Zero no Tsukaima - Volume 05 - Tristania's Holiday, page 1
part #32 of Zero no Tsukaima Series
Story 1: The "Charming Fairies" Inn
Chapter 1
"Alright, starting tomorrow is summer break."
Louise said, while looking down at the familiar.
"Yeah, it is."
Saito tumbled on the ground, facing his master.
"How about we have one week of leisure?"
They were at the Austri Plaza. As always, Saito was being stepped on by Louise, and he, once again had to explain his reason for why he was being stepped on by Louise.
"Well, Siesta said that she would go on a trip to Tarbes village. Wouldn't it be okay if I just stayed a little bit and then went back to your territory? Sometimes it's not bad with just your family and no one else around, right?"
But, judging from the look on Louise's face, it seemed that the suggestion was rejected again.
The front gate, which was filled with students going home, could be seen from the plaza. The students, who had waited days to go home, were riding by carriage. They were going back to their hometown, being encouraged by their parents to return to the capital of Tristania. Tristain Academy of Magic would be on a long summer vacation starting from tomorrow. It would be a two and a half month long holiday.
"You-you know, Miss Vallière. I think Saito-san needs a break as well."
A flustered Siesta said to Louise, who was bullying Saito. As preparations for returning home, Siesta was not wearing her usual maid uniform, but her casual clothes of a dark green shirt and brown skirt.
Louise threw a glare at her. But... Siesta was also not the same. With the competitive spirit of a girl in love, she glared at Louise in return.
"A-a break is also necessary, right? You-you always work him as you please..., that's horrible."
"This guy is fine. That's because he's my familiar."
Siesta seemed to have sensed something in that attitude.
"Familiar? Heh, I wonder if that's the only reason...?"
Siesta muttered. Her eyes glittered, as if she was setting up a trap to catch a rabbit. Girls in love are sensitive to rivals.
"Eh? What does that mean?"
"No-nothing?"
Siesta muttered while playing dumb.
"Say it."
"It's just that recently, the way you look at Saito-san has been a bit suspicious. That's what I thought."
Siesta said, finishing by looking to the side. Louise glared at her intensely.
Even a maid is making fun of me. It's Saito's fault. Even though he's a commoner, he does all sorts of strange things. Even the academy's commoners are starting to get overconfident. Louise had heard such rumors before, but this is what it was. The kingdom's authority. The nobles' authority. Well, that doesn't really matter but my authority!
Louise trembled while twitching.
Siesta, who squinted her eyes because of the brilliant shine of the sunlight sighed "fuuh", exposed her breasts, and wiped her sweat with a handkerchief.
"Really... Summer is so hot."
Like a flower blooming in the wild, lots of charm poured out from there. Amazing when undressed, the chasm of the two hills flew into her eyes. Louise gave a "Ha-!" and looked at Saito's face. Underneath her foot, the familiar was desperately leering at the gap of Siesta's exposed shirt. Louise was about to snap but endured it.
Like I'll lose! That's right, I'm a noble. Even if I remain silent, nobility will pour out from the gaps of my shirt.
Louise followed suit. She murmurs "Fuuh, it's hot." and loosened her shirt's buttons. And then she wiped her sweat with a handkerchief. But... what was there was not a chasm, but a refreshing plain that spread out everywhere.
Saito seemed to prefer the terrain with highs and lows and did not move his glance.
Seeing the result of the battle, Siesta let out a stifled laugh, making Louise snap.
"Wh-what! You just laughed right now!"
"What? There's no way I would laugh. No way, right? For me to look at a noble and laugh..."
Siesta said, pacifying Louise with a sparkling face. Then she turned her face away and muttered
"...With such a childish body, a noble? ...Heeh."
"Kaha," leaked out of Louise mouth as exhalation.
"What did you just say?! Hey!"
"...Who knows, ...nothing. Either way, it's so hot. Hot, hot. Aah, it's hot."
Louise trembled all over. Saito whispered,
"Hey, master."
"What?"
"Is it okay if I go to Tarbes?"
"Kauha," Louise sighed miserably, and began to hurt Saito with all her might, thinking How many times are you going to ask?
Siesta said, "Calm down! Miss Vallière! Please calm down!" and grabbed her back. While the usual mess was about to begin...
*flap**flap* as one owl appeared.
"Nn?"
The owl stopped on Louise's shoulder and hit Louise's head with it's wings.
"What is with this owl?"
The owl was biting on a letter. Louise took that from it. Recognizing the stamp pressed on it, Louise returned to a serious expression.
"What is this owl?"
Siesta peeked at it.
When Louise became serious, Saito inquired,
"What is it?"
Checking it contents, Louise scanned over the single piece of paper. Then Louise said, "Going back home is halted."
"What do you mean halted? Siesta even invited me... I'm really disappointed, you know."
Saito said, seeing Louise go back to her own room and check her luggage that she had packed up for going back home.
Louise showed Saito the letter the owl had brought just now.
"No, I can't read the letters from here."
Louise sat straight on her bed and began to talk.
"After the previous incident... you know that Princess-sama was depressed, right?"
Saito nodded. It was a tragic event. Her own dead lover... was revived by her enemy and tried to kidnap her. It was obvious she would be depressed.
"I feel sorry for her... but it seems she can't stay sunk in the abyss of sadness forever."
"What do you mean?"
Louise explained what was written in the letter.
Albion had given up on a proper invasion until their fleet was rebuilt, so they were trying to fight in an irregular way- Is what the cabinet had predicted, with Mazarin on the top of them. They couldn't have them cowardly attack Tristain from the inside by inciting revolt and rebellion throughout the town. Because Henrietta and her men feared such conspiracies, she was strengthening the maintenance of public order...
"It's fine to strengthen the public order, but what does she want you to do?"
"An intelligence gathering mission involving hiding myself. Is there any improper actions going on? What kind of rumors are being spread around by commoners?"
"Uwah, a spy!"
"Spy?"
"In my world, those type of information gathering jobs are called that."
"Huunn... Anyways, it's basically spying, right..."
For some reason, Louise looked unsatisfied.
"What's wrong?"
"Well... because isn't this plain?"
"No, isn't information important? My grandfather said that the old Japan lost a war because they kept on ignoring information."
"What?"
"Nothing. It doesn't really matter..."
In Henrietta's letter, there were directions to settle down at an inn in Tristania, hide her identity and do something like flower-selling, and collect all kinds of information being passed around by commoners. A note to pay back the expenses for the mission was enclosed.
"I see."
"That's why I'm rearranging my luggage. I can't bring so many clothes."
Louise pointed to her luggage that had gotten lighter by a bagful.
"So I have to work even though it's summer vacation..."
Saito muttered sadly.
"Stop loafing around. Come on, we're leaving now!"
After all of this happened, the two left for Tristania. In order to hide their social status, they could not use a coach. The horses at the academy were the academy's, so they could not use those. In the end, they walked.
Louise and Saito walked on the road under the scorching sun, heading towards Tristania. It takes two days to get there.
Looking reproachfully at the sun, Saito whispered,
"Damn... even though I should be at Siesta's house drinking cold water right now..."
"Don't complain! Come on! Walk!"
Louise, who had her familiar carry all of the luggage, shouted angrily.
After arriving at the city, the two first visited the financial affairs office to exchange the note for gold coins. Six-hundred in new gold coins. Four-hundred écus.
Saito remembered the money from Henrietta in the pouch attached to his belt. About four hundred new gold coins remained. So around two-hundred seventy écus.
Saito first found a tailor and bought plain clothes for Louise. Louise didn't like it, but wearing a mantle with a pentagram would completely expose her as a noble. It would be impossible to blend in with commoners and gather information. There would be no meaning walking here.
But Louise, forced to wear plain clothes, looked unsatisfied.
"What's wrong?"
"It's not enough."
"What is?"
"The money we got for this mission. With only four-hundred écus, we would be broke after buying a horse."
"We don't need a horse. It was written for you to hide your social status, right? In other words, you're supposed to act like a commoner. Walk. You have legs."
"I'll act like a commoner, but I can't get satisfying services without a horse."
"A cheap horse is fine, right? Compromise here."
"Those horses are useless when we really need them! We also need a harness. And also... we won't be able to stay at a strange inn. With this amount of money, it'll be gone after staying for just two and a half months!"
What kind of Inn could cost up to six-hundred gold coins?
"A cheap inn is fine, right?"
"No way! I can't sleep well in a cheap room!"
As expected of a noble's daughter. Even though she has a mission to blend in with commoners and gather information, she plans to stay at a high class inn. Saito wondered, What is she thinking?
"I have some too. I'll share some with you."
"...That's still not enough. Services cost money."
"Then what should we do?"
"Isn't there a way to earn more money?"
And like that, while disputing about earning more money and finding a cheap place, they entered a bar where Saito found a gambling area set up in a corner of the store. Over there, drunk men and suspicious women were taking chips and having their chips taken.
Without caring about Louise narrowing her eyebrows at them, Saito gazed at the gambling.
"What are you looking at?"
"Well, I was just thinking about earning money with this. How about it?"
"Isn't that gambling? What a thing!"
"Now, just watch me. I've done it a lot of times before in games."
Saito exchanged chips for thirty new gold coins... twenty écus and headed towards the table with the spinning disk. The disk's circumference was split into thirty-seven parts, each having their own number and colored red or black.
An iron ball spun around inside the disk. And near the disk, there were men and women with changed eye colors staring at this intently.
It was roulette.
Saito looked at the placing guests. First, I'll test my luck. Copying the winning guests, Saito placed a chip worth about ten écus on red.
The ball entered a red pocket.
"See, look. I earned some! I'm amazing!"
Saito was somewhat stingy, so he placed cautiously and earned about thirty écus worth of chips.
"See, look! The money we have for completing the mission increased! Geez, it's a big difference compared to a certain someone who only complains!"
Saito said while turning his chest away. Louise's eyes flashed.
"Lend some to me."
"You shouldn't. It's impossible for you."
"What are you saying? If the familiar is winning, then the master will win ten times over if she tries."
Louise immediately placed what Saito had won on black. But... she was off. What Saito had won was lost in a moment.
"What are you doing?! Even though I finally earned some!"
"Sh-shut up."
"Geez... Even though you always act proud, you can't properly earn money at all. Learn from Siesta a bit. Learn to cook something. Then go work as a cook at some restaurant. That's what laboring is."
Something lit up in Louise at the words "Learn from Siesta".
"J-j-just watch me. Who the hell will lose?"
"Louise?"
Saito trembled at her.
Thirty minutes later...
Louise was drooping her shoulders and looking hatefully at the board. The chips she had placed a moment ago quietly disappeared by the banker's hand. The pretty blond girl's shoulders remained drooping for a while, but then raising her head proudly, she tried to place all of her chips onto one point. Saito, who had been looking from behind her, grabbed her shoulders.
"Louise..."
"What?"
Louise muttered in a clearly grumpy voice. Saito bluntly said,
"Let's stop already."
"I'll win next time. I'll definitely win."
"How many times do you think you've said that?!"
Saito's scream resounded. The guests placing chips turned around and put on bitter smiles.
It was a scene that occurred every day.
"You haven't even won once."
Saito stuck his finger in front of Louise's nose. This was the first time Saito saw a human who was so bad at gambling. Louise had already lost four-hundred écus... most of the money required for the mission. If they turned Louise's remaining chips into money, they wouldn't get more than thirty écus. If they lost this, they would be broke.
"It's okay. I'll unleash my certain winning method next."
"Tell me about it."
"Until now, I've been betting on red or black, right?"
"Yeah. To miss fifteen times betting on red or black... you'd be better off dead."
"Shut up. Listen? In that case, if I won, I only get a few times more. Why?"
"That's normal."
"And then I realized it. Even if I get red or black right, I only win double. But..."
"But, what?"
Saito was shaking. Louise was speaking as if possessed by something.
"If I win by numbers, I get thirty-five times my bet. I'll be able to get back what we lost plus more. I should have done this in the first place!"
"That's your certain winning method?"
Louise gave a big nod.
Saito silently grabbed Louise's arm and pulled.
"What are you doing?"
"The probability of you winning is one in thirty-seven!"
"So what?! I've already lost fifteen times. No matter how you think about it, I'll win next time. It'd be weird if I didn't. If I'm going to win, I might as well win big!"
Louise's reddish-brown eyes were glittering. It reminded him of the eyes of his uncle, who had failed at stocks and had run away at night. He had these eyes the last time Saito saw him.
On that day, the stock he said would rise greatly crashed downwards instead.
"Calm down. Let's exchange your chips for money and use it to find a place to stay. Okay?"
"No. If I left while losing, the name of La Vallière would weep."
"Let something like that weep!"
The moment he yelled that, he was kicked precisely between the legs and rolled onto the floor.
"Hoaaaaaa... do you have some grudge against my miserable area?"
After eliminating her bothersome familiar, Louise turned back toward the roulette disk.
The shooter was about the throw the ball onto the wheel. She could still make the bet.
Louise placed all of her remaining chips onto the number that she had in her head a moment ago.
Then she stared at the wheel and ball with eyes that couldn't be more serious.
Making a clip-clop sound, the ball of fate entered a pocket. Louise's expression glittered with hope for a moment, but it changed into despair right away. The pocket was the one beside the number Louise had bet on.
While rubbing his nether regions, Saito got up and pulled on Louise.
"Let's go."
"What are you saying?"
"Heh?"
"My neighbor's pocket. Next, it's going to visit my house."
"We don't have any money left to bet, right?!"
"The money in your pocket will help."
"Idiot! This is my money!"
Saito covered his pouch. He couldn't have this be gambled. If he did, even he would be broke.
"You know? The familiar's things are the master's things. That's obvious."
"Don't joke around!"
But compared to Siesta, it didn't reach the ears of Louise, whose brain had been burnt by her fervor for gambling. She tried to kick Saito's nether regions at lightning speed. But Saito was different from usual. He quickly closed his two legs and guarded. Then he grabbed Louise's raised ankle.
"Like I'll let you kick me again!"
Louise muttered in a cold voice
"Vasra."
The magic restriction tool enveloped Saito's body and let off a electric current.
Convulsing violently, Saito tumbled back onto the floor.
"...I see, I didn't watch out for that."
Saito said weakly while cursing his curiosity. Aah, if I didn't have interest in this gambling area, something like this wouldn't have...
Louise searched Saito's pouch, took all of the remaining gold coins, and quickly exchanged them for chips. Saito was slightly relieved. Even if it's someone like Louise who has zero talent for gambling, she wouldn't lose all of those chips before his body recovered from the numbness. After the numbness were gone, he'll cover Louise's mouth and leave the place without letting her say anything. That is what Saito decided.
