Volume 6 Chapter 6 (2/2)

“If not, it would not be possible to cooperate with the army”

It h Henrietta ordered Louise to keep silent, she herself revealed it with ease, he thought

Though Henrietta kept on saying that Louise was ihts about the queen made Saito sad

Then he remeht

Anyway, he was completely sure about her

The generals smiled to Louise Fake smiles

“You may think it is a hastily chosen headquarters That is not the case This shi+p ensures absolute security You see, this warshi+p, which is specialized in carrying dragon knights is not packed with cannons It would be troublesome if enemies aim at us ”

“Ha, haah…then why did you eneral headquarters?”

The whole roohter as Louise questioned in a very cute, confused voice

“In normal shi+ps there is no space for such conference rooms They are stuffed with cannons”

Indeed For a flagshi+p that controls a huge army, the ability to process information quickly is more necessary than offensive power

“Enough with the chat Let’s continue with the war council,” said a general of Gerenerals faces

It was a tough war council

Making 60,000 soldiers land on Albion was a secondary problem

The main problem was how to deal with the powerful ene the battle at Tarbes 10 Albion shi+ps-of-the-line along with the Lexington were destroyed, 40 shi+ps-of-the-line reh Tristain and Germania had 60 shi+ps-of-the-line because it was a united fleet of two countries, executive confusion was to be expected When you take into account that the Albion fleet was said to be superior to a fleet 15 tith, the potential difference between them was canceled

Secondly, the selection of the landing point

On Albion’s continent there were only two places where the large army of 60,000 soldiers could land all at once

The capital city Londinium’s southern airbase Rosais, or the northern port - Dartanes

Because of the port size, Rosais was preferable, however… aie fleet would be discovered at once and that would give enemy the time to prepare a defense

“Wasting soldiers in the assault would put the capture of Londinium at risk“

The Chief of Staff calmly analyzed the forces and informed everyone It should be kept silent What kind of assault would that be with enemy resistance

The allied forces needed a surprise attack

60,000 soldiers wanted to land in Rosais without facing enemy resistance

Thus they needed to deceive the large ene point at Rosais

Simply put, the Tristain and Gery that would deceive the ene that they would land in Dartanes

That was the second problem

“Can we hope for Miss Void’s cooperation in either of the two?”

The noble with a staff badge asked while watching Louise

“Could you blow up the Albion fleet, the e blew up the Lexington in Tarbes?”

Saito watched Louise Louise turned around and shook her head

“It is ih willpower stored to cast such strong 'Explosion' I don’t kno many month’s or years would it take”

The staff officer shook his head

“Then such an unreliable ‘weapon’ can’t be called our trump card”

Those words made Saito respond

“Hey, Louise is not a weapon”

“What? It’s not for a familiar to talk”

Before it turned into a fuss… General De Poitiers interrupted

“We’ll take over the fleet Let’s have Miss Void undertake the feint Can you do it?”

“Feint?”

“We discussed it before We only have to convince the enemy that ill land not in Rosais but in Dartanes It should be siht?”

Louise thought

…Was there such a spell?

Saito muttered quietly from the back

“…Didn’t Derf say that it can be read when the right time comes?”

Louise nodded

“Tomorrow, I’ll look for a spell that can be used”

General De Poitiers gave a hopeful smile

He then urged Louise and Saito to leave the room

”That was annoying,” Louise said in the hallway as the door was shut She stuck her tongue out while facing the conference room

“Yeah,” Saito nodded

“Those people, I think that they see ift horse”

Saito tapped Louise's shoulder

“These are the great generals? This on’t win the war this year”

But, itthe war

The fighter isthe shi+p, it is also indispensable

However, while thinking absent-mindedly, his shoulder was tapped from behind

When he turned around, five or six nobles were sharply staring at Saito They all seee to Saito They earing leather hats and clad in blue tunics Like soldiers, they earing rapier-looking wands at their waists… yet they looked considerably shorter

“Hey, you”

Being addressed that way, Saito turned

“What?”

“Stop it,” Louisehis sleeve

The boy in thejaw-line seemed to be their leader

“Come”

Huh? With a suddenly agitated ier, walked towards them

They entered the upper deck where the Zero Fighter was placed All of the Zero Fighter’s parts were tied with ropes that were fastened to the deck Not able to understand, and still trying the figure out the er

“Is this thing alive?”

One noble boy asked ehter

“If it is not so, then what is that Explain”

Another one requested for the explanation with a serious look

Saito felt dumb-struck

“No, that is not a living thing, however…” He muttered

“Hurray! Didn’t I tell you? I win! Everyone give one écu!”

The fattest boy began to roar Everyone sulkily took out gold coins from their pockets pocket and handed them to the boy

Seeing Louise and Saito with their ave aard smiles

“Were you surprised? Sorry”

“Yes”

“No, ere having a bet Over that thing”

A noble boy pointed at the Zero Fighter

“We thought that it was alive We thought that it was a dragon ”

“There is no place where such dragons could exist!”

“There ht be! The world is wide after all!”

They started to quarrel again

Seeing that, Saito recalled the classroo the break, they also had similar foolish discussions to pass the time…

“It is a flying machine”

He said, and the noble boys were interested immediately and listened attentively to Saito's explanation However, they seemed not to be able to understand; an object that flies over the sky using power other than ic

“We are dragon knights”

When the explanation of the Zero Fighter ended, the boys guided Saito and Louise to dragons inside the deck The Dragon Knight Corps had suffered a lot of da the battle at Tarbes, that’s why the dragon knight apprentices were incorporated into the arhts

“Under nor would be needed though”

Explained the shyly s plump boy, who had won the bet before He said that he was a coht Squadron He was the one that had guided Saito's Zero Fighter to the warshi+p

The dragons inside were all adult dragons They looked twice as big as Tabitha’s Sylphid Their big wings seemed to be built for speed

“It is very difficult to becoht”

“Really?”

“Yes Having a dragon as a faon familiars are hard to please, difficult animals, because they will only allow those riders whom they accept to ride them”

“Does being a dragon rider require not only skill but also h that sort of thing and never let his or her guard down?”

Seeht boys were elite, and had considerable owner’s pride too

“Can I get on?”

Saito asked, they nodded

Saito tried to straddle it, but was thrown off quickly The boys burst into laughter, holding their sides Since Saito’s coain The result was the saon with a cool face… this was e many times

Louise watched the spectacle fro along well, he made noise and screamed like one of them

The boys looked happy, and she envied the so well and so quickly? Louise thought while she sulked

I ons have that your master doesn’t? He did that withwith dragon knights?

Don’t we have a battle in the sky tomorrow? Isn't there a chance ill die tomorrow? Is this how you decide to spend your time?

Louise thought, while glaring at Saito

I aht

But I’ll never say it aloud

And… she sighed

The feint operation

It was necessary to convince the ene to land not in Rosais, but in Dartanes… What spell would suit? She had not the slightest idea

“Hey, you You”

The dragon knight boys noticed the looks Louise was giving off in their direction, as she idly swung her legs leaning against the wall, and asked Saito

“Is she your master? Is it ok for you to leave her alone?”

“Uuh! damn!” Saito turned pale Louise was left alone She’ll hit, hit and complain later for sure However, he did not want to look so pathetic in front of his new friends Boys are inexperienced beings, and a new

“I-it’s all right if it is her Leave it”

“Oooh,”

Applauses erupted

“That’s the spirit To oppose your master in such manner! You are not an ordinary person”

Louise, who got angry at Saito's attitude, approached

“What did you say?”

“No, nothing…” the mos And once she turned to go back to their roo officer called for them both

“What are your plans for tonight?”

For some reason Louise’s cheeks turned red

“Nothing…” Saito replied, Louise kicked him in the stomach

“In that case, how about having soht for our acquaintanceshi+p?”

He carefully suggested

“By no means, if ere to slip out of our rooht, ould be instantly found out by patrolling shi+p officers”

Everyone started to worry They wanted to escape shi+p officers anger fro drunk It would be discovered by tomorroays

Saito, who had an idea, put out his finger and said,

“How aboutjackstraws? Make straw bundles and place them in beds”

“Lets do it!” the dragon knights laughed

However, Louise alone did not laugh She bit her nails, as if thinking about so

“What’s wrong?”

Conversely they asked

“…You What did you say just now?”

“Eh? Well… Making jackstraws?”

“That’s right Jackstraws We just have to make 60,000 jackstraws”

“Huh? 60,000? The number of members here is smaller”

“First of all, e nuht?“

One dragon knight asked with a serious expression on his face

“Bundle of straws? Use ic!“

With that, Louise ran out

“What, she?”

Duain they were not understanding each other

Louise juiven to them, and opened the Founder’s Prayer Book

For a mo theain With her mind totally focused on the Founder’s Prayer Book, she carefully held it

One page began to shi+ne… Louise smiled

At the Acaderoup of riders appeared It was the same day when Colbert watched Saito and Louise leave

Entering through the gates were Agnes' musketeers

The girls who stayed behind in the school were surprised by the appearance of household troops who rode horses What’s going on? they wondered Old Osnes

“Welcos you here?”

“Just doing e”

Old Os in his beard In his heart, he had subtle thoughts She probably ca fe?

Last night he had received a report

Apparently, Henrietta’s royal government recruited a irls also were recruited as preliminary officers, if the officers were consumed in the Albion war Old Osovernment

That’s why Old Osman did not take part in the cere farewell to the army

The schoolgirls attendance was sioverns by itself

“Even though this war is inhuman?”

“The royal govern this war an ‘All-out war’”

“All-out war There is no plausible nairls, what kind of righteousness could it ever have?”

Agnes watched Osman with cold eyes

“Then what righteousness does a here only noble men and soldiers die have?”

Old Osman was at a loss for words

“Death is equal It does not discri else”

Agnes determinedly headed towards the tower

At that moment, the classes had ended in Kirche's and Montmorency's classrooms Because the male teachers went to war, the number of classes had decreased a lot…

“However, there is an exception” Kirche

It was Colbert

He keeps teaching as always Soirl’s face was not calm at all

“Ehh tehtens”

He was roasting a metal stick on an open flame

The heated stick was bent as he continued to explain,

“Well, there are a lot of metals that cannot be h Therefore, when using ‘Fire’, controlling the flame’s temperature is fundamental”

Montmorency suddenly raised her hand

“Do you have a question, Miss Montmorency?”

Montmorency stood up

“The country is in the middle of a war How… can you teach classes with such a carefree attitude?”

“Leave your worries at school… I am your teacher, and you are my student”

Colbert settled down, and answered without changing the intonation

“But… all classmates… even teachers, face the war”

“And your point is? We should learn even more, because it is a time of war To use it in war, it is necessary to learn to use ‘Fire’ for destruction Study now, so you will have so to share with the boys who return from the war”

Colbert said and looked around the classroom

“You are just afraid of war,”

Kirche declared in a slightly thready voice

“Indeed” nodded Colbert

“I’m afraid of war I am a coward”

Froasps of amazement

”However, I feel no guilt”

When Colbert clearly asserted it, a group of people rudely barged into the classroones and her people

They earing chain heirls got slightly noisy, seeing woerated attire

“Y-y-you, hat…”

Agnes, co Colbert, ordered the students

“I am Her Majesty's musketeer I order you all in the name of Her Majesty to discontinue all classes from this point Dress up and line up in the courtyard”

“What? Discontinue the class? Don’t joke around”

After Colbert’s words, Agnes turned her head,

“I had enough of babysitting… This is an order”

Schoolgirls began to stand up gru

Colbert blocked Agnes' way in panic

“Hey! hey! The class is not over yet!”

“It’s a direct order from Her Majesty Haven’t you heard?”

Agnes said in an unpleasant voice

“Following Her Majesty orders, I aiven to me by Her Majesty to make the student learn It cannot be ordered by you All of you! Return to the classroo war after that!”

Agnes pulled out her sword and pointed it at Colbert's throat

“War gaainst us? Mister, this is not for a o too far”

“N-not at all…”

Watching the sword pointing to his throat, Colbert dropped into cold sweat

“Are you a Fire user? They always reek of a burnt smell, an unpleasant ses, specially the ones that use Fire”

“Huu…”

Colbert's legs began to treainst the wall

“Listen, do not obstruct my duty”

Agnes looked at the tree, and walked away, placing her sword back into its sheath Schoolgirls, with a similar scorn on their faces, passed Colbert by

Left alone, Colbert buried his face in his palh