Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:BR SS Extra.5 (section)

===Part 3===

...C-Creak... The stairs groaned with every step.

The interior of the house was covered in dust. None of the spirit crystals installed on the walls for lighting reacted when infused with divine power. The spirits in them had probably all escaped long ago.

"Careful or else you might break the floorboards."

"Y-Yes, be careful... Wah!"

Kamito swiftly caught Ellis by the arm just as her step penetrated a floorboard.

"...Are you okay, Ellis?"

"Y-Yes, I suppose, I am fine..."

Blushing bright red, Ellis shook off Kamito's hand.

"L-Let us proceed..."

Clearing her throat, Ellis stepped forward.

Then she stopped in front of a room with a sign saying library.

"According to reports, the sighted figure was apparently in this room on the second floor&mdash;"

Gripping the hilt of the sword at her waist, Ellis opened the door.

From behind the door came a slight whiff of odor. The interior of the room was surrounded by bookshelves. The floor had been carefully swept clean and there was not a speck of dust in the corridor in front of the room either.

"Are these books all part of Greyworth's collection?"

"Yes, they are all ancient texts gathered from the headmistress' student days. But of course, precious grimoires have all been donated to the Academy's library. None of the books remaining here are particularly valuable."

"But if that's the case, there's something bothering me."

"...Something bothering you?"

Kamito walked to the shelves in front of him and reached for the spine of a book.

"This book's cover is way too new&mdash;"

"What!?"

Seeing the cover of the book that Kamito had pulled out, Ellis instantly blushed to her ears.

"''S-Secret Garden''...?"

Indeed, rather than ancient grimoires&mdash;

These were romance novels of a slightly excessively racy nature, targeted towards girls.

"This one, this one, and this one too..."

Kamito took out the books from the shelf one by one. ''Blooming Flower in the Night'', ''Young Lady in the Dungeon'', ''The Bullying Count''&mdash;All books of this genre.

"W-Why are such shameless books here...!?"

"...Well, for some reason, I can imagine the reason."

Kamito shrugged and tapped the cover of a book.

"...By the way, don't you find this lineup of books quite familiar&mdash;?"

&mdash;At that very moment...

"...Hmm? I think I heard something?"

Kamito suddenly looked up.

"W-What!? Q-Quit making strange remarks!"

"No, it's true&mdash;"

...than night... pitch-black darkness... devour the world... harbinger of chaos&mdash;

"...!?"

Inside the quiet room, distant and bizarre whispers were echoing.

Kamito and Ellis looked at each other then rushed into the corridor.

...Trial... here... alternate dimensional... portal&mdash;

"An incantation of spirit magic?"

Ellis charged at the voice's direction in one breath&mdash;

"Ellis, wait up! I've heard this voice somewhere before&mdash;"

"Brazen knave, what vile machinations are you attempting here!?"

Completely ignoring Kamito's advice, Ellis opened the room's door using wind magic.

"Kyahhh!" "What is going on!?" "Milady~!" "Hya!"

The storm raged inside the room, causing the girls inside to scream one after another.

"...Y-You!?"

Thus, Ellis froze in her pose, in the middle of releasing magic.