After seeing off the believers, Melpha’s feet led her to her own room in the church, her morning work having now been finished. She hadn’t decided on her schedule for the day yet.
[Maybe I’ll study the Holy Scriptures in my room, or go out into the capital and devote myself to voluntary service.]
A Priestess service to God and his flock is never done.
“Welcome baaack.”
The moment she opened the door to her room, she heard a voice greeting her.
“It sounded like you had a blast singing.”
The one speaking moved her uneven wings little by little, floating in the air. Her blue hair was cut slightly above her shoulders, and swayed with the wind created by the wings behind her.
“L-Lady Nanael? Did you come in here again?”
The priestess looked up at the angel, surprised.
“Of course I did. Why, am I being a bother or something?”
Nanael closed the book in her hand and turned around.
“Err… no, I don’t think so…”
[It’s not like I can blame her for staying here.]
“Still, you do have a nice voice, don’t cha~? I even heard it all the way here.”
“I-Is that so?”
There was quite a distance from the dormitory where her room was located to the cathedral. If the angel had heard it, it only meant it had resounded all over the church.
“So you kick back and relax when your Grandmother isn’t here, don’t you?”
“E-Err~, Lady Nanael.”
“Yes?”
“Please keep it a secret from Grandmother.”
Cardinal Dantan prohibited singing except when strictly necessary. Singing outside of the days specifically designated as such by the scriptures was one of the acts Melpha was forbidden to do. However, she believed that she had to respond to the believer’s requests as much as she could, and that’s why she had chosen to disobey this time.
It went without saying that, were her grandmother to find out, punishment awaited her.
“I sure will, so why don’t you buy a polka-dot chiffon cake for me?”
Ever since coming to Gainos, Nanael had become utterly addicted to cake. Among other things, a polka-dot chiffon cake with blueberries mixed in seemed to be her favorite, to the extent that she always made the blonde go buy one at every opportunity.
“A-And the money?”
“You’re gonna offer it to a messenger of God, so you don’t need any, do you? Or do they intend to write a bill to God? I can deliver it.”
From her tone, it was clear Nanael wasn’t going to pay anything. In the end, the money for her food and drinks came out of Melpha’s pockets.
“T-That’s out of the question, but…”
“But what? You wanna say something?”
The green eyes scowled at the priestess.
“U-Umm~, Lady Nanael, how long are you going to stay here?”
Despite the exploitative angel trying to overwhelm her, Melpha gathered her courage and asked.
About a week had passed since the angel had come to the church. For priests working in a church, welcoming an angel—a messenger of God—was a true honor. It was an entirely different case when the angel had Holy Milk hanging from her waist, meaning she was in training.
‘An angel bearing Holy Milk is one that is subject to a trial by God, sharing the same suffering as we do’, as the scriptures put it.
Therefore, properly speaking, Nanael should also work on the odd jobs of the church, but Melpha—appointed to take care of the latter —was overpowered by the angel into doing her share of the work, so the visitor had been able to spend days without doing anything.
“ ‘How long’… do you actually mean I’m a nuisance?”
“No, I wouldn’t say that…”
The priestess kept her reply vague. Even for Melpha, who normally thought everything was a trial, her life after Nanael, a holy servant of God, came had become a little tough. After all, besides handling double the chores than other priests, she also had to carry out the representative work of the cardinal while her Grandmother was absent.
It was also a fact that she wanted to help Nanael if she was able to.
“If you could tell me any time soon, I would like to ask why you descended to the capital.”
[If Lady Nanael has received instructions from God, I’d like to help her accomplish it quickly.]
That’s why she had asked.
“Hmm, ah, yeah, it was about time I told you.”
The angel snapped her fingers, making her crystal ball appear. Her belongings were in a safe room in Heaven, she could summon them into her hands whenever she needed.
“If I tell you, you’ll have to cooperate with me… is that okay?”
“Yes, I do not mind. For a priest, there can be no greater honor than being able to help an Angel.”
“Don’t forget those words!”
*Thwack* Nanael jabbed a finger at the other, to then chant a short spell.
Magic letters emerged on the surface of the crystal ball, and then a weapon was projected in it.
“T-That’s…”
Melpha was left speechless before the sword describing an elongated, elegant spiral—reminiscent of a horn of the legendary holy beast, the Unicorn—and the grip with a shape hard to speak of. The shape in question seemed similar to the form of male genitalia, which she remembered from medical treatments during her growing education.
“This is the very treasure of Heaven, the serenading blade Sword of the Unicorn. It’s my mission to obtain it and bring it back to Heaven.”
The angel revealed her mission in a serious tone unusual in her.
“The Sword of the Unicorn… is this a weapon? It looks like…”
“It’s a weapon. It’s nothing like the item you’re thinking of.”
“I-I was not thinking about any such thing!”
“Really?”
“I really was not!”
The angel grinned, enjoying Melpha’s reaction, and continued:
“As the name ‘serenading blade’ kind of implies, the grip is a flute; if you blow it, it can release a sound that heals the user’s body and banishes evil.”
“A-A flute…? Do you put your mouth to that?”
Her face got dyed red in shame. It might be inorganic matter, but with that shape and an active imagination, one had to overcome a certain resistance before touching it with their lips.
“Oh you Melpha, considering your maturity, you’re surprisingly naïve about stuff, aren’t you~”
A nasty smile showed on the angel’s face.
“It’s just like blowing a flute. Or, have you kissed something with this shape already?”
“Eh, no… that’s…”
Melpha stammered despite herself.
[I have never done any acts like that. However, if I deny it expressly, it might seem like I’m lying.
What should I do?]
The priestess failed to come up with any good response.
“Well, leaving that aside for a moment…”
It made no sense to play around anymore, so Nanael decided to broach the subject. Watching young boys fidget might be the angel’s idea of fun, but she wasn’t that interested in seeing Melpha fidget.
“Its owner is in the capital, and that’s why I came here too. So, now that you’ve heard about it, I’ll have you cooperate.”
The angel scanned the blonde’s face with an authoritative strength.
“C-Cooperate? What can I do?”
“Well, for now, I’ll have you do a preliminary fight against the ‘Exiled Warrior’.”
Nanael’s lips warped into a grin.
“I-I couldn’t possibly…”
“You don’t need to be embarrassed. I know you have the qualification to enter Queen’s Blade.”
Any woman over 12 years old could participate in Queen’s Blade. The preliminary period was no exception to this rule.
“L-Lady Nanael, won’t you participate yourself?”
“The strength of an angel is needed to fight stronger opponents than that. If fighting on the surface, it’s fairer for the battle to be between fellow earthlings, isn’t it?”
“Eeh~, i-is that how it is?”
“You can bet your ass it is!”
The blue-haired girl declared so, flatly.
As far as Melpha was concerned, she would prefer not to fight if possible. Rather than fighting, she enjoyed singing hymns and preaching as she did earlier today.
However, since she had been ordered to participate in Queen’s Blade by her grandmother as a representative of their faction, she wouldn’t be able to say she disliked fighting anymore.
“Now that you’ve heard of my goal, cooperate in the name of God!”
Nanael, hands on her hips, scowled at the other.
“V-Very well. I-I’ll cooperate.”
Basically forced into it, she ended up accepting.
[This is a trial for me, since I keep trying to avoid battles.]
Melpha decided to think of it that way.
“Cool!”
*Heheh*, puffing up with pride, the angel put the crystal ball away.
“Err~, err~… Lady Nanael, do you have a minute?”
“What? Do you have any more business with me?”
She answered in a rare good mood, still floating in the air.
“Today is the day to clean the church. If you would be so gracious, I’d like you to help me, Lady Nanael…”
“Eeeh, why me?”
The moment Nanael complained, she heard the faint sound of thunder from far away.
“Keh!”
Today’s skies should have been wonderfully clear. If she had heard thunder, it could only mean…
“Y’know what, helping you clean sounds great.”
After hearing the thunder, Nanael did a 180 without a moment’s delay, and flew down beside Melpha.
“Thank you, great Angel Nanael.”
Glad at the angel’s decision, the priestess gave a sweet smile.
***
Various people from all over the Continent gathered in Gainos.
Welcoming them were plazas with their hustle and bustle, numerous battles—unfolded in an unparalleled wide variety of arenas—and the alluring (maybe even dazzling) figures of lovely ladies.
Coming from a corner of the plaza close to the red light district, a crystal-clear singing voice filled the streets. In front of a fountain crowded with street performers and food stalls, a silver-haired girl in a pure-white dress sang to a tune played by the bards:
“I don’t know my father
I don’t know my mother
I can’t remember what voice they had
But, I have a song
I have a song I can sing with this voice
The distant sky
The sea, far away
My song drifts that far
Towards them, who gave birth to me
Mother, father
Is my voice like yours?
Did you hear my song?”
When she finished singing, the girl slightly lowered her head, and held up a hat—that had been at her feet—with both hands.
“If you enjoyed our song, please leave some money here. If you didn’t, leave it as is.”
Coins came one after another from the audience, who had stopped to hear the girl’s song.
“That’s the Silver Singer Fio for you.”
“Yeah, she earns with one song what we make in a day.”
Fio turned with a smile towards the bards, who had been playing behind her:
“We’re splitting our earnings equally.”
They never saw the girl’s proposal coming.
“Is that ok with you?”
“We only provided some accompaniment on our own.”
The bards couldn’t hide their surprise at getting an equal split.
“I was kinda hoping for this, tho.”
“It’s fine then, isn’t it?”
The dancer casually grabbed coins gathered in the hat and handed them to the bards.
As one would expect from the capital, the hat was full of coins, the bottom about to come off.
“It’s only fair, we’re good now.”
“Y-Yeah…”
Puzzled as they might be, the minstrels still had the presence of mind not to look a gift from a singer in the mouth, they pocketed their share of the gold offered in their wallets.
“You should hurry and put away your money too, Fio.”
One of them gestured towards the audience.
Some men in armor had appeared there: soldiers of the Queen’s Army, keeping peace and order in the capital. Earning too much money in front of them tends to draw bad attention from them.
“Thank you very much~. That’ll be all for today.”
He wrapped the quite heavy pouch around his waist belt, turned back to the audience and announced the end of the performance with a smile.
[Earning this is plenty for now.]
“I’d like to hear one more song.”
A voice came from the audience, addressing Fio.
“One more song! One more song!”
Urged by the applause, the singer looked up at the bards.
“What should I do?”
“As long as we have an audience, we can only sing.”
The bard only said so before starting to strum his instrument.
“Can you sing *that one*?”
Another winked at Fio. The dancer whispered: “of course”, and began singing loudly:
"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”
As he sang, he started dancing as if fighting with weapons in his hands.
“There may be many named weapons
Yet there’s but one that matters to a master
And that’s the master’s own skills”
The audience started clapping to match his dance. And in turn, he beat out the clapping’s rhythm with his footsteps.
“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”
“Her name is Aldra, our Queen!”
A soldier screamed the queen’s name.
“Dance beautifully, grip your blade
Dance beautifully, risk your life
Dance beautifully, in the field of battle."
The dancer kicked the cobblestone the instant he finished singing.
*Thud!*
With a low drum-like sound, the bards stopped playing as well. The accompaniment fitted him so well, one wouldn’t think he had just met them for the first time a while ago.
The clinking of coins followed the joyous cheers, as the hat at Fio’s feet began to fill up.
The amount couldn’t compare with the previous one.
“Thank you very much~. Thank you~”
As he directed a smile at the audience, he kept an eye on the soldiers’ movements.
Seeing how Fio (who only looked like a beautiful girl no matter how one looked at it) was making that amount of money, it wouldn’t be weird for some guys to come asking for a cut. Sure, she was accompanied by bards, but they hadn’t paid for the location through local guilds.
If the guild caught wind of them running a completely unauthorized business, their entire earnings could be confiscated.
“Next time, I’ll learn the popular songs from the capital~”
Fortunately, the soldiers also were throwing coins at Fio. It seemed he didn’t need to worry.
“Fio, we’re done for the day here.”
The unselfish minstrels might have been satisfied with the reward from earlier, for as soon as the audience prepared to leave, they began cleaning their instruments.
“Thanks, let’s meet again!”
“Let’s do this again if we meet out there somewhere.”
Fio saw them off with a wave of his hand. The others flashed a smile at him, and disappeared into the crowd.
“If I sing tomorrow, it might be better to get permission first.”
[If I perform while being scared about unauthorized business, it will affect my voice.]
At the same time he was pondering about that, an unexpectedly bouncy, soft feeling came from his back.
“Wha!?”
[I’m being hugged?
Besides, this soft touch, it must be a woman—her chest, to be exact.]
“W-Who is it?”
[Leina? No, it can’t be her. She should be tending the store alone.
And even if she had come out, she should be wearing her usual armor. A chest covered in armor wouldn’t be this soft.]
“Nfufufufu~♪, guess whooo?”
“I-I don’t know who you are.”
“Oh, I see, what if I do this?”
She released him from her embrace.
Fio walked forward a couple of steps, and when he turned his head slowly, he couldn’t believe what he saw.
“ ‘Sup, you’re Fio, right?”
There was the figure of a smiling girl in a maid costume, speaking in a boyish tone.
Fio knew her. He knew that red hair gathered at both sides of her head.
“A-A-A…”
“Yup, Airi. I totally nailed her looks, didn’t I…”
The boy ran away at full speed without waiting for her to finish whatever she was saying.
[Why? Why is Airi here?]
“W-Wait a sec, buster!”
“Not waiting!”
With a scream close to a shriek, Fio ran through the fountain plaza at max speed, jumping into the streets.
He wasn’t particularly afraid of Airi herself, in fact he was rather fond of the well mannered woman despite her ghostly condition. The problem was, her mistress needed him for a sacrifice for a ritual, and ritual sacrifice equals death.
“Oh so you want to play tag do you? Fine, ready or not, here I come.”
Laughing with a cackle, she ran after him. Fio headed towards a main street with lots of people to shake her off.
“Huh?”
[Airi’s running after me?
How odd.]
Fio felt something didn’t fit with the way she was chasing him. Back in Sheldan’s basement, her feet never touched the ground.
In the first place, he didn’t remember the wraith Airi ever walking on her feet. Whenever she moved around, she clad her feet in the mysterious fire from will-o’-wisps, floating just above the ground, sliding over it rather than walking.
Besides, there was that boyish tone. It didn’t sound at all like the ever polite Airi.
And for the clincher, the size of her boobs was different. The wraith didn’t have breasts that big.
[Is it someone who looks like her?
Whatever the case… I can’t get caught. I have to get to someplace where I can get help!
How about the soldiers from a while ago? They listened to my song and gave me money, they could very well help me…
It’s no use! I can’t remember their faces!]
“Ah, sheesh, why did this have to happen now!”
A spire of the cathedral came into view for the rushing boy.
[If I go there, evil beings or wraiths can’t get in.
But, on the other hand, churches are places where it’s most likely to find a messenger of God.]
Fio stopped, for but a moment, remembering how he had been targeted by an angel back at the incident in the Khan Oasis.
[What will I do if it turns out to be the headquarters of the guys aiming at me?]
“Would it kill you to wait? It’s not fun chasing you when you're too far ahead.”
Airi’s voice (or whoever that woman is) came from somewhere nearby.
[It seems I don’t have time to think.]
“I don’t have a… choice.”
[Whatever happens, happens!]
Grimacing due to the bad feeling he had, he began running towards the cathedral.
***
The believers had left, and inside the cathedral which had regained its silence, only the sound of a broom sweeping the floor could be heard. The regular, rhythmical sound—as if following music—was a good tell of the personality of the one holding the broom.
“Er~, you mentioned it earlier before we started cleaning, but… why do I have to fight the “Exiled Warrior” again, Lady Nanael?”
Melpha kept cleaning with her broom, while Nanael was wiping the stained glass high in the sky, as she had been asked to.
“Hm~, the thing is, the “Exiled Warrior” is the owner of the Sword of the Unicorn.”
The angel’s voice came from above.
“Uh~… can’t we talk it over and have her give it to us?”
“If we could, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Y-You’re right~. For an angel like you, Lady Nanael, that would be easy. But, can I fight against someone who rejected your persuasion?”
“Only you can do it, Melpha.”
Nanael felt a bit frustrated; the priestess’ reluctance to fight was beginning to show through.
“My incredible divine power is liable to wreck the surface if I get serious against a mere mortal, so that’s why I want you to act as my substitute. Got it?”
Just at the very moment Melpha tried replying to Nanael’s statement, she heard a *bam!*: the church’s large doors violently bursting open.
“W-Who are you?”
Both their gazes went to the large doors.
“P! Please help me!”
What they saw was a silver-haired girl in a white dress.
“A wraith is chasing me!”
She called for help, running in with such force, it seemed she was about to fall over.
“Oh my, ‘speak of the devil’, as you guys say, huh.”
Nanael slowly landed beside the girl with a grin on her face.
“Hiii, Fio.”
The girl’s expression froze as soon as she saw her.
“Why are you here, of all places!”
The girl cried with a boyish tone.
[Apparently, they know each other.]
Melpha decided to take one step back and watch what happened between the two.
“Like a messenger of God shouldn’t be at a church?”
‘How dumb can you get’, Nanael’s broad smile seemed to be saying.
“Ugh…”
[Regardless of the circumstances, this is good timing.]
While thanking God’s intervention, the angel undressed the boy with her leering eyes.
[It seems he’s wearing a dress as usual, but no objections here. If no one notices this girl in a white dress is a boy, they won’t think he’s a “bad influence”.]
Thinking that made Nanael suddenly realize something: the “bad influence” Fio hung around with (that is, the Exiled Warrior Leina) was nowhere to be seen.
“Lady Nanael, is she someone you know…?”
With the proper timing of when their conversation seemed at a standstill, Melpha turned to the girl who was talking with the angel.
“E-Err.”
Perhaps the girl was uncomfortable, being stared down by the two of them, for her body was squirming, confusion showing in her face.
After studying her features for a moment, Melpha suddenly came to a realization:
“U-Umm… you couldn’t be, the Silver Singer Fio… right?”
Melpha’s lips called his name.
“Y-Yes, I am Fio.”
He changed completely from the boyish tone he was using with Nanael to showing the business-like smile of a lovely girl, and bowed his head at the blonde.
“You really, truly are, are you not?”
Melpha tightly held his hand, her face overcome with emotion.
“I-I am an admirer of yours!”
“Eh? Eeh?”
Fio could only reply with confusion to the Priestess’ confession.
“I have one of your magic disks too, back when you came to the capital with a troupe of entertainers, I went to see you incognito! Then, then, aah!”
She brought her face closer to him, her cheeks reddening slightly.
“Okay, enough of that.”
Nanael tried to calm the unusually excited Melpha, pulling her apart from the boy.
[Let’s get things back on track.]
“So, Fio, you were asking for help, weren’t you?”
The angel asked him about the matter at hand again, in a cool tone.
“T-That’s right. I’m being chased by a wraith.”
“A wraith? In broad daylight?”
“If it’s about exorcizing a wraith, that’s our strong point.”
Melpha leaned forward in a quick motion.
“How about you calm down? You don’t even have any weapons right now.”
“Ah!”
For the first time, the priestess remembered she had left her weapon in her room.
“M-My apologies… uugh, I-I’m sorry.”
Melpha hangs her head in resignation, cleaning tool in her hands.
“Oh well. I’ll do you a solid this time only, and show you that angels are better than those female fighters who are no good when it counts.”
Saying so, she snapped her fingers, making her favorite Celestial Saber appear.
“I’ll show them strength so superior they won’t ever forget.”
The angel winked at the singer, spreading her pure white wings.
“The strength of Nanael, the Angel of Light!”
With another snap of her fingers, silvery armor appeared out of thin air, attaching to her hands and feet. She looked like an angel ready to do battle.
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