In the northern continent, the Kingdom of Hervor is filled with snow-capped mountains that never reveal their secrets, even in summer.
Among the four human kingdoms, it was notoriously difficult to survive here.
Naturally, the majority of the kingdom’s people clustered in the relatively less cold lowlands, where cities could be built.
In other words, aside from the cities and their outskirts, most of the territory is a desolate wasteland where it’s hard to find anyone.
Thus, the territory of Hervor is dotted with countless ruins that have been left untouched for ages and have fallen into decay.
If there were dungeons, at least some adventurers would come by…
But otherwise, unless you’re an archaeologist driven mad by research papers, there’s no reason for anyone to set foot in these abandoned ruins.
One such ruin—a dark corridor of a forgotten site, sleeping in silence for centuries.
“Haha! Finally found you! The notorious wanted criminal, the Betrayer Knight Brunhilde!”
A shout filled with greed and malice awakens the stillness.
“The bounty is twenty gold coins, right? Guess the effort pays off.”
“Wooaaaah!”
A swordsman clad in a thick fur cloak and black iron armor stands ready. Behind him, a patrolman pulls back his bowstring.
A middle-aged man with an axe charges forward with a battle cry, and a young man guards himself with a large shield, aiming his spear forward.
“Word is she’s on the level of a mid-tier knight, but let’s all be careful, just in case.”
The silver badges hanging from their necks glimmer red under the lantern’s light.
A team of four adventurers. All of them silver-badge adventurers, a core force of the guild.
“…Twenty gold coins.”
A woman in a tattered cloak with a black hood turns to face them, mumbling.
She is the very reason they ventured to this desolate ruin.
“My bounty has indeed gone up.”
With lemon-colored hair and icy blue eyes, her expression was as cold as a frozen lake.
Cracked and torn plate armor bore congealed blood that had not been wiped away.
“Well, for that amount, it’s worth risking my life.”
“For you all.”
The international wanted criminal, the Betrayer Knight Brunhilde, had fled to Hervor after escaping capture, unlike the other two party members who had managed to clear their names due to their achievements in Burgund.
“Flapping your gums like you’re so great, you cowardly criminal who tried to ambush an old comrade and failed spectacularly!”
Once a comrade in the Kingdom of Rhine, she had attempted to assassinate the hero party who switched over to Gunther.
“That’s a false accusation… No one would listen to my explanation. That’s how it always is.”
Having been registered as a high-profile wanted criminal for such charges, the Betrayer Knight drew her sword, revealing ominous intent toward the adventurers.
“I’ll say this beforehand; if you run away, I won’t chase you. But if you don’t—”
“Wooaaaah!”
Before Brunhilde could finish her words, a middle-aged warrior with a golden beard swung his axe like a comet.
The black iron axe, capable of cleaving through steel, aimed to crush Brunhilde’s shoulder.
“…I have no choice but to kill.”
A black iron longsword, swung with double the speed, sliced through the axe handle, and at the same time, Brunhilde’s left hand slammed into the middle-aged warrior’s round helmet, crushing it.
“Gah…!”
With a scream, the middle-aged warrior was slammed against the corridor wall. Hot blood spilled from the shattered helmet.
A fractured skull, an eye knocked out from the impact. The middle-aged man was left trembling, close to losing consciousness.
“Olbar! Damn it, how could that hit take him out…!”
“Shit, I told you to be careful!”
The adventurers were stunned by the sight of their lead warrior being incapacitated in an instant.
However, as silver-badge adventurers known for their skills akin to those of kings’ knights, they quickly managed to shake off their shock.
While they were slightly aghast at the overwhelming strength that rivaled a troll, in the end, it was just a foe that could be taken down.
Considering how common it was for adventurers to get hit by trolls, this was not such a rare incident.
As long as they didn’t die instantly, they could recover with potions or divine miracles, but a well-placed blow could send even a silver-badge adventurer kicking the bucket in one hit.
“Hamill! Hold out like you’re facing a troll! Leon, check on Olbar!”
The silver-badge patrolman shouted as he released the bowstring.
With a grim expression, Hamill tightened his grip on his shield, and the swordsman rushed towards the crumpled Olbar.
To check if he was still alive, and if so, to douse him with potions to keep him breathing.
“Why won’t you run when I told you to?”
Brunhilde, glaring at the adventurers with cold eyes, deflected three incoming arrows with her longsword while letting out a sigh.
“Haaah!”
In that instant, Hamill dove right in, protected by his black iron shield, lunging forward with his spear.
The spear itself was just an ordinary black iron spear, but the shield was likely enchanted—faint magic swirled around its surface.
“…Well, if you were willing to give up twenty gold coins, you probably wouldn’t be adventuring in the first place.”
Brunhilde, lashing her sword like a whip, sent sparks flying as spear and sword clashed together.
With each collision of black iron, thunderous booms reverberated, shaking the cold air, and Hamill winced with each step he was forced back.
“Ugh…! What strength…!”
“Just hold on somehow!”
As all three arrows fired ricocheted off, the patrolman changed tactics, shooting one arrow at a time with greater precision.
Instead of aiming for a direct strike, he took a more arching approach, trying to carve through from the sides.
Despite being overwhelmed by Hamill’s strength, Brunhilde occasionally redirected her sword to fend off the arrows, but she couldn’t block them all.
A couple of arrows, slipping past in the gaps between their strikes, carved long gashes into her armor, further damaging her tattered steel plates.
“Leon! How’s Olbar doing?”
Even while relentlessly shooting arrows, the patrolman continued issuing commands, keeping an eye on the team’s movements.
“He’s still breathing! He can’t fight anymore, though!”
The swordsman confirmed Olbar’s heartbeat and breathed sighs of relief while pouring potions onto the unconscious warrior’s face.
“That’s good! Help us out!”
“Got it!”
After finishing up Olbar’s emergency treatment, Leon charged towards Brunhilde.
As Hamill and the patrolman held Brunhilde at bay, Leon swooped in from behind with a massive sword in hand.
Whoosh!
The black iron greatsword cut through the air with a thundering sound. A deadly strike capable of cleaving through a troll’s arms aimed for Brunhilde’s leg.
‘I got her!’
The swordsman, Leon, was sure of his victory.
There was no way to dodge such an attack without leaping, but jumping in close combat was akin to signing your death warrant.
He could clearly envision Brunhilde losing a leg and collapsing to the ground.
Once she was down, it’d be a matter of breaking the remaining three limbs and dragging her off with ropes.
Then, after handing her over to the heroes Gunther or Heid, who had placed the bounty on her head, he could expect a reward of at least twenty gold coins.
The shimmering gold coins filled him with thrill.
“How dare you—!”
Just as a loud, boisterous voice erupted from the corridor side, a dazzling ray of crimson light shot towards Leon, ready to cleave him in half.
“Leon—!”
“What the hell is that?! A mage?! There was a mage?!”
From his crown to his ankles, Leon was sliced vertically, spilling his insides as he fell.
The sudden horror left Hamill and Bron aghast, mouths agape, as they stared towards the direction the deadly light came from.
“…I told you to run. Now it’s too late.”
Brunhilde clicked her tongue, glancing at the girl with black hair, flying like a furious raven.
The owner of the Holy Sword Nibelung, the Hero Siegfriede.
To the adventurer party who had been tailing her, believing the assassination attempt on the hero party was solely her doing, this was an unexpected and formidable interruption.
It would also be their last.
======[ Hilde ]======
“Hah…”
It’s over. Another total annihilation.
It didn’t take long for the silver-badge adventurer party chasing after me to be wiped out.
Friede, who had effortlessly sliced the knight in black armor in half, bolted toward the patrolman with the fury of a storm and quickly butchered him.
Meanwhile, I had impaled the young man, who was clinging desperately to his shield, with my spear.
In a fight against a single troll, they would have easily prevailed. But once it turned into a battle of this scale, their deaths were already sealed.
“Huh…”
I lightly shook the blood-soaked black iron longsword and sat down on the remnants of the broken corridor, letting out a short sigh.
I was tired.
Whether it was from the sudden battle or just the situation itself, I wasn’t sure.
“Are you okay, Hilde?”
Friede, who had confirmed the execution of the consciousness-fainting middle-aged warrior by taking his head, summoned her sword and skipped over to me.
“…Yeah, I’m fine.”
Forcing a smile, I nodded.
My tattered armor had sustained a bit more damage, and I was somewhat worn out, but I wasn’t seriously hurt.
“That’s a relief.”
Friede smiled back at me, wiping the bloodstains off my cheek as she approached.
“Don’t get hurt, okay?”
Then she kissed me on my slightly weathered lips, which had become somewhat rough from living on the run.
“Mmm…!”
An oddly sweet scent suddenly filled the air.
Friede’s breath flowed in through our lips.
With her soft flesh probing between my teeth, it nudged my jaw gently.
A signal to open my mouth. I closed my eyes and finally parted my tightly shut lips, allowing Friede’s tongue to slip inside.
I couldn’t refuse anymore. Not now.
After we fled together, unable to return to the city right after fending off Imelia and Irina.
“Mmm, ugh… Hah, huff…!”
As our tongues intertwined, a fragrant sweetness enveloped us. Saliva dripped down, soaking my dry lips.
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