Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume16 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 2===

Thus the meeting concluded. When leaving the conference room&mdash;

Claire suddenly halted.

"What's wrong, Claire?"

"I'm going to Nee-sama's study to research about the Theocracy. If she spent time in the Demon King cult, then I'm sure she'll have collected plenty of material."

Despite her looks, Claire was quite analytical in nature. Back when taking part in the Blade Dance, she had also researched about the other teams. This time, it looked like she was enthusiastic about gathering information about the enemy camp too.

"Then let's go together. I'd like to know more about the Demon King too."

Hearing Kamito say that...

"R-Really? I-I don't mind..."

Claire looked away a little shyly.

"Onii-sama, who cares about that? Come to my room and play."

Muir tugged Kamito's arm with both hands, refusing to release him.

"...Uh, how about after dinner?"

"Awwww..."

Muir pouted unhappily.

Just as Kamito was caught in a dilemma&mdash;

"Muir-san, if it is alright with you, how about I play with you?"

Rinslet smiled tenderly and offered with a smile.

"No, I wanna play with Onii-sama."

"Muir, I'll play with you later. Why don't you play with Rinslet first?"

"...~!"

After Kamito placed his hand on her head, Muir very reluctantly said:

"...F-Fine. If you say so, Onii-sama, I'll play with this lady for a bit."

She released her grip on Kamito's arm at last.

"Then Rinslet, I'm entrusting Muir to you."

"Leave it to me. Very well, Muir-san, shall we head to the hall there?"

Rinslet bent down lightly and took Muir's hand.

"I-I am not a child&mdash;"

"Oh dear, then excuse me."

Smiling with a "fufu," Rinslet left with Muir.

Witnessing this scene, Kamito was a little surprised.

(...I can't believe Muir could behave so obediently towards someone other than Lily. I've never seen it before.)

Perhaps because Muir and Mireille were of similar age, Rinslet was particularly skilled at dealing with her.

"Th-Then let us be on our way too&mdash;"

"Hmm? Oh, right."

Rubia's study was located on the second floor of the ship.

Kamito went down the stairs while watching the twintails in front of him, dancing up and down.

...Somehow, it felt like Claire had matured a bit.

Was this an outcome from her training on Dragon's Peak too?

Just as he was thinking that, he suddenly lost his footing a little.

While Rubia was away from the ship, the Revenant was apparently controlled by Velka and Delia, the twins from the Instructional School, who took turns. The two of them did not seem quite familiar with the ship's controls.

"By the way, are you sure it's okay to enter Rubia's study without permission?"

Suddenly, he asked Claire who was leading the way.

"Isn't the answer obviously okay? I'm her younger sister, you know?"

"No wait, that logic is a bit..."

Kamito narrowed his eyes and remarked.

In front of the study...

"By the way, do you have a key?"

"No."

"Then what are we going to do?"

"This&mdash;Melt."

Claire chanted an incantation, instantly melting the keyhole.

"Come on, you..."

Seeing the usual charcoal ideology, Kamito smiled wryly in exasperation.

(...I guess that's one side of her that hasn't changed one bit.)

With the keyhole destroyed, the door slowly opened with a creaking sound.

First to come into view was a set of bookshelves occupying an entire wall, containing a large collection of books.

The only furniture was the desk in the back of the room. This study, focused on practicality, was truly an authentic reflection of Rubia's personality.

"...What an amazing collection. It's full of rare books you won't find in the Academy library."

As a bibliophile, Claire exclaimed in wonder as soon as she stepped inside.

...Although Kamito had not the slightest idea about rareness, he could see that the shelves were definitely packed densely and neatly with ancient texts. There were history books on various countries, spiritology dictionaries, books about dragon species with covers bound using dragon scales, even books written in High Ancient whose titles Kamito could not read.

(...Wait a sec, aren't books in High Ancient impossible for ordinary people to get their hands on in the first place?!)

According to the stipulations of international treaties, personal possession of books in High Ancient left behind by the Elfim race was forbidden. They were items that one would not even be able to see unless visiting the Sealed Library under the Divine Ritual Institute's jurisdiction.

"Say, Claire..."

"What is it?"

"Don't tell me these books were stolen from the Divine Ritual Institute's library?"

"N-Nee-sama couldn't have done something like that, right!?"

Claire frowned and said:

"However, the sealing talisman on this book seems quite thoroughly destroyed..."

"..."

"..."

"I-I'm sure she fully intends to return them eventually. Yeah, definitely."

Breaking out in cold sweat, Claire turned her gaze away.

Kamito looked at the bookshelves again, only to see research books about the Elemental Lords and the Holy Kingdom's history and geography. Rubia's book collection really seemed to extend to all fields.

More surprisingly, it also included novels popular in the imperial capital. However, these were a little different from the romance novels that Claire read&mdash;

"Your sister is such an amazing reader..."

Kamito was stunned by the book collection's quality and quantity.

"Yes, Nee-sama started reading many difficult books since childhood. During her time at the Divine Ritual Institute, she even received an imperial medal for publishing a paper on spiritology. I remember she was twelve years old at the time."

"...What a genius."

As expected of someone who had been chosen as a Queen, the pinnacle of princess maidens.

"When I was small, I often asked Nee-sama to read books to me..."

Staring at the bookshelves, Claire murmured nostalgically.

"But it's impossible to return to the past..."

"......"

Kamito was about to say something but decided against it.

On the way to Dracunia, Claire had felt troubled by the lack of interaction between herself and Rubia. It looked like they still had not been able to converse normally.

A complicated mess still seemed to stand between the two sisters.

"&mdash;Found it. A book on the Theocracy."

Saying that, Claire extracted a book from the shelf.

It was quite an ancient book, bound in animal skin. Although the title was not in High Ancient, it was still written in a lost language no longer in use today.

"Can you decipher it?"

"...Yes, I will try."

Claire took out her glasses, lit a magical flame in the air, then focused her gaze on the book.

As expected of the honors student of Raven Class. Despite running into occasional setbacks, she still managed to slowly decipher the book's contents.

Kamito could not help but stare, mesmerized by the side view of her face in total concentration.

"What's the matter?"

"...Oh, nothing. I should try to find if there are any books I can read."

Kamito frantically looked away and started searching the books within reach.

(Uh, books about the Demon King...)

In reality, what Kamito hoped to research was not the Theocracy's history but information about Solomon, the Demon King from a thousand years ago. As the dormant power of Darkness Elemental Lord Ren Ashdoll inside him gradually awakened, Kamito felt that it would be best to gain a detailed understanding of the man who had held the same power as himself.

Searching the bookshelves, Kamito finally found a book that he should be capable of reading.

...It looked like a book summarizing the Theocracy's history. Kamito opened the table of contents and began browsing the section that contained records related to Demon King Solomon.

&mdash;The Alphas Theocracy was founded roughly a thousand years ago. Its current capital, Zohar, was still a small city in the desert back then.

A sixteen-year-old youth had appeared at the time, Solomon. Capable of using spirits as a male, he was obeyed by seventy-two spirits that had been lying dormant across the lands. He sought to realize his ambition and quickly swept across the entire continent. Back then, the concept of deploying spirits into human warfare did not even exist, hence every nation lost badly against the Demon King's army that used spirits.

However, just as everyone thought that the Demon King's army would subjugate the entire continent, a young girl, who tended sheep, surfaced at what would be the border of the current Holy Kingdom of Lugia.

Entering a spirit contract with the legendary sacred sword, the girl assembled the Salvation Army to take down the Demon King. Hence, the three-year-long Demon King War broke out.

After many intense battles all over the continent, the Demon King finally fell to Sacred Maiden Areishia's sword. And in turn, the Sacred Maiden vanished together with the legendary sacred sword to whereabouts unknown&mdash;

Kamito closed the book gently.

(...There's nothing interesting here.)

Furthermore, there were some omissions in this book.

Kamito knew Sacred Maiden Areishia's true and final fate. Afflicted by the curse of the sacred sword that had vanquished numerous spirits, her body was turned into a statue.

And the legendary sacred sword in question was currently&mdash;

(...In my hand, huh? Destiny feels more and more unbelievable to me.)

Just as Kamito was having these poignant thoughts...

"Kamito, I've managed to decipher this to some extent..."

Claire lifted her face from her book and said to him.

"Really?"

Hearing that, Kamito poked his head over to peer at the book.

"Huahhh, y-your face is too close, idiot!"

"S-Sorry..."

"Sheesh..."

Blushing, Claire coughed and cleared her throat.

"So, what's this book actually about?"

When Kamito asked...

"Yes, this a book about the Demon King's princess maidens&mdash;"

"...!?"

Hearing what Claire said, Kamito could not help but hold his breath.

"The Demon King's princess maidens"&mdash;Of course he had some idea about that term.

Reportedly, Demon King Solomon had shared his power with nine concubines he had obtained from the conquered nations, placing them in trusted and important positions as generals in the Demon King's army. Rubia had speculated in the past, wondering whether this was the same as Kamito sharing Ren Ashdoll's power with the girls in his team through kissing.

"&mdash;Demon King Solomon apparently forced the princesses of conquered nations to serve him in all kinds of ways... W-What a despicable man!"

"Y-Yeah. The Demon King was truly despicable!"

Kamito averted his eyes semi-evasively.

"Incidentally, this truly lives to its name as a forbidden book, designated for sealing by the Divine Ritual Institute. The history books at the Academy library did not make a single mention of the existence of the Demon King's princess maidens."

Claire commented while reading the pages.

"Well, the Divine Ritual Institute would end up in a difficult position if word got out that the princess maidens had assisted the Demon King."

"That's why they covered it up, which is a bit&mdash;Kyah"

At that moment, the Revenant suddenly shook violently, causing books to fall down in a clatter.

"...!"

Kamito hastily jumped on top of Claire to shield her using his back.
[[image:STnBD V16 085.jpg|thumb]]

"Oww... Are you okay, Claire?"

"Eh? Y-Yes..."

Her ruby-like eyes were widened in surprise. Claire nodded obediently.

"Those twins don't seem too used to steering the ship&mdash;"

Just as Kamito was about to get up...

"Hyah♪"

Claire exclaimed quietly.

"...?"

Only then did Kamito finally notice.

Boing. A not very big feeling on his right hand.

Apparently, he had pressed his hand on her chest the moment they hit the floor.

"...S-Sorry!?"

Kamito hastily withdrew his hand and stood up.

"J-Just now, it was an accident!"

"I-I know..."

"Huh?"

"Th-Thank you, for protecting me..."

Blushing bright red, Claire turned her head and avoided eye contact shyly.

(...W-What's going on?)

Kamito was shocked. Normally, Claire would surely go all out in charcoal mode.

"Anyway, let's first tidy up the fallen books&mdash;"

Patting her skirt, Claire stood up.

"Y-Yeah, that's right..."

Kamito was just reaching for a fallen book when...

"Kyahhh, w-what the heck is that!?"

"What's wrong?"

Kamito followed Claire's gaze&mdash;

Only to see the book designated for sealing, which Claire had been reading, flipped to a certain page.

"What!?"

Kamito was rendered speechless. After all, the content shown &mdash;

Unmentionable illustrations of princess maidens in all sorts of unseemly poses.

"...~! I-Idiot, what are you making me see, pervert!"

Hastily closing the book, Claire blushed intensely while hammering her fists on Kamito.

"H-Hold on, this isn't my fault!"

"True, but, oooh~..."

Going teary-eyed, Claire stood up and brusquely stuffed the scattered books back onto the shelves.

"I-I am searching the shelves over there!"

Having done so, she awkwardly averted her eyes and went to the bookshelves on another side.

(Good grief, what kind of books are Rubia keeping here...?)

While muttering, Kamito was just about to return the book in his hand to its original spot...

"...Hmm?"

He suddenly frowned.

He saw several letters between the books.

The handwriting on these especially formal letters was familiar to Kamito.

(Could these be...?)