Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:VolumeEF Chapter7 (section)

===Part 2===

At the old cathedral far away from the dorms, inside the conference room of the Sylphid Knights' headquarters&mdash;

Signs of damage from the destruction wrought by Velsaria a while back had been repaired almost completely. Functionality as headquarters was already restored.

Once Kamito and company were seated, Ellis began to speak solemnly.

"As things stand, the city spirits controlling the Academy's life line seem to be in a bad mood."

"What happened?"

Claire frowned.

"In other words, the reason why the spirits went berserk earlier was because Areishia Spirit Academy has displeased the two great dragon spirits?"

"The two great dragon spirits?"

Kamito wondered aloud.

"The flame dragon spirit and the water dragon spirit... They are top-tier spirits governing all the Academy's spirits."

Rinslet raised her index finger and explained.

"It comes as no surprise that you have no idea, seeing as you only enrolled at the Academy recently. The two great spirits initially served Sacred Maiden Areishia. Ever since the founding of the Academy, they have maintained a contract with the Academy."

"It would not be wrong to say that it is thanks to these two great spirits that we are able to use stoves and showers in the dorms without worry."

Rinslet nodded.

(I see&mdash;)

There existed many grumpy and unruly spirits that did not obey princess maidens. Consequently, the reason why students at the Academy were able to use spirit mechanisms safely was reportedly due to these two great spirits ruling over them.

...Well, on further thought, this was only natural. Without beings to keep the myriad spirits in line, using so many spirit mechanisms normally would probably be impossible.

That being said, spirit mechanisms had also become ubiquitous in people's daily lives in the Ordesia Empire. The same went for the Academy too&mdash;

"So, you were just bringing up that you heard the two spirits are in a bad mood, right?"

"Yes, on further thought, there were warning signs a while back&mdash;"

Ellis spoke with bitterness in her voice.

Tracing to the root&mdash;

It was a very simple matter, but very difficult to resolve.

Recently, due to the many incidents in the Academy town, offering ceremonies had been postponed, causing the two great spirits to become even more angry.

"Further to that, the whole Academy has been preparing for the Blade Dance, the militarized spirit running amok, the Jio Inzagi attack, and a few days earlier, the tragic incident in town during the Valentia Holy Festival... The accumulation of catastrophes has apparently displeased the two great spirits. The steep decline in the Sylphid Knights' numbers, preventing us from deploying manpower in the usual offering ceremonies, is probably part of the reason too..."

Feeling responsible, Ellis slumped her shoulders.

"...In any case, they're unhappy because they aren't getting enough respect, right?"

"There's no respect in the way you're describing it, but that's pretty much it."

Claire shrugged and replied.

"Then can't we just offer them a grand ceremony?"

"...Well, although that should work, it's always troublesome after they've been offended once."

"Yeah..."

Spirits were capricious being with delicate feelings. This applied to all of them whether low-ranked spirits living at the water's edge or high-level spirits alike.

(...I remember one time when Est had been very stubborn, with no way to improve her mood.)

Once, when Est had crept into his bed, Kamito had moved her to sleep in Claire's bed. This evidently displeased Est, causing her to refuse to speak with Kamito for a whole day.

Kamito repented and slept with Est ever since&mdash;

"Then what exactly needs to be done?"

"Oh, the headmistress and the teachers have gone to Astral Zero to supplicate the two great spirits..."

"Supplication failed."

A voice spoke from the cathedral entrance.

"Greyworth..."

Kamito looked back to see Greyworth standing there with a wry expression on her face.

"Headmistress, what do you mean by... failed?"

"Literally failed. The two great spirits did not respond to our supplication."

Greyworth walked straight over and sat down on a nearby chair.

"Unbelievable..."

Ellis bit her lip tightly and looked down.

"We of the Sylphid Knights are responsible for this incident. Had we done our job better, this could have been&mdash;"

"What? This totally isn't your fault. Ultimately, the spirits' displeasure stemmed from the headmistress six generations ago who reduced the offering ceremony to once every three years. With no warning signs beforehand, this sudden once in a few centuries incident of displeasure is a pain for me too, but there's no use complaining to the spirits since their concept of time is completely different from ours&mdash;"

Greyworth quietly shook her head.

"...B-But at this rate, the exclusive contract maintained since the founding of the Academy will be destroyed, right?"

"Yes. Without cooperation from the two great spirits, the Academy will become unsustainable eventually. Although it is possible to eliminate the two spirits, that would be meaningless..."

Greyworth lowered her voice to speak dangerous words.

Oh well, the Dusk Witch definitely was capable of eliminating high-ranked spirits too&mdash;

"...Oh no&mdash;"

"Don't be so pessimistic. In the end, ''all they did was ignore my supplication''."

"What do you mean?" asked Kamito.

"The two great spirits demanded a large-scale offering ceremony to be held in their honor. If done well, their moods will improve, simple as that."

"A large-scale offering ceremony..."

"&mdash;Indeed, the Elemental Festa."

Greyworth spoke solemnly.

"Elemental Festa...!?"

Team Scarlet showed doubt on their face.

The Elemental Festa was an offering ceremony of the biggest scale, performed by selected ''idols'' to entertain spirits through ritual dancing known as kagura along with singing.

"We have to organize such a big offering ceremony at a time like this?"

Ellis exclaimed in surprise.

"...Yes. Normally speaking, such a large offering ceremony wouldn't be held before the Blade Dance, but since our representatives for the Blade Dance are already decided, there shouldn't be a problem&mdash;"

"In that case, the two great spirits will be appeased?"

"Only if the offering ceremony is spectacular. In that case, we need&mdash;"

Greyworth knocked the armrests of her chair and grinned.

"...to recruit Festa participants from the Academy. You guys will enter too."

"Eh..."

Kamito and company exchanged looks.

To be honest, Team Scarlet was still far from being a solid team. To give up Blade Dance training to rehearse for an event, no matter how little time&mdash;

Did Greyworth read the subtle atmosphere? She continued.

"You cannot refuse. The two great spirits named you guys for the kagura."

"W-Why!?"

Ellis cried out.

"Oh, they apparently took an interest in your team after watching the match against Velsaria a few days ago."

"No way..."

"We never learned proper kagura..."

Indeed, their knowledge of kagura was amateur at best. As underclassmen, they were true prodigies even capable of deploying elemental waffen, much less summon contracted spirits, but kagura demanded different talents. Furthermore, to memorize within such short time&mdash;

The girls looked quite distraught.

"...I don't think this is a bad deal for you."

Greyworth spoke again.

"...What do you mean?"

"The two great spirits said they will grant a special blessing, of either a fire or water affinity as suitable on a personal basis, to the idols obtaining victory in the Elemental Festa."

"A blessing from the two great spirits!?"

Claire, Rinslet and Ellis were suddenly excited.

(...I see now, so that's the deal huh?)

...This was worth it. Top-tier spirits normally resided in Astral Zero and refused to give audience. Obtaining blessings from such spirits could allow one to draw out even stronger powers from their contracted spirits.

From what Kamito could see, the girls were currently able to draw out at best half of their contracted spirits' power.

Especially Claire's Scarlet was a total unknown.

If they were blessed by a high-ranked spirit&mdash;

"Assuming this is true, it would definitely be an attractive proposal."

Rinslet looked pensive.

"Regardless whether it is true or not, for the sake of fairness, this needs to be announced to the whole Academy."

"..."

The looks on the girls' faces suddenly turned serious.

The reward was a blessing from top-tier spirits&mdash;Competition was going to become intense.

"...But failure is not an option."

"Yes, to be frank, I'm not confident..."

Claire and Rinslet were agonizing over it&mdash;

"&mdash;I shall enter."

Ellis declared calmly.

"Putting aside the issue of the blessing from the two great spirits, I feel responsible as captain of the Sylphid Knights for the current situation. As such, I shall take this on alone."

"Ellis..." "Captain..."

Faced with Ellis' determination, Claire and Rinslet looked at each other&mdash;

Finally, they both shrugged.

"...Fine. We are a team, right?"

"I-I am fairly confident of my singing."

Claire looked away while Rinslet tossed her hair.

"You two... I am so grateful."

Ellis thanked quietly and bowed her head at the two girls.

"In that case, it is decided&mdash;"

Greyworth nodded, smiling profoundly.