The Honor of a Castrated Warrior
What exactly is honor, if pleasing him is the duty of a bride?
In the literal sense of the word, it refers to abstract values like public reputation or pride. That’s not wrong. It’s completely correct. And that’s precisely why Ragner’s honor had plummeted into an even darker abyss. He had gained nothing and lost everything. No one stood up for him. If only he had died honorably in front of the gods and ascended to the ceiling of Valhalla, he might have been remembered as a glorious warrior.
But look at him now. Who is that pathetic wretch in front of us, clutching his crotch and twitching?
It’s embarrassing to say out loud, but he used to be a warrior braver than anyone.
“The Honorless Ragner.”
The words came from one of the Vikings. Ragner glared with hateful eyes toward where the voice had come from. But no one was looking at him. Instead, they were sneering and giving him the thumbs-down in mockery.
I naturally raised my hand, calling for the Vikings to cheer. It was to celebrate my victory. At the same time, it was to humiliate Ragner even more—he had followed me all the way to Jotunheim.
“U! U! U! U! U!”
“U~”
The magic trick where cheers turn into jeers. See that, Ragner? This is the difference in our levels. Looking up at me from down there suits you perfectly.
“The Honorless Ragner.”
“...Taesik!”
“This bastard still hasn’t come to his senses. Hey, do you even realize how fucking ugly you look right now?”
Puhahahahaha!
The moment I finished speaking, the laughter of the Vikings and giants erupted. Everyone was mocking Ragner. A few even looked at him with pity. Well, he loved women so much. Now just thinking about them would probably bring him unbearable pain. I didn’t feel the slightest bit sorry. It was only natural. In fact, it felt incredibly satisfying. Sweet, even!
Most importantly, it didn’t matter if I lost this duel. Honor? What would I even do with something like that? I was wanted across the kingdom just for running off with the Holy Sword. Besides, wasn’t the Holy Sword mine to begin with? I didn’t like how the kingdom was acting like it belonged to them and coming after me with fire in their eyes.
But the most crucial point was this: Ragner could never wield the Holy Sword, Mistilteinn.
After all, when the king gave it to me, I was the one who pulled it out myself. It was the sword that would signal the beginning of a great war someday, the blade of light that would drive away darkness. There was no way Ragner could ever lift that Mistilteinn. Sorry to the guy who believed Odin’s blessing was with him, but Odin’s blessing rests with me.
Pfft. Look at those hateful eyes staring at me. I couldn’t help but laugh. I’m not a bad guy. They were the ones who treated me harshly first. I know I probably look ugly like this, but what am I supposed to do about it?
Thanks to this duel, all the honor had come to me. I gained honor, and his was completely ruined. That’s the whole story.
Now it was time to ask.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Are you curious?”
“Answer the question. Do you not understand your current situation?”
“...I thought of you as a friend.”
“That was only you. You pathetic loser.”
Of course, if you hadn’t been a woman-obsessed lunatic. If you had been someone who could separate personal and professional matters, you could have been a good partner. But that’s not how reality worked, was it?
You were blinded by Fina and Lunaris and completely neglected me. Whenever problems arose, I was always the one cleaning up the mess. In front of the Legion Commander, you were too busy sneaking glances at them to focus. And the moment I killed the Legion Commander of Lust, you charged at me with an axe, seriously trying to kill me.
A crazy bastard who gets horny even at monsters. That same unhygienic son of a bitch—what did you say earlier? That the women of your tribe lacked hygiene? To me, you look exactly the same. Actually, you’re the filthiest one here. It’s the kind of behavior you couldn’t even imagine in a Confucian country.
“Taesik, I beg you. Come with me.”
“Don’t you have any honor left? Oh, right—you just lost it all.”
Puhuhu.
“If you die here, your soul won’t even make it to Valhalla, will it?”
“S-surely not!”
I had no intention of granting him rest with the light of the Holy Sword. I picked up Ragner’s blood-red axe that had fallen to the ground and slowly approached him.
“I wonder—will you go to Niflheim, or Helheim?”
“Taesik… that choice is wrong!”
Ragner struggled desperately. He tried to run, but he couldn’t. He was blocked by a wall of countless Viking shields.
“C-come out! Do you not know who I am?!”
“Uahahahaha! Isn’t that the Honorless Ragner!”
“There’s no way you’re getting out of this. Puhuhu.”
Oh. Are the Vikings taking my side? Or does it mean that a warrior who has lost his honor is now worth nothing?
I don’t sincerely worship Odin, but seeing their fanatical loyalty, I have to admit it’s impressive. They all become one under a single purpose. With that thought, I gave a twisted smile.
“If you keep stubbornly following me, I have no choice. I just need to make sure you can’t follow anymore.”
“...I-I’m sorry!”
I raised the axe in my right hand high above my head and looked at him. Ragner bowed his head to the ground like a dog and apologized. So even after losing his honor, he still wanted to live. If it had been any other guy, he would have demanded death to preserve his honor. I wasn’t sure if Ragner was just being realistic or if he simply didn’t fit in with the Vikings.
Well, it’s not like I was actually going to kill him anyway. He was a valuable ‘messenger,’ after all. Disposable, of course.
“I swear I’ll never come near you again! So please, put down that axe!”
“You shouldn’t have come near me in the first place.”
“T-Taesik. Please show mercy.”
Even he becomes completely helpless in the face of fear. So this is what it looks like.
“Then I have one request.”
“A request? Ask anything of this Ragner!”
“Go back to Fina and Lunaris. And tell them this.”
Ragner nodded vigorously.
“If you really don’t want to die, don’t even think about looking for me.”
Leaving behind Ragner, who ran away like a beaten dog, we burned the serpent’s corpse. It wasn’t intentional, but after Ragner had torn off and eaten its flesh, we realized it. This thing wasn’t edible. Besides, if we left it like this, it would definitely attract a massive swarm of bugs. Burning it was the right choice.
After some time had passed, we were able to return to the village without any casualties. Well, if we counted casualties, there was one.
“A toast to the Honorless Ragner!”
“Uahahahaha! Cheers!”
Ragner was currently serving as excellent drinking snacks for us. Among the Vikings, he must have been an incredible source of entertainment. The leader of the strongest tribe, known only through rumors, had bowed his head and apologized after a single strike. How utterly pathetic. He had no honor left. The only thought in his head was to stay alive. It was the only human thing that beast-like Ragner had ever shown. Or was it? Since it was the instinct of life, was he still just a beast?
“Puhuhuhu. Ah, whatever! Let’s drink!”
“Uwoooooooo!”
For now, let’s just drink. It was still early evening, with the sky only beginning to darken. The sunset over the rocky mountains was beautiful. I relaxed my tired body, drinking to restore my energy.
They said today was a festival. From the looks of it, every day the Vikings stayed here felt like a festival.
“Please don’t drink too much. Do you plan to sleep on the cold floor again tonight?”
“...I don’t want to sleep overlapping with those guys.”
Tirgar agreed as well. He emptied his massive drinking cup, sat down beside Isabel and me, and spoke.
“I think I’ll sleep in a bed tonight too. Look at that bastard’s face. His mouth is all twisted from sleeping in the cold.”
“Puhuhu. He really does look like an idiot.”
“Uahahahaha! Tusgar! Taesik says you look like an idiot!”
Everyone laughed. The giant called Tusgar didn’t show the slightest bit of annoyance and simply laughed it off heartily.
Finally, the fire was lit. It warmed the ground and heated up the freezing air of Jotunheim. Maybe that’s why the alcohol tasted so sweet? Why did the lukewarm air feel so refreshing?
“Puhuhu.”
Ah, it must be because I crushed Ragner’s balls.
“You seem especially happy today.”
“Happy? I’m so happy I’m going crazy.”
“Are you that happy about crushing Ragner’s testicles?”
Is that even a question? Isabel, I am genuinely happy. And you just said ‘balls’ right out loud.
“Yes. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“I think that’s a bit childish.”
“Men are supposed to be childish.”
And so the day came to an end.
Two days later.
At the border between Banaheim and Jotunheim, a man was staggering along the roots of Yggdrasil. It was Ragner. Even walking a little caused agonizing pain. He was on the verge of going insane, but unfortunately, he had something he needed to tell them. The expression Taesik had shown him was ‘real.’ If he touched him, he would die. He instinctively understood it was a silent threat.
“...Damn it!”
He had lost his honor. Above all, the pride he had considered the greatest treasure of his race had been shattered to pieces. The sound was still vivid in his ears. Crack. That disgusting, unbearable sound still rang clearly in his ears!
“Hehe, why are you so angry?”
“Hm?”
Ragner, who had been seething with rage, awkwardly lifted his gaze. It was a beautiful woman. Riding a pure white horse and heading somewhere, searching for someone—she was someone he remembered.
“...Seria.”
“Ragner. It’s been a while. What is that pathetic state you’re in?”
“Ugh!”
It was humiliating.
“It’s none of your business. Get out of my way!”
“You shouldn’t be speaking to me like that, should you? Exiled Ragner.”
“...What? Exiled?”
When Seria heard the bewildered tone in Ragner’s voice, a twisted smile spread across her face. From his reaction, it seemed he had no idea what kind of rumors were spreading about him in every kingdom. This would be a great help to her beloved Hero.
She covered her mouth and giggled before asking.
“Are you curious?”
“...I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m asking why you’re being called an exile.”
“If I say I’m curious, will you tell me?”
Not at all. She had zero intention of simply telling him. Yes, absolutely no intention of ‘just’ telling him.
“You know where the Hero is, don’t you?”
“...I don’t.”
Seria’s eyes darkened. She dismounted and approached him closely. As if embracing him, she leaned in to smell Ragner’s scent. Ragner, flustered by her action, raised his hands. Since she had embraced him, it was only natural that he—
Slice!
Blood sprayed everywhere as his hand was severed at the wrist, bone and all.
“...What the hell are you doing, you bitch?!”
“Ah, aaaaaah!”
“The only person allowed to touch my body is the Hero, Taesik.”
Ragner’s mind was filled with question marks. Then what was the point of her hugging him?!
“I only approached because I smelled Taesik’s scent on your disgusting body, but you couldn’t hold back and got horny again…”
A beast worse than a dog. Genuine disgust and nausea surged within her. Her body felt defiled. Her back had been tainted by that repulsive bastard’s touch!
“...Ugh. I came all this way, and now I have to go back home like this!”
She scratched her back furiously. The itch was unbearable. The goosebumps turned into pure irritation. At the same time, Ragner thought to himself: This woman is insane. That’s not love. It’s obsession that has crossed into pure madness!
“Ragner. Why did you lie to me and say you didn’t know where Taesik is?”
“I-I…”
“Why?”
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
She was crazy. Not normal. The Lionblood family had never been normal to begin with, but this woman was genuinely unhinged. From her dull, sunken eyes to the cruelty with which she severed his arm without hesitation.
Seria looked at Ragner’s eyes—filled with despair and confusion—with utter contempt. At the same time, she noticed his footprints.
“Hmm… Jotunheim, is it?”
“Y-yes. Taesik headed there!”
“Hehe, I like people who don’t lie. See? How nice it is when people are honest. Don’t you agree?”
“I’m sorry…!”
“Let me tell you one thing, Ragner. You, along with the Saintess and the mage.”
In other words, the Hero’s party.
“Have been exiled from every kingdom. It’s all the karma you’ve accumulated.”
“What? What kind of bullshit is that?!”
“Bullshit? Are you calling me a bitch?”
“...No. That’s not…”
Seria pressed a sharp dagger against Ragner’s throat. A threat.
“You should have treated the Hero better before raising your voice like that.”
The Hero’s party were comrades and the Hero’s tools. At the very least, they were not supposed to cause him harm. Yet these people had treated the Hero like a tool instead. The man she adored!
She wanted to cut him down right then and there, but she couldn’t. It would be humiliating to stain her hands with the blood of this filthy Ragner.
“...Did you understand?”
“Y-yes.”
Ragner nodded frantically. He was in no state to speak. To think that he, once called a great warrior, would end up showing such a broken figure.
“Jotunheim… hehe.”
Seria’s gaze had already left Ragner. Staring at the distant land of the giants, she covered her ecstatic smile and flushed cheeks with both hands and giggled. His face, body, personality, and voice felt like they were tickling her eyes, nose, and mouth. It was a hallucination. A delusion born from desperately yearning for someone she couldn’t see. A kind of sickness stemming from obsession bordering on madness.
“I’m looking forward to Isabel’s report.”
What new information would make her heart flutter? The moment she learned something new about him that she hadn’t known before, Seria unknowingly collapsed on the spot.
“Oh my, I really…”
Just thinking about it made her so happy that her legs gave out. She gazed at the Frost Giant Ridge along the roots of the World Tree Yggdrasil. He was beyond there. Her mind was filled with that thought and fantasies that would never come true.
“Haa… Hero.”
What kind of reaction would he show when he learned that the Hero’s party had been stripped of their status and exiled because of her report? Would he praise her? Pat her head? Hug her? Whatever it was, he would be happy. Because pleasing him is the model for a bride.
At least, that’s what her teacher had said during bride training. That if the husband is happy, the wife will be happy too.
“Ugh. To think of being hugged… such a lewd and obscene thought!”
Was that why? It took Seria another full day to calm her excitement before she finally arrived in Jotunheim.