WIEDERGEBURT Act V: Chapter 3

I found myself waking up and eating breakfast with my family early the next morning. A basket of freshly baked bread was sitting in the center of our round table, and a bowl of light soup sat in front of me, Fay, and Kari. Siv and Lin did not have soup. Instead, they were devouring several racks of ribs, which I had requested the chef of the Warrior’s Refuge make. They should be coming out with the next serving of ribs soon…

“I wish you two could be a little more quiet when you’re making love,” Fay said as she frowned at me and Kari. Her cheeks were pink. “Do you not realize practically everyone in the inn was able to hear you last night? The only reason we weren’t kicked out is because I promised the inn’s manager that I would talk to you today.”

“Ah. I guess the walls in this place are pretty thin. My bad.” Kari smiled at Fay as she placed her hands together in front of her as if she was praying. “I promise to not be as loud from now on.”

“Loud! Loud!” Raul cheered from his place on my lap.

“Come on, Raul. Are you hungry? Have some bread.”

“Bread. Raul likes bread.”

While I was giving Raul small chunks of bread that he could eat, Fay sent Kari an exasperated look. “You’ve made that promise before…”

Kari’s response to those words was to giggle, which only served to further Fay’s exasperation.

As we continued to talk—and Siv and Lin continued to chow down on their food—a group of four women dressed in gleaming armor walked down the stairs. I immediately zeroed in on Erica. She looked almost exactly the same as I remember, though she appeared quite a bit younger.

She wore the same battle gown as before. The Blue shoulder pauldrons were outlined with gold and shifted against her as she walked. Wrapped around her torso was a corset made of blue steel. I remembered her once saying her armor was made from a B-rank Demon Beast with a metallic hide. Her breasts were not covered by armor but clad in a white top with frills that traveled around her body. The top covered very little, so a good portion of her cleavage spilled out. She also wore gauntlets that stopped at the elbow and grieves that went up to her knees.

Perhaps Erica was able to sense my stare because she stopped walking and turned in my direction, but I had already gone back to my food. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her frowning at me, until the woman up front called her. Then she turned and followed who I guessed was her leader.

“Erica’s intuition is as sharp as ever,” Kari said as she blew on her soup. “Though she seems a bit inexperienced right now.”

“It does appear that way.” I also scooped up a spoonful of soup and blew on it, though I fed it to Raul. He seemed to enjoy it a lot from the way he gobbled it up and demanded I continue.

“More soap pwease.”

“More soap coming right up.”

“Do you think that woman leading her is the leader of the Battling Valkyries?” asked Kari.

In my previous life, Kari and I never met the famous Battling Valkyries sect leader. We’d never had a reason to. Also, by the time the war with the Sekbeists started, Erica had already been close to officially taking over the position.

“I don’t think so.” I shook my head. “That woman is only at the Second State of Spiritualism. The previous sect leader was said to be at the Third State of Spiritualism.”

“Hmmm…”

Kari didn’t say anything more as her expression became contemplative. She continued to slowly eat her soup and studied the group now sitting several tables away. In the meantime, a waitress pushing a cart and wearing a dismayed expression came to our table and set down several more large racks of ribs for Lin and Siv. She then watched with further shock as the two devoured the food in an instant.

“Ahhhhh! This princess is full now.” Lin leaned back in her chair and rubbed her belly, which was still flat and didn’t look at all like she had just gorged herself on twenty racks of ribs. She let out a low belch, then looked at us. “So what is the plan now?”

“First, you should say ‘excuse me’ for burping like that in public. Do you want to set a bad example for Raul?” Fay asked, eyes narrowed in consternation.

Lin looked like she wanted to argue, but that became impossible the moment Fay brought up Raul, who was now staring at Lin like she was the center of the universe.

“E-excuse me,” Lin mumbled, her dark cheeks growing red.

Burp.

At that exact moment, Siv, who had been dabbing her mouth with a napkin, suddenly burped as well. We all turned to her. The girl flushed bright red all the way to the tips of her ears and tried to hide herself.

“Our next destination is Midgard,” Kari said into the awkward silence. “Midgard is about two months from here on foot. By carriage, it shouldn’t take more than a month.”

“How are our supplies looking?” I asked Lin.

Lin was in charge of managing our supplies. Back in Nevaria, she’d done similar roles while helping me manage the sect, so I knew she could be trusted with this. While she seemed frivolous at times, she also worked hard, enjoyed being useful, and had a knack for numbers.

“We’ll need to restock on food and water,” Lin said. “We’re pretty much out. I think we only have enough to last for a few days.”

“We’ll restock on supplies here,” Kari said. “Vahn has one of the largest markets in the Northern Plains, so it would be best to buy what we need now rather than when we reach the next town.”

Everyone agreed with Kari, so after we finished and paid for our meal, the six of us left to begin stocking up.

***

Erica watched with a frown as the group of five left. Oh, no. Wait. It was a group of six, wasn’t it?

She eyed the child now sitting on the lamia’s shoulders, then looked at the others. They were an odd mix. There was a blond beauty with an extraordinary figure, a gorgeous redhead with hair reminiscent of fire, a dark-skinned lamia from the Endless Desert, a beautiful man with green hair and a somewhat feminine appearance, and a strange but adorable girl with wings on her back, horns like a crown around her head, and a long tail.

It was the winged girl who caught her attention the most. Of course, it wasn’t her adorable, doll-like appearance, petite figure, or anything else that caught Erica’s attention. It was the wings, horns, tail, and scales. She had never seen anyone like that in her entire life, but it made her think of the dragons who lived in the Misty Mountain Range.

“Is everything okay, Erica?” asked her group leader. She was an older woman with a lot more experience than Erica. Her name was Emalee.

“Everything is fine,” Erica said with a smile. “I was just thinking.”

While Emalee frowned, the two girls with them giggled a little.

“We noticed you looking at that group of women who were sitting a few tables away,” Karen said. “Was there something about them that caught your eye?”

Karen was several years younger than Erica. She was thin and possessed a bearing that made her feel older than her true age suggested. Sitting by her side was their final companion, Janet, a redhead who was around the same age as Erica herself.

“Nothing in particular.” Erica shook her head. “And the group isn’t entirely made up of women. The young child and green-haired man who are with them were both male.”

“Huh?! You mean to tell me that beautiful person with the powerful muscles wasn’t a woman?!” Karen was so shocked by Erica’s words that she stood up, slammed her hands on the table, and leaned over with wide eyes.

Erica frowned. “I thought it was obvious.”

“Settle down, Karen,” Emalee said. Karen blushed as she sat back down. Emalee continued. “In any case, we’ve finished our job, so we should hurry up and return to Midgard. The Council of Six Selection Tournament is coming up. I’m sure Lady Alexis will want our best and brightest member present to take part.” She looked at Erica. “You are our sect master’s private disciple. She will definitely be relying on you.”

“I’ll do my best not to let Master down,” Erica said with a determined nod.

They left after eating their breakfast and paying their tab. On the way out, Erica caught a group of men at another table staring at her and the others. They were wearing grimy armor, held rusted weapons at their waist, and wore a disgusting leer that made her skin crawl. She shivered in disgust as she looked forward again. People like that were not worth her time.

It was not long after leaving the Warrior’s Refuge that she and her group found themselves traveling by carriage along the paved road.

She leaned against the window and looked outside, but her mind was not on the passing scenery. It was on those people. Something about them jolted her mind. She thought it might be wariness at first, but that wasn’t quite it. She bit her lip and thought harder, but no matter how hard she thought, she just couldn’t figure out what it was about them that made her feel this way.

A jolt startled Erica out of her thoughts. She realized with some surprise that their carriage had stopped.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Look alive, you three,” Emalee said from outside. “It seems some ruffians have decided to halt our carriage.”

At those words, she, Karen, and Janet grabbed their weapons and exited the carriage. While Karen and Janet both used a simple broadsword, Erica wielded a large claymore that was even taller than she was by about 30 centimeters. She carried the weapon over her shoulder as she moved to the carriage’s front and eyed the people who had stopped them.

It was the group from before.

Erica narrowed her eyes as she studied these people in closer detail. All of them had mismatched armor. The one in front wore a steel chestplate and wielded a broadsword. The four behind him wore a combination of leather armor and what she thought might be iron. It was hard to tell since there were so many stains on their clothes. Not only was their clothing covered in stains and rust, but the smell of unwashed filth wafted from them, proving that these men were not members of any sect.

“What do you people want?!” Emalee demanded as she hopped down from the carriage and stood in front of Erica, Karen, and Janet.

“Isn’t that obvious?” The man in front grinned as he waved the broadsword in his hand. “We noticed you gals was alone and, being the gentlemen that we are, decided we couldn’t in good conscience let you go off by yourselves. This road is pretty dangerous. You never know when you might run into some people who wish to do… shall we say, less than savory things to you.”

It was obvious by the way this man licked his lips and the men behind him snickered that they were one of those groups who wanted to commit those unsavory acts he alluded to. Erica sneered as she got ready for combat. If these people thought she and the others were easy pickings, they were dead wrong.

“Do you really think we’ll just let you do as you please?” Erica asked as she shifted her feet against the ground and held her claymore in a powerful two-handed grip.

The leader of these bandits grinned. “Of course we do. After all, you ain’t gonna be able to fight back soon.”

Erica frowned at his words, but just as she was about to attack them, the sound of something clattering to the ground caused her head to turn. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw both Karen and Janet falling face first onto the ground. There didn’t appear to be any wounds on their bodies. Yet they were both laid out and unmoving. What was going on?

Just as she wondered this, a wave of dizziness suddenly swept over her and Erica fell to her knees. Her claymore dropped to the ground as her body became weak. Her arms shook as she struggled to keep herself upright.

“Damn, I thought that drug would never kick in,” someone said from above her, though it sounded like the words were coming from a great distance. What really shocked her, however, was who said those words.

Lifting her head was a struggle, but she eventually managed it. She eyed Emalee, who now stood facing her, a nasty grin plastered all over her face.

“Emalee… what… what is… going on?” she asked, her voice weak.

“I thought that would be obvious.” Emalee sneered at her. “I’ve decided to get rid of you.”

Erica thought she heard a shattering sound inside of her mind. It was as if her mind had broken.

Emalee was the squad leader for their group, a woman who had nearly a decade worth of experience and someone she greatly admired, almost as much as the sect master herself. She had always thought of this woman as an older sister. They had laughed together, shared drinks together, and fought together.

So why?

“Why are you… doing this?” asked Erica.

“Hmph! The reason should be obvious. It’s because that damn sect master no longer pays anymore attention to me.” Emalee’s eyes became dark and filled with anger. “Ever since you showed up, you’ve been taking all the spotlight. She’s placed all her hopes on you. She even said she’ll be counting on you during the upcoming tournament to decide which sect will earn a place among the Great Six Sects. I can’t stand it! There are many of us who have been in the Battling Valkyries for far longer! Who have put in more time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears into this sect than you! So why?! Why are you the one our sect master is counting on?!”

Erica could do nothing but listen in shock as the woman ranted and raved at her. Was this really how Emalee felt? Did she truly believe Erica was stealing the “spotlight” from her and the other sect members? That had never been her intention at all! The only thing Erica wanted to do was pay back the woman who took her in!

She tried to tell Emalee that, but it was no use. Her mouth wasn’t working properly anymore. Even if it was, she didn’t think this woman would listen.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Emalee said. “Once you are dead, I’ll be able to regain my standing with the sect master. Maybe I’ll even be able to succeed her position when she finally decides to step down.”

While Emalee was talking, the bandits—and it was now clear to Erica that Emalee hired them—walked up until they were just behind the ranting woman. The dark grins they wore chilled Erica’s heart. She tried to warn Emalee, but her mouth had gone numb and could no longer form words.

“Hurk!” Emalee released a startled grunt as a broadsword covered in lightning pierced her chestplate, went straight through her back, and emerged out her chest. She stared at the blade tip sticking out of her chest, then turned her head to glare at the bandits. “You… what are you…?”

“Sorry,” the bandit leader said with a grin as he pulled the broadsword out, “but we’re only interested in those three cuties over there. A hag like you can go die.”

Erica could only watch in horror as Emalee fell to her knees, swayed, then toppled onto her side. Blood oozed out of the seems in her chestplate and formed a puddle underneath her. Emalee’s eyes were wide open, but they were sightless now. The last expression on her face was one of shock and anger.

Although it was now clear that Emalee had wanted to kill her, a part of Erica still felt regret that this woman had died. It was hard to rid herself of the pristine image she previously had of this woman.

“Hmph. Damn hag. Good riddance.” The man kicked Emalee’s corpse before turning to her, Karen, and Janet. He licked his lips and stepped forward with the other four. “Now that she’s gone, it’s onto the main course. Don’t worry, girly. We’re all gentleman here. We’ll be sure to treat you right.”

Erica gritted her teeth as she struggled to channel Spiritual Power through her body. It felt sluggish and weak, but she somehow managed to activate her Spiritual Aura. Fire flared around her body. The feeling of her Spiritual Power running through her also helped partially clear the fog caused by whatever poison she had ingested, though it still felt like her body was wading through muck.

“Oho. It seems you’ve got quite a bit of Spiritual Power. However, you ain’t the only Spiritualist here.”

As he spoke, the man in front of her activated his Spiritual Aura, though he was the only one. It was clear that he had only reached the First State of Spiritualism as well. Otherwise he would have activated the Second State already.

The man’s leering and confident grin disgusted her, but she couldn’t say anything because doing so might cause her concentration to slip.

On any other occasion, Erica would have been certain in her ability to defeat these lecherous fools. She had already reached the Second State of Spiritualism. What’s more, she had been personally trained in combat by the sect master and was hailed by her peers as a prodigy. However, with her body weakened by poison, she knew it would be difficult to defeat this man, nevermind the people behind him.

The man suddenly dashed forward and swung the broadsword in his hand. It was a sloppy swing. He clearly didn’t have any real training in how to use a weapon. Despite this, Erica’s arms shook when she raised her claymore to block his attack. She bit back a yelp as she staggered backward.

Laughing, the bandit swung his sword again and again. Each time he attacked, Erica would block it, only to stumble back as though his attacks were too powerful. She knew he was just toying with her. The fact that she was being toyed with by such a weak fool galled her.

“Hey, hey! Come on! Why don’t you put up a better fight? Ain’t you supposed to be some hot shot from a powerful sect?!”

“A little girly like you shouldn’t be swinging around such a heavy weapon. Why don’t you just stop fighting and let me teach you about a woman’s place?”

As the fight continued, the bandit leader taunted her as he continuously knocked aside her weapon. She gritted her teeth in frustration, unable to believe she was letting such a simpleminded fool play with her like this. The worst thing about this situation was that she knew she could have beaten him if she hadn’t been drugged.

The bandit leader seemed to get tired of toying with her. With a swing of his sword, he knocked Erica’s weapon out of her hand and kicked her in the chest. The loud clang of her battle corset being struck echoed around the plain as she fell onto her backside. She winced, then looked up when a sword appeared in front of her face. Despite the situation, she glared at the man holding the weapon to her.

“Heh heh. I like that look in your eyes. It’s gonna be fun breaking you.” He licked his lips. “You probably don’t know this, but breaking strong woman is something of a hobby I have.”

“Hey, boss! Make sure you give us a turn,” one of the men behind him said.

“Tch! Shut up! Go play with those other two if you want to have fun!”

Erica gnashed her teeth together as the men streamed around her and their leader and moved toward Karen and Janet, who were in no condition to put up a fight. What could she do? Surely there was something she could do in a situation like this! She couldn’t just let these disgusting men have their way!

Just as she was thinking this, the man stabbed his sword into the ground and began fumbling with his belt. She felt a moment of despair. However, it only lasted for a moment before it was replaced by shock.

A beam of pale blue lightning raced over her head and slammed into the man’s chest, blasting a hole clean through his torso and lifting him off his feet. He flew through the air, struck the ground, and twitched several times before going still. It was obvious he was dead.

“What the hell?!”

“Leader!”

The shouts of shock caused Erica to turn her head. The bandits looked just as stupefied as her. No, perhaps they were even more surprised.

A shadow passed overhead in that moment, and Erica looked up to see a man slowly descending to the ground like he’d been flying. He was a very pretty man with long green haired tied together in the back with a leather band, green eyes, and a lithe but muscular build. The mostly blue and white outfit he wore was a bit unusual. It didn’t look like something you could find in the Northern Plains. What really struck her like a bolt of lightning was not his clothes, however, but the fact that she remembered him from this morning.

It was the man who had been sitting with those women.

The bandits also noticed him. However, their reaction was to become belligerent.

“Who the hell are you?! You’d better leave now if you know what’s—”

The man who was speaking was unable to say anything else. The green-haired man raised his hand, sparks skittered and lightning gathered along his skin. Then it was launched forward like a lance. It struck the man in the face, blowing his head clean off, though there wasn’t any blood because the lightning destroyed everything it touched and cauterized the stump.

Erica gazed in shock as the man he killed swayed, tilted, and fell to the ground. She’d fought plenty of Demon Beasts before now, and she had seen blood and gore before, but this was her first time seeing a headless human corpse. She wanted to vomit. However, the drug running through her system was barely letting her move.

“Shut up,” the man said coldly.

The other bandits became scared. They looked like they were seconds away from bolting.

The man did not let them leave.

Erica could do nothing but gaze in awe as the man sent arcs of water and lightning at the three remaining bandits. One of them had his head removed from his shoulders when a blade of water sliced into his neck. Another was struck by a bolt of lightning, his screams echoing across the plain as his insides were fried. The last one had turned around and tried to run, but the green-haired man stomped on the ground, which caused several earth spikes to shoot upward and impale him. The bandit twitched several times as blood ran down the spikes. He let out one last gasp, and then his head, arms, and legs all went limp.

Erica gawked at this man. She wasn’t shocked that he had beaten these five. Any Spiritualist who had been trained in combat could have done it, but the speed at which he had defeated these bandits was something very few people could accomplish. Even the vice commander of the Paladin Sect, Tungsten, could not have beaten these bandits so quickly. What’s more, this man had used three different elements, and all of them without dances.

Once the men were all dead, the green-haired man turned to her. She felt herself freeze for a moment as he gazed at her, but there was no hostility or ill-intentions in his eyes. If anything, he seemed curious.

“Are you three okay? It looks like you have been poisoned. Hold on a moment. I’ve got some alchemy pills that can cure poisons.”

The man held out his hand, and Erica blinked in shock when three green pills suddenly appeared on his palm. It was like they had magically appeared out of thin air. He walked over to her, knelt down, and pressed one of the pills to her mouth.

“Take this,” he said.

Erica didn’t quite trust this man, but it wasn’t like she was in a position to fight him either. He had just destroyed five bandits in less than three seconds. If he wanted to kill her, he could easily do so, even if she had been at full fighting strength.

She let him push the pill into her mouth and broke through the outer shell. She only grimaced a little at the taste as the liquid gushed down her throat.

Barely a few seconds passed, but Erica could already feel the pill taking effect, clearing out the poison in her body. She nearly gasped in surprise. What effective medicine! She wondered who made this miraculous pill. They must be an incredible Master Alchemist!

While she was marveling at the pill’s effectiveness, the green-haired man was administering the other two pills to Karen and Janet. The poison had affected them far more than it had Erica. They were not as strong, having only reached the First State of Spiritualism. However, after consuming the pill, both of them began recovering quickly.

Far in the distance, Erica could see a large wagon coming up on the road. It was being pulled by some massive, lizard-like Demon Beast. She was quite shocked, but most of her attention was still on the man. Standing to her feet, she marveled at how her legs no longer felt so weak. The poison had been completely cleared from her body in only a few seconds.

“Thank you for your help,” Erica said, bowing to the man.

“There’s no need for that. I just did what anyone should have done in that situation.” The man gave her an easygoing grin that put her at ease. She had no idea who this man was, but he seemed very kind.

Oh. That’s right. She didn’t even know who he was.

“Excuse me, but do you mind if I ask for your name?” asked Erica.

At that moment, another shadow passed overhead. Janet and Karen had moved to her side, and they gawked along with her as a petite figure with giant leathery wings descended from the sky and landed next to the man. The petite young girl hugged his arm as her wings retracted.

“My name is Eryk Veiger. It’s very nice to meet you,” the man said.

And that was the first meeting between Erica and Eryk in this other life.