Eris

Ten minutes later, the battle came to an end.

Hilde stood amid the corpses, covered in blood and gasping for breath. Clear wounds marked her arms and thighs, with white bone faintly visible beneath them.

The enemies had been much stronger than she had expected.

There had only been four of them, but each possessed at least intermediate-level skill in a swordsmanship style. Coupled with their nearly flawless coordination, they had put Hilde at a serious disadvantage from the start.

If Rudeus hadn't reacted in time and supported her with magic...

The battle might have ended with the exact opposite result.

Still, they had won in the end.

Trading wounds wasn't a viable long-term strategy, but there was no denying how well it worked.

Hilde's physical strength was exceptional, surpassing even most advanced-level swordsmen, and her body's toughness was second to none.

As long as she ignored the pain, she could use her own body as a shield.

After all, with her strength, she could swing a sword even with one hand.

"Hilde!"

Rudeus stumbled toward her.

He had twisted an ankle and limped as he walked.

"I'm fine. Take care of yourself first," Hilde said irritably. "These are just flesh wounds."

"You say that, but I can see your bones..."

"As long as my organs and vital spots are fine, what's the problem?"

As she spoke, Hilde used her sword to prop herself up.

She cast Healing Magic on her wounds.

It might have sounded exaggerated, but this world's Healing Magic was genuinely overpowered. Intermediate Healing Magic alone could heal most flesh wounds. With advanced Healing Magic, even broken bones could be reattached, provided the bones could be recovered.

And its use wasn't restricted to the clergy.

For instance, Zenith, Hilde and Rudeus's mother, could use intermediate Healing Magic. Back in her adventuring days, she had served as a healer.

About half a minute later.

The wounds on Hilde's body had mostly closed under the effects of Healing Magic, leaving only very faint marks.

Hilde leaned against the wall and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Counting them up, this had been her third fight that night.

She had spent the entire day sweating in the training hall, which had already drained much of her stamina. After leaving, she had gone through three consecutive fights with real blades. In two of those, she had faced multiple opponents alone and been forced to trade wounds.

After all that exertion.

Even Hilde's stamina was beginning to give out.

Fortunately, her recent endurance training hadn't gone to waste.

She still had some strength left.

Meanwhile, Rudeus had also healed his injury with magic.

Compared to Hilde, he had barely expended any stamina, and his mana was nowhere near running out. If anything, he had much more to spare.

"We need to hurry, Rudeus."

Hilde searched the corpses and managed to find a key.

Her gaze settled on the door at the end of the corridor.

Unless something unexpected had happened, that should be the place.

"This has gone more smoothly than I expected," Rudeus said quietly.

"Idiot. Don't say anything that'll jinx us before it's all over."

"R-right..."

"Stand back. I'll open the door."

There might be more enemies hiding behind it. To avoid everything going wrong at the last moment, Hilde would handle opening the door.

After all, her reflexes were far quicker than Rudeus's, and even a sword strike wouldn't necessarily kill her.

She inserted the key into the lock and turned it gently.

Click—

With the faint rattling of the lock's mechanism.

The door swung open.

Hilde stepped into the room and cautiously surveyed it.

Dim light illuminated the room. An unconscious red-haired girl lay chained to a stone table, while shelves in a corner held an assortment of bizarre implements. An unsettling, rusty tang of iron and blood hung in the air.

But there were no enemies in sight.

Only then did Hilde relax a little.

Her gaze immediately fell on the red-haired girl in the center of the room, whose limbs were bound to the stone table with chains.

"Eris!"

Rudeus couldn't help crying out and hurried over.

After examining her carefully, he realized Eris was merely unconscious and hadn't woken up yet. Her clothes were intact, too. It seemed she hadn't been subjected to anything terrible... or rather, they hadn't had time yet.

Rudeus glanced around the rest of the room.

Shelves built into the walls held all kinds of strangely shaped implements.

Whips, half-burned candles, daggers stained with traces of blood, vicious-looking rods covered in spikes...

There were also some special little toys that wouldn't pass censorship if he so much as described them.

Every single one was an instrument of cruelty.

Just looking at them made his skin crawl.

Rudeus swallowed instinctively. If he hadn't insisted on rescuing Eris and had simply abandoned her here, then even if the Boreas Family eventually found her, nothing could undo the brutal treatment she would have suffered.

However he looked at it, this was a blessing amid misfortune.

If his suggestion had led to Eris suffering something so terrible, Rudeus would genuinely have wanted to die.

"Hey, Rudeus, come look at this."

Hilde's voice came from behind him.

He turned to see her taking an iron rod off a shelf and examining it with a look of amazement.

The rod was roughly as thick and long as a baby's arm. Uneven beads studded its surface, and its tip had a mushroom-shaped head. It looked utterly horrific.

Rudeus's face instantly darkened.

"Wow, that size is something else."

Hilde clicked her tongue in wonder.

She even held it against her stomach a couple of times, comparing its size with apparent interest.

"Seriously? Putting something this big inside someone would kill them. Are the nobles of the Asura Kingdom all this kinky?"

"..."

For a moment, Rudeus didn't know what expression to make.

He looked away and turned back to Eris on the stone table, gently pressing his palm to her forehead and casting detoxification magic.

"..."

The seconds ticked by.

Rudeus waited with his nerves stretched taut.

Suddenly, Eris's eyelids fluttered.

Under Rudeus's watchful gaze, she slowly opened her eyes.

"Thank goodness..."

Rudeus finally let out a breath of relief.

But before he could explain their situation, Eris suddenly shoved him away and sat up on the stone table, making the chains clatter.

Confusion filled her eyes at first, then gave way to anger and terror.

"Who are you?! Let me go! I'll kill you!!"

She screamed and desperately tugged at the shackles around her wrists, the chains scraping against the stone table with an ear-piercing noise.

Rudeus hurried forward and tried to explain:

"Miss Eris, calm down! We're here to rescue you! Do you remember me? I'm Rudeus..."

"Let me go! Let me go right now! Hurry up, or I'll kill every last one of you!"

Eris wouldn't listen. Shouting, she raised her foot and kicked at Rudeus.

Rudeus hastily backed away, narrowly avoiding a kick to the stomach.

She struggled wildly like a trapped young beast.

She screamed and shouted, glaring at Rudeus as though she wanted to tear him in half.

"I'll have Ghislaine kill all of you!"

"Ugh, what a pain..."

Rudeus sighed. Little brats were so difficult to handle.

Now he was actually glad he hadn't undone Eris's chains before waking her. Otherwise, there was no telling how much trouble she would have caused.

"Hey, Rudeus, can't you handle her?"

Watching from beside him, Hilde tilted her head.

"If you can't, let me do it. I'm pretty good at dealing with little brats like this."

"What are you going to do?"

"First, let's get her to quiet down."

As she spoke, Hilde walked up to Eris.

Eris immediately bared her teeth at her like a feral dog guarding its food.

Hilde simply clenched her fist.

Thump—

With a dull impact.

Hilde drove her fist hard into Eris's lower abdomen.