Chapter 4: Words of Oath
Nanael was bored. Bored enough to regret letting Fio leave just like that.
“I knew I should have asked him for the Sword of the Unicorn.”
She muttered, floating in the air.
(Nanael… I know you're there Nanael.)
And that was when she heard the Head Angel’s voice inside her mind.
“Eh!?”
(What have you been doing on the surface? I haven’t heard any reports recently.)
“Ah, was it time for our scheduled communication, already?”
Realizing that she had but completely forgotten, she broke into a cold sweat.
[No joke here, she could strike me down with thunder.]
(You *could* say that.)
From the Head Angel’s tone, she could have sworn she was hearing a bit of thunder coming already.
“Ah~, if you get angry that much, you’ll get wrinkles, Head Angel.”
(If so, please don’t make me angry. Now what is your status report?)
“Err, yes. The strategy to make faithful servants on the surface succeeded. It’s still ongoing, in fact.”
(Is that so? Then, what about the Sword of the Unicorn?)
“I succeeded in making contact with it. After this we’ll be picking up the actual article from the owner.”
(Oh my, that sounds quite reliable, considering it’s you we’re talking about.”
“Please leave it to me. If I get serious, I can pull off at least this much.”
Nanael scoffed. One could argue that she was clearly getting carried away.
(So I can expect good news, then.)
“Yes, please do. You might even prepare a party if you like. For the next time I go back to Heaven, I’ll bring the Sword with me.”
The angel affirmed so categorically.
(If you say that much, I assume you’re also prepared for any shortcomings.)
The blue-haired girl didn’t quite know how to respond to the other’s prodding.
(Nanael?)
“B-But of course, yeah!”
Even as sweat ran down her temple, she puffed up with pride.
After bragging so much, it wasn’t like she could say anything else anyways.
Nanael closed her eyes and recalled her plan.
First of all, securing a headquarters and servant on the surface. That was a success.
Next was contacting Fio, who had a deep connection with the Sword of the Unicorn. So far so good.
And then, taking the Sword for herself somehow.
“Aah, I shouldn’t have let Fio go, I should have kept him as hostage!”
The church staff frowned for a moment when they heard the angel muttering such troubling things inside the cathedral.
‘The one taking care of her is Melpha, so if it isn’t broke…’
As if collectively agreeing, the nuns decided to ignore her completely, and went back to work.
***
Rana was looking at the door Leina had left from with a dejected expression.
[Maybe it was my fault that Fio left.]
Young as he was, he could understand that much. His careless words had caused Fio a great deal of pain.
When he thought about it, his small chest hurt.
“Hey, Rana?”
The mother called out to his son not to startle him, and crouched to his eye level.
“Yes Mom?”
Still with a look like he was going to cry again, he looked up at her.
“Rana, do you like those two?”
“Yep.”
“Then, what if we go help them a bit?”
A smile floated on his face when he heard that.
“Really?”
“Yes, has Mom ever lied to you?”
“No, you haven’t.”
Before the eyes of the nodding child, Cattleya started preparing for battle.
[Judging from what Leina said, the angel won’t just give Fio back obediently. Depending on the situation, the Priestess of Gainos Melpha might come out as well.
She has a reputation for not being able to refuse if asked for something. If the angel orders her to, she’ll get in the way even if she doesn’t wish to.]
The mother replaced the store’s apron with the leather one for combat, and reached for her greatsword Giant Killer.
“Now, should we go? You don’t need to go pee?”
“Yup, I’m ok.”
“Alright, Mom will do her best.”
Leading Rana by the hand, Cattleya opened the door of the shop.
***
The sound of the cathedral door opening interrupted Nanael’s thoughts.
[It’s still too soon for prayer. If this is Melpha coming back though, she’s pretty late.
Buuut, if she happened to drop by a certain place and buy a polka-dot Chiffon cake, I guess I can praise her.]
Always interpreting things for her own benefit, she turned around in midair.
“I’m back, Lady Nanael.”
Melpha looked up at her, her golden hair flowing.
“Welcome… woah!”
Her eyes didn’t fail to notice Fio, hiding behind Melpha as he took a look around.
“E-Err… yes…”
The priestess had come up with a blank when trying to explain about Fio… but the angel wasn’t paying attention anyways.
[Good job! Now that’s a good gift to bring home.]
The angel smiled, holding herself back from starting a little dance.
[Forget the cake, this is a whole banquet.]
“Oh my? Have you maybe decided to become mine?”
With an attitude as arrogant as ever, she slowly descended by Fio’s side.
However, her feet never actually touched the ground. She thought that setting her feet upon the ground would be a disgrace as an angel.
“The thought never even crossed my mind.”
Fio denied it with all he had.
“You don’t have to try so hard to deny it. I might make an exception for you and bring you to my bedroom.”
Nanael’s true bedroom was in Heaven. Occasionally, she took men she liked there, and had her fill of making them change clothes and clean for her; that was a game she kept secret from the Head Angel.
“Y-Your bedroom, Lady Nanael?”
The blonde turned a reproaching look at her, God knows what she was imagining.
“As long as I’m alive, I don’t want to go to Heaven.”
The silver-haired boy turned the invitation down.
“I came here just because I thought I’d like to sing one of the hymns is all.”
“What!”
The priestess’ eyes started shining the second she heard the word “hymn” out of his mouth.
“Will you sing for us?”
“I’ll have to request some sort of compensation though.”
Fio made sure to mention compensation. If Leina were there, she’d have gotten angry at him for daring to charge them.
“Compensation…?”
A wrinkle found its way between Melpha’s eyebrows.
“After all, a non-believer just coming and singing doesn’t speak well of the doctrine, does it now?”
“E-Err~, I don’t really think so myself…”
The blonde began, a complicated expression on her face.
“If that’s not possible, you can pay me in kind. Just letting me stay here or treating me to a meal would be fine.”
Her expression was clearly telling him he wouldn’t be able to obtain any cash payment, so he changed his offer.
“If that’s the case, feel free to help yourself to both.”
The cathedral had accommodation facilities for pilgrims, and places for poor people to eat as a community service.
[If Fio uses those, she won’t need to feel awkward in her house, and she won’t run into any problems.]
The priestess heaved a sigh of relief.
“How about being honest?”
Nanael waited until both were done talking, then whispered by his side.
“Honest? What do you mean?”
“You can’t fool an angel’s eyes, kitten.”
The angel grinned, getting even closer.
“Like, when you came home you found yourself with nowhere to go back to… is that it?”
Fio got a bit flustered when she suddenly hit the bull’s-eye.
[No way, can angels really see through it all?]
She didn’t miss his agitation either.
“If you don’t have a place to stay, you can live here. Melpha will be happy for it, and you’ll be protected from evil beings, it’s a win-win.”
She continued without a break. One of the tactics of negotiation was not giving the other time to think.
“And… if you ask me, I can keep your Sword of the Unicorn safe. I can effortlessly take it to where others’ hands can’t touch it, and if you want, I can use it in Queen’s Blade.”
The angel closed in on him, a smile on her face for good measure.
***
Joining Queen’s Blade using the Sword of the Unicorn.
He stammered involuntarily, considering the angel’s proposal.
“T-That’s…”
It was quite an attractive offer.
Considering what had happened to him that day, he’d be inclined to agree in keeping the Sword in a safe place. When Nanael mentioned a place out of everybody’s reach, she probably meant Heaven.
[But… that’s…]
“Huh?”
A question popped up in his head, and he had to wrack his brain to find a good answer: wasn’t that the same as Leina saying she wanted to throw the Sword away somewhere?
“What the heck…”
Fio murmured in self-deprecation. He didn’t have any right to get angry at Leina now.
“So? What do you say?”
Nanael’s face suddenly popped up beside his, pulling him back to reality.
“I’d like you to answer as soon as possible.”
The angel came closer, in a visibly different attitude than when she had repelled the Airi lookalike in the morning. Her previous calmness was nowhere to be found now. Right now, she sounded more like back in the Khan Oasis, when she interrupted the battle between Leina and Menace.
“W-What are you so impatient about?”
He waved his hands, uncomfortable before the girl who seemed like she’d resort to force if things didn’t go her way.
“I’m not impatient at all. Now, take out the Sword of the Unicorn.”
She abruptly brought her face even closer.
“ ‘Take it out’? How can I? I don’t have it on me.”
Sensing as if looking away would be an admission of defeat, he also brought his face closer to hers.
They could feel each other’s breaths on their skin. They were close enough that they would kiss if any of them lost their balance a bit.
“Liar!”
Her bark made him shrink back reflexively.
“I know exactly what you’re hiding here!”
At the same time she yelled, she flipped up his skirt all at once.
“Ah!”
Nanael froze up when she saw what was inside the flipped-up skirt.
“Wha…”
Fio felt his cheeks blushing.
What the angel was seeing was the silhouette of his dick bulging in a small, thin triangle cloth. The undeniable proof of a man.
“Aha… hahahaha.”
While Nanael let out a dry laugh above him, he hurried to lower his skirt. The folds of his skirt descended with a rustling sound.
“Come to think of it, you *were* a boy, weren’t you.”
Nanael whispered so that only he could hear.
“That’s right…”
His voice was trembling.
“If you know, get the hell outta here!”
[You idiot angel!]
Holding nothing back, he threw a kick at the angel from within his skirt.
“Uhyaah!”
When it hit her, Nanael rolled above the church’s floor. Being floating half-heartedly as she was, she kept going in a straight line—not slowed down by friction against the floor—and only stopped when she hit the wall.
“Seriously, what’s with your memory? Are you a goldfish?”
He yelled at the angel, exasperated at her audacity—having gone straight for his junk not only once, but twice.
“Fufufufu… you have some nerve, kicking an apostle of God twice…”
With a fearless smile, she popped back with a little swing. His kick might have caught her straight on, but he didn’t have any combat training; he couldn’t possibly expect to hurt a beautiful fighter such as her.
“If you like getting kicked, just tell me and I’ll oblige.”
Fio lifted the hem of his skirt and shuffled his ankles.
If Nanael had come up with a strong plan to bring him to Heaven, there wasn’t much he could do to prevent it. At most, he could only struggle and resist to the best of his abilities.
“E-Excuse me…”
Watching the interaction between them, Melpha timidly called out to them.
“What is it, Miss Melpha?”
He turned around, a business smile suddenly on his face.
“E-Err~, yes. About *that thing* just now…”
The way her cheeks were blushing as she asked with a downcast look, he could tell his identity as a man was out.
“W-What do you mean by *that thing*?”
Still, he tried to play dumb. As long as Melpha didn’t speak about his true nature, he’d rather keep her believing he was a girl. That way, the priestess wouldn’t need to be embarrassed.
“It’s about your underwear.”
“Ah~, did you notice it?”
“That’s a wonderful chastity belt!”
“Huh?”
The blonde’s interpretations made him doubt his ears.
[Now I didn’t see *that* coming…]
Chastity belt: a kind of armor worn by some noble daughters or women who serve God, in order to protect their purity. It seems the nun misunderstood it as Fio wearing that.
“Ku… kukukuku.”
In a corner of his eye, he could see Nanael holding back her laughter.
“That’s wonderful, that’s really wonderful, Miss Fio.”
Melpha kept speaking, seemingly not minding the angel:
“I had heard that there were some customs where women before adulthood were made to wear clothes like men to protect them, but I didn’t think there was anyone who actually practiced them.”
The priestess raised her glasses, looking straight at him.
That pure gaze made his chest hurt.
[I’m lying to her. But on the other hand, I can only imagine the impact she would suffer if she found out I’m a man.]
“Nanael… do you have a minute?”
Fio whispered at the angel, who was too busy desperately trying to hold back her voice.
“What? Bit too casual, aren’t you?”
“I’d like to keep my sex hidden, but is this okay?”
He quietly whispered into her ear.
[This is a form of gambling too, since Nanael doesn’t care about keeping my sex hidden.]
After a brief silence, she just whispered back: ‘It’s fine’.
“Now, picking up where we left off…”
Having succeeded in holding down her laughter, the angel jerked her body closer.
“Where is the Sword of the Unicorn?”
Grinning, she firmly pinned him down by his waist.
That way, he wouldn’t be able to escape.
“Lady Nanael?”
Melpha was confused at her actions.
“If you want the Sword of the Unicorn…”
But before he could finish his sentence, the doors of the cathedral burst open:
“If you want the Sword of the Unicorn, it’s right here!”
The shout came from a warrior who had just appeared at the entrance.
With silver rings gathering the golden locks at both sides of her head and wearing shining silver armor, Leina stood still with a dignified air, looking at the three of them.
“Fio, I came to solve the misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?”
He looked straight at her, outstretching both hands.
“You want to throw the Sword of the Unicorn away somewhere, Leina.”
“If I was going to throw it away, would I carry it like this?”
The warrior pointed out to the Sword wrapped around the strap of her waist.
“Yeah, that! That’s what I was waiting for!”
The angel yelled, still gripping his waist tightly.
“Let’s go back, Fio.”
Leina gently held a hand towards him, ignoring the angel.
“You won’t go back, will you?”
The other whispered in his ear, hugging him from behind.
“Nanael… I…”
The angel’s fingers at his lips stopped what he was going to say.
“You don’t need to say a thing.”
After preventing him from talking, she scowled at the warrior in front of her with a harsh look.
“If you’re so eager, why not settle it in a preliminary?”
When she heard the angel’s proposal, Leina instinctively reached for her sword, vigilant.
“A preliminary? Against you?”
The heiress sent her a quizzical gaze.
“No, it’s not me who you’ll fight.”
In turn, Nanael’s gaze turned to Melpha, who had been just watching the situation unfold before her.
“You’ll fight our Melpha, and if she wins, Fio will stay here. How about it?”
“Eeh! I am going to fight?”
Suddenly dragged into it, the priestess let out a surprised cry.
“If you win… well, we can let Fio decide then.”
The angel ignored the other’s objection and moved on, as if the fight was already decided.
“Priestess Melpha here is strong~, so strong that all the bad guys go ‘stop, I see the error of my ways’.”
The religious girl blushed at Nanael’s exaggeration of her abilities.
“Fio… is that okay with you?”
The boy only turned his face down in silence to her question.
“Now, Melpha, fight over the church’s prestige! This is an order from Nanael, a messenger from God! It is, so to speak, an oracle!”
“Eeh!? But…”
“No buts! Fight, Melpha! For God!”
Opposing Nanael’s increasingly commanding tone was something the priestess just wasn’t able to do.
“W-Well~, Miss Leina. This is how things are…”
It was a bit of an understatement, but Melpha gently took out her crystal ball.
“It seems we have no choice but to fight.”
Leina only stared at her with a crisp expression on her face.
***
There was a big square in front of the church. That space was where believers and citizens alike gathered and bustled in events like large gatherings and festivals, but it was also used sometimes as an arena, normally when people related to the church fought.
In the city of the Queen, preliminaries and battling anywhere but in the arenas were forbidden. The sole exception was in front of this church. The rumor about the Priestess of Gainos Melpha fighting in a preliminary had spread like wildfire among the followers, and in just a little while a lot of spectators were gathering there.
Preliminaries; that was what the battles that happened before the main tournament were called. Unlike Queen’s Blade proper, where the Queen decided each participant’s opponent and the court magicians brought the participants to their selected arena, every fighter could freely choose their foe. This allowed the participants to fight frequently to measure their own skills and get a feel of the opponent’s abilities before the tournament. It was no exception to say that every time two Queen’s Blade participants met, a preliminary would begin. And it was no exception there in Gainos.
Though fighting in enemy territory was something Leina had experienced time and again, this fight was different to how she usually went about things.
The position of the onlookers was in front of Melpha, that is, the crowd gathered behind her. Somehow she felt like their gazes were focused on her back and buttocks, it couldn’t be more uncomfortable.
“Now, Miss Melpha, shall we begin?”
With a calm voice, she held up her crystal ball.
[As soon as we start fighting, the spectators’ gazes will stop mattering.]
The goddess statue with the swords flickered inside those pale shining crystal balls held up high.
The preliminaries began with every participant holding out their crystal ball—the very proof of being a Queen’s Blade contestant.
“E-Err~, please don’t be too hard on me.”
Melpha bowed as she gently carried the crystal ball in her palm.
“Exiled Warrior Leina!”
“Priestess of Gainos Melpha!”
In response to their self-introduction, the crystal balls floated up while displaying magic characters, and stopped at a point in midair.
“Skirmish approved!”
The voice of the court magician in charge of the fight echoed in the square, giving rise to cheers from the audience.
“Lady Melpha! Lady Melpha!”
Many of the spectators gathering there worshiped the same god as Melpha, so it was obvious they were going to cheer for her.
Among the cheers, a stone statue of a woman holding swords was materialized—the umpire statue that would judge the fight.
“We will start the preliminary between the Exiled Warrior Leina and the Priestess of Gainos Melpha.”
“E-Err, I have a proposal regarding the conditions for victory.”
Melpha addressed the statue.
“How about adding the condition that whoever gets three knockdowns on the other wins?”
“If there is an agreement between both parties, there will be no problem.”
When the statue replied, the priestess turned her gaze to Leina next.
“I don’t have any problems with that.”
The warrior accepted the proposal.
“So, for this battle’s rules, whoever is knocked down three times will be defeated.”
The referee image stated the rule with an indifferent tone.
“We will start the preliminary. I expect both of you to give it your utmost effort.”
Along the declaration from the statue, both fighters looked at each other, their weapons poised.
Will Leina win with her long sword, or Melpha with her rugged flail?
They won’t know that unless they fight.
***
“So, it’s finally starting. Who do you think will win, Leina or Melpha?”
Nanael had claimed for herself the best seat at the church’s entrance, overlooking the battle, and asked the boy by her side with a joking tone.
“I… don’t know.”
He turned his face away. He didn’t know which of the two winning would turn out to be better for him.
[Melpha keeps worrying about my health, and even though Nanael wants the Sword of the Unicorn, she fought for me.
I don’t have anything against them. After all, they did say they liked my songs. Someone who likes songs can’t be a bad person.
Still, when Leina came to the church, I felt a bit happy. She said there was a misunderstanding…]
“Not very pumped up, huh.”
The angel didn’t really know how he felt, and sighed at his dispassionate reply.
“Well, it’d be better for me if you stayed here~.”
***
[If I give Fio one more push, I might be able to bring him to my side.]
Nanael thought about the mission that had been imposed on her as she gave a glance to the boy—who looked at the battle between the two with a sour look, without cheering for Leina.
She didn’t know all the details, but the Head Angel said she had to bring the Sword of the Unicorn back to Heaven. Bring back, recapture… going by that wording, it was likely that the Sword originally belonged to Heaven.
So, what would happen to Fio after the Sword was recovered? The Head Angel had said nothing about that. If that was the case, there would be no problem if Nanael took him under her protection.
[At the end of the day, he’s a pretty boy who everybody believes to be a beautiful girl. In a few years, he should grow up into a handsome man. It wouldn’t be bad to raise him myself until then.]
“Nanael…”
[It seems I’ve gotten too lost in my own fantasies.]
The boy’s uneasy voice canceled her dreams, bringing her back to reality.
“What is it, Fio?”
She asked back, smiling as wide as possible.
“You’re… drooling.”
With a disgusted tone, he pointed at her lips.
“A lewd angel is just the worst, don’t you think?”
“Z-Zip it, will you!”
She hurried to wipe her mouth.
***
[How beautiful!]
Those were Melpha’s thoughts from the bottom of her heart, seeing the opponent standing in front of her.
The way she grasped her sword, no hesitation whatsoever crossing her eyes. She had challenged her to this battle to achieve her own goal.
[I’m not sure what misunderstanding there was between Leina and Fio, but maybe she’s trying to clear it with her actions, rather than with her words?
Still, I have my own position to think about: as a participant of Queen’s Blade and representative of our faction, I can’t afford to lose that easily. I decided to fight, so I have to give it my all.]
She put strength into the hand holding the flail.
“I’m the Exiled Warrior Leina! Here I go!”
Announcing her name once anew, the warrior jumped straight at her, thrusting with her sword.
“Eek!”
Reflexively, the priestess stuck out her flail, maybe a tad too fast.
With a high-pitched metallic sound, the tip of her flail knocked down the tip of Leina’s sword. Despite having been just a reflex, it seemed she had successfully prevented the other’s attack.
“Not bad.”
Grinning, the warrior came at her again, swinging her sword.
[If that’s what it comes down to, I can only do this one thing.]
“O’ Great God, rain divine punishment on my opponent!”
In front of Leina, the priestess sat down all of a sudden, as if to pray.
“W-What? A knockout?”
Seeing her sudden move, Leina’s hand stopped.
Capitalizing on the chance, with cheeks dyed red, Melpha slowly opened her closed thighs.
Even if it was covered thanks to the thin cloth adhering to her body, the warrior could clearly see her private mound and the lines starting from there, leading to the valleys of her rising buttcheeks.
That was one of the so-called “Holy Poses” to manifest the power of God.
“Ooh! Praise the Lord! Praise God!”
“The revelation!”
The audience behind Leina clasped their hands together at once.
Feeling where the believers’ gaze was focusing, Melpha’s expression was stained in shame.
“No way, did these people intend to watch this sort of thing?”
The heiress quickly realized why all the audience was standing behind her: they were there to see the nun’s silliness.
On the other hand, bathed in countless gazes, the priestess could only put on a troubled expression, her cheeks burning. Even if it was for God, it was hard for her to bear this much shame.
[However, this is also a trial given to me by God.]
As proof of God’s might, sacred power began gathering in the flail, giving off a dim light.
The moment she sensed it full of sacred power, she rotated her weapon. The light left behind an afterimage, shining like a disk.
“E-Eeh?”
Unable to comprehend what was going on, Leina could only manage a confused voice.
“Prepare yourself!”
*Woosh*, went the flail as it released a disk of light.
“Wha!”
As one would expect from a veteran warrior, Leina managed to dodge the disk by a hair’s breadth.
“W-What was that?”
Having lost its target, the projectile continued straight ahead until it hit one of the spectators.
“Ugebuh!”
The victim made a pitiful scream, and collapsed on the spot with a now emaciated face.
“Aah, I-I’m sorry.”
Melpha scrambled to bow towards the audience. She had never thought for a second she’d miss.
“You’ll have to excuse me, but you were fighting me, weren’t you?”
The Vance daughter came with a side blow at her.
“Hyaah!”
As she screamed, the priestess dodged the strike with a nimble, elegant motion.
“Once again, this time for sure!”
Having dodged the blow, Melpha opened up her legs again while chanting words of prayer again. The believers’ gaze matched perfectly with her surge in sacred powers. Enduring the embarrassment and making those unconventional poses in front of the believers was the best way to collect sacred force.
Amid the resounding cheers around the square, Melpha firmly sensed that the power had gathered in her flail.
“Again?”
Leina muttered with an amazed tone, approaching her with sword in hand.
“Too bad, it won’t work a second time.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Leina, I’ll tend to your wounds later, so please forgive me.”
[At this distance, it can’t miss.]
The priestess swung down her weapon, while apologizing to the approaching foe.
*Bzz*, went the tip of her flail on its way down.
“I’m not inside your range yet.”
Leina reflexively retorted, seeing Melpha’s inexplicable actions.
“No, I’m sure you are.“
A pale glow jumped out towards Leina from the weapon that should only have hit empty air. It was a perfect delayed attack.
There was no way the warrior—convinced that she would be releasing the holy power the same way as earlier—would be able to dodge this.
“Kyah!”
The pale shining disk hit Leina square in the abdomen. The impact made her let out a short shriek, greatly staggering her.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
Apologizing to the other, Melpha hurried to close her legs and stand up.
***
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