In the castle's town
After getting a quick breakfast, Naofumi and the remainder of his party left for the town to meet up with the slave owner. Naofumi thought it would be a good idea to take it with them to test it out and see if it needed any repairs. They went at a speed that wasn't too fast but not too slow either as it was being pulled by Filo in her filolial form. The Shield Hero had asked Caboose to remain outside the wagon, not wanting a hole to appear where Caboose stood, and was surprised to see that the blue armored soldier was able to keep up with them without breaking a sweat.
It didn't take them a while to reach the town. As they entered, everything was the same as always. It was lively as civilians passed by doing their business, children playing, people giving looks of disgust at the Shield Hero as they passed them. But one thing that happened which took Naofumi by surprise was that a couple of children got around Caboose and began to ask him about his armor, which he responded with how cozy and protective it is against anything, even boulders. All of the toddlers were awed by how strong the armor was, a few even asked if they could wear the helmet very quick, which Caboose said yes to.
"Ok. Just be careful, I don't want my helmet to get scratched, it means a lot to me." he said as he took off his helmet, and lended it to a small boy. The children around him began to get excited.
"Wow. It's cool in here." the male toddlers said as he took in the interior of the helmet. "It feels like I'm looking into the world with new eyes."
"I know right. I felt the same when I first put it on as well." Caboose said with enthusiasm.
"Hey can I try it now." another boy asked.
"Sure thing." the blue armored soldier said as he removed the helmet from the first child and placed it on the other kid.
"It feels so cozy in here, makes me want to take a nap." the child said "Do you ever get sleepy in here, sir?"
"Yes, in fact I fall asleep in it during meetings, and dream about rainbows and talking unicorns." Caboose said as he began to imagine his own imagery of unicorns chasing him while screaming 'team killing fucktard'.
"Hey Caboose! Hurry it up, you're being left behind." Naofumi shouted, who was meters away from him.
"Oh right, I forgot I was here for something." Caboose realised as he popped from his imagination. "Sorry children, but I am gonna need my helmet back, I promise to be back and lend you my helmet some other time."
The children complained but let him take his helmet back. Once he finished patting each child's head and bid them farewell, he catched up to Naofumi and Filo.
"Caboose, remember we're here to get answers from the slave owner, not to mess around with kids, and to see if we could get Filo some clothing." Naofumi said as he turned to the blue soldier.
"I know, but they seemed to be happy to see me, so I decided to talk with them a bit. And I couldn't just say no when they asked if they could see my helmet. It's fair to let their curiosity be answered." Caboose said with a matter of fact tone.
"Oh really, so if I were to ask to wear your helmet, or use Freckles, would you allow that?" the Shield Hero asked with an arch eyebrow.
"Of course, we are in the same team, so it'll be fair to let you use them as well. It's like me asking Raphly if I could use her sword she carries around. Sharing is caring." Caboose said as he walked up to Filo.
"Of course he'll say that." Naofumi said as he sighed.
"So how are you holding up Filo? You know with the wagon on your back and pulling it." the blue soldier asked.
"I am absolutely happy, thanks for asking, Caboose. And to be honest, I love pulling the wagon, it makes me feel strong." Filo said with a happy chirp. "What about you, you seem to be well for keeping pace with us as we come into town."
"I am great, I ran a lot when I was young, and when I joined the military they always made us do obstacles, run laps, and a lot of push ups. My captains will always tell me that I could have finished first on pushups if I had counted correctly, so that means I had done a lot of them." Caboose stated.
"Wow, that sounds amazing. Can we do these pushups together, if you have the chance, please?" the filolial asked.
"Sure thing, just letting you know, I could go on forever." he said.
'So I could make Caboose do push ups, and he won't cause trouble. Perfect." Naofumi thought. "Oh we are here, Filo you can stop here." They had stopped in front of a blacksmith workshop, who Naofumi is very familiar with.
"This doesn't look like a circus like the one from a few days ago." Caboose 'noticed'.
"That's because it isn't, Caboose I want you to stay here." Naofumi said as he got off the wagon and stood in front of him. "And when I mean stay here, I mean it. Don't go wandering around, or get yourself lost. I still wanna do things before the end of the day, and I'll rather not spend it on time looking for you because you chased a ball down the street." ,which Caboose stayed staring towards an orange ball a child was kicking then immediately turned to look at the Shield Hero.
"That's not true." Caboose said.
"Just promise me you'll stay here, ok." Naofumi said.
"Ok then, it's a pinkie, cross my heart out promise." the blue soldier said with enthusiasm as he crossed his heart and took out his pinkie.
"Right." the Shield Hero said with a sigh as he interlocked his pinkie with Caboose's. After that he got back on the wagon. "We won't belong, you can wait out here if you want, just don't go anywhere, or go inside and tell the owner you're waiting for me. Got it?'
"Sure thing." he said with a thumbs up.
"See you in a bit then. Alright let's go Filo, I'll tell you when to stop." the Shield Hero said as he took off with Filo.
"Master, why did you suggest Caboose stay behind?" Filo asked.
"Let's just say, he won't like what he'll see at the tent, and I might want to avoid murder. I got enough on my plate as of now. I don't want to be held responsible for murder that I didn't commit." he answered, having many images of Caboose going on a rampage at the tent. "Promise me you won't tell him what happens at the tent, for his sake."
"Ok then, I promise I won't tell him. Cross my heart out." she said as she mimicked what Caboose did.
"You learned it from him?" Naofumi asked with a small smile.
"Mmmph." Filo responded.
"Well, it ain't far from here, just a bit more." he said as they neared the alleyway to take towards the tent.
Timeskip
Once they had arrived, Naofumi told Filo to get beside the wagon facing the tent,and transform to her child form to cover her with his robe. From there, they entered and met up with the slave owner for information and a special crest, which Filo resisted due to the agony she felt. After that subsided, Naofumi paid the slave merchant, and took an oversized cloth that was laid on top of a crate. He wrapped around Filo as they left the tent and headed towards the blacksmith workshop. They left behind the wagon at the tent to take it out once they were finished with their time in the town.
When the blacksmith workshop was in view, they noticed Caboose wasn't outside. Naofumi began to hope that Caboose went inside, which was answered with a sudden crash coming from the workshop.
"Well, at least we don't have to go look for him." Naofumi said with a tired sigh as both Filo and himself walked into the workshop to be welcomed to a mess of weapons littered around the left side and Caboose in a victory stance with a sword raised on his right hand.
"YES! I AM THE ALL GREAT AND POWERFUL MICHAEL J. CABOOSE! I DEFEATED THE ALL GREAT AND POWERFUL TU-" Caboose exclaimed as he turned around to see Filo with a face awe and Naofumi with a deadpan look "NOT FAULT, TUCKER DID IT!"
"At least you promised me you'll stay, maybe I should have asked you as well to not break anything." Naofumi said as he face palmed.
"He didn't break anything, but god have mercy if this was a store filled with glass because none of it would have made it out to be sold. Also he was able to cut my sandwich in half with a clean cut." said the blacksmith, which Naofumi leaned to the side to see. And just like he was told, there was a clean halved cut sandwich on the counter then he looked towards the man behind it.
The man was olive skin color, grey eye color, bald, black eyebrows, and chin beard. He has a scar that runs on top of his left cheek and stops towards his chin. He wore a grey shirt, single-strap brown leather apron, black leather gloves, black trousers, a side pocket belt, and light brown leather boots.
"Sorry for the mess, Erhard. But I'll rather him here than running around the town lost." the Shield Hero said as he looked back to Caboose stood still, trying to turn 'invisible'. "Caboose, please pick up the weapons and put them back in their place, carefully."
"Ok" the blue soldier responded as he began to pick up swords and battle axes off the ground.
"The fact that someone like him is in your party is good fortune with some repercussions to it as well. You don't have any idea of how much commotion this blue fellow has caused in this town." Erhard stated.
"What do you mean?" Naofumi asked as he walked up to the front counter while Filo helped Caboose with the weapons.
"After what happened at the arena, many people can't stop talking about him. 'The soldier that defeated a Cardinal Hero with his bare hands.' Also about some red floating orc that announced their presences. They're all saying this is an act of god sending one of his own to look upon the world that even the church is getting some nasty feedback for not knowing about this." the blacksmith said as the Shield Hero took it all in. "I should warn you though, there's been rumors of an attempt to assassinate him for his armor and weapon as well. Bandits and assassins have been seen gathering in the alleyways at night, planning their attempts. So watch yourself, because it ain't him I am worried about, it's your party that worries me.
"Believe me, Caboose won't even be touched by these guys, but I'll be more vigilant of my surroundings then." Naofumi said
"Now, who's the small girl? You just brought her to show off. You lolicon." Erhard said with a smirk.
"Wrong, I'm here to buy clothes." the Shield Hero said.
"How come?" the blacksmith asked.
"Watch, Filo turn into a filolial real quick." Naofumi said as Erhard gave a look of confusion.
"Ok, master." Filo said as smoke covered her whole entire body and a filolial came into view as the smoke cleared out.
"Oh god." Erhard said with a look of shock on his face.
"See. And each time Filo transforms into her filolial form, she rips through her clothes. So you got any special type of clothing that may help me with my situation." the Shield Hero asked.
"She must be a filolial queen then, and I thought they were but a myth. Lucky for you to have one by your side for aid." Erhard said in astonishment.
"I was surprised as well, didn't know these birds had some form of queen. Also she's level 19, I could just imagine how she'll be at 50. But other than that, you got any clothes for these types of situations?" Naofumi said 'I already got someone that's levels higher than me and Raphtalia. Now a bird that is stronger than me, but is ten levels below me.'
"Well sorry to break it to you, but I ain't got nothing on what you're looking for. You're gonna have to go to the dressmaker herself. She may know about these types of clothes you're looking for." the blacksmith said as he crouched behind the counter to grab something "Before you leave though, take this. Use it to cover her up, and don't worry about returning it. A customer left behind, so use it til she needs to transform." he finished saying as he handed over a light red and white collar blouse with yellow buttons.
"Well, at least I won't have to use my robe to cover her up." Naofumi said as he took the blouse.
"By the ways, what happened to your other companion?" Erhard asked.
"Oh, well let's just say her savior kind of still gave her a rough landing before she hit the ground." Naofumi answered as he nodded back to Caboose, who was trying to balance a sword by the tip of the blade as Filo watched from the sideline.
"Hope she didn't get injured, his armor looks hard. I'll say harder than a dragon's scale." the blacksmith said as he leaned towards the left side "Y'all can leave the rest of the weapons there, I'll pick em up."
"Ok!" both the blue soldier and child responded as they left the sword on the ground.
"I guess I'll be taking my leave then. Till next time then Erhard." Naofumi said as he waved off the blacksmith "Come on guys, we're gonna hit the dress maker's place next."
"Ok!" they both replied again as they followed pursuit. When they left the store, Erhard chuckled seeing the members walk off into the town.
'My lord, who knew that kid was gonna get a soldier of pure metal.' he thought to himself as he left the counter and headed towards the rest of the weapons laid on the floor 'I'll say things are about to get exciting around here.'
At the tailors
"Oh my god, she's so adorable." the tailor said as she looked over Filo "It's like she's an angel. Wait, she has wings on her back, so maybe she really is one?"
The woman had light brown hair which was her back side was tied to the back with a brown ribbon as her side fell beside her face. She has light brown eyes and fair skin. She wore a pinkish long sleeve blouse, which was under a brown apron that was tied towards the back by a ribbon and wore brown boots.
"Master am I cute?" Filo asked as she turned around to look towards Naofumi, who was sitting on a red covered stool.
"Don't ask me. Why don't you ask caboose, he seems much more likely to answer." Naofumi answered as they all looked towards Caboose, who was about to touch a red dress. "Caboose-" said person turned around "no."
"Ok." he responded as he went by Naofumi's side.
"Caboose, do I look cute?" Filo asked again.
"Awwww, of course you do. You look like one of my little sisters when she was 5." Caboose answered.
"You had siblings." the Shield Hero asked with a raised eyebrow.
"17 sisters, in fact." the blue soldier answered as he walked towards Filo and crouched down to her level.
"Oh god." Naofumi said with shock " I didn't know it was possible to have that many children."
"That'll explain why he answered like that then. He knows that if you compliment a child, they'll grow even prettier. I can see him being a good father already." the tailor said.
"Hmmmm, never thought of being a father before. Sounds fun, I think I'll give it a try. What do you think Freckles?" Caboose said as he turned his head to look at his assault rifle.
"You don't have children, Captain Caboose. How would you be a father without a child?" Freckles stated.
"What you mean, I see you as my child. At first you were my pet, and now I see you as my child because you are smaller than me." the blue soldier said.
"My data banks have no such information about what you just reported. Then yes, you may be a father, Captain Caboose." Freckles responded, not being able to find such information in his data banks.
"I must say, it is quite amazing to see this type of armor and that weapon on his back. I didn't know that weapons could even talk." the tailor said as she got up and walked towards Caboose and began to look over him. Caboose followed her around by turning his head "Armor that the knights wear looks as if they can be squashed by a boulder than this armor. The way it's bulky yet still comfortable to wear, I'll say that its even heavy to carry around. And the suit under it isn't even made to protect the wearer, but I'll enhance their movement. This is all just so fascinating!"
"Umm, yeah. Look as much as you want to look over his armor, I still need something from here." Naofumi said as he got up from the chair, causing the tailor to stop on her tracks and look at him "We want clothes that don't rip when you transform and can also go back to normal later."
"Oh right, is that what you are looking for?" she said, which Naofumi nodded his head to. "Do you have any magic thread?"
"Excuse me?" the Shield Hero said.
"Magic thread, the clothes you want are woven using thread made out of the wearer's own mana. In other words, it is custom made by the person that's going to wear it." the tailor stated "If you give me the magic threads, I'll make you the cutest dress ever!" she exclaimed, which Naofumi responded with a deadpan look.
"Well, unfortunately I don't have any magic thread, so we'll come back another time for the dress." Naofumi said as he turned around and walked towards the door "Come on guys, let's go. We got a few more places to stop by before we leave town."
"Ok!" they both answered again as they followed behind him.
'I get the feeling this is gonna be something continuous.' the Shield Hero thought.
"Master?" Filo called out to him.
"Yes Filo?" he responded as he turned his head to look at her.
"Are you my father?" she asked as she tilted her head.
"No, I am your owner." he answered.
"What about Raphtalia?" she asked.
"She's like my daughter." he answered back.
With Raphtalia
"Achoo" Raphtalia sneezed, but was met with back pain the second it came out "OWwwww, why? It was just a sneeze." she said as she held her back in pain. 'I hope this injury goes away fast.'
Back with Naofumi and the others
"Here we are, Caboose stay out here. I heard this is the place where an elderly woman knows about magic and other type of things related to it. So that means, there may be glass items insides or easily breakable objects, and I don't want you breaking something just because you decided to stare at it." Naofumi said
"Ok." Caboose responded.
"Freckles, if he tries to move, please remind him to stay out here." Naofumi said as he and Filo went inside.
"Affirmative, Naofumi." Freckles responded.
2 minutes passed by as Caboose and Freckles waited outside for Naofumi and Filo to come back. As he waited, the blue soldier continued to admire the view as civilians moved along with their daily routines or running an errand. The sun was now above the civilians as the shadows could only be seen under their feet.
"Hey Freckles, I have a question." the blue soldier called out to his assault rifle.
"In need of assistance, Captain Caboose?" Freckles responded.
"Do you think it's possible for me to learn magic?" Caboose asked.
"Negative." Freckles answered.
"Why do you say that? Do you think I can't learn magic?" Caboose complained.
"Negative, Captain Caboose. I have no information how magic works, or how it works in this world. You'll have to ask Naofumi for that, he may know if you can learn it or not." Freckles stated.
"That's true, but what if I can learn without needing to ask. Like in those TV shows I saw when I was younger, how the character was able to use his powers when he didn't even have them." Caboose said.
"Captain Caboose, that is but fiction. It isn't real." the assault rifle said.
"But we are fiction." Caboose answered.
"Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Logic isn't found. Logic isn't found. Error. Error. Error. Error." Freckles malfunction hearing Caboose's statement.
"Hey, you're malfunctioning again. Is it because of what I said, or you need repairs." Caboose stated as he unholstered Freckles off his back.
"Were back." the Shield Hero announced as they walked out the door of the store.
"How was it?" the blue soldier asked.
"Well, now I know what magic abilities I have also for Filo and Raphtalia. The store owner also gave me a magic grimoire for free as a favor from one of the villagers back in Lute. Guess saving that village really brought me a few good fortunes." Naofumi said, showing Caboose the grimoire. It was a brown and red leather book with a section to the bottom, which seemed that it was made of gold, for holding it.
"Neat, does it have pictures?" Caboose asked
"Probably, just to show how the spell works and all." Naofumi answered. "Well let's get going, there's still one more place to go before we leave town." he said as he began to move towards the right of the magic store.
"Ok." both Caboose and Filo answered again at the same time.
'Knew it' Naofumi thought.
"Hey, Nofu. Do you think I could learn magic as well?" the blue soldier asked the Shield Hero.
"Oh about that Caboose when I saw your stats,it would seem that you won't be able to because you don't have magic mana, and I really don't know if that means it is permanent or you can. So, it's kind of a mystery at the moment." Naofumi stated.
"Ohhhh. What does that mean?" Caboose asked, confused.
"I'll explain later because even I don't understand it." the Shield Hero said.
"Okie dokie." Caboose said as he continued to walk with Naofumi and Filo with Freckles still in hand.
As they walked, Naofumi turned his head to survey the area.To the human eye, it would seem he was looking around to see if there was anything good to get, but he was looking mostly at the alleyways between buildings, or behind stalls. There wasn't much to see out of the ordinary until they took a right. Between one of the buildings, he saw movement and noticed it was a brown robe figure running towards the other exit of the alleyway.
'He must have kept his eyes on us since we got here. We're gonna have to be careful when we leave town.' Naofumi mentally noted, stopping in front of Filo and Caboose. "Change of plans, you guys head back to the wagon. Filo, you'll lead the way. Caboose make sure to keep anyone suspicious away from the wagon and Filo. I'll keep going to where I wanted to go, I won't be gone for too long. I'll see you back at the wagon once I am finished." Naofumi said before walking away in the same direction they were walking.
"Ok! Caboose follow me." the child said before grabbing a hold of the blue soldier's left hand and led the way back to the wagon.
"Why can't I lead the way?" Caboose complained.
"You don't have memory of where the wagon is because everything seems the same to you, Captain Caboose." Freckles responded.
"What do you mean? Of course everything looks the same, the buildings are mostly the same color, height, and interior. There are only a few that are different, like that weapons shop we were at a little while ago." Caboose stated.
"Affirmative, however, those are shops that contain materials and resources while the rest is a market, inn, diner, or bar for regular civilians and soldiers." Freckles answered back.
"Wow, you know a lot Freckles. Have you been scanning the area as we moved along?" the blue soldier asked.
"Affirmative." the assault rifle confirmed.
Timeskip
Caboose and Filo arrived at the wagon 4 minutes and a half before Naofumi met up with them 5 minutes later with a book that was given to him by the herbalist. The book had a green diamond in the middle as it was surrounded by iron embedding as the cover. It was a token from the herbalist for saving his relatives back in Lute Village. The book has recipes for better medicines; however, the language written on it was something the Shield Hero couldn't recognize.
Once Naofumi arrived, Filo transformed back into her filolial form and got strapped back onto the wagon to take off. When they passed the castle walls and onto the entrance bridge, Naofumi looked back one more time to make sure no one was following them. Fortunately for them, no one was in sight behind them. They took the route alongside the mountain, to the right of Lute village, where the rumors of the 'The Savior of the Heavenly Fowl and The Moving Blue Mountain' begins.
"Filo has wind affinity! I blow away all the enemies! My job is to draw the carriage! To where my master says! If I find the spear guy, I'll send him flying with a full power kick! Caboose is my #1 favorite! I wanna be with him forever!" Filo sang as she pulled the wagon along the dirt road. Naofumi smiled and nodded his head when she mentioned Motoyasu as he sat at the head of the wagon.
"Nofe, about me learning magic?" Caboose asked as he ran alongside them.
"Oh right. Well, it's just mysterious at the moment. Because you are from another world, like me of course, but you weren't summounded like I was, you were brought here by Santa through a portal. And I don't know if that affects the way magic works in this world. Maybe you can learn it, but with your story it might take a while." Naofumi stated as he stuck his head out the left side of the wagon to look at Caboose 'Also because you may mix up words by reading it wrong.'
"Hmmm, makes sense. As long as that book has pictures, I can learn." Caboose said with a thumbs up.
'Wait is that even possible, learning just through pictures?' the Shield Hero thought. "Which reminds me, how the hell can you even keep up with us? And most of all, how the hell are you not tired? I know you are a soldier from the future, but it's impossible to run for a while, especially the fact that you don't drink much water as well."
"You'll be surprised. Remember how Tucker go-" the blue soldier was about to say before getting interrupted.
"D-Don't remind me, ever since that night, I don't think I could get my mind off it." Naofumi said as he waved both hands in front of him, trying to wave off the subject.
"Master, there's a man up ahead." the filolial called out to Naofumi to get his attention.
"Filo, stop right beside him." the Shield Hero told the filolial as they approached the man who seemed to be running out of breath.
They stopped right beside him as he took notice of their presence the second he saw Filo. He looked towards the one driving the wagon. He had grey hair, dark blue eyes, and slight noticeable wrinkles under his eyes. He wore a black sleeveless short coat, under it was a grey undershirt, dark blue pants, and brown boots. The man could be seen to be trying to catch his breath and was covered in sweat.
"P-please Shield Hero, may...I have a ride...in your carriage. Its urgent please." The man said between breaths.
"What's the problem?" Naofumi asks.
"I need to get the...medicine in my hand to the village...past the mountain at once! It's for my mother, she fell ill...a few days ago. Please Shield Hero, I beg you!" the man pleaded.
"Filo...oh wait." Naofumi was about to ask the filolial a question before realizing another problem. 'If I take Filo, Caboose will be left behind, and it isn't that I don't trust him. I just feel he'll break a tire just because he wanted to test it out if it needed the others. Wait, isn't he super strong though?'
"Caboose, what is the heaviest thing you have ever lifted?" the Shield Hero asked quickly.
"That'll be the warthog. Giant car with a gun attached to the back." the blue soldier responded.
"Caboose, do you think you can carry the guy on your arms and me on your back to get to the village?" Naofumi asked.
"Affirmative, with his strength, endurance, and agility, he may carry up to 3 people and sprint at the same time, including jumping." Freckles responded.
"Ok then, Caboose I need you to carry him, and I'll grab tightly onto your back. He'll navigate us to the village. Got it?" Naofumi said as he got off the wagon and ran behind Caboose. 'I am gonna look ridiculous for this.'
"Ok!" the blue soldier acknowledged as the Shield Hero locked both arms around Caboose's chest. "Rope Shield! This is just to make sure I don't fall off." he summoned rope as it wrapped around his back and tightly stuck him onto Caboose's back. The rope tied a tight knot in front of the chest piece.
"This gonna be fun!" the blue soldier said with a tone filled with joy before setting Freckles on the front seat of the wagon. "Alright Freckles, I am gonna leave you with Filo, for you could do your thing and warn her of bad people or bad animals. Ok"
"Affirmative." Freckles acknowledged.
"Filo, don't stay here the second we take off, I want you to continue down the path. Try to follow us if possible in a faster movement." the Shield Hero told Filo from the blue soldier's back.
"Naofumi, I have setted a tracker on Caboose in case he were to ever get lost, I'll navigate Filo as you take off. We'll be right behind you." Freckles stated, overhearing Naofumi.
"Oh ok then, just be careful you two, I wouldn't be doing this if Raphtalia was here, but it'll be best to let her get her rest. For now just do your best to avoid trouble." Naofumi said. "Alright Caboose, carry the man in your arms."
"Ok." Caboose said as he went over and carried the man bridal style. "Hang on to your medicine, it's gonna be a bit bumpy."
"Thank you so much, Shield Hero." the man thanked Naofumi.
"Don't thank me just yet. I'll do this if you pay me one silver." the Shield Hero added.
"But I already spent all my money on the medicine." the man said slightly taken aback.
"You can pay in goods or pay me later. You're lucky that this guy can carry more than just a person, I may have had to rely on you seating on the wagon which would have taken slightly longer, but since you said it was urgent, you need to be there quickly. So don't try to weasel out of this one without a little payment." Naofumi said. 'Not to add the fact that I look fucking ridiculous, I am only doing this because I also feel that Caboose will drop the trade pass by accident.'
"Th-That would be fine. As long as I can get there in time to give my mother this medicine." the man said.
"Alright then, Caboose. Do your thing." the Shield Hero said as he braced himself.
"On your mark.." Caboose began to say as he positioned himself.
"Wait, Freckles you said something about jumping. Does that mean anything even if there is a huge gap between him and said location?" Naofumi asked, noticing the tree's gap between the path they are on and the same path in front of them.
"...get set…" Caboose continued.
"Affirmative" Freckles responded.
'Why did I never go on a rollercoaster back on Earth?' the Shield Hero regretfully thought.
"GO!" Caboose exclaimed as he shot from his position with tremendous speed as he sprinted towards the edge of the path.
'This is gonna fucking suck so bad!' Naofumi thought as he felt the sudden push of wind go past him in a quick second, clenching his teeth as he held on to dear life.
"OH GOD!!" the man screamed as he saw Caboose edge towards the end of the path.
As Caboose got towards the edge he lowered himself, and jumped towards the edge of the road before landing back on the path again just giving an explosive jump towards the otherside. Naofumi closed his eyes due to the constant wind he felt while the man held much more tightly to the medicine, yet even though they both were afraid of seeing the outcome, Caboose was having the time of his life.
As he neared the otherside, the blue soldier turned a bit to his left to prepare to start climbing the side of the road, knowing he wasn't gonna make it. The second his body was a few meters away from the stone wall, he stretched out his right hand and made a huge crater beside the wall. Following pursuit, he began to climb up the wall using his right hand and legs to scale over it. Making a lot of rubble fall from his climbing. Under a few seconds, they made it back onto the road as the blue soldier took off once again at incredible speed.
"Amazing! I wanna just like him!" Filo said, witnessing the whole scenario in front of her. "He's so cool."
"We should get moving, Filo. Follow the path, I'll tell you where to go with the tracker I have on Caboose." Freckles said as Filo began to pull the wagon behind her.
"Freckles, why is Caboose so strong?" Filo asked.
"I have no data on that, Filo." Freckles answered
"What does 'data' mean?" she asked.
"Knowledge. I have no knowledge of why Captain Caboose has tremendous strength." Freckles responded back.
"Does he like anyone?" Filo asked with great interest.
"Affirmative. His friends back home, he admires highly. However, romantically. Negative." the assault rifle answered.
"That's good to know." the filolial said as they continued going on the path as Freckles scanned for suspicious movement.
Timeskip
A toll guard was awaiting in front gates, keeping eyes out for any incoming traveling merchant, or villager. His job was simple, ask to pay the toll and let them through, or see the trade pass to let the traveling merchant or whoever has it pass free. He wasn't expecting a sudden blue armored soldier to appear with a man in arms, and a person strapped to his back rushing towards the gate with eye opening speed.
Superior Confusion Activated
Caboose's ability popped up in Naofumi's vision, which confused him the most. He didn't order it to happen, or saw any notice of it happening. But there it was in his vision saying it activated without his order.
'What the hell?! I didn't even, you know what. I'll worry about that later. For now I gotta survive this dangerous roller coaster.' Naofumi thought.
"Halt, you must pay the toll to pass!?" the guard shouted with total confusion plastered in his mind and expression.
Before reaching the gate, Caboose jumped over it as Naofumi threw the trade pass towards the guard. Which hit his face as he stared at them while they were in the air. Complete thought and movement kept him from responding to what he was witnessing.
"I'll come back for it later!" the Shield Hero yelled out before going back to holding onto dear life.
The guard just stood there staring at them as they disappeared into the distance. He slowly looked down at the trade pass and picked it up before going back to staring into the distance the trio disappeared into.
"I...don't understand...why would that…couldn't he have...and why was the Shield...how long have I been here? When was the last time I left the village? I...just...what...I...have I been drinking too much? Am I seeing things?I… I think I need to sit down and rethink what could have probably been an illusion." the guard said before sitting down and going into a deep thought about what life just made him see.
After passing the gate, it didn't take them long to arrive at the village the man needed to get to. They stopped in front of a house before Caboose put the man on his feet and Naofumi released himself from his rope and arm lock. Slowly but steadily they both got their balance on the ground. Once they regained their footing, the man took Naofumi and the surprisingly unharmed medicine into the house to heal the man's mother.
Caboose decided to stay outside and enjoy the view of the sun while Naofumi took care of business. He began to record through his helmet the view of the village. As he recorded, he began to talk about his recent event "Giving Naofumi a piggyback ride' while creating other made up scenarios.
"...after jumping the hole filled with lava, we made it to the village safe and sound. No one got hurt. End Vlog!" Caboose exclaimed the last part with happiness.
"Were you recording right now?" Naofumi asked from behind, who had a bag filled with fruits.
"Yes I was. Wanna be part of it?" the blue soldier said as he stood up.
"Ummm, no." the Shield Hero said before he began to walk away towards the direction they came from when entering the village.
"Are you sure?" he asked again, but began recording anyway.
"Yes, I am sure…...you're recording aren't you." Naofumi said, noticing Caboose was looking at him the whole time.
"Maybe." Caboose responded, causing Naofumi to give a tired sigh before looking into Caboose's helmet and giving a small smile.
"My name is Naofumi Iwatani, I am the Shield Hero of this realm. You wanna mess with my party, you're gonna have to go through me first." Naofumi said before getting in a defensive stance.
"Neat." the blue soldier said before he ended the recording. "You're really good at this. We should do more later."
"Probably at a time when we are free, not every time. Ok? Who knows, maybe we could get Raphtalia and Filo to join us since we are in a party together." the Shield Hero said.
"That'll be even more fun." Caboose responded with a joyful tone.
"Yeah, for now though, let's get back to the others. They shouldn't be far behind from here." Naofumi said as he looked towards the front wondering what the others are up to.
With Filo and Freckles
"God...what have I done to deserve this?" the guard said as he looked at the assault rifle on the wagon seat.
"We are members of the Shield Hero's Party, would you allow us through." Freckles said.
"Yeah, we are in the Shield Hero's Party, he said to follow him to the village. Would you please let us through." Filo said.
'God, why. Why must you do this to me? I am just guarding the gate and asking people to pay the toll. What did I do to deserve this?' the guard thought, close to losing his mind.
Realm of the Cosmic Powers
In the midst of space, near to a black hole, the realm of the Cosmic Powers laid. The gods and goddesses have all been doing their duties that they were ordered to do by King Atlus Arcadium Rex, their superior. For centuries they have been waiting for something to get out of hand, but nothing ever came to light. Nor did the Fates ever come down from their tower to warn them of a disaster to come.
However, the time has come…...for war.
"LORD ATLUS! THIS IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE!" a small light came into the throne room screaming for his king.
"What is it Muggins?" King Atlus asked turning around to look at his scout.
"LORD ATLUS, I BRING TERRIBLE NEWS. THE ONCE FORETOLD PROPHECY HAS BEGUN. WAR IS COMING TO ALL DIMENSIONS!" Muggins shouted, getting the attention of the armoured minotaurs in the area.
"This...is alarming. Muggins gathered all the Cosmic Powers to rendezvous here, we have much to discuss about this." Atlus ordered before sitting down to think. "And one last thing, send word to Lord Gremory to watch the gates of hell, and to the Divine Realm a gathering of gods must take place to discuss the upcoming events that are about to transpire."
"Of course your majesty." Muggins responded before leaving to do his tasks, leaving King Atlus to his thoughts.
'So after 4 centuries, you finally decided to rise again. And now you are bringing your army of hell powered shadows into these worlds. Why go so far?' he thought as he felt the atmosphere change.
The color of the world around him began to fade away until everything was a pitch black. He didn't react knowing this was all an illusion, a very vivid illusion. He looked up as the only light source was fire in mid air, yet it moved as it was getting closer and brighter as it came close. That was until he noticed a black armored hand holding the flames, yet the rest was covered by a robe. Two faint lights could be seen above the flames, the eyes of a spiritual god themselves.
"The koh has skaat for a rau order u arise, u draagh a zna ob kibum from gurz itself. The mortals brus had ulub fun, we gods used u be much ma fukaush, rad rad we has for ulub ghulb u save a bot za we created. Amukh did we become zatal dobat u has mortals for ghulb. Amukh did we become ulub instruments u become fukisham as izishu." the illusion said in its black speech.
(It is time for a new order to arise, death would be the start of new life. The mortals have had their fun, we gods used to be much more powerful, but now we plead for their help. When did we become so weak. When did we start to plead the mortals for help when we were the ones that created the world. When did we become their instruments to power.)
"Your language that you created seem to still be entwined with you." King Atlus said.
"Ni god avo rule avhem gith, ni god avo gimb avhem, ni god avo thrak avhem gith agh shal avhe deaavh doturog avhem avo creaave life." the illusion said before disappearing into nothing, returning the world around Atlus back to normal.
(One god to rule them all, One god to find them, One god to bring them all and in death bind them to create life.)
"Things are about to get dangerous around these parts." King Atlus said before remembering how it all happened.
To be continued