The Broken System Chose the Antagonist
Chapter 24: You both have shown your worth!

Chapter 24: You both have shown your worth!

After a little bit more walking, the two eventually reached the rundown school where they based their camp. And on the way back to their room, they continued to find the same dark, ashy mark they had found along the way back.

Nadia felt a little tense seeing this.

She remembered what Hilda had said earlier: about how likely it was that the Predicament they had let off would most likely seek out something to regain its strength.

’But it couldn’t have possibly strayed far enough from there to reach here... right?’ Nadia fretted, beginning to feel anxious—although rather difficult to figure out because of her expressionless face.

Once they reached the room, they found the inside to be a complete mess.

The tables were overturned, a part of the wall was cracked, there was countless blood splatter on the ground; there was also a massive hole in the window, where the barricades should be.

Hilda glanced at the door, which had been reduced to shambles, now only being half of what it was previously. Then, she glanced towards a random corner in the room, finding a pair staring at them with hope-filled eyes.

One of them looked to be injured, but not to the point where he could bleed out. While the other seemed to be traumatised by what happened.

It was Callum and Seraphine.

The German smiled broadly as she gave them a casual wave.

"Hallo, meine Freunde. I see that you two had a rather~ fun night."

Hilda watched as the two stiffened at the word fun. Then, she watched as Seraphine got off the ground and began rushing towards her with a teary look in her eyes—her arms stretched out completely.

She quirked an eyebrow at this.

’A hug?’ Hilda thought before opening her arms out, too, with a chuckle.

"There~ there~ now tell me what hap—"

"NADIAAA...!"

Flying past Hilda, Seraphine latched onto Nadia and hugged her tightly, bawling her eyes out in fear.

"Don’t leave us alone again, you hear!" Seraphine cried before pointing at Hilda, "Especially not for that HEARTLESS woman!"

The Heroine stared down at the girl with wide eyes, still unable to comprehend why Seraphine went after her instead of Hilda.

Even if Hilda and this girl had a... rough relationship, it would make more sense for her to go to Hilda, wouldn’t it? Not for some other person that they barely knew...

Nadia then shot Hilda a questioning look, wondering what the woman had to say about this.

But when she looked over, she found Hilda... smirking at her teasingly.

She then watched as the woman mouthed:

"Oh, my~... when did you two get so close?"

At this, Nadia became even more confused.

’What in the hell is going on...?’

While the German and the Heroine continued to stare at each other intensely, Seraphine noticed something through the blurriness of her tears; something that immediately caught her attention.

"Hey... Isn’t this Hilda’s coat? Why are you wearing it?"

"Hm? Oh..." Nadia glanced away a little, "It was... cold outside. So, Hilda handed it to me."

"Ah..."

Seraphine did remember something about Hilda being someone not to be bothered by the cold; it was something about how she generated more body heat than the average person.

"I guess that’s why you’re holding onto her hand, then... It was that cold outside, huh?"

"... What?"

Nadia quirked an eyebrow, confused by what Seraphine was talking about.

"What do you mean? She’s the one holding onto me."

"..."

Seeing the questioning look she was getting, Nadia decided to take a look down at her hand. Wondering what could possibly cause Seraphine to misunderstand.

When her eyes eventually fell on her hand, she immediately froze in place with disbelief.

Hilda, who had initially dragged her here by hand, was no longer holding onto her. Instead, it was now the opposite!

Nadia immediately backed away from Hilda upon the discovery of this. Then, she looked down at her hand in disbelief, as though it had betrayed her.

The fact that she was holding onto Hilda was bad enough, but the fact that...

’I was holding onto her so tightly...’

The fact that she was holding onto Hilda so firmly was even more shocking!

’When did I even began holding onto her hand!?’ Nadia shouted in her mind with an intense blush, deeply embarrassed.

’Could it be when we found those dark streaks? Or was it really because it was so cold outside?’ She reflected, unable to rid herself of the embarrassment.

Eventually, when she calmed down a little, she asked herself in a forlorn tone:

’Now that I think about it, when was the last time I unconsciously held someone’s hand...?’

Was it with her dad before his passing? Or her mother before she fell ill? Or the Uncle from the LCEO? Or could it be...

As Nadia continued to reflect on herself, Hilda continued to stare at the woman’s face with an amused look in her eyes.

Despite Nadia always having a somewhat taciturn look, it was really easy to tell when the woman got embarrassed or emotional.

’Who knew simple hand holding could be so rewarding~...’ Hilda chuckled to herself.

Her ears then twitched when someone called out her name.

"Miss Hilda..."

Turning to the side, she watched as Callum walked over to her.

His handsome face was a little pale and sweaty. And strands of his black hair stuck to his forehead. He was also clutching his injured, bleeding shoulder.

’He looks like he’s faring well with it.’ Hilda mused internally, ’Given enough rest and it should heal overnight.’

"Let me fill you in on all that happened." Callum said as he tried to act out all that had happened.

Nadia listened in on what Callum was saying and, unlike Hilda, who kept a straight and analytical face, her face darkened and contorted several times.

She balled her hands into fists.

’I shouldn’t have left... I should’ve known it was a bad idea to leave them alone...’ Nadia ruminated, thinking of the worst possible scenario. ’If I was here from the start, they wouldn’t have had such a close call...’

She blamed herself.

Then, she thought of the dark streaks.

’Wait, could it have been—’

"Where’s the Predicament now?" Hilda asked Callum, unintentionally interrupting Nadia’s thoughts.

Callum pointed outside the window.

"It fell outside the window. So far, it doesn’t show any signs of moving, as it did before..."

"Interesting..."

Hilda walked over to the window with Nadia also following behind, having just been able to pull Seraphine off of her. The two then looked down and found a monstrous corpse lying on the body.

Its head was completely crushed, and it was lying in a pool of its own blood. But that wasn’t what got their attention, well...

’It’s the one that we let escape!’

Nadia’s attention, to be specific.

She recognised the monster’s missing lower half and figured out the reason for its horrific charred state.

This made her feel even worse for going outside.

’If I had never gone out, I wouldn’t have pushed this Scoundrel to go seek out the two...’

If it wasn’t for the fact that she had distracted Hilda, the Predicament would’ve definitely died back in the ruins they fought in!

Nadia gripped the broken windowsill, her face morphed with guilt and regret. She was the main reason why the two had been put through such a life-threatening situation.

She then looked towards Hilda, expecting the woman to feel at least something similar to how she does about this. And what she saw... caused her eyes to widen.

The German had a hand roughly an inch over her mouth. And in between the gaps in the woman’s fingers, Nadia saw an ecstatic grin...

The largest grin she had seen Hilda make since meeting her. She also had a wild and extremely fanatical look in her piercing red eyes.

It... unsettled her a little bit.

Just as she was about to call out to Hilda, she heard the woman whisper in a faint voice.

"Er... staunlich..."1

She then watched as the woman turned around, whose hand was now lowered from her face, allowing everyone in the room to gaze upon her ecstatic expression.

"You both did remarkably!" Hilda shouted, her voice filled with joy, "To kill a Predicament with only two people, and one at night too, with limited resources! How truly remarkable!"

Callum and Seraphine snuck each other an awkward, sheepish glance.

The handsome man then rubbed the back of his head.

"Haha, we’re not worthy of your praise, Miss Hilda. That monster was already heavily injured when we fought it—"

"That doesn’t matter!"

Before Callum could even finish, Hilda had already interjected.

She raised her arms towards them, with her palms facing the ceiling, causing her to give off the impression she was welcoming them into a grand ceremony.

"Weak or not. Half-dead or full strength. It does not matter what condition the Predicament is in. The fact that you two had stood your ground und killed one have already placed you above most of the examinees I have come across, thus far!"

Hilda then paused a little and added:

"You both have shown your worth!"

Erstaunlich = Astonishing