Chapter 24: Return to the Capitol

Unfortunately Mel was the last one to wake up, so everyone knew that she like to sleep naked while surrounded by filolial feathers. Somehow Seb ended up giving her a lecture about nudity around people that she just met, even though he was one of those people and she had yet to put her clothes back on.

As expected, it only took us a few more hours to reach the capitol. We parked the wagon and carts by Erhard's, then I had Blake take Mel home and collect the reward. Meanwhile we went in to see what the old man could do with the new materials we had.

"Hey Erhard, It's been a while."

"Whoa kid, don't just appear so suddenly like that."

"I walked in normally. Do I need someone to announce my arrival or something?"

"That's not what I meant. It's been over a month since I last saw you, plus none of the other heroes have been here in a while either. I figured you all found other places with better gear."

"We've covered most of Melromarc as traveling merchants, I haven't seen anyone selling gear as good as yours. Though, we did sell some weapons and armor that we took from some bandits."

"Selling gear from bandits and traveling as a merchant, just what have you lot been up to?"

"Other than that and the fight against the previously mentioned bandits, we've mostly been cleaning up after the three fools and fighting the occasional stray monster."

"Three fools? What could the other heroes have done to get you that mad at them?"

"I'm not so much mad as disappointed. They all have a habit of doing things without thinking through the long-term consequences and people have died because of it. Hell, from the way they talked before I wouldn't be surprised if they still think this world is just a game. Anyways, I'm not here to talk about them. We got some interesting materials and I was wondering if you could use them to upgrade our armors."

"Alright then, let's see what you've got."

"Bones from the chimera that was the boss of the last wave. Then from a dragon corpse we have what I think was its core, bones, and some skin."

"Those should work great for upgrading the barbarian armors. I'm not sure I can do as much for your coat, but it's made from good material and I should be able to use part of that core to upgrade it. All together I I'd say it'll cost 12 gold."

Part of me wanted to say that I hope the improvements were worth the price, but I didn't want to make one of the few people that liked me even knowing I'm the shield hero mad. Besides, we had more than 70 gold now. "We only have 3 days left until the next wave, will it be done in time?"

"I can get it done, won't be able to promise much for the coat though since it's a bit out of my area of experience. You gonna want some new weapons as well?"

"Of course, now we can actually afford higher quality weapons."

"That so? Well then let's see what we can find for you."

Seb was looking at some of the swords hanging on the wall throughout the conversation and now picked one up to give it a test swing. "This one feels right."

"Good eye. It's magic silver and has blood clean. Costs 10 gold." Seems the cost of weapons increases with quality as much as for armor. He then turned to Talia. "So, how's the katana working for you?"

"I've gotten used to it and I think I'm better with it than a standard sword. It's held up rather well too."

"Glad to hear it, cause I'm afraid I don't have any other katana at the moment and if you want to commission one I won't have time to work on both it and the armor."

"I think my current blade can hold out for a good while longer." Talia didn't want to lower our defenses so she could have a stronger attack.

"Hey kid, I don't see the feathered lassie with you did something happen?"

"Not really, we just happened to pick up a passenger on our way here; she is escorting her home and collecting payment."

"I see."

We changed out of our armor and I paid Erhard for the upgrades. Seb and Talia really don't look much like the deadly fighters they are when they just wear normal cloths. Though I suppose I don't have any room to talk.

"There was also a question I wanted to ask you. It seems like Talia, Seb, and Blake all stopped gaining experience once they hit level 40 and there is a star next to their level indicators."

"Sounds like it's time for class-ups then."

"What's that?"

"You don't know? Once you hit your level cap you won't get stronger unless you class-up. You'll also get a nice stat boost when doing it. Normally people need permission from the crown, but as a hero you shouldn't have any trouble. You'll also need to choose what direction you want to grow in. I had a hell of a time deciding for myself, but once you get that star you have plenty of options."

So it's a way to remove a growth limit and the kingdom decides who is able to do it. Choosing a direction is probably like selecting a job class in a game and will decide what skills you are able to learn in the future. But I already reached level 41, is my limit higher that there's, or do I not have one because I'm a hero?

"So that's what that was." Seb's heard of this? "I remember my father mentioning something about class-ups but I didn't know what it was. If I'm not mistaken, it can only be performed at a Dragon Hourglass, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"So that's what those three were doing there with their parties before the first wave. Wait a minute, if they were high enough levels to have already class-uped before the waves, why were they weaker than Seb and Talia at the time? The growth correction from my shield shouldn't have that much of an effect."

"Kid, are you saying that these two were stronger than heroes that had them out leveled?"

"I think our levels were around 30 at the time, so they should have been at least 10 levels ahead. And from what I could tell, they were at least on par with the heroes and far superior to their party members."

"If that's the case I'd hate to go against you once you guys do class-up."

"By the way, other than permission is there anything needed to class-up, any fees or anything?"

"No, knights and adventurers would be pissed if they had to go through all the work of getting permission and then had to pay a fee on top of that."

"Thanks for the info. If Blake comes by, could you tell her to wait by the wagon and that we should be back soon?"

"Sure thing, but why are you using my place to meetup?"

"We haven't found an inn yet and don't have a lot of options, besides it's better than the slave trader's."

"I suppose that's true. Oh, before you go, I remembered something I have that I think you'll be interested in." He went into the back of his shop and returned holding a shield. "This thing is made out of meteoric iron, hard to get a hold of outside of Zeltoble. I've had the thing sitting back there for so long that I forgot about it back when you were doing that copy thing."

I held the shield and activated the weapon copy system. "Wow, this is one of the best shields I've seen, and it has a skill, [Meteor Shield], probably best not to test it indoors. Not sure what it does, but it'll probably come in handy. Thanks, Erhard."

"Don't mention it kid. If you're really doing all the grunt work protecting the kingdom, I figure you could use all the help you can get."

We said our goodbyes and left the weapon shop. Next stop: the crazy tailor. We only went there to ask about the possibility of transforming footwear for Blake, but the way she talks makes it hard to get a word in. It also seems that she only noticed me last time because I was wearing the coat she made. She didn't think that any footwear she made out of magic thread wouldn't go well with Blake's outfit, until I described the concept of a combat boot to her. At that point she started rambling about the possible ways to make it work and we needed to wait for her to calm down. It seems that it should be possible, but the concealed blade idea is out.

As we went back to the wagon to wait for Blake, a group of young soldiers approached us. "Excuse me, but are you two the ones that fought with the Shield Hero at Lute during the last wave?"

Seb looked at the speaker curiously. "We are, do you have some business with us?"

"Umm… We would like to ask the Shield Hero if he would allow us to fight with him, at least during the waves."

I hadn't expected soldiers to volunteer to come with us. Given this country's religion, asking to come with the other heroes it would make a bit more sense. Seb and Talia seemed to be as surprised as I was.

"We, as well as several other low ranking soldiers, were all impressed by the way you and the Shield Hero defended Lute."

"If what you want is simply to fight the waves, then you could do that on your own, or by joining one of the other heroes. So why is it that you want to join me? I doubt any of your superiors will be happy about it." They all looked surprised to realize that I had been standing there. The rumors should have made that I am like this common knowledge by now, especially among soldiers.

Once recomposing himself the lead soldier said, "Our duty is to fight against the waves, but our top priority is to prevent damage done to the people. It seems that the Shield Hero is the only one of the heroes that shares that goal." Fair enough, all the others did was rush off to fight the boss. I also noticed that one of the soldiers was a demi-human. I doubt they would go to all this trouble if they didn't mean it, and if the next wave covers multiple villages, we'll need the help.

"Very well then." I checked the time until the next wave and told them to meet up in front of the weapon shop at 9am 3 days from now with whoever they trusted to fight with us.

Afterwards we continued back to the wagon where we found Motoyasu trying to flirt with Blake. What? I'm not sure what caused this, but for her part Blake seems to be ignoring him. Probably for the best since he tends to interpret words however he wants. Though, I am a bit surprised she hasn't changed to her queen form and taken off his ear again. Actually, she probably wouldn't need to change forms, she had some surprisingly high quality knives that we got from those bandits that tried to jump us. There also seems to be a shadow watching them.

"Why won't you at least talk to me? An angel such as you surely must have the most beautiful voice."

"That's a rather different stance than the first time you met her."

"Master Kousuke. You're back." She had to say the one thing that would set him off.

"Master?" Motoyasu looked between me and Blake then scowled. "You bastard, enslaving such an angel." He attacked, lunging his spear at me. The difference in our speed was even greater than in the duel and I not only evaded the spearhead but locked the shaft between my arm and torso. Motoyasu could only stammer in surprise, "how?"

"Listen to me. I have already told you my thoughts on slavery and I did not enslave her, I raised her. She happens to be the same filolial queen that pecked your ear before the race last month. Check your facts before jumping to conclusions." I released the spear and pushed him back a few feet. "And what the hell is with attacking someone in the middle of a busy street?" I gestured to the citizens who all stopped to watch what was happening.

"You're trying to tell me that this little angel is really that oversized bird. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." He was getting ready to launch another attack.

"Sigh. Blake, please show him your true form." Blake transformed into her queen form and, due to the angle of the sun, cast a shadow over Motoyasu. "I suggest apologizing, you remember what happened last time you insulted her." I tapped my ear. Unfortunately Motoyasu seemed incapable of proper speech at the moment, as he brain was still trying to process the information. "So Blake, it looks like the transforming shoe is going to work but your idea with the knife won't, and you're going to have to make some more magic thread."

"Aww, I was really hoping to have a secret blade pop out." She changed back into her human form.

"How'd things go over with Mel?"

"I didn't meet with her dad, but she did and I was given the reward. Her house is the biggest I've ever seen." Blake didn't meet with Mel's father directly and the house was bigger than the mansions of Lords in some of the towns we traded in? I looked at the bag with the reward, I figured we'd get about 5 silver maybe 10 since she seemed wealthy, but when I opened it I found 10 gold coins double what I was given after the last wave. Whoever Mel is, she seems to be far more powerful than I would have thought. "Some of the people there looked at me the way people looked at Seb and Talia in those towns where we didn't sell anything. The annoying spear guy started following me on my way back here."

Motoyasu, who seems to have processed things enough to return to reality, realized that Blake was talking about him and saw the opportunity to rejoin the conversation and try to get on Blake's good side.

*clears throat* "I apologize for anything rude I may have said to you in the past for I was too foolish to see your beauty. Please allow me to make it up to you over dinner."

"Not interested." (Blake)

"But I…" I place my hand on Motoyasu's shoulder and he stopped speaking.

"Dude, she is barely 6 weeks old and has the body of a little girl. I suggest you stop before any rumors spread about your preferences."

He thought about what I said for a moment then his eyes went wide realizing that he looked like a lolicon. "It's not like that. It's just that I have a thing for angels, ok?"

"Doesn't change how it looks to observers."

"Wait, how is it that she managed to change from that ove- bird into an angel? They couldn't do that in Emerald Online."

I brought him into the alley next to the wagon so we weren't as much of a spectical to the people walking by.

"First off, stop comparing this world to a game. Physics may be affected by stats and magic but it is still real and so are the people. I'm guessing that thinking of this world as being the same as a game is what led you to plant that seed that nearly wiped out a village in the southwest. Se-"

"Hold on, I gave them a seed that would save them from starving, not wipe out the village."

"It mutated and started producing monsters. They even sent a request to the kingdom for help killing it. Lucky for them I was told they needed herbicide and the plants don't technically count as monsters. As a bonus, the remains gave me the ability to modify the seeds into something safer, though I still need to check to make sure nothing went wrong with the new one."

"There's no way that's true. It was just a simple event chain, sure I skipped a few steps, but there was never anything like that caused by giving them the seed."

"I already told you. Stop thinking of this as a game. Everything has consequences and not everything will go the way you think it will. Just ask the villagers if you don't believe me."

"I will, but you never answered about Blake transforming."

"Yeah, so according to the guy I bought her egg from, she seems to be what is known as a filolial queen and they are supposed to be rare, powerful and have transforming abilities. What we don't know is why she is a filolial queen. Best guesses are luck of the draw, being raised by a hero, the boost from the monster user shields, or having eaten most of the chimera meat. It could also be a combination of factors."

"So, you're saying that if I raise a filolial it might be able to turn into an angel?"

"Possibly, but we don't know anything for sure. FYI if you do end up raising one, feed its egg shell and any feathers that come off to your spear. They gave my shield growth correction abilities that made her stronger and it might have been a factor in her becoming a queen."

"And, where is it that you bought the egg?"

"There's a large red and white striped tent over that way. The owner sells monster eggs as well as, uh, live merchandise. If you are going there I suggest you make it clear what you are looking for from the start or he may show you something you don't want to see."

Motoyasu looked at me with a raise eyebrow. "A guy selling monster eggs out of a circus tent?"

"Yeah, or you could ask someone else. Since you're the king's favorite I wouldn't be surprised if he was willing to give you as many eggs as you want. Though, I have to wonder if that princess of yours would risk allowing another girl to usurp her position as your favorite."

"What do you mean? I treat all women equally." Motoyasu lifted his chin and held his spear in a pose that I guess is supposed to look heroic.

"Dude, it is obvious that she is the ringleader of your group. Even if you are the one up front fighting she's able to convince you that anything is a good idea and your other girls will back her play, remember the way she almost had you kill Lute through taxation?"

"I'm sure she had the best intentions for that tax."

"That woman will do anything for power. She framed the guy that no one would defend so she could get your sympathy. Since you-"

"Stop right there, you were already proven guilty so there is no use pretending that you were framed."

"Sigh. You still don't get it. There was no evidence, only her word which both you and her father, the king, took to be indisputable against my well-reasoned argument that her accusation made no sense. Just how long did it take for the supposed rape victim to start coming on to you hard?"

"That night." Not even a full 24-hours, are you kidding me?

"That's more proof that she faked it. Normally it would take years of therapy for someone to recover from something like that. Now, since you believed her to be a victim and made it so obvious that you would protect her, it would have been clear to the other members of your party that they couldn't do anything to upset her. I suppose they couldn't accept that she was in charge and left, or is she not the only one of your original party members that stayed?"

Motoyasu stopped to think about that for a few seconds. "Well the others did leave, and most people that joined only stayed for a day or two, but they said that they just didn't feel like they fit in."

"Because she probably put pressure on them to either do what she said or leave."

"Lesty was already friends with Myne, but Elena stayed too. She joined us about a week after the trial and she has been with us ever since."

"Excuse me, but I had met her previously and she was defiantly the type who would be happy to support a bad plan if it meant things would be easy for her," Seb interjected.

Motoyasu opened his mouth to counter Seb's claim but closed it and started to nod. "Ok you may have a point there, but how did you know her?"

"I used to be a butler and was brought to her family's estate several times to accompany my lord on business."

Motoyasu blinked. "A rabbit butler… that can fight…"

"Don't say it. I have a hard enough time thinking about it as it is." *deep breath* "Anyways, my point in this was that Malty probably won't react well if she thinks that you might give your attention to someone else over her. It might be a good idea to not tell her about the possibility of the filolial transforming, especially since we aren't even sure if it will."

Motoyasu looked at me for a second. "How is it that I almost forgot you were there?"

"It's just how I am, have been since birth."

"Wow, tha-"

"Sir Motoyasu, there you are." I suppose I should have expected that Malty would show up eventually, she wouldn't want Motoyasu to get distracted with another girl.

"Oh, Myne."

"Sir Motoyasu, there is something we need to do up at the castle. Let's go."

"Oh, uh, ok." Motoyasu followed Malty and left.

AN: Couldn't resist that bit with Mel.

Captain Imaginat: No, just no. There is far too much wrong with your argument for me to deal with.