Zero fighter plane, and left promptly. Originally, Saito handled the controls and Colbert watched him excitedly from the side. But, soon Colbert was able to replace Saito, since he learned quite quickly thanks to his past experiences of repairing this tank and his knowledge of machines.

"This is called 'Tiger', right? Controlling this tank is definitely much easier than that 'airplane'. Just pull this, and it moves forward..."

Colbert stepped hard on the accelerator. Instantly, the Panzer's engine roared to life. Hiding behind the dense bushes behind the hills, they were able to observe Tiger's Highway completely.

"If you turn this disk, we can spin."

This was similar to the steering wheel of a car. The Panzer easily changed its course.

"....Oh, exposing ourselves now, wouldn't that be a bad idea?"

"Nah, the smoke from the cannons would reveal us anyway. Just charge forward. If we don't stop the enemy, they might..."

Roaring numerous times, the Panzer dashed to the entrance of "Tiger's Highway". Mixed emotions of jubilation and tearfulness exploded from the fleeing Romalian army once they discovered that two Golomontas had perished.

Sheffield, seeing through her monocle, confirmed the massive wreck those Golomontas caused when being destroyed.

"From a distance of 2 miles, penetrating the armor of Golomontas......?"

''Unbelievable. ''

Sheffield quickly realized that there was only one existence capable of achieving that.

"So you finally appeared. How interesting! Let us end it here and now, Gandalfr."

The Panzer roared strongly and charged toward the Canyon's entrance, pushing soil around its sides. There gathered Romalian soldiers and generals.

As Saito emerged from the portal, a cavalry troop marching parallel of the tank greeted Saito:

"Thanks for your help! Destroying that devil-like armored golem.... please inform me of your unit's name!"

"Ondine Water Spirit Knights of Tristain!"

"Understood! There is one more thing I wish to ask of you! Hoisting a flag affects morale! Please hoist this flag on top!"

The soldier handed Saito a flag. It was black and white, showing in its center a drawing of a holy cross.

"What is this?"

Saito was a little bit muddled. Tabitha poked her head out the hole beside and told him "Crusader's flag."

The design was surprisingly similar to the steel cross tattooed on the tank's body. ''Supposedly, this is a cross.... '' Saito searched his memory.

''Things turned out a little bit weird'', Saito began to realize.

Probably because this was a tank bearing a cross from Earth, carrying a cross of a parallel world seemed quite odd to him...

Nonetheless, Saito hung the flag on the antenna. Waving in the winds, the flag instantly ignited the morale of the beaten Romalian army.

"Long live Pope his Holiness! Long live the United Kingdoms!"

The knight who handed Saito the emblem, cried out to his own army "Everyone! Attention! The great army from Tristain has joined us in our Crusade! Do not fear! We have the protection of our ancestors!"

''Still, the one fighting with the enemy is ultimately me.... '' Saito muttered to himself.

"The hell I'd believe for whoever’s God this is for!"

Above the Crusader's flag, Saito hung his own cape.

His cape was decorated with delicate patterns of '''Sulaliai (修瓦里埃)''' medals, dancing in the wind. With the sounds of chains clinking together, the Panzer arose to life once again.

In the valley's entrance, six Golomontas appeared.

Sheffield, who had acknowledged Saito's existence, decided to defeat him once in for all.

In every Golomonta's hands, there were cannons plundered from the "sunken" warship. Quickly, Saito returned to the turret, closed the hatch, and sat in the gunner's seat, staring in the periscope.

"Professor! Stop moving the tank!"

Skidding across the ground, the Panzer spat dust in the air, and finally halted.

The distance was about 1000 meters.

From the triangular scope, the Golomonta's distinct silhouette was revealed. With Halkeginia's technology, making a periscope this powerful and precise was absolutely impossible.

The Golomontas turned their cannons towards the Panzer.

Light began to gather from these cannons.

The six Golomontas fired in unison.

Flares produced by the shots flew everywhere.

The shells of the cannons flew in the Panzer's direction, screeching loudly while slicing through the air. Where they landed, dust and dirt exploded violently.

One of the shells landed right in front of the tank, blasting the ground to smithereens.

The tank shook incredibly. Like wood hitting a copper bell, a large echoing 'CLANG!' was made. Tabitha covered her ears and knelt on the floor.

Yet, that was all the damage caused. Similar to cannons made on Earth several hundreds of years ago, it was deemed impossible to penetrate a Panzer's robust armor.

"You dumbasses. Don't even think about winning! You have grown to become giant idiots!"

Saito yelled this and activated the trigger.

"Don't look down on Earth, playground of imagination!"

Completely indifferent of the enemy's speed, the shells demolished every single Golomonta the instant they hit one. 'THUNK!' A large hole opened up on one Golomonta's giant body; thus, it fell back, killed in action.

The remaining five Golomontas, initiated a surprise attack in order to defeat the tank.

At a distance of 800 meters, one fell. At 600 meters, another one fell.

Once the cannon emptied, it was refilled while the tank retreated. Though the Golomontas were very speedy, catching up to a Panzer driving backwards was still quite difficult.

The Panzer appeared to be heavy; in reality its speed was not as dull as imagined. Moving to keep its distance, and stopping again to fire, this was Saito strategy.

Saito repeated this retreating attack numerous times.

Golomontas were no different from sitting ducks, called to death one by one by the Panzer. Because of the sudden appearance of Gandalfr, a hot-headed Sheffield lost her senses and actually ordered the entire army to charge forward.

Apparently, Sheffield had no idea what a "tank" was.

In front of a grand and wide plain with no cover whatsoever, charging together towards the tank.... was suicide.

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| Back to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume14_Chapter7|Chapter 7]]
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| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume14_Chapter9|Chapter 9]]
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Zero no Tsukaima:Volume16 Chapter1

2012-03-09T20:00:53Z

Neojimmy6: italic

===Chapter 1: The Reward of the Campaign===



"This war was definitely a harsh one. The war was started by the former King of Gallia, Joseph. His conspiracy included turning not only Romalia, but also the entire Halkeginia continent into ashes."

Osman's voice resounded throughout the hall.

This is the main tower, the second floor of the magic academy's dancing hall. Students who were dressed nicely were listening to Osman's speech meekly.

When the sudden war between Romalia and Gallia was started, they fell in horror. Since the war between Albion had just ended, their hometown was in a desperate situation.

They were in no shape for war.

What if the crazy Gallian King suddenly attacked them? They would have been destroyed in a heartbeat.

However, this ended. In the battle of Carcassonne, King Joseph died fighting. In an instant, a new queen was crowned and the war was over.

"We fell in horror. I didn't want to become ashes, I mean, don't you want to live longer? If I had become ashes, I wouldn't have been able to pet female hips. That's something I can't live without. All of you here also feel the same way, right?"

The hall became silent. Osman, after faking a cough, continued.

"However, god did not leave us! If there's a crazy king, there must be a hero! If there's a crazy conspiracy, then there's a justice that would defeat it! These people, are the ones who destroyed the ambition of that crazy king!"

The students gulped.

Yes... The ones who helped earn this victory were none other than...

"Yes! The stupid conspiracy by that crazy king was stopped by these heroes! By the heroes whom you all know well! Let me introduce them!"

With Osman's signal, a silk curtain behind him fell. The students cheered loudly.

"These people are the ones who saved this world! The knights of Ondine and the Shrine Maidens of our Founder!"

There, there were the knights of Ondine in formal attires along with Louise and Tiffania. Amidst cheers such as "Woooooh!", "Hooray knights of Ondine!", and "Hooray Tiffania!", the boys and girls blushed out of honor and shyness.

The students at the academy were made to realize that the knights who go to the same academy as they do have done tremendous achievements in this war.

"Listen students. Though it was their first experience in battle, they've achieved quite a lot. Destroying those strong golems on Tiger Road, the one on one on Linen River, and Joseph's unimaginable... huge fireball that used the magic of the elves, those fires that destroyed the huge fleet... it is said that it was all stopped due to their achievements!"

Cheers roared even more.

The accomplishments of the Knights, especially the vice commander Chevalier de Hiraga's, were passed down to everybody.

This was the first instance in which a single knight and his group of knights led a victory in war. Moreover, rumors say that the new queen is Tabitha, who was recently a student just like them. Although nobody knew what kind of drama occurred, the knights of Ondine must have played a part in helping Tabitha becoming the queen.

The beautiful... glorious victory's outcome.

And the fact that they had connections to the new queen of Gallia. The students of the academy felt unmeasurable happiness because they were studying at the same exact schools as the heroes, and were very close in age.

The knights of Ondine guarded the new queen Charlotte to the capital of Gallia, Lutèce, from Carcassonne along with the Romalian army, and went into the castle.

The citizens of Gallia welcomed them with great cheers.

After that, they guarded her Majesty queen Henrietta to Tristain, and finally came back.

"Hooray for the Ondine!"

Osman stood in front of the boys and congratulated every one of them.

"Yes yes, I feel honored as if I am you all. Since you guys are me! I, the principal of this magic academy have raised you single handily... yes yes!"

Osman nodded happily as he congratulated.

"I raised you all, yes yes!"

The knights of Ondine looked at each other. ''It's true that the principal is the principal, but did he even teach us anything? Did he raise us?'' They made such faces. Along with this, other students' cheers slowly faded.

"Y.. yes! It's all thanks to your teachings!"

The clever Guiche took Osman's side. "It's not a bad thing to lend Osman a favor or two."

Then, Osman sharply observed Guiche, then went near him.

"Guiche..."

"Yes! Old Osman!"

Expecting some sort of medal, Guiche stood as perfect as he could.

"You are a very nice student. I'll give you a prize."

Guiche shook with happiness. Not only did he already receive a medal at Albion, he is about to have another big honor. What will it be? Will it be the treasure wand made of gold and diamond tips that is only given to the top student of the academy? If he does receive such a treasure, it's as if his path for success is already promised...

However, Osman's words betrayed Guiche's thoughts.

"You can hug me."

Osman said it straightforwardly.

"Excuse me?"

However, Osman continued to pull Guiche towards him with his thumb. Guiche shook his head.

Next was Saito.

"You can hug me."

Saito shook his head without uttering a single word. Then Reynal.

"You can hug me."

Reynal, whose face showed mild anger, whispered "Don't mess around with us. You make fun of... our pride... and honor.... Why you..."

Though he tried to talk back to Osman, it was too late. At that time, Osman was already talking to Adrian next to him. He is Reynal's classmate and has short red hair.

He shook his head before even being asked for a hug. Then, Osman went to the next knights: Alsenu, Guston, Varantun, Victor, Paul, Ernesto, Oscar, and Gazmeal.

Every one of them declined Osman’s offer. Not a single person wanted to hug Osman. Nor did they understand why they had to. Amidst the awkward tension surrounding the knights of Ondine, Osman came towards the final one, Malicorne.

Malicorne, without waiting for Osman to ask for a hug, immediately said,

"Okay!"

Osman, after staring at Malicorne for a little then said, "Well, leaving the jokes aside..." Reynal who was about to jump Osman was stopped by his fellow knights.

"The government gave all of you honor befitting your performances."

Ms. Chevreuse, who was dressed in formal attire just like the knights of Ondine appeared. She had something in her hand. The knights of Ondine when seeing what she held widened their eyes out of surprise. There was black writing along with a silver pentagon, shining across.

"Is this... the cape for a Chevalier!?"

Guiche exclaimed.

"Yes. The achievements of the knights of Ondine in this war are enough for the captain Guiche to be recognized as ‘Chevalier’"

That was true. Although Saito was the one who did all the achievements, the ones who joined the Gallian Royalty War ( what it is called by everybody) were only the knights of Ondine. The least the government could have done to reward them was to give a ‘Chevalier’. In other words, if Tristain didn't bother giving a title like this, the people would start questioning Tristain's ways of thinking. Politically speaking, this Chevalier was definitely needed.

Guiche, shaking, humbly accepted the cape. The knights congratulated Guiche.

"You did it, captain!"

"Now we have two Chevaliers in our knight of Ondine!"

"And also, though we can't give you all Chevalier, you all deserve a medal. It's the Medal of White Hair Soul."

Then, Mr. Gito appeared. As always, he seemed unfriendly. In his heart, he was jealous that his students were getting medals.

"Well, one can say you did sort of good. Take it."

With a bored look, he hung the medals around the knights' necks. Proudly, the kids smiled. It wasn't just honor. Having a Soul Medal also gives annual money. For those knights who barely have any pay, this was pretty big.

After the medals were handed out, Osman stood in front of the two girls, Louise and Tiffania.

"Well, since you two came as shrine maidens, we apparently aren’t allowed to give medals to you. Well, that kind of makes sense since those are medals designed for soldiers. However, from the Tristain Church, you two have received a certificate of the Juno priest. They apparently had exactly two seats open."

The students sighed. To receive a certificate of a priest is the gateway towards being rich. Since if one becomes a priest, almost all taxes are free, and in reverse one can gain parts of the church taxes. Therefore, with that certificate, one can gain money by doing nothing. Though it's not a lot of money due to them being ordinary priestesses, it couldn't be compared to the annual pay of a single medal.

To do a rough count, Guiche has about 500 Écu, the other knights about 200 Écu, and Louise and Tiffania about 800 Écu promised of annual pay.

Loud claps rang throughout the hall. However, everybody suddenly realized.

''Saito is the only one who didn't receive anything.'' Thinking that there should be something special for Saito later on, Osman declared the start of the party.

''Well, he did receive the Chevalier last time... Maybe he was just an extra this time...'' The crowd accepted this illogical reasoning.

Huge banquet came after. Around the knights of Ondine, students gathered.

"Lord Guiche! Please tell us about your achievements on the battlefield!"

"Sure sure, ask me anything."

Going with the flow, he started talking about the battle... but then Guiche realized a girl was looking at Guiche from a distance.

"Montmorency..."

However, Montmorency looked away and walked towards the exit of the party. Guiche, immediately pushed away the students around him and chased after her.

Montmorency was standing right outside the hall, facing the opposite side of where Guiche stood. She wouldn't move an inch.

Guiche walked towards her back, fixed his attire and then said to Montmorency, who was still not facing Guiche:

"I became a Chevalier."

"......."

Montmorency stayed completely silent. Guiche tried to walk further towards her, but stopped.

"Well, I know. I completely understand. It's not me; it's all Saito who did it. He's really great guy. I just happened to be the leader."

Guiche raised his head.

"But... I'll definitely become a man worthy of my new cape. I'll also be the man worthy of you...... Well, see you later."

Guiche walked back towards the hall.

"Wait!"

Montmorency screamed. As Guiche turned back to face her, she ran into his chest.

"Montmo..."

"I... I'm stupid. Even though I know you’re the type that moves around with girls, once you say something nice, I suddenly think you’re amazing."

Guiche cheered in his heart.

"I promise not to look at baths."

"And... I despised myself. I worried a lot. Since the war just started out of no where... I thought you'd die before we'd even get a chance to make up..."

Montmorency, being a little modest, started crying. Seeing this, even Guiche felt bad and saddened. Guiche took something from his pocket and handed it to Montmorency.

"What?"

"I was also thinking about you. I made it by carving a seashell. In Romalia, you apparently give this to women."

On the sea shell was the side view of a woman.

"I made it while thinking about you."

"It's beautiful... I never knew you were so crafty."

With a romantic expression, Montmorency looked at Guiche. They both closed their eyes.... and as their lips got closer... several girls came jumping out of the hall and screamed:

"Guiche! Thanks for such a fantastic carving!"

Montmorency opened her eyes widely, and pushed Guiche away.

"Well... As I was making them, it became so fun that I just unintentionally made many of those..."

"Very crafty, huh? Are you sure accessories aren't the only thing you 'unintentionally make'?"

Montmorency turned around and walked away.

"Malicorne! Please tell us more of the stories!"

With few girls surrounding him, Malicorne was literally crying of joy.

It couldn't have been helped, since after that incident with the knights of Ondine peeking at the girl's bath, their fame dropped down to the ground. It dropped so far that Saito's achievement in Albion, and the fight against Beatriz's dragon knights were completely forgotten.

However, their fame was finally restored.

Going along with the mood, Malicorne happily chattered. In front of him, a clear black-haired girl came upon him.

"Brigitta..."

Malicorne's body froze. After staying shy for a little while, Brigitta finally said, "You made it back safely..."

Realizing the two's mood, the girls surrounding Malicorne left. Malicorne, opened his arms widely like a lead actor in an opera and said grandly, even though he's only a fat kid:

"I was thinking about you all this time."

"I also was thinking about you all this time."

The two stared at each other. Then, Brigitta spoke out softly.

"My friend told me that since you aren't normal, I should bare with some things, or else I won't last."

"... Sorry..."

"It's fine...... While you were at war, I was thinking all this time. Since you’re someone like that, it's normal for you to peek at the girl's bath. No, I'd rather be thankful that that's all you did, so I'll bare with it. So, I'm very sorry for what I said to you before."

She said so in such a brave way that Malicorne felt sorry for what he had done. He realized how much he was living only for his own greed after seeing her cry like this.

"Sorry.... I'm sorry; I seemed to have gone past what I should have done with my sexual desires. From this point on, I'll be normal. I promise. I won't want for you to be sadistic on me anymore. I won't be fat."

Brigitta, feeling grateful, looked at Malicorne. Seeing those two, a girl gave them each a glass of wine.

"Why don't you two drink a glass since you guys are making up?"

The two smiled and drank the glass. They looked at each other, and laughed.

"Here, drink more."

Malicorne offered Brigitta more.

"I'm not good with alcohol."

"Today is special; since it's the day I have gone through a rebirth."

Brigitta finally tipped her wine glass. As she did so, she said things like 'wow I'm starting to feel drunk' so Malicorne took her to the balcony.

"Are you okay?"

"This pi... made me feel drunk."

Malicorne heard a nostalgic word.

"Wh.. what did you just say?"

"This pig made me feel drunk."

Malicorne felt this unexplainable nerve signal running through his head to his toes.

"P-pig... Me?"

"Yes, where else is there such a pig?"

Brigitta's eyes were already swaying. In her pure and clean face, her eyes were the only irregular parts. Malicorne, losing to her pressure gave a small scream and fell on his hips to the ground.

"I realized while you weren’t here. To my hobby, if I don't make fun of you at least once a day, I can't sleep well."

Saito, looking at the ruckus on the balcony next to him let out a deep sigh. Over there was Malicorne on his hands and feet saying things like” I'm sorry for living” and “This pig is sorry” to a girl with black hair. The girl was screaming through her lungs and making fun of Malicorne.

"Damn it, Guiche and Malicorne, enjoying their peace already."

"Isn't it fine? King Joseph died. Peace is finally achieved. Let them go wild for a little bit."

Next to Saito saying "whatever," was Louise. She tied her hair with a valet and wore a white dress. Seeing her like this still speeds up Saito's heart.

"But doesn't Romalia plan to continue the so called 'Holy War'?"

"They can't. They don't have the four void users now that King Joseph has died."

"But, I just have this feeling that they have the confidence to go on without King Joseph."

Saito told Louise about what he was wondering about.

"Think about it. They knew that King Joseph wouldn't help them, and yet they still fought against him knowing well that he would die. Doesn't that mean they have a way to proceed without him?"

"Think about it..."

Louise replied with a little disappointment.

"Wha?"

"We only knew that King Joseph was a void user right at the end."

"Oh yeah."

Though there were possibilities that King Joseph was the one from Castelmolle(?)'s letter, no one would have predicted that King Joseph was the void user.

When Saito realized right at the end that King Joseph was the void user... He didn't have time to be surprised because of all the murders that had just occurred but...

"Romalia is also the same. They thought that the void user wasn’t King Joseph. They were planning to become allies with them after they defeat that King, but too bad for them. The void user was in fact King Joseph. They killed the void user they needed. Well, they had no choice that time. If they didn't kill him, they'd have been killed. Their speech for the Gallian Army at the end was just them being sore losers."

Saito nodded a little bit. Furthermore, only Saito and Tabitha knew of the letter, so Romalia literally had no way of knowing King Joseph was the void user.

"They say things like 'Elves are our enemy!' and 'They are the ones behind everything!' to start some stupid war, but after everyone saw that huge ball of fire, everybody realized that the elves were WAY out of their league. Moreover, they don't have the four void users now, and apparently you need all four of them to awaken the true void magic. Sucks to be them! That's why they just went right back to Romalia after Tabitha was crowned queen. Since they have nothing to do now, I bet that they’re regretting declaring a war against the elves right now. They acted all tough, but they destroyed the only method to defeat the elves themselves. The pope probably won’t be the pope any longer! Maybe tomorrow, some news about a new pope might come?"

Saito stared at Louise, too bright for his eyes.

"You... are smart."

"You're just stupid. Anyways, we should just accept the peace that we have for a while."

"Yeah..."

Saito replied back with a dark tone.

Louise pointed her finger up, and then said, "Our job after this is to research about the Founder having an elf familiar. I think the reason we have to fight the elves is in there. If we figure out what happened between them, then I think we may be able to stop our conflict with the elves."

Saito nodded.

"Anyways, I just want to be in peace today."

Louise blushed a little, and then leaned towards Saito. Then, Kirche came.

"Oh, was I interrupting you two?"

Seeing Kirche, smiling, Louise quickly replied, "N-no, you aren't interrupting us!"

Kirche was wearing a night dress, opening her chest areas and then leaned on the balcony fence next to Louise and Saito while distributing her sexy aura everywhere.

"Cheers for Tabitha being queen."

She sounded so lonely.

"Kirche, Tabitha didn't give you any contact after that?"

"Ya, well I got a call from her house. They apparently took her mother back to the castle. That's all I know."

Saito blurted out, "Well isn't she anti-social!"

"She's probably busy."

Louise, calming Saito down, gave an excuse.

After that, Tabitha gave him no contact. Although Saito asked to meet Tabitha, he was denied because they were busy. Well, it probably wasn't Tabitha's decision, but her men's decision... it was still sort of lonely for her and him.

"That's weird though, because Tabitha said she won't be queen."

"She probably has her own way of thinking about things."

"Do you think Romalia said something to her? I'm just worried about that."

As Saito said that, Kirche laughed.

"That's one thing that won't happen to her. Romalia probably think that she’s an easy girl, but she's actually really good at politics. If she has anything to say to us, she'll probably contact us."

"I guess so..."

Saito nodded.

"Why don't you worry about yourself though?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you Saito. Recently, you've become such a fine man."

"R... really?"

"Yeah, not as much as Jean, but you should watch out. You're going to be troubled by girls."

"What do you mean?!"

Louise yelled in fury.

"Oh Louise, you don't have time to lie about your feelings now. If you keep lying, some day another girl will steal him from of you!"

Kirche lightly chuckled and left.

"What is she talking about!? That idiot!"

After realizing Saito was spacing out, she kicked Saito.

"Ow!"

"What’s with your face?! Why do you look so happy? Are you wondering about how you'll be ‘troubled’?"

Saito shook his head after Louise glared at him.

"I-I'm not!"

"Lies. You were definitely imagining it! Girls with thi--s big boobs come towards you."

Louise used her both hands to draw a circle around her chest area to show how big 'thi--s' was to Saito.

"You’re gonna go on four legs like this, plunging your face into those huge boobs, and then hug hug hug hug hug hug! That's your imagination!"

Louise went on four legs and pressed her two hands against her face to act out what she had just said.

"Louise... listen."

"Saito is troubled! Troubled by boobs! What! You aren't troubled at all!?"

"What's with your acting..."

"I just acted out what's in your head!"

Louise stood up and screamed at Saito.

"I've never even thought of being troubled by any other girl than you."

"What do you mean? Are you saying that I trouble you too much?"

"I didn't mean it that way..."

"Say it clearly. Who do you want to be troubled by?"

Louise turned her gaze away. Saito immediately realized her 'sign', being so used to Louise.

She's telling Saito to "come romantically".

Louise is just like a newly planted plant. Without the right nutrients, she starts rotting. Well, she gets angry, and it gets troublesome once she gets angry, so Saito must not miss her signs. Saito took a deep breath and complimented Louise.

"I have such a beautiful master next to me. I'd never look away."

Louise growled. She was still worried about what Kirche had just said.

''It's true that Saito has become manlier. He probably became like that through all his experiences. He sometimes goes loose, but he is a very responsible vice commander of the Ondine. ''

''Maybe I’m troubled...'' Louise felt uncertain.

''That doesn't mean I'm letting him do what he wants with me. I'm still an aristocrat after all.''

''The one thing I cannot be is a loose woman.''

''But look at me right now. I just let Saito do anything with me.''

Louise, after imagining the "do anything with me" part became red.

''We finally got peace. So I should take my time with those things.''

Saito felt awkward after seeing Louise troubled, then blushed and called for Louise, but as he did so...

From the hall came bright music. It had a nice tempo, and it made anything seem enjoyable.

"T-this song..."

Louise said softly. Saito also realized.

"It's the first song we danced to."

After they defeated Fouquet, they danced together. Saito remembered that night as if it was yesterday.

They somehow held hands and then went back to the hall. They danced to the song. Although Saito's dancing was as bad as it was in the beginning, Louise still felt very happy.

"Oh yeah, your dress and your hair are the same as last time too."

"You finally realized?"

"S-sorry."

"You really are dense."

Although Louise felt slight anger from that, dancing with Saito kept her joyous.

Looking around her, she saw other people dancing. They looked like fitting couples.

Far away, she saw Tiffania. In front of her were many guys requesting a dance. Nobody feared her for being a half elf now. Although Louise and Saito were the only ones that knew that Tiffania is someone that has the blood of the Albion royalty, the male students just couldn't resist her huge bust and her nice personality.

''I commend their effort, but none of them is fitting for Tiffania.''

Tiffania's beauty is just amazing, even a girl like Louise ends up looking at her and admitting it.

''Only some legendary person would actually fit next to Tiffania.''

''Then what about me?''

Louise asked herself.

''Do I fit with the hero of Tristain?''

''Now, Saito's achievements for Tristain are immeasurable. In the war against Gallia, Saito was pretty much fighting solo. Normally, he shouldn't only be a Chevalier, but probably a baron. His achievements aren't inferior to what the legendary heroes in history had done.''

''In comparison to that, what am I? Aren't I just pulling Saito behind by not being true to my feelings?''

''Did I do enough to gain a certificate of a priest?''

One part of Louise answered back no. ''Even though Saito didn't receive anything...''

Thinking that, her happiness started to fade away.

''Am I a match for Saito?''

"What's wrong?"

Saito asked Louise, who stopped dancing.

"N-nothing."

"Do you feel hurt somewhere?"

Louise shook her head.

''I finally gained peace. I shouldn't worry too much. Saito is next to me anyways.''

''And... he also said he'll live with me after buying land after graduating.''

''Worrying might be rude to Saito who's doing that much for me.''

"I'm fine, really. Let's continue dancing."

Louise stated this with a clear face. However, the clouds of uncertainty that stuck to her heart wouldn't go away.

The party ended, and the students went back to their dorms. Saito and Louise were also on their way back to their room.

When the two arrived at Louise's room in the third floor,

"... I feel really sick."

Louise leaned on Saito's shoulder as she walked wobbly.

"You drink too much."

This was a very rare occasion: Louise drinking until she loses control. Saito thought that that was wrong of her. ''She's not good with alcohol, and yet she of all people had drunk to near death.''

"Heay Sairoo."

"Huh?"

"You sure you will live with me?"

''She's only worrying about that?'' Saito relaxed.

"Yes, I'll live with you. Tomorrow's Void (he's talking about the day of the week) right? Let's go find our mansion tomorrow."

"I'll go."

Louise looked up at Saito as if she was a lost puppy and Saito had come to rescue her, and then nodded multiple times. After that, she stuck closely to Saito.

Seeing Louise like that made Saito feel extremely happy.

"We'll be together forever."

As Saito said that, Louise stared at Saito. Saito just couldn't resist anymore, and ended up hugging and kissing Louise. Louise pushed her lips with great strength onto Saito’s, and no longer got mad when Saito moved his hands towards her thin breast.

"It's small; you don't like it, do you?"

"It's not small."

"Lies. It's small."

Even while saying that, Louise didn’t bother taking Saito's hand off. ''Wow, how long did it take for me to get this far?''

''Now, the problem is the next step.''

Many of the dumb mistakes Saito had done flipped through his head. Every one of those times, it seemed like it was going to work out well, but ended up failing miserably.

''This time, I won't fail. Today, I will…''

Saito, calming down, started thinking carefully.

''How did I fail?''

"It's small."

Louise expressed, lacking her usual courage.

''Oh yeah, I've gotten into a lot of trouble because of what I say about her breasts.''

''I must not tell, indirectly or not, that hers are small. I can't say things like "I agree". Absolutely not.''

"I don't know about other people's, but I think yours are quite normal."

''They aren’t quite normal at all, but...''

"Then that's fine."

''First gate, cleared.''

''Next possible routes to failure… definitely Malicorne. However, he's not here, since it's the girls' dorm.''

''Second gate, cleared.''

''Now, there must have been something else... I can't remember. Whatever, it'll work out somehow.''

''So, I should start my engine?''

Something unidentifiable exploded inside Saito's head.

"Alright, accelerating. Full throttle, go."

"Accelerating?"

''Seems like I said some of it out loud.'' Louise looked at Saito with a questioning face. Saito shook his head and then looked straight at Louise.

"Just talking to myself."

''Should I say it?'' The devil part of him asked. The rational part tried to stop Saito's inner devil.

''No, it won't work out. She'll definitely look at me like I’m a creep.''

''B-but... that's my dream. If I don't do what I want to do, it's like rebelling against god, who created us to be rational.''

A sound of a hammer arose inside his head.

''I’ll do it.''

"Anyways, you’re just really cute. I have a request for the very cute you."

Saito's eyes were already looking at his own world. Louise, almost getting sober, resisted. ''I've decided to follow him. I won't be surprised whatever he tells me.''

"Say 'Little kitty wants big kitty to bully me'."

"What?"

Louise felt everything falling apart in her head. She simply looked at Saito as if he was a creep.

"Say it, please. No, you have to say it."

Saito had a completely straight face. Louise felt some sort of resistance in her heart. ''This is getting too far. What's the little kitty? Is he talking about me? What's this quote really? Hey mother, where is he trying to take me to?''

Even Louise came back to her senses. This was how dumb Saito was.

''But...'' Louise thought hard.

''Even though he's like this right now, it was fun dancing with him. I don't know why, but I apparently have to be with this fool of a guy...''

"Say it, please say it. Sorry."

"...Will you be nice to me if I say it?"

"Definitely."

"Won't say anything mean?"

"Never."

Louise, having no choice, nodded because she wanted more of Saito's gentle kisses. She wanted him to tell her that she's cute. She bared with it, since she was aware of Saito's mental awkwardness. In the end, Louise was a strong girl.

Then, she said it. Blushing. Shaking.

"Little kitty wants big kitty to bully me."

"THANK YOUUUU!!!"

Saito hugged Louise tightly, unlocked the door, and then opened the door, while hugging Louise.

Along with her maid friends, Siesta, opening her jaws wide open, next to a banner saying "Welcome back Saito" and food, was waiting in Louise's room.

Saito cooled down.

''Oh yeah, right now, Siesta's my maid... so she was there the whole time... so she heard what I said...''

Her maid friends stayed frozen for a little bit, and then they burst into laughter. Siesta whispered in a voice filled with malicious intent.

[[Image:ZnT16-042.jpg|thumb]]

"Welcome back, meow."

The other maids start laughing even harder. Louise took a deep breath, and started kicking Saito who was the cause of her embarrassment.

Saito was moaning in agony in his bed from the pain that was even harsher than what he had received in the war against Gallia. The other maids went home, and then Siesta and Louise started an endless verbal battle.

"Miss. Vallière does it too far."

"Huh? What are you talking about? And why do you welcome back Saito, but not me?"

Louise pointed at the banner.

"Well, that's because I'm Saito's personal maid. I have nothing to do with you, Ms. Vallière. Anyways, good to see you home safe."

"I don't feel any emotions in your words!"

Siesta, ignoring Louise started hugging Saito.

"Are you okay? She's such an awful master."

"Sorry! Really, Louise, sorry!"

Saito was talking in his sleep. He was apparently being hit by Louise even in his dreams.

"You did so much in this war, right Saito? I feel proud just as if I were you!"

"Sorry! I'm sorry for living!"

"Don't worry, I, Siesta will always be on your side. In the end, I'm number one, right? I won't get mad if you look at other girls, or even if you kiss them. I’d kill you if you did more than that, but I still love you."

Siesta petted the unconscious Saito's head.

''Sort of pisses me off hearing this... but I guess I'll let it go today, since I'm going to live with Saito once I graduate. Goodbye Siesta!'' Louise felt as if she was the victor of this whole fight for Saito.

"Why are you smiling?"

Siesta, who realized Louise was acting weird, stared at her. Louise crossed her leg on her chair, and said slowly, "Noooothing~".

"Please tell me."

"Fine. It’s kinda the ‘You can do whatever you want with Saito for today’ thing."

"What do you mean?"

Siesta moved towards Louise.

"I mean, I'm going to live with Saito after we graduate. I mean, why don't you have fun with him while it lasts? I'll allow some of it."

"What are you saying..."

Siesta made a face.

"Huh?"

"If Saito moves, then I'm obviously coming with him."

"I don't need any maids. We are going to buy a small place to live."

"Miss. Vallière is not the one to decide."

"What?"

"You know already. I was assigned to be Saito's maid by her Majesty. So, if you dismiss me or fire me, it's as if you’re telling her Majesty that you’re rebelling."

Louise shook. It's true, Louise alone couldn't dismiss Siesta.

Siesta, feeling victorious, told Louise.

"Well anyways, if you’re looking for a mansion, I'll come with you guys, since it'll be my new workplace!"

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume15_Epilogue|Volume 15]]
| Return to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume16_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume16 Chapter1

2012-03-08T14:40:49Z

Neojimmy6: Tidying up

===Chapter 1: The Reward of the Campaign===



"This war was definitely a harsh one. The war was started by the former King of Gallia, Joseph. His conspiracy included turning not only Romalia, but also the entire Halkeginia continent into ashes."

Osman's voice resounded throughout the hall.

This is the main tower, the second floor of the magic academy's dancing hall. Students who were dressed nicely were listening to Osman's speech meekly.

When the sudden war between Romalia and Gallia was started, they fell in horror. Since the war between Albion had just ended, their hometown was in a desperate situation.

They were in no shape for war.

What if the crazy Gallian King suddenly attacked them? They would have been destroyed in a heartbeat.

However, this ended. In the battle of Carcassonne, King Joseph died fighting. In an instant, a new queen was crowned and the war was over.

"We fell in horror. I didn't want to become ashes, I mean, don't you want to live longer? If I had become ashes, I wouldn't have been able to pet female hips. That's something I can't live without. All of you here also feel the same way, right?"

The hall became silent. Osman, after faking a cough, continued.

"However, god did not leave us! If there's a crazy king, there must be a hero! If there's a crazy conspiracy, then there's a justice that would defeat it! These people, are the ones who destroyed the ambition of that crazy king!"

The students gulped.

Yes... The ones who helped earn this victory were none other than...

"Yes! The stupid conspiracy by that crazy king was stopped by these heroes! By the heroes whom you all know well! Let me introduce them!"

With Osman's signal, a silk curtain behind him fell. The students cheered loudly.

"These people are the ones who saved this world! The knights of Ondine and the Shrine Maidens of our Founder!"

There, there were the knights of Ondine in formal attires along with Louise and Tiffania. Amidst cheers such as "Woooooh!", "Hooray knights of Ondine!", and "Hooray Tiffania!", the boys and girls blushed out of honor and shyness.

The students at the academy were made to realize that the knights who go to the same academy as they do have done tremendous achievements in this war.

"Listen students. Though it was their first experience in battle, they've achieved quite a lot. Destroying those strong golems on Tiger Road, the one on one on Linen River, and Joseph's unimaginable... huge fireball that used the magic of the elves, those fires that destroyed the huge fleet... it is said that it was all stopped due to their achievements!"

Cheers roared even more.

The accomplishments of the Knights, especially the vice commander Chevalier de Hiraga's, were passed down to everybody.

This was the first instance in which a single knight and his group of knights led a victory in war. Moreover, rumors say that the new queen is Tabitha, who was recently a student just like them. Although nobody knew what kind of drama occurred, the knights of Ondine must have played a part in helping Tabitha becoming the queen.

The beautiful... glorious victory's outcome.

And the fact that they had connections to the new queen of Gallia. The students of the academy felt unmeasurable happiness because they were studying at the same exact schools as the heroes, and were very close in age.

The knights of Ondine guarded the new queen Charlotte to the capital of Gallia, Lutèce, from Carcassonne along with the Romalian army, and went into the castle.

The citizens of Gallia welcomed them with great cheers.

After that, they guarded her Majesty queen Henrietta to Tristain, and finally came back.

"Hooray for the Ondine!"

Osman stood in front of the boys and congratulated every one of them.

"Yes yes, I feel honored as if I am you all. Since you guys are me! I, the principal of this magic academy have raised you single handily... yes yes!"

Osman nodded happily as he congratulated.

"I raised you all, yes yes!"

The knights of Ondine looked at each other. ''It's true that the principal is the principal, but did he even teach us anything? Did he raise us?'' They made such faces. Along with this, other students' cheers slowly faded.

"Y.. yes! It's all thanks to your teachings!"

The clever Guiche took Osman's side. "It's not a bad thing to lend Osman a favor or two."

Then, Osman sharply observed Guiche, then went near him.

"Guiche..."

"Yes! Old Osman!"

Expecting some sort of medal, Guiche stood as perfect as he could.

"You are a very nice student. I'll give you a prize."

Guiche shook with happiness. Not only did he already receive a medal at Albion, he is about to have another big honor. What will it be? Will it be the treasure wand made of gold and diamond tips that is only given to the top student of the academy? If he does receive such a treasure, it's as if his path for success is already promised...

However, Osman's words betrayed Guiche's thoughts.

"You can hug me."

Osman said it straightforwardly.

"Excuse me?"

However, Osman continued to pull Guiche towards him with his thumb. Guiche shook his head.

Next was Saito.

"You can hug me."

Saito shook his head without uttering a single word. Then Reynal.

"You can hug me."

Reynal, whose face showed mild anger, whispered "Don't mess around with us. You make fun of... our pride... and honor.... Why you..."

Though he tried to talk back to Osman, it was too late. At that time, Osman was already talking to Adrian next to him. He is Reynal's classmate and has short red hair.

He shook his head before even being asked for a hug. Then, Osman went to the next knights: Alsenu, Guston, Varantun, Victor, Paul, Ernesto, Oscar, and Gazmeal.

Every one of them declined Osman’s offer. Not a single person wanted to hug Osman. Nor did they understand why they had to. Amidst the awkward tension surrounding the knights of Ondine, Osman came towards the final one, Malicorne.

Malicorne, without waiting for Osman to ask for a hug, immediately said,

"Okay!"

Osman, after staring at Malicorne for a little then said, "Well, leaving the jokes aside..." Reynal who was about to jump Osman was stopped by his fellow knights.

"The government gave all of you honor befitting your performances."

Ms. Chevreuse, who was dressed in formal attire just like the knights of Ondine appeared. She had something in her hand. The knights of Ondine when seeing what she held widened their eyes out of surprise. There was black writing along with a silver pentagon, shining across.

"Is this... the cape for a Chevalier!?"

Guiche exclaimed.

"Yes. The achievements of the knights of Ondine in this war are enough for the captain Guiche to be recognized as ‘Chevalier’"

That was true. Although Saito was the one who did all the achievements, the ones who joined the Gallian Royalty War ( what it is called by everybody) were only the knights of Ondine. The least the government could have done to reward them was to give a ‘Chevalier’. In other words, if Tristain didn't bother giving a title like this, the people would start questioning Tristain's ways of thinking. Politically speaking, this Chevalier was definitely needed.

Guiche, shaking, humbly accepted the cape. The knights congratulated Guiche.

"You did it, captain!"

"Now we have two Chevaliers in our knight of Ondine!"

"And also, though we can't give you all Chevalier, you all deserve a medal. It's the Medal of White Hair Soul."

Then, Mr. Gito appeared. As always, he seemed unfriendly. In his heart, he was jealous that his students were getting medals.

"Well, one can say you did sort of good. Take it."

With a bored look, he hung the medals around the knights' necks. Proudly, the kids smiled. It wasn't just honor. Having a Soul Medal also gives annual money. For those knights who barely have any pay, this was pretty big.

After the medals were handed out, Osman stood in front of the two girls, Louise and Tiffania.

"Well, since you two came as shrine maidens, we apparently aren’t allowed to give medals to you. Well, that kind of makes sense since those are medals designed for soldiers. However, from the Tristain Church, you two have received a certificate of the Juno priest. They apparently had exactly two seats open."

The students sighed. To receive a certificate of a priest is the gateway towards being rich. Since if one becomes a priest, almost all taxes are free, and in reverse one can gain parts of the church taxes. Therefore, with that certificate, one can gain money by doing nothing. Though it's not a lot of money due to them being ordinary priestesses, it couldn't be compared to the annual pay of a single medal.

To do a rough count, Guiche has about 500 Écu, the other knights about 200 Écu, and Louise and Tiffania about 800 Écu promised of annual pay.

Loud claps rang throughout the hall. However, everybody suddenly realized.

''Saito is the only one who didn't receive anything.'' Thinking that there should be something special for Saito later on, Osman declared the start of the party.

''Well, he did receive the Chevalier last time... Maybe he was just an extra this time...'' The crowd accepted this illogical reasoning.

Huge banquet came after. Around the knights of Ondine, students gathered.

"Lord Guiche! Please tell us about your achievements on the battlefield!"

"Sure sure, ask me anything."

Going with the flow, he started talking about the battle... but then Guiche realized a girl was looking at Guiche from a distance.

"Montmorency..."

However, Montmorency looked away and walked towards the exit of the party. Guiche, immediately pushed away the students around him and chased after her.

Montmorency was standing right outside the hall, facing the opposite side of where Guiche stood. She wouldn't move an inch.

Guiche walked towards her back, fixed his attire and then said to Montmorency, who was still not facing Guiche:

"I became a Chevalier."

"......."

Montmorency stayed completely silent. Guiche tried to walk further towards her, but stopped.

"Well, I know. I completely understand. It's not me; it's all Saito who did it. He's really great guy. I just happened to be the leader."

Guiche raised his head.

"But... I'll definitely become a man worthy of my new cape. I'll also be the man worthy of you...... Well, see you later."

Guiche walked back towards the hall.

"Wait!"

Montmorency screamed. As Guiche turned back to face her, she ran into his chest.

"Montmo..."

"I... I'm stupid. Even though I know you’re the type that moves around with girls, once you say something nice, I suddenly think you’re amazing."

Guiche cheered in his heart.

"I promise not to look at baths."

"And... I despised myself. I worried a lot. Since the war just started out of no where... I thought you'd die before we'd even get a chance to make up..."

Montmorency, being a little modest, started crying. Seeing this, even Guiche felt bad and saddened. Guiche took something from his pocket and handed it to Montmorency.

"What?"

"I was also thinking about you. I made it by carving a seashell. In Romalia, you apparently give this to women."

On the sea shell was the side view of a woman.

"I made it while thinking about you."

"It's beautiful... I never knew you were so crafty."

With a romantic expression, Montmorency looked at Guiche. They both closed their eyes.... and as their lips got closer... several girls came jumping out of the hall and screamed:

"Guiche! Thanks for such a fantastic carving!"

Montmorency opened her eyes widely, and pushed Guiche away.

"Well... As I was making them, it became so fun that I just unintentionally made many of those..."

"Very crafty, huh? Are you sure accessories aren't the only thing you 'unintentionally make'?"

Montmorency turned around and walked away.

"Malicorne! Please tell us more of the stories!"

With few girls surrounding him, Malicorne was literally crying of joy.

It couldn't have been helped, since after that incident with the knights of Ondine peeking at the girl's bath, their fame dropped down to the ground. It dropped so far that Saito's achievement in Albion, and the fight against Beatriz's dragon knights were completely forgotten.

However, their fame was finally restored.

Going along with the mood, Malicorne happily chattered. In front of him, a clear black-haired girl came upon him.

"Brigitta..."

Malicorne's body froze. After staying shy for a little while, Brigitta finally said, "You made it back safely..."

Realizing the two's mood, the girls surrounding Malicorne left. Malicorne, opened his arms widely like a lead actor in an opera and said grandly, even though he's only a fat kid:

"I was thinking about you all this time."

"I also was thinking about you all this time."

The two stared at each other. Then, Brigitta spoke out softly.

"My friend told me that since you aren't normal, I should bare with some things, or else I won't last."

"... Sorry..."

"It's fine...... While you were at war, I was thinking all this time. Since you’re someone like that, it's normal for you to peek at the girl's bath. No, I'd rather be thankful that that's all you did, so I'll bare with it. So, I'm very sorry for what I said to you before."

She said so in such a brave way that Malicorne felt sorry for what he had done. He realized how much he was living only for his own greed after seeing her cry like this.

"Sorry.... I'm sorry; I seemed to have gone past what I should have done with my sexual desires. From this point on, I'll be normal. I promise. I won't want for you to be sadistic on me anymore. I won't be fat."

Brigitta, feeling grateful, looked at Malicorne. Seeing those two, a girl gave them each a glass of wine.

"Why don't you two drink a glass since you guys are making up?"

The two smiled and drank the glass. They looked at each other, and laughed.

"Here, drink more."

Malicorne offered Brigitta more.

"I'm not good with alcohol."

"Today is special; since it's the day I have gone through a rebirth."

Brigitta finally tipped her wine glass. As she did so, she said things like 'wow I'm starting to feel drunk' so Malicorne took her to the balcony.

"Are you okay?"

"This pi... made me feel drunk."

Malicorne heard a nostalgic word.

"Wh.. what did you just say?"

"This pig made me feel drunk."

Malicorne felt this unexplainable nerve signal running through his head to his toes.

"P-pig... Me?"

"Yes, where else is there such a pig?"

Brigitta's eyes were already swaying. In her pure and clean face, her eyes were the only irregular parts. Malicorne, losing to her pressure gave a small scream and fell on his hips to the ground.

"I realized while you weren’t here. To my hobby, if I don't make fun of you at least once a day, I can't sleep well."

Saito, looking at the ruckus on the balcony next to him let out a deep sigh. Over there was Malicorne on his hands and feet saying things like” I'm sorry for living” and “This pig is sorry” to a girl with black hair. The girl was screaming through her lungs and making fun of Malicorne.

"Damn it, Guiche and Malicorne, enjoying their peace already."

"Isn't it fine? King Joseph died. Peace is finally achieved. Let them go wild for a little bit."

Next to Saito saying "whatever," was Louise. She tied her hair with a valet and wore a white dress. Seeing her like this still speeds up Saito's heart.

"But doesn't Romalia plan to continue the so called 'Holy War'?"

"They can't. They don't have the four void users now that King Joseph has died."

"But, I just have this feeling that they have the confidence to go on without King Joseph."

Saito told Louise about what he was wondering about.

"Think about it. They knew that King Joseph wouldn't help them, and yet they still fought against him knowing well that he would die. Doesn't that mean they have a way to proceed without him?"

"Think about it..."

Louise replied with a little disappointment.

"Wha?"

"We only knew that King Joseph was a void user right at the end."

"Oh yeah."

Though there were possibilities that King Joseph was the one from Castelmolle(?)'s letter, no one would have predicted that King Joseph was the void user.

When Saito realized right at the end that King Joseph was the void user... He didn't have time to be surprised because of all the murders that had just occurred but...

"Romalia is also the same. They thought that the void user wasn’t King Joseph. They were planning to become allies with them after they defeat that King, but too bad for them. The void user was in fact King Joseph. They killed the void user they needed. Well, they had no choice that time. If they didn't kill him, they'd have been killed. Their speech for the Gallian Army at the end was just them being sore losers."

Saito nodded a little bit. Furthermore, only Saito and Tabitha knew of the letter, so Romalia literally had no way of knowing King Joseph was the void user.

"They say things like 'Elves are our enemy!' and 'They are the ones behind everything!' to start some stupid war, but after everyone saw that huge ball of fire, everybody realized that the elves were WAY out of their league. Moreover, they don't have the four void users now, and apparently you need all four of them to awaken the true void magic. Sucks to be them! That's why they just went right back to Romalia after Tabitha was crowned queen. Since they have nothing to do now, I bet that they’re regretting declaring a war against the elves right now. They acted all tough, but they destroyed the only method to defeat the elves themselves. The pope probably won’t be the pope any longer! Maybe tomorrow, some news about a new pope might come?"

Saito stared at Louise, too bright for his eyes.

"You... are smart."

"You're just stupid. Anyways, we should just accept the peace that we have for a while."

"Yeah..."

Saito replied back with a dark tone.

Louise pointed her finger up, and then said, "Our job after this is to research about the Founder having an elf familiar. I think the reason we have to fight the elves is in there. If we figure out what happened between them, then I think we may be able to stop our conflict with the elves."

Saito nodded.

"Anyways, I just want to be in peace today."

Louise blushed a little, and then leaned towards Saito. Then, Kirche came.

"Oh, was I interrupting you two?"

Seeing Kirche, smiling, Louise quickly replied, "N-no, you aren't interrupting us!"

Kirche was wearing a night dress, opening her chest areas and then leaned on the balcony fence next to Louise and Saito while distributing her sexy aura everywhere.

"Cheers for Tabitha being queen."

She sounded so lonely.

"Kirche, Tabitha didn't give you any contact after that?"

"Ya, well I got a call from her house. They apparently took her mother back to the castle. That's all I know."

Saito blurted out, "Well isn't she anti-social!"

"She's probably busy."

Louise, calming Saito down, gave an excuse.

After that, Tabitha gave him no contact. Although Saito asked to meet Tabitha, he was denied because they were busy. Well, it probably wasn't Tabitha's decision, but her men's decision... it was still sort of lonely for her and him.

"That's weird though, because Tabitha said she won't be queen."

"She probably has her own way of thinking about things."

"Do you think Romalia said something to her? I'm just worried about that."

As Saito said that, Kirche laughed.

"That's one thing that won't happen to her. Romalia probably think that she’s an easy girl, but she's actually really good at politics. If she has anything to say to us, she'll probably contact us."

"I guess so..."

Saito nodded.

"Why don't you worry about yourself though?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you Saito. Recently, you've become such a fine man."

"R... really?"

"Yeah, not as much as Jean, but you should watch out. You're going to be troubled by girls."

"What do you mean?!"

Louise yelled in fury.

"Oh Louise, you don't have time to lie about your feelings now. If you keep lying, some day another girl will steal him from of you!"

Kirche lightly chuckled and left.

"What is she talking about!? That idiot!"

After realizing Saito was spacing out, she kicked Saito.

"Ow!"

"What’s with your face?! Why do you look so happy? Are you wondering about how you'll be ‘troubled’?"

Saito shook his head after Louise glared at him.

"I-I'm not!"

"Lies. You were definitely imagining it! Girls with thi--s big boobs come towards you."

Louise used her both hands to draw a circle around her chest area to show how big 'thi--s' was to Saito.

"You’re gonna go on four legs like this, plunging your face into those huge boobs, and then hug hug hug hug hug hug! That's your imagination!"

Louise went on four legs and pressed her two hands against her face to act out what she had just said.

"Louise... listen."

"Saito is troubled! Troubled by boobs! What! You aren't troubled at all!?"

"What's with your acting..."

"I just acted out what's in your head!"

Louise stood up and screamed at Saito.

"I've never even thought of being troubled by any other girl than you."

"What do you mean? Are you saying that I trouble you too much?"

"I didn't mean it that way..."

"Say it clearly. Who do you want to be troubled by?"

Louise turned her gaze away. Saito immediately realized her 'sign', being so used to Louise.

She's telling Saito to "come romantically".

Louise is just like a newly planted plant. Without the right nutrients, she starts rotting. Well, she gets angry, and it gets troublesome once she gets angry, so Saito must not miss her signs. Saito took a deep breath and complimented Louise.

"I have such a beautiful master next to me. I'd never look away."

Louise growled. She was still worried about what Kirche had just said.

''It's true that Saito has become manlier. He probably became like that through all his experiences. He sometimes goes loose, but he is a very responsible vice commander of the Ondine.

Maybe I’m troubled...'' Louise felt uncertain.

''That doesn't mean I'm letting him do what he wants with me. I'm still an aristocrat after all.

The one thing I cannot be is a loose woman.

But look at me right now. I just let Saito do anything with me.''

Louise, after imagining the "do anything with me" part became red.

We finally got peace. So I should take my time with those things.

Saito felt awkward after seeing Louise troubled, then blushed and called for Louise, but as he did so...

From the hall came bright music. It had a nice tempo, and it made anything seem enjoyable.

"T-this song..."

Louise said softly. Saito also realized.

"It's the first song we danced to."

After they defeated Fouquet, they danced together. Saito remembered that night as if it was yesterday.

They somehow held hands and then went back to the hall. They danced to the song. Although Saito's dancing was as bad as it was in the beginning, Louise still felt very happy.

"Oh yeah, your dress and your hair are the same as last time too."

"You finally realized?"

"S-sorry."

"You really are dense."

Although Louise felt slight anger from that, dancing with Saito kept her joyous.

Looking around her, she saw other people dancing. They looked like fitting couples.

Far away, she saw Tiffania. In front of her were many guys requesting a dance. Nobody feared her for being a half elf now. Although Louise and Saito were the only ones that knew that Tiffania is someone that has the blood of the Albion royalty, the male students just couldn't resist her huge bust and her nice personality.
''
I commend their effort, but none of them is fitting for Tiffania.''

Tiffania's beauty is just amazing, even a girl like Louise ends up looking at her and admitting it.

''Only some legendary person would actually fit next to Tiffania.

Then what about me?
''
Louise asked herself.

''Do I fit with the hero of Tristain?

Now, Saito's achievements for Tristain are immeasurable. In the war against Gallia, Saito was pretty much fighting solo. Normally, he shouldn't only be a Chevalier, but probably a baron. His achievements aren't inferior to what the legendary heroes in history had done.

In comparison to that, what am I? Aren't I just pulling Saito behind by not being true to my feelings?

Did I do enough to gain a certificate of a priest?''

One part of Louise answered back no. ''Even though Saito didn't receive anything...''

Thinking that, her happiness started to fade away.
''
Am I a match for Saito?''

"What's wrong?"

Saito asked Louise, who stopped dancing.

"N-nothing."

"Do you feel hurt somewhere?"

Louise shook her head.

''I finally gained peace. I shouldn't worry too much. Saito is next to me anyways.

And... he also said he'll live with me after buying land after graduating.

Worrying might be rude to Saito who's doing that much for me.''

"I'm fine, really. Let's continue dancing."

Louise stated this with a clear face. However, the clouds of uncertainty that stuck to her heart wouldn't go away.

The party ended, and the students went back to their dorms. Saito and Louise were also on their way back to their room.

When the two arrived at Louise's room in the third floor,

"... I feel really sick."

Louise leaned on Saito's shoulder as she walked wobbly.

"You drink too much."

This was a very rare occasion: Louise drinking until she loses control. Saito thought that that was wrong of her. ''She's not good with alcohol, and yet she of all people had drunk to near death.''

"Heay Sairoo."

"Huh?"

"You sure you will live with me?"

''She's only worrying about that?'' Saito relaxed.

"Yes, I'll live with you. Tomorrow's Void (he's talking about the day of the week) right? Let's go find our mansion tomorrow."

"I'll go."

Louise looked up at Saito as if she was a lost puppy and Saito had come to rescue her, and then nodded multiple times. After that, she stuck closely to Saito.

Seeing Louise like that made Saito feel extremely happy.

"We'll be together forever."

As Saito said that, Louise stared at Saito. Saito just couldn't resist anymore, and ended up hugging and kissing Louise. Louise pushed her lips with great strength onto Saito’s, and no longer got mad when Saito moved his hands towards her thin breast.

"It's small; you don't like it, do you?"

"It's not small."

"Lies. It's small."

Even while saying that, Louise didn’t bother taking Saito's hand off. ''Wow, how long did it take for me to get this far?''

''Now, the problem is the next step.''

Many of the dumb mistakes Saito had done flipped through his head. Every one of those times, it seemed like it was going to work out well, but ended up failing miserably.

''This time, I won't fail. Today, I will…''

Saito, calming down, started thinking carefully.
''
How did I fail?''

"It's small."

Louise expressed, lacking her usual courage.

''Oh yeah, I've gotten into a lot of trouble because of what I say about her breasts.

I must not tell, indirectly or not, that hers are small. I can't say things like "I agree". Absolutely not.''

"I don't know about other people's, but I think yours are quite normal."
''
They aren’t quite normal at all, but...''

"Then that's fine."
''
First gate, cleared.

Next possible routes to failure… definitely Malicorne. However, he's not here, since it's the girls' dorm.

Second gate, cleared.

Now, there must have been something else... I can't remember. Whatever, it'll work out somehow.

So, I should start my engine?''

Something unidentifiable exploded inside Saito's head.

"Alright, accelerating. Full throttle, go."

"Accelerating?"

''Seems like I said some of it out loud.'' Louise looked at Saito with a questioning face. Saito shook his head and then looked straight at Louise.

"Just talking to myself."

''Should I say it?'' The devil part of him asked. The rational part tried to stop Saito's inner devil.
''
No, it won't work out. She'll definitely look at me like I’m a creep.

B-but... that's my dream. If I don't do what I want to do, it's like rebelling against god, who created us to be rational.''

A sound of a hammer arose inside his head.

''I’ll do it.''

"Anyways, you’re just really cute. I have a request for the very cute you."

Saito's eyes were already looking at his own world. Louise, almost getting sober, resisted. ''I've decided to follow him. I won't be surprised whatever he tells me.''

"Say 'Little kitty wants big kitty to bully me'."

"What?"

Louise felt everything falling apart in her head. She simply looked at Saito as if he was a creep.

"Say it, please. No, you have to say it."

Saito had a completely straight face. Louise felt some sort of resistance in her heart. ''This is getting too far. What's the little kitty? Is he talking about me? What's this quote really? Hey mother, where is he trying to take me to?''

Even Louise came back to her senses. This was how dumb Saito was.

''But...'' Louise thought hard.

Even though he's like this right now, it was fun dancing with him. I don't know why, but I apparently have to be with this fool of a guy...

"Say it, please say it. Sorry."

"...Will you be nice to me if I say it?"

"Definitely."

"Won't say anything mean?"

"Never."

Louise, having no choice, nodded because she wanted more of Saito's gentle kisses. She wanted him to tell her that she's cute. She bared with it, since she was aware of Saito's mental awkwardness. In the end, Louise was a strong girl.

Then, she said it. Blushing. Shaking.

"Little kitty wants big kitty to bully me."

"THANK YOUUUU!!!"

Saito hugged Louise tightly, unlocked the door, and then opened the door, while hugging Louise.

Along with her maid friends, Siesta, opening her jaws wide open, next to a banner saying "Welcome back Saito" and food, was waiting in Louise's room.

Saito cooled down.

''Oh yeah, right now, Siesta's my maid... so she was there the whole time... so she heard what I said...''

Her maid friends stayed frozen for a little bit, and then they burst into laughter. Siesta whispered in a voice filled with malicious intent.

[[Image:ZnT16-042.jpg|thumb]]

"Welcome back, meow."

The other maids start laughing even harder. Louise took a deep breath, and started kicking Saito who was the cause of her embarrassment.

Saito was moaning in agony in his bed from the pain that was even harsher than what he had received in the war against Gallia. The other maids went home, and then Siesta and Louise started an endless verbal battle.

"Miss. Vallière does it too far."

"Huh? What are you talking about? And why do you welcome back Saito, but not me?"

Louise pointed at the banner.

"Well, that's because I'm Saito's personal maid. I have nothing to do with you, Ms. Vallière. Anyways, good to see you home safe."

"I don't feel any emotions in your words!"

Siesta, ignoring Louise started hugging Saito.

"Are you okay? She's such an awful master."

"Sorry! Really, Louise, sorry!"

Saito was talking in his sleep. He was apparently being hit by Louise even in his dreams.

"You did so much in this war, right Saito? I feel proud just as if I were you!"

"Sorry! I'm sorry for living!"

"Don't worry, I, Siesta will always be on your side. In the end, I'm number one, right? I won't get mad if you look at other girls, or even if you kiss them. I’d kill you if you did more than that, but I still love you."

Siesta petted the unconscious Saito's head.

''Sort of pisses me off hearing this... but I guess I'll let it go today, since I'm going to live with Saito once I graduate. Goodbye Siesta!'' Louise felt as if she was the victor of this whole fight for Saito.

"Why are you smiling?"

Siesta, who realized Louise was acting weird, stared at her. Louise crossed her leg on her chair, and said slowly, "Noooothing~".

"Please tell me."

"Fine. It’s kinda the ‘You can do whatever you want with Saito for today’ thing."

"What do you mean?"

Siesta moved towards Louise.

"I mean, I'm going to live with Saito after we graduate. I mean, why don't you have fun with him while it lasts? I'll allow some of it."

"What are you saying..."

Siesta made a face.

"Huh?"

"If Saito moves, then I'm obviously coming with him."

"I don't need any maids. We are going to buy a small place to live."

"Miss. Vallière is not the one to decide."

"What?"

"You know already. I was assigned to be Saito's maid by her Majesty. So, if you dismiss me or fire me, it's as if you’re telling her Majesty that you’re rebelling."

Louise shook. It's true, Louise alone couldn't dismiss Siesta.

Siesta, feeling victorious, told Louise.

"Well anyways, if you’re looking for a mansion, I'll come with you guys, since it'll be my new workplace!"

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume15_Epilogue|Volume 15]]
| Return to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume16_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume16 Chapter1

2012-03-08T03:47:54Z

Neojimmy6: 2 errors slipped in, sorry

===Chapter 1: The Reward of the Campaign===



"This war was definitely a harsh one. The war was started by the former King of Gallia, Joseph. His conspiracy included turning not only Romalia, but also Halkeginia into ashes."

Osman's voice resounded throughout the hall.

This is the main tower, of the second floor of the magic academy's dancing hall. Students who were dressed nicely were listening to Osman's speech meekly.

When the sudden war between Romalia and Gallia was started, they fell in horror. Since the war between Albion had just ended, their hometown was in a desperate situation.

They were in no shape for war.

What if the crazy Gallian King suddenly attacked them? They would have been destroyed in a heartbeat.

However, this ended. In the battle of Carcassonne, King Joseph died fighting. In an instant, a new queen was crowned and the war was over.

"We fell in horror. I didn't want to become ashes, I mean, don't you want to live longer? If I had become ashes, I wouldn't have been able to pet female hips. That's something I can't live without. All of you here also feel the same way, right?"

The hall became silent. Osman, after faking a cough, continued.

"However, god did not leave us! If there's a crazy king, there must be a hero! If there's a crazy conspiracy, then there's a justice that would defeat it! These people, are the ones who destroyed the ambition of that crazy king!"

The students gulped.

Yes... The ones who helped earn this victory was...

"Yes! The stupid conspiracy by that crazy king was stopped by these heroes! By the heroes whom you all know well! Let me introduce them!"

With Osman's signal, a silk curtain behind him fell. The students cheered loudly.

"These people are the ones who saved this world! The knights of Ondine and the Shrine Maidens of our Founder!"

There, there were the knights of Ondine in formal attires along with Louise and Tiffania. Amidst cheers such as "Woooooh!", "Hooray knights of Ondine!", and "Hooray Tiffania!", the boys and girls blushed out of honor and shyness.

The students at the academy were made to realize that the knights who go to the same academy as they do have done tremendous achievements in this war.

"Listen students. Though it was their first experience in battle, they've achieved quite a lot. Destroying those strong golems on Tiger Road, the one on one on Linen River, and Joseph's unimaginable... huge fireball that used the magic of the elves..., those fires that destroyed the huge fleet... it is said that it was all stopped due to their achievements!"

Cheers roared even more.

The accomplishments of the Knights, especially the vice commander Chevalier de Hiraga's, were passed down to everybody.

This was the first instance in which a single knight, a group of knights to lead a victory in war. Moreover, rumors say that the new queen is Tabitha who was recently a student, just like them. Although nobody knew what kind of drama occurred, the knights of Ondine must have played a part in helping Tabitha becoming the queen.

The beautiful... glorious victory's outcome.

And the fact that they had connections to the new queen of Gallia. The students of the academy felt unmeasurable happiness because they were studying at the same exact schools as the heroes, and were very close in age.

The knights of Ondine guarded the new queen Charlotte to the capital of Gallia, Lutèce, from Carcassonne along with the Romalian army, and went in to the castle.

The citizens of Gallia welcomed them with great cheers.

After that, they guarded her majesty queen Henrietta to Tristain, and finally came back.

"Hooray for the Ondine!"

Osman stood in front of the boys and congratulated every one of them.

"Yes yes, I feel honored as if I am you all. Since you guys are me! I, the principal of this magic academy has raised you single handily... yes yes!"

Osman nodded happily as he congratulated.

"I raised you all, yes yes!"

The knights of Ondine looked at each other. It's true that the principal is the principal, but did he even teach us anything? Did he raise us? They made such faces. Along with this, other students' cheers slowly faded.

"Y.. yes! It's all thanks to your teachings!"

The clever Guiche took Osman's side. "It's not a bad thing to lend Osman a favor or two."

Then, Osman sharply observed Guiche, then went near him.

"Guiche..."

"Yes! Old Osman!"

Expecting some sort of medal, Guiche stood as perfect as he could.

"You are a very nice student. I'll give you a prize."

Guiche shook with happiness. Not only did he already receive a medal at Albion, he is about to have another big honor. What will it be? Will it be the treasure wand made of gold and diamond tips that is only given to the top student of the academy? If he does receive such treasure, it's as if his path for success is already promised...

However, Osman's words betrayed Guiche's thoughts.

"You can hug me."

Osman said it straightforwardly.

"Excuse me?"

However, Osman continued to pull Guiche towards him with his thumb. Guiche shook his head.

Next was Saito.

"You can hug me."

Saito shook his head without uttering a single word. Then Reynal.

"You can hug me."

Reynal, whose face showed mild anger, whispered "Don't mess around with us. You make fun of... our pride... and honor.... Why you..."

Though he tried to talk back to Osman, it was too late. At that time, Osman was already talking to Adrian next to him. He is Reynal's classmate with short red hair.

He shook his head before even being asked for a hug. Then, Osman went to the next people: Alsenu, Guston, Varantun, Victor, Paul, Ernesto, Oscar, and Gazmeal.

Every one of them declined Osman’s offer. Not a single person wanted to hug Osman. Nor did they understand why they had to. Amidst the awkward tension surrounding the knights of Ondine, Osman came towards the final one, Maricorne.

Malicorne, without waiting for Osman to even ask for a hug, immediately said,

"Okay!"

Osman, after staring at Maricorne for a little then said, "Well, leaving the jokes aside..." Reynal who was about to jump Osman was stopped by his fellow knights.

"The government gave all of you honor befitting your performances."

Ms. Chevreuse, who was dressed in formal attire just like the knights of Ondine appeared. She had something in her hand. The knights of Ondine when seeing what she held widened their eyes out of surprise. There was black writing along with a silver pentagon, shining across.

"Is this... the cape for a Chevalier!?"

Guiche screamed.

"Yes. The achievements of the knights of Ondine in this war are enough for the captain Guiche to be recognized as ‘Chevalier’"

That was true. Although Saito was the one who did all the achievements, the ones who joined the Gallian Royalty War ( what it is called by everybody) were only the knights of Ondine. The least the government could have done to reward them was to give a ‘Chevalier’. In other words, if Tristain didn't bother giving a title like this, the people would start questioning Tristain's ways of thinking. Politically speaking, this Chevalier was definitely needed.

Guiche, shaking, humbly accepted the cape. The knights congratulated Guiche.

"You did it, captain!"

"Now we have two Chevaliers in our knight of Ondine!"

"And also, though we can't give you all Chevalier, you all deserve a medal. It's the Medal of White Hair Soul."

Then, Mr. Gito appeared. As always, he seemed unfriendly. In his heart, he was jealous that his students were getting medals.

"Well, one can say you did sort of good. Take it."

With a bored look, he hung the medals around the knights' necks. Proudly, the kids smiled. It wasn't just honor. Having a Soul Medal also gives annual money. For those knights who barely have any pay, this was pretty big.

After the medals were handed out, Osman stood in front of the two girls, Louise and Tiffania.

"Well, since you two came as shrine maidens, we apparently aren’t allowed to give medals to you. Well, that kind of makes sense since those are medals designed for soldiers. However, from the Tristain Church, you two have received a certificate of the Juno priest. They apparently exactly had two seats open."

The students sighed. To receive a certificate of a priest is the gateway towards being rich. Since if one becomes a priest, almost all taxes are free, and in reverse one can gain parts of the church taxes. Therefore, with that certificate, one can gain money by doing nothing. Though it's not a lot of money due to them being ordinary priestesses, it couldn't be compared to the annual pay of a single medal.

To do a rough count, Guiche has about 500 Écu, the other knights about 200 Écu, and Louise and Tiffania about 800 Écu promised of annual pay.

Loud claps rang throughout the hall. However, everybody suddenly realized.

''Saito is the only one who didn't receive anything.'' Thinking that there should be something special for Saito later on, Osman declared the start of the party.

''Well, he did receive the Chevalier last time... Maybe he was just an extra this time...'' The crowd accepted this illogical reasoning.

Huge banquet came after. Around the knights of Ondine, students gathered.

"Lord Guiche! Please tell us about your achievements on the battlefield!"

"Sure sure, ask me anything."

Going with the flow, he started talking about the battle... but then Guiche realized a girl was looking at Guiche from a distance.

"Montmorency..."

However, Montmorency looked away and walked towards the exit of the party. Guiche, immediately pushed away the students around him and chased after her.

Montmorency was standing right outside the hall, facing the opposite side of where Guiche stood. She wouldn't move an inch.

Guiche walked towards her back, fixed his attire and then said to Montmorency, who was still not facing Guiche:

"I became a Chevalier."

"......."

Montmorency stayed completely silent. Guiche tried to walk further towards her, but stoped.

"Well, I know. I completely understand. It's not me; it's all Saito who did it. He's really a great guy. I just happened to be the leader."

Guiche raised his head.

"But... I'll definitely become a man worthy of my new cape. I'll also be the man worthy of you...... Well, see you later."

Guiche walked back towards the hall.

"Wait!"

Montmorency screamed. As Guiche turned back to face her, she ran into his chest.

"Montmo..."

"I... I'm stupid. Even though I know you’re the type that moves around with girls, once you say something nice, I suddenly think you’re amazing."

Guiche cheered in his heart.

"I promise not to look at baths."

"And... I despised myself. I worried a lot. Since the war just started out of no where... I thought you'd die before we'd even get a chance to make up..."

Montmorency, being a little modest, started crying. Seeing this, even Guiche felt bad and saddened. Guiche took something from his pocket and handed it to Montmorency.

"What?"

"I was also thinking about you. I made it by carving a seashell. In Romalia, you apparently give this to women."

On the sea shell was the side view of a woman.

"I made it while thinking about you."

"It's beautiful... I never knew you were so crafty."

With a romantic expression, Montmorency looked at Guiche. They both closed their eyes.... and as their lips got closer... several girls came jumping out of the hall and screamed:

"Guiche! Thanks for such a fantastic carving!"

Montmorency opened her eyes widely, and pushed Guiche away.

"Well... As I was making them, it became so fun that I just unintentionally made many of those..."

"Very crafty, huh? Are you sure accessories aren't the only thing you 'unintentionally make'?"

Montmorency turned around and walked away.

"Malicorne! Please tell us more of the stories!"

With few girls surrounding him, Malicorne was literally crying of joy.

It couldn't have been helped, since after that incident with the knights of Ondine peeking at the girl's bath, their fame dropped down to the ground. It dropped so far that Saito's achievement in Albion, and the fight against Beatriz's dragon knights were completely forgotten.

However, their fame was finally restored.

Going along with the mood, Malicorne happily chattered. In front of him, a clear black-haired girl came upon him.

"Brigitta..."

Malicorne's body froze. After staying shy for a little while, Brigitta finally said, "You made it back safely..."

Realizing the two's mood, the girls surrounding Malicorne left. Malicorne, opened his arms widely like a lead actor in an opera and said grandly, even though he's only a fat kid:

"I was thinking about you all this time."

"I also was thinking about you all this time."

The two stared at each other. Then, Brigitta spoke out softly.

"My friend told me that since you aren't normal, I should bare with some things, or else I won't last."

"... Sorry..."

"It's fine...... While you were at war, I was thinking all this time. Since you’re someone like that, it's normal for you to peek at the girl's bath. No, I'd rather be thankful that that's all you did, so I'll bare with it. So, I'm very sorry for what I said to you before."

She said so in such a brave way that Malicorne felt sorry for what he had done. He realized how much he was living only for his own greed after seeing her cry like this.

"Sorry.... I'm sorry; I seemed to have gone past what I should have done with my sexual desires. From this point on, I'll be normal. I promise. I won't want for you to be sadistic on me anymore. I won't be fat."

Brigitta, feeling grateful, looked at Malicorne. Seeing those two, a girl gives them each a glass of wine.

"Why don't you two drink a glass since you guys are making up?"

The two smiled and drank the glass. They look at each other, and laugh.

"Here, drink more."

Malicorne offered Brigitta more.

"I'm not good with alcohol."

"Today is special; since it's the day I have gone through a rebirth."

Brigitta finally tipped her wine glass. As she did so, she said things like 'wow I'm starting to feel drunk' so Malicorne took her to the balcony.

"Are you okay?"

"This pi... made me feel drunk."

Malicorne heard a nostalgic word.

"Wh.. what did you just say?"

"This pig made me fell drunk."

Malicorne felt this unexplainable nerve signal running through his head to his toes.

"Pig... Me?"

"Yes, where else is there such a pig?"

Brigitta's eyes were already swaying. In her pure and clean face, her eyes were the only irregular parts. Malicorne, losing to her pressure gave a small scream and fell on his hips to the ground.

"I realized while you weren’t here. To my hobby, if I don't make fun of you at least once a day, I can't sleep well."

Saito, looking at the ruckus on the balcony next to him let out a deep sigh. Over there was Malicorne on his hands and feet saying things like” I'm sorry for living” and “This pig is sorry” to a girl with black hair. The girl was screaming through her lungs and making fun of Malicorne.

"Damn it, Guiche and Malicorne, enjoying their peace already."

"Isn't it fine? King Joseph died. Peace is finally achieved. Let them go wild for a little bit."

Next to Saito saying "whatever," was Louise. She tied her hair with a valet and wore a white dress. Seeing her like this still speeds up Saito's heart.

"But doesn't Romalia plan to continue the so called 'Holy War'?"

"They can't. They don't have the four void users now that King Joseph has died."

"But, I just have this feeling that they have the confidence to go on without King Joseph."

Saito told Louise about what he was wondering about.

"Think about it. They knew that King Joseph wouldn't help them, and yet they still fought against him knowing well that he would die. Doesn't that mean they have a way to proceed without him?"

"Think about it..."

Louise said with a little disappointment.

"Wha?"

"We only knew thatKing Joseph was a void user right at the end."

"Oh yeah."

Though there were possibilities that King Joseph was the one from Castelmolle(?)'s letter, no one would have predicted that King Joseph was the void user.

When Saito realized right at the end that King Joseph was the void user... He didn't have time to be surprised because of all the murders that had just occurred but...

"Romalia is also the same. They thought that the void user wasn’t King Joseph. They were planning to become allies with them after they defeat King Joseph, but too bad for them. The void user was in fact King Joseph. They killed the void user they needed. Well, they had no choice that time. If they didn't kill him, they'd have been killed. Their speech towards the Gallian Army at the end was just them being sore losers."

Saito nodded a little bit. Furthermore, only Saito and Tabitha knew of the letter, so Romalia literally had no way of knowing King Joseph was the void user.

"They say things like 'Elves are our enemy!' and 'They are the ones behind everything!' to start some stupid war, but after everyone saw that huge ball of fire, everybody realized that the elves were out of their league. Moreover, they don't have the four void users now, and apparently you need four void users to awaken the true void magic. Sucks to be them! That's why they just went right back to Romalia after Tabitha was crowned queen. Since they have nothing to do now, I bet that they’re regretting declaring a war against the elves right now. They acted all tough, but they destroyed the only method to defeat the elves themselves. The pope probably won’t be the pope any longer! Maybe tomorrow, some news about a new pope might come?"

Saito looked at Louise, too bright for his eyes.

"You... are smart."

"You're just stupid. Anyways, we should just accept the peace that we have for a while."

"Yeah..."

Saito replied back with a dark tone.

Louise pointed her finger up, and then said, "Our job after this is to research about the Founder having an elf familiar. I think the reason we have to fight the elves is in there. If we figure out what happened between them, then I think we may be able to stop our conflict with the elves."

Saito nodded.

"Anyways, I just want to be in peace today."

Louise blushed a little, and then leaned towards Saito. Then, Kirche came.

"Oh, was I interrupting you two?"

Seeing Kirche, smiling, Louise quickly replied, "N... no, you aren't interrupting us!"

Kirche was wearing a night dress, opening her chest areas and then leaned on the balcony fence next to Louise and Saito while distributing her sexy aura everywhere.

"Cheers for Tabitha being queen."

She sounded so lonely.

"Kirche, Tabitha didn't give you any contact after that?"

"Ya, well I got a call from her house. They apparently took her mother back to the castle. That's all I know."

Saito says, "Well isn't she anti-social!"

"She's probably busy."

Louise, calming Saito down, gave an excuse.

After that, Tabitha gave him no contact. Although Saito asked to meet Tabitha, he was denied because they were busy. Well, it probably wasn't Tabitha's decision, but her men's decision... it was still sort of lonely for her and him.

"That's weird though, because Tabitha said she won't be queen."

"She probably has her own way of thinking about things."

"Do you think Romalia said something to her? I'm just worried about that."

As Saito said that, Kirche laughed.

"That's one thing that won't happen to her. Romalia probably think that she’s an easy girl, but she's actually really good at politics. If she has anything to say to us, she'll probably contact us."

"I guess so..."

Saito nodded.

"Why don't you worry about yourself though?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you Saito. Recently, you've become such a fine man."

"R... really?"

"Yeah, not as much as Jean, but you should watch out. You're going to be troubled by girls."

"What do you mean?!"

Louise yelled in fury.

"Oh Louise, you don't have time to lie about your feelings now. If you keep lying, some day another girl will steal him from of you!"

Kirche lightly chuckled and left.

"What is she talking about!? That idiot!"

After realizing Saito was spacing out, she kicked Saito.

"Ow!"

"What’s with your face?! Why do you look so happy? Are you wondering about how you'll be ‘troubled’?"

Saito shook his head after Louise glared at him.

"I, I'm not!"

"Lies. You were definitely imagining it! Girls with thi--s big boobs come towards you."

Louise used her both hands to draw a circle around her chest area to show how big 'thi--s' is to Saito.

"You’re gonna go on four legs like this, plunging your face into those huge boobs, and then hug hug hug hug hug hug! That's your imagination!"

Louise went on four legs and pressed her two hands against her face to act out what she had just said.

"Louise... listen."

"Saito is troubled! Troubled by boobs! What! You aren't troubled at all!?"

"What's with your acting..."

"I just acted out what's in your head!"

Louise stood up and screamed at Saito.

"I've never even thought of being troubled by any other girl than you."

"What do you mean? Are you saying that I trouble you too much?"

"I didn't mean it that way..."

"Say it clearly. Who do you want to be troubled by?"

Louise looked away. Saito immediately realized her 'sign', being so used to Louise.

She's telling Saito to "come romantically".

Louise is just like a newly planted plant. Without the right nutrients, she starts rotting. Well, she gets angry, and it gets troublesome once she gets angry, so Saito must not miss her signs. Saito took a deep breath and complimented Louise.

"I have such a beautiful master next to me. I'd never look away."

Louise growled. She was still worried about what Kirche had just said.

It's true that Saito has become manlier. He probably became like that through all his experiences. He sometimes goes loose, but he is a very responsible vice commander of the Ondine.

Maybe I’m troubled... Louise felt uncertain.

That doesn't mean I'm letting him do what he wants with me. I'm still an aristocrat after all.

The one thing I cannot be is a loose woman.

But look at me right now. I just let Saito do anything with me.

Louise, after imagining the “do anything with me” part became red.

We finally got peace. So I should take my time with those things.

Saito felt awkward after seeing Louise troubled, then blushed and called for Louise, but as he does so...

From the hall came a bright music. It had a nice tempo, and it made anything seem fun.

"T-this song..."

Louise said softly. Saito also realized.

"It's the first song we danced to."

After they defeated Fouquet, they danced together. Saito remembered that night as if it was yesterday.

They somehow held hands and then went back to the hall. They danced to the song. Although Saito's dance was as bad as he was in the beginning, Louise still felt very happy.

"Oh yeah, your dress and your hair are the same as last time too."

"You finally realized?"

"S-sorry."

"You really are dense."

Although Louise felt slight anger from that, dancing with Saito kept her happy.

Looking around her, she saw other people dancing. They looked like fitting couples

Far away, she saw Tiffania. In front of her were many guys requesting a dance. Nobody feared her for being a half elf now. Although Louise and Saito were the only ones that knew that Tiffania is someone that has the blood of the Albion royalty, the male students just couldn't resist her huge bust and her nice personality.

I commend their effort, but none of them is fitting for Tiffania.

Tiffania's beauty is just amazing, even a girl like Louise ends up looking at her and admitting it.

Only some legendary person would actually fit next to Tiffania.

Then what about me?

Louise asked herself.

Do I fit with the hero of Tristain?

Now, Saito's achievements for Tristain are immeasurable. In the war against Gallia, Saito was pretty much fighting solo. Normally, he shouldn't only be a Chevalier, but probably a baron. His achievements aren't inferior to what the legendary heroes in history had done.

In comparison to that, what am I? Aren't I just pulling Saito behind by not being true to my feelings?

Did I do enough to gain a certificate of a priest?

One part of Louise answered back no. Even though Saito didn't receive anything...

Thinking that, her happiness started to fade away.

Am I a match for Saito?

"What's wrong?"

Saito asked Louise, who stopped dancing.

"N-nothing."

"Do you feel hurt somewhere?"

Louise shook her head.

I finally gained peace. I shouldn't worry too much. Saito is next to me anyways.

And... he also said he'll live with me after buying land after graduating.

Worrying might be rude to Saito who's doing that much for me.

"I'm fine, really. Let's continue dancing."

Louise said this with a clear face. However, the clouds of uncertainty that stuck to her heart wouldn't go away.

The party ended, and the students went back to their dorms. Saito and Louise were also on their way back to their room.

When the two arrived at Louise's room at the third floor,

"... I feel really sick."

Louise leaned on Saito's shoulder as she walked wobbly.

"You drink too much."

This was a very rare occasion: Louise drinking until she loses control. Saito thought that that was wrong with her. She's not good with alcohol, and yet she of all people had drunk to near death.

"Heay Sairoo."

"Huh?"

"You sure you will live with me?"

She's only worrying about that? Saito relaxed.

"Yes, I'll live with you. Tomorrow's Void (he's talking about the day of the week) right? Let's go find our mansion tomorrow."

"I'll go."

Louise looked up at Saito as if she was a lost puppy and Saito had come to rescue her, and then nodded multiple times. After that, she stuck closely to Saito.

Seeing Louise like that made Saito feel happy.

"We'll be together forever."

As Saito said that, Louise looked at Saito. Saito just couldn't resist anymore, and ended up hugging and kissing Louise. Louise pushed her lips with great strength onto Saito’s, and no longer got mad when Saito moved his hands towards her thin breast.

"It's small; you don't like it, do you?"

"It's not small."

"Lies. It's small."

Even while saying that, Louise didn’t bother taking Saito's hand off. Wow, how long did it take for me to finally get this far?

Now, the problem is the next step.

Many of the dumb mistakes Saito had done flipped through his head. Every one of those times, it seemed like it was going to work out well, but ended up failing miserably.

This time, I won't fail. Today, I will…

Saito, calming down, started thinking carefully.

How did I fail?

"It's small."

Louise said, lacking her usual courage.

Oh yeah, I've gotten into a lot of trouble because of what I say about her breasts.

I must not tell, indirectly or not, that hers are small. I can't say things like "I agree". Absolutely not.

"I don't know about other people's, but I think yours are quite normal."

They aren’t quite normal at all, but...

"Then that's fine."

First gate, cleared.

Next possible routes to failure… definitely Malicorne. However, he's not here, since it's the girls' dorm.

Second gate, cleared.

Now, there must have been something else... I can't remember. Whatever, it'll work out somehow.

So, I should start my engine?

Something unidentifiable exploded inside Saito's head.

''Alright, accelerating. Full throttle, go.''

"Accelerating?"

Seems like I said some of it out loud. Louise looked at Saito with a questioning face. Saito shook his head and then looked straight at Louise.

"Just talking to myself."

''Should I say it?'' The devil part of him asked. The rational part tried to stop Saito's inner devil.

No, it won't work out. She'll definitely look at me like I’m a creep.

B-but... that's my dream. If I don't do what I want to do, it's like rebelling against god, who created us to be rational.

A sound of a hammer arose inside his head.

I’ll do it.

"Anyways, you’re just really cute. I have a request for the very cute you."

Saito's eyes were already looking at his own world. Louise, almost getting sober, resisted. ''I've decided to follow him. I won't be surprised whatever he tells me.''

"Say 'Little kitty wants big kitty to bully me'."

"What?"

Louise felt everything falling apart in her head. She simply looked at Saito as if he was a creep.

"Say it, please. No, you have to say it."

Saito had a completely straight face. Louise felt some sort of resistance in her heart. This is getting too far. What's the little kitty? Is he talking about me? What's this quote really? Hey mother, where is he trying to take me to?

Even Louise came back to her senses. This was how dumb Saito was.

''But...'' Louise thought hardly.

Even though he's like this right now, it was fun dancing with him. I don't know why, but I apparently have to be with this foolish man...

"Say it, please say it. Sorry."

"...Will you be nice to me if I say it?"

"Definitely."

"Won't say anything mean?"

"Never."

Louise, having no choice, nodded because she wanted more of Saito's gentle kisses. She wanted him to tell her that she's cute. She bared with it, since she knew was aware of Saito's mental awkwardness. In the end, Louise was a strong girl.

Then, she said it. Blushing. Shaking.

"Little kitty wants big kitty to bully me."

"THANK YOUUUU!!!"

Saito hugged Louise tightly, unlocked the door, and then opened the door, while hugging Louise.

Along with her maid friends, Siesta, opening her jaws wide open, next to a banner saying "Welcome back Saito" and food, was waiting in Louise's room.

Saito cooled down.

Oh yeah, right now, Siesta's my maid... so she was there the whole time... so she heard what I said...

Her maid friends stayed frozen for a little bit, and then they burst into laughter. Siesta whispered in a voice filled with malicious intent.

[[Image:ZnT16-042.jpg|thumb]]

"Welcome back, meow."

The other maids start laughing even harder. Louise took a deep breath, and started kicking Saito who was the cause of her embarrassment.

Saito was moaning in agony in his bed from the pain that was even harsher than what he had received in the war against Gallia. The other maids went home, and then Siesta and Louise started an endless verbal battle.

"Miss. Vallière does it too far."

"Huh? What are you talking about? And why do you welcome back Saito, but not me?"

Louise pointed at the banner.

"Well, that's because I'm Saito's personal maid. I have nothing to do with you, Ms. Vallière. Anyways, good to see you home safe."

"I don't feel any emotions in your words!"

Siesta, ignoring Louise started hugging Saito.

"Are you okay? She's such an awful master."

"Sorry! Really, Louise, sorry!"

Saito was talking in his sleep. He was apparently being hit by Louise even in his dreams.

"You did so much in this war, right Saito? I feel proud just as if I were you!"

"Sorry! I'm sorry for living!"

"Don't worry, I, Siesta will always be on your side. In the end, I'm number one, right? I won't get mad if you look at other girls, or even if you kiss them. I’d kill you if you did more than that, but I still love you."

Siesta petted the unconscious Saito's head.

Sort of pisses me off hearing this... but I guess I'll let it go today, since I'm going to live with Saito once I graduate. Goodbye Siesta! Louise felt as if she was the victor of this whole fight for Saito.

"Why are you smiling?"

Siesta, who realized Louise was acting weird, stared at Louise. Louise crossed her leg on her chair, and said slowly, "Nothing~".

"Please tell me."

"Fine. It’s kinda the ‘You can do whatever you want with Saito for today’ thing."

"What do you mean?"

Siesta moved towards Louise.

"I mean, I'm going to live with Saito after we graduate. I mean, why don't you have fun with him while it lasts? I'll allow some of it."

"What are you saying..."

Siesta made a face.

"Huh?"

"If Saito moves, then I'm obviously coming with him."

"I don't need any maids. We are going for a small place to live."

"Miss. Vallière is not the one to decide."

"What?"

"You know already. I was assigned to be Saito's maid by her Majesty. So, if you dismiss me or fire me, it's as if you’re telling her Majesty that you’re rebelling."

Louise shook. It's true, Louise alone couldn't dismiss Siesta.

Siesta, feeling victorious, told Louise.

"Well anyways, if you’re looking for a mansion, I'll come with you guys, since it'll be my new workplace!"

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume15_Epilogue|Volume 15]]
| Return to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume16_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume16 Chapter1

2012-03-08T03:27:49Z

Neojimmy6: Haha! I've fixed a bunch of errors I found, trying to improve this text. I might do so for other texts as well. If you find any errors I didn't see(I'm sure there are a lot), please do. Thank you!

===Chapter 1: The Reward of the Campaign===



"This war was definitely a harsh one. The war was started by the former King of Gallia, Joseph. His conspiracy included turning not only Romalia, but also Halkeginia into ashes."

Osman's voice resounded throughout the hall.

This is the main tower, of the second floor of the magic academy's dancing hall. Students who were dressed nicely were listening to Osman's speech meekly.

When the sudden war between Romalia and Gallia was started, they fell in horror. Since the war between Albion had just ended, their hometown was in a desperate situation.

They were in no shape for war.

What if the crazy Gallian King suddenly attacked them? They would have been destroyed in a heartbeat.

However, this ended. In the battle of Carcassonne, King Joseph died fighting. In an instant, a new queen was crowned and the war was over.

"We fell in horror. I didn't want to become ashes, I mean, didn't you want to live longer? If I had become ashes, I wouldn't have been able to pet female hips. That's something I can't live without. All of you here also feel the same way, right?"

The hall becomes silent. Osman, after faking a cough, continued.

"However, god did not leave us! If there's a crazy king, there must be a hero! If there's a crazy conspiracy, then there's a justice that would defeat it! These people, are the ones who destroyed the ambition of that crazy king!"

The students gulped.

Yes... The ones who helped earn this victory was...

"Yes! The stupid conspiracy by that crazy king was stopped by these heroes! By the heroes whom you all know well! Let me introduce them!"

With Osman's signal, a silk curtain behind him fell. The students cheered loudly.

"These people are the ones who saved this world! The knights of Ondine and the Shrine Maidens of our Founder!"

There, there were the knights of Ondine in formal attires along with Louise and Tiffania. Amidst cheers such as "Woooooh!", "Hooray knights of Ondine!", and "Hooray Tiffania!", the boys and girls blushed out of honor and shyness.

The students at the academy were made to realize that the knights who go to the same academy as they do have done tremendous achievements in this war.

"Listen students. Though it was their first experience in battle, they've achieved quite a lot. Destroying those strong golems on Tiger Road, the one on one on Linen River, and Joseph's unimaginable... huge fireball that used the magic of the elves..., those fires that destroyed the huge fleet... it is said that it was all stopped due to their achievements!"

Cheers roared even more.

The accomplishments of the Knights, especially the vice commander Chevalier de Hiraga's, were passed down to everybody.

This was the first instance in which a single knight, a group of knights to lead a victory in war. Moreover, rumors say that the new queen is Tabitha who was recently a student, just like them. Although nobody knew what kind of drama occurred, the knights of Ondine must have played a part in helping Tabitha becoming the queen.

The beautiful... glorious victory's outcome.

And the fact that they had connections to the new queen of Gallia. The students of the academy felt unmeasurable happiness because they were studying at the same exact schools as the heroes, and were very close in age.

The knights of Ondine guarded the new queen Charlotte to the capital of Gallia, Lutèce, from Carcassonne along with the Romalian army, and went in to the castle.

The citizens of Gallia welcomed them with great cheers.

After that, they guarded her majesty queen Henrietta to Tristain, and finally came back.

"Hooray for the Ondine!"

Osman stood in front of the boys and congratulated every one of them.

"Yes yes, I feel honored as if I am you all. Since you guys are me! I, the principal of this magic academy has raised you single handily... yes yes!"

Osman nodded happily as he congratulated.

"I raised you all, yes yes!"

The knights of Ondine looked at each other. It's true that the principal is the principal, but did he even teach us anything? Did he raise us? They made such faces. Along with this, other students' cheers slowly faded.

"Y.. yes! It's all thanks to your teachings!"

The clever Guiche took Osman's side. "It's not a bad thing to lend Osman a favor or two."

Then, Osman sharply observed Guiche, then went near him.

"Guiche..."

"Yes! Old Osman!"

Expecting some sort of medal, Guiche stood as perfect as he could.

"You are a very nice student. I'll give you a prize."

Guiche shook with happiness. Not only did he already receive a medal at Albion, he is about to have another big honor. What will it be? Will it be the treasure wand made of gold and diamond tips that is only given to the top student of the academy? If he does receive such treasure, it's as if his path for success is already promised...

However, Osman's words betrayed Guiche's thoughts.

"You can hug me."

Osman said it straightforwardly.

"Excuse me?"

However, Osman continued to pull Guiche towards him with his thumb. Guiche shook his head.

Next was Saito.

"You can hug me."

Saito shook his head without uttering a single word. Then Reynal.

"You can hug me."

Reynal, whose face showed mild anger, whispered "Don't mess around with us. You make fun of... our pride... and honor.... Why you..."

Though he tried to talk back to Osman, it was too late. At that time, Osman was already talking to Adrian next to him. He is Reynal's classmate with short red hair.

He shook his head before even being asked for a hug. Then, Osman went to the next people: Alsenu, Guston, Varantun, Victor, Paul, Ernesto, Oscar, and Gazmeal.

Every one of them declined Osman’s offer. Not a single person wanted to hug Osman. Nor did they understand why they had to. Amidst the awkward tension surrounding the knights of Ondine, Osman came towards the final one, Maricorne.

Malicorne, without waiting for Osman to even ask for a hug, immediately said,

"Okay!"

Osman, after staring at Maricorne for a little then said, "Well, leaving the jokes aside..." Reynal who was about to jump Osman was stopped by his fellow knights.

"The government gave all of you honor befitting your performances."

Ms. Chevreuse, who was dressed in formal attire just like the knights of Ondine appeared. She had something in her hand. The knights of Ondine when seeing what she held widened their eyes out of surprise. There was black writing along with a silver pentagon, shining across.

"Is this... the cape for a Chevalier!?"

Guiche screamed.

"Yes. The achievements of the knights of Ondine in this war are enough for the captain Guiche to be recognized as ‘Chevalier’"

That was true. Although Saito was the one who did all the achievements, the ones who joined the Gallian Royalty War ( what it is called by everybody) were only the knights of Ondine. The least the government could have done to reward them was to give a ‘Chevalier’. In other words, if Tristain didn't bother giving a title like this, the people would start questioning Tristain's ways of thinking. Politically speaking, this Chevalier was definitely needed.

Guiche, shaking, humbly accepted the cape. The knights congratulated Guiche.

"You did it, captain!"

"Now we have two Chevaliers in our knight of Ondine!"

"And also, though we can't give you all Chevalier, you all deserve a medal. It's the Medal of White Hair Soul."

Then, Mr. Gito appeared. As always, he seemed unfriendly. In his heart, he was jealous that his students were getting medals.

"Well, one can say you did sort of good. Take it."

With a bored look, he hung the medals around the knights' necks. Proudly, the kids smiled. It wasn't just honor. Having a Soul Medal also gives annual money. For those knights who barely have any pay, this was pretty big.

After the medals were handed out, Osman stood in front of the two girls, Louise and Tiffania.

"Well, since you two came as shrine maidens, we apparently aren’t allowed to give medals to you. Well, that kind of makes sense since those are medals designed for soldiers. However, from the Tristain Church, you two have received a certificate of the Juno priest. They apparently exactly had two seats open."

The students sighed. To receive a certificate of a priest is the gateway towards being rich. Since if one becomes a priest, almost all taxes are free, and in reverse one can gain parts of the church taxes. Therefore, with that certificate, one can gain money by doing nothing. Though it's not a lot of money due to them being ordinary priestesses, it couldn't be compared to the annual pay of a single medal.

To do a rough count, Guiche has about 500 Écu, the other knights about 200 Écu, and Louise and Tiffania about 800 Écu promised of annual pay.

Loud claps rang throughout the hall. However, everybody suddenly realized.

''Saito is the only one who didn't receive anything.'' Thinking that there should be something special for Saito later on, Osman declared the start of the party.

''Well, he did receive the Chevalier last time... Maybe he was just an extra this time...'' The crowd accepted this illogical reasoning.

Huge banquet came after. Around the knights of Ondine, students gathered.

"Lord Guiche! Please tell us about your achievements on the battlefield!"

"Sure sure, ask me anything."

Going with the flow, he started talking about the battle... but then Guiche realized a girl was looking at Guiche from a distance.

"Montmorency..."

However, Montmorency looked away and walked towards the exit of the party. Guiche, immediately pushed away the students around him and chased after her.

Montmorency was standing right outside the hall, facing the opposite side of where Guiche stood. She wouldn't move an inch.

Guiche walked towards her back, fixed his attire and then said to Montmorency, who was still not facing Guiche:

"I became a Chevalier."

"......."

Montmorency stayed completely silent. Guiche tried to walk further towards her, but stoped.

"Well, I know. I completely understand. It's not me; it's all Saito who did it. He's really a great guy. I just happened to be the leader."

Guiche raised his head.

"But... I'll definitely become a man worthy of my new cape. I'll also be the man worthy of you...... Well, see you later."

Guiche walked back towards the hall.

"Wait!"

Montmorency screamed. As Guiche turned back to face her, she ran into his chest.

"Montmo..."

"I... I'm stupid. Even though I know you’re the type that moves around with girls, once you say something nice, I suddenly think you’re amazing."

Guiche cheered in his heart.

"I promise not to look at baths."

"And... I despised myself. I worried a lot. Since the war just started out of no where... I thought you'd die before we'd even get a chance to make up..."

Montmorency, being a little modest, started crying. Seeing this, even Guiche felt bad and saddened. Guiche took something from his pocket and handed it to Montmorency.

"What?"

"I was also thinking about you. I made it by carving a seashell. In Romalia, you apparently give this to women."

On the sea shell was the side view of a woman.

"I made it while thinking about you."

"It's beautiful... I never knew you were so crafty."

With a romantic expression, Montmorency looked at Guiche. They both closed their eyes.... and as their lips got closer... several girls came jumping out of the hall and screamed:

"Guiche! Thanks for such a fantastic carving!"

Montmorency opened her eyes widely, and pushed Guiche away.

"Well... As I was making them, it became so fun that I just unintentionally made many of those..."

"Very crafty, huh? Are you sure accessories aren't the only thing you 'unintentionally make'?"

Montmorency turned around and walked away.

"Malicorne! Please tell us more of the stories!"

With few girls surrounding him, Malicorne was literally crying of joy.

It couldn't have been helped, since after that incident with the knights of Ondine peeking at the girl's bath, their fame dropped down to the ground. It dropped so far that Saito's achievement in Albion, and the fight against Beatriz's dragon knights were completely forgotten.

However, their fame was finally restored.

Going along with the mood, Malicorne happily chattered. In front of him, a clear black-haired girl came upon him.

"Brigitta..."

Malicorne's body froze. After staying shy for a little while, Brigitta finally said, "You made it back safely..."

Realizing the two's mood, the girls surrounding Malicorne left. Malicorne, opened his arms widely like a lead actor in an opera and said grandly, even though he's only a fat kid:

"I was thinking about you all this time."

"I also was thinking about you all this time."

The two stared at each other. Then, Brigitta spoke out softly.

"My friend told me that since you aren't normal, I should bare with some things, or else I won't last."

"... Sorry..."

"It's fine...... While you were at war, I was thinking all this time. Since you’re someone like that, it's normal for you to peek at the girl's bath. No, I'd rather be thankful that that's all you did, so I'll bare with it. So, I'm very sorry for what I said to you before."

She said so in such a brave way that Malicorne felt sorry for what he had done. He realized how much he was living only for his own greed after seeing her cry like this.

"Sorry.... I'm sorry; I seemed to have gone past what I should have done with my sexual desires. From this point on, I'll be normal. I promise. I won't want for you to be sadistic on me anymore. I won't be fat."

Brigitta, feeling grateful, looked at Malicorne. Seeing those two, a girl gives them each a glass of wine.

"Why don't you two drink a glass since you guys are making up?"

The two smiled and drank the glass. They look at each other, and laugh.

"Here, drink more."

Malicorne offered Brigitta more.

"I'm not good with alcohol."

"Today is special; since it's the day I have gone through a rebirth."

Brigitta finally tipped her wine glass. As she did so, she said things like 'wow I'm starting to feel drunk' so Malicorne took her to the balcony.

"Are you okay?"

"This pi... made me feel drunk."

Malicorne heard a nostalgic word.

"Wh.. what did you just say?"

"This pig made me fell drunk."

Malicorne felt this unexplainable nerve signal running through his head to his toes.

"Pig... Me?"

"Yes, where else is there such a pig?"

Brigitta's eyes were already swaying. In her pure and clean face, her eyes were the only irregular parts. Malicorne, losing to her pressure gave a small scream and fell on his hips to the ground.

"I realized while you weren’t here. To my hobby, if I don't make fun of you at least once a day, I can't sleep well."

Saito, looking at the ruckus on the balcony next to him let out a deep sigh. Over there was Malicorne on his hands and feet saying things like” I'm sorry for living” and “This pig is sorry” to a girl with black hair. The girl was screaming through her lungs and making fun of Malicorne.

"Damn it, Guiche and Malicorne, enjoying their peace already."

"Isn't it fine? King Joseph died. Peace is finally achieved. Let them go wild for a little bit."

Next to Saito saying "whatever," was Louise. She tied her hair with a valet and wore a white dress. Seeing her like this still speeds up Saito's heart.

"But doesn't Romalia plan to continue the so called 'Holy War'?"

"They can't. They don't have the four void users now that King Joseph has died."

"But, I just have this feeling that they have the confidence to go on without King Joseph."

Saito told Louise about what he was wondering about.

"Think about it. They knew that King Joseph wouldn't help them, and yet they still fought against him knowing well that he would die. Doesn't that mean they have a way to proceed without him?"

"Think about it..."

Louise said with a little disappointment.

"Wha?"

"We only knew thatKing Joseph was a void user right at the end."

"Oh yeah."

Though there were possibilities that King Joseph was the one from Castelmolle(?)'s letter, no one would have predicted that King Joseph was the void user.

When Saito realized right at the end that King Joseph was the void user... He didn't have time to be surprised because of all the murders that had just occurred but...

"Romalia is also the same. They thought that the void user wasn’t King Joseph. They were planning to become allies with them after they defeat King Joseph, but too bad for them. The void user was in fact King Joseph. They killed the void user they needed. Well, they had no choice that time. If they didn't kill him, they'd have been killed. Their speech towards the Gallian Army at the end was just them being sore losers."

Saito nodded a little bit. Furthermore, only Saito and Tabitha knew of the letter, so Romalia literally had no way of knowing King Joseph was the void user.

"They say things like 'Elves are our enemy!' and 'They are the ones behind everything!' to start some stupid war, but after everyone saw that huge ball of fire, everybody realized that the elves were out of their league. Moreover, they don't have the four void users now, and apparently you need four void users to awaken the true void magic. Sucks to be them! That's why they just went right back to Romalia after Tabitha was crowned queen. Since they have nothing to do now, I bet that they’re regretting declaring a war against the elves right now. They acted all tough, but they destroyed the only method to defeat the elves themselves. The pope probably won’t be the pope any longer! Maybe tomorrow, some news about a new pope might come?"

Saito looked at Louise, too bright for his eyes.

"You... are smart."

"You're just stupid. Anyways, we should just accept the peace that we have for a while."

"Yeah..."

Saito replied back with a dark tone.

Louise pointed her finger up, and then said, "Our job after this is to research about the Founder having an elf familiar. I think the reason we have to fight the elves is in there. If we figure out what happened between them, then I think we may be able to stop our conflict with the elves."

Saito nodded.

"Anyways, I just want to be in peace today."

Louise blushed a little, and then leaned towards Saito. Then, Kirche came.

"Oh, was I interrupting you two?"

Seeing Kirche, smiling, Louise quickly replied, "N... no, you aren't interrupting us!"

Kirche was wearing a night dress, opening her chest areas and then leaned on the balcony fence next to Louise and Saito while distributing her sexy aura everywhere.

"Cheers for Tabitha being queen."

She sounded so lonely.

"Kirche, Tabitha didn't give you any contact after that?"

"Ya, well I got a call from her house. They apparently took her mother back to the castle. That's all I know."

Saito says, "Well isn't she anti-social!"

"She's probably busy."

Louise, calming Saito down, gave an excuse.

After that, Tabitha gave him no contact. Although Saito asked to meet Tabitha, he was denied because they were busy. Well, it probably wasn't Tabitha's decision, but her men's decision... it was still sort of lonely for her and him.

"That's weird though, because Tabitha said she won't be queen."

"She probably has her own way of thinking about things."

"Do you think Romalia said something to her? I'm just worried about that."

As Saito said that, Kirche laughed.

"That's one thing that won't happen to her. Romalia probably think that she’s an easy girl, but she's actually really good at politics. If she has anything to say to us, she'll probably contact us."

"I guess so..."

Saito nodded.

"Why don't you worry about yourself though?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you Saito. Recently, you've become such a fine man."

"R... really?"

"Yeah, not as much as Jean, but you should watch out. You're going to be troubled by girls."

"What do you mean?!"

Louise yelled in fury.

"Oh Louise, you don't have time to lie about your feelings now. If you keep lying, some day another girl will steal him from of you!"

Kirche lightly chuckled and left.

"What is she talking about!? That idiot!"

After realizing Saito was spacing out, she kicked Saito.

"Ow!"

"What’s with your face?! Why do you look so happy? Are you wondering about how you'll be ‘troubled’?"

Saito shook his head after Louise glared at him.

"I, I'm not!"

"Lies. You were definitely imagining it! Girls with thi--s big boobs come towards you."

Louise used her both hands to draw a circle around her chest area to show how big 'thi--s' is to Saito.

"You’re gonna go on four legs like this, plunging your face into those huge boobs, and then hug hug hug hug hug hug! That's your imagination!"

Louise went on four legs and pressed her two hands against her face to act out what she had just said.

"Louise... listen."

"Saito is troubled! Troubled by boobs! What! You aren't troubled at all!?"

"What's with your acting..."

"I just acted out what's in your head!"

Louise stood up and screamed at Saito.

"I've never even thought of being troubled by any other girl than you."

"What do you mean? Are you saying that I trouble you too much?"

"I didn't mean it that way..."

"Say it clearly. Who do you want to be troubled by?"

Louise looked away. Saito immediately realized her 'sign', being so used to Louise.

She's telling Saito to "come romantically".

Louise is just like a newly planted plant. Without the right nutrients, she starts rotting. Well, she gets angry, and it gets troublesome once she gets angry, so Saito must not miss her signs. Saito took a deep breath and complimented Louise.

"I have such a beautiful master next to me. I'd never look away."

Louise growled. She was still worried about what Kirche had just said.

It's true that Saito has become manlier. He probably became like that through all his experiences. He sometimes goes loose, but he is a very responsible vice commander of the Ondine.

Maybe I’m troubled... Louise felt uncertain.

That doesn't mean I'm letting him do what he wants with me. I'm still an aristocrat after all.

The one thing I cannot be is a loose woman.

But look at me right now. I just let Saito do anything with me.

Louise, after imagining the “do anything with me” part became red.

We finally got peace. So I should take my time with those things.

Saito felt awkward after seeing Louise troubled, then blushed and called for Louise, but as he does so...

From the hall came a bright music. It had a nice tempo, and it made anything seem fun.

"T-this song..."

Louise said softly. Saito also realized.

"It's the first song we danced to."

After they defeated Fouquet, they danced together. Saito remembered that night as if it was yesterday.

They somehow held hands and then went back to the hall. They danced to the song. Although Saito's dance was as bad as he was in the beginning, Louise still felt very happy.

"Oh yeah, your dress and your hair are the same as last time too."

"You finally realized?"

"S-sorry."

"You really are dense."

Although Louise felt slight anger from that, dancing with Saito kept her happy.

Looking around her, she saw other people dancing. They looked like fitting couples

Far away, she saw Tiffania. In front of her were many guys requesting a dance. Nobody feared her for being a half elf now. Although Louise and Saito were the only ones that knew that Tiffania is someone that has the blood of the Albion royalty, the male students just couldn't resist her huge bust and her nice personality.

I commend their effort, but none of them is fitting for Tiffania.

Tiffania's beauty is just amazing, even a girl like Louise ends up looking at her and admitting it.

Only some legendary person would actually fit next to Tiffania.

Then what about me?

Louise asked herself.

Do I fit with the hero of Tristain?

Now, Saito's achievements for Tristain are immeasurable. In the war against Gallia, Saito was pretty much fighting solo. Normally, he shouldn't only be a Chevalier, but probably a baron. His achievements aren't inferior to what the legendary heroes in history had done.

In comparison to that, what am I? Aren't I just pulling Saito behind by not being true to my feelings?

Did I do enough to gain a certificate of a priest?

One part of Louise answered back no. Even though Saito didn't receive anything...

Thinking that, her happiness started to fade away.

Am I a match for Saito?

"What's wrong?"

Saito asked Louise, who stopped dancing.

"N-nothing."

"Do you feel hurt somewhere?"

Louise shook her head.

I finally gained peace. I shouldn't worry too much. Saito is next to me anyways.

And... he also said he'll live with me after buying land after graduating.

Worrying might be rude to Saito who's doing that much for me.

"I'm fine, really. Let's continue dancing."

Louise said this with a clear face. However, the clouds of uncertainty that stuck to her heart wouldn't go away.

The party ended, and the students went back to their dorms. Saito and Louise were also on their way back to their room.

When the two arrived at Louise's room at the third floor,

"... I feel really sick."

Louise leaned on Saito's shoulder as she walked wobbly.

"You drink too much."

This was a very rare occasion: Louise drinking until she loses control. Saito thought that that was wrong with her. She's not good with alcohol, and yet she of all people had drunk to near death.

"Heay Sairoo."

"Huh?"

"You sure you will live with me?"

She's only worrying about that? Saito relaxed.

"Yes, I'll live with you. Tomorrow's Void (he's talking about the day of the week) right? Let's go find our mansion tomorrow."

"I'll go."

Louise looked up at Saito as if she was a lost puppy and Saito had come to rescue her, and then nodded multiple times. After that, she stuck closely to Saito.

Seeing Louise like that made Saito feel happy.

"We'll be together forever."

As Saito said that, Louise looked at Saito. Saito just couldn't resist anymore, and ended up hugging and kissing Louise. Louise pushed her lips with great strength onto Saito’s, and no longer got mad when Saito moved his hands towards her thin breast.

"It's small; you don't like it, do you?"

"It's not small."

"Lies. It's small."

Even while saying that, Louise didn’t bother taking Saito's hand off. Wow, how long did it take for me to finally get this far?

Now, the problem is the next step.

Many of the dumb mistakes Saito had done flipped through his head. Every one of those times, it seemed like it was going to work out well, but ended up failing miserably.

This time, I won't fail. Today, I will…

Saito, calming down, started thinking carefully.

How did I fail?

"It's small."

Louise said, lacking her usual courage.

Oh yeah, I've gotten into a lot of trouble because of what I say about her breasts.

I must not tell, indirectly or not, that hers are small. I can't say things like "I agree". Absolutely not.

"I don't know about other people's, but I think yours are quite normal."

They aren’t quite normal at all, but...

"Then that's fine."

First gate, cleared.

Next possible routes to failure… definitely Malicorne. However, he's not here, since it's the girls' dorm.

Second gate, cleared.

Now, there must have been something else... I can't remember. Whatever, it'll work out somehow.

So, I should start my engine?

Something unidentifiable exploded inside Saito's head.

''Alright, accelerating. Full throttle, go.''

"Accelerating?"

Seems like I said some of it out loud. Louise looked at Saito with a questioning face. Saito shook his head and then looked straight at Louise.

"Just talking to myself."

''Should I say it?'' The devil part of him asked. The rational part tried to stop Saito's inner devil.

No, it won't work out. She'll definitely look at me like I’m a creep.

B-but... that's my dream. If I don't do what I want to do, it's like rebelling against god, who created us to be rational.

A sound of a hammer arose inside his head.

I’ll do it.

"Anyways, you’re just really cute. I have a request for the very cute you."

Saito's eyes were already looking at his own world. Louise, almost getting sober, resisted. ''I've decided to follow him. I won't be surprised whatever he tells me.''

"Say 'Little kitty wants big kitty to bully me'."

"What?"

Louise felt everything falling apart in her head. She simply looked at Saito as if he was a creep.

"Say it, please. No, you have to say it."

Saito had a completely straight face. Louise felt some sort of resistance in her heart. This is getting too far. What's the little kitty? Is he talking about me? What's this quote really? Hey mother, where is he trying to take me to?

Even Louise came back to her senses. This was how dumb Saito was.

''But...'' Louise thought hardly.

Even though he's like this right now, it was fun dancing with him. I don't know why, but I apparently have to be with this foolish man...

"Say it, please say it. Sorry."

"...Will you be nice to me if I say it?"

"Definitely."

"Won't say anything mean?"

"Never."

Louise, having no choice, nodded because she wanted more of Saito's gentle kisses. She wanted him to tell her that she's cute. She bared with it, since she knew was aware of Saito's mental awkwardness. In the end, Louise was a strong girl.

Then, she said it. Blushing. Shaking.

"Little kitty wants big kitty to bully me."

"THANK YOUUUU!!!"

Saito hugged Louise tightly, unlocked the door, and then opened the door, while hugging Louise.

Along with her maid friends, Siesta, opening her jaws wide open, next to a banner saying "Welcome back Saito" and food, was waiting in Louise's room.

Saito cooled down.

Oh yeah, right now, Siesta's my maid... so she was there the whole time... so she heard what I said...

Her maid friends stayed frozen for a little bit, and then they burst into laughter. Siesta whispered in a voice filled with malicious intent.

[[Image:ZnT16-042.jpg|thumb]]

"Welcome back, meow."

The other maids start laughing even harder. Louise took a deep breath, and started kicking Saito who was the cause of her embarrassment.

Saito was moaning in agony in his bed from the pain that was even harsher than what he had received in the war against Gallia. The other maids went home, and then Siesta and Louise started an endless verbal battle.

"Miss. Vallière does it too far."

"Huh? What are you talking about? And why do you welcome back Saito, but not me?"

Louise pointed at the banner.

"Well, that's because I'm Saito's personal maid. I have nothing to do with you, Ms. Vallière. Anyways, good to see you home safe."

"I don't feel any emotions in your words!"

Siesta, ignoring Louise started hugging Saito.

"Are you okay? She's such an awful master."

"Sorry! Really, Louise, sorry!"

Saito was talking in his sleep. He was apparently being hit by Louise even in his dreams.

"You did so much in this war, right Saito? I feel proud just as if I were you!"

"Sorry! I'm sorry for living!"

"Don't worry, I, Siesta will always be on your side. In the end, I'm number one, right? I won't get mad if you look at other girls, or even if you kiss them. I’d kill you if you did more than that, but I still love you."

Siesta petted the unconscious Saito's head.

Sort of pisses me off hearing this... but I guess I'll let it go today, since I'm going to live with Saito once I graduate. Goodbye Siesta! Louise felt as if she was the victor of this whole fight for Saito.

"Why are you smiling?"

Siesta, who realized Louise was acting weird, stared at Louise. Louise crossed her leg on her chair, and said slowly, "Nothing~".

"Please tell me."

"Fine. It’s kinda the ‘You can do whatever you want with Saito for today’ thing."

"What do you mean?"

Siesta moved towards Louise.

"I mean, I'm going to live with Saito after we graduate. I mean, why don't you have fun with him while it lasts? I'll allow some of it."

"What are you saying..."

Siesta made a face.

"Huh?"

"If Saito moves, then I'm obviously coming with him."

"I don't need any maids. We are going for a small place to live."

"Miss. Vallière is not the one to decide."

"What?"

"You know already. I was assigned to be Saito's maid by her Majesty. So, if you dismiss me or fire me, it's as if you’re telling her Majesty that you’re rebelling."

Louise shook. It's true, Louise alone couldn't dismiss Siesta.

Siesta, feeling victorious, told Louise.

"Well anyways, if you’re looking for a mansion, I'll come with you guys, since it'll be my new workplace!"

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| Back to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume15_Epilogue|Volume 15]]
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| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume16_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
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User:Neojimmy6

2011-09-10T18:27:04Z

Neojimmy6: Just making my user page ^.^

When I see mistakes, I correct them. That's really all there is to it. I might edit a bit in the future too.

I really have no idea how to speak Japanese, but I do consider myself to be quite fluent in the English language.

Cheers,

-Jimmy Li