A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero
Note 2:
("Human/Speech")
("Thoughts")
(Attacks/Weapon names)
(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)
(Actions/POV)
(Titles/Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)
(Narration & Everything else)
('Demonic Speech')
("Demonic Thoughts")
Hero And Fighter Chapter 21
Remote Village
6/6/0000: 1500
Third Person: Omni
"Mother, I got the medicine." The filial son held the medicine between his two hands as Naofumi stood in the doorway. She coughed a bit as she tried to turn her head to her son.
"You go boil some water, I'll administer the medicine," Naofumi said as he arrived at the side of the other man in the room.
"But…" Naofumi could tell he was hesitant.
"Think of it as a free service," Naofumi said with a calm tone, already thinking about his medicine enhancement. The man just nodded and gave the vial of potion to Naofumi before leaving the room. The older woman was facing away from him as she coughed.
Naofumi administered the potion orally, tipping the contents into her mouth slowly for her to drink. When it was all empty, she glowed briefly.
"Why thank you." The older woman was still a bit weak, but some moderate exercise would fix that. The other man returned to the room with a cup of hot water on a tray.
"Mother! The medicine is helping already?" He was surprised at the woman sitting up inside the bed. She looked far better than when he left the room to boil some water as Naofumi asked.
"Yes. The pain went away in an instant." She replied to her son in a matter of fact tone.
"Thank you." She nodded to the young man who administered her medicine. Naofumi just smiled slightly in return. He quietly inspected her while she was moving, no complications or side-effects it seemed.
"I'll be outside waiting," Naofumi said before leaving the room to the parent and child. He stood beside Filo who was standing watch at the house's front door. He observed the sunset while standing beside her. They waited for several minutes for the man to gather something equal to a silver coin.
"Um… What kind of magic did you use?" The man asked Naofumi as the hero in question mounted the large bird.
"Trade secret," Naofumi said with an enigmatic tone.
"Oh yeah, here. It should amount to 1 silver." The man brings up the bag that he had prepared for payment. Naofumi looks at the food: potatoes, carrots, and some jerky.
"This will work, see you later." Naofumi uses the strap on the bag to hang it on his left shoulder. He has Filo start trotting at a slow pace.
"Thank you very much!" The man said to the back of the bird rider. Naofumi just waved his hand behind himself while he had Filo go faster when his hands held the reins once more.
"Carrying passengers is also a good way to get money huh…" Naofumi said while riding into the sunset atop Filo. He got a text from Elena, the girl that was now acting as Motoyasu's voice of reason.
"Gosh darn it Motoyasu…" Naofumi said as he read through the message and the provided text. It showed a young woman with green hair and blue eyes. She looked quite distraught. He quickly read over what it said, finding out she would be sold as a slave and where to find her.
"Have to talk to Senka later," Naofumi noted to himself as he replaced the phone without much issue despite the riding on Filo jostling him around quite a bit.
"Remember, we got cargo, Filo." Naofumi reminded the bird that was carrying him. She made a noise in acknowledgment before carefully speeding up, making sure that he was stable enough for the food inside the bag to not come flying out.
Forest Road
6/9/0000: 1000
"To think that I would be traveling alongside the Saint Of the Heavenly Fowl." The older man inside the carriage said while sitting across from Naofumi, his closed eyes and a smile on his face gave the impression of a kind merchant. Naofumi had been going to various villages and towns to trade stuff and gained quite the pretty penny.
"Saint Of The Heavenly Fowl?" Naofumi asked, the new title that came from the people was quite strange to him. The others of his party sat among the seats, with the addition of the recently enslaved Elena.
"You are quite well known around these parts." The merchant that Naofumi brought along with him said.
"Traveling in a carriage drawn by the god of domesticated birds. Our saint travels across the land to treat the sick with his medicine." Naofumi almost sighed, he implored the people to whom he sold medicine to never reveal his identity as the shield hero… and this is what he gets? Well at least it was not some extremely embarrassing title, he could live with Saint.
"Am I a god?" Filo asked while turning her head to the side in order to see with her left eye. And she completely forgot the warning Naofumi gave her.
"Hey! Didn't Naofumi say not to talk when strangers are around?" Raphtalia quickly reminded the command that Naofumi gave.
"Sorry." Filo was of course apologetic for her bird brain forgetting information such as this.
"She can talk as well? That's the god of domesticated birds for you!" The man said with a smile as he looked out the front of the carriage.
"She is not even a goddess." Naofumi just mumbled… He already got the feeling that there was some kind of filorial goddess or something in the world. Melina who heard him say that just smiled in amusement.
"Naofumi-Sama, we have people up ahead, they are blocking the path," Raphtalia reported like usual. Naofumi just nodded in response, getting upfront to see outside as the carriage slowly reaches a stop in front of the large group. The rest of the girls started preparing for the imminent fight that they will have to deal with.
"Woah, stop right there!" The group blocking the path had a man yell out to them.
"Strange bird you got there." The man in the center of the group said, Naofumi already got the feeling that they were bandits of some kind. Naofumi motioned behind him, Eclair and Elena would stay in the carriage to protect the merchant if they were to get out.
"We heard an accessory seller was hitching a ride with you." The man explained. The merchant in question leaned behind Naofumi to look at the group that was talking about him.
"We know he is here." The man said as the merchant once again hid deeper inside of the carriage with a sound of fright. Well, they were paid for him to ride with them, so it would not look good if they just let bandits take the man.
"Quietly hand him over, and we will spare your lives at least." Another man said, this time with blond hair and a shifty look, yeah, him saying that did not give a trustworthy feeling at all.
"Taking everything besides our lives?" Naofumi asked with a sigh.
"You are a pretty smart one kid." The one that spoke before said while leaning to get a better look.
"You have a number of pretty ladies in there… Looks like we can have some fun tonight." They all started laughing as Naofumi subtly motioned for Senka to see if there were any groups of shadows near.
"Naofumi-sama, can I cut them down?" Raphtalia said with a cold tone.
"Do not kill or maim them just yet. Just do enough damage for me to heal if need be." Naofumi said with a sigh as he sat back down, ready to use Air Strike Shield or Shield Prison if need be, though he really did not need to do so.
"Filo as well!" The bird got out of her position as the main source of movement on the carriage.
"Don't even bother, we got a class upgraded bodyguard. Sensei, we are counting on you." The man with blond hair said as he stepped to the side after saying that and a man with long black hair stepped into the center. Looking edgelord as all heck, that reminded Naofumi that he needed to figure out what Ren was doing.
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and conceal me in a haze. Hide Mirage." Raphtalia quickly used her spell to disappear from sight, though it was more like bending the light around her. The bandits immediately went on alert.
"First Tornado." Filo finished her own spell just after, blowing a tornado at the group of enemies as Raphtalia quickly dispatched them in the confusion. In under a minute, they were all knocked down and in ropes with the help of Senka.
"Now then… tell us who sent yall after the merchant?" Naofumi said with his arms crossed.
"Some other trader told us to mug the guy that was traveling with you because he was carrying a bunch of nice stuff!" The one who spoke the most said.
"One of my own sold me out, huh?" The merchant that was traveling with them said while looking at every one of the bandits.
"What do you want to do with them?" Naofumi asked from beside the portly seller.
"Usually you hand them over to the city guards…" Naofumi could already tell they had thought of this.
"Kid, ain't you the Shield Hero? It is obvious cause you to have no weapons and only a shield." Naofumi was extremely calm about the insinuation that they would give.
"We are just some adventures viciously attacked by the cruel Shield Hero. Well, at least the story used to get the guards off of your backs?" Naofumi said with a disinterested tone, unnerving the smarter of the bandits… if there were any left in the group that is.
"Exactly, they would surely take our words over the Shield Hero's, especially if the rumors have already reached the town." The man who spoke to the traveling group first with a grin on his face. Naofumi just sighed as Senka makes a slight movement, showing that there were 3 shadows watching the proceedings.
"Filo, you hungry?" Naofumi asked the large bird, she already got what he was going for, despite having a bird brain, she is quite smart… at least when the matter didn't have food clouding judgment. The bandits look at the bird who had a menacing face at the moment.
"I am! Food!" She stares directly at the bandits, scaring them very much.
"You see, she is an omnivore and will eat just about anything with a gulp," Naofumi said with a clinical tone, almost as if announcing the expected result of an experiment that has happened thousands of times already.
"Aren't you the Saint of the Heavenly Fowl? Are you willing to commit murder?" The men were all panicking when they heard him explain her purpose.
"And that is a title that I was stuck with. Besides, if you want your lives… you could give me all you have…" Naofumi said with a bloodthirsty grin, despite never actually killing anyone, he never really wanted to. If they refused, he would just give them to the shadows to deal with.
"Sides, you know the saying, an eye for an eye, a life for a life," Naofumi stated matter of factly. And with that, they said everything like a pair of mockingbirds.
Bandit Base
6/9/0000: 1600
"Hurry it up, you are wasting time, Naofumi said while the bandits brought what they had, well everything they had besides the clothes on their backs. They were in a row to give the things to Naofumi who was in the carriage, though Naofumi already noted that getting another one along with another mount to go with it might be a good idea.
"Here are all the hidden valuables milord." Senka reported while bringing over various metals, weapons, gemstones, and cold hard cash. She was with Rino, teaching the green-haired slave how to spot hidden things.
"We're looting bandits? Doesn't that make us worse than them?" Raphtalia asked while looking at the line of bandits, many of which were devastated that their hidden stuff was discovered.
"You are wrong there. You see, they offered everything they had in order to buy back their lives from the shield hero." He said while the men kept giving boxes and rolls to the man in the carriage. They all had tears in their eyes.
"He's even treating their lives like merchandise. Sir Hero is a shining example of the trader's spirit that's so rare nowadays!" The merchant said with a smile. Melina just shook her head while making sure to appraise the things going into the carriage.
"I think this is more bold intimidation…" Eclair said while watching the proceedings. While she was in on
"Due to the unexpected circumstances. What will be your compensation for the trouble you caused?" Naofumi said while looking over at the merchant for a second.
"Yes, I offer you all the knowledge and connections I possess." The merchant said.
"Knowledge and connections?" Naofumi asked while setting a crate into the carriage as he once more stands at the back of the carriage.
"Yes, I've taken a liking to you." The merchant said with his perpetual smile. Remembering that he is a gem merchant, it would seem that Noaufmi would be learning things about gem craft with the man.
"Well, we have some gemstones to practice with if the girls want to finish up," Naofumi said while putting another item into the carriage. Raphtalia and Eclair quickly came over to get finish up for Naofumi.
"Alright then, what I will be teaching you is how to craft assessors." The accessory merchant started teaching Naofumi about how to refine metals, use the tools required, and how to cut gems along with imbuing them with mana. Senka brought some of the less expensive gemstones for them to practice on.
"Let's try refining some ore." The merchant saw the light metal ore that was given as the reward for winning the race and saving the village of Lute. Both of the men quickly boarded the carriage and started teaching and learning respectively.
The ping of a new message from Elena reminded Naofumi of the world besides learning how to craft accessories. He looked at the merchant who just nodded in understanding. They could end off for the day right now anyway.
Naofumi quickly looked at the new messages sent by the woman. A chest with the words of warning about unsealing a cursed seed and the chest in an open and empty state were the two pictures. A quick read through was enough to get the gist of it.
Motoyasu saved a village with the cursed seed but due to Malty's interference, they had to leave it. Another thing that Naofumi had to clean up at a later date, he would check after learning everything he could from the merchant.
Word Count: ~2500
Date Completed: 12/29/2020
Note: Sorry for the late chapter, I got caught up in work. But I hope you all enjoyed it.
Review Corner:
FFN:
Dcraus: have you seen the new trailer of dungeon fighters online because I did and it was awesome.
Response: I haven't actually, should probably check it out soon.
AO3:
Nothing