episode_0099

Freed is Freit.

An identity beyond imagination.

The shocking confession uttered by Freed, wielding the Holy Sword, threw all the former party members present here into an irretrievable confusion.

The only things in common with the hero Freit were the color of her hair and eyes, and the weapon she held—a girl.

There existed a gap as vast as heaven and earth between her appearance before their eyes and the outward appearance of Freit in their memories.

Above all, things that should have been there disappeared, and things that should not have been there appeared in twos.

A being who possessed a Holy Sword of a different meaning than Niebelung had now become not the owner of the Holy Sword but a mere holder of the sword.

It was truly unbelievable, something that could not be believed, even for me, who had actually suffered such a fate.

◆◆

“…Freit? You?”

After a deathly silence, Emelia finally spoke with a bewildered voice.

“No, what the hell. What nonsense is this? That kid? Where do you see that?”

Irina exclaimed, “Does that even make sense?” with a perplexed expression.

“That guy at least looked somewhat like a man, but that’s clearly a young girl, isn’t it?”

“I can’t believe it either, but that sword… that sword is correct.”

Yes.

A perfectly fine man inexplicably turned into a young girl. It was logically an unbelievable thing to believe…

“The Holy Sword of Rhein, Niebelung. Holding that means…”

There was undeniable evidence shining brightly in Freed’s grasp.

Niebelung.

The national treasure of the Rhein Kingdom, allowed to be wielded only by a hero.

“…Is it really Freit?”

Irina murmured, swallowing dryly.

Rather than feeling tension due to the appearance of an enemy as a hero, her reaction was closer to bewilderment at the inexplicable anomaly.

“I’ve abandoned that name.”

Freed replied. She discarded that name and adopted a new one.

…In other words, she claimed to be the existence previously known as Freit.

“Wow, this is just, really, unbelievable.”

Irina scratched her head roughly, pouting like a carp. “What the heck happened to make you look like this…?”

“…Alright, it’s really absurd, but let’s call you Freda. Then what’s with that appearance?”

Then she asked, poking at Freda.

“How did you end up looking like a teenage girl in her late teens?”

“Right. Seriously, what happened to make you look like that…?”

Emilia also sympathized with her question, nodding her head.

In fact, if anyone was shocked, it would have been Emilia rather than Irina. Now she had completely succumbed to Gunter, but the past Emilia had loved Freda… No, she had mistakenly believed her feelings were love.

After tasting Gunter, any affection for Freda would have disappeared, but the memories wouldn’t vanish, so the shock must have been immense.

Me? How am I?

…Do you really need to ask that?

I couldn’t even bring myself to ask. The shock I received was so much greater and deeper than Irina’s and Emilia’s.

Isn’t it natural?

Right in front of me, there might be Kim Seung-woo who underwent sex reassignment. How could I not be shocked?

Whether it was fear or astonishment, my heart felt as if it were freezing like the sea of Antarctica.

Really, insane, what is this?

Freda is actually Fred. Fred is actually Freda. Fred is Kim Seung-woo. Kim Seung-woo is Freda. What the hell is this crazy talk?

Damn, so, all this time, when he clung to me saying he liked me, touching my face and body… That was damn it, Kim Seung-woo targeting me?

Acting innocent to steal my heart at the moment he got tired of lusting after my body?

All of his actions until now.

And even now, trying to protect me?

Good heavens.

I realized. When creepiness crosses a limit, blood rushes to the tips of your toes.

Truly, it was really chilling.

Gunter, who covets my body and talent, and Kim Seung-woo, who covets my body and heart.

It’s not about whether Mom likes it or Dad likes it; it’s like being asked to choose between a burning fire and a cliff, with no real choice at all.

No, it was even worse than that. At least there would have been a choice. I had no choice at all.

I was the prize. If Kim Seung-woo won, I’d be his, and if he lost, I’d be Gunter’s prize.

It was a terrible feeling.

When they said they would save me, I honestly felt a bit relieved at the time, but in an instant, those feelings turned as cold as a corpse.

So I just closed my eyes.

Closing my eyes, I tried to gather my strength and energy, so that I could crawl away from this place or, if that wasn’t possible, stab my own heart to end it.

…The chances of success weren’t very high.

======[ Freide ]======

Freide couldn’t even imagine what Hilde was thinking right now.

“I was originally a woman. The time when I was ‘Friede’ was when my body wasn’t really mine. The reason I changed like that… I don’t really know.”

She retorted to Irina’s mockery with a stern face, pointing Vileblood’s blade at her former comrades.

Before, she had thought they were well worth leaving, so instead of harboring resentment and betrayal, she had tried to understand their circumstances… but not anymore.

From the moment she saw them laughing while holding arrows and maces between Hilde’s legs, lying wounded on the ground a short while ago.

‘I can’t forgive.’

A sinister fleshiness filled Freide’s golden eyes.

Any lingering camaraderie, any self-blaming consideration mixed with remorse for not being skilled enough, all evaporated into anger like dust.

To Freide now, the two women before her were not former comrades, but mere enemies to be torn apart.

Yet, the only reason she didn’t immediately attack Vileblood was one.

“…I must not leave this place. If I distance myself from Hilde, Irina will relentlessly target Hilde alone.”

It was to protect Hilde, who was collapsing without any resistance.

If Hilde had been in a condition to move freely, she would have rushed at the enemy without hesitation and torn them apart, but the current Hilde was clearly in no state to even lift a finger.

Even if there was the power of the Holy Sword, they induced a situation where Hilde could not be protected without enduring injury.

Therefore, Freid warned Emilia and Irina to step back, suppressing the urge to burst out and swing the sword at them.

Unfortunately for Freid, due to the shock, the two women were not in a state to properly heed the warning.

“Was it always like that…? Wait, then, could it be that those useless actions, was that because you weren’t originally in that body?”

Irina asked, squirming her eyebrows like a snake.

It was more like muttering to herself than demanding an answer from Freid.

After decades of experience, upon hearing that Freid was originally born with a girl’s body, Irina could immediately understand why Freid had been weak.

“All those miserable times, all that useless suffering, was just for that reason? Holding back despite knowing it? Seriously, what a waste of a life. It’s not a joke.”

That’s why Irina was angry because she felt that Freid during their hero party days had deceived her.

Why was someone wearing the mantle of a hero so weakened?

She misunderstood that the person knew the reason very well but kept quiet as if they didn’t know anything, including their party members.

“I wasn’t joking. Not then, not now.”

Of course, the only one entitled to be angry about this was Brunhilde, who had assumed the role of Freid’s mentor, rather than Irina, who hadn’t really helped at all.

“…It’s shocking. The reason why there was no response even when I expressed my affection so much was because she was probably the same kind of woman.”

Emelia let out a hollow laugh, clutching the necklace. Upon reflection, she wondered what foolishness she had been up to all this time.

Persistently pursuing the same woman as if seducing a man, it was unlikely to have any effect.

“…Expressing affection?”

Of course, that was a misunderstanding as well.

It wasn’t that Freid didn’t accept Emelia’s feelings because they were both women, but rather she simply didn’t understand that it was an expression of affection.

Her body was male, but her mind was that of a girl.

At that time, Emelia’s advances were nothing more than a common joke between girls of the same age for Freid.

So, how could she have noticed Emelia’s sincerity?

Even if she did, she wouldn’t have accepted it.

At that time, Freid felt crushed by the responsibility to become strong like a hero, and in the midst of that, she had no room for emotions like love.

Furthermore, at that time, Freid’s preference was not Emelia, but Brunhilde. Emelia never had a chance from the start.

“Anyway, deceiving us like that, while secretly enjoying adventures with Brunhilde over there?”

“Now it doesn’t matter, but… I don’t know, it’s a bit uncomfortable.”

In any case, Irina and Emelia, who finally shook off their confusion, openly showed their enmity by handing over their bows and necklaces and stepping back.

“The weak, fallen vermin. Even if they’ve regained their original bodies, how much stronger could they have become?”

“If even Brunhilde couldn’t defeat us after becoming stronger, ‘that’ Freit certainly…”

Even if they drew the Holy Sword, it wouldn’t be a threat. Both women were convinced of that. It was a conviction brought about by fixed ideas.

Because the memories of Freit being called an incompetent hero in their minds from the past were still vivid, they believed they would win if they fought.

“Sigh….”

Seeing the two seemingly eager to fight, Freid raised her head, let out a deep sigh, and swung Nibelung forcefully into the air.

The moment a golden light burst forth.

The beam of light entwined in Nibelung’s darkness extended towards the two women, taking on the form of a crescent moon.

– Crack!

The earth, grazed by the onslaught of light, split with a roar, and the reflective shots and arrows fired by Emellia and Irina were split in half and vanished.

“What is this again!”

“Kyaa…!”

Irina, her complexion changing, pushed Emellia away, leaped onto a tree, narrowly avoiding the onslaught of light.

The missed attack ruthlessly cleaved through the trees behind her, cutting them in half. It was a spectacle akin to a bladed wave crashing over a sandcastle.

After felling more than ten trees like chopping firewood, the vanquished onslaught of light finally dissipated.

Emellia and Irina, sweating profusely, looked at the scene of destruction caused by Freide’s sword, then turned their heads to look at Freide once more.

Their expressions, once filled with confidence and enmity, were now replaced with tension and bewilderment, their faces pale.

“I won’t warn you a third time. Withdraw.”

At the moment the second warning was issued,

Irina, her face contorted like a demon, gritted her teeth, then immediately grabbed Emellia’s waist and leapt onto a tree.

Then, like driving stakes into trees, she swiftly concealed herself in an instant.

Was it because she was convinced that there was no chance of winning against Brunhilde in her somewhat depleted state? Her swift escape was worthy of applause.

Freide stared in the direction they fled for a while, then breathed a sigh of relief and turned her head.

She had no intention of pursuing them. She couldn’t leave Brunhilde, now powerless, alone here.

“Um… Are you okay? No, are you alright? Mr. Brun… Hilde.”

So, as she simply let them go and turned her head, Freide, still unable to contain her concern, addressed Brunhilde, who was still struggling.

“Hah…”

Brunhilde… no, Hilde, looked at Freide with a tired expression and let out a shallow sigh before replying.

“Young man. A real handful.”

…Fortunately, Freide couldn’t understand those words. They were pronunciations she had never heard before, a language she had never encountered.

“Yes…? What man…?”

Therefore, Freide blinked and asked. “What on earth are you talking about?” with an unmistakable sense of pure curiosity.

“…No, it’s nothing.”

Hilde, who had been staring through Freide’s face, let out a sigh of relief, releasing all the tension in her body.

The fact that Freide didn’t even flinch at the curse was more than anything a relief for Hilde at this moment.

While the two women were arguing, after desperate consideration, she finally came up with a possibility.

To confirm the possibility that the person in front of her might not be Kim Seung-woo but the original hero himself, Hilde, after much deliberation, spat out a curse that only Kim Seung-woo would react to.

“…Thank you for saving me, Freide.”

Therefore, Hilde could finally express her gratitude to Freide with a gentle smile.

Even though she heard provocative language and “hannam” remarks in unexpected Korean, seeing the girl in front of her not even flinching, it seemed safe to say that she was definitely not Kim Seung-woo.