Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume1 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 3===

"Kamito, get me another serving!"

"...You sure can eat. You'll get fat, you know."

It was minutes after that event. The table was lined up with numerous plates of Kamito's home cooking.

There was tuna potato salad to go with the spinach-and-bacon pasta. Pumpkin potage with gratin from the canned salmon, and for dessert, there was fruit yogurt.

They were made using the canned food, of which a great amount was found on the shelf as ingredients; however, Claire seemed full of praise. The act of her gleaming her eyes and stuffing her cheeks with pasta was somewhat awfully cute.

The fire spirit, in the form of a hell cat, was also devouring the canned tuna beside Claire.

Spirits can maintain their own existence, so they do not need material sustenance. However, among the high ranking spirits, there were also some rare ones that like human food. Although, it was only as a luxury.

"No problem, I have a constitution that doesn't get fat."

Claire placed pasta on the plate and said that with a nonchalant face. Certainly, using spirits consumed physical strength, so it was true that there were a lot of ladies with a slender figure.

"Hey, don't eat the dessert early. Despite being a high-class lady, you have bad manners."

"Unh, shut up! That's up to me, right, you panty thief!"

"Guu....."

Kamito groaned. Once she said that, he could not say anything back.

"You are demoted from slave spirit to panty thief spirit."

"... What kind of spirit is that?"

Somehow, another new variety of spirit was born.

"You really are the worst. O...Of all things, you stole my number one favorite panty!"

"I have been saying it wasn't on purpose!"

"What? Are you being defiant?"

Claire glared.

"...No, sorry."

Kamito bowed his head in embarrassment. Well, no matter how much he thought about it, it was his own fault this time.

While Claire put the tuna potato salad into her mouth, she caught a glance of him.

"Well, I'll recognize your cooking skills at least. This is very delicious. If you make meals for me every day, I'll promote you to cooking spirit."

"I'm grateful for that. By the way, those are almost like words of proposing."

Upon pointing that out. Claire's face turned bright red.

"D...Don't be an idiot! Do you want to be turned into cinders? Come on, do you want to be turned into cinders?

"I..I get it, so stop pointing the fork at me."

"Hmm... n...next time you say such idiotic things, I'll really burn you!"

Claire pouted her lips and turned away.

Kamito sighed in relief while he cut and divided the salmon gratin.

"...If only there was some soy sauce, this would be much better, but..."

"What's that? Food?"

"It's a seasoning circulated in my hometown. Well, you can't get it here though."

Kamito shrugged his shoulders and said that—

"Hometown, huh...."

Claire murmured with her eyelashes slightly lowered.

Somehow—she had an awfully lonely expression.

After that, for a short while, there was only the sound of cutlery being used.

After eating that satisfying dinner, Claire's mood also got a little better.

Somehow, there was a calm atmosphere.

Kamito suddenly raised his head and looked at Claire.

—He felt that it could be asked now.

He had wanted to ask her, since meeting her this morning in the forest, but did not have a chance to.

"By the way, you—"

"What?"

Claire placed down her cup of black tea.

"Why do you want such a powerful spirit?"

It was a simple question.

Despite using a spirit such as Scarlet, she still risked harming her body to reach out to a sealed spirit. He wanted to know the reason for that.

"..."

Claire—

Cast her slightly perplexed eyes down and murmured.

"There's someone I want to meet no matter what."

"Someone you want to meet...?"

Kamito dropped his sight to his left hand, concealed in his black leather glove.

What he lost three years ago, an irreplaceable, important bond which was there—

(So, she's the same as me...)

The scar engraved at the back of his hand ached.

Claire sighed and inserted her hand into the neckband of her uniform.

"...Yeah, I'll say it. Something that I can't help but hide."

What she took out from her chest was a small pendant with silver chains.

At the very center, a shiny crimson red spirit crystal was inserted in it.

Kamito saw a crest engraved there—and raised his voice in surprise.

"A flame lion... the crest of Elstein duke family!?"
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Claire silently nodded.

The Elstein duke family. The grand nobles who had served the royal family for generations ever since the founding of the Ordesia Empire.

It was the noblest of the nobles, turning out one of the five princess maidens, who stood at the top among all elementalists, — Queen, who served directly under the five great Elemental Lords. <!--精霊使いの頂点に立つ五人の姫巫女の一人——五大精霊王に直接仕える〈精霊姫〉を輩出している名門中の名門だ。-->

No—that should have been so.

—Till four years ago, when that incident occurred.

Rubia Elstein.

The one who brought a great unprecedented calamity to the Ordesia Empire—The Calamity Queen.

She too, same as the girl in front of him, had burning-like crimson red hair.

"Don't tell me, you're..."

"Yes, I am the Calamity Queen—Rubia Elstein's—little sister."

Claire looked straight into Kamito's eyes and nodded.

"..."

Claire Rouge. He had thought that it was an alias.

But, by no means—

(... I see. What she cast away was the Elstein family name.)

In this large continent, there was no one who did not know about that incident.

Four years ago, the Queen, serving under the Fire Elemental Lord—Rubia Elstein, suddenly snatched the strongest flame spirit, Laevateinn from the shrine and disappeared.

After learning of the Queen's treachery, the outraged Fire Elemental Lord got fired up and went into a frenzy.

It burned everything related to Elstein duke's territory, including the Ordesia Empire's land, the empire took enormous damage. And that did not put the Elemental Lord's anger to peace, about a year after that, no matter what method was used, not a single fire could be lit within the Ordesia Empire.

Nobody knew why the fire Queen disappeared.

The Ordesia citizens furiously cursed her and, filled with hatred, called her-

—The Calamity Queen.

"I want to meet my elder sister<!--Nee-sama -->. When I meet her, I want to hear the truth."

For that, she had to get strong.

She had to obtain the strongest spirit.

With the reward given to the winner of the Blade Dance—

For the sake of obtaining the right of granting just one desired Wish.

Claire's expression was filled with a tragic determination.

"Besides—"

Claire slightly looked down and muttered.

"This round's blade dance has that Ren Ashbell participating."

"...!? Kehoo, kehoo—"

Once that name came out from Claire's mouth, Kamito reflexively coughed.

"...? What's wrong?"

"Aaah, that's bad..."

Ren Ashbell was the winner of the last Blade Dance.

She suddenly appeared three years ago, the strongest blade dancer.

That blade dance was splendidly vivid. At the finals, even with Numbers<!-- 十二騎将«nanba-zu»--> candidates of elementalists, she overwhelmed them.

Due to her dedicated blade dance, the Fire Elemental Lord's rage was finally appeased.

"Three years ago, I saw her blade dance at the assembly hall. I also feel that I want to be like that, a noble, strong elementalist."

Claire blushed and looked down a little embarrassed.

"Ever since that day, I've always admired her...."

"...I see."

Kamito looked at Claire with a complicated expression—calmly grasping his fist tightly.

...After that, it was a strangely quiet time.

They tried to talk about anything a number of times, but all of it did not last long.

Claire yawned cutely after eating up the dishes on the table. After filling her stomach, she seemed drowsy. Well, she did use a spirit of Scarlet's level twice in one day, so it was natural.

"Wake me up when it's time. If you do something funny, cinders."

"...Wait. Does that mean I have to stay awake for the whole time?"

Kamito complained, and in front of him, Claire was making sleeping breaths.

She had an astonishing ease at falling asleep.

"...Good grief, you'll catch a cold!"

Kamito carried Claire's petite body up like a princess.

He carried her to the bed in the corner of the room.

Scarlet walked and jumped onto the bed.

(...Even so, this girl's sleeping face is truly angel-like.)

While looking at the face, making the gentle sleeping noise, Kamito smiled bitterly.

When he put Claire to the bed, her cherry lips faintly moved.

"Elder Sister<!--Nee-sama-->....Father<!--Otou-sama-->...Mother<!--Okaa-sama-->..."

(Sleep-talking... huh?)

He seemed to have somewhat heard something he should not.

Certainly, after the incident of the Calamity Queen disappearing, Elstein duke family's territory should have been seized and the duke and his wife imprisoned in the Balsas<!--バルサス--> prison—

"...Hn, Kamito."

"...!?"

He was shocked when his name was called suddenly.

"Ahh, what are you doing, pervert...idiot."

"...What kind of dream is she having!?"

Kamito muttered while sighing, as he stared at his hand.

After that day three years ago, he hid his left hand with a leather glove.

(You and I are the same, Claire.)

(These three years, I have stayed alive to get back my important person.)

Due to his error, he had lost her, his former contracted spirit—