episode_0053

Kwoong!

The headless giant’s torso crashed to the ground as if sliding down, following its severed head weakly forward.

Accompanied by a gushing stream of black arterial blood, a soundless gust of wind escaped through the exposed cross-section of its neck.

Did I win?

I suppose I did. At least this much.

Thud.

I gasped for breath, collapsing beside the convulsing giant’s body like an elderly person struck by a truck, struggling to catch my breath.

“Ugh… huff… haaack…!”

The recoil from . There was no strength left to stand against the intense sense of exhaustion.

A sensation of moisture and vitality being entirely drained from my body. Perhaps I had grown somewhat accustomed after using it a few times, but it hadn’t quite led to complete collapse.

“Ughhh… I’m going to die, seriously…”

It wasn’t easy to endure. Frankly, I felt like just sprawling out and giving in.

I’m only holding back from lying down and falling asleep right here.

“Hilde! Are you okay?!”

Amy burst through the bushes and ran towards me.

“Did you get hurt…?”

Beside her, Gerda sprinted over, obliviously attempting a resurrection spell… Fortunately, the giant’s lifeless body only trembled, showing no sign of getting up.

Well, having cut off its head and body, it probably wouldn’t attempt to revive itself.

Unlike higher undead that had shed physical constraints, its sheer size aside, it was essentially no different from a revenant.

“Haa… haa… I’m fine, just a little tired.”

I replied, turning my head to look at them with effort.

“And… it seems we managed to defeat it. Somehow.”

To be honest, it was a surprising achievement even for me.

Single-handedly subduing a monster that would require several knights to safely vanquish.

Perhaps I was edging closer to Brunhilde’s true strength.

Of course, there was still a long way to go before I could perfectly match Brunhilde’s skill.

This time, if Freida hadn’t taken charge of subduing the Abyss Priest, we wouldn’t have been able to avoid defeat.

If that old man had used the corpse giant as a shield and bombarded us with attack magic, there would have been no way to respond.

…Come to think of it, I wonder what’s happened on Freida’s end.

Even though quite some time has passed, seeing no sign of her return… is she still battling the Abyss Priest?

During the battle with the corpse giant, I was so desperate that I didn’t even have the luxury to worry about Freida…

“Surely, nothing bad has happened to her…?”

After bringing down that guy, belated concern suddenly surged within me, unsettling my heart.

Her skills were probably at the top level among East Bay adventurers, but Hug Casval was also a formidable opponent, even for an ordinary East Bay adventurer.

That’s why,

“To face such a monster alone… it’s impressive. Astonishing, really.”

“Um, Gelda, I have a favor to ask…”

“A favor?”

“Well, if by any chance you can still fight, could you please look for Freida? I can’t move right now…”

Beside Amy, I asked Gelda, who was admiring the corpse giant, to find Freida.

If she’s fighting the Abyss Priest, either she should come back after defeating him, or the two of them should just run away together.

Now that the corpse giant has fallen, Hug also wouldn’t have a way to deal with the paladins.

So, even if Freida retreats, I won’t be able to chase after her. If we don’t quickly escape the forest, we’ll likely be caught by the enraged paladins and turned into a human puzzle.

“…You can’t move, can you?”

Gelda asked with a slight smirk, looking seemingly unscathed, as if to say, “Have you really been seriously injured?”

“Yes, I’ve used up all my strength… I can’t even get up right now.”

I replied, gesturing towards my trembling arms and legs.

“You must be exhausted. You almost took that thing down by yourself. Not being seriously injured is miraculous in itself.”

Amy reached out her hand as if to support me, stooping down to offer help.

“That’s true…”

I chuckled softly and took her trembling hand in mine.

If I could just rest like this for about ten minutes, I felt like I might be able to get back on my feet somehow, but it was too much to ask for right now.

To fight again, I would need at least an hour or two of deep rest and to fill my stomach.

“…Indeed, it was quite a battle that could lead to exhaustion.”

Gerda lightly chuckled and nodded.

“Well, that’s fortunate.”

Swiftly drawing a dagger from her bosom, Gerda slashed Amy’s shoulder, who was trying to support me.

◆◆

“Huh…?”

A sudden ambush. Amy, with horrified eyes, slumped as if all the strength had left her legs.

“Amy!”

I, too, unable to contain my shock, urgently tried to rise.

No, precisely, I tried to rise.

“Ugh…!”

Before I could even halfway lift myself, my strength gave way, and I collapsed again.

“Judging by that reaction, it seems you’re truly exhausted to the point of being unable to move.”

Gerda, after ambushing Amy, looked down at me and spoke.

Taking out a vial from her waist, she sprinkled the blade stained with Amy’s blood.

“Thank goodness. If you were able to move, I wouldn’t have dared to do such a thing.”

“Gerda…!”

I glared at her, gnashing my teeth, reproaching my own carelessness for letting my guard down just because we had defeated a formidable foe.

“A plunderer…! You, you rogue…!”

Could it be that a lowly adventurer, without a hint of suspicion until now, actively cooperating with us, would ambush us?

It was a mistake on my part.

“To call me a thief is an absurd accusation. I’m simply doing what needs to be done.”

Gerda chuckled and lightly pricked my forearm with the dagger.

The pain was like a hot iron piercing through. A tingling sensation spread throughout my body from where the blade had struck. My muscles lost strength, and my senses grew dull. My struggling body seemed to stiffen like a log.

“Poison…?!”

“It’s a paralysis poison mixed with a sedative. The same kind used on Miss Amy.”

Unable to move a muscle due to paralysis, Gerda smirked as she pushed a glass bottle filled with poison towards me.

She tucked the half-empty bottle back into the small pouch at her waist and lightly tapped my shoulder.

“You did well to keep it hidden. Killing the sorcerer of Matop is no easy task, and for now, Hilde, you need to stay alive too.”

“Why…?”

“Do you really not know? Did you think you wouldn’t get caught?”

Gerda chuckled and suddenly revealed the reason for her betrayal.

“Hilde Brunhilde, the renegade knight of the Rhein Kingdom.”

The misdeeds committed by the original owner of this body.

◆◆

Exposed identity. I looked up at Gerda with bewildered eyes, sweat trickling down my face.

“To be honest, I had my doubts at first. It’s not something you can be sure of just by looking at someone’s face.”

Once I lost my helmet during battle, I had considered the possibility of others discovering my true identity, but…

“I was careless…!”

I thought Gerda had recognized me by my face and simply didn’t react, but it was all part of her natural acting.

Erasing her smile, Gerda gazed down at me with an expressionless face and pulled out a thick, sturdy rope.

“Using the name Hilde added to the confusion. A fugitive using their real name in part is an inexplicable action.”

…It wasn’t a wrong statement.

I chose the name Hilde as an alias because it was a common name in the north and…

“If you were truly Brunhilde, you wouldn’t use the common name Hilde as an alias without being insane… You aimed for the flaw in the plan, didn’t you?”

If I claimed to be Brunhilde, it would induce a ‘common sense’ judgment that Brunhilde wouldn’t use Hilde as an alias.

“However, it was only when you single-handedly took down the giant corpse that I could be certain. Hilde, your true identity as the wanted criminal Brunhilde from the Rhein Kingdom.”

In the end, I was exposed like this.

“…What… should I do…”

A body going numb. The advancing enemy.

It was the worst situation. I couldn’t find a way out even as myself.

“Isn’t it obvious? I plan to deliver you all the way to the Line Kingdom and hand you over to the royal family. Capturing a ‘traitorous hero’ should be enough reward to live in luxury for the rest of my life.”

Gelda began tying me up with a rope made not of fabric, but of wire. It was a restraint no different from iron chains.

“I would have been satisfied with just the bounty, but… Priddie is absent, Amy and you are incapacitated. I can’t miss this opportunity, can I?”

“You, you…!”

“Don’t resent me. Betraying party members we fought alongside does prick at my conscience somewhat… But when you think about it, it’s all because of your actions. A wanted criminal.”

Gelda tightly bound me and raised the poisoned dagger, then said, “Leaving that aside… It’s quite a potent sedative, yet you endure it well. If time drags on, it could be troublesome, so I might need to increase the dosage.”

The sharp dagger glinted in the morning sun.

“Rest deeply. You still have a long way to go to the gallows—”

And then,

– Clang!

In the next moment, a steel greatsword shot through Gelda’s forehead, abruptly springing out.

“Ugh…!”

Gelda staggered in astonishment, then collapsed to the ground, convulsing as her knees buckled.

Instant death.

At a speed impossible to counter even for a first-rate patroller, she perished without leaving a single word, her breath cut off.

It was a ridiculously futile end.

For me, it felt like a lifeline had descended from the sky into a pit.

“Healde!”

A voice filled with urgency.

Beyond my fading vision, a black-haired girl was rushing toward me, holding the head of an old man.

My consciousness faded there.