Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria - Volume 3 - Chapter 6

ACT 6 

Scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape... 

Splash... 

Scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape... 

The workshop was quiet, save only for the sound of a metal edge being sharpened, and the occasional sound of water. 

Yuuto carefully held the blade up to the light of the morning sun streaming in through the window, examining it closely. Then, without a word, he returned to scraping it against the whetstone. 

Ingrid sat in a chair nearby, watching every movement of his work intently, without so much as blinking. 

Yuuto tirelessly continued to repeat this process, over and over, until at long last— 

“It’s... done...” Staring at the blade held up to the light, Yuuto spoke almost absentmindedly, and let out a long breath. 

After such a long period of continuous mental concentration, his face showed marked signs of fatigue, but it was also filled with the accomplished expression of someone who had poured every last bit of energy into a task. 

“It’s so... incredible.” Ingrid sighed deeply in admiration. “Just looking at it sends a shiver down my spine...” 

Her reputation as a skilled smith and artisan had reached even the imperial capital of Glaðsheimr, and she was hailed as being among the five most skilled in all of Yggdrasil. And she was completely entranced with its workmanship. 

“You don’t need to talk it up so much,” Yuuto said. “I’m not that satisfied with how it turned out.” 

“N-not even with this?!” 

“Yeah, this is still a long ways from perfect. But it gets a passing grade, I guess. Well, I did make the blade thicker since it’s going to be used in real battles, so I guess there’s no helping it if it turned out a little rough.” 

“Wait, but if you could make something this amazing, why didn’t you make it right away? You had more than enough time to, right?” Ingrid continued to stare admiringly at the blade as she spoke, as if enthralled by it. 

Yuuto let out a small, derisive chuckle. “I’ve made a lot of different things here so far, but this... this is one thing I could never really get myself to work on. Because it’s the life’s work and passion of a man I hate so much I could kill him, so I’ve hated it just as much. To be honest, I was sure I’d never have anything to do with it again for the rest of my life.” 

“Oh,” Ingrid said. “Then how come you decided now you were gonna make something you’ve got such a bad history with?” 

“When this war with the Claw Clan ends, my mission here will be finished, and I’ll go back to my own world.” 

“H-hey... you don’t have to be in a rush to leave.” Ingrid interrupted Yuuto’s explanation, looking slightly flustered. 

Yuuto had let her in on the fact that he’d come from another world. And that he would eventually go back. 

“You know,” Yuuto said, indicating the weapon in his hand, “for as far back as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by these things. Instead of hanging out with the kids from school, I’d spend all my time swinging a hammer just like this one.” 

Yuuto picked up a forge hammer lying next to him and gave it a few swings through the air, as if reliving some old memory. 

“Really, the only person I’m actually ‘close’ with is my one childhood friend, a girl about one year younger than me.” 

“Oh... a girl.” 

“Hm? Why’d you repeat that part back?” 

“U-um, n-no reason. K-keep going!” 

“Uh, okay. So, well, that’s how I turned out. I mean, I’ve got people I know, acquaintances, but nobody I’d really call a friend.” 

“You’re the same as me, then.” Ingrid spoke softly, folding her arms. 

It was true. She was also someone who had devoted her entire youth to the art of craftsmanship. And as the wielder of the rune Ívaldi, Birther of Blades, her skill was in a realm beyond those around her. There was no one on her level with whom she could have a real discussion. 

She had subordinates and apprentices, but no friends or rivals alongside whom she could improve her skills further. In the world of Yggdrasil, this girl had been alone. 

Yuuto was now the first. The first person who could provide her with creative stimulation. 

“Once this war ends, I’ll be able to go home,” Yuuto said. “Whenever I thought about that, I just started to get this strong feeling, like I wanted to leave something behind.” 

“You’ve already left us plenty,” Ingrid said. “There’s the iron, and the gritless bread, and the paper.” 

“That’s stuff that everybody gets to have, though. I’m not talking about that. For the brother and sister who took care of me this whole time... I think of them as true friends from the bottom of my heart, and I want to leave behind something special for them. Like, a keepsake, to remember me by. Not that I’m gonna die or anything.” 

He was planning to leave his smartphone and solar-powered battery with Felicia. And the parting gift for her older brother would be the weapon he had just finished making. 

It was a weapon made just for him, unique in all the world. Yuuto couldn’t call it a flawless piece, not even as empty flattery, but even so, it was something he’d put his heart and soul into making. 

“Hmph, then we’re making another one,” Ingrid said. 

“Wha?” 

“Y-you’ve gotta give me one, too. I’ve had to look after you quite a bit myself. I-I’ve got every right to get one of my own. You cold-hearted jerk.” 

Ingrid turned her face away from him. That face was rapidly turning red as an apple. 

Yuuto gave a wry smile and shrugged. “That’s true. Now that you mention it, I guess I do have one more good friend. And she’s my best partner in crime, too.” 

“How could you forget?!” 

“Heh, my bad.” 

“That’s not a real apology!” Ingrid crossed her arms and puffed out her cheek in a sign of displeasure. 

She was lively and expressive with her emotions, befitting a girl her age. 

The stoic Sigrún went without saying, but Felicia also always seemed to try and keep control of her own behavior, and sometimes her politeness and courtesy created a feeling of distance. 

By contrast, Yuuto felt like he could talk with this girl the same way he would a male friend, and so he found her the easiest to interact with. 

Just as that thought was crossing his mind, he noticed she was staring at him with a much more serious look in her eyes. 

“S-so, Yuuto? You don’t have any friends back in the other world, but there are plenty of people c-close to you in this one. Sigrún and Felicia, and Big Brother Loptr, and, a-a-and I’m h-here, too. A-a-as a friend, I mean, as a friend. I didn’t mean that in a weird way.” 

“Don’t worry, I got it. Why would I misinterpret that part? I just told you you’re my close friend, didn’t I? The one who understands me the most.” 

“Y-you don’t get it at all...” Ingrid muttered to herself. 

“Hm? I didn’t catch that just now.” 

Yuuto didn’t know why, but for some reason, his good friend was currently on hands and knees striking the floor with her fist. 

“I didn’t say anything!” she yelled angrily back at him with tears in her eyes, leaving him blinking in confusion. 

Ingrid normally had a spirited personality and a tendency to care for others like a big sister, but to Yuuto, it seemed like she got into foul moods at the strangest times. 

“A-anyway!” she exclaimed. “I enjoy making things with you. I always get excited wondering what we’re going to make next. So, s-so that’s why, y-you should s-s-s-stay, you should s-stay here w-w-with—” 

Slam! Suddenly, the door to the workshop burst open. 

It was a soldier. He must have been in a great hurry; his face was flushed and he was out of breath. It was clear just from those details that something big had happened. 

The soldier took several long, deep breaths, straightened himself, and then shouted his announcement. 

“Lord Yuuto! You are summoned to an emergency meeting! Please, proceed to the palace at once!”

“A total... defeat...?” Yuuto stood motionless, shocked at Sigrún’s report. 

The silver-haired girl’s face was covered in beads of sweat, and she was breathing heavily; she must have forced her horse to travel at top speed for a long while to race here with the report. She appeared to be in great discomfort just standing there. There was no trace of her usual cold, dignified air. 

In the palace’s audience hall were gathered all the ranking officers of the Wolf Clan who, for various reasons, had not taken part in the sortie. Each and every one of their faces was stiff and drained of color. 

“Wait, then what happened to Felicia?! What happened to Loptr?!” Yuuto raised his voice, pressing Sigrún for answers. 

It was very rude to interrupt a report intended for the patriarch, but to Yuuto, those two were irreplaceable family. He couldn’t spare a thought for etiquette right now. 

“...I don’t know.” 

“W-what do you mean, you don’t know?!” 

“Big Brother Skáviðr launched a suicidal assault that managed to punch an opening in the enemy ranks, and thanks to that, most of the other commanders, including me, were able to escape from the front lines with our lives,” Sigrún said. “That includes Big Brother Loptr, and Felicia. But as someone who can ride a horse, I had to leave them behind in order to get this message to Father as quickly as possible. I want to believe the two of them are fine, but the forces in pursuit will also be fierce. I can’t guarantee anything.” 

“What the hell is this... No... I don’t want this to be how we say goodbye...” The strength began to leave Yuuto’s body. 

Without any shame or regard for appearance, Yuuto crouched down on the spot, curling weakly into a ball. 

He’d assumed he would be saying farewell to them once this battle was over. But that was supposed to be with both of them still alive, with everyone wishing for each other’s happiness as they parted ways. Not some hopeless situation where they were separated by death. 

“Why is this?” Fárbauti demanded. “We might not have been strong enough to win any battle, but with iron weapons and four Einherjar, and the entirety of our army fighting as one, we certainly should have won this battle. So how were our forces defeated?!” 

The old patriarch leaned forward out of his chair as he hurled the question at Sigrún. His lack of composure showed in the demanding way he pressed her. 

Sigrún clenched her fists in anger, and responded in a voice that sounded as if she were struggling to get the words out. 

“It was... an ambush. As you said, Father, throughout the battle with the Claw Clan, our army had the advantage. However, just as we were one step away from victory, suddenly we were attacked from both sides by troops from the Fang and Ash Clans...” 

“Impossible! Why would those two clans...?!” Fárbauti stood up so quickly in his confusion that his chair nearly toppled over. 

It was the first time Yuuto had seen the usually-unflappable old patriarch visibly disturbed to such a degree. 

A mix of voices, some resentful and some baffled, began to rise up from the other clan officers gathered in the audience hall. 

“I can’t believe this. Those two clans were supposed to be on hostile terms with the Claw Clan.” 

“And the Claw Clan’s patriarch two generations ago was killed by the Fang Clan, so they should be bitter enemies.” 

“I’ve heard that the Claw Clan’s been fighting over control of territory with the Ash Clan for many years now.” 

“Damn them! Just when did they all join forces...?!” 

“Grrr, this all started because they had the gall to attack their head family. They know nothing of honor and loyalty.” 

With the words he could pick out and understand from the officers’ remarks, Yuuto desperately searched his own memory. He could remember having at least heard mention of the Fang and Ash Clans. 

They were both clans who held territory in an area further east of the Claw Clan. Originally, in the past, those two and the Claw Clan had been like branch families of the Wolf Clan, with their patriarchs having been younger sibling or child subordinates of the Wolf Clan’s patriarch at the time. 

Of course, now there was no Oath of the Chalice binding their current leaders, and each was more prosperous than their diminished former “main family.” 

“Again... I’ve been had by that Botvid once again...” Fárbauti slumped back into his chair and stared up at the ceiling. 

His voice was filled with resentment, humiliation, and defeat. The old patriarch’s face had lost any semblance of color and life, and he looked as if in these few moments he’d aged another ten or twenty years. 

“Thinking back on it now, he was deliberately showing us his own troop movements, in order to distract us from the movements of the Fang and Ash Clans.” The old patriarch’s voice was almost a dull moan, his face twisted by a pained grimace. 

So he used misdirection on us, Yuuto thought to himself. 

It was a term he’d picked up from a popular basketball manga, but it described a technique used in a magician’s sleight-of-hand and in mystery novels. 

By showing some obviously suspicious object or action, one could pull the audience’s attention onto it, and away from the real heart of the trick. 

Putting together what the other clan officers had said, those other two clans were on such bad, even hostile terms with the Claw Clan that there should have been no way they would provide reinforcements in battle. That way of thinking was a blind spot, and it had been exploited well. 

And so the two clans had snuck up on the unguarded flanks of the Wolf Clan troops, and descended on them suddenly in a single, surprise attack. 

Fárbauti often referred to the Claw Clan patriarch as a wily fox, and this level of cunning strategy seemed worthy of that moniker. 

“I always knew he had a taste for sneaky tricks, but to think he’d come up with a plan so meticulous and so bold... I completely underestimated him!” Fárbauti groaned.

“Ah-choo!” 

“What’s wrong, Kris?” Albertina asked. “Do you have a cold?” 

“Don’t worry about me, Al, but come over here for a minute.” Kristina reached out and hugged her sister. 

“Hmm? Why are you hugging me all of a sudden? Ahaha, Kris, you’re so needy sometimes.” 

“Since ancient times, it’s been said that giving your cold to someone else makes it go away faster.” 

“Ohh, I’ve heard that, too. ...Hey, you don’t mean me?!” 

Cough, cough, hack! 

“Ahhh, stooop! I’ll caaaatch iiit! 

“Oh my, but Al! Your sweet, precious sister is here suffering from a cold; are you saying you don’t want to help me get better as quickly as possible?! What a cold-hearted person you are!” 

“Ehhh?! But I do want you to get well soon, and I’ll take care of you too, so isn’t this kind of different?!” 

“Heavens! So you’re saying I should just keep suffering from this cold?! How heartless!” 

“All right, I understand! I’ll do my best!” 

As a look of tragic resolve born from love solidified in her eyes, Albertina embraced her identical twin sister. 

That sister was by far the more heartless one for being more than willing to infect her just to get over a cold a little faster, but Albertina didn’t think that deeply about it. 

There was no way her sister would do something cruel to her. She believed that from the bottom of her heart. 

This, too, was one form of misdirection. After all, Kristina had no cold to speak of, so there was nothing to transmit in the first place. 

With her face buried in her sister’s chest, Kristina giggled impishly. 

“Heh heh, I’ll consider this a reward for myself. I’m glad it looks like everything worked out well. Still, we had to settle for an Oath of the Chalice with the Fang Clan that puts us at a 60:40 disadvantage, we had to cede that territory to the Ash Clan we’ve been fighting them over for so many years now, and our clan had to supply all the food and provisions for this war. If we don’t take everything we can get, this will still be a heavy loss for us. Well, it looks like this all might be worth that risk, so I’ll make sure we recoup every bit of our debts. Isn’t that right, Gleipsieg?”

“I’m so glad the two of you are alive!” 

Loptr and Felicia returned to Iárnviðr two days after Sigrún’s arrival. For those two days, Yuuto had wrapped himself in blankets, forced his way into the guard station next to the city gate, and waited for the two of them the whole time. Spotting their figures amongst the numbers of beaten, weary soldiers coming through the gate, he’d raced toward them while shouting and crying. 

He was now seeing them again for the first time in two weeks, and he could tell at a glance what sort of terrible battle they’d been through by their clothes, which were covered in places with mud and in others with dried blood. Their luxurious golden hair was caked with dust and grit, and their faces were thin and sunken from fatigue and hunger. They looked nothing like their normal, beautiful selves. 

But their clothes and bodies could be washed. They could rest and heal their exhaustion. If they were starved, they need only eat. 

All those things were possible, because they were both alive! Not to mention they were both in one piece, with no permanent injuries. 

Yuuto was dimly aware of just how terrifying the situation was about to become for the Wolf Clan, but for the time being, he was simply grateful from the bottom of his heart. 

“I, too, am thankful to the goddess Angrboða that I was able to see you again, Big Brother.” Tears began to well up in Felicia’s eyes, and then she leaped into Yuuto’s arms and began crying into his chest. “There were so many times, so many times I thought I would not see you again...” 

It made a strong impression on Yuuto. Though she was normally so calm and composed, though she was a holy Einherjar warrior, she was still a girl in her teens, after all. 

“Me, too! I was so worried I’d never see you again...!” Yuuto embraced Felicia back. 

He wanted to feel her warmth. He needed to know that she wasn’t some illusion, but was really and truly alive and here. 

“I... I am very sorry,” Felicia stammered. “That was disgraceful of me. But once I saw your face, the tears wouldn’t stop...” 

“It’s fine. You must have been so scared. You can cry as much as you—” 

“Ahem!” 

The sound was like a bucket of ice water thrown on their dramatic exchange. 

It was, of course, coming from their older brother. 

“Hey, brother of mine,” Loptr said. “It so happens I made it home alive too, you know?” 

“Ah! O-of course I’m also truly happy you’re alive, Big Brother Loptr, from the bottom of my heart!” Feeling the scornful glare of his older brother’s eyes, Yuuto quickly let go of Felicia and stood back. 

He could see her pouting a bit in dissatisfaction, but he regained his composure. With their older brother and second-in-command right there in front of them, he didn’t have the audacity to keep holding her in his arms. 

“Is that really true?” Loptr questioned. “It feels more like the two of you were off in your own little world, and I was completely ignored and forgotten.” 

“Th-that’s not how it was, really!” Yuuto exclaimed, flustered. 

“No, no, it’s fine, really. Actually, I’d much rather try and get you to take her into your care at this point, you know.” 

“L-look, like I said before, I can’t do—” 

“Don’t say that, I’m begging you. This country is done for already. Even if it’s just Felicia, could you escape and take her with you back to your own country?” 

The eyes staring into Yuuto’s were completely serious, but at the same time, they looked like those of a man who had completely lost his way.

“At present, approximately one thousand soldiers were able to return safely to Iárnviðr,” Loptr reported. “I believe there are some survivors left who have yet to arrive, but they likely number at most one hundred men or so. Assuming that the Claw Clan was our only enemy, I failed to notice the ambush by the Fang and Ash Clans, and I lost many of the precious lives you entrusted to me, Father. I can offer no words in my own defense. Please punish me by any means you deem fit.” 

In the audience hall of the palace, Loptr knelt before his patriarch and bowed his head low. 

His face was gallant, filled with the grim determination of a sinner who willingly wished to receive his just punishment. 

The hall was filled with the other prominent officers of the Wolf Clan, and every one of their faces wore a dark expression. Those who had participated with Loptr in the battle had a look of sympathy in their eyes, while the glares of those who had not seen the fight were full of blame and reproach. 

In the midst of that painfully oppressive tension, the old patriarch slowly shook his head, and then spoke calmly. 

“No, you’re not responsible for this. Not a single person here, including myself, was able to perceive the movements of the Fang and Ash Clans. You did well to gather your panicked troops in the midst of a pincer attack, and bring such a large number back home to us. If not for you, we would have had far worse than our current losses.” 

“Your kind words and generosity fill me with gratitude, Father,” Loptr said with relief. “It is all thanks to Brother Ská, who volunteered to go out and be the rearguard as we retreated. Without my brother’s fierce fighting, there is no doubt we would have lost far more soldiers.” 

“I see. As expected of the Mánagarmr,” Fárbauti said. “However, I heard that Ská himself suffered some heavy wounds.” 

“Yes, sir. It appears to have been a considerably fierce battle, and though he did survive, I believe in his current state, even someone as great as him will be unable to fight for the time being.” 

“Hm... it’ll be tough without him.” The old patriarch rested his chin in his hands and sighed, seemingly at a loss. 

Even Yuuto had heard tales about the Mánagarmr, the Strongest Silver Wolf, stationed at Fort Gnipahellir. He was Loptr’s teacher in martial arts, and supposedly enough of a master fighter that he could lead Sigrún around by the nose. 

Even in the context of this current war, Yuuto had seen the man’s name come up here and there in reports from the front, and it seemed like his furious efforts were worthy of the title of strongest in the Wolf Clan. 

That must have made his inability to continue fighting all the more difficult to bear for the old patriarch, who was already backed into a corner. 

“And what of the enemy?” Fárbauti asked. 

“Sir. After defeating our forces, the enemy captured Fort Gnipahellir, and even now they are marching towards Iárnviðr. Their number is... approximately six thousand.” 

“...!” The old patriarch gave a slight gasp, then frowned pensively. All the color drained from his face. He had likely prepared himself for this, and so he did not become visibly upset, but it was clear that the impact of those numbers had hit him hard. 

The old patriarch closed his eyes and folded his arms in thought for a moment, then stared upward into empty space and spoke. “We’ve only got a thousand men or so. It wouldn’t even be a contest. Even if we holed up within the walls and sealed the gates, we would not last long against a force that size.” 

The old patriarch’s words were detached and matter-of-fact, and no one in that room raised their voice in argument against them. 

Against an enemy army twice as large, they would still have been able to convince themselves that their loss wasn’t certain, that they would seize an opportunity and turn things around. But against a force six times as large, optimistic and encouraging words only rang hollow. 

To add to that, the thousand soldiers of the Wolf Clan had already lost miserably in the last battle, fled the battlefield under pursuit, and were now completely exhausted. There were also more than a few with serious wounds. 

With morale so low, it would be difficult even to rouse their fighting spirit enough to get them to face the enemy. 

Throughout the audience hall, the heavy, silent force known as despair hung over everyone. 

The first one to break the silence was the patriarch’s sworn younger brother and head priest, Bruno. 

“B-Big Brother! At this point, any further resistance would just be wasting the lives of our soldiers in vain. I think that we have no choice but to surrender honorably, and hope that the Claw Clan will show kindness.” 

As he pleaded, he looked up at the patriarch. His eyes were a mixture of guilt, expectation, and abject servility. 

“Hah, so you’d be willing to offer Father’s head on a platter just to save yourself then, you shameless dog.” Sigrún spat the words out coldly at Bruno, with a look of total and utter scorn. 

The Wolf and Claw Clans had been engaged in a bloody war for years now. The Wolf Clan had been on the losing side for most of that time, but it wasn’t like there had been no casualties for the Claw Clan. 

It wasn’t something that would ever be forgiven with just a surrender and an apology. The leader of the losing side would have to take responsibility in some way. 

Being forced to swear the Oath of the Child Chalice and become Botvid’s subordinate and vassal was one possibility, but Fárbauti was already a very old man, and there was no telling how much longer he would live. Once a new patriarch took power, Fárbauti’s old oath would mean nothing, and so there was little merit in that option for the Claw Clan. And with this difference in numbers, there was no need for them to offer a compromise. 

A head on display would be a fitting way for the Claw Clan to satisfy their own troops, while making a strong impression on the people of Iárnviðr that their rulers had changed. 

“In the past forty years, did the wine you hold in your Chalice get swapped out for muddy water or something?” Sigrún snapped. 

When it came to the bonds of the Chalice, the child had a duty to protect the parent he or she had sworn allegiance to, even at the cost of his or her life. To Sigrún, the thought of this man letting her sworn parent die so that he might save himself was absolutely despicable. 

However, Bruno hadn’t given up yet. He shouted back at her with all the force of a sudden conflagration. “Shut your mouth! You’re just a little girl whose only talent is fighting!” 

“What was that?!” Sigrún raised her voice in response to the unsparing insult. 

The intense spirit behind her shout was normally enough to make a grown man recoil, but Bruno kept on talking. 

“You might think it’s fine as long as you get to fight, but what about everyone else?! At this rate, they’ll all be killed! You know perfectly well which choice will save the most lives, don’t you? And besides, it’s not even set in stone that they’ll kill Big Brother Fárbauti! They might just force him to step down! Then if the next to succeed as patriarch were to abdicate the position in favor of someone from the Claw Clan, then we can move things in a more peaceful direction!” 

“That’s far too optimistic a way of looking at things,” Sigrún sneered. “Do you really think that fox-faced leader of the Claw Clan really has such a kind heart?” 

“But this is our only option left, isn’t it?! At the very least, it would minimize the damage and casualties in the city! If we continue to fight, the city itself will definitely be destroyed! Do you want that?!” 

“Ghh...!” 

“Enough, Sigrún.” The old patriarch lifted a hand, and his soft voice silenced the angry, silver-haired girl. 

He swept his gaze once over everyone gathered in the audience hall before speaking. 

“He’s right. We have no other path before us than to surrender. If I offer up my head, Botvid should delay the ransacking of the city by about one to two days, and they won’t rob us of absolutely everything.” 

“Ran...sacking? Even though you’re going to surrender, and even offer them your life, Dad?!” Yuuto couldn’t help but question this. 

If they surrendered the city and allowed it to be occupied, it would be newly under the rule of the Claw Clan. It didn’t make any sense for them to perpetrate looting and violence against their new subjects. 

The old patriarch frowned, then nodded slowly, allowing the regret and displeasure to show on his face. 

“Perhaps it’s something you don’t understand because you’ve never been on the battlefield yourself. War unleashes the beast nesting within a man’s heart. If they don’t allow something like this, they won’t be able to regain control of their soldiers afterward.” 

“How can that...?” Yuuto was at a complete loss for words. 

He had been living in this city for more than ten months now. If he traveled down to the bazaar, there were a few acquaintances he’d become familiar with, and thanks to Ingrid, he interacted with the artisans and craftsmen, too. 

The knowledge that Yuuto had been inventing various items and making the Wolf Clan more prosperous had already reached the common people of the city, and these days, as he walked the streets, he even got a “Good luck to you!” from strangers more and more often. 

Naturally, there were a great deal of women and children in the city. 

Did they have no choice but to be trampled over and violated without recourse? 

“Loptr, I’m sorry,” Fárbauti said. “More than likely, as my second, you’ll be executed along with me. As the future rulers of the city, the Claw Clan will think your existence is a threat, after all.” 

“I have been prepared for that since the day I took the post as second-in-command,” Loptr said. 

“And as for you two, Felicia and Sigrún.” 

“Yes, Father.” 

“Sir!” 

With a look of guilt and great shame, the patriarch’s eyes clouded over for a moment. “I know it’s going to be a painful experience for the both of you, but... even so, please live on. If you live on, good things will be waiting for you in the future.” 

“...Kh!” Yuuto wasn’t dimwitted enough to miss the meaning in the patriarch’s words. 

The town was going to be ransacked and overrun. There was no way that those blood-crazed men, ravenous to sate their desires, would ever overlook two girls as beautiful as Felicia and Sigrún. 

“That’s bullshit! There’s no way they should be allowed to get away with that! I mean, how can you allow that?!” Overcome with indignation, Yuuto forgot the fact that he was in public and yelled directly at the patriarch. 

His sworn father and the older brother he respected would be executed and their bodies put cruelly on display in the streets, and his precious little sisters would be violated and degraded. 

There was no way such an outcome could be for the best. 

There was absolutely no way he could allow it to happen. 

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Fárbauti said wearily. “It will be forcing a cruel and painful experience on many people, but this is still the choice that leads to the fewest deaths. At this point, without some sort of actual miracle, there’s no hope for victory for us...” 

Forcing out the words in a tight voice through clenched teeth, the old patriarch closed his eyes tightly and hung his head. 

Before long, every person in the audience hall was looking down at the floor. The sounds of muffled sobbing could be heard here and there. 

Despair held sway over all. 

However, there was still one person left who still hadn’t given up. 

One young man who told himself, There has to be some way, and desperately spurned on his mind to seek it out. 

Trapped in the utter darkness with no exit in sight, he wandered, and wandered, and continued to wander in search of it, until— 

—at last, within the depths of Yuuto’s mind, a single ray of light pierced the darkness. 

“That’s it! There’s a way!” he shouted. 

He lifted his head and pressed closer to Fárbauti with a frantic expression. 

“Dad! All we need is for a miracle to happen, right?!” 

And with that, Yuuto began to reveal the plan that had come to his mind in a flash of inspiration. 

He was excited and thinking out loud, so his words were clumsy and faltering, and the idea itself was strange, even bizarre, so the audience hall was soon stirring with murmurs and commotion. 

Every one of the people there reacted with skepticism. Their eyes all seemed to say, “It’s impossible to do something like that.” 

“Are you truly, truly saying you can cause a miracle like that to occur, Yuuto?” Loptr asked him, his voice shaking. 

The look in Loptr’s eyes could have been excitement, or perhaps even fear. 

“I’m not just claiming that it’s going to occur.” Yuuto stared right back into his sworn brother’s eyes and firmly reassured him. “I know that it will happen.” 

He had absolute confidence in this. For if Yggdrasil was indeed Earth in the past, then this miracle would most definitely occur. 

“If we make use of this, then there will be more than enough of a chance for us to...” 

“Don’t spout such nonsense!” A heated shout like a conflagration cut off Yuuto’s words. 

It was Bruno. 

He glared at Yuuto with an expression of pure rage, practically growling. “Something like that can’t be created or caused by mere mortals! It’s beyond our knowledge! Do you then mean to claim you really are more than a mere man, that you’re the Child of Victory, the Gleipsieg?!” 

“That’s right.” Yuuto responded to Bruno’s angry ranting by glaring right back at him. “If it means I can protect everyone, then I’ll become your damned Gleipsieg. I’ll become whatever it takes.” 

Bruno had a tough, grizzled face, and a deep, booming voice. More than anything, he had a powerful presence born from the confidence he’d gained through his struggle to climb to his current position, forcing others to submit to his will along the way. 

The sort of stern, hard-nosed “demon teacher” all the kids at school were scared of was nothing more than a kitten compared to this man. 

Such a man was even now unleashing the full force of his animosity directly onto Yuuto, and yet for some strange reason, Yuuto didn’t waver in the slightest. 

A fire down in the depths of his heart burned brightly, and that burning heat moved Yuuto ever forward. 

“I’ll even make a miracle happen, if that’s what it takes.” 

“Keep your nonsense claims to yourself!” Bruno sputtered. “It’s because you went and created iron that we’re even in a situation like this in the first place. We got caught up in the illusion of victory, and charged into the Claw Clan head-on, and look where we are! You’re no Child of Victory, boy. You’re a demon child. Even now you’re planning to goad us into another reckless battle we can’t win, and steal even more of our lives away. You think I’ll fall for that?! Big Brother! Everyone! You mustn’t listen to the delusions this brat is spouting!” 

Several people began to voice their agreement with Bruno’s claims. 

“Y-yes, that’s right, it’s just like Uncle Bruno says.” 

“I could never believe a miracle like that would occur.” 

The divine power of the Gleipsieg to bring victory had already been thoroughly disproven by the most recent battle. At this point, none of them could bring themselves to believe the apparent nonsense this young man was saying. 

At this point, they had all fully given up, resigning themselves to the idea that surrender was their only choice. Their hearts had been crushed, and they had completely abandoned the will to fight. 

“These damned idiots...” Something within Yuuto finally snapped. 

They say a person’s name represents their character, and for the young man named Yuuto Suoh, his true character shone forth when he needed to protect others around him. 

He would protect those precious to him, his family, without fail, no matter what. That was something he’d sworn to himself when his mother passed away. 

If he let the Wolf Clan surrender, he would once again lose his family. He was determined never to let that happen ever again. 

The fire burning in the depths of his heart erupted like magma from a volcano, rushing out of him. 

With precious family placed into a desperate situation— 

“If you don’t want to win, then you can just butt the hell out!” 

—the lion, king of all beasts, unleashed its maiden roar in the world of Yggdrasil. 

The air surrounding the young man had changed completely. 

It was cold, sharp, and heavy! 

Pointing a timid finger at Yuuto, Bruno attempted to protest in a shaky voice. “Wha... w-w-what do you think y-you’re doing, t-talking to me like—” 

“OH?” Yuuto snapped. “Like WHAT?” 

“Eek!” 

One fierce glare from Yuuto caused caused the words to catch in Bruno’s throat with a shrill gasp, and he fell flat on his bottom there on the spot, as if his legs and back had given out. 

His face turned a rich shade of purple, as if he were having difficulty breathing, and he began sweating bullets, his teeth chattering loudly and his body shaking, and to top it off, a wet spot appeared on his pants. However, not one person laughed at him for it. 

For everyone else in that place, Bruno was completely outside of their attention. 

Every pair of eyes was currently helplessly affixed to the young man whose intimidating aura was nothing short of overwhelming. 

“Y-Yuuto, j-just what are you...?” Loptr asked in a quivering voice, astonished. 

After one glance in his sworn brother’s direction, Yuuto clenched his fist before calling out again to the crowd. 

“I’ll make sure you win. Those of you that have something you want to protect can follow me!” 

It wasn’t a particularly loud voice. In fact, if anything it was low and subdued. But it carried a forceful power behind it, almost like magic that seemed to demand that any who listened to it obey, no questions asked. 

He’s barely more than a child! Just what is this boy?! As those thoughts ran through the minds of the various clan members, and they stood transfixed, a single golden-haired figure stepped out in front of the young man. 

“It is just as I always believed, and my intuition was not mistaken, after all,” Felicia said reverently. “You are the Child of Victory, Gleipsieg. My body and heart have already been given to you, along with my Oath of the Chalice. Please, make use of them as you see fit.” 

Felicia knelt in front of Yuuto, and bowed her head deeply to him. Her cheeks were slightly red, and small tears dripped from her eyes onto the floor. 

“M-me too, me too!” 

Pushing aside the people in front of her, a young girl with red hair raised her hand and ran over to stand in front of Yuuto, as well. 

“You’re the kind of guy who, when he says he’ll do something, always follows through, and I know that better than anyone else.” 

With the corners of her mouth turning up in a grin, Ingrid followed Felicia’s example and knelt. 

“The Child... of Victory...” Those words, a mere whisper, escaped the lips of someone in the crowd. 

In the blink of an eye, the effect of those words spread throughout the audience hall, until everyone there was overcome with excitement, intoxicated by the enthusiasm. 

“That’s right, he must be the one sent to us by the great Angrboða, the Gleipsieg!” 

“Such a commanding presence! I could scarcely believe he’s still a child!” 

“Overturning a mere hardship like this will surely be nothing with the Gleipsieg on our side!” 

“I will stand with you.” 

“Me, too! I will, too!” 

In almost lockstep harmony, every one of them sang Yuuto’s praises, and all knelt before him. 

In the midst of dark despair, just the presence of even a small light of hope had been enough to make them want to cling furiously to it. That was part of being human. 

Right now, it was indeed Yuuto who had become the pillar supporting all of their hearts. 

“W-what incredible strength,” Sigrún murmured. “I can’t believe I so completely misjudged him!” 

She was filled with a great mix of emotions, and she clenched her fist tightly, her body still trembling. 

The sight unfolding in front of her was unbelievable. 

Until mere moments ago, everyone in this audience hall had been staring at the ground with dead-looking eyes. But now every set of eyes looking up at Yuuto was filled with the spark of life. 

Just one person, by himself, had replaced the overwhelming despair of that place with hope. That wasn’t something an ordinary person could simply do. 

“Please, let me serve you as well.” The silver-haired warrior made her way forward to kneel in front of Yuuto. “I was completely blind in my judgment of you. If by any chance, you could grant me forgiveness for my many instances of rudeness, Big Brother, I hope you might allow me to offer up my Oath of the Chalice, and my sword, to you. I now firmly believe that it was for the sake of serving you that I was born in this world, and for that sake that a sword first found my hand. Please, use this life of mine freely.” 

Sigrún took the sword from her waist, still in its scabbard, and held it up with both hands, presenting it to Yuuto. 

At that exact moment, the clouds in the sky above parted a little, and a single ray of light streamed in through the window. 

“Ohhhhh!” Fárbauti shivered as he was emotionally moved to the greatest extent he had ever been in his long lifetime. 

It was such a divine spectacle. These three maidens, themselves consecrated and chosen by the gods, had all lined up of their own volition to swear their fealty to this young man. 

It was something he could not possibly have imagined when they first met. 

He’d had an inkling there was some promise in the boy, sure, but nothing like this. 

It was almost certain that this young man had simply been too lacking in a wide variety of experiences. That was why it was easy to misjudge his potential for growth. 

Repeated experiences of hardship and failure had rapidly tempered and honed those amazing qualities that had been hidden within him, and this unprecedented crisis had finally forced their awakening. 

Fárbauti’s feelings solidified into a firm resolve, and he made his decision. 

He stood up, waving one hand for attention as he made his pronouncement. 

“All right, then, I understand. Yuuto, I’ll leave everything to you. I’m entrusting you with the future of the Wolf Clan, my son!”

“So, with that settled, I’m leaving all of the battle stuff to you, Big Brother Loptr!” With a broad grin, Yuuto gave him a thumbs-up gesture. 

The long war council meeting had finally ended, and the moon had already risen among the twinkling stars in the night sky. On a normal night in Iárnviðr everyone would have already been fast asleep at this hour, but there was light all around them from the flames of bonfires and torches being lit, and as Yuuto’s group made their way towards the Hli?skjálf, people were constantly running past them in either direction. 

In just a few days, the allied army of the three enemy clans would begin their attack on Iárnviðr. Everyone was making their respective preparations to hold the city against the coming assault and potential siege. 

Staaaare... Sigrún’s gaze was uncomfortably intent. 

“Weren’t you the one Father entrusted with this plan, though?” Loptr prodded him with a wry laugh. 

“Hey come on, I don’t know the first thing about commanding troops or any of that,” Yuuto responded a bit defensively. 

The golden-haired young man made an exasperated face at him. “And despite that, you were still able to announce we would win while brimming with such self-confidence?” 

“I’d say I’m doing absolutely everything in my power to make sure we do win. If someone experienced and used to command like you were leading the troops, Big Brother Loptr, our chances of victory would be much better than with me doing it. It’s all about using the best person for each job. I’ve got things that I have to be the one to do, too. They’re things that only I can do. So, let’s both do our best, and take care of what we need to.” 

“Heh, all right then. This is also a chance for me to redeem myself. You can leave it to me.” 

“Yeah, I’m counting on you.” 

“Okay, then, I’ll be on my way.” With a small smile, Loptr waved and walked off. 

For some reason, his back seemed smaller to Yuuto. Even his smile had seemed somehow different from usual, though Yuuto couldn’t put his finger on exactly how. 

“Hmm, Big Brother Loptr seems kinda down. I wonder if maybe he still hasn’t gotten over his defeat from before?” Yuuto murmured to himself, concerned, as he watched Loptr’s back recede into the distance. 

Even a winnable battle might be lost if the commander in charge of the troops was in no state to lead them. That was one of Yuuto’s misgivings, anyway, but even more importantly, he didn’t want to see Loptr of all people looking disheartened. He wanted his sworn older brother to always be a confident role model, something greater than himself that he could always chase after. 

Staaaare... Sigrún’s gaze continued to pierce him. 

“Indeed, that is the first time I’ve seen my brother like that, as well,” Felicia said. “I am a bit worried. But I also think he will be all right. I might be saying this as his little sister, but he is a strong person.” 

“You’re right.” Yuuto nodded strongly in agreement. “He’s the dependable older brother that we both rely on, after all.” 

Practically speaking, he didn’t have the time right now to afford to worry about other people, anyway. 

Staaaare... 

“Right, we just have to focus on taking care of our own parts in this,” Yuuto said. “Okay, this area should be good enough. Ingrid!” 

“Mm? What?” 

“I’m gonna lend this to you for now, so what I want you to do is watch the video I’m about to show you. Keep watching it, over and over, until the battery runs out of power. Once the video reaches the end, you can make it play again by touching this triangle-shaped button here.” 

Yuuto loaded up a web page with embedded video that he’d saved in his browser’s bookmarks list, and after starting the video, he handed the smartphone over to the red-haired girl. 

“Eh?” she gasped. “Wh-what are you doing? Isn’t this thing really important to you? Are you sure that’s okay?” 

“Yeah, I am. You’re my partner and I trust you, so I’m making a special exception and lending it to you for now. Don’t break it, okay?” 

“O-okay! I’ll take really good care of it.” Ingrid clutched the smartphone tightly against her chest. 

Her expression was filled with joy and pride. Suddenly, the person standing in front of Yuuto didn’t seem like the good buddy he’d been used to treating just like a male friend. Instead it was a girl whose cuteness was enough to make Yuuto’s heart skip a beat. However... 

“Hey, you should be looking at the screen! Videos use up a lot of battery power! You can’t waste a single second right now!” 

Right now, chastising her mistake was more important to him. 

He was a man who didn’t understand a woman’s heart. 

“R-right. O-okay, got it! ...W-what is this?!” 

“Heh heh, it’s because all I’ve heard since I got here is that iron is a gift from the heavens. If we use this, it’ll be a good way to make doubly sure we win, right? Do you think you can make it?” 

“Um, well, I think I could probably do it, but this is gonna mean another stretch of working day and night around the clock.” 

“Sorry about that, but I need you for this, partner. You’re the only one I can count on.” Yuuto clapped his hands together and bowed his head to Ingrid in a solemn, pleading gesture. 

It was an item that, back in modern-day Japan, elementary school students could make miniature versions of as part of their handicrafts projects over summer break. Someone like Ingrid, among the finest craftsmen in Yggdrasil, would surely already have an idea of how to make one. 

In any case, this siege was going to be a battle against time. He needed her to work her absolute hardest for this to succeed. 

“I’m the only one, huh?” Ingrid said. “Ohh, well, I guess if you’re gonna insist like that. The Wolf Clan’s in a pinch too, so yeah, I’ll do it for you.” 

Ingrid turned aside, making to act like she was reluctantly agreeing to take on an annoying job. However, she couldn’t hide that the corners of her mouth were turned up in a happy grin. 

Staaaare... 

At long last, Yuuto couldn’t put up with it any longer, and he turned on his heel to question Sigrún. 

“And just what the heck is going on with you, Rún?!” he shouted. “You’ve been staring at my face this whole time!” 

Ever since leaving the audience hall, he had felt an intense, heated gaze coming from Sigrún. 

At first, he had just figured it was because he was the center of attention and discussion at the time, but even after leaving the hall and parting ways with Loptr, even as he was handing the smartphone over to Ingrid, Sigrún had kept her eyes fixed firmly on his face the entire time. 

At this point, he was starting to worry there might be something wrong with his face. 

“Uh... um...” For her part, Sigrún seemed nervous and timid as she spoke to him. “I was just wondering if... if it might be possible for me to exchange the Oath of the Chalice with you, and... and I know how things have been between us up until now.” 

Ordinarily she was a girl who spoke frankly even to her superiors without any fear, so this was very uncharacteristic behavior for her. 

It was the first time Yuuto had ever seen her so meek and fidgety. 

“If you don’t mind, then I’m fine with that.” With a bit of suspicion, Yuuto nodded in assent. 

It was true that at one time, her way of speaking to him had really ticked him off, but nowadays she felt more like the kind of smart-mouthed friend he could trade banter with. He had no real reason to refuse her request. 

“T-truly?!” 

“Uh, y-yeah.” 

“Th-th-thank you so very much, Big Brother!” Sigrún bowed to Yuuto deeply that her head almost reached her knees. “It is such a relief to get that off of my chest. Honestly, I was so worried.” 

When Sigrún raised her head again, her face was full of a joy that made her usual, stoic expressionless look seem like a false memory. 

For some reason, Yuuto could see the image of a wagging tail behind her in his mind’s eye. “You’re making a really big deal out of my Chalice, though.” 

Yuuto frankly had no idea why she was so eager to exchange the oath with him directly. Currently, the two of them were technically already siblings within the clan, having both taken Fárbauti as their sworn father. 

The two of them had yet to exchange any vows between each other directly, though. And it was true that two members of the clan who acknowledged and respected each other might take it upon themselves to exchange the Oath of the Chalice as individuals, to deepen their bonds with one another. He had learned that from exchanging oaths with Felicia and Loptr early on. 

But he still couldn’t come up with a plausible reason why she would be so insistent on exchanging oaths directly with someone like himself. 

“Not at all!” she declared. “I wish to receive your Oath of the Chalice more than anyone else’s, Big Brother Yuuto. I said as much during the war council, but I truly wish that you might allow me to devote my Chalice and my sword to your service.” 

“...Hey, are you feeling okay right now? What happened to that blunt, curt attitude you always have? It’s so weird having you talk to me like this.” Yuuto knit his brow with a mixture of awkwardness and concern as he said this. 

The Sigrún he knew didn’t flatter other people or follow their lead; she only followed her own principles, like a proud lone wolf. 

Her manner was so different now that it didn’t even seem like her. If Yuuto were able to put his current feelings at the time into words, he would have said he was a little creeped out. 

“I cannot speak that way anymore to the person I’ve chosen to honor as my sworn older brother,” Sigrún declared. 

“No, if it’s possible, I’d like it if you kept talking to me the way you always have before...” 

“Please forgive me for that. The way I’ve treated you until now is such a great source of shame for me.” 

“...No, really, what the heck is up with her?” Yuuto decided he wasn’t getting anywhere with Sigrún, and he turned to Felicia. 

Felicia placed a hand over her mouth and giggled, as if she were truly enjoying herself at all of this. “Oh, there is nothing wrong. It’s just that she has finally been made aware of your greatness, Big Brother.” 

“Grr, it might be the truth, but it’s really annoying hearing it come from you,” Sigrún snarled. “It fills me with the utmost bitter regret that I lost to you in pledging loyalty to Big Brother first.” 

“Tee hee hee, you did always say things like, ‘I can’t understand how you could possibly treat someone like that as your older brother,’ didn’t you?” 

“S-stop it! Don’t repeat it! I haven’t said anything like that for several months now!” 

“Tee hee hee, now what else was there...” 

“Look, I’m sorry! I admit I was wrong, so please don’t say any more! I’m begging you!” Sigrún was panicking, stealing worried glances at Yuuto as she pleaded. 

This gallant warrior who would not show fear in the face of any foe was now so completely afraid of Yuuto disliking her that she was barely in control of herself. 

“Ohh, that’s so cuuuute!” Felicia cried. “I never knew you had a side like this to you, Rún.” 

“I, however, always knew you were someone with a cruel streak.” Sigrún spoke almost dejectedly, as Felicia laughed and covered her mouth with both hands. 

What ever these two might say, Yuuto could see that they actually got along well. Even as they went back and forth with each other, there was a side to it that seemed almost playful. 

He felt bad about interrupting their exchange, but Yuuto felt there was something he had to say, no matter what. 

“Listen, Rún. I’m saying it again just in case, but I’m not actually going to make this miracle or anything like that. I just have the knowledge that it’s going to happen, nothing more. I’m just a human, not some clairvoyant god or something. You’re not having some kind of misunderstanding about me, are you?” 

That would bother him if it was the reason she had come to respect him. 

With regards to creating things, Yuuto accomplished the things he had only after a lot of trial and error, and a lot of diligent working through hardships and setbacks, and so he wasn’t as hesitant to accept being praised or revered for that. 

But when it came to this in particular, it truly was something he only just knew about, and he didn’t want praise for it. 

He had the pride of a true craftsman. 

“No, Big Brother. While it is true that your revelation during the war council was so shocking that it made my blood run cold, that is not what made me feel this way about you.” 

“Huh? Then, what?” In Yuuto’s mind, that was the only plausible cause for Sigrún to have come to acknowledge someone like himself. 

What else could there be? Yuuto tilted his head quizzically, and Felicia burst out in laughter once more. 

“Big Brother. The only thing Rún acknowledges is strength. Your powerful words during that argument absolutely mesmerized me.” 

“Yes, that massive and powerful aura of yours was incredible as well, but what truly inspired my devotion to you is how, in an instant, you blew away the despair that had taken hold of everyone’s hearts,” Sigrún said. “I realized that my mere physical strength and fighting skills are such petty and trifling things next to that strength of yours, Big Brother.” 

Sigrún closed her eyes, placing a hand over her chest as she spoke, as if recalling the memory of that event with the utmost reverence. 

“Uh... okay...” Yuuto was more sure than ever that he was being grossly overvalued, but all he could manage was that halfhearted reply. 

From Yuuto’s perspective, the whole reason for that reaction to him was because of the legend of the Gleipsieg. In other words, he had won them over with the simple confidence of his claim, the same as if he were bluffing. 

“Well, I’m sure this fever of hers will cool off a bit after a couple of days,” Yuuto muttered. “I’ll be sure to tease her about it then.” 

Scratching his head, Yuuto predicted that things would go back to how they were before. 

However, Sigrún’s admiration and devotion to Yuuto did not fade away. In fact, it only deepened day by day.

“Th-the enemy’s going to attack where you are?!” Mitsuki’s shocked voice came to him, quivering, through the phone’s speaker. 

It was only natural. 

He had already told her that there was going to be a war, but it was supposed to be taking place far away from Iárnviðr. 

Hearing all of a sudden that the enemy was going to be assaulting the city Yuuto was in must have been a total bolt from the blue for her. 

“Yeah, but you don’t need to worry,” Yuuto assured her. “I’ve already come up with a plan for certain victory!” 

“E-even if you say that... is it really going to be all right?!” 

“Just trust me. I’m the Child of Victory, Gleipsieg. I’m the hero that’s destined to break us out of this crisis... right?” Yuuto boasted to her, full of self-confidence. 

Of course he was also scared himself, but he wanted to do what he could to keep Mitsuki from worrying. 

“Yuu-kun... You can’t die, okay?!” Mitsuki exclaimed. “Don’t do anything dangerous!” 

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna die. I’m gonna win this battle and complete my mission, and then I’m definitely going to come back to Japan, and back to you!” 

“Okay... okay... I’m waiting for you.” 

“And when I do, I want you to... No, never mind.” 

“Wha— When you say stuff like that, it just makes me want to hear it even more, you know!” 

“I’ll say it when I get home.” Yuuto laughed and shrugged his shoulders. 

He’d liked Mitsuki since even before he came to Yggdrasil. 

And, once he’d come to a world without her, he’d come to realize even more just how important she was to him. 

However, he had sworn to himself that he would only tell her those feelings after he’d safely made it back home. 

And a man was never supposed to go back on something once he’d decided it in his heart.

“Enemy forces sighted, directly ahead! The enemy has begun their assault!!” The lookout’s piercing voice resounded as he shouted at the top of his lungs. 

Next came the blaring war horns, their loud notes echoing over and over from multiple locations as they sounded the alarm. 

“So, they’re here at last...” Yuuto whispered to himself tensely, his face tightly drawn, and stood up. 

It had been only two days since the war council meeting where they’d decided to fight to the bitter end. A siege defense like this one was a battle against time. 

Honestly, he would have liked for the enemy to have taken a bit longer to arrive. Of course, it would have also been a problem if they’d arrived too late. 

“H-huh?” As he went to take a step forward, his legs began to shake. 

He could hear his own heart pounding in his ears with such force he wondered if it might burst. 

His teeth began chattering. 

Loptr shrugged and teased him. “Ha ha ha, what’s wrong, have you gotten scared now that the battle’s right in front of you?” 

The golden-haired young man stood nearby in his full battle attire, stately and imposing. 

I wish you could share some of that calm attitude with me, even a little bit, Yuuto thought grumpily. 

“That’s mean-spirited of you, Brother,” Felicia frowned and admonished her older brother. “It can’t be helped if it’s his first battle, after all.” 

Then she turned to Yuuto, and suddenly pulled his head to her chest in a tight embrace. 

Felicia’s outfit was light on fabric, and left a lot of exposed skin. Before Yuuto had a chance to protest, his nose and lips were pressing up against her soft skin. And right on the symbols of her womanhood, of all places! 

“W-wha?! Felicia?!” he exclaimed. 

Felicia’s gentle words fell upon his ears as she lightly stroked his back. “It’s going to be all right. Big Brother, you can do this. You will surely be able to guide the Wolf Clan to victory.” 

Strangely enough, he felt the anxiety in his heart start to disappear. It seemed like the touch of human skin really did have a calming effect. 

“As always, you give me too much credit, Felicia,” he murmured. “I’ve been weak and shameful in front of you so many times now. Even at an important time like this, I’m a total disgrace. I can’t believe you haven’t given up on me.” 

“Tee hee, even the greatest warriors get nervous in their first battle.” 

“...I-is that how it is?” 

It was true that he had heard similar stories back home, like one about how a world-class champion boxer had said that his most nerve-wracking match of all time hadn’t been his title bout, but rather his debut match. 

If even the type of person who goes on to become greatest in the world finds their first battle scary, then an ordinary guy like himself being frightened was only natural. 

“And it is also said that a great general must be cautious and prudent,” Felicia added. “A small amount of cowardice is perfectly appropriate. In fact, I would say it’s proof of your potential as a commander, Big Brother.” 

“Ha ha ha, okay, now that’s taking favoritism way too far.” Yuuto gave a wry chuckle. 

However, though Yuuto at this point in time had yet to research such things, even Cao Cao, great hero of the tumultuous Three Kingdoms period of China, had once been quoted as saying, “He who would be commander, must at times be a coward. He must not rely only on bravery.” 

Felicia’s statement had been neither a lie nor a falsehood. 

Still, regardless of its veracity one way or another, it had done Yuuto some good. He had lost a good deal of his earlier tension. 

“I’m all right now,” Yuuto said quietly, and gently freed himself from Felicia’s arms. 

His body had stopped trembling. 

He felt someone’s eyes on him, and turned to see Sigrún staring at him in the same way she had the other day. She wore her typical serious, expressionless face, but to Yuuto she somehow seemed a bit displeased. 

She’s probably just had her image of me shattered after seeing me act so pitifully, he thought. 

She ran straight over to him and made a loud declaration. “B-Big Brother, I swear that I shall protect you with my life. You have absolutely nothing to worry about!” 

“Uh, o-okay, thanks. I’m counting on you.” Yuuto pulled back a bit as he replied, overcome by her fierce, almost desperate demeanor. 

But it seemed that wasn’t the sort of response Sigrún had been hoping for, and her energy visibly drained away, leaving her looking glum. 

For some reason, Felicia was grinning and snickering to herself with a look of triumph... which drew a glare of pure ire from Sigrún.

“Ohh, this is a good view.” Atop a watchtower at one corner of the city walls, Yuuto placed a foot on the parapet and laughed as he looked down at what was below him. 

It was the kind of overwhelming sight where one could do nothing but laugh. 

Below him, lines of armed soldiers were marching forward with their spears at the ready. Their golden-colored spearheads reflected the sun’s light in a beautiful spectacle. 

Of course, he was aware that the metal was bronze, not gold, but that glittering color was still a sight to behold. 

Next to him, Felicia gave a heavy sigh and looked on with a stiff expression. “Y-you seem much more confident, Big Brother. While it is embarrassing to admit, I have started to become a bit frightened...” 

Knowing the enemy numbers in her head was one thing, but that was totally different from the impact of seeing them from this angle. In the previous battle she’d fought on the ground, which made it harder to grasp the size and scale of the enemy forces. Being able to look down on them like this was only now giving her a real sense of just how great an enemy they were up against. 

By contrast, Yuuto was calm and detached. “Mm, well, I’m sort of past fear at this point. Ha ha...” 

He’d already been dropped into the depths of fear. Once he’d hit bottom, there had been nowhere left to go but up. 

It did make a difference for Yuuto that, as a person from modern-day Japan, he was completely used to crowds and the presence of large numbers of people. 

The local festival held in his area every May was famous nationwide, with tens of thousands of people attending each year. And he’d seen images of even larger crowds on TV, countless times. 

At this point, the sight of around five or six thousand people wasn’t going to overwhelm him. 

“You really are amazing, Big Brother,” she murmured. 

“Save that praise for after we make it through this alive.” 

Felicia looked up at him with sincere trust in her eyes, and Yuuto couldn’t help but find it a bit embarrassing. 

As they were conversing, the enemy forces continued to gather, surrounding Iárnviðr. 

“Well then, it’s about time for me to put on the performance of a lifetime!” Yuuto declared. “Felicia, Rún, get ready!” 

“Right!” 

“Sir!” 

The two girls with hair of gold and silver reacted instantly to his signal, moving nimbly. 

Felicia sounded a high note from a conch shell war horn, and Sigrún unfurled the large Wolf Clan army banner they’d hastily put together, waving it over her head. 

These actions were conspicuous enough that their enemies, the troops of the Three Clan Alliance Army, soon took notice of Yuuto’s group. 

After determining to his satisfaction that even persons far in the back of the crowd were pointing fingers in his direction, Yuuto leaned out over the parapet and shouted as loud as he could. 

“I see you have made it this far! Aye, despite the fact that you are misguided fools who defy the will of the gods! I am the Child of Victory, Gleipsieg, messenger of the goddess Angrboða! I am Sköll, the protector of the Wolf Clan! All of you gathered here are of family once born of our clan. You have forgotten the Oath of the Chalice sworn by your forefathers! Angrboða, great mother to us all, grows furious at those disloyal children who draw blade and arrow against their sworn parents! If you persist in doing us harm, the rage of the very gods shall fall upon your heads. If you fear not the gods, then come at us with everything you have!” 

With this proclamation, the curtain rose on “The Siege of Iárnviðr,” as it would later come to be known among the people of the Wolf Clan. 

“Now then...” Yuuto dropped down to sit cross-legged, and put the palms of his hands together. 

For the time being, the fact that he’d been able to finish his entire speech without problems was a huge accomplishment. Except for one last task at the very, very end of it all, there was nothing left for Yuuto to do now. Rather, staying right there in that spot was now Yuuto’s most important job. 

Sigrún spoke up after affixing the banner to a nearby pedestal. “It’s supposed to be one week from now, correct?” 

She and Felicia were in charge of protecting Yuuto. 

They were high enough up on top of the watchtower that the enemy’s arrows wouldn’t reach them, so there shouldn’t be any real danger to any of them, but it was important to be prepared just in case. 

An important part of their strategy this time was in making sure to impress the image of Yuuto firmly into their enemies’ minds. Felicia and Sigrún were both beautiful girls, and they were also both Einherjar warriors whose names were known among the Claw Clan. Showing that the two of them were in his service would increase his prestige. 

“That’s right,” Yuuto said. “If we hold out that long, we’ll win this. Even if they’re six times bigger, we should be able to do that much, right?” 

Compared to battle on open territory, sieges tended to be long and drawn-out. And the tall walls holding back the enemy were actually quite reliable. 

It would be one thing if their enemies had a crane and wrecking ball from the modern era, but the usual weapon for breaking through fortifications in Yggdrasil was a battering ram made from a big tree trunk and carried by hand. It would take quite a bit of time and effort to do any real damage with that. 

In addition, there were soldiers armed with bows and slings on top of the walls, poised to rain down attacks on whomever got close. There was no way the enemy would make quick progress like that. 

Even if their enemies tried to set up a ladder to climb, they’d be leaving themselves defenseless on the way up. 

Those sorts of simple, brute-force attacks might work on a small fort, but weak and diminished clan or not, Iárnviðr was the capital city of the Wolf Clan. Against a fortified city this size, even an attacking force sixfold in number would have to be prepared to suffer very heavy losses if they tried to force their way in. 

This was the reason it was held as common wisdom that attacking a castle or walled city required an army five to ten times the size of the defenders. 

Conversely, if their enemies wanted to keep casualties to a minimum, the best move would be to construct fortifications next to the target castle to defend against archers, and cut off all supply lines, starving the defenders and breaking their spirits. Though it wasn’t a showy or exciting strategy, it exploited the weakness of the defenders, and so it had become the method used most often in sieges, which was why they tended to turn into long affairs. 

“So for now, things are going just as we expected them to,” Sigrún said, watching the movements of the Three Clan Alliance Army. 

The Alliance Army’s soldiers had encircled Iárnviðr and were beginning to construct earthen fortifications. They were making all the preparations for a long-term siege. 

It was the correct decision for the enemy’s commander to make. The Wolf Clan had lost the majority of its strength in the previous battle, and they had no hope of reinforcements. In this state, they were likely to surrender before too long, so it was obviously better to go with the surefire long-term strategy rather than attempt a risky attack. 

Yuuto grinned. “Yeah, we’ve got them just where we want them.” 

“So, you’re the Gleipsieg?” Without warning, a cheerless voice came from directly behind him. 

Yuuto felt a chill run up his spine. 

It was clearly someone who knew him! 

He nervously turned around. There was a man standing there whose appearance seemed to fit the word “sinister” in every way. 

The man was clothed all in black, and seemed to be around thirty. His cheeks were thin and sunken as if he were diseased or starved, and his skin was sickeningly pale, but his eyes shone with a keen, cold light, like the eyes of some ravenous beast. 

Is he an assassin who came straight here to kill me after hearing that speech?! That was the first thought that crossed Yuuto’s mind, and he promptly reached for the sword at his waist. 

“Big Brother Skáviðr!” the two girls called out, taking all the tension out of the situation. 

Yuuto took a longer, more discerning look at the man in front of him. “Eh?! Wait... you’re the one they call the Strongest Silver Wolf, the Mánagarmr?” 

He was known as the strongest, so Yuuto had been picturing a more well-built and muscular man like Jörgen, the assistant to the second-in-command. This man didn’t really fit the image. Frankly speaking, his outward appearance didn’t make him seem strong at all, but then again, there was something, a strangely threatening air about him that marked him as no ordinary person. 

“So we finally get to meet,” the man said. He introduced himself in a low, dispassionate voice. “I’m Skáviðr.” 

“Ah... my name is Yuuto Suoh.” Yuuto found himself standing at attention to give his introduction in return. 

He was a young man who was used to using polite language and manners with his elders, but that was rare, even for him. 

The person in front of him now had bandages wrapped around various parts of his body, blood slowly seeping through some of them. He was leaning on a cane with his left hand, without which it looked like he might not be able to walk. 

Those wounds had come from the previous battle, where he had fought on without regard for his own life or safety, protecting his comrades until the last. Each one was a badge of valor. 

Yuuto felt compelled to show the man all proper respect, for he was the man who completely embodied Yuuto’s ideals. 

“If he were alive, he’d be about your age,” Skáviðr murmured. 

“I’m sorry?” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Skáviðr shook his head and chuckled, as if in self-derision. 

Yuuto got the strange impression that the shadow hanging over the man grew slightly darker, but he chose not to pursue the matter further. He had a feeling it was something he shouldn’t ask about. 

Instead, he asked something else. “Um, by the way, what brings you here? Shouldn’t you be resting right now?” 

“I came here to give you my thanks.” 

“Me?” 

“Yes.” Skáviðr nodded and unsheathed his sword. 

Its silver blade was deeply stained with blood and flesh, most of its luster gone. As Yuuto looked closer, he saw plenty of nicks in the cutting edge. 

The Three Clan Alliance Army had to be using bronze weapons and shields. Against such markedly weaker equipment, the fact that Skáviðr’s weapon had sustained this much damage in only a few days was a testament to just how fierce and desperate the battle had been. 

“Without this, I would be nothing more than an empty carcass by now,” Skáviðr said. “Thanks to you, I somehow lived to see another day. I was able to save my brothers, as well. You have my thanks.” 

“No, I... I was only just doing what I could...” 

“That makes no difference to the fact that you saved me. Besides, I heard about what happened at the war council the other day. I already owe this life to you. I can’t do my work as well with my body in the shape it’s in, but if you don’t mind that, I want you to make the best use of me that you can.” 

Skáviðr reversed the sword in his hand, then held it out to Yuuto. 

The sword was the tool which protected a warrior’s life. The act of offering it to another person was, in essence, equivalent to offering up one’s life. 

“Oh... okay, then. If you’re offering,” Yuuto said nonchalantly. He took the sword in hand rather casually, as if he hadn’t given the meaning much thought. 

“B-Big Brother, I don’t think Big Brother Skáviðr is in proper condition to fight right now...” a worried Felicia began to interrupt. 

Yuuto silenced her with a hand, and grinned. “This is my command. Please return at once to the sickroom and lie down. Rest. You are someone who is going to be very important to the future of the Wolf Clan, after all. We cannot afford to let you die here.” 

“The future, you say?” Skáviðr stared intently at Yuuto. 

“Yes, the future.” Yuuto looked straight back into Skáviðr’s eyes. 

After a moment, Skáviðr gave a quiet chuckle and shrugged his shoulders. “I see. Then I suppose I’ll do as I’m told, and go lie down for a bit.” 

“Yes. Please do.” 

“Heh.” With a small, wry smile, Skáviðr turned and left the way he came. 

As Yuuto watched the man’s back recede, he raised a hand to his brow in a crisp salute. 

There was no tradition in Yggdrasil of using such a gesture, but for Yuuto, he felt he had to express his feelings of respect and admiration somehow for this hero who had put his life on the line to fight for others.

For the next week after that, nothing out of the ordinary happened. 

The Alliance Army would launch attacks intermittently, but once the archers and slingers began to attack in response, they quickly retreated behind their earthen fortifications. 

They would also sometimes suddenly burst out in a large chorus of raucous angry screams, or noxious insults, at random times throughout the day and night. 

After having those physical and mental attacks repeated over and over countless times, this near-continuous assault was not even worth mentioning. And so from Yuuto’s perspective, for all of those days, nothing out of the ordinary happened. 

It would be wrong to say that made things easy, though. 

Watching the sun slowly rise above the horizon after a sleepless night, Yuuto yawned. “So, we finally made it to today...” 

In that instant, he was struck by a wave of dizziness. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose, and massaged his temples. He had been trying to take advantage of the dark hours when the enemy couldn’t see him clearly to grab some sleep, but even with that, he was incredibly sleep-deprived. 

He couldn’t get sleep even when he wanted to. Even if he did fall asleep, he was quickly woken up. 

Nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Yuuto himself wasn’t doing anything special, either. He sat still and pretended to pray, or danced, or pretended to cast spells with silly gestures. That was all he ever had to do. 

Even so, he felt awful, with a strange ache in his chest and a body that felt as heavy as lead. He was too tired to even move around anymore. 

It wasn’t as if the Alliance Army was using the aforementioned tactics out of desperation, either. They weren’t seriously trying to attack; they were applying constant psychological pressure. 

Humans were surprisingly vulnerable to stress. Without sufficient sleep, their minds began to suffer. If prolonged tension and stress continued, their hearts wore out easily. If you continued to expose them to a source of fear, they would become unable to think of anything except their desire to be saved from it. 

By applying this psychological pressure to one’s enemies and pushing them to their wits’ end, one could force some of them to surrender or even betray their own. That was one of the basics of offensive siege warfare. 

And the defending side had to withstand the pressure of the unknowns: when the enemy would pull back, how long supplies would last. Just thinking about such uncertainty was chilling. 

That said, it would all end today. 

Relaxing at the thought of that, Yuuto said, “Ingrid got what I asked for all set up and ready to go, so now this battle’s as good as...” 

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!” one of the lookouts began shouting. 

Sure enough, the Alliance Army soldiers were pushing in force towards the main gate. 

Again? Already? The sun’s barely started to come up, Yuuto thought dejectedly. 

They were surely going to retreat again in a few minutes, but he couldn’t afford to ignore them, either. If Yuuto’s side were even a bit lax in their attacks, the enemy could seize advantage of that good fortune and begin ramming the gate or setting ladders up to climb the walls. If they let the enemy get inside the walls, it would be all over. 

This just the kind of situation the phrase “no rest for the weary” was invented for. 

“Big Brother Loptr must really be having it rough, too,” Yuuto murmured. 

Loptr, as second-in-command and a veteran commander, was far more knowledgeable and familiar with these military situations than an amateur like Yuuto. Yuuto was sure he would give out precise orders and quickly repel the attack this time, too. However... 

“Th-the gate has been breached! Th-the enemy is flooding in!” a lookout shouted. 

“W-whaaat?!” Yuuto screamed. 

He wasn’t the only one who raised his voice in shock. Felicia and Sigrún, who had been resting against a nearby wall, threw off their blankets and leapt to their feet, as well. 

“How can that be?!” Felicia yelled. 

“What?!” Sigrún shouted. 

This was inconceivable. 

There had been absolutely no warning signs of a breach in the gate. If a battering ram had been used, there would have been sound and vibrations from the impact that Yuuto and the others would have noticed. 

The fact that there weren’t meant— 

“We might have a traitor on our hands.” Yuuto practically spat out the words with loathing. 

It was the situation he had most feared. 

“Could it be Uncle Bruno?” Sigrún furrowed her brow as she made the suggestion, perhaps remembering the events of the war council. 

“Um, if I may speak as someone who works under him, Uncle Bruno has a cowardly side to him, and is very conservative and stubborn in his way of thinking, but even with that, he loves the Wolf Clan,” Felicia said. “I do not think it would be him. Though I do not like him very much, either.” 

Felicia gave a troubled, bitter smile at that last part. 

She worked as a clan priestess. She would have spent a lot of time in the presence of Bruno, the head priest, and likely knew him quite well. 

“Then who is it?!” Sigrún cried. 

Felicia smiled bitterly. “It would not be strange for anyone to have done it at this point.” 

“...That’s true,” Yuuto said. 

The whole Wolf Clan army had been told that Yuuto was going to perform a miracle. And so they had only been told to hold out until then. 

The idea of such a miracle happening was absurd on its face. 

And in the ceremony right before the previous sortie, Fárbauti had declared that, “As long as the Child of Victory, Gleipsieg is with us, the victory of the Wolf Clan is assured.” Then, after that bold promise, the result had been utter defeat. 

In other words, the golden image of the Gleipsieg was already quite tarnished in the eyes of the Wolf Clan rank and file. 

Much like Bruno during the war council meeting, there were undoubtedly many who couldn’t bring themselves to believe in him and his miracle. 

It was more than sufficiently possible that one of those people had decided to save themselves, and had made contact with the enemy and opened the gate. 

That, of course, was exactly why Loptr was supposed to have posted his most trustworthy soldiers next to the gate... 

“Damn it, and after coming this far!” Yuuto pounded his fists against the stones in hopeless frustration, ignoring the pain. 

Just a bit longer. Just a bit longer, and their miracle was going to occur! His fist hit the stone again and again... 

Suddenly, the old patriarch’s words echoed in the back of his mind. “It’s because I never gave up. What wins it all in the end is... determination, the firm resolve to follow through on things, no matter what.” 

Yuuto ceased hitting the stone. “That’s right. It’s too early to give up now! Felicia! Rún!” 

“Yes, Big Brother!” 

“Sir!” 

“Even if they got it open, the road through the gate is narrow,” Yuuto declared. “There’s a limit to how many men they can get through. You have to do whatever you can to stall them until it’s time! They need your skills as an Einherjar down there right now!” 

Sigrún looked back and forth between Yuuto and the mass of Alliance Army soldiers below, her face wracked with worry. “H-however, that would leave no one to protect you, Big Brother.” 

Though Yuuto had become slightly stronger and more dependable over the past eleven months, he was still far weaker than the average soldiers of this era. 

Felicia was looking his way nervously as well, likely also wondering whether it was really all right to leave Yuuto here by himself. 

“Don’t get your priorities twisted!” Yuuto scolded. “If the enemy manages to get all the way up here, we’re all as good as done for anyway. So go!!” 

He pointed a finger sharply in the direction of the gate down below. 

A leader had to ignore personal feelings, look at the situation rationally, size up the available options, and quickly make the best move. Yuuto was still a novice at giving orders to others, but he had already begun to exhibit signs of the great commander he would one day become. 

“I understand,” Felicia said. “Big Brother, please take care of yourself.” 

“Understood, Big Brother,” Sigrún agreed. “Please, be safe!” 

“Yeah, you two be careful too.” Yuuto grinned and gave them a thumbs-up. 

In truth, he was scared of being left alone. The thought of what might happen to him if an enemy soldier found him was enough to make his hair stand on end. 

Even so, Yuuto was a man. With two girls prepared to go out and fight a life-or-death battle to protect everyone, he couldn’t allow himself to show any signs of fear. 

If he didn’t act tough now, he would be a failure as a man. 

“Oh, that’s right. Take this, Rún.” Yuuto picked up the item that he’d set aside next to himself, and tossed it to the silver-haired girl. Just yesterday, Ingrid had delivered it to him along with her report that she’d finished building what he’d requested. 

Catching it in one hand, Sigrún stared at it, her brow furrowed. “What is this?” 

“I’m gonna let you have that for now. It’ll probably come in handy.” 

“Yes, sir! I am grateful you would lend it to me!” Sigrún held the item to her chest and bowed to him. 

Felicia, by contrast, seemed to be quite flustered. “B-Big Brother, w-what about me?!” 

Yuuto was slightly taken aback by her intensity and took a step back, but as he instinctively reached down with a hand to search, there was of course nothing there. 

“Huh?! No, but.. that, that was all I had on me, so...” 

“Hey now, don’t give Big Brother any problems, Felicia,” Sigrún snapped. “We don’t have time. Let’s go!” 

Grabbing Felicia by the scruff of her neck, Sigrún ran off with her. 

This was indeed a situation where every second counted. Felicia seemed to realize that as well, and resigned herself to running alongside Sigrún. 

Yuuto watched them run off, the two of them looking heroic as— 

“Listen, w-when it comes to Big Brother, I am the older sister of us, understand?!” Felicia shouted. “Just because he lent you something, don’t start getting cocky and...” 

“Heh, I can understand that you’re jealous, but you don’t have to bark so loudly about it.” 

“Grrr...!” 

—as they absorbed themselves in an argument that made no sense to him, and only served to make him anxious.

At that moment, Felicia and Sigrún were not the only ones who lacked a sense of tension befitting their situation. 

Down in the streets where the light of dawn had yet to reach, two girls made their way through the thin darkness, hand in hand. They were identical twin sisters, around eleven or twelve years of age, with their lightly-colored hair done up in side ponytails that made them look like mirrored reflections of one another. 

“Now then, we’ve finished the job, so let’s be off at once, Al,” Kristina said. 

“Gritless breeeaaad...” her sister moaned. 

“Are you still going on about that? You are aware this spot is going to turn into a battlefield any moment?” 

“But, but, but...” 

“Honestly, you’re hopeless,” Kristina said with a sigh. “But I knew you would get like this again, so I’ve prepared some for you.” 

“Really?! ...Wait, you’re saying that, but it’s actually bread with grit in it, isn’t it?! You’re not gonna trick me again!” 

“I-impossible,” Kristina gasped. “Al is... learning?!” She recoiled, as if this were unbelievably shocking to her. 

Others might have found it shocking just how much of a fool Kristina made her sister out to be. Though with the way Albertina usually acted, perhaps not. 

“I suppose you would remember a prank from only a few days ago,” Kristina sighed. 

“Ha haaaa! Did you think a mere trick like that would fool the great Albertina?” her sister preened. 

“Actually, Al, there really isn’t any grit in this one, though.” 

“N-no, you’re lying! You’re saying that to try and trick me again, right?!” 

“Dearest sister, you are so distrustful,” Kristina said with a pout, fully aware that she herself was the one responsible for that. 

Still, under normal circumstances, Albertina would never be this stubborn. As Kristina wondered to herself why that might be, Albertina provided her with a clue. 

“Of course I am! It really hurt last time!” 

“Ahh, you did bite into it with all your might, after all.” Kristina smirked. 

It seemed the pain had let Albertina learn with her body, rather than her mind. It was no wonder she hadn’t forgotten. 

“But this one truly doesn’t have any grit in it,” Kristina said. “As an apology for last time, I bought some gritless ground wheat properly from a trade merchant, kneaded the dough myself, and baked this bread last night.” 

“I-is that really true? There’s no grit in it?” 

“Ohh, it pains me to be so thoroughly doubted by my one and only sister. I swear on my life, there is no grit in this bread. It’s my apology, after all.” 

“Oh... It’s an apology. Theeen I’ll eat it!” Chomp. “Mm, it kinda has a unique taste...” 

“Yes, that’s because I kneaded boiled mugwort leaves into the dough. They’re very aromatic and used as cooking spice. Mugwort is very good for you, you know. It wouldn’t do if I didn’t make sure my sister stayed healthy.” 

Mugwort was a common name given to several different but related species of plants, native to different parts of the world. Since ancient times, they had each been treasured for their medicinal properties. This was as true in Yggdrasil as Earth. 

Even in 21st century Japan, the variety of mugwort known as yomogi was called the “queen of herbs” due to its many health benefits, and was a component in traditional Chinese medicine. 

And as for its taste... 

“Gaah, it’s bitter! This is so, so bitter!” 

As a bit of trivia, in Nepal mugwort was called Titepati, a name which meant “bitter leaf.” 

“I made it just for you, with love, so make sure to eat it all and don’t leave a single bite,” Kristina said. 

“Ughh, it’s bitter! It’s sooo bitterrrr!” Even as she whimpered, Albertina continued to eat. 

Yggdrasil wasn’t a world of plenty. Good food was hard to come by. However bitter it might be, she wasn’t going to waste food. That principle had been hammered into Albertina on a fundamental level. 

Kristina, who had taken advantage of that fact, watched with a look of sadistic pleasure as her sister ate while crying. She really was a little devil. 

And it was by her devilish hand that Iárnviðr was now facing its worst moment of crisis. 

Looking up at the city gate some distance away, she chuckled to herself. She could clearly hear the angry cries and the sounds of clashing weapons. It appeared the fighting had begun. 

“Heh heh... a task like this was nothing for Ve?rfölnir, the Silencer of Winds.” 

Young as she was, this girl was unmistakably an Einherjar, and she possessed the extraordinary ability to erase her presence. With that ability in hand, she had infiltrated Iárnviðr with her twin sister and opened the city gate herself. 

Of course, even for a naturally gifted spy such as herself, it would normally have been no easy feat to sneak into such a heavily fortified place, especially with everyone on guard against an ever-present enemy just outside. 

However, right now the soldiers protecting Iárnviðr had endured battle after battle within the span of days, and they’d been pushed to their limits of fatigue. 

Some sort of victory might have been able to push away some of that weariness, but their most recent battle on the open field had resulted in a significant defeat, and they’d been forced to flee in retreat while fending off pursuit and additional attacks. Even now they were surrounded by a much larger enemy force, and this whole week, they had been struggling against their fears with no end in sight. 

In that state, they had no hope of being completely alert and vigilant, and this young girl had easily exploited that opening. 

“All right, then! Mm-hm. Where to next?” 

Humming a little tune to themselves, the young twins disappeared into the back streets of Iárnviðr.

The city gates, where normally local residents and trade merchants with their horse-drawn carts would be gathering, were instead awash with frenzied soldiers, swinging their weapons and bellowing war cries. 

The Wolf Clan was not sitting idly by. They were trying to do everything they could to push back the enemy, so that they might close the gates once more. 

The area under the gate itself had become a free-for-all where it was hard to tell friend from foe. 

Raising his sword high in the air, the Wolf Clan second-in-command called out to his men. “Push them back! If we just hold out a little longer, the Gleipsieg will bring about a miracle for us!” 

Loptr’s normally well-kept hair was frayed and tangled. His normally handsome face was ragged, with thick bags under his eyes, which were themselves bloodshot and fiendish-looking. 

“Second-in-Command Loptr!” an enemy soldier shouted. “I’ll be taking that head of yours—!” 

“Like I’d ever let you have it!” Loptr broke his foe’s sword with a downward strike, then took off the man’s head with the next swing. 

The fighting itself was progressing with the Wolf Clan having the advantage. 

The road through the gate was only wide enough for ten men at most, so the number of enemies who could come through was limited. 

In a fight with equal strength and numbers, the Wolf Clan and their iron equipment could overwhelm their opponents. 

However... 

“Damn it, there’s no end to them,” Loptr snarled. 

Despite cutting down foe after foe, more pressed forward to replace them without end. The sheer difference in numbers was not so easily overcome, after all. 

And to make matters worse, the Wolf Clan’s soldiers were more worn out. If it were only a short battle, they could spur on their tired bodies for just a little bit longer, but as the fighting dragged on, they wouldn’t be able to hold out. 

As he watched one Wolf Clan fighter after another succumb to their wounds and fall, Loptr could only grind his teeth in frustration. “Damn it! At this rate...” 

Clang! 

“Wha—” Just now, his opponent had blocked his sword attack. 

Even after multiple clashes, the man’s sword showed no signs of breaking. 

But that was only natural. His enemy was also holding an iron sword, after all. 

“You bastard!” With a roar of fury, Loptr unleashed a series of attacks that cornered his opponent, culminating in a strike that finally brought him down. 

Loptr was one of the top fighters in the Wolf Clan. His opponent had not been weak by any means, but even with an iron weapon, such a man was still no match for Loptr. 

But unfortunately, he wasn’t the only soldier with an iron sword. More and more soldiers with iron swords began to pour through the gate. 

“You fiends!” Loptr spat out the words with hatred. “You couldn’t content yourself with killing my Wolf Clan brethren, you had to defile their corpses as well!” 

The swords currently in the hands of his foes had originally belonged to the Wolf Clan. Loptr could recognize them by their shape and design. 

There was only one possibility. The enemy had robbed the corpses of the fallen Wolf Clan fighters after the previous battle. 

“Urraaagghhh!” 

This was unforgivable to him from an emotional standpoint, but even more importantly, as the commander on the ground, he saw that it was clear and deadly threat. 

With the difference in their equipment equalized, a fight between the well-rested and fed enemy troops and his own wounded and weary fighters was hardly an even match. 

And the situation was about to go from bad to worse. 

“Loptr! I’ll be paying you back for this left eye, right here and now!” a familiar deep voice roared, and a familiar iron axe swung down towards him. 

Loptr reflexively jumped backwards, and clicked his tongue in frustration. “Tch! Mundilfäri! This is bad.” 

With the Claw Clan’s greatest warrior joining the fray, the situation truly was too much for him to handle. 

“Now then, how about we continue where we left off the other day—!” 

“Kh! Ngah!” 

Against the mighty attacks of Mundilfäri’s iron axe, it was all Loptr could do to defend, and he was driven backward. 

His body felt heavy, and he couldn’t keep up well with the oncoming attacks. He’d built up too much fatigue from fighting for so long. It was taking everything in his power to guard and stay on his feet. 

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?!” Mundilfäri shouted. “You’re not as nimble as you were last time!” 

Not only was this true, Mundilfäri’s attacks were even stronger than they had been the last time they fought. 

Loptr remembered a bit of what Skáviðr had told him about Mundilfäri. 

His rune Alsvi?r, the Horse who Responds to its Rider, increased his physical strength when he faced a foe he had deep or personal connections with. 

The reason he kept being able to fight with such unending might and success as the Claw Clan’s great hero was that his opponents were hated members of the Wolf Clan, the ones who had slain his brethren, and that connection fed his power. 

And now his opponent was Loptr, the accursed man who had beaten him once and taken away his left eye. 

The increase in strength from that connection was more than enough to make up for the loss of his eye. 

On the other hand, if Loptr could find a way to strike at him from that blind spot, he might go down easily. But it would be impossible right now to find an opening in the furious salvo of his attacks. 

“Rrraagh!” Mundilfäri roared. 

At last, one of Mundilfäri’s attacks cut a shallow gash into Loptr’s left arm. 

“Gwah!” Loptr shouted. 

Another, horizontal sweeping attack came right on its heels. 

Loptr blocked it with his sword and tried to hold his ground, but then a spurt of fresh blood erupted from his arm wound, and the strength suddenly left him. 

That was enough to tip the scales, and Loptr was thrown off balance. 

“I’ve got you!!” Mundilfäri did not miss the opening. He put all of his strength into a downward slash. 

Loptr kicked off the ground at the last instant, and managed to jump back, but... 

“Gahh...!” With a cry of agony, blood leapt from a wound on Loptr’s face. 

Seeing this, a sinister grin spread across Mundilfäri’s face— 

In the very next instant, a slash cut into Mundilfäri’s cheek, as well. 

“Haah... haaah... I... I won’t die here, not without achieving my dream first...!” Wheezing, Loptr readied his sword again. 

A bright crimson line ran from his forehead down to his cheek. Mundilfäri’s last attack had carved it into him. 

“Hmph, I didn’t cut deep enough.” Licking the blood from the cut on his own cheek, Mundilfäri let out a savage laugh. “But there’s no way you can beat me now!” 

With that shout, he unleashed another rapid swing. 

Loptr’s sword tumbled through the air. With the pain from his left arm sapping its strength, he had been unable to keep a grip on his sword with only his right hand. 

“This is it.” Mundilfäri raised his axe high, and brought it down towards Loptr’s neck— 

“I won’t let you!” 

—but at the last second, something black coiled around his arms, holding them back. 

Mundilfäri turned to see a young girl with golden hair, pulling desperately with all her strength at the whip in her hand. Her face bore a strong resemblance to the second-in-command he had been fighting. It seemed they were family. 

The frenzy of battle brought out the dark, bestial nature from within his heart. Perhaps it would be good to kill this young girl right in front of his hated enemy, as cruelly as possible. 

Just as he was thinking that, he heard the cries of his fellow soldiers, one after another. 

“Guaaah!” 

“Gyaaah!” 

“Wh-what is she?!” 

A silver-colored tornado was tearing through his men on its way to where he stood. 

In addition to being given the stolen iron weapons, those men were the elite soldiers of the Claw Clan. Yet they were no match for her. 

“Mundilfäri! I, Sigrún, shall claim that rotten head of yours!” the silver-colored tornado screamed. 

“Hmph, a little girl barely out of diapers,” Mundilfäri sneered. “How impudent!” 

As the silver-haired girl charged straight at him, Mundilfäri swung his axe upward and readied himself to meet her attack. 

It was his first time seeing her on the battlefield, but he’d heard rumors about her. She was a girl with a beautiful and delicate-looking appearance, and a dangerous she-wolf who had devoured the lives of many of his fellow Claw Clan warriors. 

Even so, she was supposedly still much weaker than the Mánagarmr. If she were stronger, she would have already taken the title from him, after all. 

Mundilfäri concluded that she was no match for him, for he himself was an equal rival with the Mánagarmr. 

“N-no, Sigrún, stay back! You’re not ready to face him...” 

Loptr’s pained cries were music to Mundilfäri’s ears. But it was already too late. Mundilfäri had already decided this girl would be his prey. 

He poured every ounce of his strength and spirit into one great swing, and brought down his axe. 

His opponent also swung her sword to meet his attack, but Einherjar though she might be, she was still only a girl with slender arms. She was thrown backwards by the sheer force behind Mundilfäri’s swing. 

Taking a few extra steps back after the clash, the silver-haired girl planted her feet and clicked her tongue in irritation. “Tch, so one strike’s not going to work on a big axe like that...” 

Her expression was far too calm and composed for someone who had just been blown backwards by a single attack. 

That was when Mundilfäri looked at his weapon and cried out in surprise. “Wha—?!” 

A huge notch had been cut into the axe’s blade, and a number of small cracks snaked outwards from it. 

“W-what is that weapon?!” 

Even though Mundilfäri’s own weapon had been badly damaged, the girl’s sword bore not a single scratch. 

A pattern of white lines like waves ran across the side of its unblemished blade, and it continued to shimmer with a strange, almost otherworldly sheen. 

Looking more closely at his fallen comrades behind her, each and every one of their iron swords had been broken. 

Iron was supposed to be a divine metal, a gift that fell from the heavens. Just what sort of weapon could be more powerful?! 

“Heh. My big brother, the Child of Victory Gleipsieg, graciously loaned this to me. Perhaps the ‘Sword of Victory’ would be a good name for it!” 

Sigrún readied the sword and charged forward at gale speed. 

Sigrún had always thought of herself as a sword. She had spend her whole life in dedication to sharpening her skills, her edge. And at long last, she had met a master who she felt was worthy of wielding her. 

That sworn older brother whom she respected so deeply had told her to hold back the enemy at all costs. Therefore, there was nothing left for her to do but swing forth and execute that command. 

“Khh!” Mundilfäri yelled. 

As Sigrún brandished the sword in a sweeping strike as swift as a flash of light, Mundilfäri caught it with his axe. But was already cracked and damaged. The cracks raced across the axe head, and unable to withstand the stress of the impact, it broke in half and crumbled apart. 

And with the following, final blow, Sigrún’s sword sliced straight through Mundilfäri, from his shoulder to his abdomen. 

“Guah...!” 

The man’s bear-sized body was not invincible enough to withstand an attack like that. Blood sprayed from the wound as he fell backwards, crashing to the ground. 

In that instant, in the far-off land of Yggdrasil, the nihontou had made its striking debut. 

The nearby Wolf Clan soldiers cried out in elation, and the color of life began to return to their faces. 

“She did it! She did it!! Lady Sigrún has defeated the greatest warrior of the Claw Clan!” 

“We can win this fight!” 

“All right, everyone, rally behind Lady Sigrún!” 

“The ‘Sword of Victory’... what an incredible weapon.” Loptr clenched his fist tightly. “To think he even made something like that...!” 

The most important thing in a battle was morale. 

For many years, Mundilfäri had been a menace to the Wolf Clan in his role as the Claw Clan’s most powerful warrior. Even the Mánagarmr had been unable to defeat him. 

And now this beautiful young female warrior, not yet even twenty, had defeated him in a stunning fashion. Setbacks and defeats doubled or tripled a soldier’s fatigue, but victory washed it away. 

Her overwhelming victory had made such an impression that every one of the Wolf Clan soldiers present was now thinking something along the lines of, With that monster out of the way, and with her on our side, we can drive them back! 

Sigrún still seemed to have plenty of stamina left. To the soldiers around her, she seemed almost like a goddess of battle. If she stood in front and led them into the fight, they might be able to push back the enemy forces despite their numbers, and close the gates. 

Suddenly, from the eastern gate, more battle cries rang out. 

“Uooooohhhhhhhh!!” 

It was clearly different from the cries they had been hearing up until the night before, when the enemy was only testing them. These were louder and more chaotic. 

“I-it can’t be! Did the eastern gate open?!” Loptr shuddered at thought of this worst-case scenario. 

With Sigrún’s victory, the soldiers had recovered some of their morale, but it was still only a portion. The Wolf Clan didn’t have the remaining numbers or the strength to defend both the main gate and the eastern gate at the same time. 

The Wolf Clan’s soldiers’ relief at defeating a powerful enemy lasted for only the briefest of moments, and then Iárnviðr faced its most desperate moment of crisis.

Meanwhile, on top of the watchtower, Yuuto was swallowing his dread. 

It had already been some time since the gate had been breached. The sun which had started out peeking over the horizon was now sitting high in the sky. 

He could see the battle at the gate from where he was. As Sigrún defeated one enemy after another, he told himself it would be all right, but then the war cries came from the eastern gate. 

It had been breached, as well. 

“So there was a traitor... or if not, then did an enemy spy sneak into Iárnviðr?!” he exclaimed. 

There was no more time. 

Even now, more and more soldiers were going to pour through the gates into Iárnviðr. 

Once that happened, any miracle that occurred would already be too late. 

“Come on... come on, where is it...?!” Yuuto clenched his fists so hard that his fingernails drew blood. 

Yuuto had made sure to account for the difference between the solar and lunar calendars, but had he perhaps made an error in his math? Or were the historical records themselves incorrect? And what if it turned out that Yggdrasil wasn’t really the same world as Earth, after all? 

Doubts filled his mind one after another, magnifying his anxiety. 

At this very moment, his family was in danger. Loptr, Felicia, Sigrún, Ingrid, all of them. And there was nothing he could do about it. 

Was a miracle fated never to occur, after all? At his wit’s end, Yuuto looked up at the sky once more... and he broke into a smile. 

The sun was being devoured by the moon.

There was a concept in astronomy known as the saros. 

It was the name given to a cycle used to estimate the day on which a solar or lunar eclipse would occur. 

Yuuto had discovered this while downloading and reading e-books related to astronomy, trying to figure out what geographical place and time he had been sent to. 

Nearly any ordinary modern-era Japanese person would know the fact that a solar eclipse occurs due to the positions of the sun and moon relative to Earth. Less well-known was the fact that they also happened in predictable cycles. 

Approximately 6,585.3211 days (or 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours) after one solar eclipse, another eclipse with nearly identical conditions would occur 120 degrees of longitude west of the first. 

This constituted one saros period. 

And so, after three saros periods, the cycle would complete one full 360-degree rotation of the Earth. 

Therefore, approximately 54 years and 31 days after a solar eclipse, one could witness the same eclipse again in the same location. 

Fárbauti had mentioned that he’d witnessed a solar eclipse as a child, causing Yuuto to wonder if there was a chance the same eclipse might occur again while he was here. He’d hired some people to search through the clay tablet records stored in the palace archives, and his hunch had been proven right. 

Yggdrasil was a world where absurdly unscientific historical customs held sway, like determining a person’s guilt or innocence by whether or not they were pulled away by the current of a river. 

Because of the ominous imagery of the shining sun being slowly swallowed by darkness, solar eclipses have struck fear into people all over the world since ancient times, people who viewed them as a portent of great disaster. 

And they also only happened very rarely. 

Originally, Yuuto had only been interested in this out of self-preservation; he’d wanted to avoid people blaming him for such an event and making him into a scapegoat. Unexpectedly, the knowledge had come in handy for a completely different purpose. 

The saros cycle was said to have been discovered by Chaldean astronomers somewhere around the 7th to 6th centuries BC. But it was knowledge completely beyond the reach of the people in the Bronze Age culture of Yggdrasil. 

By using that knowledge, Yuuto was indeed doing the impossible: he had foreseen the “miracle” taking place at this very moment!

On that day at that moment, every person in Iárnviðr with a weapon in his or her hand, regardless of clan or affiliation, felt the same sensation. They felt it get darker even though it was daytime. 

At first, they assumed it was simply that a cloud had passed in front of the sun. 

However, as it grew steadily darker, they realized something was wrong. 

The sun was being eaten away by something black. The blackness encroached further and further, steadily dyeing the sun’s disc in its ominous color. 

Every one of those people’s gazes converged on a single point. 

A single young man atop a watchtower was raising both hands, palms up, toward the heavens. 

It was as if he were demonstrating that he himself had been the one responsible for this! 

Whether they wished to or not, the soldiers all found themselves remembering the words that boy had said before the battle began. 

He’d said that the rage of the gods would fall upon those who threatened to harm the Wolf Clan, then sat where he was and prayed to the heavens, occasionally standing up to perform some bizarre dance. 

Looking closer at the large Wolf Clan banner on display, it included the image of a wolf in the process of devouring the sun, just like what was happening now. 

Add to that the boy’s alien appearance. None of them had seen a human being with hair or eyes like that before. 

Maybe he was the “something” that was eating the sun! 

“Sköll... Devourer of Blessings,” a soldier gasped. 

“He... he’s devouring the blessings of the sky!” another one cried. 

The majority of the soldiers drafted for these battles made their normal living as peasant farmers. From their perspective, the sun was the source of light and heat for their crops, the blessing of the sky. It was an object of both gratitude and fear, for it could also cause drought and famine. 

Controlling the sun at will was a feat impossible even for the holy Einherjar chosen by the gods. If this boy were capable of it, then— 

“I-is he really a messenger sent from the gods?” 

“Could this be divine punishment?” 

“Hey, is it really okay for us to keep fighting?” 

A sense of doubt and confusion suddenly began to spread among the Three Clan Alliance Army soldiers. 

People have a subconscious fear of the dark. As the light continued to vanish from the sky, the soldiers’ fear seemed to grow and spread in proportion to the darkness. 

The Alliance Army’s control over its men had begun to deteriorate. 

But there was one person who hadn’t lost his cool, and remarkably had managed to see through the Wolf Clan’s scheme. 

“Don’t panic, men!” shouted the Claw Clan patriarch, Botvid. “It doesn’t occur that often, but the sun being covered in blackness is something that’s been happening since ancient times. That black-haired boy is well-known for having all sorts of strange knowledge. He must have used that to predict this would happen, and now he’s just acting like he caused it, nothing more!” 

In cultures throughout ancient history, it was a common trend for the highest religious figure and the political ruler to be one and the same person. It was the same in Yggdrasil. In addition to being patriarch of his clan, Botvid was also the Claw Clan’s highest-ranking priest. 

He may not have previously known that it was possible to predict a solar eclipse, but he knew that there was actually a series of rules that governed the movements of heavenly bodies. This had been secretly taught to him by his predecessor, as part of the wisdom necessary for one who rules over the people. 

“This phenomenon won’t last long!” Botvid called. “Send out the word at once, and calm down our troops!” 

Botvid was a wily man who had tormented the Wolf Clan with his cunning many times. Handling and disseminating information was his forte, even if he wasn’t on the same level as his daughter Kristina. 

He fired off precise orders in rapid succession. Because of that incredible competence and skill, by the time the sun’s disc had become completely covered and the battlefield had become enveloped in dusky shadow, the panic among the Alliance Army soldiers had actually started to subside. 

And that was when it happened. 

The black-haired boy atop the tower abruptly swung his raised right hand downward in a powerful motion. 

There was a whoosh! as if something big was flying through the air... 

...and suddenly, a huge rock fell down from the sky. 

It landed a short distance from the Alliance Army encampment, impacting with a reverberating boom so powerful it felt as if the land itself had recoiled. 

It was the work of a trebuchet — a powerful fixed siege weapon. 

It worked on the “seesaw principle” of physics, using a heavy counterweight attached to one end of the lever to cause the other end to fly upwards and launch the payload. It was quite a simple device conceptually, but the oldest written records of its usage were from the Byzantine Empire in 1165 AD. 

From the perspective of civilization in Yggdrasil, it was an incredibly advanced weapon from over 2,500 to 3,000 years in the future. 

But in the world of 21st century Japan, there were detailed videos on the internet showing how to construct miniature versions of this “super technology” with chopsticks, glue, a small weight, and rubber bands. There were websites with diagrams and detailed explanations of how they worked. 

The largest versions of this weapon could launch a 140 kilogram stone as far as 300 meters. 

The Wolf Clan hadn’t been able to shoot for a model that size under such a massive time crunch, but they’d managed one that could launch a 100 kilogram stone far enough to hit the enemy troops. For the master craftswoman Ingrid, known as Ívaldi, the Birther of Blades, it had been possible to build one just by imitating the process in the video. 

When Yuuto later went on to conquer the fortresses and citadels of the Horn and Lightning Clans in very short amounts of time, it would be precisely because he had this weapon of unparalleled destructive power. 

The black-haired young man swung down his left hand. 

With another Whoosh!, a rock flew through the air again, this time bearing down directly towards the Alliance Army encampment. 

As was to be expected, the first shot had been off the mark. But Ingrid had used that shot to calculate and re-calibrate the aim, and now she was locked on. 

Even discounting the fact that trebuchets were easy to aim with to begin with, it was great work from her. Her reputation as greatest craftswoman in the Wolf Clan wasn’t for show. 

“Aaahhhh! The gods! It’s the rage of the gods!” a soldier screamed. 

“Forgive us! Please, forgive us...!” howled another. 

Shields and earthen embankments could defend against normal arrows. But there was no way to defend against such large and weighty objects crashing down with such momentum. 

With panic and commotion, the soldiers fled from the point of impact like ants scattering from a toppled anthill. 

Somehow none of them were crushed directly, but the slower ones among them were struck hard by flying bits of shattered stone from both the rock and the ground. 

The other soldiers of the Alliance Army all shuddered at the sight. There were even some who wet themselves in fright, or who prostrated themselves and began to pray for forgiveness. 

Because their surroundings were so dark, their eyes couldn’t perceive that the rocks were being launched from within the city walls. 

The rocks were clearly so large that even two or three full-sized adults would barely be able to lift them. The act of making those rocks fall accurately down on them from high in the air was something they couldn’t imagine being within the realm of human ability. 

To those soldiers, this could be none other than the work of the gods. 

And that was why Yuuto had added the trebuchet to his plan as insurance. 

“Waaaaauughhhh! Divine punishment, this is divine punishment!” a soldier howled. 

“What do you mean, ‘It won’t last long’?” another one screamed. “The gods just got even angrier!” 

“So our patriarch really has been doing something wrong!” 

“I don’t want to die because of him!” 

“At this rate, if I die here I might end up in hell!” 

“Run away, run away—!” 

“I can’t fight against the messenger of the gods!” 

Just as they had started to regain control of themselves, they had been shown another example of divine anger. 

The soldiers now believed without a shadow of a doubt that the gods had grown furious at the actions of the Three Clan Alliance Army, had hidden away the sun, and were now hurling meteors down at them. 

If they continued to remain the target of the gods’ anger, and the sun continued to remain covered... their crops wouldn’t grow, and they’d be forced to continue to live in this darkness. And if these meteors continued to fall, their houses might be destroyed, and they’d have to live every day looking up at the sky, afraid. 

That would be a living hell. 

The Alliance Army soldiers threw down their weapons, and began to flee in a desperate scramble. 

The field commanders shouted after their troops, attempting to pacify them. 

“Stop it! Don’t retreat!” 

“Calm down, men! Remain calm!” 

Normally, to the rank and file of the army, those field commanders were people of such higher station and authority that the very idea of defying their orders would have been frightening in itself. 

But the soldiers had already trusted in the words of their commanders once, and had just had that trust repaid with further punishments from the gods. Even at this very moment, more rocks were flying down in their direction, one after another. The voices of their commanders reached their ears, but no longer reached their hearts. 

The Alliance Army that numbered over six thousand had now lost its chain of command and fallen into pandemonium, with its soldiers fleeing for dear life. At this state of panic, not even a capable, veteran general would have been able to bring them under control. 

A clear, cold and dignified voice rang out, and the Wolf Clan troops emerged from the gates of Iárnviðr. 

“Forward! Forward! The heavens are on our side! Our last defeat was only because we didn’t have enough faith in the Gleipsieg! Believe in the Child of Victory with all your heart, and the Wolf Clan shall not see defeat again!” 

Leading the charge was a warrior maiden of divine beauty atop a horse, her bright silver hair streaming behind her. 

The Wolf Clan soldiers all as one let out an exultant battle cry. 

While this situation was a source of nothing but terror for the Alliance Army, for the Wolf Clan, it was terrifying proof that the gods had taken their side. There was no more hopeful reassurance than that. 

There was no longer a single member of the Wolf Clan forces that doubted they would be victorious. All of their fatigue had been washed away. Rather, they felt untold strength welling up from within themselves. 

With the force of an oncoming squall, the Wolf Clan charged into the Alliance Army. 

One one side, there was a group who believed they’d been granted the favor of the gods, losing all fear of death and transforming into berserkers. 

On the other side, there was a group who feared they had provoked the wrath of the gods, losing the will to fight and doing nothing but fleeing aimlessly. 

The fact that one side was six times larger had become nothing more than a trivial detail. 

Handily routing the enemy and driving them off, the Wolf Clan were swept up in the intoxication of their own triumph.

“Ah, the sun is...!” 

On a terrace in Valaskjálf Palace, in the center of Glaðsheimr, a young girl looked up at the sky and cried out in shock. 

Glaðsheimr was the capital city of the Holy Ásgar?r Empire, located three weeks of Iárnviðr by foot. 

Though the timing was slightly different, the eclipse was observable from here, as well. 

“‘At the time of Ragnarök, a wolf shall devour the sun, and the stars shall fall from the sky.’” The young girl recited the words from memory in a clear, resplendent voice. “‘The Black One, holding aloft a Sword of Victory forged from blazing flames, shall appear spurring his horse across the bridge spanning the heavens.’ ...I see.” 

It was one verse from a prophecy left behind from when the first divine emperor, Wotan, had instructed a greatly renowned völva to divine the future of the empire. 

This girl was the current divine emperor of the Holy Ásgar?r Empire. If one were to look back through the history of the empire, the strange phenomenon of a blackness blotting out the sun had occurred several times. Each time, the previous divine emperors had feared it might herald the arrival of the Black One. 

This girl, too, clutched herself with both arms and trembled with fear. 

“So, it has occurred in my generation. It is my first time seeing it, but it truly is sinister-looking. Hopefully the prophecy will go unfulfilled this time, as well...” 

It had been quite some time since the divine emperor had held enough real power to control and rule over all of Yggdrasil. A few vestiges of past authority were all that remained. 

This girl could do little more than pray.