Queen's Blade Unlimited Story: Chapter 1-2(a-1)

For the poll about the 3 so-called QB traits in a Queen, "kindness" won with 31v-56%, followed by "beauty" with 14v-25%, and then "strength", with 10v-18%.
Compared with the last time we did it, back then it was "beauty" which won with 31v-47%, then "kindness" with 23v-35%, and in last place again "strength" with 11v-16%.
Heh, if strength keeps being the least favoured trait, maybe they shouldn't decide the whole thing with a fighting tournament, amirite~?

Next poll is about Pixiv, since FS went and opened one (thanks to Koodu from the Discord for the heads-up :D).

Now we continue with the story, sauna time! Featuring a cameo from a couple gals from last time, too.

Enjoy!




Chapter 1 : Elina’s Journey (Part 2)

The story thus far…
Elina, who’d set off on a journey after her runaway sister, Leina, encounters a boy named Michel being chased by a Netherworld wraith, Airi, and helps him escape, as a show of her “ruler’s responsibilities” to the child.
But after learning the boy carried a miraculous whistle with healing powers, and that furthermore he was heading for the same place her sister was, Elina invites him to a local bathhouse to learn more about him and his tale.
Michel’s whistle, a mysterious item that shared its senses with its owner...

At the Baths

“It would appear I’ve lost their trail.”
Airi irritably nipped at her fingernails within the deserted alleyway.
Beautiful as she may be, Airi was a wraith; under normal circumstances, finding a mere boy would be child’s play to her. With the full extent of her powers, it would only take--... But that was the problem, there was something preventing her from doing just that. From the very moment she stepped into this city, she found herself unable to summon any of her lesser spirit brethren at all, making tracking considerably more difficult than it needed to be.

An issue caused by the Radiant Priestess, Melpha, who had erected a barrier around the city for the duration of her stay there mind you, not that Airi had any possible way of knowing so. That the barrier itself seemed to only leave Airi herself unaffected so far, on account of her being a registered beautiful fighter, only served to puzzle the wraith even further.

“Unacceptable, simply unacceptable.”

The maid grumbled, then closed her eyes to focus.

She thought back to the woman who’d taken Michel, her equipment as well as her outfit; a custom-made spear, a rather refined looking outfit… neither particularly fitting with the image of your average traveller. In which case, there were only 2 logical conclusions to draw; either the blonde was a resident here or she was someone with the means to get herself very well equipped for travel.

Given the blonde’s arrogant tone, Airi thought it safe to assume the latter.

With that assumption in mind, all she needed to do now was find out where nobles liked to go after an intense workout and… picking up Michel’s trail again should prove simple enough, yes.

“Right, time to get to work.”

***

A refreshing moisture tickled at Michel’s skin, a pleasant smell danced about his nostrils. Blindfolded right now, he found himself unable to really take in his surroundings but even without the benefit of sight, it was fairly obvious what manner of establishment they were in. It was a public place, where travellers could go relieve their fatigue and beautiful fighters could find rest and relaxation after battle.

A public bathhouse.

Mixed bathing being the standard for these kinds of places, the two were able to enter the same bath without so much as a glance.

“Watch your step.”
Elina called out as she lead the boy by the hand.
“O-Okay… thanks.”

The floor tiles were closely-grained, making them easy to slip on. If he didn’t mind his footing, he could seriously injure himself.
“From here on out, it’s nothing but bathtub, alright? Take it nice and slow.”
He could hear the sound of rushing water coming from the direction Elina was leading him in.
Her gentle hand still guiding him, Michel took one more step forward and found it sinking into bath water.

“Pheeew, feels great, doesn’t it?”

The boy nodded, struggling to keep his waist cloth from floating up to the water’s surface.

“Now, why don’t we start by sorting a few things out?”

The Vance girl lazily stirred the water’s surface, her eyes locked onto the fidgeting boy. He definitely had a boyish figure to him anyhow, she couldn’t say she’d noticed any funny business while they were undressing either, like him secretly being a girl or something.

She’d be lying if she didn’t say she wanted a better look at what might be lurking under that loincloth just to be sure, though that part might just be out of curiosity and wanting to compare her own preconceived notions on the subject versus the reality. As a nobleman’s daughter however, she knew better than to stoop to that sort of shameful behaviour.

In any event, it turned out to be a good thing she’d blindfolded him, as it kept the boy from noticing her gaze. She could talk and stare at his naked body to her heart’s content.

“Firstly, Michel.”
“Yes.”
“You have amnesia, is that right? Meaning you can’t remember who you are, what family you were born to or where you came from.”
“Right. The only things I happen to know are my name… that whistle, and that I seem to have some kind of personal mission to head to the land of Maramaks accompanied by a beautiful fighter.”
“As for the reason why Airi attacked you?”
“I’m not sure. Err… Well, I thought she was trying to help me at first, but…”
“But?”
“The moment we held hands, I felt something. Something awful. It’s hard to describe, but… it almost felt like going with her would mean the end of me. Something like that.”
What Michel had felt seemed to be fear, fear on an instinctive level.
“I guess it was… because she was actually a wraith.”
“Yeah, that was probably it.”
“So I ran… which eventually lead me to finding you, Lady Elina, and, unlike Airi, you were warm and… err, soft too…”
He clasped his hand, seemingly remembering something.
“Um… it was nice.”
“Forget that part.”
Hot water wasn’t the only thing making Elina’s cheeks glow red.
“And with that, we find ourselves all caught up again.”

Neatly summing the situation up with a disinterested tone, Elina looked up to the sky.
Although surrounded by high walls, to prevent peeping, the outdoor bath still had quite a nice atmosphere to it.

The blonde took a moment to try and collect her thoughts.
“Does it HAVE to be a beautiful fighter who goes with you to Maramaks?”
“I’m pretty sure, yeah.”

Then Elina really was out of luck, considering she wasn’t one. Qualifications wouldn’t be a problem for her sister, Leina, though.

Using the whistle to find the land of Maramaks meant closing in on her sister. That Airi was targeting the boy along with his whistle admittedly presented a bit of an issue, but given the instrument’s powers, Elina felt it was one that could be dealt with easily enough.

Hell, using its power to heal fatigue, the blonde had no doubt she could even secure victory through battle of attrition if they really needed to… though that particular solution lacked a certain elegance to it.

“Alright then, that settles it.”

The blonde suddenly shot up with a splash, spraying hot bath water everywhere.
She had finally come to an answer.
Until the two came across Sister Leina at the very least, Elina would stick around and help Michel out.

“Wawawah.”
“I declare that, as a ruler, it is my solemn responsibility to continue protecting the commoner known as Michel, so long as he still needs it.”
“Huh?”
“So there’s no need to keep running. If Airi attacks you again, you just let me worry about her.”
She assured the boy, her voice brimming with confidence.
“Never fear, I’m as strong as they come!”

***

“Holy Poses, huh? They look kinda tricky.”
“And just so. They’re far from the kind of thing one can hope to mimic after seeing someone else perform, only through rigorous faith and discipline can one find success in their execution.”
Their official match within the city streets done with for now, Melpha and Nowa decided to pop by the local bathhouse to rid themselves of any unwanted sweat and dirt they’d likely accumulated from the fight. Neither finding themselves able to secure a finishing blow, their battle had ended in a draw via timeout.

A lovely experience nonetheless as it turned out however. With Nowa being so curious about Holy Poses and Melpha being more than eager to learn all she could about the religious practices of elves (Nowa being half-elf herself), their common desire to learn more about one another made it easy for the two to start talking.

“This is where we take our clothes off and over there, is the public bathing area.”

Melpha also happened to be lending a helping hand to the half-blooded girl, who turned out to be shockingly ignorant of city rules and such. Letting that girl out of her sight for even a moment… Melpha felt as if she could very well end taking a bath in the city’s fountain or something similar.

The priestess had no trouble picturing it, the young girl getting buck naked in public with nary a thought to all the gazes around her.

“Okay, got it.”
No sooner had the half-elf girl replied, she was already hastily undressing herself.
“Ah, make sure to fold what you take off and put it in this basket here.”
Melpha reached for a nearby baskets when suddenly, something from the shelf slipped and fell onto a lower shelf with a light ‘clunk.’
“Hyah!”
Surprised, the blonde maiden hopped back.
“Ahahah, you’re too jumpy, Melpha.”
Nowa casually reached for the fallen item.
“It’s just a whistle, see?”
The smaller girl mused, then placed the whistle to her lips.

***