IBHJ Chapter 678 (Patreon)

Thrud quickly contacted Asgard.

She had reacted emotionally at first, reflexively denying his words. But as he elaborated, she felt a growing sense of horror.

Asgard and Midgard's survival until now was entirely thanks to the Valkyrie network. If Hel or the giants or some villain hacked into it... the consequences were simply unimaginable!

However, looking at Shirou now, her expression was conflicted. She had taken him for a fool before, but the real fool seemed to be her.

His Majesty was fully aware of things - he just didn't hold them against others. His mind was clear as a mirror and his strength formidable, yet he remained magnanimous.

Shirou noticed Thrud looking at him and gave her a calm, reassuring smile.

...

The red-haired Valkyrie connected to the network and used Eyes to search three times. She then reported to Thrud, "Big sis, I didn't find any trace of giants in the iron forest."

"I see," Thrud nodded, not saying anything else.

Under his guidance, she was starting to notice something off about this whole situation.

If there really was an insider tampering with the network, any answers it calculated would be unreliable. Moreover, those answers were also most likely to be what the mole wanted them to see. So she had the red-haired Valkyrie stand by while she directly contacted Asgard instead.

She set her golden shield on the ground, then slid her spear of light into a slot and gave it a twist. The spear let out faint sparks as it vibrated slightly, projecting a virtual screen.

Streams of flickering 0s and 1s flashed across the screen.

Shirou glanced at the swirling digital encoding and was speechless.

Was this really the Norse world? With the advanced network and now this virtual projection tech, it felt more sci-fi than the modern day.

After a burst of scrambled images, the screen settled on a majestic golden palace. Then a girl appeared. With black hair and wine-red eyes, she had a slender, delicate body draped in a white cloak and hood that obscured her lovely face. Rather than hiding her beauty, it gave her an alluring air of mystery.

"Is something wrong, Thrud?" asked the girl, noticing her sister's urgency.

"Ortlinde, we need to talk," Thrud said, clearly on edge. "Something major happened."

Ortlinde was surprised—ever since the gods disappeared, she’d rarely seen Thrud worked up about anything. This must be serious. Ortlinde’s gaze sharpened. "What is it?"

She told Ortlinde about Shirou's discovery.

"A spy? Inside our system?" Ortlinde frowned, finding it hard to believe yet sensing a crisis brewing.

No wonder she was alarmed—the Valkyrie network was the backbone of Asgard itself. If something compromised the system... well, the fallout would be unthinkable!

Ortlinde looked at her sister gravely and asked, "How did you come to this discovery?"

"I didn't. It was the Eternal King here," said Thrud, gesturing toward Shirou.

However, Ortlinde's brows furrowed as soon as she saw him. "An Alter?"

"Yes. I was summoned as a Servant by my Master, Mash Kyrielight, from Chaldea," Shirou nodded. "But doubting my loyalty just because I'm an Alter would be extremely foolish, Miss Ortlinde."

Ortlinde paused. "Of course I won't think that way."

To be honest, that had been her initial reaction, but his calling out her assumption made her reconsider.

The name Mash Kyrielight gave Ortlinde pause. She didn't recognize this Chaldea's Master, yet the words flowed so naturally from his mouth. Inwardly, her doubts about him faded.

"By the way, Thrud, how did you two meet? Shouldn't the Master and Servants have been at the Muspelheim Gate to the south instead of the Jotunheimr Gate in the north?"

Hearing this, Thrud recounted her encounter - the attack from the black dragon Níðhögg which Shirou had then saved her from. She also explained how Shirou and Salter had become separated from their Master because of Lady Skadi.

However, Ortlinde didn't care about how he met her sister. She only cared about one thing.

"Y-Your Majesty--it was you who hunted and killed Nidhogg?" Ortlinde stared at him, struggling to restrain her flushed excitement as her delicate features turned suspiciously red.

"Yes, I did," Shirou nodded, unsurprised by her reaction. With the gods gone, Nidhogg was a calamity that now relied solely on Skadi for suppression. Of course, anyone protecting these lands would be excited and overjoyed that the calamity had been eradicated.

"Is there a stone slab? Did you retrieve the stone slab that fell when Nidhogg died?" Ortlinde gazed at him intensely, her eyes brimming with longing and expectation.

"There was one..."

Before he could finish, Ortlinde instinctively cried out, excitement lighting up her delicate face as if she'd just won the lottery.

Seeing her reaction, Shirou's heart skipped a beat. "Is it something really important?"

She waved a dismissive hand, still smiling. "No, just a mana stone. It provides magical energy but that's it."

"I see..."

That made sense. If Nidhogg really had something important, Skadi probably would've killed it herself instead of leaving it to him.

Ortlinde looked at him earnestly. "Your Majesty, we're deeply regretful about what happened to you and your friend. We feel terrible that you were separated from your Master. Please, come back with Thrud to Asgard later. With Hraesvelgr's Eyes, we should be able to track down your Master quickly.

She showed him an image with a golden eagle perched atop a temple peak. That was undoubtedly the mythical Hraesvelgr, whose all-seeing eyes were linked to the Valkyrie network.

He briefly considered her suggestion to accompany Thrud to Asgard later, then agreed. Even though Skadi was currently an ally of Chaldea, there was no guarantee she wasn't a summoned Guardian of the Council. Who knew, she might have the Black Grail. So Shirou felt he still needed to meet Skadi in person. 

Moreover, his impression was that, due to being an overlapping existence with Scáthach, she should resemble his shisho. Of course, that assumption was based on his knowledge of Skadi in the nasuverse, and it was unknown what this world's Skadi was like.

Ortlinde spoke with Shirou a bit more, then looked at her sister solemnly, "I'll start investigating this problem right away, to ensure the Valkyrie network remains Asgard's strategic asset."

"I'll leave it to you then, sis," Thrud nodded, then asked, "By the way, shouldn't we also report this to Lady Skaði?"

"Lady Skaði is already asleep. Look—" Ölrün panned the image again. This time, instead of Hraesvelgr, the screen showed a beauty sleeping on a golden throne.

Luscious waist-length violet hair framed an exquisite fair-skinned face. Her curvaceous body wore a violet dress. Beneath the long skirt, a pair of slender, fair legs were clad in violet silk stockings.

The beauty was lazily leaning against the golden throne, one hand cupping her face as she breathed steadily, having fallen asleep unaware she was being secretly filmed.

"Lady Skaði!" Seeing the sleeping beauty, Thrud couldn't help but excitedly cry out.

"Shh!" Ortlinde put a finger to her lips in a silencing gesture. "Don't disturb Lady Skadi's sleep."

"I understand, sister," Thrud nodded.

Ortlinde nodded back, but then noticed Shirou staring blankly at Skadi and curiously asked, "Is something the matter, Your Majesty?"

"No, it's nothing," Shirou shook his head, truly at a loss over what expression he should have.

Because Skadi looked exactly like Scathach, which left him speechless. But seeing her sweet sleeping face, his heart suddenly felt at peace—not because of Skadi, but because of Scathach. It had been that way for a very long time. When he saw Scathach, he felt at ease, whether during the 4th Holy Grail War or later in Britain.

Of course, teasing Scáthach and using healing her illness as an excuse was just mischief. His real motivation was simply to mess with her.

But speaking of which, where was Scathach now? Ever since his main body was lost in the dimensional rift, he hadn't seen or contacted her at all. In fact, while his main body was missing, he couldn't contact anyone. Until Adam arrived, he had been alone in the darkness.

"That's all for now, Thrud."

"Yes, sister."

After the screen faded, Thrud finally pulled her spear back from the shield and re-equipped them. She had the red-haired Valkyrie expand the search to check for any nearby giant settlements, but unfortunately none were found.

She didn't leave Jotunheimr Gate right away. Instead, she planned to stay at the gate a while longer to check if the conflicting runes were working properly and inspect for other problems.

Shirou also intended to stay at the gate for a bit. He too worried there might be hidden dangers that could let the giants breach it. If there were issues, he could lend a hand when necessary.