Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume13 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 6===

On the grass-woven bed, the girl opened her eyes.

She had already changed out of her torn dress of black and was currently wearing black clothing prepared by the Forest Dwellers. This outfit only consisted of simple cloth wrapped around the chest and the waist. The more she looked at it the more it seemed like being half-naked.

Even so, she did not feel cold at all, apparently because this type of fabric was blessed by forest spirits.

"Spirits&mdash;I definitely know of existences like them."

As though confirming her memories, she murmured softly.

"Existing in another world different from this realm, special beings&mdash;"

Her memories related to this realm only consisted of lingering fragments. For example, the being known as humans&mdash;they were the most flourishing race in this world.

(...At the same time, they are the ones hunting for me.)

&mdash;However, she had virtually no memories about herself.
[[image:STnBD V13 060.jpg|thumb]]

After waking up in the forest, her only memory was the single word "Restia."

Saying the word aloud gave her a mysterious, nostalgic feeling, just this single word.

...Hence, this was probably her own name.

(Saying that I've lost my memory because of these children's memory manipulating magic&mdash;)

But that was not the truth. Several days earlier, when she appeared in this forest, she was already unable to recall the past.

The girl sighed and sat up from bed.

Inside a tent made from animal hide, some kind of herb was burning. The choking smell stimulated her nerves. Perhaps this was used for some kind of ritual.

Then she walked out of the tent to the outside. Stretching endlessly was a vast forest of frost-covered trees, frozen all the way to the branches.

Frozen branches hanging on the trees resembled blooming flowers, hence this place was known as the Forest of Ice Blossoms.

In this forest, the children of the Forest Dwellers were playing.

Incredibly, this village consisted only of children. The eldest was perhaps the princess maiden known as Rana.

(...Or perhaps, this is what the Elfim race is like.)

There were no memories about the Elfim race in her mind. From Rana, she had learned that unlike humans, the Elfim were a race that had come from Astral Zero.

The children playing in the forest noticed her and waved. She waved back amiably.

The Forest Dwellers were all very friendly. Not only did they offer her shelter from being hunted by humans, but also offered warm hospitality to her.

...But she still did not know why they saved her.

"Restia-san&mdash;"

She suddenly heard a girl's voice.

Looking back, Restia found the princess maiden Rana standing behind her, staring at her.

"Don't walk outside carelessly. The forest is a very dangerous place."

"...Sorry."

Restia apologized honestly.

Then she turned to look at the children playing in the forest again.

"...It seems, there's only children here."

"The adults here were driven out several decades ago in a war against the humans. We princess maidens of the Elfim were able to stay here due to wielding elementalist powers."

Rana bit her lip with chagrin, her voice filled with resentment.

"Do you hate humans very much?"

"All of us Forest Dwellers are like this. Because the humans of the continent want to take away our forests..."

"In that case, why did you still save me?"

"...Huh?"

Hearing Restia's question, Rana tilted her head in puzzlement.

"Because, I'm human too."

"That's because..."

Restia's dusk-colored eyes stared straight into Rana's crimson eyes.

Dusk-colored eyes&mdash;At least, Restia was certain that she was not part of the Elfim race.

Rana's wavering eyes carried hesitation&mdash;

"Because you resemble a certain esteemed one very much."

...

"A certain esteemed one?"

"Yes, the Queen of Ice Blossoms."

"Queen?"

Restia repeated the word without thinking. This was the first time she had heard of a queen in this village.

"She's not one of the Forest Dwellers?"

"No, the Queen of Ice Blossoms is not one of the Elfim. However, she is not human either. Although called human, yet different from humans, in this regard, you are very similar to her."

"Although called human... yet different from humans."

Restia was confused... It was getting more and more incomprehensible.

(Also, very similar to me...)

"Okay, let's go in and have a good long talk. I'll brew you some tea."

Saying that, Rana entered the tent and sat down on the fur rug.

Then she recounted the story of the girl known as the Queen of Ice Blossoms.

&mdash;This had happened before Restia's appearance in the forest.

Like Restia, the girl had lost her way in the forest. She possessed a miraculous power, inconceivable to the Elfim race. Unbelievably, the ice dragon, thought to be extinct in Laurenfrost, would obey her control.

"...Control dragons?"

"Ice dragons are the minions of Zirnitra, the guardian spirit of Forest Dwellers. Being able to control ice dragons at will, she must be the princess maiden sent by Zirnitra, the true princess maiden we have been looking forward to for centuries&mdash;"

Rana spoke in an excited tone of voice. She seemed like she really worshiped that girl.

Putting aside the matter of the guardian spirit's princess maiden&mdash;Restia was very intrigued by the topic of the Queen of Ice Blossoms.

...Perhaps she might recall something if she carefully dug into her memories.

"If only I could meet this Queen of Ice Blossoms directly."

"Yes, you will have a chance to meet her eventually."

Rana nodded.

"...I can't meet her now?"

"She is currently in slumber. The Queen of Ice Blossoms will not wake up unless she sleeps for a period of time."

"...What do you mean?"

"The Queen of Ice Blossoms is currently forced to store up power for a certain important ritual. So she has been sleeping in the Forest Dwellers' shrine for a while now."

"...I see. That's too bad then."

"But she should be waking up soon. In a few more days."

"A few more days..."

Restia fell into deep thought.

"I don't want to stay here for too long&mdash;"

"...Eh? Why is that?"

Rana widened her eyes in surprise.

"Those human pursuers must still be hunting for me."

Continuing to stay here would bring trouble for everyone.

"Don't worry about that at all. This forest has an ancient Barrier. Even elementalists have no way of finding this place. Also&mdash;"

Saying that, she looked at Restia.

"Imminently, the Queen of Ice Blossoms will revive Zirnitra who is sleeping in the Kyria Mountain Range. Once we obtain the guardian spirit's power, there is nothing to fear from humans at all."

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