ALL NOVEL Chapter 14
After that, the Kingdom of Rhine was turned upside down.
The party members of the hero, who were expected to become the core strength of the kingdom, all fled to other countries, unable to stand the situation.
It wasn’t just a simple escape; they had even gone so far as to support a hero from another nation.
Naturally, all the blame fell on Friet.
How incompetent could he be for the party members to give up and defect outright?
The proposal to assassinate the hero, which had been rejected as too extreme, was discussed more seriously among the nobles who feared Friet.
If Friet had shown his face in the royal capital, it might not have just been a discussion but an actual plot.
However, the despondent Friet disappeared to a hidden corner of an inn where the nobles couldn’t possibly find him. Not a soul knew his whereabouts.
Two months passed.
Without doing anything, just reminiscing about the past, Friet heard rumors about his former party members.
Not just Irina, but Imelia was reportedly racking up stunning feats ever since becoming Gunther’s lover.
Defeating orc armies. Annihilating troll tribes.
The solo conquest records of mid-level dungeons were so numerous they could barely be counted on fingers.
If Brunhilde had joined Gunther’s party, she would have undoubtedly built a reputation in Burgundy that no one could ignore.
But…
‘…Where is Brunhilde?’
Curiously, her name was conspicuously absent from the rumors.
Where could the traitorous knight, Brunhilde, be? No one could ascertain her status.
It was certain she had headed toward the Kingdom of Burgundy with Gunther, but there were no records whatsoever after that.
As if she had changed her mind along the way and vanished somewhere.
Brunhilde was missing.
‘Why…?’
The question sparked by those rumors changed Friet’s fate.
◆◆
Friet knew.
The reason why Imelia and Irina had decided to leave the party wasn’t merely because they were tired of his weakness, but that they had become deeply infatuated with Gunther.
Therefore, when even Brunhilde mentioned Gunther before leaving, he could not help but fall into despair.
Friet held feelings for his blonde-haired swordsmanship teacher, a colleague, and someone he admired more than anyone.
It was a secret affection he had never shared with anyone.
And so, his heart shattered.
He could endure Imelia’s mockery or Irina’s harsh words, but the shock of Brunhilde abandoning him for Gunther was a pain he couldn’t bear.
That was the fundamental reason Friet had locked himself away in the inn corner in despair.
If he had heard rumors of Brunhilde flitting in and out of Gunther’s chamber in Burgundy, he probably would have given up on everything and chosen to disappear.
At least that’s what Friet thought. An incredibly objective self-assessment.
However, Brunhilde had vanished.
Not remaining by Gunther’s side, she had drifted off to somewhere no one knew.
This gave Friet hope.
‘Perhaps…’
A tiny, very tiny glimmer of hope and expectation.
◆◆
Friet recalled.
Brunhilde’s tone when she spoke Gunther’s name, betraying her discomfort.
It was in stark contrast to Imelia, who showed her affection openly, or Irina, who brushed off Gunther’s teasing.
What Brunhilde expected of Gunther seemed to be solely his strength and talent. It seemed she harbored feelings close to contempt for his character.
‘If that’s the case…’
Friet pondered.
If she hadn’t completely succumbed to Gunther. No, it was beyond that—what if she had completely abandoned her position as a member of the hero’s party…
‘Perhaps.’
There might be a chance for a reunion between them.
Not as hero and party member, but simply as people who had once known each other.
Of course, it wasn’t likely at all.
The reasons behind Brunhilde’s disappearance were a mystery, and there was no guarantee he could find her.
But…
‘If that’s the case…’
Friet had a means to turn that mere possibility into a certainty.
His gaze fell upon his holy sword, Nibelung, propped against the edge of the bed.
A golden great sword emitting a soft divine light.
As he gazed at the hilt, Friet extended his arm and pulled the holy sword close to him.
He recalled the state secret that King Alberich II had shared only with him: the true power of Nibelung.
‘Three times. Just three times in a lifetime, it grants the owner’s wishes.’
The power to fulfill desires.
That was the ability of the holy sword Nibelung.
‘…Though it’s not omnipotent.’
Friet already knew that the way Nibelung granted wishes was extremely twisted.
The two wishes he had made until now proved this well enough.
The first wish.
When he had just been recognized as a hero and received the holy sword, Friet looked down at Nibelung with suspicion and made his first wish.
He wanted to become a person like the legendary first hero.
To be strong and revered by many, to save many people.
And Nibelung granted that wish.
By altering his body to resemble that of the first hero when he woke up.
It was truly shocking for Friet.
He realized.
Nibelung certainly fulfilled the owner’s wishes, but it might not be in the way the owner expects.
In any case, he had acquired a new body in that way.
‘That was a disaster.’
Aside from the hair color, not a single part of his former body remained, and he only found himself suffering from the adjustment.
The second wish was, of course, to become stronger.
His ineptitude had placed an immense burden on the other party members, and things had reached a point where their relationships were deteriorating.
And Nibelung granted that wish too.
‘…Perhaps.’
The reason he could only say ‘perhaps’ was that nothing had changed since he made the wish.
He was still weak and inept. To the point where all his party members had left him.
One might doubt whether the wish had failed at all, but for Friet, such doubts were impossible.
Clear markings remained on the hilt of the holy sword.
A sign indicating he had only one wish left.
Thus, the second wish had to be considered fulfilled.
The reason it seemed to have had no effect was…maybe because the method of granting a wish was so completely different from his expectations that he hadn’t realized it.
Perhaps the limit of how strong he could become with the sword’s power was just this much.
That’s how Friet assessed things.
◆◆
And so, only the last chance remained.
His third wish. Originally, this power was meant to be saved for defeating the Demon King.
His final resort, a kind of life insurance, if you will.
King Alberich II had implored him with that.
He claimed that once the last wish was used up, even if one possessed the holy sword, it would be impossible to defeat the Demon King.
For that reason, Friet had refrained from making his third wish.
‘…Is there even a need? Now?’
Up till now.
And now.
‘Let’s use it.’
Friet made the decision. Let’s just go ahead and wish for that last wish he had kept so close to his chest.
Was it true that he wouldn’t be able to defeat the Demon King after using the third wish?
‘Demon King? Hero? None of that matters to me anymore.’
Things like that no longer held any importance.
After all, he wouldn’t just be unable to defeat the Demon King; he wouldn’t even be able to confront him. Holding on to the last wish had no meaning.
Since Brunhilde had left him, he held no more regrets about being a hero.
Thus, Friet decided to toss aside the hero’s duties and wish for something for himself.
So what should he wish for?
If Brunhilde were beside Gunther, Friet would have wished to disappear entirely.
Perhaps he would have wished, filled with resentment, that the party members who abandoned him would regret their choice.
However.
‘I want to meet Brunhilde again.’
Now that Brunhilde had suddenly vanished, the wish Friet would make was already predetermined.
‘I hope we can meet again and smile at each other like we did when we first met.’
Reuniting with Brunhilde. Restoring the relationship that had grown completely askew.
That was Friet’s sole wish.
And then.
– Whaaaaaa!
The blade of Nibelung shimmered with golden holy light, responding to its master’s wish.
…As always, in that painfully twisted manner.
◆◆
The next morning.
Awakening groggily, Friet realized the power of Nibelung had been activated as he pushed himself up.
“My body….”
The body that had transformed from the first wish.
Since his new form bore no resemblance to his original self, it had undergone yet another significant change.
His body now felt incredibly light.
The view from much lower down.
Fair skin and slender fingers.
It was evidence that the power of the holy sword had been activated.
‘I didn’t think it would grant what I wished for… but I never imagined it would turn out like this.’
As Friet felt bewildered by the drastically altered sensations, he stumbled slightly and made his way to the bathroom.
He intended to see how he had changed this time.
He had a rough estimate, but he needed to confirm it with his own eyes to be sure.
And then.
‘…Just as I thought.’
Looking down at his face reflected on the surface of the bathwater, Friet finally gained assurance.
‘…I’m back.’
He was certain he had returned to his original body.
The face he had seen every day for nineteen years while washing his face, rippling in the water.
No,
She was back.
“Hahaha….”
Friet laughed.
The heavy expression and tear-stained cheeks, the messy hair and sunken cheeks made her look incredibly ghastly, but nonetheless, she could smile.
Returning to being a woman was proof that the holy sword had decided to grant her wish.
Thus, surely, she would reunite with Brunhilde someday.
Friet…
No, ‘Friede’ was confident of that.
What shape that meeting would take was something she neither knew nor could predict.