Editing Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut:Volume 11 Episode 2 (section)

===Part 2===
「Just what have I done. I got into Krulcifer’s cajolery against my better judgment. Yoruka, and everyone in the Academy, are they alright I wonder……?」

Inside a hotel room that was sparse in furniture but looked neat, Celis was muttering while showering lightly with hot water.

Celis was traveling towards the land far east of the New Kingdom.

What she was recalling was the happening in the Academy as expected.

Inside her heart, she was envying Krulcifer who only returned to her home country as a special exception due to the danger to the Ymir Theocracy in this aide exchange.

Furthermore she got carried away by Krulcifer’s cajolery and did something that was inappropriate for the captain of Syvalles.

『Celis-senpai, I wish to consult with you for a bit, is it fine?』

A few days before they departed to other countries, Krulcifer brought to her a certain topic to discuss with a meaningful expression.

She was asking Celis if she could request something from Yoruka while the two of them were leaving due to the aide exchange.

Celis was naturally tilting her head in puzzlement. But Krulcifer continued the talk with a cool expression.

『I’m asking Coral-kun to take care of Lux-kun. I told him, how I’m troubled because Lux-kun often gets into trouble with the girls in the Academy, and so I asked him who is a boy to follow up after Lux-kun.』

『Certainly, Lux often causes that kind of problem but, is that something which needs to be focused on like that?』

Celis replied like that. In response, Krulcifer shrugged her shoulders slightly.

『I don’t really like to speak bluntly like this but, at this rate Lux-kun will get taken away you know?』

Krulcifer showed an unusually anxious expression while making this kind of supposition.

In the sham honeymoon trip with Philuffy, Lux deepened his bond considerably with her.

It was to the degree that Lux even presented her with a new sword belt and told her that he wanted her to stay by his side when previously he wanted to distance her from fighting if possible.

If she and Celis went away from the Academy at this timing, headmaster Relie surely wouldn’t overlook this big chance and would scheme to hitch those two together.

If that happened, by the time the two of them returned back, there was even the possibility that the two would have gotten hitched already.

『In the worst case, Lux-kun might be released from his criminal collar and the matter will be over before the case of Sacred Eclipse is taken care of. Because of that, a deterrence is necessary while we aren’t there.』

『That’s──』

『It’s a simple matter. It will be fine if two people other than that childhood friend quarreled over Lux-kun. If Lux-kun’s surrounding is constantly turbulent, it will become a countermeasure for the time being. Besides, the truth is that there is danger around Lux-kun for real right now correct? I believe that making a request to that follower girl isn’t a mistake.』

Celis even felt admiration toward Krulcifer who even shrewdly prepared a reason for Celis, but in short this also meant that the situation was that serious that Krulcifer couldn’t even bother to keep up appearances.

Krulcifer told Coral that Yoruka was dangerous so she wanted him to watch her.

And if Celis told Yoruka that Coral was dangerous so she wanted her to watch him, one of the two would inevitably stay at Lux’s side constantly.

(That girl is troubling. Besides, I who also got convinced might be disqualified as one of the Four Great Nobles.)

Celis was recalling such thing around that time when the match between Yoruka and Coral was settled for the moment.

Celis who departed from the New Kingdom early in the morning had also arrived at the vicinity of the Marcafal Kingdom.

Even when she was flying using her Drag-Ride, it took two days. Because of that tonight she stayed in the inn of the small country, Remdalt, that was located in a mountain district. Tomorrow she would arrive at her destination.

She was basically traveling with the captain of the Seven Dragon Paladins, Magialca. She was rest assured with her strength, but──

「As expected, I cannot let my guard down against this person──……aren’t you thinking anything like that, miss Academy’s strongest?」

Perhaps she didn’t want to waste even the slightest time, because after arriving here Magialca showed her face to the company in this land, negotiated about things like the mining of ore using Drag-Rides, then she showed her face at Celis’s room and said that.

The inn’s room was spacious and tidy, but they didn’t stay in the same room.

She was sitting on the bed where Celis would sleep, wearing a negligee with a showy pattern.

「Don’t be that still, how about you also drink some alcohol? Let’s talk without reservation as fellow woman, hm?」

「I refuse. If someone who will get drunk easily like me drinks alcohol, it will become a hindrance to my duty.」

Magialca thrust a glass filled with wine towards her, but Celis refused it curtly.

Magialca Zen Vanfrick.

She was a girl who wore an outfit that possessed functional beauty and the flashiness that was like a merchant, or perhaps, like an alchemist. The style of her hair that was tied up to form loops was her distinctive trait.

Looking from just her appearance, she looked smaller and younger than Celis, but she was leading the world’s biggest company and possessed enormous influence in every country. This woman was also someone mysterious.

「Hrm, how boring. It’s great to be diligent, but if you are too serious you will find yourself having the rug pulled from under your feet. Even if this aide exchange is for sounding out each country’s intentions, but you won’t last for two weeks if you are baring your hostility like that right?」

「………….」

What Magialca said was correct, but there was also no way she could easily relax here.

Because, although Celis tried to sound out the intention of the Marcafal Kingdom and Magialca, but there was also the possibility of them pulling out information about the New Kingdom from her instead.

「Then, is it alright if I ask several questions?」

「Oo, you can ask me anything. However that’s only if you will drink a whole glass of this for each question.」

「That’s not permitted. If you say that, then I’ll sleep already.」

「Haa, you are an Ojou-sama who cannot be joked with just as the rumors say. And, what do you want to ask? I will answer questions positively other than my age and my weight.」

「Who are you really? Why did you accept a position like being the captain of the Seven Dragon Paladins when you have amassed a massive wealth in one generation?」

「Aa, wait wait. You are going to ask three questions at once? From here on ahead, you might have to pay various things yourself for the answer you know?」

[[File:SaijakuBahamut v11 03.jpg|thumb|right]]

After Magialca said that somewhat hurriedly, Celis began to think for a while.

If the number of questions were limited, then what should she ask the most?

「Even so, your questions are really frank and sharp. If you pressed me that straightforwardly, even I will be perplexed of how to answer.」

Magialca smiled with a troubled look.

「Well, there is no doubt that I’m in the opposite spectrum of you who harden yourself with discipline and acts like a splendid noble.」

After telling that boastfully, Magialca started to toy with her orange hair that was tied into loops.

「Even though I look like this, I’m an orphan. My parents who failed in business abandoned the child me. After that, through many twists and turns, my relative, an uncle who was a martial artist adopted me and taught me the art. This weird way of speaking was also inherited from him.」 (TN: Magialca’s way of speaking sounded like from the old generation in the raw)

「…………」

「Fortunately, I had talent. I absorbed and learned his techniques in the blink of an eye. And then when I became competent enough and reached a certain age, my aspiration towards commerce couldn’t be stopped.」

「Were you burdened with your parents’ debt?」

「No.」

Magialca silently shook her head.

「I cannot say that I had no resentment at all about how I was abandoned. As expected I also had lingering attachment. Besides, if my parents were still alive in the world of commerce, perhaps I will be able to meet them again on that stage. I also put such hope in my work.」

「Then, could it be that hairstyle is──」

It suited her, but it was a strange hairstyle that vaguely looked childish.

Perhaps her hairstyle and also her looks that looked like a young girl despite her age might be because she was instinctually preserving her youthful appearance in order to make it easier for her parents to find her.

Such unrealistic imagination crossed Celis’s mind.

「There was no need for that anymore though.」

But, Magialca smiled bitterly as though to deny that imagination.

「Then, don’t tell me──」

「It’s just as you guess. My parents already died. I was told that they were tricked by their business rival and made to obtain fake treasure. It seemed they abandoned me as a child in order to distance me from their debt. Well, later I would locate the culprit and purge them. Of course, it was by the way of our side.」

Magialca grinned and formed a circle with her thumb and index finger.

From that gesture, Celis could imagine that she meant she crushed them on the same stage of 『commerce』.

「After that, well, most of it is just like what you can hear from the rumors. Drag-Rides were discovered, and this world was developed rapidly. Fortunately I was able to get involved with the Ruin investigations of several countries. I switched my business to the new weapon before others could at the right timing, and amassed a vast fortune. Me becoming the representative of the Marcafal Kingdom was because I lent that country quite the sum of money.」

「Is that so……. However I don’t understand. You have obtained fortune and fame, and you have also cleared your parents’ regret. And yet why, you sought even the position of the Seven Dragon Paladins?」

It seemed Celis wondered about Magialca’s past and she asked with a quiet expression.

In response the woman with a young girl appearance answered with a smile that was filled with implication.

「Hou. Do you think I’m greedy? But you see, that’s the way it is for a merchant you know? And when I take the challenge of being the captain of the Seven Dragon Paladins, look. Just as you can see in the present situation, there is a chance I will even be able to obtain treasure from the so called Avalon, isn’t that right?」

「That’s not what I mean. Even without you intentionally braving danger, you will be able to live safely just from doing business? That’s what I’m wondering about.」

After Celis interrupted with such argument, Magialca smiled mysteriously.

「What, it’s not something that complicated. This is just my disposition. Always earning, profiting, and increasing my fortune, that is my purpose in life. Such humans also exist in this world. Rather, I believe it’s someone like you, someone who is fighting as a righteous noble for the sake of a country and its people, who is more uncommon in this world you know?」

「……So, it’s something like that.」

「In any case, I’m fighting for the sake of my own desires. Me making a move on your sweetheart is also a part of that.」

「That’s, are you saying that you are intending to use Lux?」

Celis’s eyes blinked from getting taken aback by those words that were like a surprise attack.

「Or rather, what do you mean by sweetheart!? I, it’s not like, I’m──」

「No one mentioned the name of Lux or anyone else just now though.」

「Kuh.…..!?」

Celis was at a loss for words in front of Magialca’s obscene smile.

「Although, don’t fret. It’s not like I’m intending to take away and devour that boy. If it’s in a sexual meaning then I will, but in the first place that fellow is a more competent man than his appearance suggests. Certainly he also has a side that is too softhearted but──even if it’s a hypocritical virtuousness, but someone who can persist with it is a hero.」

「……That’s, what could you mean by that?」

Magialca tilted her wine glass sharply into her mouth, then she showed a flushed face from drunkenness.

「If you don’t notice then it will be more convenient if I don’t say it but, today I’m feeling good so I’ll answer. Lux Arcadia. In a sense, that fellow is already lifting up the evaluation for himself in this Ruin conquering. And that is with a different method from me the captain and that snobby vice captain.」

Lux was surpassing the captain Magialca and the Blue Tyrant Singlen in one aspect.

That was what Magialca said in a roundabout way.

「Lux, did?」

Celis who heard that was bewildered and tilted her head.

However thinking carefully, some things also came to her mind.

「If it’s you then you must know really well. Your Academy, how is it going there right now?」

「That’s──……-!?」

Here Celis finally noticed the meaning of Magialca’s insinuation.

「Have you noticed? Someone who was originally a criminal of the Old Empire that committed all kinds of atrocities. Someone like that barged into a girl’s academy, and yet before anyone knows it, that fellow has become an indispensable existence not just in that academy──but also in the New Kingdom. Miraculously that Princess of the New Kingdom was able to detect that talent huh.」

Lux’s true talent and achievements when his achievements as a Drag-Knight were hidden.

No──his qualities as a king that couldn’t be exhibited until now.

It was a strength that he used to reach an understanding, first with Lisha, and then with Celis who opposed him at first and the other students, making them into his allies one after another.

「Lux’s way of doing things that won’t hurt others as much as possible and interacts with them without discrimination takes monumental effort to carry out, and it’s a reckless method that hurts himself too. But if his method works and he can reach an understanding with the other party, then his allies will increase. He has already obtained considerable trust from Greifer of the Vanheim Principality, Mel of the Ymir Theocracy, and Rosa of the Heiburg Republic. Of course it’s not like they became his collaborators officially, but this is still something that can be called as a substantial accomplishment.」

Magialca hummed as though to show a great admiration.

In a glance she looked like someone with a fickle personality, but as expected her observing eyes couldn’t be underestimated.

「In other words, Lux is essentially in the process of becoming the core of the Seven Dragon Paladins, is that what you are saying?」

Singlen who attempted to make other powerful people obey using achievements and strength.

Magialca who reigned at the top using money and authority.

Looking at the whole, their way might be more skillful, but in the current situation, Lux was in the process of changing the situation where he could conduct himself advantageously at the very least.

And that was by Lux’s own achievements that he obtained through his battles until now.

「Well, it’s something like that. That kind of hero who comes out from a fairy tale often charms a lot of people. Well, people like me and that snob are an exception though. We won’t be charmed with ordinary methods.」

「……?」

Celis was perplexed seeing Magialca erase her smile until now and showed a forbidding look.

「By snob, do you mean Sir Singlen? Is he going to try something with Lux ──?」

「Who knows. I don’t know about that guy’s scheme.」

Magialca played the fool, however she made a wicked smile that vaguely showed her inner feelings.

「……But, I understand about that guy’s aim in general. That’s including his final goal.」

「What in the world could it──」

Celis tensed nervously. In response Magialca suddenly let out a sigh and lied down on the bed with a relaxed posture.

「Is that your last question? If you want to ask about that then you can ask me again on the last day of this two week period. And then during that time, can you also answer the questions of this me?」

Magialca smiled as though to say she wasn’t giving Celis a choice.

She was answering her questions generously until now was a lead up in order to pull out information from Celis.

(As expected……I cannot be careless with this person.)

Even so, with how worried she was about Lux, she surely couldn’t help but ask the question.

「More importantly, can I request you to have a bout with me for a bit with a Drag-Ride and hand-to-hand combat? It will be fine even if it is after we arrive in the Malcafar Kingdom. I wish to be allowed to use this chance to take a lesson from the true strength of you who is Philuffy’s master and also the captain of the Seven Dragon Paladins.」

「Hohou. Looks like you have grown a bit after getting rubbed by Lux huh.」

Magialca who heard that opened her eyes wide in surprise for the first time.

「Wha-!? I, I haven’t really been rubbed or anything! That’s because of some accidents, such thing happened inevitably several times but──」

「No one was asking anything like that……」

The captain retorted while unusually making a fixed stare.

However, Magialca could read Celis’s aim from making a pretext to challenge her. If things went well for her, she was going to ask her about the talk just now as the reward for her victory.

(As expected from this diligent and famous girl. She is growing from being at Lux’s side.)

That day ended peacefully while she was feeling amazed of Lux’s influence once more.

──But, at this time the two of them actually made a miscalculation.

They made light of Singlen, thinking that no matter what kind of plan he had for Lux, he wouldn’t cause anything during this period of aide exchange.

That assumption in itself was a great mistake on their part.

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