WIEDERGEBURT Act V: Chapter 45

Getting into Neveria was not as difficult as it sounded. After the plan to infiltrate Nevaria was decided, I flew back to the mountain range surrounding the city, flew over the mountains, and quietly landed in the forest. It was already late at night, so the watchtowers could not see us as we set down and disappeared in the thicket of trees.

“We’ve arrived,” I softly whispered to Feinrea.

Ever since I picked her up and began flying, Feinrea had been clinging to me, arms wound tightly around my neck. It was a little stifling. I was sure if my body wasn’t as strong as it was, her actions might have choked me. More distracting than the arms around my neck were the boobs pushing against my chest. I didn’t say anything for fear of making her feel humiliated, but feeling her breasts rub against me like this reminded me that Kari, Fay, Siv, and Lin were not with me right now.

And I was getting an itch that I wanted to scratch.

“W-we have?” Feinrea looked up from where she’d buried her head in my neck to discover that, indeed, we were no longer flying through the air. “I guess that means… you can put me down now, yes?”

“Are you sure you can walk?” I asked, amused.

“Ah.” Feinrea seemed to understand my meaning, because her cheeks lit up. It was surprisingly cute. “My legs are feeling a little weak right now…”

“Thought so. Just let me carry you until we’re actually in Nevaria. We have to fly a bit more anyway.”

“Urk…”

Feinrea did not seem to care for flying, but I think that was natural. Humans were never really meant to fly in the first place.

Still carrying Feinrea in my arms, I walked toward the rampart that surrounded the city. The city wall was easily thirty meters large and maybe seven or eight meters thick. It was incredibly defensible and could even withstand the full charge of a B-rank Demon Beast and even some A-rank Demon Beasts. Only something like a Behemoth or larger would be able to break down this wall.

The people standing on the walls were not members of the Drage Family. They weren’t wearing the rune-enchanted armor of one. Judging from the leather armor they wore, these people were members of the Nevarian Spiritualists. Did that mean they were the traitors or just people who, unable to correct what happened to their empress, begrudgingly accepted the change in leadership?

“Hold onto me tightly,” I whispered to Feinrea. “We’re going up.”

“A-already?” Feinrea sounded terrified, but she at least remembered to whisper. “C-couldn’t we rest for a little while? You must be tired from having to fly out all this way.”

“Not really,” I said with a shrug. “I flew all the way from the Northern Plains to here in thirteen days. That’s over one thousand kilometers, you know.”

“Oh…”

“Right. So hold on. Close your eyes if you think that will help.”

Feinrea did close her eyes and even buried her face in my neck again. I twitched at the sensation of her breath washing over my neck, doing my best to ignore it as I slowly floated up, until I was about halfway up the rampart. Slowly spreading out my awareness with Spiritual Perception, I felt the presence of the numerous Spiritualists walking across the rampart. There were sixteen in this section, not including the ones on the watchtowers. They were facing the Demon Beast Mountain Range. They would see me if I went any higher.

I needed to draw their attention away.

This would have been so much easier to slip through if Feinrea wasn’t here.

Spiritual Power slowly spread through my body as I touched my back to the wall, feeling the rocks this rampart was made of. It was all made from the same stone, but mortar had been used to fill the gaps and make the rampart sturdier. I took a deep breath. Acting carefully, I inserted my Spiritual Power into the rampart, down into the earth, and forced the ground to shake a little.

“What the heck?!”

“I-is this an earthquake?!”

“What’s going on here?!”

Several loud shouts echoed all around me, and I quickly shot up and flew over the rampart. The Spiritualists who should have been watching for signs of Demon Beasts down below were panicking due to the small earthquake. None of them even looked up as I flew past them, reached a pair of buildings, and set down in a small alley next to them.

“Okay. Now I can let you down,” I said to Feinrea.

“I’m not sure my legs work right now,” Feinrea muttered. “Give me a second, okay?”

I sighed and leaned against the wall as I waited for Feinrea to recover her ability to walk. It took her a while. Flying really wasn’t her speed. After about five minutes, she asked me to set her down, but even when she stood, her legs wobbled precariously and she was forced to grab me for support.

“Let’s first find an inn to stay at,” I suggested. “After we find an inn, we can make a plan over what to do first.”

Feinrea did not deny my suggestion. Nodding, she said, “I’ll follow your lead. I do not know what to do in a situation like this.”

While it was late in the evening, inns remained open all night. There were a large number of inns in the district we had landed, which was between the merchant district and the peasant’s quarters. Each building in this area was around five stories tall. All of them had the same general layout, but it was easy to tell the difference between a pub and an inn by the sign hanging from the door.

The inn we found was a little smaller than most. It was owned by an old lady who had two daughters. The youngest daughter was the receptionist standing at the front desk in the entrance hall. She had an exceptionally cheerful personality as she greeted us with a smile.

“Hello and welcome to Millie’s Inn. I’m guessing you two would like a room? How many nights are you staying?”

“Put us down for one night, please,” I said.

“One night. Okay. That will be fifty valis please.”

I reached into my cloak, pretending to grab valis, but instead summoned them from my storage ring and handed the valis over to the girl. Once she had confirmed the amount was correct, she gave me a key.

“Your room is on the second floor. It’s number 203.”

“Thank you.”

I led Feinrea up to the second floor and into our room, which was average but nice enough. The floor was made of wood panels. The walls were unadorned. However, the bed was at least large enough to accommodate two people and felt relatively soft as I sat on it. Feinrea was staring at the bed like it was evil.

“If you’re worried about having to share a bed with me, then don’t,” I told the woman. “I plan to sleep on the floor.”

Actually, I didn’t plan to sleep at all, but that was because I had a lot on my mind. There was a lot that I needed to do.

“Oh. I see. Thank you. I was indeed a little worried about that,” Feinrea said, then giggled nervously. “I guess I really don’t need to worry, though.You already have quite a few wives, and all of them are beautiful. You don’t really need an old spinster like me.”

Her words made me study the woman more closely.

When I first got thrown back in time, Feinrea was one of the people whom I had formed a good relationship with. It was thanks to her that I could earn the valis I needed for all my training supplies. In some ways, I could even say that without her help, I never would have gained the strength I have now.

Feinrea had always been a beautiful woman. Her reddish orange hair was long and luxurious, but she normally wore it in a messy bun. The color of her hair contrasted with her loose flowing robes, which she barely tied properly. Even now, her robes were askew, allowing me to see a good hint of her cleavage… though this time it might have been my fault for flying too fast.

In either event, her appearance hadn’t changed too much in the five years since I first met her, but she did look older. Feinrea was not a Spiritualist. She had reached the Second State of Spiritualism merely because of the pills she refined, but she had already been too old to cultivate by the time I introduced those pills. The Second State was the highest she could reach.

That meant she would age only a little slower than a normal human.

“You’re still beautiful,” I said. “But you are right when you said I don’t really need anyone else. I think having four wives is more than enough for me.”

“I’ll bet,” Feinrea giggled.

Seeing how it looked like she was feeling a little better, I decided it was time we got down to business.

“Let’s come up with a plan to get the information we need tomorrow. Also, perhaps now would be the best time to tell me why you wanted to come with me.” Feinrea suddenly went silent, causing me to sigh. “I noticed when we were all gathered together that… your brother wasn’t with us.”

Feinrea’s expression became truly bitter as she smiled at me, her shoulders slumping. I felt guilty. However, I also knew this was not something she could hide, not if she wanted to accomplish whatever her goals were.

“Nothing gets past you.” She closed her eyes. “When the Drage Family took over, they made sure to hit every group that could threaten them. Of course, this included the Alchemist Association. They sent their men to our association and tried to ‘take me in for questioning.’ When I tried to resist, they decided putting on an act was more trouble than it was worth and tried to kill me. My brother is the one who saved me, but… well… I’m sure you can guess what happened to him.”

I nodded. “And so you came here to take revenge?”

Feinrea shook her head. “I certainly would like to, but I know I’m not strong enough to do anything against the Drage Family. However…” Her eyes grew dark. “Several alchemists of the association betrayed me. They were the reason it was so easy for those people to come in. I’m certain they were on the Drage Family’s payroll.”

“And you want to find out exactly which ones betrayed you,” I said.

“Yes.”

“I understand the situation.” I tugged on my bangs. “I’ll lend you a hand on that front. First, we’ll discover the location of the Nevarian Braves who have been taken prisoner and the dweorgs. Then we’ll head to the Alchemist Association and see if we can find out who betrayed you.”

“Thank you,” Feinrea said softly.

I didn’t say anything, merely smiling at the woman. She had given me a hand when I first arrived in this world, so of course I was going to help her now.

***

Gaining information when infiltrating an enemy city was always difficult—nevermind the fact that Nevaria was not even an enemy city to begin with but one that had been my home for two decades.

There were generally a number of ways to gain information. One of the first was traveling to a bar and just listening to the people talk. Bars were always a great source of information because people’s lips became looser when they were inebriated. Of course, no bar was open in the early morning, so Feinrea and I would have to wait until night fell before we could do anything.

At the moment, what I was doing was simply observing the city, which hadn’t undergone any physical changes since I left but still felt like an entirely different city.

“Do you know if the Drage Family has imposed restrictions on the citizens?” I asked Feinrea as we ate breakfast. I’d gone to a bakery and bought some honeyed bread. The store owner had been a little suspicious since I refused to remove my hood, but I merely told him my face was hideously scarred.

He’d believed me and even gave me some extra bed.

“You are asking because of how few people are out right now, yes?” Feinrea sighed as she looked at the street. There were only a handful of people wandering around. “I have not heard of the Drage Family imposing any restrictions on the citizens. The reason everyone is fearful of them is because of their attitude.”

I didn’t quite know what she meant by that, but I soon came to find out as we continued to walk around.

A loud crashing sound echoed from down the street. Feinrea and I gathered alongside the crowd of those few people who traveled outside and found an old man being tossed out of a building. Judging by the sign, this building sold shaved ice. The sign possessed the image of a bowl with something round inside of it and a spoon sticking out of the side. The old man looked like he was in his fifty or sixties.

“P-please don’t destroy my store! This is my life’s work!”

The old man’s wife had rushed out as he pleaded with someone inside of the shop, kneeling next to her husband and placing a hand on his shoulder. About one second after she emerged, someone else walked out of the store.

This person was handsome enough, with a head full of blond hair and blue eyes that were typical of the Drage Family, but the arrogant smirk plastered on his face ruined his appearance. He wasn’t wearing armor right now. However, the leather pants and leather jerkin with golden embroidery of a dragon was obviously expensive. He stepped forward and placed his boot on the man’s shoulder, then shoved him back.

“If you don’t want us ruining your store, then you should just give us what we want,” he said.

“All I did was ask you to pay for your food!”

“Pay for our food?! You want us to pay?!” The man looked angry as he glared down at the older man. “We protect shops like yours from the threat of Demon Beasts and even ousted that hypocritical empress for you all, and you want us to pay for our meals?! Your arrogance knows no bounds! Do you think saving your pathetic lives every day is free? There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world!”

I could already figure out what was happening here. But as if to help me further understand what sort of despicable group the Drage Family was, the people around us began speaking.

“The Drage Family is always acting like this no matter where they go.”

“I know. They came to my shop and demanded I give them whatever they wanted. When I didn’t give in, they ransacked the place, stole everything, and said this was my punishment for not doing what they asked.”

“These bastards are destroying our livelihood!”

“I wish Empress Hilda was here.”

I listened to the conversation while keeping an eye on what was happening just outside the shop, but I soon became distracted when a loud and girlish scream erupted from inside the store. The faces of the store owner and his wife drained of blood.

“Hey, Lord Erhardt. Look at what we found.”

Several men came out of the shop. Not all of them were members of the Drage Family. They might have been a large family, but they couldn’t watch after an entire city filled with millions of people themselves. My guess was that they had bribed certain members of the Nevarian Spiritualists into betraying Empress Hilda, and those people had become the backbone of their forces. All the men who emerged from the shop wore the same leather armor as a Neverian Spiritualist.

One of the men was fiercely gripping the arm of a crying and struggling young girl. I would say she was maybe fifteen years old. Her hair was the color of honey, she had peach-colored skin, and her slender body was adorned with a simple gown that hid her budding figure. She was very pretty. I imagine she’d become even prettier when she grew up.

The one called “Lord Erhardt” licked his lips before turning to the now frightened man and woman.

“I cannot believe you were keeping such a delectable dish from me. Tell you what, I will forget this incident ever happened if you give this girl to me.”

“Y-you can’t take her!” Despite how scared he was, the store owner somehow found the courage to speak. “Please! That’s my only daughter! Please show mercy! Don’t take her from me!”

Erhardt laughed as he kicked the man in the face. A loud crunching sound echoed across the street as the man’s nose broke. His wife screamed as he fell back, body going limp. This Erhardt person was only at the Second State of Spiritualism, but that meant he was still considerably more powerful than a normal civilian who hadn’t practiced spiritualism before.

“Do not think you can tell me what to do. We’re taking her with us.” Erhardt eyed the girl, licking his lips, which caused the young girl to shudder in fear. “Yes, I believe you will be adequate compensation for the disgrace I have suffered today.”

As it became clear what was about to happen, the people around us could not help but express remorse. Words like “that poor girl” and “I can’t believe this is happening to someone as kind as her” were echoed by the few people present, but no one actually came forward to do anything. They knew what would happen if they did. It would just put them in this man’s sights, and he may decide to take his anger out on them.

Humans would rarely stick their necks out for someone if it meant putting themselves in danger.

“Eryk…” Feinrea gripped my cloak.

I shook my head. “Not yet. Let’s follow these people back to their base. We’ll rescue the girl before they can do anything, but this is a good opportunity. I’d like to capture this ‘Lord Erhardt’ and interrogate him. To do that, we have to wait until he’s no longer in public.”

Yes, I planned on letting Erhardt take this girl to wherever he was staying, waiting until he was alone with her, and then capturing him. I knew it might traumatize the girl. She was just a child, one that had never seen the horrors I had. A part of me felt like I shouldn’t be able to make this decision so easily, but the part of me that lived through the Demon Beast Invasion of Nevaria and the War Against the Sekbeist in the Northern Plains felt rational and cold. It told me this was the best opportunity I would have to get the information I wanted.

But just before these people could make off with that man’s daughter, someone else stepped in to stop them.

“What is going on here?”

The person who stepped into view was a young woman with blonde hair that bordered on silver and ice blue eyes. Skin so pale it was as if she’d never stepped into the sun was only partially hidden behind her revealing outfit, which looked more like strips of leather held together by intricately designed golden bands studded with red gems than a dress. The flawless curvature of her breasts, waist, and hips caused many of the men to become absentminded, including Erhardt himself, though his complexion also grew pale. Covering this woman’s legs were boots and vambraces with the same intricate designs as the bands holding her dress together.

“P-Princess Sigrid,” Erhardt stuttered, taking a step back.

Sigrid took a step forward. “I asked you a question. What is going on here?”

“This is… it’s just…”

Erhardt was unable to answer her. It was clear to anyone looking that he was trying to take this store owner’s young daughter. Sigrid was a smart woman. She would know what was happening, which meant she only said this to make the man nervous.

I sighed. Guess we would have to wait before we could interrogate Erhardt.

Sigrid looked from Erhardt to the men still keeping a firm grip on the girl, her eyes narrowing.

“Let go of her now,” Sigrid commanded.

The two men let go of the girl, who fell to her knees, her entire body shivering. Sigrid walked over to the girl. The two men, out of fear, stepped away. Holding out her hand, Sigrid gave the young woman a smile.

“You’re okay now. These men won’t touch you again.”

The young woman looked at the hand before tentatively placing her own in it. Sigrid pulled the girl to her feet, then directed her toward her parents. The girl’s mother and father were so relieved to see their child safe that they unabashedly cried as they embraced her, and these actions also seemed to make the girl finally release all the emotions she’d been feeling as well.

I felt an internal conflict inside of me as I watched this undoubtedly touching scene, but most of it came from the woman who had stopped all this from happening.

I’d never been very close to Sigrid. I didn’t trust her because she was a member of the Drage Family. Even allowing her to join the Nevarian Braves had been because I wanted to keep an eye on her. Consequently, my distrust toward her proved to be the correct choice since it was Sigrid who destroyed my sect, but seeing her like this made me realize she might not be as bad a person as I made her out to be.

Of course, she was still my enemy. I had no delusions about that. Knowing she wasn’t a complete monster wasn’t going to change this simple fact.

“Let’s go,” I said to Feinrea. “There’s nothing we can do here.”

Feinrea didn’t say anything, just nodding quietly as she released her grip on my arm. As she and I were leaving, I felt a pair of eyes on me, and I turned my head just in time to see Sigrid staring at me with an intense frown. I didn’t think she could recognize me, but I knew better than to remain there. The two of us quickly left the scene behind.

***

The moment Sigrid saw the two cloaked individuals leaving, she felt a strong urge to stop them and make them remove their hoods. She didn’t know why. Her instincts were telling her there was something about those two that she couldn’t afford to neglect. Of course, they were wearing cloaks in broad daylight, which was suspicious in and of itself, but Sigrid couldn’t help but feel there was more to her feelings than that.

However, she could not do that at the moment because she needed to deal with Erhardt.

“All of you are coming with me,” Sigrid said.

“Ah? P-Princess Sigrid… what are you planning to do with us?” asked Erhardt.

Sigrid narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know yet, but I do know that you need to be punished. This isn’t your first infraction, right? When I was wandering around town, I heard from several people that you have been terrorizing the citizens in this district. You are the Drage Family’s representative and are responsible for the safety and well-being of these people, and yet here I find you disregarding your duty and treating the people you should be protecting like slaves. I have to tell you; I am not pleased.”

“W-we promise to uphold the law from now on,” Erhardt said. The man was shaking in his boots by this point. “I-I promise. Something like this will never happen again.”

“Of course it won’t,” Sigrid said with a bright smile. “Because I am going to punish you in order to make you aware of the consequences of your actions.”

Sigrid felt nothing but disappointment as she watched the man pale. She could not help but feel like her Drage Family had become a hive of degenerates. As she took these men away, she promised herself that she would speak of this matter to her father. Perhaps he could help bring their family back in line.