Zero no Tsukaima:Volume1 Story2 Chapter5
Chapter 8: The Staff Of Destruction
The second morning…
At the Tristain Academy of Magic, there was much commotion since last night just as though a wasp’s nest had been stirred.
Why? Because the staff of destruction had been stolen.
And it was brazenly stolen by using an Earth Golem to break through the wall of the vault.
The teachers of the Academy of magic, gathering inside the vault were speechless when they saw the gaping hole on the wall.
The inscription on the wall etched by Fouquet the Dirt Crumb said it all: [I have acquired the Staff of Destruction. Fouquet the Dirt Crumb]
At this point in time, all the teachers at the academy could do was to gripe and whine “It’s that thief that has looted the nobles clean, Fouquet the Dirt Crumb! How daring of him (1) to target the academy! “ “What were the guards doing?” “Even if the guards are around, they’re useless! They’re only peasants! Speaking of which, which noble was supposed to be on duty last night?”
Miss Chevreuse felt anxious. She was supposed to be on duty last night. “But who would steal from the academy?” she thought while sleeping soundly in her own room instead of being next to the vault door like all nobles on watch duty must do.
One of the teachers immediately pointed out and said, “Mrs. Chevreuse! You were supposed to be on duty last night! Am I right?”
Miss Chevreuse broke into tears and said, ”I’m very sorry… very sorry…” “Even if you cried your heart out, would it come back? Or are you going to pay for it?” “But…but I just finished paying for my house” Miss Chevreuse knelt down on the floor and wept.
Just then, Old Osman arrived. “Erm….This is not best time to be hard on ladies, right?” The fellow teacher who reprimanded Miss Chevreuse retorted, “But Osman, Miss Chevreuse failed in her duty! She was sleeping soundly in her bed when she was supposed to be on watch!”
Old Osman gently stroke his long beard while looking at the very shaken and stirred teacher. “Erm… What’s your name again?” “It’s Gimli! Have you forgotten?” “Oh, right! Gimli! Well, Mr. Gimli, don’t get angry. Honestly speaking, how many of you here can say that you’re always vigilant throughout your tour of duty?” Old Osman replied The teachers looked at each other and hung their heads in shame. There was silence.
“Well, that’s the situation that we’re in now. Talking about responsibility, I think all of us, including myself; have to be held accountable for this incident. Why do we think that a thief could never infiltrate the academy? Is it because of the number of magicians we have in the academy here that gives us the assurance that we won’t be attacked? This type of thinking is wrong from the start.”
Old Osman gazed at the hole in the wall and continued saying, “It’s our complacency that gave Fouquet the courage to trespass, and steal the staff of destruction. We’re all at fault.”
Miss Chevreuse looked upon Old Osman with gratitude and said, “Oh! Osman, Mr. Osman! Thank you for your benevolence. From now on I’ll look upon you as though you’re my father” “Well, that… Hehe… Miss…” Old Osman started to stroke Miss Chevreuse’s bottom. “If that’s ok with you…. It’s up to the headmaster then.”
Old Osman, not wanting to put the blame on anybody, decided that was the best way to loosen the uptight atmosphere. After that he proceeded to clear his throat, with everybody remaining solemn waiting for him to speak.
“Well then, who were the ones who witnessed the theft?” Osman asked.
“It was these three.” Said Mr. Colbert while pointing to the three persons behind him. Louise, Kirche and Tabitha. Saito was also present but due to the fact that he’s a familiar, he’s not counted as a “person”.
“Oh… It’s you guys…” Osman said as he looked at Saito with great interest. Saito did not know why he is being stared at, but remained courteous nonetheless.
“Please tell us the event in depth.”
Louise stepped forward and described what she saw “Mm… A great clay golem appeared and broke the wall. The hooded magician standing on its shoulder went in and took something…… I think it most probably was the staff of destruction...... After that the hooded magician rode on the golem and escaped beyond the city walls…… The golem in the end, became a big lump of earth”
“After that, what happened?”
”Later, all we saw was a lump of earth, with no sign of the hooded magician.”
“So… this is what happened…” Osman said while stroking his beard.
“Even though we wanted to carry on the chase, but without any leads we couldn't. So…”
At this point in time Old Osman suddenly remembered a question to asks Mr. Colbert, ”Ah, Where is Miss Longueville?”
“I’m not sure; I haven’t seen her since morning.”
“Where could she have gone to during these trying times?”
“That’s right, where could she be?
In the midst of those mutterings, Miss Longueville finally appeared.
“Miss Longueville! Where have you been? Something terrible has happened!” said Mr. Colbert Anxiously
Miss Longueville spoke to Old Osman in a very cool and clam manner. “I’m extremely sorry to be late! I was doing investigations. So…”
“Investigations?”
“Yes. I woke up this morning; there was already a lot of commotion happening. When I went to the vault and saw the inscription on the wall made by Fouquet. I knew that the thief infamous throughout the land had struck again. Therefore, I immediately started investigations”
“You’re really very efficient, Miss Longueville.” Mr. Colbert then asked again in an urgent manner, “In the end, did you get any findings?”
“Yes, I have gotten hold of the whereabouts of Fouquet.”
“What!?” Mr. Colbert spoke with amazement. “Where did you get this information from? Miss Longueville.”
“According to the commoners around the area, they saw what it seemed to be like a person wearing a black hooded cloak entering an abandoned house in the nearby forest. I think that the person is most probably Fouquet and that abandoned house is most probably his hideout.”
Louise upon hearing that exclaimed; “A black hooded cloak? That must be Fouquet unmistakably!”
Old Osman too got psyched up and asked Miss Longueville; “How far is it from here?”
“By foot it takes half a day, by horse it should only take four hours.”
“We must report this to the Imperial Court right away! We must seek reinforcements from the imperial army!” Mr. Colbert shouted yet again.
Old Osman shook his head, stared at Colbert and with a vigor unfitting for an old man shouted; “You fool! By the time we reported his to the imperial court, Fouquet would have gotten away Scott free! Besides, if we can’t even handle such a small problem on our own, we’re not fit to be called nobles! Since the staff is stolen from the academy, then it’s the academy’s responsibility to get back the staff ourselves!”
Miss Longueville smiled, as though she was waiting for this answer all along.
Old Osman coughed for a while, and then started recruiting volunteers. “Now, we’re going to organize a search team to find Fouquet. Those willing to join, please rise up your wands.”
All of the nobles looked at each other awkwardly, and no one raised their wands.
“No one? That’s peculiar; No one wants to be known as the hero who caught Fouquet the Dirt Crumb?”
Louise was among those who lowered their heads but she decided to rise up her wand.
“Miss Françoise!” Miss Chevreuse exclaimed in surprise. “You mustn’t do this! You’re still a student! Please leave this to the teachers!”
“But all of you aren’t willing to help…” Louise muttered.
Saito looked at Louise with his mouth wide open. The rather serious look on Louise coupled with her gently biting her lips looked so stunning that it had captivated Saito.
Seeing Louise had raised her wand, Kirche too raised her wand, with a little reluctance though.
Mr. Colbert even more surprised, exclaimed; “Miss Zerbst! Aren’t you a student too?”
Kirche replied nonchalantly,” Well, I simply cannot lose to the Vallière family”
Seeing Kirche raising her wand, Tabitha did the same.
“Tabitha! You need not do this! This does not concern you at all!” Kirche said.
Tabitha just answered,” I’m worried.”
Feeling touched, Kirche looked at Tabitha with gratitude.
Louise at the same time also muttered” Thank you… Tabitha.”
Seeing the three of them, Old Osman laughed and said; “Well then, it’s all up to you all three now.”
“Sir! Headmaster Osman! I strongly object! We must not put the student’s life in danger!”
“Well, would you then go in their stead, Mrs Chevreuse?”
“Ah... Erm… Well… I’m not feeling very well recently, so…”
“They have seen Fouquet before plus, even though Miss Tabitha here is very young, but I have heard that she has already been conferred the title of chevalier (2) , am I right?”
Tabitha did not answer and just stood quietly.
All the teachers looked at Tabitha in astonishment.
“It’s that true? Tabitha?” asked Kirche in similar astonishment.
Even though chevalier is the lowest title that the Imperial family can confer to a person, Kirche is still amazed that Tabitha could attain it at such a young age. If it’s a title of “Baron” or even “Marquis”, the titles could be obtained by purchasing large amounts of land. However for a person to be called a chevalier, the only way is to render great service for the country. It’s a title that can only be conferred by merit.
Once again, there’s great commotion inside the vault.
Old Osman went on and looked on Kirche and said;” Miss Zerbst from Germania comes from a family of distinguished war heroes, and she herself has a very strong background in fire magic.
Kirche flicks her hair with confidence.
Louise, thinking that it’s time for her to be praise too, stands upright cutely.
Old Osman is now in a pinch. There’s like nothing to praise about Louise…
“Ahem!” Clearing his throat, Osman veered his sight of Louise and said;” That.. Miss Vallière comes from the prestigious Vallière Family, a family renowned for their magicians. and… She’ll be a promising magician in the future… and as for her familiar…”
And placing his gaze on Saito, Osman continued saying;” Even though he’s a commoner, he has defeated General Gramont’s son, Guiche de Gramont in battle. Old Osman thought to himself: And if he really is the legendary Gandálfr…
Fouquet the Dirt Crumb should not be a match for him.
Mr. Colbert also enthusiastically added; “ Yes! Yes! Because he is the legendary Gand…”
Old Osman hastily covered Mr. Colbert’s mouth before he could finish his sentence. “A.. Hahaha… He’s talking nonsense! Haha!...”
Then there was slience again.
Then Headmaster Osman in a solemn tone spoke; “If anyone thinks that he’s more capable the mentioned three, please take one step forward.”
No one stepped forward.
Therefore Old Osman turned to the group of four and said;” The academy awaits the capture of Fouquet then!”
Louise, Kirche and Tabitha stood to attention and said,” We swear upon our wands to capture Fouquet!”
After that they pulled the edges of their skirts and made a curtsy. Saito also hastily followed. As he’s not wearing a skirt, he pulled the end of his jacket.
“Well then, get ready the carriage, and then set off right away. You must conserve your energy before you reach your destination.”
“Miss Longueville, could you go with them too?”
“Yes, Headmaster Old Osman.”
“I had wanted to go with them as well.” Miss Longueville said.
So under the lead of Miss Longueville, the four quickly set off.
Even though it’s considered a carriage, but in actual fact it was just a cart with wooden planks attached as seat. The good thing about it though is that if they were to be attacked, they could jump out of the carriage right way.
Miss Longueville is in charge of driving the carriage.
Kirche asked the silent Longueville who was concentrating on the reins, “Miss Longueville, this type of job could be done by a commoner. Why do you have to do it yourself?”
Miss Longueville smiled and answered; “It’s all right. I’m not a noble anyway.”
Kirche paused for a while, and asked again, “But aren’t you Headmaster’s Osman’s secretary?”
“Yes, I am. But Old Osman isn’t a person who is concerned by a person’s status when is looking for help. Whether is he’s a noble or commoner.”
“If it’s possible, tell me in depth, please.”
But Miss Longueville just smiled at Kirche. It seemed like she does not want to speak anymore.
“Just tell me please, even if it’s just a little.” Kirche pestered as she began leaning closer to Miss Longueville. Just then she felt someone grabbing her shoulder. It was Louise. Kirche then turned around and said; “What is it that you want, Vallière?”
“Forget it. Stop raking up someone’s past.”
“Humph, I’m bored, that’s why I needed some one to talk to”. Kirche replied while placing her hands behind her head and lay on the pole of the carriage.
“I do not know if this applies to your country. But in Tristain, it’s a shameful act to force someone to reveal something that he or she does not want to say.”
Kirche did not answer her. She got up and sat in a cross legged position and began saying; “It’s all because of your headstrongness that got me into this mess. Capturing Fouquet…”
Louise gave an angry stare at Kirche, “What do you mean by that? Didn’t you volunteer yourself in too?”
“If you had come alone, wouldn’t Saito be in danger too? Am I right, Louise the Zero?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Anyways, if that large golem appeared again, you’d surely run to the back and let Saito do all the fighting, right?
“Who would run away? I would use my magic for you to see!”
“You, using magic? What a Joke!”
The two started bickering again. Tabitha continued reading her book.
“That’s enough! Would you both please stop it?” Saito interrupted.
Kirche did a gesture and said, “Humph, I’ll stop. I’m not in the fault anyways.”
Louise bit her lips.
“Well then darling, this is for you.” Kirche looked at Saito seductively, and then placed in his arms the sword that she had bought for him.
“Wow, thanks.” Saito said while keeping the sword.
“I won that time round, you do you have something to say? Louise the Zero?”
Louise stared at the both of them and kept quiet.
Suddenly, it turned dark. The carriage had entered into the forest. The darkness and the weird smell present in the forest sent shivers to their spines.
“We’ll have to walk from here onwards.” Miss Longueville said. The groups then disembarked from the carriage, and proceed to the small path into the forest.
“I’m afraid of the dark and don’t like the feeling around here…” Kirche said while wrapping her arms around Saito’s.
“Could you not keep so close to me?”
“But I’m afraid!” Kirche said with exaggerated reaction. Anyone could tell that she was lying…
Saito, worried about Louise, glanced at her. “Humph” Louise turned her head away.
The group reached a clearing in the forest. It was roughly the size of the Vestri Court and in the middle was the abandoned house. The house was made of wood with a corroded stove. Next to it was a completely rundown warehouse.
The group hid behind the bushes and observed the house.
Miss Longueville pointed to the house and said, “From the information I’ve gathered, that should be the place.”
“Looks like no one’s inside. Is Fouquet really hiding in there?”
The group started discussing. The group used sticks to draw on the floor their battle plan. They all agreed that ambushing him is the best way. All the better if he is sleeping.
Firstly, they’ll need to scout around the house and know what is going inside. After that if Fouquet is inside the scout will need to draw him outside. Because there is not enough earth inside the house for him to create an earth golem. Once he’s outside, the rest would all use their magic against him without letting him have a chance to create his golem.
“So who is going to lure him out?” Saito asked.
Tabitha replied, “The one with the best reflexes.”
All stared at Saito.
“Me?” Saito Sighed. He drew out the sword that Kirche gave to him.
The runes on his left hand started glowing. At the same time Saito felt his body becoming as light as a feather.
Saito moved closer to the house and peered through the window in the house. There was only one room in the whole house, with a table and a reclining chair that was both covered in dust. There was also a bottle of wine on the table and in one corner of the room there was firewood.
There was no one inside and it does not seem to have any place to hide inside the house either.
Has he already left this place?
But their opponent is Fouquet, a triangle mage. So he maybe still was hiding inside even though it did not seem to be a hiding place inside.
So Saito decided to call everyone over.
Saito used his hand to make an “X” sign on top of his head, a sign that means the house is empty.
The rest of the group which were hiding carefully approached to the house.
“There’s no one inside”, Saito said while pointing at the window.
Tabitha waved her staff at near the door and muttered, “There’s no trap.” She then opened the door and went inside the house.
Kirche and Saito followed suit and entered the house.
Louise told the rest she would be standing guard and stayed behind.
Miss Longueville said that she would investigate the area around forest and disappeared.
Saito’s group that went into the house started to find any clues to Fouquet whereabouts.
Then, Tabitha found inside a box... The Staff of Destruction.
“The Staff of Destruction.” Tabitha said while waving it around.
“Isn’t this too easy?” Kirche exclaimed.
Saito looked at the Staff of Destruction and said with astonishment, “Kirche, is this really the Staff of Destruction?”
Kirche nodded and said, “Unmistaken-ably, I saw it once during my tour of the treasure vault.
Saito brought the Staff closer and examined it closed. “If I’m not wrong this is a …”
Just then, Louise whom was standing guard outside gave a chilling shriek. “Arhhh!!!”’
“What happened, Louise?”
Just as everyone looked outside the house, a loud sound could be heard. “Crack!” Suddenly the house was without a roof, everyone looked up.
And in its place was a giant earth golem
“It’s an earth golem” Kirche screamed.
Tabitha was the first to react. Waving her staff, she stared chanting her magical inscriptions. A whirlwind appeared out of her staff and struck the golem.
After the whirlwind disappeared, the golem was unscathed.
Following Tabitha, Kirche took out her wand hidden in her cleavage and started chanting.
A fireball shot out of her wand and engulfed the golem. Even though the whole golem was on fire, it did not seem to be affected by the fire at all.
“It’s too tough for the few of us!” Kirche shouted.
“Retreat”, Tabitha said softly.
Kirche and Tabitha went different ways and ran out of the house.
Meanwhile, Saito was looking for Louise.
“Over there!”
Louise stood behind the golem and chanted something and pointed her wand towards the golem.
Something exploded on the surface of the golem. It was Louise’s magic! The golem realizing this turned around and faced Louise.
Saito, standing near the door of the house 20 meters away from Louise, shouted, “Run! Louise!”
Louise refused and said, “No! If I subdue this, no one will ever call me Louise the Zero ever again.” Louise appeared to be very serious. The golem tilted its head, pondering whether to deal with Louise or Kirche and Tabitha whom were escaping.
“Look at the size difference between you and the golem! You can’t possibly win!”
“You’ll never know if you don’t try.”
“It’s too hard! It’s impossible!”
Louise stared at Saito and said, “Haven’t you said this before?”
“What?”
“When you were badly beaten by Guiche’s Valkyries, you kept standing up and said, when you did not want to lower your head, you never will.”
“Yes... I did say that… but…”
“I also feel the same way. Even though I cannot accomplish anything, but this is a matter of pride. If I escape now, people will say that ‘because she’s Louise the zero, that’s why she escaped.’ “
“Does it matter? Let people say whatever they want!”
“But I’m a noble. Nobles are people that can use magic.” Louise tightened her grip on her wand.
“And nobles will never turn their backs on their enemies.”
The golem decided that it will dead with Louise first, it raised its leg, preparing to squash Louise.
Louise raised her wand towards the golem and started chanting again…
But it has no effect on the golem at all. Even though Louise used ‘fireball’, but it failed.
A small explosion occurred on the golem’s chest and small fragments of earth fell out from the golem’s chest. The golem was not affected by the attack at all.
Saito grabbed his sword and dashed towards Louise.
Louise saw the golem’s foot getting nearer and nearer. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worse.
At this instant, Saito approached her at the speed of a whirlwind held her and rolled away from the golem’s stomp.
“Do you really wish to die?” Saito gave a slap on Louise’s face. “Pak!” Louise looked at Saito, stunned.
“To hell with your noble’s pride! Once you die, nothing really matters anymore! Idiot!”
Tears began to flow out of Louise’s eyes like a waterfall.
“Please don’t cry!”
“But… but I cannot take this lying down…I’m always being treated like a fool by others…”
Looking at the crying Louise, Saito felt hapless.
Being constantly called “Zero”, being treated like an idiot, no one could take that lying down. He recalled his fight with Guiche. Louise cried too that time. Even though Louise is stubborn and haughty, but she actually hates fighting and she’s not good at it too.
She’s only a girl… Louise’s beautiful face is now covered in tears, just like a child.