Epilogue: Back to Sheldan
The free city of Sheldan, renowned around the Continent as one of the areas holding the Queen's Blade matches.
The huge arena, said to be able to hold tens of thousands, where the crowd's voice should have been sounding like a huge musical instrument...
"This is quite deserted, huh~"
Elina flatly asserted so, as soon as they made it to Sheldan.
The arena was covered with a scaffolding made by a tree, and only the energetic voices of quarrying craftsmen could be heard.
A wagon transporting stones went and came from the suburbs' quarry to the arena, and though it was lively in a way, it was not the vigor Elina had been expecting to see.
"Apparently, there was a large-scale cave-in after we left the city."
"Hmph~"
Elina gave a glance to her surroundings as she listened to the maid's explanation.
In many places, collapsed houses had been abandoned. The owners seemingly had given up on rebuilding them, and sold them dirt-cheap just to be used as building stones.
Due to that, the shipping cart routes had been given priority over the city's main highway. The tourists, like Elina herself, left their carriages in the new urban side of town; the situation was such that they had to go around the city on foot.
Sheldan was a city originally built on top of old ruins. As such, collapses and cave-ins were not uncommon. What had been a blow to the city, though, was that the biggest draw, its arena, had been damaged.
As the customers attracted to the preliminaries taking place there dwindled away, the merchants had begun considering moving to another town, so as to keep their businesses afloat. The rebuilding of the arena might be going at a quick pace, but once the tourists leave for good, it'd be hard to bring them back again.
Even under such circumstances, Sheldan still had a port and a wagon relay station. The possibility that Leina had passed by there after leaving Gainos, as the rumors had it, was very high.
"Well, should we get something to eat first?"
The moment the noble girl entered the downtown part of the city, miraculously spared from the cave-in, she set foot in a shop that caught her eye.
"Welcome."
An old man, presumably the shopkeeper, greeted them.
"I want to order a meal, do you have a menu?"
"Do you think we have such a fancy thing, here at Logan's inn?"
The old man over the counter grinned, and turned his eyes to the crystal ball nearby.
"Oh, then we'll have two meat dishes."
Elina replied, and sat at a table with her maid.
"Lady Elina, eating at such a shop..."
"Oh my, look at you, Irma, talking like a noble's maid."
Elina chuckled, and turned her attention to the stage at the back of the shop. Intrigued, the maid followed suit.
A girl with silver hair, in a pure white dress, was singing in a beautiful voice to the tune played by some troubadours.
She wasn't just singing. She timed the movements of her hands and feet, building a rhythm with the bells attached to her wrists and ankles.
The noble girl held her breath unconsciously, and tried to make out the lyrics.
"In this world, there may be many amazing, legendary blades
Yet there’s but one that matters above all else
And that’s the one the Queen holds
There may be many named weapons
Yet there’s but one that matters to a master
And that’s the master’s own skills
Masters of the world, aim for the Queen’s Throne
She who is fit to become Queen, there’s but one
The Queen of the Blade is the Queen of the World
Dance beautifully, grip your blade
Dance beautifully, risk your life
Dance beautifully, in the field of battle"
After the song was over, the girl began to go around the seats, holding out a large leather sack.
Moved by the great singing voice, Elina clapped before she knew it, then threw a handful of gold coins in.
"S-So much?"
The girl's eyes went round.
It was only natural, too: with the amount of money the noble girl had tossed, commoners could live on for several months, if they weren't extravagant.
"Your voice is worth it. Be polite and just take it."
"T-Thank you."
She smiled like an angel, thanked her and ran outside the shop.
"Will that be fine?"
Irma asked her, her eyes following the girl.
"What will?"
"You've given away all the gold coins you had on you, Lady Elina."
"It's ok. With your share, we have enough for now, Irma."
As she said, Irma could manage the necessary expenses for their search, be it meals or inn fares.
"Well, you're right, but..."
"That girl just now had a companion."
In the same way as Irma, the Vance girl focused her attention on the dancer's destination. Apparently, she had made it back to her partner.
"Mh?"
Elina's eyes attentively explored the figure of that companion.
Gold hair in braids that hung on both sides, a leather belt wrapped around her right arm, armor and a shield; that was a person she'd recognize above anything else.
"Ah-!!"
She stood up, shouting.
[That silhouette is definitely my Big Sis'!]
None other than Leina, The Exiled Warrior, the one she has been searching for.
"Let's go, Irma!"
"Yes!"
Hearing her mistress' voice, the maid stood up as well.
"Hold on a sec."
"Huh?"
Grabbed by their shoulders out of the blue, both warriors lost their balance and fell down at about the same time.
"Who dares!?"
Holding her nose, Elina reached for her weapon.
[I know I was distracted because of Big Sis, but no ordinary fellow can get behind the Captain of the Royal Guard, Elina!]
"Just who do you think?"
It was Logan, the shopkeeper, who had stopped them.
"The dishes are ready. You don't need to eat, but do pay me."
He pointed to the steaming hot plates.
"Err..."
Elina searched her pockets in a hurry. Not even one copper coin remained.
After all, she had given the girl just then all her pocket change.
"Kuh, we don't have time for this! Irma!"
"Yes!"
The maid jumped out of the store before she had even finished speaking.
"Ah!! No! That's not...!! Wait! Lend me money!"
Ignoring Elina's cries, Irma disappeared into Sheldan's streets in hot pursuit of the duo.
"Sigh... Irma, you dummy..."
The blonde hung her head in disappointment.
"You gals sure got worked up... now, what will you do?"
The man asked her, as he arranged the dishes on the table.
"Hm, I have a favor to ask your lordship, actually."
"We believe in "paying as you go" here. If you can't do so, work to pay it back."
Elina sighed exaggeratedly, and sat back at her table. She could only hope for Irma to accomplish her mission and come back.
"Will you have money if your partner comes back? Well, you should wait patiently eating your meat then. Right, Miss Captain of the Royal Guard?"
Grinning, he encouraged the blonde to snack on the mass of chunky meat.
"You knew, and still got in my way?"
She frowned, staring at him.
"I'm a Queen's Blade connoisseur, you won't find a whole slew who can slip under the nose of Logan here."
He puffed up with pride without flinching before those eyes of Elina, which would intimidate even a white tiger.
"I've been through way more fights than you have, Captain of the Royal Guard. Staring at me will serve you no good."
"Then, why don't you tell me about any of those while I wait for her to come back? Especially if they involve the Exiled Warrior Leina..."
Frustrated by not being able to move right when she had the chance of her lifetime, she could only come up with that.
[If it's a boring story, I can always escape the moment he drops his guard.]
"Okay then."
He sat across Elina, and began talking slowly.
***
The great tournament Queen's Blade determines the Continent's ruler.
Aiming at that chance every four years, the battle between women dreaming to become Queen would take place somewhere on that day.
Who can obtain the crown?
Leina, the Earl Vance's eldest daughter, ran away in search of her freedom. Can her younger sister Elina, chasing after Leina, be able to capture her without problems?
They won't know that unless they fight.
Afterword
Been a while, everybody!
"Fierce Battle! Queen's Blade" was compiled in one single book.
When you read it, make sure your room is properly lit, so that your eyes don't get tired!
That's all this Eiji Okita will ask for here.
"FB! QB" appeared in the pages of "Novel Japan" as well as "Charano!" as a side story of the proper novels.
Now that it's gotten compiled like this, it does feel like "FB! QB" is a series of battles.
Each episode has independent content as a short story, but because it takes place in the same world as the book series, it crosses over in places.
I think it's also fun to read while alternating between the two. I'll also be very happy if someone who hasn't read the main series does enjoy this purchase here.
Now, serving as an advertisement for the main piece as well, I'll introduce each chapter.
"Tomoe's Suffering"
It's the memorable first story. It should take place before "Sword of Unicorn". It's the 'connection with Echidna Tomoe mentioned there.
When I was told to write a QB novel, I was inspired by the announced illustrations and went all out.
The tone might have been rather serious, but this was because the person in charge reminded me before I even started writing to begin as seriously as possible.
"Elina Assault"
Continues the previous installment and Tomoe gets lots of parts, an episode she mentioned in SOU that becomes an actual chapter here, affecting the full-length work at the same time I was writing it.
This way, I developed the episode I barely touched upon in the main piece, so as to complement it.
I did make an effort to depict Tomoe and Elina's battle as if it was one of the visual book's. Thanks to that, I think the battle ended up quite graphic.
As an aside, Tomoe fighting skilled warriors all around the Continent was one of the ideas I had before the long novels started, and there was "Tomoe's ten battles", too.
I want to make it real if I ever have the chance.
"BBQ Battle"
This takes place simultaneously as the end of SOU.
This one I came up with while making grilled meat at home.
It's an episode with way more comedy than the previous two.
When I talked to the person in charge of the full-feature work's initial concept, I heard things like: "Risty isn't that clever", so I tried to keep that in mind a little as I brought it to the spotlight.
Among the bandits, it was fun to come up with the 1:1 aspect ratio of that giant Wanabe.
If the heavens permit, I'd also like to write about Risty and her 40 thieves.
"Reparation by Fire"
This takes place after "Return of Amara", at the same time as "Message of Cattleya".
I'll be happy if you can read in MOC the outcome of the forced breakthrough I mention here.
When I was writing it, I turned the spotlight on the recently released "Master of Flame Nyx". It had been a long time since I last wrote about slimy tentacles, so maybe my brush slipped, I was warned about it being too risqué. It's difficult not to get carried away, huh.
Still, I feel sorry for Nyx ending like this, so I'd like to let her have her revenge in one way or another.
"Teacher & Student Showdown"
It came after MOC.
An episode where Irma is the main character. I wanted to make use of her various settings, including her personality as a cat lover. Since I also wanted to describe clearly the relationship between teacher and student, I had Echidna show up again.
I think you'll grin when you read the full conversation between Echidna and Earl Vance in MOC.
Other than Timorf, there are 4 white tigers: Tom, Wild, Hell and Bear, would be their names. Please don't inquire about Bear, it is a tiger indeed.
"Feudal Match"
It's a sequel episode of "Teacher & Student Showdown", or rather, its conclusion.
For the paperback edition, I made sure the Thundercloud General Claudette wasn't as talkative.
In this episode, Irma changes her wardrobe. That design of a costume cute yet with full marks of sexiness made me fantasize all kinds of things at once. Good job, Akagi-sensei.
As I mentioned above, this is just a simple supplement. The original plan was that it would introduce episodes the full-length work didn't cover in Biographies format, but all too soon became a weird story about the journeys of Elina and Irma.
About future developments, it'll depend on the support from your readers?
Last but not least, thank you to the artist Akagi-sensei for his splendid illustrations, they did give me the energy for a final sprint.
Thank you so much, everybody.
Let's meet next time with more Queen's Blade.
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