Enjoy!
When Elina saw lightning crackling through the Thunderclap, she leapt backwards.
[That lightning and thunder power her magic sword gives off, just what manner of thing it is? Should I wait and see?]
As she drew a great arc while airborne, she stole a glance at her father.
[He's watching us. It'd be a waste to wait and see.]
"Elder sister! I'm going all out!"
As soon as she landed, she made a big jump again. It really was like she was flying rather than jumping.
The moment she began falling, she focused her strength into a blow with the tip of her spear, the full force of gravity behind it, and tried to strike Claudette from above.
The latter lifted her Thunderclap to protect her head as she released electricity, spreading a blaze of a flash like a shield of thunder.
"Guh!"
An electric shock ran through the arm that wielded the spear.
It was the perfect combination of offense and defense.
Elina softly clicked her tongue, went through the blitz shield, and landed close to the redhead.
[If I'm this close, I can use Cursing Words.]
She had noticed Claudette was holding back for her. If she took full advantage of the situation, she'd be able to inflict a fatal wound.
[To be frank, I'm hesitant to use it against family... but then again, she's not an opponent I can't defeat if I don't go all out.]
Against Claudette, she had to peruse every possible advantage.
[I'm sorry, elder sister.]
Elina apologized deep in her heart, and whispered softly into her ear.
"Don't you think your look is too shameless to be called a General?"
Her rival's body shook with a twitch, and her movement stopped.
"You look quieter, too... Well, since you're quieter than Sister Leina, I guess no one would be following you if you didn't show some skin."
Elina took it up a notch at once.
Claudette still held her sword, enduring the Cursing Words.
"But, I don't think showing too much skin is good. I mean, won't all your skin soon..."
She stopped in the middle of her cursing; she had seen tears gathering up in Claudette's pupils as she looked up, ever so slightly.
"Proceed..."
Her older sister murmured, biting her lips.
"But, elder sister..."
"This is a feudal match. Show me your power."
With her face downcast as it was, only Elina could hear her.
"I'll endure all your words."
Hearing those words, Elina felt her face turning red.
Ku~~~~h!
[If you're going to say that much, I can't use the Cursing Words.]
Those scooped out the partner's anxiety, they were a skill to make the will of battle vanish. Yet, Claudette had just said she'd forgive whatever abuse she threw at her.
The Master Swordswoman Maria's Cursing Words were said to take it further and drive enemies to retreat, and to give an invincible boost to cornered allies. Unfortunately, Elina's never reached that level. She merely exploited the enemy's mind with a psychological attack.
"Won't you say anything else?"
The redhead turned her eyes, wet with tears, at her. It seemed the Cursing Words had worked perfectly.
"If you're done... let's go!"
Along with her declaration, Claudette unleashed a headbutt that approached her head.
[Her helmet has a shining golden edge attached. If I take the hit, I'll be more than sorry.]
Kicking the ground with all her might, the blonde jumped aside.
"Hyah!"
Several strands of golden hair fluttered in the sky. She had avoided the danger in the nick of time.
"Typical from the Thundercloud General. Your entire body really is a weapon."
Elina grumbled, poising her spear again. Her arm no longer felt numb due to the previous electric shock.
[If the Cursing Words are useless, I just have to seal her moves. If it's speed we're talking, I'm the best.]
With her skillful steps, Elina rushed in for an opening left by the Thunderclap. The sword cut through the air–*woosh*--, approaching as it followed her moves.
"Caught you!"
Catching her off guard after the sword's swing, Elina thrust with her iron nails.
*Ching!*
A clear sound echoed, metal against metal. Noticing she wouldn't be able to avoid it, Claudette purposefully held out her left shoulder, covered in armor, before the nails.
"I knew full well you'd block it!"
Without interrupting her movements, Elina unleashed a heel kick.
[In the first place, this chance never allowed for many fancy tricks.]
[Will you dodge, or will you take the hit?]
Whichever she chose, the general would lose her advantage.
Yet... Claudette chose neither.
"Generals don't retreat."
With a twisting motion, she changed the Thunderclap's direction.
"W-What was that?"
The flat of the sword repelled Elina's heel; the Thundercloud General hadn't dodged, nor had she taken the hit; she had intercepted her kick.
Elina couldn't contain her surprised voice at the unexpected action.
[Still, I can't remain amazed forever. I'm in the middle of a battle.]
Right away, the blonde rotated her body, using the momentum from when her heel was intercepted. Facing those acrobatic movements at close range, Claudette instinctively put up her guard.
[It's my chance!]
As she spun her body, she released the wire from the spear. With its speed increased due to the added centrifugal force, it approached Claudette as if it was alive.
"You're quick... and yet..."
The redhead calmly knocked down the wire's tip with the Thunderclap's handle:
"It's still something I can follow."
***
"So strong..."
[Not even Elina can do a thing.]
Irma gasped, witnessing the strength of the Thundercloud General.
That magical sword, the Thunderclap, which combined offense and defense, was a splendid weapon. For one to be able to swing a blade taller than even herself, not only muscular strength was enough, she needed some serious skill.
And, above all, her every move looked beautiful, even the postures that preceded each technique; to the point where a statue could be made after her.
She had heard the Master Swordswoman's technique embodied the concepts of gentleness, strength and beauty. If one assumed the three Vance sisters had inherited each respectively, perhaps Claudette could very well have been beauty too.
[In that case, would Elina have inherited gentleness, or is it strength?]
Irma leaned half her body forward to watch the two fight.
***
The Thunderclap came down following a huge motion.
"Talk about a motion easy to see through, elder sister!"
Elina parried the weapon with her spear, prepared to receive a shock.
"!?"
Only a run-of-the-mill sound of metal striking metal came out. There was no electric shock.
With suspicion in her eyes, the blonde swung her spear at Claudette.
*Thud!*
The Thunderclap's handle clashed with the spear. Again, no electric shock was coming.
"The audience."
Claudette murmured absently, as she held down Elina's spear with her sword's handle.
"It seems this won't end as a farce, elder sister."
Elina replied, looking her in the eyes.
***
"Mh?"
Besides the two of them, Irma was the one who noticed it at the earliest.
Claudette's gaze wasn't directed at Elina. And still, the blonde's eyes were staring straight at her sister's.
[What is she looking at?]
Without hesitation, Irma turned her attention to the redhead's line of sight.
There, she saw a maid walking slowly through the audience. The crowd around paid her no notice, engrossed as they were in the fight.
Despite herself, Irma held her breath. Because, the way the woman was moving was the same one she herself knew.
[An assassin of the Fang! Someone other than me was dispatched!]
It was fair enough to assume that, after she became a maid of the Royal Guards, someone else had been assigned the same mission of assassinating the Earl.
If one considered that the Earl Vance, rarely seen in public, was occupying one of the VIP seats, it was a no-brainer: this was a chance of a lifetime.
[Still, what's her game plan? She's way too far away to throw knives, and I don't think she's hiding projectile weapons in that maid's outfit.]
Unaware that her presence had already been noticed, the maid slowly extended her arms towards the Earl.
At the next moment, both of the maid's sleeves split without a sound, and Irma saw five daggers in the left and five in the right; ten daggers in total began to fly at the Earl.
Perhaps she was using some kind of powerful spring, but faster than she herself could throw them, ten assassin daggers accurately headed towards their target.
"Lady Elina!"
Irma shouted, instinctively.
***
"Go forth, my thunder!"
Lightning shot off from the Thunderclap, aiming at the knives thrown by the maid, while Elina leapt at the assassin by using Claudette's shoulder as a stepping stone.
After all, her sister's eyes had all but told her the exact location of the enemy.
With a splendid twist of her body in midair, the blonde turned her sight to the auditorium. Due to the wreck that maid had caused, the crowd had fallen into a mild panic.
Still, despite the screams and the hustle and bustle among the public, the Earl hadn't even raised an eyebrow; he calmly observed the blades aiming at himself as they got smitten down by the thunder.
"You cowaaaard!"
As she landed, Elina shot her wire towards the assassin maid.
As though she never intended to protect her own life, once she shot her knives, the maid was captured without putting up any resistance.
"Aiming at father while the great Captain of the Royal Guard Elina and the Thundercloud General Claudette are present, now that's very stupid for an assassin."
The Vance daughter said bluntly as she looked down on the maid, now gone limp.
"Lady Elina."
Kronenberg appeared, with him a few of the Royal Guards members that had been stationed around the stadium.
"You're late. What would have happened if my sister and I hadn't been here?"
"Do forgive me."
Kronenberg lowered his head, and put his hand on the nape of the assassin she had captured.
"What's wrong?"
The puzzled look on his face made her confused as well.
"She's dead..."
"Eh? I just bound her with the wire. How would she die from that?"
She couldn't hide her surprise. They wouldn't be able to investigate the assassin's background if she was dead.
"Maybe she committed suicide."
"Right... what a pity."
It wasn't uncommon for an assassin who failed their mission to kill themselves for the sake of confidentiality. However, it was the first time they had seen someone so quick at taking the lethal poison.
"I'm interested in the concealed weapon she used. Have it checked."
Elina gave him an order, then turned towards the Earl Vance, sitting in the VIP seat.
"We brought down the assassin."
She raised her voice so that the whole arena could hear her. The buzzing disappeared, and the whole place fell into silence.
Everybody was waiting for the words of the Earl, the one who had the situation under control.
"Good. Captain of the Royal Guard, Thundercloud General, you're the pride of our Earldom. As long as you're here, I won't fall before the knife from an assassin."
He stood up, and gave a brief glance to the rest of the arena.
"One girl died today. The one who ended her life was her master, she who gave her an unreasonable order. Someone who resorts to such despicable means like assassination doesn't deserve to be the ruler of this Continent. I'd like for you all to reconsider about who's more suitable to be its ruler."
"Loyalty to the Earl Vance!"
One person shouted from the audience.
"Loyalty to our leader!"
As if they had been roused, the crowd unanimously shouted, swearing allegiance to the Earl.
***
Irma only needed a moment to understand that the feudal match had been orchestrated in order to lure out the assassin and bring them down.
[There probably was some kind of meeting between Claudette and Elina beforehand. Otherwise, they couldn't have pulled off that combination.]
If it was just a fight between the two, it wouldn't have been open to the public; it could have been settled in the Vance's courtyard only inviting the people concerned, without bringing in such an audience.
[The Earl is fearsome.]
Irma admired how he was able to risk his life and stay calm before the assassin's knives.
"Compared to him..."
She swallowed her words when she looked at the corpse of the assassin, being disposed of by the members of the Royal Guards.
That nameless assassin had ended her life to protect a secret. If Echidna hadn't restrained her back then, she'd have forgotten all about her own goal and done the same.
[She was like me. It's not because the Earl said so, but I have to wonder, is it right for the Queen to send assassins, myself included?]
Hesitation clouded her mind.
***
"Elder sister, I don't think the match can go on, huh?"
Elina jumped down to the arena, and called out to Claudette, still paying vassal homage to her father, among the many cheers swearing allegiance.
"Correct..."
She answered, with a somewhat relieved tone.
"Captain of the Royal Guard Elina, Thundercloud General Claudette, I judged both your abilities to be outstanding, so this feudal match shall end in a draw. Keep exerting your utmost efforts in the future."
Elina also paid vassal homage to the Earl.
"It was my elder sister's victory. Not one of my techniques managed to connect."
The younger sister flatly admitted her defeat. Her jumping attacks, her Cursing Words, all the skills she was good with; none of them had ever managed to land on Claudette.
"No, it's a tie."
Facing her, the older sister smiled.
“My sword could never pierce you.”
To Elina, it looked as if her lips were barely moving.
Before long, Claudette stood straight and raised her Thunderclap. In a similar manner, Elina raised her spear.
"Our strength is your own, Earl Vance!"
Both announced so in a loud voice.
As if responding to their declaration, a thunderous applause resounded, and the Earl Vance slowly made his exit.
***
The next day, Elina resumed her journey to capture Leina, accompanied by Irma.
Having learned their lesson, three times the normal amount of preserved food (including sausages) had been procured for her, seeing as it could turn into a long trip.
All those preparations had been arranged by Kronenberg. He might have been useless in the battlefield, but when it came to managing a territory, having underlings who knew what to arrange to turn a battle to their favor was a factor that determined victory or defeat. In that sense, the members of the Royal Guards were the strongest personnel in the Earldom.
Of course, the driver of the carriage, Irma, was included there.
"Lady Elina, our destination?"
For the purpose of protection, there was only one highway from the Earl castle to the castle town. However, from that town on, highways extended to every corner of the territory. They should be deciding where to go before arriving there.
"Do we have any info?"
"It's just something I heard from lieutenant Kronenberg, but..."
The maid began telling Elina about what she had heard, as the carriage slowly advanced.
"Apparently, the Mistress of Flames Nyx lost against the Bandit of Wilderness Risty."
"Oh, as I expected from someone my sister considers a rival."
The wild redhead, leaving Leina aside, was a sharp thief well-known as Claudette's nemesis.
Elina had clashed swords with her by pure chance, too. She was an outstanding power fighter in the Continent, it was no wonder she had been able to bulldoze her way through Nyx' magic.
"Well, the witch doesn't really matter. Anything else?"
"It seems Lady Leina is staying in Gainos."
"Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"B-But, Gainos is the Queen's capital."
The maid was unusually nervous before Elina's angry look.
[Gainos is the stronghold of the Queen Aldra, she who opposes the Earl Vance. It's too dangerous to march there alone.]
"What about it? The Queen's Army is nothing to write home about. What matters the most is how soon I can capture my Sister."
Elina snorted, and rested her body on the carriage.
[Good grief.
Certainly, Elina once faced the Queen's Army on her own and broke through them. Even so, someone with Earl Vance's crest rushing into the Queen's stronghold would be nothing but reckless.]
"First of all, go to Sheldan."
"Okay."
As she whipped the horse, Irma began wondering if her role might very well be to keep the rash Elina in check.
***
"You should see her off, face to face."
At the castle's top floor, the Earl Vance called out to her daughter Claudette, who had been seeing her sister off from afar.
"I have work to do."
"Is that so?"
His father slowly approached her.
"If Elina can't capture Leina... it'll be your turn, Claudette."
"Acknowledged."
She took out the crystal ball concealed in her skirt. Seeing the figure of the sword-wielding goddess appearing inside it, her father slightly narrowed his eyes.
His own daughter was head of one of the big forces opposing the Queen's Blade system, but still couldn't avoid ending up participating in it...
"Am I solely to blame?"
Without reaching anyone's ears, the Earl's murmur got carried on by the wind and died off.
Irma's Diary Part 6
I tried to settle the matter of the Master Swordswoman's technique.
The Assassins of the Fang sent another assassin besides me. Since she failed, will they dispatch a second, and a third?
An operation to purge me out might take place. If that's the case, I have to produce some results.
Maria's technique seems to be something anyone can do, I think it might be some kind of mental trick. Elina told me I'd understand it if I saw it, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to figure out if she had used it or not.
However, very much like her battle with Tomoe, she did manage to stop Claudette (however temporarily) only by way of her whispers.
I've never seen such a skill before. Blocking the opponent's moves just with your words, a wonderful art to create an opening in your foe's guard. Could that possibly be one of the so-called techniques?
It's said that her techniques possessed gentleness, strength and beauty. I couldn't quite understand its gentleness, but I could tell it was beautiful enough.
The truly strong ones are said to conduct all their actions with beauty. And every stance of Claudette, Thundercloud General, mirrored exactly that.
I think she's about as beautiful as my teacher. If she participated seriously in Queen's Blade, no doubt she'd be one of the favorites. Claudette should be stronger than any beautiful fighter we've come across while I traveled with Elina.
Based upon that, I judge that focusing on acquiring something equivalent to Maria's technique for our Queen may be the best course of action, as my instincts warn me against delving further into the Master Swordswoman's techniques.
...What foolishness am I writing? This amounts to little more than speculation.
This is not worthy of being called a report. I'm ashamed of myself. If I have the chance later, I'll dispose of this diary.
Speaking of embarrassing, I was in trouble because I really couldn't get used to a new costume bestowed upon me as a reward from the Earl's royal guard lieutenant.
It's formal code that professes my status of serving the Captain of the Royal Guards, but the degree of exposure is too high, so it's very difficult to conceal weapons in it.
In particular, the daggers I've been able to hide below my skirt so far are now impossible to carry, which might hinder me in an emergency. I'll try to negotiate with Elina so that I can carry them.
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