Chapter 667

Life is full of ups and downs, as they say.

Unfortunately for the two of them, the female knight they randomly picked happened to be the commander’s mistress, so they got caught. However, the Border Defense Force was also in the middle of retreating to avoid Ka`har, so their numbers were significantly reduced compared to usual.

If that hadn’t been the case, even someone like Knut wouldn’t have been able to break through and reach the Empire’s border.

Thanks to pushing nine runes to their limits, Knut and Frigg managed to shake off the Border Defense Force’s pursuit and reach the Imperial Army’s camp.

Despite the name “Border Defense Force,” Dane’s pursuit team was so worried about provoking the Imperial Army that they didn’t even approach the border.

Knut was torn between criticizing their incompetence and being grateful that it allowed him and Frigg to survive. In the end, he decided to stop thinking about it.

It seemed thousands of times more rational to worry about what would happen next rather than waste time on such pointless thoughts.

About an hour later, the lights of the Imperial Army’s border fortress came into view.

“That light…? I see. We’ve finally arrived….”

“Both of you managed to survive somehow. That’s a relief.”

As Knut muttered with a sense of emotion, Frigg also let out a sigh of relief and smiled faintly.

“Yes. It’s all thanks to Bølberg’s protection. We should be grateful to Him.”

Frigg’s footsteps stopped. Knut, puzzled by the sudden halt, turned to look at her face.

Frigg’s brow was strangely twisted, as if she was about to scream at any moment.

“……This is infuriating.”

Her voice, seeping through her teeth, was so soft that Knut couldn’t even make out what she was saying.

“Frigg? What did you just….”

“Knut. Please think carefully before answering the question I’m about to ask. Carefully. Understood?”

Frigg glared at Knut as she spoke. Her eyes seemed like they could shoot lasers, so Knut instinctively flinched and nodded.

“Who was it that tried to stop your reckless suicide attempt and suggested a more rational plan?”

“…That would be you.”

“Correct. The intelligent and rational rising star of the Intelligence Department. Frigg Khalid.”

Frigg declared while poking her chest plate.

“……?”

Knut couldn’t understand why Frigg was suddenly asking such obvious questions.

Of course, Frigg didn’t care whether Knut understood or not and immediately moved on to the next question.

“When the plan was exposed and we were surrounded by Ragnar and the Holy Warriors, who was it that quickly moved to ensure your safe escape?”

“…Frigg Khalid.”

“Good. The reliable knight who always prioritizes your safety. Frigg Khalid.”

Frigg nodded and opened her mouth again.

“When your rune power was depleted and you couldn’t even walk, who was it that took care of you, evaded the enemies, hid, and sometimes broke through to bring you here?”

“…You.”

“Then, who should you be thanking now? Bølberg, who’s sleeping in the sky and hasn’t granted a single bit of power? Or the capable and beautiful Frigg Khalid, who spared no effort to help you and made all this happen?”

Frigg asked with a smile.

Only the corners of her mouth were raised, but there was no trace of a smile in her eyes.

“Well….”

Knut tried to answer according to the common sense he had learned as a Holy Warrior.

Planning is the work of humans, but the outcome is up to the gods, so if the plan succeeded, he should naturally thank the gods… or so he thought.

However, his instincts as a warrior blocked his mouth, screaming that something terrifying would happen if he said that out loud.

So, Knut had no choice but to cautiously voice the answer his instincts insisted was correct.

“…Of course, it’s thanks to you, Frigg.”

Whether it was the right answer or not, Frigg smiled faintly and nodded.

“Good. Now you understand. How capable and valuable I am as a subordinate.”

“Huh? Well, of course.”

Knut tilted his head and asked back.

“I’ve always thought you were more than I deserved, so why bring it up now?”

The fact that Frigg was a capable and valuable subordinate was so obvious that it didn’t even need to be said.

“……Is that so.”

Perhaps it was an unexpected answer, as Frigg slightly turned her head away from Knut.

“That’s good to hear.”

To hide her loosened lips and reddened cheeks.

—

The two started walking again and soon reached the border. After a brief inspection, they were able to meet Ha-shal-leur without any issues.

“Long time no see.”

The Empire’s Greatest Sword, Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur, sat cross-legged on a chair in the middle of the barracks, puffing on a magical cigarette with a smirk.

She wasn’t even wearing armor, just casual clothes, as if they weren’t even a threat.

‘Good grief….’

Knut swallowed a low groan at the sight of Ha-shal-leur, whom he hadn’t seen in a year.

They say the position makes the person. After a year, Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur had changed beyond recognition.

Her once ferocious and wild face now carried the arrogant grace of a noble, and her eyes, which once seemed hunted, were now as sharp and unyielding as a sword.

It wasn’t just her appearance that had changed.

Her once unstable and rough aura was now perfectly contained within her body, and the depth of her accumulated feats was so profound that just meeting her gaze made his survival instincts scream to run away.

‘She’s strong. Unfathomably so.’

The woman who hadn’t even reached the level of a master before donning those ominous gauntlets had, in just a year, become a monster he couldn’t even dream of facing.

Though he reflexively shot back a sharp retort to her sarcastic tone, his back was already drenched in cold sweat.

‘No need to worry about grudges or anything….’

It would be a meaningless death to challenge her.

He instinctively knew. The moment he showed any hostility, the monster in front of him could turn him and Frigg into a puddle of blood without even getting up from her chair.

Knut barely suppressed his trembling body and spilled everything that had happened so far.

—

======[ Ha-shal-leur ]======

“…That’s how it happened.”

Knut’s story was longer than expected. Long enough for the cigarette in her mouth to be replaced with a new one.

Of course, only a few points were actually useful.

How they managed to escape here, or the fact that the woman next to him was staring at Knut like Milia stares at Damien, wasn’t my business.

There were only four important points.

The moment Dane’s army leaves the border, the Imperial Army’s operation plan will be completely disrupted.

Engraving magic… or rather, the rune magic Knut described, can strengthen its power by sacrificing human blood.

Among rune magic, there exists a rune that can forcibly subdue other rune mages.

And, there’s another one-eyed magic Holy Warrior in Dane.

“That guy Ragnar… by any chance, is his main weapon a broad one-handed sword, and does he use magic or powers to freely control plants?”

“…You knew about Ragnar?”

Knut nodded with a surprised tone. He explained that one of Ragnar’s rune engravings, the ‘ᛃ’ rune, had the power to control plants.

Good grief.

I held my forehead and sighed inwardly. I didn’t know whether to be happy or bewildered. Who would have thought there’d be a rune that controls plants?

It was unexpected. After all, the concept of runes never appeared in the original work.

Wait, thinking about it, it did appear. It’s just that the nature of that power wasn’t explained as rune magic.

Since there was no such explanation, I naturally assumed that power was the fairies’ divine authority. The result is the same, even if the principle is different.

“Sigh….”

I blew out cigarette smoke and cleared the confusion from my mind.

Knut had said that the Dane royal family seemed to have gone mad lately.

The moment I heard about Ragnar, I was certain of the reason and who was behind it.

A one-eyed magic swordsman wielding a Dane-style sword, using various magics, and freely controlling all sorts of plants.

It was exactly the same as the tactics of the Eighth Apostle of the forgotten gods’ order.

Because of his plant-controlling abilities, players assumed he must be of fairy descent… but who would have thought he was a pure Dane?

To find out the Apostle’s identity like this… it’s something I should be happy about, but it’s so out of the blue that I’m more dumbfounded than anything.

—

The identity of the Eighth Apostle, shrouded in mystery, was Dane’s royalty, Ragnar Lokan.

I was the only one who realized this, and even for me, it was information I couldn’t easily share with others.

After all, if they asked how I knew, I wouldn’t have an answer.

Regardless, now that I knew his identity, capturing and interrogating that bastard was a done deal.

With Or-han’s army likely rushing through the high pass, capturing and torturing Ragnar right now would be impossible.