Zero no Tsukaima:Volume7 Chapter10
Chapter Ten: The Place of Courage
On a little hill drawn on a map…The dawn brought forth light to the darkness.
The view slowly expanded, and the grassland below grew larger and larger.
It was recorded on the map, a rural area approximately 150 leagues south-west outside the city of South Gotha.
After a whole night of riding, Saito finally arrived there. A light excitement covered him. Although he had been riding all night, Saito's fighting spirit and fatigue were restored by the morning light.
In the morning fog, slowly, slowly and accompanied with the shaking of earth, a great army appeared.
Saito stood up, and slammed his hand against the horse he had been riding. The beast that had been chewing grass idly was suddenly shocked, and fled in the direction where they come from.
“You are not going to use the horse?"
Derflinger asked over the shoulder.
“That guy has a life too; it is not just some tool.”
“You have such a good heart, partner.”
Saito asked Delfinger,
“Didn’t you say before, that Gandalfr was able to defend against a thousand foes alone? 70,000 shouldn’t be a problem right?”
“That is what they say, but it is only a legend, so people tend to exaggerate. Don’t get too hopeful, in reality, it was probably less than a thousand.”
“…Why are you like this? Lying to me like that. If you lied to me, don’t tell me the truth. We are already dead, at least lie to the very end.”
On the horizon of the grassland, they could see the advancing army. Although it was an army of 70,000, due the fact they were not marching abreast, it does not appear to be as large. But in reality, all 70,000 were there.
Soldiers wielding weapons, Mages armed with spells, cannons, demi-humans like orcs and trolls, Dragon Knights…Knights riding phantom beasts.
None were missing, all 70,000 were there.
Saito asked with a fear shaken voice.
“Ah, why must I risk my life to charge into that mob?”
“Why are you asking the obvious? Because our ships have to retreat, so we have to buy time.”
“No…I am not talking about that…But, forget it.” Saito let out his breath.
“Last time I was saved by Guiche’s mole, but this time there is no escape.”
“No, we cannot. No matter what, just charge in, in a situation like this no matter which direction charging is the same. Aim for the commanding officer, strike down the head, and the body will fall into chaos. You can probably buy them a day or so.”
Saito nodded, holding Delfinger tightly. The runes on his left hand began to glow.
“Let me tell you something, Delfinger.”
“What is it?”
”Can I tell you a story from my childhood?”
“Sure.”
“I once saw an old lady being harassed by some punk near a train station, something about the old lady bumping into them. But that time I was just a little chibi, if I wanted to stop them I couldn’t, so I only stood by and watched. That time I thought, if only I was a little stronger, but at the same time, I also sighed. Because even if I was stronger, it does not guarantee I would have won.”
“True.”
“No mistake, I am stronger now, there cannot be any excuses. That time I had no strength, so I had the excuse to not to do anything. The excuse was that I was not strong enough, so I didn’t help. But now, I've lost that excuse. Because I am now very, very strong. No matter what, I am Gandalfr, right?”
Deflinger murmured lowly, “Um hum.”
“But…all that strength is only external, in reality I am not really any stronger inside. But there is nothing I can do about it, although I am Gandalfr the legendary familiar, my body is shaking, I really don’t have any mental preparation. This type of situation is really not for me. Protecting everyone’s honor, I really don’t like it! I'm shaking with fear. I do not want to die.”
“Partner, you are really someone truly brave!”
“This kind of personality will only lead to trouble, fast.” Saito thought about it.
Courage, isn’t this what it is all about?
“Hey, Partner.”
“What?”
“Am I going to die?”
“Probably.”
The boy became silent. Delfinger decided to raise his spirits, “If it is going to be like this, then go out like a hero!”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise it will be a waste.”
Four hundred meters in front of them, they could see Albion’s forward assault force.
Suddenly his body begins to move by itself; they would never know if this was the power of Gandalfr, or Saito’s own bravery, or something else…
Saito charged toward the army of 70,000.
The first group of Albion soldiers who found the charging hero was not Frontal Cavalry, but the owl familiar belonging to the artillery/firearm commander. Because he didn’t believe the Infantries, he decided to personally investigative the matter.
After he verified the situation through his owl, he immediately ordered the firearm squadrons to prepare to fire, because normally during the course of a march, firearm troops do not keep their weapons loaded.
“What? Only one person?”
He was surprised when he found out there was only one person, but he became shocked once he saw the boy’s speed.
It was not a speed that could be achieved by a human on foot.
The frontal cavalry also made the same mistake as well.
Because in the mistake with the estimation of speed, just as they stopped the opposition charged right past them. Before the cavalry could even draw their weapons, they were knocked off their steeds.
The only thing the fallen cavalry men could do was hear the sound of the enemy’s footsteps, the speed was so fast, they could not even see their foe’s image.
Before the soldiers finished loading their weapons, the enemy was already in front of their leader. It was a person armed with a large sword.
The commander, in reflex, tried to pull out his wand, but was sent flying by the sword. Something hit him hard on the side of his head, the commander instantly lost conscious.
The next moment, Mage Knights approached from the sky. They used magic and familiars to track Saito’s movement, then released a barrage of spells.
Wind blades, ice spears, and fireballs flew in waves toward Saito, but were instantly absorbed by the sword. Though the Knights were taken by surprise, they did not stop their magical assaults.
The knight commander ordered his men to scatter; in the instant he made that order, a wind blew next to him, where the wind struck, his wand was snapped in half, and a foot slammed into his stomach. Ribs shattered, the pain was so strong the officer could not cry and soon fainted.
Deflinger asked Saito,
“Why didn’t you kill them?”
Saito threw back a short reply,
“I am not a soldier.”
“What do you mean?”
“No matter allies or enemies; I will not treat them as tools.”
Delfinger sighed.
Saito danced, dodged, and struck left and right, which caused massive chaos within the enemy formation.
Fighting alone turned out to be extremely advantageous.
To prevent friendly fire, the enemy did not dare to use firearms or projectiles, also, with the speed of Gandalfr, nothing in this world could catch up.
But…the Mage opponents were still very difficult to deal with.
The endless barrage of magic, although Delfinger could absorb them, but the amount of magic delivered was certainly above normal, and slowly the sword begin to lose the ability to handle them. “Ugh!”
“Left hand?”
“Hum, damn…I can’t move it anymore.”
Saito could only wield Delfinger with his right hand, his left shoulder took a deep wound, and a part of his body was now charred by flame, which came from the fireball that exploded near him.
Although the situation was grave, Saito still charged forward, bravely stood tall surrounded on all sides.
Due to the attacks by Magic and weapons alike…Saito’s injuries became graver every second.
Ridding on his phantom manticore was the unit’s commanding officer. He kicked his beast and prepared to charge. But a sword knocked him off his mount, he saw his manticore struck down. In that instant, his own legs were shattered, collapsed on the ground.
The commander for the firearm division ordered his men to prepare for a maneuver, thinking to surround this wind like enemy in an instant, but the enemy leaped over the formation, and struck the commander’s head with his sword, sending the man instantly into oblivion.
The young commander in charge of the Archers hastily ordered his men to fire, but the arrows could not reach their foe, but instead struck down his allies instead. In the chaos he managed to hit his foot.
The chaos with the forward guards became progressively worse. General Hawkins received reports that completely boggled him. The communications he received were completely a mess.
Some say, the enemy was a single rider.
Some say, the enemy was a Magician.
Some say, was a part of the enemy army.
Some say, was elvish Magic Knights.
Some say, was an elvish division…etc
But the general, a veteran who survived a hundred battles, felt it was a single foe.
An enemy with the speed of the wind.
An enemy with strength like fire.
An enemy unshakable like the stones of the earth.
An enemy elusive like the waves of the sea.
“I don't like it,” General Hawkins muttered.
Just as Saito broke the wand of an officer of middle rank, the boy spotted a group of mages. Since so many mages were protecting a single individual that meant…
“That guy must have a pretty high rank...” Delfinger added. But even though Saito heard him he could not do much, his body begin to be paralyzed by the pain. Very soon he wouldn’t be moving at all.
Saito must save the energy from his breathing.
Just to take down one more Officer…
Just to cause more havoc.
Just like this to extend the time, just even one minute, one second, must be taken.
This was Louise’s task.
A task my own beautiful master was going to do.
Saito leashed towards the enemy general surrounded by hoards of mages.
General Hawkins stared at the wind blasting toward him.
Truly amazing speed.
He pulled out his Wand, chanted his Magic, in one breathe he summoned a wind blade. But… the enemy agilely dodged it. He could only see the enemy’s blade, flying toward his head.
General Hawkins could only see the shadow in front of him, as if trying to brand it under his vision.
His riders struck the enemy full of Magic bolts, each attaching itself on to that swordman’s body.
Although so many bolts should had been fatal, but the wind like warrior never slowed.
A fencer's sword shot up, slamming into Hawkin's body.
The blade’s tip reached within 5 cm of his face.
Hawkins, not averting his gaze, stared straight at the top.
But it did not strik Hawkins’ face.
As if time suddenly stopped, the Swordman’s movement stopped.
Hawkins used his wand to knock the sword away, and the unknown Blademaster hit the ground with a thud.
“Your eminence! Are you ok?”
“General Hawkins!” one of the Knights rode by.
“No bones broken.” He answered.
“Combat is over, give me the report.”
Reports came in quick succession.
It is absolutely unimaginable a single warrior was able to cause such damage. Lower command, Upper command echelon had 14 wounded, the enlisted infantry estimated injured were around two hundred fifty. The loss apparently, from the entire army’s angle, is within the acceptable limit. But it's effects were significant. The strong Forward guards were now in complete chaos, in the fog of war, many were injured by their own friendly fire, and the story that 'Everything was caused by a single swordsman' had spread among soldiers like wildfire, greatly damaging the morale of the troops.
The forward commander reported with a bitter face: “I am afraid it will take a while to reform the forward command, at least for several hours.”
Also, stories continued to spread among the frightened troops, which greatly decreased the army marching speed. The enlisted soldiers were afraid the enemy may hide another swordsman like the one before.
The adjutant slowly murmured to General Hawkins:
“I am afraid we cannot continue today’s marching objectives. If the situation continues, we will have to waste half a day…no, an entire day of time.”
Hawkins lowered his head.
He got off his horse, walked near the fallen swordsman, and took in stock of his looks.
“He is just a boy.”
The body on the ground was a black haired, very unusual looking boy.
Looking at him breathing still weakly, but his body clearly took enormous amount of magical damage, it was only a matter of time.
Hawkins wanted to summon a water mage, but after so much injury, it would only extend his suffering. Not even magic is infinite.
Hawkins looked down on the boy, whispered
"I am really jealous."
"Huh?"
"A single warrior stopped an entire army....in the words of history long gone, he is a 'Hero'; I wish I was not merely a general, but a hero."
Hawkin's voice trailed off.
His sub-commander nodded as well.
"What you say is right, but situations like this are the results of war, a pity he was an enemy of ours."
"Although an enemy...not even a noble...but I believe he should receive the highest honor and respect."
"I understand your point."
General Hawkins and the Sub-commander both saluted the boy.
"Let's bury him with honor."
He gave his order to his troops.
In that second, Saito's body leaped.
"What the hell?"
Saito's body reached his old speed, and vanished into the forest.
Once inside the forest… Saito’s body fell down again.
A voice echoed in the dark forest.
Not Saito’s voice, but Derflinger’s.
“Haaah…it was one thousand years since the last time I used ‘Master’ was it? Though the reason I was able to move… was because of absorbed magic energy. Anyway, I'm beaten already... but partner, you look tattered...“
Saito’s body didn’t move in the slightest.
“Hey partner. Do you hear me? Hold on there, I will tell you a nice thing. At that time, that girl wore those black cat’s clothes just for you. She wanted you to push her down again.”
Derflinger waited for a while.
However, no matter how long he waited, there was no answer.
Once Derflinger’s power wore off, Saito’s hand lessened its grip. Free from Saito’s lifeless fingers, Derflinger muttered with regret.
“…cheh, you can’t hear me anymore.”
Louise awoke and found herself on the deck of the Redoubtable.
Because of the wind brushing her face, as well as the sound of the fluttering sail, she finally woke up.
Malicorne and Guiche were staring back at her face.
“Wow, Louise is awake!”
”Good! Good!!”
Seeing friends nodding their heads unstopped, Louise asked in a surprised voice:
“I… why…?”
“We don’t know. When the ship departed I found you sleeping here.”
“…Here, this is a ship?”
As she watched the moving scenery for a few minutes, Louise suddenly remembered a very important thing, suddenly springing to her feet.
“I, I must go stop the enemy army. I have to prevent the Albion army from catching up!”
Malicorne and Guiche both stared at her with surprise.
“Stop the enemy?”
“Yes! I have to delay the enemy to buy us time to retreat.”
“We already retreated.”
“This is the last ship from the Port of Rosais.”
“…Oh?”
Louise looked confused as she stared from the forecastle, as the continent of Albion became smaller and smaller.
“How is it like this? What happened to the Albion army that was chasing us?”
“They said only a little longer, they didn’t catch up with us.”
“Good, Good, this means we can get home safely.”
“But when we get back, there will still be a lot of trouble.”
Malicorne and Guiche stared at each other, then the two start laughing.
What really happened?
Why did the Albion Army slow their march?
In that moment…she suddenly remembered something more important.
She could not see Saito anywhere.
Louise ran around the ship in a circle, and met Siesta and her family on the forecastle.
“Miss Louise… you woke up?”
“Don’t talk about it! Where is Saito?”
Siesta’s face turned white upon hearing this.
“I was waiting for Miss Valliere to wake up to ask it, shouldn’t Saito-san be with you?”
Louise shook her head, looking at her worried face, Siesta became paler every second.
“Miss Valliere, where is Saito-san? Where, please tell me!”
In that moment, they heard two soldiers talking behind them.
“I heard from a buddy from Navarre's ship, they said they saw a single person ride off to stop the Albion army.”
“Haha, stop joking, it is just one person, what can he do?”
Louise walked near one of the soldiers and said
“Hey, what you just said, is it true?”
The soldier was surprised he was questioned by nobility, and showed a face full of shock and stammered,
“Yes, yes. But I don’t know if it is true or not, someone else told me this story, that part is true.”
Louise’s face lost all colors, instantly the color of blood withdrew from every inch of her body. It must been Saito. It is impossible to be wrong. I don’t know what he did to make me fall asleep, then drop me off on this ship… then went off against the Albion army.
Louise ran up to the hedge and screamed
“Saito!!!”
“Miss Valliere, what happened? Please tell me, tell me!”
Worried Siesta pressed Louise.
“Saito!!!”
Louise screamed, jumped over the railing, and then tried to jump toward the ground.
“HEY! HEY! You want to die?!”
Guiche and Malicorne saw the situation, and grabbed her before she could leap.
“Let me go!!! I am begging you let me go!!!”
“NO! There aren’t any of our men on the ground anymore.”
“Let me go!!!”
Louise’s wails and howls echoed across the White Country's sky.
The Albion army that arrived at Rosais, looked up into the sky and ground their teeth.
They were just a hair away, but now they could not do anything but watch the Allied army escape.
They would have continued the chase, but there were no ships left.
After occupying Rosais, Cromwell entered the red-brick base… then, bit his fingernails in anger.
He already had general Hawkins, who failed to accomplish the mission, confined and sent back to Londonium.
“Why didn't Galia send their soldiers? If they were attacked from both sides by both countries, Allied Forces would not have been able to leave South Gotha…”
He asked Miss Sheffield… who was nowhere to be seen.
Cromwell was nervous after losing a fight. He was afraid to carry this war any further. He was at the breaking point. He was at the point where he was shaking uncontrollably…
Shouts of joy sounded from the other side of the window.
When he stepped up to it…
He saw a large fleet piercing the sky.
On fluttering flags one could see two wands crossed… Galia’s fleet.
Cromwell went ecstatic.
“Ooh! Finally you came! As expected from the large country Galia! How many ships are there? But… why did it come now… after the enemy ran away?”
And once he bit his fingernail again, it hit him.
“That’s right! They are going to chase the enemy fleet! That's good! Messanger here, immediately!”
When he was about to call messenger… the messenger jumped into the room himself.
“Galia’s fleet! It arrived!”
“I know! I saw it myself! Now! Tell Galia’s fleet commander that- …”
The messenger interrupted Cromwell’s orders.
"There’s a message from Galia’s fleet, Your Excellency!”
“Message? Oh! I see!”
“They wanted to know your whereabouts in order to greet you!”
“Greeting? Is that so, ha ha ha! They are really very cordial! They have a cordial king and secretary, so the fleet commander must be too! Now, rise up an assembly flag in front of the door.”
“Understood.” The messenger left.
After a few moments, in the courtyard, the Holy Assembly flag of the Republic of Albion was raised. After that, dozens of ships lined up around the building one next to another. It was a spectacular naval scene.
What kind of greeting will it be? He waited excitedly…
Then, before his eyes, the building’s door opened and people ran out in panic. Why are they running away from here? Just like rats from a sinking ship.
He looked up at the fleet again. Hundreds of cannons from the gangway shone at the same time.
Cromwell hadn’t seen anything more beautiful during all 30 years of his life.
Thousands of cannonballs, after an order to fire, hit the red brick building where Cromwell was.
And in an instant, the official base turned into a pile of rubble.
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