A/N: Sorry this came out so late in the day! I have a second fic I'm working on (with much longer chapters) in the background. I got carried away, and well here we are.
Enjoy this one!
When we finally got Filo to stir, I heard crunching. I snapped my head around. Another crunch. Raphtalia noticed and bumped Naofumi in the shoulder.
I saw an elderly woman and a little kid emerge at the third crunch. I moved my hand away from my dagger and relaxed.
They made camp and told us of a village not far from here. The village was ravaged by disease. "If you go there, you'll surely perish." They warned. "Does the village happen to be named Eri?" I asked. The woman nodded. So it's the village we're going to. Naofumi heard from the trader that this village was buying any and all medicine.
"Alright, let's go," Naofumi said. Filo had woken up. Naofumi starched the harness and pulled on the reins. "Thanks for the information." He said to the old lady. She waved at us. Filo started to pull the carriage.
I closed my eyes and leaned against one of the timbers of the carriage. I rested there for a few minutes. "Raphtalia, can you take the reins?" I kept my eyes closed.
"Ariete." I opened my eyes. Naofumi was standing over me. "Here." He handed me a wrapped package. I took it in my hands. "What's this?" I asked. "A present. Open it. It's for you." He gestured to the package. I unwrapped the thin red ribbon and pulled back the plain brown paper. A book was inside. "It's a collection of stories. I found it inside a store in the village with plants." I smiled. "Thanks." I opened the book. It smelled like fresh paper.
In the little time I had before we reached the village, I devoured the book. The stories were interesting, the words capturing my attention like a cage. I grumbled as the wagon slowed to a stop.
"Wow. It's deserted." Naofumi said. I looked out, not a single soul was on the streets. An old man opened his door and peered out. "Who are you?" He questioned. Naofumi hopped off the carriage. "A traveling merchant. I received an order for medicine." The man mumbled as he started to piece together something in his mind.
"The Heavenly Fowl?" I snorted as he ran to the church. "Doctor! Our savior is here!" He started talking with a robed man. The old man pointed to us. I stepped off and waved. The robed man went back inside the church.
"The village cleric wants to meet with you in the church." I nodded. Raphtalia landed behind me with a plop. "Let's go," I said.
A nurse led us to the main room of the church. Many cots with people laid in them filled the floor. Each had a look of misery on their face. "I should administer the medicine myself," Naofumi said. He pulled a potion from a rack I held. It glowed in his hand and he poured the syrup into a woman's mouth. She glowed for a brief moment then creaked her eyes open.
"Woah…" the nurse gawked at the immediate recovery. This is what heroes do. Naofumi distributed the medicine, enhancing every single one. The patients recovered soon, and got up to thank their "savior." I leaned against the wall as grateful villagers swarmed Naofumi. They dispersed after a while and the cleric thanked Naofumi. "This helped us so much." Naofumi scoffed. "I treated the symptoms, not the cause. You know, I make a hefty sum from selling this medicine. I can wait and see what runs out first, your coffers or my medicine." The nurse looks shocked. Yeah, Hero my ass. I conked him on the head with a chop. "At least be a little sympathetic." He ignored me. Tch. "We know this can't go on. The miasma leaking from the mountain… we can't stop it." The nurse looked down. "Miasma?" Naofumi stepped onto his feet. The desk creaked as his weight left the wood.
"There's some kind of poison coming from a dragon corpse in the mountains. The sword hero Ren slayed the dragon but left the corpse there to rot. The demons living there are too difficult for us to get through, and any adventure that tries to climb the mountain falls before ever seeing the dragon." The cleric explained. Naofumi walked forwards and paused by the cleric. "We'll venture up there tomorrow. Raphtalia, Ariete, I want you two to sharpen your weapons." I nodded. "Wait, If you go up there, the danger will be too great! You'll perish! The court already sent us more medicine, we'll wait for the heroes to come. They're busy for now, but they will come, right?" The cleric seemed concerned for us. "Too busy, eh? Cancel the order."
"We're used to danger," Raphtalia said. "I can't find words to thank you enough!" Naofumi brushes off the old man. "I don't need thanks. I need money. 500 silvers after we clean out the dragon." The nurse and cleric gasped. "500 silvers? That's too much!" Naofumi shrugged. "Take it or leave it."
The nurse's face darkened. I didn't blame her. "That includes hazard pay. Give me whatever you sent the court, that'll do." Naofumi seemed to think this sounded like a reasonable proposal, but it was condescending. "Savior my ass! You're just a money-grubbing asshole!" I flinched at the curse. "I don't recall ever saying I was a savior. Let's go, Raphtalia. Ariete, you too." Naofumi walked out of the room.
"Sorry, he's a bit abrasive at times." Raphtalia apologized. We left. The town didn't seem to have an inn, so we slept in the carriage. The next day we borrowed cloths to tie around our mouth and nose from the church. We left for the town. Raphtalia sat in front with Naofumi while I was sitting in the back reading the book Naofumi had given me.
I eavesdropped on their conversation. "You're making them hate you on purpose, aren't you?" Raphtalia asked. Naofumi stayed silent. "I know we're dealing with a dragon, but this is a lot of equipment." Raphtalia glanced back at the crates of tools. We had pickaxes and butchering blades. "We had to take the wagon anyway. A little more cargo is probably fun for Filo anyway." The mentioned bird was humming.
"Oh!" I looked up. A mob of monsters was crowded on the path. "We're not going to get through all that without help," Naofumi said. "Faust Guard!" The carriage and Filo glowed green. "Run right through!" Filo yelped in acknowledgment. The monsters were pushed away as Filo tore through them. When we exited from the other side of the mob, I checked the carriage. Only a few scratches. I flicked a frog that was hanging onto the carriage. It fell off, then got crushed under the wheel.
"That's an ungodly smell." The air smelled like dead fish covered in mold and then set in a vat of vinegar for two months. "Stay behind if it's too strong," I grumbled and dragged the pickaxe behind me. "I can't believe that bird still has an appetite." I looked behind me. Filo was devouring another basket of fruit. It looked like leftovers from yesterday.
I looked back to the corpse in front of us. "Looking at it, taking it apart will already be a pain." I groaned as the scent got stronger. "My nostrils are threatening to bleed." I sighed and started to walk forwards. I saw a purple shine from the belly of the dragon and stopped. "NAOFUMI, RAPHTALIA! GET BACK!" I yelled. They turned towards me. "What?" I weakly pointed to the now rising dragon. "A dragon zombie!?" The two started to run back. I ran too. "What the hell is that thing?" Naofumi asked me. "It's got a core. Even if someone slays it, if the core is still there, it will be resurrected." I said between pants. The dragon rose fully and roared. A white flash rushed upwards and over us. "Filo, no!" I yelled.
We skidded to a stop and turned. Filo landed, facing the dragon. "Dragons!? I hate dragons!" Her singsong voice was now laced with bloodlust. She jumped up and kicked the dragon mid-roar. Its head snapped to the side with a crack. I heard the grotesque sound of the bones reforming. Filo's eyes were aflame, filled to the brim with yellow sparks.
"There might be a way to beat it!" Naofumi yelled over the sound of roars. A purple puff came out of the dragon. "Get behind me all of you!" Filo landed behind me as I pressed myself against Naofumi. He pulled up his viper shield and deflected a stream of toxic, purple gas. I used one hand to hold the cloth over my mouth.
"Now I'm mad!" I heard Filo let out a battle cry and rush forward. "Filo, don't fight it alone!" Naofumi cried. Filo tried to kick the dragon twice but got deflected. "We gotta go!" Filo, get back here!" The bird ignored Naofumi's calls and charged in. "That idiot!" Filo flew towards the dragon. "Filo!" I saw the bird look at us. Her gaze was cut off by the jaw of the dragon.
Red sprayed out of the dragon's mouth. I saw a lump go down the long, slender neck. "Filo?" I called. The dragon reared its head. "FILOOOO!" The dragon must die. It has to die. It killed part of my family. It killed part of me. I tried to rush forwards, but my knees stayed locked. Why? I tried to move, but my legs wouldn't respond. Why? Why!?
My knees buckled and I fell to the ground. Filo… the little glutton always out to steal my food. The one who pulled us along. I let out a cry of anguish. I look at the ground for a few moments, then hear a growl. I look up. Naofumi had dark red lines across his skin. His shield turned to something I hadn't seen before. It was large and crimson. The green gem in its center was now the same crimson that flew out of the dragon's mouth. Yes. Attack. Attack!
I roared. I felt something move next to me. A large shadow was coming down. I brought my hand up and recited a chant faster than I ever have before. "Fire Zweite!" The shadow was illuminated for a moment, then replaced by another. The something behind me blocked it. The shadow burst into beautiful flames. I cackled. Another shadow appeared to my side. I slashed out, but it moved. I noticed it standing by the something behind me. Not my problem. The shadow in front of me still existed and needed to die. I chanted harder. "Ars Firebolt Zweite!" A dark bow appeared in my hand. I felt a quiver of flames settle on my back. I drew three and fired. I saw the shadow get three new piercings.
It's not enough. It needs to die faster. Faster. Faster! Fast-
"Ariete!" I felt the darkness that settled around me lift and something from within me withdraw. I searched for it. I heard rattling. I turned around. Raphtalia was standing there. She was holding onto Naofumi. He was roaring, and flames extended from his arm. I saw them shooting towards the dragon, extending like whips. Black splotches were on Raphtalia's skin. A cut was also visible on her side, right by her stomach. "Raphtalia!" I yelled. She weakly smiled. "Hey." Raphtalia tried to yank on Naofumi's arm, but flames extended out. They burned her. She yelled and held her hand. The flesh was black.
"NAOFUMI!" I went up and slapped him. The shield appeared in front of me. I felt a hot wall force me back. Half of my vision was stained red. Why? I felt darkness envelop me. What's going on? Wait. No! I can't leave yet! I reached out and held onto the edge of my red-stained vision. It closed and I felt myself falling.
I felt a large piece of cloth holding my face. My eyes creaked open slowly. I heard choking sobs and a solemn voice. "I'm sorry. She won't be able to see from that eye ever again."
A/N: Dun Dun Dun! Ariete's lost an eye! I felt like there needed to be more of a consequence. In the original, there were just burns and some weird curse thingy. It seems wrong to just give Ariete nothing or the easy way out. It just kinda came to me.
Azentra: You'll see it all soon. I promise.
Join us next time for a New Omake, new disabilities and sleeping inside Filo!