volume 1 - Chapter 6 (1/2)
TL: As usual, speedy TL. Might have Engrish.
Ch 6 Freya
Sophie felt like he was in a long dream. He was in a place surrounded by silent shadows, and everything appeared to be distorted and strange. A black moon and a solitary high tower were reflected in a dark body of water.
What did the moon signify? What did the high tower mean? Or was all of this just a nightmare?
Sophie did not know, just like he did not know when he would wake up. He persisted in this state until he overheard a conversation in his disconcerted state.
“Freya.”
“Briedon, have you contacted them?” This was a girl’s voice, her diction was clear and distinct.
“No, there was a bunch of monsters blocking the road. We were not able to find where Sir Marden and the others went, and there’s this person……” This voice belonged to a child.
The child’s voice pointed towards Sophie.
Sophie’s heard skipped a beat. He could feel a gaze on his body. It was like a pathway that connected him back to this world, making him feel like his body was gradually sinking before the youth realized it was gravity pulling him.
Sophie finally recognized the fact that he could sense his body, but it did not respond to him.
His breathing started to go into a slight disarray. Was he dead?
“He’s one of the wounded, take care of him.” The girl said.
One of the wounded?
Were they talking about him?
That’s right, he was gravely injured. His mind started to sharpen and his memories played back like scenes from an old movie. He had borrowed the body of a young man called Brendel, then bet on his life to accomplish something. That was certainly not something an otaku would do.
But he succeeded, thank Holy Mother Marsha.
“Freya, he’s awake.” The child suddenly said.
“What?”
“I saw his eyelids move.”
“That’s not possible, he received grave injuries and Mackie said…….. Eh!?”
Grave injuries?
That was true. Brendel’s body was already in a fatal state, after which Sophie used the talent ‘Unyielding’ and took another three sword stabs. He clearly remembered that his stomach and right chest were completely pierced through.
Sophie’s mind started to focus, and the surrounding voices became clearer. The noisy din of panicked confusion, with crackling sounds made from burning, along with footsteps and metal colliding that drowned out the conversation between the girl and the child. The temperature around him started to rise, as if to lick him with a gentle warmth, but soon after it started to scald him.
Hot.
He blinked. The first thing that came into his irides when he struggled to open his eyelids was a surprised girl.
Sophie’s impression of that girl who was supposedly called Freya, matched the one in his mind after listening to that voice.
She had light orange hair coupled with bright eyes, with her long hair tied in a long ponytail, along with a face that brought about a refined heroic elegance. She lowered her head to observe him and Sophie did the same thing.
She wore a greyish white leather set of leather armor that fit snugly to her, and inside the armor was a thick cotton s.h.i.+rt with the pretty emblem of black pine leaves on her left shoulder.
The militia of Bucce.
He also noticed the short sword in her hand, a medieval short rapier and the metal plate that was on the hand-guard was a flame signet.
The symbol of the Church of Flames.
He s.h.i.+fted his gaze upwards, and saw the b.l.o.o.d.y bandage across her left chest and shoulder.
She experienced a battle earlier?
Sophie’s eyes captured every detail.
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Once he woke up, the noises in the surroundings died down quickly.
“Where….. is this place? …… Where is Romaine…… *Cough*!”
When Sophie spoke, he felt like molten steel was poured into his throat, burning him and drying every last drop of moisture. There was a throbbing pain from his chest that traveled throughout his entire body, and he started to cough lightly.
But what answered him was a wind coming from the mountainous stretch of pine trees. The wind that blew across the black pine needle leaves, making it turn into a faint rustle that was like the movement of a river.
No one answered.
“He woke up.”
“I can’t believe this, he actually survived with those injuries.”
“He’s probably just living on borrowed time……”
Then the hushed whispers wormed their way into his ears. Sophie was a little confused. What was happening, these people should be Bucce’s militia right? He was saved by them?
Then where is that merchant girl?
The plan succeeded, Captain Marden understood his intentions?
He turned his head sideways. He first saw a bright bonfire which danced in his eyes, the fire embers following the rising smoke and dissipated into the night sky.
“You’re awake?” The girl finally came to her senses, and quickly rushed to stop him: “Wait, don’t move, this is Bucce, do you remember?”
“Bucce….. Bucce.” Sophie repeated this name.
“Can you tell me what happened to me?” He let out a sigh. Logically he should have died, no matter how you look at it from the experience in real life or a game.
The only possibility was Miss Romaine who really found a health potion.
“Little Fenris and Mackie found both of you in the forest not far from here.” Freya looked at him curiously. Even though this youth called Brendel came to their village for almost a year, but he did not really interact with the village’s young adults.
He was always alone in his gloomy house, and only occasionally accompanied Romaine to the nearby town. Even the dumbest people in the nearby region knew this youth was interested in the girl who dreamt about becoming a merchant, excluding the latter herself.
Freya gave another round of appraisal to him when she thought about this, along with a drop of suspicion.
“All of you are?”
“I really wonder how you and Romaine escaped from here.” The girl gave an unwilling sigh.
“How is she?”
“She’s very well. Don’t worry, she’s better than you at least ten thousand times. You should pay more attention to your own condition,” Freya stroked her forehead, and spoke softly: “But she kept going on about going into the village, do you know anything about that?”
Sophie paused.