Einherjar Becomes Valkyrie

After Count Verit left Izana, Elena sent her father and Harlan to Lutrel to make the preparations to establish a warp point, and to search for the ingredients to create a magical barrier for Izana.

In the Lutrel Palace, in the personal room of the former Marquis, a door of light appeared on one wall.

The first to emerge through that luminous door was ten steel soldiers, later two Izana Knights arrived and finally, Harlan and Armand appeared, but Armand did not come empty-handed, he was carrying on his arms a beautiful girl with blond hair and heterochromatic eyes that looked like a living porcelain doll, Bela.

The little homunculus had finished creating mytril weapons for today, therefore when she found out that Armand was going on a trip, she jumped into his arms saying that she would accompany him. When Armand tried to reject Bela, she made a simple statement; 'I've been a good girl and finished my homework, so why is Dad trying to leave me behind?' Harlan could only chuckle when Armand was completely defeated by Bela and ended up bringing her with him to Lutrel.

Behind Armand's back, the warp closed. As agreed, Elena would recreate it at sunset.

A palace maid who cleaning the corridor was surprised when the door to Armand's room opened. Recently, all the palace servants had been forbidden to enter that room.

Several black-armored soldiers emerged from the room, the maid recognized them immediately and prepared to welcome to the person these soldiers usual escort, Mr. Harlan.

Although no one among the palace servants understood what was happening, from time to time Mr. Harlan, who was supposed to have left with Armand, would emerge from this room in the company of several black-armored soldiers. This raised many questions, but there was nothing the servants could do about it other than keep their questions about it to themselves.

"My Lord!"

At seeing Armand emerging from the room with Harlan, the maid bowed deeply, but not before noticing the beautiful doll that the former Marquis carried in his arms.

"Is my son Darrel in the palace?"

"The Marquis is in the main office, my Lord."

Armand nodded and then left with his retinue toward the designated place.

The maid couldn't help but cast her new doubts to the place in her mind where she already accumulated several others, isn't the former Marquis supposed to be in Izana?

Through the corridor, the soldiers guarding the door of the main office of the Marquis, they observed the appearance of those soldiers in black armor, something common recently, since these silent soldiers always accompanied Mr. Harlan, who seemed to magically appear and disappear in the palace.

Quickly the soldiers exchanged glances when they saw Armand walk next to Harlan, and with the recent orders given to them by the new Marquis, they retreated to leave the guard of the place to those soldiers in black armor. Whenever Harlan arrived, seem it was to discuss important issues that only those black-armored soldiers could guard. As they retreated, the soldiers couldn't help but glance at that beautiful little girl in Armand's arms. Was that girl the daughter of the beautiful Elena Izana?

Harlan only knocked on the door a pair of times before opening it and allowing Armand to pass. The steel soldiers positioned themselves throughout the corridor while the two Izana Knights took up positions on the sides of the door.

"Father?"

"Armand!"

"Father!"

As he entered the large office, Armand showed a stiffness smile when he saw a woman with light brown hair, his wife. Also present were Marla and Darrel, of all Lutrel family, only Richell, Armand's eldest son, and Hans, his younger brother, both were absent.

Everyone's gazes quickly fell on the beautiful girl in Armand's arms.

"I glad to see you healthy, Zerina"

Zerina Eis Lutrel frowned slightly, although the relationship between her and Armand was practically dead since the day Richell tried to rape Elena, she felt that Armand still owed her enough respect to have let her know that he would renounce his title and that he would leave Lutrel, she was still his wife.

"Dad, who are these people?"

Bela asked that question and as Harlan chuckled, the Lutrel family shot a questioning look at Armand, to which he could only show a nervous and stiffen smile.

"They are my children, Marla and Darrel, and she is... my wife Zerina..."

Bela gave each member of the Lutrel family a brief glance, but showed little interest in them and turned her gaze to Armand.

"Armand... Who is this girl?"

"Father…"

Zerina was the one who asked that question in an accusing tone while Marla glared at her father. Given the beauty of that girl, and taking into account her resemblance to Elena, inevitably, the members of the Lutrel family would ask themselves a question: Armand had a secret affair with none of them knowing about it until now?

"My name is Bela Izana"

Bela herself responded with little motivation.

"Izana?"

Darrel was the one who was most surprised. Wasn't Izana Elena's new noble name?

"I'm sure all of you have heard about the Völundr Bela"

Harlan added that and with the peculiar Bela's origin on his mind, Armand let Harlan explain the situation. It would be uncomfortable for him to explain himself about the process of Bela's creating...

“Harlan, are you saying this little girl is the Völundr Bela? How could that be possible?"

Darrel denied in utter disbelief. There was no way that girl could make even a small clay dagger.

“That is correct, Miss Bela is the famous Völundr Bela, only she does not make her weapons using blacksmithing, but by magic. Miss Bela is a homunculus created by Miss Elena "

"That's absurd…!"

Darrel interrupted his words when he saw that his father nodded with a smile that showed a bit of pride. Creating a homunculus was possible, but it was something was on the cusp of alchemy, and this was so much that alchemists who successfully create a homunculus could be counted on the fingers of the hands along the two thousand years of recorded history.

Runic magic, sorcery capable of healing a wounded person and creating a gate connecting Lutrel to Izana, and now the pinnacle of alchemy. Were the heavens trying to break his sanity? Darrel could only let out a long breath while keeping the image of Elena in mind.

"Father... my little sister, is she even human?"

Hearing Darrel ask that question and seeing his expression, Zerina and Marla lost their breath, they both knew Darrel well, if he believed that that girl was a homunculus, then it must be that way.

"Miss Elena has been touched by the heavens, she has been turned into a genuine Valkyrie"

Harlan's words caused Darrel to lose his breath.

Zerina narrowed her eyes. She knew Harlan well enough to know that he would never joke like this.

Marla clenched her fists as she was overwhelmed by an unusual mixture of feelings; anger, jealousy, a little pride, and a barely perceptible sense of relief.

As for Darrel, regardless of if Harlan was exaggerating, the only certainty was that he once again regretted the way he had handled Elena's sudden appearance that day in Lutrel.

Ignoring the reaction of his family and taking advantage of everyone's presence, Armand explained the situation regarding Elena and the royal court, while Harlan went to the city market in search of the ingredients that Elena had requested.

"Have you put us all at risk because of that girl?"

Zerina expressed this accusingly after Armand finished speaking.

"I would not have hesitated for a second to do the same for any of my children, just... if I knew that the Archduke was involved in all this, I would have found a better way to handle this problem"

Zerina could only let out a long grieving sigh. As for Darrel and Marla, neither of them doubted that their father would go just as far as to protect any of them.

"So, father, the plan is to create one of these luminous gates to connect our palace with Izana in case either party needed to flee?"

Darrel focused on the facts.

"That's right, Elena will create this warp gate, but it will not be permanently open, it will require a core-A to activate it and it will only last open for around thirty seconds"

"Even if it is only for that short period, having a door that connects two places so far apart is already something to lose the breath..."

Darrel could only imagine what would happen if the existence of this convenient sorcery was made public.

"Father, if she revealed to the king all the power and knowledge she possesses, wouldn't her problems be solved?"

Despite the strange mixture of feelings that overwhelmed her, Marla could ask what she had on her mind.

Armand shook his head.

"This sorcery can only be used by Elena, and since no one else could learn it, Elena would be confined and forced to give birth to children who could use her spells."

That was true. The original spells created by Kaname could only be used by transmigrants and its children’s. Bela could transform iron into mytril because Elena had engraved this spell in her mind during her birth, and this had been thanks to that drop of blood that Elena added to the ingredients. If Elena needed someone else to use some other complex original Kaname´s spell, she would have to create a new homunculus for this purpose and add her blood as an ingredient, or beget a child... however, in both cases neither a homunculus nor Elena's children could match her, and they couldn't use warp either. Even though Bela could transform iron into mytril, her efficiency was only a third of Elena's ability in this matter. A child of Elena would only inherit a small portion of the abnormality of a transmigrant, and in consequence, it would never match Elena, much less a complete transmigrant like Kaname was.

Going back to Marla's suggestion, if Elena's power were to be made public, the king and royal court would desist from using her as bait to provoke all-out war, but only to turn her into an incubator for the royal family.

"Can Elena really oppose this fate set by the royal court for her?"

Armand smiled in response to Darrel's question.

"Elena will shake the entire continent, this is a fate set by the heavens"

Elena could create an army of puppets, which she could now turn into magical items with the help of Lynette Lilstar. It was clear to Armand that the royal court would end up regretting choosing to use her daughter as bait to provoke a war.

"Since I have finished talking about the matters that brought me back, is there a reason all of you have gathered?"

Zerina, Darrel, and Marla, the three of them were gathered in the Marquis's office and since there were guards on the door, it was clear to Armand that something was wrong.

Darrel brought his gaze to his mother and showed a bit of discomfort, to which Zerina let out a slight sigh.

"It's about Richell"

Armand narrowed his eyes upon hearing his wife's response.

"Is something wrong with him?"

Since what happened three years ago, the Lutrels had had more trouble finding a suitable way to approach Richell. If they acted too accommodating and kind to Richell, they could end up hurting his pride. In addition, it was difficult to adopt this kind of stance, although Richell had lost a lot because of that event, what he tried to do to Elena was outrageous and repulsive, something totally against the solid values of the Lutrel family.

As for openly condemning Richell and disowning him, this was not a position that either of them could take. Despite everything, Richell was still part of its family.

They never got together to agree on a plan regarding Richell, Lutrel's strong values made it impossible to ignore the outrageous crime that Richell tried to commit.

For the Lutrels, what happened that day became a very uncomfortable subject to discuss, and as a result, each of them was forced to take a personal position.

The ever strict Zerina stopped pressuring Richell and tried to give him as much space as possible to him mentally recovers from the lurid aftermath of his own actions.

Marla could not see Richell in the same way as before, despite everything Elena was her sister, and she unconsciously feared Richell. Has he ever thought of doing the same to her?

As for Darrel, he tried to act the same way he did before that incident, but he consciously knew that he had utterly failed. The discomfort he felt from spending too much time with Richell was suffocating to him. On more one occasion he was forced to use absurd excuses to get away from his older brother.

However, of all the members of the Lutrel family, Armand was the one who acted the harshest with Richell. Amand was openly ignorant of Richell's presence, just seeing him made Armand remember his failure as a father, he hadn't done a good job educating Richell, and he had failed miserably at understanding and protecting Elena.

“Since that girl appeared again in our lives, our son has become even more irascible. On a pair of occasions, our Knights have had to intervene to prevent Richell from hitting the servants"

Armand started rubbing his temple to calm his exasperation.

"That's not all father..."

"Is there something else?"

Darrel showed an awkward smile as his father got angry. Even if his father was angry, was very necessary for him to know the rest.

"It's about Seldis... he was found dead in the room of an old inn..."

Armand went from irritation to dismay. Seldis was an unfortunate young man whom he and Harlan had saved when he was just a child.

"What happened?"

Seldis was not only one stableboy, but each of the Lutrel family members presents knew the truth; for the past two years, that young man was Richell's lover, although Richell was not aware that his family knew about this.

Regarding the subject, at first, it was difficult for Armand and the others to process the relationship between Richell and Seldis, however, since this relationship began, Richell left behind his irascible attitude and you could even say that he seemed happy. Although it was difficult to accept such a situation, if Seldis was doing what none of them could do, offering Richell reassurance and understanding, then none of them would complain about it.

"We do not know. The place was an inn without registration"

"What could Seldis do in a place like that?"

An unregistered inn, a clandestine place that offered its services to criminals, smugglers, and anyone who wanted a place to hide.

"Seldis was a slave... perhaps behind our backs, he continued to consume that garbage..."

The slavery necklaces were magical items. According to the laws of the kingdom, every slave had to have a slavery collar, or failing that, with the already concluded slavery contract. The king had ordered this measure at the same time that he proclaimed slavery as legal, his intention was to stimulate the economy through slavery and the manufacture and sale of slavery necklaces. However, long before slavery was legal in Varest, slaves already existed clandestinely, slaves who were not bound by magic necklaces or contracts, but by an even more heinous method, magic drugs.

A magic drug addict would give up everything and do anything to get one more dose.

Seldis had not been a slave bound whit slave collar, but a child whose will had been totally stolen by magical drugs.

The scenario posed by Darrel was simple, Seldis had gone to that place to buy magic drugs. His addiction had led him to his death, perhaps he could not pay for a dose and tried to steal it.

"Darrel, do not rush, do your research before jumping to conclusions"

"Alright, father"

Although the scenario posed by Darrel seemed reasonable, Armand could not accept it without solid evidence. He and Harlan took care upon themselves to deal with Seldis' terrible addiction. In Armand's eyes, the boy was fully clean and he showed no signs of relapse.

Armand closed his eyes and was silent for several seconds. He had seen Seldis grow up, there was no way that his death would not be painful for him.

"I took care of choosing a good resting place for Seldis in the city´s crypts"

Armand opened his eyes and nodded in response to Darrel's words.

"Another day I'll go pay him a visit ..."

There was too much to do, Izana had to prepare for Sadora's impending attack, and it was necessary to secure an escape route for both Izana and Lutrel. Seldis could wait for Armand's visit, but the world would not stop to offer Armand and his family respite.

"How has Richell taken Seldis's death?"

"Not in a good way, he's secluded himself in his room and is now even more irascible than before”

Armand let out a long bitter breath in response to his wife's words.

"About Richell..."

"I'll take care of Richell, you take care of solving this problem in which you have involved us all"

"Okay, I'll leave him in your hands..."

Armand had his hands full with Elena's complicated situation, and besides, he had been ignoring Richell for the last few years. He did not feel capable of dealing with Richell's situation, so he quickly accepted Zerina's suggestion.

"Little sister Bela, could you help me with this sword?"

Without more to talk about these complicated topics, Darrel turned his interest to the girl sitting on his father's lap.

Understanding what Darrel wanted, Bela turned her gaze to her father.

"You can do it?"

"If dad asks, Bela will do it"

Armand showed a sweet smile as he nodded. At seeing their father behave in that way impressed Darrel and Marla, and as for Zerina, she just rolled her eyes, Armand had behaved in that fatherly way with his three children, only they were too young to remember when he stopped treating them that way to keep up appearances.

Bela climbed off Armand's lap and took the sword that Darrel handed her.

Face the facing the stunned stares of the Lutrels, that iron sword became a beautiful mytril sword.

Bela returned the sword to Darrel and then returned to Armand's lap.

Darrel looked at the sword and saw the engraving of a butterfly on the blade, undoubtedly one of the swords that had recently been shaking up the arms market throughout the kingdom.

"Just the existence of this girl would completely shake the continent..."

After catching his breath, Darrel exclaimed these words in utter amazement, the previous words of his father about Elena shaking the entire continent no longer seemed like an exaggeration.

Armand nodded in response to Darrel, and let out an imperceptible sigh of relief; no one member of his family tried to inquire about Bela's creation process.