Zero no Tsukaima:Volume17 Chapter2 - MTL

Chapter 2: Flight

Louise walked listlessly on the street. She left the mansion on a horse but after leaving the Des Ornières mansion, she hid in a nearby farm so now she was on foot.

Louise had some hesitation at the fork leading to Tristainia and (西夏尔的贝鲁艾尔). Even though it’ll be easier to hide in the capital, there is no way to guarantee who she would encounter. If she goes in the opposite direction, she would be more visible but the worry of being exposed is smaller. In the end, Louise headed in the direction of (西夏尔的贝鲁艾尔).

Saito and the others are heading towards the direction of Tristania to give chase, so this fork in the road can be described as the turning point of fate.

She hurried through the night. When the sun rises, Louise rested under the shade of a tree along the street. She woke up exactly at noon. Looking at the bright sun, a burst of intense sadness suddenly hit Louise.

“There is already no place for me to return to”

Whether it’s Saito or Henrietta, I don’t need anyone.

“Of course”

Louise thought to herself.

“Although I’m treated as a void user, I’ve done nothing to match up to it. I’m always holding back and bringing trouble to Saito. I’m tired, of course”

Even though there couldn’t be a situation like this virtually but after watching the look on Saito and Henrietta together, Louise could not believe herself.

There is only a huge sense of powerlessness and sadness surrounding the whole body of Louise.

She bowed her head, her tears dropping one by one constantly. “Are you alright, miss?” a passing farmer asked but Louise did not respond and continued crying.

Many passing farmers and travellers looked at Louise with surprise as they walked past her.

How long have I cried?

By evening, her sadness turned into a deep emptiness.

“So, what do I do now?”

There is no place to return to and there is no place she wants to go. Returning back home is also not an option. Might as well say that she doesn’t want to meet anyone she knows.

Having said that, staying around here would not help. With an absent-minded expression, Louise started walking again. In order to stay away from the Des Ornières mansion......

That night Louise reached a village inn and stayed there. Even though it is an old inn, it at least has a private room. For three consecutive days, Louise cried there. Gradually, her tears dried up.

On the morning of the third day, Louise washed her face with cold water. Finally let my head become clearer. Searching all her pockets, she found only about 100 ECU. The other things she brought with her are some change of clothes and daily necessities. Then there was the wand, prayer book and the ruby of water.

This hotel charges half my ECU a day. If I save on meals, that’s half of the amount. If I calculate it this way, I can stay here for another 4 months but I cannot always live in one place. Maybe hiding in a monastery is the best after all?

“But I’ll be discovered quickly”

Louise whispered with a deep sigh.

I do not have the experience of earning money for a living. Even though I ran away from home, how am I to live on?

Thinking of that, Louise shook her head.

“Doesn’t matter”

Yes. It doesn’t matter anymore. Next, she’ll take one step at a time. Louise pulls out a small mirror from the luggage and gaze into it. Cloudy dull dark brown eyes, dry tears sticking onto her face. Her hair was messy, because in these days she did not comb. Her lips lost their colour and the shirt she has been wearing all this while was crumpled. This look is a far cry from the world-famous girl image.

“不成样子啊。Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière”

Louise sighed deeply.

“This face isn’t it the same as your nickname. Zero. Louise the zero…….Yes, I was originally a ‘zero’. I don’t have anything. From the start, it is like that. The void users of legend, Aquileia's saint, the me who is suddenly raise to such a high position is only a woman”

Haha, Louise laughed to herself.

“Speaking of which, Saito and the Princess are also very welcomed by the people”

Murmuring, she felt a big empty hole surrounding her heart. Although she felt lonely, there was a feeling that her heart has already completely stop beating.

“Anyway, go get a drink first”

Louise went downstairs and decided to go to the pub to drink. This is indeed a small hotel. The floor made crunching sounds; the table was full of dust and food leftovers. Mice scuttled across chairs. One look and the rumour about how ‘a noble like Louise can stay in an inn like this’ seems to be already exposed. The travellers there looked straight at Louise with faces of curiosity.

完全没有在意这样的视线，露易丝向有些上了年纪的酒糟鼻店主点了葡萄酒。The shopkeeper stare suspiciously at Louise,

“Although I have been living here for three days already, this inn is not a place a noble should live in”

Louise looked around her. Faces full of curiosity; men with ill intent seem to be staring at her.

If she gets drunk here, it will only be a matter of time before it gets out……this is the same as announcing that she is here.

Ah, drinking wine is also troublesome……muttering that, Louise left the inn.

The next place to go is a town called (修尔毕), from (托里斯塔利亚) it is a two days trip. The伯爵治理of this town, is connected with many streets, it is a big village. It is an ideal place to hide one’s identity temporarily.

In this town, Louise prepared a program.

After settling down in the inn, she took the most beautiful clothes from among the clothes she brought. Then, using the makeup she once bought in the ‘Charming Fairies Inn’, she put on a heavy makeup. From the bottom of her makeup props, she noticed the magic dye she used to rescue Tabitha. Louise dyed her striking pink wavy hair brown.

“With this, I will also become the perfect woman of the night”

Her clothes and her makeup were completely disproportionate but Louise was very satisfied. With this, no one would think I am a noble.

When evening came, Louise 矫揉造作地扭着腰来到酒场 and ordered wine. Although the shopkeeper looked at Louise suspiciously, he still passed the things she ordered to her.

Louise wanted to pour the red wine into the cup but changed her mind. She was currently not a noble. If she wants to drink quietly, she must act appropriately.

“That’s right. An idling person like me should just drink straight from the wine bottle”

Louise grabbed the wine bottle and put her mouth on it, gulping down the contents. After drinking one-third of it in one breath, she started coughing intensely.

“Cough! Cough, Cough!”

Her face turned red all of a sudden. Louise who was not really good with wine, stared with hate at the wine bottle. Look, look, look, look……Saito’s face appeared on the wine’s surface.

“I hate you”

With squinted eyes, Louise muttered while she drank another mouthful of wine. But, with her drunken trance, she remembered the happy days she spent together with Saito……

The day when he got called out ... being rescued from the hands of a golem ... Dancing together for the first time ... and, the first time when their lips met.

胸中跃动的思念，一个接一个鲜明地苏醒，让露易丝越发悲伤。

“Forget. Must forget. People who idle don’t get bound to longing”

Louise drank a mouthful of wine again. From the deep within the pub, a young drunkard stood up and went closer towards Louise’s direction. Looking up, his face was not welcoming.

“Miss, that’s a really bold way of drinking. Can I have a cup too?”

Louise lifted her eyes at the voice laced with alcohol.

“Move aside”

Well, don’t say that……the man reaching out to touch her shoulder was kicked by Louise and sent flying.

“Who do you think I am? You dare to touch the Duke!”

Louise stops speaking up to here. She cannot expose her noble identity. The man that was sent flying stares angrily at Louise.

“胆敢啥”

“I-I’m just a hostess. Idling away. Err, Cough. “

Louise put her hand up to lean against her chin, desperately pretending to be a hostess.

“That’s why I want to drink with you” Well, there’s nothing wrong with that.

“Don’t joke. Who wants to drink something with you……Ah!”

Louise moaned. The man grabbed Louise's hand.

“Let go! Let go of me quickly!”

She wanted to chant a spell but realized that she left her wand in her room. 虽然手舞足蹈地挣扎着，但毕竟无法与身强力壮的男人相抗衡。

“Even though I don’t know where you come from, you stubborn chick, but let me teach you a lesson”

The man dragged Louise towards the outside of the pub. The shopkeepers and the other customers turned a blind eye for fear they might implicated. In the end, Louise got dragged outside the pub.

“Let go of my hand!”

As Louise cried, she bit the hand of the man bitterly. The sweaty hand made her feel like vomiting.

“That hurts! What are you doing!”

The man jumped up and brandished his fist towards Louise.

“Help! Sai-“

Louise was filled with anger when she almost called out Saito’s name without realising it.

“I hate this kind of ‘you’”

“Very good!”

The man lowered his fist, 露易丝缩起身体。But before the man’s fist can touch Louise, he was knocked to the ground by an invisible bullet.

“I really can’t stand it I really can’t stand it I really can’t stand it”

From the darkness, a girl appeared, her chant like a whisper. Her body was dressed in a black dress wrapped with layers of white hemming. Inside the black headscarf was a doll-like fair face and shining green eyes.

“W-what are you doing! You jerk!”

The man who was standing was in a rage but when he noticed the short stick in the hand of the girl, his face was drained of colour.

“N-noble”

“Huh? I'm not a noble. However, because I am a magician I am able to use magic. Of course, to you, both sides are the same”

The girl smiled. At the same time, a strange formidable boldness from that upright face surfaced. "Darn," the man cursed, and then left.

Louise was temporary frozen on the spot; she hurriedly bent her head down to the girl.

“T-thank you for your help during that dangerous moment……”

“Nothing! It does not matter, right? Not injured are you?”

Louise shook her head.

“You are drinking here?”

The girl pointed at the pub. Louise nodded her head,

“Then, I’ll drink a little too. Can you accompany me? If it’s one person drinking, don’t you think its boring”

“Eh?”

For a moment, Louise was confused but before she could answer, the girl walked carelessly into the shop and she had to chase after her.

“I’m called Jeanette. What’s your name?”

干杯之后，叫做嘉内特的少女向露易丝如此询问。露易丝目不转睛地盯着嘉内特。就好像没有血在其中流淌一样的雪白肌肤。如人偶般的面容，以及服装。年龄、看起来和自己没有多大差别。

However……she can use magic but is not a noble. Mercenary or something.

But, looking at how she dresses up, she does not look like a mercenary. Who is she?

Noticing that Louise was staring at her suspiciously, Jeanette smiled.

“Relax. I’m not going to do anything to you. I am only trying to find someone to spend my time with”

Although suspicious ... but it seems she really no other motives. In short, she doesn’t seem to look like she knows her own identity.

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