The very second it began, Tomoe unsheathed her sword, and jumped straight towards Echidna.
[I should be wary of throwing daggers. If I can’t dodge it, it’s a certain kill technique that will deal a fatal injury. To avoid it, I have no choice but to jump into a distance where she can’t use them.]
Aiming at Tomoe, a dagger came flying, cutting the air.
[No matter, I won’t hesitate. I won’t be scared of attacks I can anticipate.]
Repelling the dagger with her sword, the priestess further shortened the distance.
“How naïve.”
Echidna’s snake sword approached, aiming at her waist.
Tomoe dodged at once.
“I just said you’re naïve.”
With a smile on her lips, Echidna changed the sword’s trajectory very easily. Not aiming at her waist anymore, it cut around her upper arm.
“Agh!”
Her torn priestess clothes now revealed her chest. She had undeniably fallen for Echidna’s feint.
Pressuring the faltering Tomoe, the snake sword approached again.
[I can’t lose so easily.]
She kicked up her foot, dodging Echidna’s charge.
“Ooh, well done.”
[I should have guessed, unlike in Risty's case, my kicks won’t land on her.]
But then again, she had released her kick not as an attack, but to change her stance.
“I have you now!”
[If I don’t grab the momentum of the fight now, I won’t even have a chance to win.]
Carrying out consecutive attacks after the kick, Tomoe pointed her sword towards Echidna. Her priestess clothes fluttered vividly like a flower swaying in the wind.
“It’s a pity I can see through you.”
The snake sword was awaiting her upcoming slash.
*Ching*
The two blades meeting each other produced a high-pitched sound. Echidna had parried her attack quite easily.
Out of pride of being a Warrior Priestess, Tomoe never targeted the lower body. Thus, to defend against her, one should only focus on the upper part. Echidna would have no trouble fending off her attacks.
“In that case…!”
For the moment, Tomoe arched her body to step back.
[I can’t take the risk of taking more distance and receiving a dagger throw. I have to stay this close, where she can’t throw it.]
“I said I could see through you.”
With a wink, Echidna threw a dagger at her.
“Eh!?”
The dagger flew at her from an unexpectedly short range.
From her point of view, everything around her suddenly started moving in slow-motion. The thunderous shots of joy vanished, and she could only see the point of the dagger coming towards her.
Her body couldn’t move away to escape.
*Whamm!*
Feeling a terrible shock to her skull, Tomoe lost consciousness, not knowing what had happened to her.
***
“Oh, not the outcome I was expecting.”
Elina seemed bored as she murmured.
“What were you expecting?”
“Irma? How long have you been here?”
Elina asked in a cold tone, as she hid her sausages in a hurry and fixed her appearance; in order to emphasize their master-slave relationship, she had to remain cool-headed in front of her maid.
“I came back at the start of the preliminary. Milady, you were silent since you were focused on the match, so…”
“Thanks for your consideration. But I’d have preferred if you said so when you came back.”
“Excuse me.”
Irma lowered her head in a bow, while Elina wasn’t even looking, busy faking a big yawn to hide her embarrassment.
***
“Echidna! Echidna!”
The cheers filling the arena made Tomoe regain consciousness. She realized she had been defeated without even landing one attack.
“Winner, Veteran Mercenary Echidna.”
The umpire image declared its verdict, and the crystal balls returned to both their hands.
The fight was over.
“Now then…”
Giving a joyful smile from the bottom of her heart, Echidna looked at Tomoe.
“I’ll have you fulfill our promise.”
The doll wearing a change of clothes moved straight besides Tomoe. At her wits’ end, the priestess looked around.
[No one is going to help me.]
Whether she liked it or not, she realized that the gazes directed at her from the audience were even filled with a certain expectation.
“Echidna! Echidna!”
[The crowd, who was chanting my name in the last fight, now support Echidna.]
The audience’s cheer only proved that no one was rooting for her in this arena. The people of Sheldan favored the mightiest warriors; that was the only reason they had been supporting her so far, Tomoe now realized.
“Change of clothes! Change of clothes!”
The audience egged Tomoe to change.
“C’mon, Tomoe. Everyone is tired of waiting.”
Echidna opened her arms widely with a smirk.
“Or is it that Hinomoto’s Warrior Priestesses don’t keep their promises?”
If she would take it this far, Tomoe had no choice but to make up her mind.
[And this is just my first defeat.]
Trembling as she imagined what could happen to her body from then on, she untied her belt.
The eyes of the spectators were focused on her fingertips, to the point that silence washed all over the arena.
***
“Shall we return?”
Elina spoke to Irma beside her, with a tone as if she had fallen out of interest.
“Won’t you watch until the end?”
“I don’t need to. The fight I wanted to see is over.”
Sending a glance at Tomoe, who wore a costume with the same design as Echidna’s, Elina left her seat.
“Echidna obtained victory just with a dagger throw. If that’s a technique taught among the Assassins of Fang, I must think of a way to counter it.”
Irma nodded silently at her words.
“And unfortunately, it looks like my beloved sister wasn’t able to make it here.”
The maid stared in wonder when she heard that.
“Did you look all over the audience’s seats?”
The arena’s auditorium was of such a scale that it could accommodate a crowd well in the tens of thousands. There was no way someone could find one person amongst them.
“You mean to say it’s impossible, don’t you? Still, I can do it. Even if she hides among many commoners, Sister can’t hide her nobility.”
Elina affirmed so categorically.
***
“Are you satisfied now?”
Tomoe glared at Echidna, her cheeks dyed in shame. Since she was covering with both hands her lower body, now just pure white underpants, she never noticed she was emphasizing her breasts.
“Hm, just a bit more.”
Echidna's face displayed an expression like a horny man, grinning as she leered at her figure.
“A bit more”? What more could you possibly do?”
She raised her voice in protest.
No wonder; she had put on the whole costume Echidna had prepared. For the modest Tomoe, clothes with such a high degree exposure as those were the same as being naked.
[There’s nothing more for me to put on, and nothing else I can take off for that matter.]
“Keltan, want a turn?”
The snake around Echidna’s waist wriggled.
“Eek.”
She couldn’t help squealing as she stepped back.
“Ah, see here, don’t be hasty. If you move now, won’t you be showing everyone your special place?”
The audience was roused by Echidna’s joke-like tone.
“It’s unfair that only Tomoe gets to change clothes, so why don’t I wear *those*, too?”
The elf casually grabbed the priestess clothes she had taken off, and in just a blink, she was already wearing them.
[How can she be so fast?]
“Take them off at once!”
Tomoe shouted in anger.
“They’re not something someone like you can wear.”
Tomoe’s priestess clothes were something only Warrior Priestesses were allowed to wear, even back at Hinomoto. In no case were they ever supposed to be worn by someone who wasn’t devoted to their training.
“Nope.”
Echidna laughed scornfully at her protest, chanted a spell in a low voice and patted around her waist area. Slowly, a snake appeared beside the feet hidden by her clothes.
“If I take this hakama off, my lower body will be naked, won’t it?”
The snake raised its head as it approached Tomoe.
“Now, Keltan. Coil around her.”
It climbed all over her feet, preventing her from stepping back. It felt cold to the touch, which made her stiffen unconsciously. As she trembled with chill and horror, the silver snake crept up her feet and took residence at her waist, the same way it had with Echidna.
“Hiiahn.”
The snake’s tail stimulated a sensitive part over the thin cloth of her underwear.
Seeing Tomoe’s appearance –her cheeks dyed red, breathing roughly and wobbling as if she would fall down at any moment–, made the audience start clamoring.
“Keltan, behave.”
“S-Such a horrible experience…”
She bit her lips tightly, and sat flat on the stone pavement.
“Please kill me, rather than making me go through this!”
Big tears spilled from her eyes.
“Eh?”
Echidna’s expression froze over involuntarily when she saw that. She had never expected for a moment that the priestess would burst into tears like a little girl.
“If not only I lose the fight but have to be subjected to such humiliation, I’d rather die.”
Weeping with sobs, she collapsed on the floor.
In that state, the audience, which had been celebrating the shameful clothes she wore just a moment ago, would now only feel sympathy for her.
“…Keltan, come back.”
Echidna recalled the silver snake as if her interest had been dampened.
“Tomoe… This should make you understand your place. Will you go back to your island country with your tail between your legs, or will you keep challenging this? Think it over well.”
After talking to Tomoe, she snapped her finger.
“I’m out. Along with Tomoe.”
A magic circle expanded to surround the two, and then shone for a moment. The instant the brightness went out, both of them had completely disappeared from the arena. The party was over.
Tomoe, who had thought herself invincible, lost before Echidna’s undefeated legend, and from then on the people of Sheldan would only be remembering her as an ordinary girl.
The people of Sheldan favored the mightiest warriors, so the fact that not many people would be talking about her defeat was a silver lining for Tomoe.
***
Along the shine of the magic circle, Tomoe was brought back to the waiting room.
[If it hadn’t been for the “hachigane” (bandanna) wound around my forehead, I’d have died.]
Echidna had aimed the dagger directly at her hachikane so that the shock would knock her out, instead of killing her.
[Was Echidna holding back, or was it Lord Masakado’s protection…?
This is what the defeats at Queen’s Blade are like. A world of shame and humiliation, more painful than death.]
Tomoe’s body flushed pink when she saw her unladylike figure reflected in the mirror.
[What kind of shameless appearance is this?]
Tomoe bit her lips, remembering that she had exposed that look to the curious eyes of the arena's crowd, that look more sexy than being nude, wearing a costume emphasizing indecency with nary a thought for modesty.
The “hachigane”, deformed after taking the full hit of the dagger, seemed to be telling her: “Live, and overcome your weaknesses.” Or at least, that was how it felt to the priestess.
[I will cry for now. I’ll cry until my tears dry up, and I’ll be back to my usual self from tomorrow on.]
Forcing herself to let her emotions flow, Tomoe shed tears.
Irma’s Diary, Part 1
I decided to keep a diary so that I don’t forget what comes up. It’s weird for an assassin to keep one, though.
I'll make it a rule to encrypt it in case someone can steal a glance. That way, were anyone to read it and notice a specific keyword, they might chalk it up to it being simply cooking recipes or cleaning tips. In fact, Elina already fancies me as some kind of memo-loving girl, so that makes it all the easier for me to record things.
By the way, after they had me change from being a cleaning lady to a guard, become the maid of the captain Elina and leave the Earldom, suffice to say that I lost my chance of getting close to Earl Vance.
Nonetheless, I heard that “Master Swordswoman Maria’s Secret Technique” was inherited by her daughters, so one could judge that I’m in the perfect position to carry out another duty, this time investigating.
I hear that the secret technique has 3 elements: Kindness, Strength and Beauty. I should be able to find out how the skill incorporates these elements, and how much power it has, during this journey.
Regarding the sudden step-up from a cleaning lady to Royal Guard staff, honestly, I’m quite surprised. Even in my wildest dreams, I wouldn’t have guessed that the personnel affairs at Vance territory were so liberal.
I also heard that if I joined the guards, I’d have unlimited access to the cat garden at the courtyard of Elina’s residence, but unfortunately I had to leave before I could ever set foot in it once. When we get back, I’d like to visit by all means.
The mission of the guard captain Elina, who recently became my mistress, is to capture her elder sister, Leina. To think a heiress would run away… Apparently the Vance family has serious problems among its midst. If I play my cards well here, I might be able to bring it down from the inside.
According to information I got hold of, guards have been searching for the last half year within the Earl territory, but seemingly weren’t able to capture her.
They’re really talented at searching, though. As long as one assumes all the members are faithful to carrying out their mission, the possibility of Leina running away should originally have been equal to nil.
Even then, she superbly shook free from their tracking, and sometimes even beat them at their own game. From this, it’s likely to conclude that Leina is also likely to have inherited the Master Swordswoman Maria’s secret technique. Otherwise, one would be led to think there are some people aiding Leina’s escape among the guards.
Whatever the case, Elina believes that her sister shaking off the guards means she’s out of the country, so she came to the Free City Sheldan.
She should be able to catch her there, as the city’s bustling with the Queen’s Blade preliminaries.
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