episode_0100

In the northern part of the continent, the territory of the Hervor Kingdom was filled with perennially snow-covered mountains that did not reveal their true nature even in the summer.

Among the four human kingdoms, it was an environment uniquely difficult to survive in.

Naturally, the majority of the kingdom’s people were forced to gather in the slightly less cold lowlands and build cities there to live.

…In other words, except for the cities and their surroundings, most of the remaining areas were practically uninhabited wilderness.

As a result, within the territory of Hervor, there were countless ruins that had been left unattended and fallen into disrepair for a long time.

If there were dungeons, adventurers might come looking, but…

Otherwise, these abandoned ruins had no visitors unless they were archaeologists consumed by research papers.

One of those ruins. A dark corridor of an abandoned ruin that had been dormant in silence for hundreds of years.

“Haha! Finally found you! Wanted criminal, the traitorous knight Brünhilde!”

Shouts filled with greed and animosity resounded, waking the silence.

“If we capture and take her, won’t it be worth twenty gold coins? It’ll make all our efforts worthwhile.”

“Woohoo!”

A swordsman clad in thick fur cloak and black iron armor, a patrolman stepping back with a drawn bow behind him.

A middle-aged man wielding an axe, charging forward with a battle cry, and a young man holding a large shield, pointing his spear forward while guarding his body.

“Rumor has it she’s at the level of a mid-level knight… just in case, everyone be careful.”

The silver nameplates hanging around their necks gleamed dimly in the lantern light.

A party of four adventurers. Each of them was a Silver-ranked adventurer, considered the core strength of the Adventurer’s Guild.

“…Worth twenty gold coins.”

A woman in a tattered cloak, wearing a black hood, turned towards them and muttered.

This woman was the reason and the target for which they had ventured into this uninhabited abandoned ruin.

“My bounty has become quite valuable.”

Lemon-colored hair, blue eyes, a cold expression like a frozen lake.

Unwiped blood stains, like dark spots, marred the dented and torn plate armor all over her body.

“Yes, for that amount, it’s worth staking my life on.”

“Unto you.”

The international fugitive who betrayed the Line Kingdom, the Knight of Betrayal, Brünhilde.

Unlike the other two party members who cleared their names of betrayal through their actions in Burgund, she was a master of betrayal who had even fled there and hidden in Herbor…

“You talk big. A criminal who failed miserably in attempting to ambush former comrades and fled!”

A heinous criminal who attempted to assassinate the warrior party members who had defected from the Line Kingdom and joined Gunter’s party, his crime being labeled as such.

“That’s just a false accusation… Even if I explain, you won’t believe me. Everyone thinks the same way.”

The “Knight of Betrayal,” immediately registered as a high-priority fugitive due to her crimes, drew her sword with a sharp glint towards the adventurers tracking her down.

“I’ll tell you in advance. If you run, I won’t bother chasing you. However, if you don’t run—”

“Uwaaaaah!”

Without hesitation, a middle-aged warrior with golden beard swung his dual axes diagonally, interrupting Brünhilde’s words.

Just as the black iron axe, possessing the power to cleave even steel in one blow, was about to shatter Brünhilde’s shoulder guard like lightning,

“…I will kill you.”

A black iron longsword, wielded twice as fast, sliced through the axe handle, while simultaneously, Brünhilde’s left hand reached out and tore through the middle-aged warrior’s round helmet.

“Argh…!”

The middle-aged warrior screamed as he was slammed into the corridor wall. Hot blood gushed through the crushed helmet.

A fractured skull, an eye gouged out by the impact. The middle-aged man, nearly incapacitated by a single blow, trembled and groaned.

“Olvar! For God’s sake, what kind of strike brought him to this state…!”

“Damn it, I told you to be careful!”

Adventurers were bewildered at the sight of the vanguard warrior being rendered powerless in an instant.

However, they, recognized as skilled adventurers akin to knights of the kingdom, quickly suppressed their astonishment.

They were somewhat astonished by the formidable strength that rivaled that of a troll, but ultimately, it was a matter of being beaten by a humanoid troll.

Thinking that way, it wasn’t so rare.

Adventurers who set out to subdue trolls getting hit hard due to bad luck or mistakes was a common occurrence among adventurers.

As long as they didn’t die instantly, they could recover with potions or divine miracles, but if they were hit in a vital spot, even veteran adventurers could be killed with a single blow during troll subjugation.

“Hamilton! Hold on as if you’re facing a troll! Ryan, check on Olvar!”

Shouted the veteran patrolman, letting go of the taut bowstring.

Hamilton tightened his grip on the shield with a more resolute expression, and the swordsman clad in black iron armor urgently rushed towards the pinned Olvar.

To confirm if he was still alive, and if so, to pour potions down his throat to somehow keep him breathing.

“He won’t listen even when told to run.”

Brunhilde, who had been glaring at the adventurers with cold eyes, let out a shallow sigh as she deflected the three arrows flying towards her with her longsword, creating a small whirlwind.

“In the meantime, Hamilton leaped to Brunhilde’s side, shielding his body with the black iron shield while thrusting his right-hand spear.

The spear itself was just an ordinary black iron spear, but the shield covering his body seemed to have a faint magic aura swirling on its surface.

“…I see. If you’re willing to give up twenty gold coins, you probably weren’t cut out to be an adventurer in the first place.”

Brunhilde wielded her longsword like a whip, tongue clicking. The spear, sword, and shield clashed together, scattering fierce sparks.

With each collision of black iron against black iron, a loud clang echoed, disturbing the chilly air, and Hamilton, pushed back by the force, groaned with each step.

“Ugh…! What kind of… strength…!”

“Hold on however you can!”

As all three arrows shot in succession were deflected, the patrolman changed tactics, carefully shooting each arrow one by one.

Instead of aiming for direct penetration, the focus shifted to a softer approach, aiming for the enemy’s sides with a more subtle trajectory.

While overpowering Hamilton with sheer strength, Brunhilde occasionally turned her sword to deflect the patrolman’s arrows, but she couldn’t block every arrow.

Between the piercing and the piercing, a few arrows dug into her armor, leaving long scratches on the battered steel plate, adding torn wounds.

“Lyion! What about Olbar?”

While continuously shooting arrows without stopping, the patroller continued to give orders, closely watching the movements of the entire group.

“He’s hiding nearby! We can’t fight much longer!”

The inspector, checking Olbar’s breathing and heartbeat, shouted as he poured a potion onto Olbar’s unconscious face.

“That’s enough! Help over here!”

“Got it!”

After administering first aid to Olbar, Lyion rushed towards Brunhilde.

While Hamelton and Patroller Bron held Brunhilde, Lyion, who had plunged into her rear, wielded his greatsword like lightning.

Whoooom!

A heavy clashing sound echoed as the black iron greatsword cleaved through the air, aiming for Brunhilde’s leg with the force to even sever a troll’s forearm in one blow.

“I got her!”

The inspector wielding the greatsword, Lyion, confirmed victory.

An unavoidable attack without leaping. However, leaping during close combat was nothing short of suicidal.

He saw Brunhilde losing one leg and collapsing.

After bringing her down, if they tied up her remaining three limbs and took her to either the hero Gunter or the hero Heid, they would receive a reward of at least twenty gold coins or more.

The glittering gold coins excited him.

“How dare you—!”

With a roar bursting from the other end of the corridor, a golden light shot forth, almost cutting his body in half.

“Lyion—!”

“What is that?! Magic?! There was a mage?!”

From head to ankle, Lyion collapsed, spilling its contents vertically.

In an instant, witnessing the unfolding tragedy, once again, Hamelton and Bron were astonished, gaping as they looked in the direction from which the light of the piercing had flown.

“…I told you to run. Now it’s too late.”

Brunhilde murmured, licking her lips, glancing briefly at the black-haired girl flying toward them like a frenzied crow.

The owner of the Holy Sword Nibelung, the hero Siegfried.

The attempt to assassinate the hero party was an unexpected intrusion, as they had only heard rumors of it being a solo act by someone from Brunnhilde.

It was also their end.

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

“Sigh….”

It’s over. Another complete annihilation.

It didn’t take long for the adventurer party that had been tracking me to be completely wiped out.

Freide, who had cut the armored warrior in half with one stroke, rushed at the patrolman with a fierce momentum and, drawing his short sword, hacked him to pieces despite his resistance.

Meanwhile, I pierced the head of the young man who had been struggling with his shield. They were skilled enough to easily hunt trolls in a one-on-one fight. However, the moment the balance of power shifted, their deaths were already sealed.

“Phew….”

I lightly cleaned the blood-soaked black iron greatsword and sheathed it, then sat on the debris of the broken corridor, exhaling a short breath.

I was tired.

I don’t know if it was because of the sudden battle or the situation I found myself in.

“Are you okay, Hilde?”

Freide, having finished checking and killing the middle-aged warrior who had fainted, summoned his holy sword and ran towards me, panting.

“…Yeah, I’m fine.”

I forced a smile and nodded my head.

My tattered armor was a bit more broken, and I was somewhat exhausted both physically and mentally, but I wasn’t seriously injured.

“That’s a relief.”

Freide quickly approached me and wiped the bloodstains off my cheek, smiling with a relieved expression.

“Don’t get hurt, okay?”

Then, as if to console me for my rough lifestyle, she kissed my lips.

“Mmm…!”

An oddly sweet fragrance wafted through the air.

Freide’s breath flowed into my mouth as our lips touched.

Accompanied by her breath, her soft flesh slipped between my slightly parted lips and tapped against my teeth.

A signal to open my mouth. I closed my eyes and accepted Freide’s tongue into my mouth.

I couldn’t refuse. Not anymore.

After driving away Emelia and Irina, and unable to return to the city, I fled with her.

“Mmm, mmm… Sigh, huff…!”

The tongues intertwined, releasing a sharp floral scent. Along with the flowing saliva, drenching the dry lips.