Zero no Tsukaima:Volume17 Chapter5

Chapter 5 First meeting with Jack

In the end, Saito, who hadn't slept at all, began to search the hotels. Saito, together with Siesta, Guiche, Malicorne, and Tiffania separated into small groups and began their mission. They searched the hotels on the sides of the streets one by one.

Even though he had gone through 3 hotels, Saito still did not get anything satisfactory.

"Did we finish searching this street?" Asked Siesta.

"Who knows?"

Saito walked into the fourth hotel. It was a large hotel by the name of "Our Sea". Behind the narrow counter, the hotel owner was smoking a pipe.

Saito asked the hotel owner a question that he had repeated for who knows how many times already.

"Can I ask you if......there was a noble girl, about this tall, staying here? Her age may be seventeen, but she's smaller than she looks. She does look as cute as a human doll......"

After that, the owner, mumbled,"Unnnn", before shaking his head.

"She's not here too......"

Just when Saito was about to leave, he was sent flying by a man wearing a grey cape.

"Uwaa!"

The grey-caped guy, who just knocked down Saito, looked back to the counter.

"Hey! Old man! Is there a mage girl who lives here? She's seventeen, in a black-white dress, and looks doll-like!"

That voice made Saito turn back unconsciously.

The owner at the counter shook his head and said, "In this some kind of fashion trend for noble girls to go on a trip by themselves? The noble just now had also asked the same question, you know!"

The grey-caped man turned his body around. His gaze met Saito's. His face immediately took on a vicious sneer.

Saito simply gaped.

That guy......isn't he the one that destroyed Derflinger and almost killed me nine days ago?!

"You......"

"Saito-san?"

"Siesta, run, run to the other guys. This was the people who targeted me before.

"Y-yes!" Siesta stiffly rushed away.

Saito laid his hand on the sword. The rage and pain of losing Derflinger swiftly ballooning in his heart, the runes of his left hand began to glow brightly in response to his emotions.

That guy......

Even though he had clearly stabbed his sword through his stomach to the hilt, Bleu was still alive and kicking. Perhaps he was treated by that girl with Water magic. Along with Bleu's "Blade", this two guys are formidable opponents.

While taking note of his immediate surrounding, Saito lowered his center of gravity.

"Hey, I still have tons of things to ask."

However, Bleu shook his hand as if he can't stand the sight of Saito.

"Today's a rest day."

"Killers don't bloody rest."

The both of them, at daggers drawn, made the owner uneasy.

"Hey you two! Settle this outside!"

That voice made Saito raise his chin.

"Outside."

Just then, Bleu drew his wand and started chanting. "Airhammer."

The huge block of solidified air blew away Saito along with the front door of the hotel. He tumbled on to the main road.

"Dammit!" Saito quickly crawled up but Bleu had already fled like a rabbit down a hole.

"Hold it!" Saito yelled as he tried to chase after him.

Seeing Bleu running from the another side of the street, Jack winced.

"What did he do this time......"

"Big bro! Big bro! Not good!"

"What's not good? Let's hear it."

"That! That is, that guy's here!"

Hah? Jack opened his mouth wide. Not long after that, he saw the swordman charging at Bleu and widened his eyes.

' "What did you do this time?!"

"It's not my fault! It was a coincidence!"

Putting aside spell chanting, Jack reanalysed the situation. Before the negotiations regarding their remuneration, they can not kill this guy. If he was killed, then it was not a matter of money anymore, but a trap between the devil and the sea!

"Really! Always so troublesome!"

Jack chanted a short spell incantation. After that, the ground below Saito's feet began to bulge and turned into giant mud hands which grabbed Saito's feet.

However, Saito, whose left hand was holding the hilt of the sword, pulled it out in a blink of an eye and severed the hand.

Phiu~Jack gently whistled and started to chant another incantation. The earth on the ground rumbled and floated before turning into several golems.

The golems, clad in warrior attire pounced on Saito with an inhuman speed but Saito simply slashed the golems apart effortlessly while charging forward.

"Is that so? Tricks like this won't work, eh?" said Jack.

Jumping on a horse, Bleu asked Jack, "What to do?"

"There's nothing to do. If we kill him, everything's lost. The only option left is escape." Jack said calmly.

Saito, who had been charging forward, noticed that his opponents increased to two men.

However, no matter the number, it's all the same. These guys......even though I don't know who commissioned them to kill me, but Derflinger was sacrificed because of them!

"Why didn't they kill him". "Why could they use such powerful spells". Such questions have already vanished from Saito's mind.

The strong feeling of hatred, along with the grief of losing Derflinger mixed around his mind. The combat experience he garnered, however, turned such emotions into a state of "calm".

Despite this......just as his brain calmed down......a strange feeling seeped into Saito's heart.

"......eh?"

His footsteps slowed down.

The feeling that seeped into Saito's heart......was "fear".

That absurdly large "blade".

Also, that magical power that managed to crush Derflinger......

Before, he had fought against sheer strength.

Before, he had fought against sheer numbers.

However......these guys, are "different".

Compared to enemies he had fought in the past, they were different somehow.

"I can't win." The spark of fear in his heart whispered to him.

Saito tried finding reasons to stamp down his fear.

What am I thinking?

No matter the enemy, I have always won anyway. Come on, Saito, look at the big guy. He's a mage but he looks so big......haha, isn't that a boot!

Even so, the fear didn't go down at all.

"Why isn't Derflinger here?"

Damn! (T/L: not sure if this a monologue here.)

"Why isn't Louise here?"

I'm actually......alone.

"Think, Saito, think. Don't lose out to fear."

The big mage started to chant.

What is it now? An earth wall? Or using "Harden" from "Alchemy" to make his body as hard as stone?

"I'm going to cut you apart."

The sword that Saito was holding, was indeed a gift from the Founder Brimir, a real katana. Compared to the other swords and sabres, this was enhanced with "harden" and "permanence".

If it was held by Gandalfr himself, there's nothing he can't cut under Halkegenia.

However, even so, his fear didn't disappear.

His body still shook lightly.

"Dammit!"

When there was just a distance of fifteen meters between them, Saito leapt.

The earth wall in front of Jack that was just formed turned into shiny steel. Saito grabbed the sword with both hands and easily sliced through it.

Just like that, he carried on with the heavy swing and forcefully slammed the sword onto Jack's left hand.

However, Jack's expression did not change one bit. He simply held his hand that way for a while, blocking the sword, before lifting it.

"What the?"

Saito, shocked, was hurled to the ground. In a split second, Jack's fist came flying to Saito. Under the sun, Jack's fist seemed to radiate a glowing brilliance.

That's not a normal fist!

Saito rolled, dodging Jack's fist with barely a hairbreadth left.

Jack's fist, simply sank into the ground.

"Iya, you're quite light on your feet, eh?"

"Bam!". Jack withdrew his fist from the ground and it turned as hard as steel. Bleu also used this technique before. The skill of hardening one's body seemed to be their forte.

However, his left hand was clearly slashed by the sword......But not a drip of blood leaked out. What the hell happened?

Seeing Saito stand up, Jack smiled.

"You......really have some great stuff there, eh? But then again, I can't fight you now."

Just as Saito prepared to dash forward, Jack started to chant. The ground bulged, and broke down to tiny dust particles instantly. Although this was simply "Alchemy", but the effect was completely different.

With Saito and co as the center, the corner of the street was completely hidden in the dust storm.

"Dammit!"

With his vision blocked, Saito completely and effortlessly lost all his fighting capacity. This is the main street, if one would swing his sword blindly in the dark, who knows he'll cut up.

After the dust subsided......Jack and Bleu already disappeared. Saito, who looked like he just stepped out of a cloud, stamped his feet on the ground.

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" (T/L: original:「可恶！可恶！该死！」)

Elbowing the gaping passers-bys, Guiche and co rushed to him.

"Saito! Are you okay?!"

"Are those people just now the guys who attacked you before?"

"It seems that they escaped."

Saito slid his sword back to the scabbard before slamming his fist into the ground.

"Don't be that unresigned. There's plenty of chances in the future." Guiche said, trying to console Saito. However, that was just wasn't so.

What's regrettable wasn't that they escaped.

But.

The fact that he let them escape in front of his own eyes.

While he felt relieved that he didn't battle them.

Even with vengeance for Derflinger......I escaped.

What kind of (shitty) hero am I? (T/L: translation of 狗屁)

"Damn......! Derflinger......! My own strength, sure enough, just isn't enough to defeat them!"

From the windows of "White whale of Land inn", Jeanette, who has seen the entire episode, slowly showed a cold smile on her face. Isn't that the guy, who just fought with her brothers, called de Onieres, the guy whose "job" was suspended?

Why would he, run back to this street?

Pondering this, Jeanette smiled.

"......what was that racket about?"

Louise rubbed her eyes while sitting up from the bed. Jeanette told Louise, "Nothing much, it's just some drunkards."

"......Really troublesome. Didn't they wake everybody?"

Looking at the sleepy Louise, the smile on Jeanette grew more pronounced.

Looking back......she never thought that this was the girl that she just passed before.

"Then, haven't your brothers come?"

"They came already~"

"Eh? Really?" Louise's eyes glowed.

Just then, the door just opened without much bother for a knock.

It's Jack and Bleu.

"Aiya. You're really late, brothers."

"This guy forgot the name of the inn." Jack poked Bleu's head.

"But! Didn't I thought of it?"

"You should have thought of it from the start!"

Not caring of his brother's rebuke, Bleu looked at Louise and widened his eyes.

"A girl!"

Jack frowned. "Did you control her heart and made another 'Puppet'?"

Louise looked at Jeanette, surprised.

"Puppet"?

What, are they talking about?

After that, Louise looked at the two men who just appeared. Covered in grey robes, they looked like monks.

However......the aura they have is different. From their wands, they certainly are mages, but they didn't seem to be nobles.

"Hey, Big bro Jack."

"What?"

"Wasn't there once, when we sent one illegitimate noble child to a monastery?"

"Aah, that's about, two years ago."

"That place, do you still remember it?"

Jack took a glance at Louise, before returning his gaze to Jeanette. "Yeah, I do."

"That's great. Can you tell me about it?"

"What for?"

Jeanette smiled brilliantly. "This kid, says she wants to go there."

Bleu spread his hands, shocked. "Hey hey Jeanette! What are you talking about? This information is something we got from a job, is it really so good if we reveal it that easily? Anyhow, that monastery is a place so secret that......even only a few Gallian royal nobles know about it......"

"This simply doesn't matter at all."

"I'm just saying, didn't you always nag to me that we should preserve the confidentiality of our work?"

This conversation made Louise confused. These guys, what do they do for a living? Although it sounds that, they were secret Gallia spies......

Maa, their identities weren't important.

A place for her to hide herself......isn't this enough?

"Alright, I'll tell you."

"Big bro Jack!" Bleu yelled.

"If Big bro Damien knew about it, he will blow his top! Absolutely!"

"Maa, he should get angry. However, if I don't say it, Jeanette will get even more angry. Right, Jeanette?"

Jeanette's face slightly reddened before laughing happily.

"This kid......it's like that from the start. When she sees someone she likes, she would help them no matter what. That's just great, miss." Jack said while looking at Louise. Louise, frightened by the pressuring aura emanated by Jack, fearfully nodded her head.

Jack took a parchment from his bad and wrote something smoothly.

"Go to the street along the coast of Gallia......Gurabir, find a priest called Marcus in the Saint Baily's monastery there. He should, bring you to where you want to go." (T/L: not sure with the names.)

The letter, which was handed to Louise, was instead snatched by Jeanette.

"Hey, Jeanette......"

"I'll take her there. This kid, she can't cross the borders alone, right?"

"You......what about the job? What are you planning to do!"

"In any case, the negotiations aren't completed, right? Big Bro Damien isn't here too. Also, even if I weren't here, there won't be much difference, will there?"

"Maa, it really is so."

Jeanette pounced on Jack and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Big bro Jack! Although your face is scary, your heart is the softest!"

After that, Jeanette turned to the gaping Louise.

"Come on. Hurry up and prepare your stuff. We're going immediately. Hurry, hurry, we'll need at least three days to get to Gurabir from here, you know."

"Nn, okay....."

"Aah, right. Wear a large hood too, to cover your face, okay? We don't know who's gonna catch up to us, right?" Jeanette said to Louise, who was nodding furiously.

"Alright. Finally, let me ask you again."

"Eh?"

"From now on, the place I'm gonna bring you is a 'secret place'. Do you know what that means? In other words, once you go in, you're never getting out. Is the okay like this? You're never, ever going to see him again, you know?"

This sentence, made Louise pale. It was as if someone speared her head with an icicle. She was frozen from the depths of her soul.

"Never, ever going to see Saito again."

This matter, becoming reality in a blink of an eye, made it so much more heavier to burden......

However......she did realise what she had to do and that's why she ran away, didn't she?

Because, Saito is already......in love with a person who loves him and can protect him more.

She once thought that Saito's side, is the only place for her. However, she cannot return, to that place.

If she didn't do this......meeting him will only make her heart ache. It should be said that, she didn't want to be hurt anymore. This pain, is unbearably excruciating.

The Louise then has already died. Here, is just a shell......

"Never mind." Louise said. The smile on Jeanette's face resurfaced.

"Sacrificing yourself for 'love'? Good, I like this kind the best."

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