Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume16 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 1===

Dawn. After a few hours of sleep, Kamito exited his room while carrying a bag of souvenirs, then made his way towards Dragon King Bahamut's throne room.

Kamito wanted to express his gratitude for the recovery of Restia's memories. More importantly, Kamito could not help but worry about her after the ordeal from Millennia's Otherworldly Darkness corrupting her.

Advancing along the corridor of rugged stone, he arrived at the throne room.

At the entrance, two guards were standing in front of the massive door. Noticing Kamito's arrival, they silently saluted him.

"I wish to pay my respects to the Dragon King."

"His Majesty has given you permission. Please enter."

Bowing his head slightly at the two guards, Kamito walked through the door.

(...It seems like she knew I'd come over.)

Due to being cursed by the Earth Elemental Lord thousands of years ago, she was confined to this fortress, unable to take a single step outside. However, she kept herself well-informed about happenings in the fortress.

As he continued along the corridor, accompanied by his own echoing footsteps, he finally reached a great hall lined with stone columns.

This was the throne room, the place from where Dragon King Bahamut of Dracunia ruled.

Kamito approached the pedestal&mdash;

"&mdash;Welcome, preordained one. O member of the habitually slothful race."

A thunderous roar, seemingly causing the ground to shake, echoed in the hall.

Kamito halted. Bright light was generated overhead, illuminating the top of the pedestal. Thick mist appeared underfoot, instantly filling the surroundings with an unpleasant atmosphere.

Behind the curtains draping down from the ceiling, a humongous silhouette came into view.

It was the shadow of a fearsome giant dragon with a pair of curving horns.

"I, king of kings and the ruler of dragonkind, have been waiting for thee&mdash;"

"...Uh, could you cut it out with the acting?"

Kamito interrupted the booming voice with eyes narrowed.

"..."

After a brief moment of silence...

"...My goodness, to think I took the trouble to prepare and all."

The curtain over the pedestal rose continuously. Dracunia's Dragon King revealed her true visage.

Sitting far back behind the curtain was not a giant dragon&mdash;

Instead, it was a young girl with a pair of bewitching eyes of red.

Glowing faintly with phosphorescence, her lustrous hair was lapis lazuli in color. Kamito could not help but feel mesmerized by her pale and slender limbs.

However, the girl featured traits that were clearly not human.

On the sides of her head was a total of two beautifully curving horns.

Indeed, the true form of the Dragon King ruling over Dracunia, a major power in the international scene, was&mdash;

This dragon spirit with the appearance of an adorable young girl.

The dragon spirit girl, Bahamut, was pouting and glaring at Kamito. She was a bit offended that her painstakingly prepared performance had been disregarded.

"...From what I can see, it looks like you're fine?"

Towards the girl before him, Kamito averted his gaze slightly and said.

This was not because of the imposing presence of the strongest dragon spirit. Instead, he was avoiding her gaze that was malicious as always.

Pale as a polished pearl, her arms and legs like exquisite sculptures.

Furthermore, there were the two gentle mounds on her chest.

Her beautiful body, seemingly the masterpiece of gods, was in Kamito's full view without reserve.

Although her breasts and lower abdomen were hidden among the branches and leaves of trees, Kamito was still quite stunned by her racy appearance.

Did she sense Kamito's response?

"Oh dear, were you worrying about me? I, the Dragon King&mdash;"

She smiled mischievously.

"Yeah, I guess so..."

"Fufu, what a lovely feeling, to have someone worry about me. It has been thousands of years since the last time."

Nothing less expected from a spirit. The Dragon King casually referenced a time scale of unimaginable magnitude. Kamito ascended the steps up to the throne and sat down on a tree next to the throne.

"...? What is with this very fragrant aroma?"

The Dragon King furrowed her brow and remarked while sniffing.

"I brought souvenirs to visit you. That being said, I'm really sorry it's only cheap stuff..."

Kamito took out a bun, unwrapped the oilpaper around it, and handed it to the Dragon King.

This was a snack he had bought at a stall he had passed by when Leonora was taking him on a tour of the city.

It consisted of minced meat and finely diced vegetables wrapped in pastry, then deep fried after sprinkling a generous helping of pepper.

According to Leonora, this was apparently the most delicious food in the entire city. Kamito had tried one at the time and indeed, it was very delicious.

"What a rare offering... Is it food?"

Looking at the bun, the Dragon King examined it with a gaze of intense curiosity.

"It's one of Dracunia's famed specialties, the deep-fried bun... Don't tell me you haven't heard of it?"

"It is my first time seeing it. One would be hard pressed to find the food of commoners appear among offerings."

"You are the king, after all. Aren't you able to get your hands on any kind of offering you want?"

"Impossible. As the king, my dignity would be utterly obliterated if I were to demand the food of commoners."

"...I see. It's tough being the king sometimes."

Kamito remarked honestly.

"Indeed. Things are already better nowadays. There were times in the past when a hundred cattle or live sacrifices of young women were offered to me. Well, I suppose I am simply getting my just deserts as the culprit for crafting the image of the ferocious Dragon King in the first place..."

"...You've got it rough."

"Indeed..."

Saying that, the Dragon King suddenly shrugged and presented her tender lips to Kamito.

"...?"

Puzzled, Kamito could not help but tilt his head.

"..."

"..."

"Well, could you hurry up and feed that to me?"

"Huh?"

"Well, my hands... are bound. Due to this infernal curse."

"O-Ohhhh, I see&mdash;"

The Dragon King's body was bound to this land because of the Earth Elemental Lord's curse. The slightest motion from her and branches would wrap around her limbs, immobilizing her.

"But if that's the case, what do you do with the offerings served by the princess maidens?"

"All this time, I simply dismiss them after sniffing their scent. Presumably, my princess maidens end up sharing my offerings among themselves."

"I see..."

True, spirits did not require food to sustain their existences. All they needed to do was replenish their spiritual energy, divine power.

Although spirits were also able to derive some energy from food, princess maidens served food to spirits as offerings only for the sake of pleasing them. For example, Est and Scarlet joined Kamito and company at meals, but for spirits, this was not essential. However, Kamito felt bad for Bahamut to have food in front of her yet be unable to eat it.

"...Fine, I get it. Umm, open your mouth."

Cough cough. Kamito spoke after coughing a little.

"Hmm, w-well, this is making me a little nervous..."

The Dragon King spoke, quite embarrassed apparently, opening her adorable lips with an "Ah."

To avoid looking at her naked body, Kamito mustered all his willpower to divert his gaze. With his fingers, he pushed the bun into those lovely lips.

"...Umph. Umph umph."

The Dragon King savored the bun carefully. Anyone watching this scene would probably have difficulty associating her with King Bahamut of Dracunia, feared by all the nations on the continent.

"Ahh, to think that such a delicacy existed in this world!"

With crumbs all over her mouth, she exclaimed with a radiant smile of happiness.

Kamito was glad that she enjoyed it.

"Hey, it's all over your mouth."

Kamito was just about to wipe the corner of her lips when...

"H-Hold it right there. What are you doing!?"

Blushing intensely, the Dragon King tried to escape.

"Be a good girl and don't move."

"...Excuse me, need I remind you that I am the Dragon King of Dracunia? As Ren Ashdoll's trusted commander, I am the strongest dragon spirit, legendary class according to the classifications of your kind&mdash;Mmph!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever..."

Kamito carefully wiped the lips of the Dragon King who kept struggling.

...The Dragon King's dignity was rendered completely moot.

"See, it's all clean now."

"Ooh, to think that you are the first one to put me, the Dragon King, in such a state of embarrassment&mdash;"

The Dragon King glared tearfully at Kamito again.

Smiling wryly, Kamito stood up.

"Well, it's time for me to head back."

"...I see. I understand."

The Dragon King spoke with a hint of loneliness. A tree branch reached for Kamito's forehead and left a small mark behind. This was Dragon's Protection for travelers, praying for safe passage, a traditional Dracunian good luck charm.

"I will pray for success in your Theocracy mission."

"Yeah, you can count on me."

Kamito nodded seriously.

The aforementioned Theocracy mission was part of Dracunia's terms for recognizing Legitimate Ordesia. This mission involved rescuing the Theocracy's second princess, Saladia Kahn, from imprisonment.

Dracunia's intention was probably to undermine Sjora's administration using Saladia as a puppet. Despite the Dragon King's appearance of a young girl, in this context, she was ruler who had governed this nation for centuries, after all.

(...The Alphas Theocracy, huh?)

This was the land that had given rise to the Instructional School, stood as the headquarters of the Demon King cult, as well as being the birthplace of the Demon King.

With his current and gradual awakening as the Demon King, Kamito felt the hand of fate in his going to the Theocracy at this point in time. He quietly clenched his fist.