Chapter 32: Introductions
"What just happened?" Eclair looked around trying to determine our new location.
"I used a particular magic to transport us here."
"Master Endou, is this the person that you mentioned before?" Talia asked my while looking over Eclair. To be fair, she was still filthy from her time in that dungeon.
"Yes. Eclair, we have a change of clothes for you, but you may want to clean yourself off first. There is a stream just over there that should work."
Eclair looked herself over and realized just how awful she looked. "Of course. Thank you." She then hurried to the stream.
The others continued to look at me curiously. "I'd rather only have to explain once and she doesn't know any more about the situation than you do, so let's hold off on that until she's done and we finish with introductions."
"That almost makes it sound like you abducted her, Sir Endou."
"I didn't abduct… well depending on how you look at it… just wait for the explanation ." Seb and Talia looked at me coldly.
Eclair came back from the stream much cleaner than before and wearing the clothes we got for her. "Thank you again, Sir Shield Hero, both for releasing me from that place and for proper cloths. What is it that you wish for my help with?"
"First introductions, then I'll get everyone up to speed. I generally go by Endou and I would really rather not be referred to as Shield Hero."
"My name is Sebastian, or Seb as Sir Endou prefers to call me."
"I'm Talia." Talia seemed a bit uneasy.
"My name is Blake."
Eclair was a bit startled by Blake talking in her queen form, but recovered fast enough. "A pleasure to meet you, I am Eclair Seaetto."
"Seaetto…" Talia had a look of surprise then realization as she put the pieces together. Eclair looked a bit confused by her reaction.
"Oh right, Talia was among those taken from the Seaetto territory after the wave and sold into slavery." I explained to Eclair.
"I see." Eclair bowed her head. "You have my deepest apologies for my inability to stop those who took advantage of my father's death to enslave your people."
"You have nothing to apologize for. It's the ones who attacked us that should pay."
"Now that you all have met, I'll explain. First, I found Eclair in the castle dungeons after hearing some soldiers talk about a prisoner that they wouldn't want me to find. Breaking her out was more of an impulse decision than anything else." They all looked at me like I was being reckless.
"You broke me out… on a whim?"
"More or less. I also figured you might have useful information and insight on how the kingdom works, plus as a knight, or former knight, I'm hoping you can at least hold your own in a fight. Though the other knights I've seen set the bar pretty low."
"Believe it or not, I happen to be one of the best swordsmen in Melromarc." Eclair seemed to feel a bit insulted.
"Alright then. Melty is currently following us and, depending on how much further we go, will likely catch up to us tomorrow."
"What?" (Seb and Talia)
"The princess?" (Eclair)
"Mel's coming?" (Blake)
"Yes, Melty, the crown princess. She has a group of knights with her that seem to be up to something. There is a good chance that whatever they are planning will happen when they catch up, so be ready for anything. Also, Eclair, since you are technically a fugitive from the law, you should probably stay hidden in the carriage when they show up."
"Understood. Wait, was her leaving to follow you the reason you had to wait to bring me here?"
"That's right. I'm not sure how she would have reacted if news of your escae reached her before she set out. If she stayed and those knights tried something, it would be a lot harder to predict."
"So, you believe the knights around the crown princess to be untrustworthy?"
"I have heard them whisper things to each other about her being killed by the devil of the shield and what to do after. I assume that means they plan to kill her and pin it on me. It makes more sense for them to do it while she is chasing after me, but fanatics can be stupid when things don't go their way."
"Mel's in danger? Shouldn't we save her?" (Blake)
"I'm keeping an eye on her in case they try anything before they reach us. Anyways we need to figure out why and how they plan to kill her and blame me."
"If they referred to you as the devil of the shield, they are probably devout followers of the church of the three heroes. Though I don't understand why they would need to frame you for a crime like that, especially if the king and first princess have already had you convicted previously."
"Right, I guess I should explain things to you, but first we should continue on our way or Melty will catch up just after sunset, not the best time for what is likely to go down." We got in the wagon and Blake started pulling it again, albeit a bit slower for Eclair's sake. "This is basically going to be a rundown of everything that's happened since Melromarc summoned the four heroes."
"What? All four in Melromarc?"
"Yes, is there something strange about that?"
"From what I've heard, only one hero can be summoned at a time. Not to mention the other countries would be furious if one country tried to control all four."
"That would explain why the queen has been gone so long, putting out the political fires that the king caused." (Seb)
"Anyways, after the first night the king gathered funds and companions for us and, after a little act of no one wanting to work with me, Malty joined me. Though this was before I knew about the party system and she was using the fake name Myne, then she tried to rob me, accused me of rape, and ran to the Spear Hero for help. The king decided I was guilty despite my solid argument against her and had rumors spread. A few days later I picked up Seb and Talia from a slave trader. We trained for a few weeks and helped out a village in the process. The second wave came and we were the only ones that tried to defend the village while the other heroes went after the boss. Eventually knights came and torched the place just before the wave ended." Eclair looked angry hearing that knights did that. "Afterwards Motoyasu, the Spear Hero, challenged me to a duel over Talia's freedom. The king threatened to take both Seb and Talia if I didn't accept, and, after setting some terms of my own, we dueled. I more or less made a fool out of him and was about to win by default, so I conceded to let him remove their slave curses and prove that I wasn't the kind of person Malty said I was. After that Talia gave Malty the best slap I've ever seen and told them off for her cheating, I forgot to mention that didn't I. Malty tried using magic to interfere but hit Motoyasu instead, it was kind of funny to be honest. The failed cheating part, the slap was epic. After that Seb and Talia decided to get new slave crests because I have a shield that can make slaves stronger and we bought a filolial egg that eventually turned onto Blake." I pointed at Blake.
"So she's a filolial? I've never seen one so large before."
"A filolial queen actually." Blake said.
"After that we went through some trouble with Motoyasu trying to assume lordship over the village we defended during the wave, it was settled with a race that Blake won. Then Blake gained the ability to transform into a human and we spent a few days spent trying to get clothes for her, a lot harder than it sounds. Since then we became traveling merchants to make money. Along the way I got a reputation as a saint, the full name of which keeps changing and getting more embarrassing to be called. Then people started asking us to clean up the messes left by the other heroes. Motoyasu left a fast growing fruit vine that created monsters, I killed it and created a safer version. Ren, the Sword Hero, left a dragon corpse to rot in the mountains which turned into an epidemic that killed some of the nearby villagers before we could get rid of it and give them medicine. While Itsuki, the Bow Hero, took out every noble he was told was corrupt, including the king of a nearby nation, which led to their rebels taking over and raising taxes to the point that the citizens escaped to Melromarc to buy food. Then a few days ago in the third wave they were useless and I had to stop the thing myself after we defended the villages from the initial assault."
"Wow, you've really been through a lot."
"I left out most of the parts where the king yelled at and insulted me for no reason other than that I was summoned as the Shield Hero. There was also the bit after the dragon corpse where we found Melty in a field and escorted her home without knowing who she was at the time."
"Huh, well if you have really been helping people while the other heroes have been causing such trouble, it makes more sense why the church would try pinning a more substantial crime on you. Though killing Melty doesn't make much sense. Maybe they have a deal with Malty aiming for the throne?"
"I figured as much myself. What I don't know is why they would need to wait until Melty meets with me to do it, why not just off her in the middle of nowhere and say it was me?"
Eclair thought for a moment. "Evidence. If they use a crystal ball to record you meeting with Melty then alter the images to look like you killed her, it would be enough to turn most nations against you. Possibly any villages in Melromarc you have good will with as well."
"Crystal balls can do that? I thought they were just for teaching spells."
"Sir Endou, there are crystal balls that can be used to record images. With the right tools they can even transmit the images across large distances to be copied to other crystal balls as a form of communication and to spread news." (Seb)
"So we'll need to break their crystal ball. Think that would be enough to stop them?"
"Unlikely. They will probably go through with their plan either way. The evidence would just make things easier for them." (Eclair)
"And just to be clear, a crystal ball alone can only record and play images, it won't transmit a live feed?"
"Not that I know of, though I've never personally used one." (Eclair)
"Nor I." (Seb)
"So we probably don't need to worry about the recording as long as they don't get away."
The rest of the ride was rather quite as I was able to avoid giving any more exposition by saying that I may have to explain it to Melty and didn't want to go over everything several times.
We eventually stopped for the night and Blake's stomach growled. "I doubt we'll see any monsters around here, looks like it's fruit and dried meat tonight." I said as I planted a disposable bioplant, which then grew before our eyes.
Eclair took a few steps back, "What is that?"
"Remember that plant I told you about before. This is one of the safer versions I made." I picked one of the fruit and tossed it to her. "I'm not really sure what sort of effects they have on the soil and environment though. We should probably check on that village again after this mess is over and we get our class-ups."
"You mean you've done all that and you're still at the level 40 cap?"
"Actually heroes don't have caps, so I'm level 43, but yeah the others are stuck at 40 and still better than the other heroes."
"How is that possible?"
"Remember how I mentioned that I have a power that boosts my slaves' stats? Well, when you combine that with Haulia training methods, they are able to easily take down monsters that the other heroes have trouble with. I saw it in the last wave. Though the other heroes don't really have any skill to speak of. They just rely on their stats."
"Your training methods must really be something. But are the heroes really so inept?"
"Yep" (Talia)
"Afraid so." (Seb)
"Spear guy is annoying." (Blake)
"To put things in perspective, I have reason to believe that they all got class-ups right before the second wave, over six weeks ago. But we didn't learn about them until last week and the king prevented us from doing it here. We still manage to out fight them. And there was an enemy in the last wave that took all three of them and their parties down with one attack, but she couldn't even land a blow against me."
"Sigh, what is this world coming to?"
When we ate dinner I made sure that Eclair got a lot and I cast another [Drifa Restoration] to continue her treatment, which led to her being hungry for more. When it was time to sleep Eclair was once again surprised when she found out that we didn't need to set a watch due to Blake's and my heightened senses, as well as that we slept against Blake for warmth. She is a very comfortable filolial.
AN: I know giving her a quick recap of what happened isn't every exciting to read, but he had to explain things so everyone understood.