She wasn’t even able to swing her weapon. She had been stabbed.
A hoarse groan escaped her lips.
She collapsed. Her face hit the ground. The impact of her fall resulted in sand in her mouth, and it tasted bitter. Her consciousness finally grew hazy. The pain of the stab was immense. There was a hole right where her most important organs were. Having read medical texts, she knew she was absolutely beyond saving. The world was spinning around her.
As her vision went around and around, she watched the child about to be taken away.
That was the one thing she couldn’t let happen. Brunhild grabbed the man’s leg.
“Let go, girl…”
He tried to shake off her grip, but Brunhild would not let go.
The man started to kick her. It hurt, but she did not let go. Scrounging up all the strength she had left, she kept the man from moving.
“Give it up already!” the man yelled, bringing up his knife once more. Under the light of the setting sun, its blade shone red. Brunhild thought it looked like the color of blood.
The blade swung down. She couldn’t dodge it or block it. The tip of the blade was almost at the back of her neck. Sensing oncoming death, Brunhild prayed for help. Amid her hazy mind, she pleaded for her brother.
The brother who had kindly stroked her head. The brother in her distant memory.
Save me, Brother.
At that moment, a flash of the Thunder fell, illuminating the area. The lightning turned the man to ash in an instant.
A man came flying down from the sky. He was the one who had passed judgment on the attacker.
The color of the man’s hair and eyes was so nostalgic.
When Brunhild came to, she was back in the royal castle.
She was looking up at the canopy of her bed. That was enough to tell her she was in the king’s chambers.
“You’re awake?” To her side was Sigurd, sitting on a chair.
“Bro…ther…?” Brunhild understood. “…I see. So you saved me, Brother.”
“I did.”
“Is the child safe?”
“Don’t worry. He’s not even hurt.”
She was relieved. Apparently, her efforts had not been in vain. “How did you know where I was?”
“I sensed your power—an immense might.”
“Power?” Brunhild touched the necklace. “…The moment I yelled at that man… For some reason, he suddenly stopped moving.”
Sigurd gave her a questioning look. “Hmph, were you not aware of it?”
“Aware of what…?”
He didn’t expound any further on her power. “The necklace punished you.”
“It burned my neck.”
“…Take care not to use such forceful language on others. That’s all I can say.”
“Language…”
Then Brunhild realized something strange.
Her throat should have been burned, but it didn’t hurt. The cut on her head, the burn on her neck, and the stab wound in her gut were also gone.
“Huh…? How am I alive…?”
She finally remembered. She recalled being stabbed in the side. Her organs had been so damaged that not even the greatest doctors would have been able to save her.
Sigurd answered her question. “I brought some of the Miracle out of the castle storehouse and used it. Be glad of it—that was the last bit of the Miracle in the kingdom. I’m the only person authorized to use it.”
“The Miracle…” Brunhild understood its value well. “Why go so far for someone like me?”
Sigurd didn’t answer, instead asking her, “Why did you go so far?”
“What do you mean?”
“You were basically dead. Why did you go to such lengths to protect that boy?”
Brunhild fell silent. He was quite right. Even if it was to save a child, she normally wouldn’t have had the courage to do something like that.
So then why had she done something like that today?
Brunhild knew why. “…Because I was glad.”
“About what?”
“That you were kind to children…”
It felt like looking back at themselves long ago. She’d wanted to protect that which her brother cared about.
Sigurd seemed to disapprove of this. He very much hated it when the present version of himself aligned with the past version of himself, whom he could not remember.
“I’ll only say this once, so listen well.”
Brunhild braced herself, thinking that Sigurd would say something cutting again.
“You did very well today. You summoned all your knowledge and courage to protect the weak despite lacking the power to fight.”
She was confused. “Wh-what are you saying…?”
But he left her and her confusion in the dust, locking gazes with her and saying quite clearly, “I thank you.”
Brunhild’s eyes widened. She doubted her ears. She was unable to respond for a few moments. “You’re…thanking me…?”
“I grant honors to those who demonstrate their prowess. It’s a king’s duty.”
“I see…” Feeling rather embarrassed, Brunhild looked out the window. It was already dark outside. “But I should thank you, Brother. For saving me.”
Since he’d spoken to her with surprising openness, she was able to be a bit honest with him, too.
She recalled being on the verge of death and wishing for her brother to come to her rescue.
He had actually come through.
Richard stood outside the room where Brunhild was sleeping. Had it been allowed, he would have liked to go inside, but whatever way he looked at it, she was still the king’s fiancée. He would be unable to see her without the king’s permission.
As he was worrying, Sigurd emerged from the room. “Richard, why are you here?”
“I was waiting for you, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, do you have any information on the kidnappers we captured? How are things going there?”
“A little beating was all it took for them to give up their boss’s identity. It turns out they belong to the remnants of old Etherium, after all. We also got them to tell us the location of the workshop where they carry out experiments.”
“…Damn ghosts,” Sigurd muttered bitterly. “Richard, I leave it to you to arrange a plan to eliminate the laboratory these miscreants are running.”
Sigurd giving Richard this assignment was proof of his trust. He knew Richard hated the remnants of Etherium, as he had suffered through the same experiments as Sigurd.
Richard bowed respectfully.
“You may take your leave,” said Sigurd.
“…May I ask one thing?”
“What is it?”
“It’s about Lady Brunhild.” The tone of Richard’s voice changed slightly. “I heard she’s been hurt. I’m concerned for her. Would I be able to see her?”
“Her wounds have healed. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“…I beg your pardon.”
Underneath his expressionless mask, Richard thought, “There’s nothing to worry about”? The arrogance! If you’re going to put it like that, then don’t let her get hurt to begin with. I heard she was so badly wounded that the Miracle was the only thing that could save her! Though these words began to creep up his throat, he just barely managed to swallow them. It would be unwise of him to get emotional and snap back at the king.
“As Your Majesty commands, I will set to wiping out those remnants.”
Once again, Richard found himself thinking Sigurd should not be at Brunhild’s side. The king wouldn’t simply bring her sorrow; he might also get her killed.
Before it could happen, Richard needed to take his lord’s life.
Richard had been secretly plotting to kill Sigurd ever since seeing Brunhild cry in the garden. He had his eye on the Healing Blade, the very same that had enticed Brunhild. Without the sword, he would be unable to so much as scratch the invincible king.
Richard conspired to swap out the rapier with a fake to acquire it himself.
He had already arranged for a counterfeit blade to be made, having ordered a blacksmith to forge an ingenious replica.
Now he just had to swap it with the real thing. But there were no chinks in Sigurd’s defenses. His protectiveness over the sword made sense, as his life would be at risk should someone take it.
And so, time passed by in vain, with Richard never finding an opportunity to swap the two swords.
Somehow, he had to come up with some other way of killing Sigurd.
While pondering this, Richard headed out to wipe out the Etherium remnants, as per Sigurd’s royal command.
The remnants’ laboratory was quite brazenly located just one town over from the capital. While this municipality was not as prosperous, it was still quite a fine place, with a decent population. The kidnappers had said the workshop was in a basement of a large estate in the city. Nobody would have imagined that the workshop was located so confidently and this close.
Richard convened the knights, then led them in a surprise attack on the remnants’ lab. He banged open the door and stormed into the basement.
A number of mercenary types fought back against him, but their resistance was futile. The knights Richard had gathered were elites who had eliminated many other laboratories in the past. It wasn’t even a fight. With his troops taking care of everything, Richard scarcely had to lift a finger.
He descended the stairs after the knights. By the time he was in the basement, the enemy had basically already been subdued, so he was able to observe the laboratory as he walked around.
There was evidence of a variety of experiments. Bottles full of eerily colored drugs and dubious magical books were scattered about. Complex magical sigils were drawn on the floor.
What drew his eye the most were the bodies of children. There were a few lying there.
They had to be the kidnapped kids. But they didn’t look like just ordinary children.
They appeared like deformed creatures—somewhere between dragon and man.
Each child was different. One had wings, one had a massive arm covered in scales, and another’s face was so reptilian it looked as if they were wearing a mask…
Looking at these children, Richard, who had once been an experimental subject himself, could imagine exactly what sort of experiments the remnants had been running.
“Are they trying to create dragons to obtain the Power of God…?”
Dragons were, fundamentally speaking, creatures that protected Edens. Very rarely, one of them would be able to use the Power of God. According to one theory, this was a vestige of ancient times when dragons had been angels. This workshop must have been trying to create artificial dragons that could handle the Power of God. They used children as test subjects because they believed their purity made them closer to angels and God.