#### [ Banafitza ]
Even after being torn into thousands of pieces, the arrogance of that rude someone wasn’t quenched since the black-haired girl, who was unpleasant just by looking at her, left the fortress.
In the midst of the desolate ruins shrouded in silence, Valfreya, remaining alone on the hill, spewed forth rising fury like a blazing flame from the amethyst that bound her.
In all her long life, she had felt such intense rage at most only once.
After being forced to retreat against the relentless human army and locking herself in the fortress, it was only at the moment she was submerged along with the fortress by the strike of a sword wielded by the hero of that time.
A lonely slash that carved a canyon in the plains and altered the flow of the Rhine River with a blow from the Holy Sword.
The military fortress of Banafitza sank to the ground and was buried at the bottom of the canyon, where it was soon submerged by the rushing water.
At that time, Valfreya, exhausted from continuous battles, couldn’t stop it. And since she couldn’t, there was only one way to protect Banafitza:
Create a magical barrier that covers the entire fortress, and then lock herself inside the soul stone to supply the mana needed to maintain the barrier.
Without delay, Valfreya dove into the soul stone, used the bodies of all the Valkyries as offerings, completed the defensive spell, and fell asleep.
If she could just hold out like this, she believed that before long, a rescue team from Eisenstein would come and awaken her again.
However, no one came.
To be precise, no one could come. Shortly after Banafitza sank, the old Eisenstein was completely destroyed.
Although Valfreya, who had fallen asleep, couldn’t know such things.
Anyway, after an unfathomably long time passed, Valfreya finally awoke.
Thanks to Hilde’s spear piercing, part of the sealing of the soul stone was destroyed.
And right after that.
She faced a rudeness unheard of in the past—an unthinkable kind of behavior from someone who could only be mistaken as a Valkyrie of this era.
To be exact, someone Valfreya couldn’t help but mistake for a Valkyrie.
‘…That’s not a Valkyrie. It’s just something else that has taken the body of a Valkyrie.’
A pact of servitude is an absolute stigma that cannot be broken without the direct intervention of the gods.
The fact that such a pact had no effect at all was proof that the opponent was not a Valkyrie from the start, but a completely different being.
‘Soul swapping, unilateral theft, fusion of two souls… which one could be the truth?’
Various methods for seizing another’s body flashed through Valfreya’s mind.
They were all advanced magics that couldn’t even be attempted unless one was a sorceress of her caliber. Hence, interest was sparked, and
“I shall cut off the limbs and split the head to question the exposed brain directly.”
Valfreya smiled within the amethyst. A grin soaked in malice and killing intent.
‘What kind of groans will that arrogant tongue spit out? I am very, very much looking forward to it.’
Disgustingly arrogant, a trespasser disguised as a descendant.
Such a brazen human made Valfreya so enraged that she wanted to shred the other to pieces after just three phrases of conversation…
Sadly, this time, she had no choice but to let that trespasser go.
The seal of the soul stone was far too sturdy, and despite being one she had performed herself, she couldn’t escape it without a sacrifice from the outside.
Moreover, to escape properly, it was necessary to offer a Valkyrie, not just an ordinary human.
The body of the sacrificed Valkyrie had to be shoved into the soul stone instead of her, to serve as a mana source to maintain the barrier until she could lift the fortress back to the surface.
If not, then no matter how much she managed to escape from the seal, the fortress she tried to protect would be crushed into bits by the water’s pressure.
Throughout that process, the heritage of Eisenstein, including the soul stone, would be swept away and lost without a trace.
However, Valfreya, at this moment, made up her mind to willingly accept this.
Had it been the old her, she would have chosen to remain sealed indefinitely, but the fury she faced upon awakening completely erased her sense of responsibility.
Of course, even if she decided to accept submersion, escaping from the soul stone alone without a sacrifice was an exceedingly difficult task…
But she had plenty of time.
She also possessed vast knowledge and skills to make her wishes come true.
– Kacchuk.
Very slowly, bit by bit. So slowly that no one could notice.
But certainly…
Her seal began to crack.
#### [ Irina Winter ]
A little while back, two days had passed since the adventurer Hilde was discovered by her old party members and chose to flee.
“Did you find her and let her slip through your fingers? Unbelievable. If that happened, you should have reported to me first!”
Gunther, informed by Irina’s report, severely reprimanded the two women who hastily acted and lost Brunhilde.
Specifically, he mainly scolded Irina. He knew well that reprimanding Imelia was futile unless he resorted to violence.
“….”
Irina silently accepted Gunther’s reproach. Biting her lip to suppress the urge to argue about how she had even found her.
To receive the right to enter the land of the high elves, Fantasia Alfeim, she had to appease Gunther.
—
The fairy nation, Elphant, was a bizarre country where all wealth and civilization concentrated in the capital, Alfeim.
High elves who were granted residency in Alfeim enjoyed civilizations superior to any other nation, while elves outside the capital had to live off hunting in the wide plains.
If they didn’t like that, they had to leave for other countries and live as outsiders for the rest of their lives.
Some fairies did manage to settle in other countries and establish families, but that was only possible for a select few extraordinary fairies.
The majority of fairies found it difficult to adapt to living among other races, and it was quite common for them to be tricked into dying or becoming slaves.
Hence, entering Alfeim was a dream and goal for all elves.
To achieve that, one had to offer tributes to the high elves of Alfeim and subserviently beg for mercy, or achieve accomplishments sufficient for them to acknowledge.
Irina chose the latter.
Through her status as a member of the hero party and the achievements she would accomplish while supporting the hero, she aimed to be recognized as a high elf in Alfeim.
In fact, her plan was unfolding smoothly.
Through connections with the fairy family settled in the Kingdom of Rhine, she obtained citizenship in the kingdom, and by leveraging her exceptional talents and connections, she succeeded in being selected for the hero party.
The issue was that, that was where her limits lay.
The hero party she had entered with ambition was nothing but a leaking boat from the very beginning.
Imelia, even to her, seemed insane yet competent, while Brunhilde had no flaws except for being anti-social…
‘Friet… no, it’s now called Friede, that wretched brat. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have ended up in this situation…!’
Hero Friet. His incompetence derailed all her plans.
The one who should’ve been the backbone of their party turned out to be pitifully weak, preventing her from gaining power and fame, instead subjecting her to infamy and ridicule.
The one who offered her a new lifeline was Gunther Hagen, the hero of the Kingdom of Burgundy.
A half-elf and the only blood heir of Count Hagen, he was the son of a high elf of Alfeim with a high standing among high elves.
While typical half-elves were looked down upon even by ordinary elves, being half of high elf blood changed the narrative.
It was the difference between a mere commoner and a noble.
No, considering Gunther was one of the heroes, it would be accurate to say the distinction was akin to that between a bastard and a legitimate heir.
Anyway, Gunther’s father, a high elf of Alfeim, presented Irina with a single proposal through Gunther.
If she could bring down Friet’s party and achieve sufficient accomplishments under Gunther, he would grant her the residency of Alfeim.
While the odds looked slim, since Friet also bore the hero’s mark, he could very well become Gunther’s potential rival.
Thus, it was about completely eliminating the seed of possibility.
After pondering for about a minute, Irina consented. There was no reason to refuse the proposal.
Bringing down the party was simple.
Given Friet’s incompetence, the party had been shaky from the start. Just a slight push would shatter it effortlessly.
Irina began hurling sharp accusations at Friet, continuously chipping away at his self-esteem and introduced Gunther to Imelia, who was heartbroken over Friet not accepting her.
That was enough for her. The final obstacle, Brunhilde, was persuaded directly by Gunther himself.
Thus, Friet’s party fell apart, and Imelia and Irina transferred to Gunther’s party as promised.
Although Brunhilde, who followed them, strangely fled, that was Gunther’s concern, not Irina’s.
That was how the new hero party life began.
While Gunther already had existing party members, they were treated as second-stringers, but Irina was satisfied with that.
Even as second-stringers, her combat abilities steadily improved, and by following Gunther, her achievements gradually elevated her reputation within Burgundy.
While they were likely still grinding their teeth in the Kingdom of Rhine, since Burgundy and Gunther were defending her, the criticisms from Rhine held no value to her.
If there was just one thing she didn’t like about the current situation, it was…
‘What the heck is that short-lived woman Brunhilde? Is Gunther really fascinated by her?’
It was only after becoming part of the same party that Irina learned of this fact.
While she didn’t understand why, she noted Gunther held an unusually strong obsession with Brunhilde.
Initially, he had left her alone as a consideration for others, but after that, he diligently tracked her whereabouts.
The reason she and Imelia had hidden in the Kingdom of Hervor was actually because of that.
When Gunther confirmed that Brunhilde’s trail had ceased in the Kingdom of Hervor, he concluded that she had attached herself to Heid’s party.
He presumed she was being used as an undisclosed secret force within Heid’s party.
So convinced, Gunther ordered Irina and Imelia to infiltrate Hervor to spy on Heid’s party.
If it became certain that Brunhilde was there, he would personally negotiate with Heid to secure her return.
However, it turned out that instead of Heid’s party, he stumbled upon an old acquaintance Friet, who turned into a little girl playing adventurer games in a rural village.
Really, it was the kind of ridiculous situation that left Irina dumbfounded.
She couldn’t wrap her mind around whether this girl really was Brunhilde she once knew, doubting her own eyes even after seeing her face to face.
