Fragments of the Past – 1

“Pfft! So you ran away here?”

“Don’t laugh, I’m seriously messed up right now…”

“No, *cough*, how, *choke*, can I not laugh! Puhahaha!”

Claudia stood her greatsword vertically in the ground and laughed her guts out. Strange, choking sounds mixed in and flowed out between her bursts of laughter.

It was what happened as soon as I told them what had occurred before I came here. I didn’t know what the funny part was, but the other three managed to get over it, yet only Claudia was like this.

After descending to the surface from Eclipse’s world via a pillar of light, I was surrounded by thousands of people and dragged to the center of the Plaza of the Sun.

The people who had dragged me to the center of the plaza began to bow around me. Perhaps news had spread even while they were bowing, as the number of people grew endlessly.

Even Stella and Selene, along with their elite battle nuns, and to top it all off, the Pope himself appeared and joined in the prayers directed at me.

‘There’s a limit to how much one can be revered.’

The battle nuns, voluntarily prostrating themselves, claiming they couldn’t let a living saint tread on the dirty ground, even urged me to step on their backs and stomachs to pass.

Not wanting to do the same thing as the mages of the Magic Tower, I refused and just walked, only for hundreds of people to cling to the spots where I had walked and shower them with kisses.

People who made eye contact with me straight-up fainted, and women near the path I had walked stripped off their clothes right there, claiming their faith had been filled.

I didn’t want to stay in the midst of such insane chaos for even a moment. I had tried my best to hide my identity precisely because I feared something like this would happen, but it all came to naught.

‘Thanks to that, the Popes even followed me to the Empire.’

Even now, I shuddered thinking of Floretta and Luna, who were probably in my bed under the pretext of “warming up the bed.”

Warming up the bed had to be an excuse. This world had magical artifacts that served a similar purpose to electric blankets. My bed, of course, already had one installed.

Yet, they still went into the bed, claiming they wanted to warm it up, so their intentions were all too obvious. It would be a blessing if the blankets weren’t damp when I returned later.

Floretta and Luna seemed determined never to leave my side now. My existence had been revealed, and they had even officially declared themselves one of my women in front of thousands of people.

The people of the Holy Nation were so enthusiastic, it seemed like they might die from it.

They even tried to erect a monument to commemorate the day their Popes lost their purity, which says it all. Of course, I was horrified and roared at them to even try such a thing, so it came to naught.

Utterly fed up with the fanatical aspects of the Holy Nation, I hurried the Popes back to the Empire. For the time being, it seemed I should avoid setting foot in the Holy Nation.

After returning to the Empire, I went to the Silver Dawn Knights and told them the story of how my abdomen was pierced, and why my face looked so gloomy, which led to this situation.

Aurora and Nyx weren’t here. Aurora was talking with Caecilia, and Nyx had supposedly returned to the territory first.

“Ugh…”

I sighed, looking at Claudia, who was now on the verge of crying instead of laughing, and lowered my gaze. Rije was clinging tightly to me, meticulously examining the spot where the hole had been.

She had been like this ever since she heard the explanation about the hole in my stomach.

Of course, it wasn’t just Rije; Claudia, Iris, and Erica also had quite shocked expressions when they heard my stomach was pierced, but I deliberately defused the situation by making several jokes.

Besides, it had already healed a long time ago, and I didn’t want to needlessly worry them.

“Truly unbelievable words, Delta. If anyone else had said such things, I would have seriously asked if they were alright in the head.”

“You fought a dragon that appeared here last time, ascended to the heavens, met a goddess, and then were revered as a living saint in the Holy Nation? Is that even possible for a human?”

Iris and Erica’s reactions were quite normal, befitting their personalities.

“Rije, you should stop now. Didn’t Delta himself say he was fine?”

“Exactly, unnie. What kind of embarrassing behavior is that? Stop it already and let go. He said he has things to do.”

“This is far more important than things to do! Our Delta almost had a big problem! And for a man, his waist is his life-how can I not worry when it almost disappeared?”

Rije, who had been touching my stomach here and there, shouted back.

“No, I’m perfectly fine now! The goddess-nim herself healed me, so I’m perfectly fine.”

“I’ll check with my own eyes! A performance test to see if your waist is fine too-“

Rije suddenly tried to pull up my top, so I sighed and put my hands under her armpits, lifting her straight up as if lifting a cat.

“Huh? Huh? Huhhhhh?”

Rije was lifted into the air just like that. Her floating legs constantly flailed in the air without any resistance, but they never touched the ground.

Excluding Nyx, Rije is the shortest woman I know, so there was no way her feet could reach the ground when she was lifted above my eye level.

“Ah, even for me, this is a bit embarrassing, Delta?”

“I’m doing it to embarrass you. Think back to what you just tried to do.”

Instead of answering, Rije twisted her body this way and that, trying to free my hands from her armpits. Her struggling legs continued to cut through the air.

How long had it been since all those efforts came to naught? Erica made a ‘tsk’ sound and openly clicked her tongue.

“Unnie, we already know you’re on good terms with Delta-ssi, so please come down quickly. What kind of behavior is that in a sacred training ground, unnie?”

Her words were full of thorns. I looked back at the two of us anew.

Rije, constantly flailing her short limbs, and me, holding Rije by her armpits and lifting her like a cat.

But because Rije’s chest was so large, it was pressed by my arms and gathered in the middle, making for a surprisingly suggestive sight. I understood why Erica was reacting that way.

More than anything, Rije was the type of person who wouldn’t find it awkward at all, even if she pretended to struggle while actually enjoying being lifted by her armpits.

However, Erica’s assumption seemed to be mistaken.

“This, it won’t come loose?”

“…Huh? What did you say, unnie?”

At Rije’s words, uttered after she had been grunting and moving her arms for a while, Iris and Erica simultaneously reacted with “What does that mean?” Claudia also abruptly stopped laughing and looked at us.

Rije, putting a lot of strength into her arms, tried to push my wrist away, but my wrist didn’t even budge.

“R-really. I just used my full strength, but it didn’t come loose.”

“…What was that supposed to mean? Your acting has improved quite a bit, unnie. You can even tell such lies. I’ll praise you, so come down now.”

“I’m serious?!”

Rije, with a very wronged expression, tried to push my wrist away and struggled her legs this way and that, careful not to kick my body, but it was all in vain.

“Now we need to proceed with the sparring Delta requested, Rije. I didn’t want to say this, but… you don’t need to pretend to be weak in a situation like this just to prove your sexual preferences, do you?”

“Iris, you too?!”

Finally, when even Iris chimed in, Rije made the most wronged expression in the world and struggled to pull her body down.

“Eek! Eeeek!”

“It’s futile, Rije. Look at the height difference between you and me. It won’t reach anyway.”

“…This has nothing to do with height right now. Tsk, just you wait.”

Rije finally seemed to give up, letting her limbs hang limply with a sulky face. She looked like she had given up and was letting fate decide. I smiled, hugged Rije for a moment, then released her.

Rije, finally standing on her own two feet, patted my chest. Erica opened her mouth with a very pathetic expression.

“You achieved your goal, didn’t you? Did you enjoy being held by Delta-ssi, unnie?”

“No, I really used my strength, but I couldn’t get loose!”

“Yes, yes, that’s right. Because even using just enough strength to lift a spoon is still ‘using strength,’ after all.”

Rije and Erica continued to bicker as they walked towards the weapon display rack. Iris didn’t walk with them; she gazed at me intently, then gently took my right hand.

And then she began to caress my forearm, moving up from my wrist to my elbow.

“Why, Iris?”

“…Because it doesn’t seem like you’ve gained enough muscle to overpower Rije in terms of strength.”

Well, just because my Strength stat went up doesn’t mean it shows on the outside. I don’t know why they’re suddenly acting like this when their own muscles look quite weak compared to the strength they can exert.

Iris walked towards Rije and Erica only after massaging my arm for a long time. Rije, as if she had been waiting, teased her, asking if she enjoyed touching ‘her man.’

“Are you done laughing now, Claudia?”

“…Somehow. Wow, my stomach hurt so much I thought I was going to die. If this was a ploy to tire me out before sparring, I’ll give you plenty of praise, Delta.”

“If those three didn’t laugh, but you alone laughed your guts out, doesn’t that mean there’s something wrong with you?”

“Well, maybe. So, what’s gotten into you? Asking me to spar?”

“Because there’s something I want to test.”

I said that and drew out the Wingless Nightmare.

“A test, you say? So you’re saying you’ll just use the First Captain of the Silver Dawn Knights as a mere test subject?”

Claudia grinned and pulled out the greatsword she had stood vertically in the ground. She tapped it with her foot to shake off the dirt clinging to the tip, then asked, as if she had just remembered something.

“Just now, did Rije really go easy on you? Knowing her personality, I guess she would have.”

“Probably not. It wasn’t her full power, but I could feel that she used quite a bit of strength.”

From a distance, I heard Rije’s voice, full of triumph, as she puffed out her chest, saying, “See?!” I also heard Erica and Iris’s flustered voices.

“Wow, our Delta, when did you get so strong?”

Even Claudia seemed surprised, but I wasn’t particularly surprised. After all, my Strength stat exceeds 70. With that stat, it would be strange if Rije could beat me.

The action just now would probably have been possible with one hand.

Seeing me grip the Wingless Nightmare, Claudia also pointed the tip of her sword at me. It was a greatsword that was as long as its wielder, despite Claudia being quite tall herself.

Although she had quite a bit of muscle, Claudia, who lifted such a greatsword so lightly with objectively ordinary-sized limbs, took her stance.

“…But, can I really come at you with my full power? If you can’t block this properly, it won’t just end with an injury. You could even die.”

“It’s fine. Just do as I said.”

“No, even if you’re fine, I’m not, okay? What if you die?”

“Claudia.”

I stared intently at Claudia.

“When have I ever boasted empty words?”

“…”

“I’ll explain why after the sparring. I want to surprise you all.”

At the words ‘I want to surprise you all,’ Claudia’s eyes changed. Because if I was saying something like this, it definitely meant there was something to it.

“Wow, our Delta. When did you get so manly? You’re only choosing to do things I like more and more, aren’t you?”

Claudia took her stance with a bright smile.

Her expression became slightly serious. She seemed to bend her knees slightly, then kicked off the ground and charged. Bang! A sound reverberated.

The distance closed in an instant. Claudia raised her greatsword high into the sky, then swung it vertically. The target seemed to be my left shoulder.

It was indeed filled with immense power, but just in case, preparing for the worst, it was positioned so that even if I couldn’t receive it, only my left side would be crushed. The extent of having half of one’s body crushed was an eccentric act made possible because it could be healed by receiving healing magic, drinking a stamina potion, and then resting thoroughly. In fact, as long as it wasn’t an instantly fatal injury, anything could be healed somehow.

I parried it with the Wingless Nightmare. With a ‘Thwack!’ sound, the greatsword’s trajectory sharply veered sideways. Claudia’s eyes widened in a surprised ‘Oh?’ expression.

‘Certainly, the recoil is much less than before.’

With a greatsword of that size, my hand should be tingling just from parrying it, but I only felt a sensation similar to parrying an ordinary sword.

The next attack followed immediately. Claudia spun around in the direction the greatsword had been deflected, swinging her sword from the opposite side. This time, an attack flying horizontally.

I changed my grip on the Wingless Nightmare. This time, I really intended to surprise those four. Instead of parrying it, I extended my right hand.

-Thwack!

I grabbed the flying greatsword with my hand.

“…Huh?”

Claudia’s dumbfounded sound echoed through the training ground.

A ridiculously massive greatsword, with a blade as wide as a person’s torso, a thickness like an arm, and a length equal to a person’s height, had been swung with rotational force, yet I had caught it with one hand.

“You… you…”

Perhaps truly terribly surprised, Claudia dropped the greatsword. But since I was holding the blade, it didn’t fall to the ground. I calmly took it and stood it upright.

The reactions of the other three, who had been watching from a short distance away, were not much different.

“I told you, Claudia. I’d surprise you.”