Queen's Blade: Sword of the Unicorn, chapter 0-a

Regarding the "Sansuma" mobile collaboration thingie poll, "longer projects are more worthwile" won with 18v-58%, followed by "mix of quick collabs and longer projects!" with 12v-38%, and then "quick collabs give us something to munch on!" with 1v-3%.
Hm, I wonder just how popular this very collaboration was... and why it wasn't an Unlimited thing, instead of classic...

Now next poll, how about those funky holy instrument thingies Rebellion introduced?


...So, the prophecies long forgotten have come true!!
I'll bet you guys weren't expecting this when I mentioned we were preparing new stuff last month~

But yup, here's the beginning of the very QB novel in the flesh! In the end we never found a proofreader to help us with it, so I had to learn the ropes enough to prove to my partner that I could pull off most of it myself :3

If you've read a bit of the Unlimited stuff, you might recognize the style, though this story is notably more focused, the battles pleasantly longer, it has a bit more of worldbuilding, plus it features our so-called new hero Fio. How does he compare with Doormat Michel...? We'll let ya be the judges~!

And without further adeu, at long last, enjoy! :3

Prologue: Queen's Blade

The sound of arms echoed throughout the wasteland.
First, metal clashing against each other, the sound of locking swords.
Second, the sound of something hard being thrown towards the sky.
Third, instead of weapons, what was heard next was a man's scream.
"The match is over."

The female warrior pointed the tip of her sword at the now disarmed man—the movement making the silver rings holding her golden hair together sway. This warrior was protecting a carriage filled with travelers, fighting off the men attacking it by her lonesome.
Her figure, full of dignity and verily unlike a common warrior's, left the man stunned for a moment.
She wore long boots covered with metal legplates, a gauntlet and a shield reminiscent of a talon in her left hand. At first glance she might have seemed heavily armored, but... was she maybe placing emphasis on mobility? That her neck and her right, dominant hand, only counted on a belt for protection—wound many times over—seemed to validate the idea. Even the armor covering her body had only a minimal size, unable to protect the whole of the warrior's plump chest.

That armor, polished like a mirror, reflected the face of the dismayed, recently disarmed man.
"Leave this place."
The warrior looked behind the man, her sword still pointing at him. His allies were already well out of sight.
"Your friends are gone."
After being told all the men he had attacked the carriage with had fled, abandoning him in the process, the man hung his head, crestfallen.
"You’re... you’re just gonna let me go?"
He asked, his voice struggling to leave his lips.
"I never intended to take your life."
Her blue eyes, full of fighting spirit, fixed their gaze on him.
"You don't need to fight anymore, do you?"

Overwhelmed by warrior’s dignified tone, the man glanced at his dislodged sword before looking back to her.
He seemed at a loss. "Should I fight? Should I run away?"
"I'll say this once again: leave this place."
She drew her sword in closer, to aid him in his decision.
"If you don't, I may well change my mind."
"I-I got it. You win."
Hearing the warrior’s ultimatum, what other choice did he have? The man wisely left his sword and escaped.


"Whew..."
She waited for the man to be out of sight before sighing in relief.
"A-Are you okay?"
A voice came out from behind the now relaxed warrior, addressing her timidly.
"It's fine now. Their leader has been defeated, so they should leave you alone from this point on."
She answered to the people she had protected from the bandits.
"Thank you. We'll surely be able to cross the border safely thanks to your efforts."

An aged man, seemingly the party's leader, came over and extended his thanks.
"Please allow us to reward you... is what I'd like to say, but unfortunately, we can scarcely afford our own travel expenses as it is. Especially after our singer—our biggest earner by far—left our company to go on a solo career.”
At the leader's mention of a company, she noticed the people she’d rescued were a troupe of itinerant entertainers.
"Don't worry, I didn't fight expecting a reward."
She gave a graceful reply.

"If only there was something we could do for you..."
He had a troubled expression, as though he couldn’t allow her efforts to go unrewarded.
"I believe you said you intended to cross the border...?"
"Yes. We're heading to the Free City of Sheldan."
"How about taking me along in place of a reward?"
"We don't mind, but will that really be okay with you?"
The expression on his face brightened.
"Yeah, in fact, I was worrying about how I would cross it."
The warrior grinned.
"May I ask for your name?"
"It's Leina... the Exiled Warrior, Leina."

***

At the circular arena, the seats were full to the brim with people. As if responding to their cheers, the magic circle drawn on the arena sparkled.
"Tomoe! Tomoe!"
The crowd called out the name of a Warrior Priestess who’d become quite popular lately, despite her relative disinterest in the preliminaries as a whole.
Today’s scheduled match was Tomoe, that same Warrior Priestess, versus a mysterious girl known as Airi. Tomoe had already fought 10 battles there, but it was the first time she was facing this opponent.

Preliminary fights... also known as, skirmishes. That’s what the period before the actual Queen’s Blade was called. The arrangement of these skirmishes was left up to the participants; unlike the main fights, anyone could freely choose who to battle at this stage.
The participants fought frequently to learn of each other's ability and to measure their own power, in preparation for the real fights. It was no exaggeration to say that whenever two participants met, a fight would break out.
One city in particular prospered by taking full advantage of these preliminaries. The Free City of Sheldan, known as a trade and traffic hub and located between the Vance Earldom and the northern part of the association of free unions by the west of the Continent.

There was only one rule the preliminaries had to follow in this city: ‘Don't involve citizens’. Anyone caught breaking this rule would be regarded as a disruptor of the public safety, and be subject to punishment.
The most reliable way of following the rules was to fight in venues where third parties couldn't interfere. And no other place fit the bill better in Sheldan than the arena. That was why the women who wished to participate in Queen's Blade inevitably gathered there, where they had no lack of opponents to choose from.
In turn, the crowd headed for the arena expecting to see a battle between two tournament hopefuls from somewhere safe, with no risk of getting caught up in their battle. And so, during the preliminaries stage, every day a crowd turned up at the Sheldan stadium.

"Tomoe! Tomoe is here!"
The audience was excited. In the arena's ground, the magic circle slowly rotated as it shone, and made a single warrior appear out of thin air.
Between huge shouts of joy, the person who appeared at the battlefield was an exotic-looking warrior, with her graceful, feminine body covered with a pure white jacket and a scarlet hakama.
The only person participating in the Queen's Blade hailing from the mysterious country of Hinomoto, located in the ocean to the east: the Warrior Priestess, Tomoe.
Easily recognizable due to her modest outfit the likes of which one wouldn’t see in the Continent—especially considering how fighters typically preferred lighter costumes to move their bodies freely—, she had become a favorite in Sheldan due to her daring way of fighting.
During her stay over a month so far, she had fought 10 times. There was a single reason why she had been able to afford that rate of 3 days per battle; she hadn't ever received a critical injury.
10 fights: 8 wins, 1 tie, 1 loss. A winning percentage of 80%, a strength worthy of making it to the finals.
However, Tomoe didn't care about such details. As usual, she had come to the arena to enjoy fighting…

"I can't very well get used to this manner of appearing."
Narrowing her eyes due to the glare, Tomoe pulled out her sword. She performed a brief routine to check that her body was in working order, then returned the sword to its sheath.
[I must take care and prepare myself for battle.]
She took out two amulets from her bosom, and threw them in the air. As if surrounded by light will-o’-the-wisps, they stood still around the priestess, protecting her.
"With this, my victory is assured, no matter what the opponent utilizes."
Tomoe softly whispered as a prayer to her god, Masakado.
[I'm thinking aloud a tad too much.]
She noticed she was uncharacteristically tense. Today's enemy seemed to be different than usual.

The ring-shaped magic circle rotated, transferring her opponent. The procedure was said to prevent intrusion from a third party, but came off as a bit over the top at times.
"Oh..."
Tomoe smiled when she saw her transferred opponent.
She was wearing no armor. What she was wearing instead was servant clothes—monotone with a short skirt that was easy to move in. In her hand, she wielded a large scythe.
Seeing its short grip, chances were she was close combat specialist.
"Nice to meet you, Lady Warrior Priestess. My name is Airi, it will be my pleasure to tempt you into the underworld."

Her opponent pinched the edges of her short skirt and made a small bow.
The audience got into an uproar seeing that. With every sway of her skirt, they could steal a peek between the knee-socks and her miniskirt, which only emphasized the sexiness of the barely visible skin of her legs. The fact that she normally didn’t show much only monopolized the crowd’s eyes even more when she actually did.
With an air of youthful innocence to her, she remained still, weapon in hand, awaiting Tomoe's reply. The sole condition for participating in the Queen's Blade was to be 12 years old or above.  So fighting these sorts of opponents was not uncommon.
With a dignified expression, the priestess set her gaze on her foe. The stirred audience fell silent, as if cold water had been poured on them.
"I am Tomoe, the Warrior Priestess from Hinomoto, let us have a fair fight!"
Her hand produced a small crystal ball.
"Gladly!"
A crystal ball popped up from the maid's hand as well, and both stopped at some point in midair while displaying a few magic characters.
"Skirmish approved!"
The voice of a court magician, watching over the battle, echoed through the arena.
The stationary spheres emitted a certain light, and materialized the statue of a woman holding a pair of swords. That was the umpire statue that would act as the referee.
"The preliminary will be starting now. I expect you both to do your best."
The calm, lovely voice of a woman sounded from within the umpire statue, and that put an end to the crowd's silence, launching them into a frenzy as raging as an earthquake.
And yet, even in the middle of that crowd, Tomoe held her sword at eye level, unperturbed, scowling at her rival with a piercing glance.
"I will not go easy on you."
"It pleases me to hear that."
The maid replied, fearlessly.

Without any signal, both rushed out at the same time. Weapons ready, full speed ahead...
*Thump!*
Sword and scythe clashed with each other, sparks flying out. Airi likely lost in terms of strength, since her hands bounced up greatly due to the recoil.
However, neither took damage. Tomoe prepared her sword so as to connect with the next blow.
"You are not human, are you?"
The fire emitted by her talismans burned fiercely—proof that her opponent was no mere girl.
"Indeed, I’m a Wraith... again, let me tempt you to the underworld."
With a smiling face, Airi rotated her scythe, aiming for the shrine maiden’s legs. Anticipating it, Tomoe parried the blow with her sword.
"Aiming for the legs, have you no shame? I’d expect nothing less from inhuman beings."
As her sword made a sound from the impact—*shing*—, Tomoe loudly declared:
"One blow! I will send you back to your underworld with my next strike!"
Her prediction raised cheers among the crowd.
"Are you sure? I hope you are not overestimating your own skills."
Airi replied to her declaration, still smiling.

"Defeating evil beings fair and square is a Warrior Priestess' duty! Prepare yourself!"
Shrouding her sword with her talismans' fire, Tomoe made a big circular swing. A single strike that had cut down many spirits in Hinomoto, the Spinning Slash, approached to cut Airi in two.
"How naïve you are."
Faster than Tomoe's sword could reach, Airi stretched her left hand, her skirt fluttering with the motion.
"!"
The maid's fingers grew thin and transparent like tentacles, and gripped Tomoe.
"Haah!"
As the cold fingers grazed her bare skin, Tomoe's lips couldn't suppress a scream. The transparent fingers spread past Tomoe's priestess attire and the talismans' defense, and touched her skin directly.
But that was far from all.
Along with those burrowing fingertips—which seemed drawn to her heart—, Tomoe felt assaulted by a sensation as if her body temperature was falling drastically.
In contrast with Tomoe, shivering in cold, Airi's cheeks were blushing.

"Marvelous."
Smiling, she looked down on the writhing priestess.
"Kuh! You foul evil beast!"
Tomoe twisted her body to try and escape from the wraith’s fingers, but ended up completely losing her balance, exposing her unguarded figure to the maid.
[I said I'd finish her in one blow, but I've gone and given her the chance to do the same.]
Realizing her situation, Tomoe closed her eyes. However, no attack came.
"Ah, so wonderful. You have a tastier life force than I anticipated."
Forgoing the chance to deal a fatal blow, Airi looked down at her with an expression melted away in rapture, as she hovered in midair.
"Please, let me taste you a tad longer."
Those words brought Tomoe a new wave of cold, her own body heat was being stolen from her.
"Kuh."
She trembled, the fingertips holding her sword growing numb.
On the other hand, Airi's cheeks only reddened, and her eyes got wet as if burning with a slight fever.
"Aah, this is the best. It is so sublime... I am overflowing..."
"Damn you!"

Tomoe relinquished her body to anger in order to move it. However, as she lost her cool, Airi's fingertips extended and entwined her tighter.
"Wonderful, how wonderful. I am so full of your essence... Ah, so much of it..."
The foreigner’s knees were shaky by now.
[I can't let this continue.]
Tomoe scowled at her opponent's face.
"*Chuckle*, marvelous. As expected from a warrior my Mistress chose. You have satisfied me so much already, and yet you are still so full of fighting spirit..."
The maid kept sucking her energy with an enraptured expression.
"That is as far as you will humiliate me."
Tomoe rotated her sword so as to tear off the fingertips all around her. That blade, which had cut down many evil beings and evil spirits, cut off Airi's evil power, freeing the priestess.
"Aahn. Just a bit more..."
The evil spirit muttered regretfully, as her cut-off fingertips regenerated.
"I won’t allow myself to let that happen a second time."
"We’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?"

Airi reached out again with her left hand, but this time Tomoe dodged with a dance-like motion.
"You can’t run away forever."
The maid was completely looking down on Tomoe.
[No, it was me who looked down on her a while ago, this is only fair.]
"Agreed. And so I won’t."
Tomoe let out a small breath, then swung down her raised sword in one go.
"Take this!"
Along with the yell, an intense, fiery slash came at Airi.
"Hiah!"
Having dropped her guard, her foe was unable to avoid the powerful impact, and collapsed to the ring.
She had completely misread Tomoe's actions; the priestess still being able to draw enough strength to perform such a mighty technique wasn’t part of her calculations.
"That felt like a direct hit."
Holding her sword, Tomoe fixed her gaze on the collapsed, unmoving Airi.
"You might be an essence-absorbing evil being or what have you, but you will not be able to stand up any longer. You would be wise to give up."

The referee statue stayed silent, watching how the fight developed; apparently, the battle was still ongoing. Still, convinced of her own victory, Tomoe prompted the maid to admit defeat.
"I am afraid I still have some fight left in me."
Still on the floor, the evil spirit grinned.
"If so, I can only deal the final blow."
However, the moment Tomoe tried to thrust her sword at the fallen foe... something odd happened.
"What is...?"
Airi's clothes turned slightly transparent. After that, her whole outfit disappeared, leaving her in underwear. Then, it was the underwear’s turn to vanish, leaving her naked. And finally, Airi's body became totally transparent.
"*Giggle*, this fight has only just begun."
The maid whispered happily after having disappeared completely.
"You have my thanks. Now I can fight with my full power."

***