It Feels So Good

"Thud—"

After saying that, Hilde could no longer hold herself up. Her legs went weak, and she collapsed onto the ground.

Even she didn't know where she had found the strength to counterattack just now.

In that instant, she had truly thought she was going to die.

She glanced at her left hand, half-severed by the sharp blade, and tried to pull it free from the sword, but even that was difficult to do.

"Hilde!"

Rudeus rushed over quickly.

He looked at Hilde's injuries and clenched his teeth.

"That was way too reckless, you idiot... Would it kill you not to push yourself?"

"Didn't we win?" Hilde said softly. Right now, even raising her voice felt exhausting.

"..."

Rudeus really couldn't stand it.

She always loved to force herself. Always loved to pretend she was calm. Always loved to shoulder everything as if nothing had happened...

And she still had to act like she didn't care at all.

This girl was seriously infuriating.

"Forget that for now."

Hilde took a deep breath and leaned against the wall beside her, easing the waves of dizziness that kept darkening her vision.

She pointed at her left hand.

"Help me. I can't get it off myself."

Rudeus looked at it in silence.

Half her palm had been cut through by the blade. The edge was jammed between the bones, unable to be pulled out or cut any farther through, and blood was still pouring out even now.

It was hard to imagine just how much pain she had to be enduring.

And Hilde had endured that pain while using that blood-soaked hand to grip the enemy's blade with all her strength, then punched straight through him.

Rather than saying she was beyond ordinary people...

It would be more accurate to say she was practically superhuman.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up."

Hilde said expressionlessly.

"Yeah, yeah..."

Rudeus sighed. He really had no way of dealing with Hilde.

He grabbed Hilde's arm with one hand and kicked the enemy's corpse away with his foot. After a great deal of effort, he finally managed to pull the sword free from Hilde's bones. The instant it came loose, Rudeus sharply noticed Hilde's taut face twitch violently.

A tough body didn't make Hilde immune to pain.

She simply didn't want Rudeus to see her in an embarrassing state.

"Intermediate healing magic can mend bones to a certain extent, but it can't heal them completely."

As Rudeus spoke, he cast healing magic on Hilde.

"It'll let you move for now, but once this is over, you'd better find a high-level healing magician to treat it again. Otherwise, it might leave lasting damage."

"I know that without you telling me," Hilde said flatly.

Soon, under the effects of the healing magic, Hilde's palm gradually healed.

The originally gruesome wound disappeared bit by bit, until only traces of blood remained.

Hilde tried to clench her fist.

As expected, a piercing pain shot through her.

It seemed this hand wouldn't be usable for the time being.

The good news was that even with only one hand, Hilde could still swing a sword.

Hilde raised her head and glanced over Rudeus's shoulder, looking at Eris hiding in the corner nearby, her face pale.

"Come here," Hilde said.

"Wh-what are you going to do?"

Eris instinctively shrank back.

"Cut the crap. I said come here, so come here."

Hilde couldn't be bothered to argue with her. Her imposing gaze fixed on Eris, her tone completely commanding.

Eris pressed her lips together.

In the end, she still gritted her teeth and walked over step by step.

Hilde grabbed the collar around her neck and yanked her forward until she stumbled close, then began examining it carefully.

Pinned by that burning gaze, Eris immediately felt uncomfortable all over.

She instinctively turned her head away, trying to put as much distance between herself and Hilde as possible.

"Hold still!" Hilde rapped her on the head. "Move around again and I'll beat you up!"

"Damn it..."

Eris bared her teeth, then behaved.

"What is it, Hilde?" Rudeus asked.

"The problem should be with this—this collar."

After observing it for a while, Hilde calmly reached her conclusion.

"That one-eyed man earlier didn't find us through the traces we left behind. He has some special method of locking onto our position, and the secret should be in this collar. I don't know what the principle is, but as long as she's wearing it, no matter where we go, we won't be able to completely shake off the pursuers."

"I see..."

Rudeus nodded. This result was about what he had expected.

In that case, even if they managed to reach the exit and leave this royal capital, they still wouldn't be able to return to Fittoa Territory.

"Let's deal with this thing first."

Hilde looked up at Rudeus. "Well? Do you have a way?"

"...I have something that isn't exactly a proper method. We can try it, but I'm not sure it'll work."

Rudeus thought for a moment.

Actually, Roxy had once told him some things about magic circles.

When a magic circle was made semi-permanent and engraved onto an item like this, allowing it to produce the corresponding effect as long as mana was poured into it, it was called a magic item.

But even a semi-permanent magic circle had limits on its number of uses and its durability.

So, theoretically speaking, as long as he triggered the magic circle at high frequency in an extremely short period of time, pushing it to the limit of its durability, he could make it break down.

At the end of the day, magic items themselves were just consumables.

If they were used enough times, it was only natural they would break.

In reality, though, basically no one had enough mana to play around like that.

Rudeus was an exception.

No sooner said than done.

"Eris, sit down. Come a little closer to me."

Rudeus directly pulled Eris down to sit on the spot, pressed his palm against the collar on Eris's neck, and began pouring mana into it.

As mana flowed in, the magic-circle runes on the collar also began flickering continuously at an extremely high frequency, like LED lights in a nightclub.

"How long will it take?" Hilde asked.

"Uh, ten minutes?"

Rudeus was a little unsure too. After all, this was his first time doing something like this.

Hilde nodded silently and sat down as well.

While recovering her strength, she kept an eye out for any new enemies approaching.

And when Eris saw Hilde sit down nearby, she instinctively edged closer to Rudeus. In her mind, Hilde had already been completely equated with a demon. Just having Hilde near her made her uncomfortable all over.

Hilde naturally noticed Eris's little movement too.

But she didn't care at all and continued doing as she pleased.

Rudeus smiled helplessly.

Should he say Hilde really didn't like children much...?

In his memory, even back in Buena Village, Hilde never played with the other children at all. If some child without any sense came to bother her, they were definitely in for a beating.

But even Hilde, who disliked children, had chosen to lend a hand to both Sylphy and Eris.

However, Rudeus didn't explain any of that to Eris.

Because snuggling up with a beautiful girl...

Felt really damn good!