Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume7 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 3===

"What the heck, Kamito is such a jerk. I don't care about him..."

Meanwhile, Claire was sitting with her knees up against her chest, throwing pebbles at the river.

Behind her, Scarlet was prowling back and forth as if worried about its master.

"Kamito belongs to me..."

...Plop. Water splashed in the distance.

At this moment, the sound of someone stepping on the sandy ground could be heard.

"C-Claire, what are you doing? You look so gloomy."

"Ellis..."

The one who spoke to Claire was Ellis. Even though their relationship was originally like natural enemies at the Academy, it had progressed enough after they became teammates that they could now discuss many matters.

As a side note, Scarlet frantically disappeared as soon as Ellis was spotted.

"Has Her Highness the imperial princess been found?"

"Yeah. She's probably making out with Kamito right now!"

Throwing a bigger stone, Claire patted her skirt and stood up.

"...Hmm. What are you talking about? What is going on?"

Ellis' eyebrows shot up.

Seeing that, Claire told her what just happened in the forest.

"...I see. Kamito was taken away by Her Highness the imperial princess."

Hearing Claire's explanation, Ellis showed a solemn expression and nodded.

As a further side note, the reason why she always referred to Fianna as Her Highness the imperial princess even though they were fellow teammates, was because she hailed from a family of knights who served the Ordesia imperial family throughout the generations.

"Speaking of which..."

Ellis rested her chin on her hand and murmured softly.

"So Claire, you noticed as well. That sword skill used by Kamito."

"Yeah. Even though Kamito said he didn't know her, and that it was simply coincidence that they both learned the same sword skill from Headmistress Greyworth."

"Really? Since Kamito said so, then that's probably the case."

"...But somehow I keep feeling like he's hiding something. About Ren Ashbell."

Claire frowned, deep in agonizing thought.

If there was no relation at all, Kamito's attitude was far too suspicious.

(...Come to think of it.)

Suddenly, Fianna's words surfaced in Claire's mind.

--For example, ''Kamito-kun is Ren Ashbell'' or the like?

(Impossible, right...)

Claire instantly shook her head.

They simply used the same sword skill... That idea was really ludicrous.

(Kamito is the one I idolize, that kind of thing--)

But inexplicably... Claire could not calm her thoughts.

From early on, Claire's intuition had always been exceedingly sharp. Now the turmoil in her heart felt similar to that feeling. Or perhaps, at least in the area of intuition, Claire had inherited the same disposition that her elder sister had as the Queen.

Kamito had said -- I am not Ren Ashbell's acquaintance.

But reflecting on this deeper--

(...He did not say he was not Ren Ashbell herself.)

Claire voiced out her sudden idea, but--

"...What are you talking about?"

Ellis shrugged in exasperation.

"What, I'm just saying it's possible, that's all!"

"How could it? Besides, three years ago, wasn't Ren Ashbell a beautiful young maiden? Purely in terms of probability, I think it is more believable that the masked elementalist you mentioned from Team Inferno is the one."

"That girl is definitely an imposter posing as Ren Ashbell. The true Ren Ashbell isn't someone like her!"

"Of course, I hope so too--"

Ellis regretfully stopped talking. At this time, Claire suddenly recalled a certain incident.

"...! Speaking of which, I once witnessed Kamito's cross-dressing look."

"W-What!? Kamito has that kind of fetish!?"

"Of course not. It was for the purpose of destroying the Brand of Darkness engraved by that Ren Ashbell when he and Fianna slipped into the Divine Ritual Institute. But because of that, I got to see Kamito who looked like a super cute girl in every way."

"Hmm... W-Was he really that cute?"

Ellis murmured, greatly interested.

"One more thing. Ren Ashbell was fourteen years old when she won the Blade Dance last time. Calculating from that, Kamito's age matches perfectly."

"...!"

Ellis gasped.

"C-Could it be true, impossible..."

"Yeah, of course, I'm only half convinced at this point..."

Or rather, Claire did not really believe in that possibility.

However, Kamito's attitude earlier was quite suspicious. This meant that the possibility was not zero.

"...Should we confirm it?"

Ellis spoke softly as if resolving herself.

"How do we confirm it? If we ask him directly, he'll surely change the subject."

"I have an idea. Tonight I can discreetly test him while we're on guard duty."

"Can that really be done?"

Claire tilted her head with a skeptical expression. This straight and serious Captain of the Knights did not seem like she was skilled in that area at all.

"Yes, leave it to me."

Ignoring Claire's unease, Ellis nodded confidently.