episode_0038

By now, it was common knowledge among those pursuing Arina that she was heading toward the Holy Kingdom.

Whether they had arrived ahead to set up an ambush or were simply drawn by the bounty, the number of attackers increased the closer she got to the Holy Kingdom.

Most of them were reckless fools who had never even encountered the elite soldiers of the Demon King’s army, so they were swept away by a few casual flicks of Arina’s hand, as if she were merely cleaning up trash.

But the opponent blocking the checkpoint leading into the Holy Kingdom was different. The aura they exuded was on an entirely different level from the thugs who had come at her so far.

They could accurately gauge her strength—and they weren’t the type to be swayed by money. Above all, what set them apart was that they were acquainted with Arina.

“Stop. I’m not here to fight.”

Seeing Arina gathering mana in a murderous atmosphere, the opponent released their grip on their sword.

“Then why are you here, Cecil Astrea?”

Cecil Astrea—a woman who could be called the mentor of the Hero’s Party, and who might have even been a member herself.

Had the Hero not been chosen in her place, she would have been. But considering the state the Hero’s Party had ended up in, it was probably a blessing in disguise for her.

No, even that isn’t certain.

“Cecil, you haven’t fallen to him, have you?”

The greatest swordsmaster of the Kingdom in this era, a Swordmaster—she had already reached that pinnacle when Arina first met her.

She was the sword instructor for Yuria and Leona, the teacher who had taught the entire party how to fight demons. Once a young and beautiful lady, she now carried the weight of experience in her years.

Of course, part of why she seemed older was because Arina’s appearance had regressed, making the original six-year age gap feel even wider.

Still, Cecil herself looked to be in her late twenties. If the Porter had seen her, he’d have definitely made a move, Arina mused.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Not a denial or affirmation, but genuine confusion. That alone proved her innocence.

The Porter had only appeared after the Hero’s Party had completed their training and set out, so the two had little chance of crossing paths.

Even if they had met afterward, it would’ve been difficult for him to pull any tricks in the middle of a battlefield swarming with demons and allies.

“Forget what I just said. So, if you’re not here to fight, what’s your business?”

“Yuria told me to give you this if I saw you.”

What Cecil handed her was a crystal orb—one equipped with a communication function.

“A communication crystal? You want me to contact them?”

“That’s up to you. I’ve delivered it, so I’ll be going now.”

“The Kingdom’s Swordmaster is just going to let a traitor go?”

“What do I care? I heard you took down Klaus. If I end up an ice statue too, who’ll hold the front lines?”

For Arina, it was a matter long behind her, but the demon invasion was still ongoing. If national heroes like Klaus or Cecil were absent for too long, the frontlines would collapse sooner or later.

Even the Empire was struggling after losing its greatest military asset, the Knights of Flame. In such a situation, the Kingdom couldn’t afford to recklessly expend its own precious Swordmaster.

“So you really came all this way just to deliver this?”

“Yeah. It’s my first vacation in ages, and I didn’t have anything better to do. An old request came to mind.”

At your age, you should find a man and settle down before it’s too late. The thought crossed Arina’s mind, but she kept it to herself.

This was a woman who had devoted her entire life to the sword. So much so that, on her rare vacation, she had nothing to do but fulfill an old student’s request.

She’d probably live like this forever—a woman with no social graces, incapable of meeting someone, marrying, and starting a family.

In that way, Arina felt a kinship with her.

“If you’re not here to fight, at least have some tea before you go.”

Holding Cecil back was unlike her, but that sense of kinship played a part.

“Tea? I don’t mind, but given my position, I can’t be seen getting too friendly with you.”

“There’s a teahouse nearby with private rooms.”

“Didn’t you just arrive? You know the area well.”

“I’ve been here before.”

Between her time with the Hero’s Party and her years wandering the world as Arina, nearly a decade had passed. There were few places left on the continent she hadn’t set foot in.

Renting out an entire room just for tea was something the average commoner would find absurd.

But for merchants discussing sensitive matters or nobles unwilling to share tables with the lower classes, there was demand. The teahouse, which she hadn’t visited in years, had grown larger since her last visit.

The prices had also risen considerably, but for a Swordmaster like Cecil, it was no burden.

“Sorry about this. I invited you, but you’re the one paying.”

Cecil handled the bill. Given that this was a place frequented by nobles, Arina would’ve likely been turned away. She slipped in secretly after Cecil secured the room.

“It’s fine. It’s not like I have anywhere else to spend my money.”

As Cecil took a sip of tea, the dark circles under her eyes betrayed her exhaustion. Being constantly shuffled between battlefields with no rest would do that.

Yet she didn’t seem to notice it herself. When fatigue becomes a constant, it starts to feel normal.

Liel Frost was exactly like that back then. Only after becoming what she was now and running from her duties did Arina realize how exhausted she had been.

“You don’t look well. You should rest instead of wandering around outside.”

“Staying still is boring. A little sunlight and fresh air is just right.”

Near the border, where the demon realm and the frontlines clashed, black clouds blotted out the sun, and the air was thick. After spending years there, even breathing normal air felt healing.

“I suppose.”

Arina nodded, understanding the feeling, and wet her lips with tea.

“……”

Another heavy silence settled between them. With two taciturn women in the room, this pattern had repeated itself since earlier.

It hadn’t been like this in the past. Even if Arina hadn’t been the most outgoing person, she’d been warm-hearted enough to initiate conversation with Cecil, whose expressions rarely changed.

She had even been Cecil’s first male friend.

But now, things were different. Pain wasn’t something one grew accustomed to—the more scars one carried, the more one feared new ones. The current Arina rarely reached out to others first.

How did I do it back then? As Arina sifted through old memories, Cecil, who had been quietly eating the snacks, spoke up.

“So, are you going to explain? How you ended up like this.”

Cecil had recognized Arina as Liel Frost from the wanted posters, but she didn’t know the details of how she’d become a woman.

Neither did the ones who had issued the bounty. Even Arina herself didn’t know—she’d just woken up one day in this body.

Daniel suspected it might’ve been the work of demons.

Changing a person’s gender was impossible with magic or divine power. But there was a new force, one whose very existence had been unknown until recently—magic energy (magi).

Its principles were a mystery, but it was a power on par with divine energy. If anything could alter a person’s sex, it would be magi.

Arina fiddled with the vial in her pocket. Inside was magi.

She had done some research, but she still knew next to nothing about it.

The only thing she’d confirmed was that it consumed mana to grow in volume. Proper research would require human experimentation.

Her initial plan to keep Lilit around had been to test magi on her, but whether because she was a demon, nothing happened when it touched or was ingested by her body.

Arina told Cecil everything—about the Hero’s Party, what had happened, and even this.

Even the usually emotionless Cecil seemed genuinely shocked this time.

“I can’t believe it. That they’d do such a thing to you.”

“But it’s the truth. If possible, I’d like to borrow the authority of the Swordmaster.”

“I’ll try, but I doubt my voice will carry much weight.”

As the Kingdom’s representative knight, Cecil had attended many important meetings—including those discussing Liel Frost’s treatment after capture.

The monarchs of each nation salivated at the thought of wielding Liel’s overwhelming power for themselves. Even when Cecil argued for a proper investigation, no one listened.

Knowing the truth wouldn’t change the outcome.

“Especially Second Prince Kyle. He seems quite taken with your looks—he even wants to make you his wife.”

“Kyle? That bratty little shit?”

Little was a memory from over a decade ago. He’d be a full-grown adult by now.

Even back then, he’d been an insufferable brat, and from the sound of it, he hadn’t grown up any better.

“Calling a prince that is a bit… I am still a knight of the Kingdom.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it? That bastard and the others—even knowing I was once a man—still think of me as their woman?”

“Looking at you now, I can see why they might. Don’t you feel the same when you look in the mirror?”

“I don’t look in mirrors.”

This body wasn’t her real one. Arina hadn’t given up on reclaiming her original form.

Whether it meant capturing the Porter and forcing the truth out of him or unraveling the secrets of the magi the girl possessed.

Staring at this temporary, false shell was nothing but painful.

“Let’s drop my story for now. More than that, I want information about them.”

“The Hero’s Party? Nothing special. They’ve been diligently pushing into the demon realm—more than you’d think. Though they’ve been struggling lately.”

“So they do need my strength.”

Leona’s claim that they needed her to defeat the Demon King hadn’t been a complete lie, it seemed.

“Oh, there is one thing. You might not know, but there was quite a stir when Marika and the others all got pregnant at the same time.”

“P-pregnant?”

This was the first she’d heard of it. As a wanderer with no fixed abode, Arina rarely caught wind of gossip unless someone at a nearby table happened to bring it up.

Rumors of the Hero’s Party members’ pregnancies were officially kept secret, but they’d spread quietly, becoming fodder for idle chatter.

“When was this?”

“Around the time rumors started spreading that Liel Frost had disappeared.”

That would’ve been right after she’d become a woman. Fresh from fleeing the Hero’s Party, Arina had been burning with vengeance, holed up in dungeons the entire time—no wonder she hadn’t heard.

“D-did Yuria…?”

Hearing about the pregnancies, that was the first name that came to mind.

Her former lover. Even though Arina could never be with her again, the thought of Yuria carrying another man’s child left an uncomfortable ache in her chest.

“No, not her.”

Contrary to her fears, Cecil immediately dismissed the idea.

“How can you be sure?”

“Because Yuria kept pushing into the demon realm even while the rest of the party was pregnant. She hasn’t left the frontlines for over half a year.”

Pregnancy and childbirth took ten months. If Yuria hadn’t been absent for more than half a year, hiding a child would’ve been impossible.

“But why leave Yuria out of it?”

“Even those brats had some conscience left. That’s the only explanation I can think of.”

If even the Hero had gotten pregnant, leaving the entire party absent from the battlefield, neither the King nor the Emperor would’ve stood idle. Maybe they were afraid of that, Cecil added.

Still unable to shake off her unease, Arina frowned. Cecil stood up.

“That’s all I can tell you. Next time we meet, I might have no choice but to draw my sword.”

“That’s enough. It was good seeing you, Cecil.”

“You can still call me noona like before. Or should it be unnie now?”

“Don’t say unnecessary things and just go.”

As expected, the sharp glare made Cecil smile faintly for the first time. But then her expression turned serious again as she left one final warning.

“Liel. Whatever you do from now on is your choice, but remember one thing—don’t get caught.”

If she were captured, the world that awaited her would be hell.

That was the last piece of advice she could give to the boy she had once cared for as her student.