The barbarian and the two girls found themselves in a small arena arranged for the mercenaries' entertainment.
"I was curious if the princess is really as strong as she tried to challenge the Council of Thanes," Krig said.
"You'll find out now," the Valkyrie made a half-turn and, intercepting the axe, struck the opponent with a circular attack. With the enhanced rotation, the blow could have split stones, but the fighter tilted his sword, and the axe blade slid past him.
"Hmph, starting with a strong attack, just like your mommy's style. Too bad she never beat me," Krig crouched slightly and tried to get closer to grab Hilda, but she leaned back, revealing the edge of the sword aimed at the opponent.
Helen lunged forward, but he evaded, slashing at her left shoulder, but the mercenary already positioned his sword in the way, deflecting the blow. Taking advantage of the confusion while the girls tried to regain their balance, Krig delivered a strike to the waist area. Hilda planted her axe into the ground, and the curved blade buried itself in the hilt, almost a third of its thickness. Helen also tried to block the blade's path, but the force of the blow threw her against the arena wall. The princess quickly jumped back and checked her weapon. The handle held, but a couple more such blows could easily break it. Helen, on the other hand, seemed to have suffered much worse from the impact.
"What's wrong? Do you think that if you fight with such a good weapon, your opponent won't have anything to answer with? Your roughness and straightforwardness are your main enemies. Amuse me some more, if you can," Krig taunted.
He continued to press on Hilda, who tried her best to dodge the strikes, but she didn't want to risk exposing her axe to another blow. Yet, she couldn't find an opportunity to attack either.
"Will you just keep dodging? Have you ever wondered why your mother stopped using the axe in battle, even though she's clearly worse with a sword?" Krig struck again, and Hilda leaned too far back, opening herself up to a strike. A knee hit her swiftly, and the armor didn't offer much protection in that situation.
"It's because I forced her to do so. I was the best warrior in this damn country, and yet your father exiled me not to lose face before the white tribe. What nonsense! I hope he suffered a lot," Krig gloated.
"You weren't lucky; Father was healed, ha!" Hilda smirked, but the taste of blood in her mouth wasn't uplifting.
"Tch, too bad. Well, I'll settle for you," Krig swung at the girl, but halfway through, his blade was parried from the side. The swordswoman had come to her senses and stood in defense of the princess.
Helen launched a counterattack against the barbarian. Her strikes were smooth and consecutive, despite the size of the blade. Krig may have been twice her size, but he moved surprisingly nimbly, parrying her strikes. The opponent's evasive maneuvers started to irritate Helen, and she didn't notice when she opened herself up to him. Dodging yet another attack, Krig seized the warrior by the throat and lifted her with one hand.
"Hmm, you're more interesting. Although you're lacking strength, your mommy did give me more trouble in this wretched country. But nothing can be done. We weren't ordered to kill her; if she had given you to us, nothing would have happened."
"Shut up! I'll avenge her," Helen tried to kick the enemy, but she didn't stand a chance.
"Mm, so you couldn't heal Frigg, what a shame. She was probably the only one I still respected in this wretched country. But no matter, I'll make do with you," Krig raised his hand to strike the defenseless girl, but halfway, a chunk of ice burst from the ground between the two locked warriors. Krig's grip weakened slightly, and Helen, pushing her feet against the ice, broke free from his hold.
Helen somersaulted backward and shattered the ice with her sword upon landing. The blow was infused with magic and turned the ice into thousands of snowflakes. A white curtain hung over the field, and only sparks flying from the two intertwined blades were visible.
"Surrender, fool; you'll never overpower me," Krig advanced towards the fragile girl, pressing her deeper into the ground.
"I don't need to," Helen held her sword, grasping the blade with her other hand. Blood streamed down the blade, but she refused to surrender. "I just need to keep you occupied."
Squeezing her left hand, the girl firmly grasped the blade and turned her own blood into an icy crust. The barbarian's crooked sword slipped, losing its grip, and embedded itself in the ground. The girl applied pressure from above with her weight, preventing the opponent from pulling out the sword, but Krig could easily lift someone of her size.
"It's useless," he said, grabbing the sword with both hands and pulling it towards himself. At that moment, a third participant in the battle jumped out of the white mist. Swinging her axe, she had been waiting for this moment. The mercenary barely managed to dodge backward, unintentionally exposing his hands to the attack. The axe severed both wrists, and blood gushed onto the arena.
"Now you'll have to come with us," Hilda touched the wounds with the axe's blade, and the ice halted the bleeding.
"Tch, looks like I have no choice. I should have fought each of you one-on-one. I may have defeated your mothers, but I couldn't handle them together," Krig grinned, acknowledging his defeat, but someone wasn't ready to sheathe their weapon just yet.
"Helen, don't," Hilda placed her hand on the sword that the warrior still held.
"Because of him, Mother died, but... I know that you need him to help your friend. I hope he gets the punishment he deserves."
"I'll tell you everything, but only if you don't pursue my people," Krig bargained.
"You're still setting conditions?"
"I'm responsible for everything, and you don't want anyone else to die in a battle against them, do you?"
"Someone from them killed my mother, why?!" Helen cried out.
"Hoo, so you don't know?" Krig shrugged off the girl's retort and headed towards the exit. "Ask your new friend, I don't feel like wasting time on this."
The battle in the camp had dragged on. Grain was tending to their wounds while Reines and Asura were still fending off the remaining enemies. They had managed to neutralize five already, but the remaining ones hardly had any strength left.
"Commander?" the mercenaries turned to their leader, who emerged from the tent.
"I lost; that's enough battles for today."
"But we can win."
"If you could, the others would have returned here already. Apparently, they still have more people in reserve. There's no point in resisting further. Remember, princess, you promised not to harm them."
"Alright, if they let us go."
Cautiously glancing around, the companions led the old veteran out of the camp, and none of his people dared to defy the commander's orders.
"They are so loyal to you, even though you're just ordinary mercenaries," Helen remarked.
"Loyalty can be achieved in different ways. They respect and fear me, and if you were able to defeat me, doubt will creep into them. I would advise you to hurry," Krig said.
"Why?"
"I heard that someone decided to take advantage of the turmoil in the capital and organized another attempt on Henry. So, the trial has been moved up."
"When?"
Krig glanced at the rising sun in the east.
"Just at this moment, it should begin," he said.
"What do you mean you don't know? Why did you invite all the important figures of the continent here then?" Henry insisted, and Katrina seemed to shrink under her father's pressure.
"I...I don't know, but holding such a closed trial is wrong."
"Maybe they gathered us all here because everyone has reasons to dislike each other?" The black dragoness, who sat peacefully to the side, sipped tea from an unknown source. "Let's not hide the fact that you also don't trust your surroundings."
"And don't forget from the last rebellion, you didn't find all the conspirators," the rector sitting next to the dragoness joined the tea time. "You even suspected some of them collaborated with the noble houses of Leran, where they procured weapons."
"Perhaps you've forgotten that there are also the largest assassin guilds on the continent in my country?" Henry clenched the edge of the table in anger.
"They were also one of the reasons the assassins failed," the king of Leran said coolly, twirling his crimson hair. "But to be fair, in Verania, there are far more mercenaries, and few of them obey the authorities."
"And in Nordrune, entire armies of mercenaries are encountered," the rector continued to add fuel to the fire, sipping tea with the ancient dragoness.
"Hey, hey, don't look at me like that, as if none of those present here ever hired my fighters to protect their lands?" Siegfried snorted in dissatisfaction. "There are, of course, uncontrollable criminals, but they exist everywhere."
"And besides, maybe it was one of the dragons who organized this. You've harbored resentment against us for a long time," Henry glared at Ignis.
"What? How long do you think I've lived? If I had sent assassins every time your predecessors tried to send them my way, I would have leveled this castle to the ground, and you wouldn't have had time to rebuild it. Don't make me laugh; there are far more reasons for others to kill you. Some had their cities destroyed, others fought over land for centuries, or just stood aside while the neighboring country was mowed down by a plague, and they wanted to grab a piece for themselves."
"Are you trying to pin these crimes on me again?"
"And why not?" Zig looked at Henry with disdain. "During the plague, you stayed out of our business for as long as possible until the population of Nordrune was reduced by a third. Only then did you help a little while taking lands from Kamiyari."
"And this land was ours by mutual agreement, but during the war of the elements, you repeatedly tried to seize it."
"Pf, wasn't it your appointed baron who recently nearly exterminated the entire ancient clan living on these lands?"
"In any case, those are our internal problems and don't concern you."
"Perhaps not me, but some others might take offense." The Jarl nodded towards the representative of the white dragons, who glared unkindly at Henry. "Unlike you, we respect the White House and don't force them to serve us. So, if they decided to seek revenge for the Yukitori clan, we wouldn't interfere."
"Are you threatening me?"
"No, come on, I'm just explaining possible perspectives. Besides, you've had border problems not only with us. How many years did you fight with Leran over Merenlake?"
"And in the end, it remained a part of Verania."
"But its water reserves could have been a great help in our arid land," Severin gestured. "Although my predecessors proposed joint resource management, the kings of Verania were against it."
"Of course, because that would bring you too close to our borders."
"Yes, and that's why Soragar became the site of the bloodiest battles in history."
"You should deal with your own problems before meddling in others' affairs."
"And what's wrong with that? It's not like every few generations, we have a bunch of nobles trying to put their ruler on the throne."
"Krito, what's happening with them?" Katrina silently contacted me through Kurone.
"What's wrong? Just give them an excuse, and they'll start a massacre right here. It's amusing how people rule countries," I grinned slyly.
"I've heard rumors that even in your country, things aren't so smooth. Didn't the Red House support a competitor to the throne to remove you?"
"Oh, we've gone that far, haven't we? Let me remind you that there was a recent change of leadership, and they fully support Leran's peaceful development."
The disputes of the three kings only intensified the tension in the hall. It all started with whispered conversations among the nobles, which gradually turned into arguments over the same age-old issues: old grievances, disputes over land and money.
"Stop them; they won't find the culprits this way!"
"Pff, just wait for Hilda to arrive, and everything will be fine."
"But what if they start attacking each other before that?"
"That's not my problem; I'm nobody to them anyway. If you want to stop them, do it yourself," I thought with relief how convenient it was to be perceived as a mere empty space in this robe.
"Oh, I've heard about that. Your daughter tried her best, but why do I doubt that the former clan leaders willingly handed over power."
"Not without a fight, of course, but dragons respect strength, so now they've calmed down."
"Oh yes, that's why part of the clan escaped to the Empire," Henry glanced at the dragon sitting at the other end of the hall from Severin. "By the way, couldn't they have prepared this assassination attempt together with the Empire? Then the appearance of those coins wouldn't be so surprising."
"By the way, there are inscriptions on the coins," the rector turned one of the coins we had given to all those present to himself. Even the nobles who had been arguing fervently fell silent and looked at the coins; the silence was broken by the clinking of a couple of coins falling to the floor, and the disputes resumed with renewed vigor.
"Perhaps you can explain what this is?" Henry threw a coin to Siegfried. "You seem to specialize in this kind of thing."
"I'm not sure; after all, I'm not a blacksmith, and I don't remember all the variations."
"Or maybe you wrote these inscriptions yourself? Can you tell us where the Nordic script came from on the coins? Or are we judging the wrong king here?"
"Are you already resorting to direct insults? Well, go ahead and try, but don't be offended if I respond."
"Krito, they're about to attack each other!"
"Oh, this will be a show; get comfortable and enjoy it."
The disputes flared up with renewed vigor, the nobles of all countries and representatives of the Empire hurled insults at each other. Uraz sat calmly, lounging in his chair, while the black dragoness and the old instigator sipped tea in the corner.
"Stop all of you!"