Ch.66Reunion with Frider Wasn’t Bad

Frider, seated in the chair, spoke nonchalantly.

“I heard the story. You turned nearly three hundred beasts into pieces of meat. You even defeated a Champion.”

“Three hundred? Did I really cut down that many…?”

Honestly, I didn’t know how many I had killed.

In the beginning, I was out of my mind, and later, I fought in an almost trance-like state.

Three hundred Werebeasts by myself. Though most were inferior hybrids, it was still an unreal achievement.

Millia said I took down about thirty percent of the Werebeasts.

That means the rebels numbered almost a thousand.

Frider swept her hair back.

“Yes. It’s an impressive feat. A lone female knight who slaughtered three hundred Werebeasts and saved the academy. If not a legend, wouldn’t it at least make for a good ballad?”

“…Please, I’d rather you didn’t.”

A song about me.

The thought alone made me dizzy.

“…Anyway, why are you here?”

Surely she didn’t come just to check on me. We weren’t that close, were we?

She must have come with some purpose.

Perhaps because of the imperial invitation or a letter from her father? That’s all I could think of.

“Ah, well…”

Surprisingly, Frider suddenly hesitated.

She moved her lips uncertainly, tilting her head this way and that.

“Um, well, you know…”

What could she possibly want to say that made her hesitate so much…?

It wasn’t like her at all.

“What is it?”

“Well… I wanted to say you did well. You were excellent. The fact that this ended with only this much damage is all thanks to you.”

Frider smiled awkwardly, her lips trembling slightly.

…Was giving a compliment really that difficult?

Thanks to me.

“…I see.”

“Hmm? Your expression is terrible. And here I was giving you a compliment.”

“In the end, twenty thousand people died. I feel like they all died because of me.”

Though we decided to blame the Werebeasts.

But the human heart doesn’t change so simply, so the guilt still remained.

Every time someone praised me, it felt like a thorn piercing my heart.

“I was wondering what you were going to say, but this doesn’t sound like you at all. Did you suffer brain damage? Well, you did get hit in the head by a Werebeast.”

Frider shrugged with an incredulous expression.

As if she hadn’t expected such words to come from my mouth.

Not like me, she said. Maybe that’s true.

“Isn’t it obvious? They called me their primary target. Boris said they caused this incident because Ka’har joined the Empire. So it’s my fault. It was my decision.”

If it hadn’t been for me, this would have ended with just fifty to a hundred casualties, as in the original story.

Instead, twenty thousand died.

“Ah, I thought it was strange how desperately you fought. Don’t tell me you actually felt responsible? You? That’s ridiculous.”

“Well…! Yes. It’s funny that someone like me, who’s killed so many Danes, would say something like this. But still—”

I didn’t kill them, but the original owner of this body did.

I suppose it would seem strange to others that a murderer like me would now be depressed about people dying because of me.

“No, that’s not what I meant. Though that’s also true. What I’m saying is, it’s absurd that the person who contributed the most to resolving this incident is nearly choking on guilt.”

“…I’m not a contributor, I’m the cause.”

Frider shook her head and sighed, as if exasperated.

She placed her hand on my shoulder.

“Haaa… why do I have to explain this to you? Anyway, listen carefully.”

The pressure of her grip made my shoulder hurt.

“Twenty thousand dead? Thanks to you. Without you, at least ten thousand more would have died. Almost all the students would have been killed.”

“But that’s—”

“Keep listening. What if you hadn’t prepared silver through Asha? More would have died. Perhaps even Lord Nigel, you, or even me. We barely won because the enemy was divided chasing after Asha. If we had died, the knights who came to clean up would have had to face six purebloods and two Champions.”

At least that part wasn’t wrong.

It was because I had taken down most of the warriors, Boris, and even Natalya that the riot was quickly contained.

If they had all continued guerrilla warfare in the academy, the damage would have been immense.

“And well, do you think they would have just been sleeping peacefully in the academy if you weren’t there? After gathering a force of a thousand? This would have happened even without you.”

“…Still, if I had investigated the underground waterways just three days earlier, we might have prevented it. I was too complacent.”

I had relied too much on the original story and thought we had time.

I never imagined they would use those ear-cut inferior slave species to stage a large-scale riot.

The number of warriors was also slightly more than I had known.

Still, if I had caught evidence beforehand and prepared, we wouldn’t have wasted knight forces in such confusion.

Perhaps we could have suppressed the riot as soon as it started, minimizing casualties.

“Nonsense. If you had, you would have all died there instead. Do you think those who were so well-prepared would have left suspicious people wandering in the waterways alone? More than twenty warriors and three Champions would have jumped out at once. Even three Nigels couldn’t have won. If anything, you were lucky.”

Frider firmly denied my reasoning.

“…You’re right about that.”

Her words were correct.

Their forces were certainly beyond what we could have matched on our own.

Originally, I had planned to use my senses to avoid contact as much as possible while collecting evidence.

The best outcome would have been to find one isolated enemy and bring back its corpse.

And if I sensed too many scents or presences approaching us, I planned to flee immediately.

But who would have thought they had means to block my detection abilities?

That couldn’t have been something Werebeasts could create.

“So drop this inexplicable guilt. I’ve never seen anyone who worries about such things live very long.”

Is that so? I’m not sure.

Considering the injuries I’ve sustained so far, I certainly almost didn’t live long.

Now that I’ve awakened my Karma, once my body recovers, I probably won’t suffer serious injuries for a while.

I consider it again.

This is enough. I did well. From now on, I just need to protect more people.

Can I move on with that kind of thinking? It was a question without an answer.

No. I just want to think there’s no answer.

The conclusion is already there. There’s no point in worrying about it; I should let it go.

What’s done is done, and I’ll have to keep fighting anyway.

The dead won’t come back if I disappear.

And the story that’s already changed won’t return to the original if I’m gone.

In the end, what I need to do is already determined.

So I’ll bury it.

Regret and guilt only slow down the sword.

…Still. Just a little. I felt better.

Despite her rough way of speaking, her own form of comfort seeped into my tired heart. Like rain moistening parched earth.

It was too sweet to reject.

—-

In the end, I nodded in agreement with her words. Seeing this, Frider smiled slightly.

“Right. We’ve just gained a useful Master. It would be a huge loss if you just died.”

“Gained…?”

“I heard from my father. You’re not returning to your homeland after graduation but coming north. Haven’t you received the letter?”

Ah, so that’s what the letter from Faelrun was about. I was just about to read it.

When I applied for admission, I did agree to serve five years on the northern front.

I had actually planned to ask Lord Landenburg to escape to Wall of Berengeria when the time came.

Now I’m not sure what to do. I should go wherever is more urgent.

“As for the letter, with my body like this, I was just about to read it.”

“Is that so? Well, there won’t be much in it. Father isn’t one to write long letters.”

Thinking this was a good opportunity, I took out the letter with the Faelrun seal.

On the snow-white paper, only three sentences were written in bold, strong handwriting.

‘Your achievements at the academy were truly impressive. Faelrun welcomes you. I look forward to meeting you in the north in three years.’

…I get the feeling he would come after me if I tried to escape to the east.

“There really isn’t much to it.”

“See?”

I put down Faelrun’s letter and picked up the invitation from the Imperial House.

“Ah, that invitation. So you got one too. I suppose that’s natural.”

“Do you know what it’s about?”

“An award ceremony, of course. They want to give titles or medals to those who distinguished themselves in this incident. With something this big happening, they need to spread heroic tales to calm the unsettled atmosphere. You’re going to be quite busy, I imagine.”

She’s saying the same thing as Lacy.

That I’ll be busy.

“Busy? Wouldn’t an award ceremony only take a day or two?”

“The ceremony itself, yes. The problem is you. A female knight who sacrificed herself to prevent the academy disaster, the youngest Master, a foreign princess… and perhaps even an imperial title.”

“A title?”

“Yes. Your previous infamy might be… no, will definitely be a problem, but the Imperial House must have some plan since they’re inviting you, right? I don’t know what that plan is, but as a result, many nobles will be interested in you.”

The interest of nobles… well, that’s not necessarily bad.

I need to build my position within the Empire, and I also need to resolve the Ophelia issue and matters related to the imperial family.

These are problems that a mere foreign student would find difficult to interfere with.

“Plus, you’re quite beautiful, a woman of marriageable age.”

“…What?”

I think I just heard something I couldn’t ignore.

“Usually, your fierce aura and sharp eyes make you look just intimidating, but now with your eyes weakened from injury… you have a different feel. I bet you’ll receive countless invitations to balls, engagement proposals, and even marriage proposals. They’ll be after your skills, status, and looks. You’re truly a premium bride candidate.”

That was the most horrifying thing I’d heard.

Seeing my disgusted expression, Frider chuckled.

…I wanted a cigarette.