Once we had the boat, there was no reason to stay in the city any longer.
We immediately left the city, loaded the armor and luggage we had hidden by the riverbank onto the boat, and started flowing south relentlessly on the main stream of the Rhine River.
We didn’t even need to row. Just sitting still was enough for the current to carry us forward at full speed.
It felt like riding a flume ride at an amusement park.
We only had to briefly grab the oars to change direction when we were about to collide with other boats or drift towards the riverbank.
“Boating on the river… it really feels like I’ve become a noble lady. Though it’s a bit of a shame there’s not a single point of moonlight.”
Friede, sitting next to the oar, muttered while pressing down her hair fluttering in the river breeze.
Perhaps due to her bright smile and flushed face, it briefly evoked a scene from a romantic movie, like a secret meeting between lovers.
“Well, maybe we should be grateful for that…? If the moon was bright, we wouldn’t have dared to sneak in like this.”
In reality, it was far from a romantic movie, literally an isekai-style armed guerrilla infiltration operation.
* * *
Just as there are borders in plains and mountains, there are boundaries and divisions between countries even on the steadily flowing river.
At the boundary line where one crosses from Hervor into the territory of the Kingdom of Rhine, there was a massive bridge cutting across the Rhine River.
A stone bridge erected as if to say, ‘This is Rhine Kingdom’s waters, don’t think of entering carelessly.’
A bridge that had become literally close to a fortress, with its upper part covered in palisades and watchtowers, and thick iron chains installed between each arched pillar.
That was the final gateway we had to cross to enter the Kingdom of Rhine by river.
“Ugh… hey, Miss Hilde. Will it really go well according to the plan…?”
Friede, looking at the bridge from a distance, whispered to me in a slightly trembling voice as if suppressing her anxiety.
We had drifted here safely according to plan, but she was wondering if we could really pass through that bridge without any problems like we had so far.
Well… honestly, I wasn’t sure either.
I had made a breakthrough plan in advance, but it’s not like I was confident about it.
Theoretically, there shouldn’t be any problems, but with so many variables in the world, it’s rare for things to go perfectly according to theory.
“Um… yeah, it’ll go well. Because you’re here, Friede.”
But I couldn’t show my anxiety at this point. If we started worrying before even beginning, wouldn’t it just increase the chances of failure?
At least that’s what I thought. So, I gently patted Friede’s head and showed a soft smile meaning it would go well.
“Ah, uh, yes. J-just trust me…!”
Friede clenched her fists with flushed cheeks.
It was almost the first time she had received such trust from Brunhilde, so her expression said she would definitely prove her worth and repay that trust.
“What’s with the sudden formality. I always trust you.”
“Hieek…?!”
When I lightly kissed her cheek along with a lover-like remark, Friede let out a strange groan and squirmed.
It was my way of encouragement to boost her confidence and will. This much should have completely blown away any tension or anxiety.
Honestly, it’s a bit embarrassing to act out lines and behavior like a heroine from a novel… no, this is nothing. What wouldn’t I do if it could increase our chances of success?
It’s ridiculous to feel embarrassed about this in the first place. It’s not like it’s the first or second time I’ve fainted after taking off my clothes and intertwining bodies.
Compared to that, kissing her cheek was really nothing.
“Ehehe…”
Even the last traces of embarrassment that remained like an afterglow completely disappeared the moment I saw Friede smiling broadly with both hands on the cheek where my lips had touched.
No, why does everything this girl does look so cute? I don’t think it was this much before.
Have I grown so fond of her that everything looks pretty after intertwining bodies several times?
To the point where my taste has completely changed to a preference for gloomy black-haired girls?
…How scary.
I shuddered anew. They say the scariest affection is bodily affection, and I wondered if that saying was really true.
No, really, get a grip, Hilde. If you fall in love too, you’ll really become the heroine, the heroine.
It becomes irreversible.
Becoming a woman’s body, allowing my body to Friede, was unavoidable… but I decided not to let my heart become a heroine too, right?
The only way to remember my former self, which now leaves no trace and whose memories are starting to fade, is to not let my heart become a woman’s too.
I mustn’t forget that resolution from back then.
“Ehehe… Miss Hildeeee. I love, love youuuu…”
……
…Should I just forget it?
I sighed while embracing Friede, who had thrown herself into my arms.
It was a moment when my feelings became complicated in many ways.
* * *
Crack!
The wooden boat that was once old man Heinz’s only hope creaks with a painful scream. Scattering its wooden bones and flesh on the river.
On the river, not far from the bridge. We were crushing the outer surface of the boat in the darkness beyond the sight of the guards.
The boat, which had at least maintained its outward appearance until now, was becoming like garbage swept away by the current after losing its owner.
Of course, we didn’t touch the bottom part submerged in water, as it would be troublesome if it really became garbage.
Why are we suddenly doing such a strange thing, you ask? Of course, it’s to pass through that bridge safely. This was our disguise for that purpose.
“…Alright. This much smashing should be enough. Let’s start preparing.”
I threw the wooden pieces I had torn off with force into the river and picked up the luggage bag tied with a waterproof cloth, pointing at the river.
A heavy luggage bag containing armor, dresses, food, and the like. Strong ropes were tightly binding the luggage bag.
“Hah… I did want to swim with Miss Hilde someday… but not like this…”
Friede sighed lightly while looking down at the rolling river. Like me, she was also in thin underwear.
It couldn’t be helped. Since we had to swim in an uncomfortable position for quite a while from now on, we had to minimize unnecessary energy consumption as much as possible.
“I’ll do it for you next time. For now, let’s get in.”
“Oh, um… it’s a promise, a promise!”
Friede smiled with a suddenly brightened face as if she had never sighed, and quietly threw herself into the river as if sliding.
Alright, then I’ll go too.
“Huuuu…!”
I took a deep breath, inflating my lungs fully, then followed Friede into the Rhine River.
A quiet splash. Cold and fierce currents wrap around my entire body. I immediately stretched out one hand upwards to grasp the bottom of the boat to support my body.
While tying the rope I was holding in my other hand to the bottom of the boat like an anchor.
…Whew. Done. I almost got swept away or sank.
The current was stronger than I thought. Colder too.
It’s fortunate that we were accustomed to Hervor’s severe cold; if we had dunked Kikel in here, he would have fallen asleep instantly and never woken up again.
‘Ah, right. What happened to Friede? Surely she didn’t get swept away…’
Tap tap.
Just as I was about to look around urgently, worried that Friede might have been swept away by the current, familiar fingers lightly poked my back.
Fingers whose sensation, shape, and even taste had been engraved in my body from being used for so many purposes.
When I turned my head back, Friede was looking at me and grinning with her cheeks puffed out from holding her breath.
That’s a relief. She didn’t get swept away. I was worried for a moment.
If that’s the case, all that’s left is to drift to the chains like this.
Friede and I began to carefully move our feet towards the bridge while firmly grasping the bottom of the boat.
In the pitch-black river water where not even the moon had risen.
There was no way the soldiers, who were only looking down from the high bridge relying on torches, could notice us.
Even if they shone light on the river surface, the shadow of the boat would hide us.
* * *
After continuing like that for several minutes, the reflection of the iron chains began to shine clearly through the rippling water surface.
We’re almost there.
It felt like about eight minutes. Thanks to briefly raising my head once in the middle to take a breath, I wasn’t suffocating.
Alright, this should be possible.
I tapped Friede’s shoulder, indicating that we should start slowing down a bit. If we crashed into the iron chains at this speed, the boat would be smashed.
Friede nodded and began to slow the boat’s speed by swinging the oar she had been carrying on her back forward, as if splashing water.
I moved my body to the bow of the boat and focused all my attention on the approaching iron chains with one arm stretched forward.
Not yet, not yet. Not yet… Now!
Just before the bow of the boat touched the iron chains, at that very moment, I awakened the power of Iron Arm and grabbed both the boat and the chains with both arms to push.
Clang-!
For an instant, a shock that felt like my shoulder blades would be pushed into my collarbone flowed through my outstretched arms.
‘Aargh…!’
I endured the pain that felt like lightning flowing through my arms, gritting my teeth while mentally groaning.
Completely offsetting the impact of the collision with my own strength, so that the boat would not be shattered but stop by getting caught on the iron chains.
Creak, kigigigigik…!
Wood and iron screech in harsh friction. A friction sound, not a rupturing sound. It was the sound of the suddenly stopped boat being scraped as it caught on the iron chains.
‘Good, it didn’t break!’
Joy that made me forget even the pain in my shoulders and arms.
Smiling with joy that everything was falling into place according to plan, I dove back under the boat and waited quietly with Friede.
“Ah, shit. That scared the hell out of me. What’s that boat? Which bastard is messing around with a boat at this hour?”
We waited for the moment when the soldiers, startled by the noise of the chains scraping the bow, would check the situation and let the garbage caught on the chains flow past the river.