WIEDERGEBURT Act II: Chapter 22

 We marched through Hovebrann. Judging by how we slept ten times during our journey, the trip must have taken around ten days, or so I assumed. It was still hard to judge time thanks to the never changing blood red sky.

Much of the terrain looked the same everywhere we went, a desolate wasteland, a space filled with cracked ground and jutting rocks, of skeletal remains. There were a few areas that also looked like they had once been forests. However, the trees had long since withered. This land was dead. According to Hreidmar, it was like this because the Sekbeists devoured the natural resources of this world faster than the world could replenish them.

Our group did run into a few patrols. It seemed the Sekbeist had people roaming the land in search of surviving Dweorgs. We took care of them easily enough. Our group might not be large, barely several hundred in total, but the patrols we ran into only consisted of about a dozen Sekbeists—and most of them were Grunts with a few Elites.

On the tenth day, we ended up in a land full of rolling hills. Our group stopped and set up camp, pitching tents that were more elaborate than anything we humans had. All of them were decorated and intricate. They weren’t shaped like squares or triangles either. Most of them used geometric shapes like pentagons, octagons, and one was even like a six-pointed star.

Kari, Erica, Tungsten, and myself were given one tent, which was all the Dweorgs could afford to give us. It was at least large enough that we could sleep without being squashed together. That said, I wished we had our own tent. Ten days without sex sucked.

After pitching up the tents, everyone used a strange device called a heating pad, which could emit heat without light. I didn’t know how it worked. It looked like a flat discs with Runes etched into the surface to me.

“I wonder how much longer it will be before we can return home,” Erica mused out loud.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to return some time tomorrow,” Kari said. “This has been an interesting experience, but I would like to go back home now.”

“Yeah, exploring a new place is fun, but it gets exhausting if the journey lasts too long,” I agreed.

We were sitting around one of those heating stones, which we used to both warm up and cook—or rather, Tungsten was cooking since it was his turn. I wasn’t sure what he was making. It looked like a stew.

Kari and I were sitting on a rock. Since it was small, we sat with our thighs pressed together. Kari was using my shoulder as her pillow as she leaned into me, and I had wrapped my arm around her shoulder. The heat from her body comforted my nerves, which had begun fraying after so long in this world. Erica sat on the opposite side and gave us an envious look.

“Food is ready,” Tungsten grunted as he ladled several spoonfuls of food into a set of bowls, handing one to each of us.

We ate quietly, keeping our thoughts to ourselves. The food was bland but at least edible. One of the things I couldn’t wait for upon returning home was eating an actual decent meal. Even the food in that Dweorg tavern hadn’t been that great, though the mead was good.

As we ate, footsteps reached us, causing our group to look up as a Dwoerg in mythril armor came up to us. He tapped the butt of his poleax against the ground once.

“King Hreidmar has requested yer presence. We’re about te begin the war council.”

We had been expecting him to request us, though we assumed he’d give us a little more time to relax. It seemed that wouldn’t be the case.

Since time appeared to be of the essence, the four of us quickly polished off our relatively tasteless meal, set our bowls aside, and stood up.

“Lead the way,” I said with a gesture toward the Dwoerg. The small man nodded and turned around, walking back the way he’d come, but now with us following him. He led us to a tent, one about four times larger than our own, and shaped like a trapezoid. The Dwoerg opened the flaps and beckoned us inside.

It wasn’t just Hreidmar inside of the tent. There were six other Dwoergs standing before him. Each one wore mythril armor and carried a weapon. I was still getting used to picking up the distinctions between individuals so I couldn’t tell the difference between them. I judged each person by their hair color. There was a blond, a brunette, a pair of redheads, someone with black hair, and an older Dwoerg with white hair. At the head of this assembly was Hreidmar, and between him and the six was a table with a map and a compass.

“Ye’ve arrived,” Hreidmar said. “Sorry fer interruptin’ yer meal. Given the situation, I thought it would be best if we come up with a plan now rather than later.”

“It is no trouble,” Kari responded with a light smile. “You are correct. We have little time left and should focus on creating a plan.”

Hreidmar nodded before gesturing to the map. “This is a map o’ our city. Even if the Sekbeists have made their own adjustments, it should be good enough te use as a reference guide. Hovebrann is built against a mountain. The surrounding buildings outside of the mountain are mostly where the townspeople lived. Inside o’ the mountain is where our forges and castle lie. That castle is where the Warp Gate is located. Te reach it, we have no choice but te storm in through the front.”

A rather straightforward plan, but I realized we didn’t have much choice here. On the other hand…

“Is that the only way in?” I asked. “Are there no secret passages we can use?”

Hreidmar shifted. “There be a few, but they aren’t large enough te let our people enter that way.”

“But if we took a small detachment to sneak in through the secret passage, we could take out their forces from the inside,” I explained. “I’m assuming the front has a gate to guard against attacks, correct? That being the case, a frontal assault would take a long time and result in the loss of many of our forces.”

While the six Dwoergs looked aghast that I was lecturing their king, Hreidmar merely stroked his beard before nodding several times.

“You bring up a good point,” he mumbled. “It is a viable option, but first, we need a plan te free the Dwoergs that have been enslaved.” Pointing his left index finger at a section of buildings that looked like housing units or maybe barracks, he spoke again. “Our scouts have reported that the survivors who were enslaved are bein’ held here. They’re bein’ used for manual labor right now. Accordin’ te the information we’ve received, the enslaved Dwoergs are being guarded by four squadrons of 13 Sekbeists. Most o’ them are just small-fry, but each squadron is led by an Elite.”

“So we’ll have te divide our forces once we get inside,” one of the other Dwoergs, the blond one, mused with a frown. “The main force will attack the castle gate, and the other force will free the enslaved Dwoergs.”

“It sounds like we’ll be stretched thin,” the brunette said.

“Our forces number two hundred,” Hreidmar said. “This is not includin’ non combatants. We’ll send fifty o’ our men over te free the slaves, while the rest clear out the city and make their way te the castle gates.” He glanced over at us. “You four are gonna sneak in through the secret passage. I’ll be goin’ with ye.”

“Yer Highness,” one of the redheads suddenly interrupted, “are ye sure that’s wise? Should ye not be at the head o’ our battalion? We need you te need us?”

“More importantly than leadin’, what we need is someone who knows where the secret passage is and can get us inside,” Hreidmar said. “Someone has te lead these four so they don’t get lost. I’m the only one who knows how how to navigate that passage, which means no one else can do it.”

“That… is true,” one of the men mumbled. “But still…”

“No ‘buts’,” Hreidmar admonished, a stern look on his gruff face. “It’s more important te get those gates open than it is for me te lead ye into battle. We’re not fightin’ to beat back an enemy. We’re fightin’ to survive.”

None of the six Dwoergs could say anything to refute his words. They hung their heads silently, conceding defeat to their king, who then turned his gaze toward us.

“This battle will be hardest on ye four,” he said. “I am sorry for putting most of the burden on ye.”

“It’s no trouble,” Erica said with a breezy wave of her hand. “If anything, we are grateful to you. We would never have figured out a way to get home were it not for you. That’s why we don’t mind helping out and giving your people a chance to escape this world and lead a new life in ours.”

“We thank ye,” Hreidmar said.

The battle planning continued, but most of it involved how the Dweorg forces would be divided, which forces would attack which installations. It sounded like there were new fortifications that had been built around Hovebrann, including several watchtowers and a massive rampart. Before we could even think of sneaking through the secret passage, we needed to enter the city by busting through the battlement.

“That rampart is goin’ te be a real problem,” the black-haired Dwoerg said. “It’s crudely built, but it’s still sturdy enough that we can’t just bust it down.”

“What if we destroyed the gate?” asked Erica. “I have an A-rank Spiritual Fire Technique called Ascending Phoenix, which surrounds by body with a fire hot enough to melt even steel.”

“That wouldn’t work here,” Hreidmar announced. “Those gates are made of mythril. Unless the yer flames are hot enough te match a volcano, ye won’t be able to melt through it, and even if ye did have flames that hot, it would take several hours to melt it all the way through.”

“What about the wall itself?” I asked. “What’s that made of?”

“Just standard stone,” the redhead said.

“Are there any weak points in the rampart?” asked Kari. “Maybe if there’s a section that is weaker than the others, we can somehow break through it.”

Hreidmar and the other Dwoergs looked at each other, but it seemed none of them knew whether there was a section like that or not. That being the case, we couldn’t count on a plan that relied on breaking down the rampart by attacking its weak point, which meant…

“What if we have a small group climb up the wall?” asked Tungsten. “We can have a small group of two or three people scale the rampart and then open the gates. That will be our moment to charge in. Of course, we’ll need to keep the Sekbeists distracted. If we launch a frontal assault to make it look like we’re charging the gate, it will divert their attention to us, giving this small group a chance to scale the wall without being spotted.”

Hreidmar and the other Dwoergs acknowledged that it was a good plan, and even I was slightly impressed, though the plan itself was actually quite simple. That said, while everyone agreed that it was the most viable plan available, there was one problem.

“Who is going to be the group who goes in and opens the gate?” asked Erica.

No one spoke for awhile. I looked at Hreidmar and the six Dwoerg commanders. All of them seemed uncertain of who to send on this nearly suicidal task. When I saw the expressions they wore, I looked over to Kari. She was looking at me. More than likely, she had been staring at me ever since Erica asked her question. I knew what that look meant.

I nodded at her.

“We will do it,” Kari said, gesturing to herself and me.

“Are you sure?” asked Tungsten. “This is going to be a dangerous task.”

“I’m sure,” she said. “Eryk and I have experienced scaling walls and cliffs anyway, so I’m confident we can pull it off, and you two have already seen how good we are in a fight.”

“That is true.” Erica was nodding along with Kari’s words. “In that case, we shall leave this matter to you.”

With the decision made, the war council was dismissed. It was late, or so Hreidmar said, and he told everyone to get some rest. Our group of four traveled back to our tent and slipped inside. The tent was small and didn’t have anything except several sleepings bags.

After the four of us removed our armor, leaving ourselves in the clothes we wore underneath it, we slipped into our sleeping bags. Tungsten and Erica had their own, but Kari and I were sharing one. We laid on our side, facing each other. Our feet were entangled and our foreheads were touching as we stared into the other person’s eyes.

“So it all ends tomorrow, huh?” I said softly.

“Seems that way,” Kari murmured, eyelids fluttering.

“I can’t wait to get home.”

“Me neither.”

Pausing for a moment to admire the woman who looked ready to fall asleep, I asked, “what do you want to do when we return?”

“Meet up with everyone from the Explorer’s Guild and celebrate,” Kari said with a yawn. “And then… I think… after that… I want to have a baby.”

I nodded along with her. “Yeah. I think we deserve to celebrate after all this and—wait. What?”

I tacked on my question at the end and focused completely on Kari, expecting an explanation to her last statement, but I received none. Her eyes closed, breathing deep and even, making me sigh.

Kari had already fallen asleep.

***

The next morning, I woke up entangled in the arms, legs, and tail of three women. Fortunately, this was how we’d gone to bed, so none of them were angry with me upon waking up. That said, I was kicked out of the room when they were changing. That was natural. I didn’t let it bother me as I went to my own bedroom and changed as well.

What I wore was the same clothing I usually wore, the outfit that Fay had first bought me. I had others now, but this one had sentimental value. It was the first gift I had received after going back in time.

Grabbing my pack, which contained the tent, futon, and other supplies, I made it back to Kari’s room.

Kari, Fay, and Lin were dressed by the time I had returned. Lin was wearing the simple and skimpy outfit she’d bought with Kari during their first shopping trip. I had to admit, the simple red fabric that wrapped around her chest in an X-pattern, the red skirt tied off to the side, and bits of golden jewelry dangling from her body fit her well. Kari, meanwhile, was wearing a white and blue blouse, black stockings, and brown boots that went up to the middle of her thigh. Over it was light leather armor: a chestplate and vambraces. On the other hand, Fay was wearing an outfit that looked very much like the female version of my clothes. She also had her gauntlets on.

“Looks like everyone is ready,” I said.

“This princess is prepared.”

“I’ve been ready since yesterday.”

“I’m still a little nervous, but I’m also ready.”

The three of them announced their readiness in their own way, which caused me to nod.

Of course, we didn’t go off to the meeting point right away. While we did have to meet Cataryna and her group early in the morning, we could afford to have breakfast first. That was why we ate a quick meal in the kitchen instead of the dining room. The chef prepared us some porridge with dried fruits and nuts—except for Lin, who got skewered meat. Once we finished breakfast, we exited the Imperial Royal Palace via the front door.

Several people were waiting for us.

I eyed Empress Hilda as she stood with her three husbands and three sons behind her. They were lined up with each father standing beside the son they’d helped give birth to. Valence stood beside Earland, Rainer was next to Mikkel, and Dante was yawning as he stood beside an exhausted Geirolf. That made me wonder how long the boy had stayed up for last night. He’d still been training when I wandered back to Kari’s bedroom.

Empress Hilda stepped up to us, dressed in a white gown that looked simple at first glance, but I could tell it was made from the finest material. She stopped in front of Kari and placed a hand on her daughter’s cheek.

“You’ve really grown up,” Empress Hilda said.

“M-Mother?” Kari seemed confused as she stuttered, blinking several times.

Empress Hilda’s smile seemed both proud and melancholy. “I always wanted you to be safe. I thought it was for the best, which was why I didn’t allow you to leave Nevaria, but seeing how happy you are as you prepare to head off on an adventure, I can see now that was a mistake. I’m sorry for not realizing this sooner.”

“Oh… no, it’s… okay.” Kari, unable to figure out what to say, grasped at straws as she sought the words that wouldn’t come. All she could do was mumble.

“I hope you enjoy this trip.” Empress Hilda paused and took a deep breath. “But also, I hope you do not overexert yourself. Please remain safe and come back.”

It took her awhile to respond, but Kari eventually nodded several times, sniffling just a little as she sucked up some suspicious moisture around her eyes. She presented her mom with a brilliant smile as she said, “Don’t worry. I will.”

That seemed to satisfy Empress Hilda, who took a step back. She then glanced in my direction. “I expect you to watch after my daughter.”

“You can count on me,” I said.

“You can count on us,” Fay corrected.

Wearing an expression of satisfaction, Empress Hilda allowed our group to leave after saying her goodbyes. The people behind her offered their own words of goodbye. They were simple platitudes, but I believed they made Kari happy. The only one who didn’t say goodbye to us was Geirolf, whose baleful stare as he drilled a hole into my head with his eyes made me remember my conversation with Mikkel yesterday.

Because we had Lin with us, we couldn’t use a carriage. Lin’s body was too large to fit inside of a carriage. That meant we had to walk down the path that curved around the mountain, and then trek across Nevaria until we reached the north gate. It took about three hours to walk that distance. When we arrived, there were already nine people present.

I didn’t recognize most of these people. However, I did know Catalyna and Marko Kriger, who stood at the head of this group. When our group of four arrived, they quickly spotted us, and while Catalyna smiled and waved us over, Marko sneered at me as though I’d committed a personal crime against him.

“We’re not late, are we?” I asked as we stopped before the blonde woman.

Catalyna tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled. “Not at all. We’re still waiting for a few more people to arrive.”

“How large is our group?” asked Kari.

“We have a total of twenty people coming along.”

I did a quick headcount of the people present. Including myself, Kari, Fay, Lin, Catalyna, and Marko, there were seven other people, making for a grand total of 12. That meant we needed to wait for eight more people to arrive.

Setting my pack down, I stood beside the girls and spoke with them. Kari did most of the talking. She was pretty pumped about the idea of going into the Demon Beast Mountain Range again, and even more excited that we’d be exploring some ruins. Fay, by contrast, looked a lot less certain. She smiled and nodded along with Kari’s enthusiastic explanation. On the other hand, Lin was forced to deal with Marko.

“I had no idea you would be coming with us,” Marko said as he sidled up to the Lamia.

“Darling is going, so why would this princess not accompany him?” asked Lin, wearing a frown as she stared at the man. I wondered if I should do something. I wanted to pull her to my side, but I also knew we couldn’t really afford to start anything here.

“Darling.” Marko frowned, glanced at me, and then back at Lin. “I have noticed that you are always calling Eryk by that nickname. Why is that? Just what is your relationship with him?”

“Darling is this princess’ husband, obviously.”

“W-what?!”

I almost snorted when the man shouted, causing everyone else to look in his direction. The man’s face had grown red as he looked between me and Lin. He raised a quivering finger and began pointing at us.

“B-but I thought… I mean, Eryk and Kari… weren’t they…?” He tried to say something, but it was like he had so many questions that he couldn’t figure out which one to ask first.

“Eryk is courting all three of us,” Kari was the one who answered him. Fay’s cheeks turned scarlet at those words, especially when several people looked her way.

“All three of you?” Marko froze solid like he’d been encased in a block of ice. His already pale face drained of blood, becoming whiter than a sheet.

While Marko looked like someone had just announced the end of the world, Catalyna was looking at our group with undisguised interest. She tapped her jagged longsword against the stone road. The metallic tink, tink, tink came from not just the sword touching the ground, but also from the segmented joints in her metal armor clicking together.

“I had a feeling that was the case,” she said. “So the three of you have decided to let Eryk court you at the same time? That’s a little unorthodox. Normally, when one wishes to have multiple spouses, it is common sense to court one person at a time.”

“I’ve never been one for common sense,” I said with a shrug.

Catalyna smiled. “That does indeed seem to be the case.”

“I personally believe this method of courting works out for the best,” Kari admitted. “There are some extenuating circumstances concerning our relationship, but I believe the good things that have come from this far outweigh the bad.”

“Is that so? Well, it does seem like all four of you get along well,” Catalyna admitted, an interested gleam in her vibrant eyes. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, and I honestly didn’t care to know. At that instant, Marko had become unfrozen from his shock and looked ready to say something, but just before he could, several more people arrived.

I didn’t recognize most of them, but one of the eight who showed up, a broad shouldered young man with blond hair and wearing Nevarian Spiritualist armor, was none other than Finn Søkere, a man who’d fought Fay in the Spiritualist Grand Tournament and lost. The other seven were wearing mismatched armor. I would have assumed they were mercenaries, but the armor they had on was obviously expensive. Nobles then.

“It looks like everyone is here.” Catalyna clutched her sword tightly in one hand, placed her other hand on her hip, and gave the group a broad smile. “All right, everyone! Now that we are all gathered, it’s time for us to get moving. We’ll be using a standard formation with our strongest up front and in back. Eryk, I’d like you and your group to guard the rear. Myself and Marko will be taking point. Those who have a water affinity and specialize in healing should remain in the middle. Everyone else, your job is to protect those healers in the event of an enemy attack.”

From the moment everyone appeared, Catalyna had taken charge and begun issuing orders on their marching formation. She spoke with confidence. I could tell from how well she gave orders that she had a lot of experience when it came to this sort of thing. She’d probably traveled into the Demon Beast Mountain Range many times.

“This woman is very talented,” Fay muttered with a frown. “I can see now why I lost to her.”

Withholding a sigh as I realized her self-confidence was going down, I reached out and grabbed her hand. It was covered in the gauntlet, but she still looked at me as though she could feel it.

“You wouldn’t lose to her now,” I said firmly.

“I… yes.”

“Fay, you should have more confidence in yourself,” Kari added as she and Lin came up on Fay’s other side. “I’ve been training with you for over a month now, so I know how strong you are, and I’m pretty sure Catalyna has nothing on you now.”

“Perhaps,” Fay muttered, though she was unwilling to completely agree with our assessment. Kari and I glanced at each other, and then released a soft sigh.

“Okay everyone! Let’s get a move on!” Catalyna ordered.

After giving the Nevarian Spiritualists guarding the gate the letter of authority that would let us pass through, the north gate slowly opened with a loud creak, and our group of 20 proceeded through it. As we moved, I felt a pair of eyes on me. I looked around for a moment, but I couldn’t figure out who was staring at us. It wasn’t Marko, who had been forced up front with Catalyna, but that jealous stare was definitely something I now recognized after being subjected to it for so long.

It wasn’t until I caught sight of a narrowed blue eye looking at me from the center of our formation that I realized who it was. I sighed. It looked like another person disliked me because of my relationship to one of these three girls. I wondered which of the three this young man fancied.

***

Skygge stood on the second floor of a building located next to the north gate. He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed as he watched the gates open and the group of promising young Spiritualists march through.

“Ke ke ke. It looks like they are leaving.”

Turning away from the group, Skygge looked at the people with him. Most of them were simple mercenaries, easy to distinguish because of their dinged and scratched armor. Only a few of the really successful mercenaries possessed armor that appeared new. Sadly, the ones who were successful also had a good reputation within Nevaria, and they wouldn’t tarnish that reputation just to earn some extra valis.

Among the group of ten mercenaries was a a tall man with densely packed muscles. His broad chest and shoulders were covered in metal armor. The thick breastplate gleamed even within the low lighting, and his pauldrons moved into a set of segmented armor that covered most of his arms. He didn’t wear any shirt, and his breastplate only covered his chest, meaning his abdominals were on display. The black pants that he wore were tucked into a pair of brown boots with greaves attached to them.

“If they are leaving, then it is time for us to enact our plan,” Torgny said with a stoney face. “We will follow them from a distance, wait until they are far enough away that they can’t return to Nevaria, and then summon a horde of Demon Beasts to attack them.”

Every since Torgny had lost to Eryk Veiger, he’d become a lot more moody and solemn. Skygge had even heard that the man had gone deep into the Demon Beast Mountain Range to train. Looking at him now, it was easy to see that he’d grown stronger. Skygge could feel the repressed Spiritual Power leaking out from his body. It was even more powerful than before.

“Ke ke ke. That is indeed the plan.” Skygge paused. “And what of Eryk Veiger? There is a chance he will be able to escape from such an entrapment.”

“If he does, then I will deal with him myself,” Torgny growled at the name of his most hated enemy. “I will not allow myself to be defeated by his hands ever again.”

“Very well. Ke ke ke.” Skygge didn’t think this man could defeat Eryk Veiger, but he didn’t particularly care either. He turned around again, looking at the girl who crouched in a corner of the room, appearing as though she wanted to be anywhere besides there. “Are you ready, Dyr? The opening act to your debut is now starting.”

The girl, who had dark brown skin, brown eyes, and messy hair, looked up at Skygge with an expression that made her seem like she was begging for mercy. This caused him to cackle some more.

“Now, now. Don’t give me that look. This was the reason you were created. I’m just having you fulfill my master’s purpose. Even if you tried to resist, it wouldn’t make a difference. I’ll just force your power to activate like I did the last time.”

Dyr looked down and a few tears leaked from her eyes and splashed to the floor.