Freida was awakened from her sleep by the sounds of seagulls flying across the horizon, the cries of the waves as they kissed the brick wall, the crowd noises as they passed by, and the people's chatter that echoed back and forth. She was able to make out the sliver of light that was penetrating the slit in the curtain that was separating the entrance to the wagon from the rest of the room.
It would appear that the morning had already started.
And while Freida was still making a few stretches, her attention was immediately drawn to the noise that was coming from outside as the wagon approached. It appeared as though a riot had broken out, as the wagon shook as though it had been struck by something forcefully from the outside.
Freida's jaw dropped when she saw what was happening, and she bolted outside to investigate. When she got there, her eyes widened even further.
When she saw Hrod just standing off to the side with his arms crossed, it gave the impression that he was overly confident that the situation was under control, so she made a beeline for Hrod's location as soon as she could.
"Hrod, what exactly is going on here? Why is it that your wife is having a fight with that man?" Because Freida was concerned about Winona's well-being, she could no longer avoid asking him the question. Taking into account how frail she appeared, she probably did not stand a chance against her rival.
"Freida, don't put undue stress on yourself over this. They're just having a friendly greeting." Hrod finally responded, his expression revealing a great deal of apprehension.
Freida found it hard to believe that Winona's husband wasn't considering doing anything to break up the fight in order to protect his wife from being harmed by their rival.
"Hrod, I don't understand how you can consider that a friendly greeting. It is not out of the question that your wife might wind up getting hurt, or even worse—"
Hrod immediately cut Freida off from continuing what she was about to say by saying, "There's no need to be concerned about it. I have no doubt that Winona will emerge victorious in this competition. In addition to that, Yajel is a close friend of ours here. As I've already explained, what you're witnessing is merely a friendly greeting of some kind. Take a closer look at them, Freida."
Upon hearing Hrod's response, Freida's face immediately took on an expression of doubt as she looked at him. But despite this, she decided to continue to watch Winona as Hrod had instructed her to do. Not because she had complete faith in what he had said, but rather because she was concerned about Winona's well-being. And if what Hrod told her was indeed true, then it would make her feel a little relieved in some way, even though seeing Winona in such a state still makes her feel anxious.
Winona and her rival, Yajel, are not too far away from there in the meantime, as they are having a good time sparring with their kali sticks.
Winona positioned her upper arm behind her back in full chamber position, waited to aim for its prey, and then rested her left hand beside her waist as if she were holding on to unsheathe a sword. This gave the impression that she was holding on to unsheathe a sword. From that vantage point, she launched her first attack with her upper arm, and as soon as it crossed the centerline, her lower left hand swiftly followed it up to deliver angle two.
Yajel was almost caught off guard by the abrupt shift in her circumstances because of how quickly it occurred. But Yajel, who was accustomed to these kinds of attacks from her, attempted to defend himself against the attacks that Winona brought against him. It seemed as if their duel was something that wasn't going to be finished that quickly.
Back to Freida, who was keeping a close eye on them from a distance, she couldn't help but feel awe towards Winona. She had no idea that Winona would turn out to be as badass as she appeared to be in front of everyone today. Despite the fact that they had only just met each other, Freida was unable to shake the feeling that Winona's bravery inspired her admiration.
Freida had the thought at one point that if only she had had the same amount of bravery as Winona, perhaps she would have been able to defeat the doppelganger with ease, as well as the mysterious man who had taken her in Paradexia. It was no longer necessary for her to be concerned about how she would be able to return home.
"I am astounded by Winona's bravery; she is an incredible woman." Freida uttered.
Hrod responded to her action by directing a slight inclination of his head in her direction. Because of the way Freida looked at Winona, he knew for a fact that she was truly admiring his wife.
"You know, Winona might have a weak appearance on the outside, but without her being the brave one among the rest of us, we wouldn't be able to possibly keep up with all of this traveling. Between the two of us, Winona was always the more courageous one, taking risks to such a great extent." Hrod suddenly made a remark.
This time, however, it was Freida who cast a fleeting glance in Hrod's direction before refocusing her attention once more on Winona and Yajel.
"I see what you mean. Hrod, when I first saw you last night, my first impression of you was that you were a terrifying creature. And Winona was portrayed as someone who was calm, mild, and weak. My nerves were quickly soothed by her reassuring presence. But now that I'm looking at her, I have a completely different opinion of what she is like. I wouldn't want to make the biggest mistake of making her an adversary because she is one badass woman."
"You are free to reiterate that point. You should know that this was one of the things that drew me to my wife. Even though it often hurts my pride that everyone looks down on me because I am always protected by her, because I am always saved by her, and because I am always safeguarded by her, I am still a proud husband who cheers silently behind her back in every battle that she fights."
"But, Hrod. Despite the fact that Winona is so brave, I'm curious as to how she could possibly defeat that man. It appears that he is also proficient in this form of martial art."
"Yeah, Yajel was Winona's sparring partner back in the day," Hrod said. "There were many instances in which Winona was victorious over him, but there were also times when Yajel was victorious. Therefore, it was impossible for anyone to accurately predict which side would emerge victorious."
"Wait. But you said earlier that Winona would most certainly prevail, right? Was I wrong to have such high expectations?"
"No, that's not what it was. I told you that because, as I explained to you earlier, I will never leave her side and will support and encourage her in every conflict. You could say that regardless of the likelihood of her success, I have complete faith that she will eventually emerge victorious."
"I wonder what she'll do to get the upper hand in this competition?"
When Freida looked back in Hrod's direction, she suddenly noticed that Hrod's eyes had suddenly widened. After that, Freida heard what sounded like the collision of two wooden sticks, each of which must have been struck so forcefully that it caused the other to fly out of the hands of the person wielding it.
"Bantao Class Y: Yalatandin Fortress!"
Winona's yell was heard by everyone in the open area. When Freida finally turned her attention back to Winona, she was taken aback by the fact that Winona had just erected a ball barrier that encircled herself. It was a barrier that prevented Yajel's Kali from penetrating inside to wound her.
When Freida saw what Winona had just done, her eyes got even wider in shock, and she couldn't help but blurt out, "What was that just now?"