Editing Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut:Volume 6 Episode 3 (section)

===Part 2===

「Nn, nn……」

Lux could hear the chirping of small birds.

Warm sunlight was shining in through the room’s old curtain.

The morning in the land of a foreign country was just a bit warmer than usual and invited sleepiness, even so a voice from the side awakened Lux’s consciousness.

「Good morning Lux-kun. Was the bed here hard?」

Coral who already woke up in the neighboring bed was wearing short underclothes similar to Lux. For an instant Lux felt his heart throb seeing that slender body and androgynous face.

「N, no. I slept well, thank you.」

Lux felt embarrassed when he thought whether his sleeping face was seen. He immediately averted his face while replying back.

「I’m glad. By the way, coffee or tea, which one do you prefer?」

Coral smiled and asked him that with a friendly tone.

When Lux answered tea, Coral went to the service room and he brought back cups for two people.

「It has been a long time since someone brewed tea for me in the morning.」

Lux muttered while quietly sipping the tea.

「Is that so? As I thought, that’s ──Lux-kun is the one usually brewing it, because of your work then?」

Coral was asking in a bit of a roundabout way, perhaps because he was avoiding from mentioning the nickname Chore Prince.

Lux smiled wryly at Coral’s friendly consideration and he nodded.

「I didn’t do that kind of work that many times, but I like a chore where I can brew tea. When the result comes out good, for some reason it feels good.」

「Aa, that feeling. I also understand it. There is only a slight difference, but you can understand right away from the taste and aroma──」

Like that, Lux and Coral had fun talking with each other about trivial daily things.

But, the bell that informed them to wake up immediately rang inside the building and they decided to head to the dining hall in order to have breakfast.

「Ah, sorry. Even though you have the exam today, I took your time to prepare.」

「No. Thanks to you I could relax.」

Lux was changing uniforms on the spot while replying smilingly.

Lux was worried last night about the matter of Yoruka, but it seemed it was the correct choice for him to receive a favor from Coral.

After he was showed the way until the dining hall, Lux parted from Coral for the moment and he joined up with everyone from the Academy.

The content of the meal was substantial to some degree, but as expected it was inferior when compared to the meals at the AcademyRoyal Officer Academy.

(Without realizing it my tongue has also become used to luxury huh……)

Lux was thinking about such things while finishing his meal, then the Triad and Airi came before Lux.

「Morning Lux-chi! Were you lonely last night staying alone? You can come to our room to play you know?」

「Good morning Tillfur. That’s, I’ll just accept your feeling gratefully.」

After Lux smiled awkwardly, the another member of the Triad, Sharis smiled at him.

「Fufu, Lux-kun is also the same as usual huh. ──That’s what I want to say, but that absentminded face isn’t like the usual you, you know?」

「Yes. As expected, Lux-san seemed to be worried about Airi. I should have visited to report that she is safe.」

「Thi, this is unrelated with me. Geez……」

Airi who suddenly had the talk directed at her pouted shyly.

It seemed that although they had nervousness before the exam, but these girls were still the same as usual.

「Everyone is different from me, you all don’t look nervous.」

「Is that how we look like? Then, my acting skills must have gone up.」

Sharis suddenly smiled and folded her arms after hearing Lux’s words.

‘Eh……?’ When Lux observed the Triad really carefully, Tillfur was vaguely looking fidgety, Noct too looked like usual at a glance, but her expression was a bit stiff.

Furthermore even Sharis who looked composed at a glance also said such things, so she must be really nervous too.

「We are Middle Class right now, so going up from here is gonna be really difficult right─」

「Well, as SyvallesKnight Order too, we are going to lose face if we keep relying on you all the time. Today we are going to do our best──to show result.」

At the end Sharis concluded beautifully like that befitting her status as the leader of the Triad.

「It will be fine. Everyone’s strength has been growing up rapidly after all.」

When Lux said that to reassure the three, Airi sighed in exasperation.

「What is Nii-san saying when you are still at Low Class yourself? Surely there won’t be any problem with Nii-san’s practical skill, but if you fail the written test then it’s hopeless you know?」

「Uh!?」

Lux flinched from the sharp retort and without pause Airi sidled up on Lux.

「I’m sincerely telling you Nii-san, please don’t do anything that will make you really stand out. After all, this country is a place that has discord with the Old Empire.」

「Right. I understand that.」

「Also, I’m not asking you to force yourself……. But──」

Airi muttered silently and brought her mouth close to Lux’s ear. She then whispered to him.

「If possible, please pay attention to everyone else. After all, this seems to be their first promotion exam in a foreign country. They too are a bit nervous.」

「Right. I understand.」

Lux immediately gave that response before he suddenly made a smile.

「Even so, it looks like Airi too has returned to usual……I’m a bit relieved.」

「Wha, what are you saying? I’m worried whether Nii-san will do something unneeded and stand out──」

「Sorry to always worry you. But, I’m really thankful.」

「If Nii-san thinks that, then please reflect a bit……」

Airi said that with a small voice and she looked down with her cheeks slightly reddening.

Like that he parted from the Triad and Airi and moved to the designated place outside.

「Well then, from here we are going to move to the written examination venue. Is everyone’s preparation all right?」

Everyone gathered towards the corridor from instructor Raigree’s brief words.

Lux also opened the instruction manual for the Drag-Ride and did his last review.

At present, Lux’s position was Low Class, but the exam question for promotion to Middle Class wasn’t that difficult.

Although the difficulty level was different in proportion to the Class, the program of this time’s overall exam was something like this in general:

The first exam – the written exam, related to the knowledge of things like a Drag-Ride’s operating procedure, functions, and so on.

The second exam – an exam of basic physical strength, from hand-to-hand combat, as well as sword fighting skills and unarmed fighting skills.

The third exam – the exam of practical skills in operating a Drag-Ride, regarding the basic operation and the practical application of the general purpose Drag-Ride the examinee used.

The fourth exam – the exam of combat practical skills, testing through mock battle the examinee’s tactic and battle strength assuming they were facing against an AbyssPhantom Divine Beast.

And then──, the scores from the first until the fourth exams would be judged comprehensively, depending on the situation it was also possible for a supplemental exam to be carried out.

Currently, among his close acquaintances, Celis was High Class, while Lisha, Krulcifer, Philuffy, Sharis, Tillfur and Noct were all Middle Class.

Counting out the girls of the raid squad Syvalles, the female students who were participating this time were mostly in the Beginner Class, the lowest kind of license, so first they would aim to be promoted to Low Class.

Regarding this time’s first exam──the written exam, Lux was able to finish filling in the answers safely without any particular problem.

「Fuu……」

He let out his breath and for the time being he was going to exit the venue, it was then──

「Hahah, you sure look composed, but it will be the practical skill exams at the afternoon. There is not only piloting tests, but there will even be a test in the form of real combat. I don’t know when the pretension of you guys will get peeled off, but I’m looking forward to the bout y’know?」

The moment Lux exited from the hall of the exam venue, a man came. It was the man with a scar on his face who previously came picking trouble with Lux and the others.

A military officer of the Vanheim Principality──a man called Buzzheim said such things to them with a disgusting smile.

It was a transparent threat, but several of the girls were trembling seeing that.

「-……」

Lux hesitated whether he should make a rebuttal, but his thoughts halted just before he could say anything.

Quarreling within the New Kingdom’s territory was also troublesome, but right now they were in the territory of a foreign country which could be even more troublesome.

This kind of thing caused one’s feelings to go bad, but they must not get provoked by something of this level.

「Don’t worry. They too have their own official position, they won’t be able to meddle with us that openly.」

Suddenly Krulcifer stood beside Lux while coolly brushing up her hair.

「But──」

Lux uneasily raised his voice like that, but Krulcifer’s face was serious.

「From here on, those girls can only bet on their own efforts. It’s not something that you need to be responsible for until that far.」

「I……guess.」

「But, if it bothers you that much, then there is something that you can do.」

「Eh……?」

「If the weakest you──you whose true strength is by all rights nearly the strongest is taking the exam for the Low Class, then depending on how you do it, you should be able to become the strength of those girls. Then, let’s meet again later.」

Krulcifer only said that before she slowly left.

An examiner passed her on the way and entered inside. When the break was over, the examiner told them to prepare for the next exam.

Lux was thinking of Krulcifer’s words while following behind the military officers of the Vaheim Principality. He changed into his pilot suit in another room.

He did light warm-ups before exiting the room, then the time immediately arrived.

「──Then, the exam for the basic stamina as well as the practical skill of hand-to-hand combat will begin now!」

The man of the Vanheim Principality who was the examiner raised his voice and announced that.

The exam of basic stamina was running through designated distances with the objective to clear each distance within the allocated time.

This time they would run through the road at the outer circumference of Ruin’s Gear.

Lux also felt it when he received the exam in the New Kingdom in the past, but he thought that it was a harsh exam for a girl.

「Haa, the distance is still all right, but just why is the road this bad─」

Those who could complain like Tillfur were still fine, but the majority of the girls were suffering from the steep slope of Ruin’s Gear that they weren’t used to.

「This is really pitiful. It’s because there are no decent men in the New Kingdom that weak children and women like all of you has to have a hard time of it.」

「How about you all stop forcing yourself and go back home? Or should I carry you on my back with my hand on your ass?」

Amidst that running, three men running along the girls were making fun of the New Kingdom’s girls who were gasping for breath.

The faces of the three men were the same as the soldiers from yesterday. The men who were observing what was happening from far away also had familiar faces.

This must be the instructions from the scarred man with an examiner tag on his chest, Buzzheim.

These men wanted to clear up their resentment from the discord against the Old Empire in the past by venting it on the New Kingdom.

Lux tensed his expression and wracked his brain for a plan to stop that, it was then,

「You three are really composed isn’t it?」

「Wha……!」

A dignified expression without any opening in it, and an aloof presence that overpowered other people.

The existence of the girl who completely changed even the surrounding air caused the men to hold their breaths.

Celis, who was a part of the Four Great Nobles cut in between the men.

「If you three have that much confidence, how about having a match with me?」

The calm but vaguely overpowering tone provoked the three men.

「What are, you saying? This is an individual exam you know? It’s not a place to start any unnecessary matches.」

The man’s attitude suddenly changed. Perhaps Celis’s fame was known even in the Vanheim Principality.

「Then, if you three can win against me in this competition, I’ll listen to anything you say before our return home, how about it?」

「What-……!?」

But, the words that Celis said caused the men to turn stiff for a moment. They looked at each other’s faces.

Next their gazes crawled on Celis’s face and breasts──and continued further to around her hips that were wrapped in a pilot suit. Before long a gulping sound could be heard.

「……As a noble of the New Kingdom, there is no going back on those words right?」

The men licked their lips without even trying to hide their vulgar desires.

「But of course. Although, that’s only if you three win against me.」

「Hahah! Don’t regret that later-!」

The three men only said that before they suddenly raised their pace and ran ahead.

Until just now they were purposefully slowing down in order to harass the girls.

Celis who was receiving an exam to be promoted to EX Class was starting from quite far away behind the other examinees. The distance she needed to travel was long.

Since her childhood, as the heiress of the Ralgris house, Celis trained herself severely, but there was no absolute guarantee that she would be able to win.

「Celis-senpai……」

When Lux called out uneasily, Celis smiled confidently.

「Please rest assured Lux. I won’t lose against them.」

She told him as though it was only natural, as if she wasn’t even pressured.

「Yes. But──will you allow me to help a little too?」

Lux thought of her existence as reliable, at the same time he also thought of an idea.

A way to oppose the harassment that was sent by that man called Buzzheim.

When he told his suggestion with a low voice, Celis immediately agreed with it.

「Understood. I’ll rely on you, Lux.」

Celis accelerated her pace right away along with a calm smile.

She immediately overtook the three men running at the front and in the blink of an eye her figure disappeared from view.

「Everyone, don’t worry about the rest.」

Lux said that to the girls who were menaced and he too increased his pace gradually so that he was starting to catch up with the back of Celis and the three men.

And then──he began his tactic.

 

「Hahaha, that stupid noble girl. Just as planned, she got angry and came opposing us.」

The three military officers who came harassing the girls──the men who were moving following Buzzheim’s instructions, one of them uttered those words and made a vulgar grin.

It was unexpected that the other side was the one that came proposing a match, but seeing Celis running in a high pace was a happy miscalculation for the men.

These three knew very well the environment of the running course around Ruin’s Gear.

The road surface at the latter half would be a steep slope with neglected stone paving. That course would double one’s exhaustion.

It didn’t matter that she was a trained military officer cadet, her stamina should be unable to hold out and she would self-destruct there.

But, even after the men continued to run and finished climbing the long slope, they weren’t able to catch up with that back at all.

「Chih. Are we going easy too much? Let’s hurry up a bit.」

The men who were impatient with the situation that deviated from their expectations accelerated right away at the descending slope.

But, the distance was only shrinking slightly.

「Why, why aren’t we catching up!? ── you bastard!?」

They continued to run until their breathing turned rough, even so Celis’s back was far away.

Furthermore Lux who looked tired with his head hanging down was running parallel to them, so the men’s complexion changed.

「──Kuh! Don’t underestimate us! We have been running through this path everyday all this time!」

The men raised a spirited yell and raised their pace even further.

At that moment, the match’s outcome was completely decided.

 

「Guu, haa, haA……u, Ah……」

The men involved in the match were sitting down hard on the ground with gasping breaths.

Naturally they were unable to win the 『competition』 against Celis. Their own pace got messed up, they self-destructed, and they ended up nearly at the last place in the exam.

In the end, the plan that they executed didn’t work against Celis and they were struck by a trap instead.

Celis was normally running by her own initiative on the path that wasn’t paved, separately from the general exercises.

Therefore, she was mostly untroubled even when running on an unstable path that she wasn’t familiar with.

In addition, was how Lux who looked knackered at a glance was running parallel beside the three men.

Those three became impatient seeing Lux, who looked exhausted, was running beside them, and so they raised their pace further.

「You helped me Lux. As expected from the grandson of Wade-sensei.」

「No, I was just getting on Celis-senpai’s tactic.」

As expected, Lux wasn’t a match against Celis who was talking without a single disorder in her breathing, but at the end he managed to reach the goal at a top ranking, so Lux thought that he too had run quite much in his own limitations.

Lux wiped his sweat and took a rest there while letting out a relieved sigh, it was then,

「I heard the rumor but──the two of you are amazing.」

「──Eh?」

Suddenly the strained atmosphere was gently dispelled.

A girl with an appearance that was out of place in this exam was standing right behind him.

She was wearing a luxurious pure white dress, that was decorated with ornaments that looked like flower petals of many colors piled up on each other.

On top of her blonde hair with a trace of brown that was partly tied with a ribbon, there was a small golden tiara decorating her head.

That beautiful face was filled with a gentle smile.

「Ah, my apologies for my belayed introduction. I am Milmiette Crhodel. The Princess of this Vanheim Principality.」

Right after she introduced herself like that, Celis and Lux knelt almost at the same time.

A moment later, the officers around the venue also took saluting gesture in panic.

「Forgive our rudeness of not noticing the arrival of your highness.」

Even Raigree who was a slight distance away also saluted, but Milmiette shook her head slightly with a smile still on her face.

「Please be at ease. All of you are our sworn friends who have expressly made your way until this land. I’m only intruding here suddenly merely because of my curiosity.」

After Milmiette said that with a smile, everyone there silently stood up.

Then, the princess talked to Lux and Celis once more.

「Today the Class Promotion Exam is being held in this Ruin’s Gear, and so I too have the privilege of observing it, but I was surprised by the ability of the two of you. I’ll pray so that everyone of the New Kingdom will receive encouragement, and so that the officers of our country will also put in even more zeal into their training.」

「Yes, it’s an honor to be granted your highness’s praise.」

Lux was lured by Celis’s words and he also lightly bowed his head.

Buzzheim who was standing at a slight distance away was gritting his teeth seeing that scene.

‘I see’, Lux thought.

Here Lux finally guessed the reason why a part of Vanheim’s officers and the examiner called Buzzheim were losing their temper.

Originally they were roused up already with the visit of their country’s princess to observe the exam, then in addition the exam became shaped like a competition against the country that was formerly their bitter enemy. It explained why their reaction was outspoken like that.

「Well then, now I’ll leave to meet with my knight, so excuse me for the present. May luck be with you, everyone of the New Kingdom.」

The princess said only that before leaving with elegant footsteps.

After that, her bodyguards and servants who came late followed after her in a rush.

「She is a person with quite an unique atmosphere, isn’t she?」

Celis whispered with a smile after the princess’s presence left completely.

Lux was also in agreement in regards to that.

He thought that if it was the royalty of the Vanheim Principality, they too, would be harboring bad impressions towards the New Kingdom without a doubt, but unexpectedly it didn’t seem so.

(By any chance, it could be that the advocates of her highness and the supporters of Buzzheim are split from each other.)

While he was thinking such things, his back was suddenly tapped from behind.

「Looks like you were doing something quite fun huh, Lux.」

「Ah, Lisha-sama. Everyone too, thanks for your hard work.」

After the princess left, Lisha, Krulcifer, and Philuffy, the three who were at another place also came before Lux.

「You suddenly have attention showered on you. Well, for a person with a position like you, it will be even stranger if that’s not the case though.」

「Running with the two of you, unfair. I also want to run with Lu-chan.」

「Ahaha……」

Lux smiled wryly hearing Krulcifer and Philuffy’s words.

Thinking that it would stand out too much if he was grouped with the users of Divine Drag-Rides, he was deliberately avoiding to approach the girls, but in the end he became completely involved with Celis.

「I’m sorry. This is my fault. I was relying completely on you again, what a blunder.」

Celis muttered with a slightly awkward look. In response to that Lux shook his head in a panic.

「That’s not true. Thanks to Celis-senpai, those girl were also saved, besides, senpai was really cool.」

When Lux honestly conveyed his feelings like that, Celis’s cheek flashed red.

「I, it really helps that you are saying that. After all, with myself alone I’m not confident, whether what I’m doing is really correct or not……」

She spoke bashfully while averting her face a bit.

Lux who saw that was going to smile wryly, it was at that timing,

「Both of you, this isn’t the place to flirt!」

Lisha cut in with a flustered tone.

「Tha, that was rude of me. We are still in the middle of the exam. We must not lose focus here.」

「Yes, certainly that’s true. After all it seems that they too are feeling even stronger rivalry towards us.」

Lux and the others ran their gazes to their surroundings after hearing Krulcifer’s words.

Buzzheim who was observing their way from afar had approached until right in front of them unnoticed.

Those sharp eyes that were like a beast were boiling with hostility towards the New Kingdom.

「You guys are really composed huh? No, perhaps it’s more accurate to call it being overly conceited.」

He snorted scornfully at Lux and the others while he kept walking to pass by them.

When they were passing each other, he came to a stop and twisted only his neck, directing a grin at Lux.

「Don’t push your luck just from passing the basic stamina exam. You all after all are nothing more than remnants of the Old Empire.」

Buzzheim spat off those words before going towards the next venue together with his hanger-ons.

It was something expected already, but it seemed that man didn’t plan to back away just with this.

Next would be the second exam’s second part, an exam of unarmed fighting skill and sword fighting skill that would be carried out continuously.

They had heard from Raigree that in any kind of country, there was an inclination for men to have superior skills in unarmed fighting and sword fighting.

「Will everyone be okay in the next exam……?」

「No matter how disadvantageous a battle it is, it’s still too early to give up winning against them you know?」

In response to Lux’s muttering, Krulcifer told him that with a suggestive expression.