Chapter 8 –
Meeting with the Bow Hero
Homura looked over the remaining fields of crops. While she knew she should be happy that there were still any crops left standing, a large part of her could only see another failure.
'Never fast enough. Never on time. Never able to do enough.' She chastised herself with a deep frown.
Remembering that she has partners that helped her at their own personal risk, she forcibly ripped herself out of the negative spiral her brain was trying to fall into. Turning towards Raphtalia and Sakura, she began to make her way towards them.
"Is anyone hurt?" she called out as she approached. Raphtalia blinked up at her as if snapping out of a trance.
"Ah," a soft sound of surprise came from her lips as she looked down at her arms. The ends of her underdress' sleeves had been burnt off and there were signs of first degree burns on her hands and wrists. There were also several smaller burn holes scattered over her dress, presumably from the hotter embers that had fallen on her. It seemed as though with the adrenaline wearing off, the young girl was finally registering the pain and discomfort from her burns.
"I got burned a bit, Mistress." she finally said even as Homura was already making her way over.
Navigating through her menu, she dispensed a container of burn ointment and some bandages. Pausing for a moment to remember the basic first aid Mami had made sure she learned to save on magic in early timelines, she began with gently applying a very thin layer of ointment on the burns. Raphtalia gave a soft sigh of relief as the magical properties of the medicinal aloe in the ointment provided immediate pain relief and slight healing. Some of the worst burn areas Homura carefully bandaged up to keep them clean and covered until a better treatment could be provided.
After making sure Raphtalia was treated, she walked over to Sakura who was busy plucking out some burnt feathers. After making sure there wasn't anything wrong with her despite having been stomping out the fires, she helped pluck all the burnt feathers off so she wouldn't be in discomfort.
When Sakura looked up towards the village and made a loud chirping sound, Homura glanced behind her to see a small group of 4 men holding pitchforks led by an older man heading their way.
"Hey, it's ok girl. They just want to make sure everything is ok." She cooed softly to soothe the filolial, stroking her feathers gently. When Sakura finally settled down, Homura turned around completely and stepped towards the group of men.
"Are you the one that put out the fires out here?" The older man asked as he stepped forward.
"We are." Homura answered with a nod.
The elder gave a smile and bowed in gratitude. "I thank you for helping save our crops and town, young misses." He said towards Homura and Raphtalia.
As he straightened his back, one of the men escorting him stepped forward, the suspicion clear on his face.
"But Lord Ivyred-!" the man escorting the apparent Lord tried to protest.
"We are not the kind of people that blame others on happenstance last time I looked, John." Lord Ivyred interrupted and explained gently but firmly. The men around him all looked slightly ashamed and lowered their makeshift weaponry.
"Now miss, I would like to ask you your reason for being here, if you don't mind answering." he stated rather than asked, turning his attention back towards Homura and her party. Homura gave a small nod before gesturing towards herself.
"My name is Homura Akemi, and I am the Hero of the Shield. My party and I were passing through a small village a bit to the south of here when they asked if we would be willing to deliver supplies to your own village. My filolial, while still young, was excited to make the delivery and I had no specific plans as of yet so I decided there was no harm." Making a gesture at the remaining crops around her, she continued, ignoring the suddenly gobsmacked looks on most of the men around her at her apparent identity.
"As we approached, we noticed in the distance the starting of the fire, but we were too far away to see the culprits. We picked up our speed to arrive as soon as possible to help as soon as we could. Unfortunately, none of us are capable of water magic, and had to resort to more brute force methods to save at least some of your harvest." Homura looked slightly ashamed at that fact. She faced the Lord and gave a small bow, not too deep to seem subservient, but deep enough to be respectful and apologetic.
"I apologize."
The Lord blinked in slight shock for a moment before guffawing slightly in amusement.
"Raise your head Madam Shield Hero! I am grateful enough that you spared the time in your important adventure to assist my small village, both with the supplies and saving some of our harvest. Thanks to you, my village may survive longer than it would otherwise had you not shown up."
Looking up at him with slight confusion, Homura eventually gave him a nod.
"If you don't mind sir, we can deliver the supplies to a location of your choosing, and I would like to find lodging for my party and I."
"A reasonable request Madam Akemi. Please, by all means grab your carriage and I shall escort you to the village warehouse. Afterwards I'll prepare you and your companion rooms in my home. I can even introduce you to my daughter! She's only a few years older than you appear to be!" He declared, his face showing the joy at the relief she is bringing with ehr through the exhaustion.
"That is agreeable for now." She bowed slightly in thanks. After raising her head, she turned and set about quickly hooking Sakura back up to the small carriage.
"Just a bit longer Sakura, then you can rest for a job well done." she murmured softly to the large bird as she ruffled the feathers on her head. She got a happy chirp in response from the ostrich like bird.
P-*-*-*-H
It was thankfully a short, if slow, trip into town to reach the warehouse. Looking around as they walked through town, Homura assessed the damage and the results of the water magic she noticed being used to extinguish the building fires. Turning to look at the Lord that had joined her and Raphtalia on the wagon, she decided to ask him for some answers.
"May I ask who extinguished these fires? They must be a talented mage to so skillfully control the water from what I saw."
Lord Ivyred seemed to preen slightly. "Why that would be my lovely wife and daughter! While my daughter may have some confidence issues, she is without a doubt a talented mage." he declared proudly.
That would explain his reaction, it was only reasonable for a husband and father to be proud of his family's achievements. She filed away the supposed confidence issues away that he mentioned for later. She was no stranger to those feelings after all.
"I see." she responded. "Pardon me if I come across as rude, but besides the famine and drought, have there been other issues here recently? While I do not claim to be an expert, these fires seem to have been an arson attempt. That normally is done to send a message while simultaneously sabotaging others."
She watched his face turn to a frown, before glancing at the men that were escorting them to the warehouse. This was apparently a topic he did not want becoming common knowledge. Especially the several heads she saw turn ever so slightly towards them to listen in better. This caused her to also frown.
"If you are offering your help, Madam Shield Hero, then I would be more than glad to explain the situation tomorrow morning after we have all rested. I am growing old after all, and you are still young, it would not do well for us to stay up late talking about such unpleasant things." he finally gave a rather politically correct answer.
Homura could only nod in understanding, catching the hidden message he was trying to imply.
It was shortly after that conversation that they reached the village warehouse. Thankfully with so many hands to help move the supplies, it took little time to unload the cargo. It did however take Homura a moment to go through all of the crates to make sure everything was intact and still present. Even if this wasn't what she had expected when she had been summoned to another world, she took pride in making sure to see a job through to completion.
Even impossible ones such as saving her best friend from a fate worse than death.
Once she was content that everything was in good condition and accounted for, she made sure to have Lord Ivyred lock it up securely. Waving off the men that had been escorting them up to now, she watched him visibly sag once they were all out of sight. She decided to not comment on it. For now.
"If you are ready Lord Ivyred, simply point me towards your house and Sakura will have us there shortly." Getting a nod in response, he began to direct them towards his house. Sakura was glad to not have to go as slow as she had to follow the escorts.
Raphtalia was not so glad as she groaned in discomfort while holding her stomach in the back.
Luckily for the raccoon girl, they arrived at a decent sized farmhouse with a small barn nearby fairly quickly. It was certainly not the kind of place she had expected a Lord to live in. An uncomfortable image of the condition of the kingdom was starting to form in her mind.
"Welcome to my home, Madam Akemi, Miss Raphtalia. While I'm sure it's not the manor you were probably expecting, I promise there is plenty of room and comfort here for you two. If you don't mind dropping me off at the house, you may take your carriage and park it outside of the barn. There are several open stalls Sakura may rest in for the night. Then I will show you to your room, or rooms if you prefer to sleep separately, when you return."
Lightly popping Sakura's back at the upset sound she made upon hearing that she would have to sleep in a barn away from her, she gave the older man a polite nod.
"Raphtalia tends to suffer from nightmares if I am not nearby, so it would be best if we share a room." Homura explained.
"Very well, I shall make sure a room is ready by the time you return."
P-*-*-*-H
Homura was so glad to have an actual bed to sleep in. While she didn't mind roughing it in the woods, she had done much worse several times, that didn't change the fact a good bed was much better than a makeshift sleeping bag from blankets. Another plus was that Raphtalia only had a few minor episodes throughout the night, no screaming involved. In fact, Homura might not have noticed had she not become such a light sleeper.
Waking up Raphtalia and making her start getting ready for the day, Homura herself got ready quickly so she could go make sure that Sakura had enough breakfast. She was glad two-fold that Sakura's appetite seemed to be settling for now, and that food she prepared could be stored in stasis in her inventory so it could theoretically be stored in there for years and be just as fresh as the day she put it in.
Homura gave a smile when Sakura gave out a cheerful, "Kue!", upon seeing her come in.
"Good morning to you too, Sakura." Homura greeted.
Walking up to the stall, Sakura bent her head down to get some morning pets from Homura. Homura smiled a bit more. She had never had a pet back in her own world, but she could understand why people had them if this was how they made people feel. Pulling out the occasional bit of food from her shield, she fed the young filolial between bouts of playing.
"I do not know how long you will have to stay here, but I promise it will only be for today." The magical girl muttered while petting Sakura, who made a sad sound. Even though it had been about a week, and it was probably due to the [Beast Tamer Seal], she still found it strange just how much Sakura seemed to understand everything she was told.
"If you behave, I promise I will make it up to you." Homura stated. Sakura gave a small whine like a small child. "Is that a deal girl?"
Sakura looked at her imploringly, not wanting to spend a whole day apart, before eventually nodding with a drawn-out chirp. Homura nodded back and patted the pink filolial on top of her head before turning and leaving the barn.
Making her way back to the farmhouse, Homura took a better look around now that there was daylight illuminating the house and the surrounding small town. The damage the town sustained in the fire was thankfully not as bad as she initially had feared. But even still, the signs of famine and economic struggles were also far more obvious. While this was not what she originally had planned when she was summoned to "Save the World", she would never deny that it wasn't a bad thing to help people when she could. It was time to get the story from Lord Ivyred.
Schooling her features, Homura pulled the extremely familiar mask over her face and feelings. Making her way towards where she sensed Raphtalia, she looked around the halls of the house. Matching the general condition of the town, Homura couldn't help but think that the halls and rooms she saw were more bare than would be normal of a Lord. Especially if the Lord were to be taxing the land into poverty. So that lent credence to the idea that Lord Ivyred was in this position by attempting to help his people.
When Homura finally walked through into the room where Raphtalia was in, she stilled at seeing who she had been talking to. A beautiful face that denoted being on the edge of her teenage years set with a petite body for her apparent age, an extremely shy expression with bright green eyes, green hair in an uncomfortably familiar set of low braided twin tails.
And having been buried under Raphtalia's growing light, Homura could finally feel that same "Spark" that the Incubator called [Potential] within the girl.
Doing her best to continue walking into the dining room, she had finally processed through the shock, and did her best to make it seem as if she hadn't been shocked for any reason. She noticed that unfortunately Lord Ivyred apparently had seen her stall at seeing his daughter, if the woman next to him was Lady Ivyred. Thankfully all he did was raise an eyebrow in confusion.
"Mistress Homura, you need to try some of Lady Ivyred's cooking! It's so good!" Raphtalia chimed excitedly at seeing her. Giving her a soft smile to encourage her to continue being so happy and open, Homura looked over the modest spread of food over the equally modest dining table.
"It certainly does look good Raphtalia, Lady Ivyred." Homura replied as she took an open seat next to her partner.
"Thank you very much for the compliment, Dame Akemi. Your companion said you were out feeding your Filolial. Is she doing well?" Lady Ivyred asked politely.
"She is. She was upset at having to sleep away from us. I will need to make sure to make some time to play with her outside of town today to make up for it." Homura replied. While she herself was not one for small talk, she was both a guest in their house and in the presence of technical nobility. Even if their demeanor and living conditions didn't denote that.
Lord Ivyred gave a loud laugh.
"Well then, I can point you out to a nearby lake in the fields that would be perfect for that later." he told her.
"Thank you, sir. I appreciate it." Homura gave a nod of thanks.
After that she finally took a bite of the eggs that she had grabbed from a dish in front of her. She stopped for a moment, amazed that something as simple as some scrambled eggs could taste so good. Finally swallowing, she turned her attention back to the green haired woman.
"Raphtalia was right, this is indeed really good Lady Ivyred. Would you be willing to maybe give me some tips before we leave?"
"Why certainly! It's such a small thing to teach to one of the Cardinal Heroes." Lady Ivyred laughed softly.
"Speaking of you leaving," Lord Ivyred interjected, "Do you know how long you plan to stay?"
Homura hummed softly in thought.
"Honestly, that depends." she answered eventually. "I did promise to look into helping out here. And short of killing more monsters to level up my party and gather materials, I had no specific plans to prepare for the Waves. I still know little about this world."
The Lord just looked interested, stroking his beard slowly.
"You were truly serious about helping my town?" he asked
Homura gave a sharp nod. "I always stick by what I say."
After looking her in the eyes, almost challengingly, for a moment, he finally heaved a sigh.
"Dear?"
"Papa?"
The two women in his family asked simultaneously at seeing him almost deflate and age several years with that sigh. Homura kept quiet for now.
"Well if you are serious about helping me, then I suppose I owe you that explanation from last night." he told Homura.
"It all technically started a few years ago. While we were not the most influential or powerful of nobility, we were generally well respected and much more well off financially than we are now." he began, leaning back in his chair. Steepling his fingers together on the dining table he looked like he was gathering his thoughts.
"Soon however, I noticed that more and more money was gone from our coffers than there should've been. It eventually reached the point where I had to pull Rishia, my daughter here," he gestured towards the older teen Raphtalia had been talking with, "from school in Faubley because we would not be able to afford her tuition.
"However, the problem continued. I couldn't find anything obviously wrong with the logs and transactions, and nothing that jumped out to me as creative bookkeeping. But a few weeks ago, I learned about a more powerful noble to the north in the Northern Territory that was using many illegal means to amass more money and political power. So I began to suspect that he had been responsible for it and used the majority of our remaining funds to raise our defenses just in case he made a move against us.
"But that seemed to have been the final nail in the coffin. Merchants and tradesmen have mostly stopped coming to our village, and with the famine and the lack of funds, my villagers are starting to feel the pain." He heaved a heavy sigh. Raphtalia was looking at him in shock and worry, while Homura herself kept her face as neutral as she could. Finally, he raised his eyes up to look at her in her own.
"I was right in my suspicions. I received a notice from him two nights ago. He claimed that he would help end our problems if I simply gave him Rishia. The 'Or else,' left unsaid." he turned his gaze out the window, to the charred remains of the field and buildings. "Then last night happened. I cannot in good faith tell my villagers that a rotten noble to the north set the crops on fire for my daughter after stealing all of our money. The revolt they would lead when we should all be standing united against the Waves." He shook his head.
"I cannot allow that to happen."
Homura turned her own gaze out over the fields, turning this new information over in her mind.
"I will admit I am not used to dealing with politics. I am more used to destroying my target and moving on to the next one to achieve my goals. The last thing I would want to do is attempt to abuse what power I may or may not have by taking out a corrupt noble. From what bit I do know in my own world that would be a fast way to have an assassination order put on my own head." Homura frowned in thought.
"I suppose I could seek an audience with the King. Explain the situation to him, and either make him deal with the problem, or get permission to handle it myself." She mused out loud.
When she turned back to look at the others in the room, Lord Ivyred was looking at her in a calculating manner, while the girls were looking at her in varying degrees of confused shock. Homura focused her attention back on the Lord specifically.
"Though I would worry about what may happen to the town, especially if it is found out what we were doing, after we left. There is nothing stopping them from ramping up to having 'bandits' destroy and raze your town to the ground, conveniently leaving no evidence." Homura told him. It made his face fall and worry creep into his eyes.
Homura blinked when she suddenly felt a few strong sources of magic come into her detection range. While they were still several kilometers out and approaching at a leisurely pace, Homura was worried about who it could possibly be. Two of them felt oddly familiar, but they were still too far away for her to do much else than identify that they were there.
Standing and turning to face the gate that they were approaching, she felt her combat mask sliding into place. Raphtalia also shifted into her still building combat mindset at seeing her Mistress grow serious.
"Raphtalia, please go grab our gear and prepare yourself and Sakura for fighting humans." Homura received a quick sound of acknowledgement as she ran off quickly to do as directed.
"What is it Madam Shield?" Lord Ivyred asked as he stood from his chair, his face growing serious.
"I sense several strong magical energies a few kilometers away from your western gate." Homura answered. "I do not know if they are hostiles or not yet, but it is better to be prepared."
Giving him a small bow, she continued, "If you would like to accompany me and my party, you are welcome to. This is your town after all, I am just taking precautions against a continuation from last night."
P-*-*-*-H
About 40 minutes later found Homura and Raphtalia riding in a two-person saddle on Sakura that Lord Ivyred had been kind enough to provide. By their side standing on the ground next to the guard shack was Lord Ivyred and the man posted to stand guard.
Gazing out down the road, about a half kilometer away Homura could make out a group of five heading their way. Two of them looked familiar to her unfortunately, even if they were wearing different armor.
Itsuki Kawasumi, the Hero of the Bow.
Malty Melromarc, the Princess of Melromarc and her accuser.
Fantastic.
Homura took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was not allowed to kill her fellow heroes and their companions for being idiots.
"Well it appears that it is the Bow Hero and his party." Homura announced to the people accompanying her. "May as well go greet him before he makes a scene at the gate." she muttered to Raphtalia who gave a confused nod.
"We shall go greet them, Lord Ivyred. Please wait here for us." Getting a raised eyebrow but a nod in affirmation, Homura gently urged Sakura forward.
Sakura let out a happy "Kue!" before making her way to the group heading into town. Homura narrowed her eyes slightly when she saw Malty and the large man in full plate armor grab their weapons, but Itsuki was quick to put his arm out to the side and stop them.
"Well, I didn't expect to see you here Akemi." Itsuki called out when he deemed her close enough. Homura let Sakura get closer so she wouldn't have to raise her own voice.
"Hello Kawasumi-senpai. Me and my party happened to have been passing by a nearby town when we were asked if we could deliver some good here. We had no reason to refuse so we made our way here." Homura responded to his unasked question. She smirked a bit in her head as she looked down at him from the back of her tall Filolial and saw him get frustrated about it.
"May I ask what brings you and your party here? According to Amaki-senpai, you were planning to head west to gather materials." Homura countered him, getting a frown in response.
"We were talking to some townsfolk over in Rabier territory not long after we left the Capital. They told us about a corrupt noble up in the north that had been making trouble for more and more territories since just before the first Wave. I decided to head up there and handle him myself. It's our job as heroes to make sure Justice is delivered properly!" Itsuki explained, not seeing a reason to lie to a fellow hero about delivering Justice, even if he felt she needed her own deliverance.
Homura frowned down at him. 'He's letting his power go to his head and believes it gives him authority without actually making sure.' she thought to herself. Her eyes darted over to the smirking princess. That would explain things. Now how to convince him to not be an idiot without setting him off?
"I see." she said after a moment. "I myself just learned about this noble a bit ago after talking with Lord Ivyred, who is in charge of this territory. We were just about to talk about how to help him when I sensed you and your party in the distance and decided to come meet you.
"Would you like to come to his home and work out a plan with us? Two heroes have a better chance than just one, would you not agree?" She asked. Hoping that he could see some reason and work with her, rather than blindly following 'Justice' like Sayaka tended to.
Homura watched Itsuki and the responses of his party. Malty and the tall man in armor both frowned, not liking the suggestion of working with her. Itsuki's two other companions, a blonde spear user and another redhead wearing a black cloak that gave off the air of a mage looked conflicted, wanting the assistance but not with her. Itsuki himself looked reasonably contemplative.
"This town was attacked by arsonists last night right before I arrived. Me and my party managed to stop the spreading of the fire on the crops while the townspeople put out the buildings. According to Lord Ivyred, this was after receiving what essentially amounts to a ransom notice from the noble." Homura chipped in, hoping to bring Itsuki more firmly on her side.
Thankfully that seemed to be the right words to say.
"Very well Akemi. I'm willing to work out a plan with you and Lord Ivyred. Maybe you can atone for your sin of assaulting Malty by helping save these poor villagers." Itsuki said, gesturing grandly towards the village.
Homura bit her tongue to keep from lashing out at him, and she turned back towards the gate, doing her best to keep her frustration from leaking into her voice. It wouldn't do to act like a child in front of the Bow Hero and his party.
"Lord Ivyred is waiting by the gate for us with Sakura's carriage. We will escort everyone back to his home and come up with a plan." she said in explanation. "We will go ahead and get ready. See you shortly Kawasumi-senpai."
Without waiting for a response Homura urged Sakura into a run, literally leaving Itsuki and his companions in the dust.
P-*-*-*-H
Not long after, Sakura pulled the carriage up to Lord Ivyred's farmhouse. Homura fought to keep the smirk off her face as she watched Itsuki's dirt covered party climb out of the carriage grumbling, doing her best to ignore the uncomfortable look Raphtalia was shooting her way. Almost as if she was conflicted on whether or not she should be smug about it like Homura was, or to chastise her for improper decorum. It was probably ultimately the fact that Homura managed to keep her face mostly calm that kept Raphtalia from speaking up.
"I apologize for Sakura earlier, Kawasumi-senpai. She hatched barely a week ago, and is learning proper manners." she explained, her voice utterly calm. Itsuki shot her a slightly dirty look.
"If she hatched a week ago, how is she already full grown?" he ground out.
"Ah, apparently monsters and demi humans age up as they level." she explained. A part of her was interested at the fact that this was probably not something in his game. "She is now Level 18. So while not completely full grown as she is still a few levels short from what I was told, the experience gained from most of the monsters in the area has become negligible."
Lord Ivyred whipped around in shock. "Your Filolial reached Level 18 in only a week?!"
"Yes?" Homura said, curious about the shock the Lord was showing. She watched as he moved his jaw, as if trying to say words though nothing came out. Finally, he snapped his jaw closed with a click.
"So that is what the Legendary Heroes are capable of." he muttered. Homura got the impression that this sort of leveling curve was well beyond the norm. Which brought up the question in her mind.
What exactly is [Experience]?
Homura had no idea how relevant that question would be later on.
"There's a washroom you and your companions may use down that hall, Sir Bow Hero. It is the second door on your left. I will have my daughter wait here for you all to finish to escort everyone to the dining room." Lord Ivyred said, gesturing down the relevant hallway.
While her fellow hero's group went off to get cleaned up, Homura faced Raphtalia.
"Raphtalia, do you mind going out and playing with Sakura for a bit? She deserves it and I do not think that you would like to have to deal with Kawasumi-senpai or Princess Malty. I will make sure to explain everything to you later." she asked the raccoon girl.
Raphtalia made a conflicted face as she looked down at her Mistress. Looking into her eyes, she tried to figure out what was going on in her head, which she felt she was getting better at. Her Mistress looked annoyed and frustrated at the situation, but she could see the trust for her that was in her eyes. She also noticed that only a part of Mistress' attention was on her, as her eyes kept darting down the hallway that Sir Kawasumi's party had gone down, her eyes calculating.
'Mistress is trying to figure out how to get them to do what she wants them to do!' she realized. That thought was followed up almost immediately with the idea that maybe she felt Raphtalia would be an inconvenience at the meeting. But even as she opened her mouth to voice her opinion, her Mistress spoke first.
"It is not that I do not trust you Raphtalia. I do not trust them. While Kawasumi-senpai may not have anything against you, the others in his party are all citizens of Melromarc. It is likely that they hold some level of prejudice against demi-humans such as yourself. As it is, they already know about you being my partner. Between that and Kawasumi-senpai's dislike of me for the Princess' lies, I will have enough of an uphill battle as it is to convince them to not do something stupid. Please, go out and entertain Sakura. We will likely be leaving tomorrow." Mistress explained in that smooth, calm voice.
Raphtalia blushed slightly at being seen through so easily, and at being caught at thinking Mistress thought of her like her previous owner's had. Mistress Homura was definitely a role model for her, kind and guiding mentor that she was.
"Very well Mistress. I wish you luck!" Raphtalia chirped. Getting a nod, she turned and left the farmhouse. She would play with Sakura, but she would also make sure to stick close enough to the house with her sword. After all, you never knew if a meeting would go south, or how fast if it did.
Watching her partner run out of the house to go do as she asked, Homura sighed softly to herself. She couldn't blame the girl for the negative thoughts that she had often enough, because then she would just be a hypocrite. But she was serious, if she had to convince the group to not be stupid and go around killing nobles, then she didn't need to be trying to defend Raphtalia from some stupid prejudice.
Making her way to the dining room, she gathered her thoughts. Trying to work out a vague idea of how the meeting would go and how to handle it. The hardest part was clamping down on her desire to be blunt. Thinking back on her last several loops since she was summoned has made her realize that the way she began handling Sayaka and Mami had been a large reason for them being so confrontational. Because from their perspective she had started it.
That would not do here.
While she didn't have to sugar coat everything, she couldn't just call them idiots and chew them out. For one thing, she was physically younger than them, even if she had more life experience than them from all of the loops she had done. She had realized early on in her arrival here, that she would have to try and act older to be treated with anywhere near the same respect as the other heroes simply by virtue of age.
Remembering her brief conversation with Lord Ivyred this morning bought an idea to mind. 'That could work,' she thought to herself as she took a seat at the table, waiting for everyone else to appear.
Lord Ivyred was the first to enter, claiming his seat at the head of the table without pausing or asking questions. Then Rishia opened the door and bowed, letting Itsuki and the Princess enter followed by the others before entering herself. Homura watched as everyone took seats, Itsuki directly across from her, the Princess to his right and the man in armor to his left. Rishia stood behind and to the side of her father, hands clasped in front of her as she looked down at the floor.
"Well I guess I should start with my own explanation to Sir Kawasumi." Lord Ivyred began, then proceeded to explain the same thing he had this morning. Homura was partly glad to see the fury that burned in his eyes, and equally annoyed at seeing the dismissive look in both Malty and Armor's eyes.
'I wonder, is Armor some kind of nobility as well? Is he like the Princess or this corrupt noble? Does Kawasumi know, or is he being led around on a leash by the two of them?' Homura thought but knew now was not the time to raise those questions. She needed Itsuki to be more on her side before calling out his 'companions'.
"Now we definitely have to take care of him before he can do anything else to these people!" Itsuki claimed, standing suddenly, his eyes burning in righteous fury.
"What do you think will happen if we just go out and kill him, Kawasumi-senpai?" she asked, her voice soft but hard as steel. His eyes turned to her in confusion.
"Obviously, these people will be saved! Without the corrupt noble threatening and taxing everything, they'll have money again and can go back to peaceful lives!" he said these things like they were obvious. Homura could only sigh softly.
"What is stopping him from being replaced by someone equally or even more corrupt? What if a loyal follower of his puts out an assassination order on our heads? What if his knights revolt and attack and wipe out our party? Or do they begin killing villagers? What if he has magical explosives placed to bring his home down on whoever kills him to try and kill them as well?" Homura shot out one after the other. Itsuki flinched and stumbled back a bit with each one, his eyes wide as he had obviously not considered any of these possibilities.
"What if the King has you arrested and labeled a criminal for becoming a vigilante and using your perceived authority as a hero to begin killing nobles? What guarantee would he have that you were not holding the Princess hostage to take his head and crown? Why would he hold back on having such a dangerous hero put to the blade?" This last round of questions caused him to collapse back into his chair, his eyes wide in confusion.
"But...Malty said…" he started.
"The Princess has no authority." Homura interrupted sharply. "She is not responsible for any territory, and from the words I've heard on the grapevine, has been renounced for her younger sister by the Queen who is over the King in this country. The only power she has is what her parents will give her from listening to her words."
"We are Heroes, Kawasumi-senpai. We were not summoned to this world to begin killing off nobility because we want to. We were summoned to stop the Waves. If you want to help the citizens of this world, that is perfectly fine. But we have to remember that we can not simply do whatever we want." she continued, forcing her voice to not be as vicious.
"What do you think we should do then?" he ground out, clenching his bow tightly in his fist.
"Bring it to the King's attention. Likelihood is that this noble has kept his dealings out from the eyes and ears of the King, probably by extensive bribery and blackmail. The issue is that if this noble receives word of what we were doing, by myself with my small party, there was no guarantee that this town would still be here by the time I returned." Homura explained. "But if you were to stay here with your party for the maybe week it would take Sakura to make the round trip and defend the town, then I would be much more confident in leaving."
Homura watched as Itsuki turned the idea over in his head, meanwhile Armor stood and slammed his hands on the table.
"You think we'll stay here while you go off gallivanting to get out of this?!" he exclaimed. "How do we know this Shield Demon didn't start the fires herself?! What if she's trying to trick you into letting your guard down so she can have you killed Sir Itsuki?!"
Itsuki could only turn his head in shock to his companion, eyes wide in shock.
"What are you talking about Mald?! I might not like Akemi for assaulting Malty like she did, but why would she want us killed?"
Homura's eyes darted over to the Princess and caught her smirk. So that was the plan. This 'Mald' was apparently just the Princess' mouthpiece, and helped her manipulate the Bow Hero. Time to try and nip this on the bud.
"If you would prefer, Mister Mald, I can watch this town while you with the rest of Kawasumi-senpai's party make the trip back to the capital to inform the King. But I wonder if you would even be able to make it back in time before the next Wave." Homura said, noticing Itsuki glance to the upper corner of his [Status Menu].
"She's right Mald. We would be cutting it awfully close since we only have 16 days left before the next Wave." Itsuki cut off Mald before he could respond. "While I don't know what's gotten into Mald, I'm confident that we're more than strong enough to deal with whoever may show up here. So even if you were planning on having us killed here, I don't think they'll be able to manage it."
The not so subtle ego stroking seemed to bring Mald under control as his angry, red face turned into a smug one, his nose lifting up as he glared down at what he probably thought of as a weak little girl.
Homura wanted to punch his face in but knew that with her shield it wouldn't do anything to help her. Besides launching him halfway across town.
"I have no doubt you can survive anything someone tries to throw at you right now, Kawasumi-senpai." Homura managed to get out without letting her real feelings show through. If all it took was stroking some ego to get him to cooperate, then Homura could stroke some egos here and there. At least it was easier than killing her friends to protect Madoka.
After that, they spent some time ironing out details. Homura would ride Sakura and take Raphtalia and Rishia with her. Rishia was coming along mainly to talk to the King in Lord Ivyred's place, but also so Homura could try to convince her to join her party. She desperately needed someone knowledgeable about this World with her group, it was starting to become a struggle. Plus she was curious to figure out exactly what this [Potential] was, and if it could be taken advantage of to prevent Madoka from contracting when she returned.
Homura managed to also drag out the fact from Itsuki that she needed to see the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era in the Church to be able to travel to the Wave when it occurs. That would've been nice information to receive in the beginning.
While they made the trip back to the capital at top speed, Itsuki and his party would assist in whatever ways they could around town, while being ready to fight off anyone suspicious. Malty and Mald try to protest helping the 'common folk', but Itsuki managed to convince at least Mald.
"Being a Hero of Justice isn't just about smiting evil, we must also always be ready to help someone in need." He had said. While it was enough to frustrate Homura, the sentiment itself she could understand and partly agree with.
They would be setting out first thing tomorrow morning. For now, Homura left to go spend some time with Sakura and Raphtalia. She was a bit surprised when Rishia decided to join them, but happy nonetheless.
OMAKE! Warning, minor spoilers for volume 17/18 of Rising of the Shield Hero Light Novels
"Something to Do" by Orajje
Homura cooked some food for herself and Sakura, and Raphtalia. She'd had to do so frequently recently, and had just apparently leveled up her "cooking skill" halfway through this attempt. She narrowed her eyes, but continued. Did that mean item synthesis would work with cooking? She hadn't really looked at that menu much as the only items she would want synthesized were ones she would want to be higher quality. Hmm, she would have to finish this first and check.
After preparing the meal and handing it out, she looked through her menus while eating and found that she could. How convenient, she'd be able to save time, even if this meal tasted noticeably better- "Hey mistress," she looked up to Raphtalia. "This tastes really good!" she exclaimed with a smile on her face right before digging right back in. Sakura quickly agreed enthusiastically before doing the same.
Homura looked down at the item synthesis menu, then back up at the two girls. Both of them were so happy about something so minor...
She sighed. They were working for her. Fighting for her. So the least she could do was cook for a while every day. At least it probably wouldn't be too hard to work on medicines and other things while waiting for food to be cooked.
Much later, she narrowed her eyes at the upgrade method the mirror weapon unlocked. "Food levels". At least her cooking skill was already unbelievably high. So she could just take the power boost and get done with it quickly. But having something like this actually become useful…? She decided to not think about it. Video game mechanics being real was already nonsensical, this was just an extension of that, so it didn't really matter.
P-*-*-*-H
She was finally back. Finally able to save Madoka again. This time with someone who would help her. Raphtalia had come with her.
She also kept all of her skills, magic, and shields. The only things she couldn't bring were Sakura and her levels. Which still made her Monumentally more powerful than she used to be.
The problem being that she was more used to cooking for large groups, or at least larger groups. Which wasn't much of a problem at first as she could just save extra food in her shield for later, but it became one when she realized she'd horribly overfilled her lunch for the first day at school.
Then when she got there she realized it had also been two years since the last time she'd met Madoka, so she just relied on what little skill in communication she'd managed to gain when talking to her. Which was… a little easier than it used to be. The time spent away had allowed her to heal. Just a little. So it didn't fill her with quite as many emotions when she had to hear Madoka speak again, and in the end, she ended up asking to join Madoka and her friends for lunch.
She knew better than to rely just on herself now. So she'd have to do her best to make them trust her.
As she sat across from her former friends and pulled out her meal, they all looked at her meal questioningly, and with a little bit of envy. Presumably because of how well made it looked. "Are you really going to eat all of that?" Sayaka questioned.
She sighed, and responded. "No, I accidentally made too much this morning and didn't realize I had overfilled mine until I had to leave." Madoka seemed to be staring at it, causing her to raise an eyebrow in confusion.
Madoka quickly looked embarrassed and panicked. "Ah! I'm sorry! It just looked so delicious I couldn't help staring…"
She lowered her eyebrow, and responded in her normal neutral tone as the other two watched. "If you want, you may have some. I have plenty of extra." Sayaka quickly made a betrayed sound, and even Hitomi looked a little disappointed. Causing her to sigh. "You can both have some to." which immediately cheered both of them up.
Then they all took a bite, and looks of… amazement crossed over their faces. "This is delicious Homura!" they all said, at the exact same time.
It was a little unnerving how synced it was, but she was happy Madoka was happy. When she asked whether they would like her to continue bringing some extra food, Madoka tried to disagree, but after she said it wasn't an inconvenience, and cooking was a soothing act for her, Madoka caved. The other two just heartily agreed.
Many things happened throughout the timeline, but lunch with her friends became… standard. Routine even, and they always said her cooking was some of the best they had ever tasted. She just neutrally let their compliments pass over her. She was happy with the affection, but she was only halfway responsible for her cooking mastery. So she didn't quite feel like she deserved the praise for her skill. But she did agree the food was good. Her cooking skill was maxed after all.
She didn't get why Madoka seemed to get even more friendly around her then she remembered, especially after she killed Walpurgisnacht. She didn't quite understand why she kept dragging her around to so many places, often with just the two of them, but she never complained. How could she complain about finally being able to hang out with her best friend without worrying about some horrific fate?
Although she did feel a spike of jealousy when she overheard a conversation between Madoka, Hitomi, and Sayaka when she entered the class once. A conversation where Madoka said she actually had someone she was interested in. But Homura ignored it. She was happy with whatever Madoka gave her, and she would let her be with whoever she wanted. She wanted Madoka to be happy after all.
Which was why she was surprised when Madoka confessed to her. Confessed how she was amazing at everything she did, how she was amazing, how she had kept her promise and saved her. She also confessed about how much she loved her cooking, repeatedly, to the point that Homura remembered just how food focused Madoka could be from some of the better timelines. Madoka then continued on how all those amazing qualities made homura the girl she loved.
… ah.
Maybe cooking was worth something more than a tool or way to pay back those who followed her.
Later, when she told Raphtalia what happened, she laughed at her, then asked Madoka if she could join the relationship.
Homura just buried her face in her hands at these two food lovers.
A/N: So this is about 2 weeks later than I had been planning on posting this. But Happy late Thanksgiving for my US readers!
This is the first omake for PotH and it was written by my friend Orajje after talking about some of the shenanigans from the newest light novels. It was to good for me to not share it, so with his permission here it is. He occasionally posts PMMM fics to AO3 under the same name, I definitely recommend checking him out. Especially Consequences! The plans he has for that one are GLORIOUS!
Same note, for my readers who prefer the format of AO3, I have cross posted the story over there and will update it at the same time I update the story here!