Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume10 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 2===

"Huff, huff, huff..."

Feeling an unpleasant feeling like he had fallen somewhere, Kamito woke up.

His heart was racing abnormally quickly. His body also felt quite heavy with sweat.

The sense of terror from falling into the darkness was still lingered vividly in his mind.

"...A nightmare? Those have been rare ever since I came to the Academy."

Kamito wiped the sweat off his brow and sighed.

Probably due to the series of intense battles, his nerves had become over excited.

At this moment.

"&mdash;Kamito, are you okay?"

He heard a cute voice coming from above.

"...!?"

Kamito frantically jumped up.

Turning around, he found a cute little rabbit.

Long lustrous silver-white hair. Clad over her milky-white skin was a tight-fitting, erotic, enameled outfit. Over her legs she was wearing fishnet tights with high heel boots. Behind her was a round fluffy tail.

Most striking of all was the pair of rabbit ears on top of her head.

The legendary sword spirit, who had vanquished the Demon King, was now gazing at Kamito with her mysterious violet eyes.

"Umm..."

Despite Kamito's ignorance in worldly matters, he still knew this much.

...This was commonly known as the bunny girl.

The question was why would his contracted spirit be dressed up in this manner&mdash;

"...Est, what on earth are you doing?"

"Yes. I am acting as Kamito's pillow."

Est nodded expressionlessly.

"Pillow?"

Dressed in her bunny girl outfit, Est was sitting formally in a kneeling position.

...Come to think of it, I was sleeping on the ground and yet my head didn't hurt at all.

"Est, were you providing me with a lap pillow?"

"Yes, Kamito. You seemed like you were having a nightmare."

Est must have been quite worried as she watched Kamito experiencing a nightmare. However, rather than wake up Kamito who was exhausted, she chose to give him a lap pillow instead.

"Thank you, Est."

As Kamito stroked her head, Est half-closed her eyes in enjoyment.

"...But why are you dressed as a bunny girl?"

"Even if it's you, Kamito, I feel embarrassed if someone touches my bare legs."

Est remained expressionless despite the blush on her face, answering in a whisper.

...I see. For some reason, this sword spirit was immensely ashamed of exposing her legs. Even though it was just her lap, letting Kamito rest upon them must have been quite embarrassing for her. Hence, instead of wearing her usual kneesocks she chose fishnet tights instead.

"...Then what about the rabbit ears?"

"Yes. A rare opportunity."

"...I see, a rare opportunity."

"Yes."

...Oh well, if she simply wore fishnet tights with nothing else, it would be rather troubling after all.

"Kamito, are you unhappy with this getup?"

The rabbit ears she wore on her head were swaying slightly apprehensively.

"No, umm... I-It's very cute!"

Kamito frantically followed up with a compliment.

"..."

The rabbit ears jumped in joy.

Although Est remained expressionless as always, it was much easier to read her emotions from the rabbit ears on her head.

(...Hmm, this is quite convenient. Wouldn't it be nice if she wore them all the time?)

Just as this joking thought crossed his mind&mdash;

"...Strange?"

Kamito suddenly realized.

...Muir was missing.

"Est, where did Muir go?"

"When I woke up, she was already gone."

"...?"

Kamito surveyed his surroundings.

The fire of the spirit crystal still provided lighting within the shrine.

Kamito could not have slept for too long a duration.

"Where did that girl go?"

She could not have left the shrine alone, right? Even for Muir, without a militarized spirit for her to command, wandering alone in this abandoned city was too dangerous.

&mdash;At this moment, Kamito's searching gaze stopped at a certain spot.

Beside where Kamito had been sleeping, for an instant, something flashed.

"This is..."

Approaching for a closer look, Kamito found a tiny red stone rolling there.

As the symbol of Team Inferno, it was a magic stone carved with an emblem of snakes and flames.

Magic stones had to be kept on one's person. Once separated from the body for a certain length of time, Leap magic would be forcibly triggered.

The placement of the stone implied that Muir had retired from the Blade Dance by her own volition.

"Muir..."

Muttering softly, Kamito picked up the magic stone.

Clearly he still had so much more to chat with her about&mdash;

"Kamito?"

"...Oh, it's nothing."

Nodding, Kamito placed the magic stone into his uniform pocket.

(...Muir, you're not some kind of Monster but a noble elementalist.)

At this moment, the sound of frantic footsteps came from outside.

"...What's going on?"

Kamito instantly readied his stance and looked towards the entrance.

However, as soon as he recognized the girl's figure in the darkness, he relaxed his guard.

"K-Kamito-san!"

Rinslet rushed into the shrine.

She was probably in the middle of purification when she made her way back, for her platinum-blonde hair was still wet.

'Rinslet, what happened?"

"Her Highness the imperial princess is nearby... Hey, w-what are you two doing there?"

Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble...!

Rinslet's gaze was cast behind Kamito's back.

Obviously, that was where bunny girl Est was located.

"A-A misunderstanding... B-By the way, what happened actually?"

Kamito inquired hastily, prompting Rinslet to recall all of a sudden.

"Her Highness the imperial princess is currently engaged in battle nearby against the Knights of the Dragon Emperor."

"...Fianna? I got it, let's go immediately."

Kamito stood up, holding Est's hand.

"Est, I'm sorry we have to do this so soon after recovering, but I'm relying on you."

"Yes, I am your sword, your wish is my command."

The pair of rabbit ears quivered slightly.

Next, Est transformed into a massive sword shining with silver-white light.