HTWBB Chapter 1

Prologue

"Everyone, look! Through cunning tricks, this creature bewitched people and plunged the entire village into chaos—"

A voice raised high cut across the jet-black night, and a firm arm shot suddenly upward.

Dozens of gazes filling the clearing were drawn upward as if following a marker. The words broke off with a pause just long enough to let out a single breath.

The owner of the arm suddenly turned around and put more force into his shoulder. His clenched fist turned deathly white along with it. There was something in it. One of those standing in the front row tilted their torch close to his face. The thing not quite hidden glinted between his fingers like a beast's eyes.

"Ah, ahhh!"

A shrill scream split the sky as if on cue. Before the crowd, the man standing tall like an emperor shouted triumphantly with a smug expression.

"I have obtained the core of that wicked monster!"

Everyone's gaze instantly turned to one place. It was beneath a large tree's shadow where even the faint moonlight couldn't reach, some distance from where the man stood.

A tightly curled shadow trembled faintly. Questioning glares turned toward the man again. The man lightly shrugged and stepped aside.

"See for yourselves."

The murmuring surroundings were instantly engulfed in silence. Several people hesitated and took a few steps backward.

After only glancing at the shadows for a long while, they finally stammered out a question.

"Wh-what is that?"

When no answer came, stirring arose among the crowd again. Then, after a moment, someone who had been alternately glancing at the man's calm face and the unpleasant object in his hand gulped and stepped forward. It was the one holding the torch.

Moving his feet carefully, he stopped in shock with about three or four steps remaining. Hk! The breath he hastily inhaled caught in his throat.

The shadow under the tree distorted strangely, then returned to its original form, repeating the cycle. The hand holding the torch trembled violently with fear.

He gave up approaching further and stretched out his arm from a distance. The reddish light drove away the darkness and finally dragged out what had been hiding inside.

The first thing visible was deeply colored blue eyes. A face hardened with tension was stained with shock.

"......Rietta?"

The man who barely caught the slipping torch muttered vacantly. What? Rietta? Did he say Rietta? Those who somehow caught the small voice began murmuring.

An old man who had been standing far back belatedly strode forward and snatched away the torch. Then he suddenly narrowed the distance that had been maintained like a fence between him and the 'monster.'

"Gods above. How could this be......"

The old man, who had opened his mouth blankly, took the last remaining step. Hair tinged with the torch's crimson light swayed right before him.

The old man, who had unconsciously moved his gaze, froze his body like a beast caught in a trap. A chilling sensation rising from his toes seemed to make his hair stand on end.

He barely rolled his eyes upward. Twilight-like eyes rippled as if to swallow him whole.

"Sir?"

At someone's call, only then did the old man throw down the torch and scream. Strength left his legs as he staggered backward, his body constantly crumbling downward.

"What, what is this...."

The old man, who had been speaking incoherently, fixed his wandering gaze on one spot. The man who had created the situation himself was standing calmly, merely observing. A voice hoarse with fear and anger split the space.

"Jeff! What on earth is all this!"

The villagers' gazes turned to one place again. The man, Jeff, put what he held into his pocket and smiled crookedly.

"I told you it was a monster."

"Then you're saying such a, such a hideous thing has been in our village all this time! Moreover, Rietta is your......"

The old man, who had been rapidly continuing his words, closed his mouth. Bewilderment and fear took a step back, and suspicion entered in their place. His eyes narrowed sharply as he examined Jeff. With an expression as cold as the air surrounding them, the old man continued in a voice sunken low.

"Did you know from the beginning?"

The old man's gaze swept past Rietta, whose head was deeply bowed. Jeff shook his head heavily.

"...No. I only learned recently."

The head that had been looking only downward slowly turned upward. Jeff could tell where Rietta was looking without turning around. However, he couldn't know what expression she was making as she looked at him. Strength entered Jeff's clenched fist.

'Liar. How could you do this to me.'

The gaze stabbing his profile like a knife seemed to say that.

Drip-drip. Drop. Beneath her feet endlessly grew wet. Though her eyes were open, it was pitch black as if they were closed.

'Is it tears? No, perhaps it could be blood.'

Rietta thought so in her hazy consciousness. The voices shouting and conversing loudly, or the rope tightly binding her limbs—none of it registered properly.

Through cunning tricks, bewitching people—

Cunning tricks?

—that wicked monster's......

A wicked monster?

Drop. Something flowing down her cheek fell to the ground. Rietta couldn't understand this situation at all. Jeff's cold face drifted slowly before her blurred vision.

Until this afternoon, he had been the man sitting across from her with an affectionate smile. No, longer ago than that. He had been the man who said there was nothing different between her and others, suggesting they settle in the village together.

While pretending otherwise, he would occasionally blush and shyly confess, 'When we return to the capital, I will definitely marry you.'

And what of the villagers who had shouted at her that she was a monster, demanding she be captured and killed? The old man who had warmly welcomed her to adapt to the unfamiliar culture, the merchants who had gazed warmly at her as she selected various items at the stall.

Rietta will be loved wherever she goes.

Yet now, after saying such things, they were trying to kill her, calling her a monster.

'No. How could they do this to me......'

Her blurred vision swayed dizzily. It felt like a knife had stabbed into her stomach and was being stirred mercilessly. Rietta trembled with rising betrayal.

'A monster.'

But before she could even refute it, she was restrained and dragged roughly to some high place where strong winds blew.

The scent of the sea seeped into her nostrils on the wind. Rietta realized this was the cliff at the village's edge.

"Now! What shall we do?"

She blinked her dim eyes slowly. Just as she thought she could finally focus, someone roughly pulled up her powerless body.

Rietta knew well whose strong, firm grip this was. Jeff's emotionless tone stabbed into her ears like a spear.

"What can a monster without power do?"

"Wait. This method doesn't seem right."

"Don't worry. I already have the core in my hand, don't I? If she falls, it'll be over before she can take a single breath."

"But her kin..."

"That's nothing to worry about either. There are ways to handle it."

'Her kin? Wasn't one enough?'

Before Rietta could turn toward him, a large hand pushed hard against her defenseless back. Her body tilted. Rietta tried to look straight at Jeff, caught in her faint vision.

"My...!"

'What did you do to my remaining family?'

Rietta muttered internally the words that couldn't continue and tried to grasp at the empty air. But not even her fingertips had strength. The glamorous golden hair mixed with red gradually grew distant. Eyes full of resentment met Jeff's indifferent gaze.

'How could you all do this to me?'

The water droplets that had been wetting the ground embroidered the air. Over the tear stains that hadn't yet dried, raw anger was carved. She forced her mouth open against the swirling wind. A terribly rough voice flowed out between her red lips.

"—. ——."

"Th-that......!"

Splash! It was someone's voice who had been with Jeff. The next words couldn't be heard due to the rushing seawater.

Rietta felt foam clinging densely all over her body and completely released the strength from her body. Her body sank as if weighted. She completely closed her eyes while watching the moonlight slowly receding.

Chapter 1. Brynhildr's Necklace

"When will this damn rain ever stop?"

Damp humidity and cold air seeped through the opening and closing door. The strong sound of rain striking the ground poured out.

The man who had entered with rainwater he couldn't avoid grumbled while shaking his shoulders. The innkeeper, who had been mechanically wiping the floor, glanced at him with a displeased expression.

"First time in Luemmasa?"

"That's right. I'd only heard about it, but experiencing it firsthand—the weather really is ridiculous."

Despite the innkeeper's lukewarm tone, the man approached with delight. The innkeeper quickly assessed what must have been an arduous journey from the man's miserable appearance.

Guests arriving around this time were invariably soaked like drowned rats. After briefly sending him a pitying look, she held out a key with an indifferent hand.

"There's an extra charge if you want bathwater heated."

"I don't mind. But when will the rain stop?"

"Who knows. The sun should come out within a week."

A series of trivial questions followed—whether the local natives really didn't know, whether this really was the rumored place, what food they were confident about, and so on.

The innkeeper, who had been giving minimally polite answers throughout, suddenly lifted her head when he began with "The knights—"

"Knights?"

"About a week ago, I think—I encountered them on the forest road near Helron."

"Which order? Were there many knights?"

"Well. They wore black uniforms, but I'm not sure which order. There seemed to be about fifteen of them."

"Damn it, that's the 9th Knights!"

The innkeeper grabbed her head with a face gone deathly pale. The mop handle rolled carelessly across the floor. The man, who had been chattering endlessly, asked in puzzlement.

"Why the 9th Knights?"

"Don't you know where you are? This is a village that lives off hunters' money—if they stir things up once, we'll only see flies for a while!"

"But they didn't seem to be coming this way. It looked like they weren't leaving Helron but entering it."

"...Really? Which forest road was it?"

"Not the route coming here—it was the forest to the east."

Only then did the innkeeper breathe a sigh of relief. She grumbled irritably about why he was only saying this now.

Rietta, who had been silently watching from a corner of the dining area, turned her gaze to the fog-covered window. It had been well over two weeks of continuous rain. Occasionally there were days when the rainfall weakened, but not a single day had it stopped.

"Melian."

A rough voice like scraping rusted iron leaked out between her lips. The child eating frantically jerked his head up. Golden eyes sparkled with light even in the gloomy weather.

"Yes!"

Brown, disheveled hair swayed pleasantly. Melian put down his spoon beside a bowl as big as his face with a bright expression. When their eyes met, he smiled broadly as if he'd been waiting. After brief consideration, Rietta wiped the soup from his mouth.

"When do you think it will be?"

"Seven days, no, five days from now the sun will come out. And I can do this myself."

Melian, his cheeks flushed red, snatched the handkerchief from Rietta's hand. While the boy scrubbed his face like washing, she checked the food that was more than half gone and picked up her fork.

Five days was neither long nor short—an appropriate period. Even now, most travelers were giving up and leaving Luemmasa. The five remaining days with continued rain would reduce more than half of those who remained.