Epilogue: Revival of the Dynasty
“Uh-oh, it went out.”
The feed relaying the preliminary between Menace and Leina got cut off, its last image a female hip wrapped in polka-dots.
“What’s this stuff now?”
The bearded merchant Hans muttered, worry showing in his tone, when he saw the magic characters that were circling the crystal ball once and again: ‘Please wait a moment’.
“Someone interrupted it, didn’t she?”
Echidna interjected opposite him. They had been watching the fight together.
“Still, it was a good fight, wouldn’t you say?”
“Hmm… I’d have liked a bit more service tho.”
A lecherous expression showed up on his face.
“You make her say such an idiotic statement, and you need even more service?”
“Yeah, she has such a precious Hot Bod, don’t you think it’d be fine if she fought in a more eye-catching way?”
“Ah~~~~, so that’s what you meant.”
The elf murmured in disgust.
“For an old man, you’re still energetic.”
“I am to be active for the rest of my life! Even so, I never expected her to be as honest to a fault as to say that all the time.”
“That princess, she’s unexpectedly innocent, huh.”
“Still, thanks to this interruption, we were able to talk for a bit. Umumumu.”
He grinned, and started managing his business without delay. On the other hand, Echidna wondered about why Leina hadn’t used the Sword of Unicorn in that fight, while casting a sideways glance at him.
[She was holding a weapon with an overwhelming power against undead foes, so why did Leina challenge Menace only with her own might, never using it?]
“Was she afraid of being blinded by its power, or…?”
***
“Moving on, here’s a nourishing massage rich with mud.”
The fingers of the slim masseur Sitaara, blindfolded with the same blue and white stripes used in Menace’s underwear, stroked Leina’s back as she laid face down.
“Ahya…”
The tickling got a moan out of the warrior. Next to her, Nowa was receiving another massage of her own.
After finishing the fight with Menace, the princess had listened to the heiress' wishes and invited the residents’ family to the Khan Oasis. In order to make sure she actually followed through, Leina and Nowa decided to stay in the oasis for a while. While at the same time, obliging Menace’s request of wanting to know more about the world.
Several days had passed since then, and there was no sign of Nanael invading again. Menace seemed to have given up on the Sword as well, leaving it with Leina.
[I sure became the owner of a troublesome weapon.]
The blonde sighed.
[To be honest, it’s quite obvious the weapon is too much for me. However, I once vowed to protect him. I must keep my promise.
I have to find the power. I must become skilled enough to protect Fio.]
“Three meals a day, a massage and a nap… if we stay like this, we’re going to get spoiled rotten.”
“Yup, Nowa thinks so too~”
The girl agreed with a relaxed voice, like she had lost the energy in her whole body.
“Say, Leina.”
“What?”
The heiress replied, as the fingers massaged the stiffness out of her whole body.
“What is Fio? A boy? A girl? Or not human at all?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because, you know, Fio’s a bit of a mystery. At first glance he seems like a girl, but he’s actually a boy, isn’t he? And yet, he feels like he’s not human.”
“Not human?”
“How do you say, like a mythical beast?”
‘Kiikii’, went the monkey Lou to emphasize the half-elf’s words, from its position near them while eating fruit.
“A mythical beast…”
While her eyes rested at the Sword of Unicorn placed next to her change of clothes, her imagination ran wild trying to guess his real nature.
***
As far as Fio could tell, Menace was already the queen of the Amara dynasty.
She quickly issued commands, then spent her day gracefully afterwards. She stood on her balcony twice a day, showing a cheerful face to her subjects, and never neglected behaving with the prestige of the nation in mind.
Ever since that happened, Menace summoned Nubia as much as possible, giving orders to bring the family members of the inhabitants. After all, only those demons or the huge scorpions were able to transport people safely through the desert areas.
Of course, she also didn’t forget to let the residents write letters if they wanted their families brought. The Amara dynasty wasn’t a kingdom of kidnappers.
“I kept my promise, Saria.”
“Err, sorry. I’m Fio.”
He had heard about Saria from Devil Setra, and even though he didn’t hate being mistaken for her, it did bother him a fair bit.
“Ah, that’s right.”
The princess then hugged Fio from behind, while shaking her hips.
“Eh? Ah…”
“Ufufufu, it suits you perfectly.”
“Ah, no… that’s…”
After her clothes had gotten cut off by Nanael, Menace had come up with a matching costume for him.
Of course, they were women's clothes, a flimsy thing consisting of an apron and a small piece of cloth covering his crotch. So, when he saw her happy at them suiting him so well, he didn’t quite know how to reply, to be perfectly honest.
“It feels like you being a boy is a lie…”
Menace’s hand slid down from his side to his thighs.
“Hyawa… s-see here, Miss Menace…”
The soft warmth of the brunette glued to him was transmitted to him from his back, along with a shivering, ticklish feeling.
“Fufufufu, you really are a boy, aren’t you~?”
Her finger traced the proof of a boy from above the thin cloth.
“Ah, if you touch that place, it’s no good.”
Fio tried to escape by twisting his body. However, as the master of martial arts she was, holding him down was trivial to her.
“Hey, what if someone sees us like this?”
“It’s alright. I ordered them all to leave~”
“Ah~, not quite, y’know.”
Surprised by Setra’s unexpected voice, Menace quickly leapt away from his back.
“Sigh~, Milady, sorry to cut in just as it's getting good, but it’s time for your massage.“
“Oh my~, what a pity~”
Relieved, the boy sighed while seeing off the princess, who left the room accompanied by Devil Setra.
“Phew~, that WAS close. This cloth really is too small.”
***
A pure blue world that overlooked the earthly world.
In a corner of the heavenly world, where the angels—apostles of god—lived, Nanael was trying hard to fix her hairstyle.
“Thunder all of a sudden, aren’t you mean.”
The angel complained as she tidied up her hair, frizzy after the thunder attack from the Head Angel. It hadn’t killed her because she was an angel, but a human from the ground would have been charcoal by now.
At her waist, the small bottle made a dry, clanking sound. While staying in Heaven, the bottle wasn’t filled with Holy Milk. That was purely a rule for Nanael to follow while on earth.
“If I didn’t have to carry the Holy Milk…”
[If my actions weren’t so limited on the ground, I’m confident I’d be able to clear any mission the Head Angel asked me for, piece of cake.]
“What if you didn’t?”
The dignified voice made her straighten herself out.
“H-Head Angel.”
“That Holy Milk is necessary for your trials. The fact that you make light of it only means there’s much you must learn yet.”
Nanael bowed her head in reverence: ‘yes ma’am’. She wouldn’t be able to take being thunderstruck again if she didn’t watch her tongue.
“Didn’t you go to bring the Sword of Unicorn?”
“I found its location. I postponed it for a while though. Even with my power, if I have the restrictions of the Holy Milk on top of fighting 3 vs 1, I’ll keep losing.”
“Isn’t that because you didn’t follow the rules of Queen’s Blade?”
“Guh…”
[If I hadn’t interrupted and had proposed a preliminary with Leina, I’d definitely have won.]
“Falling behind earthly warriors even after disregarding the rules and interrupting a battle…”
The Head Angel’s words took on a somber shade.
[Crap. At this rate, she WILL strike me with thunder again.]
“Worry not, Head Angel. This angel of light has worked out a plan.”
“What are you scheming? You can’t do anything that defiles the name of Heaven, just so you know.”
According to the Head Angel’s orders, anyone interacting with the world below had to follow the rules there.
“We’ll remind the human beings that we are apostles of god.”
Nanael decided to put a certain measure into action, using Queen’s Blade to achieve her purpose.
“With the faithful supporters on the ground of us angels!”
As she looked up at the Head Angel, Nanael’s face was full of confidence.
***
Menace had made good on her promise. By now, the people living in the Khan Oasis weren’t just the men who honored her. With the appearance of their families, their wives and children, the oasis had turned a new, vibrant leaf.
Using the flying carpet handled by the Nubias, the residents’ wives and children kept coming one after another.
Leina heaved a sigh of relief, seeing their happiness at being together again.
“It sure is a relief.”
Nowa put Leina’s feelings into words.
“Yes, the princess did keep her promise.”
“No point in staying here anymore then.”
With a tired voice, Fio urged them to leave.
“I can’t take this desert heat any longer.”
No sooner had he said so, he was already hopping into the flying carpet the Nubias had spread out before them.
A flying carpet. One of the few treasures of the ancient Amara dynasty left in the Khan Oasis, that had been arranged to bring the three of them to a nearby oasis with a coach station.
“In any case, I kinda wish one of these could take us to the capital.”
“Unfortunately, that’s impossible.”
Nubia took Fio’s silly talk seriously.
“Why?”
“We are the very curse that runs through this land. Therefore, we cannot leave the desert.”
“So, the other oasis is about as far as you can go?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s not good to be so demanding. We won’t have to walk back through the desert, so that’s plenty, right?”
“It’s the first time Nowa gets to fly in the sky!”
While Fio was busy talking with Nubia, Leina and Nowa got on the carpet as well.
“We’ll be leaving now, honored guests!”
The carpet floated casually along his voice. A moment later they were flying through the Khan Oasis, and Fio saw Menace standing on her balcony.
“Goodbye, princess!”
The boy waved at her effusively. Leina and Nowa also waved, bidding farewell to Menace.
The princess lightly raised a hand at them, seeing them off in silence. No word of farewell left her lips.
***
“Say, Milady, was it really wise to let them go?”
Standing in the balcony as they were, Devil Setra asked about the three they had seen off.
“That kid is Fio. He isn’t Saria.”
She suddenly closed her eyes, a tinge of loneliness in her figure.
“Everything has changed. This earth, the people, the countries. Everything…”
“Milady…”
“A kingdom with only a king would be laughable, but I’m lucky enough to have subjects who serve me.”
Her gaze turned to the oasis under her. All around the town, she could see how the inhabitants were joyful at the reunion of their families, the very families the Nubias had brought forth.
Children’s laughter mixed in the voices giving praise to Menace.
“We must fully revive our Kingdom as soon as possible for their sake too. To that effect, we can’t be getting into any unnecessary conflicts.”
“Milady, you’ve thought that far…”
Setra was momentarily lost for words. He had thought he’d have to lead and protect her highness forever; her having learnt the responsibility befitting a member of the royal family only made him impressed.
“I am a princess. Isn’t it natural to think of the people first and foremost?”
Her radiant smile saw off the silhouettes of the three people as they faded beyond the desert.
***
“My Princess, we shall be on our way now.”
With Nubia’s words as a cue, the carpet left the Khan Oasis, jumping out into the desert bathed by dusk. If they kept up that speed, they’d be arriving at their destination in less than half a day.
“Now then…”
Leina turned to the boy, as the Khan Oasis shrunk far in the distance now.
“Say, Fio. What were you doing while we received our massage?”
A rather mischievous smile decorated her features.
“Eh? Nothing much. I was just talking to Miss Menace.”
“A normal talk?”
“Why’d you ask anyways?”
“Because I left the Sword of Unicorn nearby, and it grew bigger, so I was kind of curious… Are you sure you really didn’t do anything?”
Leina prodded further, her cheeks blushing now.
“Nothing happened.”
“Really?”
“Really, sheesh!”
He ended up shouting to escape the blonde’s relentless hounding.
“That aside, what I’d like for YOU is to reflect, Leina.”
With a pout, he pointed at her.
“R-Reflect?”
“Yeah, this time around, things worked out fine because Nowa and I came. You have to act a bit more careful in the future!”
Being told so at point-blank, the Vance heiress couldn’t possibly refute it. It was certain that had Nowa and Fio not come, she would still be the Guardian of Amara.
“Yeah… sorry. You two sure helped me out this time.”
“As long as you understand!”
“Ehehe, Nowa doesn’t mind. All’s well that ends well, right?”
The half-elf smiled, and held out before the two a pouch Menace had given them on parting.
“So, should we split this up? It was supposed to be a souvenir, too.”
“What is it?”
“Why don’t you open it, Fio?”
“Eeh, why me.”
Despite his complaints, he opened the pouch… but couldn’t believe what was there.
Inside it was a small cloth decorated in blue and white stripes.
“There’s a message card in it.”
Disregarding the speechless, frozen stiff boy, Leina read the card aloud:
“What’s this… ‘Dear all, I present you with the Curse of Stripes, which only the Amara royal family is allowed to wear, as a token of friendship. The wonderful comfort you’ll feel wearing them will captivate you like a curse’… it says.”
There were a total of three stripes of underwear.
“The first one is yours, Fio.”
Nowa’s comment made Leina laugh despite herself.
“How mean, you don’t need to laugh!”
Even as he protested, the boy laughed as well, which in turn made Nowa burst into laughter.
The carpet kept flying, rushing through the desert sky, carrying with it the laughter of the three people.
***
The great tournament Queen’s Blade determines the Continent’s ruler.
Women do battle with each other every four years, with the dream, aiming to become Queen. Preparing for the tournament that would take place somewhere on that day.
Who can obtain the crown?
Leina? Menace? Or maybe a messenger from Heaven, or an evil god from the Netherworld…?
They won’t know that unless they fight.
(End)
Afterword
At the peaceful Okita house.
My son came to me with a book in hand, while I was drained after finishing the second volume.
“Daddy, read me this picture book~”
His pure eyes shone with curiosity at it.
“Let’s see… ‘no restrictions next turn’… what!!”
Oops.
It was a Queen’s Blade book that, despite having managed to keep out of his sight so far, I had left as is in the writing room.
“The rest will come when you become a junior high school student.”
“Eeeh!”
That’s how QB became PG13 in our home.
Hello everybody, this is Eiji Okita. Did you enjoy the 2nd book, “Return of Amara”, following “Sword of the Unicorn”?
As you can see from the subtitle, this time Lady Menace is one of the leading characters. This might also be the blessing from the Amaran god.
Regarding the destruction of the Amara dynasty and Anarista mentioned in the story, the 2nd Beautiful Fighter Biographies book should be released almost at the same time as this one (right, Mister Hans?); if you listen to it, it will deepen your understanding of the Queen’s Blade world.
In the afterword of the previous volume, I initially wrote that characters that hadn’t gotten a turn popped out before I noticed. Well, a similar phenomenon occurred this time.
I think she brought more depth to the world with her. Who is she, you ask? Isn’t it more fun to try figuring it out after reading the story?
Now, ever since the first volume, I’ve been called things like I must be “crazy” (as a praise) or “an alien from the planet Boobs”. So, let me level with you: I love me some boobs. Size doesn’t matter.
I like women’s boobs. Is there anyone who doesn’t?
I like boobs so much I talk about them even while watching swans being hit by the rain. I like boobs so much I welcome mornings after trying to decide which is better, “boobs” or “boobies”.
It sounds like I’m a bit of a pervert. With me saying “boobs, boobs” all the time, nobody will think I prefer asses to boobs. And yet, how foolish it is to talk about the beauty of the female body by individual parts!
Conclusion: Eiji Okita loves women’s bodies.
That might make me sound even more perverted, won’t it? If I keep writing any more than this, I might let the cat out of the bag, so I’d rather stop.
Next time, the story is finally going to unfold in the imperial capital. Because it’s there, “that person” and “that person” will show up, and I intend to have “that girl” reappear, since I wasn’t completely satisfied with her role this time.
I hope you keep supporting me in the future.
Now then, everybody, let’s open our character book on page 57:
“Do only Extended Range next turn.”
What kind of movements would you choose?
Eiji Okita
No comments:
Post a Comment