Editing Sekai no Owari no Encore:Volume 2 Record.2

The steam and the terrestrial heat were gushing out.

The mountain path was filled with so much heat that it could cause a heat haze despite not being summer. It got hotter as you got closer to the summit, and by simply standing there you would have sweat fall from all over your body without showing any signs of stopping.

“Nothing much, just thinking it’s peaceful around here. I'm starting to feel like peace and quiet is the best after all.”

Back when they headed towards the volcanic crater where the Demon called Achendia, who was known as the Demon General of Blaze, awaited them. Ren himself still did not remember how they got up there.

Back then he was simply desperate to take action.

The ‘Demons’ were the supreme rulers of the Underworld. The other parties that continued to fall against the Demons.

Faced with such a situation filled with despair, Ren who was in a battered state continued to challenge Achendia who had shown him the difference in their power.

''……Even now I definitely can’t think that I won with my skills alone. ''

''……It was the result of a series of miracles. ''

But at the same time it proved that the training he did and believed in was not wrong.

The mountain path had been officially closed due to the appearance of one of the Five Great Disaster.

It was a shock even for Ren since the path only took two days to be re-opened.

Merchants headed towards the town of the blazing cliff, with the forwarding agency carrying mail. There was also a caravan going through the mountain path carrying a family. So the town of the blazing cliff must have been opened for entering and exiting now.

“I think it's good that people can enter and exit like before, though it happened much more quickly than I imagined.”

“Yes, indeed. I also didn’t hear about anything about Achendia and her subordinates damaging the mountain path. You could say they were using it as a barrier temporarily.”

“Ren, you probably don’t know about this, but the main cause of the destruction of the mountain wasn’t due to the Demons, but because of a certain Miss Angel.”

“Ah, that’s right. I was curious about that. Strangely enough, it did appear to be a crater that was made recently, and it did feel unnatural for it to have appeared in such strange location.”

The direction Fear pointed to was a volcanic crater located in a place that could only be seen by looking up from the mountain trail.

There were huge volcanic rocks all over the place around the path they were walking on, and there were still spots with thick trees and grasses.

But——that area alone was different. There were giant rocks seemed as if they had melted and turned into small pebbles, and the few remaining trees had been covered in white and had withered.

There were no signs indicating that that place had received any kind of impact or attack.

“That was the influence of Elise’s miasma. The black miasma which erodes and dismantles all kind of substances. It’s said that even a Demon would faint right away if he touches it carelessly. It’s the terrifying miasma that once ruled and covered the whole Underworld”

“Pardon me. I assume this is the party that defeated one of the Five Great Disaster at the town of the blazing cliff.”

One member of the party that passed by addressed them.

“Are all of you members of “the Knight of Reincarnation”?”

His gaze was filled with so much respect. He had a face filled with so much excitement; it was as if he was talking to someone who was far above him even though his age was no different from Ren's.

“So how was it? Was one of the Five Great Disaster strong after all?”

“Yes. She is a legendary great Demon after all. She is no opponent humans who only wish to raise their fame can challenge and defeat. First of all, you would need to know where you stand.”

Is it the reincarnation of the legendary Eleline Sword Emperor Brigade? It was a party name used to exaggerate the advertisement, but that name appeared to have spread even outside of Jio.

“Ask me anytime. Now, what spells should I teach Ren? I’m looking forward to it. How about super-wide destruction spells that had been used by all the historical Demon Kings? Or a forbidden spell which would turn everything within the horizon into dust without mercy. Though it would take you a thousand of years to master it.”

“What’s important isn’t about you being capable of using spells but to know the logic of spells itself. You will rarely encounter it, but divine beasts hiding in sanctuaries and belligerent Spirits would use spells more powerful than your average Demons.”

Once you take a step outside a wealthy town you would be inside a world with dangerous and large monsters lurking. It would be the survival of the fittest.

What would block the path between Jio and the Valley of the Dragons would be a range of mountains which has a height of four-thousand metres. Going around the mountain ranges would be the normal route. But the shortcut they chose was to go through the ancient tomb that Kyelse knows of.

“It’s like a tunnel made in a mountain. If we go through there the Valley of the Dragons will be quite close. You saw how my kin appeared in Jio, right? He most likely went past the mountain from the Valley of the Dragons and flew straight to Jio. So our route will also be a direct path like that. We would be travelling in a good pace……if we can go through the ancient tunnel in three days.”

The five continents of the world.

“It was the location where they found the most habitat of the Spirits and the only land in the world to prosper the belief of the Spirits. The only {{Furigana|“Ancient Caster”|ANCIENTER}} in the current era who is officially recognised in the world. In other words, you would need a ship to go to the city where the Holy maiden, who is an ancient summoner that controls the Spirits, is residing in.”

The ancient tree, which was so huge that you had to look up, had its roots sticking out from several locations of the ground. If you lowered your attention even for a moment, you would find yourself tripping on the roots.

“The forests of the Underworld isn’t this nice. The forest itself moves and will attack you. And there will be swamps all over the places. And the magnetic field is a complete mess so you can't use a compass. That’s why it has more thrills and is more fun over there. I will take you there one day as well.”

From the looks of it they didn’t have a map or compass. There were getting their direction by using the slight bit of sunlight which was coming from above, and they therefore had a complete grasp of where they currently were and where they were heading to.

Kyesle who was leading the party raised her voice right after Ren had wiped away his sweat.

It was made from an armful of huge rocks that had been piled onto each other and then had been hardened with clay. There was nothing which could be distinguished as a door. It was simply a widely opened entrance that led into a dark passage.

“I have high hopes for you.”

Ren started to walk into the entrance of the ancient tomb after the three girls push his back as if it was the obvious choice.

Ren stopped himself from sighing. He then looked around the gloomy dark passage that spread out in front of him.

Sparks. It gave off spark as it made sounds.

The small sparks raised up and sparkled even more up in the air. It made a glitter for a moment and then disappeared into thin air.

The night watch.

Ren sat on the floor which was covered with dusts and then dimly gazed at the bonfire in front of him.

“……So it’s 10 o’clock at night now huh.”

Behind him was a tent.

It had been exactly two hours since Kyelse, Fear, and Elise went to sleep. You wouldn’t be able to tell the position of the Sun if you were deep inside a cave. Only the pocket watch within Ren’s hand could inform him the current time.

“But this place is amazing. This place really was a shrine.”

The storage space of the shrine—— the space where the ritual equipment and ornaments used for the rituals were most likely kept.

Sadly it seemed that most of the precious ritual equipment had been stolen. Though Ren was able to know just what kind of place this was thanks to the old candle stands and the ritual equipment which was cracked in half.

“What kind of shrine was this? Was this the shrine to worship the Spirits after all?”

[………..]

The {{Furigana|ancestral spirit of fire|SALAMANDER}} was floating in the air.

Maybe it preferred fire because it was the Spirit of fire. So right now it was floating right above the bonfire.

It appeared only few minutes ago.

It had disappeared once, but it suddenly appeared on its own when Ren was gazing at the bonfire by himself. It didn’t do anything particular but simply floated near Ren.

''……Though he had always been like this.''

''……It always appeared and disappeared on its own when I’m alone by myself.''

“I wanted to ask but were you feeling anxious of me?”

[——————]

“Yeah. I guess there was a leap in the way I said it. ……Hmm. Were you perhaps showing up to make sure I didn’t feel lonely?”

The Spirit was silent.

Except, it gazed at Ren as if it was thinking. And then.

[I stay?]

“Ah, so you were. Sorry about that. I even made you worry about me.”

Ren held his laughter and then shook his head.

He never thought he would have not a human but a Spirit worry about him.

“But I’m alright. We are just taking turns for the lookout only. You’ve been with us for the whole day today so aren’t you also tired? It’s safe now so go and have a rest. I’ll ask for your assistance tomorrow as well.”

[——————]

After a moment of silence, the {{Furigana|ancestral spirit of fire|SALAMANDER}} disappeared into thin air.

After he sent it off.

“It sure is attached to you.”

It was that time when a voice that ringed like a bell came from the tent behind him.

It was a silver-haired girl who was putting on a smile.

“Kyelse? Ah, did I wake you up because of my voice? Sorry.”

“I couldn’t sleep from the start…… It was a mistake to have Fear sleep in the middle. She continued to hug on to me and kept on shoving that huge breast of hers on my face. It was just too sultry.”

Kyelse started to rub her sleepy eyes.

“You can imagine it too, can’t you? Just how uncomfortable it is to have your face shove between those breast. I could barely breathe.”

“……Well, that’s something I’m having difficulty in answering.”

He didn’t know how to answer her so he just vaguely nodded to her question.

Then Kyelse gently sat right next to him.

“Leaving that aside, are you feeling tired at all?”

“Me?”

“You had been commanding the {{Furigana|ancestral spirit of fire|SALAMANDER}} for the whole time. A Dragon like myself can’t understand what an ancient summoning is very well. But does it put stress on the spellcaster for continuing to command a Spirit?”

“Ah, I get your question now. That’s how ordinary spells work after all.”

The attack spells of a {{Furigana|Caster|ARIA}} and even the barriers of a {{Furigana|Barrierer|ENCHANTER}}. The longer you use it and the more you use it, the more it wears the spellcaster’s body and mind corresponding to the usage of the spell.

“I’m fine. Instead I’m more worried if the {{Furigana|ancestral spirit of fire|SALAMANDER}} is tired.”

“I see, so that’s why you told it to “rest” just before.”

Kyelse looked at the empty space.

As she gazed at the space where the Spirit disappeared from just now.

“That really sounds like you.”

“Hmm?”

“For you to naturally tell the Spirit to rest. You had also been worried about the {{Furigana|ancestral spirit of fire|SALAMANDER}} even while we were heading for this location.”

“……Umm. Are you talking about the time when we had been continuously falling for those traps?”

''“By the way {{Furigana|ancestral spirit of fire|SALAMANDER}}, are you okay? Are you feeling okay even though you’ve been out for so long?”''

''[……I go too.]''

“You are quite the strange one.”

She took out the candy from her pocket.

Kyelse who had the candy in her hands softened her expression.

“Let’s say other humans besides you gained the ability to use ancient summoning. Those humans would boast their {{Furigana|“the lost spells”|ANCIENTS}} they had just learned till it would satisfy them. Don’t you reckon they would test how much power the Spirits they had summoned has and check its limit?”

“……That’s possible.”

“But you’re different. Instead you worry about the Spirit that you had summoned and what comes to your mind first is to restrain the Spirit from using its strength much as possible. I don’t know whether you would call that ‘kindness’, hence I called you the ‘strange one’. In the end, '''you are that kind of person'''.”

The {{Furigana|ancestral spirit of fire|SALAMANDER}} that was more of attached to Ren rather than being obedient to him.

It appeared front of Ren frequently even before he learned how to use ancient summoning. It stayed with Ren even during the time when he couldn’t hear its voice.

“Maybe your ancient summoning doesn’t have to do with talent or qualities. Instead that personality of yours’ that draws in the Spirit was your natural ‘specialty’. You don’t call the Sprits but the Spirits come to you. That’s the impression I have.”

“Is that a praise?”

“I simply said it because it’s a rare trait. Whether it is a praise will depend on what you and the Spirit will do from on.”

She had a mysterious smile. Just what kind of future appeared in her mind when she said “from now on”?

It felt as though Kyelse’s eyes was looking at not the present but the far future.

“And Elise did say that the Spirit’s lair is hidden somewhere in this ruin. My nose won’t work in terms of finding it. So this will be Elise and your job.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Another issue he was concerned about was regarding the Canaan Pilgrim.

They had the objective of finding the Spirit from the very beginning and they should have taken the different route as Ren and the girls. To add, it couldn’t possibly be just the two of Premier and Thyrus. Ren and the girls were still in a situation where they didn’t know how many of them there were deep within the ruin.

“I sure don’t want to get caught by the Canaan Pilgrim. They are completely alarmed at us now.”

“It won’t be a problem. If they oppose us then I will throw them out of the shrine. This kind of thing is common in the Valley of the Dragons since its one of the daily routines. So I’m familiar in dealing with the humans.”

“Wait, if you do that then we will be on the wanted-list in the Holy-ground of Canaan——”

Right after he said till there.

What unexpectedly flashed in his mind wasn’t about the concern with the party that they will compete with but a curiosity at what Kyelse just said.

“What kind of place is the Valley of the Dragons? I did hear at from the instructor when I was at the academy and know that it’s an unexplored region where the Dragons all over the world gathers, right?”

“Being called an unexplored region is far-fetched. It’s a simple lair. I was also born and raised there.”

Kyelse peels of the wrap around the candy.

She then puts the large one-bite size candy in her mouth.

“Delicious.”

“……You’ll get a decayed teeth if you eat sweets at night. Now, leaving that aside.”

The Dragon Princess had a big smile on her face.

Who could believe a girl who could make a smile like this with a single candy was a Princess of all the Dragons that were gathered in the unexplored region.

“Since you are even called the Princess of the Dragons, does that make you the most important Dragon in the Valley?”

“More than being important, it’s more like there wasn’t any Dragon that could oppose me. That’s simply it.”

Kyelse said it while rolling the candy inside her mouth.

She then gazed at the bonfire with her emerald green eyes.

“The society of Dragons mainly revolves around the seniority system. The longer the Dragons lives, the bigger and stronger it is. Though the irregular one that was born in the valley with such system was me. I was stronger than every single Dragon since the day I was born. So even the Dragon Elders had no choice but to obey me.”

“By force?”

“I did not do such thing. I......simply ‘stood there’ and my kins were afraid of me and worshipped me as their Princess.”

The tone of the silver-haired girl who said that was heavy. She had a shadow in her expression which she never had shown before.

“Though my time as a Princess continued for a bit more than dozen of years if we use the human’s way of counting years.”

“It’s because you joined Eleline’s party, right?”

“Yes. And I met comrades who I could talk to without hiding myself for the first time. Though it seems like the Earth, the Heaven, and the Underworld, were in quite a stir since it was an irregular party three-hundred years ago.”

Ren also looked behind when he followed Kyelse’s gaze who had turned around.

The quiet tent.

The ones sleeping inside were the Archangel Fear who was the strongest in Heaven and the former Demon King Elise who was the former ruler of the Underworld.

“I see. But I still wanted to ask. I wanted to ask you about your impression about the journey with Eleline. You travelled the world together with him, right? Was it fun?”

“……My strongest impression would be that I was happy. For me, who was even feared by my kins, to have comrades I can trust was a new experience.”

She then started to think for a moment.

Little by little. Kyelse continued to speak as if she was remembering the good old days.

“Not just Eleline. There were also times where I had a fight with Fear and Elise where we had an argument or a fist fight. But right after that, I simply had gratitude for them since I had comrades I can do that with. They argued back to me face to face without fearing me. Eleline, Fear, and Elise that gave their honest opinions. Thanks to that, I was able to understand for the first time what a humans, the Angels, and the Demons are like.”

“……In my case I’m also curious about the argument and the fist fight you mentioned.”

“We didn’t hold back or hesitate. Even for the fist fights and arguments, it’s better to go all out on the spot rather than dragging the negative emotion till afterwards. This is the opinion all four of us shared. Thanks to that it was a journey where we were always covered with new wounds. Don’t you think it’s rare to find a party that received most of their wounds from their comrades rather than from the enemy?”

Kyelse smiled pleasantly.

“Hmm……I’ll try to take that as that all of you got along so well that you could fight casually.”

“That’s exactly it. Fear had an upper hand at a pure fist fight but even so our strength were on the same level. I had a comrade whom I can share my thought with. That’s why it was so fun. The journey to go around the places of the world we never went to. I’m sure I would have had half the fun if I did that by myself.”

It was fun because she had her own comrades.

''——It wasn’t a party that just got along well.''

''——The human, the Angel, the Demon, and the Dragon at times had quarrel and fought while strengthening their bonds.''

Thanks to that bond, even now since three-hundred years have passed, all three of Kyelse, Fear, and Elise had their total trust to each other. That could be felt even from Ren’s perspective.

“……I get it.”

“What’s wrong? What’s that sigh as if you just saw something?”

“Well, I just thought how wonderful it is. That’s what I thought.”

Kyelse who was looking into him.

Ren shook his head to the side at her and simply said that.

“Oh yeah, what happened while you were on your journey? It’s the same situation now but you had left the leadership of the Valley of the Dragons to another Dragon, right? So was that an old Dragon or in another words a Dragon that had lived long?”

“It was my younger sister.”

“Your younger sister!?”

His shout was mixed with a shocked tone.

“Eh, hold on, wait……your younger sister? That’s something which isn’t known at all.”

“The same could be said about the current Demon King. There are not even a dozen people in the world that knows that he is the actual younger brother of Elise.”

After she said that much.

Kyelse crossed her arm as if she was thinking of something.

“Saying that, I guess the way I said it wasn’t good either. The number of Heavenly Silver Dragons that are pure-blood like me is low. But the number of the Spirit King Dragons is also low due to a different reason. In Calra’s case, she’s not a pure-blood but a mixed-blood that carries the blood of every kind of Dragons. Among such mixed blood there are rare times when a bloodline called a miracle bloodline is born.”

“The Spirit King Dragon……that legendary Dragon huh.”

Ren himself had pretty much no knowledge regarding the Spirit King Dragon.

For example he was told many times that the Heavenly Silver Dragons were the oldest Dragon species. Kyelse who was one of the Three Great Princess of Eleline Sword Emperor Brigade was also a Heavenly Silver Dragon that had left quite a number of anecdote and legend.

But the humans didn’t know that much regarding the information of the Spirit King Dragons except for its existence.

''——The miracle bloodline.''

The number of the Spirit King Dragons were so low that Kyelse referred to them as such. And it was also because it rarely appeared outside the valley.

“Anyway you are saying that you have a younger sister called Calra who is the Spirit King Dragon and she is taking the leadership of the Valley of the Dragons on your behalf, right?”

“That’s how it is. She has the highest ‘rank’ at the Valley of the Dragons where her rank is equal to that of Heavenly Silver Dragons that are the oldest Dragon species. Except, I was too strong in terms of pure strength and thus I became the Princess of the Dragons. Even so, if something were to happen to me the Dragons would need a replacement, right? That was the reason why I made a sisterhood oath with Calra.”

“She seems to be a good younger sister. She’s fulfilling her role as your replacement, right?”

“……As a replacement, yes.”

Kyelse answered with a sigh that was similar to a sarcastic laugh.

She then crouched as she hugged her knees while next to Ren and then became silent. She didn’t behave like her usual self as she was putting on a weak and fragile gesture.

“It happened about two months ago. I had returned to the valley after I got out from the seal and when I said I was going to search for the Encore the one who was against it the most was Calra.”

“Eh!? Why was that?”

The Encore would be the greatest item left by the Brave Hero Eleline.

It wouldn’t be unnatural for Kyelse who was once his comrade to search for it. Instead, it wouldn’t be farfetched to say that she would be the most deserving person to obtain it.

“The humans and the Dragons have a different way of life and different way of thinking. Even if a human has a certain logic that would make sense to them doesn’t mean the Dragons does as well. That’s how I would sum it up in few words.”

“…………”

“Similar to that reason, I am actually troubled at returning to the Valley of the Dragons. To regain my powers and to find the reason for the Sword Saint Shion’s visit. It would be a place I wouldn’t go near and visit there if it wasn’t for having to go there due to being related to our objective which is to find the Encore.”

“……I see.”

''Kyelse seemed to have a trouble of her own.''

Ren kept the words from coming out of his mouth the moment he was about to say that.

''——She doesn’t just want words of sympathy.''

''——The girl who was sitting beside me has her eyes wavering and those eyes itself clearly told me so.''

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“Looks like our discussion ended up turning into my complaints. Though I didn’t have the intention to……”

Kyelse who had a bitter smile stood up while looking as though she felt uncomfortable at the mood. She swept away the dust on her clothe around her hip area. She then slowly turned around in an elegant manner.

“I’m returning to the tent. I feel bad to disturb your lookout time.”

“Okay. ……Ah, hold on Kyelse. Behind you. You haven’t got rid of all the dust yet.”

The fragments of earth that was on the edges of her skirt.

Kyelse might have thought she had swept all of them away but there were still dust on her skirt.

“There’s still some left?”

“Just a bit. I’ll clean it off so turn around.”

Ren made Kyelse turn around and got himself up. He tried to sweep away the small amount of fragment of earth on the edges of her skirt——

“Kyaaan!?”

His fingertips touched Kyelse’s buttocks by mistake as he was rushing it.

At the same time, the Princess of Dragons jumped by having her whole body twitch and released a sound which couldn’t be distinguished whether it was a scream or a shout.

“Ah……”

“Y-You idiot! Haven’t I told you before!?”

Kyelse turned around while covering her buttocks.

“This part……of a Dragon is usually hidden by the tail. So being touched there never happens. S……So……it’s a very delicate area!”

“I-I’m sorry! I’m serious, that really wasn’t my intention!”

“…………A-Anyway.”

Kyelse who covered her buttocks with both her hand had her face turn red and was wiggling her body.

“D-Doing this kind of thing……is too early for us. I still need to prepare for myself……”

“Yes?”

“<nowiki>~~~~~~</nowiki>I-It’s nothing!”

Kyelse turned her face away.

It wasn’t because she was angry. Instead you would get the impression from her panicked gesture that she wanted to hide her face that was all red.

“……I really don’t know what’s going on here.”

He was all by himself now.

The muttering simply came out of Ren’s mouth.

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