episode_0059

The next day.

As the morning sun hung on the horizon, casting the desolate forest in vibrant hues, we awoke and tidied our belongings before returning to the ruins.

Taking a path that skirted the scene of the giant corpses.

“There’s another body here. Could they have been killed while fleeing?”

“Seems likely. Judging by the arrow lodged in the knee.”

Adventurers’ bodies were scattered like markers along the way. Not an overwhelming number, but enough to yield a fair amount of loot.

We rummaged through the adventurers’ possessions, pocketing coin purses and tucking away decent-looking swords and axes into our backpacks.

I wished we could strip everything valuable for profit, but unfortunately, that wasn’t feasible. With the carriage contract annulled, we’d have to walk back to the city, and carrying excessively heavy luggage would be quite cumbersome in many ways.

Therefore, we had no choice but to select items that weren’t too burdensome yet promised a good return.

“Heh, Hilde. Do you need a helmet…?”

“Oh, thanks, Freide.”

Accepting the metal helmet Freide offered, I wiped its interior with cloth and placed it on my head.

Although it was a Northern-style helmet that only covered the head and eyes, leaving the nose exposed, it would suffice. After all, obscuring half of one’s face made it difficult to be recognized, which was enough to conceal my identity.

◆◆

The vicinity of the returned ruins evoked the atmosphere of a field hospital under attack. It exuded a grim mix of anger and a funeral parlor-like gloom.

Some paladins were interviewing the returning adventurers, while others were diligently clearing and relocating the debris blocking the dungeon entrance within the ruins.

I approached a paladin conducting interviews and reported on our recent experiences.

The appearance of the ‘real’ Abyss Priest, the betrayal of some adventurers, the emergence of the giant corpses, and our desperate escape thereafter.

Excluding the truth that we had felled the Abyss Priest and the giant corpses.

It didn’t take long.

Different parties claim that a thorough investigation is necessary to verify betrayal, but our party didn’t need to go through such a process.

“Oh, this young lady is not a traitor.”

Among the adventurers who returned to the ruins, there were some who recognized my voice.

It was midnight, so they couldn’t see my face, but as I was the only female warrior in armor with a kid, they could recognize me just by my voice and silhouette.

“Ah, isn’t there a new Abyss Priest who appeared? The woman who first fought against him was this young lady. Although she almost let him slip away.”

“Hmm, is that so…? I apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Thanks to them proving that I had clashed with the Abyss Priest, I was immediately acknowledged as not being a traitor without going through a complicated verification process.

Perhaps it was because of the story about briefly battling the Abyss Priest, or maybe they asked about who took down the giant corpse…

“Yes…? Wasn’t it the Holy Knights who dealt with it?”

“…If you don’t know, then never mind.”

Since I consistently feigned ignorance, they didn’t press further. It seemed they didn’t even suspect that I might have killed it.

Anyway, after the report, I asked the Holy Knight if they could consider my mission concluded and allow me to return to the city, given that the giant corpse and the Abyss Priest were indeed dead.

“If that’s the case, there would be no need for adventurers to step forward anymore.”

“Ugh….”

The Holy Knight hesitated for a moment, stroked his beard, but eventually wrote a completion signature on the request form, saying that there shouldn’t be any major issues.

In reality, since we failed to protect the ruins and the priests suffered heavy casualties, it wouldn’t have been strange for the mission to be considered a failure, but…

“This disaster was partly due to our side recklessly leaving our position, so we will specially mark it as completed.”

They seemed to be willing to casually overlook it, considering their own culpability in the matter.

Under the condition that they wouldn’t expose the Holy Knights’ mistake, they agreed to acknowledge the mission as completed.

There was no reason to refuse.

The school could avoid losing face, and we could properly receive the compensation that we wouldn’t have originally received.

It’s literally a win-win situation, isn’t it?

I readily agreed, and in return, I was able to obtain the signed completion of the request. It was truly a meager compensation compared to the hardship.

======[ Freide, Amy ]======

While Hilde conversed with the paladin, Freide and Amy waited at a distance for her to finish and return.

“……”

“……”

In a suffocatingly quiet atmosphere.

Freide stood with her greatsword planted on the ground, leaning on the hilt, staring piercingly at Amy with an inscrutable expression.

It was hard to discern what she was thinking.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Do you have something to say?”

After gazing at Hilde’s back for a while, as if annoyed, Amy turned her gaze towards Freide.

“Aren’t you tired?”

Freide replied.

“…What?”

“I mean, aren’t you tired?”

“No, why would you suddenly…?”

Not being able to understand the intention behind Amy’s question.

“You didn’t sleep last night, did you?”

Until just before her sharp golden eyes shot at her.

“What are you… saying now…?”

Looking straight into Amy’s speechless gaze, Freide continued her questioning with a lowered voice.

“I thought you wouldn’t know.”

Freide was already convinced. Unlike Brunhilde who fell asleep around dawn, Amy had been awake all night.

“She was pretending to sleep so hard… Didn’t you notice? The reaction when waking up from sleep and the reaction when stopping the pretense of sleeping are completely different.”

She gained certainty this morning. There is a subtle difference in the response between awakening consciousness and opening closed eyes. Freide could sense this.

Because she had been watching her near Amy all night.

“That’s…”

Amy bit her tongue and looked down at Freide. Intense, soaring tension. A single drop of cold sweat trickled down her cheek.

“[Pretending to sleep… Pretending to sleep… Why? Nervousness? Anxiety? Even with me and Hilde by her side, what could she be so anxious about…?]”

Freide elongated her words, probing Amy in a low tone as if interrogating her.

“Oh, could it be that you’re feeling uneasy about me and Hilde…?”

“……”

“You heard everything, didn’t you?”

More of a confirmation than a question.

Her decisively sharp voice left Amy with the certainty that there was no point in trying to falsely justify herself.

“…Yes, I heard.”

Thus, Amy nodded her head, furrowing her brow as if she had just bitten into something bitter. She was readily admitting the fact that she had discerned Hilde’s true identity, or more precisely, that she had been listening to Gerda’s words.

“Good. Keep answering honestly like that in the future.”

Freide seemed to have expected that, giving Amy a piercing look, subtly grasping the hilt of her greatsword.

“Why did you casually lie even after realizing Hilde’s true identity?”

The first question.

What was the reason for acting in front of Hilde?

“…If I had shown any sign of catching on in that situation, I might have ended up buried alongside Gerda, don’t you think?”

Amy replied, not because she wanted to die. The ‘Hilde’ she had observed wasn’t someone who would kill a comrade just to silence them for exposing her identity, but still, there was always that one-in-a-million chance.

“And why are you keeping quiet now?”

The second question.

At this moment, even if her true identity as Hilde were exposed, the Holy Knights would surely protect her. So, why remain silent?

“…For the same reason as you.”

“What?”

Freide asked, slightly taken aback.

Whether it was an interesting reaction or not, Amy found herself smiling wryly, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

“I may be a wanted criminal in the Rhine Kingdom, but it’s not like it’s my country… Besides, she’s a woman whose face and personality perfectly match my taste. It would be a shame if she were caught and taken away after her true identity was revealed, wouldn’t it?”

Her response overtly revealed that she hadn’t denounced Hilde simply because she liked her. She had set her sights on her for different reasons.

Freide’s wariness shot through the roof, but in a slightly different direction than before.

“Are you thinking the same thing as I am? Just like me, you’ve been pretending not to know even though you do.”

“…It’s not for the same reason.”

Freida replied with a furrowed brow.

Unlike those who superficially harbored light and vulgar interests in Brunhilde’s appearance, she prided herself on having pure and steadfast emotions.

“Really? If that’s the case for you, then so be it.”

Amy shrugged slightly and let out a hollow laugh. It seemed as if she could clearly see what Freida was thinking.

In terms of age, Freida was two years older than Amy, yet it was Amy who exuded a sense of maturity, not her.

“More importantly, are you good with words? Was stumbling part of an act?”

“…It wasn’t an act. Just turn off your nerves and answer properly.”

Freida retorted sharply.

“If you were acting because you were afraid of being silenced by Hilde, saying you were doing it because she didn’t like it doesn’t add up, does it?”

If she had been afraid of being silenced, the moment she met the paladin, she would have revealed Hilde’s true identity.

If Hilde had been trying to hide her true feelings, there would be no reason to make excuses about being afraid of being silenced.

Freida judged it this way, believing that fear and affection couldn’t coexist.

“Well… actually, there was another reason I was acting…”

Amy trailed off, scratching her cheek with her fingertip. It was a bit embarrassing for her to say it out loud.

“What is it?”

Freida shook the greatsword slightly, the blade clinking. Her tone demanded a straightforward answer without any pretense.

“It’s… because after we get closer, I mean, much later, I thought I could score some points by confessing that I actually knew.”

Amy revealed the final reason, avoiding eye contact as if it was somewhat embarrassing.

“….”

Freida kept silent.

The reason she hadn’t revealed Brunhilde’s true identity despite knowing it was precisely because of that.

She simply couldn’t bring herself to admit that her judgment was on par with a woman like her.

======[ Hilde ]======

Having confirmed the completion of the mission, she left the forest and made her way back to the city.

“….”

“…….”

The usual liveliness seemed to have vanished as Amy and Freddie maintained a suffocating silence, not even attempting to look at each other.

“What’s going on? Why are you acting like this? Did you guys have an argument when I wasn’t around or something?”

“Oh, no.”

“N-no, it’s not like that…!”

What’s with them, seriously?

As if they had made some kind of unspoken agreement, both of them shook their heads vigorously in denial.

Their reactions seemed so peculiar, almost eerie, as if they had conspired with each other.