Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance

Volume 2, Chapter 4 - Cat Fight

Part 1

"Neeveeer, I won't accept this!"

It was evening. Claire's angry voice reverberated throughout the Raven Class dormitory.

"I've already had to concede to her joining the team temporarily due to the guarding quest, but—"

She brushed her red twintail hair in irritation.

"Why is this girl in the same room with us?!"

She faced Fianna, who was drinking her cup of black tea in elegant small sips, and thrust her finger toward her.

Turning away standoffishly, Fianna sighed and muttered.

"What a small room, I wouldn't have thought that this is a place where a noble would live in."

"Sh...Shut up! If you have complaints, why don't you take it up to the headmistress?"

"What I am talking about is how messy the room is. Can't you catch the sarcasm of the remark?"

"Grh... I...It's usually properly tidied up!"

Kamito sighed as he was at his wits' end. These two have already been like this for some time now.

"Hey, Kamito-kun, don't you think so too?"

"Err, well..."

Casting a glance at Claire who was on the verge of tears, Kamito answered vaguely.

"That reminds me, Ren Ashbell's true identity—"

"Ahh, it's certainly messy. Claire should at least clean it up."

Claire bit her lips with teary eyes.

(...Sorry, Claire. I'm unable to defy this princess.)

Somehow, the girl knew Kamito's true identity.

Kamito's intent was to quickly press the question, but, in this situation, Claire would also learn about it.

This princess seemed to have no intention of telling the secret to Claire, but she had been threatening him by leaking that name since a while ago.

Feeling like a cat on hot bricks, Kamito tediously sighed.

While the invisible fireworks scattered, Est was playing with Scarlet with a green foxtail.

It seemed that Claire realized that she was no match for Fianna in the battle of words and diverted the flow of the argument to Kamito.

"Besides, why should it be my room?!"

"Well, because you're the only person in the dormitory who occupies the room just by herself."

"It's not only me, even not just two of us. Including Est, it's three people."

"Aren't you treating me as your slave spirit? By the dormitory rules, spirits are not counted as roommates."

"Uh, that's so, but..."

"Well, with all of us, I guess the room will be cramped, as expected. I'll leave."

In the first place, Kamito should have been living in a hut outside.

Moreover, it would be no good if rumors about a guy sleeping in a girl's room were to spread.

"Hey, what are you going to do when you leave? Do you plan on going as far as sleeping outdoors?"

"For the time being, a tent would be sufficient. I'll manage one way or another."

Claire grabbed the back of Kamito's neck as he tried to leave the room.

"What?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"That's no good. After all, if you're gone..."

Claire looked downwards and tightly bit her lips.

"Who will do the cooking and the laundry?!"

"...Err, you do it."

"No way. After all, the meals you make are delicious..."

It seemed that Claire, who used to live on canned food, had her stomach held captive by Kamito's home cooking.

"Besides, if you were to leave, wouldn't that mean you and Est are left all alone together. That's no good. Rinslet and, like just now, Ellis may come meddling. No, it's not just Ellis and the others. After all, there are many girls targeting you out of curiosity."

"If I'm being targeted...Est and I can fend off most of them."

"T...That's not what I meant... Stupid."

Claire released her hold on the back of his neck.

"Y...You are mine after all. I'll not give you to anyone."

"...Even if you say that..."

Kamito softly sighed—

"Hey, what do you mean by yours?"

Fianna muttered in soft tone.

"Claire Rouge, what kind of relationship do you have with Kamito-kun?"

"Wh...What kind of relationship...? That's..."

Claire bashfully blushed,

"A...A sl...slave and a master relationship!"

"Wh...What did you say...!?"

Fianna looked at Kamito with an astonished look.

"D...Don't tell me, you have such an insane relationship..."

"Wait, don't utter something that'll cause misunderstandings!"

"Hm...hmm, besides, what kind of relationship do you have with Kamito? Despite being a freshly admitted student, aren't you being very intimate?"

In reverse, Claire was the one asking back this time.

When she did, Fianna coughed—

"Me? I'm... his little sister, Kamito's."

"Eh!"

"...? A sister, I..."

"Hey, listen, the truth is that Ren Ashbell's true identity—"

"Ye...Yes, she is my little sister, my little sister!"

Fianna murmured the magic words and Kamito nodded right away.

"Li...Little sister... I see, so you had a little sister."

Claire stroked her chest for some reason.

"However, I'm his stepsister."

"Stepsister!?"

"That's right, furthermore, a naughty stepsister."

"A nau...naughty stepsister!?"

Claire's face turned bright red in a split second.

(...What on earth was she imagining?)

"Here's a hint, a stepsister can be married to her brother, right, onii-sama ?"

Suddenly, Fianna tightly pressed her large breasts unto him.

Kamito was spontaneously startled by that duly soft sensation—

"Wh...Wh...Wh...? Id...Idiot, you brute pervert!"

"Ouch, wait, it's a misunderstanding, stop—"

For some reason, tears welled up in Claire's eyes as she hit Kamito with her whip. Pishi! Pishi!

"Hey, what are you doing to Kamito-kun!"

Phishi!—Fianna grabbed Claire's arm that swung up.

"Uh, wh...what!"

"Kamito-kun isn't your slave."

"Yeah, that's right."

Kamito nodded.

"He is mine."

"No, I'm not yours either, you know?"

Kamito retorted with half-opened eyes.

(...Good grief, I wonder why such people are all around me.)

"Too bad. Kamito is my slave spirit, after all...??"

"After all?"

As Fianna asked back, Claire's cheeks slight blushed,

"After all, err... I even...did the spirit contract ritual with Kamito."

"..."

Fianna opened her mouth.

She faced Kamito, whose head was made to squeak.

"Hey, is that true? Kamito-kun."

She had a devilish smile.

"No, that's..."

Honestly, he was getting embarrassed just by recalling that time.

He turned bright red and cast down his eyes, which was roughly the same reaction Claire's shown.

(If it was that embarrassing, then don't mention it)— was what he thought, but...

After witnessing such a reaction from both of them, Fianna calmly muttered.

"I see... You kissed."

Her tone was certainly calm, but it was the tone that concealed something dreadful.

...She was angry. She was certainly angry.

(No, why is Fianna angry in the first place?)

As Kamito showed a doubtful expression, Fianna quickly stood up—

Faced Claire, who was bashfully turning red and sharply thrust her index finger at her.

"Let's have a match, Claire Rouge!"

"A match?"

"Yes, a match, where the winner is the one who can love Kamito-kun."

"No...No way, not such a thing! To begin with, Kamito is originally mine!"

"I've been saying that's not it..."

Kamito tried to cut into their conversation, but the two of them didn't seem to hear him.

"If you win, I'll leave this room. Then, you can do all the perverted things you'd like with Kamito-kun, just the two of you."

"I...I...I won't do such things!"

"Ahh, then, is doing it by yourself more to your liking?"

"Wh...Wh...Wh...What are...?"

Claire turned bright red and the steam vented from her head.

(...She was thoroughly toyed with.)

Claire was extremely weak toward the reprehension in such an area, she was a super innocent high-class young lady.

"Or perhaps, you have no confidence? You just don't want me to take away Kamito-kun?"

Fianna further provoked Claire, who had finally snapped.

"Guu... A...As you wish! Come forth, scorching hot hell cat!"

She summoned Scarlet and held in her hand an elemental waffe— Flametounge.

"Hey, do you plan on destroying the dormitory?! The people from the Sylphid Knights will dash here!"

"It's alright, because I'll settle it before they come."

"That's completely not alright!"

Claire-san, her eyes were serious....She was determined.

"Don't be in such a hurry, Claire Rouge."

However, Fianna waved her hand with a composed expression.

"What, now that it has come to this, are you pleading for your life?"

"I didn't say anything about having a blade dance match. I wonder if trying to settle everything with violence is something proper nobles do. Did all the nutrition that's supposed to go to your head go to your breasts—"

Fianna looked at Claire's breasts and smiled.

"—I guess that's not the case."

"Burn all to nothing, red hot inferno ball!"

"Wait, Claire! Stop the spirit magic!"

Kamito flustered and held her hands to her back as Claire tried to recite fireball.

At their best, they were hovering near the bottom of the inter-school ranking. If they caused any more problems, Team Scarlet's score would drop to the lowest rank.

"Guu...then, what kind of match are we having?!"

"Yeah—"

Placing her index finger at her chin, Fianna slowly looked around the room.

—Then, her gaze stopped on a mountain of canned food, piled up in the kitchen.

Kamito overlooked that her eyes were sparkling.

"Then, the first one who satisfies Kamito's body, wins— How's that?"

"Sa...Satisfies his body...!?"

Claire's face turned bright red.

"No...no way, not such a thing! After all, I don't know any skillful methods... that's not it, su...such a thing is definitely not allowed!"

"I don't know what kind of misunderstanding you're having, but what I'm talking about is a culinary showdown?"

"Culinary!?"

Claire's face froze.

It was natural. The first time he met her, she was only eating canned food.

She couldn't possibly cook something decent.

"No way, I can't accept such a duel!"

"Ah, offering a meal for a spirit to enjoy itself is the same type of kagura as a blade dance, a skill of a splendid elementalist. Isn't it also among the academy's core subjects?"

"Th...That's..."

"Or, are you lacking confidence?...Like that chest of yours."

She snapped. At that moment, the sound of something snapping was heard.

"I...I get it..."

"Uh?"

"I...I accept it, this culinary match!"

Claire faced Fianna and sharply thrust her finger at her as she accepted the match.

At that moment, the princess expressed an impish smile.

(By the way, Claire, she has seen through the fact that you're weak in cooking!)

Part 2

Just like that, the culinary showdown between the two of them somehow began, but—

The two beautiful girls, who put on aprons, were standing at opposite sides of the kitchen.

It was the common kitchen at the first floor of the Raven Class dormitory. It seemed that as long as one was a boarding student, it was alright to freely use the ingredients available there.

Est the judge sat well behaved at the table and was tightly grasping a spoon.

While being nervous about the other meaning of having Scarlet take care of the leftovers, Kamito paced around the back of the kitchen.

(...Frankly, Claire has no chance of winning.)

He certainly had never eaten Claire's home cooking, but, in any case, she was the high-class young lady who had gotten through with mostly canned food in her meals since she came to the academy.

"Ehh, canned tuna, mackerel tuna... and I splurge a little and also open the canned crab."

While humming, Claire arranged the canned food ingredients. Kamito had doubts about approving her combination of canned food, but, for now, it looked edible, so Kamito took a breath of relief.

"Fruits are easy to eat after being cut."

Upon seeing Claire slowly taking out the kitchen knife, Kamito interrupted her.

"Are you alright with that? Don't cut your finger."

"I'm alright, after all, I was always watching you prepare food."

"I see... Hn, you were always watching?"

"Idi... Th...That's not it, I do not mean something like that!"

"Waah, it's dangerous, don't swing the kitchen knife!"

*Bun!* Kamito splendidly dodged the kitchen knife, which grazed his nose tip.

"Hmm, be...because you said something stupid!"

Claire's face, up till her ears, was bright red and she quickly turned away.

"Putting that aside, what on earth are you making?"

"Seafood curry, the one that you often make. Because I like that."

"Eh, you don't normally use canned tuna and canned mackerel for seafood curry, you know?"

It seemed that she tossed the ingredients into the sauce from what she learned by watching him.

"Sh...shut up... It's not like there's a reason to the fishes' name one by one. It's the same as not remembering the face of the partner whom you danced with at the ball."

"...That's terrible. Do remember that."

Besides Claire's character, just her appearance was that of a transcendent beautiful girl. He was without doubt that there would be as many young nobles as the number of stars, who would be hard-pressed by her lovely looks and ask her for a dance.

"...At any rate, Claire, you're in a dress?"

"What, I was once too the daughter of a Duke family before my lands were seized, so I do at least wear dresses... Or perhaps, is it that I look strange wearing a dress?"

"No, I just thought that you looked good wearing it."

"...Wh...Wh...What are you saying, idiot."

Kamito spoke his honest thoughts and Claire turned red increasingly and looked downwards.

She slightly raised her head and looked at Kamito with an upward glance—

"Hey, do you re...really... think I look good?"

"Yea, I think that your red hair looks pretty with that pure white dress.... I don't want to admit it, but honestly just your looks are prettier than any princesses."

"...!"

"Well, while wearing a dress, your breasts volume is overwhelmingly lacking though. Using paddings there to make do with it is the only—"

Then, Kamito suddenly shut his mouth.

*Gogogogogogogo*... The kitchenware were clattering.

...It seemed that he stepped on another unnecessary landmine again.

"Ah...no... I'm sorry."

"...Th...Th...That's right. Unless I use paddings, I can't even wear a dress, right?"

"Hey, Claire, why are you holding such a thing? That's a handy tool you use to peel vegetables, it's not something you use on people... owaa, wai—"

Part 3

"Kuu, I can't believe that there's such a way to use a vegetable peeler..."

As Kamito cursed, he turned up at Fianna's corner this time.

There were numerous scars like cat-scratches on his cheeks.

"Despite being poor at using the cookware, she completely mastered using it as a weapon."

At this rate, the day that Claire's elemental waffe became a peeler from a whip might also be close.

(Turn into bonito flakes...? What a terribly unpleasant future.)

While pressing down on his cheeks, which were suffering a prickling pain, he was thinking about such a thing,

"—Hmm, you two are on pretty good terms."

Raising her face from the chopping board, Fianna said with half-opened eyes.

Somehow, she seemed a little displeased.

"Is that how it looks like? Princess, your eyes are also surprisingly bad."

"Not everything you see is the truth— That was a saying from a certain senior of mine."

"That indeed seems like words that a princess maiden of the Divine Ritual Institute would say."

Kamito shrugged his shoulders and stood beside Fianna.

She was slicing a carrot with a nice tapping rhythm.

Because she was a kagura expert, who pleased spirits, as expected her skill was good.

"You seem full of confidence."

"Of course. During the time at the Divine Ritual Institute, although there was a ritual to offer cooked meals to high ranking spirits only once a month, all of them were satisfied with my offered meals and returned to Astral Zero."

"Really? That's amazing."

Kamito was honestly in admiration. That seemed to be a great expectation. Naturally, because appearance was more important than taste for the meals offered to spirits, he wondered if it would differ from the cooking humans eat.

"By the way, what was that one bottle you poured into the pot just now?"

"Capsicum. I'm using it as a subtle seasoning."

"I see, a subtle seasoning."

A subtle seasoning. The soup in the pot certainly became red and was making the ingredients subtle to see.

However, did subtle seasoning generally have such a meaning?

"...Is that okay?"

"Yea, it has such a vibrant and pretty color, doesn't it?"

...That somehow invited anxiety, but he gave up on investigating it.

Fianna nodded, seemingly satisfied, and cast her sights onto the chopping board again.

While listening to the rhythmic tapping sound, Kamito gazed at Fianna's face profile.

She had black pupils of long slits and virgin-snow-like white skin.

Her black hair, which reached down to her waist, was currently tied up to not let it fall.

Her white nape was mysteriously erotic.

Without thinking, Kamito was charmed by that somewhat mature face profile.

(With just tying her hair up, her impression has greatly changed...?)

Her tied up hair. There was something stuck in Kamito's mind.

(...This girl, as I thought, have I met her somewhere?)

Despite that it should be the first time they met, the girl somehow knew Kamito's true identity.

(However, I don't have any princess acquaintances...)

It was irritating that he seemed to recall something, but yet he couldn't recall anything.

He was staring at Fianna's face profile in that manner—

"Hey, Kamito-kun? Why have you been visually raping me since just now?"

Fianna turned towards him with a slightly troubled look.

"Ah, no... visually raping!?"

"There are certainly things like turning this fallen princess senseless, or training her like a slave. Kamito-kun, it's your free-will to make these various perverted delusions, but... well, honestly, it doesn't really feel good to be used as an adolescent boy's delusions."

"What kind of person do you think I am?"

"Ah, I would like for you to not take a princess maiden, who serves the spirit lords of the Divine Ritual Institute, lightly. I can read your mind like picking something up."

After saying that, Fianna drew her face close and gently placed her hand onto Kamito's forehead.

He was reflexively startled by the sensation of her cool soft skin.

"...Eh? No way, a nude maid, that's shameful..."

"What's shameful is your mind!"

Kamito spontaneously shouted.

Besides, what was a nude maid? Was it a variant of the naked apron? He was a little curious.

At that moment—

"Kamito, it's about the meat's grilling adjustment though, is medium good? Or, well-done?"

"Ahh, I prefer medium... Owa!"

Upon turning around, before he knew it, Claire was standing there with a smile and a fireball floating.

"Yo...Yo...You are the wo...wo...worst, something like nude maid, you're the worst!"

*Gogogogogogogo......!*

"Wait, it's a false accusation— Fianna!?"

He requested for help, but Fianna had already left the scene with an impish smile.

"Tu...turn into cinders together with your insolent delusions, you pervert!"

The fireball Claire released blew Kamito away together with the kitchen.

Part 4

Just like that, 30 minutes passed.

At the table where the judges were sitting, the food cooked by the two of them was lined up.

Est, Scarlet and Kamito, who was worn out, were sitting side by side in a line.

As the result of drawing lots, they would start eating Claire's cooking first, but—

"...Ah, I have to at least ask, what is this?"

A black lump of something was laid down on the plate before him.

Wasn't that probably the cinders thing Claire was always saying?

"If I remember, it was seafood curry... right? That was what you were making."

"...I...It looks a little overcooked."

The thing before him was completely carbonized... It was no longer about the taste.

"Ehh, is it bad if I don't eat this?

"I...It's not about appearances, what's important is the taste, right?!"

"It's awfully bitter."

Est, who sampled a mouthful, muttered that expressionlessly.

"...Est, you betrayed me."

"Isn't that obvious? Est, you've done well."

"Wh...What, Scarlet is deliciously eating it."

"That's because it's a fire spirit. It probably doesn't have something like the sense of taste."

That burnt-black lump was completely eaten by Scarlet, but he had the feeling that rather than eating something, it was incinerating waste. After it finished eating, it puffed out a small fireball.

"...Isn't Est also a spirit?! I don't think she understands the taste of a delicate cuisine."

"Use of abusive language towards a judge. Claire gets a point deduction."

Expressionlessly, Est raised up a point-deduction card.

"Guu..."

"With just a black thing, there's no need to eat it. It's my victory."

Fianna placed her hand near her mouth and a wide smile appeared on her face.

Well, there seemed to already be a winner decided, but they had to also at least eat and compare her cooking.

...*Gutsu*, *gutsu*, *gutsu*, *gutsu*, *gutsu*.[1]

They saw the cooking that was carried over—

"Th..That's..!"

Kamito was at a loss for words. Est widened her eyes unusually, Scarlet purred.

It seemed to be a boiling...stew.

It was red. It was more red compared to the time Kamito saw it a while ago. It was a stew whose ingredients could not be seen.

"Ehh, what is... this?"

"This is the Ordesia royal family's specialty, the white stew."

"How is it white!?"

At least on the surface, all he could see was one color, red. And then, there was a dreadful smell that even thrust up into his nose.

It was because of the subtle seasoning she used just now, he was certain of that.

"Wh...What is this?! There's no way anyone could eat such a thing!"

Claire pushed aside her own matters and complained....Well, she understood that feeling.

"Ahh, the daughter of the Elstein family is complaining without even trying it."

Fianna brushed her glossy black hair and looked down at Claire.

"This isn't fair. I doubt that's something nobles, who are exemplars to the masses, do."

"Uggg....!"

Unfairness aside, Fianna also did not eat Claire's burnt-black thing, but Claire, who blew her top, seemed to not have noticed such a thing.

Or perhaps he should put it that she was basically weak to provocation to things about noble young ladies. She was even weaker especially when it involved her family name and her pride as a noble.

"I...I get it, it's alright if I eat a mouthful of that, right? I'm good with spicy things, after all."

The moment Claire nodded, Fianna expressed a wicked smile.

"Hey, Claire, that's seriously dangerous—"

Without time for Kamito to stop Claire, she put the spoon into her mouth.

And then, at the next moment.

"Hyguu—!?"

......*Patan*.

Suddenly, she collapsed onto the table.

"Cl...Claire, are you alright?!"

Kamito helped her up in a fluster, but Claire's eyes were spinning.

"...Sh...She's completely knocked out."

"It's my victory."

Fianna placed her hand at her waist and smiled.

"Err, it was that kind of match?"

"Is that not it?"

Fianna looked surprised.

Well, he felt that it was certain that they did not decide on the precise conditions to win.

"You certainly did say that you made the spirits satisfied with a ritual of the Divine Ritual Institute, right?"

"Yeah, just by eating a mouthful, they returned to Astral Zero seemingly satisfied."

"Uh, I think that they probably did not return satisfied."

"A cooking that even destroys a spirit's sense of taste..."

Unable to prohibit the trembling.

Est leaked out such a mutter.

Part 5

(Good grief... today was a troublesome day.)

Since then, one hour had passed, Kamito was using the shower installed in the bathroom.

Because Fianna said she would shower later, Kamito ended up entering the bathroom first without any reservation.

By the way, Claire was being nursed by Scarlet in the room. She should probably be groaning on the bed currently. Kamito thought she was pitiful, but he could not even do anything.

It was already time for Est to sleep. She could not return to Astral Zero, so she needed to get a lot of sleep and she would usually sleep for about half a day.

"At any rate" —Kamito muttered while having his shower.

(Fianna Ray Ordesia... huh?)

She was a girl who was the second princess of the Ordesia Empire and the second Queen candidate next to that Calamity Queen— Rubia Elstein. Why did she know Kamito's true identity? He did not clearly understand what her aim was for approaching him.

(It also doesn't seem like she's going to expose my true identity.)

Rather than seriously threatening him, Kamito thought that it was more like she was having fun with his reactions.

(...What on earth is going on?)

At the moment Kamito tried to stop the spirit device shower.

"Hey, Kamito-kun, I'm coming in."

Such a voice came from the direction of the dressing room.

"Hn, Ah—"

He replied.

"Wh...What!?"

Kamito turned around in a fluster.

*Gararaa*— The door opened.

Over there was—

"...What's the matter? You look so surprised."

A princess with a bath towel wrapped around her body.

"Wh...Wh...Wh...?"

Kamito fell into a panic state for a moment.

"Fi...Fianna, what are you doing?!"

"Uh?"

The princess slightly tilted her head and made a lovely smile.

She had a slender white nape. She had an elegant narrow waist. And then, there were her large swelling breasts. He thought that her bare white legs, seen from the slit of the bath towel, were bewitching unlike those of a 16 year old girl.

Kamito was dumbfounded—

"What, even for me, doing this thing is... embarrassing, you know?"

Her knees touched each other and she bashfully muttered.

Slowly, Fianna gently dropped her towel.

"...!?"

Kamito instantly covered his eyes with both hands—but,

"A sw...swimsuit...?"

Fianna was wearing a separate black swimsuit beneath the bath towel.

It was a water festival swimsuit, where thin veils were attached at the chest area and a pareo was wrapped around her waist.

She had both nicely tightened legs and a narrow waist that depicted her elegant curves.

Her slightly flushed body was beautiful like a descending goddess.

Kamito was charmed instantly—

"Eh, what's... the matter?"

"Wh...What?"

"Sh...Showing my bare skin to a boy... Kamito-kun, you are the first one, you know."

Fianna's voice slightly trembled as she embarrassedly muttered.

"Wh...Why...?"

Kamito gulped.

...He did not understand the point. Why was she doing such a thing?

As if his doubt was pointed out—

"Hey, sit."

Fianna gently touched his shoulders with her hands and made Kamito sit facing the reverse direction.

It was the sensation of a girl's cool soft hands. His heartbeat accelerated right away.

"Fianna, what are you trying to—"

Fuyon.

"...!"

Suddenly, a soft sense of elasticity was pushed onto his back.

Kamito's back jumped in a startle.

Fianna coughed—

"A...a princess like me is giving your back a wash. Consider this an honor."

She began washing Kamito's back with a bubble-foaming body towel.

"Er, wait a while, why are you—"

Kamito couldn't comprehend it and was completely bewildered.

However, if he turned around, he would end up looking directly at Fianna's bewitching swimsuit appearance, so he didn't move.

"Be...Behave yourself, do you plan on making me embarrassed?"

She said that in a sulky tone and strongly scrubbed his back.

"Ho...How is it? Does it feel good?"

"Well, even if you ask something like that..."

Honestly, it felt good.

Or, with a cute girl so close like this, there's no way that it doesn't feel good.

However, he felt like he'll lose something important as a person if he said his honest thoughts.

"Yo..You're surprisingly stubborn... Hurry up and get ensnared by me!"

"Ensnared!?"

Funyu. Funyun.

He felt like he heard some sort of dangerous word just now, but his senses were taken away by the sensation of her breasts pressing on him and his mind immediately became hazy.

(This is... bad...!)

Kamito, who was brought up as an assassin since he was young at the Instructional School, did not even do training against this kind of allurement. As, he was at the age where he did not yet require a counter-measure for such a thing, and his contracted spirit was keeping all approaching females completely away from him.

However, Kamito was now of the marriageable age of a youth.

He was already on the verge of losing his reason to the sensation of her breasts, pressing through her thin swimsuit.

"H..Hey... where are you touching!?"

"Be...Behave yourself! I'll tell your true identity to that girl."

"Th...That's right! Why do you know about Ren Ashbell—"

Kamito was about to turn around and ask her— at that moment.

*Bam!*— Suddenly, the bathroom door opened.

"...!?"

Over there was—

"C...Claire...?"

Claire Rouge, who was looking downwards and whose shoulder was trembling.

"Kuu, I can't believe you've already recovered..."

Fianna tightly bit her lips.

"Yo...Yo...You guys, wh...wh...wh..what are you doing?"

"You...you're mistaken, this is, err—"

*Gogogogogogogogo...!*

Claire's red hair bristled like flames flaring up.

Kamito resigned to being turned to cinders like usual.

"..."

Claire's movement, after raising her whip up, suddenly stopped.

In her ruby pupils, flames were burning up, as she was sternly glaring at Fianna.

Fianna expressed a composed expression. Pitoo— she stuck her breasts onto Kamito's back.

"Fianna!? Wh...why are you doing something like adding fuel to—"

Kamito tried to separate his body in a fluster, but his arms were tightly held.

"I'm now washing Kamito-kun's back. Could you please not bother us?"

"Kuu, yo...you guys..."

(Ah... I'm so dead.)

Kamito strangely closed his eyes with a calm mood.

However, the move Claire took next was completely unexpected.

It wasn't the usual where she blew Kamito away with her Flametounge—

"I...I'll... also wash your back."

"Eh?" "Huh?"

She sternly glared at the two of them who were dumbfounded— and informed them.

"I mean I'm also entering the bath!"

Part 6

"Ho...How is it, Kamito? Does it feel good?"

"Ah, I'm the one who's making you feel good, right?"

(Wa...Wait, what... kind of situation is this!?)

Three minutes later, Kamito's head was completely in a panic.

...He wondered if he was having a nasty nightmare. However, this sensation he felt on his back was real.

In a bathroom for 1 person to use, he ended up being covered in bubble-foam with two beautiful girls for some reason.

Furthermore, Claire wasn't even wearing a swimsuit. Her naked body was just wreathed around by a bath towel.

Her vivid crimson red hair looked pretty on her fine milky-white skin.

She had a petite build and slender proportions.

That lovely fairy-like body of hers was more than charming enough, even if she was lacking breasts.

There were red belt marks on her thigh seen through the slit of her towel. Claire had her animal-training leather whip wreathed around her thigh. Those marks were strangely captivating.

Kamito eagerly tried to not look at the two of them, but because the room was small after all, he would end up closely stuck to their skin with just a slight movement. That sensation ended up further boosting his imagination.

"Kyaa...hey, what are you touching, idiot!"

"Ah, if you move like that, you'll rub my front...Hyauu."

It was that situation just by twisting his body a little due to the ticklishness.

(Give me a break...)

If boys of about the same age heard this, they might think that it's the Shangri-La of dreams, but, as for Kamito, he felt like it was as if he was sitting on a bed of nails.

...Why was this happening, he did not understand the point.

It was probably because Claire had an opposing heart towards Fianna that she ended up blurting out such a thing, and it became that she couldn't back out, but— as for Kamito, who was dragged into this, this was intolerable.

He should be getting out from here as quickly as possible, but if he moved even a little, he would end up directly coming in contact with their skin, so even if he planned to get out, he couldn't get out.

"Hey, I'm the one who's making you feel good, right? Say that it feels good!"

"Ouchhh, you're peeling off the skin on my back."

"Eh, it hurts so much?... Wow, your back is full of injuries."

"Ah, that's because I've always been hurt by a certain somebody."

"I...I'm sorry..."

Kamito groaned with a deadpan look and Claire awkwardly apologized.

"—No, I'm joking. Those are old wounds from the past."

The injuries on his back were gotten from the time when he called himself Ren AshbellStrongest Blade Dancer before.

"...Hn? Fianna, what are you looking at?"

—Claire frowned and looked at Fianna.

"I...it's nothing."

"What's the matter with my spirit seal?"

Fianna had been intermittently gazing at Claire's spirit seal on her right hand since a while ago.

"Di...didn't I say that it's nothing!"

Fianna let out a flustered voice unlike her usual self and quickly averted her eyes.

Claire stared at her in such a state, seemingly puzzled—

"...Your spirit seal is at such a place. How unusual."

She had gotten a quick look at a part of her spirit seal at Fianna's cleavage, who was wearing a swimsuit.

"If I recall, you're a holy spirit user?"

"Yea... that's right."

Fianna, who answered her, had a slightly stiff expression.

"What kind of spirit is yours, summon it and show it to us."

Kamito also had an interest in that. As teammates participating in the same quest, they should at least have a grasp of the type of spirits being used. That was also, without fail, the duty of being in the team.

However, Fianna turned away with a seemingly displeased look for some reason.

"I'll show it to you when necessary. An elementalist doesn't thoughtlessly summon her contracted spirit."

Certainly, there were also elementalists with that kind of thinking among the academy students.

As there was the possibility that their spirits would be seen through by rivals from their appearances to their attributes, weaknesses and so on.

On the other hand—

"If you don't make communications with your contracted spirit daily, mutual trust can't be created."

There were also people who thought like Claire and they were the majority in the academy.

As either opinions also have a reason, either side couldn't be unconditionally said to be correct, but—

For some reason, those words of Claire seemed to have gotten on Fianna's nerves.

"...You won't understand. Claire Rouge."

"...? Hey, what do you mean by that—"

"I'm getting out already."

Fianna muttered with an ice-like voice and quickly stood up.

—At that moment.

He heard the faint sound of weapons from afar.

It was something normal humans would fail to hear, the sound of metal clashing.

However, Kamito, who once received training at the Instructional School, certainly heard it.

"Kamito, what's the matter?"

"There's a battle occurring within the academy—"

It might be a fellow academy student's duel. No, if that was the case, the Sylphid Knights should have immediately stopped it.

"I have a bad premonition."

That was a pure uneasiness— to be honest. His intuition as an elementalist, which was honed as he went through countless battles— that was the only one he wanted to believe that did not dull as he expected.

(There's no doubt, there's a terrible fellow—)

He dashed out of the bathroom, nimbly put on his uniform, and then Est turned up, rubbing her eyelids and looking sleepy, in her pajamas. It seemed that this sword spirit felt an unusual phenomenon.

"Kamito, there's something not good outside."

"Ahh, sorry for waking you up, Est."

"No, Kamito. I'm your sword."

Kamito grasped Est's small hand and the girl's body turned into particles of light in a moment.

At the next moment, Kamito's hand was gripping the elemental waffe— Terminus Est.

He felt that her sword body was smaller and her radiance was also duller compared to usual, but because she had just woken up, it couldn't be helped.

Kamito jumped out from the room's window.

"Wa...Wait up... ahh, come on! Come, Scarlet!"

Claire called Scarlet and jumped out chasing Kamito.

Translation Notes and References

1. ↑ simmering sfx.

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