episode_0108

Since the first experience at the abandoned house, Freide often began demanding my body. Roughly about once every three or four days.

It wasn’t a blatant demand like “spread your legs” or “lie down.”

She would just hold me, gaze at me with moist, gleaming eyes, and lightly stroke my cheek. That was our signal.

When I overlapped my hand with hers and kissed her, it meant permission. Conversely, if I pulled away from Freide’s hand, it meant I would refuse today.

Of course, I never refused Freide’s demands. Not even once.

I had no shame in doing so.

I didn’t even feel like refusing.

The escape that truly began after annihilating the initial pursuers.

As they say, you get used to anything, and even killing the innocent pursuers who chased us had become somewhat familiar.

Yes, it had certainly become familiar, but…

…sigh.

Even if you get used to it, your heart doesn’t necessarily become comfortable.

Although I didn’t feel as intense as I did at first, I still had to endure considerable stress every time I killed them.

A vague sense of doing something that shouldn’t be done. A gloomy discomfort as if something prickly was endlessly accumulating in my chest.

Wanting to turn away from those dark emotions, wanting to ignore and completely erase them from my mind.

I threw myself into desire and pleasure as if sinking into a bottomless swamp.

Reason and emotion. For me now, everything being blurred by pleasure was more intense and addictive than anything else.

Freide was the same way.

At least, that’s what I thought. She demanded my body usually right after we had annihilated the pursuers or around that evening.

Freide tore the pursuers apart without mercy, believing that it was better for them to die than for me to get hurt.

But she must have been tormented by a sense of guilt or stress similar to mine. Just like me.

So, how could I possibly refuse her affection, her desires?

Because of my abilities, I have become a criminal being chased for murder. A little girl who willingly endures hardships to protect me.

My guardian.

My own guardian.

◆◆

For that reason, every time Freida approached me, I smiled without resistance and embraced her.

…No, the expression “embraced” seems a bit awkward.

Strictly speaking, it should be said that I yielded, not that our bodies overlapped. Our actions were more like one-sided service or exploitation.

Thrashing about in pleasure, I was the only one.

From my fingertips to her toes, Freida had left her mark all over my body, almost as if she was devouring me, but…

“Hmm… haaah….”

“Have you fainted again…? Well then, today’s session ends here. Miss Hilde.”

On the contrary, I did not lay a finger on Freida’s body. Not yet.

…Well, we did exchange kisses and hugs, but nothing beyond that.

So, our intimacy was far from the typical relationship between lovers, more like a half-hearted act.

She didn’t even take off her underwear.

However, Freida seemed to have no complaints about this.

I was the only one who felt satisfaction from physical pleasure. Even though her inner desires and unfulfilled yearnings were surely piling up.

The reason… honestly, I don’t really know. I never asked.

Perhaps she finds satisfaction in dominating me, rather than being dominated.

Or maybe she hopes I will approach her first, rather than directly expressing her desires.

Or who knows, there might be some other reason I haven’t even guessed at.

Anyway, that’s how we continued our incomplete relationship.

Hiding in abandoned villages or ruins, spending nights, killing pursuers, leaving exposed hideouts to find new ones.

“Cough, cough…!”

“…I told you to run. Why won’t you listen?”

Every time I kill a pursuer, my notoriety grows, and eventually, I’ve become a villain of a level that even someone like Valita can’t match. These days, I’m being treated on par with the Abyssal Priests, given grandiose nicknames like “The Traitor Knight” or “The Vermin of the Line.”

Of course, it’s all just grand titles; the rumors suggest my skill is at best equivalent to three knights combined.

I might be a pathetic and pitiful woman who didn’t even manage to inflict a single wound in an attempt to ambush those who were becoming stronger.

It’s not entirely wrong… but it’s not like I’m really as weak as just three knights. In fact, I’m a bit stronger. Really.

Well, I had a rough idea why such rumors spread. Probably to encourage the pursuers.

If the information that it takes at least ten knights to capture me becomes widely known, adventurers, unlike nobles, won’t even bother pursuing me.

Adventurers always weigh rewards against their lives. No matter how high the bounty, they won’t risk their lives for something as good as dead.

So, intentionally spreading rumors to lower my abilities, making it seem like capturing me isn’t a sure death, would make sense.

Anyway, while my notoriety was growing day by day, no nickname had emerged for Freide.

No, there were no rumors about her to begin with. It was as if such a woman didn’t exist at all.

Whether as a group or individually, most of the pursuers were only targeting me. They were completely unaware that there was a woman named Freide by my side.

It was strange.

“Why do you think that is?”

“Well… I’m not certain, but someone who knows your true identity probably had a hand in it.”

I had a vague idea of the reason behind this as well.

“I’m just a knight who’s been evaluated as exceptionally talented, but Freide, you’re a hero with the mark of a dragon and the Holy Sword.

Even if I’m branded a traitor, Freide is undeniably the hero of the Line Kingdom, the rightful owner of the Holy Sword Nibelung, who has only momentarily gone into hiding.”

Someone who doesn’t want rumors spreading that Freide is by my side, could be deliberately distorting stories about Freide.

Turning me into an irredeemable villain, perhaps to secretly deal with or capture Freide before her situation becomes known.

It’s just my speculation, but it was the only way to explain why there were no rumors about Freide.

“Oh, um, could it be…?”

“Yeah. Probably.”

There were many suspected culprits.

The Line Kingdom. The Goddess Sect. Gunter. Heid. Any of them could be the culprit.

If the Line Kingdom or the Sect knows about us… they must be aiming to eliminate the flaw in the hero party, me, and reclaim Freide for re-education.

To exploit Freide, who has started to show growth at a pace befitting a hero, as a convenient tool.

On the other hand, from Gunter’s or Heid’s perspective, it’s an opportunity to assassinate a troublesome hero from another country without diplomatic conflict, so they too would hope that the fact that Freide is by my side does not become known.

We can’t know who among them distorted the rumors about Freide, but at least it was clear that it wasn’t done for Freide’s benefit.

…Well, it did help us in its own way.

I couldn’t even think of going in unless my face was sold all over the place like some kind of wanted criminal, but Freide was different.

Unless it was a metropolis where soldiers controlled entry and meticulously checked identification, small towns and villages didn’t pay any attention to Freide.

She wore a hood just in case, but anyway, she could move around freely.

Thanks to this, we could avoid pursuers and replenish supplies and provisions needed for our journey on the go.

While I stayed hidden alone, sending Freide to the village with money to buy what we needed.

And also gathering information about rumors circulating in society.

If it was money, there was plenty of it. The money I had saved up and the purses the adventurers chasing us had contributed were overflowing.

Adventurers who came after my bounty.

Their goal wasn’t about resolving grudges or achieving justice, but solely about the bounty on my head. Or sometimes my body.

Becoming a slave to their party in exchange for sparing my life?

Honestly, it was absurd.

The fact that what they called “slave” wasn’t about construction or combat slaves was evident from the lust filling their eyes.

There wasn’t much guilt in killing such people. It’s not something one should think, but deep down, it felt like I was killing those who deserved to die.

I even warned them to turn back several times, and I made sure to bury their bodies well… That’s all the respect I could offer.

It’s just a matter of using some of the funeral expenses for the money.

Thanks to that, I was getting richer and richer as time went on. I could replace damaged equipment with new ones without even going to the blacksmith.

That, too, was truly a despicable thing.