Enjoy!
Elina placed her hand on the long spear’s wire.
[I can’t achieve a chance at victory if I keep fighting like this. So, I can only try and gamble here.]
“Deeyaaaaaah!”
She threw the spear with a courageous scream.
“Ooh, gambling everything on a single card? Your aim’s a bit optimistic though.”
Ymir made a contemptuous smile, able to predict where the spear would land—judging from its trajectory. After leaving Elina’s hands, the spear would fall well behind Ymir. There was no need to even dodge.
“What... IS that?”
However, the dwarf saw something she wasn’t expecting: Elina was jumping at the same speed as the spear. A distance an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to jump, too.
It was all because Elina hadn’t let go of the wire. This steel wire, originally fitted into the weapon, began reeling her in due to the shock of the landing. Consequently, the Vance girl got drawn towards the spear as if she was flying through the air. And between her and the spear, there was one dwarf in particular.
While Ymir could only blink before that unexpected development, the other rotated her body in midair and joined her feet.
Making herself into an arrow, the resulting blow impacted against the princess’ body, knocking her down.
“Gueh! Gyah! Hyaah!”
After taking on that blow with Elina’s full weight and acceleration behind it, Ymir parted with her weapon and rolled towards the arena’s wall. In the meantime, the blonde landed, picked up her spear without breaking her speed, and rushed towards the fallen opponent in one go.
“We have a winner... do we not?”
As Ymir laid there, her back against the wall, the spear came to graze her throat.
[Did the gamble pay off? There’s no way it’ll work a second time.]
If Ymir was hiding any other weapons and she kept putting off a fight, Elina wouldn’t stand a chance.
“I guess we do...”
Unaware of Elina’s hesitation, the other gave up all too easily.
“Winner: Inescapable Shadow Elina!”
Nanael’s victory declaration echoed through the arena.
“You could maybe call it a huge turnabout, but then again, anything can happen in a Queen’s Blade!”
The venue raged hearing the angel’s words.
“It’s a pity about my husband, but I guess there are plenty of fish in the sea.”
Seeing Ymir, disappointed before the clamorous cheers, Elina realized why she had been able to win: her will for her journey not to come to a close had won out against Ymir’s desire to marry Michel.
“That might be so, but... I just got an idea.”
She whispered softly—maybe something born out of the calmness after winning.
“This long spear is the work of the blacksmith Cattleya, you know.”
“Oooh?”
The dwarf couldn’t suppress her admiration. As a fellow weapon dealer, there was no way she wouldn’t be interested in a long spear made by someone really proud of her work.
“There’s a fine kid right by her side.”
“Now you’re talking my language.”
The dwarf held out her hand. Elina clenched it, and slowly helped her up.
Seeing both of them standing, the chants in the arena grew even louder. The crowd hadn’t been able to pick up their conversation, and assumed that they were congratulating each other on a good fight.
***
“Phew...”
After watching Elina’s victory, Michel gave a sigh of relief.
[At least, we won’t need to quit our journey just yet.]
“Huh?”
The moment he looked around, he could no longer see Claudette, who should have been by his side.
“Airi? And Miss Claudette?”
“Lady Claudette left some time ago.”
“Oh, I wanted to speak to Lady Elina’s stepsister for a bit longer.”
Michel regretted, having missed his chance, then looked towards Elina and Ymir, who held each other’s hands as they honored their good fight.
“Isn’t it good, Lady Elina...? You got permission from your Stepsister.”
Claudette’s Miscalculation
“Will that be okay, General?”
An orderly asked Claudette, their carriage on the way back from the Iron Mountain.
“What about?”
“About Elina.”
“What about her?”
Claudette repeated, her gaze silencing the soldier:
“Let me say this just in case: I never met Elina in the Iron Mountain. Are we clear?”
“Ah, yes ma’am!”
The orderly straightened up, cold sweat down his back.
Claudette understood well enough that this was a breach of her loyalty, but she wouldn’t let anyone else intervene when it came to the matter of her sisters.
“However, I will keep your remarks in mind.”
Her words only made his body stiffen even more, if possible. Seeing that, the general softly put a hand to her forehead and looked up at the carriage’s ceiling.
[Still, it makes sense.]
Unlike the royal guards under Elina, the chivalry order under Claudette’s command drew much of its staff from commoners. For them, people like Elina and Claudette were like godsends.
She would praise the courage of that orderly if she could, but the frustration his reaction caused in her made the message hard to convey.
[Maybe I still have room to grow?]
As Claudette sneered slightly at herself, she admitted that her judgment had been incorrect all along: Elina was growing up indeed.
From winning battles (as was only expected) inside the Earl territory, she had gone on to know defeat—experiencing pain, making mistakes—and had ended up with a strength the quiet sister had never thought her capable of.
The purple-haired girl’s arrogance in having failed to recognize it this far ashamed her.
“Speaking of which, I’d like to ask about Queen’s Blade...”
“Yes ma’am, we’ll gather information as soon as we return.”
The orderly was probably relieved that the general had gone back to her usual attitude, for he replied with a snap.
“The Earl might end up opposing this, but I can’t afford to keep ignoring this battle to become Queen.”
[Elina is participating in the tournament. So, if I participate, I can reduce the number of Beautiful Fighters she’ll face; that’s the best way I can help her.]
With those thoughts, Claudette decided to participate in Queen’s Blade.
Episode 7 END
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