Zero no Tsukaima:Volume18 Chapter2
Chapter 2 - Fouquet and Wards
Location: Capital of the Imperial Alliance, Romalia.
The streets of Romalia were carefully organized, well aligned that they resembled a Go Board. A figure of a woman could be seen walking hurriedly through them.
Her long dark-green hair on her forehead was split right down through the middle, behind her glasses a glimpse of a glimmering intellect, her serious expression on her mouth drawing a straight line was enough to judge that she was prepared to face the commotion on these streets.
She wore a dark blue blouse accompanied with a white skirt, and her arms were carrying a lot of books that were transported somewhere. Seeing her, at first glance, she looks like a secretary of a local noble.
However, even despite her casual way of walking, the woman always kept her guard up while keeping a watchful eye on her surroundings.
Right now, the city of Romalia was wrapped in the chaos because The Pope, St. Aegis the 32nd, had awakened his people to gather their weapons and continue in their duty to engage in "holy war".
It was a huge festival that would not end until the holy land was recovered from the hands of the elves.
Walking through the streets of Romalia, one could see, as they were everywhere, posters plastered to the walls that called on people to join voluntarily as soldiers for holy war. These panels had the slogan "Your duty is to annihilate the heretics (elves)".
The cavalry of the Church could be seen parading down the main street in long lines, orderly organized with respect to ranges of the troops.
Any priest who came to be on his way to the parade held by Order of Knights, need to stop before them show a sign of cross and offer his blessing.
Inside the big fuss of that place, the woman with casual step walking a few moments as the tension seemed to start to invade her body, then she continues her path until she came to a dead end.
This is a place where the country of Romalia could not extend its light.
In the corners, dirty water and food waste accumulated, which produced an indescribable stench that assaulted her senses. Along the street, could be seen here and there with a disheveled and unkempt appearance, children refugees from different nations of Halkeginia. They sat there as if waiting for some uncertain event in this place that seemed to be hidden even in the eyes of God.
Then, as the woman began to walk along this street, this created an eerie effect in children who suddenly rose after watching this young woman with a twinkle of excitement in their eyes.
“Onee-chan! Onee-chan!”
Then after hearing this, the woman started to pull out from her pocket a few copper coins which she give to the children who hurriedly approached her. The children came one after another here and there, gathering around about 10 of them, they try to decide the order in which they would receive the coins and started to fight around her.
"...Hey, there's enough for everyone, so do not fight, and do not even try to steal the coins of others.”
With money in hand, the children began to move away happy with the gift, meanwhile the girl watched them from her eyes that were remained narrowed.
As the children left, she began to make sure that no one was left around, then she prepare to enter a collapsed building in which the façade plaster was falling apart.
Immediately after entering the lobby of this building she found some stairs leading to the second floor, and climbed them.
Already on the second floor the first thing that was obvious was a hallway with lots of doors uniformly arranged one behind the other, where you saw this place it seemed to be an old apartment building.
She was ready to go to the room down the hall, she opened the door and saw a single room with a very poor interior appearance.
On the top of the big bed next to the window she saw a sheet which had various patches across its surface, the wallpaper on the walls was completely faded to the point that she could not figure out what was the original color on the paper.
However, the room had a feature that was obvious: on an oak panel with several columns of books stacked on it, plus some books were also scattered across the floor near it.
Truly this room is really like a mini library. And then she saw a figure of a tall man sitting in that room while reading a book, surrounded by so many books, almost literally, he was buried in them.
“You’re still carefree, Wardes.”
While his gray eyes remained attentive, without leaving his eyes on the book in his hands Wardes said:
“By this point in my life I doubt that there are still people who have any hostile intent against me or anything like that.”
Compared to the time he was in Albion, participating as a member of RECONQUISTA, she distinguish a slight thinness in his body, leaving that aside there was no other significant change in his being.
Dressed in the outfits of a simple commoner, however, the presence emanating through his body was that of a noble military veteran who had fought countless battles.
The woman, who had originally been called the Fouquet The Crumbling Dirt, suddenly dropped the books in her arms to the side where Wards was.
“Oh God, since the war ended with Albion you just spend your time sitting there reading books, do you want to be an academian or something?”
Wardes did not respond to that.
“Giving money to children again?
“How did you know?”
“From here, you can hear voices outside. You know you should not do anything to draw attention. Is not that what you always say?”
At this Fouquet raised her eyebrows.
“Hey you know, these children are refugees from Albion, they cannot afford to do what they want as they spend their days wasting time like others, ehh.”
After their defeat in Albion, Wards decided to come to Romalia with Fouquet. But overall, Wardes actions since then were reduced only to read, read and keep reading books.
It was a history book.
Even having said that, it should be stressed that it was not any history book, it was a book by which Fouquet had gone through many problems trying to steal.
It was a secret that to this day had been dormant within the confines of the headquarters of the Holy Church of Romalia. In it, the government of Romalia the Holy Church, recorded various past events that pertain to events in nature such as oppression, wars with foreign nations and others that stressed the dictatorial character of Romalia.
It would be difficult to determine if this was the way to get lost engrossed in a book this man is really getting in Fouquet's nerves, but with an angry voice trying to get his attention she said:
“Hey Wardes, I think it is high time we talk seriously. From the beginning it caught my attention, but what is the real reason we came to Romalia?”
Wardes was expressionless. All he did was change the page while still reading, seeing him do this irritated Fouquet. She approached Wards and took the pendant that hung to his chest. Apparently it was a locket, then Fouquet carelessly prepared to open it, she saw a portrait of a beautiful woman.
