Editing Zero no Tsukaima:Volume14 Chapter4

===Chapter 4: The Capital of Water===

Packed like sardines in an alley less than 2 mails wide, the flow of traffic became dead slow. Louise and the others, who had to dress up as nuns and start praying from 5 a.m. in the morning in front of St. Lucia Aquileia's Cathedral, were literally in the middle of a battlefield everyday.

Guiche and the boys were armed with mantles decorated with both Tristanian and Romalian coats of arms and bore the responsibility of keeping visitor flow in order. In reality, it felt more like going to war. Romalian Pilgrims pushed and shoved each other aggressively to "line up" at the gates of St Lucia Aquileia Cathedral. With the crowd's erratic motion, most of the pilgrims ended up outside the Cathedral despite their efforts in "lining up".

Just at that moment, a group of people wrapped in white cloth burst out from the Cathedral.

No one knew of the legends of how aggressive these Crusaders, claiming the title as Guardians of the Ancestors, could get if you were in their way. Waving the staffs carved with holy crosses, the Crusaders gathered together and rammed into the crowd.

Saving Guiche and the others was none other than Carlo Christiano Trompontino who went into a conflict with the Ondine Water Spirit Knights at a tavern in Romalia previously, leader of the Aliesta monastery's Crusaders.

All the Crusaders laughed in unison, making Guiche and his teammates ashamed to death.

Carlo started laughing again. But as soon as he saw Gimili's serious attitude, his laughter soon turned into a bored snicker.

"Huh, just hurry up and leave this place. We're in charge now."

After all, the streets were jammed with people here and there. There was absolutely no space for patrol.

Out of the Ondine Knights, Guiche was the only one still cheerfully whistling, as if a plan had been devised. On closer look, right next to him was a wineglass bought from some unknown place.

"Why the hell are you drinking, Guiche?"

"Eh? Because if this turns for the worse, we'll probably end up in a war. Here, take a cup and drink to your spirit. Here, you try it as well. This is called '''Helptakis''' cocktail. It's made from mixing ginger and sugar into red wine... and the taste is very concentrated, tastes very good!"

"I'm making a necklace. In Romalia, it is very popular to gift females with seashell carving during this time. Since Montmorency is still angry with me, I have to cheer her up no matter what! Bwa-ha-ha!"

"This isn't as bad as how you describe it. Although at first notice, all of us were stunned in shock. Even if you keep on emphasizing it right now, it won't help the fact that Saito won't come back. You know, the meaning of being alive, is to enjoy ourselves!"

"Uh-huh. If I had to face that kind of nightmare like that guy, to be honest even thinking of it makes me shudder. That's why I have to do this, to list down all the reasons why I must live on. I must hand this to Montmorency myself. Therefore I mustn't die, ahh-- that emotion exactly!"

Guiche crossed his arms like he had a headache and gave them big nods.

Elves... to the nobles of Halkeginia, elves were undoubtedly a signature of inducing immense fear.

The faces of the boys changed drastically. They looked at each other, then used feeble laughs to break the awkward silence. Gimili tapped Malicorne's shoulders and ask with doubting eyes.

"You're annoying, that, uh, is really real. We were really defeated by him."

Thinking of the battle they had to go through when saving Tabitha, cold sweats burst out from his forehead.

Once Guiche put it that way, the boys started to hesitate. After all, they were a bunch of young ignorant teenagers.

As the reasoning went on, the boys eventually gave in one by one and started drinking, completely blissful from their supposed patrol work.

"Hey~ Hey~, compared to us, Louise must be more troubled."

Hearing this, the boys quieted down. Just at that moment, a band wearing silly clothes passed by and started to play beautiful music. Devoted Romalia Pilgrims roared immediately, complaining "too loud, too loud".

At noon exactly, Pope Vittorio who had been kneeling on the altar of St Lucia Cathedral stood up, and bowed towards the crowd outside. Roars of cheers exploded everywhere.

Louise claimed happily to Tiffania beside here.

''Louise looks like a different person. Even though she is an extremely prideful person... that is a very extreme thought for her. So that's why having Saito around is very important, isn't it?''

"How bad could it be? If you didn't take a break, you would be out of breath from all the work, wouldn't you? Besides, there is no chance of a conspiracy. Look, even in the streets they had set all kinds of traps. I am a earth-base mage and do notice these things. "

Looked like Guiche wanted more than leaving work behind.

"I reckon if they wanted to do anything, they would've marched their army in already. We're here to enjoy ourselves and have a good time! Hear hear!"

Guiche didn't wait for Louise to finish and already picked her up, chuckling to himself as he walked out.

The narrow phoenix-tailed ship was completely occupied by the teenagers. Their laughter could be heard by people on both sides of the shore.

The whole phoenix tailed ship froze in time.

Guiche and the rest were on the verge of not being able to hold their breath. This sudden reaction from Louise made the whole boat sway sideways. Finally, Louise couldn't stand it any longer and yelled at Guiche, obviously in fury

"The male with that weird name is your familiar, you know."

''Speaking of which..., she once removed Saito's fake memories in Albion...

Guiche knew that Tiffania wielded a fascinating magic, which was also the reason why she was not taken lightly by Henrietta and was assigned as a nun of the Pope.

What the magic exactly was, Guiche wasn't very clear himself.

Personal experiences told Guiche that to be involved in those top secrets was never a good idea. They also told him not to think of anything even correlated. Actually, not to display expressions of thinking them. These things could ruin careers, if worse, you wouldn't even be able to keep your head.

However, in this case, that was completely unnecessary. Staring at Tiffania's face without moving a muscle, was considered a rare way when treating females. All of the boys bulged their eyes.

"Miss Westwood, I have a question."

"Ah, yes."

Guiche sighed and snapped his fingers again. Malicorne, wearing a gusset which clowns use, started to flick a feather over Tiffania's body.

Tiffania's body was really sensitive, therefore this torture was the deadliest. Guiche edged his face closer to Tiffania's, who had fell down exhausted.

"Good suggestion, Captain, what a good suggestion!"

Malicorne came closer and reached out with his hands

"You have a familiar. He is a person as young as we are. He saved you many times. Also, he really likes you. Did you really forget all of this?"

Hearing Guiche being so direct, Louise was still in the clouds.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't have a familiar!"

"...Since it was Louise who said it, maybe it's true that that was the better choice for her... That's what you thought, because, she looked liked she was in excruciating pain.

She didn't have the answers to these questions, but she also felt the sadness. Tears dripped from her eyes. Noticing that, Louise started to comfort Tiffania.

A few days ago, the warship for the sole use of the Pope, "St. Maricore", was parked at the harbors of Aquileia. A gigantic vessel slowly sailed near. The mysterious vessel retracted its humongous wings. When landing, it did not keep its balance and swayed massively, the giant wings slapping the surface of the sea.

The vessel's remaining momentum was a telltale sign that it was going to smash into the harbor. At that moment, a few folds of wind magic were casted. Large amounts of air blew straight into the ship from the walls, acting as a barrier, such that the harbor wouldn't turn into smithereens.

The enormous vessel porting was none other than the "Orient". The nobles standing guard on the deck casted another volley of wind magics, finally stabilizing the monstrous ship. In the end, few figures of pitch blackness sprung out from the warehouse of the docks, grabbing the harness and tied it around the mast.

Creaking at a sharp tone, the front hull of the ship slowly opened like a crow's beak. The door was made to carry large loads, designed by Professor Colbert.

The walls of the harbor, procuring out like a tongue which scratched the bird's beak, had an array of cylindrical logs laid down side by side. The twenty something nobles stood across those trees, including the ones who were casting wind spells on the deck.

Written on the nobles faces, were all weariness and anxiousness. They really can't be blamed, having to transport and guard such a heavy item all through the journey.

A weird, half-cranking, half-creaking sound came out from the bird's beak. A certain object was being transported through magic. The thing, which was two-storeys tall, ... was the same Panzer that Saito had seen in the Royal Romalian catacombs.

Right underneath the Panzer, were those logs... the same species of wood of which logs are made from as the ones they would use to transport giant stone blocks when a castle is under construction. Only those logs coud stand the pressure of the Panzer and roll simultaneously.

"Everyone please take care! Any plain log, even with the 'harden spell' casted on them will not sustain the weight of this steel lump. It weights as much as 120,000 livres!"

So that was the reason, how it's able to withstand the great weight. The huge weight, which far exceeded the limits of what the "Hardened" logs could withstand, snapped one of the logs apart.

The Panzer slowly slid towards the right. If that continued, the Panzer would fall into the grasps of the sea.

Mages standing left and right started chanting "levitation" to lift the Panzer's right side up. Even with that number of mages, they were unable to buckle it at all. At least the good thing was that it was now stuck in the bird's beak. Professor Colbert held his breath, and carefully instructed mages left and right, eventually successfully landing the tank on the stony ground of the center.

An energy depleted Colbert rested on top of the tank. There was no more to worry whether the Orient would plummet or the tank would sink into the depths of the ocean. As soon as he was relieved from that burden, tiredness started to reveal in every part of his body.

The hatch on the tank suddenly sprang open. Kirche's head popped out, wearing a black officer's hat found within. Following, Tabitha's small head partially stuck out of the gunner's window. The two were inside stabilizing the whole tank.

A teen wearing white clothes sharply stood out from the rest of the crowd, wearing pitch black clothing. He gave Colbert a salute. Other than his unmatching attire, that salute was one of a fully professional soldier.

"Although the Orient was anticipated to carry loads... the loading of this item was a bit more than expected. Having as much as 20 people casting 'Levitation' in turns, it eventually left the bottom of the ship. Otherwise I don't this ship would have even floated. To me, I hope this is the last time."

"In somewhat way, yeah. It wasn't easy, using 'gasoline' to pilot this 'work of art' and the 'Dragon's Raiment'. Mm, although fundamentally, there are a few big differences. Anyhow, mastering its structure requires time. It's not something that can be done overnight."

''Using such a large amount of metal... steel, made part by part without disturbing the overall organization. The main body carried an "engine" that was created with much advanced technology as compared to the "dragon's raiment".''

The tiny pieces of curiosity gradually swelled up, as if hoping to experience that as soon as possible.

However..., with only Colbert's power, perhaps he might make it move, but for it to go into combat, was definitely out of reach. That needed exactly Saito's power. If Saito wasn't there, that was nothing but a giant steel box.

"Unh."

Julio grunted, then smiled.

The movers pulled at the ropes, while the aristocrats used their magic to help. The Panzer began to roll and move on the "Hardened" logs again.