“We’ve found the wolf rock… what’s next?”
“We go down. To the ruins under the river.”
I answered while taking off the uncomfortable dress and putting on the tattered quilted jacket overlaid with torn plate armor.
Friede spread her fingers, which she had forcibly washed clean, pointing to our next destination.
Like looking up at the night sky while drunk, a faint blue color spread between the undulating black waves on the river surface.
The pale moonlight that hadn’t fully risen seeped in, draping pale threads.
I swallowed dry saliva. A feeling similar to when I first entered a dungeon. Expectation and tension rose simultaneously, pounding in my chest.
Is what awaits me down there the hope I desire? Or an empty void with nothing?
It was time to check for myself.
“Huuu…”
I took a deep breath, filling my chest with night air, then kicked off the riverbank and leaped into the river water.
* * *
Darkness like an abyss where even the bottom couldn’t be seen.
I grabbed Friede’s hand, who had jumped in after me, and sank towards the bottom of the Rhine River, using the moonlight scattered and reflected like thin threads as a guide.
Perhaps thanks to the armor I was wearing? The surface I glanced up at receded rapidly. I was descending literally like falling.
Towards the bottom that couldn’t be seen with the eyes in the increasingly cold river water.
Several minutes passed like that.
Thud.
Along with the sensation of something blocking the pauldron facing downwards, a cloud of sand that suddenly rose up lightly brushed past my face.
Is this the bottom? It was deeper than I thought. I didn’t know the actual depth, but it felt like about 300 meters.
I tapped Friede, who had somehow clung to me, to let her know we had reached the river bottom, then felt around the bottom to balance myself as I stood up.
‘Alright, we’ve reached the bottom of the river according to the novel, next is…’
After straightening up Friede, who was staggering, unable to keep her balance due to her light body, I took off one gauntlet, tucked it into my side, and drew the dagger at my waist.
To let those sleeping somewhere here know.
That I had come here.
That Brunhilde Eisenstein, of the Eisenstein lineage, had appeared before them.
* * *
Swish.
The razor-sharp dagger traced a long line on my forearm, carving a bright red wound. The blood that flowed out mixed with the river water and spread like mist.
“…!”
Friede grabbed my shoulder with wide eyes. She was so surprised that bubbles flowed out between her parted lips.
Ah, come to think of it, I didn’t tell her that my blood was needed. I forgot.
I smiled as if to reassure her and wrote a short sentence on the back of her hand with my finger.
‘It’s, o, kay.’
A sentence saying there was no problem and to be at ease.
There was no reason to be so surprised in the first place. It’s not like I was trying to commit suicide, why would I be crazy enough to touch major blood vessels like arteries or veins?
The dagger had only grazed the skin and some capillaries. Even children don’t die from such wounds. They might cry and say they’re dying, but still.
Honestly, it stings terribly.
Anyway, after calming Friede like that, I lightly pressed my forearm to squeeze out blood, mixing it with the river water, and waited for something to happen.
After several tens of seconds.
After waiting with strained eyes as if trying to pierce through the darkness where it was difficult to see even an inch ahead.
Whoosh!
As if finally sensing something, Friede quickly turned around and reached out air to summon Nibelung.
Has something finally appeared?
I drew the longsword at my waist and turned my head to look around.
The aquatic plants and pebbles spread on the river bottom, fish fleeing hurriedly somewhere, small crustaceans hiding between rock crevices.
Everything was so clear.
Because the amber light emitted by Nibelung was driving away the darkness spread like a veil, illuminating everything around with brilliant light.
Ah, that’s right.
Come to think of it, if we had summoned the holy sword from the start, there would have been no need to strain our eyes trying to see in the darkness.
Why didn’t I think of that, am I really thick-headed…?
…Well, yes. Let’s say it was because my head wasn’t working properly due to tension.
No, that’s right. I’m not thick-headed. I was just a bit too tense. Of course.
Of course, it was a situation where I couldn’t help but be tense now. Just look at how Friede had drawn her holy sword.
It means a situation requiring the holy sword was approaching. This is.
Wooong!
Sure enough, a dull rumble resembling a drum sound flowed through the river water, conveying a warning to me.
A warning that something was beginning.
A warning that something was approaching.
And then.
Grrrrrk…!
Guuuu….
Kigigik…!
Faint cries gradually drawing closer. Perhaps because it was underwater, the bizarrely distorted and muffled tones felt somewhat eerie.
Those cries gave me certainty. Certainty that I had come to the right place. As evidence that the ‘ruins’ I was looking for existed ahead.
I tapped Friede’s shoulder to turn her head towards me, then opened my mouth, pointing with my sword tip in the direction the cries were coming from.
‘Let’s go. That way.’
Friede nodded.
And so we swam forward along the river bottom, relying on the light of the holy sword. Using the increasingly closer monstrous cries as our guide.
We might have advanced about a hundred meters.
Graaah…!
Along with the cries that had become much clearer, bubbles suddenly burst forth and surged towards us like a wave.
Found it.
I raised my longsword and stared beyond the bubbles.
Glistening flesh dyed reddish by the light of the holy sword amid the bubbles raised by violent movements.
“Isine…stein….”
Rusty and tattered chain mail turned to rags. Slippery flesh swollen and decayed in water. Crustaceans and fish embedded here and there in the rotting skin.
Eyeballs protruding like snail antennae on both sides of the half-collapsed head were glaring at me with burning blue light.
「 Drowned Undead 」
That was certainly its name in the novel.
Despite its disgusting appearance, it was a monster not much different from ordinary undead – revenants, except that its habitat was deep underwater.
Since it’s an undead revived with magic, it moves underwater no differently than on land, making it a bit tricky to deal with.
“Val…kyrj…aaaah!”
As expected, it’s fast.
The undead charged forward, kicking up a cloud of sand from the river bottom.
More than ten bloated monsters, by rough count, swarmed towards us like moths gathering around a bonfire.
Their rusty spears and swords cut through the river water. As if the river water itself was parting for them.
I fiercely swung my raised longsword to parry their spears and swords, meeting them head-on.
My movements were slower than usual due to the water pressure… but that’s not enough for me to be pushed back by these things.
Wooong!
Rusty spears and cracked longswords clashed violently, scattering bubbles.
I sharply twisted my wrist to deflect the undead’s spear caught on the blade’s edge, then extended my arm to pierce its head.
The sword tip burst through the rotten head into the river water with a mushy sensation. Black blood dripped in dots.
Following that, as I kicked its abdomen and shook off the blade sideways, the undead’s head split open like a pomegranate, spilling its contents which floated up buoyantly.
Good, that’s one down.
I immediately turned to block another undead’s sword with my gauntlet, grabbed the blade and pulled it sharply while smashing its skull with the pommel of my longsword.
The undead, struck by the devastating blow, collapsed with only its neck remaining, then sank and disappeared as if being sucked under the river bottom.
Two down.
While I took down two undead like that, Friede had vertically sliced the sixth undead by swinging her holy sword to shoot out amber-colored sword energy.
Befitting a holy sword, the way the undead were cleanly cut just by the blade grazing them was honestly a bit enviable.
Really, when will I get a sword like that?
The original Brunhilde did obtain weapons not inferior to holy swords later on, but it was still a long way off to get my hands on those.
The weapon Brunhilde had been granted by the Rhine royal family had long since been sold off early in my possession because too many people would recognize it.
If I had known I would be exposed like this anyway, I shouldn’t have sold it.
Although it couldn’t be compared to Nibelung, it was still a sword on par with Irina’s bow or Imelia’s holy symbol.
Thinking about it now, I felt so regretful it almost made me sigh out loud.
Yes, it’s certainly regrettable, but…
…Hah, to feel regret now after selling it myself, it’s honestly a laughable situation.
There’s a saying in this world too about treating your weapon like your lover, but at this rate, I’m like a guy who broke up first but then goes whining to get back together after a few months.
Honestly, there’s no greater embarrassment than that, right? So, I decided not to regret the sword I had already parted with anymore.
It’s not like I could get it back anyway, and I might get an even better sword later on.
It will take some time though. And some hardship too.
“Grrrrrr…”
Anyway, now wasn’t the time to regret such things.
It was time to cut down the undead whose numbers were steadily increasing and advance forward.
Towards the ruins beyond the source where the undead that had awakened to the scent of my blood were originally sleeping.