Chapter 46 - Friede - 2

Friede looked at the mangled corpses and the grim-looking man standing among them with a sword in hand, then spoke.

“Did you do this?”

The clear, sweet voice carried a wistful resonance. Friede gestured with their chin toward the half-undressed, headless corpse.

The other bodies were in a dreadful state too, but Friede felt that an explanation for that particular corpse took priority.

“And if I did?” Bera replied.

His wary gaze resembled that of a wild beast threatening its prey.

Friede folded their arms, gently stroked their chin with one hand, and looked between Bera and the corpse before speaking.

“Hmm. Do corpses arouse you? What a fascinating fellow.”

“Well, I don’t believe I’m obliged to answer.”

Bera answered in a provocative tone while continuing to assess the situation.

'I see... no hostility.'

Although the circumstances plainly invited misunderstanding, Friede was making jokes. Examining the expression on their face as they regarded him, Bera could discern only a faint trace of curiosity.

How should he act?

After considering that question, he sheathed his drawn sword and addressed Friede.

“I’m from Elia.”

“Hmm?”

“We’ve come to assist the apostle of abundance.”

“Ah.”

A brief response. As Bera waited for more, irritation suddenly surged through him at the sight of Friede’s face, still deep in thought.

Memories of his previous life were coming back to him.

What more needed saying? Friede was the main reason he had fallen victim to the heroes’ curse. Of all those who had pursued him, this bastard had been the greatest nuisance, chasing him day and night and firing blasts of wind.

The fatigue those blasts caused had accumulated until his judgment faltered and he fell into the trap. No matter that it had all been erased, Bera remembered that moment. He could not possibly like Friede.

While Bera struggled to suppress the hostility boiling within him, Friede’s sweet voice rang out.

“I believe I did hear something of the sort.”

With a little smile, Friede added, “I distinctly remember hearing that the Saintess was coming...”

Friede’s gaze swept over Bera from head to toe.

“... But no matter how I look at you, you hardly seem like a saintess. Are all human women as burly as you these days?”

What were they talking about?

After a moment’s consideration, Bera realized Friede had mistaken him for the Saintess. His face twisted into a scowl.

“I’m the Saintess’s escort.”

“Ah, are you? Hmm, yes. That makes more sense. It would be rather troubling if someone as important as the Saintess were a hulking brute who enjoyed fucking corpses, wouldn’t it?”

GRIND.

Bera ground his teeth. Veins bulged in the whites of his eyes.

“First, I do not enjoy fucking corpses. Second, refrain from such vulgar speech in the Saintess’s presence.”

“Vulgar? That hurts my feelings. And there’s no need to hide your tastes. I’m not so intolerant that I would meddle in someone’s personal preferences.”

TAP!

Friede dropped from their perch in the tree to the ground.

“Then would you take me to the Saintess? I’ll guide you to the Great Forest.”

As Friede approached, Bera gestured toward the corpses with his chin.

“What about these?”

“Ah, our runaway siblings? What can we do? They’re already dead and returned to nature.”

Siblings. For someone who called them that, Friede seemed remarkably indifferent. There was certainly sadness on their face as they looked at the corpses, but paired with those words, even that seemed somehow hypocritical.

'... Were they always like this?'

It was a side Bera had never known in his previous life, when they had only fought, never conversed.

'It’s hard to tell what they really think.'

He scrutinized Friede, trying to discern their true intentions, but the only response he received was another remark calculated to grate on his nerves.

“You’ll make me blush, staring so passionately. I’m sorry, but I have no genitals, so I can’t satisfy your lust. Hmm. Unless you’d settle for the back door?”

“... Shut up.”

The words slipped out before he knew it. Yet he felt no regret.

Bera decided that swearing at Friede like this was not the least bit discourteous.

* * *

By the campfire, Renée sat on a tree stump, carefully spooning up her soup. Worried that Bera still had not returned after quite some time, she asked Norn a question.

“Where did Bera go?”

“Ah, I understand he went to scout the surroundings. He said that, since we’re near the entrance to the Great Forest, we should prepare for any unexpected dangers.”

“Oh...”

Renée nodded in understanding, then continued eating her soup distractedly as she thought.

'He’s taking so long...'

Surely he was going to all this trouble for her. She was the only one here vulnerable to danger. Norn’s abilities went without saying, and even Hella was a trainee holy knight who had received holy knight training.

Suddenly, the thought that she was becoming a burden to Bera made her feel uneasy.

She wanted to help somehow, but in circumstances like these, there was so little a blind person could do.

Her spirits sank, and her expression began to darken.

RUSTLE.

The sound of grass being crushed broke the quiet.

Recognizing Bera’s footsteps, Renée raised her head sharply, only for a puzzled look to come over her face.

'... Two people?'

There were two sets of footsteps. Behind Bera’s heavy, powerful strides followed sounds so faint that, without listening closely, she would never have recognized them as footsteps.

“Saintess, I’ve returned.”

At Bera’s voice, Renée abandoned her thoughts and began to answer with a radiant expression.

“Ah, wel—”

“Oh, yes. Now this is a Saintess. What a lovely lady.”

A sweet voice with a wistful resonance followed from the same direction as Bera’s.

Renée went rigid. Her expression wavered more than ever.

'A woman...!'

That sweet voice could sound like nothing else to her.

Her grip tightened fiercely around her spoon. Feeling inexplicably anxious, Renée spoke in a voice trembling so badly it was painful to hear.

“W-who...?”

Who are you? Even saying that much was too difficult, so she managed only the essential word.

Friede replied with a gentle smile.

“A pleasure to meet you, Saintess. I am Friede, a forest keeper of the Great Forest.”

“Ah...!”

Her anxiety vanished in an instant.

'Sexless!'

She had realized that the sweet voice belonged to a sexless elf.

“We met while I was scouting the area. Friede has kindly offered to guide us to the Great Forest.”

“Hmm? Why so polite all of a sudden? You were so friendly just a moment ago.”

“I was not.”

“Hmm, you really are a bashful fellow, aren’t you?”

“Shut—”

Bera forced down the curse about to escape his lips and glared at Friede. He was acting on his conviction that he must always watch his language around Renée.

But Renée, who knew nothing of that, felt her heart plummet as she listened to their exchange.

He was friendly when she wasn’t there, but kept his distance in her presence? Wasn’t that suspicious?

She knew it couldn’t be! She knew it made no sense! Bera had explained it himself!

But elves were beautiful. Perhaps Bera had just awakened to a love that transcended sex. Perhaps that was why the normally taciturn Bera was conversing so freely.

Cold sweat streamed down Renée as those thoughts occurred to her. Deciding she had to stop their conversation, she hurriedly spoke.

“N-nice to meet you! Shall we eat first? Bera, you left without eating earlier, so come and have your dinner!”

The words came out in a jumble. Her emotions kept soaring to the heavens and plunging beneath the earth, leaving her thoroughly confused.

Friede blinked at Renée’s outburst, then smiled and sat down beside her.

“You are truly considerate, Saintess. It’s no easy thing to concern yourself with the meal of someone you’ve just met.”

That was not quite the truth, but Renée could hardly admit it. She nodded with an awkward smile.

“H-help yourself.”

“Thank you for your kindness.”

Tension filled her. Bewildered by feelings she could not explain, Renée only relaxed once Bera sat beside her—on the opposite side from Friede.

Renée realized that the first crisis to threaten her love was not yet over.

... Or so she thought.

* * *

The next morning, the party tidied up the campsite they had left in disarray overnight and set off toward the Great Forest. Renée fidgeted restlessly, wriggling her fingers over and over.

Friede was inside the carriage.

Silence filled the carriage, but for some reason Renée disliked the fact that Friede and Bera were sharing the same space. She began to resent her blindness.

What if Bera was looking at Friede? What if they were silently mouthing words to each other, holding a secret conversation?

The fantasies never stopped. The imagination Bera had once praised as an important talent for the elemental arts was now conjuring these delusions.

As the fantasies continued, beads of cold sweat trickled down Renée’s forehead. Her constantly fidgeting fingers had tightened into fists before she knew it.

Unable to sit idly any longer, she squeezed her eyes shut and made a momentous decision.

If there was any possibility of a secret conversation, she simply had to cut it off at the source.

Renée jerked her head up and blurted out, “Excuse me, Friede!”

She intended to take charge of the conversation so the two of them could not get up to anything else.

Friede smiled faintly at her sudden, almost shouted address.

“What is it?”

That question always left Renée in a bind whenever she acted so impulsively. But today was different.

With a rival in love before her, Renée was strong.

“What is the apostle of abundance doing in the Great Forest?”

For once, a plausible excuse emerged from her mouth. Renée cheered inwardly and congratulated herself.

'Well done!'

It was the most intelligent-sounding question she had asked in quite some time.

“Were you told nothing before coming?”

“Ah, that’s right! In the Holy Empire, they only suggested that I come here and help.”

“Hmm...”

Friede appeared to ponder her question briefly, then gave a firm nod.

“Delaying Mother’s death.”

At that unexpected answer, Renée tilted her head, while Bera, who had merely been listening until then, went stiff-faced.

Unable to understand what Friede meant, Renée put aside her earlier thoughts and cautiously asked another question.

“When you say Mother...”

“What you call the World Tree. I mean Aedrin, the Deepest Root.”

A small smile touched Friede’s lips. Yet what followed was nothing anyone could laugh at, even as a joke.

“Mother is dying. Mari is in the Great Forest to try to postpone that death, however she can.”