Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume7 Chapter6 (section)

===Part 2===

Night was falling as the sun began to set. The sound of cutlery colliding could be heard.

Kamito tried to speak to Claire as he helped lay the table.

"U-Umm, Claire..."

"What's the matter, perverted slave?"

"Well, thank you for worrying about me just now."

As Kamito scratched his head and spoke, Claire's hair jumped slightly.

"Hmph, I wasn't worrying about you, jerk..."

Claire seemed to be blushing out of embarrassment.

"Fufu, today is quite a feast."

Rinslet plopped the pot onto the table with a thud, while her bosom shook from the impact.

This was Rinslet's specialty, Laurenfrost style hot pot cuisine.

Everyone gathered around and sat on the tree stumps around the table. The bubbling and boiling pot was heated by a burning red-hot spirit crystal under it. Beside the pot were large amounts of vegetables gathered from the forest, diced and quartered fish, as well as meat from hunted prey.

"...Hot pot eh. Looks really tasty."

Because the soup was already boiling, Kamito intended to put the meat in, but at this moment--

"Kamito-san, what are you doing!?"

Rinslet smacked Kamito's arm soundly with a spoon.

"Ouch... W-What's wrong, we can't put it in yet?"

"Slower cooking ingredients like root vegetables should be added first. A hot pot requires balance."

Rinslet glared severely at Kamito with her adorable eyes of emerald.

Kamito discreetly spoke to Claire beside him.

"S-Somehow it feels like Rinslet's personality changed?"

"She's always been like this, as soon as it's hot pot time, she likes to show off..."

"Hot pot is indeed a simple method of cooking, but exactly because it is simple, it is profound. Do not look down on the Laurenfrost's traditional hot pot cuisine!"

Lady Rinslet crossed her arms and stared at everyone.

...In that posture, she resembled some kind of hot pot guardian.

"Kamito, I want to eat fish soon."

Est tugged at Kamito's sleeve and said.

"Well, just leave it to Rinslet."

Kamito smiled wryly as he rubbed Est's head.

Rinslet added meat and vegetables to the pot with well-trained motions.

Kamito and the rest swallowed their drool as they watched Rinslet in action.

"Okay everyone, let's start!"

Finally receiving the okay from the guardian, Kamito reached out to the pot with his chopsticks.

The soup base was not made from ordinary water but Rinslet's specially concocted medicinal soup.

The delicious aroma helped stimulate appetites. As Kamito bit into a piece of cooked meat, delicious juices filled his mouth, producing an indescribable sense of happiness that began spreading from his heart.

"Wow, this is really tasty!"

"Hmph, naturally!"

Rinslet puffed her chest out with pride.

All the young ladies were enjoying the delicacies as they blew on their food to avoid burning their mouths.

"Wait, Claire, I was planning on giving Scarlet that piece of meat!"

"Hey, stop deciding on your own to feed my contracted spirit!"

Ellis and Claire squabbled as their chopsticks engaged in a blade dance over the pot. Beneath the table, their contracted spirits were waiting for scraps.

"Hey, hey, what's this?"

Fianna frowned as she poked a mysterious bouncy ingredient sitting at the bottom of the pot.

Kamito was also very intrigued.

"This is called beancurd. It's like pudding that's made from coagulated soybeans. I heard that it comes from Kamito's homeland, so I researched it in books and tried making it."

"This is a specialty from my homeland...?"

Kamito's childhood memories were very hazy. Because ever since he could remember, he was receiving assassin training at the Instructional School.

All he knew was that his homeland was an island country on the eastern border, one that did not even have a name.

But no matter what, simply from her well intentions in making this dish specially for Kamito were extremely gratifying for him.

"Rinslet, thank you."

Kamito scooped out what appeared to be very elastic pudding as he thanked Rinslet.

"I-It's not like I made it specially for you alone, Kamito-san!"

Trying to hide her embarrassment, Rinslet looked especially cute as she curled her hair around her finger repeatedly.

"...Huff."

Kamito tried a bite slightly nervously.

"Woah, this is really good!"

With a smooth texture and rich taste, it really was quite delicious.

"I will try it too... Ah, it really is!"

"...What amazing texture. I've never had anything like it even in the imperial capital."

Est seemed to be enjoying it particularly, expressionlessly mumbling to herself "bean~curd, bean~curd..." as she ate the beancurd with relish.

"Come on people, th-this was made for Kamito-san!"

"Hmm..."

Ellis, who had been eating the beancurd silently, suddenly widened her eyes in surprise.

"What's wrong, Ellis?"

"N-No, umm, I just suddenly noticed..."

Faced with Kamito's question, Ellis blushed and stuttered.

"Hmm?"

"E-Eating hot pot together, umm... D-Does it not constitute as indirect kissing?"
[[image:STnBD V07 141.JPG|thumb]]

"...!?"

Faced with Ellis' sudden statement--

All the girls around the table instantly froze.

"Hey hey, what are you talking about, that kind of thing--"

Kamito made a wry expression as he waved his hand and spoke.

"Y-Yeah, y-yes that's right, th-this level, i-i-indirect kiss whatever...!"

"R-Really, r-really, you're over thinking things!"

...But everyone's face had gone bright red as they frantically avoided eye contact with Kamito.

(I-I see. Since all the girls are pure and innocent high-class ladies, they are very concerned about that...)

...Kamito felt his feelings being slightly hurt.

--After this, the lively meal came to a close.

Claire quietly put down her spoon, cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Everyone should already know, there are only two days left in the Blade Dance. If you don't want any regrets, then let's fight by giving it all we've got."

"Hmm, yes."

"Yeah, we definitely won't give up on winning."

Indeed, the endgame was about to begin. In order to seize the initiative in the competition for the few remaining magic stones, they needed to attack teams who were holing up defensively in their strongholds.

Furthermore, this applied to other teams as well.

Very likely, an even more intense blade dance was imminent.

"..."

Kamito suddenly noticed the gloom in Fianna's expression.

"Fianna, are you okay?"

"Uh yeah, well enough... I just seem slightly tired."

"Well, ritual dancing is very exhausting."

"You should lie down on the bed and rest."

Despite quarreling with Fianna earlier, Claire now offered care and concern.

On further thought, Fianna's exhaustion was only natural. After the ritual dance performance at the blade dance against the Four Gods, she had to use up divine power to heal Kamito.

Magic for recovering fatigue did indeed exist, but it was only a temporary effect obtained from the blessing of spirits. Hence, the fundamental solution was still restful sleep.

"...Yeah. I should go rest as you all suggested. I'm done with my meal."

Fianna stood up quietly and headed to the tent.