Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria - Volume 23 - Chapter SS1

Side Story: Hildegard’s Adventure

Hildegard hummed to herself as she stuffed her belongings into a leather bag. She was a cute girl around fifteen years of age whose defining characteristics were her pigtails and the determined look in her eyes. Although her appearance gave her an air of innocence, surprisingly enough, she was an Einherjar bearing the rune Úlfhéðinn and was one of the strongest in the Steel Clan’s elite Múspell Unit. Due to that strength, she’d been called upon today to protect the Steel Clan reginarch Suoh Yuuto from harm during his talks with Oda Nobunaga, patriarch of the Flame Clan.

“Heh heh, this is gonna be a perfect opportunity to show our Lord Reginarch just what I’m capable of!” As she muttered to herself, Hildegard realized she couldn’t stop smiling. Ever since witnessing that fighting spirit, that vigor of Yuuto’s, she’d fallen completely head over heels for him. In order to get in his good graces, she would continue to serve him diligently. If all went well, perhaps she could even become one of his favorite mistresses one day!

“‘Oh, Hilda, you’re so wonderful... Become mine at once!’ Oh man, if he said that to me... Heh heh heh he— Agh! Ouch!” She yelped as she felt a sudden sharp pain run through her skull. The attack had been strong enough to reduce her to tears with a single blow. She knew the sensation all too well—after all, she’d been on that strike’s receiving end more times than she could count.

“Wh-Why’d you hit me all of a sudden, Mother Sigrún?!” She turned around to see the chief of the Múspell Unit, her sworn older sister Sigrún, looking down on her with a cold gaze. Every ounce of the determination she’d had earlier drained from her in an instant, and she cowered down in fear.

“D-Did I, by any chance, mess something up again?” The timidness in her voice was practically a reflex by now. While Hildegard was confident enough in her strength, she had learned from experience that she couldn’t hold a candle to Sigrún, and defying her would only result in pain and regret.

“As a matter of fact, you did. Just now. You should’ve noticed my presence before I hit you. You’re still inexperienced,” Sigrún replied.

Against such blunt criticism, Hildegard’s face went taut. She wanted to point out how unreasonable it was to expect her to notice Sigrún when she was already a master of erasing her presence—and she’d approached from a blind spot, no less—but she was worried Sigrún might take her off the mission if she complained. After all, the reason she’d been allowed to accompany Yuuto to the negotiation table in the first place was her exceptional ability to sense such things.

She had no choice but to bite her tongue and remain silent.

“Are you really going to be okay on this mission?” Sigrún gave a heavy sigh. She was known just as much for her unwavering loyalty to Yuuto as she was for her valor. As the only one capable of commanding the Steel Clan’s army in Yuuto’s absence, she had to sit out this mission, but she was clearly beside herself with worry.

“I told you, it’ll be fine! The only reason I didn’t notice was that it was you, Mother. I’m sure I’ll be okay when it comes to the real thing!”

“That misplaced confidence of yours is what worries me the most.” Sigrún held her forehead like she had a headache and gave a second heavy sigh. “Hilda, you and I are replaceable, but Father is not. He is indispensable for the Steel Clan’s survival.”

“...I know.” While she agreed that the Steel Clan couldn’t lose him, she felt a bit perturbed at being called replaceable. However, since Sigrún was indisputably stronger than her, she had no choice but to reluctantly nod.

“It seems like you’re in such a hurry to prove yourself that you end up making clumsy mistakes,” Sigrún stated. Her words struck deep into Hildegard’s chest. “I can easily see you being so focused on showing off to Father that you don’t notice the enemy attacking,” Sigrún continued.

“Th-That won’t happen!” she said, but deep down, she knew it was entirely possible. After all, just a bit ago, she’d been blind to Sigrún’s approach because her mind had been preoccupied with that very thing. Her confidence began to waver.

Naturally, Sigrún wasn’t so lenient of an instructor to miss this. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, zeroing onto Hildegard like a hawk. “Listen up. This conference with the Flame Clan will literally determine the fate of the Steel Clan going forward. Do not let Father be distracted with anything else. If there is a threat, you must eliminate it before he notices. Keeping Father comfortable during this trip is your most important duty. Understand?”

“P-Pleased to meet you once more! In case you forgot, I am Hildegard, sworn younger sister of Sigrún, chief of the Múspell Unit. I’m still new and still have a lot to learn, but I hope we get along!”

The next morning, upon seeing Yuuto, the first thing she did was reintroduce herself and give an exaggerated bow. Considering that she’d wet herself upon their first meeting, it had probably been the worst impression she could possibly make. Even if it meant being overly polite, she wanted to erase that impression at all costs.

“Yeah, good to see you again. I’m hopeless with a sword, so you’ll have your work cut out for you. I’ll be counting on you.”

“L-Leave it to me!” At Yuuto’s reply, Hildegard stood up straight and gave a confident shout. His tone and expression were both carefree and casual, but Hildegard could clearly sense a backbone, a composed and dignified core, within him. Perhaps that presence he commanded was what had allowed him to rapidly transform the nondescript Wolf Clan into one of Yggdrasil’s very few powerhouse clans in a mere two-year span.

“I’ve heard about you from Rún, Miss Hildegard.” A blonde-haired girl next to Yuuto gave a gentle smile and stuck out her hand for a handshake. “She says she has high hopes for you in the future, and I’ll be counting on you as well.”

The girl was Yuuto’s bodyguard and adjutant, Felicia. With golden locks and blue eyes, her beauty gave Sigrún a run for her money. However, while Sigrún possessed a beauty much like icy, transparent snow, Felicia’s was more like the warm rays of the sun.

“I-It’ll be a pleasure working with you.” Shaking Felicia’s hand, Hildegard was starstruck. She had a degree of confidence in her looks, but faced with someone as magnificent as Felicia, she couldn’t help but second-guess her own beauty.

As one might expect of a reginarch, Yuuto was surrounded by a number of incredibly beautiful women—not to mention his formal wife, Mitsuki.

“It’s okay! I’m still in my growing phase! I’ll look like them too one day!” With newfound determination, Hildegard’s fighting spirit was ignited when...

“’Sup, everyone!”

“Good morning, everyone.”

Albertina and Kristina joined them—the older twin Albertina with a bright, carefree smile, and the younger twin Kristina looking composed, but unfriendly. They were the biological daughters of Botvid of the Claw Clan, one of the clans under the umbrella of the Steel Clan. They were also younger than Hildegard—in other words, they, too, were budding women—yet both possessed incredible beauty that was sure to only blossom further in the future.

“Good morning, Big Sis Albertina, Big Sis Kristina.” Responding politely, Hildegard gave an elegant bow. When she did, Albertina’s eyes sparkled with joy.

“Whoa, it’s Hil-Hil! Come to think of it, I did hear you’re going on this trip too!”

“Yes. I’m still a newcomer and inexperienced in many ways, but I’ll do my very best to perform my duty and not drag you all down.” Being called a diminutive nickname like “Hil-Hil” honestly ticked her off, but she managed to keep her composure as she replied.

The twins and Sigrún both had Yuuto as their sworn father, so, in other words, they were sworn siblings. Since Hildegard was Sigrún’s sworn sibling, that essentially made the twins Hildegard’s siblings as well. However, even though they were younger, the twins had already received the reginarch Suoh Yuuto’s direct Chalice, putting them in higher social standing, which meant Hildegard had to be careful about what she said.

“Tee hee. My, so lively this early in the morning. You had better preserve some of that energy, or you’ll end up unable to move from exhaustion when you need it most,” said Kristina with a grin.

“...Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.” Hildegard gave a small bow. She wanted to retort that her training wasn’t so lenient that she’d tire out from something like that, but she once again held her tongue since Kristina was above her in rank.

“Yes, you should have a nice tall glass of water and relax... Oh, sorry, on second thought, maybe you shouldn’t.”

Seeing Kristina uncomfortably avert her eyes, Hildegard unconsciously bit her lip in frustration. Naturally, since this was Kristina, whose twisted personality was practically infamous at this point, Hildegard didn’t think for a second the apology had been sincere. She knew it had merely been a vehicle to tease her about her incontinence episode.

But once again, Kristina was above her in rank. There was nothing she could do except endure. That was the harsh reality of being an underling.

“Endure it, Hilda! Endure it. Just do a good job on this mission, and you’ll be one step closer. Take it one step at a time, and then... Waagh!”

Suddenly, she felt an enormous presence from behind that made her hair stand on end—one she was familiar with. It was a frightening entity on par with Sigrún, the person she’d been afraid of ever since she’d joined the Múspell Unit—it was Hildólfr, a gigantic, fierce Garmr who had made his stronghold high in the Himinbjörg Mountains. She’d heard that he’d been tamed to not attack humans, but that didn’t make him any less frightening. It was a true monster that even the beast sleeping within Hildegard balked in the presence of.

“Oho, looks like our secret weapon’s arrived. I’ll be counting on you during this conference too, Hildólfr.” Yuuto bent down and stroked his head.

Hildólfr closed his eyes, looking blissful as he let Yuuto pet him.

“Whoa!” After a while, Hildólfr responded in kind by licking Yuuto’s face. Yuuto grinned, but Hildegard shuddered at the scene. That beast could crush his head with a single chomp if it wanted. Hildegard didn’t possess the level of courage to grin right before a maw that large. “So, this is the bravery of a man who built a clan practically from the ground up,” she thought.

“Oh, you want to be petted here too? All right, there you go.” Once Hildólfr had rolled over on his back, Yuuto began rubbing his belly. In the wide world of Yggdrasil, this black-haired boy was probably the only human to get a legendary giant wolf to submit and obey him without question.

“...Does he even need a bodyguard?”

It made Hildegard question why she was even here in the first place.

“Yaawn.” After nearly two hours of traveling toward Stórk, where the conference was to be held, Hildegard was so bored that she accidentally let out a yawn.

She was really, really, really bored.

The grassy plains were spread out before her, but the scenery never changed. Some people would probably be in awe of the towering Þrúðvangr Mountains in the distance, but Hildegard had no interest. She’d thought maybe she could get closer to Yuuto during the journey, but he was sheltered in a covered horse-drawn carriage trailing behind her. Hildegard had been recruited on this mission for her ability to scout, so naturally, she was positioned in the front. However, that meant she couldn’t converse with Yuuto. She’d turned around to try to catch a glimpse of him, but because the carriage was covered, she was unable to see him.

She knew she should probably concentrate on her scouting duties instead, but truthfully, she was already sick of it.

“Man, I wish an enemy would come attack us or something.” In fact, she was so ridiculously bored that she ended up uttering something a bodyguard should never utter.

“My, my, I might have to report that comment to Father.” Naturally, it didn’t go unnoticed by Kristina, who was walking beside her. Seeing her bright smile, Hildegard belatedly realized she’d messed up.

“Miss Hildegard, the reason you were assigned to this mission was to scout out enemies before they appear. If you do your job correctly, there shouldn’t be an attack, right?”

“Y...Yes...”

“And I believe Big Sister Sigrún also ordered you not to let Father run into any trouble?”

“H-How do you—?!”

“Tee hee. Because I am Father’s eyes and ears. If you don’t approach your job with the due diligence it requires, I’m afraid promotion will remain just a dream for you,” she replied (in Hildegard’s eyes at least) menacingly.

“Guh... N-Noted.” Faced with Kristina’s watertight retort, Hildegard bowed her head gloomily. However, she didn’t miss the fact that while Kristina remained expressionless, the look in her eyes was one of pure ecstasy. If it had been a regular warning out of the goodness of her heart, Hildegard might’ve been able to endure, but she was clearly berating Hildegard for the sake of her own amusement.

Kristina was an Einherjar bearing the rune Veðrfölnir, Silencer of Winds. The reason she was in the front with Hildegard was apparently due to her rune’s ability, which allowed her to calm adverse winds. Conversely, Albertina’s ability did the opposite and created favorable winds, and she was positioned at the rear. Perhaps the reason Kristina was so intent on targeting Hildegard was to mitigate her mounting frustration at having to be apart from her sister.

Hildegard understood the reason she was such prime prey for Kristina was her own inexperience, but even so, she couldn’t let it stand.

“Besides, Miss Hildegard, you’re—”

“Hey, everyone! Let’s break for lunch!”

Kristina was just about to unleash another attack when Yuuto’s voice resounded from behind them. Hildegard unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. If she’d been subjected to Kristina’s venom any longer, it might have seriously ruined her mentality enough to affect the mission.

“I-I’m gonna go help the underlings set up the... Huh?” Suddenly, a strange smell reached Hildegard’s nostrils. Her rune Úlfhéðinn gave her almost animalistic abilities similar to those of a wolf, including a sharpened sense of smell. That sense of hers had detected the unmistakable scent of another group nearby.

Straining her ears, she could hear the voices of people in the distance, although she was unable to make out exactly what they were saying.

“Big Sister Kristina, I’m going to go pick some flowers. Also, there’s something I have to take care of along the way,” Hildegard stated coldly.

“One, two, three... Five in all, huh? They don’t seem like typical traveling merchants either.” Hiding behind a large rock, Hildegard counted the suspicious figures from afar. From her location, they looked like tiny specks, but with her extraordinary eyesight, she could make them out as plain as day.

“Hey, is this really the place?” one of them said.

“Yeah. According to our sources, the reginarch of the Steel Clan and the patriarch of the Flame Clan are gonna meet each other in Stórk,” said another.

“Hmm, that means they’ll have to come through here, then,” said yet another.

With her superb hearing, even from this distance, Hildegard was able to clearly pick up what they were saying.

Because she was always so focused on distinguishing herself as a warrior, she didn’t realize that she was practically born for scouting missions like these.

“Hm, seems they’re up to no good... Wha?!” Hearing sudden footsteps right behind her, she whipped around in a panic—and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw who it was. “Oh, it’s just you, Big Sis Albertina. Don’t scare me like that!”

“Heh, sorry...” Albertina giggled innocently at Hildegard’s moment of panic. Hildegard was actually quite astonished that Albertina had gotten so close without her realizing—though she didn’t let it show. With her keen senses, Hildegard had been able to pick up on Kristina’s ambush, but she’d not noticed Albertina at all. She acted like an airhead, but it seemed that Albertina’s sneaking skills were actually superior to her sister’s. Hildegard was beginning to see why Sigrún called Albertina a natural-born assassin. Thinking back, Hildegard couldn’t recall a single time before now where someone had managed to approach her unnoticed while her senses were honed.

“Hm, those guys look weird. I don’t think they’re traveling merchants.” Albertina carefully observed the men, using her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. Like Hildegard, she’d probably sensed something fishy using her ability and had come to investigate.

“I agree. I’ve been eavesdropping on their conversation a bit, and it seems they’re a suspicious bunch,” Hildegard replied.

“Whoooa... You can hear them all the way from here? That’d be hard even for me...”

“Ah, well, you know...” Hildegard felt the corners of her mouth turn up in a smile. Since she’d been taken completely by surprise (seemingly effortlessly) earlier, it felt good to get one up on Albertina. “Anyway, they know our Lord Reginarch is on his way to Stórk.”

“Hm? Why’s that unusual?” Albertina asked.

“Wha?” It was such an unexpected response that Hildegard let a dumbfounded utterance escape her. At present, the existence of the Stórk conference was supposed to be highly classified information for the Steel Clan’s ears only. It absolutely could not get out that the reginarch was traveling to the enemy camp virtually unattended. However, even though the Flame Clan’s letter had only arrived yesterday, these men somehow knew. If that wasn’t suspicious, what was?

Hildegard peered into Albertina’s face, unblinking, but the older twin just tilted her head, looking confused. “Huh? Is there something on my face?” Albertina asked.

An expression like hers couldn’t be an act—Albertina really had no clue why such a thing would be suspicious.

“Why does this idiot have His Majesty’s direct Chalice and not me?!” she shouted in her heart, but unfortunately for Hildegard, her troubles were just beginning.

“Kriiis, it seems like they know Father’s heading to Stórk,” Albertina muttered to herself.

Hildegard scanned the area just to be safe, but Kristina was nowhere to be found, nor was anything resembling her presence. Hildegard seriously wondered if this girl had brain damage.

“Okay, got it. Then I’ll do as you say and take care of them,” Albertina muttered once more. Immediately afterward, Albertina dashed toward the men like a gale.

“She’s fast!” Hildegard had been confident that she beat everyone else out when it came to speed, but Albertina was certainly on par.

“Rrgh!” Tousling her hair in frustration, Hildegard chased after Albertina.

Hildegard was technically still on a scouting mission. If she spotted an enemy, she was supposed to return to the others and report her findings. But Albertina, perhaps because of her happy-go-lucky attitude, was well-loved by all the higher-ups of the Steel Clan, including Yuuto. If Hildegard returned without her and the worst were to befall Albertina as a result, she could kiss her chances of promotion goodbye.

“Urk...! Wh-Wha...?”

Albertina sneaked up on one of the men from behind and used her knife to stab him in the heart. For her to approach so quickly and have none of the five notice, her talent for stealth was truly formidable.

“M-Muska?! A-A kid?! Guh!”

The moment the enemy spotted her, Albertina leaned slightly to the right in a feint and then dashed to the left at lightning speed. To the men, it probably looked like she’d vanished into thin air. She then kicked off the ground, changing her direction once more, and as if guided by an unseen force, the knife she held headed straight for one of the men’s necks—

Ting! A sharp metallic sound rang out as the man repelled the knife with his sword.

“No way?!” This seemed to come as a surprise to Albertina, whose eyes went wide with shock.

Hildegard didn’t blame her. Even from where she was watching, she could tell Albertina’s technique had been impeccable. She wasn’t quite sure how a mere man was able to see through movements like those, let alone defend against them. In other words, he wasn’t simply your run-of-the-mill thug.

“Hyah!”

“Whoa!” The man struck back at Albertina in retaliation. Albertina leaped backward to dodge it.

“You’re gonna regret killing Muska, little girl!” One of the other men, this one wearing a black hood, rushed forward to attack her. His swordsmanship was even more nuanced than the previous man’s.

Albertina let out a cry of panic, but she nonetheless crouched down and cleanly evaded the strike. The hooded man saw that and mercilessly delivered a swift kick while she was down on the ground. Hopping to the side like a rabbit, she was able to avoid that attack as well.

“She really is outstanding,” Hildegard idly thought.

“Watch yer asses, you guys. This ain’t no ordinary girl!” the hooded man spat. However, this in fact couldn’t be more convenient for Hildegard.

There were two reasons for this. First, this tipped her off as to who the leader might be. Second, it meant that all the men would now be focused on Albertina and her extraordinary movements. All things considered, it was likely they wouldn’t even notice the existence of a second foe. Hildegard silently unsheathed the dagger at her hip and threw it, aiming right for the back of the first man’s head.

“Gah?!”

It was a direct hit. Coming from a blind spot, the dagger pierced right through the man’s head without him even noticing.

“The hell?! There’s another one?! Grk!” The men’s attention now inevitably gravitated toward Hildegard. Albertina didn’t let that opportunity slip by. Without missing a beat, she leaped toward the closest enemy and pierced his heart with an obvious eagerness that betrayed the innocent-looking face she wore.

“That makes two against two. Big Sis Albertina, you take that one. I’ll deal with the hooded guy,” Hildegard suggested.

“Aw, whaaat? But that one looks stronger and more fun!” Albertina protested.

“He’s probably the leader of this bunch. In that case, subduing him is gonna take more muscle, which means it’s in my wheelhouse,” Hildegard explained.

“Mmmgh... Okay, I understand.” She frowned in a bit of a pout but agreed nonetheless. Hildegard stuck out her tongue teasingly. Albertina may have possessed godlike reflexes, but her physical strength didn’t differ much from that of a normal child. While Hildegard hadn’t necessarily lied to her, she hadn’t told the whole truth.

“Heh heh heh... If I bag the leader, I’ll get that promotion for sure!”

Hildegard was quick to resort to dirty tactics. However, her dirty tactics tended to backfire on her.

Ting! Ting! Ting!

The hooded man’s sudden flurry of attacks forced Hildegard back one step. From just that single exchange, Hildegard could tell. While she had the upper hand when it came to the speed and strength of her attacks, the enemy’s technique was far and away more polished.

“Wh-Who the hell is this guy?!” Hildegard was by no means a weakling. On the contrary, outside of Sigrún, no one else in the Steel Clan’s elite Múspell Unit could hold a candle to her. It was unthinkable for a non-Einherjar to be able to keep her at bay.

“Heh heh... Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just ’cause you’re a kid.” The corner of the hooded man’s mouth turned up in a sneer as he unleashed yet another attack.

“Wh-What the...gh...ugh...ha!” Determined to not fall behind, Hildegard met him with a whirlwind of strikes, but each individual blow paled in comparison to the hooded man’s, and she found herself on the defensive in no time. Hildegard’s attacks were faster and stronger, but the man was able to combo one attack into another with frightening speed. Due to that, Hildegard was at a distinct disadvantage.

Eventually, the tip of the hooded man’s sword sliced into Hildegard’s left shoulder. Fortunately, the cut was shallow and she could still fight, but the fact that she’d been hit at all caused her to start panicking. Her thoughts became jumbled, and she was unable to come up with a countermeasure as a result.

“Hn! Ha! Hyah!”

“Uwah! Hup! Hyaa?!”

As the battle went on, the hooded man’s attacks became more and more relentless, rendering Hildegard helpless.

“C-Crap! If this goes on I’ll... Uugh, if only I could use my beast form...!”

By unleashing the beast within her, Hildegard could boost her physical abilities exponentially. However, it came at a price. In exchange, she lost her ability to think rationally, something that had caused her to fail time and time again. Thanks to that, she’d resolved not to use the ability if she could help it.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a situation where she could afford to be picky. She’d all but resigned herself to using the ability when the hooded man suddenly halted his barrage of attacks and took a big leap backward. A beat later, a knife sliced through the air where the man had been.

Albertina had thrown said knife—the man she’d been battling earlier lay in a collapsed heap at her feet.

“Tch, useless lackeys. Two against one’s gonna be tough.” The man cursed, turned on his heel, and dashed away.

“Wai...” Hildegard wanted to chase after him, but her legs wouldn’t move.

In terms of sheer leg strength, Hildegard had a clear advantage. However, even if she caught up, there wasn’t much she could do against him. The last battle had taught her that.

“Rrraaagh! Dammit!” Overcome with frustration, all she could do was stomp on the ground and roar to the heavens, entirely unaware that her cry had more in common with a whimpering dog than a ferocious beast.

“Hm, so you let the leader get away, then.” Kristina, having arrived late to the scene, shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. She’d taken her sweet time getting here, yet she immediately pinned the blame on Hildegard. That infuriated her, but of course, Kristina had received Yuuto’s Chalice and was higher in rank, so Hildegard couldn’t say a word.

“Hil-Hil said she could take him, so I left it to her,” said Albertina nonchalantly, leaning back with her hands behind her head.

“Urk...” Hildegard made a face like she’d swallowed something bitter. It was in fact the truth, so she had no rebuttal.

“Well, this wasn’t a total write-off. We got one of his goons, after all.” Her sadistic streak apparently sated from seeing Hildegard’s reaction, she gave one final snicker and crouched down in front of the captured lackey. “Now then, what group do you belong to? How did you know that Father was headed to Stórk?”

The man spat in her direction. However, Kristina expertly dodged it as if she’d anticipated that response...

“Gaah?!”

...and the wad of spit hit Hildegard’s skirt instead. She’d been slow to react since Kristina had been in front of her, blocking her view. “This is not my day,” she thought glumly.

“Heh, you’ve got some guts to try that on me. I’ll have you know I lead an intelligence unit, and I’m well-versed in ways of making people talk,” Kristina said.

“Ha! Torture, is it? Bring it on. I’m used to pain. A mosquito bite’ll hurt more than anything a brat like you could do,” the lackey replied.

“Is that so? Then a mosquito bite it’ll have to be,” Kristina replied, producing a bird’s feather from out of nowhere. Hildegard didn’t know anything about birds, so she couldn’t tell what it belonged to, but it must’ve been rather large considering the feather’s size.

“Hil-Hil, take off his shoe,” Albertina asked.

“Huh?! ...O-Okay.” Naturally, as a fourteen-year-old maiden, she felt some trepidation at being asked to remove the shoe of an adult man, but again, she had to obey her superiors. She removed the shoe just as she was told. It stunk.

“Now then, you were talking about torture through inflicting pain? My, someone’s behind the times. That’s such an antiquated method,” Kristina said.

“Huh? So what, you’re gonna tickle me? Like hell I’d talk from somethin’ like—snrk—I’d never—hya hya hya! S-Stop, that’s eno—ha ha ha!” Each time Kristina gently rubbed the feather against the sole of the man’s foot, the man burst out laughing like he couldn’t resist. Tied tightly to a tree with rope, he couldn’t even move a muscle as he continued to suffer in agony.

The tricks kids had up their sleeves were not to be underestimated. Tickling was considered a valid method of torture all throughout the world. It was even used by prostitutes in Japan during the Edo period. At first, the tickling sensation itself was the worst, but gradually—

“Hya ha ha ha! Snort...grk! Ha ha ha! Haa...haa...gaahh... I’m...gonna die... Gyah ha ha!”

The man began to exhibit strange behavior aside from merely laughing. His face began to turn blue, and his lips took on a shade of purple. He was laughing so hard that he was having difficulty breathing.

“Haa...haa...haa...”

After approximately three hundred seconds of nonstop tickling, Kristina finally stopped her attack. Waving the feather in front of the man as if taunting him, she spoke. “So, feel like talking yet?”

“Heh... Y-You think I’m gonna squeal with just that?” he replied through labored breaths.

“Oh, is that so? Then let’s continue,” she said coldly.

The torture resumed. After two whole hours of tickling (with occasional pauses in between), the man finally broke.

“Ha ha ha ha... Okay, I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so stop already!” His eyes were already ruined with tears, and his expression was somewhere between grim and exhausted. His voice was tinged with desperation. He looked like he’d been through absolute hell.

“Hm, well, as long as you’ve decided to become honest.” Seeing Kristina nod coolly, the man let out a breath of relief. Even if he felt guilty for selling out his comrades, it was buried deep behind the tranquil expression the man currently wore from having his life spared.

“But unfortunately, I don’t trust you. So let’s make you a little more trustworthy, shall we? I think another hour ought to do it.”

“Huh?” The man’s face blanched. It was the very picture of a man finally admitted to heaven suddenly being thrown back into hell.

“Heh heh heh...” Meanwhile, Kristina couldn’t hide her glee as she brandished the feather and approached the man once more with an evil grin. Hildegard found herself unconsciously raising her head to the sky and offering a moment of silence in his honor.

The man’s laughter could be heard throughout the entire mountain range.

“Once again, what group are you with? By the way, I can sniff out lies. If you lie to me, it’s more tickling for you.” After another excruciating hour of torture, Kristina asked the man once more with a big grin. The man was already at his limit, collapsed on the ground and bereft of any more energy to resist. With a bitter, self-deprecating grin, the man spoke in a hoarse voice.

“We’re called...‘Dvergr,’” he explained.

When she heard that name, even Hildegard could see the color leave Kristina’s face in an instant. She knew the reason all too well. This man belonged to the Cult of Dvergr—one of the religious cults native to the Bifröst Belt since long ago.

After the Holy Ásgarðr Empire’s sudden rise to power, followed by the Wolf Clan making their home within its walls, the Angrboðan faith had flourished, causing faith in Dvergr to wane. However, even now the cult was still quite prominent, boasting several thousand followers.

“So that’s it. I suppose it wouldn’t be so strange for a cult that large to have followers even among our own soldiers.” Kristina shook her head and sighed. The Steel Clan that Yuuto led had officially designated Angrboða as their guardian deity, but the citizens weren’t forced to believe any certain way—Yuuto had figured it best to not interfere with people’s beliefs. However, there were consequences for such magnanimity.

“So, what did you plan to accomplish by ambushing our Lord Reginarch?” Kristina asked.

“W-Well, that’s...uh...” The man still seemed to possess a modicum of loyalty toward his group, because he stammered in hesitation.

“So that’s how it has to be, huh?”

“Uwah! Wait, wait! I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so put down that feather!” Once Kristina brandished the feather, the man immediately started to tremble. It was almost as if Kristina’s tickling had invoked a learned response within him—either she was used to this or she’d practiced it, because her technique must have been quite hellish.

“We were doing recon...in preparation to assassinate the reginarch,” the man said reluctantly.

“Oh? That’s not something I can take lightly.” In general, Kristina almost always adopted a cold tone, but it now dropped several more degrees. Hearing the ice in her voice made even Hildegard shudder.

“Really? But why would you go after Father?” Albertina cocked her head in confusion. “I thought he made everyone happy. Your god should be happy about that too, shouldn’t he?”

It was true—under Yuuto, the people of the Wolf Clan had enjoyed great prosperity. The production of food had explosively increased, and fewer and fewer people were dying of starvation. By all rights, it didn’t make sense for a religious cult to want him dead.

However...

“That’s exactly what they don’t like,” Kristina said, not even trying to hide the scorn in her voice, and even let out a snort for good measure. Hildegard knew how she felt—she, too, knew exactly how their cult worked, and that to them, Yuuto was nothing but a hindrance to their goal. “The Dvergr don’t like change. They want the world to go back to before the Empire’s founding—when the virtuous king Fleur still ruled and everyone was happy and at peace. That’s the kind of cult they are,” Kristina explained.

“Was Fleur’s rule really that great?” Albertina asked.

“So they say, but people tend to look at the past with a somewhat misaligned view of what actually happened. Regardless, I doubt it even began to compare to the benevolence of Father’s rule,” Kristina replied.

“I know, right?! Thanks to Father, we can eat bread without gravel in it!” Albertina grinned and nodded emphatically.

Of course, even Hildegard thought gravel-free bread was a molehill compared to the mountain of other issues the Steel Clan had to face, but she could at least recognize that calling her out on it would be boorish.

“Al’s nonsense aside...” Kristina began.

“N-Nonsense?!”

“Yes, everything out of your mouth is nonsense.”

“Waaah! You actually said it!”

“I’ve heard that more and more people are beginning to have doubts about Dvergr’s teachings and leaving the faith. In that case, it makes sense that Father’s existence would be a thorn in their side. Am I right?” She cast a sidelong glance at the man on the ground. It was clear from the expression on his face that Kristina was correct.

“In other words, they put the cart before the horse and got their priorities all mixed up,” Hildegard said with a wistful smile. The cult was trying to return the world to a time when everyone was happy, so the end goal should’ve been to make everyone happier than they currently were. At some point, however, it became more about returning to the past than actually bringing prosperity to the people, to the point that they were willing to assassinate the man that had made their lives so much better in the first place. The means had become the end goal.

“But...that hooded man earlier was much too skilled to be the kind of idiot who wouldn’t realize that,” Hildegard continued. Just recalling his technique sent a shudder down her spine. Truthfully, she didn’t think she’d be able to take him in a fair fight. His subordinates hadn’t exactly been novices either. It seemed like in the time leading up to the conference, Hildegard would have her work cut out for her.

“Looks like they’re in that forest.” Sniffing the air around her, Hildegard pointed to the forest spread out to the southeast. She’d traced the hooded man’s scent to this location—child’s play for one who possessed the keen senses of a beast. During their prayers, the Dvergr had a custom of burning incense, so it was in fact quite easy to track them down.

“Wow, Hil-Hil, that’s amazing. I can’t even smell anything like that.” Albertina patted Hildegard on the head. Honestly, it felt good to receive earnest praise for a change.

“Although... It was your fault they got away in the first place, ‘Hil-Hil.’ You’re gonna have to work a little bit harder if you want to clear your good name,” Kristina responded mockingly. She was just as toxic as ever. Hildegard honestly wished she would take a page from her older sister’s book and be a tad more merciful.

“How many are there?” Kristina asked curtly.

“Give me a minute,” Hildegard replied. She took a deep breath and strained her ears. She unleashed a portion of the beast within, improving her hearing ability significantly. When she released it during combat, her animalistic instincts overwrote her ability to reason, but since this wasn’t a combat situation, she was able to draw upon a fraction of its power and retain her composure in the process. Naturally, she couldn’t discern what they were saying, but she was able to make out many distinct voices. Diligently counting each one...

“From just the ones I can hear, there are forty-six of them,” Hildegard stated. “How should we proceed?”

In order to avoid provoking the Flame Clan, the Steel Clan had brought a skeleton crew of just ten people along on this trip. To say their forces were spread thin was an understatement—with the enemy outnumbering them by more than four to one, even the might of the Múspell Unit and all the Einherjar at their disposal wouldn’t be sufficient to ensure Yuuto’s safety.

“Hm, if they staged an attack with that many, we wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.” Kristina was apparently thinking along the same lines. Her hand resting on her chin, she thought for a bit before speaking once more.

“We’ll simply have to stage an ambush with just the three of us,” she stated.

“What?!” Hildegard’s eyes bugged out of her head at how casually Kristina had declared something that was far easier said than done. There were forty-six enemies and only three of them—they would be going up against an army fifteen times their size. Taking the cultists out would have been difficult enough with ten of them, so when she heard Kristina’s idea, she honestly thought the girl had miscalculated somehow.

“I know we’re Einherjar and all, but don’t you think that’s a bit too reckless?” Hildegard asked.

“Yes. At least, under normal circumstances anyway,” Kristina replied. “However, I have a secret foolproof plan,” she said, raising a finger and grinning confidently.

Somehow, seeing that grin didn’t do anything to make Hildegard any less anxious.

“Ugh, damn, it’s cold. Far too cold to take a piss...urk!” Apparently about to relieve himself, one of the men had just undone his belt buckle when Hildegard launched an arrow at his forehead.

Surprisingly enough, the most lethal weapon during war was not a sword or a spear—it was a bow and arrow. Since awakening as an Einherjar, Hildegard had also honed her skills as an archer. Even though the man was a fair distance away, it was practically point-blank range for Hildegard. Scoring a direct hit was a piece of cake.

“Th-The hell?!” Noticing something was wrong, several more men drew closer, their weapons raised. Hildegard fired a volley of subsequent arrows that whistled through the air before striking their targets.

One was dodged, one was deflected by the target’s sword, and one struck its target cleanly. Unfortunately, things didn’t end there though.

“Over there!” Naturally, the enemy was able to deduce her location from the direction the arrows had come from.

“A kid?! How weak do they think we are?!”

“Don’t move, brat!”

“We’ll rip those pretty clothes off ya and mess ya up good!” With vulgar shouts, ten or so men formed an ominous mob and rushed toward her.

In a one-on-one fight, she wouldn’t lose against any of them. However, with this many, it would be tough for her to eke out a victory. Tough for Hildegard alone, that is. She spun around and turned tail immediately.

“Get back here, dammit!”

“Don’t think you’ll get away from us so easily after what you did!” The men chased after her, but their speed was no match for Hildegard’s. She shook them off in no time at all.

“Shit! Where’d she go?!”

“She couldn’t have gotten that far. Start searchin’.”

As the men began to comb the area, Hildegard watched from behind a nearby tree. When they passed her unknowingly, she attacked from behind.

“Gah!”

“Wh-What the—? Guah!” Taken completely by surprise, the men were unable to put up a fight as Hildegard mercilessly cut them down one by one.

“There she is!”

“Over there!”

Once more of them began to spot her, she turned on her heel once more, cleverly using the environment to disappear from the men’s sight.

“Guah!”

“Gyaah!” From a short distance away, she heard the screams of more men—likely the work of either Albertina or Kristina.

This was the crux of Kristina’s grand plan. It didn’t matter how strong they were as Einherjar; three of them wouldn’t be able to win against forty-six men in a fair fight. However, among the Steel Clan members, Kristina, Albertina, and Hildegard were the cream of the crop when it came to sensing others’ presences and erasing their own. This dim forest was the optimal environment to use those talents of theirs to the fullest. While the enemy would quickly lose sight of them, they could sense the enemy with ease.

“Ooh, that’s two fewer presences I feel. I’d better work hard on my end too, or I’ll get shown up!” Hiding behind another tree, Hildegard grinned mischievously. Sure, the twins had received Yuuto’s direct Chalices, but that was all. She was still older and more capable. It didn’t matter how many enemies there were, they were no match for her. She’d cut them all down!

Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine. Following her gut instinct, she leaped out of the way. In the next instant, two daggers pierced the tree she’d just been hiding behind. When she turned to look in the direction the daggers had come from, her face froze in terror. The hooded man she’d been helpless against earlier was staring right at her, his piercing gaze like a hawk’s. She already knew his name from the man they’d taken prisoner: Mótsognir, the strongest assassin of the Dvergr—also known as the “Reaper in Black.”

“So, you followed me here, did you? Hmph, perhaps I should commend you for escaping my notice for so long.” The black-hooded man, Mótsognir, unsheathed his sword. At a glance, his stance looked full of openings, but in reality, there were none. The sharpness of the bloodlust directed toward her made Hildegard unconsciously gulp.

“H-Heh...heh heh... It wasn’t that hard.” She hadn’t followed him. She’d merely tracked his scent—but he didn’t need to know that. Hildegard was the type of girl to take any praise she could get, even if it was based on a misunderstanding.

“I-I saw right through your plan all along. Y-You better surrender r-right now if you know what’s good for you.” There was no hope of victory for her in a fair fight. Even if it was a bluff, she would usurp her enemy’s will to fight through intimidation.

“Heh heh... Doesn’t sound very convincing when your voice is shaking like a leaf,” he replied mockingly.

“Urk.” Well, so much for that plan. She hated how her lack of courage made her cowardice obvious to the enemy.

“Then again, you have managed to take out a number of my men I’d trained personally... Thanks to that, I’m gonna have to revise my plans. Rest assured, you’ll pay the price for those losses with your own blood.” With that, Mótsognir dashed forward with a wide swing.

Ting! Hildegard quickly unsheathed her own sword and parried the attack.

Ting! Ting! Ting! “Ha! Whoa! Agh!” Despite her own panic, she managed to block the continuous barrage of attacks that followed. Like before, the pauses between were almost nonexistent—each attack magnificently flowed into one another. There was no more doubt—he was far more skilled than Hildegard. Once again, she was immediately put on the defensive.

However, something was strange.

“Huh? He seems...a bit weaker than before?” she thought to herself.

In their last battle, she’d been completely overwhelmed. Now, however, he didn’t seem nearly as intimidating. By carefully observing his movements, Hildegard was able to predict what moves he’d make next. In other words, even though this was only the second time they’d encountered each other, she was getting used to his fighting style. Such was the breadth of the talent Hildegard possessed.

“I’ve figured you out!” With all her might, Hildegard parried a downward swing she’d already seen coming. The man may have been more experienced, but Hildegard was stronger. Even with skills as tempered as his, Mótsognir was unable to deflect an attack that powerful, and his sword hand was thrown off-kilter.

“I’ve got you now!” Seeing her chance, Hildegard stepped forward and prepared to deliver a sideways slash to his now-unguarded abdomen—

“Pbbt!”

“Gah?!”

As she was about to land her blow, something flew from Mótsognir’s mouth and struck Hildegard in the head. Her vision swam for an instant before noticing the object in the corner of her eye. A rock. When had he had time to put it in his mouth?!

“Buh!” In that moment of shock, she’d let her guard down. The next instant, she felt a massive impact to her left flank. With a cry of pain, she went flying. She saw Mótsognir had his leg raised, so she deduced she must’ve been kicked.

Before she could topple to the ground, she managed to land on both feet. However, that did nothing to quell the intense pain in her side. It was clear Mótsognir had far more tricks up his sleeve than she did. He was in another league entirely.

“Hmph, I sense even less of my men than before. Looks like you’re not acting alone. That means I don’t have time to play with the likes of you. Time to end this,” Mótsognir said coldly.

“Ha. Just try it!” Hildegard retorted as she turned her back on him and dashed away.

“Rgh! Wait! Get back here!” he yelled to Hildegard.

“Who in the hell would wait for you, idiot?!” She increased her speed. She wasn’t the kind of person to want to sacrifice herself for the good of the clan or anything like that. Honestly, if she couldn’t win a fight head-on, she’d consider merely surviving its own kind of victory.

“Phew, did I lose him?” After zigzagging through the trees for a while, Hildegard took a breather and scanned the area. She determined he must’ve been far behind by now. After slapping the sides of her face to pull herself together, she shimmied up a nearby tree. She couldn’t stay at the bottom forever. She was going to ambush Mótsognir from the treetops.

“Ah, here he comes.” Sensing his presence, she readied her bow and arrow. Once she spotted him passing below her, she licked her lips in anticipation. He even had his back turned. Perfect.

There was no such thing as “fair and square” in Hildegard’s vocabulary. She would do whatever it took to win.

“You’re mine!” After lining up her aim, she fired the fatal arrow. As if following a predetermined path, it struck Mótsognir right in the back. He staggered a few steps forward before collapsing to the ground.

“Yesss!” Hildegard let out a triumphant cry, gripping her fist tightly. She couldn’t deny it had been a tad anticlimactic, but even the strongest warriors were powerless against attacks they couldn’t see coming.

“And since I took care of the leader, the glory will be all mine!” Hopping down to admire her handiwork, she hummed to herself as she approached the motionless Mótsognir—

—and in the next moment, a hand grabbed her arm. She found herself, in but an instant, staring at the sky.

“Huh?”

Her arm had been twisted behind her back, and the enemy’s other hand was now wrapped around her neck. She’d been pinned to the ground before she’d even had time to react. She’d been completely unable to resist. Truly the work of an expert.

“G-Gah! H-How...?!” As she struggled to breathe, Hildegard managed to eke out the question. Her arrow had definitely pierced Mótsognir through the heart. She was sure of it. Even an Einherjar wouldn’t be able to survive that. So how?

“I got tired of playing hide-and-seek, y’see. So I resorted to another method,” he explained.

“M-Method...? Ah!” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a log with an arrow sticking out of it. He’d probably anticipated Hildegard’s plan and had concealed a log within his cloak to guard against her attack. Then he’d played dead and led Hildegard right to him. She’d been fooled, one hundred percent.

“Sorry, little girl. Compared to the hell I’ve been through, little tricks like yours are child’s play. But, well, it’s nothing personal.” It was the voice of someone who knew they’d won. As he spoke, his fingers tightened around her throat. She couldn’t breathe. It seemed he was going to strangle her to death. The fear of encroaching death squeezed Hildegard’s heart.

“...Sorry to say this after you’ve made your victory speech and everything, but you’re the one who’s trapped.” Hildegard had been pinned down, but her left hand remained free. Hildegard grabbed Mótsognir’s wrist and grinned. Everything up until this point had been one unfortunate event after another. But here at the final hour, it seemed the luck of the devil was on her side.

To think she’d be put in such an advantageous position!

Offering silent words of gratitude for her good fortune, Hildegard unleashed the beast within her.

“Oh yeah? What could you possibly do in your—guaahh!” Suddenly, Mótsognir let out a cry of anguish. At the same time, the grip around Hildegard’s neck weakened.

In beast form, Hildegard’s grip strength far surpassed that of a normal human’s. The bones in Mótsognir’s wrist began to emit an unpleasant noise.

“Y-You... Wh-What are you...? Huh?!” His voice was seething with hatred, but he froze when he saw the glint in Hildegard’s eyes. That was when he realized—he wasn’t dealing with a mere human. He was up against a beast. And he’d already become that beast’s prey.

“Hm? Oh, looks like I survived.”

Hildegard suddenly came to. The first thing she felt was relief that she wasn’t dead. Because she lost consciousness when she entered her beast form, it was always a toss-up whether or not she’d survive. In the worst case, the second right before she entered it could be the very last second she was conscious.

“Mm... Uwah!” Seeing the pile of blood and guts at her feet, she recoiled in disgust. There was no longer anything that looked even vaguely human, but when she saw the black cloak and hood lying there, she realized they were Mótsognir’s remains.

“Gross.”

Even if it was her handiwork, didn’t she overdo it? She reconfirmed in her mind that beast form was only to be used as a last resort.

“Looks like the others are taken care of too.” There were no more hostile presences within the forest, only the thick stench of blood. That was likely Albertina’s doing. She was just as skilled as ever.

“Wow, took care of him by yourself, huh? I’m honestly impressed.” Kristina appeared from within the cluster of trees, clapping in mock applause. She didn’t look the least bit winded, and there wasn’t a drop of blood on her. Hildegard knew that Kristina’s strengths lay in tactics and not actual combat, but she still couldn’t help but feel it was unfair for her to not participate.

“Heh heh, that’s what happens when you leave it to ol’ Hildegard!” She puffed out her chest proudly. She’d taken down the leader of a troupe of enemy assassins. There was no way anyone could dispute her achievement this time. Imagining the praise she was about to receive, Hildegard grinned smugly.

However, for some reason, Kristina gave her a look of pity.

“I truly am sorry to rain on your parade, but...” She tapped her crotch area as if indicating something. The moment she did, Hildegard felt a paralyzing, unpleasant sense of déjà vu. Feeling an uncomfortably damp sensation in her nether regions, her face paled as though her earlier bravado had been but an illusion.

“It can’t... It can’t be...”

Gingerly, she checked the area in question.

There was a wet spot.

“Not agaaaain! Noooo!”

The piercing scream of Hildegard’s soul resounded throughout the forest. No matter how far she came, perhaps she was always fated to trip at the very end.

Even so, she had felled a formidable opponent all the same. That victory planted a seed of confidence within her. However, as fate would have it, the forthcoming encounter against Oda Nobunaga and the Flame Clan the very next day would utterly destroy that confidence, and she would end up wetting herself once more. Truly, Hildegard was born under an unlucky star.