Leo walked towards the girls and congratulated them before, healing any injuries. Telling them to take notes as he started breaking down the spar, and pointing out their mistakes and how he thought they should improve upon them
While this was happening, Rebecca walked towards Hilda, intending to apologise, feeling that she went overboard. It was only a spar but her competitiveness took over
" I'm sorry " said Rebecca, her embarrassment causing her to not be able to look Hilda in the face " that's how Leo, my sisters and I spar with each other and i forgot you're not one of us "
A minute passed without hearing a reply, causing Rebecca to finally look at Hilda, not sure if she was ignoring her because of her anger. Only to find her staring at her silently
As least that's what she thought as Hilda was still wearing her helmet, Rebecca waved her hand in front of her face, trying to wake her from her daze
Seeing this, Hilda's body shook as she took a step forward, under Rebecca's confused gaze
" you....you're A RED ONE? " exclaimed Hilda, her voice silencing Leo's and the others discussion. Hearing her words, Rebecca's face grew pale as she finally noticed that her hood had came off during the spar
Her sisters knew about her, so she had gotten use to not wearing it inside the barracks, only wearing it around Hilda, but because of the spar and the embarrassment of what she did, she didn't notice
Hearing Hilda's exclamation, Leo instantly appeared in front of Rebecca, pulling her behind him, looking at Hilda with a serious expression
Seeing this, the other girls came behind them, understanding the seriousness of the situation as they looked at Hilda with hesitant expressions
Seeing their expressions, Hilda realised her mistake and took a step back, reaching for her helmet and started to take it off under the groups confused gaze
Leo heard from the girls, that even after she took off her armor, she never took off her helmet, even when taking a bath, so seeing her do it under this occasion was surprising to say the least
Only to freeze as he saw her face, she had short black hair, having it tucked behind her ears. Her face was surprisingly petite especially when contrasted with her tall figure
But what caught his attention were her eyes, Ruby red eyes, just like Rebecca
" I think it's time for me to fulfill my part of the bet " said Hilda, with a complicated expression
***
Inside the great hall, everyone sat and stared at Hilda silently, the girls constantly looking between her and Rebecca, seemingly comparing the 2. Feeling their gazes, Hilda fiddle awkwardly, seemingly not used to being stared at
" who are you? " asked Leo drawing the girls attention, noticing her discomfort. Hilda glanced at him gratefully as she replied
" my name is Hilda Dimovich "
" where are you from? " asked Leo, noticing that she had a last name, meaning that she wasn't a serf, and had noble ties or was a noble herself
" I am the guard of Baron Abraham, assigned to him by Count Abraham " said Hilda calmly before she continued " my father is the Head of the Counts guard, he and my siblings all served the count before we were assigned to each of his heirs "
" your siblings? " asked Leo, catching that she didn't mention herself
Hearing his question, Hilda fell silent as she fell into a daze before she gritted her teeth and replied, her expression ugly
" my father was a half giant slave purchased by the count. His bloodline was much purer than the count had expected, which allowed my father to tap into his giant heritage and rapidly gain strength, in less than 20 years he went from an apprentice Knight to a level 9 Silver Knight, almost at gold "
When Hilda said this, her face was tinged with pride, seemingly proud of her giant heritage which was then replaced by sadness as she continued
" my mother on the other hand, was spoils of war my father had kept. He was disdainful of the so called curse of the red ones, and kept her around to prove his bravery . My birth came around from nothing more than a drunken mistake " said Hilda mockingly
" unlike my siblings, I didn't inherit much from my giant heritage besides my height, this is my chance to gain my father's respect "
" how tall are giants? " asked Rebecca, she nor the other girls were really surprised to hear of giants and Leo told them fairly tales from his previous life to pass the time
" pure blooded giants are 20 feet tall ( 6 metres ), half giants like my father are 10 feet tall ( 3 metres ). My siblings are 8-9 feet tall, while I'm only just over 7 feet. My father blamed my mother " said Hilda with clear disappointment
Leo seeing this was silent, he wasn't used to seeing her this expressive or talk this much, so he didn't know what to do besides listen and take in what she said
" I have a question " said Anna as she raised her hand, Hilda nodded her head and told her to ask
" which of your grandparents is the giant? "
Hearing her question, Hilda was confused, while Leo had a bad feeling. Not sure what she meant, Hilda answered honestly
" my grandfather "
" so how did you grandfather have sex with a human woman. I don't think he'd fit in her vagina " said Anna with a curious expression, which caused the girls to start discussing, trying to figure out how it went down
' I knew it ' thought Leo as he tried not to break down laughing, seeing the look Hilda was throwing his way
" maybe he has a micro penis " replied Christina drawing everyone's attention " think about it, a micro penis for a giant, may be averaged size when it comes to humans "
Hearing her words, everyone agreed. This reminded him of the couples in one piece, the age old question which was never answered
' that or they're size queens ' thought Leo as he remembered certain reddit groups
" so does your father also have a micrope- "
" stop talking " Anna's question was hurriedly interrupted by Hilda who's face was currently bright red as she listened to the discussion of the girls before she glared at Leo angrily who shrugged after seeing her gaze turn towards him
" alright girls, that's enough " said Leo, finally putting a stop to the discussion as he mentioned for Hilda to continue
" the count has 3 sons and 1 daughter " said Hilda as she controlled her breathing, her face returning to normal " your Baron is the youngest son "
" is their some sort of competition? " asked Leo, wondering if it was what he thought only for his expression to turn serious as Hilda nodded her head to his question
" in this continent, strength comes first. There's no such thing as the first born being designated as the heir. That goes to the strongest and the most successful " explained Hilda as she raised 3 fingers
" the first son, inherited the Counts talent, and became a Silver Knight at age 40, 10 years later, no one knows how strong he is. He rose to prominence on the corpses of his enimies, his name second only to the Count. The only person in the territory who can suppress him or his army is the count himself "
" the second son, while not as talented as his older brother, is a lot more intelligent. He rose to prominence through business. He has some part in every business in the Counts territory, which allows him to hire Knights, which allows him to compete with his older brother "
" the last son, well.... " Hilda fell silent as she thought about how to describe him without being disrespectful to her lord
" most expected to die on the stomach of a woman " muttered Hilda softly. If it wasn't for the enhanced senses of Leo and the others, they wouldn't have been able to hear her
Hearing her words, Leo's expression, gradually turned ugly as he processed the information he had just heard. Judging by her words, strength took precedence. So that means, heirs may die in this fight, alongside everyone tied to their ship
So he had 2 options, stay on board and risk being sunk or abandon ship. Thinking of this Leo glanced around at the girls as he turned his attention to the barracks as his expression returned to normal
' this is our chance ' thought Leo. While abandoning ship would allow them to live another day, they'd lose their current freedom. He wouldn't be able to determine his life nor build an entire barracks, if he was in another person's territory
This was only possible because the Baron was desperate and needed all the help he could get, so it'd be more beneficial to stay on board and gain what he could
He'd make a more concrete decision when it came down to it, all he needed was time
Turning his attention back to Hilda, he spoke
" why did you tell us all of this. We have no way of making you keep your word "
Hearing his words, Hilda's face grew serious as she got up and walked towards Leo. Seeing this Leo frowned as he stood up, to be ready incase she tried anything. Only to freeze as she suddenly bowed down
" please let me join your group " said Hilda