Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria - Volume 15 - Chapter 2

ACT 2 

After spending three busy days in Gimlé, Yuuto was once again on the road, but he was heading westward, rather than eastward back to the Holy Capital of Glaðsheimr. 

Traveling two full days by carriage, he had arrived at the western edge of Álfheimr, at the port city of Njǫrðr at the western edge of Yggdrasil. 

It was a distance that would easily take a month on foot. It was only thanks to the post station system that it had only taken two days. 

“Wow, you can really smell the salt in the air. Brings back memories.” 

Hopping off the carriage, Yuuto sniffed the air and smiled. 

In a few months, he’d have been in Yggdrasil for four full years, though he had never visited the ocean once during that time. It went without saying that the sight and smell of the ocean would be rather nostalgic to him by now. 

“Wha... Wha... What is this?!” 

Felicia let out a cry of surprise. 

“Oh... Oh my...” 

Even Sigrún, known as the Frozen Flower due to her stoicism, was drawn in by the scene before her. 

Glancing around, Yuuto noticed that it was also true of the rest of the Múspell Unit that had accompanied him as his escort. 

“Ah, right. None of you have seen this before, have you? This is the sea.” 

“I-I had heard stories, but...” 

“So this is... the sea.” 

People tended to be struck dumb with awe when they encountered something that vastly exceeded their own experiences and imagination. 

Yuuto found it hard to empathize, but it seemed that the pair were completely blown away by the sheer scale of the ocean that spread out before them. 

Even in modern times, there were plenty of people who lived in land-locked countries who had never seen the ocean. He’d heard that those people were all shocked when they saw the ocean for the first time. 

He supposed it was something similar to that. 

“Anyway, we can do some sightseeing later. Let’s get our business here taken care of first.” 

Yuuto clapped his hands together, bringing the pair back to reality. 

“Oh... M-My apologies, Big Brother.” 

“My sincere apologies. For me to lose myself...” 

He felt a bit sorry as the two of them looked apologetically to him, but he hadn’t come to this backward port city to indulge in tourism. It was no exaggeration to say that the future of the Steel Clan rested upon this inspection. 

“There you are. I thought the city was oddly abuzz.” 

He heard a familiar voice call out from behind. This was another voice he hadn’t heard in four months. 

“Hey Ingrid. Long time no...” 

Yuuto’s lips turned up into a smile as he turned to face the voice, but he instead found himself blinking in surprise. 

“Yep, been a while, Yuuto!” Ingrid said and beamed a radiant smile at him, but Yuuto’s attention was drawn not to her attractive smile, but to something else... 

“Y-Your hair...” 

“Mm? Oh, right.” 

From that little fragment, Ingrid appeared to catch Yuuto’s drift. She ran her fingers through her hair and swept it backward. 

“I’ve been letting it grow out since I got here. What do you think? I look a bit more womanly now, don’t I?” 

Ingrid looked up at him as she spoke, her expression a mix of hope and anxiety. 

Yuuto felt his heart skip a beat. 

As she noted, the longer hair did indeed make her look far more feminine. 

“Yeah, honestly it looks really good on you.” 

“O-Oh? That’s good.” 

Upon hearing Yuuto’s comment, Ingrid’s cheeks flushed red. 

He would have preferred if she didn’t blush at something she brought up herself. 

Yuuto felt a certain shyness set upon him as well. 

“A-Anyway... I’ve heard that you’ve finished the project. Care to show us how it turned out?” 

Unable to stand the awkward atmosphere, Yuuto quickly changed the subject. 

While at a glance, Ingrid looked like little more than a cute common city girl, she was an enormously important member of the Steel Clan. 

Steel, stirrups, tetsuhau, water wheels. She had been the one who had turned Yuuto’s ideas into reality—she was the primary force driving the Steel Clan’s remarkable progress. 

Ingrid, possibly the most important of Yuuto’s advisers, had left the capital of Gimlé and made her way this far out into the backwater of Yggdrasil to work on a particular project. 

“Oh, that! Heh, you wanna see it? I’m sure you do. Well, this one was a bit of a hassle, you know.” 

The moment Yuuto broached the subject, Ingrid happily latched on to the conversation. 

The embarrassment from the awkward exchange that had occurred just a moment ago was completely forgotten, replaced with a passion and enthusiasm that was clear to see from the expression upon her face. 

She was the kind of person who eagerly latched on to a subject—especially so when it came to the art of manufacturing. 

“You always just give me vague descriptions, so it can be really hard to take that idea and turn it into reality, you know.” 

“I know. I really do appreciate all you do.” 

“Oh really? In spite of all that you seem to always give me all sorts of difficult projects to tackle. I mean, even this took damned near half a year to finish.” 

“But you still got it done anyway. Only thing I can do is thank the gods for your presence every day.” 

“Always the flatterer.” 

Ingrid let out a sigh as though in faint exasperation, then she firmly gazed at Yuuto’s face and furrowed her brow in suspicion. 

“Hey, why are you smirking when I’m complaining to you?” 

“Mm? Am I smirking?” 

“Yeah, you are. It’s a little creepy.” 

“Creepy, huh? Heh. I guess I just like talking to you.” 

“...You hit your head while you were away?” 

Unable to hold back any longer, Yuuto burst out in laughter. 

It had been a good four months since he’d been teased like this. That wasn’t to say that he’d suddenly acquired a taste for masochism, though. It was just that there was a certain loneliness to having everyone bow and scrape at your every move, practically walking on eggshells in your presence. 

It was, in fact, rather frightening to have everyone simply voice praise and agreement at everything you say. 

Yuuto felt that the tendency for his subordinates to do so had grown since he had become þjóðann. 

Under those circumstances, Ingrid was pretty much the only one who would freely speak her mind to him, which was why he couldn’t help but feel a certain relief at being with her again.

“Th-This...” 

“This is... a ship?!” 

The object the party of Steel Clan members found themselves in front of was perhaps even more shocking to them than the ocean had been. 

To them, ships and boats were small craft—things like canoes carved out of logs, and at the most, rafts constructed out of logs lashed together with rope, sealed with beeswax and driven using a small sail. 

Such craft were more than enough to cross rivers or carry cargo down them. 

This, however, was a fundamentally different thing altogether. 

First of all, it was enormous. It was effectively a floating castle. 

“Heh, this is Noah, the first of our fledgling fleet of Galleon-class ships.” 

Gesturing at the ship tied up on the pier, Ingrid confidently introduced the vessel by name. 

Galleons were a type of sailing ship that saw active service during the 16th to 18th centuries. 

The first vessels that Yuuto thought of when considering moving to a new continent were the ships used by Christopher Columbus during his voyage to the Americas. 

His ship at the time, the Santa Maria, was a type of ship known as a carrack. These vessels helped kickstart the age of discovery. The galleon was essentially an evolution upon the design of the carrack. 

It was difficult to obtain schematics online or from e-books, but when he was briefly back in modern-day Japan, he was able to get his hands on a set of plans through his connections. 

If not for those plans, even a brilliant industrialist like Ingrid wouldn’t have been able to complete the galleon in so short a time. 

“So, shall we climb aboard?” 

“Yep, sure.” 

Yuuto accepted Ingrid’s invitation without a moment’s hesitation. 

He had already received word through her reports that the sea trials had been successful, but the ship was essential to his future plans. He wanted to experience being on deck for himself. 

By contrast, the members of the Múspell Unit looked extremely apprehensive about the notion. 

“U-Um, does that include us as well?” Hildegard asked worriedly. 

Given that they were his bodyguards, it went without saying that they needed to accompany him. It wasn’t a question that needed to be asked. 

However, the question had made obvious the feelings they were all currently harboring. 

They were, of course, all aware that wood floated in water—but they also knew that heavy objects sank. 

Could something as big as this ship actually float? 

They could see that the bottom of the ship had already sunk under its own weight. The idea of putting another hundred people on it sounded like utter madness. 

Yes, they were certainly aware of Ingrid and Yuuto’s accomplishments to date, but they couldn’t help but to believe that the ship would sink. 

In spite of that, however— 

“Of course. It wouldn’t be much of a test if we didn’t have everyone aboard.” 

Their lord made it sound so simple. 

Hildegard felt a bit faint at the prospect of letting herself board what she could only consider to be a threat to her life. 

She looked to her elder sister and commander Sigrún with a faint glimmer of hope, but Sigrún didn’t seem particularly worried. She casually boarded the ship across the gang plank, followed soon after by Felicia and Ingrid. 

It seemed that the leaders of the great Steel Clan also had nerves of steel. 

Hildegard sighed and slumped her shoulders in defeat. It appeared she had no choice but to go along with them. 

Before that, though— 

“Um... May I go to the outhouse before I climb aboard?”

“Man, this breeze feels amazing!” 

Yuuto shivered with excitement as he stood upon the bow of the ship and stared out into the endless expanse of the ocean. 

Sailing the ocean and going on adventures were the sort of things young boys dreamt about. 

To call a single day’s voyage—a shakedown cruise at that—an adventure was certainly something of an exaggeration, but Yuuto couldn’t help but feel excited. 

Kristina, on the other hand, was reacting far differently in response to what was currently occurring. 

“J-Just what sort of magic did you use on this?!” Kristina asked, her eyes wide in surprise. 

It was an extremely rare expression to see in the girl known for her calm and unflappable demeanor. 

Felicia and the others, evidently, had yet to notice just how wrong the situation was. 

“H-How are we moving forward against the wind?!” Kristina continued, clearly at a loss over what she was witnessing. 

Her voice came out as a high-pitched squeak—highly unusual for her. 

She was an Einherjar who bore the rune Veðrfölnir, the Silencer of Winds. It was precisely because she was well-acquainted with the wind and could manipulate it that she was the first to notice the impossibility of what she was witnessing. 

“O-Oh, you’re right...” Felicia murmured as though she’d suddenly realized it herself. 

The same was true of the members of the Múspell Unit. They all looked flabbergasted. 

It seemed they had finally noticed that the Noah was a sailing ship, meaning she was propelled solely by the wind, without a single oar being used to drive her forward. 

However, in spite of that fact, she continued to make progress sailing against the wind. 

For them, there was no other way to describe what they were seeing than as unbelievable—as something beyond their understanding. 

“Heheh, this is the secret that makes it possible!” Ingrid said as she pointed to a triangular sail set near the foremast. 

“Um, that still doesn’t explain anything...” 

“It’s called a fore-and-aft rig. I’ll skip the specific mechanics, but in exchange for being slower sailing with the wind compared to a square sail, it allows a ship to change course just by changing the angle of the sail, or even sailing against the wind like we are now. In the world I’m from, this invention kicked off a huge leap in bluewater sailing.” 

Yuuto gave a simplified explanation along with a dry laugh. If he left it to Ingrid she’d go into a long-winded technical explanation. 

“Oh! I see! So you’re using the difference in wind speed across the surface and back of the sail.” 

This casual observation, shockingly, came from Kristina’s twin sister, Albertina. 

“Wait, what? You understand how it works?!” 

It was now Yuuto’s turn to be surprised. 

The mechanics behind the fore-and-aft sail could be described using Bernoulli’s principle, but even Yuuto couldn’t make heads nor tails of the physics behind it. 

Of course, it was hard to believe that Albertina understood the mathematical concepts behind lift given that she struggled with basic math on her clay tablets, but it seemed she had instinctually grasped how the sail worked. It was a feat worthy of an Einherjar who bore the rune of Hræsvelgr, the Provoker of Winds. 

“Wait, Al? Seriously? What do you mean?!” Kristina said as she managed little more than to blink in confusion. 

Despite being an Einherjar who controlled the wind like her sister, it seemed that explanation had eluded her grasp. 

“Yup. The air on the surface is fast, so it’s lighter. The back is slower, so it’s a little heavier. And so the heavier air pushes the lighter air and moves the ship. I think,” Albertina explained in a vague, instinctual way. 

Upon hearing the way she had explained it, Yuuto recalled reading a similar explanation in a book. It seemed she really did understand how it worked. 

“Oh, okay! So that’s how it works.” 

It seemed Albertina’s words were enough to nudge Kristina in the right direction. 

“Wait? Do you mean you didn’t get it, Kris?” 

“Guh!” 

Kristina let out an audible yelp as she realized she’d finally lost some ground to her sister. 

“I see! Heh. What do you think of me now?” Albertina asked, visibly proud of herself. 

“I can’t believe that Al managed to grasp something like this before me...” 

Kristina, by this point, was practically despairing. Albertina wasn’t about to let up, however. 

“You were overthinking it, Kris.” 

“And now she’s lecturing me about it?!” 

“You need to feel it as it is instead of trying to think about it. The wind will tell you if you do. See?” 

“She’s even talking down to me! I think this is the most humiliating moment in my life...” 

The sight of Albertina proudly pointing out Kristina’s failings as the latter ground her teeth together in frustration was a rare sight indeed. 

Of course, Albertina was usually the one being lectured by Kristina, so this turnabout was perhaps long overdue. 

“Dang, seriously? Hey, Yuuto, can I borrow her for a bit?” 

Ingrid wrapped her arm around Albertina’s shoulder and yanked her over. 

“Having someone who can read the wind this well is worth her weight in silver... no, her weight in gold.” 

“Hm. You’re right.” 

Yuuto immediately understood what Ingrid meant. 

It bears repeating, but sailing ships were driven solely by the power of the wind. They could go substantially faster if there was someone aboard who could read the wind and find the optimal configuration for the sails. 

The reality was that while the ships were nearing completion, the crews that would operate them were still greatly inexperienced. 

Bluewater sailing included the constant risk of storms and rough seas. Albertina, with her ability to read the wind, would probably be able to detect those dangers long before any ordinary sailor could. 

Considering just how important the ships were to his future plans, letting Ingrid borrow Albertina was a no-brainer. 

“I don’t have any objections. In fact, I’m more than happy to do so, but...” Yuuto said noncommittally as he glanced over at Kristina. 

The younger twin’s presence was the biggest obstacle to this plan. 

Having Kristina, the head of his intelligence agency, here in a place so far from Glaðsheimr simply wasn’t an option given that war with the Flame Clan was looming on the horizon. 

The only solution to that issue would be to split the twins up. The problem was, however, that Kristina loved her older sister with a level of possessiveness that could be considered unhealthy. Convincing her to be apart from Albertina for so long seemed like a tall order. 

Just as Yuuto began to ponder how he would convince Kristina to let that happen... 

“I’d like to try it!” Albertina yelled out as she enthusiastically raised her hand. 

She was clearly excited. Her eyes were glittering in excitement and expectation. 

“Al, you shouldn’t be so quick to...” 

“Nope! I’m doing this no matter what!” 

Showing an uncharacteristic amount of unease, Kristina tried to change her sister’s mind, but Albertina was determined. 

“Hey, Father. Our future’s riding on this ship, right?” Albertina asked. 

“Not just this one ship, but yeah,” Yuuto replied. 

“And my ability to read the wind is useful, right?” 

Upon hearing this, Ingrid butted into the conversation. 

“Yep, no doubt about it. Your power is the ultimate skill to have at sea,” she said, firmly adding her seal of approval. 

Given that Ingrid had already done several test cruises of her own, she was speaking from hard-won experience about the value of Albertina’s skill. 

“I’m certain you’ll be able to protect a lot of people from danger using your rune’s power,” Yuuto added, signaling his agreement with Ingrid’s statement. 

Currently, the only completed galleon was the Noah—their prototype. However, since there were no major problems with her design, construction efforts on the second and third ships were proceeding without delay. 

The plan was to eventually construct a large flotilla of ships. The larger the fleet, the more important Albertina’s ability would become. If they could start early and get Albertina used to ocean voyages, then it would definitely improve the odds that his plan for mass migration—the Ark Project—would be successful. 

Yuuto felt Kristina practically staring daggers at his back, but this wasn’t the time for reservations and half-measures. 

“Hehe, I’m glad.” 

After finally processing the unstinting praise she’d gotten from Yuuto and Ingrid, Albertina broke into a self-conscious, but contented smile. 

“Al, you know it’s not going to be easy. You’ll have a lot of things to learn, and you really don’t like studying.” 

“E-Erm, sure, but I’ll still do my best!” 

Albertina was a little intimidated for a moment, but soon responded thus. 

Given how much she hated studying, the fact that she was this motivated spoke to her level of determination. 

“Y-You want to do this that badly?” 

Kristina was, instead, finding herself intimidated by Albertina’s enthusiasm. She was clearly at a loss. That, too, was an extremely rare sight. 

“Yeah,” Albertina confirmed, before continuing. “I’m not that clever, you know. Everyone needs you, Kris. You’re the smart one. I’ve always just been like a sidekick of yours.” 

“That’s not...!” 

“I’ve never had anyone need me like this, so I wanna give it a try. I think it’ll be really fulfilling to do.” 

Kristina pouted, unhappy with the situation. 

Yuuto figured she had reacted to Albertina’s observation that no one had needed her. 

If anything, the reality was that no one needed Albertina more than Kristina did. 

While at a glance it seemed like Albertina was dependent on Kristina, the truth was that emotionally, Kristina was the one who was more dependent on her twin. She was too proud to actually say that to her sister, though. Her personality made dealing with this sort of situation more complicated and difficult than it needed to be. 

“More than anything, while I’m proud to be your sister, Kris, I want you to be proud of me, too. If it means being someone you’ll be proud of, then nothing’s too big of a challenge.” 

“Oh!” 

That was the clincher. 

Whatever she might say, Kristina deeply loved her older sister. There was no way she wouldn’t be elated at learning Albertina wanted to tackle a challenge for her sake. 

She spun on her heel and turned to Yuuto. 

“Father! I’d like to stay here and learn about ships with Al,” Kristina said sweetly as if offering her final shred of resistance. 

“Not possible. I can’t afford to leave you here.” 

“I guess that’s true...” 

Yuuto immediately shot down her request, leaving Kristina crestfallen. 

She didn’t push the argument further because she, with her keen intelligence, knew that she needed to return to Glaðsheimr with Yuuto. In spite of that, she had wanted to at least try one last thing in an attempt to stay with her sister. 

“I understand... Then I’ll respect Al’s wishes. With everything that’s going on right now, there’s not really much choice.” 

With a long, slow sigh, Kristina made a show of reluctantly accepting the situation. 

“Well, it’s a good chance for you to become a little more independent from your sister,” Yuuto said, gently patting Kristina’s head. 

But Kristina snorted in response. 

“You mean it’s a good chance for Al to learn to become a little more independent.” 

“If that’s how you want to look at it, sure.” 

Yuuto then, in turn, made a show of taking off his cloak and used it to cover Kristina’s head. 

“Hey... What was that for?” 

“You looked cold. You can borrow it for a minute.” 

“...You’re right. It’s cold. I’ll borrow it from you,” Kristina replied from beneath the cloak covering her head, making no effort to remove it. 

Yuuto heard the faint tremor in Kristina’s voice, but he glanced away, pretending not to notice. 

The only sound that filled the air was the surf breaking against the shore. 

Everything around Yuuto was engulfed in darkness, with only the moon and the stars providing a faint glimmer of light. 

“Dammit, I can’t sleep.” 

Yuuto let out a dry laugh as he sat on the ship’s deck and gazed up at the night sky. 

They had finished the trial cruise and returned to port, but the tiny port city didn’t have enough lodging to house over a hundred additional people. 

Yuuto had decided that it was a good opportunity to spend a night aboard the Noah, but he had been unable to sleep, so he had climbed out of his hammock in the captain’s cabin and wandered onto the deck. 

Despite appearances, he knew the reason behind the restlessness he was feeling. 

“Things are finally coming together. It sure took a while, though...” 

Yuuto let out a deep sigh. 

After learning of Yggdrasil’s fate, Yuuto had decided to set in motion his plan to move its people to the European continent over a year ago. That past year, however, had been one filled with constant anxiety and uncertainty over whether or not it would even manage to come to fruition. 

The day’s voyage, though only a short daytime cruise around the port, finally made Yuuto believe that this massive project of his could actually succeed. 

He had been overwhelmed with the emotions that came flooding out in the wake of that realization and unable to sleep. 

“What are you doing out here in the dark? Sulking?” A flippant voice asked from behind him. 

Yuuto knew who it was without needing to turn around. 

“Sulking? I’m out here having a celebratory drink.” 

“Yeah yeah. Sure you are,” Ingrid answered half-heartedly as she settled down on deck next to him and looked up at the night sky. 

“Felicia told me. About why you wanted me to build this ship.” 

“I see,” Yuuto replied while keeping his eyes fixed at the sky. 

He had initially explained to Ingrid that he had wanted the galleons as part of an effort to expand trade. 

“Why’d you feel the need to lie to me?” Ingrid said as she gently rapped her knuckles against his head. 

“Sorry. I know it sounds like an excuse, but I wanted to keep the number of people who knew the truth down to a minimum until I’d made decent progress toward realizing the whole plan. That and you don’t have much of a poker face.” 

“Right.” 

Ingrid pouted with a faint snort. 

That said, she hadn’t attempted to make any sort of retort to his last comment, so it seemed that she was well aware of that shortcoming herself. 

“Ah well, that’s all water under the bridge. There’s something else I wanted to ask.” 

“Mm? What is it?” 

“You’re þjóðann now, you’ve got a ship, and your plan’s gotten far enough along that you can announce the news. So why are you looking so depressed?” 

“Mm? What are you talking about? I’m super excited right now,” Yuuto replied as he did his best to play dumb. Ingrid was having none of it, however. She furrowed her brow. 

“I’ve known you for how many years now? I know full well when you’re pretending everything’s fine,” she responded matter-of-factly. 

Yuuto couldn’t help but let out a soft grunt. He had thought he’d been doing a pretty good job of hiding it. 

“Do I really look that down to you?” 

“Yep. You’ve got the same look that you had when Fárbauti died.” 

“...Damn, I really can’t hide anything from you.” 

Yuuto shrugged and sighed. 

She had pierced his facade so precisely that he had no choice but to drop the act. 

“...Did someone pass away?” 

“Yeah, that’s about the gist of it.” 

“Gotcha. I know there’s not much that can be said to make it any better. Having someone close to you die is always rough,” she said, making an attempt to comfort him somewhat. 

Ingrid didn’t ask who had died. She appeared to have noticed that Yuuto had been vague in his response. 

Despite her rough demeanor, Ingrid was a woman who stepped carefully and provided little acts of thoughtful kindness in situations like this. 

“Yeah, it’s rough. It really is rough.” 

This wasn’t the first time Yuuto had lost someone close to him. 

His mother. Fárbauti. Olof. And now Rífa. 

It was the fourth time this had happened, but the grief felt as raw as it did the first time. If anything, Rífa’s youth and her sudden passing made her loss all the more shocking. 

There was a huge gaping hole in his heart, and the cold air passing through it threatened to freeze his emotions. He felt a deep loneliness, and at night he needed the comforting warmth of another person. 

Yuuto felt guilty about sleeping with Felicia and the others to take his mind off that sadness, but without that touch he felt like his heart would break all over again. 

“I know in my head that I don’t have time to get depressed—that it’s time for me to get over it and move forward... My heart seems to have other ideas, though...” Yuuto said, trying to maintain his composure. 

“That’s how it goes. Everyone might call you a hero or some reincarnated war god, but in the end you’re as human as the rest of us.” 

“You’re right. I guess I am just human. But given all the responsibilities on my shoulders, I can’t use that as an excuse.” 

“It’s not something you can move on from that quickly.” 

“Yeah, no kidding...” 

As soon as he’d started putting his feelings into words, he could no longer hold it back—all of his bottled-up sadness and grief was flooding out of his mouth. 

“Sometimes just talking about it makes it easier to bear, but for you in particular, you also have your role as a leader to keep in mind.” 

“Yeah... I can’t show too much weakness to those below me.” 

Yuuto couldn’t help but feel hesitant to show weakness to people like Felicia, Sigrún, and Linnea—those around him who had a tendency to have an inflated opinion of him. 

Contrary to many others, Ingrid was well aware of Yuuto’s frailty. In fact, she was someone whose attitude hadn’t changed as he went from being a mere guest to patriarch, from patriarch to reginarch, and now from reginarch to þjóðann. 

Because of that, he felt he could talk to her without playing any role and he tended to just spill out his unfiltered thoughts and feelings. 

“So, uh, thanks for listening. It’s helped a bit.” 

“Man, your whole stoic act is so annoying.” 

Ingrid sighed, then balled her hand into a fist and suddenly jabbed Yuuto’s cheek. 

“Ow!” 

The blow was heavy enough that it snapped Yuuto’s head around ninety-degrees. 

Though her abilities might not have been useful for combat, she was still an Einherjar and possessed a great deal of physical strength—easily as much as any shipwright or carpenter on Yggdrasil. 

“I-Ingrid! Wh-What the hell was that for?!” 

Yuuto was ordinarily known for his gentle demeanor, but he wasn’t so magnanimous that he’d take a random punch without complaint. He angrily demanded an explanation from Ingrid, but she replied with a casual shrug of her shoulders. 

“Did that hurt?” 

“Duh! I thought my head was going to come off my shoulders!” 

“Yeah? It hurts, right?” 

Ingrid’s words were very gentle and full of compassion, making it clear that she wasn’t talking about the punch she’d just landed. 

It was then that Yuuto realized what Ingrid was doing. She had given him an excuse to continue his complaining. 

“Yeah, it really hurts.” 

Yuuto placed his palm not against his stinging cheek but against his chest and sighed. 

Ingrid had certainly noticed, but she made no indication of it as she continued. 

“Heh. It was a pretty solid punch, wasn’t it?” 

“Yeah. It hurts so much that I can’t help but cry.” 

“Really? Well then, take this chance to get it off your chest.” 

“No way! A guy can’t just cry!” 

Ingrid wasn’t about to let up just yet. This time she delivered a punch to his gut. 

It hurt, but it was much lighter than the previous jab. 

Still, it was enough to break the dam that had been holding back Yuuto’s tears. 

“Dammit... I’ll remember this.” 

The tears began to spill down Yuuto’s cheeks. With them came the emotions that he had kept locked away deep inside. Those feelings engulfed Yuuto’s heart and added to the tears flowing from his eyes. 

“There you go. You’re finally letting it out. You bottle things up way too much.” 

Ingrid smiled sympathetically, lightly tugging Yuuto’s head to her chest. 

A supple warmth engulfed Yuuto’s head. 

“I’ll lend you a shoulder to cry on at least, so let it all out. You lost someone close to you, right? It’s okay to cry at a time like this, you hear?” 

Yuuto choked out the occasional sob as he wept. Ingrid continued to gently pat his head as he cried. 

By the time his tear ducts ran dry, the pool of negative emotions in his heart seemed to have abated somewhat. 

“...Thanks, Ingrid. I’m fine now.” 

Yuuto sat up, his expression softer. It was as though a heavy weight had been lifted from his chest. 

He recalled reading once that crying was useful for stress relief. It certainly felt that way to him in that moment. 

“You’re welcome. Feel better now?” 

“Yeah, thanks to you. You really are a great friend.” 

Yuuto’s words were meant as heartfelt thanks, but he got a deep sigh from Ingrid in response. 

A deep, profoundly exasperated sigh at that. 

“So, I’m just a friend to you, huh?” 

“What do you... Oh!” 

With Ingrid’s words, Yuuto realized his mistake. 

Before he set off to defeat the Panther Clan, Ingrid had more or less confessed her love for him. To call someone who had professed those sorts of feelings to him a ‘friend’ was the height of insensitivity. 

“Is it that hard to look at me as a woman? I mean, I even grew out my hair for you.” 

“No, that’s not it at—” 

“You don’t need to flatter me. You’ve got so many beautiful women around you like Felicia and Sigrún. I can understand why I wouldn’t even register.” 

“No, no, that’s not it at all! You’re plenty cute!” 

“You don’t need to lie.” 

“I’m telling the truth!” 

Yuuto raised his voice with his declaration. 

While Ingrid may not be quite as stunning in terms of her facial features as, say, Felicia and Sigrún, she was still plenty beautiful by any reasonable standard. More than that, Ingrid had charms of her own that set her apart from the others. 

“I mean, sure, it’s hard to see sometimes because you talk so roughly and you’ve got the bearing of a blacksmith... and yeah, you also hide it by the fact that you’re pretty quick to throw a punch, but you’re still as gentle and feminine as any woman I know.” 

Yuuto’s words contained nothing but the truth. 

Back when Yuuto had first arrived on Yggdrasil—when he was still known as Sköll, the Devourer of Blessings and had nothing more than a string of embarrassing failures to his name—Ingrid had been there supporting him. She may have been tough on him in doing so, but she had watched over and looked after him earnestly. 

Even when Yuuto had been sulking over his lack of success, she would drag him out to dinner and listen to his complaints. 

And finally, right now she was lending him her bosom to cry and vent on. 

No matter how desperately he struggled, she had always been near, offering him a mix of kindness and teasing—encouraging him by telling him that they would accomplish great things together. There weren’t many women who could be as kind as she had been. 

“Th-Then prove it,” Ingrid said and tilted her face upward. Her eyes were closed shut and her cheeks were flushed a deep shade of crimson. 

Yuuto wasn’t so dense that he didn’t understand what she was asking. He closed his own eyes and pressed his lips to hers. 

Soon after that, however— 

“Wha?! Yuuto, just what the hell are you doing?!” Ingrid squealed. 

“Doing? Well I figured it’d be you...” 

“Whoa, hold on! Please wait! Just gimme a second!” 

“I can’t.” 

“Hey! Where are you touching?! Wait wait wait!” 

“You’re so soft.” 

“Whoa! Dammit, I’m telling you to wait!” 

Following that, Ingrid gave Yuuto a smack of such vigor that he’d not soon forget it. 

“You know, this sort of thing should be done gradually... The mood’s important and so is making sure we’re both on the same page.” 

Yuuto seemed to be keeping quiet, however. 

“Hey! Wake up! Stop pretending to sleep and listen!” 

It seemed it would be a while yet before they’d actually consummate their feelings.