The Promise
Tirgar’s massive frame blotted out the sun.
“Already leaving?”
“Sorry about that.”
Two years had passed, long enough that the sight of a giant no longer felt strange. We had done a lot together. We’d enjoyed festivals, shared drinks with the Vikings until we were sworn brothers, and confirmed the existence of Helheim from the serpent’s lair. But above all else—
“Shall we get going soon?”
“Yes, Hero.”
—I had finally confirmed how Seria and Isabel felt about me.
It wasn’t what I had wanted, but I decided to keep traveling without giving them a clear answer. I knew better than anyone that rushing things only invited disaster.
I slung the Holy Sword across my back and handed the baggage to the horse. It was the white stallion Seria had lent me. These days it obeyed my every command. After traveling such a long road together, that was only natural.
“I’ll drop by again someday.”
“Puhuhu. I’ll be waiting. I’ll brew the finest liquor just for you. Sound good?”
“Uoooooh!”
The other giants answered Tirgar’s roar with a thunderous cheer.
Friends with the enemies of the gods. Odin would probably clutch the back of his neck and keel over if he saw it. But what was I supposed to do? Your own body is ridiculously huge too, old man. Don’t hate them too much. Who else is going to hand out buffs if you’re gone? You trust me, right? I trust you.
“May Odin’s grace be with you.”
“Taesik, I have no interest in your jokes. Gods deserve to die.”
“Puhaha. I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”
“Kruhu. I know. Just testing the waters.”
When I laughed, Tirgar laughed with me. We bumped fists lightly. His hand was huge and rough, yet it carried a warmth that felt out of place in Jotunheim.
Even if our races were different, we could still get along. The gods who refused to understand that were the truly pathetic ones. Just as giants and humans could stand side by side, I believed gods and giants could do the same.
Rumble!
Thunder cracked across a clear sky.
“Aigoo.”
Odin, you mad? I didn’t say anything wrong. Instead of throwing tantrums, how about you try a little harmony for once? What, you gonna run away? Without me there’s no one left to wield the Holy Sword. Puhehe.
I shook my head with a small chuckle.
“Anyway, take care. Honestly, I wish you were coming with us.”
Tirgar glanced at the gaze I could feel boring into my back. His massive shoulders twitched.
“…I’ll be on my way. The way your wives are staring at me isn’t exactly friendly.”
“Ahem. They’re not my wives. Not even lovers.”
“It won’t be long. I’ve got eyes, you know.”
Ugh… So it really was a rejection. A small pang of disappointment hit me, but I respected his decision. I hated forcing my will on others. This, too, was probably fate—Odin’s will. Besides, he was a chieftain. He couldn’t abandon his post, and he had people to protect. That was his own mission.
“Then I’ll be off.”
“Taesik, we will meet again one day.”
“Yeah.”
I just prayed that day wouldn’t be Ragnarok.
*
Four days later we left the freezing lands of Jotunheim and arrived in Ludrick Kingdom of Banaheim. The last time I was here I had run into Lunaris and Fina. Back then I’d been framed and forced to flee, but none of that mattered anymore. Even if those bitches were still around, so what? I felt like staying in Ludrick for a while. By now Ragner should have delivered my message. Those girls might be selfish and greedy, but they weren’t so stupid they couldn’t understand plain speech. At least they had working ears.
They had probably been utterly humiliated across the entire kingdom. So what if I kept my head down? Wasn’t the whole point of deserting to watch them squirm in the dirt? Tsk. Ptui.
I sank halfway into the languid hot spring and let out a quiet laugh. Ludrick was a kingdom built for rest and relaxation. A tall castle rose at the heart of a maple forest, radiating a calm, cool atmosphere. Strolling along the castle walls eventually brought you to a large village—the very hot-spring town where I was staying.
At the far edge of Banaheim lay a vast fiery region known as Muspelheim, a hell ruled by a demon king just like Helheim and Niflheim. Strangely, the monsters there never showed themselves. They said sparks from that land had become the sun, moon, and stars. I couldn’t even imagine how powerful a realm of flame it must be.
The hot springs were a gift from Muspelheim. Ludrick’s fame for its baths came from the volcanoes there.
“Muspelheim, huh…”
No matter how curious I was about this world, I swore I would never set foot there. They said fire giants lived in that place. Yeah… that sounded a little too scary for me.
“I thought I’d rested plenty, but I’m still this stiff.”
Lack of exercise? Or maybe it was all the nonstop drinking and partying with the Vikings. Those bastards. In the end they completely wrecked my daily rhythm.
Well, it was a far cry from last week when I used to wake up to demonic landscapes. It made sense that I’d gotten this soft.
“Krru—!”
Seria had allowed me one drink for the day. Soaking in a hot spring while sipping local liquor, nibbling on maple leaves dyed red by the season—there was no better form of healing. So this was what Lunaris enjoyed every single day? Annoying as it was, I could see the appeal. Not bad at all.
“First half-body bath in two years.”
When I was a kid I used to go to the sauna all the time with Dad and my uncle. I wondered what they were doing now. What had happened to the me who stayed behind on Earth?
Thoughts and guesses I kept returning to. These days, unlike before, such questions felt almost trivial.
In the end, everything only ended once I killed Hel. That was fine with me—I could finally go home. The problem was Loki. If Hel died, he would fly into a rage, and his remaining children would follow his will. That was how Ragnarok would begin.
When that time came, could I really leave everyone behind and go alone? I wasn’t talking about the old hero party. I meant my real friends—Tirgar and the others. Above all, I thought of Seria and Isabel. Could I abandon those two women?
Seria’s figure suddenly shimmered before my eyes. No—more like I could actually see her now. She stood there seductively, covering her chest with nothing but a single towel, gazing straight at me.
“Huh…”
A thick, very Korean curse slipped out before I could stop it.
“I’ve lived long enough to start seeing hallucinations.”
Was I that pent up?
“Hehe. It’s not a hallucination.”
“…?”
Splash!
I sat up ramrod straight, unable to hide my shock. Had I gone crazy, or had Seria lost her mind? This was the men’s bath!
“Hiiik!”
“Hehe. Did I surprise you?”
“…Seria. I think you took a wrong turn.”
“I came in knowing the hero was here.”
Squish.
God damn it. Something that should never have been felt pressed against me. What the hell was this soft sensation on my back?
Seria gently wrapped her arms around me from behind.
Oh yeah. Hallelujah. Odin, please forgive your servant for briefly worshiping another god. The young me had been a diligent Christian who attended church, after all.
Squeeze.
…Oh my. Goodness gracious.
Sorry. I only went for three days. No—more importantly, what the hell was this situation?
I didn’t know much about Seria. At best, she was the youngest daughter of a duke and my benefactor. Had this happened because I hadn’t accepted her feelings?
“You seem deep in thought.”
“…I can’t help it.”
“Then empty your mind for a moment and leave your body to me.”
Her breath brushed my ear. She really had come here with clear intent. Still, even if our party had the whole place reserved, wasn’t this a bit much? At least my knotted muscles had been loosening—now my facial muscles were completely out of control.
Get it together, Taesik. Keep your expression—
“Huu…♥”
What the—? I could have sworn I just felt an affectionate little heart in that sigh.
“Hehe. Looks like you’re finally reacting.”
“…Reacting?”
Seria glanced meaningfully at the drink cup. No way…
“They say ‘no way’ is what gets people killed, but… nah, no way.”
“Yes. I came here to catch you, Hero.”
She whispered the words right against my ear. I could feel her heartbeat. At the same time, that familiar sticky atmosphere rolled over me. This feeling was unmistakable. I knew it all too well from experience—the same look Seria got when the light left her eyes.
…Why?
But I soon learned the reason.
“…Is it because the hero is bad? Because you abandon me every day to cling to that vixen Isabel, squealing and laughing together? I had no choice but to use this kind of method.”
“Seria, calm down a little—”
“Do I look like I can calm down? If things keep going like this, that dark fox will…! Eugh, just thinking about it makes me sick!”
That wasn’t the important part right now.
“…What did you put in the drink?”
“I-I can’t tell you that.”
This was bad.
“Please. Tell me. I’m dying of anxiety here.”
“…Eugh.”
As expected, she was weak to persistent begging.
“It’s nothing serious.”
“It doesn’t feel like nothing.”
“D-do you not trust me, Hero?”
“If you trusted me, you wouldn’t have done this.”
To be honest, I already had a pretty good idea. This was… an aphrodisiac.
“Hehe. Don’t worry. It won’t hurt.”
“What won’t hurt?”
What else?
“…It’s only natural to end up with a premarital pregnancy.”
“Hic!”
I accidentally held my breath in shock and it came out as an embarrassing hiccup. The words had been a whisper—both seduction and danger. A temptation that felt like something that should never happen.
A deep blush colored her face. I couldn’t tell if it was from the heat of the water or from pressing two bodies so closely together. One thing was certain, though: both of us were desperately fighting back embarrassment.
Seria spoke with flushed cheeks.
“Hehe… I thought about it a lot. Ways to forcibly separate that vixen from you.”
But that would only earn the hero’s hatred. So I came up with the best possible solution.
“I’m sorry. But to make you mine, that was the only way.”
“…Um, Seria? Could you loosen your grip a little?”
“No. You’re not allowed to run away. Right now it’s just the two of us. No one else. Our time alone.”
Suddenly Isabel’s face flashed through my mind.
“W-what’s Isabel doing right now?”
“…Why is that girl’s name coming up at a time like this?”
Ah, damn. Stepped on a landmine.
“Focus on me. That girl doesn’t matter right now.”
“Just like you whispered that you loved me, Seria, Isabel also whispered that she loves me.”
“…Eugh.”
Her expression was troubled. The face of someone who absolutely refused to accept it. Right now Seria was begging me for love, and the sight was so pitiful, so faint… and cute.
But I couldn’t let things slide like this. Becoming family wouldn’t necessarily be a bad choice. Still, I had to look far into the future. Returning to Earth was non-negotiable. I didn’t even want to consider staying in this world. It would be wonderful if they could come with me, but there was a problem. Their identities didn’t exist on Earth. They wouldn’t have the basic documentation needed to get jobs or open bank accounts.
Therefore, if I went through with this, I would lose all my options. That might even be Seria’s true intention—to tie me to her side.
That only made me feel sorrier. The road ahead was far too long for me to accept her heart right now. Until I found an alternative, I had no choice but to keep our relationship as it was, even if I felt terrible about it.
“That’s why I can’t give you—or Isabel—a definite answer, Seria.”
“E-even if you say that with such a flushed face, it’s not very convincing…”
I could suppress it. I fought with everything I had to cool the burning heat inside me and gathered my thoughts.
“Don’t throw a tantrum. This can’t be helped. I have to go back someday.”
“…Disappear? From this world?”
“Yes.”
Seria pulled me even tighter, burying her face against me. I could feel her heart hammering against my back.
“Don’t go.”
“I’m sorry.”
“…When I love you this much, why…?”
“My parents are waiting for me.”
At those words she let out a soft “Ah…” and hung her head.
“Then let’s go together…”
“Even if I go, it doesn’t solve anything.”
I had to be realistic. The anxious tension continued, but I could only let her lean against my back. Why did I have to feel guilty? These women were truly selfish. They never considered my position; they were too busy shoving their own feelings forward. The fact that I was shaken by them made me feel a little pathetic. Or maybe that was only natural.
“…Hero. Then make me one promise.”
“Anything. Just say it.”
We clasped hands and hooked pinkies to seal the promise. In exchange for granting whatever she wanted—except becoming lovers. That was forbidden.
“When you leave.”
When I leave?
“…Leave a token with me. Your mark, Hero.”
“Ah.”
Her voice trembled with tears, yet it also carried embarrassment and iron determination. The way she gently stroked the area around my stomach made my heart race even faster. The sorrowful quiver in her voice shook me to the core. No—I was already completely shaken, on the verge of collapse. Maybe my heart had been open to her for a long time.
Still, I had to answer.
“All right.”
“R-really? You promised?”
“…Yes. If that’s your wish.”
The life that had drained from her returned in an instant. Acting as if nothing had happened, Seria released her arms, moved to my side, and rested her head on my shoulder.
“Haa…”
Things had worked out, but… now what? I was feeling way too much right now. She wouldn’t give me any time alone, so I couldn’t even take care of it. Was I impotent? Had I missed my chance? No, you people—I have to go back to my hometown, okay? Think rationally.
I kept making excuses to myself. The sky was still clear. The cool autumn air wasn’t nearly enough to cool the heat burning inside me.
“…By the way, Hero. That… heated thing… how exactly do you plan to deal with it?”
“Ugh, you’re really going to ask me that?”
“Hehe. We’ve even promised to share our affection later. Just a little—”
“Absolutely not!”
That was seriously dangerous. I was barely holding it together! Odin, is this another trial you’re giving me? Or are you still mad about earlier? If you’re upset, just say so. A god acting this petty—how unbecoming.
“It’s warm.”
“…Yeah.”
We stayed like that for a long while until Isabel caught us and gave us a thorough scolding. The bonus was having to break up yet another argument between Isabel and Seria. Really, the road ahead looked more worrying with every passing day.