The Rising of the Shield Hero
The Mage Hero – Chapter 07 [ An Onslaught of Interlopers]
Disclaimer: I Do not own 'The Rising of the Shield Hero' or its Characters
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
The sounds of mugs clattering would have echoed throughout the hall, had the exited cheers and conversation of the patrons not drowned out the sound. Kenjiro leaned against a beam, mug in hand, taking in the sight. As his sight moved through the crowd, he could see two hardy men attempting to outdrink one another, plenty of villagers dancing and enjoying themselves, and even a really drunk man doing a jig on a nearby table. Catching a glance of Yumiko wading through the tide of celebrating villagers with two mugs of her own. "They really know how to party!" Kenjiro said loudly, barely having his voice be heard by his comrade.
Yumiko was just passing him, so she was able to hear him over the commotion. "I know right! This is crazy!" She shouted as she stopped by the mage. "Just take a look a Jorric! He's getting into it!" She said, gesturing towards what appeared to be a small performance area. Jorric was currently performing in a very animated fashion as he played what looked to be an instrument akin to a violin.
"So he's the reason we're getting this jig." Kenjiro said with a smile as he downed another swig of ale, admiring the energetic drunk.
"Who woulda guessed he could play like that!" Yumiko said in astonishment as she downed the entirety of one of her mugs. "Say, you can't play an instrument, can you?"
"Oh not like that, I only know a more traditional instrument from my own world." Kenjiro admitted as he nervously took another swig.
"Well then looks like your just gonna need to make one if you want to compete with that!" Yumiko said as she made her way back into the crowd, moving towards the band, twisting and turning to the beat.
With a smile on his face, Kenjiro looked on as his teammates enjoyed themselves. Catching a glimpse of something out of his eyes, just for a moment, his attention was drawn to a short blonde girl, sneaking through the drunken party goers, eventually making her way to the door, something she shouldn't have in her grasp. Knowing this, Kenjiro made his way to the door of the tavern. Making his way outside where the atmosphere was calmer, and the crowd less packed. The sound of the music lightened as he went further away.
"I'm telling you! The older guys can drink it so why can't we?" a young feminine voice said from the other side of the tavern, just around the corner.
"Yeah but… I don't know if you should drink it." A younger boy's voice countered.
"What's that mean!" The girl asked in annoyance.
"I've drank that stuff back at home, and trust me, it's not gonna taste the way you think."
"Oh? And how might that be?" Kenjiro said as he turned the corner seeing both Lyra and Ivar crouched behind a bush, holding a mug of ale.
"K-Kenjiro…" Ivar sputtered, causing Lyra to spin around, hiding the mug behind her back, but subsequently spilling some of it onto the dirt.
"Hi Kenji!" she said innocently as she tried poorly to hide the alcohol.
"Lyra. You know what I'm about to say." Kenjiro said maintaining his smile. "If Jorric wouldn't let you do it..."
"Then neither will you…" She said defeated as she handed the mug over to Kenjiro.
"It's alright, I won't tell Jorric." Kenjiro said as he grabbed the mug, allowing a smile of hope to crawl onto Lyra's face. "Ivar, I want you to watch over her and make sure she doesn't get into more trouble." He said with a smirk as the white-haired demi-human initially looked with complaint before settling himself.
"Yes sir…" He said with his head down as the two began to walk off towards the tamer section of the party.
"Go back to Ricard and every hour are so to let him know your okay!" Kenjiro called after the two, them barely acknowledging the order as Ivar simply put his hand up in confirmation. Shaking his head with a smile, Kenjiro made his way back into the commotion, stumbling across an interesting sight.
*SLAM*
A cheer rang out as a burly man sat in disbelief as a surprisingly stoic Raphtalia sat across from him, her arm over his as she had just defeated him in a competition of strength. "HOW DID YOU—" The man stopped as he looked at his arm in disbelief.
"That's pretty impressive." Kenjiro said as he approached Naofumi, who was facepalming at the sight.
"Well yeah, she gets like this when she's inebriated." Naofumi admitted. "He said something about her being dainty, so she decided that she'd just do that."
"Don't worry mate! I got this!" another drunken man stated, this one just as buff as the last.
"Aaaand this is always the result after they see the first match. Their gonna be here for a while." Naofumi expressed in annoyance as he stood behind his companion, who had just casually slammed the strong man's hand into the table, resulting in another cheer.
"I think I'm gonna sit out on that one." Kenjiro admitted with an embarrassed smile.
"I GOT NEXT!" a familiar voice called out from the crowd.
"Oh no." Kenjiro said suddenly as he saw a much more intoxicated Yumiko made her way to the table. She didn't have any slurs or stumbles, but her personality was much more confrontational and confident.
"This is gonna be interesting." Naofumi said with a rare smile as the two demi-humans' gripped each other's hand.
"They've been competing ever since we started rebuilding! I'd think after the construction was done they'd cut it out!" Kenjiro exclaimed in concern as the strength competition began.
"Based on how competitive those two are? This isn't gonna end for months." Naofumi expressed as the two were seemingly stalemated.
*SLAM*
"WHAAAAAT!?" Yumiko cried out as Raphtalia won the competition.
"I better get her." Kenjiro said with an embarrassed smile as he walked up to grab the still dumbstruck cat girl, dragging the frozen rouge out of the tavern.
"We're gonna cut you off for the night." Kenjiro said responsibly as he made his way to the building the villagers were letting them stay in.
"I was so close…" Yumiko said as her energy finally gave out, causing her to pass out asleep.
"Well I guess I'll do the rest of the work…" Kenjiro said annoyed, but still holding the smile he'd had all night, hoisting the woman onto his back.
"After all the work she's been doing, I'm surprised she didn't crash sooner." Kenjiro thought as he opened the door to the small house. Moving to lay her into her bed, a few incoherent whispers and mumbles came from the girl as Kenjiro pulled the covers over her.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Yumiko arose with a groan as she felt a splitting pain in her head. With a low groan it was clear to her that she had a noticeable hangover from last nights antics. Rising from the bed, she made her way towards the main area, opening the door to see the rest of the party eating, and packing. "Morning…" She said weakly as she made her way over to grab some food.
"You get a good rest?" Jorric said as he handed her a plate of eggs and sausage.
Upon adjusting her eyes to the light, she was greeted with the sight of an armorless Jorric in an apron. "As good as *Yawn* As good as a could get." She said as she grabbed the plate. "Thanks."
"No problem." He said with a smile as he returned to his prep area to clean. "Oh, Kenjiro has something for you."
"Oh?" she asked as she sat down, using one hand to hold her head, and the other to slowly shovel food into her mouth.
"Here, drink this." He said with an innocent tone as he sat a flask in front of her.
Not in a state to do any thinking, Yumiko lazily grabbed the flask, downing it in a few gulps. "EWW! She shouted as she threw the bottle at Kenjiro. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?"
"I don't know, I got it off of Naofumi." Kenjiro shrugged as he gave his companion a devious smile.
"Why you little—"
"Hey Yumiko, before you kick his ass, how's your head feeling?" Jorric said as he didn't take his eyes off the dishes.
"Its fine why?!" Yumiko paused as her hand returned to her head. "My headache is gone. How did you—"
"He said it was a little concoction he used for his brother back in his world. And with the enhancement magic he knows; he was able to multiply the effect. And the nasty taste." Kenjiro chuckled. "You better eat that food to get it out of your mouth.
"Here drink this." Ivar said as he placed a cup of yellow liquid before her.
"Oh no, I ain't falling for this just because you're giving it too me." Yumiko stated in a heated tone as she eyeballed the mage.
"I didn't have anything to do with that, but I wish I did." Kenjiro said as he took a sip out of his own mug.
"It's a cider common on my homeland. The apples hear aren't as… good. But it still makes for a decent drink." Ivar said with a smile.
Still suspicious, Yumiko reluctantly grabbed the mug to take a sip. To her surprise, it was delicious. Her sip quickly evolving into a massive gulp, then into eventually chugging the entire mug. Yumiko quickly finished the drink as her eyes looked at the mug, and then to Ivar in shock. "I can't even taste the crappy stuff Kenjiro gave me!"
"Thanks! I did what I could to make it a close as possible!" Ivar said excitedly as he moved to go grab another mug.
"Well now that Yumiko is back to normal, how about we discuss what out next move is." Jorric began as he unstrapped the apron from his waist. "We should be leaving by the end of the day, but we don't have a route."
"Well simply put, we travel towards the north until we reach the wall, and then we ask one of the bordering countries to let us through, then we find a wharf to ferry us over there." Kenjiro suggested, making the plan sound like a piece of cake.
"It won't be that simple." Yumiko said with a mouthful of eggs. Quickly swallowing, she continued. "There are two different countries that border that area. Siltvelt, a demi-human supremacist nation that treats humans not to differently than the humans treat us here, then there's shieldfreeden, a nation where it's a more equal relationship."
"That doesn't sound to bad. Why don't we just go th—"
"Because it's near impossible to get to the border without running into slavers, bandits, monsters, and more." she said in an annoyed tone. "Demi-humans try to escape across the boarder all the time, that's why slavers and bounty hunters line the boarder there."
"Hmm… that is an issue." Kenjiro said as he took a thinking position.
"It's probably the same or worse for Siltvelt. Especially because more vengeful demi humans probably go for that direction." Jorric added as he began taking stock of their equipment.
"Damn, I wish their was a port straight from Malromarc." Kenjiro said in frustration.
"Why don't we hire some people to come with us? I mean just to the border." Ivar spoke of as he was looking over his axe, barely paying attention.
"What do you mean?" Yumiko asked as her gaze landed on their newest ally. "I doubt that we can do much more recruiting right now. Lets not forget we already have to get you and Lyra up to par with the rest of us, let alone a slew of new recruits."
"Just an idea. I mean more numbers would help."
"We'll keep that in mind, but for the time being we know where we need to go, so we should start with that." Kenjiro interrupted. "For now let's just figure out the route we need to take, and then we can brainstorm on the road."
"If that's the case then our best bet is to stay as central as possible to minimize any encounters with slavers. Plus its better for monster training since its not as occupied as the outskirts." Jorric suggested, causing most the other people to consider the idea.
"As long as I can get stronger, that's the way I wanna go!" Lyra said with enthusiasm, bringing a smile to Jorric's face.
"I'm sure you do." Jorric said, ruffling his sister's hair.
"Well how about transportation? I'm sure we can all walk, but this is gonna be a long journey. Maybe we should invest in a cart? A wagon maybe?" Kenjiro added as the team thought about the youngest member of their group.
I feel like all we'll need is a cart. We don't exactly have a filolial like the shield hero." Jorric expressed with concern.
"I still think we could manage a wagon. We just need to find something to pull it." Yumiko said as if it were the obvious solution.
"And where are we going to find one?" Kenjiro asked in a condescending tone.
"I'm sure that we can buy one at the capital. Maybe even the next town if Jorric can just push it like before." Yumiko suggested, making Jorric's face contort into grave concern. "Or we can just go there first, bring back something, anything, and then we'll be on our way!"
"I guess we'll just have too—"
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Kenjiro, quickly reacting to the knocking, opened the door to see Ricard standing in the door frame. "You better get out here, there's guards coming. The Spear Hero is with them."
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
"In Light of his latest exploits, Lord Motoyasu has been named Lord of this region." Myne said from atop some boxes, towering over the gathered village people as Kenjiro and company merged in with the confused crowd.
"Lord of this region? Of all the heroes and their teams, none of them aside from Luna came near this place." Kenjiro thought as he grew annoyed with the situation. "The King must still have a grudge against me and the others for the duel. Or maybe Myne had something to do with it?"
"To help with rebuilding efforts, we've decided to levy a toll." Myne then said, causing an uproar of murmurs and mumbles to spread like wildfire throughout the people. "50 silver to enter the village, and 50 silver to exit."
"That's absurd!"
"We won't have anything to eat by tomorrow!"
"We don't need any help!"
"100 silver just to leave and return?!"
Several villagers called out, raising their voices in the crowd. "Are they stupid! How can they think this would help in reconstruction efforts?!" Kenjiro thought as he glanced around his team. It was clear without words they shared the sentiment. As he was looking around, he also managed to see Naofumi standing near the rear of the crowd, and based on his expression, he carried the same opinion as the rest of them.
"You wish to defy your lord's orders?" Myne replied with authority.
"Well duh!" Naofumi said loudly, yet not angrily as he controlled himself.
"Shield hero? Your still here?" Myne asked with disgust. "This is Motoyasu's domain now. You have no right to question him. In fact, leave at once!"
"Sure I don't mind, but I don't think the village will be to happy about that." Naofumi said as he gestured around at the clearly upset citizens. "Motoyasu, do you know how much it costs to spend a night at the in here?" Naofumi called, causing a smile to creep onto the mages face.
"U-Uh…" Motoyasu fumbled, not answering the question.
"1 silver. 1 silver a night for a room with meals included. Your suggesting levying a tax that would pay for fifty nights meals included. Just to enter, let alone leave"
"And might I bring up, the town has been rebuilt. There is no need for any monetary assistance the toll would bring." Kenjiro spoke up, causing the princesses gaze to fall onto him as well.
"So you're here too." She said with a slightly less disgusted tone, but it was clear she felt no pleasure in his presence.
"They're right!"
"You can't just show up and say your our lord!"
"It was the Shield Hero who spearheaded our defense during the wave!"
"The Mage Hero's party was integral to the defense too!"
"Not to mention they both worked to repair the town!"
The crowd began to shout down the princess as the look on her face shifted to anger. "You dare defy a royal decree!" She shouted as she held her hand up in signal as around 8 guards lowered their weapons in preparation to attack.
Knowing that if he let the situation unfold any further it would escalate to the point of no return, Kenjiro quickly made his way to the front of the crowd, only Yumiko and Jorric following behind. Naofumi seeing this decided he may as well also aid in the defense once more as he and his band made their way to the front, brandishing his shield in front of the crowd. "This is ridiculous, Myne, stand down!" Kenjiro shouted as he transformed his vambrace into his staff. He was serious.
"Myne surely we could—" a voice from the back attempted to de-escalate, only being drowned out by Myne herself.
"So be it Heroes" she said with a venomous tone. She went to move her hand, giving the signal to attack, however she was stopped mid swing as three hooded figures appeared between the groups.
"Who are they? Are they on our side?" Kenjiro thought as he glanced at his companions, neither one of them lowering their defenses. Yumiko was always prepared, but Neither Kenjiro nor Jorric had their armor on, they were caught completely off guard by this uncharacteristic aggression.
"I trust you know who we are, Lady Malty." The head figure stated, causing the look of anger to morph into frustration in real time.
"Why are you people here?!" she asked in a tone that suggested familiarity with the masked people.
The leader simply held out a scroll and handed it to the princess. "For you." She said calmly as Myne snatched the scroll from her hand and began reading it with a hostile pace. As she was reading, her frustration grew, and grew, until she finally reached the bottom of the page.
"How could she…" Myne began to ask shakily as her eyes darted back to the Naofumi. "Shield Hero! Fight us for the right to rule this village!" She cried, surprising both camps.
"Huh?" Naofumi asked, being the first to speak. The atmosphere was shared by not only the citizens, but her own party and bodyguards.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
While the village elder was convincing Naofumi to accept the challenge, Kenjiro and his party had enough time to properly prepare themselves in case of further aggression, making their way out just in enough time for Kenjiro to spot Motoyasu flying through the sky, holding his crotch.
"I take it someone got to close to an angry filolial." Jorric said with a chuckle as the Motoyasu landed in a nearby haystack.
"Serves him right!" Yumiko said in a condescending fashion.
"He's the jerk with no honor, right Jorric?!" Lyra asked with a glare directed in the direction of both Myne and Motoyasu.
"Yeah, they are." Jorric corrected as he leveled his stoic gaze onto the sight.
"Umm… I feel like I'm missing something." Ivar stated as he rubbed the back of his head in confusion.
"Long story short, Motoyasu is clueless, and it seems Myne isn't the sweet adventurer that Kenjiro remembers!" Yumiko explained as she punched the aforementioned mage in the shoulder.
"Hey! It's not my fault! How was I supposed to know she was like this…" Kenjiro said as his voice went from agitated, to gradually more defeated. "She seemed like a good person." He added as his sorry gaze met the icy stare she threw back at him.
"It's in the past. Right now is the present." Jorric consoled as he gave Kenjiro a hardy slap on the back, nearly toppling the hero. "Come on, we have a race to watch."
Upon making their way to the crowd they were led to the front so that they could properly view the race. "Hey Jorric, Yumiko." He said to get their attention. "Jorric, I'd like you to stand by Raphtalia for right now, take Lyra with you."
"Got it." Jorric responded without hesitation
"Got it!" Lyra replied with determination as she copied her brother, walking over to the racoon girl.
"Yumiko, I need you to observe Myne from the shadows. If she tries anything, or has somebody else try something, tail them." Kenjiro ordered as Yumiko simply nodded as she melted into the crowd.
"And then I'm with you." Ivar said confidently as he kept his neutral expression.
"You stay close. We're going to be going into the lion's den. I need to confirm some things" Kenjiro responded as he once again formed his staff. Walking towards Myne, he used his staff as a walking stick as he approached the woman.
Arriving at the princess's posse, Kenjiro was met with yet another icy glare. "Mage Hero, what brings you over here." She asked with contempt as he and Ivar simply stood next to the woman.
"I simply wanted to catch up since we last saw each other. Not to mention it would look awfully suspect if I only sent my party to keep and eye on Raphtalia." Kenjiro explained as he pointed his thumb toward Jorric. The aura of the group standing by Myne was toxic, all except a seemingly uncaring blot in their midst as Luna stood behind both Kenjiro and Myne.
"I see, playing neutral party, are we?" Myne scoffed as she turned to the race.
"What's wrong? You've been angry with me since the duel. I understand that I called you out, but what you did was wrong." Kenjiro explained as Ivar simply looked on in confusion "I simply want bygones to be bygones."
Myne at first looked pissed as she quickly turned to face Kenjiro, her eyes investigating him up and down. Her face soon softened however as she turned back towards the track. "I see…" she said before allowing a pause to fill the air. "I understand what you mean, its just… defending that monster…" Myne began as she began to seemingly tear up.
"I see. She feels betrayed. I can't blame her, however…" Kenjiro looked towards Naofumi, then back to Myne. "There's still something wrong with this picture. I don't trust her, but at the same time…" Kenjiro looked back to Myne, her tears and expression looked real.
"I apologize, I didn't mean to bring up old wounds. Nor did I mean to take his side. I simply was acting in your best interest." Kenjiro said, causing Ivar to look at him confused, clearly knowing the basics of the situation.
"My best interest?" Myne questioned with dry eyes as she quickly jerked her gaze back to Kenjiro
"I think I get it. It sounds to me like he didn't want you to stoop to the shields level." Luna supplemented as Kenjiro gave her a smile.
"Exactly." Kenjiro lied as he knew he was laying the seeds to become a true player in this game. "I may not know exactly what's going on, but I intend to at least have some sources to help me find out!" Kenjiro thought as he gave Luna an appreciative smile.
"The race is about to commence!" the elder called as the attention of everyone was brought to the forefront.
"On your marks! Get set! Go!" The elder announced as the two racers exploded out of the gate, disappearing onto the track.
"Where were we? Ah yes, so how have the last few weeks gone?" Kenjiro started, trying to get something out of Myne.
"Successful!" Myne boasted as a smile creeped across her face, her tune changing very quickly from before.
"Really? That's good news. I'm sure the story is good." Kenjiro humored as he listened to the tale.
"Well, Motoyasu has been helping around the town a tremendous amount! We recently took a job to aid a village struck by famine, and we were going to head in that direction following this incursion." Myne explained pompously as she gloated to Kenjiro.
"How have you been?" Luna asked, seeing as Myne had left out that portion of her answer.
"Well after the awards ceremony we came straight hear to help the townspeople rebuild. We've all leveled up a bit, but the ones who gained the most were Lyra and Ivar here." Kenjiro said as he gestured to the albino demi-human.
"Ivar huh? I saw him at the king's hall, but I didn't know he was with you." Luna responded as she got on the boy's level. "He seems a little taller than last time."
"Yeah, I thought so too." Kenjiro said in agreement.
"Hello! It looks like you and Lord Mage Hero get along?" Ivar questioned as Luna giggled to herself.
"I suppose you could say that. I owe him my life." Luna said coolly as she grinned and ruffled the boy's hair.
"You too!?" Ivar asked excitedly
"He's pretty formal. Not to mention you have a habit of saving folk. He wouldn't happen to be…" Myne began before she inched closer to the boy, gently moving his tunic aside, her smile drained from her face. "a slave?!" Myne questioned, her original attitude returning.
"You enslaved this boy?" Luna asked in genuine concern and anger, resting her hand on her blade hilt as the rest of the party members eyes fell onto Kenjiro.
"HERE THEY COME!" a villager yelled as a dust cloud appeared at the edge of town. What was odd was Naofumi looked as if he had just tripped over himself, Motoyasu overtaking him as he zoomed past the crowd. Following not to far behind was a recently recovered Naofumi as he easily closed the distance regaining the lead.
Kenjiro quietly observed as Myne glanced in the direction of a guard. It wasn't much, but the guard quickly vanished, being replaced with another one as Myne continued.
"How could you—" Kenjiro put his hand up to stop Myne before she could begin.
"I remember quite vividly what that girl stated. And I simply desired to show that I was capable of what she was suggesting. It was simply proof that we were capable of such a thing. I have full intentions of freeing him soon, however I haven't got the chance since they were helping us around the town." Kenjiro explained as he pulled a bottle of plain water from his pouch, quickly putting it away to avoid appraisal by the clearly magic heavy party.
"I suppose that would make sense." Luna began as she looked towards the princess with a look that said. "Let him off the hook" as she slowly pulled her hand off her hilt.
"Fine, but this doesn't mean your forgiven." Myne simply stated as she turned to focus solely on the race, ignoring Kenjiro.
"That's alright Myne… I have all the information I need." Naofumi thought as He was joined by a hooded figure. Before Yumiko had a chance to report, a dust cloud exploded from the opposite side of the village. "That speed!" Kenjiro said aloud as his shock was made known to the group.
"Hmph. That's what happens when a dragon is—" Myne was cut off as Naofumi swiftly passed Motoyasu as they rounded the corner, taking a massive lead. Her face as frustrated as when she read the scroll. She barely hid the fact that she signaled another guard as he scampered off, no doubt to tamper once more.
"If only I knew exactly what they were doing." Kenjiro smiled as the hooded figure disappeared from behind him.
"I'm getting a little worried. What if Lord Motoyasu doesn't win?" a girl with pink hair questioned from behind Myne.
"She has a point; it appears that the Shield may have an advantage." A more book smart looking mage suggested.
"Quiet, both of you! Lord Motoyasu is going to win. I'm certain." Myne replied with an oddly confident smile.
"I'm getting a little nervous myself. How about you?" Luna asked as she looked toward Kenjiro.
"I'm fairly indifferent to the outcome if I'm being honest." Kenjiro admitted, angering Myne once more, however this time she did not bite as she simply watched the track with care.
"Really? I would have thought you wanted Lord Motoyasu to win." Luna questioned as she became concerned.
"True, however it's clear that the village trusts the shield more. Not to mention Motoyasu's lack of knowledge about the village could prove to be more detrimental in the long run." Kenjiro explained.
"I mean… sure. But Motoyasu should still be the one to win." Luna stated weakly as her eyes returned to the course.
"Perhaps." Was all Kenjiro said as the smile on his face dissipated. Looking down at Ivar, he patted the young boy on his head. "I've heard all I've needed…" He thought in disappointment
"Look!" another townsperson called out as the dust approached. Rounding the corner, Naofumi flew onto the side of a hill as he rode at an incline. The two were neck in neck as they swiftly approached the finish line. The intensity was so high that the crowd's cheers sounded quiet as Kenjiro focused on the finish line. He kept all his focus there as he saw the yellow beak of the filolial cross the finish line, just seconds before the dragon's snout.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
"You cheated!" Yumiko heard from her position, engrained within the crowd as Myne witnessed the transformation of Naofumi's filolial into a much larger creature.
"Lady Myne, this only happened after the race, surely—"
"There was no cheating involving that bird." A hooded figure appeared, causing the princess to react in surprise once more. "We did however detect magic use throughout the race."
"Well it was clearly that criminal and his pet!" Myne said in a venomous shot, attempting to rile the two.
"That's not entirely true." Yumiko stated as she made her entrance, pulling the hood from her head. "I tailed the guards Myne here sent away from the viewing area. It was them who interfered with the race.
Myne's seemingly trademark anger fueled gaze leveled onto Yumiko, as well as Kenjiro as she realized some of what was happening.
"You little…" She seethed as her teeth clenched. "You have no proof!"
"She doesn't need it." Jorric interrupted as he entered the conversation. "Lyra and I were next to the shield's only ally this entire race. She did not move, nor did she interfere in anyway."
Myne's fury was at a breaking point as she frantically attempted to kill each of the three party members at the same time. "That doesn't—"
"Before you start, the magic used on the track did not belong to the affinities of any of the shield heroes party members, nor did it belong to rogue that sires from the Mage's party." The hooded figure ended with the killing blow to the argument. "And before you attempt another lie, the Mage Hero could not have interfered as he was next to you the entire time."
"You played me…" Myne growled as her evil eye fell onto Kenjiro.
As Yumiko's cocky expression turned to Kenjiro, she was confused as his own face maintained a stoic demeanor. "I am truly hurt to hear that. I merely wished to maintain the legitimacy of this competition. Frankly, I am disappointed. I'm just glad that this time, even with your dishonorable actions, the superior competitor prevailed." Kenjiro said with a tone that nobody could deny. It was clear that he was in the right, and even some of Myne's party could see that.
"The dishonor of this party enrages me." Jorric muttered as his normally positive demeanor was being overtaken by the sheer toxicity he was witnessing. "Lyra, we will be leaving soon, let us visit our home. The air here has been tainted." He said in disgust as he simply walked past the princess, her jaw on the ground.
"I should go and calm the boy…" Ricard stated from beside Yumiko in the crowd as he followed closely behind.
"I'll go with him." Yumiko said with a clear disdain centered around the princess. "I've never seen him this angry…" Yumiko thought as she caught up to the normally kind and caring defender. As she herself passed the group, she could not help but feel an uneasy sensation as she made her way outside of the town.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Kenjiro watched as his party walked away. "Motoyasu, Might I have a word." Kenjiro said calmly as he turned to walk into a house, blindsiding the spear. "You as well, Naofumi."
"Now wait a minute, this is clearly not gonna fly!" Motoyasu yelled as he clearly took the assault on his party's integrity to heart.
"Whatever." Naofumi said, still riding the high of his victory, along with the utter shut down of Myne's scheme.
"What do you want anyway?!" Motoyasu asked as he maintained his position.
"Don't get the wrong idea, this is merely a professional conversation regarding the waves." Kenjiro stated as he opened the door, entering the building. Kenjiro sat at the head of the table he had just recently been using for his meals as he simply sat in wait. Naofumi entered without any hassle as he calmly sat down to the left of him. Following a few moments of silence, a clearly perturbed Motoyasu angrily slammed the door behind him, aggressively sitting in the seat to Kenjiro's right.
"I'll give you a few minutes, that is all." Motoyasu said as he held in his frustration momentarily. "I can't speak for Myne though, she left with the rest of the guards to head back to the city. I can't believe you'd let your people speak to her that way…" Motoyasu grumbled as his eyes met Kenjiro's.
"Regardless of the situation, now that I have two of you here, there is something we need to discuss. Immediately." Kenjiro replied with a serious tone.
"Alright, then tell us." Naofumi stated seriously as the tone of the room shifted promptly into a tense situation. The focus was solely on Motoyasu, who looked shocked to see the professionalism in the shield.
""Y-yeah, I'd rather not stay here any longer than I have to." Motoyasu claimed, however his initial waver was quickly turned into a similarly serious mood.
"Alright, first things first, it's likely I won't be back in time for any strategical meeting, so I need to trust you to handle the boss attack plan with Itsuki and Ren without me." Kenjiro began as he settled his gaze on Motoyasu. "I would ask Naofumi as well, but I would assume he's not going to strategize with the rest of you."
"Really? What gave you that impression." Naofumi said sarcastically as he mentally scoffed at the idea.
"Your going that far away? What for? Surely you'll be in the attack, right?" Motoyasu asked in rapid succession.
"Yes, I am, and I'd rather keep the details a secret for the time being if its al the same. I could easily make it back for the attack, but I have no idea how long it will take to get back. Of course I'll be trying to get back as soon as possible, but if it comes between rest or wasting stamina to get back, I'll pick the rest." Kenjiro promptly answered as he his tone remained unmoved.
"That's it? Then there was no reason to call me and the oaf in here." Naofumi said as he scooted his chair back, signaling he was about to exit.
"Oaf huh? Alright criminal, what makes you think this was a waste of time?" Motoyasu shot back, seemingly forgetting about his earlier reservations.
"If he'll be back in time for the wave then I don't see an issue. You can just fill him in when he gets there. I don't know why this would affect me." Naofumi simply stated as he looked back at Kenjiro.
"Actually, it may affect you more than Motoyasu. Since I won't be there, and since it will likely occur in a different location, assuming that the is a village that needs protected. It's likely that you won't be receiving any reinforcements, or at least not for a while." Kenjiro explained as Naofumi's face remained unmoved. "Not to mention we don't know if being a farther distance away messes with the teleportation. Naofumi clearly didn't travel with us, but he was still close enough to reach Lute. Imagine if I were simply a few miles further."
"That's still not a problem. I intended on 'staying out of your way' regardless. The last wave was just more help, it wouldn't have changed the outcome." Naofumi said as he looked towards Kenjiro, clearly ignoring the ever growingly agitated Motoyasu. "Plus I'm sure you guys are gonna get here regardless of how far away you are. The wave's last a decent amount of time."
"If that's all you called me here for then I'm outta here!" Motoyasu said as he angrily pulled his chair back standing to leave.
"Motoyasu, can I trust you to let them know?" Kenjiro asked from behind the spear, his tone slightly softened as if he were asking for a genuine answer.
Motoyasu hesitated for a moment as Naofumi also stood to leave. "Well this was a pointless meeting." Naofumi said in a rather annoyed tone. "But I get why you asked for us to sit down. Thanks for the head up I suppose."
Motoyasu stood at the closed door, staring at the knob as he closed his eyes. "Fine, I'll let'em know. But that doesn't mean—"
*DING* *DING* *DING*
The sound of the bells began to seep through the wooden walls. As they continued to ring the heroes quickly jumped into action as they promptly charged at the door, met by Raphtalia, Ivar, and the remainder of Motoyasu's party as they spilled into the streets.
"Ivar report!" Kenjiro screamed as the three made their way out.
"There smoke rising from the direction Jorric and the rest of our party went. It's not a small amount either!" Ivar frantically exclaimed as he was in the midst of preparing his equipment.
"Alright, we're heading there now. They may need our help!" Kenjiro quickly expressed as he and Ivar prepared themselves for the run.
"Hold it!" Naofumi ordered as Kenjiro and his slave had nearly taken off. "Raphtalia, go get Filo and a wagon, we can make it their faster!"
"Right!" Raphtalia responded as she quickly ran off to do as ordered.
"Thank you Naofumi!" Kenjiro thanked relieved as he saw Raphtalia hooking up the now grown bird to a wagon.
"You three, get on the wagon! I'll scout ahead on Raiju, and we'll get to the bottom of this!" Motoyasu commanded as Kenjiro's attention was quickly pulled in his direction. Noticing the look Motoyasu gained a smile of his own. "Don't forget I'm a hero too!" He said confidently as he mounted his dragon, taking off in the direction of the forest.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Ivar sat in the back of a speeding wagon as he and a multitude of unfamiliar faces rode in the direction of the smokestack. "Lord Kenjiro, do you know where we're going?" Ivar asked in concern as the smoke grew closer.
"Yeah, it's Jorric's old home. My question is why is it on fire again!" Kenjiro rhetorically asked as Ivar saw the anger in his master's eyes.
"Again? What do you mean?!"
"When I found him, he was near death surrounded by bandits, his homestead razed, and his parents killed. Now this is happening!"
"It's probably the same people from before then!" Raphtalia added as she looked towards the mage hero.
"Damnit! I'm gonna kill that noble myself if anything happened to them!" Kenjiro growled as his anger continued to rise.
"Noble? You couldn't possibly be suggesting that these bandits were—"
"That's exactly what I'm suggesting." Kenjiro interrupted the pink haired member of Motoyasu's party, leveling his gaze at her. Ivar was sitting across from him, not even in his field of view, but he could still feel the murderous intent building.
"Looks like this place is more disgusting then I thought." Naofumi said from at the driver's seat, however it looked like only Ivar and Raphtalia heard him as he quickly turned back to Filo, making the filolial go faster.
As the cart drew closer to the homestead, they arrived at a dumbfounded Motoyasu riding in their generation, a massive wildfire chasing him down. "KENJIRO!" He called as he saw the cart moving at such a speed, it would be impossible for it to stop.
Naofumi went to slow the cart as fast as he could, but Kenjiro stood, startling the passengers. "Don't you DARE slow down this cart!" He said in a low and powerful voice. Even Naofumi was taken aback by the anger he saw. Kenjiro formed his staff, pointing it directly at Motoyasu.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Motoyasu screamed as he passed the cart at top speeds, quickly trying to turn back around behind the cart.
"EVERYONE HOLD ON!" Ivar warned as he quickly gripped the back of his seat. Seeing the young boy's action, the rest of the occupants did the same. Naofumi also took the que as he ducked, pulling Filo's head down with him.
"Storm Canon!" Kenjiro shouted as a forceful torrent of water shot from his staff, shaking the cart in an uncontrollable manner. As Ivar looked up to see the attack, it wasn't just a simple stream of water, but it was as if a massive rainstorm was shooting out of his staff. As Ivar turned his head to the front, he saw the trees ahead of them had essentially been pacified in the manmade storm. After several long seconds of nonstop rumbling and a constant stream of pressure, the staff's supply eventually sputtered out as Kenjiro collapsed into the cart.
"Kenjiro! Are you okay!" Raphtalia questioned as she caught the falling caster.
"SP… Drained… need…" He mumbled as Ivar began searching through Kenjiro's pouch. Pulling out a few small vials, he quickly opened the corks, pouring them into the weakened mage's mouth.
"It'll take him a minute, but he should at least be up and moving in a minute." Ivar explained as the last drops entered the mages mouth.
"We're coming up to an opening!" Naofumi called behind him as his passengers readied themselves. "What the—" Naofumi was cut off as the cart hit a bump, causing the cart to careen into a tree, slamming into the recently dampened trunk.
"What was that!" Luna yelled angrily as she glared at the Shield Hero.
Ivar quickly looked toward the path they had just traveled as his eyes widened. "Kenjiro!" He screamed as he jumped out of the cart.
Kenjiro looked up as he saw what Ivar had pointed out in the middle of the path. It was a massive tower shield, with no owner attached to it. "Shit!" he said as he scrambled up from the cart, struggling to land as he ran over to the massive tool.
"Look! Up ahead!" Motoyasu called as he arrived at the scene, dismounting his dragon.
Ivar quickly picked up his head to see a large spread of bodies lying out in the middle of an open patch of scarred land, two destroyed tombstones in the middle of them. Before Ivar could say a word, Kenjiro was already scrambling and stumbling towards the sight.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Kenjiro managed his way to the injured bodies of Ricard and Jorric as he began looking at the damage. "Shit… NAOFUMI!" Kenjiro called as he quickly grabbed the only two small vials of health potions, he had on him. Feeding one of each to the injured men.
*Cough* *Cough* "Kenji… ro" Jorric wheezed as he came to.
"Jorric! What happened!"
"There's… no time" *Cough* "They… took…" Jorric tried to get out as he began to lose consciousness once more. All he could do before passing out once more was weakly point in the direction past the already destroyed homestead, where several black dots, and a dust cloud were seen becoming even smaller.
"Kenjiro! Move!" Naofumi ordered as he moved in to aid the severely injured pair. "Go, I'll handle this here!"
Kenjiro didn't need to be told twice as he quickly ran back towards the cart where the girls, Ivar, and Motoyasu were still standing. "Ivar! Get on Raiju with Motoyasu! Raphtalia! Can you control Filo!?" Kenjiro asked as he continued his dash.
"Yes!" Raphtalia responded as she swiftly cut Filo free from the wagon.
"Motoyasu, have your group follow us in to take down any stragglers. After we catch whatever's moving that quickly, I need you three on defense. The leaders mine." Kenjiro said quickly, and with a menacing tone, but Motoyasu knew better than to disobey a man in this state. Quickly informing the girls, he mounted up on his dragon, pulling Ivar onto the beast as he drew his crossbow.
"All set!" Raphtalia said as she arrived next to Kenjiro.
"Right!" He said as he hopped onto the bird, who wasted no time in taking off.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Naofumi watched as the four rode off toward the already fleeing caravan of bandits as he was left to tend with the aftermath. "What are you waiting for!" He roared in anger as the three women behind him were still in a state of whiplash from the sheer chaos of the situation. The fencer that he had seen only a few times before was the first to shake her head as she began running in the direction of the bandits, her allies not too far behind.
"I am the Hero of the Shield who commands the origin of power. I have read and deciphered a law of nature. I call forth the power of nature to heal!" Naofumi chanted as he held one hand on each battered fighter. Once again Jorric awoke, this time with enough stamina to sit up.
"Where did Kenjiro—"
"He's on his way towards whoever took your comrades. You need to—"
Jorric began to stand up, his feet trembling beneath him as he quickly collapsed back onto the ground. "SHIT!" He cried in frustration, slamming his fist into the ground.
"Hold on!" Naofumi shouted as he began his chant once more, giving Jorric another shot of HP. "It's no use running after them anyways. Your still too injured, and you'd never catch up. You've done all you can."
"No, I failed!" Jorric cried through gritted teeth.
"Maybe, but it looks like you did a helluva lot more damage then they expected." Naofumi countered as he gestured toward the dozen or so corpses that lined the battlefield.
"That's not why they ran! They ran because they heard the spear hero calling for us!" Jorric explained in concern as he looked toward the now distant rescue party. They still have about 18 men in that group! If I was only prepared for that damn ambush…" Jorric said as he blamed himself falling to his knees.
"Calm down, what happened?" Naofumi asked firmly as the distraught man faced away from him.
"I was frustrated… agitated… so angry about that stupid race! I didn't see it coming." Jorric began as Naofumi attempted to heal the still unmoving Ricard.
"We got to the edge of the forest and Lyra ran out ahead of us to see her parents… That's when they struck." Jorric recounted as he looked at the ash below him. At first, we were doing well, but 30 or so bandits ambushing a few moderate level adventurers is too much to ask of anyone. They eventually took down Yumiko and…" Jorric chocked up as he remembered what they did. "They were doing some sort of… magic but they couldn't finish by the time Motoyasu got here, but they had to throw her into the back of the caged cart…" Jorric choked out as Naofumi looked down at Jorric with concern in his eyes, his hands lifting off of Ricard. "Then I got distracted, knocked the ground and surrounded. I was barely conscious when I saw them throw my father right next to me. They were going to finish us off but…" Jorric stopped as his eyes widened, realizing something. "My father, why isn't he—"
"I'm sorry…" Was all Naofumi could say as Jorric turned to see his father's unmoving body.
"D-dad?" Ricard said weakly as he crawled toward the lifeless body of his father. "Dad…DAD!" He cried as he tried to shake the man awake. There was no response. "No…no, no, no, no, no…DAAAAAD!" The strong man cried as tears streamed down his face. The last of his family, gone.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Authors Notes: So it turns out that with my college schedule that writing becomes aloooot more difficult, especially when I have two chapters a week for two different stories. I'm sorry to say that I'm going to have to stay around 8,000 words average. Regardless, allow me to make some explanations on some of the changes I have made. Firstly, the fact that not only was their a more successful defense, but also more builders than in canon leads me to make the small change that the town has been fully restored. In terms of the race, Kenjiro's presence was not entirely a major difference maker in the grand scheme of things, however with the subplot involving his Lute born comrades, it has resulted in an additional event taking place. Regarding the quick pace and chaotic feel of the rush to get to the homestead, it isn't a matter of a rushed story, I merely wanted to convey the feeling of the rush IN story. I apologize for the really mean cliffhanger, but I felt if I continued from here, it would take away from the moment. Kenjiro's storm is NOT a ex-Machina, as while it wasn't explained perfectly quite yet, it clearly has a massive drain on his SP, so don't expect any more massive miracles out of him. Next chapter is gonna keep up with the action and start of the newest trial to face the team. [ Trauma ]