episode_0152

The situation where I updated the biggest black history of my life.

I was so embarrassed that I felt like my head was going to explode, and I blushed deeply, burying my face in my hands for a while.

Belloren’s comforting touch on my shoulder, as if understanding everything, only added to my embarrassment.

I felt like I could die of embarrassment.

“Um… I apologize for the intrusion. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Yes. Go rest inside. There’s still about an hour until lunch.”

…I couldn’t continue like this forever, so I politely bid farewell to Belloren and fled from her room as if escaping.

◆◆

The time when Belloren and I woke up would be around 11 a.m. in modern time.

Since it was an awkward time to conduct morning training, today’s training was postponed until after lunch, giving Freide and me about an hour of free time.

So, technically, Freide would be sleeping for about 7 hours instead of just one hour.

“Ugh….”

When I returned to my room, I found Freide sound asleep, completely unaware of the world.

Maybe no one woke her up? Normally, Belloren would wake me up early in the morning, and I would wake Freide up.

Since both of them were sound asleep from drinking, it was natural that Freide couldn’t wake up from her dreamland.

Well, it worked out well. I was a bit worried about what would happen when I returned to the room.

I wasn’t sure how to explain sleeping in Belloren’s room instead of mine.

If Belloren and I were really close like a mother and daughter, I could just say that I slept with my mother, but we weren’t that intimate.

At least not until I started drinking last night.

“….”

Oh, I feel embarrassed again. Why did I do that?

Feeling so embarrassed that I wanted to disappear, I had to cool down my flushed face with a hand fan for a while before waking Freide up.

“Freide, it’s time to wake up.”

“Ugh… just five more minutes, Mom….”

Freide mumbled with a sleepy face, tossing and turning under the blanket.

“….”

I was speechless for a moment. I’ve heard the word “Mom” so many times in my life now. It was so ridiculous and absurd that I almost burst out laughing.

“Even if you’re tired, you have to wake up. It’s almost lunchtime, how long are you going to sleep?”

I lightly pinched Freide’s cheek to wake her up again, and she slowly opened her eyes, yawning and blinking her big eyes.

“Ugh… where am I…?”

Looking at me with a dazed face, Freide recognized me and smiled brightly. Her smile seemed to come naturally just by looking at my face.

“Yeah. Did you sleep well?”

I smiled back at her and gently stroked her forehead.

“You must have been very tired. You’ve become a real late sleeper, Freide.”

“What time is it now…?”

“Well? There’s still a little over half an hour until noon, I guess?”

“Oh…!”

Freide gasped in shock and quickly sat up. She looked like a young office worker who woke up 6 hours later than her usual work time.

“Did I really…! Training, what about training?!”

“We decided to take a break today. It’s already past the morning, so we barely have an hour left.”

“Oh… thank goodness, I didn’t miss it….”

Relieved that she didn’t miss training due to oversleeping, Freide let out a sigh of relief and slumped back down.

Did she think that skipping training would result in a punishment from Veloren?

“What’s this, did you enjoy the morning training so much? You used to complain about it all the time, saying you were dying.”

I chuckled and replied, downplaying the fact that skipping training for a day was such a big deal.

“It’s not that I enjoyed it… it’s just that, well, it’s necessary.”

However, instead of laughing off my joke, Freide responded with a determined expression, giving a somewhat serious answer.

“Necessary? Hmm… well, I guess it is. It’s a bit tough, but if I want to be recognized as a hero again, I need to get stronger.”

“That’s not enough. I need to get even stronger. Stronger than anyone else in the world.”

Freide shook her head, stating that she needed to surpass the level of being recognized as a hero and become strong enough to defeat any enemy.

“Oh… really?”

Was she suddenly awakening to her sense of duty as a hero? Her eyes burning with determination and resolve were both familiar and impressive.

“Come to think of it, back when we first met, you said you wanted to become a hero who protects everyone in the world, right? Does that promise from back then come to mind? You know, it’s quite admirable.”

I patted Freide’s head with a smile. Her determined stance, clenching her fist with a cute face, looked incredibly dignified.

“…Yes, that’s how it was back then.”

Freide blushed slightly and looked straight at me. Her bright golden eyes shimmered with emotions I couldn’t quite discern.

“What I want to protect now… it’s not everyone. It’s just one person now.”

The soft smile on her lips, the hand that had been patting Freide’s head stiffened like a rock.

It was clear who that one person she was referring to was.

“I’ll protect you, Hilde. I want to protect you. From all the people who threaten you. If I have to get stronger than anyone else to do that, I’ll do it.”

Freide was speaking to me.

Her true feelings. An affectionate innermost desire to protect me, not the world.

“I swear. I’ll become a hero not for the world, like the hero of Laine, but solely for you.”

Freide grabbed my right hand that had been patting her head with both hands, pressed it against her chest, and whispered her oath to me.

To become a hero for me, to protect me, to be solely my hero.

“Thank you.”

I felt a deep self-loathing.

Because I was not the one who should have received that oath. Yet, I was once again concealing the truth with lies.

To hide the expression clouded by guilt, I hugged Freide tightly, burying my face in her hair, in a swift and despicable act.

Nevertheless, I still couldn’t reveal the truth to her.

I was afraid. I couldn’t bring myself to open my mouth out of fear of the criticism that would be directed at me for confessing to having lied all along, and the hardships that Freide would face alone after being abandoned by me.

And.

The immense psychological shock that Freide would face upon realizing that the Brünhilde she knew no longer existed.

It was a tragedy that I had possessed this body.

For me, for Freide. Perhaps even for Brünhilde herself.

And the one who created this tragedy was me.

A tragedy written with layer upon layer of lies, using ink as its medium.

There was no way to turn back, only one way to take responsibility.

Yes, I had to be Brünhilde.

I had to live as Freide’s Brünhilde.

Throughout my life, I had to deceive her and live pretending to be a Brunnhilde for her sake.

Every time she showed me her pure affection, the growing guilt made me writhe in agony like this.

Was it the lingering effects of the alcohol? Feeling a heat rising in my eyes, I tightly closed them and embraced Freyja even more strongly.

With an awkward touch, Freyja wrapped her arms around my back, while I kept my inner thoughts hidden, expressing gratitude and asking for her continued support.

◆◆

After finishing a lunch that lacked any taste, the afternoon training began.

Perhaps some time had passed, as my mind was relatively calm, allowing me to face the two of them with a more composed expression than before.

Thank goodness. If I had continued to act awkwardly, Bellorin or Freyja would have surely asked what was wrong.

As someone who had no words to reply, it was even more awkward for me.

“Starting today… instead of our usual training, let’s delve into a more advanced process. It’s important, so focus.”

Unlike the usual physical training that started abruptly, Bellorin, who came out in combat gear, held a training sword and began an unexpected theoretical lecture.

“The power of a warrior can be broadly divided into three elements. Do you know what each element is?”

The three elements of a warrior. It was indeed a sudden question, but I knew the answer. It was something explained in the original novel.

“Um… Capability, Skill, and… Up, isn’t it?”

Capability, representing pure physical ability.

Skill, a combination of weapon techniques learned and combat experience.

And the remaining one.

The intangible power that transforms a human into a superhuman.

Up.

“You know it well. Both of your capabilities and skills have been almost perfected through your training so far. At least, you have definitely surpassed the level that can be improved through training.”

“Um… What does that mean…?”

“Yes. So, what I will teach you today is the last one. The power that is particularly important among those three elements. The power of Up.”

Bellorin was saying that he would teach us how to handle the power of Up.

Although we have not yet reached that level of mastery, he mentioned that understanding the theory alone would be very helpful.

It was an eye-opening statement.

Teaching us how to handle the power of Up was no different from passing down the foundation of a high-ranking knight to us.