Last night. I tossed and turned as guilt crept in, knowing that I was deceiving Friede, yet I surrendered my body to her.
In a plot that twisted away from the novels I had read, surviving until the end seemed to be the only way.
Friede was overjoyed, believing that her love had finally borne fruit, but that was merely a delusion, having been tricked by my lies and acting.
I didn’t love her.
Looking at her face brought a smile out of me, her chattering voice sounded like a canary’s song, and being by her side gave me both support and a desire to protect her, but…
Well, it was more of a brotherly affection? Something like fondness?
Really, right?
Love is something far more intense than that. Even I, who had never experienced romance, knew that much.
Love means being blind to everything except that person, an emotion filled with longing and desire when apart.
It’s a passionate and extreme feeling where your heart races and you can barely breathe when you’re together.
So, what I felt for Friede was far from love. More like… well, admiration. It was closer to fondness.
That’s how it was. Probably.
It was my very first experience, utterly mundane and self-serving.
So even though I decided to allow Friede to have my body, I didn’t think it would be anything enjoyable.
I had heard somewhere that a relationship without affection is just hollow and dry.
…But then again, even with such self-serving reasons, it wasn’t without pleasure. In fact, far from it… It was… uh…
Incredible.
At some point, I completely forgot about the rational reasons and just begged for more until I finally fainted.
When I came to, it was morning.
“Ugh….”
As sunlight broke, I realized I was lying there, embracing Friede within her cloak. I raised my upper body, holding my face in my hands as I groaned.
The image of my actions from the previous night came back to me like a flash, filling my mind.
Tears streamed down my face from the unbearable stimuli, biting my tongue as I gasped, my face smeared with saliva.
It was such an intense night that my upper body, revealed by the slipping cloak, was adorned with reddish kiss marks and small bite marks.
It was so embarrassing that my face felt like it could catch fire. For me.
“Haah….”
I let out a sigh that felt like it could extinguish.
Hah, damn it.
I must be crazy. Seriously, insane. How could I say such things?
How could I look like that, in such a disgraceful and vulgar state?
As I shut my eyes in shame, memories resurfaced even more vividly.
The more I thought about it, the more my mental anguish deepened, so I shook my head left and right, trying to shake off the memories as I got up.
Shh.
A chilly breeze brushed against my bare skin. My lower half was no different from my upper body.
My legs, marked with various spots, were all red and bruised. The inside of my pelvis throbbed strangely, and my waist and thighs felt somewhat stiff.
But at least, it looked like there were no traces of sweat or water remaining, suggesting that while I had passed out, Friede might have wiped my body with some cloth before falling asleep.
“Gnnh….”
In the moment of being careless, the memories of last night came rushing back, and I bit my lip as I picked up my underwear lying on a makeshift wooden frame.
The top wasn’t so bad, but I figured the underwear and pants were in such a condition that it’d be hard to put them back on. However, thanks to drying overnight, it seemed wearable now.
It had a slightly fishy scent mixed with a strong lemony aroma, and it felt less like it was dried and more like it had been frozen….
‘…It can’t be helped.’
Being a fugitive, did I really have the luxury to be picky about things like that?
I hadn’t had time to prepare anything other than this, so I had only two choices left.
To either wear clothes stained with my own bodily fluids or to walk around as a disgraceful, exposed version of myself.
If those were the only options, wouldn’t anyone choose the former over looking like a total weirdo?
Names like ‘Shameless’ Brunhilde or ‘Exposed’ Brunhilde would make me crumble from the embarrassment and lose all will to live.
I might not even be able to die peacefully after that.
◆◆
After putting on some padded clothing over my underwear, I layered on my breastplate and shoulder guards, securing them tightly before calling out.
“…Friede. It’s time to wake up. It’s morning.”
I shook the still-soundly-sleeping Friede lightly.
Unlike me, who wore nothing but boots, Friede seemed to have discarded only her armor and clothes while still wearing her underwear.
Well, since I had fainted before she stripped, it made sense she wouldn’t have bothered to take it off completely; right?
“Uuugh….”
Friede groaned sleepily, shifting her body.
As her cloak slipped off her body, it revealed her pure white lower abdomen and the fabric between her legs.
‘…Black.’
Friede’s underwear was entirely black.
Fabrics dyed black adorned with fine embroidery.
The cloth wasn’t tight but seemed a bit sheer, contrasting starkly with my plain white underwear.
…Unexpectedly bold, wasn’t it?
You can never judge a book by its cover, after all.
With a face that suited teddy or bunny-themed panties, the stark contrast of her daring underwear made it feel a bit dizzying.
Anyway.
“Alright, time to get up, Friede. We can’t just hide here indefinitely. We need to move.”
I gently shook her once more, urging her to wake up. Finally, she seemed to awaken, letting out a soft groan as she opened her eyes.
“Uuugh… Hilde…?”
As soon as she woke, she snuggled into me, planting a kiss on my cheek, giving a shy smile; it felt kind of awkward, yet… a little cute.
For some reason, I felt a sweet taste in my mouth even without it touching. I couldn’t help but lick my lips subconsciously.
Then, I was startled, sitting up quickly.
What did I just do? Smiling as if savoring the sweetness, what were those actions? Was it some kind of temptation?
I must be out of my mind, seriously.
My face heated up in embarrassment.
Come on, pull yourself together, Hilde. You can’t let having tasted a woman’s pleasure turn your heart soft.
This isn’t even the time for such thoughts!
“Huuh.”
I fanned my flushed cheeks, letting out a quiet sigh. I promised to bury yesterday’s embarrassment deep underground in the depths of my mind.
◆◆
Having regained some composure, it seemed my memories of last night were suddenly shameful again.
Friede washed herself with melting snow water and blushed even more than usual every time she talked to me, fidgeting.
“Eheh….”
She occasionally turned her head away to avoid my gaze, giggling softly.
If she weren’t the one who knocked me out and a key character from the original story I had been trying to avoid, I might have found her cute.
“…Heheh.”
Well, um… I mean… if I had to say, she’s still cute right now, but that’s beside the point.
Of course, this wasn’t the moment to get carried away and pet her head just because she was adorable.
“Haah…”
So, I reflexively lowered my left hand, letting out a soft sigh.
I was trying to cool my burning face with some icy water, returning my thoughts to a rational state.
After cooling my head, it seemed my senses were starting to come back a bit too. Along with worries about the future.
Now, what am I supposed to do?
When I thought about it again, it felt hopeless.
I wasn’t ignorant about what I needed to do. If anything, the opposite; I felt overwhelmed by the number of things I had to do, unsure about where to start.
It felt as if I was just a kid finally grabbing summer vacation homework the day before school started.
What should I do?
Where to begin?
I racked my brain, going over the events of the novel and the settings from the game background that inspired it.
It had been almost ten months since I read the original novel, so my memories had gotten a little hazy, but I still remembered most of the crucial information vaguely.
The means the one who possessed the original Friet had chosen to get stronger.
The treasure and opportunities scattered worldwide.
The incidents he faced and the methods he used to solve them.
And even the personal details of the new allies he recruited to restore his power.
‘Recruiting new allies… Seems difficult right now.’
For now, I had no choice but to postpone getting new allies.
The original Friet could recruit three allies in total. The possessor managed to recruit two of them while completely ignoring the last one.
One of them was said to be a potential bomb that would lead to regret later on, only useful initially.
So, I had to choose either one of the remaining two or somehow recruit both, but unfortunately, neither were accessible to our current situation.
One was part of the religious order, making it impossible for us, who were fugitives, to approach. The other was a woman I needed to recruit after gaining sufficient power.
Recruiting her wasn’t impossible, but if I brought her into the party with low levels, we’d be annihilated by the enemies chasing after her.
I needed to at least surpass a level capable of defeating a troll to have any chance of going after her.
So, it was still too early. Too early.
‘Indeed, first, I need to strengthen myself.’
Despite deeply pondering this, there was no other way but to focus on gaining strength first. Whatever I did, I needed to have power before I could even attempt anything.
Of course, that’d only be something I could start after escaping further away first.
Not like I could leisurely hunt in dungeons with pursuers on my tail.
I wouldn’t even be allowed entry either.
After all, the deep dungeons were managed directly by the kingdoms, and I was unlikely to get near them. Most mid-level dungeons were swarming with adventurers, so I’d stand out immediately.
And the lower-level dungeons wouldn’t provide any help if I tried to clear them.
‘Seriously feeling lost here…’
Being a fugitive was the problem.
As long as I held that label, I’d inevitably face obstacles in whatever I tried.
But… Hah, seriously. How do I shake this off?
Should I proudly show up with the Holy Sword and explain that it was all a misunderstanding to the public? Sure, that’d get me off the wanted list.
And then, Gunther or Heid, who could pinpoint my location anytime, would surely be lurking, waiting for me.
Put simply, to rid myself of this “fugitive” label—albeit mixed with some truth—I first needed power.
So that when my enemies target me and set traps, I could crush through them head-on.
That was my first prerequisite to escaping this fugitive status.
…What a paradox it is.
To escape being a fugitive, I needed to grow strong. To grow strong, I needed to enter mid-level dungeons and face strong opponents.
But in order to enter dungeons, I had to escape this fugitive status first, right?
Seriously, no solution. None at all.
Of course, it wasn’t just dungeons; there were some opportunities from the novel that existed.
But those were impossible for now. Most of them required being a “Hero” or at least having a minimum fighting power to obtain.
Ah. There was one reasonable option…
But to get that, I’d need to escape from Hervor and return to the Kingdom of Rhine.
…Is that okay?
Honestly, I felt like I’d get captured and thrown into a dungeon the moment I stepped in.
If I explained myself well, since Friede was a Hero, she might be lenient, but I doubted they would let me go.
Why, you ask?
In a culture reminiscent of medieval society, just offending a prominent figure’s dignity is punishable by death.
Brunhilde was a notorious traitor who fled from the Hero Party and caused international disgrace to the king and nobles. I seriously doubted they would forgive a grave offender like me.
Even if there were evident reasons someone could agree upon.
It was irrational and absurd… but it is how the social class system operates.
In this world, either you accept it or leave.
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