Alright. Here's a doozy of a chapter. Hope you all enjoy it!

Also, I wanted to make a quick thank you to everyone. This fic recently entered the top three in Reviews, Favorites, and Follows in this fandom. I didn't think when I started this story that it'd grow to be this popular. Now, I'm kind of excited to see how long it'll take for Hope to make it to the top spot. Once again, thank you, everyone. And I hope you continue to enjoy the content that's coming. :)


Since Last Time: 40 more Favorites, 47 more Followers (Total: 1079 Favorites, 1254 Followers)


Updated: March 9th, 2020 2:40 P.M. (MST)


Chapter Thirty-Three: Religious Hatred, Tearful Reunion, and Bitch


Several minutes later (Nine Days before the Wave of Catastrophe)

Naofumi, and his new allies, Eclair and Melty, were running down a dark stone hallway of the Castle Dungeons. The tunnels were dark, because of the 9 out of 10 torch sconces they ran by that weren't lit. The stones of the hallway looked old, worn, and even cracked in areas. There was no furniture and decorations of any kind. It looked dark and bleak, just like their chances of escape.

Naofumi was in the front of the group with his Chimera Viper Shield. He also held a lit torch he'd grabbed so they could see where the hell they were going in the maze of stone, doors, and noise. Eclair was in the back. She had her royal knight's helmet back on and was giving her newly recovered sword a few test swings. The Second Princess, Melty Melromarc, was protected in the middle between them.

While Eclair had been checking her sword over to see if it had been tampered with or not, Naofumi had given Melty a more detailed explanation about what was going on. From finding out about her sister's plans to betray him, to the Three Heroes Church and their excessive hate boner for him. To fleeing the Capital and having to survive with only the help of two people. It was very condensed and summarized, but he managed to get the main points across.

Melty had been silent all the while, keeping pace with the two while running. And when the story had finally been given, it was a moment before she responded. "So… what you're telling me... is that all this is because of the Three Heroes Church?!"

"Yes! Even those Shadows who tried to kill us back there were from the Church!"

"But then, that'd mean some of the Royal Knights-"

"Are more loyal to the Church than to your Father," Naofumi said back seriously.

"It's also likely my former Commander also holds a higher loyalty to the Church," Eclair commented in the back.

"Along with most of the nobles in this kingdom," Naofumi said with a grimace. It was definitely not a pretty picture. It was like he was surrounded by enemies on all sides.

"But, but why would they do such a thing-" Melty tried to say.

"Because your country is so messed up that they'd rather kill the Shield Hero then protect themselves from the Waves!" Naofumi said. "Don't ask me why religion turns people into idiots! I've dealt with too many of them by this point! Now, which way do we go Second Princess?!" Naofumi answered irritably. The weaving corridors of hallways and cell blocks were like a maze to him. The lack of efficient lighting thanks to many of the torches having been put out also didn't help. The stone hallway still shook and rang with the echoes of the knights flooding into the dungeons. Trying to find the Shield Demon and the captured Princess. At this point, he didn't know how they'd find their way up into the castle, much less, how they'd fight their way out with all the knights that were mobilizing to capture him for yet another false charge. And he found it likely that, even if by some miracle he got to the Castle, the King would no longer be willing to listen to him.

They were running past a hallway. "There's the Shield Demon! Take him down!"

Naofumi glanced to the side to see a group of at least a dozen knights running their way. The hallway was so narrow, however, that they couldn't all charge forward at once.

"Air Strike Shield!"

After they'd passed the hallway, Naofumi summoned a large green shield blocking it off. As they ran on, the knights ran into and pounded against the skill shield. But it didn't budge. It would stay until they either destroyed it or its timer ran out.

'Are they always going to try and find something to accuse me of to make me look like a devil!?' He thought angrily. 'Because that tactic is sure as hell getting annoying at this point!'

They hit another intersection and made a left. "Second Princess, which way do we go?!" Naofumi asked again, frustration leaking into his tone at her silence. He'd blocked one group of knights from getting to them, and they'd taken a path at random with the intersection, but that shield wouldn't last forever. And by the sounds of it, they could be running into more knights any minute now.

"I… I don't know!" She said fearfully.

"How could you not know?! Isn't this your castle!?" Naofumi angrily asked. He probably shouldn't be shouting so loudly.

"Give me a break! I've hardly had reason to come down here! You also told me my Sister and Melromarc's State Church are part of an elaborate plot to have you killed! My country is ignoring all sorts of problems and being corrupted! And for the last time, stop calling me Second Princess!" Melty snapped angrily at Naofumi. Her sheltered life was falling apart at the seams. Couldn't the Shield Hero at least be a little more understanding about it?!

"Right, my bad Second Princess," Naofumi said sarcastically.

"My said my name is not Second Princess!"

"Now isn't the time for playing around." Eclair interrupted seriously before a fight could break out. "What cell block were we being held in back there Princess Melty? Can you remember?"

"No, some of my Royal Knights led me a short distance away from your cell! They were supposed to be our escort on the way out!" Melty replied.

They hadn't seen said Royal Knights since they'd booked it from the cell block they were being held in.

"Do you know the layout down here?" Naofumi asked Eclair. He really hoped she did. Otherwise, their escape was going to be the shortest-lived in the history of escapes.

"I did more than my share patrols of the castle dungeons," Eclair answered. "But if I want to get us out of here, I need a point of reference to know where we're at!"

"Well, I didn't realize a point of reference could exist down here!" Naofumi yelled back irritably. Since every single dark hallway looked the freaking same to him! 'I knew I should have taken my freedom when I had the chance. Now I'm caught up in another damn mess!' The problem was if he'd tried to take his freedom right after he'd been released, the chances were pretty good that he'd be just as lost as he was now. And Melty would be dead. And the pin would be placed on him. And then it'd be screw what any other country thought. Aultcray would have had a very good reason to have Naofumi executed. And he, and almost everyone else in this country would never learn that it had all been because of the Three Heroes Church.

Still, Naofumi didn't understand one thing. 'That one Shadow also attacked me.' He felt his shirt where the dagger had bounced off. 'If their goal was to assassinate the Second Princess and pin the blame on me... why even attack me?' He knew the people from the Church hated him. But was killing only the Princess their original intention, or had they planned on killing him and Eclair too? And if that was the case, then why?

Before he could think more about it, the group rounded another corner. Naofumi almost ran into two knights. They were far too close to try and block them off and go down a different hallway.

The two knights backed up, but then they lowered their two pikes, leveling them at him. "Halt Shield Demon-"

Before Naofumi could react by saying something like, "You've got to be kidding me." Or, "We don't have time for this." Or even something like, "Perfect! Now I can vent some frustration on you bastards!": Eclair jumped over Naofumi. Catching him off guard. And the knights even more off guard. And, unfortunately for them, they didn't raise their pikes in time to try and skewer Eclair while she was in the air.

It would have saved them from the beatdown that happened next.

Eclair landed in between the knights, too close for them to use their pikes. She knocked one's weapon out of his hands, before quickly bashing in the other's helmet in with her sword hilt. She followed it up by kicking the knight back into the wall, before turning and headbutting the first knight in the head so hard that his helmet was dented. Both knights slumped against both sides of the wall, unconscious.

Naofumi stared in shock. The fight itself hadn't lasted long. Barely more than two seconds. Eclair had been chained in her cell the last two months, unable to hone her sword skills or fight, and yet she'd taken down these two knights like they were nothing.

If he were to use gaming terms, he would have called the pair of knights noobs. And Eclair, an inactive player logging in for the first time in several months. Which meant that she had just turned these noobs into a pair of ultra noobs.

Eclair put a hand to her head. "Wow… it's been a while since I headbutted someone…" She stood up straight and looked up from the two knights at the shocked Naofumi. "What are you two standing around for?! I finally recognize where we're at, the exit is this way!" She yelled seriously, pointing her sword down a side hallway.

Naofumi quickly looked around. He didn't see any distinguishing features in this hallway with its intersections. Was it the random crack in the stone of that hallway? Was it the small piece of vine growing out of the floor? Was it something else? 'Screw it, I'll just think it was the headbutt that jogged her memory.' Naofumi was not going to question any way of escape. "Right! Lead the way!" He ordered Eclair. Throwing the torch to her.

Eclair led the way through the corridors of the dungeons. Naofumi didn't mind her taking the front. She seemed more than capable of defending herself if that last display revealed anything.

Eclair didn't even break stride when she threw the torch back to Naofumi and dispatched the next pair of knights that came across their path. She ducked below a sword thrust, using her blade to deflect it away, and then she grabbed the knight under his chest plate with one hand before he could recover. Then, while still running with the flailing knight, she threw him down the side hallway where the 2nd knight had been running to assist from. She then requested for the torch again and continued leading the way.

'How the hell did she manage to do that!? Her strength and agility stats must be off the charts!' He did a quick appraisal check on Eclair to find out her level and stats. Only for his eyes to widen at what he saw. 'LVL 25?! She's that low a level!?' He thought in shock.

Her agility and strength were above average for a level 25. But not enough to explain how she was dealing with, as he found out on the next pair of knights she dealt with, Level 30 and above enemies.

He knew this was the real world. But he also knew that it had game-like mechanics to it too. Did Eclair have some hidden stats that he didn't know about that made her a better fighter?...

Just what the hell kind of knight had he unleashed?...

,,,

He found himself thinking more about it. 'What would have happened if Eclair had never been imprisoned down here. Would I have even needed to buy Raphtalia or Filo if I had a level 25 knight helping me out instead of that Bitch?... Hell, I bet Eclair could have gotten other trustworthy adventurers to join my party thanks to her influence as the daughter of the Lord of Seaetto…' His whole freaking journey up to that point could have been changed…

...

'Is it okay to feel relief that she was imprisoned since it led to me eventually meeting Raphtalia and Filo?'

The very next hallway, four knights came charging single file down the narrow hallway. All four of them held swords instead of pikes. At seeing Naofumi's group, they yelled and charged. Eclair was smirking this time as she charged right into them. Moving so quickly from one knight to the next it was almost comical how quickly they went down and stopped yelling.

Naofumi thought nothing more as they ran past each knight Eclair knocked out. Whether by using her sword hilt, the flat of her blade, the torch itself, or driving them head-first into a wall. It didn't matter. Eclair was a machine, and the short confines worked perfectly in her favor.

"So your mother said to have her released too?" Naofumi finally decided to ask Melty.

Melty was breathing a little heavier than before due to the constant pace… yet she smiled sheepishly. "Well… that was more because Eclair's a good friend of mine. Not because the Queen said to do it." She admitted.

"Wait, what?!" The two almost ran into Eclair, who'd slowed somewhat in front of them.

"My mother only gave me orders to help out Naofumi," Melty said nervously. "But my Mother's Shadow told me before I came down here that you were likely in the same cell as Naofumi. And… well... I sort of improvised from there."

If this had been an actual anime, Eclair would have shattered into glass on the spot. 'But… but I thought I was being freed for being one of the Queen's loyal knights… ahhhhhh!' She thought miserably to herself.

Naofumi and Melty didn't notice Eclair's distress.


They turned another corner and ran out into what looked like an underground garrison room. There were wood lockers on the sides, and several different hallways branching out. Eclair mentally forced herself back to the task at hand. "Our exit should be down that hall-" Eclair was pointing at one of the hallways when a dozen knights came charging out from it. More followed from the other hallways.

'Damn it! That's a lot of knights!'

Eclair immediately ran into battle again, but being in a larger room, and with many more opponents than before, Naofumi joined in with defending Eclair while Melty hung back behind them.

"Air Strike Shield!"

A large green shield formed on Eclair's right side, blocking a pair of knights while Eclair disarmed one of the three in front of her. She threw the torch back to Naofumi, grabbed the knight's sword out of the air and started attacking with both swords. Weaving in between swipes and thrusts with the form of a deadly dancer. She wasn't aiming to kill, but these knights were a different story.

Naofumi charged forward into the battle himself, letting his instincts take over. He wasn't much of a fighter, but even without his armor, he could damn well grab their attention. Especially those Knights who had rosaries hanging around their necks.

"Stop this at once!" Melty yelled at the knights.

"Kill the Shield Demon!" A group of Church Knights charged at Naofumi.

"Shield Prison!" Oh yeah. He was also super happy to be able to access his skills again too.

A green-plated chain ball surrounded the group of knights. They screamed in confusion inside. Or maybe they actually thought the skill would dirty their souls. Naofumi blocked another knight's sword strike. He saw another one charging for Eclair from behind her while she dealt with a pair of knights, and he dropped the torch (his shield would have zapped it out of his hands anyway if he'd tried to use it as a weapon) and pointed his free hand at her. Selecting her as the target of his next spell with his status screen. "Fast Guard!"

The support spell took effect. The knight brought his sword down on the back of her armor, but it bounced off as if it'd hit a brick wall. Eclair pushed both the knights she'd been facing back with a well-timed block, and quickly turned, grabbing the knight by his armor before throwing him at the two backpedaling knights. She then ducked a slash from a different knight that'd tried to sneak up on her and knocked his legs out from underneath him with the flat of her blade.

'Again, how is she doing that?!' He thought as he tried to use Royal Shield to knock the knight he was facing back. However, the skill dissolved as soon as he tried to use it as a battering ram. It still caught the Knight off guard and allowed Naofumi to punch him in the face with his Chimera Viper Shield. Activating the poison counter on it. The knight collapsed, gasping in pain from the poison.

"I order you knights to stand down at once!" Melty yelled furiously. Yet none of them listened to her.

He directed his attention back to the Shield Prison. "Change Shield! Bee Needle Paralysis Shield!" The screams inside the prison cut off.

The Knight he thought he'd taken care of got back up. Slashing at Naofumi while he was focused on the Shield Prison.

"That does it! Fast Aqua Shot!"

A ball of water slammed into the knight's gut with such force, he went flying back, taking down several other knights in the process. Naofumi quickly looked back to Melty, and her hands were raised. Glowing blue from the spell she had just cast. "What?!" She asked indignantly when she saw Naofumi staring at her.

"You couldn't have done that sooner Second Princess?" Naofumi asked as his shield prison disappeared, dropping the paralyzed Church Knights onto the ground.

"What have I told you about calling me Second Princess!?" Melty angrily asked. "I just saved your life! And my name is Melty! Melty Melty Melty-" She stamped her foot in time with each Melty in her childlike tantrum despite the battle going on.

"Air Strike Shield!"

A large green shield appeared beside Melty, blocking a sneak attack from one of the earlier Shadows who'd tried at that moment to sneak up on the princess from behind. The look of shock on her face was priceless.

Before the Shadow could recover, Naofumi appeared in front of the Shadow and punched him in the face with his shield several times, activating the poison counter again and again. The Shadow screamed in pain. "There, now I just saved your life again! Help us get out of here and I'll think about calling you by your name Second Princess!" Naofumi yelled, blocking another attack from a different knight. The knight screamed in pain when Naofumi again activated the counter, Snake Venom Fang (Medium), biting the knight with a poisonous viper. He then activated Hook, which caused the snake to wrap around the knight before he threw the knight across the room at another knight.

Melty glared indignantly at Naofumi and then glared at the Church Shadow who gripped at his face where he'd been bitten repeatedly. She stepped back. "As source of thy power, I order thee, decipher the laws of nature..."

Naofumi blocked a knight again and used his arm to block another strike. The sword left a small cut on his unarmored arm. Then, when both knights refused to back up, he changed his shield to the two-headed dog shield.

"Ah! Ahhh!" The pair of knights both screamed as the two long dog heads bit down on their arms, raising them up in the air.

"You still doing okay back there Second Princess?" Naofumi asked without looking back.

The Church Shadow jumped for Melty. Trying to stop her from chanting. But he was already too late.

"Zweite All Aqua Shot!"

Naofumi looked back at the end of the chant and saw an astonishing sight. A burst of water like a wave came from the princess, who had both her hands raised. The Wave first slammed the Church Shadow away into one of the side walls where he didn't get back up. Then the wave split into numerous balls of water, all of which flung themselves at every standing Knight in the room. The remaining knights who'd been coming in or who were fighting Naofumi and Eclair only had enough time to widen their eyes before they were blasted away by the large powerful balls of water.

The weird thing to Naofumi was that the spell completely ignored him and Eclair, the balls weaving around them like it was dodging a pillar before slamming into the Knights they'd been facing with the force of a sledgehammer. Every knight was carried by the force of the water into the back wall. When the spell receded, all that was left was a pile of knocked out and injured knights lying on the floor.

'Yep, still okay.' Naofumi thought as the dog heads, who'd managed to hold onto their two knights despite the force of the water, threw the two soaked moaning knights into each other. They bonked heads and fell unconscious to the ground. And he'd thought the first spell had been impressive. Maybe if they somehow made it out of this, Melty could make for a good party member too.

Eclair nodded approvingly to the princess, who was breathing in and out heavily from the spell she had cast. "Well done Princess Melty. Your spellcasting has improved since last time." She then looked at the one knight's sword in her hand and tossed it back to the ground. "A little too much on the heavy side for me. But it was well made. I wonder if it was blacksmith Erhard's work." She said admirably.

Naofumi decided after seeing the spell to appraise Melty's stats. The girl was definitely stronger than he'd given her credit… however, his eyes only widened again when he saw that her level was even lower than Eclair's! 'How the hell is she casting a Zweite Level spell like that at level 17!' Was there something to Eclair and Melty that he was missing? But that should have been impossible since his status as a Cardinal Hero gave him access to powers and stat ups that normal people and even royals could never unlock.

He decided to think about it later. Right now, he was hearing a lot less commotion in the dungeons than he had been before. Something that surprised him. "Was that the last of them?" Naofumi asked.

"No. But the majority of knights should be searching the areas behind us for now. If the shifts and posts haven't changed since I patrolled down here, these are the knights who were positioned far away from the castle exit. The rest of our way should be clear." Eclair explained calmly.

'Castle exit?' Naofumi thought confusedly. He didn't ask at first as they continued running down the hallway Eclair had pointed out before the fight. It was also at this point that they could see where they were going since none of the torch sconces had been put out.

True to her word, over the next minute and a half, Naofumi didn't see any more knights. In fact, the clamor of armor, footsteps, and yelling grew dimmer and dimmer the longer they ran. 'If we aren't exiting through the castle, where are we exiting out of…'

Finally, Naofumi saw light other than torchlight. The three kept running towards what looked like a translucent stone wall... and ran out… onto a busy street?

Unfortunately, some unfortunate street vendor had his cart set up in front of the stone wall they ran out of. And Naofumi didn't stop in time to keep himself from slamming into the cart and knocking it over.

"No! My cabbages!" The vendor ran after his dropped produce.

Naofumi looked back in surprise. The exit they'd ran out of wasn't visible. The sun's position in the clear sky indicated it was still morning. And the street in front of them was busy with Melromarc's citizens going about their business. The only real ruckus for the moment was being made by the poor cabbage vendor who was trying to gather his cabbages before people tromped all over them.

"What, where's the exit?" Naofumi asked Eclair in confusion. He'd looked back at the wall they ran out of, but it looked like solid stone now.

"It's there, but it's covered by advanced Illusion magic. Only knights that know the right spell can access it from this side." Eclair answered. "This exit from the Dungeons was made in case royalty ever needed to flee the Castle in the case of an attack or attempted assassination." She quickly explained. "Now come on. We won't have much time before they've realized we've used it to escape." She urged both Naofumi and a tired Melty onward into the city streets.

'Naofumi decided not to question it further. He'd already seen some weird stuff since being summoned to this world. This would just be the latest on that list. He quickly pulled two spare cloaks out of his inventory and placed one over himself and the other over the tired Melty, who accepted it without question and put it over herself. 'She might be annoying, but at least she catches on quickly to situations.' Naofumi thought.

However, as they walked down the street, he realized he might have pulled out the cloaks too late, as he and Melty were attracting stares and whispers from some of the citizens they passed.

"Isn't that the Second Princess?"

"What's she doing out in the city streets?"

"I thought she was with the Queen over in Faubley?"

"And is that the Shield Hero she's with?"

"What would she be doing with that devil?"

"Doesn't she realize he already raped her older sister?"

'Damn it.' He thought in frustration. Already some of the stares were turning into glares at him specifically. He changed his shield to the Book Shield and opened it. But it was already too late. He was recognized. And all he could do was follow behind Eclair since he still didn't know the layout of the town very well.

"Naofumi. The people-" Melty started to say in surprise.

"I know... I'm used to this treatment by now." Naofumi said, having to hold back bitterness from his tone. He'd been going around as a night merchant for so long, he'd almost forgotten that his real identity would attract this kind of attention…

"You mean, because of my sister-" Melty tried to say.

"Yeah. Just about everyone hates me now because of her, your Father, and the State Religion." Naofumi said.

The Church had spread the rumors. The Princess had accused Naofumi. And the Father had upheld the punishment. It was all their damn fault.

Melty looked conflicted. "I didn't think it was this bad…"

"Believe me, this isn't the worst I've experienced."

Melty didn't want to imagine how it could be worse...

They were still walking down the middle of the street. Trying to find an alleyway they could dip into so they could lose the crowd of glares and go to a street where they wouldn't be recognized. But then a squad of knights, Capital Knights, turned around a corner. They looked to be on high alert as they looked around.

Fortunately, they didn't give Naofumi and Melty a second glance thanks to Eclair. She had her helmet on, and, due to the look of her dirtied custom armor, she looked more like an adventurer than a knight. Leading a small group of adventurers with her. They walked past their small group.

Naofumi breathed a sigh of relief at that. 'Alright, now we just keep on walking, and-'

"Knights! That's the Shield Demon!" A random bystander yelled, pointing at Naofumi. The bystander was wearing a rosary around his neck.

'****ing damn it!'

"He's kidnapping the Second Princess!-"

Before the knights could act on the realization that they had just passed Naofumi, Eclair jumped into their midst.

The scene that followed caused every bystander on the street to scream in terror and run away.

"No! Sir Naofumi isn't kidnapping me-" Melty tried to defend Naofumi.

"The Shield Demon is slaughtering our knights!" The original bystander yelled.

"Run, run for your lives!"

"Sound the alarms! The Shield Demon is in the Capital and he's going to butcher us all!"

Naofumi clenched a fist at all the screaming. His prior worst experience with people had been at the Sacred Duel. But this… "Sir.. Sir Naofumi-" Melty tried to say. Looking extremely sorry.

"I don't want to hear it!" Naofumi yelled at her in frustration. Just as Eclair knocked out the last knight of the squad. "Now come on! They know we're outside now! So we might as well make a run for it!"

Eclair agreed and they took off.


A minute later, they ran out onto the main street. No pedestrians were around anymore. "The West Gate should be a half-mile down this way-" Eclair was yelling.

"There he is!" "It's the Shield Demon and the Murdering Knight!" "They've kidnapped the princess!" "Kill them!"

Naofumi groaned. Several squads of knights were already running towards them from down the street. Pouring out of different alleyways like ants.

'I hate this city!'

Melty looked harshly at the knights. "Will you all just stop attacking us for one minute-"

"Save your breath, Second Princess." Naofumi interrupted. "Those are Church Knights coming at us. They won't care what you have to say as long as I look like the criminal here." He was able to see the rosaries hanging around their necks despite the distance.

Melty, despite being tired out from her spell, had the energy to pout at him. "Are you ever going to call me by my name?" She complained.

Eclair took on a sword stance. "I think I should still be able to handle a group this size with your help Sir-" Then some of the knights stopped and pulled out bows. The others continued to charge towards them. She grimaced, it'd be one thing to fight these knights in close quarters. It'd be another thing having to do that and worry about arrows at the same time. "I think they really dislike you Sir Naofumi." She said calmly.

"You're telling me." Naofumi nodded as he raised his shield protectively in front of him. "I think the term hate would be more fitting." He said dryly.

Either they could stay and fight up close. Or run and have to deal with the arrows. Either option would cost them precious time. Time that would allow reinforcements, more knights, maybe even Motoyasu to catch up to him. 'Why did I have to get unlucky with being the Shield Hero?!' Naofumi thought in frustration. He'd give anything for something good to happen today-

A giant, familiar, owl-shaped bird jumped off the roof nearby over the charging Knights. The large shadow passing over them caused many to look up in surprise. Was it a bird? Was it a plane?

No. It was one very unhappy looking Filolial named Filo.

"You bad people stole my daddy!"

The knights barely had a chance to look confused at who the giant chicken owl was before Filo dropped/plowed into their ranks like a large fluffy and deadly bowling ball. The knights screamed in terror as they began to get mowed down.

"What is this thing?!"

"It's another demon!"

"Run for your lives!"

"No, stand and fight!"

"High Quick!" Filo started to move as a blur in the knight's ranks. Sowing discord... and very hurt groins in her wake with her fierce powerful kicks. Which she kept on aiming into the crotches of most of the knights.

Naofumi would probably need to teach her in the future how that wasn't the only area you should target. But for now, he just stood in amazement. His mind trying to catch up to what was happening… 'Wait… what the hell?…' Naofumi thought in shock.

The knights farther back with the bows were shocked at first, and then they recovered and started firing arrows at the large bird. "Fast Tornado!" Naofumi didn't even have to act. Filo summoned a tornado of wind in between her and the bow-wielding knights. The high-velocity winds sent the arrows flying sideways into the stalls and buildings. Allowing her to continue dishing out punishment to the knights around her, who were trying to rally, but were failing miserably.

"So coooooooool!" Melty looked awestruck beside Naofumi. Stars were over her eyes, glued to the sight of the strange and powerful Filolial.

"What's… happening Sir Naofumi…" Eclair dropped from her stance as she stared in confusion as the Church Knight's charge disintegrated into utter chaos. All because of one big fat groin kicking, wind manipulating bird.

Naofumi's mind finally clicked back into place, and for once, he smiled broadly. "Filo! You're getting one hell of a feast for this!" Naofumi yelled happily. He already owed her an all you could eat buffet. But now that all you could eat buffet was going to be combined with a feast. He didn't even care if it'd take all day to make and cost several gold coins. This awesome loli more than deserved it by this point.

"Thanks, daddy! Glad to see you're safe!" Filo raised a wing to her mouth in happiness, right as she kicked another knight in the groin with all her strength. The knight screamed in pain as he was launched through the air Motoyasu style, dropping his sword and gripping his groin. It was done so casually that Naofumi started to laugh in delight. Again, he'd probably have to teach Filo not to only go for the groin when attacking bad people, but he didn't mind much at the moment since it was so damn funny.

"You mean, that's the daughter you told me about?!" Eclair asked in stunned disbelief. Recognizing the name Naofumi had told her yesterday.

Naofumi kept looking. "Of course. And If Filo's here, then that means Raphtalia isn't far behind-"

Yep, he finally saw it. The tornado disappeared, but the knights in the back didn't resume firing. They were too busy swinging their swords around, trying to slash the hidden individual knocking them out one by one. Looking closely, another one of the knights randomly collapsed with a sword hilt shaped dent in the back of his helmet.

Naofumi started to laugh in relief. Raphtalia was there too. Both her and Filo had somehow managed to sneak into the Capital. 'Thank the Gods!' He couldn't think of a time where he'd been gladder to see them. Well, see one of them. Raphtalia was invisible for the moment.

"Naofumi... Is that your Filolial by any chance?" Melty asked Naofumi in a barely controlled voice that was on the verge of fangirling. Filo had almost entirely decimated the whole charging knight squad by herself at this point. Those that hadn't passed out were lying on the ground, clutching their cojones in pain. Wishing they were passed out like their comrades.

"Of course. I raised her Second Princess." Naofumi said happily. He started to walk forward to meet up with his party.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Melty released something that could only be described as the shriek of a fangirl. She looked to distracted and excited to realize Naofumi had just called her Second Princess again. Eclair and Melty followed behind him.

"Fast Tornado!" With one last large gust of air, Filo sent the remaining knights around her flying in various directions. The knights impacted with various walls, wagons, and other various objects. None of the Church Knights got back up after the brutal treatment they'd received. They were either too hurt, or too scared.

She looked around, making sure the knights around her were incapacitated. Then she charged towards Naofumi.

"Daddy!" In mid-air, she changed form in a poof of feathers. Naofumi laughed as he caught the little girl in his arms, circling as he hugged her. "Filo missed you so much! Filo and mommy were both so worried about you!" Filo cried happily.

"Yeah, I was worried about you too!" Naofumi said, feeling on the verge of crying. He'd never thought he'd be so happy to be reunited with this freaking little chicken loli.

"Ah! Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Melty looked even more awestruck at seeing Filo change forms. It looked like she would really start fangirling at any second now.

"Who's that Daddy?" Filo asked curiously as he set her down.

Before Naofumi could answer, he was pushed out of the way by Melty. Stars once more covered her eyes. "I'm Melty! But my friends call me Mel!" She said happily.

"Nice to meet you, Mel!" Filo said while smiling happily.

Melty almost looked like she'd have a heart attack. Filo had just used a friend name for her! That meant the two of them were ALREADY FRIENDS! "Here, try this!" Melty randomly pulled some jerky from her dress and offered it to Filo. Did she just randomly have jerky on her at times just in case she got to meet a Filolial!?

"Yayyyyy!" Filo transformed back into her large Filolial form and gobbled up the jerky-like it was candy. "Thanks, Mel!"

Melty started rubbing Filo's feathers. "So… cool…"

Eclair just kind of looked wide-eyed at the display. She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that this cute little transforming monster girl was Naofumi's daughter.

"I can tell you're already going to get along with each other," Naofumi said, right as the last knight in the distance was dropped to the ground. He left the three behind to approach the person he'd missed the most the last two days...

Raphtalia's illusion magic dropped as she approached. She looked as well-groomed as always, but the bags under her eyes and the slight slouch in her stance indicated how she hadn't slept well since Naofumi had been captured. But now, she was smiling widely in relief. She had managed to find him, and he was okay.

"Naofumi!" She said happily.

He smiled in relief. She looked even more beautiful than he remembered despite looking so tired and weary. He opened his arms to hug her. "Raphta-"

Slap!

She slapped him.

Across the face.

Hard.

And yep, her attack stat was still as high as ever.

He gripped his face in pain. Raphtalia now had angry tears coming out of her eyes. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?! What the hell were you thinking to tell us to run away when you were hurt?!" She yelled angrily at him. "Don't you ever tell me to leave you behind again! Otherwise, otherwise-"

He quickly defended himself. "But you were hurt worse than me! And I wasn't planning on getting myself captured by Motoya-"

He shut up when she hugged him tightly. The angry tears had changed to tears of sadness and worry that fell down her face and landed on his cloak. "I'm… I'm so glad that you're okay." She whispered for only him to hear. "I… I couldn't bear to think about what they were doing to you… I was... so scared..."

Like a dam breaking inside him, he hugged her back. Some of his own tears of sadness and relief escaped and landed on her shoulder and hair.

He had been asleep for most of the last two days. He had woken in chains in front of the Trash King. He had been falsely accused and humiliated in front of everyone... but being separated from Raphtalia and Filo, not knowing if they were okay without him there, not knowing if they were trying to find him, not knowing if he'd ever see them again… that had hurt more than anything else he'd ever been through.

To be able to have her back. To have this swell of emotions going through him. To be able to hug her body close, to feel her hair, to be surrounded by the familiar scent that was her... It was one of the best feelings in the world… a feeling he didn't want to end...

"Eh hem." A strained cough sounded nearby. They both stopped hugging and looked to see Eclair standing awkwardly nearby next to Filo and Melty. Who had been talking with each other up till that point? Naofumi and Raphtalia started blushing, realizing how intimate the moment had been. And was it just Naofumi, or was Eclair also blushing awkwardly? "I'm sorry to interrupt your reunion, but we're in the middle of trying to escape!" She reminded them seriously.

"Daddy?" Filo grabbed Naofumi's attention. Melty had stopped petting Filo's wings to look up at him too. "Who's the weird armored lady over there?"

'Ahhhhhh!' Eclair thought in shock. Again, had this been an anime, she would have shattered into pieces of glass on the spot. 'I am not a weird lady! I am a royal knight of Queen Mirellia, and I-'

"That's not important right now."

'... … AHHHHHHH!' You know what, this is an anime. The world behind Eclair shattered into bits of glass at what Naofumi had said. The color leeched from Eclair's frame, leaving her pale. A mini ghost dangled out of her mouth. 'Does the fact that I gave everything to try and help him before really not matter?' She thought sadly to herself.

In real life, she was turned around, shaking at what Naofumi had said.

"She's right. We should be escaping-" Naofumi was continuing.

"Um… is she okay Master Naofumi?" Raphtalia interrupted.

Naofumi looked. "You okay, Eclair?" He asked.

Eclair quickly turned back around and stood at attention. "Never better, Sir Naofumi!" She lied with a smile on her face.

"Good, then as I was saying, let's get the hell out of here." He said.

A vein bulged in Eclair's forehead. 'That's literally what I just suggested!'

Maybe it'd be for the best if she stuck to sword training. Getting romantically involved with a hero seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Especially one as dense as Naofumi.

"Hey, do you want to ride me?" Filo asked the still tired Melty.

Melty went from looking tired to looking like she had been infused with the energy of a hundred cappuccinos. "Would I?!" Melty swooped onto Filo's back in an instant. "So soft and warm!" She said gleefully, not even trying to hide the fangirlish voice anymore.

It was rather creepy, the double context that could have been taken from that short exchange.

'You know. I could see why the Second Princess would prioritize chasing after a rare Filolial instead of coming to the Capital.' Naofumi thought, sweat dropping at the scene. He still didn't know what Filo was. But he knew whatever it was she was one of a kind since he hadn't found another Filolial like her. And Melty seemed to agree. "Alright, let's go!"


The remaining half-mile to the gates passed by quickly. Eclair ran ahead of the group and took down whatever knights tried to get in the way. She tried not to stare back too jealously at Naofumi and Raphtalia as she went.

Naofumi was holding Raphtalia's hand while they ran. He was filling her in on what had happened to him. From the stupid trial, talking with Eclair, finding out how she'd signed up to join his party only to be falsely accused of murder by Bitch and thrown into prison, and how the Second Princess had been letting them out of their cell when Church Shadows attacked. Raphtalia attentively listened. Not asking any questions. Just, absorbing in her mind all that her Naofumi had gone through until he'd finished.

"And did they try and hurt you?" She finally asked.

"Other than knocking me out, that assassination attempt, and all the knights that have attacked me up to this point, no," Naofumi said.

"Alright." She didn't say anymore. 'Those Shadows and Knights will regret the day they were born.' She thought ominously. The knights she'd spare since they couldn't really hurt Naofumi. But the Shadows, oh the Shadows would pay dearly.

At seeing the dark ominous aura coming off of Raphtalia, Naofumi sweatdropped and focused on Filo and Melty. They were already at the point of telling each other about their various adventures. It was… weird seeing how quickly the two had become friends.

Still, he didn't focus too much on it. Since, even with the dark murderous aura coming off her now, gripping Raphtalia's hand in his again made him happy in ways he never could have imagined. Like holding her hand despite fleeing for their lives felt... right? 'I really need to put a label on what I feel for her...'

When they finally arrived at the square block before the West Gate, they found it had already been shut. However, Eclair had just taken care of the last knight guarding it. The few knights who'd been on guard duty in the square were all in a pile, knocked out. Meaning they had a clear path. Only the black gate stood in the way between them and freedom. "Filo, take down that gate!" Naofumi yelled.

"Okay! Time to get off Mel!"

Melty jumped off into Raphtalia's arms, and Filo rushed again at the gate. "High Quick!"

She blazed forward through the air and slammed into the gate with one of the strongest, most powerful kicks she had. A shockwave burst out from the point of impact. However, when she jumped back, Naofumi and the rest of the party came to a stop. Her kick had barely left a dent in the black iron bars.

"What the hell?" Naofumi muttered. "Air Strike Shield!"

The green shield appeared, jamming itself against the gate. Again, the metal barely dented. 'Damn it!' It didn't look it. But it had been well built for its job.

Raphtalia pulled out her sword. "Light Slash!" She slashed towards the gate, and a slash of light traveled off of her sword. It slammed into the two areas Naofumi and Filo had hit but didn't do anything.

"Second Princess, you released some pretty strong magic earlier. Do you have something that could bust the gate or the wall down?" Naofumi asked.

"These gates were built to withstand a siege battering ram and magic attacks. Even if I had the mana to cast that spell, it'd hardly do anything." She said, "And stop calling me Second Princess!"

Naofumi ignored the last statement and examined their predicament. Looking closely, he realized that two black iron gates were in their way. Both of which were around twenty feet apart. Even if they dealt with the first one somehow, there was still the second one. On top of that, the stone passageway that went inside the walls up to the control tower for the gates was between the two. Meaning they couldn't access it from where they were.

He also took note that the walls here were taller. This part of the city was at a higher elevation than the lower part. There was a bridge spanning either a moat or something he could barely see from this side of the wall. And that only a wide wooden bridge on the other end passed whatever the gap he was seeing between the walls and the ground was.

Naofumi sighed. "Fine then, I guess we'll just use Filo to jump us carefully over the walls one or two at a-"

"Naofumi!"

'... Damn.' Naofumi turned around. Sure enough, another legion of knights was coming down the main road towards them. The mustached smug Royal Knight Commander was leading them with his array of Captains behind him. And approaching beside the Commander was none other than the bastard Motoyasu himself.

It looked like the Capital had brought all of its forces to bear to recapture him. Not surprising since they thought that Naofumi was kidnapping the Royal Princess and all that nonsense.

"You've gone too far this time Naofumi! Release the Princess this instant!" Motoyasu angrily demanded as he approached. He was still a good 100 yards out.

Naofumi couldn't use Filo to jump over the wall now. She wouldn't be able to get everyone over in time. And that'd be too many knights to fend off, not counting the trouble Motoyasu could cause even from a distance. "Release her, hell, I don't even have her bound!" Naofumi said angrily.

"Don't lie to me Naofumi!"

'Wow, is this deja vu or what?' Naofumi thought sarcastically to himself as Motoyasu started to go on one of his long-winded rants about how Naofumi was evil and how everything was his fault and that he'd make him pay and so on. Naofumi was honestly tuning him out so he couldn't tell. He started moving his hand in sock puppet motions, mimicking what he thought Motoyasu was likely saying to him.

Motoyasu finally seemed to realize what Naofumi was doing after a moment and stopped his speech 50 yards away from Naofumi. "Are you even paying attention Naofumi!?" He angrily demanded.

"I don't know, you don't seem to pay attention whenever I talk you idiot!" Naofumi responded back heatedly. "How do you like having a taste of your own ignorance thrown back at you!?"

"Master Naofumi. Your antics aren't helping our situation." Raphtalia said with a sigh.

Yet she couldn't deny that she had missed his annoying antics in the time he'd been captured.

"How dare you respond so disrespectfully to the Spear Hero, Shield Demon!" The mustached Royal Knight Commander yelled angrily. All the knights cheered behind him. Now that they were closer, Naofumi took notice that these Knights were Capital Knights. Not Church Knights. Some of the knights at the front were donned differently than the lesser knights he'd dealt with before. Their armor looked more refined, and stronger… were these elite knights perhaps?

Eclair looked like she'd been slapped across the face. She stared furiously at the Royal Knight Commander.

"Now do as he says and release the Princess this instant!" The Commander demanded.

"Again, does it look like I'm trying to keep the Second Princess here captive?!" Naofumi angrily demanded.

"Daddy, do you want me to kick Spear Guy for you?" Filo asked.

A pale look went over Motoyasu's face at Filo's words. And he clutched tightly at his spear. However, before he, Naofumi, or anyone else could say anything or do anything, Melty moved several steps in front of Naofumi where everyone could see her. Unbound. Unharmed. And very pissed off. "Sir Spear Hero, in the name of her Majesty Queen Mirelia Melromarc, I order you to stop this foolishness at once!" She said authoritatively.

This shocked Motoyasu, the Commander, and the rest of the knights into stopping. They were a hundred feet away from Naofumi's party. And filled in most of the square block. Melty took a few more steps forward. Seeing how she'd grabbed their undivided attention now.

"I am not being kidnapped by the Shield Hero! He is not taking me against my will away from the Capital!" Melty said authoritatively. "In fact, I was sent by my mother Queen Mirellia Melromarc to escort the Shield Hero, his companions, and the knight Eclair to Faubley. Where she wishes to meet with all of them." She continued.

"No!" The Knight Commander started to say as the knights began murmuring. "It's obvious the Shield Demon is forcing her to say this! He's using her to try and escape-"

"Shut your mouth Commander! Did I not just say that I am here by orders from your Queen!" She snapped with authority at the Commander, silencing him. "Tell me, since you're so intent on labeling the Shield Hero a criminal. What logical reason would he have to kidnap me when I was the one that released him from his cell?!" She asked. Even before all this, she'd never liked the choice Father and Mother had picked to become the Commander over all the knights. The way he was acting now like he was supposed to hold all the authority here only cemented that fact.

The Commander didn't speak, and he and his knights didn't try to advance any farther forward. Motoyasu looked stunned. "The Shield Hero didn't try to kidnap me." Melty began speaking again. "In fact, he saved me from an assassination attempt right after I released him and the Knight Eclair. When it failed, the assassin yelled false accusations in an attempt to gather his cohorts to kill me. That is why we are leaving so abruptly without meeting my Father. I will not have my life, nor the Shield Hero's life risked any further than it already has."

"But, but Naofumi and his party have been taking down knights left and right! We found some of them in the dungeon-" Motoyasu tried to say angrily.

"Those knights are not dead, I assure you," Melty said calmly. "I took some of them down myself because, unlike you, those idiots were too intent on fighting him instead of listening to me. Even my own worthless knights who were supposed to be there to protect me were nowhere to be seen." Hearing the second princess call some of the royal knights idiots or worthless was like a blow to the gut to the pride of the knights. It was never a good day when the royals you were sworn to protect called you a worthless idiot.

"Now, I have orders to bring the Shield Hero and his party with me to Faubley to meet the Queen. So if you wouldn't mind giving the order to open the gates so we can leave Commander -" Melty was about to finish.

"Don't listen! My sister's been brainwashed by the Devil of the Shield!"

All of a sudden, Myne made her bitchy appearance from the ranks of the knights. The bitch looked as bitchy as ever. Dressed in the same armor that Naofumi had foolishly bought for the red-haired bitch so long ago. Murmurs came from around the bitch at what she'd said.

Melty looked caught off guard by what her older sister had said. "Sister, I'm being serious! I have orders from Mother to bring the Shield Hero to Faubley! You can't go against what our mother has said-" She tried to say seriously.

"The Devil of the Shield used his powers to brainwash my sister! That's why she's denying the kidnap charges! That's why she's saying they need to leave the country! The Devil of the Shield has her under a spell just like the rest of his party!" Bitch pointed accusingly at the group. "Now he's trying to influence all of us so he can escape with my precious little sister!"

It took only those few words from her to convince everyone. The knights roared in anger, glaring at Naofumi with hate. Though Motoyasu seemed a little conflicted by what Myne had said. "Myne, I thought I told you to stay with the other girls at the castle-"

"Are you serious?! Do you really believe something that stupid!?" Everyone looked at Naofumi. He'd never looked so pissed off before in his life. He almost did look like a devil. "If I really had a shield like that, why am I not using it on all of you right now!?" He angrily asked. "Hell, if you even try to use your brains to think about it, I wouldn't even be in the Capital in the first place if I could brainwash everyone in my way!" He yelled angrily.

"Shut it Naofumi! Myne's right!" Motoyasu looked pained to say it, but he still took an offensive stance again. "I'm sure it costs a lot of SP to brainwash someone! And that's why you aren't using that shield on all of us right now!"

'What's with him?' Naofumi thought in confusion. One moment he seemed all fired up to take him down. And then the next, it was like it pained him to have Myne there. And now he was supporting her again. Was he bipolar, or just lethally stupid?

Whatever it was, the comment he'd made actually made a lot of sense. Maybe he couldn't brainwash everyone because of the amount of SP it'd take. 'Motoyasu isn't totally brain dead after all.' He was almost proud that Motoyasu showed something of a brain. Fortunately, Naofumi had a backup. "You sure about that?!"

Naofumi pulled out several vials of one of the last potions he'd learned to make from his medical grimoire from his Shield. One that required a little backstory.

Soul Healing Water. It's damn hard to find the ingredients for it in town stores since they're rare and expensive. They're also almost just as hard to make. He'd only managed to make a few of these potions. And he'd found they had no effect on normal people. Raphtalia said they tasted like chemicals. Filo said they tasted really weird. He'd tried it himself and agreed with Raphtalia that they tasted like Mountain Dew. However, while it hadn't affected his party members, his SP gauge had refilled from drinking it. So that meant it was a potion specifically meant for heroes… although he wished it tasted better than chemical soda.

Back to the present. "If it did cost me a lot of SP, then all I'd have to do is drink one of these to be able to brainwash you? Is that right?" Naofumi said sarcastically.

Motoyasu recognized the Soul Healing Water and grimaced. "Fine, I guess-" Motoyasu was actually agreeing with Naofumi on a point for once.

"Don't even bother!" Bitch said accusingly. "The castle mages are all casting magic on the area now to prevent your Shield from brainwashing anyone else you demon!"

And thus, the stupidity deepened as everyone looked to Myne again. "If your mages are able to do that, why don't you have them cast magic on my party members to free them from their brainwashing?" Naofumi refuted.

"It's too late. Those monsters of yours have been around you too long for the mage's spell to have any effect on them!" Myne answered haughtily.

Naofumi clenched his fist at Myne calling Filo and Raphtalia monsters. But then he smirked. "Fine. Cast it on those two then." Naofumi said as he pointed at Eclair and Melty.

His surprise comeback caught Myne off guard. "What are you talking about?!" She demanded.

"They haven't been around me for even more than a day. If you're not lying, then those mages should be easily able to free them before they're too far gone, unless your mages are weak bastards such as-"

"Don't listen to his words! That is how the Devil of the Shield brainwashes you!" Myne yelled over Naofumi at the knights who'd almost been swayed by Naofumi's common sense.

"But you've been talking back to me this whole damn time!" Naofumi snapped at her. "Stop being backward with your logic and just admit you're lying you damn bitch!" He'd just shown a major flaw in her argument and she was just going to pull something like that?! Even some of the knights in the back of the legion were looking at Myne weirdly.

"Draw swords!" The Commander, however, wasn't going to stand by idly any longer. The majority of his Knights had been convinced of the justice of their cause, and so they all drew their weapons out. The elite knights near the front pulled out blades that shined in the sun. Magic Mythril, maybe even better.

The only Captain behind the Commander that wasn't smirking was the same one who'd informed the Commander about the Shield Hero escaping his cell. He was frowning actually. As were some of the knights he commanded behind him. A few of whom had fought alongside the Shield Hero in Lute Village.

Naofumi looked frustrated, but Eclair grabbed his shoulder while glaring at the Knight Commander. "Trying to use Common Sense won't get us out of this Sir Naofumi. The Commander and First Princess want you dead. And the knights won't disobey their orders."

She was right. Some of the knights still looked uncertain, but it didn't look like they wanted to go against the First Princess's or the Royal Knight Commander's orders.

"Urgh!" Motoyasu readied his spear. It almost looked like he didn't want to fight. However, he trusted Myne was doing the right thing here. To go against that trust would be to go against his very being.

"We don't have any other choice now." Eclair took up a sword stance a few steps in front of Naofumi.

"I won't let you hurt my daddy!" Filo got in a ready stance.

Raphtalia said nothing, but she took a protective stance next to Naofumi. Ready to act as his sword.

"Sister, why…" Melty trailed off. By this point, she had moved to Naofumi's opposite side. Having backed away in fear of her older sister.

"My dear precious Melty," Malty said, feigning worry as if she was finally taking notice of her little sister again. "Don't you worry. You'll be freed from the Shield Demon's brainwashing soon enough... I'll make sure of it personally." Her voice was that of worry, but there was a threatening undertone to it.

"Sister, you're… you're insane." Melty said as if she was finally realizing it herself.

"Don't speak like that to your own sister. Now, come. Let's go home together now." Myne said as she held her hand out towards Melty.

...

"No…"

Naofumi was still trying to think of something to say, anything that could prevent the situation they were in from breaking out into a one-sided fight when a small hand grabbed the side of his shirt. He looked, and, for once, Melty looked more like a scared little girl than a royal princess. "I… I can't go back." She whispered. "I'll be killed... I know it. My sister… she'll kill me."

Naofumi looked from Melty to Bitch. She still held her hand out, but the look in her eyes. Her face was a mask of sympathy and care, but her eyes said otherwise. They looked at her little sister with contempt and spite. Just like whenever she looked at him. Just like whenever she looked at anything that could get in the way of her ambition to become the next Queen. It was despicable. It was monstrous. Twisted. Ugly. Even Melty could see it.

He took in a sharp gasp of breath as realization struck. 'That's why the Church Shadow attacked me.'

The original plot hadn't been to assassinate Melty and pin the blame on him. No, the original plot had been to have all of them killed in one fell swoop. While they were down in the dungeons, where anything could have happened. Where blame could have been assigned without the need for witnesses. It'd be like killing two birds with one stone.

And of course, there could be only a few people in the castle who would have known exactly when Melty had planned on freeing him... and one of those was standing a hundred feet in front of him. 'She's… she's so evil that she'd even kill her own sister...' Melty had said she was the heir to the throne instead of her older sister. So that meant if she died... then Bitch would be...

"Give the Second Princess back Naofumi!" Motoyasu threatened, pointing his spear at Naofumi. "If there's any good left in you, do it now so we won't have to fight!"

It was right there. The answer to possibly avoiding this whole fight. And yet...

"Come to me, dearest little sister."

"Please, Sir Naofumi… please help…" Melty quietly pleaded.

Melty continued to quietly cry… then she felt a hand pat her head. "Don't worry." She looked up in surprise. It was Naofumi that was reassuring her. "I'm the Shield Hero. I won't let anyone harm you while you're with me." He said seriously. He glared angrily at Motoyasu. It was one answer to their situation. But he knew it wasn't the right one. 'I'm done. I've run away for long enough.'

Raphtalia was readying her sword to fight. "Raphtalia, I need one of your gloves." He said in a cold voice.

Raphtalia looked at him in surprise at first... But then she nodded and took off her right glove, giving it to Naofumi without question. It was times like this he was grateful she could read what was on his mind. Even when he had a maelstrom of thoughts swirling through it, she almost always seemed to know what he was thinking about. Without looking back, he walked calmly forward towards Motoyasu. The Commander was on Motoyasu's left, and Bitch was on his right.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" Motoyasu asked fearfully. The knights behind them stirred uneasily as the Shield Hero slowly approached all by himself.

"What I should have done back at the celebration long ago," Naofumi said flatly. After a moment, he stopped ten feet in front of Motoyasu, looking him in the eyes. "I thought I didn't have a choice back then. I thought my only way out was to go through you. I thought that was the answer then." He'd thought the only way out was to follow Ren's plan. To duel Motoyasu, beat him, and prove that he wasn't who the people thought he was.

But that wasn't going to happen. That was never going to happen. Not when there was people like Pope Balamus, Bitch, the Royal Knight Commander, Trash, and Gods know how many other horrible people in power. He was never going to make a point to them. As Firo the beast tamer had said to him long ago, it wouldn't have mattered if he had raped the Bitch or not. He and others would still think he was nothing more than a devil.

So if nothing he did really mattered. "I know now what I should have done."

He raised the glove, and threw it to the ground.

Everyone there went wide-eyed at the action. But not because it had landed at Motoyasu's feet. He shouldn't have gone for the dog on the leash. Instead, he should have gone for the Master that had been pulling the strings.

The glove landed beside Motoyasu, at the feet of Bitch.

Her smug look evaporated faster than the morning dew in the sun.

Naofumi glared at her. "If you want to keep on hiding behind your lame schemes and convince everyone that I'm a brainwashing demon, then fine! I challenge you, Princess Malty Melromarc to a Duel!" Naofumi formally challenged the First Princess.


...

...

"Ha… hahahaha!" The bitch started to laugh, albeit, a little nervously into the back of her hand after a long silence. Some of the knights started to chuckle along nervously behind her. Thinking this was possibly some kind of joke. "I don't think there's really any reason for me to accept a challenge from a criminal such as yourself-" Malty started to say in her all high and mighty tone as she prepared to put down Naofumi again.

"If you want to go so low as to claim I'm capable of brainwashing people with this shield, then I'll show everyone here I don't need a skill like that to beat a weak and insufferable little *** whore like you!"

There was a short pause as his insult sunk in… and then Malty's face twisted with anger. "How dare you!" She yelled. This little peon was daring to call her by such names!

"What's the matter?" Naofumi asked, feeling a lot more confident than before, seeing that he was getting under Bitch's skin at last. "Afraid you'll lose to the useless Shield Hero you ugly pig?! Or are you not a pig? Are you a chicken?" He made chicken arms and even had the nerve to "Buckaw" mockingly at her several times.

Most of Naofumi's party was stunned behind him. As were many of the royal knights behind Bitch and Motoyasu.

Bitch steadily looked more and more indignant the more Naofumi spoke. "Oh wait, I know what it is. You're afraid you'll embarrass yourself in front of all your loyal Knights here when you lose against me?! Not that I'd blame you of course! Since, like, it'd be really embarrassing to lose to someone that has absolutely no attack stat whatsoever in front of all your loyal subjects! But I guess if you'd rather save face than admit you're too afraid to fight the Devil of the Shield, then that's your own damn fault you cowardly-"

Bitch growled angrily, interrupting him at the end. She looked crazy with how angry she was. And Naofumi smirked in his mind at having gotten such a great reaction from her. He didn't think Bitch could do anything at this point that would please him other than to drop dead. But she was proving him wrong with the look of hatred she was giving him. It was, besides the hug he and Raphtalia had shared after being separated for two days, the best feeling in the world.

"Give us space!" Bitch finally ordered the knights behind her. Who'd long since stopped chuckling.

"Wait. B-But Myne-" Motoyasu tried to say.

She directed a glare at him, causing him to gulp, stay quiet, and back away. "Give, us, space." She said each word as if they were barbed with venom.

'So it is possible to rile Bitch up. You just have to do it properly.' Naofumi thought in satisfaction. He hadn't been sure if it would work or not since she preferred manipulating people from the Shadows. But it turned out, if you prodded the snake enough, it'd come out and strike.

"First Princess! What are you saying?! We can't-" One of the knights tried to yell at her.

"Fast Fireball!" A fireball launched from Myne's hand, slamming against the knight's chest. He was launched back by the force of the explosion into some of his Knights behind him. "I'll do as I please! Now do as I say and give us space to duel!" She fiercely ordered the rest of the knights.

Seeing the crazy red-haired Bitch not even flinch to attack a royal knight, the rest of the knights wised up and started to back away. 'This is going even better than I could have imagined.' Naofumi thought in triumph as he watched. Now with the threat of being immediately killed or thrown into prison again out of the way, it gave him time to think.

...

Naofumi felt a warm hand on his shoulder, and he turned. Raphtalia was standing behind him with a worried look on her face. "Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked quietly. She'd given him her glove, knowing full well what he'd intended to do. But she had to check to make sure he'd thought everything through.

"Yes." He whispered back. Malty was still busy shooing the knights and Motoyasu. Giving the two of them time to talk. Filo, Melty, and Eclair quietly watched from in front of the gate. "It's likely she's going to try and pull something during the duel to kill us. So I need you to climb up into that tower and open the gates so we can all escape before that happens."

"But, but what if there are knights waiting outside for us?" Raphtalia quietly asked.

"Motoyasu would be more of a problem. But as long as he stays here, Filo's wind magic should be enough to blast anyone who'd be hiding out there out of the way. And your illusion magic should be enough to fill any of the gaps in between to protect everyone else."

"... and what about you?" She quietly asked. "What will you do?"

"... I'll be fine… I'm not staying behind again. I'll come up with something." He said seriously as he glanced behind him at Bitch. Who was still forcing Motoyasu, the Knight Commander, and the knights to back the hell away. The hatred in his eyes burned as brightly as his determination. "And I'll beat her into the ground while I come up with it."

… Raphtalia gulped. She was afraid this battle would send the Naofumi she knew and loved to that place in his mind where he could disappear forever... But she also knew that he needed to do this. This pig had tried to ruin his life the day she joined his party. She had tried to ruin his life after surviving the Last Wave... Based on what Naofumi had told her about Eclair's predicament, she had been trying to ruin his life before he'd even been summoned. And now, she was continuing to try and ruin his life along with the lives of so many others. Including the life of her own little sister.

He couldn't just sit back and take it anymore. He had a chance to finally get revenge on Bitch for everything she'd done to him up to this point. And he wasn't going to pass it up.

He had to take it while he had the chance.

Raphtalia sighed. Had she been in his shoes, she knew she would have done the exact same thing. So she didn't try to dissuade him from the coming fight.

"Okay… If you're going to fight, then you'll need these." She said, pulling out Naofumi's Barbarian Armor from her inventory. Along with several Magic Water and HP potions she'd pocketed from the wagon. As Naofumi grabbed the armor, he noticed it looked different than before. It was like the light metal breastplate had been polished over, and the Pikyu Feathers that had been stuffed between the porcupine hides had been replaced with a different material. One that felt strangely soft and warm.

Barbarian Armor 1.5: Effects: Defense Up. Wind Resistance (Small). HP Recovery (Slight)

"What is this?" Naofumi asked Raphtalia.

She lightly blushed. "We stayed with Erhard last night. We were planning on going out today to find out where you were, but Erhard wanted to stay up all night to make some quick upgrades to your armor."

Naofumi was astounded. The anger left his mind as he looked at the improved armor in awe. "I provided some of the materials to upgrade its stats, and Filo provided some of her feathers to replace the Pikyu feathers so you'd have the Wind Resistance and recovery effects."

Naofumi looked in awe at Filo. Who stood back near the gates next to Eclair and Melty. She waved happily to him. A smile appeared on his face again, and he gladly took the items from Raphtalia. Who still looked nervous at how Naofumi would react to his armor being changed without his permission. "Thank you." He said seriously as he slipped the familiar armor on. He felt feelings other than hatred bubbling inside him now. It helped to clear his head, and let him realize what he was fighting for. He wasn't just dueling Bitch for the sake of revenge now. He was dueling to protect Eclair, Melty, Filo, Raphtalia, Erhard, the people of Lute, and everyone else this Bitch had ever tried to hurt and/or kill. As the Shield Hero, that was his job. That was his goal and desire. To protect those he trusted and cared about more than anything else with his life.

Once he was finished putting the last piece of armor in place, he placed a kiss on Raphtalia's cheek. "Now, go, make sure the others are ready to book it. I'm trusting you." He said, his face serious again before he turned to face Bitch. All arrayed in his glorious Barbarian Armor once more.

It might have made him look like a bandit chief. But damn, Raphtalia was right when she said he looked cool in it.

Raphtalia was shocked. Her hand moved up to where Naofumi had kissed her cheek. She retrieved her glove from off the ground, and almost in a daze walked back to where Filo, Melty, and Eclair were waiting. Still holding a hand to her cheek where Naofumi had kissed her.

"Is everything alright mommy?" Filo asked.

"Yeah… Mommy just needs a moment Filo." Raphtalia said quietly. 'Oh nooooooooo! Now I really want to kiss Master Naofumi badly now!' Raphtalia thought in a panic. The pecks on the cheek made her feel like she was on fire (in a good way)! It only made her wonder if she'd explode with feelings if he tried to kiss her on the lips. But was the risk of getting pregnant really worth it?

"Did Sir Naofumi tell you anything, Miss Raphtalia?" Eclair asked. Trying her best to sound formal and serious instead of sad and hurt. She definitely knew it now. This girl held a special place in Naofumi's heart. She really would be better off if she just let go of her fanciful childhood fantasies and instead supported Sir Naofumi, Miss Raphtalia, and their strange little daughter Filo in their future endeavors.

Raphtalia snapped out of her daydream. "Right." She brought the other girls in close and started to tell them the plan.

"So, before we start, will there be cowardly interference in this duel Bitch, or will you fight the Devil of the Shield by yourself?!" Naofumi asked.

Bitch scowled. "As if I'd need someone to interfere so I could defeat the Devil of the Shield!" She said arrogantly.

The Knights and Motoyasu had all backed up until there were three hundred feet between them and Naofumi's party. Bitch and Naofumi themselves were only a couple dozen feet apart in the center of the makeshift square duel arena. Which made up the open area in between the outer wall of Melromarc, and the buildings of the city.

The Royal Commander growled to himself. 'The damn first Princess…' He whispered orders to his soldiers. If she was going to be foolish enough to take on the Shield Demon by herself, then he wasn't going to allow her foolishness to cost her the duel.

Naofumi switched to his Light Metal Shield and took a ready pose. 'This time, I'm going to make sure I get to punch her in the face.' He thought determinedly. Nothing would stop him from accomplishing his task this time.

Come hell or high water, he was going to make her pay. And he was going to make sure his party was able to get away safely by the time this duel was over.

Bitch started the duel.

"Fast Fire Arrows!"


Author's Notes:

I recognize Eclair is a little OOC. I've tried reading about her, and reading some of her scenes in the Light Novel and the Web Novel, but there isn't really much about her. And until I have something solid I can watch from the anime (I learn better visually that way about how to portray a character) this is what I came up with for her character.

Besides, she's always depicted as serious and focused on swordsmanship. I want her to have more personality. Hope you all enjoyed today's chapter! Also, to the guy who asked, there might be an omake based on IQ2 in the future. We'll just have to wait and see.


Hero Clips!


The Taste of Magic Water


"Naofumi, what does this taste like to you?" Motoyasu asked, showing a glass vial full of Magic Water.

Naofumi took an experimental sip of the potion that helped replenish MP. "Hmmm, It tastes like Dr. Pepper. Why do you ask?" Naofumi replied.

"What's Dr. Pepper?" Motoyasu asked confusedly. Before Naofumi could answer, Motoyasu shrugged and continued. "Anywho, I'd say this tastes more like Mountain Lightning to me."

"... Mountain Lightning?" Naofumi asked in confusion.

"Yeah, it's like, the most popular soda in Japan right now," Motoyasu replied.

"But I've never even heard of that soda in my Japan," Naofumi said.

"I haven't heard of yours either," Motoyasu said.

"How could you not have heard of Dr. Pepper?!" Naofumi angrily asked.

"How could you not have heard about Mountain Lightning!?" Motoyasu asked indignantly.

"You're both wrong." Ren and Itsuki appeared. "It obviously tastes Clang Cola."

"No, it's more like Second Maid Lemonade!" Itsuki yelled.

"For the last time Itsuki, I've never heard of Second Maid Lemonade in my life!" Ren yelled at Itsuki.

"Second Maid?" Motoyasu started to giggle. "What happened to the first maid? Did she not taste good enough?"

"Don't you dare make fun of my favorite drink!" Itsuki yelled at Motoyasu.

It looked like a fight was about to break out between the three heroes.

"Wait, hold on a moment!" Naofumi said in realization. "I think I understand what's going on here." He pointed at Motoyasu. "Your Mountain Lightning is like my world's Mountain Dew." He pointed at Ren. "Your Clang Cola is like my world's CocaCola." He pointed at Itsuki. "And your Second Maid Lemonade is like my world's Minute Maid Lemonade."

The heroes all looked at each other. "You know, that actually makes a lot of sense," Itsuki said.

"We come from alternate Japans. I guess even the sodas we'd be familiar with would go by different names in our worlds." Ren said logically.

"Yeah, good on you for figuring it out Naofumi," Motoyasu said happily.

"... although, I have bad news for you Motoyasu." Naofumi said. It sounded oddly reminiscent of their first night together when they'd told him the bad news of the Shielder class.

"What do you mean?" Motoyasu asked.

"Your Magic Water tastes like chemicals," Naofumi said with a smirk.

"What! No way!" Motoyasu said angrily. "You take that back!"

Ren and Itsuki thought over Naofumi's words. "If Naofumi's theory is correct, then I'd have to agree," Ren said. "Mountain Ew tastes like chemicals in my world."

"And Mount Stew tastes worse than that." Itsuki agreed. Motoyasu looked at him in shock. "I'm sorry. It just doesn't taste very good."

"No, it can't be!" Motoyasu fell to his knees. "Mountain Lightning is supposed to be the best! I'd drink five of them each night because it was my favorite drink to help me stay up gaming!" He said, crying in agony over his favorite drink not being well-liked in other worlds.

"No wonder Motoyasu's brain dead. All the chemicals probably killed his brain." Itsuki said.

"And they probably killed his taste for good women too," Ren added.

"Considering how he still hangs out with Bitch. I could agree with that." Naofumi agreed.

"SHUT UP!" Did they have to rub salt in the wound!?


Till Next Time

Allen