Editing Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut:Volume 3 Episode 4 (section)

===Part 7===

Less than five minutes of walking from the commercial district.

Lux and Celis continued to walk through a narrow path at the tip of the city and arrived at a small park.

The surrounding was enclosed by short broadleaf trees with a verdant lawn spread out like a carpet. That place was like a small room that was made from plants.

There was also a small flower bed inside. The gentle sunlight shining in was illuminating the blooming flowers.

There were also things like a stone curb and sculptures at the side. It was a garden with a nostalgic atmosphere like the playground from one’s childhood years.

「So there is this kind of place inside Cross Field.」

「Yes. I think it’s a nice place for a change of feeling.」

Lux said that and gently urged Celis to sit down.

When they sat side by side on the lawn carpet, they mutually let out a small sigh.

「This was a place where a certain noble planned to build his villa. But, in the middle of the construction work, it was stopped because of the owner’s circumstance……this place is only the garden part from the construction that was half-finished.」

A villa’s garden that was left alone in the middle of construction and after that no one appeared to continue the construction.

Right now the plot of land was also offered for sale, but perhaps because of its half-baked location, it seemed there wasn’t any buyer yet.

This place that was created two years ago was arbitrarily named by Lux as 『Cross Field’s Hideout』. He often rested here when he had a bit of free time.

「I like it. I made lunch, so let’s eat together.」

「Tha, thank you very much.」

The sandwiches that Celis brought were shared and eaten between the two.

At first Lux was really nervous, but after finishing the relaxed lunch, the air became terribly calm.

「But, this is really a nice place.」

「Is that so?」

「Yes, somehow it’s really calming. I’m feeling a bit sleepy.」

「Please sleep without reservation. Today is actually the resting day after all.」

After Lux said that, Celis straightened her back with a serious face and,

「Certainly that’s true, but I cannot rest. After all, today too I’m having this outing under the pretext of guiding a new student through Cross Field.」

She said such strange thing.

「You mean──?」

「I have a mission. As the leader of the Academy’s knight order, and as the eldest daughter of the Ralgris House, I have to become an example for all the students and show it with my actions. And so, although this is a resting day, I also cannot just brazenly rest.」

「Such thing──」

‘Is not true’. Lux almost said that but he shut his mouth.

Because he suddenly recalled a thought that was related to that.

「Is that also why──senpai is pretending that your injury from two days ago is alright?」

「…………」

Celis’s expression changed into a shocked one for a moment hearing Lux’s words.

But her face immediately returned to her usual aloof face of a senior.

Silence flowed for a while.

During the offense and defense against Lisha, she struck herself with the Lightning Lance at maximum output.

Even after the match was over, Celis’s complexion didn’t change in the slightest, but she should have received considerable damage from that act.

「Is that so. So even you, were watching.」

Celis muttered with a calm tone.

And then, she let out a sigh and showed a smile.

「I too am still immature, that a girl who is my junior can see through me.」

「That’s not true.」

Lux denied Celis’s self-depreciating words and he strongly said.

「No matter how strong, Celis-senpai is also a girl, so please rest your body properly. After all in this place, there are no students of our Academy.」

「…………」

For a while Celis stared at Lux with wide open eyes, but,

「I refuse. I still cannot relax my attention yet.」

She said that with a firm attitude till the end.

「Please don’t force yourself. Talking to someone when you are feeling pained is──」

「That too cannot be permitted. If I, the captain of Syvalles, showed a weak-hearted side, the moral of the other students would decrease.」

After Celis clearly told that, she showed a smile that was filled with confidence.

「Listen to me, Luno. A strong person refers to a person who is able to withstand absolute solitude. That’s why, I’m all right.」

「Celis, senpai……」

Her resolve as someone from the Four Great Nobles, and furthermore as the knight order’s captain who obtained the title as the Academy’s Strongest, caused Lux to feel his heart struck, it was then──

「No, please wait a little bit! Thinking carefully, senpai was completely unable to withstand the solitude! Didn’t you talk to a stray cat so seriously, and in the end, that cat even ran away!?」

Lux reflexively retorted like that when he recalled the scene when he first saw Celis. Celis’s usual aloof atmosphere crumbled and she showed a flustered face.

「Yo, you still remember that!? Yo, you are wrong! I was only talking to myself that time. By no means was I feeling loneliness suddenly welling up inside me because I got stuck staying at the capital and being separated from everyone for a long while. It’s nothing like that at all.」

「……Wait, you are digging your own grave deeper and deeper though!? I’m not asking until that far you know!?」

It was Lux who got flustered seeing Celis losing control.

「Besides, for some reason, at the capital I ended up scolding the males from the military and rebuked them harshly, it’s depressing……. Even though, I only committed a bit of an error in controlling my strength, how did it end up like that I wonder……」

「…………」

Seeing Celis hanging her head down dejectedly, Lux thought.

This person, was she actually just a lonely and awkward person……he thought.

Lux was cheering up Celis who fell into depression for some time, while he was thinking of such a thing.