Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume9 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 1===

(...That letter, what did it actually contain?)

Driven out of the room by the young ladies and having returned to his room, Kamito leaned Est against the wall and laid himself down on the bed, still wearing his uniform.

(...Oh well, whatever. Speaking of which, today sure was tiring.)

As soon as he lay on the soft bed, he suddenly became aware of all the fatigue in his body.

...This was hardly surprising, given all that had happened throughout this entire day.

A date with Leonora Lancaster the ace of the Knights of the Dragon Emperor, as well as the battle against Ellis and the rest in the Water Elemental Festival in the lake.

In the True Sanctuary he had listened to the Queens' oracle regarding the finals, then -- Greyworth had entrusted him with the final secret technique.

The strongest countering sword skill, one that could even defeat the anti-spirit destructive sword technique of the Bursting Blossom Spiral Blade Dance.

Absolute Blade Arts, Final Form -- Last Strike.

"..."

Reaching out with his right hand into the darkness, Kamito bent his fingers one after another in the air.

At the time, his entire body had suffered the impact. The numbness in his arms still had not dissipated completely.

As if reluctant to lose grasp of the secret technique's true nature, Kamito clenched his fist tightly.

(--This is no ordinary sword technique for combat but one meant to be applied in the ritual kagura of princess maidens.)

While defending against the enemy's attacks and using ritual kagura to interfere in divine power, sword strikes were converted into a dance performance that absorbed the enemy's divine power. Furthermore, once the divine power expanded to an explosive level, it was released all at once to unleash a one hit kill attack--

...In theory, it was basically something like that.

Of course, it was impossible to learn a sword technique by relying on theory alone.

Even though Kamito was born with exceptional talent in analyzing combat techniques, trying to master an understanding of ritual kagura movements overnight was too much of a stretch.

Greyworth had also mentioned that the sword technique was a double-edged sword. Depending on the situation, it would be best to avoid using it as much as possible--

"...However, perhaps there really is no other choice. In order to defeat that girl."

Team Inferno's leader.

The masked elementalist who called herself Ren Ashbell, just like Kamito three years ago.

Kamito had faced her in direct combat only once, that time in the forest when he rescued Claire and the rest. In just a few rounds of clashing, she had clearly displayed overwhelming strength.

Furthermore, she had not even released her elemental waffe back then.

Why would such a powerful elementalist be completely unknown until now?

Also, her goal seemed to be just as Greyworth predicted, to bring the chaos of war back to this continent--

(...Anyway, pondering it now would be useless.)

Kamito sighed and put down his outstretched right arm.

(Having arrived at this point, all that's left is a dialogue through swords.)

Right now, it was imperative to recover from the fatigue accumulated from learning the secret technique, as well as restore his severely depleted divine power.

Feeling all the muscles in his body tense up, Kamito slowly closed his eyes.

--Just at this moment.

"Hey Kamito, are you still awake?"

"...Claire?"

Kamito frantically jumped up from bed--

Only to see Claire standing before the door.

"What's the matter?"

"Ah, hmm, uh..."

...Probably about the final round, or did she have something else to confirm?

His mind filled with questions, Kamito lit the spirit crystal by his bed.

"...!?"

Instantly, he could not help but hold his breath.

Standing in front of the door, Claire had changed into a flimsy lace nightgown.

Perhaps because she had just come out from a bath, her red twintails seemed to be steaming subtly with moisture.

"S-Say, uh..."

She shyly twiddled her fingers. This particularly charming act caused Kamito to hastily shift his gaze away.

"You can't sleep?"

After all, the finals began tomorrow. Being nervous was only natural.

"Hmm, yeah..."

"I see."

Kamito nodded.

"Then I'll accompany you for a while. After all, I can't fall asleep yet either."

"Th-Thank you..."

Claire stiffly nodded and entered the room.

"May I sit here?"

"Sure."

Claire cautiously took a seat on the bedside.

From her moist hair, Kamito could smell the fragrance of shampoo.

"..."

"..."

In this manner, the silence persisted for several seconds.

(Th-This is too embarrassing...!)

Kamito gulped.

He was currently alone in the same room with a beauty in a nightgown.

...No wait, although they shared a room back in the Academy residence, there was never a time when they sat on the same bed like this.

Claire continued to keep her gaze cast elsewhere as she fiddled with her fingers.

(Man, she's so cute...)

...As much as Kamito was reluctant, he could not deny this fact.

Just as Kamito found himself gazing mesmerized at Claire's facial profile with her moist hair--

"Hey, d-do you have anything amusing to talk about?"

Finally, Claire spoke up.
[[image:STnBD V09 049.jpg|thumb]]

"Something amusing?"

"Hmm, yeah, normally I would read a book I like before going to sleep, but because Rinslet spoiled the ending for me, I have nothing to read now."

"...Ah, speaking of which, you two were quarreling this morning because of that."

This morning, Kamito was dragged out by Mireille to act as the arbitrator for their dispute.

However, thanks to that, he was treated to Rinslet's breakfast and got to hear about their childhood stories.

"Sorry, I don't have anything amusing to talk about."

Kamito shrugged and shook his head.

Somehow, he felt like this had been happening a lot lately.

...If memory served him correctly, this also happened when the two of them had gone to negotiate with the Rupture Division.

"So, what's the continuation of the incident last time?"

"Incident?"

As Kamito frowned, Claire turned around to face Kamito.

"That one, didn't you tell me about it at the theater? How you met the headmistress four years ago, Kamito. Just tell me the continuation of that story. You promised then that you'd tell me later."

"..."

Kamito was at a loss for words for a moment.

...He did remember he had made such a promise indeed.

(...What a terrible situation.)

Continuing from that incident, there was no way he could avoid mentioning the Blade Dance three years ago -- the time period when Kamito was still the Strongest Blade Dancer, Ren Ashbell.

As much as possible, he did not want to mention things related to that--

(...However, it's no wonder that she would be intrigued.)

Kamito cast his gaze towards his leather gloved left hand.

What Claire wanted to hear were most likely things related to Restia. It was already impossible to assert that the darkness spirit who had been pulling strings in the shadows behind the Blade Dance stage was none of Claire and the girls' business.

"...If you don't want to talk about the past, I won't force you. I'm sure you've gone through a lot, Kamito. But please, at least tell me a little."

Claire paused for a moment and continued:

"--What is that darkness spirit's goal?"

"..."

Stared at directly by those eyes of ruby--

"...It seems like it's something about making me awaken."

Kamito answered vaguely and ambiguously.

He did not choose to be so ambiguous for the sake of deceit or anything like that.

...To be frank, even Kamito was not sure what Restia's purpose was concretely.

However, it was absolutely certain that she wanted to use the current Blade Dance to let "something" dormant in Kamito's body awaken.

Furthermore, that goal seemed very likely to coincide with Ren Ashbell's.

Also--

'--I hope you can assassinate them. The five Elemental Lords.'

The statement that lingered in Kamito's hazy memories.

The Wish Restia entrusted to Kamito three years ago.

How were Restia's current actions related to that Wish --

"Awaken? You mean that 'Darkness Elemental Lord' or whatever?"

Claire asked with a serious expression.

"Then I have no idea..."

Kamito shook his head and continued:

"However, there is one thing I am absolutely certain. The place I grew up in, the Instructional School is the hell existing in this world. In that hell, she was the one who bestowed upon me a human heart. No matter what her current intentions are, I will absolutely take her back. It is for this very reason that I entered this current Blade Dance."

Kamito tightly clenched his left fist that was clad in a leather glove.

"Is that so..."

Claire showed a lonely expression.

"She's always occupied Kamito's heart, I see."

"...Hmm?"

"...N-Nothing."

Blushing, she turned her gaze away as if sulking.

--Just at this moment.

A rumbling of running footsteps could be heard from outside.

"...?"

Kamito frowned and in the next instant--

"Claire, stealing a march on us is really too sly of you."

Flinging the door open, Fianna appeared, dressed in a nightgown.

Faced with the situation, Claire frantically got up from the bed and stood up.

"W-What, w-what do you mean by stealing a march!? I-I had no intention of anything like that..."

"W-What were you two doing!?"

"C-Clearly we all promised to do it together!"

After Fianna, Rinslet and Ellis made their appearance, also in their nightgowns.

Rinslet was hugging a pillow while Ellis held a teddy bear in embrace.

"...W-What happened, why has everyone gathered here?"

Kamito voiced his puzzlement.

"...Sigh, it can't be helped."

Hearing Kamito's question, Claire slumped her shoulders as if surrendering and faced Kamito once more.

"U-Umm, Kamito..."

Still continuing to blush, she coughed once.

"Hmm?"

"T-Tonight, you will be sleeping together with all of us!"

"...Huh?"

This time it was Kamito's turn to be completely dumbfounded.