Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume17 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 1===

It was daytime on the second day after Kamito and company set off from the fortress city Mordis.

On the sea of the endless desert, a small ship was currently sailing across the sand.

Designed to follow leylines, sand ships suffered from the limitation that they could not decide their course freely. However, compared to flying ships, there was the advantage that the helsman was less strained.

"Quite an old and worn ship... Can this really move across the desert?"

Although Claire had her concerns, this ship had apparently been remodeled by Vivian Melosa. The interior was unexpectedly reassuring.

In emergency situations, the ship could even switch its power source. From what Kamito had heard, a military spirit mechanism had been installed. This contraband item was something that Rubia had obtained through her connections with Murders.

(Great, so now that we've finally entered Ghul-a-val&mdash;)

On the deck, Kamito kept wiping the nonstop sweat from his forehead.

Forsaken by the power of spirits, this was a blood-red and desolate desert.

Was there really some kind of Demon King's Tomb in this place?

"...Hmm, by the way, it's so hot~..."

Leaning against a railing on the ship's edge, Claire spoke with exhaustion.

Even a flame elementalist like her would still feel the heat in hot places.

Having unbuttoned her uniform collar that was drenched with sweat, she kept fanning herself with her hands.

...For a while now, Kamito had been catching tantalizing glimpses of the front of her chest, a rather dangerous situation indeed.

"...!"

Kamito hastily looked away.

Only to see before his eyes&mdash;

Someone was lying on the floor like a beached mermaid.

Rinslet.

"...Ughhh, so hot~... I am going to die from the heat~"

She was rolling on the deck, completely ignoring the fact that she was the noble daughter of a duke.

It was also heart-wrenching to see the damage in her long shining platinum blonde hair.

...This scorching desert was too harsh for a young lady hailing from snow country.

"Rinslet, are you okay? Maybe you should rest in bed?"

When Kamito asked her, she replied:

"No, Kamito. Thank you very much for your concern, but I respectfully decline. Compared to the rest of the ship, this place is best."

"Well, I guess you're right..."

In fact, the ship's interior was even hotter than the deck that was exposed to sunlight. The spirit mechanism kept releasing great amounts of heat after absorbing power from the leylines.

As a military ship, the Revenant did feature cooling systems, but this sand ship had nothing of that sort. Naturally, there were no bathing facilities for ritual purification either.

"Summon Fenrir. At least it'll be a bit cooler."

All covered in sweat, Claire suggested.

"Fenrir is a spirit born in Niflheim, the coldest extremes of Astral Zero. Summoning him in a place like this would be too cruel."

Rinslet refused weakly.

(...What a kind and gentle young lady.)

Kamito could not help but exclaim in his heart. The reason why Rinslet was so loved and welcomed by the maids and residents of Laurenfrost and the spirits at the Academy was probably thanks to this kind personality of hers.

"You have a point... Wait, Scarlet, go back to Astral Zero."

Hearing Claire's command, the flaming hell cat meowed and shook her head. It looked like Scarlet enjoyed the scorching desert.

Although the flames on Scarlet's body were nowhere near as hot as real flames, it still contributed to visual suffering.

"You two, please endure this heat."

At this moment, Fianna's voice was heard coming from somewhere.

"...?"

Kamito and company looked around&mdash;

Only to see the knight spirit Georgios sitting on a large wooden crate.

The knight spirit's head portion opened with a clang to reveal Fianna poking her head out.

"I can't believe you ran off to a place like that...!"

"Fufu, the interior of this armor is isolated from the outside world. So cool and refreshing."

"If I remember correctly, isn't the inside of Georgios connected to Astral Zero?"

"The Gate to Astral Zero is currently closed, so it is fine for me to enter here."

...''I see. Now that is well thought out.''

"Your Highness, this is so unfair!"

"L-Let me inside too!"

Together, Claire and Rinslet kept hammering Georgios' armor.

"My condolences, but Georgios is a royal spirit exclusive to the imperial family."

After speaking nonchalantly, Fianna closed the helmet with a clang.

"Stingy princess!"

"The greatest tyrant in all of Ordesia's history!"

The two girls hammered the armor with anger and hatred, but the knight spirit's armor remained completely unmoved.

"You two, doing this will only make you hotter."

"T-True, sigh..."

"I am at my limit~"

The two girls collapsed in exhaustion on the deck once more.

At that moment&mdash;

"My goodness, to succumb to this level of heat, you really lack training."

A gust of cool wind blew past Kamito and company.

Ellis jumped down with Ray Hawk in hand.

She had apparently been doing spear training on top of the cabin until just now. Her bangs were wet from sweat.

Her uniform also turned partially transparent, revealing the lines of her underwear beneath&mdash;

"...!"

However, pointing this out would be embarrassing, so Kamito had no choice but to silently avert his gaze.

"I cannot believe you are still training in such hot weather."
[[image:STnBD V17 BW04.png|thumb]]

"After all, I was born with Wind's Blessing."

"I am so jealous..."

"Well, it will become cool again at night."

"More than cool, the nights are chilly... Sigh."

Muttering, Claire looked out at Ghul-a-val, red as far as the eye could see.

"By the way, Kamito."

"W-What?"

Seeing Claire stare at him for some reason, Kamito panicked a little.

"What did you talk to my sister about before boarding the ship?"

"O-Oh... Umm, all kinds of stuff..."

Kamito looked away, trying to dodge the issue.

(It's not really for me to reveal...)

Rubia should be the one to convey her own words.

"Hmph, what the heck. You're acting weird..."

Seeing Kamito's attitude, Claire cast a displeased look of suspicion.