The castle of the Death King Isis, in the Land of Death. Two figures were walking side by side in the corridor of the castle. On one side was one of the Pleiades, the Celestial Blade Star Sirius, a tall Insectoid Swordswoman. Walking next to her was another member of the Pleiades, the Fox Monster Star Eulpecula, a peculiar Kitsune with a petite body and ten white tails.
The two had just finished a light training session and were on their way back.
[……And so, I have decided. I will hone my skills and challenge that swordsman to battle once again!]
[Geez, I’ve heard that story like a million times already. However, it’s quite strange, isn’t it? They’re such a great swordsman, but I can’t find a single rumor about them……]
[As Isis-sama had predicted, they might have gone to another world and been honing their skills there instead.]
[……Or perhaps, you’re mistaken on something, you know…… fundamental?]
Each and every subordinate of the Death King already knows about the story that Sirius is honing her skills with a swordsman who defeated her once as her target. Rather, she had been talking about it so often that people around her were tired of hearing it.
Eulpecula too, looked at her dumbfounded, wondering if she was gonna start talking about that story again, but thought that she must have missed something about this mysterious swordsman who was so hard to find.
Incidentally, as for this mysterious swordsman mentioned by Sirius, every subordinate of the Death King believed in Sirius’ words, so they assumed that the mysterious swordsman was real. Of course, the same is true for Eulpecula.
[The clue to this swordsman is that they’re an Insectoid like Sirius and use the Transcendental Soaring Serpent-style of Swordsmanship, right?]
[Yeah, that’s right.]
[Hmmm…… An Insectoid appearance is so distinctive that I don’t think you saw it wrong. In that case, isn’t it possible that you have misheard this Swordsmanship Style?]
[Fumu, I see, that’s an interesting way of looking at it…… Even so, would a slight difference in intonation make the words any more meaningful?]
Even though she said Eulpecula’s idea was interesting, Sirius still raised a question.
[Let’s see…… Transcendental Soaring Dragon-style…… That would be Chouetsu Hishou Ja-ryu…… Chouetsu Hishou Ja-ryu…… How about Chouzetsu Bishoujoryu, “Transcendental Beauty-style”, or something like that?]
[Hahaha, that certainly is quite the amusing name. However, you wouldn’t really give such a “clearly stupid name” to a school of swordsmanship, would you?]
[Well, I suppose you’re right. That was what fits in with the way it sounds but———— Eh?]
One of the Pleiades, Far North Star Polaris, happened to pass by Eulpecula standing alone in the corridor of the castle, tilting her head with an indescribable expression on her face.
[……Yaaa, Eulpecula. Why is it that such an object of poor taste, such as “lower body growing out of the wall” was attached to our beloved castle?]
[Moving at a speed my eyes barely see, someone in a cat costume suddenly appeared out of nowhere, struck with a tetsuzanko, snapped a pose and left.]
[……Did Sirius do something wrong for Phantasmal King-sama to do that?]
[N- No, I also don’t know about that. Sirius and I were just talking with each other earlier……]
(T/N: Tetsuzanko / shoulder tackle)
Puzzled, Eulpecula told Polaris about the conversation she had with Sirius earlier.
[……So, I said, couldn’t it be Transcendental Beauty-style or something like that, to which Sirius laughed it off before she was suddenly blown away.]
[Fumu, that certainly is incomprehensible. Even so, Transcendental Beauty-style is quite……]
Polaris was about to say something, but immediately stopped and stared into the void for a moment, before continuing with a slightly pale expression on her face.
[Well, that was quite a wonderful naming sense they have. I like the way it sounds, making you glimpse upon its shining techniques.]
[……What kind of “future” did you see?]
[……A future where another object of poor taste is added to the wall……]
Even though it functions under certain conditions, Polaris has Limited Future Sight, allowing her to foresee the consequences of her actions. This foreknowledge showed her the image of herself, impaled on the wall, just like Sirius currently is.
[……That means making fun of the Transcendental Beauty-style is NG huh…… No, I mean, isn’t it more about the “Transcendental Beauty” part? Alice-sama often refers to herself as a Transcendental Beauty after all.]
[Yeah, that’s probably true. She sensed that the word “Transcendental Beauty” was being made fun of, so Sirius was sanctioned because of it.]
[I guess so. Well then, let’s just pull Sirius out of the wall.]
Having come to that conclusion, they both pull out Sirius, who was stuck in the wall. In the midst of this, Eulpecula suddenly thought of something and muttered in a voice so small that even Polaris, who was nearby, couldn’t hear.
[……Could it be that the swordsman Sirius is looking for is actually Alice-sama? No, but if that’s the case, she would have no reason for her to transform into an Insectoid Demon Swordsman and appear before Sirius. Then, I guess that wouldn’t be the right answer huh……]
Eulpecula, whose genius extends to her way of thinking, sometimes intuitively comes up with the right answer…… But as to be expected, Eulpecula’s intellect wouldn’t have come with the Phantasmal King Alice…… just happened to be able to make a masterpiece sword, and Sirius just happened to show up when she was playing around in her costume, trying to act cool with her new sword.
<Afterword>
? ? ? : [Incidentally, Pleiaaadesuuuuuu~~☆ may apparently be continued to be written as Extra chapters from now on, but it seems like the next subsequent chapter would be back to the main story.]