Zero no Tsukaima:Volume17 Chapter1

Chapter 1: Saito's Despair

“Wu…wu”

Once Saito open his eyes, he found himself on a bed of the mansion. Rays of morning light shone through the window.

“You’re okay Saito-san, right?!”

“I……”

Saito replied with a voice that was blurry.

“Exactly what happened yesterday?” Siesta asked in a hurry.

“Siesta, what’s wrong with me?”

With a pale face, Saito asked.

“What are you saying, because Saito-san came home too late, I went in search of you. Later, I found Saito-san falling on the street side……May I ask if you have found Miss Valliere yet?”

From the back of his head came bursts of dull pain.

While in pain, Saito remembers the events of last night vividly.

He came out of the mansion in search of Louise.

Then, he got attacked by two men and women claiming to be siblings of the elements.

The “blade” was big and terrifying.

Then because of the “blade” absorption of energy, it exploded and shattered into pieces…

“Derf…”

Saito softly murmured, looking at the Japanese sword by his bedside.

“Derf-san? That sword? Now that you mention it, I’ve never seen him anywhere……”

“He’s not around anymore. He broke apart.”

Saito answered distractingly. Siesta wept, covering her mouth with her hands in a ‘ah’. Siesta also clearly understands how good the relationship between the wisdom sword and Saito was. “How did that happen? Derf-san, is he really dead……?”

Saito began to talk about what happened last night. While he was drunk, he found the keys in the kitchen.

"Isn’t there ... a basement we cannot get into? Those are the keys to it. In the basement, there is a very clean room…… later I found that the room is linked to the palace ...... and at the end of it……"

Linked to the palace.

Through these words, Siesta seemed to notice something.

"Ah," she gave a startled expression ... and then considers something while scratching her neck.

"Could it be that ..."

" H-her Majesty the Queen came before ......”

"Yes ... Her Majesty Henrietta. Other than the arrival of Her Majesty the Queen, there’s nothing else”

Siesta was staring at Saito in a scary manner.

"Ah, so, because we were both interested in the basement... so we took a look! Just as we were inspecting the room, Louise……”

“You got discovered? "

At her serious tone, Saito nodded.

"What were the two of you doing?"

"Kiss ......"

When Siesta heard that, she suddenly looked severe and mercilessly slapped Saito in the face.

"Pa" it clearly echoed in the whole room.

"This for Miss Valliere”

Saito who was listless, was so shocked that he opened his eyes.

"And then?"

"What then ......"

A still useless Saito, who has not completely woken up from his trance asked Siesta.

“From there, continue "

Saito continued because of her tone. After finding out that Louise left, I frantically tried to catch up. Along the way, I met strange aristocratic brother and sister. They invited me to join them but suddenly said they wanted to kill their own. In the middle of the fight between their brother, Derflinger exploded into pieces because he absorbed too much magic...

Derf turned into broken pieces ... Speaking of the moment here, Saito finally recognize this reality. Too shocked, he let the memories of his good friend “Death”come together in his mind. Tears, slowly filled his eyes, and streamed down Saito's cheek.

"Wu, Siesta ... Derf died…obviously, obviously, as a good guy ..."

Siesta's eyes filled with tears, but once again gave Saito a slap in the face.

Saito looked at Siesta with a surprised expression. Seems to want to say something, but did not speak.

”Why are you crying?

"Eh? B-because ......"

"Do we still have time to cry?"

Siesta wiped the corner of her eye while holding back her tears.

"Even though I also want to cry out, however, because there is no time to cry, so I will not cry out, we must immediately find Miss Valliere, right? Even Saito-san got attacked; Miss Valliere might encounter the same danger”

Saito opened his mouth with a “ah”. It is as Siesta said.

"I…… even though Miss Valliere and I are vying for Saito-san as rivals, I really like Miss Valliere. To be honest, there are times when I hate her even if I compliment her, her personality cannot be considered good,

But I still like her very much. Because, a noble like her can sleep with a person like me without saying anything, isn’t that right? We are obviously rivals "

Saito suddenly clenched his fist tightly and wiped the corner of his eyes.

"Derf-san’s death, I’m also very sad. However, if something happens to Miss Valliere, Derf-san would be even angrier, right?"

He will say, “Partner, what kind of excuse have you come up with this time?”

Saito nodded his head from the bed and stood up.Derflinger last words floated into his mind.

"You must apologise to that arrogant little lady ..."

"... Siesta was right. This is really not the time to do such a thing."

Summoning the power of his voice, Saito spoke. However ...... his voice was trembling, body staggering as if he could fall. Saito kept saying to himself "this is not the time to do such a thing", while gripping the Japanese sword leaning against the bed, he insert it into his bed.

Siesta was holding on to this kind of Saito.

"This Is It! This is Saito-san!"

"But, where exactly did Louise go... because I have no clue......”

"Anyway, let’s go to a place where she’ll possibly go first”

Saito and Siesta quickly organised the finished costume (装束) and asked Grandmother Helen to help look after the house. From their faces, Grandmother Helen felt something amiss and nodded her head with a serious expression.

Imagining where Louise might go, they walked to the streets.

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