Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:BR SS Extra.6 (section)

===Part 7===

"...Phew. I guess I made it out somehow."

Having discreetly escaped from the open-air bath, Kamito returned to the inn and breathed a long sigh of relief.

He originally wanted to hide in the water then exit but once Claire and the girls entered the hot spring, he could not get out. Just as he was running out of air, it was fortunate that Scarlet created a lot of steam. Seizing this chance, he successfully escaped at last.

It was also fortunate that Scarlet the flame spirit had been summoned. Were it Fenrir instead, he would have been frozen into a block of ice and captured.

"...That being said, why did the girls come to the male bath?"

Walking in the corridor, Kamito scratched his head.

"Oh my, you have finished enjoying the hot spring already?"

He encountered Jira who was putting blankets into the room.

"Y-Yeah, I can't stay too long in a bath..."

"Oh dear, and to think I prepared special service for you..."

Jira shrugged with a look of exasperation.

"Special service... Sigh, so that was what happened..."

Kamito massaged his temples.

...It looks like everything was plotted by her.

"Claire would've burned me to charcoal if I peeped."

"Fufu, someone as gentle as milady could not possibly do that."

While Kamito was grumbling with narrowed eyes, Jira waved her hands.

"Someone as gentle as milady..."

(...That's totally unlike the Claire I know.)

Kamito voiced his doubts internally.

"...Kamito-sama, Miss Claire has become able to smile frequently."

Suddenly...

Jira's expression turned serious and she said that.

"...Huh?"

Kamito replied in puzzlement without thinking.

"Ever since her elder sister Rubia-sama betrayed the Fire Elemental Lord and Duke and Lady Elstein were imprisoned, milady had stopped smiling&mdash;"

While covering the beds with blankets, Jira recounted.

"The last time I saw milady was when she stayed here before going to attend the previous Blade Dance. Milady had virtually forgotten how to smile, always bearing a cold and grim expression&mdash;"

"..."

Kamito listened quietly.

...He could not imagine this at all. As the Calamity Queen's younger sister, Claire had been subjected to hatred and fear from the Empire's citizens. Such a reality was far too heavy a burden for a maiden in the flower of youth.

(But now, Claire&mdash;)

"However, milady was able to smile as before during dinner earlier. I am truly overjoyed to see milady showing such happy expressions..."

"...I see."

Kamito thought back to when he first met Claire. Back then, she was like a solitary beast, always forcing herself, to the point of ignoring everything around her.

But having obtained comrades to fight by her side, Claire was gradually gaining confidence in her heart.

"I entrust Miss Claire to your care."

"...Yeah, I got it."

In response to Jira's deep bow, Kamito nodded vigorously.