Chapter 206 Part 3: Descendent of a Demigod

"Will the four of you mind explaining why you have your weapons out? Are you trying to gang up on the human boy?" Yorm spoke in a stern tone.

Vatria, Neena and Ruene avoided her gaze.

All four of them were now fully dressed.

"…." Kellene was glaring daggers at Arnold while pulling her skirt down with teary eyes.

Arnold was coolly standing next to Yorm as if he didn't do anything.

Yorm sighed and looked at Kellene, "What did you do this time?"

"W-What!? Why is Lady Yorm looking at me like I did something wrong!? It was that human! He was staring at Vatria, Neena and Ruene while touching his man thing!"

'What is this bitch talking about?'

Yorm looked at Arnold.

"I heard them talking about a divine beast which interested me so I approached the river and hid behind some trees. It was by mere coincidence that I found them naked. I wanted to go up to them to talk since I can't just ignore three beautiful women," he noticed the ginger blushing when he made eye-contact with her, "But my being there would've made them think that I was spying on them. Then this b—this lovely young dame kicked me in the head and tried to kill me."

"H-He's lying! He was getting off on watching my friends bathe!" Bitch continued screeching.

'Annoying little Stella clone.'

"Kellene…"

"Give it up already…"

"He just said that it wasn't intentional…"

Even her three friends didn't stand with her.

Kellene continued glaring at him.

'What's with this girl? She's acting as if I killed her whole family.'

Arnold smirked at Kellene, making sure the other four didn't see.

Kellene's expression turned even more sour.

"So, that's what this is all about. Indeed, it would be very concerning if an unfamiliar man came up to me while I was bathing," Yorm nodded in understanding, "I would've mistaken his intentions for something else… Also, what's this about the divine beast I hear? I thought you four had it under control?"

"About that…" Vatria stepped forward, "We're facing a predator with heightened senses and monstrous agility. The demonic energy's corruption increased its abilities even further, making it a troublesome opponent since it has both superior speed and senses on its side."

"Things got even more difficult when the Blight Things showed up. While they weren't a threat to the beast individually, their numbers more than made up for it. The beast kept its distance seeing as how the monsters only lingered around the farm and the town. Not just that but this human boy singlehandedly took care of more than a hundred of them, making him a bigger threat in its eyes. The monster is completely avoiding this area now." Ruene followed up on what Vatria said.

'If the divine beast wasn't corrupted by demon energy then it wouldn't have been this scared to come near me. Divine beasts are even more powerful than SS-class monsters so the demon energy must be making it paranoid.'

The energy gave it a false sense of danger, which just shows how much the energy corrupts a creature's judgment, especially one as a intelligent as a divine beast. Arnold wouldn't be a threat in its eyes otherwise.

"Hmm, I need to make sure the seal on the Gate is still secure so I can't aid all of you. The least I can do now is send word to the people to evacuate."

"—I can help you take it down." Arnold interjected.

"Eh?" Vatria blinked.

Arnold looked at Vatria, "You need someone fast to keep up with it, right? I'll be able to do it with a skill of mine."

"How can a human be faster than the four of us? You must be joking." Neena chuckled.

"What, am I supposed to prove myself to all of you? I took out a horde of Blight Things on my own so shouldn't my word be enough?"

Although he didn't know what the hell happened a few days ago, he decided to use what happened at the town anyway to persuade them.

"…." Vatria and the other three looked at each other.

Vatria took something out of her magic bag. An apple?

She bent down and held her hand (the hand holding the apple) about ten inches above the ground.

"If you can catch this before it lands on the ground then I'll believe you. But first, stand twenty meters back."

Yorm glanced at Arnold with a wry smile, "If you truly think you can help then please do as she says."

Arnold shrugged, "Alright."

He did as Vatria said.

She narrowed her eyes.

Arnold calmly observed her.

The apple finally fell after a few more seconds.

Skill has been activated

It all happened in a blink of an eye. It wasn't even a second.

"Eh?" Vatria looked dumfounded when she noticed that the apple was gone.

Arnold then spoke. He was sitting on the branch of the tree behind them.

"A race would've been more fun."

He took a bite out of the apple.

The smile on Vatria's face twitched.

◇◇◇

Back at Yorm's house.

Arnold and the four recruits were gathered in front of Yorm's house.

The four of them were standing by the gate having their own conversation while Arnold was leaning against a tree, watching them with interest.

The four of them were already in full-plate armor while Arnold only had Luxtivin around his waist.

He tried to summon Gergois earlier but the armor was in the middle of repairing itself using the "Reversal" runes inside of it. He didn't even know those runes could be used to repair armor. In any case, it would be best to buy armor repair kits once he gets back to the empire.

Fighting another enemy close to or on Gederick's level without that armor will be suicide.

Vatria suddenly excused herself from the group and approached Arnold.

"We haven't properly introduced ourselves. My name is Vatria. I lead this squad of ours."

"Does this squad of yours have a name?"

"Uhm, not yet. A name is something that's considered a badge of honor in our race. For now we just call ourselves [Flowers of Guine]. That's going to be our official name once we're recognized by the War Council."

'War Council? That wasn't a thing back when Gederick was the God of War. I suppose they needed a more organized group to plan out large-scale battles.'

Seeing as how it's referred to as a council, that must mean that there are other leaders besides the High Valkyrie, each of whom have an army of their own.

"What about you? What's your name?"

"My name is Arnold."

"That's it? No titles or House at all? For someone with your skills I expected you to be a Head in a martial arts family at least…"

"To the public I'm a son my family tossed aside for a newer heir. They still see me as their son but officially disowning me was done for political purposes. My father—no, our whole family is hated by the majority of the populace. That includes nobles."

"Hm, politics are quite the troublesome endeavor," Vatria looked back at the other girls, "In our race, the strongest are often glorified by everyone. They are never mocked or scorned, only revered. Even the old veterans revere the youngsters who surpass them in both skill and strength on the battlefield. Due to this, my people consider those aforementioned things an important factor when choosing leaders. Showing your contempt for your leaders is taboo amongst our people. Kellene was supposed to become the next queen of our people but her little sister overshadowed her. This is due to what I said earlier—lack of strength and skill."

'So, she's the sister of that woman.'

Arnold knew who Vatria is talking about. It's the same woman who Luke can romance in the game. And the same woman who helps him defeat a demon lord and save his life.

Arnold pretended to be ignorant in the subject, "That's why you called her princess? I thought it was just a cute nickname."

"Hahaha, Kellene hates it when we call her a princess but it slips out unintentionally sometimes. In any case, with her fate as a princess sealed, she decided to work under my team. We've been together on missions for only a few years."

"...Have your missions involved only slaying monsters all these years?"

"…." Vatria scratched her cheek, "Indeed…"

"From my amateurish eyes, I can tell that you've hunted monsters more than you've trained over the years."

Arnold was just about to let "your levels are way too high for you to be this pathetic" slip.

"…You might be right about that… Anyway, why are you interested in the divine beast? You're not obligated to help us."

'Changing the subject, are you? I guess you hate being called a weakling.'

Even level 66 Gederick was more of a challenge than level 68 Vatria who he could easily immobilize. Arnold knows that if they went up against that guy, they'd definitely lose. He could only keep up due to his speed and hand-to-hand combat training. Gederick is a pureblood demigod so his stats were way higher than theirs.

He answered her question:

"I'm looking for something…. If it's alright with all of you, I'd like to take something from its corpse."

"Hmm, that's a pretty odd thing to ask for. Well, our mission is to stop it from wreaking any further havoc and poisoning the forests with its demonic energy so we don't need its body for anything. Take whatever you want from it but we're going to burn its body afterwards using ritual magic. We don't want the residue demon energy in its body opening demon portals out of nowhere."

"I understand."

'An incident similar to what happened in Luke's village should be avoided.'

A demon could've died either from old age or from being hunted by a stronger monster. Its body then expelled its remaining demonic energy, causing portals to form naturally. What followed were imps being led into the world from another plane of existence.

As explained before, portals to the demon world only form once enough demon energy accumulates in an area. Taking this into account, he could understand why they'd burn the body with holy ritual magic.

"Mind if I ask a personal question?" Arnold spoke again, "Which branch family are you from?"

"Why ask such a question?" Vatria looked at him in confusion.

"Every traditional warrior race has main families and branch families. The main families are sometimes descendants of royalty. In my world, the demihumans have the High Blood Tribes as their main families and their King's royal family. I learnt from my history classes that there are up to ten branch families and three main families under the High Valkyrie, including the one she's original from."

In the case of nobility: A member from a main family will never be placed in small squads that don't have any significance in an army. It would squander the Head's name. That's why even the most incompetent fools are given positions like commander or captain if they're from a main family.

Vatria, however strong she might be, still has to prove herself to the elder Valkyries and the High Valkyrie (who are basically members of the war council) before she's deemed a true Valkyrie. This means that she's from a branch family.

If she was from the three main families then she would've been in charge of a much larger force.

"…How do humans know about our history?"

"We humans are curious creatures who explore the unknown. Whichever demigods or gods built relic tombs in our world is to thank for the knowledge that we have of your people. Scholars study your history (found in these tombs) and teach it to us regular folk."

"But why would they do that?"

"The scholars thought that knowing more about the divine realm will help bring them closer to the gods. It's a silly thing to wish for."

"…I see. Very well, if you are that curious then I shall tell you. I am from a branch family known as the Astridr Clan."

"That means your family is connected to the princess over there." Arnold looked at Kellene who was still glaring at him. He gave a small smile and winked.

He could see a small red flush on her face before she angrily stomped and walked away.

"Indeed. We're the branch of the Gidrunn main family. Princess Kellene and her younger sister come from that family."

'Gidrunn… Where have I heard this name before…'

Arnold searched through the memories in his head of the lore he read during his time as a solo player.

He recalled a short text that he read in an ancient scroll "Disgraced, skinny, feeble and famished, Guinevere of Gidrunn was compelled to face an army to prove that she deserves the title of [Golden Avowed]—a title fitting to only the strongest of one's race. She emerged victorious and was worthy of wielding the [Great Armament of Undine]—a divine artifact that could vanquish all evil with a single stroke of the sword". It granted her the power of an Elemental Martial God who was said to have been Undine's Consort.

There were quite a few illustrations of this powerful Valkyrie in the game. Her most notable feature is her cherry red hair and narrowed blood-red eyes that resemble a vampire's eyes.

The sword that was the manifestation of a Spirit Monarch had a piece of a 10 000 year old minor World Tree as its hilt.

There was another Guinevere in the game, one that was wildly popular with the NPCs of Arnold's world but had no obvious relation to the Guinevere in the divine realm from what he knows.

'Does this mean that Vatria and Kellene is related to the Guinevere who I read about? Did the Guinevere from my world even exist?'

Guinevere was seen as a symbol by many people aspiring to become knights. You could say the literature and legends surrounding this—possibly fictional—character inspired majorly young girls to face the challenges to become knights.

Maybe some writer wanted to profit of this Guinevere's fame by creating fake literature about her.

Arnold didn't know the full story surrounding this woman. There's no reason to care since she's already dead. Hearing the household name "Gidrunn" just jogged his memory. Vatria doesn't seem like anyone special either even if she shares blood with a legendary Valkyrie, a woman seen as a symbol by her people.

Of course, Kellene's younger sister having the blood of a demigod answers a lot. It's no wonder she's so gifted to the point where she could hold her own against Luke without the holy sword.

Vatria looked back at the others who were already beginning to head out.

"Are you ready to go? We're probably not going to come back soon so I hope you packed enough food."

"No need. We'll kill that beast today."

Vatria smiled, "Then let us go."