=====[ Ord Zenbel ]=====
“Ugh…”
Ord Zenbel, the fourth finger of the Guma Abyss Society, closed his eyes and let out a low groan. His connection with the familiar he was sharing senses with had been severed due to the familiar’s death.
The Betrayer Knight, Brunhilde, had not only betrayed her own country and the hero party she had been a part of but had also coldly rejected their offer for cooperation from the Guma Abyss Society.
To live solely for betrayal? What a literal embodiment of treachery!
Ord never saw this coming.
He had sent a doppleganger as a decoy just in case of potential danger, but the risks he imagined were solely related to being discovered by other enemies before encountering Brunhilde. He never expected her to betray him directly.
Brunhilde was now a wanted criminal with nowhere to turn. He never imagined she would refuse an offer from someone in the same predicament.
‘Damn it, she chose betrayal in that situation? What on earth was she thinking…?’
This betrayal was utterly unreasonable. The only tenuous support Brunhilde had was the lifeline thrown by the Guma Abyss Society. If she brushed that aside, her fate could only go in one of two directions: disappear into the depths of the mountains and live quietly as if dead, or be relentlessly hunted down and executed.
Brunhilde surely understood this outlook. If she could think at all, she should have accepted the hand extended to her.
Not using that outstretched hand as bait to take off the doppleganger’s head.
‘Was she completely thoughtless…? No way, she can’t be that stupid. A former kingdom knight and a member of the hero party? Surely she can’t be…’
Ord let out a deep sigh.
They say that when faced with overwhelming confusion, one doesn’t even feel anger anymore. He was in such a state of disappointment and bewilderment that anger felt pushed to the back.
Losing a doppleganger didn’t matter, but failing to recruit Brunhilde was a dire situation.
His plan to use her to eliminate Heid was half-sunk before it even began.
Still, that was a failure he could recover from somehow. Having Brunhilde would have made things a bit easier, but luring the Kingdom of Rhine’s troops into a trap was something that could be done even without her.
The real problem Ord faced, the reason he had to sigh in despair was…
‘…Was it because I left the persuasion to the doppleganger? I leaked too much information.’
The doppleganger he sent as a decoy had carelessly spilled most of the operational plans to the enemy.
Ord was confident he would never have made such a blunder himself. However, the doppleganger, despite perfectly mimicking Ord’s memories and thought patterns, made such a foolish mistake.
A potentially catastrophic error that could ruin the entire operation.
In fact, this happened because Ord’s vague command was to “find Brunhilde and persuade her to join our side.”
Those monsters bound to his will prioritized fulfilling their master’s orders. Since Ord told the doppleganger to recruit Brunhilde, it had taken a drastic step of exposing the plan just to persuade her.
Ord himself would never admit this was due to his ambiguous orders.
Either way, the situation had occurred, and the burden of cleanup now rested solely on Ord’s shoulders.
In order to manage this potential crisis that could derail the entire plan, Ord concluded that…
‘…I should just keep my mouth shut.’
Surprisingly, it meant doing nothing.
Not mobilizing all the remaining monsters to find and silence Brunhilde, not reporting this to the other executives, just shutting his mouth and keeping silent.
Truly the conclusion befitting an Abyss Priest.
“There’s no point reporting it; I’d just make my own situation awkward. Better to prepare for an escape and slip away quietly if things get tangled.”
A mindset where camaraderie was nowhere to be found, treating even allies as competitors, and just thinking about saving oneself.
…Well, it was an obvious conclusion from Ord’s perspective.
Even among the Abyss Society, the other Abyss Priests would sharpen their knives if they spotted any weaknesses.
Right from the start, Ord had poured scorn and ridicule on Ariane after her subordinate was captured by Heid and leaked confidential information.
Because of that incident, Ariane had to step down from her rank as the second-in-command.
Now fearing that the same scorn would be directed back at him, Ord had no desire to report the truth.
And two days later.
At a meeting of the Abyss Priests gathered in one place, Ord reported that while he succeeded in tracking Brunhilde, he failed to recruit her as her wariness was too high.
That alone earned him a modicum of mockery, but it was a price he could bear. He didn’t even breathe a word about the plan being leaked, so his standing within the organization remained stable.
A fortunate moment. Only for Ord.
=====[ Hilde ]=====
The next morning.
As I woke up, the sight before me was the face of a girl lying like a doll with my right arm as her pillow.
Her long eyelashes softly fluttered as she held my left hand with both of hers, gently bringing it to her slightly parted lips.
She seemed so deeply asleep that just looking at her made me want to smile.
You know, like when a baby cat or puppy curls up and sleeps, it’s so cute that it just makes you grin?
That kind of feeling.
Really, being this quiet… it’s honestly adorable. Just like a little angel from a cartoon or video game.
Though when night falls, she becomes nothing short of a fallen angel.
“Hmmm…”
I let out a light moan as I stretched my stiff body and carefully pulled my arm away to rise, trying not to wake Friede.
Leaving the cave could wait a little longer; I planned to let her rest a bit more.
“Uuuh…”
Of course, even that cautious movement seemed to disrupt her deep sleep, as Friede stirred and twitched, her eyelids fluttering.
“Please… don’t leave me… stay by my side… Hilde…”
…What kind of sleep talk is this? If someone heard it, they’d think I was some parent abandoning a child.
“Sigh…”
I sank back down next to her and let out a small sigh.
Listening to her plea not to be abandoned made my heart feel heavy.
What can I say, it felt like looking down at a shivering stray dog caught in the rain?
Should I be saying this is pitiful or sad? Actually, thinking about it, aren’t those both essentially the same?
Anyway, ignoring her left a prickly feeling in my chest.
Anyone would feel that way in my shoes.
A girl, looking so youthful, pleading not to be left behind; it would be inhumane to just act like I didn’t hear her.
Of course, Friede wasn’t some fragile little girl but a hero wielding a massive greatsword, yet sympathy often hinges more on appearances than reality. I was no different.
“Okay, okay. I’m right here. It’s alright.”
So, I cautiously lifted her head and placed it on my thigh, gently stroking her hair and whispering softly.
“Don’t worry…”
“Please don’t leave…”
“Don’t worry. Where would I go without you? I’m not leaving. I’ll never abandon you. So, just relax.”
My soft reassurances could change even the content of her dreams, filled with gentleness and warmth.
After repeating this a few times, Friede’s frown faded into a smile, a tiny grin appearing at the corners of her mouth.
I looked down at her smiling face and couldn’t help but chuckle.
Maybe my real calling was in service jobs? With skills like these, I’d be a top candidate in any field, don’t you think?
If only I could have left comments like this on the works of that lazy author, I might have prevented his hiatus.
Thinking back, I feel like I had about 30% influence on that author’s decision to stop.
No, make that 20%… no, no. Let’s just say 10%.
30% is too high. Either way.
Anyway, as I stroked Friede’s hair for a while longer, it wasn’t long before her eyelids gently rose.
“Uh-huh…”
Her golden eyes, resembling melted gold, looked up at me through a hazy gaze.
A few seconds later, after blinking a couple of times, Friede broke into a beaming smile and stretched her arms out to embrace my face.
“Hildeee…”
Then, in a sleepy voice, she muttered my name and pulled my head down to kiss my cheek.
It was a moist morning.
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