What is “Queen’s Blade”…?
It’s a fighting competition every 4 years to decide the Queen that will rule the Continent. Any woman can participate as long as she’s 12 years or older. Throughout the Continent, warriors fight each other on a daily basis in preliminary battles, relayed to all the countries by means of crystal balls.
The story so far…
Aiming to participate in Queen’s Blade, Leina, the Wandering Warrior, left her home on a journey to improve her fighting skills, and met a girl called Fio—the owner of the serenading blade “Sword of the Unicorn”—in in the post town of Sheldan. Learning that the girl had escaped from the Infernal Temptress Airi, Leina decided to protect her out of her innate sense of justice.
On the way, despite being confused at the revelation that Fio was actually a boy, she ended up making a contract with him to become the owner of the sword in the middle of a battle.
The Exiled Warrior kept traveling with him, and their adventure took them to an oasis in the desert, where they witnessed the revival of the Amara Kingdom, led by the Ancient Princess Menace.
Back in the imperial capital of Gainos, Leina worked in the weapon shop of Cattleya, widely known in the past as the Giant Slayer , while also trying her hardest to train with the magic sword. Meanwhile, Melona—a messenger from the Swamp Witch—and the dropout angel from Heaven Nanael showed up, both aiming at Fio, which gave way to a fight.
Yet the question remains, who or what is Fio really…?
Prologue: Looming Shadow
The untrodden large forest area spreads to the north of the Continent.
It didn’t have any nobles boasting of their power, and not even the influence of the Queen—ruling over the whole Continent—reached there.
A world of frozen water awaited those who ventured northwards.
The rulers of the forest provided peace of mind to all living things. They are a superior species adorned with beauty and mystery, enjoying longer life spans than humans, retaining the long lost magic once practiced, and inheritors of an outstanding technology.
They are the forest elves, who lived in an almost eternal time. They honored the individuality of their culture, barring the entrance of any external influence to maintain the status quo (except for exceptional trades with a limited number of people).
One was not to meddle with the forest the elves lived in. Whoever was careless enough to intrude would find himself facing attacking beasts and woods like labyrinths—throwing off one’s sense of direction. Then, the only elf the intruders would ever get to see, would be the Forest Keeper, who would go on to order them to leave.
It was said that the keeper showed no mercy for those who ignored the order to leave the forest.
It was no exaggeration to say that entering the elves’ forest without their permission meant certain death. Only doom awaited those who weren’t afraid of their sanctuary.
And yet, the number of people who dared to enter was never small, driven by their dreams of obtaining unseen animals that you couldn’t see anywhere else, or rare medicinal herbs that existed in the unexplored forests, in order to make a fortune.
“Yaah!”
An energetic shout echoed, as if blowing away the quietness of the forest.
*Clang!*
“Too slow!”
A reprimand overlapped the high-pitched sound of wooden staves clashing.
A girl dressed in orange war attire and an elf warrior faced each other with wooden staves.
“You have weak defenses. 60 points.”
The warrior scored the girl’s skill.
“Show me your next technique.”
“Yes, Captain!”
An energetic, bright voice sounded at the same time sunlight came in through the trees foliage.
The name of the girl wearing orange was Nowa. Although she was only a half-elf, she had been given the role of Forest Keeper by the forest elf council.
She was showing off the skills she had learned while traveling, the fruits of her journey, to her teacher, the Combat Instructor Alleyne.
‘Go out into the vast world and learn all sorts of techniques’. After Alleyne told her that, Nowa had left the forest and fought Queen’s Blade participants with all manner of techniques all around the place, besides making extensive expeditions to the southern desert area.
Queen’s Blade was a tournament fought every four years to decide the ruler of the Continent. Any participant aged 12 or older was eligible to participate, with no regard for their race. In other words, any and all races living in the Continent had equal opportunity to become its ruler.
The winner of the competition was given the right to challenge the current Queen Aldra in single combat. Upon victory, the challenger would become the new Queen, ruling the Continent for the next four years.
“How’s this, Captain!”
“Hm…”
[Her form is not bad.]
Alleyne had trained many warriors in the last several hundred years as a captain, but she had found a natural ability in Nowa. The techniques the pupil was displaying surpassed those of forest guard soldiers both in sharpness and speed.
“With this, I might be able to win the Queen's Blade!”
Hearing that made the warrior frown reflexively.
“Conceit is the origin of defeat. I should have taught you that by now.”
“Yes, Captain, I’m sorry.”
Nowa’s smiling expression went cloudy in a flash. However, that wouldn’t last long.
“However, it’s also true that I taught you to believe in your own strength.”
The teacher’s words made her smile again.
[How ironic for a half-elf to become my best disciple.]
Alleyne whispered, holding back her urges to pat the other’s head.
“Yes! Nowa will believe in her strength and win the championship! Then, I’ll keep protecting the peace in the forest, without ever separating from Captain and her tree city!”
The girl threw her fists up.
“Then, I’ll have you show me the skill matching that will of yours.”
Alleyne swung her war staff lightly.
[If she says she’s aiming for victory, she must have the skills to compete and win against at least any of the brave women called the strongest four in the Continent.]
The Veteran Mercenary, Echidna.
The Weapon Merchant, Cattleya.
The Lord of Thundercloud, Claudette.
They had expressed their will to participate in Queen’s Blade for their own reasons, while the last of the four, Alleyne herself, hadn’t decided yet if she was going to participate or not.
[Participating in the fight is also one way to pave the way for Nowa, but…]
“Nowa…”
“Yes?”
The girl turned her eyes towards the elf, her name having been called unexpectedly.
“Kii!”
The war staff was being thrust casually at the orange girl; to protect her, a pink monkey that had bustling around Nowa’s shoulders hardened his body.
“Hyauh!”
Frowning at the shock, she gave a big step back, her skirt fluttering.
“Thanks, Lou…”
She caressed the body of the small monkey who had taken the impact in her stead, then returned her gaze to Alleyne, who had her staff poised.
The warrior was looking at her with fierce eyes, despite her raised eyebrows marking a wrinkle in the middle of her forehead.
“Don’t rely so much on Lou! I’m deducting 20 points!”
“Yes! Captain!”
“But that is good, gauge the opponent’s range, distancing yourself is your friend.”
Even during battle, the monkey with pink fur Lou ran freely around Nowa’s body, being able to harden his own body to fulfill the role of armor. Thanks to him, the half-elf wouldn’t receive a fatal surprise attack. Even if it came from a direction Nowa couldn’t perceive, he would see, and protect her by using his own body as a shield.
Noticing how he felt those things before she was even aware, her cheeks went red in embarrassment.
“Keep in mind those moves in case Lou isn’t by your side.”
“Yes! Captain!”
Nowa answered with a vigorous, energetic voice. Not even a speck remained of her shyness from earlier; switching gears fast was one of the girl’s strong points.
“Right, that will be all for--…”
The warrior stopped halfway through her speech.
Her pupil also turned her eyes to the center of the forest, silently; she could feel how the wind had become stagnant. Normally, a pleasant westerly wind should blow after their morning training was over, but it was nowhere to be felt.
She couldn’t even hear the buzz from the treetops. On the contrary, a cold unthought-of for the current season was grazing her bare skin.
“Can you feel that?”
“Yes. It’s nothing good.”
After replying, the half-elf looked at the shadow of the tree that stretched up to her feet. From the position of the shadow, she should be able to hear the morning’s song by now.
“Captain, I haven’t heard the song yet this morning…”
“Hm…”
The warrior strained her ears to check for herself.
The council members, with Mother Elder at the top, used a song to announce the mornings in the elven forest.
The spirit trees heard the song and gave off a great wave that purified all the living beings in the forest; even saying that the song kept the whole forest at peace wouldn’t be a stretch.
Yet, the song hadn’t come that day yet.
“It is certainly odd that we can’t hear it.”
[Or rather, isn’t some indescribably horrible atmosphere coming from the center of the forest?]
Her spine was cold.
The elf had a strange expression on, as if she was walking through an old battlefield at midnight.
“Captain, what is this?”
Nowa was confused, feeling that horror she had never perceived in the peaceful forest before.
“You wait here.”
The warrior took out a ring that was attached to her staff.
“I’ll give you this. It’s easy to use, just hold on to it as a trump card.”
Casually tossing it at Nowa, she kicked the ground and jumped up to a tree. Her pupil made to follow after, but remembered a certain thing and stopped herself short: she might have been given the role of Forest Keeper, but she wasn’t a pure elf, so it was forbidden for her to access the area where the council was located.
If she tried to get there by force, she’d only be bothering her Captain.
“If I don’t come back, feel free to move at your own discretion. Am I understood?”
Leaving some words for the girl below her, she went on and disappeared like the wind.
“Yes, Captain.”
If her Captain didn’t return, it would only mean that an enemy had appeared that not even she had been able to beat. What Nowa was to do then was seek for help from the outside.
That’s what Alleyne must have meant to tell her. The girl closed her lips tight, and looked up towards the city in the trees.
***
Sheldan, a strategic point at the north of the Continent.
Located halfway between the Vance Earldom and the Queen’s territory, it was also known for having huge port facilities as a hub of the northern sea.
During the day, the harbor was booming with peddlers and travelers dealing with cargo, but once it became late at night, barely anyone could be found there.
Under the moonlight, at that harbor where many large ships were anchored in a row, a crystal clear metallic sound echoed. High-pitched like a musical instrument, with a certain rhythm to it.
The instrument playing were swords, and warriors the ones playing it.
Sparks shot out every time the swords crossed between the female fighter with a voluptuous body enveloped in shining blue armor—her golden hair shining slightly even at night—and a girl with blue hair wearing a cape with a white tiger pattern.
The swordfighting sounded two, three times, and then silence came.
If there was anyone else watching the fight, it would be a sailor making the rounds, or a drunkard.
The two wielding weapons got a moment’s reprieve to size each other up.
“If you have heard of the Exiled Warrior Leina and have come in search of a challenge, I’ll accept it. Take out your crystal ball.”
The girl with blue hair ignored the words from the blonde, Leina.
“It doesn’t look like she intends to do that.”
A girl in a white dress hiding behind the heiress, Fio, muttered.
“Is she an acquaintance of yours?”
“I don’t recall having made an enemy like this.”
Before the heiress even finished speaking, the other thrust with her dagger.
[She moves fast.]
However, it wasn’t at a speed where she couldn’t deal with it.
She avoided it in a nimble, graceful motion, and sent a sharp kick as they crossed each other.
[She’s not fast enough to dodge this. And even if she can do it by chance, she’ll be forced to do a big defensive motion, needing a break before moving on to the next attack.]
“!”
With a brief shriek, the girl bent down, avoiding the kick.
“Not bad.”
The flexible motions reminiscent of a cat got praise out of Leina.
“No skin off my back.”
The blue-haired challenger murmured (or rather, spat out), then curved her body like a spring and jumped towards the girl in a dress hiding behind the blonde.
[She switched from defense to attack so fast.]
Even an untrained eye would notice how there were no wasted motions to that girl.
“Hyau!”
Noticing how she had become a target, Fio ran behind Leina.
“Isn’t this foul play?”
The adventurer extended her sword, getting in the other’s way. She didn’t need to go through the trouble of using her own body as a shield; if she just looked closely at her opponent’s movements, restraining them with only one hand was feasible.
That style of fighting while protecting someone was something she had been able to master after the Weapon Merchant Cattleya took care of her for a while.
“Fio, get a bit further away.”
She used a big swing to slash at the challenger.
“Haah!”
She added a loud yell to intimidate her.
[Most opponents will lose their nerve just with this, but it seems my opponent today is different.]
Seeing through her attack, the foe held a dagger she had kept concealed in a backhand grip, and parried the sword coming at her.
“Dual wielding!?”
The blonde couldn’t hide her surprise: wide as the Continent was, there weren’t many warriors who wielded two blades. The powerful enemy Leina herself was aiming for, the Veteran Mercenary Echidna, was one among such few.
Having parried the sword, the blue-haired girl slipped into her bosom.
[It’s a swift, flowing motion, but that doesn’t mean I can’t read it.]
She gave a jump back, keeping her distance.
[My opponent has two blades. Being in close range works against me.]
“You seem like a formidable opponent.”
Leina took in a deep breath, and switched the sword she had been holding with both hands to her right hand.
“It’s a pity that this isn’t a preliminary, but there isn’t much I can do.”
[This is a suitable opponent to test what I learned in the last few months with Cattleya, one of the Continent’s best. If it was a preliminary, the battle would have been relayed through the crystal balls, and might have reached her eyes.
I regret not being able to show her how much I’ve grown.]
***
The girl with blue hair—Irma, maid to Elina, the Captain of the Royal Guards from the Earl Vance house—didn’t know what to do with the opponent she was supposed to capture.
[Capture, is it…? Having said that, my weapon isn’t suited for this. My duty was always that of an assassin: to deal deathly blows. To drive the keenly sharpened Fang into my opponent’s vitals. That’s how I’ve been fighting.
That’s why, I don’t know how to fight in order to capture an opponent unharmed.
What can I even do here? Prolong the battle, and buy time until Elina comes and joins? That seems to be my only option, unfortunately.
Thinking so, I went and crossed swords with her, but…]
Leina’s speed was quicker than Irma had ever imagined. It matched hers, or maybe even surpassed it.
Walking through the Continent and fighting with many powerful foes had made the heiress acquire abilities of that of a veteran fighter.
[It is frustrating that my skill isn’t high enough to be able to hold back against an opponent like this.]
“I will carry out my duty.”
Calmly finishing her self-judgment, she jumped into Leina’s bosom.
***
The heiress stared calmly at the nameless girl who jumped at her.
[If she wants to deal me a fatal blow with the dagger, she can only aim at a counter. And approaching in such a way the opponent perfectly sees you is the right way to do it.
If I try to thrust my sword to stop her attack, a counter will be waiting. However, if I don’t stop her, I’ll be letting her get into close range scot-free.
Do I meet her attack? Do I dodge?]
Leina made a split decision; she had no time to lose.
[I’ll follow her invitation. Dodging only means the same situation will repeat. And it will not change the fact that dragging this out puts me in a disadvantage.]
The blonde swung down the weapon in her right hand towards the girl who was trying to stick close to her.
*Clang!*
The metals meeting sent small sparks scattering with a shrill sound.
The other parried Leina’s sword with the dagger in her left hand. And following the momentum, the dagger in her right approached her throat.
That was the certain kill Counterattack. Irma was moving the way the blonde had expected her to.
“Sorry.”
She followed the soft whisper by knocking down the dagger with the Sword of the Unicorn in her left hand.
“Kuh!”
For but a brief moment, the unexpected counterstrike made the blue-haired girl stop in her tracks.
“Sometimes mimicking the opponent’s skill is useful.”
This time, Leina turned to attack with both weapons.
[I knocked down the dagger in her right hand, so she only should have one dagger left. She can’t use techniques for attack and defense at the same time, the biggest strength of dual wielding.
Myself, on the other hand, I’m wielding both my normal sword and the Sword of the Unicorn.]
However, swinging a sword with her left arm—not her dominant one—wasn’t something she could learn with normal training. The only thing that made it possible was the Sword’s mysterious ability of weighing always less than a dagger, no matter how much its size changed.
[Since I’m wielding two swords, she should understand that she’s at a disadvantage with just a dagger in her left.
Will she regard this style as a bluff, or will she think my ability can back it up?]
“How is it? Won’t you withdraw your blade?“
The blonde asked, keeping her tense expression.
“I don’t want to fight futile battles.”
The girl responded to her question with the dagger she had left. Apparently, she had opted for the former of the choices the noble girl was considering—unfortunately enough.
“I’m telling you, stop it already.”
Leina used a light parry on the dagger the other thrust.
The sounds of sword fighting echoed in the night sky again.
The dagger she intended to parry with plenty of leeway actually slid over her sword, coming close to her. The heiress swiftly turned her sword, catching the dagger with the brim.
“Pretty good!”
She praised the blue-haired girl’s swordplay.
However, her foe wasn’t done yet. While Leina was focusing her attention on the dagger she was holding, she kicked up the dagger lying around her feet.
“Kuh!”
The dagger’s tip, thrown up in the air, grazed her blue armor.
[If I hadn’t been wearing metal armor, I’d have taken quite an awful wound.]
As she recoiled one step back, Irma picked up the dagger flying through the air.
“I’ll show you what real dual-wielding looks like.”
Anger was reflected in the girl’s gaze as she looked at Leina.
***
[I’m getting fired up. That’s rare for me.]
The moment Leina had taken out two swords, something had snapped inside Irma.
[That’s not something anyone can just go and imitate.]
“I’ll show you what real dual-wielding looks like.”
Jumping into close range, she caught the dagger she had kicked up in the air.
“Kuh!”
Following the blonde’s movements, who tried to get to a suitable distance right away, the assassin made a slight motion with the dagger.
Lured by the feint, Leina swung the sword trying to parry the dagger.
“How naïve…”
Naturally, with one sword and one dagger her ranges of attack and defense were different from her foe’s. Once she had gotten that close, the dagger held the clear advantage.
After getting out two swords, the blonde had devoted herself to defense.
[What does that mean?]
For Irma, who also managed two blades, the answer was clear: defending against two weapons at the same time was as far the heiress could reach.
Once she noticed that, she wouldn’t need to struggle anymore.
[Elina might get mad, but if I’m to prevent her from moving, inflicting a wound on her is something that I *can* do.]
The blue-haired girl started a fierce attack, swinging both her daggers.
***
Leina endured the quick barrage somehow. Compared to the dagger, what she held was a longsword, so handling the other at close range was difficult.
A casual observer would probably call it an equal battle, but her opponent’s strikes were filled with murder.
Dual wielding versus dual wielding.
It did look like a flashy fight, but the blonde’s skill was just a pale imitation of the real thing. Since she couldn’t aim for a surprise attack with her first strike, evidently an opponent used to dual wielding would come out on top.
In front of Fio’s eyes, Leina’s battle became a defensive one in the blink of an eye.
Her opponent was just faster at dealing attacks. At that rate, the heiress would be the first to be wounded.
“Leina!”
He shouted involuntarily and jumped between them, grabbing onto the opponent’s long, slender leg.
“Wha!”
Since Irma had only been concentrating on her attack, she lost her balance and fell on her backside.
“Kuh… let go!”
Still on the floor, she moved her legs to try and get rid of Fio. Every time the edge of the skirt rolled up, the cloth covering the girl’s secret place was clearly visible even though it was night.
“Your underwear has tiger stripes too.”
“Y-You saw?”
Her face turned red.
“Well, I mean, at this distance…”
“Kuh~~~~! Get away! Move away or you’ll get hurt!”
She moved her feet trying to break free from his grip, a thin sheen of sweat covering her smooth brown skin.
“Kuh! You asked for it!”
The girl shouted at Fio, pointing the dagger’s tip at him.
[Crap, did I anger her too much?]
It went without saying that getting slashed with a dagger would hurt him, a lot.
However, it was too late to run away. The weapon would reach him before he could let go.
In preparation for the upcoming pain, Fio shut his eyes tight.
“I thought I was your opponent?”
Along with Leina’s voice, a sound of metal repelling another sounded close to his ear. Blown into the air, the dagger drew a silver arc, falling into the wharf.
“Fio, get away from her.”
A faint anger mixed in her words.
[Maybe she’s angry about me having hindered her battle.]
That was something he could understand.
“But, Leina…”
“Get away.”
Following her orders, he obediently let go of the girl’s leg. As soon as she was free, the girl clicked her tongue and jumped backward.
The white tiger-striped cape, in the image of a white tiger’s fur, fluttered softly under the wind.
Those clothed in costumes bearing the motif of a white tiger—featured also in the emblem of the Earl Vance—were either part of the Royal Guards squad, or someone of such caliber. Although, it was something they would only wear within the Earl territory; they wouldn’t brazenly dress like that inside a region under the influence of the Queen, in direct rivalry with the former.
However, if it was her younger sister Elina, she would proudly flaunt her motif without regard for such matters, even if it was smack dab in the middle of the Queen’s territory.
“From that outfit, I guess you’re probably Elina’s underling…?”
Leina subtly asked, still holding both swords.
The sword in her right hand stayed the same, but the Sword in her left was beginning to change from a short sword to a long sword.
Such was the nature of the serenading blade. Back when she saved Fio from the Infernal Temptress Airi, she had become the owner of the magical sword. Synchronized as it was with a certain body part of the boy’s, it had the characteristic of changing the size of its blade according to his excitement.
So, if the blade was changing, it only meant that Fio was excited at seeing the girl’s legs and the tiger striped underwear.
While waiting for the opponent’s answer, she took a good look at the blue-haired girl.
Her cape covered her upper body, but was too short to cover any further. Since her skirt was only long enough to barely hide her underwear, it would be easily exposed as long as she moved even a little.
And above all, there was nothing covering her slim legs; her charming, fit brown legs were exposed for all to see.
[They’re thinner than mine…]
Understanding why Fio was excited put her in a slightly bad mood.
“You don’t need to answer, but convey just one message for me.”
The girl didn’t reply.
“Tell Elina I don’t intend to go back to father’s house.”
The other silently put away her dagger under her cape.
“Thanks for withdrawing your blade.”
“I lost… I can’t win two versus one. Give me my dagger back.”
The girl’s eyes pointed to the dagger repelled behind Leina.
“Sure.”
Fio picked it up, and slid it across the pavement towards her. There was no need to go and hand it over.
When it reached her feet, the girl let out a sigh of relief. Apparently, she had some emotional attachment to the weapon.
“If you don’t mind, would you tell me your name?”
Unlike in a preliminary, where they would cross swords after telling each other their names, this was a private battle where no introductions had been uttered.
[It just feels bad to part ways without learning her name.]
“Irma… I’m Lady Elina’s personal attendant.”
“Irma, you have good skills. I recommend that you quit serving Elina and join Queen’s Blade.”
“…I have no plans to do that.”
“Too bad, I wanted to fight in a proper preliminary with you.”
She really regretted it from the bottom of her heart.
The attendant said nothing in reply, and walked away silently.
***
“Phew…”
It was only when she saw Irma going away that Leina could finally relax her shoulders.
“E-Err…”
Fio timidly called out to her.
[He probably thinks I’ll get angry at him.
Surely, him getting involved isn’t something I can agree with. If it had been a preliminary, he’d have been punished for sure, to say nothing of how he could have gotten seriously injured if things hadn’t gone well.
In fact, he was nearly cut by that dagger.]
She took a deep breath to change her mood.
[I can’t blame Fio. He was only thinking about me.
What I should blame instead is my own immaturity that caused him to act that way, and my lack of technique to control the size of the Sword.]
“Sorry, Fio. You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“Eh?”
Convinced that he was going to be scolded, he made a blank expression.
“It’s fine if you’re not hurt.”
She put her sword back in its sheath and lightly patted his head, then put away her sword in the leather belt by her hips.
“We have to hurry and get out of here.”
Now that Elina’s attendant had found her, Elina herself would surely follow.
[If even Tomoe had a hard time fighting my sister, it would be too much for me to handle. No matter how much I practiced back with Miss Cattleya, I’m still reluctant to fight against my actual sisters.]
“Leave the travel expenses to me. I’ve made a lot of money singing lately, so we don’t need to worry for a while.”
Fio pointed to a leather bag on his back. Acting as the beautiful female troubadour known as the Silver Singer Fio, he could earn money more easily than Leina, the beautiful fighter participating in Queen’s Blade.
According to Fio, he seemed to be the right man for the job, but having suffered sometimes due to not being able to procure money for her travels, she couldn’t but feel envious of his talent.
“If you’re so determined…”
The blonde looked up at the ships anchored in the wharf. There were various small and large sail boats with flags of foreign countries, lined up like fish displayed in the market.
[Not even Elina would go through the trouble of searching all these ships exhaustively.]
“Fio, are you okay with sailing?”
“I’ve never tried riding a boat, but I think I should be fine.”
They both looked at each other and nodded in understanding.
“First, we have to look for a ship that is leaving soon.”
“This late at night?”
“If not now, in the morning.”
“Hm, okay. I’ll negotiate if it comes down to it. Sailors like girls, don’t they~”
[If they find out he’s a boy, they’ll get angry.]
“You mean I have no charm.”
“I didn’t say that, I just meant that if it’s you, whoever you’re trying to negotiate with will only look at your body, won’t he?”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
She retorted as she moved to the pier… and then stopped all of a sudden.
“Wah!”
Her sudden halt made him bump into her back.
“What’s wrong? Your pursuers haven’t come already, have they?”
“It’s not really a pursuer, but…”
Fio looked towards the place Leina was pointing at.
In the dark, a familiar girl with tattered clothes no longer resembling their original shape had fallen down on the pier, wooden staff in hand.
“Nowa…?”
A monkey with pink fur snuggling beside the girl raised his face when he heard her whispering.
[There’s no doubt. It IS Nowa.]
“Something seems to be wrong.”
The heiress muttered, then rushed over to the half-elf.
The girl might have sensed someone coming, for she got up unsteadily, staff in hand.
“Nowa! What happened!?”
As soon as she saw Leina, the shade of tension in her face disappeared.
“Leina… Fio…”
The strength drained from her legs, and she crumbled down.
“Watch out…!”
Leina quickly jumped to hold her steady.
“Please… you two… help the elven forest…”
She let out a choking voice, as she clung to Leina’s body for support.
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