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Chapter 8: Leina’s Journey, The Truth of Queen’s Blade (Part 2)
A Few Months Ago: Night of the Departure
Leina waited for all work to be done before taking action. Her younger sister’s words had filled her with determination.
“There’s something I wish to talk about, Father.”
After clearing the audience room of people, she stood in front of him.
“Is it about Queen’s Blade?”
He spoke before she could go on.
“I did notice the amulet you wear by your chest.”
With that, he showed an amulet he was holding to his daughter.
“That’s...”
The same amulet Nanael had given her was in his hands.
“This is a treasure handed down in our family.”
A proof given only to the winner of Queen’s Blade.
“You wear the same thing on your chest.”
“I do.”
She fingered the item, then looked straight at him.
“A few years ago, the day you first told me you wanted to participate in Queen’s Blade, an angel visited me as well.”
The revelation made Leina’s eyes bulge out.
“And what did she say?”
“She said to enter you in Queen’s Blade. That you were the only one who could defeat the Queen.”
He kept talking, disgust clearly showing in his words.
“Of course, I refused.”
“Why did you? A request from an angel would be equivalent to a word from God.”
“Our Earl house is the legitimate bloodline succeeding the Founder Queen. I ought not have to tell you why it is forbidden for us to participate in Queen’s Blade.”
“As far as I’ve heard... because we are in fact from the Queen’s lineage.”
“That’s the official reason.”
At the end of the Continent-wide battle that caused the Queen’s Blade to be established, the only family of nobles remaining was the Vance house, succeeding the Founder Queen who had opposed the warring king.
It was the rule of the nobles what had thrown the land into disarray. The corrupt nobles, along with their armed followers, had led the Continent to war, causing poverty and starvation to strike the land, many people dying in the process.
That had been the catalyst for the adoption of the Queen’s Blade system; with it forbidding influence from simply being inherited, they now had a new method of choosing the Queen every four years. Since the hereditary system was banned, it wasn’t allowed for her descendants to participate in the game.
And so, the Earl Vance had forbidden his descendants to participate in it following the Founder Queen’s wishes, choosing to respect her courage, despite the fact that they had been in a position to do so for generations.
That was the widely known reason.
“Meaning there IS another, real reason?”
“There is. However, I want to see your resolution before I tell you.”
The Earl turned his eyes towards a sword hanged on the wall.
“Take up that sword, Leina.”
“What?”
Ignoring the evident confusion in her daughter’s voice, he rose from his chair and dropped his cloak.
“You want to meet the angel’s request, don’t you? If so, you must show me your competence.”
The Earl drew out the sword hanging by his waist.
He was said to have a sword skill and ability comparable to the Queen ruling the Continent. Leina might have been his true daughter, but it was the first time she had seen him like this.
“F-Father?”
“I will repeat it just once. Take up that sword, Leina.”
Still holding his sword, he glared at her.
“If you don’t grab it, this conversation is over. Go back to your room and sleep.”
“I understand, Father.”
With a wave of her dress, she grabbed the sword and stood before him.
“This is my answer.”
“Very well. Show me your ability!”
The Earl poised his sword at eye level, the blade reflecting the sword with a glitter. His daughter took on a similar posture.
“Don’t you dare go easy on me!”
He unleashed a maneuver as he stated those words. A sharp thrust.
(So fast!)
The sword that parried his attack trembled with a high-pitched metallic noise. True to his words, the quick attack held nothing back, the Vance’s earnestness infused into it. If she hadn’t been able to avoid it, she’d be collapsing in a pool of blood by now.
“If you cannot defeat me, you won’t meet the angel’s request.”
He approached, preparing his sword anew. However, Leina didn’t run away, she just kept calm and adjusted her breathing.
She focused her mind on her father’s footsteps, on the sound the sword made as it cut through the air.
[I can see you!]
Listening carefully to his movements, she dodged the sword by a hair’s breadth. With the minimal possible movement.
The Earl might be meaning to stop as soon as she got injured, but Leina couldn’t injure him.
Her aim was to neutralize him; for her, victory was only possible if she made him unable to fight anymore.
The blonde rotated her body, slipping into his bosom, and struck the back of his hand with her sword’s grip.
“Gah!”
The unexpected shock made him drop his sword. Then, she sneaked to his back, as if doing one more step of a dance, and put the sword to his neck.
“Do you acknowledge me now, Father?”
The fight had only taken a few dozens of seconds. Everything had been settled within a minute.
“I was beaten... spectacularly at that.”
“Father...”
“You can do as you like. You’re an adult now.”
Her sword left his neck.
“May I hear the true reason now?”
“It’s that humans shouldn’t be the ones to clean after gods.”
The Earl sentenced, as if spitting the words out. Just with that, Leina could feel his frustration at the angels, who acted regardless of human circumstances.
“Is that all?”
“That is all.”
‘You figure out the rest yourself’, he seemed to be implying as he picked up the fallen sword.
“At the end of the day, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as they say...”
The Earl sheathed his sword, and sat back down on his chair.
“Whatever you try to do now, it’s nothing of my concern.”
He looked away from his daughter, and looked up to the sky, as if lost in thought.
“Not even if the armor from your mother Maria were to go missing from the underground warehouse...”
Leina deeply bowed at her father’s thoughtfulness.
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