Editing Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut:Volume 11 Episode 5 (section)

===Part 5===
On the other hand, around that time Airi wasn’t between the wasteland and the blue sky, she was inside a room that also wasn’t within Garden.

It was a strange space with smooth metallic walls that were tinged with faint light, and unfamiliar structures assembled together on top of each other.

That place which closely resembled the internal structure of a Ruin was clearly the enemy’s base.

The air of the place was thick with tension that made her hesitate to even breath. There Airi was standing still without even trembling.

There were several times when she thought she was going to die.

When she was a sickly child, she was living side by side with death everyday. Even when her grandfather roused the anger of the Old Empire, also the time her mother died in an accident, and also after the coup d’etat, she was made to stand at the crossroad of life and death every time.

And then, even after Lux came to the Academy she experienced it several more times.

In this short time that didn’t even reach a year, they fought against powerful enemies many times.

She was kidnapped by the enemy in the Vanheim Principality and became a hostage.

Since then, she was covertly carrying a short sword and poison without telling anyone──not even her best friend Noct, so that she could perform suicide anytime.

Although only at the lowest position, she was still a former imperial princess, that was why she was resolved for at least that much.

What Airi feared the most wasn’t her death, it was that her life would be used as a negotiation chip against Lux.

Of course, Airi didn’t want to intentionally commit suicide and lose her chance for escape, but it would be a failure if she was late in making her decision.

Thus, in order to ascertain the path her destiny was heading, she was observing the tendency of her surroundings tensely.

It was a room where a wall surface was reflecting the scenery of the Garden’s surrounding, including the battle of Lux and the others.

The masked girl who kidnapped Airi, and a petite girl wearing robe who was obeying that girl were also there.

And then, the three division commanders of Dragon Marauder, the enemy of the world, were also standing there.

「──We finished our work. With this we will have you pay us our reward at the dawn of your rule over Avalon.」

First a muscular man with darkish skin handed over the large treasure box he was carrying.

The masked girl glanced inside it to confirm the content, then she turned her gaze towards Airi who was standing a bit far away.

「I will keep my promise, but don’t speak needlessly that others will hear. Haven’t you worked in the mercenary business for a long time, Gatouhan?」

The masked girl chided the dark skinned man with a voice that was as emotionless as her appearance.

The large man sighed ‘fuh’ with a wry smile while bowing courteously.

「Excuse my rudeness. Even like this I was previously the head of a 『savage tribe』. My loose lip is a bad habit from birth.」

「You immediately spoke needlessly right after getting told that. How astonishing.」

「Gatouhan put on air like a big shot, but he is unexpectedly stupid. Contractor-sama too, please let him off.」

Drakkhen with her female bandit appearance standing beside Gatouhan folded her arms sarcastically, while the youth Vine spoke bluntly.

But, the masked girl was curt.

「It looks like you are lacking in tension. Even though we still have to remove that Sacred Eclipse too.」

She only muttered that before giving a signal with her gesture, making the three division commanders to leave to another room.

When the metallic door opened and closed automatically, the little girl in robe who was at the corner of the room until now approached Airi slowly.

「-……!? Don’t come near me!」

Airi alertly backed away and grasped the handle of the short blade in her pocket.

She also took out a bag that was filled with poison.

「Stop resisting pointlessly. Do you want to die without seeing your brother’s face again?」

「It’s better to die rather than getting used by you all! If I’m going to become Nii-san’s burden here then──」

Airi raised her voice and steadied her short blade, then she pointed it to her throat.

She had resolved to be killed by other people several times before, but she had hesitation to do it herself.

The voice of reason which told her that she should stab herself right away was fighting the voice of instinct that told her she mustn’t die.

She recalled the face of Lux who waited upon the sickly her and tear almost oozed out. She reflexively endured it.

「You don’t want to die but, you won’t become a hostage……is it? It can’t be helped, let’s stop that.」

「……Eh?」

Airi was taken aback and her eyes blinked hearing the words of the masked girl that were said emotionlessly without any inflection.

When Airi was staring at the enemy before her while doubting her ears, the girl silently took off her mask.

「Then──make a contract with us. There is one thing that I want you to do. If you do that for us, I will let you go safely. I also won’t take you hostage.」

「──!?」

The moment Airi saw the exposed face, she became speechless.

That was the face of a girl she remembered seeing just once before at the campus festival.