Lord Marksman and Vanadis (魔弾の王と戦姫)

Throw down your bow.

You may call me Eleonora Viltaria.

Your turn.

Lord Tigrevurmud Vorn.

Very well.

From this day forward, you are now my property.

Bertrand! Lord Mashas!

The battle. It was terrible.

So that's a War Maiden.

From the sound of it, I've got five shots.

The last Brunish survivor's mine!

Aw, rats, come on.

I could have used that horse to ride out of here.

Seven knights.

That hair.

The War Maiden.

If I kill her right now myself,

perhaps they'll stop hunting Brunish survivors.

All right!

Range, three hundred alsins.

Easy.

Guide my arrow, Eris, Goddess of Wind.

Throw down your bow.

War had broken out

between the Kingdoms of Brune and Zhcted.

And the Dinant Plains that lay between the two lands

would see the decisive battle.

So it was, that the Brunish Army,

with an overwhelming advantage in numbers, established camp.

There wasn't a man among them who thought they could lose.

Of course.

Well. I didn't know you'd be here, Vorn.

My greetings from one lord to another.

Lord Zion Thenardier.

I, too, have answered His Majesty's call to defeat--

Such a demure way of talking back.

What good are you here among men like us?

The poor fool is built like a feather

and covered in rags!

Leather armor!

Shouldn't a nobleman

at least dress the part?

And that bow. Heh, heh.

The weapon of a peasant!

No, Lord Zion!

Are you hurt?

What gives you the right to bend my bow?

You're pathetic!

A bow and arrow is a coward's weapon.

Oh, Vorn.

Why don't you admit the reason you use a bow

is because you're not strong enough to wield a real weapon.

You're a boy, pretending to be a soldier.

And having an old man for an attendant

only makes you that much more of a disgrace.

In battle, there's only one way to defend Brune.

You should be training with a man's weapon.

Maybe this can wait.

I hate to interrupt this eloquent lecture,

but they're handing out the evening's wine rations now.

And I assume your talking has made you quite thirsty.

Go fill your goblet, please.

I appreciate the assist. Thanks, Lord Mashas.

Happy to do so.

Guess I couldn't help escalating things, but...

You saved me from a nasty fight.

If you ask me, I envy Duke Ganelon.

What? Why?

For using this war as a pretense to raise taxes.

And for taking his enemies' daughters.

That's true. Duke Thenardier's just as crafty, making subjects

donate their liquor as a "sacrifice to the gods."

And both are torching the homes of anyone who holds out.

That's nothing, I've heard that to set an example to others,

Duke Thenardier's forcing family members to take up swords

and fight to the death.

How entertaining!

Not worth it.

Are those stories they're telling true?

The men in question wouldn't deny it.

It's news to you because you don't travel

through the middle of the Kingdom very often.

And the King?

His Majesty has something in mind for them,

I'm sure.

Like a punishment?

And even if he can't,

I'm sure in time Prince Regnas will possess the strength.

Huh?

You've been sleeping long enough.

Is it late?

It's almost noon.

That's a strange way of waking people up.

Well having to wake a slave

by shoving a sword down his throat is a first for me, too.

How can you lose a battle, become a prisoner,

and still sleep without a care in the world?

It's one of my magic powers.

So, this is the Kingdom of Zhcted?

Lady Eleonora would like to see you.

What?!

No.

But how could Zhcted capture him so easily?

We suffered a total rout in a sneak attack.

Tigre couldn't flee in time, but he fought well.

But, I thought that

I heard our forces outnumbered Zhcted five to one!

How could we lose so decisively?

You're right.

We had an army twenty-five thousand strong

to only their five thousand.

It was a mighty force His Majesty had assembled

in honor of the Prince's debut campaign.

Lord Tigre was so ready.

He had one hundred brave banner men following him into battle.

The battle wasn't the only thing lost.

Of those hundred men, seven are dead and thirty injured.

And most of those were trampled by our own fleeing allies.

We received the following demand from the enemy leader:

Unless we deliver a ransom within fifty days,

Tigre will become Zhicted's property forever.

How much do they want?

Even if it's exorbitant,

I'm sure we can get the villagers to chip in!

They demand three times the yearly revenue

of the province of Alsace,

or something of comparable value.

Be reasonable. That's way too high.

Too bad.

The Kingdom of Brune has fifty days to comply

with our ransom demand after receiving it.

Time's a-wasting.

If the full amount we've requested

is not delivered to me, in accordance with the treaty.

You will officially become my property,

for me to do with as I see fit.

This I swear in the name of Radegast,

god of honor and contracts.

Well, all right.

This is why you stuck your sword in my mouth and brought me here.

So I could hear your crazy greed with my own ears.

Now, now.

There's more to our talking than ransom.

I have something special only you can do for me.

That's two now that he's missed!

You better be taking this seriously.

I am, don't worry.

Is this your first time with a bow, sir?

Now that's cutting with a knife, Ryurik.

Of all the prisoners,

why would the War Maiden bring back this weakling?

Looks like he's gonna keep

embarrassing himself!

Useless and a glutton...

This entire demonstration is a farce.

His first shot was way too short.

His second was way too long.

That means on his third try,

he'll shoot himself in the foot! Ha ha ha!

I've got a feel for this bow's limits.

Here goes.

Huh?

Get down! Assassin!

Arifal!

I want him skinned alive!

I mean no insult, but can they take him alive?

Who do you think you are telling me what to do here?!

Fine, then I'll hit his foot.

His aim is unreal!

And he did it with a bad bow, too!

He hit a moving target from well over three hundred alsins away.

Just so we're clear,

do you want me to keep shooting?

I think I've seen enough.

You're quite a talent, Lord Tigrevurmud Vorn.

My apologies for yesterday.

Wait, for what?

The bow they gave you.

It was never my intention for you to receive one

that shoddily constructed.

So. you weren't trying to make me look bad,

it was shoddy Zhcted craftsmanship.

No.

The three men who made the bow did want to sabotage you.

I'll have them beheaded.

Whoa, hold on! It was a harmless prank.

No one got hurt!

That was more than a prank.

They wanted to humiliate you!

And bring dishonor to your people and your family!

Custom demands that they pay for this scheme with their lives!

Then I beg you. Please show them mercy.

This one time.

So, what was the point

of having me show off my skills in the first place?