Zero no Tsukaima

Chapter 5: Six Thousand Years Ago[]

But at the same time, his conscious said otherwise.

Brimir and Sasha brought Saito to a village called Nitabelio.

Although described as being brought there, as soon as he walked past the gates, the village appeared before him. With Nitabelio as its name, it seemed to undoubtedly be a prosperous market. With that kind of mindset, he found that what he saw did not fall within his expectations.

It was a small village filled with movable tents placed along the sides of nameless hills. One round tent was made of wood and cloth. On one side of the tent, there were a few goats eating long strands of grass.

The whole scenery looked just like the nomadic Mongolians living in their daily lives—something that he had seen in a community textbook.

Finding his breath taken away by this foreign place, Saito stood there dumbfounded.

“My house is just over there. ”

Brimir led him to one of the highest tents in the village. A blue flag flapped atop the tent’s canopy. Wasn’t Brimir a founder? Someone like Christianity’s Jesus, Islam’s Mohammad, or Buddhism’s Sakyamuni? Essentially some incredible person! While thinking, Saito entered. He’s living in this kind of run-down place? Is this really Brimir himself?

The furniture inside was simple; crude. A thatch bed was placed further inside. A carpet that resembled Middle-Eastern carpets covered the ground.

“But this really shocked me.”

Standing in the house, Brimir excitedly said,

“Where is your master anyways? Near Midagade? I just really want to meet him.”

Saito found himself recalling an animated film before he had seen before. Because the protagonist returned to the wrong time period, he got to directly interact with a hero. "I’m Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japan’s first commander general." It seemed that as he said that phrase, he was introducing the Battle of Sekigahara in a friendly manner.

What he could see right now was completely different from that. No matter how he saw it, this was just an ordinary person.

Although, you can’t really say that that’s the absolute truth.....after all, legendary people are still people. The mere fact that he’s in such a place and is seeing Brimir as an ordinary person is far more unimaginable. He should be paying close attention to this.

Saito coughed with an "ahem," then faced those two.

“That’s absolutely impossible.”

“Why?”

“That’s.....well what you two believe to be a trifling matter happens to be something that I can’t possibly do. I actually come six thousand years from the future." He never thought that he would find himself saying something that sounded like it came out of a sci-fi show, regardless as to whether he was on Earth or Halkaginia.

Unsurprisingly, Brimir and Sasha faced each other and laughed. "Hahahaha.”

“What you said was indeed hilarious.”

“Sorry, sorry. I understand how you want you protect your master. Especially during this kind of chaos. Very few people use this kind of "odd system" of magic. It would be terrible if the Valiag knew. Why don’t you tell me when you feel like it. “

Brimir laughed lightly.

Odd system was referring to ’Void’ right? In this era, the term ’Void’ must be non-existent.

“What’s the Valiag?”

Saito asked.

“......You don’t know? Those guys are a group of devils that employ frightening tactics." Brimir responded with a pained expression.

Saito felt a bit reluctant to believe what he was hearing on the topic of the Founder’s enemies....those weren’t the elves, who used ancient magic, were they?

“By Valiag, are you referring to elves? ”

Saito’s head got hit hard with a “clang.”

“Ah, that hurts....”

“Why would we be those kinds of barbarians? ”

Sasha was put off by what Saito had said.

“They and us are of completely different races. In this wide world’s other places.....have completely different cultures.”

“So it’s like that.”

Brimir took a hold of Saito’s left hand.

That’s why I engraved this inscription on her. Gandálfr. In our old language, it means ’the lowly person who controls magic.’

"So you’re the one who engraved this inscription. ”

"That’s right. Yet your master didn’t?”

Saito shook his head. The inscriptions actually engraved ’themselves’. But according to Brimir, inscriptions in this era had to be engraved. “Nope. Although, ’the lowly person who controls magic’ -- Gandálfr doesn’t actually use magic.”

“That’s because you’re a mere human. Looks like ordinary humans can actually become familiars. I had thought that only beasts, magical creatures, or creatures of a different race could. Essentially, the magic that she uses isn’t what I use.”

“Ancient magic?”

He asked, but Sasha shook her head.

“What’s that? Please don’t use another other odd expressions. Call it “elven powers” all right?”

Saito began to realize how serious history was. A Gandálfr was ’the lowly person who controls magic.’ And the Gandálfr in this era was an elf. He just felt that all of that was a bit hard to believe.

After having stared at Sasha for the whole time........he felt reality crack, as though he was seeing his own ancestors. Just some kind of indescribable feeling.

“Why didn’t you use magic during that time?”

“I didn’t want to use elven powers at that kind of place," Sasha said.

“Did you know that to use magic, elves have to learn it?”

“That’s a widely known fact, after all.... but what do you mean by the Valiag’s frightening tactics?”

Brimir looked at Saito in bewilderment.

“Do you honestly not know about the Valiag?”

“That’s right.”

“I sure envy you; there’s actually someone on this world who doesn’t have the Valiag’s shadow treading upon their land. Oh, I understand; your master must be intentionally hiding it from you.”

As though he was very satisfied, Brimir nodded his head. Saito could only watch in bafflement.

“If it’s as terrifying as you say.......just what do those tactics look like?”

Brimir shook his head sadly.

“You’ll probably understand in a moment.”

Heavy silence fell on the room. Unable to stand the silence, Saito looked around the inside tent. On a normal basis, there wasn’t anything attractive. The entrance revealed a child’s nosy face, though. A cute little girl that was around ten years of age.

She wore something that resembled a work uniform with a thin brightly colored belt on her waist.

“Lauren, it’s fine. Come here. “

The little girl called Lauren, who was holding a ceramic pot, took went over there with small steps. She placed the pot on the stove outside the tent.

“Ah, bring me the Basstelude. Thank you. ”

Looks like the thing called Basstelude w as a object. The girl who brought that took out a wand and began chanting a spell.

“Wow, you are using magic, despite how young you are. Impressive. Is everyone here a Noble?”

“A Noble? I don’t really understand what you mean. We are of the Markey race. It’s in our blood to use magic. “

Would that mean, everyone living in this town were mages? This situation would have even had nobles shocked! As Saito exclaimed, a young man broke inside.

“Chief! Bad news!

Brimir rose with a thud. The girl called Lauren fearfully gripped the corner of her robe.

“Coming already? That was quick. You’ve already found this place, haven’t you?”

Then, he whisked away what Lauren had brought and ran outside the tent.

“What is going on?” Saito was bewildered.

“They’re here. The Valiag.”

Sasha explained.

“Hey, what exactly is this?”

“We’ll discuss that later. Just grab this. “

Sasha grabbed a spear inside the tent and handed it to Saito.

Understanding nothing, Saito darted outside. Just who are these feared Valiags? The villages are mages, but their feared enemies are......?

The village was in a state of chaos. In the empty center of the village, the young man held a staff in his hands, forcing Brimir to gather in the center. As Sasha, and Saito, who was standing on the edge, made their way there, Brimir gave them instructions.

“Lagunaru, stand guard on the west side of the village. Shigulsier, we’ll be relying on you to aid the group in the North. Group Brimir, are you ready?”

Ten young men raised their arms.

“All right. Let’s crash into the enemies’ positions to buy time. Sasha, let’s go.”

Brimir ran to the other side of the hill. Saito then followed Sasha, running two hundred meters over the hills.

Seeing the circumstances...., Saito stopped breathing.

Over there.......was an army.

Actually, it would be more accurate to say that it was a scene that would be difficult to describe with ’army’. The number of people involved was unknown. Four hundred metres to the front, there were several organized armies.

At the front were cavalry. They wore frightening horned helmets and chain mail. Following were troops on feet. Holding four meter long spears, similar to model corps, they stood there motionlessly.

“......That’s the Valiag?”

If that was their enemy........He had no idea how many thousands or ten thousands of people there were. We, on the other hand, only have a few mages. Even if they were mages, they were incapable to defeating such a large number of enemies.

Also, what lies beneath the frighting helmet and armour? As their name happened to be Valiag, Saito had thought that they were ghost-like scums.

Despite having held up against this type of army before, this time’s opponents weren’t moving, and were organized and prepared for battle. A prepared opponent has no openings. If you directly faced the enemy from the front, you’ll get stomped on by the enemy like an ants.

The leading general was riding on a horse. He slowly raised his right hand, then lowered it. The troops slowly moved forward. They stopped every ten steps or so, and howled like beasts.

“That’s the enemy? “

Sasha nodded at Saito’s question.

“So it’s like this? Really, why must the innocent me face these kinds of enemies.......”

While Saito was complaining, Sasha gripped the gun in her hands tightly, never taking her eyes off the enemy.

“Aren’t they all fully armed.....just what should we do?”

While he distractedly gazed at the circumstances, Brimir could be heard chanting from behind.

Eoru-Sunu Yarunsakusa-

It was the “Void” magic that he had heard countless of times. The troops before them were slowly approaching.

Osuonu waruyu rado

Louise’s "Explosion." But....this should be the earliest form of it.

The Valiag troops reached about three hundred meters from them. The range corps started shooting arrows. For a split second, the sky darkened with clouds of arrows. As soon as they reached their maximum height, several hundreds of arrows were pulled by gravity, aiming directly at Saito and the others.

The wind mage by Brimir started chanting wind magic. That was probably the “wind shield" that Tabitha frequently uses.

Thousands of arrows that flew at them were blown away by the wind magic, one by one piercing the ground around Saito and the others.

Be-ozusu yuru svyuru kano oshiela

Ten seconds later, a storm of arrows was brewed again. The same wind magic was used to blow them away. Around where Saito was waiting, it looked as if it was a rice paddy field from all of the arrows sticking out of the ground.

Along with Brimir’s chant, Saito’s fear slowly disappeared, replaced by overflowing courage.

The troops were now about a hundred meters ahead of them.

The mounted general once again raised his arm, waving it.

Stationed in the front row, heavily armored troops with pikes on foot cried out loudly in unison and started charging forwards. If someone was able to assault while carrying such heavy armour, are they even human? Just what kind of monster is beneath that armour?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! (Warcry)

Thousands and millions of cries echoed across the land------

Sasha nodded at Saito.

Generally speaking, seeing this organized army and hearing their terrifying war cries, people would be too scared to keep their backs straight.

But a Gandálfr that hears its master chanting from behind has no chance of fear.

A Gandálfr is exists for just one reason- to protect their master as they chant their spells.

They are weaponry experts capable of rivaling a thousand troops alone.

“What we see right now is a proper stance.”

Saito was brimming with courage.

Keeping their fighting stances, Sasha and Saito charged over.

The enemies on foot uniformity raised their pikes. As such, Sasha and Saito used the spears in their hands to fend off those numerous pikes. Then, waving off the pikes, they dashed towards the enemy troops.

“Uwah!”

Sasha and Saito were like windmills waving off the weapons on hand. Relying on Gandálfr’s power. The enemy troops were sent flying off like scarecrows.

Suddenly, someone’s armour got hit off by a pike. Catching a glimpse of the creature below , Saito found himself shocked.

“.......human?”

It appeared to be neither ghosts nor scums; just real live humans. Just how much rough training did these people endure, to be able to run and march uniformly in such heavy armour?

But right now, there was no time to be awestruck. The skilled soldiers had already surrounded Saito, thrusting their pikes like bouys in the sea.

Sasha and Saito were standing back to back, watching each other’s backs while shaking away the pikes. Deep inside, they were praying for Brimir to hurry up and finish chanting his spell.

“Is the magic still not done! C’mon! We can’t fend them off for much longer!”

Each second they endured felt like a minute under the endless pressure. The pikes attacked with a whoosh.

Jella Isa Unju Hagaru Beo Kun Iru

“Void” has finally been complete.

Brimir waved his wand at the heart of the army.

A white ball of light started to form before Saito’s eyes.....then, created a giant explosion. The explosion engulfed the enemy troops. Rays of light spread all over the place, causing destruction and chaos.

“Uwah--!”

With loud cry, Saito was also blown away by the wind produced by the explosion. The damn situation was like getting swollen up by a tsunami

“That hurts!”

Saito bumped into the ground. For a split second, he nearly lost his senses. While whispering, he supported his body. Looks like he wasn’t hurt particularly badly, but his entire body still felt numb with pain.

Suddenly, someone grabbed Saito’s wrist. He looked up. A mud-splattered Sasha stood there.

“You also all right?”

“N-no, not good at all......it had unexpectedly wrapped us up in it....... this is even scarier than Louise.....”

“Alas, nothing can be done about it. After all, this was the most effective method.....”

Sasha said without the slightest sign of complaint.

“Look.”

Looking carefully, this place has already transformed into portrait of Hell. Thanks to the gargantuan explosion, the heavily armoured soldiers in front were all blown off. Right now, they were all thrusted into the ground, moaning. Despite having gone through sufficient training, their bodies were inevitably that of a human’s. Remaining troops slowly retreated.

“Is everything all right?! I’m sorry! Really sorry! I’ll definitely apologize to your master!"

Brimir exclaimed as he ran over to Saito. Saito finally stood up.

"In any case, I’m still alive. Forget about apologizing.....”

“Is that so......I had always wanted to greet your master too.”

“It’s impossible. Forget about it.”

“In this case........I’ll just apologize for now, and say these things later. All right, it’s about time that that side of the village is done preparing. Let’s retreat before the enemy reorganizes itself like before. “

Brimir ran off. Saito and the others immediately followed.

“Thank you. You helped us greatly. Had you not been here, the incantation might not have been completed.”

Even if he himself said they did not consent to it, the fight for control over his master’s intentions continued. Is this a Gandálfr’s karma?

While thinking about how the situation looks, facing Brimir’s back, Saito asked.

“Brimir-san.”

“What is it?”

“Why do you need to fight against those dreadful guys?”

“Because we cannot understand each other."

“So it’s like that......”

As though he was mumbling to himself, Brimir said,

“Humans would fight for recognition. But the me who is recognized hardly does anything for our clan; I lack the power to confront them. However.......the Gods have not abandoned us. I’ve been granted this unfathomable, strong power,” Brimir ended with a strong tone.

“We will win. Sooner or later, we will win for sure. “

If this was truly the legendary Brimir......after this, he would go to war with the elves for an unknown reason. In the middle of this, he will then pass away.

This kind of person had unexpectedly turned an elf into a familiar. How ironic. Of course, that cannot be told to Brimir.

Saito attentively watched the Founder of Louise’s world’s back for a long long time.

After returning to the village, the tents were all packed up. The preparations before setting out were done. It’s surprising how something that requires skill was done in such a short duration of time in preparation for retreat.......

This must have been a part of their daily life.

Brimir once again chanted a spell. A gigantic hinged door appeared before their eyes. Even after casting such a big explosion was he able to make such a large door. This man was worthy of being called the “Founder”. His magic powers are unimaginably strong.

......But looking back at when he met Sasha, he hadn’t entered a “different world.” From the looks of that, perhaps a lot of will power was needed

Freely opening a “door” leading to a “different world” would require some time, wouldn’t it?

“Women and children first. Enter quickly.”

The women and children were absorbed into the door. This gigantic door led to some other place. A place in this world where the enemies would not find them.

They avoided the enemies’ assaults numerous times like this while constantly fleeing. On this land called “Halkeginia”, for them to be eventually named as nobles, that would require quite a bit of time.

The men have also disappeared through the door. It was finally Saito and Sasha’s turn.

“You should go next. Enter, all right.”

Saito gazed at glowing door.

He thought: Just ahead might be a place that’s considered to be holy. With mixed feelings of attachment and unease though fascinated, Saito entered the glowing door.