Chapter 69: Can I Become Your Valkyrie?

We all fell silent for a while after that. Justine refused to speak, clearly upset. It wasn’t because she doubted what I said, but because she knew it was true.

Alicia wore a sad expression, remembering that it was her own uncle who had ordered my death.

I thought the best decision was to let my words sink into Justine’s heart without saying anything else. I felt the weight leave my shoulder as the wine-haired girl stood up and said, “Making those sad faces won’t get us anywhere.”

“But Erina…”

“I don’t like thinking badly of that old man Gerard either, but his creature really came to kill us. It could have killed anyone. That’s unacceptable.”

“You’re right. But sending bandits after his own blood and unleashing his beast to kill his niece… Is he still the same man we once knew?” Justine said, still trying to come to terms with the situation.

Erina and Justine, despite being quite young, had been personally recruited by him because of their latent potential, far above average. And the same man who had entrusted them with their current positions had nearly condemned them to death. It was a hard pill for Justine to swallow.

Erina turned to me. “Rick, this may sound obvious, but we don’t intend to take you or Alicia to the Silver Fang. I believe you, and I have no intention of handing Alicia over to Gerard.”

“It’s good to hear that,” I said with a relieved smile. By now I was already stronger than Erina, and I had no doubt I could defeat Justine as well, but I would rather not fight both of them. “What do you plan to do from now on?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. I don’t feel like going back to the Silver Fang after everything that happened,” Erina said with a shrug. “Asking to resign after today would look suspicious.”

“I would not like that either,” Justine agreed with her friend.

“What if the two of you came with me?” I asked.

“Eh?” Erina let out a surprised sound.

“Why the surprise? I thought you wanted to come along. We’re going to escort Alicia back to the castle, and on that journey, you and Justine would be a great help to us. Besides, I don’t want to let Gerard do as he pleases. I want him to pay for his crimes,” I said to Erina, but the girl’s expression didn’t soften.

“But would that not be a problem? I am a member of the Silver Fang, and I did try to shoot Diane back then,” Erina said, guilt evident in her voice.

“About that…” I wanted to tell her it wasn’t a problem, but I could already imagine Sarah and Diane being against it.

“I don’t see a problem with that.”

I looked at the blonde woman beside me in surprise.

“Lady Alicia…” Erina was also taken aback.

“D-Don’t get me wrong. I can’t forgive you for shooting at Diane, but you two truly helped us against the Wolf, and we need all the help we can get. You can ask Diane for forgiveness once we meet her again,” Alicia told them in an annoyed tone. However, I could tell she no longer saw them as enemies.

I smiled at the princess hugging my arm. Alicia was a good girl, and she felt that Erina and Justine weren’t bad people either. Once they discovered the truth about her Commander, their actions told us all we needed to know about their character.

After hearing Alicia, Erina smiled and said in a more cheerful voice, “If you say so, I would like to join you on your journey, Rick, Lady Alicia.”

“I would also like to join you. Even you must admit Erina can be quite troublesome, so I should stay and help keep her on a leash,” Justine said with a timid smile on her face.

“I’m not a dog!” Erina snapped at her.

However, the black-haired woman ignored her friend’s reaction. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“So we’ll be counting on you, Erina, Justine,” I said, looking them in the eyes and placing my trust in them. Both of them nodded in response.

“I agree with Rick, and you girls can stop calling me Lady Alicia. Just Alicia will do,” the princess said, avoiding looking at them as her cheeks turned red. Erina gave a smug smile. She had clearly thought of something to tease Alicia with, but she held her tongue.

Having Erina’s help, not only as a Gunner but also because of her quick thinking, would be a great addition to our party. And on top of that, we would have Justine’s magical power.

’Imagine how much stronger they would become if they turned into Valkyries.’ That thought crossed my mind, along with the memory of what had happened earlier.

“So it’s just you, Diane, and Sarah escorting Alicia?” Justine asked me. “The three of them are your…”

She hesitated to finish her sentence, but I understood what she meant. “Ah, my Valkyries. That’s what they’re called. No, only Sarah and Alicia are Valkyries. For reasons beyond my control, Diane isn’t a Valkyrie yet.”

I avoided telling her that if the two of them hadn’t chased us at the inn, Diane would probably be a Valkyrie by now.

“You said your power, Valkyrie Tamer, could make women stronger, right? How exactly?”

“In your case and Erina’s, the requirements have already been fulfilled, which were having intimacy with me and being in love,” I said to her.

“I-I never said I was i-in love with you!” Justine said, her voice trembling.

“Don’t lie, I’m totally head over heels for you,” a voice said from behind Justine, trying to emulate Justine’s voice.

“Erina!” Justine snapped at her.

Erina stepped out from behind Justine and approached me with a mischievous look. Her yellowish eyes were sparkling, and the young woman threw herself against my shoulder once again.

“So, can I become your Valkyrie? I mean, we already had sex, so becoming your Valkyrie would only help our journey, right?”

After Alicia and I gave her permission to join us, she went back to her old chaotic self. I sighed, thinking that Justine was right and that Erina probably needed to be kept on a leash.

“Well, the two of you can become Valkyries by gaining a special class, but there are two problems.”

“And what are those problems?” Erina asked me in a sweet, yet slightly disappointed voice.

“First, your aptitudes and skills would have to start from scratch, so you would need to train gradually. Second, I can only transform one of you, at least for now.”

“I see… that really is a problem. Is there any way for you to change that?”

“I would have to check… Ah, give me a moment,” I asked her to give me a moment. It probably looked strange, since I was about to speak through telepathy. “Brandish, are you there?”

I called out to Brandish, but I got no response. The last time I had truly spoken to her was before fighting the Fenrir Descendant, when she had been worried about me. I didn’t count the “Congratulations” messages that felt artificial. It would have been a good moment to genuinely celebrate my victory as well, but after trying again and again, there was still no response from her.

“Nothing comes to mind right now, but I’ll think about it tomorrow. We had a long day, so I think we should rest and come up with a plan in the morning,” I said to them.

“Good idea,” Erina said while hugging me, her chest pressed against my body. “Let’s sleep. Preferably together. Preferably alone.”

Alicia lost her patience with Erina. “No way, Erina. You can’t have Rick all to yourself.”

Erina pulled her body away from mine, startled by the princess’s reaction. Alicia placed her small frame between Erina and me, and the two began glaring at each other with threatening looks.

That intimidation contest could have lasted forever, but Justine intervened, grabbing both girls by the collars of their clothes.

“Eh?” they both exclaimed at the same time.

“You two stop this ridiculous fight. Rick must be tired after the long day we had, so let’s leave him alone and let him sleep in peace,” Justine told them.

“But do you have to drag us away from him?” Erina struggled, trying not to be pulled, but her effort was useless.

“I want at least a goodnight kiss!” Alicia protested, attempting to free herself, but without success.

“If I let go of you two, you won’t leave him alone during the night. Let’s go already!”

I stood there, watching Justine drag the two of them away from me. I didn’t think it would be a problem to sleep with them, but Justine acted so quickly that I ended up letting her do as she pleased.

I was indeed tired, but a little fun before bed might have even improved my sleep. ’Never mind.’

I lay down and rested my head on my sheets, trying to sleep. My body felt exhausted as soon as I lay down on my sheets, as if it remembered all the trouble I had gone through that day.

I felt something different in the air. Different, yet familiar. I sensed the flow of fresh air around me, swirling and enveloping my body. I could feel the divine power within that breeze, and I recognized it. ’It’s like… when I was at the Lost Temple.’

“Welcome to my palace, Richard Forster.”

I was greeted by a feminine voice, one I remembered as belonging to the goddess Freya.

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