Zero no Tsukaima:Volume3 Chapter9

The Germanian king, Albrecht the Third, had arranged for princess Henrietta’s wedding ceremony to take place in Germania’s capital, Vindobona. The date of the ceremony… the first day of the Nyuui (ニューイ) month.

Currently, the Mercator flagship fleet of Tristain was to welcome the guests of the New Albion government by leading them to La Rochelle, where they would stay hovering in the skies above it.

The commander in chief of the fleet, Count La Ramée, sat in the quarterdeck in formal attire. Next to him, captain Fevisu (フェヴィス) was stroking his moustache. It was far past the arranged time.

“Those guys sure are late Captain.”

La Ramée replied with an irritated voice.

“Those Albion dogs who killed their king with their own hands are probably still busy acting like dogs”

The sailor on the top deck suddenly informed him of the fleet’s approach in a loud voice.

“A fleet! From the left!”

With a large ship leading in front, which could easily be mistaken as a cloud, the Albion fleet had started to land

“So that’s Albion ‘Royal Sovereign’ fleet…” Said the captain, watching the large ship in awe.

“Something that no one would want to meet on a battlefield, that’s for sure.”

The Albion fleet descended to Tristain's level, and signalling messages could be seen hoisted on the mast.

“We thank you for your fleet’s welcome. This is the captain of Albion’s Lexington.”

“We have an admiral on board! Using a captain to correspond… we’re being treated like fools” the captain said resentfully, while looking over Tristain’s weak array of ships.

“They’re probably thinking the world is within their hands now that that they have that ship. Reply to them with ‘We give you our warmest welcome. This is the chief in command of the Tristain fleet’”

La Ramée’s words were passed on to the sailor who was standing on the mast. The signalling flag for the message was then hoisted up.

The Albion fleet fired their cannons. It was a cannon salute. There were no shells inside the cannon, they had merely let gunpowder explode.

However, when the Lexington fleet merely did a cannon salute, the air around it shook. La Ramée retreated slightly from this force. If shells were used, they couldn’t possibly reach the distance separating them. Even while understanding this, the force of the cannons of the Lexington fleet was able to make the experienced admiral retreat.

“Fire our cannons in response”

“How many shells shall we fire? For the top nobles, eleven is required.”

The number of shells to be fired was depended upon the person’s rank and social status.

“Seven will do” ordered La Ramée watching with a grin on his face like a stubborn child.

“Prepare the cannons! Seven shots, one by one! Fire when they’re ready!”

On the afterdeck of the Lexington flagship fleet, Bowood was looking to the left at the Tristain fleet. Next to him, was Sir Johnston, the commander in chief, and also the person commanding the entire invasion squad. Being a member of the council of nobles, Cromwell trusted him deeply. However, he had no experience. He was a politician after all.

“Captain…” Johnston said to Bowood in a worried voice.

“Yes?”

“Is it alright to go so close to them? We have those new model long range cannons equipped right? Draw some distance. His excellency has trusted me with important soldiers.”

“Cromwell’s puppet huh…” Bowood whispered coldly to himself.

“Yes we do have those new model cannons, but if we fire from maximum range, they won’t hit”

“But I bear the excellency’s duty of letting off those soldiers safely in Tristain. We can’t have the soldiers being scared. Their morale will drop.”

“The ones being scared are not the soldiers I think…” Bowood thought.

Ignoring Johnston, he lay down a new command. In the sky, there is no law after all.

“Prepare the left cannons”

“Yes sir! Prepare the left cannons!”

The sailors on the deck started to load the cannons with gunpowder and shells.

A thunderous roar could be heard from the Tristain fleet, aiming for the skies. It was the Tristain fleet firing their cannons in response.

The battle plan had commenced.

During that moment, Bowood had turned into a soldier. The political details, his human feelings, the cowardness and foul play of this operation were all forgotten. As the captain of the Lexington fleet of The Republic of the Holy Albion, he proceeded to rapidly issue orders.

The crew of the old Hobart ship trailing at the end of the fleet had finished their preparations, and started to evacuate via the boats they had made levitate with the “Fly” spell.

A startling scene unfolded before La Ramée’s eyes. The ship trailing at the end… the oldest and one of the smallest ships had started to go up in flames.

“What? A fire? Was it an accident?” whispered Fevisu (フェヴィス)

The next instant, another startling thing occurred. The ship that was on fire was surrounded by flames and exploded in the air.

The Albion ship was reduced to ruins and came crashing down to the ground.

“W-What is this? Did the fire catch on to the ammunition storage?”

The Mercator ship was in an uproar.

“Calm down! Calm down!” Fevisu (フェヴィス) yelled at the sailors.

A flag signal was send from the Lexington ship. A sailor started reading the signals with a telescope.

“From the Lexington fleet captain. Explain the meaning behind sinking Hobart”

“Sinking? What is he saying?! He exploded it on purpose!”

La Ramée was panicking.

“Send a reply. ‘The firing from my ship was a response to your salute. They didn’t contain any shells’”

A reply was sent promptly by the Lexington.

“The attack by your ship was not without cannon shells. We shall return your intent of war”

“What nonsense!”

La Ramée’s cry was drowned by the bombardment of the Lexington.

Impact. The mast of the Mercator broke off and a few holes been made in the deck.

“How can their cannons reach such a distance?!” said a surprised Fevisu (フェヴィス) on the shaking deck.

“Send a message! ‘Cease fire, we have no intent of war’”

The Lexington sent a barrage of cannon shells as a reply.

Impact. The ship was shaking and fires had started here and there.

Like a shriek, Mercator’s message repeated over and over.

“We repeat! Cease fire! We have no intent of war!”

The Lexington’s fire didn’t show any signs of stopping.

Impact. La Ramée’s body was sent flying out of Fevisu’s (フェヴィス) sight.

At the same time, from the shock of the impact, Fevisu (フェヴィス) collapsed to the ground. He had realized. The attack was all planned. They didn’t have any intention of a “good-willed visit” at all. They were deceived by Albion.

The ship had started to go up in flames and the injured sailors were groaning in pain. Shaking his head while standing up, Fevisu (フェヴィス) yelled, “The commander in chief has died! The flagship captain will now take control of the fleet! A report on the damages! Full speed ahead! Prepare the right cannons!”

“So they’ve finally realized.” Said Waldo, who was standing next to Bowood, leisurely watching the Tristain fleet. Waldo also did not think the commander in chief, Johnston, who was worth nothing of the title, could do much. The strategy of landing the soldiers was actually entirely commanded by him.

“Seems like it, viscount. However, it seems we will win soon enough.”

The Albion fleet, which had superior mobility, had already taken actions to suppress the full on charge on the Tristain fleet.

The Albion fleet kept a fixed distance, and continued firing their cannons. Their fleet number was twice that of Tristain’s and in addition they had the huge Lexington ship, which had new model cannons. There was no contest in firepower.

As if they were tormenting the Tristain fleet, they continued their fire. The Mercator, which was already on fire, had started to slant. In an instant, the Mercator disappeared from the skies with a deafening roar. It had exploded. None of the ships in the Tristain fleet were undamaged. Losing the flagship, the fleet was thrown into chaos.

Destroying them was only a matter of time now. Ships could be seen hanging their white flags.

On the Lexington ship, cries of “Long live Albion! Long live the holy king Cromwell!” could be heard. Bowood knitted his eyebrows. During the days of the Royal Air force, no one used to chant things like “Long live so and so” during battle. Even the commander in chief, Johnston had joined in.

“Captain, a new page in history has begun.” Said Waldo

As if mourning for his enemies who didn’t even have a chance to cry out in pain, Bowood whispered, “No, only a war has begun.”

Soon after the news of the entire fleet in La Rochelle had been wiped out, a declaration of war had been issued by Albion. It blamed Tristain for breaking the non-aggression treaty by attacking their fleet without reason, and lastly stated “As an act of self defence, The holy republic of Albion shall declare war on the kingdom of Tristain.”

The palace, which had been busily occupied with Henrietta’s departure for Germania, was suddenly thrown into a state of confusion from the events.

The generals, cabinet ministers and the like immediately held a meeting. But the meeting was just a disordered ramble. Opinions that they should inquire Albion about the circumstances of the events, or that they should dispatch messengers requesting aid were thrown about.

Sitting in the meeting’s seat of honour was a shocked Henrietta. She was wearing her beautiful wedding dress that had just been finished stitching. It was originally planned for her to head to Germania by a carriage after the dress had been finished.

She was like a blooming flower in the meeting room. But no one had even noticed.

“Albion states that our fleet attacked them first! However our side says they only did a cannon salute”

“Accidents can cause misunderstandings.”

“Let’s hold a meeting in Albion to sort this out! Perhaps there is still a chance to mend this misunderstanding!”

While the powerful nobles stated their opinions, the Cardinal Mazariini (マザリーニ) nodded.

“Right. Dispatch a special envoy to Albion. We will approach this cautiously, before it turns into a total war over a mere misunderstanding.”

At that moment, an urgent report arrived.

The messenger carrying the letter from the carrier owl, rushed into the meeting room.

“It’s an urgent report! After landing, the Albion fleet has started capturing land!”

“Where did they land?”

“The outskirts of La Rochelle! It seems like in the field of Tarbes!”