Chapter 17: Race

I woke up to the sound of Blake eating chimera meat. She was already bigger than any of the filolials I had seen while in the Castletown and her neck was long enough to reach over to the next stall while sitting down. Seems her feathers have changed a bit more as well, not as shiny but still a deep black. It almost seemed like they were absorbing the light.

"Guess you were hungry."

"Gah!"

"You shouldn't eat too much of that, they may be able to sell it to help with rebuilding costs."

"Gah?" Whatever, they were originally going to bury the thing anyways.

I dusted myself off and went back to the inn to wake up Seb and Talia for breakfast. After which we were considering what to do, when Blake directed our attention to some of the carts being used to transport materials.

"Hmm? You want a cart to pull?"

"Gah!"

"It's in their nature. Sometimes even wild filolials will be seen pulling carts that must have been abandoned somewhere." (Seb)

"How would a wild filolial manage to hook them self up to the cart?"

"Huh. I never thought about that." Seb started to fall into a deep thought.

We talked to some of the villagers and they said they could give us a cart if we helped with transporting lumber from the forest. We were talking over the details when we spotted a group of knights coming towards the village, along with a carriage pulled by some sort of large reptile. It looked sort of like a velociraptor from that one movie, what was it called… something park… doesn't matter. For obvious reasons Talia tensed up upon seeing the knights, while the villagers were curious about their reason for coming.

"Calm down, I doubt they would try anything like what happened to your village. Not only are the villagers here human, but we are right next to the capitol." She relaxed a little but remained cautious. As the knights drew closer I recognized Motoyasu accompanied by Malty. They came to a stop just outside the village gates.

Malty held out what seemed to be some kind of official document. "Citizens! In recognition for his grand victories in the last wave, the King has granted the Spear Hero, Sir Motoyasu Kitamura, the right to governorship over the area." Everyone was dumbstruck. What kind of moron thinks that ability in combat translates to ability to govern, oh right, the nepotistic kind. Sigh, this is going to tailspin quickly if we can't find a way to stop it.

"Which means that I, The Spear Hero, am now in charge here. I have been asked to help oversee reconstruction efforts. I expect you to cooperate and make sure you have proper funding before you purchase materials." He seemed rather proud of himself, as if the villagers should be praising him for efforts they haven't seen.

The result was whispers throughout the crowd questioning why the king put him in charge and whether he even knew anything about them. A man in the crowd walked forward. "There must be some kind of misunderstanding. You see, I am the governor here."

"Are you saying that you will disregard a royal order from your king?" Myne looked ready to do something drastic to ensure obedience.

"I'm not saying that, it's only that I haven't-"

"Silence!"

"Talia, if Motoyasu tries to do anything stupid, you're our best bet for getting him to see reason." I whispered hoping to go unnoticed by the idiot and his girlfriend.

"Why me?"

"Cause he's a feminist and he thinks you're pretty. Seb, if you know anything about how villages normally operate or what normal people need to survive, try using that knowledge against them."

"I'll try." (Seb)

Unfortunately that was when Motoyasu noticed Talia. "Raphtalia? What are you doing out here?"

Talia hesitated before answering him. "We've been training in the area and staying at the inn."

"Huh? You mean you and that criminal Endou are working in a place like this? Ha, the shield is always so far behind. But this is Motoyasu's village now and he will not tolerate criminals or their companions. Leave immediately." As expected, she's just using him as a puppet so she can add his authority to her own. After all it's hard for people to refuse a royal decree that's supported by a hero. "First order of business: to aide in rebuilding efforts, there will now be a toll. The fee shall be 50 pieces of silver upon entering and 50 upon leaving."

The whispers this time ranged from questioning their sanity to despair. Of course he probably doesn't know how much a silver coin is worth to people that can't go around slaying monsters and getting 4,000 silver rewards from the king. I doubt many of the villagers even have enough money to pay the exit tax and escape.

"Does anyone have a problem with an official edict?" (Myne)

"Motoyasu, why are you trying to kill these villagers?" Talia asked accusingly.

"What do you mean? I'm trying to help them raise funds to rebuild." (Motoyasu)

"A tax that costs more than they can afford would only lead to their starvation." Seb explained. "I realize you may not be familiar with this country's monetary system, so let me explain it to you. The average villager can survive several days on a single silver coin; you are asking for 100 if they have to leave to work then come back. How is it that you expect them to survive such a tax? Not to mention the only ones that will be paying the tax will be the villagers who would spend their time and money on rebuilding anyways."

As they talked I was making my way around to Motoyasu, completely unnoticed. Then I felt something, no, several somethings coming from the way the knights had come. They felt identical to the shadow that was following me and to each other. I couldn't be sure of how many there were, but by the way their presences are dispersed, there has to be at least 3. I also felt the other shadow move to join the others and lost track of which one was the one that was following me. Something very strange is going on, it is possible for family to have vaguely similar presences but here are at least 4 people that all feel the same. It must have something to do with their stealth training.

"They kind of have a point, Myne. Think we could lower it to something the people could afford?" Well at least he isn't so stupid that he can't do basic math when it's explained to him.

"If we do not learn perseverance along with our pain, the village will never recover from this calamity. The previous governor is relieved by the authority of the Crown."

"How dare you!" (governor)

The villagers had more or less become an angry mob. There were shouts about how he didn't help them during the wave; some even said it may be better to die fighting him than starving under the tax.

"You dare revolt against the Crown?" Malty called the knights that came with them over.

Talia looked incredibly angry as she spoke loudly enough for all to hear, "I may not have had the strength to fight off the crown knights that attacked my village after the first wave, but I swear, princess or not, if you even lay a finger on these people, I will cut you down." The knights hesitated, rumors about Talia have probably spread among them and they know she is a force to be reckoned with.

"Know you place you damned demi." Malty signaled the knights to continue but as they leveled their weapons at the villagers the shadows revealed themselves. They surrounded Myne and all appeared to be wearing black cloaks and masks. Their presences condensed when they appeared, but they still felt identical to each other. I guess that means their presence is only dispersed while they are hiding, but how are they able to make themselves feel like that?

"Ms. Myne, yes? Surely you have been informed of our arrival. We have brought a message for you." The shadow sounded vaguely female, but I couldn't tell their genders by their appearance due to the way their cloaks covered them.

"What is it?" One of the shadows stepped forward and handed her a rolled sheet of parchment. As she read the parchment the color started to drain from her face. Curious I moved to read over her shoulder, but all I was able to catch before she crumpled it was some official preamble and that it seemed to pertain to "the village impacted by the wave" probably meaning Lute.

"Things not going your way?" Malty, Motoyasu, the knights, some villagers, and even the shadows all jumped back when I said that. "Was such a reaction truly necessary? I've been here for several minutes, why are you all so surprised?" The shadows started looking at each other and one nodded, I guess that was the one that was watching me. Hmm… was it only one that was watching me, or were there several? I doubt I will ever know.

Malty seemed to have regained some composure before exclaiming, "Shield Hero! We challenge you to a dragon race for the right to rule these lands."

I looked at Motoyasu and pointed at Malty. "Seriously?" He seemed confused about the whole thing. What was on that parchment?

"If you don't, we won't relinquish control!" (Malty)

Relinquish? The way she said it implied that the document said that the village wasn't theirs to rule. The shadows started whispering among themselves. It sounded like they thought it would be best if I accepted and won, but weren't sure what to do if I refused. I definitely didn't want to leave the villagers in the hands of that rotten princess and her foolish hero. Guess I have to do this.

"I don't have a dragon; I bought a filolial that hatched a few days ago, would that work?"

"Fine." (Malty)

"BLAKE!"

"Gua!" Blake came trotting over, Followed by Talia and Seb.

"Hey, you said it only hatched a few days ago." Malty clearly didn't realize that Blake was more than a bit bigger than most filolials when she agreed.

"Power leveling and the monster user shield." I turned to Motoyasu, who was just watching my back and forth with Malty. "So where are we racing?"

"How about… three laps around the village. No outside interference. No using skills to block each other."

"Fine."

A few of the villagers went to mark the track and, one of the knights brought over the lizard, which I guess they considered a dragon, for Motoyasu to ride. I climbed up on Blake.

"Ahhahaha! Look at the guy on his oversized chicken! Bwahaha!" Motoyasu broke into laughter.

"It will be hard to laugh while eating our dust." No way that overgrown lizard can match Blake's speed.

"Black may be sleek, but that won't make you fast. Besides, dragons are way cooler than oversized birds. Hahah-OW!" Blake pecked him in the ear then glared at him.

"Yeah, she seems to be able to understand what people say, or at least get the general meaning. I would avoid insulting her if I were you." Hmm… her attack is already able to get past his defense.

"Coward! How dare you attack Sir Motoyasu!" (Malty)

"I didn't, he provoked her. Plus the race has yet to start. [Erst Heal]" I healed Motoyasu's ear. I liked that I could use basic spells without a long chant now, even if it reduced their power.

"You can use healing magic?" Motoyasu looked confused again.

"Yeah, I checked my affinities the first day, didn't she tell you?" I indicated to Malty.

He looked at Malty who said, "There wasn't any point in bringing it up. It's not like he can use it to attack anything."

"I guess you weren't as hopeless as we though, but how did you know you would even be able to use magic, let alone try to learn on the first day?" (Motoyasu)

"I told you before; this isn't my first time being summoned to a world that has magic. I notice that this world uses a different system for it, so I asked a professional and got some books to tell me how it works. So, are we going to race or what?"

"Oh, right." Did he really forget? Motoyasu climbed onto his lizard and tried to strike a dignified pose. He also changed his spear into a smaller form so he could hold the reins properly.

The villagers had finished marking the course and were all trying to get the best view. The governor would declare the start.

"Ready…. Go!" (governor)

Blake was even faster than yesterday. We easily took the lead and kept going further ahead. Riding a filolial bareback may not be the easiest thing, but it is pretty fun. As we rounded the first corner I heard Motoyasu yelling at his lizard to go faster, I kind of feel sorry for it.

We had finished the first lap and partway through the second when I heard someone chanting. "I am the source of all power, hear my words and understand them well. I command a hole to appear before me. [Erst Hole]!" I could guess what a spell like that would do.

"Blake jump!" As Blake followed my instruction, a large hole appeared right where she would have stepped next. We made it to the other side, but Blake stumbled on landing and we lost some speed. I also heard another spell [Erst Speed] being cast on Motoyasu's dragon which allowed it to close the distance. "What happened to no outside interference? The knights cast spells to put a hole in front of us and boost your lizard."

"You're just making excuses because I managed to catch up."

We managed to stay close to him despite the interference and regained the lead as the speed buff started to wear off, but then the knights hit me with [Erst Speed Down], which did as the name implied. "Quit cheating." The knights averted their eyes as Motoyasu passed us. "Fine, two can play at this game. Blake, be ready to jump again." Their spells continued to weaken and we quickly took back the lead. We were in the final stretch when I heard the knight chanting for a hole again. "Now. [Obsidian Vortex]" I quietly cast gravity magic to reduce our gravity and extend our jump over the new hole. Blake was a bit surprised, but she managed to maintain speed on landing and we won by a good lead. That was my first time using gravity magic since coming to this world. It felt strange, but I'm not sure what's different.

"The Shield Hero is the winner!" (governor)

"No. He cheated!" Malty refused to accept the outcome despite the knight's cheating.

"Really? Because as I recall one of the terms was 'no outside interference' and your knights seemed happy to throw holes in front of us, and use magic to slow us down while boosting Motoyasu."

"Wait, really?" (Motoyasu)

"I didn't ask them to and even if he did cheat, what's that got to do with us? We demand justice!" (Malty)

"True justice would involve you paying for your various crimes and abuse of power. Be grateful that you are getting off with failing to extort the villagers. Besides, the holes are still there as proof."

"You planted those to accuse us!" (Malty)

"Not possible," One of the shadows was suddenly next to us. Was that a skill similar to ground shrinker? "None of the members of the Shield Hero's party have affinities for earth magic. And we did observe the knight that cast the spells to cause the holes. The Spear Hero received unfair support. Please come with us."

"I lost, so as promised, this village is yours." (Motoyasu)

The shadows escorted them and the knights away, well most of the shadows. I still felt one in hiding nearby.

"You forgot your dragon." (Seb)

"We don't need a dragon that can't even outrun a fat bird. Leave it." (Malty)

"I guess it's the village's now."

"Oh great Shield Hero, thank you so much, for all that you have done. If they had been able to impose such a tax, it would have been the end of us. Is there anything we can do to repay you?" (governor)

"Well we were talking with someone earlier about getting a cart made for Blake."

"If you give us a few days, I'm sure we could build a splendid wagon for your filolial. Hmm… Sir Shield Hero, do you have any interest in traveling sales?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"Well you seem to support yourself through selling medicines and parts of slain monsters. If you are going to be traveling I could provide you with a commercial bill of passage. It should let you sell your wares in most territories without having to pay a tax to do business."

"That sounds promising. I'd be happy to accept."