Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume16 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 3===

At the flying dragon landing zone of the dragon capital's military port, Kamito welcomed Claire and the girls.

He was served the famous Dragon Tea while waiting on a terrace at the landing zone. After half an hour, two mid-sized flying dragons arrived from the direction of the Kelbreth Mountain Range.

"Oh, looks like they're here..."

Standing up, Kamito waved from the center of the landing zone.

Soon after, the flying dragons carrying Claire and the girls slowly landed after circling in the air once.

"Thank you for being patient, Kamito-kun. It's been a week." "You have waited long enough, Kamito."

The first to land was the dragon carrying Fianna and Ellis.

Unloading their heavy luggage to the ground, the two girls seemed quite upbeat judging from their expressions.

"How did your training go, you two?"

When Kamito asked, the two girls exchanged a glance.

"Extremely well, of course!" "Indeed, I feel like I have had growth that surprises even myself."

They both made thumbs-up gestures.

"I see. It's true that I feel a completely different vibe from you compared to before the training."

Kamito offered his honest opinion. Trained at the Instructional School, Kamito could sense student-like naivety and inexperience from them before, but this impression had vanished now.

(...I can't believe they went through such a great change in as short as a week's training. What kind of training did they go through?)

Just as Kamito was thinking that...

"Fufu, do we seem a little more mature to you now?"

Chuckling, Fianna wrapped her arm around Kamito.

"...H-Hey, Fianna!?"

Instantly blushing to his ears, Kamito cried out. At that moment...

"H-Hold on, what are you doing to Kamito, you pervert princess!"

"Your Highness, th-that is so unfair!"

With the sound of a whip cracking, Claire and Rinslet landed too.

Claire hurried over to Kamito's side and pulled Fianna's arm off from Kamito.

Fianna stuck out her tongue mischievously and released Kamito for now.

"Sheesh, that's enough..."

Claire murmured with exasperation.

Kamito gently patted Claire on the head.

"...Huahhh, what are you doing!?"

"I'm so glad that you're all fine. After all, I heard that Dragon's Peak is a dangerous place."

Fianna and Ellis nodded to agree with Kamito.

"Yes, it is a place as dangerous as rumored&mdash;"

"Indeed. I never expected it would turn into that kind of training..."

"...What exactly was the training like?"

When Kamito asked with curiosity, the four girls shared their experiences training on Dragon's Peak.

On a plateau all covered by thick mist, Scarlet had discovered an ancient temple, which was where the dark dragon Vritra was sealed a thousand years ago, ending his rule over the region. Next they had borrowed the historical site from the dark dragon to use for training&mdash;

"Wait, a dark dragon? Were you girls okay?"

Halfway through, Kamito could not help but interrupt to ask.

"According to the dark dragon, it lost its powers when Est apparently did quite a number on it a thousand years ago. What we encountered was a weird creature resembling a flattened lizard."

"...Any recollections, Est?"

"None."

When Kamito asked, the Demon Slayer hanging at his waist replied indifferently.

"...I see. Oh well, in any case, you girls were training at the ancient ruins, right?"

"Indeed. We entered the ruins and were teleported individually to our own alternate dimension."

According to Claire, the ancient site was apparently a place for staging one-on-one duels against an individual whom one had to surpass. Claire had taken on her elder sister Rubia while Fianna, Ellis and Rinslet each had to confront their own special opponents of destiny.

"Likewise for me, Rubia-sama appeared too. But instead of her current self, it was Rubia-sama from four years ago, the one whom I had failed to stop."

"The one I encountered was my own self who had despaired from failing to save Judia."

"I-I faced off against the Ren Ashbell-sama of my ideals."

"I-I see..."

Hearing what Ellis said at the end, Kamito looked away, somewhat embarrassed.

...In any case, the training that Claire and the girls had completed was utterly different from what the Academy offered.

"Everyone worked so hard&mdash;"

Just as Kamito muttered...

"Looks like a lot happened over here too."

Claire spoke with a serious expression.

"Have you already heard about the incident?"

"Yes, on our way back, we heard from the Knights of the Dragon Emperor. From what they said, Kamito, you fought a battle against the headmistress on the bridge when she invaded the Stronghold."

"Uh, about the headmistress&mdash;"

Seeing Ellis beginning to speak worried, Kamito shook his head.

"Greyworth fell into the canyon. Although the Dracunia knights have been searching for her, nothing has come up yet."

"Is that so&mdash;"

Ellis looked down and bit her lip.

"...She is still alive, right?"

"Yeah, that hag won't die even if you try to kill her."

"I-I suppose you are right..."

"Yes. Indeed that is so."

To students of the Academy like these girls, Greyworth was their most respected hero.

"We might need to fight Greyworth again. When the time comes, let's wake her up together."

"Yes&mdash;"

Claire and the girls exchanged glances and nodded firmly.

"&mdash;But before that, we have to save that Theocracy princess first."

"...True. When will Rubia-sama and the others be back?"

Looking up at the sky where Dracunia's flying dragons were dancing, Fianna murmured softly to herself.