Queen's Blade ~Another Story~: chapter 3

After her proper introduction, Siam meets Leina. What will happen?

Enjoy!

Episode 3 : Siam, Leina and the Pet

"The Vance Earldom sure is absurdly big."

(Trespassers who came here on their own shouldn't complain.)

Siam muttered, scolding herself.

After all, she was here to find a top grade beautiful fighter to challenge to a friendly match (whether they wanted to or not). So sneaking into the Earl Vance’s domain in search of said strong opponent had seemed like a good idea at the time, but...

"Did I expect too much?"

She had heard that despite the vast size, an intruder (much like Siam) would be promptly cut off no matter what. Yet here she was, having met not a single soul so far. Was it because this area was a frontier district?

A tad disappointed, Siam still had the sense to appreciate her good luck. While she did accumulate some battle experience so far, she’d still felt a bit nervous whenever she was in unknown territory. Siam touched her eyepatch to calm herself.

"...I can do this."

It wasn't much, but she recently hit a string of consecutive victories and thanks to these, felt she was finally figuring out her own fighting style. Remembering what the taste of victory was like, Siam smiled.

"Though, I did lose that first time..."

She couldn't remember all that well how her first match had gone. It was all over in a flash anyhow. On top of that, Siam couldn’t even remember that first opponent’s face... perhaps that, along with her doubts on continuing her journey after said loss, were just minor effects caused by the magic tool she had just acquired... at least, Siam could only hope so.

"In the end, it was a good thing I lost."

Siam was far from a sore loser and that defeat had taught her a valuable lesson. Namely, "Don't fight when you can't win." It sounded pitiful, but she had learnt that the key to any match was knowing what you and your opponent were capable of.

And today, her little trip to the Earl's grounds was in no part a reckless gamble... she could tell, she had a good chance at a victory here... or so she thought, yet...

"I'm not encountering anyone, am I?"

Siam began to wonder if she should try her luck back at the ridge nearby... though, with a recent rumor that had been spreading of some "brutal attacks on people" there, it had caused a sharp decline in people passing by the area. Another reason why she had come to the Earldom, but it wasn't as if she was getting any luckier here.

"I wonder who'd do something that flashy?"

(That annoying rumor has me stumped.)

Siam sighed, and at that moment...

"!"

The nearby thicket shook...and she could hear the telltale signs of something coming her way. Siam slowly readied her sword.

The eyepatch's power lifted her fighter's spirit.

"Well? Are you one of the Earl Vance's pet dogs or something? Come out, whoever you are!"

And then a tiger leapt at her.

"Father's territory is so absurdly big."

(Daughters who are trying to run away from home shouldn't complain.)

Leina muttered, scolding herself.

As romantic as it would sound to call this a journey (though to be fair, her goal really was to leave the territory), right now you could only call this sneaking away from home while trying not to get caught...

"Did I end up picking the right trail?"

In this vast territory, with intruders constantly invading, they tried to keep a near impenetrable guard... but, perhaps due to this area being of low priority, she hadn't run into anyone so far.

While Leina did appreciate the stroke of good luck, she forced herself to stay on her guard. As she checked to feel the weight of the sword by her waist, she focused her mind.

"...I can do this."

Having repeated those words so many times before during her previous attempts at running away, Leina smiled wryly thinking back to those times... She had learned a lot through those many past mistakes.

"The problem is Elina, though..."

She honestly wished she could forget the days where she had been dragged back by Elina’s hand. Not once has she been able to outwit her so far, and she was supposed to be the older sister.

Maybe she just wasn't the type for outsmarting others, Leina could only hope so.

"But today, it'll be fine."

After all, all these days of being dragged back after her escape attempts had taught her a valuable lesson. Namely, "Don't fight Elina." It sounded pitiful, but the important thing wasn't getting even with her younger sister; the important thing was to quickly get out to the outside world. Right now, Elina has been given charge of preparations for the ball organized by the Earl, as per their father's orders. So, being as busy as she was she couldn't really afford the time to be paying attention to anything else, Leina's chances of success were greatly increased.

"I won't have to go to the ball either, I'll kill two birds with one stone."

For the time being, her destination was a place called "Skeleton Ridge." It seemed like someone had been attacking many travelers there... Or so she had heard while investigating the soldiers and their movements as they made their rounds. Confirming that rumor was also one of the reasons why Leina had decided to run away from home, this time.

"If the rumors are true, I have to do something about it." She decided, her sense of justice would not allow her to do anything less. But, in order to prepare in case of a sudden battle, she really should start by finding somewhere to rest nearby tonight... As she began thinking it over:

"!"

The bushes in front of her shook... and nearby were the the telltale signs of a fight. She then heard the weak cry of a woman.

(Someone is being attacked? Could it be just like the rumor said?)

Leina readied her sword and charged through the thicket.

A tiger and a teary-eyed girl were there.

After taking care of the tiger, the cause of the current mess, Leina checked on the girl.

"Are you alright?"

"..."

Silence.

The girl was in a daze, maybe from the shock of being assaulted by a tiger, maybe from the sense of security from being saved from the tiger, maybe both.

(Basically, she never expected to meet a tiger tonight)

She felt for the girl. Though Leina had to wonder why she was even in the Earldom to begin with, she needed to calm her down first. But as Leina tried to speak again...

"You're strong, huh."

"..."

The girl let out a mutter, a mutter clearly filled with a lot of respect. Hearing her, this time it was Leina who fell into silence.

(Elina, that thing is your responsibility, keep a better eye on it!)

As it turns out, that tiger is Elina's pet. Though a bit rambunctious, it was pretty fond of Leina too and did listen to her orders. So from the point of view of someone who didn't know that, it must seem like Leina just drove the wild beast off just by yelling. Wait, that look...

"..."

"..."

That wasn't the kind of look of gratitude that Leina was comfortable with...

(She got rid of that tiger in an instant!)

On the other hand, Siam was feeling nothing less than pure admiration for the girl who saved her.

(All I could do was whimper helplessly...how embarrassing.)

If their positions had been reversed... Siam thought about it, a picture of the girl before her eyes being attacked by a tiger appearing in her mind.

(The girl's screams, her clothes being torn off by that wild beast's fangs and claws...)

Siam felt another kind of embarrassment after that little delusion. Shaking off the strange feelings, Siam expressed her gratitude into words once more.

"T, thanks for saving me."

"Y, you're welcome."

With the atmosphere smoothing out, the girls felt they could be a bit more honest and gave each other their names.

"My name's Siam."

"Leina."

"Leina," that name caught Siam completely off guard.

(The daughter of the Earl Vance!? That Leina!?)

Leina's fingers began touching Siam's face, whose body reacted by stiffening in fright.

"Hyaahn!?"

"S, sorry. It's turning red here... Probably because the tiger was licking you."

Leina took out some medicine and began applying some of it to Siam's cheek.

(Ah.)

The chilly sensation from the medicine and the movements of her fingers while applying it felt nice. The medicine applied, Siam couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed as she saw Leina's hand begin to pull away.

(The heck am I thinking about!?)

She could be the enemy the rumors mentioned, she may be the Earl's daughter but she was still a beautiful fighter. While she was kind enough to give her a hand, Siam should probably opt to remain cautious just in case. As Siam thought things over, Leina began to speak again.

"So, what are you doing here? If you don't mind me asking."

"..."

The atmosphere tensed.

"Pretty much the same as me huh? Heh, I guess we each have our reasons, probably best not to pry."

"...Eh!?"

The atmosphere deflated in an instant.

"Y, you're letting me off the hook just like that?"

"Well, for one thing you don't look like a bad person. And secondly, it'd be risky for me to stir up trouble here."

Leina gave out some half assed reasoning with a completely straight face, causing Siam to laugh in spite of herself. Leina also burst into laughter.

"Ahaha, you're a strange one."

"Fufuh, you think?"

After a good long laugh together, Leina grew more serious once again and asked Siam.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about the "rumor" concerning the ridge up ahead?"

"The one about the attacks on people?"

Leina nodded at Siam's words.

(I'll handle it.)

Of course, she couldn't say that, so instead Siam replied with another question.

"What if the rumor were true?"

"I'll defeat the culprit."

Leina answered without any hesitation, Siam panicked.

"W, wait."

"Eh?"

(Why am I getting worked up over this?)

Thinking that over, Siam tried to find her words.

"L, look, the rumor might be nothing really, you know it could just be a story that got blown out of proportion... in fact, you might only end up meeting someone nice and peaceful over there."

"You think?"

Leina looked a bit skeptical... but in the end, nodded at Siam's words.

"Nothing good can come from rushing in and being too hot headed. Looks like that rumor really shook me up."

"I, is that so?"

Feeling relieved, Siam smiled to Leina.

"Thanks. It was nice talking to you, Siam."

"I'm glad to have met you too, Leina. Despite the circumstances..."

Siam replied with a wry smile. They shook each other's hands and said their goodbyes.

(Gentle and strong. So that's a beautiful fighter?)

Siam recalled how the young girl had appeared earlier.

(And pretty...)

Remembering Leina's smile, Siam's heart throbbed intensely.

"W-what, I need to calm down, it's almost as if I'm..."

Complicated feelings all around, Siam hurried back to her home.

That night, Siam dreamt of Leina.

Siam, Leina and the Pet - End

Next time, moved by Leina's kindness and worried that a certain someone would go to the Skeleton Ridge anyways, Siam heads out only for something to appear before her... Next time, "The Witch's Familiar"