So, here's the twelfth chapter. By the way, sorry it took a while to publish this chapter. I'm going to publish more chapters of this story, but who knows? By the time this is done, with only season 1, mind you, unless I really want to fix season 2, years would have probably passed. So… let me get this done, and end well, mind you, so that I can continue with other projects. Let's get into the twelfth chapter of Rising of a True Hero, where… Let's say conflict arises between our two main characters. Also, I will try to have a more consistent publishing schedule, but I can't promise anything.

I took a deep breath.

It felt… like I wasn't being suffocated.

But I tried not to show it to anyone. I kept a neutral face as I walked into the grasslands.

'We have 45 days till we face that hell again.'

I smiled.

We had time to prepare. We had time to level up and get stronger.

So many people had given us gifts, from Lute village.

Raphtalia's smile… stuck inside my brain.

Which made her current expression all the more confusing.

I looked over at Raphtalia, who seemed on edge, almost... trigger happy.

"Raphtalia? What's wrong?"

Jumping out of her focused state, she looked at me with a slight blush on her face.

"Oh, nothing, Lord Naofumi."

'If it was nothing, why does she seem so tense?'

'If she wanted to tell you, she would have. She's fine.'

I got pissed off at both of the voices in my head.

"Okay, Raphtalia. Let me know when you're ready. I won't force you into telling me what's going on."

I almost acted like a father to her.

Almost… acted.

She nodded as the filolial followed us from behind.

I looked back towards… the "monster."

If anything, it looked like a white-feathered flamingo.

'Though, I hope we can level the filolial up. She doesn't need a weapon to protect Raphtalia when I'm gone. She'll keep her safe.'

'Did you ask what she wanted? Whether she wanted you to leave?'

'What? You think she wants you?'

The voices in my head soured my mood.

Then… I felt something as we finally went to the swamp we were after. The monster we were looking for

'Holy shit.'

In front of my eyes was a frog. It towered over me, Raphtalia, and the filolial we had with us.

It locked its black eyes at us and hopped like hell was chasing the monster.

"Holy shit!"

I locked into a defensive stance.

"Raphtalia, stand back! Behind me!"

Her fists tightened on the sword she was holding onto.

"I'm… going!"

My eyes shot up to her running forward with her sword.

"Wait! Listen to me!"

I tried to grab her and pull her back. But she ran too damn fast for me to grab her.

She tried slicing it, but the beast didn't even flinch.

'What is happening?'

I only looked in horror as she continued to fight, with something almost possessing her to keep fighting and to ignore anything else.

She continued to slice to try to kill the beast but to no avail.

Meanwhile, I was stuck in my head, trying to figure things out.

'What are you doing?! Rush in and stop the frog!'

'No! Be smart about this! She is your slave! You are her master! You need to look out for yourself first!'

I almost felt disgusted by what the voices said in my head.

"Come on…"

I was looking, constantly, for an opening. I needed to pin it down.

Then… Raphtalia backed off, exhausted. Her lungs needed air, but she didn't give herself time to breathe. She looked back at me,… with rage in her eyes.

I could tell… some of that was directed towards me.

But I didn't give a damn at that moment.

She backed off, and I ran in, pushing to get myself fast.

'God damn it.'

The frog, instead of being focused on Raphtalia, now focused on me.

In a few moments, the frog went limp, and in a few more… the giant frog fell to the grounds of the swamp.

It collapsed… making the swamp heave with its death.

"Raphtalia!"

She looked at me with fury.

"Lord Naofumi! We have the entire world waiting for us! We can't afford to lollygag!"

'Who even says lollygag anymore?'

I destroyed that thought before it would ever leave my lips.

"RAPHTALIA! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED! WHO'S GOING TO SAVE THE WORLD THEN?!"

She didn't even flinch with my increased tone.

"WE HAVE TO FACE THREATS WHEN THEY ARISE! THE NEXT WAVE, WE WON'T HAVE TIME TO ANALYZE THE SITUATION, AND MAKE A PLAN!"

She and I continued to yell at each other, without caring for what was happening around us.

Both of us were screaming, yelling over each other.

"SO WHAT?! YOU WANT TO FUCKING THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY FOR THAT?!

YOU AREN'T GOING TO HAVE A SECOND CHANCE!"

"WE CAN'T AFFORD TO SIT STILL! WE HAVE ONLY A MONTH AND A HALF TO COMBAT THE NEXT WAVE! MORE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE THAN ME IF WE DON'T BECOME STRONGER!"

"YOU CAN'T BECOME STRONGER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD!"

Another frog emerged from the swamp, and this time, I dodged it, pinning it down.

Raphtalia cut through the other monster, a salamander of sorts, not caring for the monster I tried to pin down.

Within a few moments, both the salamander and the frog laid to rest and crushed the floor under their bodies.

But there was still that anger in her eyes, and equally so for me.

I couldn't swallow it down and act normally again.

We continued to fight our own set of monsters.

But, after the sun went down the horizon, I set up camp.

We quietly ate and quietly slept.

We didn't talk that much throughout that night, with the words we said to each other still lingering in our heads.

'Damn it…'

'She's your slave. You shouldn't encourage insolence.'

'She's a person. You care about her. You should listen to her.'

I didn't agree with either of the voices in my head, but it was the only thing that kept me awake and made me able to slay the monsters that approached our camp.

Soon, dawn broke, and Raphtalia rose from her sleep.

"Lord Naofumi… you should rest."

Her eyes were soft and comforting, nowhere near the anger from yesterday.

"No, I'm fine." I didn't look her in the eyes for long. "Let's go."

Silently, I put away all of the items in our camp, without saying a word to, or even looking at, Raphtalia.

My throat felt tight, like a vice around my neck, with the painful silence. But I meant what I said.

She wasn't going to die.

Not under my watch.

She would live a long life after me. With a family, friends, and a better person than I was. She'd have the filolial as her pet and would be smiling at… someone different than me. Maybe she would kiss the guy or girl. I wouldn't know.

I didn't know what she was thinking at that moment.

Maybe something similar. Maybe something completely different.

But, at that moment, I couldn't tell or even guess.

Because she... was her own person.

Not… my slave.

And that's it. Sorry, it's not long, but I feel like if I made it longer, I'd be padding it out and making it unnecessarily long. Plus, it really addresses a major gripe I had with the series, and that's the fact that their relationship doesn't have any conflicts or anything like that. Generally, I actually liked the manga the best because it gives a diversity of thoughts to Naofumi and has amazing character designs. Still, I really liked this in the light novel, where Naofumi actually fights with Raphtalia. If the anime adapted this… My saltiness with the adaptations in general aside, thanks for reading.