Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume11 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 1===

&mdash;Four years ago, the Divine Ritual Institute's supreme council selected Duke Elstein's eldest daughter, Rubia Elstein, to succeed the position of the Fire Elemental Lord's Queen.

The previous Queen had already passed the age of twenty-five and her ability to commune with spirits was beginning to wane. Although her age still qualified for an incumbent elementalist, the Fire Elemental Lord desired to be served by young girls.

Back then, Rubia was just a young maiden who had just reached the age of fifteen. However, no one objected to her being chosen.

The prestigious House of Elstein had produced many Fire Queens in the past. Given that her talent was already flourishing and bearing fruit, it was only natural for Rubia to be selected.

The populace offered their blessings to the new Queen. In turn, the young Rubia responded to the people's expectations and devoted all of her attention to serving the elemental lord.

Her kagura ritual dancing pleased the Elemental Lord, bringing happiness and fortune to the people on the continent.

That was what she once believed firmly.

"&mdash;Back then, I was nothing but a foolish and ignorant little girl."

Rubia's voice trembled as she mocked herself.

"Offering my kagura to the Elemental Lord without the slightest doubt, I prayed for fire's blessings to bring peace to the continent. I firmly believed that it could bring happiness to the people&mdash;"

"Nee-sama, you were the object of our admiration."

Claire sobbed as she spoke.

"Nee-sama, you were praised as the continent's most gentle Queen... I-I also resolved myself to become a princess maiden like you when I grew up, Nee-sama."

"Rubia-sama was once the goal of all the princess maidens at the Divine Ritual Institute. Ever since Rubia-sama was selected as the Fire Queen, the power of flames was augmented and the populace was delivered from the hardships of cold winter&mdash;"

This time, it was Fianna's turn to speak.

Speaking of which, Rubia and Fianna had apparently been close friends during their time at the Divine Ritual Institute. Kamito suddenly recalled this fact.

"&mdash;Indeed, I once believed firmly. Those acts were for the people. The great Elemental Lord was a being who brought blessings to the people."

Rubia's prim and proper face was twisted in pain as she lamented in despair.

"&mdash;Until ''that particular day''."

"...That particular day?"

Kamito frowned and asked.

Rubia bit her lip as though to suppress the rising anger in her heart.

"&mdash;Indeed, that particular day. It was roughly half a year after I became the Fire Queen. A small town on the Empire's border was obliterated from the land."

"...!?"

Claire suddenly opened her eyes wide.

"Could it be the disaster of Dylus?"

"Yes. The town known as Dylus no longer exists."

"...That incident was not your fault, Nee-sama."

Claire shook her head in denial.

"...Back then, it was only thanks to your nonstop prayers, carried out with neither sleep nor rest, that the Fire Elemental Lord's wrath was pacified&mdash;"

"Umm, could you pause right there?"

Kamito interrupted at this point.

"...Eh?"

"Say, what's the disaster of Dylus?"

Hearing Kamito's question, Claire's face was filled with disbelief.

"...Is it possible that you don't know about that incident?"

"Although there was a gag order at the time, it's a monumental incident that is known to virtually everyone in the Empire."

Fianna also cocked her head in puzzlement.

"Four years ago, I was still in the Instructional School. The children who grew up there are not taught anything unrelated to their missions."

Even though Kamito had acquired basic knowledge from Restia's education, he was still completely ignorant of events that happened outside the facility at the time. Hence, he had never heard of the incident known as the disaster of Dylus.

"...Fair enough. Particularly after Nee-sama's betrayal, people seldom bring up that incident again. It's normal for Kamito not to know."

Claire shrugged and spoke quietly.

"The disaster of Dylus refers to the incident where the little town of Dylus on the border of the Ordesia Empire was obliterated from the land because they angered the Fire Elemental Lord."

"Obliterated?"

"Yes. Bathed in a rain of fire for three days and three nights, not a single trace remained."

Claire sorrowfully bowed her head.

"...Umm, and the reason?"

"The reason?"

"The reason for the elemental lord's anger. That's really unusual for an entire town to be destroyed."

Kamito's question prompted a layer of gloom to cloud Claire's face.

"The people of Dylus failed to prepare enough offerings&mdash;Supposedly."

"...Offerings?"

"Yes, due to the protracted drought that year, lands on the Empire's borders were unable to harvest enough grain to make offerings to the elemental lord. This ended up incurring his wrath."

"...! J-Just because of something like that&mdash;"

Kamito was dumbfounded.

Throughout the entirety of history, there had been multiple instances of monumental disasters caused by the Elemental Lords.

Storms, severe earthquakes, river floods, volcanic eruptions&mdash;These monumental natural disasters, recorded in the continent's history, were essentially all caused by incurring the elemental lords' wrath.

However, who could have thought a city could be destroyed over such a thing&mdash;

"&mdash;Indeed. ''Precisely because of such a thing''."

Rubia remarked sharply.

"''Precisely because of such a thing'', that town was turned into ash."

Her eyes burned with dim flames as she spat her words out in utter contempt.

"The rain of fire brought destruction to Dylus over three days and three nights. The flames incinerated people's homes completely. The surrounding soil was utterly ruined. The populace's lamentation was unheeded, their pleas rejected as well&mdash;"

"B-But!"

Claire raised her voice to object.

"At the time, Nee-sama, your prayers did manage to reach the Elemental Lord. Everyone said that you pacified the disaster of Sidonia&mdash;"

"...Indeed. At the time, ''I saved that town''."

Her voice trembled. Then the sound of gritted teeth was heard.

"The people of Dylus did not blame me. They even thanked me. They thanked me, the one who could do nothing about the town that was engulfed by flames. Everything went according to the Elemental Lord's wishes. This was all their own fault for incurring the elemental lord's wrath&mdash;!"

Crying out with erupting emotion, Rubia hammered a stone pillar with her fists.

(...The townspeople accepted their destruction without harboring any doubts.)

Kamito muttered in his heart.

In the human realm where everything borrowed the power of the spirits, the judgment of the Elemental Lords, the rulers of Astral Zero, was absolute. People were not permitted to harbor the slightest doubt.

(However, back then, she...)

&mdash;''Doubts formed in her mind''.

As a Queen who served the elemental lord directly...

(Absolutely forbidden doubts were formed&mdash;)

Rubia spoke as though she were reading Kamito's thoughts.

"Indeed, that was the first impetus giving rise to my doubts."

"...The first."

"&mdash;Indeed. The disaster of Dylus was just the beginning."