Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance

Volume 3, Chapter 5 - Sylphid Knights

Part 1

"...chan, please wake up."

He heard somebody\'s voice...

"...chan, onii-chan."

"Uh..."

Kamito rubbed his eyes as he slowly got up.

His back hurt. The muscles of his stiff joints were screaming.

"Hn..."

Feeling the hard sensation in his palms—

Kamito finally remembered.

Last night, he was driven out of the room by Claire, so he had reluctantly decided to sleep near the forest.

(...Eh, onii-chan?)

With his still-half-awakened consciousness, Kamito tilted his head.

Naturally, Kamito, who was an orphan, didn\'t have things like a sister.

After blinking his eyes several times, he suddenly shifted his focus to his side—

"Have you finally woken up, onii-chan?"

"E-Est!?"

A beautiful girl, fully nude save for knee-socks, was looking into Kamito\'s face expressionlessly.

She had a slim slender body. Morning dew wetted her milky skin and was shining.

"Wh-What\'s the matter?! Weren\'t you sleeping in Claire\'s room!?"

Kamito, whose face turned bright red, averted his eyes from the girl\'s gentle-sloping breasts in a fluster.

"In order for onii-chan to not freeze to death, I\'ve been sleeping together with you and warming you up."

"...Th-That\'s a lie, right?"

"Did my thighs feel good, onii-chan?"

"...Guaa."

Kamito was greatly perplexed and groaned.

"By the way, since just now, what\'s with the \'onii-chan\'?"

"Yes well, I tried using various ways of calling to wake you up, but you did not wake up at all, so Est tried calling you onii-chan. When I did that, Kamito immediately woke up."

"Is that true...?"

"Yes, onii-chan."

"Est, spare me the \'onii-chan\'."

"Yes, onii-chan."

Est nodded expressionlessly.

"...Est. By any chance, are you angry?"

"..."

Est stared at Kamito with her mysterious violet pupils.

"I am Kamito\'s contracted spirit, you know."

"Eh?"

Est softly pressed her index finger onto Kamito\'s lips.

"Kamito, please promise me that you won\'t leave me behind as you please."

"..."

It seemed like she was angry about being left behind in Claire\'s room.

As for Kamito, he had just thought that it was pitiful to make her sleep outside with him, but—

"...Ahh, I got it. Sorry."

"It\'s a promise, Kamito."

Kamito entwined his pinky around Est\'s stretched out pinky and promised.

"—Well then, I have to go to Ellis\' place."

The academy also had a day off today because of Valentia Holy Festival but there was a meeting being held.

Kamito had just decided to join the Knights, but it seemed like he had to work immediately from today.

"Let\'s go, Est."

"Okay, Kamito."

Est tightly grasped Kamito\'s hand, who had stood up.

Part 2

The Sylphid Knights\' morning was early.

Even if it was the day that the academy had a holiday, there was a Knights\' general meeting early in the morning.

Kamito turned up at the headquarters of the Sylphid Knights in accordance with the time he heard from Ellis.

The headquarters of the Knights was a staggeringly splendid building remodeled from an old cathedral. Considering that there were about twenty members, it might be a little too spacious.

Kamito took a breath, and pushed open the heavy steel door.

"Wh—?"

Kamito left the door open and froze for a few seconds.

It was full of girls in their underwear inside the holy cathedral.

There were girls who had just begun removing their skirts and girls who had their hands at their bra hooks.

"...!"

Ellis, who had pulled her stockings up to her knees, was widely opening her reddish brown eyes.

Her adult-like black lingerie was clearly etched into his retina.

And then—

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Kamito received dozens of blasts of spirit magic on his body, and was even blown out of the other side of the door.

"...I see that I had taken the Knights\' harshness lightly."

Kamito, whose whole body got shredded and tattered, glared at Ellis with scornful eyes.

Incidentally, the one who released the most powerful spirit magic, was this very Ellis.

If he wasn\'t wearing his highly blade-proof and impact-proof academy uniform, he certainly would have turned into pieces by the wild flying blades of wind.

Ellis awkwardly averted her eyes—

"Sorry. I should have told you this first. We always change our clothes here."

"Why don\'t you use the changing room?"

"That\'s because there was no need to. So far, we haven\'t had a male student."

"That is so, but..."

"Well, that\'s that. It suits you rather well, doesn\'t it, Kamito."

Ellis coughed in order to dodge the question.

Kamito attached a badge, which was engraved with the portrait of the wind Elemental Lord.

Since the Knights\' armors were for female use only, it had been decided that he would attach this badge instead.

The Knights\' girls were lined up horizontally in front of Kamito and Est.

There were twenty members all together. There also seemed to be several upperclassmen among them.

Before starting the Knights general meeting, Ellis was going to introduce Kamito.

"He\'ll be attached to the Knights starting from today, he\'s Kazehaya Kamito from the Raven Class. As you can see, he\'s a male elementalist, but I want you to welcome him without being afraid."

"..."

The Knights\' girls were—

Glaring at Kamito with eyes discerning a suspicious person.

...It was understandable. Due to the incident just now, the impression Kamito made was the worst.

"Is that the rumored Demon King of the Night?" "I can\'t believe it, he made such a small girl into his lover..."

"However, isn\'t he a little good-looking?" "Don\'t be deceived, despite his appearance, he\'s a terrible pervert." "Even just now, he was looking at us like he ran his tongue all over our underwear."

...Those were the whispering voices of the girls that he heard.

"Hey, Ellis...my heart seems to be broken from the first day."

"I-It\'s alright. I know that you are not such a boy. If you display the part where you work as a splendid Knight, things like dishonorable rumors would instantly vanish."

"...That would be great if that was the case."

Although Kamito appreciated Ellis cheering him, he let out a heavy sigh.

Part 3

The Knights\' general meeting started.

What Ellis spoke about was the special quest for the Valentia Holy Festival.

"Today, the academy lectures are cancelled. Many academy students would end up flocking to the town because of the Valentia Holy Festival. In order to prevent dueling incidents from occurring in front of ordinary townspeople, all members, be cautious and take on the quest."

"Yes!"

The Knights girls all replied at once.

They were few in number, but they were superior elementalists. As expected, their morale was high.

However— there also seemed to be people harboring dissatisfaction about Ellis taking command among the upperclassmen.

Kamito didn\'t miss the fact that several people were plainly making seemingly dissatisfied faces.

(...I see, this is why Ellis also has it tough.)

It was the jealousy towards their junior, whose pedigree and ability was superior.

Sylphid Knights, which looked well-ordered, seemed to have various things going on internally.

However, Ellis ignored those upperclassmen and continued.

"Those Cursed Armament Seal merchants —MurdersCorpse Federation\'s people— seemed to have infiltrated into the Academy Town. They may be plotting to use this chance for some sort of contact with the academy students that are going out into the town. If you catch them in the act, please deal with it with your own judgment. Well then, dismiss—"

"—Hold on!"

Suddenly a sharp voice came from behind Kamito.

The steel door was forcefully and cleanly pushed open, and daylight shone in at once.

"...!?"

All of them were taken aback and turned around.

The one standing before the door was— a knight of a beautiful face with the appearance of an ice sculpture.

She had brilliant shiny blonde hair and cold piercing ice blue pupils. She was wearing a pure white overcoat on top of her uniform— it was a prestige overcoat that only the academy\'s top ranker was allowed to wear.

(The academy\'s strongest elementalist— Velsaria Eva.)

Something chilly ran through Kamito\'s spine. She, who he had faced at the arena at the Blade Dance three years ago, shouldn\'t have this much of a sense of intimidation.

Velsaria made a sound with her hard iron shoes and slowly walked over.

"Esteemed sister, why are you here...!"

"It seems that the pawns have decreased considerably in numbers during the time I was absent."

"Esteemed sister... did you say something just now?"

"I said the pawns have decreased. That\'s all."

"...!"

Ellis sternly lifted her eyebrows at Velsaria\'s spoken harsh remark.

"Are you calling the comrades of the Knights pawns?!"

"Pawns are pawns— Furthermore, they are useless sacrificial pawns. Without even being able to capture just one assailant, they were completely defeated on the contrary."

"It doesn\'t matter to me. However, I would like you to stop insulting the girls, who splendidly carried out their duties. Even if you are the former captain."

Velsaria looked down on Ellis, who protested, with her cold piercing eyes.

"I am a Fahrengart knight, I have never taken back words I have said."

"You...!"

"Or, you could try making me yield with brute force, Captain?"

Velsaria\'s thin fingers got hold of Ellis\' chin.

"...!?"

Being overwhelmed by her stern gaze, Ellis spontaneously averted her eyes.

Velsaria shook her head like she was disappointed.

"Ellis, it was a mistake to entrust you with the Knights."

"—Wait."

Kamito grasped Velsaria\'s arm from the side.

He thought that he shouldn\'t meddle into the Knights\' problems, but— getting Ellis involved was, as expected, something he couldn\'t stay silent about.

"When Jio Inzagi attacked the academy, Ellis rushed over there the fastest and fought. You don\'t have the right to condemn Ellis."

"Ka-Kamito..."

Ellis widened her eyes in shock.

"—Oh?"

Velsaria quickly released her hand from Ellis\' chin.

"You\'re the male elementalist, who\'s said to have been admitted here with Lady Greyworth\'s recommendation, right?"

"Yes, so what of it?"

Kamito directly glared back at her cold piercing ice blue eyes.

"The one who captured that assailant was you, is that right?"

"It wasn\'t just me. The reason I won was because I fought together with the comrades of my team."

"Don\'t be modest. I can\'t understand why you\'re hiding your strength, but—"

Velsaria\'s sharp discernment shot through Kamito.

(...This person, don\'t tell me she knows my true identity?)

Cold sweat surfaced on Kamito\'s forehead.

...No, that couldn\'t be it. The time he met her was three years ago. Kamito\'s current looks should be very different from the time, when he was an innocent boy.

Velsaria—

"Your true strength is something I want to test out by all means."

"...What?"

Suddenly, one of her hands was raised overhead.

"...!?"

At that moment, a tremendous shock was radially released!

There was a thunderous sound as the whole cathedral shook.

The girls in the surroundings were blown away by the shock and thrown onto the wall.

There was a cloud of dust densely hanging over and marble tiles that were cruelly flipped up.

It was the spirit magic of the earth attribute— considering that its recital time was almost zero, it was of extraordinary power.

The ones that could avoid the shock— were only Ellis and several upperclassmen.

Kamito covered for Est and had taken the spirit magic flat on directly.

As he had reacted, he didn\'t collapse but his uniform was worn-out.

"You, what are you doing...?"

"Hmm, surprisingly, some remained."

Velsaria calmly moved her hand to her chin, and looked around in order to glare at the girls.

And then—

"You and you, and then... you two."

She nominated the four knights, who were standing without falling, one by one.

"Esteemed sister, what on earth are you planning?!"

Enraged, Ellis drew closer to Velsaria.

"I\'m making my selection. The people whom I nominated just now will be admitted into my team."

"Such a selfish thing—"

Her selection— was trying to headhunt the members of the Knights, which had few people even during normal circumstances.

Ellis could not stay silent.

"I don\'t intend to force them. It\'s all up to their own will to decide."

"Wh—?"

Ellis became taken aback and looked at the four nominated upperclassmen.

The four bewilderedly mutually exchanged glances, but—

"Y-Yes...!"

"It\'s an honor to be selected into Velsaria-dono\'s team!"

"Please include me by all means."

"M-Me too!"

They replied all together unanimously.

"...!"

Ellis chewed her lips, seemingly vexed.

She couldn\'t condemn the girls.

To be admitted into the team of the academy\'s strongest elementalist —ranking number one, Velsaria— was almost the same as obtaining a guaranteed ticket into the Blade Dance.

That temptation was too great, certainly because they were powerful people.

Besides, the girls were upperclassmen— members of the Knights when Velsaria was captain. In that case, they might be smoldering dissatisfaction from the start at the matter that Ellis was the captain like Kamito imagined just now.

"..."

As expected, it was probably awkward, so the girls didn\'t try to look at Ellis\' face.

Velsaria faced toward Kamito.

"You surprised me— you had the time to cover for your contracted spirit with that distance. How about it, won\'t you join my team too. You seem to be able to at least be my outrider."

"I refuse. I\'m with the hell cat girl\'s team."

Kamito glared back at Velsaria.

"Team Scarlet— Calamity Queen\'s sister\'s team that is currently in sixth place? Well, that\'s fine, if you won\'t be my pawn, then I\'ll just have to crush you."

Velsaria averted her line of sight as she lost interest—

And signaled the girls she headhunted from the Knights with her eyes.

As she made the clacking steel shoe sounds, she left the headquarters building.

Later—

The only things that remained were a cruelly up-turned mountain of rubble, plus Ellis and her comrades, in a dumbfounded state.

Part 4

(No matter what, it doesn\'t hurt...)

Velsaria, who left the Sylphid Knights building, distorted her expression in pain.

The throbbing was fast. The \'heart\' was pounding like it went crazy.

(I thought that I had already gotten used to this \'heart\' but—)

She had not yet reached the point of fully controlling it.

She couldn\'t hold back the destructive impulses that were spurring her on from the depths of her body.

Or, even her very own consciousness might already have begun to be corroded.

(However, that\'s fine. If it wasn\'t like that, it would be meaningless—)

What was important was the infinite divine power that the \'heart\' brought about with it.

As long as she had this \'heart\'— she could win.

Against that girl— Ren AshbellThe Strongest Blade Dancer, who defeated her.

Suddenly, a dark flame lit within Velsaria\'s cold eyes.

(However, that male elementalist— Kazehaya Kamito or so he was called?)

Those black pupils that directly glared at Velsaria.

Within those eyes— existed something familiar.

(They look similar...)

They were the same eyes as the girl three years ago.

However, there were parts that were definitely different.

Kazehaya Kamito turned his hostility-filled gaze at Velsaria.

(—She\'s different. She wasn\'t even looking at me.)

She thought nothing about Velsaria, who was her competitor.

She was looking at something much further away.

"..."

—The Blade Dance would start a few weeks later.

Finally, her rematch with her, which was her dearest wish, would come true.

"Just wait, Ren Ashbell—"

As Velsaria felt the throbbing of the raging \'heart\', she ground her molars.