“You two! What are you doing! Get up! I said, get up! Show me your courage! Aren’t you supposed to be nobles!? Stand up and do your job! If you have none, then cast magic! There are enemies all around you! It doesn’t matter where you shoot, you’ll still hit the enemy!”
Malicorne tightly bit his lips, and placing his hands on the deck floor, forced his body up with all four limbs.
Just as he finally stood up, a foot kicked his behind.
Didn’t I already stand up! I-it was all done with great effort! Malicorne grumbled.
But, before he could even suffer the humiliation of the act, he was yelled at again by the deck officer,
“You! The fat pig-head! Yes, I’m talking to you! Get up and fight! I don’t want gutless, death-fearing officer cadets who won’t fight!”
Malicorne drew up his face.
Wasn’t it because I didn’t want to be called a death-fearing pig that I volunteered for the army? If I continue like this, all I’ll ever be is a coward!
“You! Pig! Why are you still dallying about?!”
The bellowing officer, upon finishing these words, was swiftly pierced by a magical arrow.
Beyond the smoke was the enemy. So close was the enemy, that his face could be seen clearly. On board the deck of the enemy ship was a young man with the same chubby build as his, with a magic wand pointed in their direction. Even his age was practically the same. The opponent also couldn’t stop trembling like him.
The paleness on his face, the shaking of his entire body.
Lying besides Malicorne was the contorted body of the deck officer, his chest pierced through by the magic arrow, his body twisted as a result of the convulsions that came just before death finally took him. Sniffing uncontrollably, Malicorne cried out. Whether he was really yelling, or whether his mouth was just gaping open, it was impossible to tell with the endless rolling of cannon fire. Raising his wand towards the dark clouds above the enemy ship, Malicorne began chanting.
Just as the cloud cover broke to reveal the continent of Albion, Saito and company were spotted by warning ravens. Using the many flight-capable raven familiars which acted as an early warning screen, any intruder could be reported immediately to the dragon knight garrisons through the familiar’s master.
In such a situation, the vision of the familiar would become the vision of the master’s after concentrating.
Readying to pursue Saito and company, a dragon knight squadron took off from their base.
With the danger increasing, Saito and company picked up their speed.
The wind dragons of the dragon knights who flew ahead shook their tails violently.
The knights atop them pointed ahead with their fingers.
Ten dragon knights had spotted Saito and the rest, and were headed straight towards them. They would collide head-on if they didn’t do anything.
“Damn it! What do we do!?”
Sitting in the pilot seat of the Zero Fighter, Saito shouted out.
If the opponent managed to come down at them from above, they would leave themselves vulnerable to attack.
Yet, the dragon knight leading the pack still didn’t change direction. Regardless of whether they were attacked or not, they had decided upon continuing straight ahead.
“Aren’t we just inviting ourselves to be attacked like this?!”
Saito frantically prepared the fighter’s machine gun… before remembering it had run out of ammo.
“That’s right, I think we ran out of bullets already…”
Within the plane’s machine gun, there should still be around two hundred bullets left. However, with so little left, it might as well have been none.
Saito then suddenly remembered what Colbert had said.
“Louise! Colbert's new weapon! Wasn’t there an instruction manual!?”
But Louise, caught up in her trance, did not hear a single word Saito had said.
Saito grabbed Louise’s legs and frantically shook.
“Hey! Louise! Louise! Now’s not the time to be focusing! Before you can cast your Void, we're going to be shot down by the enemy!”
“Huh? W-what is it?! W-What are you doing?!”
“I don’t care what you say; just get me that damn manual! It’s under the seat!”
Louise frantically searched beneath the seat, and found the manual Colbert had written using goatskin.
“Found it!”
“Read it!”
“Um, this…. ‘Secret of the Flame Serpent’.”
How disgusting.
Wasn’t there a better title to choose?
“Um – Dear Saito, when you are reading this, I assume you are already at your wit’s end. That won’t do however, so make sure you read this properly.”
“Don’t bother reading the preface already!”
The dragon knights of Albion were getting closer and closer.
Fast.
The enemies are riding wind dragons as well! Damn it!
“Um – You must first calm down, then pull the lever next to the stick that controls the speed of the ‘moving machine’.”
“This one?!”
Saito saw beside the speed-control throttle; a lever he had never noticed before.
“Let's pull it!”
The moment the aiming sight filled with the approaching enemy dragon knights, Saito pulled the lever.
Boxes hidden beneath the aiming sight popped open, and from it emerged the head of a toy snake. Watching its mouth open and close, only for it to say:
“Come on Saito! Come on Saito! Come on Miss Vallière!”
“What the heck is this?!”
The toy snake emitted a voice through magic.
It seemed that was all it did.
As for the enemy’s attack –
Since they were wind dragons, they did not breathe any fire. However, magical arrows flew towards and struck against the fighter, shaking the craft. A hole the size of a fist had been pierced through the wing.
Luckily, a hole like that wouldn’t affect its performance much, at least temporarily.
Louise continued reading the instruction manual.
“You already pulled the lever right? Yup, The Happy Little Snake shall give you courage! Come on! No matter what the obstacle is, you must persevere! No matter what, I’ll always protect you!”
“That goddamn baldy!”
Saito cursed, while staring incredulously at the ‘Happy Little Snake’ he had remembered seeing in class that had emerged from below the aiming sight. Louise, thinking that those rude words were directed at herself, couldn’t help but scream:
“Who the hell are you calling a goddamn baldy! Wasn’t it you who asked me to read it?”
The opposing dragon knights rose up into the air again.
To advance head-on from the front with both sides bearing fast-flying dragon riders, meant that they passed one another in the blink of an eye, leaving very little opportunity for an attack.
Therefore, the enemy decided to begin an assault from behind.
Meanwhile, on their side… their objective was to head to the target destination at all haste, to cast the Void spell, and thus could only keep flying ahead.
If they were to engage with the enemy dragon knights there, reinforcements would quickly be dispatched, and hope for the entire army would be lost.
Diving to gain speed, the enemy dragon knights were slowly catching up behind them.
“Louise! Isn’t there anything else?!”
Louise continued reading the manual.
“Um… It then says something about a secret weapon to use when being chased by the enemy.”
“That! That’s it!”
“Pull the tongue that sticks out of the Happy Little Snake. Remember, pay attention! If there are allies around, make sure they stick close to you.”