Imelia Elsine Lawrence and Irina Winter.
Suddenly, all too suddenly, faced with Brunhilde’s former comrades, I could only sweat profusely and suppress my trembling fingertips by gritting my teeth.
Why were these women here?
An unanticipated situation. My heart pounded and shook with rising tension.
I would have rather run into Heid than ever imagining I’d meet these women again.
Imelia and Irina should have been actively working in Burgundy.
How could I have expected to encounter the two of them on the streets of Vespian, a remote city in Hervor?
Moreover, with their faces hidden under hoods as if they had snuck into the country illegally.
Why on earth? I truly couldn’t understand the situation.
Could it be they had… followed me… followed Brunhilde?
…No, that can’t be it.
Didn’t Irina’s reaction show that she hadn’t expected to run into me here either?
I don’t know for what purpose they’ve hidden in Vespian… but at least it seems safe to assume they didn’t track me down knowing my location.
“Well, this worked out well. Gunther will be pleased.”
“Yes, I suppose he will.”
…Although it doesn’t make much difference now that I’ve been discovered.
* * *
The two women spouted nonsense about Gunther being pleased, with an attitude certain that I was Brunhilde.
As I had feared, it didn’t seem to be a situation where we could happily laugh and part ways after a pleasant reunion after a long time.
Saying Gunther would be pleased, isn’t that saying they’re going to offer me up as Gunther’s pleasure toy?
Are they resentful that only they got screwed? Or did they enjoy it so much that they want to teach that pleasure to their former comrade?
Either way, it was an unspeakably horrific story to me. Like receiving a unilateral breakup notice along with an uncensored adultery video on Christmas Eve.
Of course, it’s not that I’ve experienced such a breakup, I’m just saying it’s that level of a horrific situation.
“Ah, I told you, you’ve got the wrong person. What nonsense are you spouting, holding up a busy person? Are you trying to pick a fight?”
Therefore, I began a desperate act, putting all my effort into refining my expression and tone.
Brunhilde or whatever, I don’t know such a woman. I don’t even know who you are in the first place.
It was the best choice I could make.
Judging by how they’re talking, the moment I acknowledge that I’m ‘Brunhilde’, these two women will immediately try to capture me and rocket-deliver me to Gunther.
If things come to that, we’ll have no choice but to fight… but honestly, my chances of winning didn’t seem very high.
I might be able to handle Imelia somehow since she’s a priest, but Irina seems impossible.
Unlike Friet, who was so incompetent the title of hero seemed wasted on him, Irina Winter was an elf who already had skills equal to Brunhilde’s even back in the party days.
Since several months have passed since then, it was almost certain that she would be even stronger now than she was then.
For ‘Brunhilde’, who had been greatly weakened when her soul was replaced with mine and only recently started to catch up to her former strength, she was an opponent I couldn’t defeat.
No, even if I could win a fight, that wouldn’t solve all the problems anyway.
Although I’ve managed to keep it hidden well so far, I was in a position where I would immediately become prey for others the moment my original identity was exposed.
If she just shouted that the internationally wanted Brunhilde was here, people aiming for my bounty would swarm like clouds.
Like that ungrateful bitch Gerda who perfectly backstabbed me.
In short, the situation I’m in now is not something that can be broken through with mere force.
“Brunhilde or whatever, go look for her somewhere else. Don’t harass innocent people.”
So, I had only one option.
To pretend to be calm with all my might and insist that the two of them had made some kind of mistake.
“Look at this. Now she’s even lowering her voice, trying to pretend to be someone else. How cute. You should have acted this cute before.”
…Honestly, I didn’t think this act would work either.
Was it some kind of elven sense? Unlike Imelia, who was tilting her head with a puzzled expression, Irina’s words and actions were filled with clear conviction.
The conviction that the identity of this adventurer facing her, with her face hidden by a helmet, was undoubtedly Brunhilde.
Come to think of it, didn’t she say something about the smell being the same earlier?
What a damn elf brat. Seems her senses are as sharp as a dog’s.
“I’m not, you crazy bitch.”
Of course, I couldn’t just admit it with a ‘Yes, that’s right~’.
“Really, I’m busy as hell and all sorts of weird freaks are clinging to me. Fuck this.”
I acted out getting angry with an irritated tone and turned my body sharply.
Like a female adventurer trying to avoid unnecessary trouble, getting angry and cursing, mixing in explicit swear words in my shouts.
“C-Crazy bitch…?”
Imelia flinched, slightly covering her mouth as if surprised. As if she couldn’t imagine such swear words coming from Brunhilde’s mouth.
Perhaps if she had encountered me alone, this much would have been enough to completely dispel her doubts.
She might not have even noticed my identity from the beginning and just passed by.
The problem was Irina’s side…
“I didn’t mean for you to swear when I said to act cute… Surprisingly, it seems being an adventurer suits you well. Should I congratulate you?”
As expected, Irina still didn’t seem to have any intention of reconsidering her conviction.
It seemed like I’d have to dance naked in the middle of the street to withdraw her conviction.
Maybe then even Irina would withdraw her conviction, thinking she must have made some mistake, and go her own way.
Leaving behind me, who had chosen social suicide to avoid a terrible future.
Anyway, although Irina spoke like that, she didn’t try to stop me from leaving, so I moved my steps nonchalantly, slowly distancing myself from those two women.
“Since words don’t seem to work, are you trying to run away now? …Well, do as you like. I didn’t intend to cause a commotion in the middle of the street either. However, you won’t be able to escape anyway, you know?”
Irina’s laughter coming from behind me.
“Come out to the west gate tonight. Let’s have a proper talk there.”
I tried to ignore this and kept walking. Pretending to walk naturally, neither too fast nor too slow.
“If you don’t come… everyone in this country will know that you’re here.”
…Now she’s openly threatening me.
“Well, that would be fun in its own way too. As I said before, elves really love hunting.”
A threat to make me a fugitive again if I don’t show up. It was truly a malicious threat.
* * *
What should I do? As I walked towards the Snow Bear’s Shelter, the inn I had been staying at, that was all I could think about.
I had plenty of time to think. I deliberately took a roundabout route to the nearby path, constantly checking my surroundings in case I was being followed.
Thanks to this, by the time I finally arrived at the inn, I had already finished my deliberations and reached a conclusion.
“Oh, you’re back, miss? You were quite quick this time. Was the job very simple?”
As I slightly opened the inn door and entered, the owner sitting at the counter lifted the glass he was wiping with a cloth and greeted me.
“I guess so.”
I nodded vaguely and answered. The job was simple. The job.
“What about my party members?”
“You mean that little one, the lizardman, and the magician girl? They haven’t come back yet.”
They haven’t arrived yet? That was rather fortunate. Considering what I was about to do.
I ran up to my room in one breath, took out a sheet of paper and a quill, and quickly wrote a letter.
/ This may be sudden, but it seems I have to leave the party due to circumstances. I’m sorry to everyone. /
A farewell letter to leave for my companions.
Yes. After long deliberation, the conclusion I reached was so simple that it made the deliberation seem meaningless.
Run away.
Forget about the dream of becoming a silver token adventurer and settling down, forget about old comrades, forget about everything, and just run away from this city, this country, as far as possible.
As quickly as possible, as far as possible.
That was the conclusion I reached.
A conclusion similar to when I ran away from Gunther before. But there was one difference from that time.
Back then, I thought I could just become a silver token adventurer, get citizenship, and live quietly settling down, but now I had thrown away such optimistic hopes far away.
‘Right, that’s not nearly enough. Not with just silver token level.’
Look at my state now. Because of one bitch Irina, I’m about to throw away everything I’ve gained here and run away.
Because I can’t beat her.
Being weak. Just because of that one reason.
Yes, I finally realized.
I needed to become stronger.
Not satisfied with silver token adventurer level, or the level of a fairly skilled knight, but much, much stronger than that.
Strong enough that when someone recognizes my identity, instead of running away like now, I could kill them instead.
Strong enough to overcome Brunhilde’s karma, the karma I’ve accumulated, the misfortune that strangely targets only me.
That was the one and only way for me, who had fallen into this world, to obtain freedom and peace.
* * *
I didn’t write much content in the farewell letter. I didn’t have time for that either.
An apology for suddenly leaving the party. A confession that I was actually that ‘Brunhilde’, and an explanation that pursuers had come and I had to run away like this.
Advice to refrain from going outside the city for a while in case they might be in danger too, and an emotional confession that I had really enjoyed our time together.
After quickly writing all of this in one go, I packed up all my belongings and returned to the first floor of the inn.
“Mister, could I ask you for a favor? When my party members come looking for me, could you please give this to them? I have to go out urgently for something.”
Then, I handed the letter and money pouch to the innkeeper. It was the amount from the reward we got from this request, minus my share.
“A letter…? Hmm, well, alright. Seems like a very urgent matter.”
The innkeeper tilted his head slightly but accepted the letter and money pouch I handed over without question.
He’s a somewhat conscientious person, so he probably won’t secretly pocket the money pouch.
Just in case, I wrote the exact amount my companions should receive at the end of the letter, so even if he tried to pocket it, he’d be caught immediately.
With this, I had finished everything I needed to do here.
“Thank you. Well then, I’ll be going.”
“Alright. Whatever it is, be careful.”
After thanking the innkeeper, I pulled down the hood of my cloak and rushed out of the inn, walking quickly towards the city gate.
Towards the south gate, not the west gate where that woman Irina had threatened me.
I’m not crazy enough to head towards the west gate. If I got caught going that way, I’d be immediately delivered to Gunther’s side.
But heading towards the east gate in the completely opposite direction wasn’t an option either, as Irina might have mentioned the west gate to lure me in that direction in the first place.
So, if I was going to run away, I had to flee through the south gate, which was neither here nor there. At least that’s what I thought.
Thirty minutes later.
“—You’re still mediocre at using your head, I see.”
I came to realize bodily that that judgment was wrong.
“I told you many times, didn’t I? You have no talent for using your brain.”
The elf woman who blocked my path as I was fleeing with all my might.
Irina smirked, pulling up one corner of her mouth and sneered. With eyes that said, did you really think you could escape? Her tone suggested that no matter where I ran, I was in the palm of her hand.
“…Fuck.”
I glared back at her, gritting my teeth.
There was nowhere left to run.
Nowhere at all.