‘Why am I still here…just to suffer?’

These were Jacob’s thoughts as he collapsed into the grass with his mind and especially his body wracked with exhaustion. Today was his second day of training and Jacob was not handling it about as well as someone who went from harsh but reasonable physical labor to torture endurance in a single day, i.e. not well at all. He could be exaggerating but in his defense yesterday’s training exercises were not at all like the ones he faced today. If yesterday’s regimen was brisk yet reasonable set of exercises then today’s regimen was something out of a militia recruit’s worst nightmare.

And to what end?

Everything was going so well the day before so what changed?

What possible reason could she have for ramping up the training now?

“So this is your limit then” he heard the click of her tongue “disappointing.”

…would it be a sin against the Goddess if he thought this Valkyrie was a bi-

“But also unexpected” that cut through his probably(?) blasphemous thoughts “you’ve managed to exceed my expectations.”

If he were cheeky and coherent enough he would have asked “should that mean anything to me?”

But instead he gave an empathic “ugh.”

“Do you hate me Jacob?”

‘YES!’

His response was another groan.

“It may not seem like it at the moment but this is all necessary.”

Deep down Jacob did not disagree. The training was for his benefit but on the other hand his mouth managed to gargle through the pain of his burning lungs “uurgh~”

“…perhaps I did go a little overboard.”

‘You think!?’

“At least with this I will be able to create a balanced regimen for the foreseeable future” and she sounded pleased with herself as she continued “I have no doubts that you will be able to tackle this and benefit greatly from the results.”

For some reason her tone reeks of self satisfaction to him and that made him more upset as a result

‘All…my…HATE!’

“I suppose you’ve earned yourself some rest for the time being.”

“…”

“Jacob?”

He was already unconscious.

~O~

With the liberal use of magic Sigrdrífa was able to clean and change the boy before depositing him on his bed. The Valkyrie could admit that her training was a bit much for a human child. In her defense Sigrdrífa didn’t have any kind of experience with training humans. A combat instructor she may have been in Heaven but there is a stark difference between the average angel and the average human when it came to physical fitness and mental fortitude.

Then again humans weren’t famous for what their species could accomplish on average. More often they were accredited for what they did as a civilization or for what the few distinguished individuals manage to accomplish under the right circumstances. And considering Jacob was the son of a shopkeeper her expectations were rightfully low for him.

Then he went and exceeded those expectations with his performance in training yesterday. Despite being a child with no formal training Jacob performed at the same capacity as the soldiers in Everguard’s garrison. She knew this for a fact because she used the very same drills Commander Elias used to train his men.

It was clear to Sigrdrífa that she had underestimated the boy or rather she underestimated the Heroic Bloodline and its passive effect on his physical ability. There was no doubt in her mind that Jacob will be physically ready to take part in the fight against monsters. Her main concern was the boy’s mental health and spiritual fortitude or rather his thought process and emotional response.

With the way how monsters currently are she has heard and even witnessed many humans fall prey to their charms or willingly submit themselves to corruption. There were a number of reasons but by far the most ridiculous of all was due to…ethics. The fact that knights, paladins and even some Heroes of the Holy Order could argue ethics with a monster and lose said debate was such a grand failing that Sigrdrífa seriously worried for the human race as a species.

How was something like this even allowed to happen?

“Ugh” the Valkyrie massaged her brow.

There were so many things wrong with this era but she could hardly steer the course of history in her present. All she could do was impart the required training and knowledge to the one who has a chance of ending this age of confusion. Whether Jacob will be the one to do it remains to be seen. If trained correctly and with the right mindset he could certainly become one of if not the best Hero in recent memory and hopefully be the one to end Lilith’s reign but the reality of the current situation is all too grim.

After the betrayal of the traitor and without Lady Erestia able to find a warrior that could combat both him and the Overlord, Lilith has gone on to reign for a thousand years. She is the longest reigning Monster Overlord without a doubt and sadly she has taken steps to cement her paradigm through procreation.

The exact number of Lilith’s spawn that now roam the world was unknown however what is known is that they are numerous and strong. How strong? The average among them could give past Overlord’s a run for their lives and the strongest among them is rumored to be comparable to the demi-gods. As for Lilith herself the Succubi Overlord may not have ascended despite many believing her to however her power was now regrettably in the realm of godhood (though obviously at a lower tier than the Goddess) and her traitor consort was not too far behind.

Disgusting and baseless rumors would have it that the two are even able to challenge Lady Erestia which is preposterous and the only reason why she has not put them in their place was because Gods could not interfere in mortal affairs. With all that said it is very unlikely that Jacob would be the one to slay Lilith and the traitor. At best he would put down one of their spawn and that was a generous estimate. If he manages to defy her expectations then perhaps she would give him a better chance but until then…

“Hmm?”

A smile crept onto the Valkyrie’s expression as she sensed a familiar mana enter her range. It was Torren, the steed that has been her second companion throughout her time in the human realm. As she felt him in her perception through their bond he kept in place likely waiting for either a telepathic command or for her to meet him. After making sure Jacob was secured under heavy wards she bought a dozen apples in preparation of the meeting Sigrdrífa left Freyberg to greet her companion.

Most Valkyries did not keep animal companions and while the forces of Heaven did have a cavalry unit they were comprised of Pegasus riders who are very particular about who could be granted the honor of rearing the majestic winged beasts. As far as Sigrdrífa was concerned only the Pegasus was worthy of being a Valkyrie’s mount which was why she did not care much for Torren initially.

Much like with Isobel her opinion would change in the following months as the horse proved its worth. Torren may not be as powerful, majestic or intelligent as a Pegasus but he became a close substitute as the Valkyrie developed a soft spot for the animal. So much so that she imparted Heaven’s blessing upon him to greatly increase his physical prowess and mental capacity.

It took her several minutes to arrive at Torren’s destination which was by a stream that was quite a way from the well thread path to the town. As she watched him drank his fill Sigrdrífa could tell right away that the horse had travelled at a brisk pace for a long time to arrive here. It brought a frown to her face though the way how the horse immediately placed his gaze on the basket of apples in her hand amused her enough for her to crack a smile.

“Were you in a hurry? Did you miss me so much that you would abandon Isobel?” she mused while stroking his mane and received a pleased huff.

Unfortunately this would not be the case as a cursory search revealed a note left by Isobel and the news was…interesting. The local lord overseeing Everguard had heard tales of the Valkyrie and sent a retinue to invite her back to his main residence for a gala thrown in her honor. To be frank she had completely forgotten that there was such a thing as a lord overseeing the town.

Part of the reason why she did was because there wasn’t a single legitimate noble in all of Everguard. Everguard had a mayor and a governing council but they were all commoners chosen by popularity, pillars of the community if you will and not a single one of them had a drop of blue blood in them.

No wonder she found her experience in Everguard to be pleasant.

Still the fact that the actual governing nobility can get away with leaving proxies in their position spoke either of Wenia’s incompetence or indolence. Either way it wreaked of corruption.

“It seems my instinct was correct then.”

Sigrdrífa had planned to leave the very same day that these men would have arrived. She smiled at the thought of those knights arriving in all their pomp only to be told that they missed her. What a lark! Though the smile turned to a frown as the letter revealed that Isobel was left with no other choice than to accept the knights’ most ‘gracious’ proposal to escort her to Freyberg.

Annoying but the Valkyrie understood the priestess’ position, appearances need to be maintained. For all of Sigrdrífa’s dislike of the pomp, dishonesty and constant scheming of the nobles those were not the main reasons for why she chose not to confront them. No what she didn’t like was humoring them. Human affairs may not matter to the Valkyrie however as a servant of Erestia Sigrdrífa was representing the Goddess and so a certain level of decorum was to be maintained. Sigrdrífa can be as aloof to the humans has she wants to be however there is a fine line between disinterest and callousness.

Basically it all boils down to what she could use as an excuse. Humans are willing to forgive her for dismissing an invitation, meeting or conversation due to having a more important mission given to her by their Goddess but not so much if it turns out that she just didn’t want to be in their presence. And it has to be an actual reason for angels cannot knowingly tell a lie, not that she would stoop so low as to even try.

A thought suddenly occurs to Sigrdrífa in her ponderings ‘what about Jacob?’

Sigrdrífa has been making a conscious effort to think of the boy’s well being ever since he was kidnapped. It required a lot of rumination, mostly on their interactions thus far and Sigrdrífa came to a startling conclusion, she messed up. On the surface Jacob’s training seems to have started off without a hitch but she could tell that she has lost the trust he was willing to tentatively lend her even after the disaster that was their first meeting.

The Valkyrie massaged her brow thinking of that.

‘What was I thinking?’

She was thinking that she was being forced to train a boy out of convenience. There were protocols for when a human is chosen to be taken under a celestial servant of Erestia’s care. There are Angels and Valkyrie’s who are extensively trained and educated to do these things. Sigrdrífa was not one of them and the only reason why she wasn’t completely out of her depth was because she used to be an instructor in Heaven.

‘Was I truly so disgruntled?’

In hindsight she absolutely was. Oh sure she would complete her mission for it was a task set by the Goddess herself and relayed via one of the Seraphim but it was clear to her now that her frustration with the situation was unfortunately taken out on the poor boy and she only now realized it.

Assuming that she survived (which Sigrdrífa does) then it was only a matter of time before the Demon tried to take him again. A Demon who spent three years building a bond with him and whose servants managed to color Jacob’s perception of monsters to an almost sympathetic degree. Despite her words of caution on the matter Jacob wasn’t swayed from his borderline blasphemous thoughts. Their next encounter with monsters needed to be one that illustrates how dangerous they truly are and why he needed to fight against them.

But that was for the future, as for now she needed to mend the crumbling bridge that was her and Jacob’s current relationship. And to do that she would have to correct the mistakes made by her foolish self in the past.

~O~

When he woke up from his unduly punishing round of training Jacob was expecting a few things. He was expecting for Sigrdrífa to be there either waiting. She would either be waiting with food, with a lecture or both but he expected her to be there and to his credit she was. Sigrdrífa had secured him a meal and was waiting for him to wake up. It still remains some of the most awkward moments of his life since she doesn’t eat with him. In fact he hasn’t actually seen her eat anything and he was too afraid to ask why that is.

In any case as he got to eating his meal and she got to lecturing him it felt like just another day in what was now looking to be a routine of sorts. Then just as she did with his training earlier she switched things up and Jacob was left flat footed by her next sentence.

“It appears Isobel will be arriving with a retinue of knights belonging to the lord overseeing your home. What was his name again?”

Jacob frowned “Lord Brimsey?”

“That’s the one. It seems they were sent to extend an invitation to the Wenia’s royal capital however since I was absent they have decided to escort Isobel here.”

Jacob carefully chewed his food as he considered this latest information. Sigrdrífa did not elaborate further and in fact her gaze seemed almost expectant.

‘D-does she want me to continue the conversation?’

During the first day of training the Valkyrie made it clear what she expected from Jacob and one of them was for him to be assertive and proactive. He was going to be a Hero and due to his position people will look to him to be the leader so he would need to be active in conversations. Jacob wasn’t a conversationist but in this instance he actually has a question.

“Do you think they know you are here?”

For the briefest moment he could see the edges of her lips upturn before settling back into mild disinterest.

“Doubtful but I suppose they could be desperate enough to get any leads to my whereabouts.”

The next obvious question would be why would they be desperate but Jacob didn’t know enough to comment on that so instead he directed a question to her.

“What will you do?”

“That will be up to you.”

“Huh?”

The Valkyrie’s too blue eyes pierced into his own as she spoke “my original plan was to take you to Eristora for your training however a few things have come to my attention, namely your input.”

Jacob blinked in astonishment “my input?”

“The original plan has become untenable.”

There was a pause and an expectant look causing him to flinch and stutter out “h-how so?”

Sigrdrífa stared at him for a moment longer making him sweat a bit before continuing “your parents.”

This time he didn’t need a prompt to react “what about them?”

“Your involvement in this incident is a fact the public is very well aware of. If you were to disappear at the same time as Isobel and I then it would not take them long to figure out a correlation. Should that happen then your family will be under the scrutiny of Wenia’s monarch.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“When I am uncertain to the reach of the Demon, yes” she admitted.

‘So basically she doesn’t know who else Eveleena has in Wenia that could be on her side and she doesn’t want to leave mother and father unprotected.’

To be honest Jacob didn’t even think about what would happen to his parents after he left. This fact brought great shame to him but in his defense he thought that they would have moved on unmolested without his presence.

“You promised they will be protected by the Order.”

Sigrdrífa internally winced, yet another example of how inconsiderate and shortsighted she had been. She wasn’t lying when she told him that but the truth was more nuanced.

“That is the case but only should the reinforcements I send for arrive.”

“How long will it take for them to arrive?”

“At minimum several weeks, at worst several months.”

Doesn’t that mean his parents would have remained unprotected and at the mercy of whatever forces that were after him or Eveleena due to association?

“You lied.”

She scowled at him “I did not lie.”

He wasn’t having it and his palm slammed on the table “you promised they would be protected but they would have been left defenseless after I left.”

Jacob couldn’t do anything about his own involvement since Eveleena made him the centerpiece of all this but he took solace in the fact that he at least wouldn’t get anyone else involved in this mess. The absolute last thing Jacob wanted to do was involve his parents, they didn’t deserve that.

“Jacob I understand you are upset-”

“Do you!?”

Jacob wasn’t upset, he was livid and he has had just about enough of-

“Sit. Down.”

A steely gaze under her calm façade only served to amplify the sudden pressure he felt on his senses.

‘W-what is this?’

Feeling uncertain but refusing to be cowed by this woman Jacob gritted his teeth and uttered a single word.

“No”

Sigrdrífa’s eyes narrowed at the rebellious young man “you-”

“You lied to me” he began, ruthlessly cutting off her retort and earning a minute twitch of her facial features.

“I do not lie.”

‘No you just ignored me until I was taken and now you’re trying to make up for your mistakes.’

He didn’t say those words out loud though it was a near thing. He wanted to say that and so much more but even if he was angry he knew enough that antagonizing a Valkyrie, especially one who was responsible for training him would be a terrible idea. He could never fully trust this woman and will never take her words at face value again but he wouldn’t jeopardize their relationship any further.

So he sat down “do you have a plan to protect mother and father?”

“I have several but as I have stated before they will depend on your decision.”

“My decision?”

She was giving him a choice, it didn’t do much to assuage his distrust but he would not look a gift horse in the mouth.

“We stay the course to venture to Eristora after I commune with Wenia’s branch of the Holy Order. They will ensure your parents’ safety where the kingdom might fail.”

After everything that’s happened and what he’s learned that option wasn’t very appealing at all.

“And the other?”

“We forgo leaving Wenia altogether.”

‘That was an option?’ he thought incredulously.

Seeming to hear his thoughts the Valkyrie’s brows furrowed “I would prefer to remove you from Wenia however should you wish it, I can accommodate.”

“Won’t I need to journey to Eristora for my training?”

“The location only matters in that it will be able to facilitate your growth. Wenia may be inferior to Eristora in this regard however I am sure they will be able to accommodate. Heroes are very valuable to kingdoms such as this and they will not spare any expense in properly facilitating your growth” she paused before adding “actually it may even prove prudent since this is your home country.”

That option seemed like the one with the least amount of hassle to him but only because he wouldn’t be travelling across the continent. Still they have yet to address to elephant in the room.

“What about Ev-” he bit his lip “the Demon.”

The look in her eyes told him that she caught his slip up but did not outwardly react.

“Since I have already requested reinforcements from the Holy Order in Eristora they will be able to assist in protecting you and your family while also routing out any agents of the Demon.”

“Are those my only options?”

“There is a third option” the Valkyrie began “if your parents agree then they will be moved to Eristora along with you.”

…for a brief moment Jacob felt like slapping himself in the face.

Why hadn’t he thought of that!?

‘Because I didn’t think she would agree to it.’

How could he demand something like that from a Valkyrie? How important was he that she would even consider such a thing?

“In any case regardless of your decisions we will need to wait for the reinforcements from Eristora.”

So at minimum they would have to spend several weeks in Wenia.

“Why wait for the reinforcements?” Jacob blurted out.

Couldn’t they just ask the Holy Order in the capital for help?

“From what I understand the Order does not hold much power in Wenia” her gaze sharpened “also keep in mind when making your decision that a Hero, especially one trained by a Valkyrie, is considered a high priority asset in any country and they will do all in their power to ensure that you remain here.”

There was something in her voice, a warning and Jacob had to know.

“W-what exactly would they do?”

“Bribe you with titles, riches and women, blackmail you with patriotism, duty and responsibility or” and her eyes gained even more of a pronounced edge “should they be desperate enough, hold your parents as hostage to force your compliance.”

Jacob recoiled “th-they would do that?”

‘For someone like me?’

“You will be surprised at the lengths people will go to for power and control” the Valkyrie glanced aside for a bit before continuing “and it is not you they will be most interested in currently.”

Jacob blinked in confusion causing Sigrdrífa to raise an eyebrow before gesturing to herself at which point that urge to smack his face came back with a vengeance. Even though Jacob didn’t know much about politics he understood that Sigrdrífa’s presence was a big deal and that people would be willing to take measures to make her stay. He just didn’t think those measures would be so…insidious.

“Oh”

“Indeed”

It made sense in a way but what didn’t was Sigrdrífa’s willingness to give him choices in the first place.

“Why are you giving me these options?”

‘Why are you making me choose?’

The Valkyrie looked away for a moment, her mouth opened and closed before a sigh escaped her lips.

Looking him in the eye she answered “I am trying to be more considerate of you.”

“…” Jacob didn’t know what to say so he kept silent and allowed her to continue.

“I know I have lost your trust if I ever had in the first place. It is duly deserved and I will not make excuses for my past actions. I can only work to earn it now” she paused with a meaningful expression on her face “and I can only hope this benevolence is reciprocated.”

Her words made Jacob feel uncomfortable. He didn’t feel any sort of satisfaction or vindication from her admitting fault and the idea of her being beholden to him just felt wrong. At the same time she was extending a peace offering, one of mutual cooperation and respect.

‘Why does this have to be so complicated?’

He shook his head and decided to simply change the subject “s-so the knights are on their way here?”

Sigrdrífa took the abrupt change in topic in stride and answered “yes and we will accept their most gracious invitation to the capital city.”

“Okay” he nodded “that’s…” well he was about to say ‘good’ but the idea of heading to the capital just didn’t have that kind of appeal.

“Until that time we will be continuing your training as per usual.”

“…”

“I will not push you as hard as I did before now that I know of your limits” she reassured “though be prepared for a more consistently rigorous regimen.”

After the conversation they just had Jacob wasn’t feeling trepidation at the thought of more training.

“I understand.”

After all things will only get more dangerous and if they were willing to drag his family into this then it’s clear he needed to get stronger in order to protect them.

~To Be Continued~