The two women sprawled naked. Now I could recognize their identities as well.
Imelia Elsine Lawrence, the priestess infamous for her happiness circuit, and Irina Winter, the Kampf patroller whose every word made one want to teach her a lesson.
Both were original members of Friet’s party in the original work, and RDO characters who endlessly suffered in the novel as a price for betraying Friet.
Just like the original owner of this body, Brunhilde Eisenstein.
“Huu… This feeling… First time… Life… Loss…”
“Ahh… Even half-breeds… Quite…”
…It seemed that both women had already fallen and completely given in to Gunther. Judging by how they were muttering nonsense, completely out of their minds.
It was like that in the original game setting, and in the novel based on it. It seemed to be the same here too.
“If you have nothing to say, stop wasting time and start undressing. Or what, do you want me to undress you myself?”
And now, it’s my turn, is it?
Gunther’s green eyes, looking down at me, were filled with undisguised lust, a sense of superiority, triumph, and desire.
He had the face of a college senior who had gotten a pretty freshman drunk and sprawled out on a hotel bed.
The message in his gaze was clear enough for anyone to understand at a glance.
Like the other two women, he wanted me to take off everything I was wearing and lie down on the bed.
Just as the original Brunhilde had complied with his threats and offered her body, convincing herself it was unavoidable for the sake of the Eisenstein family.
…This is driving me crazy, really.
Not only was I possessed by an NTR character in a RDO novel, but the timing of the possession was right before I was about to moan under this trash of a man.
It was truly the worst possible timing for possession.
…
No, maybe not the worst?
Come to think of it, I don’t know who or what brought me to this place… but it seems they had at least a minimum, really minimum, conscience.
What nonsense am I talking about, you ask?
No, think about it.
If they had delayed the possession timing by just 10 minutes, I wouldn’t be in this intact state now, but would be lying in the middle of the bed with Gunther on top of me.
…Ugh.
Perhaps due to the vivid imagination that flashed through my mind, a chill ran through me and nausea welled up, making my head spin for a moment.
Really, I’m fortunate. Truly. If it had been 10 minutes later, there would have been no way to deal with the situation at all.
Unlike now.
“Whew…”
I gritted my teeth, tensed my whole body, and slightly bent my knees.
My thighs, filled with strength, bulged slightly, and the armor I was wearing made a creaking metal sound as it rubbed against itself.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be satisfied once we start, you know? Just like these girls. So, just give up and—”
Satisfaction, you say. That might be true for you.
“Eat shit.”
I showed him my middle finger while gripping the sword hilt at my waist with my other hand.
“Huh? What the hell are you… Wait, are you crazy?!”
Perhaps surprised by my sudden drawing of the sword.
“Kuk…! You crazy bitch, at this point!”
Gunther contorted his pimp-like face and lunged towards his holy sword that was leaning against the corner of the bed.
It was a golden opportunity.
What opportunity?
Isn’t it obvious?
Of course, an opportunity to escape!
Bang-!
I kicked off the marble floor with all my might, launching my tensed body like an arrow.
Crash!
Towards the window covered by the velvet curtain.
“The window?!”
Yes, this is my escape route!
The impact of an armored person crashing like a cannonball. The glass window, larger than my height, shattered with an incredibly sharp scream.
“No, what the hell…!”
Gunther’s bewildered voice brushed past my ears and faded away.
Beyond the shattered window frame, his dumbfounded face looking down at me was truly laughable.
I guess he didn’t expect me to run away?
I let out a laugh mixed with relief as I fell in a parabolic arc towards the street.
It was a success. At least the beginning.
Unlike Gunther’s misconception that I would swing my sword, from the start, I had only thought of escaping.
Isn’t it obvious? Although his personality is trash, at this point, unlike Friet, Gunther is a highly capable hero on the rise.
How could an ordinary person who had only lived reading novels possibly defeat such a guy? It’s nonsensical.
He was naked and empty-handed while I was in heavy armor and even had a sword, but still, I didn’t even think I could win.
For all I know, the moment I swung the sword, I might have been immediately subdued and pinned down.
If that happened, it would have been all over. In many ways.
That’s why I chose to run away.
Rather than swinging a sword I don’t even know how to use in an attempt to defeat a monster-slaying expert, isn’t it a hundred, thousand times better to run away with all my might?
That was the best and only measure I could attempt with this body, having never learned swordsmanship.
And so.
Boom!
Immediately after landing on the ground with a heavy thud, I threw off the curtain wrapped around my body and ran with all my might.
As fast as a deer with its tail on fire.
My body felt light as if it could fly, and even though I had broken through a glass window and jumped from a height of three stories like a scene from an action movie, I didn’t feel even a hint of pain.
Probably thanks to the curtain and armor. If I had been naked, broken glass would have cut and embedded itself all over my body, leaving me covered in bloody lines.
The fact that I was fine after jumping from the third floor, and running at some beast-like speed, must be thanks to Brunhilde’s body.
I guess it’s because she’s a knight belonging to a hero party. Even though this is probably still the early stages of the story, her physical specs were on a completely different level from ordinary people.
With each step kicking off the ground, my body moved forward smoothly, passing by startled pedestrians before they could even blink.
Like riding a scooter with the accelerator pulled on the road.
The speed was faster than expected. To the point where relief welled up naturally.
* * *
And so I ran. Without stopping even when I was out of breath. Until I reached the outskirts of the city near a deserted forest path.
“Haa… Haa…”
Is this far enough?
I plopped down next to a large tree, catching my breath. Massaging my aching thighs with both hands.
There was no pursuit. Or at least, it didn’t seem like there was.
I had broken through the city gate guards who tried to stop me by ramming them with my shoulder, so I was worried they might chase after me, considering me some kind of criminal…
But perhaps that was just my unnecessary concern.
Even as I sharply watched the direction I had come from and strained my ears, all I could hear were the cries and footsteps of forest animals. No sound of horse hooves or people’s curses could be heard from anywhere.
That’s a relief.
I let out a sigh of relief.
Whether they had given up on the pursuit or hadn’t pursued at all, at least it seemed I wouldn’t be caught and dragged away by soldiers.
Gunther?
I hadn’t worried about his pursuit from the start.
Although he showed his thug-like behavior in front of me, the Gunther from the novel was someone who obsessively cared about his reputation.
In other words, he put on all sorts of pretenses to appear as an upright and just hero in front of the public.
How could such a person openly chase after me running through the streets?
If he did, not just the city but the entire country would be in an uproar, with all sorts of rumors flying around.
Extracting a member from another hero party was barely within the acceptable range.
As long as it wasn’t discovered that he had used underhanded methods to extract them, he could explain it as those party members being ‘voluntarily’ transferred after being disappointed with their hero.
Actually, that’s not wrong.
The fact that Imelia, Irina, and Brunhilde abandoned Friet and transferred to Gunther’s party wasn’t due to threats or coercion, but their own choice.
The reasons were different for each of them… but well, that’s not something I need to recall right now.
There’s only one important thing.
For Gunther to maintain his image as a hero praised by the public like now, he needed to give the impression that the members of Friet’s party had voluntarily transferred.
That’s why he couldn’t chase after me.
If he openly engaged in a chase with me, suspicions would arise that I and the other members of Friet’s party might have been forcibly taken.
Hero parties are supposed to become the representative forces of each country someday.
For now, it might end with just cursing the three women who betrayed the Kingdom of Rhine and went over to Burgundy as traitors, but if rumors spread that Gunther had forcibly taken them…
Wouldn’t it lead to war? Probably.
If things deteriorated to that extent, it would also be a fatal flaw in the image Gunther had carefully cultivated.
So he couldn’t chase after me. At least not in front of others.