A Villainess's Weapon Is, of Course, a Chain Flail, Desu Wa!
"Ah, of course. Back at my family's estate, I practice the sword seven times over ten days, two hours at a stretch. Father personally taught me everything from the time I was a child."
Pride radiated from Milena's breezy tone and from the light in her eyes. She carried on without pause.
"At last year's Winter Festival tournament, I took third place. Not a bad result, wouldn't you say? Though I'll admit I didn't quite manage first place……"
She paused, glancing around, then lowered her voice as though sharing a secret.
"Actually, I heard a rumor that you, Lady Katerina, once sparred with Natasha of House Volkov. The nobles of our territory do love to gossip about such things."
I gave a light shrug. Whether news of that sparring match had truly spread as far as the nobility of Sokolov County, or whether Milena had gleaned it through some private channel of her own, I couldn't say — but it hardly warranted a reaction.
"It was nothing much, desu wa. Merely a friendly match."
At my answer, something subtle shifted in Milena's gaze.
"Natasha of Volkov is…… well, honestly speaking, her fundamentals look diligently drilled, but she lacks refinement and natural instinct. She fought hard at the Winter Festival tournament, mind you, but she was eliminated fairly early on."
"Meanwhile, the fact that I climbed all the way to third place is…… ah, not that I'm bragging — I'm merely stating a plain fact."
"Hmm……"
Leafing back through Katerina's memories, I recalled that Natasha had grown at a remarkably steep pace after switching to an estoc. If that trajectory held, then while she might struggle today, someday she could very well surpass Milena.
Granted, I'd first need to see exactly how good Milena actually is……
"Would you care to cross blades with me as well? It might be entertaining to have you judge for yourself which of the two heiresses — Sokolov or Volkov — is the finer swordswoman."
I sighed inwardly.
A sparring proposal, hm. Truth be told, the way she brought up Natasha felt like groundwork being laid from the very start.
I had anticipated it to a degree, but honestly, I had little desire to duel. Even my match with Natasha last time had been something I'd accepted through gritted teeth.
Katerina's memories held precious little of her actually fighting anyone. She would occasionally watch others spar, but she never cared to step into the ring herself.
Even right now, that same deep reluctance is welling up without the slightest shame.
The reason was simple. In all Katerina's life, no one had ever been a match for her. It held about as much meaning or entertainment as twisting an infant's wrist.
But this was surely no ordinary sparring invitation. Milena wanted to measure herself against Natasha through me, to prove her own superiority. And woven through this duel was the whole competitive thread between Sokolov–Dmitri and Volkov–Tropimov.
"Mm…… the truth is, dueling isn't much to my taste, desu wa."
Milena's eyes widened in surprise.
"Really? From someone as powerful as you, Lady Katerina?"
"That is precisely why, desu wa. I find it rather difficult to feel any interest……"
Milena considered this for a moment, then wore a cunning little smile.
"I see. But…… you know the rumors are spreading, don't you? That Lady Katerina favors Tropimov and Volkov."
"A match with me might be just the thing to dispel such prejudice, wouldn't you say?"
Her words struck home. She had pinpointed, with uncomfortable precision, the exact political balancing act I'd been agonizing over.
This girl — she seemed like nothing more than a cheerful social butterfly…… but she's far more cunning than I gave her credit for.
"I see. That's not a bad proposal, desu wa. A quick match could certainly be arranged."
Milena's face brightened.
"Wonderful! Let's do it right now. Ah — as a friendly match, of course. Please don't take it too seriously."
She sprang to her feet and flashed a radiant smile.
"My escort brought my weapons along. What sort of weapon do you favor, Lady Katerina?"
"I hold no particular preference, desu wa. Let us stop by the armory first and see what suits."
We crossed the garden and headed into the citadel itself. Watching Milena practically glow with delight, I found myself wondering if perhaps the true purpose of her visit to Eisenfels hadn't been the duel with me all along.
Or maybe — that thought might actually be the right one. House Sokolov wants to keep the Grand Duke's daughter, Katerina, from tumbling wholly into the Volkov–Tropimov camp, but what Milena herself truly wanted…… may simply have been a match with me.
On the way to the armory, the citadel's cold stone floor pressed firmly against the soles of my shoes. The architecture of the northern Grand Duchy favored granite that was practical yet dignified, and the corridor leading down to the armory was thick with dark, damp air.
"This way, my lady."
Under Eliza's guidance, we arrived before the massive iron door of the armory, tucked into the basement of the citadel's western tower. Guarded at all hours by sentries, this place housed the arms of the Grand Ducal family — and with them, the weight of history.
When the door swung open, the flickering glow of lanterns washed over ranks upon ranks of weapons.
Spears, halberds, and axes lined the walls; swords gleamed behind glass display cases. Along the opposite side stood rows of mail shirts, scale armor, and the latest Empire-style plate harnesses.
"The Eisenfels armory is truly impressive. Our own armory back home is large, but I don't think it could hold a candle to this."
Milena breathed out a low whistle of admiration.
"Everything here has been collected by our family across the generations, desu wa."
I drifted slowly along the display racks. The boar spears so common in the north, an Imperial zweihänder, a rapier, daggers — all of them splendid, and yet somehow none of them quite seized my heart.
What would suit me best……
Then, strangely, my gaze was drawn to one corner of the room. There, set a little apart from the rest on its own stand, rested a single chain flail. Its grip was carved from a solid bar of iron — a single unbroken piece — joined to a length of steel chain that ended in a heavy weighted sphere.
The moment I laid eyes on it, my body slipped its own reins and drew me toward it, entirely without my permission.
Yes — this is the one, desu wa!
……I mean, this is it.
I approached the flail and closed my hand around the grip. It carried serious heft. Even among the warriors preserved in Katerina's memories, only a scant handful could have wielded such a thing — say, a Chadomir Gigant Eisenmark, or Father, or the Grand Duke himself.
"I shall use…… this one, desu wa."
I gave the chain a light, testing twirl, and the iron sphere split the air with a menacing hiss. Naturally, Milena's eyes went round.
"A chain flail! As expected of the Grand Duke's daughter, famed for her raw strength — a fitting choice indeed."
Her voice carried astonishment laced with a faint undercurrent of tension.
"To think you could handle a weapon that heavy. Truly impressive."
So I had found a weapon to my liking — but one thing still nagged at me.
Whether you judged it through a modern lens or this world's, the chain flail was a monumentally inefficient weapon.
One thoughtless spin of that iron sphere and it could crack my own skull open.
Controlling the heavy striking head was a problem in itself. Even for a trained warrior, the chain's length made landing a precise blow on a target anything but easy — and investing that much time and effort into it seemed vastly less sensible than simply mastering a sword or an axe.
And yet my body — Katerina's body — responded differently. The instant I felt the flail's weight settle across my palm, a strange satisfaction coursed through me from head to toe. It felt, somehow, like recovering something long lost.
Did Katerina, perhaps…… favor whip-like weapons? Is this what villainess taste looks like?
Fine, let's set that aside — how on earth am I supposed to use this thing in an actual fight?
Meanwhile, one of Milena's attendants brought over a long, slender leather case and opened it before her. Milena received it with ceremony and drew it open slowly.
"These are my twin swords, forged from imported steel. They're the very weapons I used to take third place at the Winter Festival tournament."
What she lifted from the case was a pair of slender, elegant swords. Each bore a keen point and a blade of gentle, deliberate curve, while the grips were adorned with fine, intricate engraving.
Twirling the twin swords lightly at her fingertips, Milena made her proposal.
"Shall we hold the match in the training arena? It's rather cramped in here."
"That would be best, desu wa."
I nodded, chain flail still in hand.
The training arena occupied the southern courtyard of the citadel — a round, amphitheater-like ring of sand, ringed by a few tiers of seating for spectators. The floor was laid with sand, designed to soften the shock of any fall.
When we arrived, Eliza stepped to my side. A faint blue light stirred at her fingertips.
"I shall cast a protective ward over you, my lady — purely for safety's sake."
Eliza's hand traced a graceful arc through the air. The blue light spilling from her fingertips began to wrap around my skin, like the sensation of donning an invisible suit of armor.
On the other side, one of Milena's attendants — a woman with a deep black hood pulled low over her face — stepped up to her mistress and performed a similar rite.