Another chapter completely sponsored by Jonathan.
Chapter Start
Alice sat in the water, comfortably stretched her back and said: “Fuah… Having a bath feels great after finishing a job…”
Nier, who was sitting across from her captain, combed her hair into a bun and dipped it into the bath.
The Valkyries’ bathroom is for public use. While they were for public use, a few baths had written instructions on them. Alice is the squad captain while Nier is the sword instructor. Only the two of them were permitted to use the largest bath and didn’t have to clean up. The two of them bathed in the water, listening to the water gently bubble as well as the laughs of the Valkyries behind them. The beautiful bodies of the girls were partially hidden and partially revealed by the water. The place was simply heaven for guys.
But that’s if there weren’t long swords placed by the edges of the baths.
Alice picked up a glass of beer by the side, and shouted loudly to all the Valkyries in the water: “It’s been tough on you all.”
The Valkyries paused for a moment and then shouted in unison: “Long live her majesty!”
“Long live her majesty!”
Nier’s voice was slightly slower than the rest. Alice smiled and swam over to Nier’s side, pat her on her shoulder and asked: “Nier, my dear child, is something bothering you?”
“No…” Nier shook her head and took in a deep breath before dipping her head into the water and blowing bubbles. Alice smiled, then looked at the Valkyries behind her entering the baths one by one and said: “How many did you all kill in the previous mission? How many scums from Castor did you kill during that opportunity?”
“Fifteen!”
“Sixteen!”
“Seventeen… It’s all because the places I got assigned to weren’t good!”
“Twenty one!”
“Don’t bring up your twenty one. You just added in the random guys you killed!”
“I didn’t count!”
The Valkyries happily played around in the baths. If that place were the bathroom of normal girls, they wouldn’t be talking about such a bloody topic. To them, killing is something to be proud of, a form of glory. They don’t have any topics to discuss. But as soon as it’s about this sort of subject, they chat about it excitedly the same way normal girls talk about crushes and loves.
“Puah…”
Nier popped her head out the water, shook her hair and breathed out. Alice looked at her with a smile and hushed her. She then pat Nier on her shoulder and said: “Let’s hear Instructor Nier’s battle achievements. Nier is the most skilled with the sword, and this whole event was revolved around the prince. Nier, you must’ve killed a fair lot, huh?”
“Instructor!”
Nier rubbed her neck and said: “I… Two.”
“Th-Then what about when you started being around the prince?”
“Two… Wait, no. Three…”
Nier shrugged and said: “His majesty ordered me not to kill casually, so I can’t draw my sword whenever I’m in his presence. When people go after his majesty, he doesn’t get angry either, so I can’t kill anyone.”
“……”
Everybody fell into a silence. Alice was silent for a moment too, but then asked: “Nier, is his majesty really that weak?”
“Yeah. Very. Weak.”
Nier stood up, and the water on her body dripped into the pool. She looked startled as she looked at the drops of water run down her body. What it should’ve been, were drops of blood.
Nier got out of the bath, picked up her towel to cover herself, then turned round to look at Alice and said: “Captain, give me a few people. I want to sharpen my blade.”
Alice nodded and replied: “Alright.”
A while later, the two of them arrived at the Valkyries’ training grounds. The Valkyries’ training grounds are also located in the palace, hidden in the forests behind the lake. No one really knows how many corpses are buried under the grounds of the forest. All those decomposed corpses must be the reason the trees there were so lush.
Their leaves were as though they were soaked in red blood.
Alice handed a sword to Nier, pat her on her shoulder and said: “Seventeen men, just like before.”
“Understood.”
Nier drew her sword and entered the training area. Seventeen men dressed in leather armour bowed deeply when they saw Nier enter. Nier counted their numbers, whipped her sword and said: “Same old. If you can hurt me, I’ll let you go. If you manage to kill me, you’ll be conferred a rank. Come at me together.”
“As you command!”
The seventeen men holding long swords charged at Nier who stood before them. Those men came from different walks of life and ranks. They came to challenge the empress’s personal guards for a chance at a promotion. Countless farmers, peasants and children from slums train diligently for the sake of attaining fame by challenging Valkyries. But not one has been successful thus far.
As a matter of fact, not one lived to tell the tale.
Nier took in a deep breath and rushed the men before her. Her white cape spread out in the air like a flag. Only a faint after-image of her sword was seen and the man at the forefront had his sword knocked out of his hand. Before he could shout, his artery burst.
His blood sprayed all over Nier. The blood ran down into Nier’s mouth.
“Why?”
Nier was surprised. Why? Why did the blood make her feel disgusted? Why did she hate that feeling? She was never like this before. She needed to elegantly soak herself with her enemies’ blood to feel comfortable, so why? Why? Why does she now hate the smell of blood and gooey feel of it?
“Hng!”
Nier barely dodged a strike and countered by stabbing her sword through the gut of another man. She kicked the corpse away, and then turned around to bump away a man who tried to cut her. She elegantly turned her body around and slashed his throat open.
The taste of blood got richer, yet she was feeling sicker. The food in her gut wanted to escape as the blood ran down her face. What originally stimulated her urge to kill was now making her sick and made her want to run away.
Nier never felt that way before. Why? Why did she become like this? She was born to spill blood. She was born to kill. Why? Why was she sick of killing? Why did she hate blood? Why? Why was her body feeling weak…
With just a few men left, Nier’s actions started losing their edge. She wobbled around as if she were going to kneel down. Seeing her condition, the men roared and charged towards her.
“Out of the way!”
Alice pushed the Valkyries watching by the door, charged in towards the front of one of the men, and punched him in his chest. The back of his torso exploded to bits and his organs flew out of his back. Alice didn’t bother with Nier who was surprised, instead reducing all the remaining men to smithereens.
The sky was raining blood and bits of flesh.
*Gag!*
Nier dropped to her knees with a thud on the training grounds littered with blood, bits of flesh, and puked, spraying everything in her gut up into the air. She had no idea what she was chucking up, but her stomach was pulsating. She threw her sword away and focused on puking.
“Captain… Captain…”
Nier struggled to raise her head, and with a sobbing voice looked at Alice with a sobbing tone and confused look. She choked on her voice as she shouted: “Captain… Captain… What… What exactly… Is wrong with me… What exactly is…”
Alice crouched down, ignored the blood and filth on the ground, and tightly hugged Nier whom was suffering.
“It’s okay… It’s okay… You’re just too tired. You’re just too tired…”
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