The next day.
As the dawn sun hanging on the horizon began to dye the desolate forest with fresh colors, we woke up, packed our things, and returned towards the ruins.
Taking a route that slightly avoided the scene where the undead giant would be lying.
“There’s a corpse here too. I wonder if they were killed while fleeing?”
“Probably. Judging by the arrow in their knee.”
Corpses of adventurers were scattered like milestones along the way. Though not in great numbers, it was enough to provide a decent side income.
We searched the adventurers’ belongings, pocketing their money pouches, and picked up swords or axes that looked of good quality, stuffing them into our backpacks.
I wanted to strip and take everything that could be sold, but unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.
Since the carriage contract had been canceled, we would have to walk back to the city, and if our luggage became too heavy, it would be cumbersome in many ways.
Therefore, we had no choice but to carefully select and take only things that weren’t too heavy but would definitely fetch a good price when sold.
“H-Hilde. You need a helmet, right…?”
“Ah, thank you, Friede.”
I took the metal helmet Friede handed me, wiped the inside with a cloth, and then pressed it onto my head.
True to its Nordic style that only covered the head and eyes, it was open below the nose, but that was better than nothing.
People are usually hard to recognize even with just half their face covered, so this should be enough to hide my identity.
* * *
The area around the ruins we returned to had an atmosphere reminiscent of a field hospital that had been terrorized. In the sense that ominous anger and funeral-like gloom coexisted.
Some paladins were interviewing the returned adventurers, while other paladins were busily digging through and moving aside the ruins debris that had blocked the dungeon entrance.
I went to find the paladin in charge of interviewing and reported about what had happened.
The appearance of the ‘real’ Abyss Priest, the betrayal of some adventurers and the emergence of the undead giant, and the desperate escape that followed.
Excluding only the truth that we had taken down the Abyss Priest and the undead giant.
It didn’t take long.
While other parties needed thorough interrogation to verify their non-betrayal, our party didn’t need to go through such a process.
“Ah, this young lady is not a traitor.”
There were some among the adventurers who had returned to the ruins who recognized my voice.
They said that although they couldn’t see my face because it was the middle of the night, I was the only female warrior in armor alongside a little kid, so they could tell just from my voice and silhouette?
“You know, that new Abyss Priest that appeared? This young lady was the first to fight him. Though she lost him after a short while.”
“Hmm, is that so…? I apologize for the rudeness. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Thanks to them testifying that I had engaged in combat with the Abyss Priest, I was immediately recognized as not being a traitor without going through complicated verification procedures.
Perhaps because of the story that I had fought briefly with the Abyss Priest, they did ask if I knew who had subjugated the undead giant…
“What…? Wasn’t it the paladins who dealt with it?”
“…If you don’t know, that’s fine.”
When I feigned ignorance, they didn’t particularly press further. It seemed they didn’t even imagine that I might have killed it.
Anyway, after finishing the report like that, I asked the paladin if he could process the request as completed since we wanted to return to the city now.
Reasoning that if the undead giant and Abyss Priest were indeed dead, there would be no more need for adventurers to step in.
“Hmm…”
The paladin hesitated a bit, stroking his chin beard, but then said it should be fine and signed the request form as completed.
In fact, we had failed to protect the ruins, and many priests had died, so normally it wouldn’t have been strange if the request was processed as a failure…
“This disaster was partly due to our rash abandonment of our position, so we’ll specially process it as completed.”
He said something about letting it slide flexibly since they also bore responsibility.
He said they would recognize the request as completed on the condition that we don’t disclose the paladins’ mistakes.
There was no reason to refuse.
The church side could avoid losing face, and we could properly receive the request reward that we normally wouldn’t have gotten.
Wasn’t it a win-win condition, literally?
I readily agreed, and in return, I was able to obtain the signature for the request completion. Although it was a really meager reward compared to our hardships.
* * *[ Friede, Amy ]* * *
While Hilde was talking with the paladin, Friede and Amy waited at a distance for her to finish the conversation and return.
“…”
“…”
In an atmosphere so quiet it was suffocating.
Friede was staring intently at Amy, with her greatsword stuck in the ground and her hand resting on the pommel, supporting her chin.
With an expressionless face that made it difficult to know what she was thinking.
“Why are you staring at me like that? What, do you have something to say?”
Amy, who had been looking at Hilde’s back for a while, turned her gaze towards Friede with an annoyed frown.
“Aren’t you tired?”
Friede answered.
“…What?”
“I’m asking if you’re not tired.”
“No, what are you suddenly talking about…”
Aren’t you tired. It was a question whose intent was difficult for Amy to understand.
“You didn’t sleep yesterday, did you?”
Until those sharp golden eyes shot a glare at her.
“What did you just…”
Meeting the gaze of the speechless Amy straight on, Friede continued with a question that was close to an interrogation in an even lower voice.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
Friede was already certain. Unlike Brunhilde who had fallen asleep around dawn, Amy had been awake all night.
“You were pretending to sleep so hard… didn’t you know? The reaction when waking up from sleep and when stopping pretending to sleep are completely different.”
She had gained certainty this morning.
There is a subtle difference in reaction between awakening a dormant consciousness and opening closed eyes. Friede was able to detect this.
She too had been staying up all night, watching Amy from nearby.
“That’s…”
Amy clicked her tongue and looked down at Friede. A tension that rose sharply. A drop of cold sweat trickled down her cheek.
“Pretending to sleep… pretending to sleep… I wonder why? Tension? Anxiety? With me and Ms. Hilde next to you, what made you so anxious…?”
Friede muttered in a low tone as if interrogating Amy, drawing out her words.
“Ah, perhaps you felt uneasy about me and Ms. Hilde…?”
“…”
“You heard everything, didn’t you?”
A statement closer to confirmation than a question.
The sharp voice, so assertive, gave Amy the certainty that trying to make excuses with lies would be of no use.
“…Yes, I heard.”
Therefore, Amy frowned as if she had bitten something bitter and nodded.
Admitting frankly that she had realized Hilde’s identity, or more precisely, that she had been listening to Gerda’s words.
“Good girl. Keep answering honestly like that from now on.”
Friede glared at Amy with wide eyes as if she had expected this, and casually grasped the hilt of her greatsword.
“Why did you calmly lie even after realizing Hilde’s identity?”
The first question.
What was the reason for acting in front of Hilde?
“…If I had shown that I noticed in that situation, I might have been buried next to Gerda, you know?”
Amy answered that it was because she didn’t want to die.
The ‘Hilde’ she had seen wasn’t someone who would try to silence a comrade just for discovering her identity, but still, there was always that slim possibility.
“Why are you staying quiet now?”
The second question.
Why was she staying quiet without saying anything, when now she could reveal Hilde’s identity and the paladins would protect her?
“…For the same reason as you.”
“What?”
Friede asked back, a bit flustered.
Finding that reaction amusing, Amy couldn’t help but smile slightly even while breaking out in a cold sweat.
“She might be a wanted person from the Rhine Kingdom, but it’s not my country anyway… and she’s a woman whose face and personality match my taste perfectly, so wouldn’t it be a shame if she got caught because her identity was exposed?”
She didn’t report because she liked the woman called Hilde herself. It was an answer that blatantly revealed that she was aiming for her in a different sense.
Friede’s wariness shot up to the sky. In a slightly different direction from just before.
“Don’t you think the same as me? You were also calmly pretending not to know, even though you knew, just like me.”
“…It’s not for the same reason.”
Friede answered with a frown.
Unlike her, who held a light and vulgar interest in Brunhilde’s appearance, she prided herself that her feelings were pure and noble love.
“Really? Well, if you say so, let’s say it is.”
Amy shrugged slightly and let out a hollow laugh. As if she could clearly see what Friede was thinking.
Although Friede was two years older in age, it was Amy, not her, who gave off the composure of an adult.
“By the way, you speak well? Was the stammering an act?”
“…It wasn’t an act. Mind your own business and just answer properly.”
Friede snapped, clicking her tongue.
“You said you were acting out of fear of being ‘silenced’ by Hilde, but now you say you’re not saying anything because you like Hilde? Your words don’t match up.”
If she had been afraid of being silenced, she would have revealed Hilde’s identity the moment she met the paladins.
If she had wanted to hide Hilde’s identity because she liked her, there was no reason to spout the excuse about being afraid of being silenced.
Friede judged so. She thought fear and affection were emotions that couldn’t coexist.
“Well… actually, there’s one more reason why I was acting…”
Amy trailed off, scratching her cheek with her fingertip. It was a reason she found a bit embarrassing to say with her own mouth.
“What is it?”
Friede asked, slightly shaking the hilt to make her greatsword clank. In a tone that said to answer quickly without any tricks.
“Well… I thought I might score some points if I confessed that I actually knew much later, after we became closer.”
Amy revealed her final reason. Slightly averting her gaze as if embarrassed.
“…”
Friede kept silent without saying anything.
She too had kept quiet about knowing Brunhilde’s identity for exactly that reason.
She probably didn’t want to admit out of pride that her idea had been on the same level as this woman’s.
* * *[ Hilde ]* * *
On the way back to the city after getting confirmation of the request completion and leaving the forest.
“…”
“…”
Amy and Friede maintained a suffocating silence, their usual liveliness gone somewhere. They weren’t even looking at each other.
“What’s going on? Why are you two like this? Don’t tell me you had an argument while I was away?”
“N-No, that’s not it.”
“Th-That’s not it…!”
What is it, really?
The two shook their heads in denial simultaneously, as if they had planned it.
Their reaction, as if they had rehearsed it together, was strange to the point of being bizarre.