Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume14 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 3===

"...This is unacceptable!"

Claire roared angrily at the tightly shut door of the cell.

Like the place where Kamito was kept confined, this was a prison in a military facility.

Although she was not handcuffed like Kamito, the isolation barrier had severed the link to her contracted spirit, not only preventing her from summoning Scarlet but also using spirit magic.

(...But I could probably get out if I used ''those flames''.)

Claire cast her gaze upon her hands. The special power whose nature differed from spirit magic, passed down the Elstein family&mdash;The flames of oblivion, even capable of incinerating other flames.

However, even if she could escape this cell, she would still be helpless against the spirit knights outside.

"...Let me out or else you might end up burned into charcoal!"

Despite banging on the door and even kicking it twice, she could not get any response from outside at all.

Finally felling tired, Claire sighed helplessly and sat down on the spot.

"...I am terribly sorry, it's all because I was caught&mdash;"

At this moment, Restia apologized from her position, crouching in a corner of the cell.

"It's not like it's your fault. That bunch of violent knights are to blame."

Claire turned her head to look at Restia.

"But if you could recover your power, escaping this kind of prison should be a piece of cake."

She shrugged.

"I have that kind of power?"

"Yes, you are a high-ranked spirit of the darkness element after all. If you used your original strength, ordinary spirit knights are no match at all. Using that black lightning, you can fry them in a sizzle&mdash;"

"...That sounds so scary."

Restia moaned and spoke timidly in a whisper.

"There, there. You don't have to force yourself to remember. Sorry about that."

Seeing how she reacted, Claire apologized, feeling bad.

(...I-It feels quite unbelievable, spending time alone with the darkness spirit.)

Claire felt quite conflicted inside. Claire was a shy girl originally. Even disregarding the fact that the two of them had been clear enemies previously, Claire really did not know how to interact with her after she had lost her memory.

(...She's the girl that Kamito holds dearest, I guess?)

Suddenly recalling this fact, Claire instantly felt a tightening in her chest.

(Much much further back in the past than me, she was already together with Kamito&mdash;)

...Growl.

Hearing a cute little sound, Claire was instantly brought back to reality.

"Are you hungry?"

"Ah, u-uhh..."

Restia blushed to her ears, looking quite flustered... Speaking of which, they still had not had dinner. Claire suddenly remembered.

"Uh, would you like to have this?"

From her pocket, Claire took out a biscuit wrapped in oil paper. It was made by Rinslet and Claire had taken it when leaving the castle at Laurenfrost.

"May I?"

"I'm eating too. Let's share it half-half."

"T-Thank you..."

While eating the biscuit, Claire spoke.

"Don't worry. Ellis will surely find a way."

All things considered, Ellis was a daughter of the Fahrengart family, which held vast influence over the Imperial Knights. If she negotiated with the higher-ups, surely they would be released soon.

Just as Claire was thinking so optimistically...

The cell door, which had shown no reaction no matter how much she yelled or kicked, opened with a rusty grating sound.

"...Ellis!"

Claire stood up and yelled.

Appearing outside the door was precisely the Ellis she had just mentioned.

"You're late, Ellis. I've been waiting so long."

Claire said to her.

However, Claire soon noticed something off about her.

"No, uh, sorry&mdash;"

"...Huh?"

Ellis came in and sat down in a corner of the cell, drawing her knees to her chest.

Then the door was shut from outside and locked with a clack.

"W-Wait, what's going on? Why are you sent to jail too?"

"I-I am simply insisting on my principles..."

Saying that, Ellis turned her face away in embarrassment.

"Y-You... Don't tell me..."

Guessing the gist of things based on her personality, Claire buried her own head in her hands.

"I-Idiot! Who's going to save us if you're jailed here too!?"

"U-Umm, you make a fair point... My apologies."

Looking like she was reflecting on her actions at least, Ellis apologized quietly.

"B-But I do not regret my decision&mdash;"

"...Sigh. Sheesh, you simply can't think outside the box."

Claire clutched her head and sighed in exasperation.

"Well, it is very much in your style..."