Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume3 Chapter6 (section)

===Part 4===

"Come on, Scarlet, where the heck did you go?!"

Claire ruffled up her red twintails, and was furiously angry.

The moment they walked into town, she ended up separated from Scarlet, and before she knew it, she got lost in some back alley.

Claire, who usually didn't go out to Academy Town, was virtually unfamiliar with the area. Also, Scarlet didn't seem to have returned to Astral Zero, so she couldn't even summon it.

There were no signs of people in the back alley. The Valentia Holy Festival seemed to be beginning over at the plaza, everyone had been gathering over there.

"...What's with this, aaah."

Claire restlessly looked around her surroundings, seemingly in anxiety.

Of course, hoodlums and the like were no match for Claire, an elementalist. Nevertheless, she somehow ended up feeling uneasy.

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"...That guy too, he completely didn't return!"

Claire irritably made a *snap* sound with her whip.

To begin with, the reason Claire had gone out to town was for the sake of finding Kamito.

She had waited throughout the whole night yesterday, but Kamito didn't return in the end.

"What...? Despite the fact that I'd have forgiven you if you'd have honestly apologized."

Claire had also reflected a little about the part where she chased Kamito out without hearing his story out fully.

She absolutely couldn't forgive him for being in Ellis' room, but still, without saying cinders, she had planned on letting it end with him being about half-burnt at most.

(...Only for once, only once, I'll forgive him for swinging his tail at Ellis, despite his slave spirit social standing. I'm really tolerant, almost like a saint.)

Brushing her twintailed red hair quickly, Claire took out a small pouch from her uniform's pocket. It was a lovely pouch coiled with a yellow ribbon.

Inside were handmade chocolates.

Due to practicing over several times, she finally could make something that wasn't cinders.

"I-If he obediently apologized, I'd give him this as a reward. This is at most a reward. It has nothing to do with stuff like the Valentia Holy Festival."

Claire was muttering alone, when—

"Nyaa?"

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"Hiwaa!"

Claire sprung up with shock.

When she turned around in a fluster, Scarlet had tilted its head to the side near her feet.

"A-Ahh, don't scare me! ...Good grief, you got lost as soon as we got here."

The one, who had been lost, was Claire, but she didn't admit that.

At that time, running footsteps were drawing closer from the other side of the alley.

"Claire!"

"...?"

Claire turned around, and the one that appeared from the corner of the alley was Kamito.

He was very out of breath, like he has been running for some time.

"Ka-Kamito! Why—"

"I caught sight of Scarlet's silhouette, and chased it here."

"Eh?"

(D-Does that mean he came looking for me?)

Claire made an angry-like, troubled-like, happy-like ambiguous face.

For the time being, as they were still in the middle of a quarrel, she didn't know what kind of expression she should be making.

(Th-That's right, I can't be making a sweet face here!)

The highly-prideful Claire had absolutely no intention of forgiving him until an apology came from Kamito. For the master to be apologizing to the slave was something that could absolutely not happen.

"Hmm, w-what did you come for at this point in time?!"

"You too, what are you doing at a place like this?"

Kamito asked, seemingly puzzled.

"...I-It's nothing, it isn't like I was searching for you." <!-- Tsundere lvl over 9000...-->

"Ahh, I definitely understand that, but—"

"Doesn't that mean you don't understand?!"<!-- わかってないじゃない! -->

Claire agitatedly raised her whip up— Then, she suddenly desisted from doing so.

If she swung her whip here, it'd end up the same as yesterday.

"...W-Well, that's fine."

Claire lowered the whip she raised, and roughly brushed her hair.

Kamito was carrying a blank look.

"Hey, Kamito? Just by chance, I'm casually free this afternoon."

"...? Is that so?"

"That's right. S-So, err, treat me to cake or something at a coffee lounge or somewhere! Th-Then, I'll have... no... choice but to forgive you, you know?"

Her cheeks slightly reddened, and she glanced at Kamito with one eye.

Those words just now were the greatest compromise for this highly-prideful Claire.

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It wasn't like she wanted to be treated to cake. For Claire, it was her plan to give him an easy pretext to apologize.

Kamito would say "What, it can't be helped" as he treated her to cake, and Claire would go "Hmm, I'll forgive you in consideration of this cake" while shrugging her shoulders— Just like that, she thought she could patch up their relationship with a bit-by-bit-like atmosphere.

(It's probably too late, but tentatively, he did come to apologize. I'm also not a kid, so I'll leniently forgive him.)

"Sorry, I have to police Academy Town with Ellis today."

"Oh, I understand. With Ellis...?"

Claire's face froze in a snap.

"H-Hey, Kamito... I didn't hear it well, but... what was that just now?"

"I said, I have Knights work. I am going around and policing the town with Ellis."

Kamito plainly said it once more.

"..."

"Hey, Claire?"

"O-Oh? With Ellis...it's a date, I-Isn't it."

Claire's voice was trembling all over.

"No, it isn't a date, it's Knights—"

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"Oh, you've already become the Knights' dog, haven't you? That badge suits you, doesn't it?"

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Gogogogogogogogo...!*

"...!?"

Claire was angry.

Her red twintailed hair bristled up, and she was with an impulse like she was going to release a fireball anytime soon.

"You, just hear me out a little. You don't have to look at the Knights with that much hostility, do you?"

"W-What, don't say it like you understand!"

Claire flared up, and raised her whip.

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Gyruruu*.

"..."

A somewhat lovely sound was heard.

While Claire held her whip overhead, she awkwardly averted her eyes.

"You, could it be that you haven't had lunch yet?"

"What, isn't that because you didn't make it for me—?"

"The one who chased me out was you."

"That's... true, but..."

Claire glared at Kamito, and groaned.

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"Claire, if it's alright with you, would you eat with me?"

"Eh?"

Claire widened her ruby eyes.

"...Th-That's... well..."

Her face reddened, and abruptly turned away.

"I-If you insisted no matter what, I'm fine with that."

"Well then, come. I am eating together with Ellis and the others at the park over there."

"...!?"

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Pikuu*. Claire's temple twitched.

"Wh-What are you saying, you... Are you an idiot?!"

"I understand that you're on poor relations with the Knights, but they're all normal girls. If you had a meal together with them, wouldn't you become on good terms with them?"

"I have no intentions of being friends with them. I've hated the people from the Knights since a long time ago. I don't care if they're elite or not, but they utterly insulted Nee-sama!"

"Isn't that about the former Knights, Ellis isn't someone like that—"

"...What, Ellis this, Ellis that!"

Claire finally exploded. She was already at the limit of her tolerance.

Releasing her elemental waffe, she tightly grasped her blazing Flametounge.

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...She didn't understand why.

However, it was unbearably vexing that Kamito was friendly with the Knights and Ellis.

"You are my slave spirit, so you're only mine!"

Her Flametounge was swung down as her emotions told.

However.

"—Leave it at that, Claire Rouge."

"...!?"

Her blazing Flametounge was held entangled by a lance clad in violent winds.

"It's a violation of school rules for a normal student to be using an elemental waffe in town."

"Ellis!?"

Ellis, who stood like she was protecting Kamito, was glaring at Claire with a relentless look.

"...!"

Claire gnawed down on her molars, seemingly vexed.

Large droplets of tears surfaced on her clear ruby pupils.

"...Enough."

"Eh?"

"That's enough, idiot, do as you please!"

"H-Hey, Claire... Guaa!"

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Claire threw the bag of chocolates with all her strength at Kamito's face.

"I despise people like you! Wh-Why don't you just get along with Ellis—"

Claire shouted with a voice mangled with tears and ran away immediately.